OK now I'm finally gone and all your celebrations are over ill let you know whats going on out here. should have really written earlier but the computers out here are few and far between and when you do find one it so slow there is no point at all in trying to send anything.
Day 1
This day was completely taken up with flying which was so much fun (NOT!!) but it had to be done. landed in Delhi at about 6 in the morning their time to be hit with a wall of heat. at 6AM it was 29 degrees C. that is just stupid. we were all so tired from the first flight that we just sat outside the terminal for about 2 hours until we had to get on our next flight.
After getting off of this flight our travels began. First thing we see as we get out of the airport is just a sea of taxis and people chatting at you trying to get you into their taxi. it was just mad. we finally found a taxi to find it was just a clapped out banger with no dashboard and ropey seats. so i said to myself "this is the way to travel". Started making our way to the hotel to find that the driving style out in Nepal is so different. they don't stop for anything, overtake where ever and just generally drive like nutters. if they can get round the car/bike/truck in front they will hoot their horn for ages then shoot on by on the other side of the road. its great. scared the shits out of all of us for the first few days but we're over it.
made it to the hotel to get caught by a monsoon down poor!! when it rains out here you sure know about it. (i know mum i should have bought a coat) but out of all day we all bought some crazy trousers (photos to follow soon)
Day 2
Now we know a little more about what was going on we had to go and meet the group for the first time. this was done over dinner which was nice but our group is really old. the Dans and i are the youngest by a good 30 years apart from like one other yank that's here with us.
we have such a funny group, we have 2 Ozzie's that have taken to mothering us all (which is really annoying) us 3, 5 kiwi's, and a cool yank (never thought id say that) oh and how can i forget the weirdest guy I've ever met, GEORGE. this guy is a classic, for those of you the know will Hirsch he is just an older version of him. you never thought it was possible but it has happened.
After a stupidly early wake up call we went to see 3 temples. Bhaktapur, Swaysmbhunath (Buddha temple) and Pasupatinath (Monkey temple). to me they all looked pretty similar but it was a fun day out at we got to see a monk ceremony for a guy that had died so that was really nice to see. spent most of the rest of the day in the coach getting from place to place but that's all part of the trip. (obviously not the exciting part)
Day 3
Once again we were back on the coach for another trip (long trip) this time to chitwan national park. this was one of the long uncomfortable journeys we've been on but the end result was so worth it.
this day was mainly taken up with traveling to Chitwan so nothing much really happened other than we went shopping in the local market and met this awesome lady trying to sell us stuff. after being bugged majorly by everyone to buy their stuff for the past 2 days it was nice to find someone that was going to bug us to buy stuff and was actually really good fun to bargain with. so we ended up spending loads of money in her shop.
Also (just remembered) we went to see the Elephant breeding centre by local bikes. this was amazing seeing elephants this close. check out facebook i went crazy with the photo's.
Day 4
This has to have been one of the best days we've had so far. from the hotel we got a canoe down the river into the jungle to begin our trek through the jungle to try and find rhino and deer and anything wild. didn't see anything but the trek was so worth it. we ended up staying in little shacks by the river for the night which was amazing just because you could see everything for miles around. i sat outside for a bit and just got lost in the sheer number of stars that you could actually see out there. it was amazing.
Day 5
Trekked it back to the camp after seeing the crocodile centre to go on a 2 hour elephant ride to chase rhino. this was the most painful thing i think i could have ever done in my life but it was so worth ever second we were there. after the ride we came back to the hotel for a meal then went out to play snooker in the local snooker hall. in the middle of the jungle yet we still find a snooker table.
Day 6 and 7
These days spent mainly travelling so not much to report at all but we have crossed the border into India now and we are staying at Varanasi. Once something happens i shall report back again.
