Kathmandu

Its been nice to escape India for a while. I've spent 9 days here in Kathmandu. Its a pretty cool city. On paper, Nepal is a lot poorer then India, but in reality, there is so much less poverty here. Hardly any beggers, the streets are much much cleaner, sometimes i find it difficult to "place" my rubbish on the ground (in India, there is so much rubbish that adding to it is more like contributing to a colourful artwork). The architecture is beautiful - hand carved wooden temples everywhere. The Nepali people are completely westernized, such a dramatic difference to India. Here you see women walking alone along the street and even in local bars drinking "chang" - rice juice is what i like to call it, fermented to about 5 % alcohol and has the habit of acting as a laxative. Despite this, i have had 4 sessions on it, at 7 rupees per cup, the fresh taste and alcoholic affects - something i have missed for months - are worth it!

So now i have my new visa for India ( i now have the potential to stay until October!) and tomorrow i leave for Pokhara where will base ourselves for a trek of Anapurna mountain range in the Himalayas and go on a rafting trip.

Until next time...