Today we are under curfew in our hotel. Not because of any political ructions but because of the Hindu festival, Holi, also known as the festival of colours which seems to involve throwing coloured water, paint and powder at anyone who ventures out on the street. Not entirely sure why but it is something to do with celebrating the coming of the monsoon later in the year. White women are particularly popular targets and over the last couple of weeks throwing bags ...

Day 3 - 4 in Kathmandu Well we got here OK and our bags arrived so can't be bad, though I already think we've brought all the wrong clothes. Never mind, everyone keeps telling us how cheap it is here so an excuse for a shopping expedition! First impressions of Kathmandu: well the reports of pollution are not exaggerated. You can see the smoggy haze when flying in and there are no real mountain views here, except in the early morning when the air is a bit cleare...

Only 2 weeks to go now before we fly off to Kathmandu on 12th March and strangely every thing seems to be coming together: We've sold the camper van from our Europe trip which means we have enough money behind us to not have any financial worries during our 2 years in Nepal; The flight tickets have arrived, though they did manage to have me down as Mr Amanda Service so I don't know who they are expecting when we arrive, or quite who Gordon will be sharing a room ...