the kathmandu ronde de vous…

late nights with a whiskey bottle and our memories- i’m not normally one for whiskey but its cheaper here than beer or wine so i’m flexible, plus my grandma would be proud.

it feels like i have not stopped talking since i arrived in Nepal, seeing old friends is amazing anywhere in the world but seeing Erin and her sister abbey in Nepal after what feels like such a long time has taken a while to come down from. especially when Erin, my forever marriage cynic friend has married a man named jack in the interum- well it adds a little ‘masala’ (spice) to the wee hours.

there are so many stories that i don’t know where to start. like should i try to explain why i got struck at Dehli airport for 15 hours and ended up sharing my soccer world-cup final experience with other newly arrived foreigners, hotel pick-ups, waiting family and friends, taxi drivers, army guards and a myriad of other unplaceable strangers? or do i cut straight to my first impression of Kathmandu as a dirty and wonderfully dilapidated city which is so Asia that i almost feel at home. and then there’s the motorbike road-trip on the weekend with my new friends and old, through Nepal’s hills and mountains, which made the little girl from the flat plains of Echuca feel a long way from home. we saw Maoists along the way and felt pang of adrenalin and excitement followed by a guilt of not being more afraid. and i couldn’t possibly go without at least trying to explain the disappearance of our tap- Lost Stolen or strayed… or pulled out of the wall, between 8 and 10 this morning two taps from the bathroom we’re renting er.. um… disappeared leaving water gushing from the wall and onto the floor. considering a bucket went missing a few weeks ago it seems some home renovator around has blown the budget before buying those all important taps and buckets. oh well!

the topics and possibilities are overwhelming so think i will leave the details for a rainy day (ok so in monsoon thats almost everyday). so i’ll leave you with the assurance that i’m safe, well, relaxed and happy in the valley capital of Kathmandu.

‘Namaste’ all!     

we heard the sad news that a journalist had been killed in sri lanka in the car at the end of our trip. from what i can gather he wrote a little bit about the conflict here but some reports say his writing shouldn’t have offended too many. its very sad though. click here to read an article i found about it.The situations seems to be getting a more scary for the sri lankans, which is just so sad for everyone involved. we can only hope they can work things out before its too late and war takes over this beautiful country once again so soon after a promising ceasefire.   

the kathmandu ronde de vous…

late nights with a whiskey bottle and our memories- i’m not normally one for whiskey but its cheaper here than beer or wine so i’m flexible, plus my grandma would be proud.it feels like i have not stopped talking since i arrived in Nepal, seeing old friends is amazing anywhere in the world but seeing Erin and her sister abbey in Nepal after what feels like such a long time has taken a while to come down from. especially when Erin, my forever marriage cynic friend has married a man named jack in the interum- well it adds a little ‘masala’ (spice) to the wee hours.there are so many stories that i don’t know where to start. like should i try to explain why i got struck at Dehli airport for 15 hours and ended up sharing my soccer world-cup final experience with other newly arrived foreigners, hotel pick-ups, waiting family and friends, taxi drivers, army guards and a myriad of other unplaceable strangers? or do i cut straight to my first impression of Kathmandu as a dirty and wonderfully dilapidated city which is so Asia that i almost feel at home. and then there’s the motorbike road-trip on the weekend with my new friends and old, through Nepal’s hills and mountains, which made the little girl from the flat plains of Echuca feel a long way from home. we saw Maoists along the way and felt pang of adrenalin and excitement followed by a guilt of not being more afraid. and i couldn’t possibly go without at least trying to explain the disappearance of our tap- Lost Stolen or strayed… or pulled out of the wall, between 8 and 10 this morning two taps from the bathroom we’re renting er.. um… disappeared leaving water gushing from the wall and onto the floor. considering a bucket went missing a few weeks ago it seems some home renovator around has blown the budget before buying those all important taps and buckets. oh well!the topics and possibilities are overwhelming so think i will leave the details for a rainy day (ok so in monsoon thats almost everyday). so i’ll leave you with the assurance that i’m safe, well, relaxed and happy in the valley capital of Kathmandu.’Namaste’ all!     

in pictures

on our second day of travelling we went to the small town on minhtale which has ancient ruins and monastaries on top of a big hill with hundreds of stairs leading up. I had the honour of meeting a very friendly monk, Rev. Mahinda who is pictured here. he sowed us around the monastary and answered all of my questions. he even gave us all coke which was much appreciated as it was really hot htat day! it did stike me as a little odd to be given coke by a monk- american consumerism has made it even to a remote monastary in the middle of Sri Lanka.

the next few photos are from the ancient cities- sam did the honour of trying out the 1000 year old toilet

our last stop was at the elephant orphanage. told sam that if i could have kids that would come out as cute as these babies i might think abut having one!

we caught these two elephants trying to make and orphan. unfortunately i cut out the one of the carers at the orphanage who was chasing after the naughty pair down the river. i think he gave up when he realised he was too late- cold water wasn’t going to deter these two!

more again soon!