Blogs from Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal, Asia - page 29

Hi everyone, thanks for all the notes - I'm glad I can be somewhat entertaining for you even miles away! I arrived in Nepal on Tuesday the 2nd after my first overnight airport experience. That's right, I was one of those people you see sleeping on their backpacks and you wonder, can they really be sleeping? The answer is no... no they are not... They are drifting in and out wondering how they picked the bench next to the snorer... and of course, because I was still in China, the spitter. So it was an interesting experience! Then in a weird twist of fate I actually transferred through L'hasa Tibet and got to see all the happy people who were leaving. I'm still okay with not having been there, and I've heard it’s getting to be ... read more

Yesterday I woke up at 5:30am on my own accord, looked out the hotel window after sunrise and saw a huge furry monkey hanging out on a nearby rooftop in the middle of this big, dirty, congested city... a monkey the size of a 5 year old child. Definitely made my day. So in Thamel (the tourist district of Kathmandu) if you stick out, every 5 feet you are solicted by shopkeepers, needy/disabled people, scams and street children. I am white. I stick out. Well at least I used to moreso. When you first get here the culture shock is apparently written all over your face and everyone knows you are a new potential customer and thus a walking bullseye. I got the hang of refusing eye contact and continuing to walk on and apparently it ... read more

Got alot of catching up to do on this bloggy thing, so I thought Would do one entry today on my flights and travel then tomorrow I will write about my first week in nepal. Ok so leaving Manchester was a bit scary and I could feel myself going saying bye to mam and dad so scooted off abit quick to save me and mam both sobbing. departures was ok and flight was good except didnt get a wink of sleep. landing in Doha was like stepping into a furnace, when you got off the plane you could feel the moisture evaporate off you. it was 6:30am and already nearly 40c, thats over 100 for you mam. With it being ramadan folk couldnt eat or drink during daylight hours. I dunno how they were managing to ... read more

Words like life, character and energy push their way to my consciousness as I focus my efforts towards absorbing the controlled disorder of Kathmandu being hammered at all 5 of my senses at once. Relaxing holiday? Nope. Less than an hour into my first trip to a third-world country and I was hardly expecting it to so outrageously redefine my perspective of life. Finding my feet quick smart, for fear of being bowled over by one of many motorcyclists rushing through crowded narrow streets, it isn't long before I'm approached by a talented musician. He's playing a small, strange-looking strung instrument which reminds me of a violin but sounds more like a screeching fiddle. I stand there slightly mystified but politely listening to him play while I decide on the most acceptable way to excuse myself ... read more

Hello everyone, We are back in Kathmandu after an incredible hike and a little relaxation. We did the trek in 17 days. The Annapurna range has some of the heighest peaks in the world. Thorong La is the heighest pass in the world and we crossed it. It is 5416 m above sea level. We thought that the trek would be easy and that we were in pretty good shape for hiking. We were wrong. It rained for 13 of the 17 days. The only time it stopped was when we were above the rain clouds. We walked through landslides, saw an avalanche, and Rachel fell in a river. After about 3000 m, Sean started to periodically go blind. We rested for a few days, but it persisted until we got over the mountain and went ... read more