I realised that there’s still a lot of catching up to do with the photos so that’ll get sorted out in the next few days!

We’ve seen a lot since Naples, including Pompeii, Rome, Amalfi, Madrid and Seville. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go to Florence but will save that for another time. Apparently the city is so beautiful that there is an official “Florence syndrome”, which many tourists suffer and are hospitalized for. Symptoms include headaches, weakness and even comas, and are triggered by the amount of beauty that the brain has to process! No joke. They apparently take it quite seriously.

I’m having trouble remembering what we have done and in what order so I’ll sum it all up directly from Sarah’s diary, which will be much more accurate and no doubt more interesting!.. So this is her entry, starting from Pompeii!

Pompeii – 24/06…

Today we packed up and took the train to Pompeii. The hotel was even nicer than yesterday’s and Pompeii itself was amazing. I’d been looking forward to it for ages and it definitely lived up to expectations. Vesuvius erupted over it in 79 AD and left it covered in ash, but due to perfect conservation it is now a city of incredible ruins. You can actually walk through the streets, go inside the houses, the gardens and visit the forum and amphitheatre. The hordes of tourists make it a bit harder to imagine how it used to be but it’s still overwhelming to walk past the rooms and what used to be restaurants.

It is literally an entire city and even the wall paintings are still present and preserved, often in their entirety. They also made reconstructions of people (and animals) by putting plaster in the holes left in the ground by the decomposed bodies, and extracting the moulds. One was all huddled up sitting in a corner, another one with their hands up covering their face. Amazing, until you hear a stupid American going “awww, that one’s asleep…”

Afterwards we rested and then went to see the defeat of the Italian football team in a local cafe. It was great when Italy scored but also hilarious when they conceded two more against the Slovakians; men in suits crying “Mama Mia! Mi fa male a il cuore! L’emozione!” (which basicly means: “My mother! It hurts my heart! What an emotion!”) We visited the beautiful basilisc with breathtaking paintings, unexpectedly superb for such a small city! Tim freaked out a bit when all the old ladies started singing with their hands raised in the air, because he thought it was like a sect.

Train to Rome – 27/06

We didn’t do much more that day in Pompeii, bu the next day had a guided tour of “the house of Gaius J Polibius”, a brand new attraction in Pompeii. It was only the three of us an an American woman (who kept annoying me by asking to fix the flash on her camera every five minutes). The guide showed us through the house (partly original, partly reconstructed), where we saw the kitchen, pluvarium (where rain is collected), triclineum, garden, bedrooms… And the special thing about this visit was that we were welcomed by Mr. Polibius himself, in the form of a hologram! They had based his features on the cast that was made of him and he explained some things about his home and how he was happy to welcome us into it 2000 years after its destruction, what he would do in his garden etc. He explained how, just before the eruption, he told everyone in the house to take shelter in the end room, which is where all 12 of them found their fate. Including his daughter, who was in the last month of her pregnancy. There was also a hologram of her, and with a bit of imagination you could picture the people in the house, doing their daily routines… It was a bit emotional to be able to make this little voyage back in time!

We left Pompeii behind and made our way to the coastal town of Amalfi, which is nicely perched in the mountain and where our hotel had the most amazing view over the sea from all directions; the best being at night when the full moon lit up the ocean. On the second night we even got a red moon! In Amalfi we mostly chilled, ate lovely meals in a hidden little tavern away from the touristy roads, had gelatos and walked on the beach. We witnessed an Italian wedding and tasted local limoncello, as well as looking at the pretty church, which along with the rest of Amalfi, is a listed UNESCO-heritage. We also had little cappuccinos while laughing at Italian passers-by screaming mama mia with big hand movements, having fiery discussions about nothing, or just standing there playing with their balls. This morning we took the bus and two trains on our way to Rome!

