After a lovely sleep in I went to Vandana's cooking class & learned how to make Masala Chai, Shahi Panneer, Aloo Palak, Raita & Paratha. Ate all of the yummy food for lunch & Vandana drew Mahendis on our feet. Visited a nearby village & school with the local guide in the afternoon, then refreshed over a couple of sweet lemon sodas back at the hotel. Colm, Suzanne & I walked into town for dinner & I had THE BEST Nutella pancake EVER. Sam had one the other day & said it was brilliant & she sure wan't kidding. The group [View Full Entry]

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Had an awesome time this morning whitewater rafting down the Betwa River. It was my first time & a calm intoduction, but I'm now looking forward to hitting some bigger rapids in Africa. The guides got us saturated along the way & we took a swim in the quiet waters at the end of the ride. After drying off, Sam & I walked into town & had lunch while the power was out & we couldn't access the internet. Caught up on emails when the powr came back on, then went to Maya's shop for a foot & leg massage before [View Full Entry]

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Maurice & Colm managed to secure our packs onto the roof of a local bus, which we took, plus a Tempo to Orchha. We visited Taragram, a local recycling place that produces paper products from material offcuts. The tour showed us the process from beginning to end & we bought some products from the gift shop afterwards. After a long, hot day of travelling, we were rewarded with lovely cottage garden rooms; with air contitioning! Lunch was a buffet at the other hotel in town, which has a pool we can use for US$5- per day. Cool respite from the scorching [View Full Entry]

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An early start was rewarded with great views of sunrise at the Taj Mahal. A rickshaw took us most of the way, followed by a walk to the river where we crossed by boat to view the Taj from behind. Got some great photos of her reflection in the river & the different shades of colour as the sun rose. It was a much more peaceful viewing place & the early time of day added to the serenity. It was a memorable side trip, well worth the effort of dragging myself out of bed at some crazy hour of day. Had [View Full Entry]

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The day began with a very early start to catch the train bound for Agra. We visited the Red Fort & had the best guide out. He would have been in his eighties, probably guided a dozen groups a day in a job he'd been doing for years, yet still had amazing enthusiasm for. He was extremely knowledgeable & we were all in awe of somebody who so obviously loves their job. We ate a late lunch at the Sheela Hotel before making our way up the street to the Taj Mahal. As our tour leader Hannah had predicted, the whole [View Full Entry]

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As our group meeting wasn't until lunch time, Sam & I had breakfast at the hotel before going out to explore more of the Karol Bagh area, where we were staying. Again, as it was early morning many of the shops were still closed, so we found a place for coffee then checked out the local McDonalds. As cow is a sacred animal & therefore not eaten in India, we were interested to see the menu. It was similar to home in most ways, only more chicken dishes to substitute for the lack of beef & a distinctly Indian flavour i.e. [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday was my last full day in Kathmandu, which again was spent doing exciting last minute domestic chores like washing & packing... It was my brother’s birthday & I bought him a mosquito net for an African family through the World Vision website. It was also Jessica's birthday, however there have been issues with the internet password at Mukti & we were unable to send her birthday greetings. I began the day with a sleep in, missing English class & ended it at the Lazimpat Gallery watching the movie Harvey with Jill & her flat mate Robbie. We all had spaghetti [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday began slowly, but I finally got my first cooking lesson in the afternoon. I helped Krishna cut up the veges & she showed me how to make curry. I need to translate a couple of spice names into english, but I've written down the recipe & am pretty confident of duplicating it at some stage in the future. Unfortunately there wasn't chance for me to sample the cooking, as I'd planned to go for dinner at Sal's Pizza (Bills place). The boys must have sorted out the initial teething problems, as my food was ready in about ten minutes & [View Full Entry]

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Saturday began with a very early start to catch a flight back to Kathmandu. Our group met in the hotel lobby at seven, then boarded the bus for over an hour long ride to the airport. The whole procedure was a bit of a farce, as it took almost four hours to catch a less than one hour flight. After being delayed on the ground for another half hour, we finally got going & the mountain views from the plane were quite spectacular, with Everest a highlight for most. Back at Mukti, I spent the afternoon resting & editing photos from [View Full Entry]

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It ended up being a late start because the meeting time was changed by Karma at breakfast, after half the group had already eaten & left the restaurant. We waited in the bus for over an hour & when nobody else showed, headed off to Drepung monastery, located in the mountain foothills about ten kilometers from Lhasa. The best thing about this monastery was the talk that Karma gave us about his religious beliefs & views on the current situation in Tibet; otherwise it was just another monastery. On the return journey to the hotel, Monika & I got off early [View Full Entry]

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