Chitwan

It's been a few days since my last update do I will try and fill you in on what's happened over the past few days. Firstly we are all safe, the flooding that occurred was in the Pokhara area while we have been in the Kathmandu valley.

After our final day on the village we spent our last night at the Mirabel Resort and packed our bags to head to Kathmandu city. On the way we stopped off at the Banepa SOS children's orphanage. This is simply an amazing set up. The principle is to get children in to a loving and family like environment. To do this they have 14 houses with ten children from all ages. The children are looked after by a mother who cares for them, cooks for them and acts just like their mother. We were all blown away by the setup especially the school. These children are very lucky and they look so happy and well adjusted.

After the orphanage we went and did a bit of sight seeing in the old city of Bahktipur. So we got a taste of Nepali history. Finally we arrived in Kathmandu and checked in to our hotel. That night we went to The Rum Doodle, this is a favourite restaurant of Trekkers and mountain climbers, if you summit everest you get to eat for free.

The next morning we were off early for the mountain flight. We had arranged for Bijay our guide to come with us. This was his first time on a plane and he was pretty nervous and excited. The group got amazing views of the Himalayas and of course Mount Everest. After the flight we went to where the Hindus cremate their dead. When we arrived a young girl was being prepared. This was a very sobering and solem thing to experience and we all felt that we were intruding on this ceremony. It was something that none of us will forget I think.

The next stop was the Buddhist Temple (Monkey Temple). It just so happened that the day that we visited was the same day as Buddhas birthday so the place was absolutely packed with people. We didn't spend too long there because of this. We then headed back to the hotel and a few of us went shopping in Thamel (the main tourist area in Kathmandu ) that evening we went to "Fire and Ice" an Italian pizzeria. We had a good meal if pizza and a few drinks.

The next day we boarded our bus and travelled down to Chitwan. We got an appreciation of just how high Kathmamdu is as we descended for about three hours. The drive to Chitwan was an experience in itself, if you have ever seen worlds deadliest roads it was a little like that. With people passing on blind corners and narrow roads. We had probably four near head on collisions.

When we did finally arrive we had a late lunch and then explored our surrounds, which included an Elephant stable. That evening we were entertained by some local Tharu (the local people) with dances and music. The last part involved getting us up and involved in the dancing. I think we proved conclusively that white men can't dance. That brings us up to date.