So much has happened is such a short time, it will be impossible to recap everything. So here are the highlights in a chronilogical order that makes sense to me.

Teaching was an amazing experience. We came to Nepal at an unfortunate time as there are many festivals during September which means there are no classes. All in all we taught 5 classes at the public school and only 2 in the monastery, but it's been an experience to last a lifetime. My grade 10 class was so much fun, and teaching the nuns was very cute. We even got to watch a spelling competition at our school which was pretty entertaining. Our last day was an easy day, I just played games with my students and gave them lots of candy. We took class photos and had tea and cake with the staff. Everyone at the school was so open and hospitable. I think the English teacher there was my favourite. He's definitely a child at heart, so friendly and full of energy, it was adorable speaking with him and watching him interact with the students.

Our last weekend in Kathmandu ended up being a free weekend for us. So the girls and I decided to do an overnight hike up to Nagarkot mountain. Took about 3 hours in the sun to reach the 7200ft summit. Of course the clouds rolled in as soon as we got to the top. We were able to see a bit of the valley but the panoramic view of the himalayas were completely blocked. C'est la vie. We had a very nice and chill night though. Naturally, I made friends with the hotel kitty. Didn't sleep so well, however, on account of a haunted hotel room.

Our last few days in Kathmandu were catch up with friends days. We went back to Swayambuth stupa to bid farewell to our vendor friends Sor and Roshan. On the way up, we stopped to pick up some bracelets and ended up having a cup of tea with the woman who sold us the bracelets. I cannot even count how many free cups of tea I've had through my Nepal journey. The Nepalese are the most wonderful and warm people. After hanging out for a bit with our Nepali friends, we decided to go grab some food. Change of plan, our friends decided to take us out Nepali style instead. So we went to this hole in the wall Tibetan restaurant for some traditional eats and more than a few laughs. Big success with homemade Tibetan rice wine.

Our last day in Kathmandu was met with a wonderful farewell party hosted by our volunteer program. It was very sad to say good ye to Keshab, Manuj and everyone else at Nepal Volunteers Council that helped us out so much during our time in Kathmandu and taught us so much about Nepal and it's culture. I speak perfect Nepali now, thanks to them.

I think it's also worthwhile to mention that while in Kathmandu, us girls decided to immortalize our time in Nepal by getting tattoos. So we went to this one shop and Britt got the Om symbol tatooed on the back of her neck. Half way through the piece the power cut out on us, in true Nepali style. So what do you do with a half finished tattoo in the dark? Finish it with a generator and cell phone lights of course. And it was done. As for Michelle and I, we did not get cell phone lit tattoos.

Now, we are in Pokhara, in the western Himalayan range of Nepal. We did another over night hike up mt Sarankot which was amazing. We had an awesome guide who took us up the back way which gave us amazing views of the town, lake and mountain sides. The hike took about 4.5 hours altogether, but we took our time and went up some pretty sketchy terrain. Near the top we stopped at a weaving shop for a drink and that is where we met Mountain Woman. She literally said "Hello, my name is Mountian Woman". This woman was sweeter than pie. She even fed us noodle soup for lunch for free. I bought a beautiful yak wool blanket off of her because really, no can resist Mountain Woman's charm.

The last few days have been lazy. Michelle left yesterday to meet her boyfriend in Varanasi, so it's down to just Brittany and I. Our friend Ashish came to visit for a day from Kathmandu. We rented a row boat and paddled/swam around Fewa lake during the afternoon. I think the exhaustion of the hike a few days before took it's toll last night and I was in bed by 8pm. Today, Brit, myself and a German fellow named Jonathon took a cab up to the so-called bat caves. Essentially a staircase leading into a cavarn. Saw enough sleeping bats to count on one hand. Not overly impressive. Definitely something a Taiwanese tour bus would be all over. Tomorrow we head back to Kathmadu. Looking into doing so rafting or paragliding before heading into India. Nepal is almost over, which is sad, but I am ready for the next chapter.

ps. I did get a tattoo!!