Annapurna for ten days.

I'll have to update you on everything when I get back - the internet connection here is terrible and it's about to thunderstorm!

To summarize. Read a book called "Magic Bus" on the very long very hot bus ride to Chitwan. Spent some time in a dugout canoe, walking through the jungle and checking out rhinos from the top of an elephant. Then, another long hot bus ride to Pokhara where the clouds are hiding the high Himalayas. Met four British college kids who went to boarding school together, three of the four of them got conjunctivitis and I hope I don't get it somehow. I think half of Nepal and India have conjunctivitis.

Tonight, I'm packing for the hike and charging everything I need. I met my guide, Dipu, and I think we'll get along just fine. I should be back on the 25th or 26th. I don't think there will be internet access for the duration of the trek, but, really, you never know.

Tons of pictures when I get back. I hope two gigs of memory will be enough...

Copyright Laws

Apparently there aren't any in Kathmandu. You can buy a fake version of anything here. Yesterday, I had to spend most of the day haggling for trip gear and dealing with Royal Nepal Airlines which was actually surprisingly efficient. I was only passed off to four different people, and I left with a ticket with a new sticker and some writing in less than thirty minutes. Let's hope it works at the airport in a few weeks' time.

Leaving Kathmandu

Today, I'm heading south to Chitwan National Park for a few days of safari. Then, back up to Pokhara for a night. The next day, we start the ten-day trek. Back in Kathmandu on Sept. 26. Not sure about internet access in all of these places, but I should be able to give you an update from Pokhara at the very least.

Trekking the Annapurnas.

I've signed up for a quick visit to Chitwan National Park and a ten-day trek in the Annapurnas. The Annapurna Sanctuary trek, which takes you to the Annapurna Base Camp at 4095 meters. That's about 13,500 feet. Wow. Should take about ten days.

Goods Carriers.

This is one of the least festive.

The bus ride to Delhi. We survived.

There's Emma! I was so sad to say goodbye to her. Sixteen hours instead of 12. One berth instead of two, but we fit. One toilet stop, instead of two. The bus stopped short of the bus station in Delhi and just let everyone off on the side of the road. The taxi driver tried to cheat us when we got to the hotel. Etc, etc, etc. All in all - not bad.

I'm in Kathmandu.

The flight was easy, but no good views because of the clouds. Kathmandu is sprawling, hazy with pollution, loud, and crowded. But, less so than India. I'm staying in the oldest hotel in Kathmandu, a tourist institution, tucked away in a backstreet totally removed from the city. It makes life easy.

Kathmandu.

Kathmandu
I'll soon be seeing you
And your strange bewildering time
Will hold me down

I think my visit to Kathmandu may be a little bit different from Cat Stevens. We'll see.

Probably back online Tuesday, after my flight from Delhi. Not sure about the internet access at the airport hotel.

Another overnight bus trip.

This time Emma and I are on a luxury Volvo sleeper bus (at least that's what we paid for). We arrive early in the morning and I'm going directly to an airport hotel (choosing not to revisit central Delhi).

Goats and Goat Cheese.

These things smell remarkably similar.

Hiking in Solang Valley

Surprise.

Yesterday, we unexpectedly came upon this outdoor cafe run by a Japanese guy who quit Tokyo and moved to this hillside five years ago. He will sell you tea, coffee, juice, and ramen noodles and holds raves for 200 people who trek up the side of this mountain to party. Those sticks, in sets of three, are warnings for cow dung. He also feeds about twenty dogs, two of which just gave birth to new litters of puppies. In the winter, the wind sometimes blows the roof off his house, but otherwise he says life is good on this mountain.

The water.

I'm definitely not drinking it. I'm not even brushing my teeth with it.

This may have contributed to my depression in Delhi.

I don't know why I was determined to finish it.

Today's hike...

Nepal next week...

Should I trek in the Annapurnas, travel to Tibet, or hang out in Kathmandu?

Altitude

We're at 2,000 meters...that's 6,000 feet...about the same elevation as Mt. Mitchell.

I'll be here in Manali for a few days...

So more updates soon.

Manali

Since it's the rainy season, the highest peaks are often hidden by th clouds. Today, we got a lucky break. This is the Kullu Valley.

Creatures

People in other parts of the world live with a lot of creatures. Like this one.

The Bus We Rode In On...

Well, one just like it. There is no such thing as "full" on any form of transport in India, so the aisles were packed and people were hanging out the doors the whole way (yes, for fourteen hours). Behind us, a woman was vomiting out the window and in the aisle a man was vomiting on my backpack, which I chose not to send up to the roof rack. Forgot to mention that.

Himalayan village

Today, Emma and I did a proper hike in the foothills of the Himalayas. It was a very National Geographic experience. I'll post some pictures when I get to Manali.

I'm working with dial-up here in Dalhousie, so I have to be patient.

Tomorrow, ten hour taxi ride to Manali...

Dalhousie. We're deep in India now.

Emma and I survived the 14-hour bus ride from Shimla to Dalhousie. I'll spare the details of the public bus because I've been informed I'm complaining too much. We are the only tourists here, with the exception of one English guy who is touring North India and Nepal by motorcycle, and he left today.

Twelve to 16 hour bus ride tonight. Can't wait.

We get on at 5 p.m. and arrive in Dalhousie who knows when. It's a hill station, set up by the British that governed from Lahore back in the Empire days. I don't know what the internet access is like there, so it may be a few days before I'm back online.

Sick.

Have you heard enough complaints? I'm sick, too. I'm hoping it was due to the mildew in a the hotel room (it's the wet season and nothing dries, everything is damp) so when I have new room in a new town, I'll get better. I'm almost out of Emergen-C, too.