Restless Prairie Girl

Less than an hour to go until it's 2011 here in Kathmandu. We went to a place called Kilroy's run by an Irish chef. Had a drink called no rickshaw, no problem....made from liquer and different juices. Very good. Had chicken and then bread pudding for dessert which they are known for - pretty good. We walked there and back as only a ten minute walk if that but insane....crossing a busy street to get there was scary scary but Su led the way. Coming back the road wasn't as bad but the sidewalks were nuts with guys on motorcycles, etc. What a horrid city it is.....I love cities but not this one. I can't see any charm to it at all.... Up at 6 a.m. for our Everest flight at 7:30...apparently we can't take extra camera batteries in our hand luggage...have you ever heard of anything so insane? No prob tomorrow as the ones in my cameras are fully charged but still...weird....it's the airport policy and won't be able to have them in my hand luggage to fly...

Well we just arrived back in Kathmandu about a half hour ago. The rest of the group are doing a walking tour but I've already done it so am relaxing until we go out for dinner at 7 tonight. A nice hot (I hope) shower is next on the agenda after I've used up my hour of surfing time. We had a great time in Chitwan - we got to go on three elephant rides which were so much fun. They ranged from an hour and a half to two and a half hours. The one yesterday aft. was the longest as the driver wanted to find us a bear but no luck. We dove through dense jungle - vines were ripping through my shoes but when you are on an elephant you win! At one point we went almost straight down into a creek vertically - I felt like I was going to fall forwards off the elephant!! I nearly crossed myself when I saw what we were going to do...and you know how I feel about THAT!!! We got to see a rhino with her baby and it stood there for a few minutes - amazing. Also barking deer (yes they bark just li...

In Pokhara now - beautiful lake surrounded by the Annapurna Range. Amazing! These mountains make the Rockies look like babies! Wewalked up to the Peace pagoda yesterday which had a good view - unfortunately it was cloudy so some of the mountains were hidden. We are talking blue sky and fluffy clouds but when the mountaisn are so high you need a cloudless day!!! We won't talk about the walk up and back but I had lots of help. Free day today and the others are walking on another ridge but I am going to do some postcards hopefully and then walk around the lake when the light is better for photography. We took a boat over to a temple in the middle of the lake which was nice and peaceful...our "driver" had been into the booze I discovered but oh well he got us back safe and sound. For a while there we were wondering as we were barely moving - Anna thought he was going to rob us and I thought he was too damn drunk to row properly!! :) But all turned out well in the end. ...

I am listening to the rushing Trisuli river as I write this. Wifi here..woo hoo and cheaper than Kathmandu. I am having a relaxing day. The rest of the group....yes there is a group if you can call four of us a group....14 cancelled and two were apparently on the manifest from London to Delhi but nothing from there and cannot be tracked down.....anyway as I was saying the rest of the group went to Gorkha today. I opted after much soul searching to take a day off...there are 1000 stone steps to negotiate and my knees are still recovering from a hike the other day. Sometimes you just have to be sensible. And it's no hardship - this is a simple resort but lovely. I had hoped to use the palatial swimming pool but unless it warms up.....I want to go down to the river and take photographs but only plan to do that once due to all the steps so hanging in for the sun. It isn't 10 a,m, yet so lots of time. It's been a great few days. Our little resort in Nagarkot was lovely ...

Wow what a day! I am still so excited from everything I saw today. Anchie came to get me at 9:30 and off we walked to the old part of Kathmandu. We saw a famous temple - the Annapurna which is the goddess of grain....being from Saskatchewan I thought that was kind of cool. Of course that is the name of my hotel and the very famous mountain range here. Traffic was absolutely chaotic there as well but Anchie yanked me out of the way. She told me to just stand still and vehicles will go around you. These were narrow streets - well lanes really - but didn't stop motorbikes and vehicles careening down full tilt. Then we got to Durbar Square...wow wow wow. I can't even remember all the names of the temples but I do have my guide book so will update this when I get home. Fabulous!! I had my picture taken with a Sadhu - cost me 100 rupees (about 1.25) but was well worth it. This was a bit quieter at least and was able to get so many wonderful photographs....took photos of some school g...

Just had a go at the buffet breakfast here...it's pretty good. This morning had a cheese and mushroom omelette with fresh pineapple and papaya. And some pastries....yesterday I was more adventurous and tried the local food. But decided to give my tummy a break this morning as it doesn't feel up to it. Not sick, just a bit burning which is normal as I adjust to the spices. Excited about the walk this morning. Nervous about what is happening with the tour...from comments on Facebook it looks like some are cancelling out of the tour - can't say I blame them but doesn't look good for me. There is another tour one day later so maybe I can hook onto that one..it is late too of course so we shall see.....getting back here for my flight could be a problem. I just hope that tomorrow is my last day in Kathmandu - I want to get out and see the real Nepal. Not much else to report - hopefully lots more this evening!

The tour leader told me the rest of the group won't be arriving tomorrow...not until Tuesday at least now. Anyway for now I am going on a walking tour of Durbar Square in the morning that was scheduled so get a one on one tour. He also mentioned something in the afternoon but I could not really understand what he meant. Guess I will find out!!! I feel for the people who are stranded at Heathrow...well not being able to fly out - I'd rather be here than at the airport that's for sure. They will lose some of the tour - hopefully they don't end up cancelling the tour but it doesn't sound like it. I wonder if some will cancel out though...it must be so frustrating. They will all be exhausted when they get here and I will be wanting to talk their ears off as must admit I am starting to get a bit lonely. Kathmandu isn't the easiest city and I must look into getting a face mask as my throat is burning...I don't want to end up getting sick. Quite a few of the locals...