Namaste!

I arrived in Nepal on the 10th April. Driving across the border and into Nepal the land progressively got greener and the weather slightly cooler. I had a feeling I was really going to love this country so far I absolutely have.

The first night we stayed a night in Lumbini and in the morning visited the exact birth place of Buddha in 563BC. It was really interesting learning about Buddhism and walking around the ruins of the old temples. Sitting under the huge Buddhist tree surrounded by these ruins and thousands of colourful prayer flags was amazing. The rest of the day was spent travelling to Chitwan National Park where we would stay two nights. This was the part of the trip I had been most excited about. On the journey we saw the beautiful scenery. Green mountains with ridges in the mountainside, rivers and waterfalls, eagles flying around and the snowy Himalayan Mountains peaking through the clouds. We stopped for lunch in a small rural Nepalese restaurant. Outside chickens where hanging and inside there were guinea pigs in cages... I noticed this after we ate our tasty traditional Nepalese meal of Dal Bhat. We arrived in Chitwan some hours later. It was so rural and incredibly peaceful. We ate dinner looking over the river and jungle whist there was an amazing thunderstorm going on - never have I heard thunder like it! Later on I fed a beautiful elephant. The next day has to have been my favourite day yet. We went on an elephant safari in the deep jungle, washed an elephant in the river, played being beautiful Nepalese children in the river and then later we went for a canoe ride in croc infested waters to an elephant sanctuary. I saw the only twin baby elephants in Asia.. Pretty cool. The elephants were incredible - they really are magnificent animals. We rode on home sitting on the roof of a truck and soaked in the views of the rice paddy fields and elephants strolling around the place. That evening there was lightning which lasted for three hours.. Such a great day!

Next stop Pokhara! When we arrived we took a walk around the town and relaxed by the lakeside. Pokhara is a really nice town and very tourist friendly. The next morning we were up and away very early so that we could watch the sunrise at Sarangkot. Watching the sun slowley appear and gradually illuminate the Himalayan mountains was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. In the afternoon we went paragliding! It was so much fun and the view of the lake and the Annapurna range was amazing. A wind picked up and blew us away from where we were supposed to land resulting in us having to make a crash landing on the other side of the lake. Rather scary but it was okay. The steak and pepper sauce made it all better that evening. After dinner we went out for cocktails in Busy Bees Bar to celebrate a guy called Jamie's birthday. I had a brilliant two days in Pokhara.

The last stop of my tour was the magical city of Kathmandu!! We travelled by bus on one the most dangerous roads in the - a little scary. We visited Swayambhunath, the monkey temple. It was very impressive and there were incredible views of the city from the top. That evening we had our final dinner as a full team which was quite sad really. It has been such an amazing trip and I truly have loved every second. It has been horrendously smelly, dirty and crazy at times but I have seen and experienced so many new things and met such wonderful people along the way.

After a rooftop gathering in our lovely hotel, some goodbyes began. Quite a few people were staying on in Kathmandu for a few days. The following morning we went for a mountain flight in a small plane to see the awe inspiring Mount Everest. This was incredible!!! The perfect way to end such a perfect trip!