As we ate breakfast on the roof terrace, the clouds lifted and were saw the massive snow capped peaks of the Himalayas. Quite something as we washed down some breakfast curry and chapatis. Our first morning call was to move white water rafting for tomorrow. Then we hired a large wooden canoe and paddled across the lake to take the stone steps up to the World Peace Pagoda. It was a great walk and quite strenuous; there was shade, great views and a little homestead cafe halfway up where we stopped for lunch and a game of cards on the way back down. It was warm and humid and we consumed a great quantity of water between us all. The kids told each other scary stories as they went up and down and, as a result, ... read more

Just next door to our hotel was a barbers and I'd promised Bob and Tom that I'd take them for a proper cut throat razor shave when we were in Kathmandu. It was very good and the head massage we got at the end was very relaxing (Tom almost went to sleep). Everyone had a bit of downtime, so Bob and I went for a stroll. I bought a jungle Kukkri and we shared a couple of beers on a roof terrace bar which was great. We went to a traditional Nepali meal at Thamel House. Tom was feeling jet lagged, so he didn't stay long and went back to the hotel to get some kip. The food was great and Hat loved the Nepali dancers that did a few routines.... read more

Ed and I took a taxi to the airport and we waited besides the many taxi drivers who were waiting with names on boards. Ed held his poster up to attract their attention. It was great to see them coming through the arrivals door as its felt a long time since we last saw them back in late Feb. They were a little tired and the travelling went smoothly. In fact, they relished the freedom of making the journey under their own speed. Cas and Hat were waiting for us outside the hotel with Hat's colourful poster. After settling them into their room, the three chaos together, we took them on a brief walk around Thamel, the smell of joss sticks thick in the air, and had a beer in a Mexican bar. Our dinner was ... read more

The visas at Kathmandu were very smooth and we were through to the taxis within half an hour of landing. Cas had arranged a taxi via the guest and the journey to Thamel district gave an insight into Kathmandu life: chaotic, energetic, noisy, colourful, run down. There were bits and pieces of rebuilding damage still being done following the earthquake in April 2015. It turns out that the houses that fell were made with bricks stuck together with mud. The guest house, De Veda, was along a small alleyway and we'd booked two rooms with three beds apiece. Cas was not too pleased with the hotel as it was a bit shabby, but we decided to stick with it in the end. There was no aircon or lights until 6.30pm as there are severe electrical shortages, ... read more

They used the same phrase about Britain 150 years ago and China has taken this mantle some 25 years or more. I'd never stopped to think about the implications of this statement and it was portrayed very clearly as the plane came down. - Where do all the workers live? We saw flocks of 10 story flats. - Where does all the food come from to feed the workers? The land was covered in agricultural plastic on a scale that was almost too large to believe. - How do the workers cook, warm and wash themselves? We saw enormous trains pulling huge numbers of wagons laden with coal. - And where does all the material come from to build the workers houses, roads and factories? There were massive tracts of land that had been gouged out ... read more