Hotel Peace Plaza Pokhara

hey peeps!!! i'm alive so you can all stop your worrying now (admittedly i am only just alive - it was touch and go for a while!)<br><br>So much has happened since iv last spoke to you all, and i have been completely without any access to the internet for the entire time...<br><br>now i'm online again i figured i'd better give you all a quick update!<br><br>i think where i left off i had only just left beijing so i shall carry on from there. It is quite difficult to write a ...

... trek: Ben Glenn, Greg Chappell and Chris Cass. We all flew into Kathmandu within 24 hours of each other and as soon as we met up, we raced around town completing final errands and packed our bags for a 7am departure to the trailhead. (Since we have two Ben&#8217;s on the trip, we&#8217;ll refer to ...

... of at 11 - trust me this is very late by Nepali standards where the world seems to stop at 9pm. So it was all a great success &amp; the bride &amp; gloom looked very happy, beautiful &amp; handsome.<br>Somehow, Margaret, William, Tommy &amp; I had to be on a 7.30 am plane the next morning to go trekking.<br>Liz &amp; Jacqueline stayed in Pokhara &amp; had adventures including paragliding, horse riding, a motor bike tour, the lake &amp; some shopping - I'll need Liz to tell you about that.

... atmosphere with so many people gathered in the gloom awaiting the sunrise. I took a few photos but mostly to show how many people were there. As I sat contemplating the fabulous mountains Krishna appeared. He overslept and once he realised I had gone apparently sprinted up to the top in 17 minutes&#8230;&#8230;and I thought I did well at 40 minutes!<br><br>Our original plan was to go onto to Tatopani and the hot springs but after seeing so many people I decided that ...

Pokhara is a charming city surrounding a lake. For many tourists it is the "second city" of Nepal, and the start and finish of the world famous Annapurna Circuit. Yet on this trip for me there was not to be any world famous 17 day Himalaya hiking treks, but Pokhara still had quite a bit of charm. <br><br>Everyday we rented bikes (of varying quality) and would pick a destination to ride to. The first day was spent getting to the mountaineering ...

... every day. But getting lost is often an opportunity to seen something interesting. <br>I'd better take advantage of a stronger internet connection to upload a few photos, though it would be more reasonable to sleep. It is 23h00 and I have been up since 4h30 for a mountain flight<br>to see the Himalayas from above. More about that later.<br><br><br>

... cross so I had to take off my shoes and socks and paddle. The locals were doing the same so it was not just me!! Pame did not feel especially friendly and I could see no sign of a bus so I bought some water and set off to walk back to Lakeside. I was happily strolling along listening to my ipod when I could hear an engine behind me. Thinking it might be a bus I turned to look but it was a lorry. But it stopped and the driver offered me a lift. He was quite young and had another lad with ...

... and then placing a few flowers on my head and behind my ear. It truly was a humbling experience.  I was one of my happiest in Astam (and im usually pretty damned happy)...i was honoured.<br><br>Trekking back, Malati and I went a different way.  We were to stop at HER mother's home (half hour walk) for Dasain and Malati was seeing her father for the first time in 7 years.  Malati's mother is a beautiful strong woman that lives on her own (as her dad lives in India ...

... Pokhara and the change from kathmandu was much needed, it is a lot quieter and laid back here, and a lot quieter! did a wee bit of shopping (i know, i need to stop but so cheap) and headed to Boomerang restaurant for dinner and nepalise cultural show. The slogan there was "Dont think about life...feel it, enjoy it, live life as always being at Kangaroo pub. While the show was a bit dull ...

... because their heart rate is so low that the oxygen is not being carried through their body like they should. I guess you have to be up here to know how your body will react. There's really no way to know. There's 50% less oxygen in the air at Base Camp than there is in Atlanta or Paris. That makes quite a difference but the acclimatization days definitely help, they exist for a reason...<br>Eric told us we were lucky to be allowed to stay for a night at Base Camp. We didn't ...