We leave tonight!
I'm going to miss this place. Looking back we have done so much! Mountains, jungle, flat lands, rivers, cities... We've seen traditional dances and weddings, we even saw a funeral procession walk by. We've climbed passes where the air was so thin we were gasping, we've swam with elephants! But it's time to come home.
It's getting so hot here, I really don't see why now is tourist season, I'm dripping.
tonight we fly to HK. We're home in 3 days.

Rafting!

8 days of rafting! We had a great time. 2 other people joined our group to make it just us 4. 2 guys in their mid 20s, lots of fun. 2 guides and a junior guide also came. We crammed all the gear and all but one person into the raft. There was a kayak for safety that came a long as well. The rapids were big! huge waves and holes. The water temperature was like a pool and the sun was hot so no one minded getting wet. When we did get too hot and we were in a calm spot in the river we'd jump off the side of the raft and float down. We camped on beaches, which is great minus sand getting everywhere! It was relaxing and a nice change from walking everywhere. Rafting is a fun sport but you aren't in control of anything, you're told when to paddle and when to stop. I like being able to do it myself. We flew back to Ktm. We had the option of taking a 12+ hour night bus with the other guys but i probably would be hurling out the window the whole time or knowing our luck there would a strike. So we settled for the 50 min plane ride. It was probably the best decision we made =)

Pics

Here are some pictures from our trek and Chitwan.

The first couple ones are of mountains and the pass we went over and the last ones are of the one rhino we saw! YAY! and we got to ride and swim elephants! The riding was really rough and bumpy but you got to see the jungle from up high which was sweet. It was so hot there! 30 degrees easily, ugh. But in the evening it really cooled down.

Now we're back in Kathmandu for a day. Tomorrow we leave for rafting.

Pokhara

We have finished our trek. We arrived safely yesterday in Pokhara. After 27 days of walking we are ready for a bit of civilization. Last time we wrote we were in Manang. So after that we spent a couple days ascending to the big pass, Thorung la. the weather got colder and snow started to fall. B got sick in the gut from food so it took us a lot longer then planned but we made it! The altitude didn't bother us because we took the time to acclimatize. But still it's a hard day of gasping for air to get to the other side. We had brilliant weather and got a lovely view from way up there. We were lucky because apparently it snowed knee deep a couple days later forcing some people to turn back. The week that straddled the pass was a cold one. We spent a few nights in pretty drafty stone buildings under dirty quilts. Our standard for comfort is quite low now and by the time we got down to Jomsom which has the first airport we were thrilled at the luxury or sit down toilets and warmish water to wash. We took our time descending. spending time in the beautiful medieval towns along the way. Some hadn't changed at all in the 15years, but some, with the road had completely transformed. Our trek ended at the perfect time because our knees were starting to get pretty sore. Tomorrow we take a bus down to Chitwan National Park where we'll enjoy a few days of nature and luxury!
B&P