Seville – 02/07

When the train arrived in Rome, we found our lovely family-run B&B in and old pretty building near the Termini train station. While Tim went to see the England game, Jacqueline and I went to see some sights; the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the famous Spanish steps, the Fountain of Trevi and Rome’s most notorious gelataria San Crispino. I had their famous honey and liquorice flavour! We saw the Pantheon and one of my favourite places “Area Sacra”, or as I like to call it “the cat forum”; lots of kitties chilling amongst old ruins! You can even adopt them now. Also saw the monastery I stayed at last time I was here, and we tried to see if we could stay there again but unfortunately it was full. We met with Tim at the Pantheon and headed to Piazza Navona, a square full of portrait/caracaturists, artists, living statues, clowns, musicians and an old man doing a little puppet show with his fingers. After a rest we ate in a cool restaurant where gypsys played music.

The next day, nice breakfast at the hotel and then to the station to drop off Jacqueline. After goodbyes we had to go on an information hunt in order to find out what to do/where to go next! Surprisingly, transport is a lot more complicated in Europe than in Asia. In Asia you know that there’s always going to be a big bus station, from which buses will take you WHEREVER you want, even to other countries, and which will be cheap and frequent. But here, info is not easy to find and is almost a secret in which you must complete a treasure hunt to earn. So we had to go across Rome to the bus station in order to discover that what we wanted didn’t exist, and at the train station they told us the only way to get to Madrid was via Paris!

We found a hotel called “When in Rome”, which had country-themes rooms (we had India) and needed six keys to get into our room! Tim and I revisited the sights from yesterday and saw the Holland game in a pub full of Dutchies. We won! We booked a flight to Madrid for the next day, which is the main hub between Rome and Morocco, and also the cheapest way to get there.

Left out bags at a laundromat with a very chatty Indian guy, then wandered through Rome for some hours. Saw a very pretty and hidden church but forgot the name. IV Fontana was nice too and we also saw the Quirinale. We visited the “6 miliard d’autres” exposition by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, which was cool as it was in fact a ruin turned into a museum (Museo di Fori Imperiali) and had small old chambers, each with a video installation showing people from all over the world answering the same questions about love, faith, childhood memories etc.

After this we picked up our bags and took a bus to the airport where we watched Spain vs Portugal amongst 40 or 50 other fans sitting on the floor at the terminal. We didn’t really sleep between then and our flight time (6.25am) but we were soon in Madrid.

Of course there was a metro strike (we seem to magicly attract strikes, protests, demonstrations wherever we go) so had to take a long crowded busride to the city. So far not a single soul speaks English here, but when Tim showed a lady on the bus where we had to go he soon had three people debating over which stop was the best one to get off at. So we managed to find our hotel, checked in and made our way through the sweltering 36 degree heat where Tim found an abundance of record shops without even searching for them. We visited the Royal Palace – the official residence of the king, and were able to see 50 out of the 2800 rooms in the complex. It was extremely over the top as you’d expect; millions of euros worth of gold, marble paintings covering the walls… Very pompous but so interesting to see. There was even a room with FIVE Stradavarius violins and a cello!

We sat in the tranquil surrounding gardens for a while and wandered around the city for a bit. Madrid is very big, with huge roads that take minutes to cross, people everywhere, and although it doesn’t have any particular beauty or charm, some bits are very pretty. We took a long walk and treated ourselves to some Hard Rock food, where they had some decent memorabilia including Bono’s motorbike and Jacko’s shoes. Tim took us on a short record shop tour in a street full of many many people with tattoos and dreads, and lots of cool arty shops.

Today we got up early to catch the bus to Seville, which is smaller with lots of colourful houses and a nice smell of food everywhere. We visited the famous cathedral (supposedly one of the world’s biggest) and I was able to buy a couple of dresses. All the cities start to blend together and look alike and it’s getting hard to get excited about things seeing as we’ve seen so many places, so many streets, stations, people… Maybe our minds are getting full!

