Nearly 4,000 km of travel, incident free, and all 21 toes are back on Nepalese soil. There were a few times when it was unclear if we would make it or if we were even headed in the correct direction but somehow it all worked out just fine. Funny thing, it always seems to work out in the end. Its that middle part that'll get you on occasion!

Bumping, careening private AC bus up the hill, open, jolting government bus down the hill. On-time leaving train and 1.5 hour early-arriving train that afforded us a 14 hour layover in Delhi. Onto another train that was quiet and smooth. Packed 14 people into a jeep that should only hold 9, only one, partially functioning windshield wiper, and winner of the slowest driver contest. An immigration process so efficient and quick that its model was not that of the DMV. Finally, a 30 minute flight in a small airplane to forgo a 9 hour overnight bus ride up the steep and narrow mountain roads.

Of the two weeks on the road, I swear that half must have been on one form of transportation or another. We figured that the only forms of transportation we didn't take were bicycle, boat, and motorcycle. We are pretty sure that every other form has been covered!

250ish photos taken and I've not quite figured the best manner in getting them onto this blog. I guess I'll have to be parsimonious in my selection to give the best essence. I'll get on that soon, promise.

Ballons, Cake, and Ice Cream

Happy birthday to pop

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear pop

Happy birthday to YOU!!

Happy Birthday dad from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India.

I love you, pop.

Umm, Let's see....

Ah yes, we are indeed in Delhi, no doubt in my mind whatsoever! Hot? Why ever would you ask? Monsoony? Jeez, really, where do you think we are?!

We have been on a bus driven by a maniac to a place where I couldn't cross the border, been in hired cars that we have found out were illegal to be in, and on an AC sleeper train that travelled 1,500+ kilometers. We have been in the sweltering heat of the Terai, the incessant rain of Darjeeling, and finally into the blistering heat of Delhi.

Tonight we board a bus to head back into the (hopefully) cool mountains of Himachal Pradesh to Dharamshala. This is supposed to be the best bus to go on but we've heard that song and dance before! We'll spend 4 or 5 days there and then began a train/bus/perhaps plane ride back to Kathmandu. We're expecting to be back in KTM sometime around the 23rd or 24th.

Everything has been wonderful so far. We have seen amazing things and eaten some really spectacular food. We've had pretty good luck with transportation and accommodations and we pray/hope that it will continue! The only thing that has gone awry so far has been my camera. I haven't figured out if it is the cheap batteries or some internal malfunction. Needless to say, I'm working on the problem as best I can. It works when it wants to, but then again, so do I, so I don't blame it too much...

Off on the next leg of the adventure! See ya!

Descent into the Subcontinent

Whats 3,200 km long and 3,000 km wide and smashed into Asia 40 million years ago? Give up? India!



That in itself it not a very interesting fact. The most surprising thing about India is that they issues me a travel visa. 40 million years of plate tectonics is easy to fathom. Why they would let me into their country will remain a social and scientific mystery for generations to come. Until they are able to rescind their decision (I bet someone gets fired!), we will scurry across the border for a Indian jaunt.



I was once told about this handsome, fearless, adventure seeking youth who had a nail-biting, dizzying horse ride through the hills of Darjeeling. His story, although frightening, compelled me to desire a visit to this magical land of adroit stallions. He lived to tell about this thrill so I trust that no ill will come to us on our sojourn there...



On Sunday, we board a bus headed towards the Nepal-West Bengal (India) border. We will descend from the hills and traverse the Terai, the lowland portion of Nepal, towards the East. At the border will we transfer to a Jeep and head back up into the mountains to Darjeeling (also spelled Darjiling). A few days of cajoling there and perhaps a trip to Sikkim. I had to get a special permit to go there and it is only good until July 15th. I think that we should at least be able to get to Gangtok (the capitol of Sikkim) for at least a night. We will then take a bus from Darjeeling to New Jalpaiguri to hop on a train. We will take an A/C, sleeper train from New Jalpaiguri to Pathankot - about 2,000 km to the East in Himachal Pradesh. On the train we will pass nearby the cities of Patna, Lucknow, and Delhi. We don't really want to stop at any of these cities because it will be in the low 40's Celsius! No thanks! From Pathankot we will take a bus to Dharamshala. Dharamshala is the home of the Tibetan Government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama. It is also the home of Tibetan Childrens Village (TCV) where Namgyal went to school. We'll take a bus back to Delhi and we may have to spend a day or two in the heat until we can catch a bus back to Kathmandu.



You can expect a lot of photo's when we get back. I'll check email where I can but I don't know how often that will be. See you all in a few weeks!

It's that time again, folks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!!!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Mountains and Monkeys

Two days ago I began to type something pithy and esoteric about last Saturdays adventure. In the last two days I have managed to misplace my train of thought so I will scrap the initial idea and just give you the straight dope.

My dad bought us each a "mountain flight." This is a flight in a small plane from Kathmandu, along the Himalayan range, to Everest. There are 5 companies that offer this service and we chose Buddha Air for ours. It has the newest and safest planes, so I figured that was as good as reason as any to choose them. There are 2 flights a day, one around 6:30 am and the other around 7:30 am. We opted for the 7:30 because the decision to fly would be made by the earlier flight. We didn't want to be the guniea pigs. We ended up at the airport early so we were on the first flight anyways! There was some apprehension at first because none of the other passengers were being told the correct bus to get onto. We were joking that we might end up in Pokora! The staff kept telling us the wrong bus to get onto and it took them several minutes to get it straightened out. Once the problem was solved we drove to the plane and the 20 of us filed onto the plane. It was a small, twin prop aircraft. There were single seats adjacent the windows and a single aisle down the middle. Pretty cozy. While taxing we could see the peaks of a few mountains in the distance. This was exceptional as this is monsoon season. We have only seen mountains once before in the month that we have been here! This was a great sign.

Immediately after takeoff. Looking North over Kathmandu towards the Himalaya's.
More of what is to come...

We took off towards the South and did a large clockwise turn towards the East. We are flying Eastward with the Himilaya's to the left of the plane.

Suddenly mountains began to emerge from the cloudline.

And they kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger...

Until we reached Everest.

These were the "short" mountains!

More of the Himalaya's as we returned towards Kathmandu. These are the next tallest peaks just West of Everest.

This mountain is the home of Lord Shiva. It is forbidden to climb.

Valleys on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

Kathmandu in the morning.

The next most popular photo spot of the trip.

As we were leaving the airport we were entertained by a troupe of Howler monkeys.