On Sunday morning, I tried desperately to sleep off my hangover from the Dahori, to no avail. Sam & I had breakfast at Hotel Harati before checking out & heading off to our next home, Hotel Utse. Spent time catching up on washing & internet before Sam's friend Wendy arrived. She was really late from the plane & we whisked her off almost immediately to the Kathmandu Guest House to meet up with the group & go explore Durbar Square. Mel, Mo, Deb, Wendy, Sam & I had dinner at Roadhouse, followed by an early night. Christine, Louise & Maddy all [View Full Entry]

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The final day of the Sit Down & Shut Up Tour began SUPER early with a scenic flight to Mount Everest. Most of the group went & the views were just magnificent. We flew on a twenty seater Air Buddha aircraft & were given maps of the mountain range to follow as we passed by. The air hostess went through the cabin, pointing out the mountains & we each made a couple of trips to the cockpit to take photos & chat with the pilots. Afterwards, everybody was commenting on how jealous they were of mine & Sam's upcoming Everest Base [View Full Entry]

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Today began with an early start, as we had an all day bus ride to Kathmandu. We stopped in a small town, ate our yummy lunchboxes supplied by the hotel in Chitwan & arrived in Kathmandu around four. After checking into the Hotel Harati Sam, Deb & I went on a mission to find Cosmic Air & sort out Sam's Kathmandu to Delhi flight, scheduled for three weeks time. I'd found out roughly where the office was located, but became worried when the United Airlines staff I asked directions from told me Cosmic Air had closed down. We found the office [View Full Entry]

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I didn't want to miss the elephant washing, so opted to take the Jeep back, rather than walk out of the village this morning. Unfortunately the Jeep was late & so the walking group arrived at the Crocodile Breeding Centre before us anyway! We saw an orphaned tiger who lives at the centre in an enclosure. Her mother had killed humans & fed the flesh to her three cubs, so after she was caught & destroyed the offspring had to be kept in captivity. Two of the three cubs died from malnutrition, but the third survived & will live out her [View Full Entry]

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Up early with packed lunch boxes, ready for our two day jungle excursion. It began with a one & a half hour canoe ride to the starting point of our trek, followed by a brief safety talk on what to do if attacked by various wild animals!!! Feeling confident, we split into two groups & headed into the jungle about twenty minutes apart. We saw a couple of crocs from the river bank before heading off, so that gave us hope of seeing more animals on the walk. The first fifteen minutes was pretty easy going, then we headed into the [View Full Entry]

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Back on our dodgy bus (that almost caught fire yesterday) for yet another long day of travelling. Had a few beers with lunch at the hotel, which made for an interestingly tipsy half hour push bike ride to the elephant breeding site. Had fortunately sobered up in time for the tiny canoe ride across the river to the centre. Felt sorry for the elephants because they were mostly chained up & Deb was so upset she decided to cancel the trip she'd booked to go work there next week. Dinner was at a local restaurant Hannah took us to, followed by [View Full Entry]

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Met at 5am in the lobby to spend almost eight hours in the 4WD's to the Nepal border. Managed to obtain the free thirty day visa with no problems this time; I double checked the expiry date carefully though. Unforunately, Hannahs Indian visa had been incorrectly dated & she had to return to immigration. We all took the opportunity to relax with a beer, something we've been unable to drink much of on this trip. All formalities complete, we boarded a bus & headed to Lumbini. After lunch & a short rest, the group reconvened & walked down the road to [View Full Entry]

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After another pre dawn start, we have decided to rename this trip the 'Dehli to Kathmandu Sunrise Tour'; although I must admit it's been worth the early starts. Today it was to go on a sunrise boatride down the Ganges. The amount of people bathing & washing at that time of morning was astounding & the changing colours on the buildings overlooking the river were just gorgeous. We then walked to have breakfast at Bread of Life Bakery. Intrepid support this place because profits are put back into the community by training locals in hospitality & setting up various other projects [View Full Entry]

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We were woken around six with Chai, as we had to make an early start to make up for lost time yesterday. The sunrise was magnificent & breakfast was a feast of porridge, toast & hot drinks; including hot chocolate. The boat men packed up camp, we were back on the boats for seven & sailed for a few hours before having Chai & biscuits for morning tea. After lunch we arrived at our destination & transferred into two waiting 4WD's. The local children crowded around & were facinated by Louises stuffed 'Tigger' toy. After a squeezy two hour drive, we [View Full Entry]

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After the overnight train, we stopped into a local hotel used by Intrepid to freshen up & have some breakfast. A three hour bus ride took us to meet the boats we were due to spend the next 24 hours sailing down the Ganges River on. Along the way, we stopped at Nhero's house, where much of India's independence talks & decisions were held with Ghandi. We also stopped at the three rivers meeting point, which is a holy place that fills with thousands of pilgrims every twelve years for big celebrations. Even though it wasn't festival time, there were still [View Full Entry]

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