There’s a lot about the Italians and their character. We haven’t been here long but a few things are already blatantly apparent about the city and the people so far…

They walk VERY slowly, are generally overweight (probably due to their three-course meals of pasta, pizza, ice cream), and have normal conversations with each other that, to anyone other than Italian, look like arguments that are just about to turn ugly. It’s only when they pause and smile that you realise this is just how they communicate. Their hands wave around, they shout instead of talking and their facial expressions suggest that they’ve just been sold a car that doesn’t start. They must think us English are real wimps with all our over-politeness. But at least we know how to drive! The streets are very narrow here and just how you’d imagine typical Italian streets. Cobbled paths and tall buildigs with Italian flags hanging out of every other window is the norm; it really shows the country in its full colour. We were walking around on the first evening and Sarah noticed how every single car was damaged in one way or another. We checked out the line of parked cars and there was indeed not one without a dent, broken light, or some other war wound. We gave up looking after about thirty consecutively ruined cars… They drive a bit crazy here, especially the vespas that can come flying round any corner. When you need to cross the road then cars will not wait, even when it’s the green man! The normal thing to do is to walk out into road, just as you would if you wanted to die, and the cars stop for you. Simple.

Many black immigrants populate the streets selling their counterfeit/stolen designer shades and handbags and you can’t go one minute without coming across pizza, of course. There are a lot of pizzerias, but more commonly nice little bakery-style places that sell slices of pizza along with slushies, coffees and assortments of very tempting pastry and cake snacks. It’s probably in an Italian’s genes to be able to choose the freshest one, but we’ve had some of the cakes and they really do taste as good as they look. Besides pizza, there’s Market-style shops that spill out onto the street and we even spotted a porno cinema, with air-conditioning, no less. Very fitting considering Italian men always chill out with their hand in their pants, whether it’s having a coffee, watching the TV, or even in a shop talking to a customer.

Seeing as Italy is ‘the’ place for pizza, and Naples is the originator of pizza, then we figured that we were in for a treat when it came to food. On the first night we ate ate the famous “Del Presidente” pizzeria on Via dei Tribunali, which is owned by the world’s most famous pizza maker Ernesto Caciaill. The place was covered in awards and photos of celebs that had passed through the doors, particularly Bill Clinton who has a personal shrine downstairs. The marinara was great and cooked in a traditional brick oven with firewood, which is how the “real” pizzas are supposed to be made. We had some gelato (ice cream) from a street vendor afterwards, in true Italian style.

We changed hotel the next day and had a coffee in one of the many cafes around town. They’re all very small with a bar where people get their caffeine fix on the way to work. There’s usually nowhere to sit down, maybe just one table outside if you’re lucky. But this is because the trend is to get the coffee, drink it fast, and get out of there. No time for gezelligheid in Naples. We even saw people buying takeaway expressos in minature plastic boxes with miniscule straws!

We met Jacqueline in the evening, after seeing some more of the city’s sights, who had flown in from Amsterdam to meet us. We rejoiced and ate more pizza, this time at “Da Michele”, which has been open since 1870 and is world famous for the raucously sacred experience it provides. Sarah was reading an autobiography recently called “Eat, Pray, Love”, where the author described a time when she asked a Napolese local where she could find the best pizza… She got a small piece of paper with directions and explained how she got there, ordered a double-mozarella pizza and cried whilst eating it; it was that good. We waited outside for 30 minutes whilst people filtered in and out and finally got in to get our taste of what is officially the best pizza in the world. I had one to myself and Sarah and Jacqueline shared one as they were humongous! And tasted really fuckin good. I didn’t cry, but did spend the whole of today thinking about how good it was, and felt very bad when we walked past the street and didn’t go in for a second time. The double mozarella was the key. Top marks, and good value for just €5.

Today is Wednesday and we finished our Naples experience with a trip to the very interesting archeological museum and a random walk into some of the more local alleyways/streets. A very cultural day!

Tomorrow we’re getting up early and plan to get a train to Pompeii and spend a day and night amongst the ruins left behind by the Mt Vesuvius destruction back in AD 79. Let’s hope there’s no eruption.

