A journey from hell doesn't even begin to describe the route from India into Nepal: a 5 hour train from Varanasi to Gorakhpur (the last Indian town on the train line) got us in at 11pm only to find that we couldn't get a hotel room for the night and a few hours in the 'A.C' waiting room until first light would be our only option. We followed this up with a 3 hour bus to the border, setting off at 5am, which annoyingly involved a group of people hawking the services of the bus to any and all passers by, which turned the short journey into the kind of stop-start event you might expect when getting a train from London Bridge to Brighton via Wivelsfield, Balcombe, Hassocks, East Worthing, Worthing and West Worthing. As if this wasn't enough, when we finally got our bus from the Border to Kathmandu we quickly realised that we were on the same kind of local bus as before and our breaking point was fast approaching. A blown tyre, 729 stops, a huge traffic jam and 12 hours later we limped into Kathmandu - tired and more than ready for dinner. Thankfully, on the other side of this ordeal was a guy called Robbie, the boyfriend of Rose, an ex-workmate of Kate's. He picked us up from the bus and took us for a delicious pizza - a local delicacy in these parts I'll have you know! Add to that a lime soda and a good nights sleep and the recovery was complete!

The next few days in Kathmandu involved a whirlwind tour of the local sites as we took advantage of our well informed local guide - we saw the ornate temples of Durbar Square, the stupa at Boudhanath with crazy Buddah eyes, the tourist trappings of Thamel and the general hustle bustle of the locals selling their fine wares, all sandwiched between cups of masala tea and coffee and plates of momos and dal bhat (the local rice dish). The mood of the city was completely different to anything we had experienced in India - far more relaxed, probably because it's a little better set up for western tourists, but we still felt like we were experiencing a new culture and the day to day life of the locals. Kate even found time to sample the local brew - Raksi - and discovered it tasted as vile as it smelled. It was great just wandering around the hectic streets and taking in the sights, although easy to get distracted as I found out when a guy on a bicycle ran into me; luckily the locals go so slowly, meandering along on their heavy machinery, that at the moment of impact he was the one who almost ended up spread eagled on the concrete.

After a few days in the capital city, the few extra days we had engineered in Nepal meant that we could head for the Himalayas! This time we made sure that we had a tourist bus ticket and we set out on the 8 hour journey to Pokhara. Upon arrival we had managed to arrange a meet up with Dave (a uni friend from Sussex) and two others that he had pulled together (Andrew from Oz and Coleen from the USA), making our trekking group five strong. All that was left to do was to secure some basic supplies for the mountain (and by that I mean a little tipple) and we were ready to go. The choices were enedless and the advertising slogans truly inventive; there was 'Blue Diamond Gin - as rare as it sounds', 'White Mischief Vodka - wild and wicked' and 'Nepal Ice - the coolest beer'. However, in the end we couldn't resist, 'Playboy Whiskey - 100% whiskey satisfaction'. Although we weren't sure how whiskey satisfaction compared to any other kind of satisfaction, we were sure we were onto a winner. A nights sleep later, a taxi journey that involved 5 fully grown adults (and the driver) and all their trekking gear squeezing into a car the size of a Clio and we were on the trail doing a five day trek. It was amazing. We started walking alongside a glorious fast flowing river, but moved onto various forest trails and hill top ledges, constantly being left speechless by views of the snow capped Annapurna range. On the way around we swapped stories with the other guys, stayed in tiny teahouses (and a lookout tower), ate the local mountain food and played more games of cards in the evenings than is healthy. I would recommend it to anyone. After decending from our highest point of around 3,200 metres, we left the group and made our way back to Pokhara for a final eveing of good food and beer before heading back to Kathmandu for our last few days in Nepal.

On return to the city we chilled out a little more, feeling content that we had sampled a good cross section of what this place has to offer. We took a trip to a nearby town called Patan, which had more incredible temples, and started makng more plans for our onward journey. I cannot fully describe how much we have enjoyed our time here, and we'd definitely consider returning some day. However, for now we must go onwards - to Singapore and Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia beyond!

Namaste,

A&K