Himalayan Horizon Dhulikhel

... finally arrived in Kathmandu and found a guest house in the backpacker ghetto Thamel, I was quite fascinated by the fact that there was almost everything you need. Compared to Tibet (and also China), we now had an uncensored access to internet and especially book stores that have everything in English. There was also everything from restaurants, trekking shops, laundry services and travel agencies. Even if crowded, a bit chaotic and unauthentic ...

... place but I guess later on it may have brightened up! Moved on to a couple of bars with live music and a strange version of Coldplay - Yellow and premiership football on the TV =] Got a couple of free days in KTM although Nepali lessons took up 4 hours today, it was pretty intense and a little boring after a while. There's only so much I can take in =] Off to Tibet in 2 days time which is going to be incredible, really looking forward to it and the photos!

... and selling Nepalese art. It is very intricate. After an hour of talking to one of the art students, I caved and bought one. I know that's why the little guy brought me there but I didn't mind. The only thing he asked for after talking to me about school, traffic and his parents, was some cookies. Ah what a cute boy. The people here are very nice and open here. I really like it so far. :)<br><br>

... I didn&#8217;t jump he would push me), though I still have absolutely no idea what was going through my mind. We signed the forms, paid the man and went back out to the bridge. The next hour or so is a blur. I watched the guys do their canyon swings and Sarah do her bungy before it was my turn. Again, I have no idea what was going through my mind. My legs were jelly and my heart was in my mouth, but somehow I made myself jump head first off that bridge and plummet towards the ...

... br>Mid-June to September, when the monsoon finally arrives, is the least popular time to visit Nepal. Although it doesn't rain all day it usually rains every day, and the trails and roads are muddy and plagued by leeches; the Himalaya disappear behind rain clouds; most rivers are too high to raft; and landslides often hold up transport ...

... I enjoy the motor-cross adventure style to it, but sharing it with a constant stream of trucks really is not fun. I &#8216;m gradually getting closer to Lucknow, which is my destination and 2/3 of the way to Kathmandu. The highway is in better condition, but the traffic and heat takes away this benefit. Up ahead I see a motorbike doing a u-turn onto my side of the motorway so I bear right so he can take the inside lanes. The bike u-turns onto the inside lane, but he doesn ...

... which was not aided by walking along bitumen roads. After a lunch break in a reasonable sized town, I was given a choice of a 5 minute bus or a 20 minute walk along the road to Dhulikhel. It seemed cheating to catch a bus on a trek when one could walk, maybe I`m just a masochist. I questioned my choice when I found I could not get up, my big thigh muscles had pulled tight in protest of the workout I was giving them. Hobbling on ...

... On this point, one thing I have noticed since my last trek in these parts is the sudden appearance of empty plastic 'mineral' water bottles along the trails and in the streams. Whilst in the past trekkers have relied on stream water and iodine tincture people now seemed to be purchasing 'mineral' water in bulk. I put quotes around the word mineral because what people are buying is in fact tap water put through a filter and sold in a plastic bottle; a neat exercise in both ripping ...

... clear that wild horses would not have dragged her up that hill so there was no point relying on her to chivvy me along. Eventually, after an hour or so, it started to grow light and the guilt became unbearable. I got up and left.<br><br>Walking up Poon Hill that morning was the equivalent, in terms of a shock to the system, of being forced out of bed by a rhino and chased through the jungle. I found myself sweating buckets in no time at all as I put one weary foot in front of the other ...

... we saw them regularly from then on, we never tired of them.<br><br>In the evening when it became dark we sat at some tables on a wooden platform over the rushing water and gazed at the bright stars of the Milky Way while moths crowded around the small bulb of my torch.<br><br>The next day we were off on our first walk of any length and it was mostly uphill. Travelling along the valley of the river Bhurung, we passed at first through bamboo forests along tracks ...