When we got into Athens, it was a super easy job to get the Metro to Syntagma Square, which is in the heart of the city and a few minutes walk from the hotel that Jan had very generously booked for our arrival. He was flying in to the city in the afternoon so we sorted ourselves out, picked up a map and I plotted a few record shop locations that I had looked up and got the addresses for previously. Proper underground record shops are now extinct in both Birmingham and Amsterdam so I was very excited to see that Athens may still have a few knocking about in the backstreets somewhere, not yet dead from the Internet. Luckily they were all around the “Exarchia” area, so within five minutes of each other, although we only had chance to visit two on day one. I convinced Sarah that a “record shop tour” would lead us to the underground streets of Athens and give us a bit of a more of an authentic experience than the usual tourist areas, and it certainly did! Sarah found a “Paul” patisserie, which is usually exclusive only to France (they even had fresh macarons) and we managed to stumble across a great little windowless Greek restaurant, which was oozing local atmosphere. It was funny because for months Sarah had been talking about the Greek “smell” that comes from traditional Greek restaurants, and we walked past this place and both smelt the goodness straight away. We memorized the location, then visited Solomos Records, which according to Google was very hard to find, but well worth the time. It was down some stairs and literally underground, with a big selection of CD singles and vinyl, in absolutely no order whatsoever (all record shops in Athens are like this, so makes it feel more like a tiny record fair than a record shop!) and makes it hard work trying to find what you’re after. I came across a couple of €1 Presidents CDs that I can use for a PUSAfan.com competition and just before leaving I had a quick look through the two stacks of 7″ vinyls and found the Supergroup 7″ from 1994 that I’ve been after forever! I couldn’t believe my eyes; mint condition and only €3! This is a side project of Chris Ballew from the Presidents of the USA, just before they recorded their first album. Mega rare. I remember seeing this in one of Birmingham’s underground shops “Plastic Factory” ten years ago for £6 and after thinking it was too much to pay at the time, have regretted not buying it ever since.

The whole area was very arty and reminded me much of Birmingham’s old backstreets, with loads of cool graffiti, skate shops, small cafes, comic book shops and loads of other small independent and specialist places.

We headed back to Syntagma Square and met Jan for a family reunion; it was weird after being away for so long and cured the homesickness of Amsterdam that we were beginning to feel. This is something like Jan’s 20th time in Greece, and Sarah has been about 15 times herself so they were able to educate me on the traditions and best things about the country, particularly the food, which I’ll explain later.

Lunch was needed so we walked back to that same local place where we were the only non-Greeks. Jan was able to understand the Greek (it was so local that there was no English menu!) and we ate Keftedes (meatballs), Greek salad, Patates (fried chips) and Paela – mostly typical Greek dishes. We ate on a paper table cloth, which is standard Greek (and saves them cleaning the table afterwards) and got the usual feast basket of bread to go with our food. They were playing local Greek music and it was all very relaxed and cosy. And the salad had ‘real’ black olives, which was much tastier and a nice change to the fake ones that we usually get in Amsterdam!

We spent the evening enjoying the masses of street markets and little shops in the Plaka area, which had allsorts of things from souvenirs, to clothes, to (more) records. There was some reminiscing of the areas Sarah and Jan had visited years ago around the tremendous Akropolis and we had a few drinks to re-energize from the intense 35 deg c heat. We relaxed on the 9th floor rooftop terrace of the hotel and drank Ouzo whilst watching the sun go down over the Akropolis with an amazing view.

