Nepal

Spent a day in Durbar Square, which is crammed full of buildings, whether temples, souvenir shops, toilets etc. We saw our first 'living goddess' - a female youth, chosen to continue the role until puberty. Briefly, she needs to undergo 32 strict physical requirements and various ordeals, such as spending time alone in a room in the dark with scary noises, or surrounded by sacrificed animals. She still seems to be smiling though, just...

Definitely was worth the couple 'o quid to get a guide to explain more about the history of the temples, as well as religious info, though sadly we seem to have forgotten most of that - sorry, too much to take in.

Just next to the Square is, what is now known as 'Freak Street', which is a 60's throwback to the days of a visit by The Beatles. Apparently, they took some drugs there, allegedly, and there's still too many hippies hanging around, man.

Also, took a trip out to the Monkey Temple, but made the initial first mistake of arriving whilst chomping on a banana. Our carrier bag of edible goodies was soon snatched, but soon retrieved, less the bananas. The temple quite interesting, and good views of the Kathmandu Valley, out to the airport. Of course, like lots of other tourist-y areas, we weren't short of offers to buy all manner of crap.

Our last temple stop in Kathmandu was Pashupatinath - a mecca of sorts, where the most curious (for us) of things happens - open air cremations, operating 24/7. Despite the 'corpses' being shrouded in cloth, and with various bits and bobs placed in their mouths (gold and combustibles - the soul takes flight out of the mouth), we did manage to see a smouldering foot and arm. Sorry to be flippant, but was a very interesting experience - again, given depth with the help of a local guide. As well as the macabre, there was also much Kama Sutra action on show in the form of carvings adorning the temple roofs.

The last part of our time in Nepal was to meet up with our travelling companions for our overland trip for the next 4 weeks......

Paul and Chris

19th July - up bright and early after a late night to bed doing the last few things at home (I wish we'd packed our house up weeks ago!).

Realised that my rucksack wasn't going to carry as much as I thought, but have managed to squeeze in all the essentials.

The flight out to Bahrain uneventful, though an hour or so delayed and after several hours wait in Bahrain we took the overnight flight with Gulf Air to Kathmandu. I regret, no seat-back TV's on that leg of the journey but the in-flight mag was, er, interesting.

Got to our hotel (Hotel Ganesh Himal) in time for breakfast (a Coke) then spent most of the rest of the day asleep. The hotel is fine - and in a quiet location - so a nice change from the madness of the surrounding streets. Seems to be just us and another guy staying here, though it is low season.

The streets round here are a constant symphony of cars, bikes, goats and horns, with added fumes and smoke for atmosphere. The lack of space to get around doesn't seem to trouble people and there's no sign of road rage at all, though use of the horn could be some way to let off steam.

People here very friendly and we feel safe, despite the troubles here just a couple of months ago, when travelling here was a no-go. It has been interesting to hear first hand how things have been here over the last couple of years - very tough.

We've yet to see outside of the Kathmandu Valley - inside tends to revolve around places of worship, though we've yet to explore in great detail. The view from the Monkey Temple seems to be the best view around here.

We've picked up on at least 7 new smells since we arrived. but one of those may have been me.

Considering the weather forecast was for days and days of thunder showers, we've yet to see that, though had a little rain. Not too hot, similar to the current heatwave in the UK.

Meeting with the group with whom we travel through China tomorrow - please, please, please let them be cool!, then we leave Kathmandu on Tuesday for the next part of the trip.

Have mostly been playing Bomberman and Trauma Center on the Nintendo.

Have mostly been listening to Queens of the Stone Age and Aphex Twin.

No dodgy stomach yet, though Chris had a little bit of sick at the side of the road yesterday - she's fine now, just a little excited I guess.

Must get going now, for a Gaylord Ice Cream - sorry, just had to mention it.

Paul xx