Since I last wrote, a lot has happened.

As the end of July was approaching, Felix and I were looking forward to going to Nepal in the coming weeks.After 5 months in Tashijong, it was time to leave.I still think of the monks and I will always look back and remember their kindness and friendship which they offered to us.They were a great band of celebate brothers.We had a bit of a send off, and each monk presented us with a small robe.So after 60 of these were placed around my neck, you could hardly see my face in the photo.

I was excited about being on my own again, just on the move.I was starting to feel a bit tied down in Tashijong.It wasn't exactly intense working hours, but there was too much time to do not much, and I needed to hop on a bus and go.So Felix went to Leh, a remote area in the mountains, and I went to the Dalai Lama's town to get physical again.I did a week's course of yoga with a guy named Shivam, who was the guru of "France and Ladies".Unfortunately he didn't practice what he preached, and I got sick of him complaining about his stretching with such a fat belly from too many lattes in town.It was a good week though, staying in a cheap guest house up in the mountains.There was a 60 year old German photo journalist who hadn't renewed his VISA for the last 3 years.He was staying in the room next to me.He was great company, and I enjoyed watching him get stoned, day in, day out, with various other characters who wandered through.There was a hot shower, that worked, with a showerhead, that worked.This was orgasmic, as was being able to cook in a fully kitted up kitchen.There was a kiwi guy and his singaporian girlfriend who taught me how to cook many a thing, such as Chappati and dhal.Many nights of Uno were enjoyed by all.I never won.

2 weeks later, it was time to meet the other youngsters and head to Nepal.By youngsters I mean, the other teachers.I just felt a little bit older, because, I was.They were all 18.But once we'd all met up at Ambala train station, it turned out to be a tremendously easy group to travel with.No one was in any sort of hurry, and everyone enjoyed each others company.After a 21 hour train trip which followed an 8 hour delay, we arrived in Gorakhpur.Ahhh.. Gorakhpur.I'll look back on Gorakhpur one day, and… never look back.This place was a s*** hole.But it was a transit for us, and the city was a transit city also. I finally caught a glimpse of the simmering heat people complain about in India. I'd been protected for a long time.But now, it was time to sweat.And I sweat like a mother…….. We all did.We stayed in a really dark, dingy, hotel that cost too much for what it was worth.I lay on my bed and just felt the sweat dripping through my body, all around the bed, the world.The world was sweat.At least we had fans to keep the mozzies at bay.

We got up early in the morning, mainly to get the s*** out of there, and get to the border.Sunauli.We caught a hot bus for an hour and arrived.This was a strange place.There was a lot of activity.Many people, many tourists.A big white gate, which was open.We sifted through the chaos of advisory transport hasslers and made our way over the line.I might have just felt it because of a bit tired of India, but I really did feel relieved to be in Nepal.Felix noted it looked exactly the same.Which is true.But this was the terai, the low lands, and it was the border.

They all got 2 week VISAS, and I got myself a 3month VISA.It's a bit harder to stay in Nepal as long as India.A lot of people just go from one to the other for as long as they can, to avoid facing their lives in the West till they run out of money.We had some lunch and caught ourselves a vehicle to Lumbini, the famous birthplace of the Buddha.It was still very hot, but it was nice to arrive to a nice quiet place and stay in a monastery again.This time it was a Korean one.All around the site, designed by Japanese, are many monuments and Temples from all over the world, including a monastery from France.This is considered a very holy place.It was a very hot place too.So we sweated for another 50 hours, took it easy, hired some bikes to ruin our fertility, and checked out some Buddhist things.There was the place where Buddha's mum pushed him out, and we walked around for a while until it got too hot again.

Early the next next day ( I meant that), we picked up our full backpacks and caught a bike to the road to get the bus to Khatmandu.By the way, check out the photo of Felix riding the back of the bike with others on board behind him.Priceless.

We arrived in smoggy Khatmandu at about 5 o'clock.A guy who was trying to sell his hotel to us (not literally, but metaphorically of course) organized some taxis so we could see his place.It was okay, so after looking around and not finding anything better, we settled for a couple of rooms for $1.50 each.We stayed in Thamel for a few days, and saw a few sights.This was the real touristy area, so it fun but a bit tiring. I packed my things and moved to a place in Boudha, the Tibetan area, on my own.It's a 5 storey building.I'm on the top floor, the DVD shop is on the bottom floor and there are Tibetan folks in between.It's a very peaceful area, as there aren't really cars that drive through, mainly people walking.

So now I've been living here for a week on my own, and its really nice.I'm doing yoga and meditating twice a day, and getting Nepali lessons from a good teacher.I feel like my speaking nepali is better than my speaking Japanese.. already after one week.It's a reasonably simple language, and the grammar is pretty simple.

Now I'm off, gotta go and get into some compromising postures.