Woke up early the following day (Wednesday) to get the “Flying Dolphin” ferry to Poros, a small but beautiful island about 90 minutes from the mainland. Our hotel was quiet and chilled out and we walked up into the villages, away from the more touristy strip along the sea side, where there were some stray cats and very very stereotype blue and white Greek houses. It was very cool to see the traditional houses in this way, instead of just imagining them as they always appear on the TV! They really do exist. We also ate at a very nice place at the end of the strip where we got the usual experience, along with some new Greek tastes (for me, anyway). We ate Saganaki (grilled cheese with a crispy outside – nice rubber texture and possibly one of the nicest things I’ve ever tasted), grilled feta in pastry with honey and seeds over it, Greek salad and fried shrimps (freshly caught that day). The Greeks also like their coffee a lot (much more than tea), but because it’s so hot everyone was having “freddo” coffees, or “frappachinos”. Both me and Sarah had some as they looked so good, and ended up having quite a few more whilst in Greece. They’re basically ice coffees but made in a special way, in a tall glass – very good! We watched Greece vs Nigeria and got to see the locals celebrating the big win for the home team. I was talking to one of the owners of the hotel later on and he was saying how this was the first time in a long time that the locals have had smiles on their faces, after suffering all the recent economic problems.

On Thursday we rented some bicycles and spent the day at the beach, on a nice and quiet spot about 20 minutes away. The island as a whole was very quiet and we must’ve got lucky coming at the right time as high season, and even weekends, apparently get very busy. The sea was nice with loads of fishes around and Jan and Sarah managed to get a bit burnt.

After two days of paradise we had to head back, but not before some more Saganaki and freshly-caught sardines from the same nice place as before. When back in Athens we discovered that the Metro was on strike (typical given our travel so far!) so Jan had to unfortunately make an early exit in order to catch his flight; too bad, but thanks Jan for the entertainment! We both enjoyed it a lot.

Our hotel for the next two nights wasn’t far away so we checked in, had a drink and had a quick look at the rest of the record shops. Some were closed, some had shut down and a couple were open. The last one was great and I picked up the first ever Presidents 7″ “Fuck California” from ’94 for €4! This’ll be a super prize for my next PUSAfan conpetition. They also had the original first LP on black vinyl 12″, which I don’t have, but there was no way for me to transport it and €9 was a bit much. By this time it was getting late and we ended up sleeping from 7pm till the next morning! We were pretty worn out from the sun but nice and fresh for the next day. Couldn’t believe we slept through the England game but looking back now, I’m glad we did.

On Saturday we spent some time figuring out how to get to Italy and decided that we’d go on Sunday morning. We walked around Plaka and saw the Akropolis again and many other ancient ruins, including the church of metamorphosis, all of which were incredible to see. We also got a bit lost and ended up being elevated somewhere between these places, in a completely remote little village! There were lemon and orange trees growing and loads of narrow staircases connecting the group of houses. It was so close to the touristy streets, but there wasn’t a tourist in sight, it was so weird and like a magical getaway. Because we don’t usually mind walking around and getting lost, we often find ourselves coming across these cool little things that would never be documented in any guide book. It’s a nice as unique way to experience the real culture as well. In the evening we went to an open-air cinema, which was like a garden with plastic chairs and tables, with a cinema screen at the front, surrounded by bushes. The Akropolis was lit up right next to the screen and we saw the sun set during the film, which was absolutely amazing.

Today is Sunday and we’re currently in Patras (west coast of Greece), waiting to board our overnight ferry to Bari in Italy, where we will get a three-hour bus to Neples tomorrow. It’s going to be a long travel day as we already took a bus and two trains to get here this morning! Not sure what Italy has in store for us but we’ll find out soon.

We got to Sofia very early yesterday morning and tried to figure out how to get into the main city. Unfortunately the grumpy old lady at the information booth spoke no English, as did no one else, so with her knowledge of Greek, Sarah saved our asses by deciphering some of the cyrillic and getting us in the right direction. We took a cheap taxi to our hostel and made the most of the free, simple, breakfast buffet. The place is very cosy and welcoming and the staff do speak good English, so they gave us map and explained a few things to do around the city. The main area is quite small and walkable so we were able to see the Church, Lady Market and a few other points of interest in the afternoon and will see the rest tommorrow, on Sunday.

