What a ride it has been so far. Let's jump way way back to July, my most epic return to Canadian soil. Starting off with a weekend in Vancouver with my brother and some amazing old friends. Catching up with the savvy Ed Witzke and the long lost friend Courtland Sandover-sly was amazing. Moving back to E-town brought on tonnes of friends, family and good times. From camping in Cadomin with my dad, to lake days at my mom's cabin, to countless dinners a coffees. Special shout out to Jasmine, Joel, and JD who were wonderful enough to make the journey into Edmonton for a catch up. Cheers to Britt who took on the intensive task of driving us out to Shambhala, and especiazlly for driving our exhausted selves back. Everyone else who I got to see, you made my time back home so awesome. I've got many many memories to keep me happy and sane on those long up-coming train rides across India. Thank you and lots of love!!!

Going back to Taipei was like coming home, but in a different way. It was nice to see my Taiwan life and friends one last time. Brittany and Michelle came out for a few days and I showed them what Taiwan living was all about. Day trip out to Jiufen, snake alley, KTV, night markets and copius amounts of dumplings. We even ventured out to Jiaoshi, a black sand beach on the east coast which I had no been to previously. Beach day was amazing, even in spite of being heinously stung by a jellyfish on the arm. Pretty swollen and gross for about 2 days but it's starting to flake away now. Saying goodbye for real to everyone, especially Moises and Winston, was extremely difficult. But I take comfort in the fact that goodbye just means I'll see you later, somewhere.

En route to Kathmandu, the girls and I finageled a day stop over in Bangkok. It really was the best of times and the worst of times. I realized right after we checked into our hotel that my camera must have fallen out of my bag while getting out of the cab. Luckily enough, I had the cab receipt, so reception was able to hunt down my cabbie for my and my camera was returned within and hour. Waking up early the next morning to get enough sight seeing in before our flight, we went down to grab a quick breakfast. A quickbreakfast turned into an hour long wait for food that never came (well, aside from my cornflakes). Thinking cabbing would be quick and easier to get around, we soon realized that wasn't the case in chaotic Bangkok as it took almost an hour to get into the city center.

The only items on our list of things to see in Bangkok were short, sweet and manageable for our short visit: the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha and the canal market. Upon arriving at the Grand Palace, we were told by a sweet talking tuk-tuk driver that the Grand Palace area was closed to tourists until 1pm due to monks having their prayer service. He then wheeled and dealed us into a 3-stop Buddha tour around Bangkok for 30 Baht. We fell right into his trap. The Buddha's were typical and unspectacular. The highlight was talking to a group of elementary school girls in front of one of the temples. We then got roped into going to a series of silk and jewel shops. The first 2 we just walked out of no problem. The 3rd, our driver told us that if we went in for 5 minutes, even without buying anything, the store would give him gas credit. Tired and hungry (we had been asking to go to a food market for over an hour) we relented. The 4th stop, we went in and instead of wasting our time looking at overpriced necklaces, Brit and I used that opportunity to use the washroom and freshen up. Some how our driver caught on to our trick as soon as we walked out of the store. That lead to a bit of a heated arguement in the parking lot. Long story short, I agreed to pay him 100 Baht if he just took us back to the Grand Palace. When we got there, I only gave him 50. Had I not walked away so quickly I could have learnt some colourful Thai words.

By that point we had just enough time to eat and head to the airport. That was my first experience in Thailand.

Getting to Nepal was a long and arduous journey. 3 hours from Bangkok to Delhi. Free booze on the flight. Flight full of Indian men who all seem to know each other, who all seem to always need a drink, who all like to talk with their head sets on. Create your own visual and you still might not be able to fully comprehend this experience. We managed to piss away 9 hours in Delhi airport quite easily. Spent most of it sleeping on the floor. The flight over to Kathmandu was uneventful until landing. The Kathmandu International airport looks like a relic barrack straight out of World War II, which they are still in the process of rebuilding. Getting Nepalese visas was an easy but slow task, but eventually we made it through and were met by the ever so friend Keshab and Monuj, 2 of our volunteer coordinators.

After freshening up at our quaint little hotel, we decided to go adventuring. In true Tash orienteering style, I managed to get us lost more than a few times. Eventually we jumped in a cab to Swayambhunath Stupa, and incredible Tibetan Buddhist temple on top of a hill overlooking the city. We were met by giant Buddha's, Hindu god statues and overzealous monkeys, one of which decided to attack Brit while she tried to take a photo, claws and teeth and everything.

Walking through one of the market area, we ended up talk to a vendor, Roshan, for quite some time. He then offered to take us up to the main temple and explain a lot of the meanings to us. It was amazing. He even lead us into a Tibetan prayer bowl shop and we got to use the Tibetan prayer bowls on our bodies in order to feel the vibrations and meditation. A much different experience than Jakub's rendition of the Tibetan prayer bowl.

The Stupa itself has indescribable beauty. All of Kathmandu does. The city itself is a veritable wasteland. Indescernable streets back with cars, scooters, garbage, strays and cows makes it almost impossible to get around. But there is an air of happiness to the city. Beyond the incessant honking and rubbish are endless smiling faces. Unlike Taiwan, where a foreigner is gawked at for being a foreigner, the Nepalese are more apt to make eye contact with a greeting, rather than staring my white skin up and down. It's a wonderful city, with beautiful people, so unlike anywhere I have ever been before. I love it.

Today we spent the day at the Nepal Volunteer Council head office. We were welcomed to Nepal by having a red tika mark placed on our foreheads and received necklaces of marigold around our necks. We were also presented with pens and notebooks. I really feel the modest legitimacy of our organization. We made a good choice. We then learned lots about the history of Nepal, about Hinduism and a crash course in Nepali. After an amazing feast of traditional Nepali food, we headed back to the hotel for a nap.

And so here I am, sitting in the hotel garden, sipping on Everest beer, preparing myself for the move out to the monastery tomorrow.