Arrived in Bhote Kosi River near Tibetan border on Monday, dumped my stuff in a tent then immediately set about the Canyoning challenge with my 1st of a 2 day abseiling trek. The guides spoke broken English but I got the basic points, essentially the health and safety talk was over in 5 mins, this type of activity in England would have required a day of lecturing and slide show talks, thank god I chose to do this in Nepal!!

We set about abseiling down some waterfalls, 20 meters in length, was tough at first negotiating the slippery algaefied (don't think its a word) surfaces, my crotch took a pounding as well. The views were stunning, surrounded by mountains as far as the eye could see. The water was cold but fresh, got pretty wet when I we slid down a tiny waterfall into a pond, good wake up call!! What the guides hadn't explained at the briefing was that this was the season for leeches; they come out during the pre monsoon season and to the Nepalese are a sign of good fortune and wealth for the coming harvest.

Once I pulled myself out of the river my legs had made some new friends, had about 3 of the b a star ds sucking me dry. Pretty easy to pull off though, they leave a bleeding mark that looks far worse then it actually is so when you return to base camp you look tough and can act like a real hard man (if thats your preference) with sentances like " Its just a flesh wound" or ?"I aint got time to bleed"or  "i fell from 80 meters up and took a couple of cuts on the way down, no big deal". One girl got one in between her toes that looked horrific but caused no pain.

The second day Canyoning was more extreme, we took on a 60 meter waterfall, I adopted a technique of bouncing off the rocks, not the most graceful of descents but I got to the bottom. You don't realize how high up you are until about mid way through the abseil at which point you have no choice but to get down the beast. Great buzz when you get to the bottom, but again the groin area was a little tender!!

Wednesday was filled with fear and darkness as I contemplated the Bungee Jump, call me a chicken but I decided not to got through with it, however let it be known that I opted for, wait for it, THE BIGGEST SWING BUNGEE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, which basically involves a 7 second freefall followed by an immense swing through a large Canyon in the mountains. The buzz was incredible, it felt like one of those vivid dreams you have where you're falling but wake up, in this case you just keep on falling and falling, will definitely do a bungee next time, it's given me some well needed confidence in dealing with heights!!

As an added bonus got talking to a French Canadian who offered to lend me his rented Scrambler motor bike to go cruising through the mountain roads for an hour or so, couldn't believe the guys trusting generosity. Firstly he didn't know me and secondly if I damaged the bike in any way he would lose his deposit and most definitely be in lots of s h i t e. Was a little nervous setting out on the Nepalese road with this beast, it was pretty nippy, luckily helmet was supplied.

In Nepal everyone drives on the left so this was an advantage. What I did't bargain for was the state of the roads, I set off on a smooth tarmac road that continued into the mountains for 15 minutes but then changed into a rocky, bumpy, wet surface that would have been easier to walk across. I persisted, the biker mentality setting in, herds of cows were narrowly avoided and big rocks were dodged as I made my way through the mountains passing villages and its people who all stared at me like I was Gary Glitter returning to the UK.

 At one point i had to negotiate a ditch filled with village water waste that came up to my knees, the smell was horrific and i thanked god i didnt stack the bike!The constant vibrations in my hands because of the bumpy roads were starting to take its toll, so I decided to head back. Turning around I stalled the bike and had trouble getting it going again. It had a steel kick start that you push down with your foot; the trouble with this type of engineering is that if you miss the kick start or it slides off your foot it lets your leg know about it by ripping bits of skin off. This happened a few times and I think I screamed (F UC K FU CK DOUBLE F UC K FE CK) several times, the shouts lost into the mountains never to be heard again.

After the screams came the ride back which seemed worse because my arms were tired and my leg was bleeding. Made it back in one piece and thanked the guy over a beer, wasn't the most pleasurable bike experience in the world, I spent more time making sure I wouldn't crash rather than take in the amazing scenery.

Thursday was the start of rafting day, about 8 of us in a big dingy being tossed and turned by the rapids, first day was pretty tame to be honest but the Friday was the true test, 10 meter drops into yet more rapids, got put to the front in place of a French guy, think I weighed more. Felt the full force of the treacherous river as it pounded me again and again with the ice cold water; I rowed like a ba star d just to keep warm.In a slightly sadistic way the most enjoyable part of the day was when we hit a large rock and 2 of the crew, The French guy (lucky I traded places) and a Norwegian girl got thrown out into the ice cold river. Looked pretty dangerous at first, they both weren't expecting it and were fighting for air amongst the violent currents. We were in shallow water and there was a real fear that they were going to be swept under the dingy. I managed to drag the Norwegian girl up and into the dingy and the French guy pulled himself in. Will be receiving the Medal of Honor in Norway in an elaborate ceremony held by the Prime Minister in July, yeah right!!!!! Great fun was had by all; the 2 survivors had a few scratches and bruises though!

The bus journey back wasn't so pleasant, the roads in Nepal are unpredictable and bouncy as hell which means the only thing you can do is listen to music, reading is impossible and writing is hard, I tried it once in India and looking back at the journal its completely incomprehensible and is similar to how I imagine a monkey would doodle. Obviously im used to the roads now, the drivers are crazy and there isn't any rules of the road, we turned many a blind bends in the journey and all the driver could do was beep the horn and hope someone heard. Getting into Kathmandu by bus was hectic, this city is seriously over populated and it took us an hour an a half to get near the hotel. We were 10 minutes away when a car decided to cut in front and collided into the side of the bus, it wasn't a major accident but it took an hour for the car to de-wedge it self out of the bus and for all the Nepalese Bus Crew to stop shouting at the poor Chinese guy who had just totaled his car. To be honest im surprised it's taken this long for me to wind up in a sticky road accident, the people drive like total loons in this neck of the woods.

Finally made it back to the Kathmandu guest house in the pissing rain where I will stay until Wednesday, then its goodbye Nepal, Hello Thailand, here's to the beaches, parties and pina coladas, yip yip yip!!!!?

Over and out!? Much love to all xx

Photos of recent exploits to follow soon xx?