I don’t think Sofia is majorly touristy but it is very nice and clean, a bit like Budapest and Istanbul. The people are quite funny and have a “dramatic” look, as Sarah describes them. We have our “point-it” book on hand in case it comes in handy as well, which it probably will as there is less English speaking here than anywhere on the travel so far! Unfortunately we didn’t have it with us at the bus station in Istanbul, where we wanted to order a last apple tea but the guy had no idea what we were saying! We had to make do with asking for simple black “çay” as we couldn’t remember the word for apple.

Today we got a very early bus to the east coast – a bit silly seeing as we came from that way, but we only decided on this whilst on the way to Sofia. It was quite a long journey to “Varna” where we’re staying tonight before heading back to Sofia in the morning again. We spent the afternoon at the beach and swam in the Black Sea along with many Bulgarian tourists who had come out with their families. The sea was pretty standard but a bit thicker than normal, with loads of fishes and jellyfish swimming around. It was also very cold! Despite the weather being mega hot, around 34 degrees celcius. I don’t think we’re that used to the heat after all.

Tomorrow we will find out about getting to Athens, which will hopefully be an overnight train or bus on Monday night. Will probably give an update when we arrive, or when I get time.

Tim

We got here safely and without any problems, which was a relief. Our first flight was upgraded to first class for some reason so we got huge comfortable seats, a special food menu that was delivered in real bowls and plates instead of the usual tin foil takeaway boxes they come in. That was Kathmandu > Delhi. Delhi > Abu Dhabi was uneventful, but the Abu Dhabi airport is great and very modern. I think we’ll go back to UAE some time, maybe to Dubai as it seems to be a nice place. I think a lot of business goes on there, a bit like in Singapore, and sounds quite similar.

When we arrived in Turkey I bought my visa and we waited about an hour to clear immigration as most of the airport staff still hadn’t arrived for work (it was 6.15am). Our bags miraculously made it from Nepal to Turkey, over three different flights and two different airlines, without much problem. Although when we disembarked the plane, Sarah spotted her bag coming off, followed by mine, which ended up missing the conveyor belt and falling over 15ft to the ground! I think the baggage handlers purposely treat everyone’s bags like shit by law, as they’re always scuffed up pretty bad after a flight.

At the airport, a rep from the hotel was waiting with a sign saying “Sarah Boers” and took us to the hotel, which Sarah’s aunt and grandmother (Aty and Oma – Ria, I hope you don’t mind me callig you Oma but it seems more natural!) had very kindly arranged for us. They had checked in the previous day in order to meet with us for what was a most refreshing and lovely few days of seeing friendly faces and properly being back in the “real world”. First thing we noticed on arrival was how white people were! After being in Asia for so long we automatically assumed that everyone would be dark. The hotel was called “Historia” and very luxurious, in the heart of “Old” Istanbul, right next to the Marmara sea. There is both an old and new Istanbul, which are separated by the Golden Horn river and joined by the Galata Bridge, which connects to Galatasary – more about that later. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we endulged the super-buffet that was included, where lots of traditional Turkish breakfast bits (different cheeses, olives, some vegetable/tomato sauce dish I can’t describe) as well as the usual cakes, fruits, drinks and warm food selections were on offer. It was exciting after eating rice for three months!

Sarah woke up Aty and Oma and we finished breakfast and caught up for a bit before a small sleep, which was much needed after 27 hours of being awake and having to constantly stay on the ball with all the flight stuff.

