Nepal in a Nutshell

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First of all apologies for the delay in writing but we have been so busy that i haven't given myself the time to sit down and write. Anyway update since the last blog:

The meditation lasted 2 days, on the morning of the third i had to give up as i found it too difficult. The thought of having to continue doing 10 hours a day of meditation merely observing my breathing was driving me to lunacy. I left feeling that the only reason people feel amazing after completing a course is a mixture of relief and a sense of achievement at achieving something so mentally enduring. Perhaps i am being naive but either way i don't feel i have the mental maturity to complete something so testing.

Following my failure i hastily made my way to Kathmandu were i met up with Paul after finding him on the street by coincidence. Thamel where we stayed was really touristy and fancy considering the poverty of Nepal and the rest of Kathmandu for that matter. Lined with restaurants and bars is was a good place to get in some drinking and meet people. Many of the bars played live music, some of which were very good including the reggae bar where we seemed to spend the most of our time.

The rest of Kathmandu has some really good sights including Durbar square which is surrounded by a mixture of hindu and buddhist temples and is home to a living Goddess named Kumari who is thought to be a reincarnation of some goddess but when she gets her first period she becomes a normal person but will cause any man who tries to be with her to be cursed and so will remain celibate until she dies. Very wacky stuff.

We also visited a number of towns surrounding the Kathmandu valley including Bodnath a big buddhist site full of Tibetan exiles which had a festival on when we visited and so was surrounded by thousands of pilgrims, Pashupatinath which was basically the Nepali version of Varanasi where they cremate bodies on the river although here the families seemed to be doing alot more grieving and so the whole event was alot more moving to witness and Swayambunath to see the monkey temple overlooking the whole valley.

Since we now had time on our hands as i wasn't meditationg we signed up for one of the biggest bungee jumps in the world on the Tibetan border into a valley with the raging Boti Khosi below. At 160 metres they reckon you get a good 4 seconds of freefall and the biggest adrenaline rush ever, not to mention a beautiful view. Whilst i was there i also managed to squeeze in the biggest swing in the world with an 8 second freefall and you reach 150 km/h. Either way a very hair raising day.

Next we moved on to Pokhara where we went paragliding over the annapurna range of the Himilayas. Pokhara is stunning, based around a lake that looks onto rolling mountains. The paragliding itself was an amazing experience where you really feel as though you are flying as their is so little to hold you. The best part is you follow vultures and eagles to get the best thermals to allow you to get higher but running off a mountain only to soar over the trees was something truly special.

We thought we couldn't come to Nepal without fitting in at least a short trek and so opted for a 4 day one where we took a bus to Naya Pul and hiked up to Tickedunga where we managed to find an amazing waterfall which we had to get to by a mixture of swimming and climbing but was easily worth it. All the other trekkers who saw us in the distance thought we were mad. We even met some people further on who had heard about us as the 'crazy british people'. The next day we made the very steep climb up to Ghorapani where on the way we passed through some very impressive rhodedendron forests. At Ghoropani we climbed to the top of Poon HIll which at over 3000m is one of the best Himilayan view points and were treated to a sunrise of snow caps from some of the worlds biggest mountains. Sadly we were coming to the end of the trekking season and visibility was beginning to decrease and so it was not as clear as it could be but we still got a glimpse of some impressive mountains. On day 3 we trekked to Tatupani near to the TIbetan border where they had natural hot springs perfectly enjoyed after some 'hard' walking with a beer. The final day we made our way to Beni to get a bus back to Pokhara.

We have found that the best way to take in the scenery of Nepal is on top of the buses where you really do get a phenomenal view of the country and all round air conditioning but their safety is definitely something to be considered.

Sadly we have left Nepal now for a very different change in the form of Thailand. My birthday was very well spent in Bangkok where we visited a number of 'interesting' bars (i'll leave it at that) but definitely a much different atmosphere to Nepal and India and although Bangkok was nice, everywhere you look you can see prostitutes and sleazy old western men with very young girls.

We also met Paul's parents and enjoyed fancy food, a swimming pool and a good shower which was a nice change.

From there we went to Phuket and took a bus to ko Phi Phi which is where they filmed the film 'The Beach' and although touristy is beautiful. Sadly though already the rain has begun and so the sunshine only seems to be coming in drags but hopefully it should be alright.

Hope all is well at home and thankyou for the birthday comments

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