Back in the USSR...

Well back in Delhi anyway. Yes I made a dramatic U-Turn and I have gone back to the wonderful Indian Capital to breathe in the intoxicating mixture of smog and cow dung ;o)
The thing is I hadn't really completed my Indian Odyssey and as it happened one of the Aussie girls was going to go to India by herself, she is completely unaware of what a challenge this country can be, but seemed to be happy that I said I would tag along as our final destination is Goa and I could really do with some time chilling on a beach.
We went on different planes, but have got here ok finally after being driven to the middle of nowhere last night by two young hon taxi drivers. It is difficult to tell whether you are being ripped off or they genuinely don't know where they are going, I suspect a mixture of the two. Anyway I think my travelling companion is fairly glad she is not travelling alone as am I.

Cat Man Do

Back in Kathmandu and pretty hungover from a fairly heavy drinking session in Lukkla. A happy hour between 2pm and 3pm is a bad idea ;o)

Lots of cocktails drunk with the two Aussie girls (never have a drinking contest with an Australian women, you will loose!) and several games of pool, great fun.

It was actually an advantage to be a bit blurry this morning as the flight back to Kathmandu in a tiny 20 seater plane from Yeti Airlines (honestly that is their name) was bloody terrifying!

Hmm what to do next, it looks like I might go on to OZ for xmas, I think I will stay here for a couple of days then maybe find a beach on the way.

It ain't half cold mum!

Well I made it! And I tell you what that is one of the hardest things I have done in my life.
As we got nearer the top (bottom?!) we were all struggling for breath and walking like old age pensioners. I had a tough couple of nights waking up with a headache and with spots of blood when I blew my nose. My room mate kept getting nose bleeds bless 'im, but I have been pretty lucky I haven't been ill and about 7 of the 12 of us have been. We all made it to Everest Base Camp though and apparently so our guide says that is the first group he has had in seven years to all make it (I recon he always says that, but if not that's a pretty mean feat).
This all sounds a little bit horrible, but actually most of it has been really fun and quite emotional at times too. You can do a lot of thinking whilst trekking and lots have things have gone through my mind, it would have been nice to have shared the experience, but also it has been a great sense of achievement and some absolutely stunning views that I will remember always.

Lyrics

What happens when you loose everything... You just start again... You start all over again.

Maximo Park - A certain trigger

Mama I'm on top of the world!

Well actually at 3500 meters above sea level at a place called Namche Bazzar (Ben Nevis is 1343m - Everest is 8848m - we will be climbing to around 5500 meters), a tiny little village on the trek to Everset that used to be a major trading post between Tibet and Nepal. Amazingly though it has Internet access!

I've been stunned by the level of the accommodation we have been staying in, basic obviously but ok and really great at night when we all huddle round the furnace at night and get heartily fed by the locals (the Nepali people just don't seem to be able to do enough for us). I've been playing cards with the young Australians on the trip and Travel scrabble would you believe with an English couple from London.

The walking has been quite tough, I can really notice the altitude and though I know I'm unfit it is a struggle going up the steep pathways carved into the mountains. Still the Sherpas do it carrying three of our bags, or quite stunningly a massive TV set!

For D, I'm sorry I haven't kept you up to date with the food on trip. I really enjoyed the food in India the curries were obviously stunning and the pilou rice is fantastic its a meal unto itself not like the dyed rubbish we get in the UK. I have been eating Buff Mo Mos in Nepal which are kind of dumplings stuffed with something, in this case buffalo meat, yum. Oh and I have had quite a bit of Everest beer, which is bloody lovely. Not on the trek though we have been advised not to in case it brings on the altitude sickness.

Lost in space

Just a note to say this could well be my last post for two weeks, I doubt if there will be any Internet stations on the way to Everest, but you never know with the inevitable spread of the world wide web.

So long for now...

It's all over!

Well stage one anyway. So much has happened since my last post. We went for a jungle trek and that was really good fun, apart from all the leaches which seemed to love the taste of me more than anyone else for some reason! We saw a snake and rather more excitingly a Rhino. We have also been to an Elephant conservation farm and a crocodile breeding centre.

It's a real shame to leave the group, they have been really good travelling companions and it seems like a chore to start again, which I have to in 2 and half hours when I meet the next group! Still we have all swapped email addresses and I may well visit Caz in OZ if I go there. I'm thinking I might move on from Kathmandu to some other Asian country and make my way to OZ as some friends are moving there from NZ. Who knows, its kind of good being able to be this free to do what I want and change my plans day to day.

I really like Kathmandu as well, it's got a totally different feel to the Indian cities. I think the reason Nepal is so much more relaxed than India, is just simply that India is just suffocating under the sheer weight of all those people.

Had an amusing fair well meal last night as we were serenaded by an Nepali rock band singing Eric Clapton and Doors numbers (they were actually bloody good!)

Sick

Ok finally it happened, I've got the Delhi belly, very quick note as there is no toilet in here. We are going to Nepal tomorrow, up at 4am, god I really hope I'm ok by then!

We are sailing...

I haven't been able to get to a computer for a few days to blog. Its been otherworldly to be honest. We had an incredibly long day yesterday and today really, the early mornings are killing me :)

It started with an overnight train ride from the lovely little village we were staying in (it was great to lounge there by the pool and swim in a surprisingly clean bit of river for a couple of days, India is a bit of a rubbish dump to be honest)..

We left the train at 6am and then took a suspensionless bus (ouch, really bad when you need to go for a pee) for about 3 hours to the river Ganges (The Ganga or something the Indians call it) from their we split up four of us on each really slow row/sail boats crewed by two men each down the river.

It was unbelievably tranquil and quite an experience, we were all laying on the blanket covered boat with a roof for shade as the guys rowed and navigated us down the river.

After a long day on the boat, we pulled ashore and the guys set up tents for us and a camp and cooked us a meal, they are of course getting paid, but somehow it still felt a little bit like we were the rich westerners and they were just our slaves or something, not that they made us feel hat way or anything, but it just felt a bit weird to be waited on hand and foot.

The night in the middle of nowhere was great, it was so good to be able to see the stars clearly and be away from the insanity of the city. Even so I awoke to the sounds of crazy distant music and chanting that was being washed towards us from a nearby town.

Back on the river and halfway along we stop for more food (there was one boat that was just a sort of floating kitchen!) We saw a few bobs in the water of far away douphfins that live in the river and are apparently blind. I'm not surprised as we are sailing towards Varanasi where the Indians burn their dead and throw the ashes and any left over body parts in the river! As well as the rest of the crap that must be in there, it didn't stop our oarsman drinking from it though.

I'm now in Varanasi and we have just been to see some bodies burning (I had to jump out of the way as a dead body was bustled down the street past me).

Had a ride back to the hotel on a horse drawn rickshaw with Ben and nearly died we hit 3 other cycle rickshaws and an ox on the way back. If I haven't already mentioned, there is absolutely no rules to the road and you weave in an out of oncoming traffic as well as cows and buffalo that just gently amble in the midst of the chaos. This place really is quite insane.

Cooking on gas

I did a cooking class tonight with some of the other group in an Indian ladies house in the little village of Orchha. It's really nice here and actually really quite relaxed, which is hard to believe in this in your face country. I't been a good couple of days, relaxing, swimming in the river, watching the Diwali festival celebrations (quite frankly the people are crazy, but them seem to be enjoying it! a bit like morris dancers on acid) Hope you are all doing ok and had a good Halloween