This was Saturday morning and we woke up at midday to check out Istanbul and see some sights. First point of call was lunch on a lovely high rooftop restaurant overlooking the famous Blue Mosque. We all had some nice foods and I had a tasty stuffed aubergeine. We then went the Sultan’s palace “Topkapi”, which is a huge group of courtyards, houses and libraries and was the lush seat of the sultans from 1462 until they moved base in the 19th century. We then visited the Grand Bazaar Market, which was like a humongous covered medieval shopping mall selling everything from traditional handicrafts to waterpipes to clothing to jewellery. It is the biggest bazaar in the world as far as I know, with 22 separate entrances and 4500 shops! Needless to say it is impossible to navigate so we happily wondered around taking whichever turn looked good. Aty and Oma did some shopping and we enjoyed haggling prices with the over-zealous Turkish vendors, who seemed to enjoy having the pleasure of our presence. They are all mega-talkative and comedians. It was so funny as they have their own names for everyone and would call Oma “organic mama” and “mafia mama”! They would also call us sexy lady, sexy man etc to flatter us. They were of course always looking for a sale but it was all so genuine and harmless and was hard to believe they weren’t on some kind of hyper active drugs! They would also give us Turkish delights and teas out of friendliness, which made it such a cool authentic experience. The vendors always take teas to one another as well and they all themselves seem to enjoy the atmosphere and life of the bazaar. If we stopped to talk to everyone then we’d have been there forever so it’s usually a good idea to simply ignore them, but it doesn’t stop them coming out with classic quotes like “yes, now it’s my turn! Come and look!” or “Do you want to spend all your money in my shop?” There is a group of cosy little cafes in the centre of the bazaar so we sat down there for our first Turkish tea experience, which was the start of a great addiction. We each had a different one; Oma had mint, Aty cinnamon, Sarah apple and me sage! They weren’t simple teabag teas but natural ones, so the taste was much fuller. My sage tasted like English stuffing, just like I had expected. They also gave us a bonus tea afterwards as well, just to confirm how hospitable the Turks are. That was our busy Saturday and we ate at a nice restaurant next to the hotel in the evening, where the staff were so talkative that we thought we’d never be able to leave!

On Sunday we filled up on the breakfast buffet again and visited the Aya Sofia (Church of Holy Wisdom), which was a church from 532AD when it was built, but was converted into a mosque in 1453. The contrast between the two is noticeable and was great to see and experience, especially with all the history of it. We then visited the Blue Mosque, which was originally built to rival the Aya Sofia and gets its name from the luminous blue impression created by the tiled walls and painted dome of the interior. The mosaics were really impressive and intricate.

In the afternoon we went on a boat tour, which Aty and Oma had arranged the day before. For a few hours we travelled on the Golden Horn and the Bosporus river (which separates European and Asian Isanbul). It was very cool as we could see Europe on one side of the boat and Asia on the other! All of the buildings were very special and different in their own way, most of which belong to very wealthy people and are worth up to $100 million! We were given some nice snacks and treated to some live Turkish music on-board with a couple of singers and a keyboardist who played bangra-style notes and drum fills on top of a preset beat. The boat stopped a couple of times; once in Asia where we had chance to have a quick walk around the “yoghurt” village (popular for its yoghurt) and see some local Turks playing a weird version of rummycup in a little cafe on an electronic table. They like their board games a lot here and we often see people playing chess and backgammon after their day at work. We also stopped at the Maiden’s Tower in the middle of the Bosporus river. I can’t remember the significance of the tower but I do know that it had awesome views of the buildings on either side of the river, which are built on a hill and show off an amazing depth of houses.

In the evening we ate at in a nice restaurant owned by 7 Turkish brothers! We all ate some nice meals and got to see a traditional Turkish way of serving doner meat, where they cook the meat and vegetables over a flame, in a sealed clay pot and crack the top off of it when it’s done! They made a little fire show out of it for everyone to see.

That was our eventful Sunday. On Monday we visited the famous Spice Market, which sells all kinds of spices and Turkish treats and bought some fresh and natural apple tea to enjoy when we’re back home. We also visited the New Mosque, which was similar to the other mosques but a lot more quiet and smaller. After that we walked to the Galata Bridge and went under it alongside the many fish restaurants and had a nice tea and coffee there. We walked back over the bridge this time and got to see the famous abundance of fishermen constantly bringing up rods of small fishes. They all had their buckets next to them full of their catches and I’m guessing they either eat them themselves or sell them on. Sarah is actually reading a book about the bridge at the moment, which explains how people live their lives on the it by catching fish, selling lighters and pickpocketing tourists to provide for their families. On the riverside there are loads of places selling “Balek Emek” (fish bread), where you get the exact same type of fish cooked and put on bread as a sandwich. I haven’t tried it yet but will be doing so tomorrow before we leave! Looking forward to it. We fitted a lot in in the morning and early afternoon, after which Aty and Oma had to leave to catch their flight back to Schiphol. It was great to see them and seemed to be over so quickly!

Sarah and I had a small rest at the hotel and then went for a walk around the city. We came across a small sign pointing down an alleyway advertising a nargile & tea garden so we had a look and it was a tremendous, covered outdoor cafe-style place with authentic tables, chairs, rugs on the walls and water pipes (nargiles) on display everywhere. We had some apple tea and an apple-tobacco water pipe and were amongst loads of local Turkish people as well as other foreigners who had also found the place. It was cool because someone was always going round with a scolding pan filled with coal in order to change the rocks when they were burning out. We also learned a few tricks about using the nargiles, as we have a full size one ourselves at home and had a few unanswered questions that we now have the answers to! The place was so relaxed and after going to a couple of them, seems to be the place where people go socialise, do homework, read a book or just chill out. I forgot to mention that tea is very big here in Turkey and it is traditionally served in very small glasses, about the amount of a quadruple shot. The apple teas are the most popular, besides regular black teas, and are extremely sour (as well as extremely sweet when the sugar is added). We then visited the book market, which only sold Turkish books but was a nice atmosphere, and found a little local market in the outer edges of the Grand Bazaar where I bought an evil eye to hang at home. These eyes are very important in Turkey and are circular blue and white emblems with a dot in the middle. They are good luck charms designed to ward off evil spirits and can be found everywhere from homes and businesses to pendants, bracets and broaches. Look them up on Google if you want to see what they look like!

Despite being 24 deg c, it was pouring with rain all evening and has done so until today, where the sun has returned. It is weird being in quite hot heat but not feeling it at all after being in 30-40 degrees for the past 3 months.

Turkey is of course famous for its kebabs so I had my first chicken kebab and Sarah bought some roasted chestnuts from a little hawker stall on the road, which is also a Turkish commonality. We then bought a box of fresh assorted baklava (amazing sweet pastry-honey bites) and headed back for some much needed sleep. Another great thing about Turkey is all the sweet cakes and treats they have on offer.

On Tuesday we checked out of our hotel and found a nice low-key hotel not far from where we were before. We walked back to Galata Bridge and crossed over to “new” Istanbul, which was much more metropolitan with a mega long hill of shops on either side, culminating at Taxim Square, where the Ataturk statue was situated. The walk was long so took most of the day to get there and back, stopping off at some interesting shops along the way. I bought another kebab from one of the thousands of food places, for the equivent of about €1… Istanbul is quite expensive, especially after being in Asia, but we’ve figured out how to shop smartly and avoid the tourist traps without compromising our enjoyment. We visited the spice market again and got back to the hotel quite late, where we were able to backup our newest photos on someone’s laptop, who just happened to be an amateur skater sponsored by Etnies and was touring Europe getting promo photos for their marketing campain! So I couldn’t resist showing him my brand of shoes, which are of course also Etnies.

Today we had breakfast/lunch in a place on the corner, recommended by someone at the hotel and shared some traditional Turkish pizza and some doner wraps. Very cheap and tasty. We then headed here to the cafe, which actually doubles up as a cemetery for the rich, wealth and some of the sultans.

Tomorrow we check out and spend the rest of the day in Istanbul. We have a bus booked for 8.30pm to Sofia (Bulgaria), which will take us through the night and arrive early on Friday morning. We managed to figure out some Europe itinerary today and hope to stay in Sofia for a few days and also visit the black sea on the coast of Bulgaria if possible. We aim to be in Athens on 15th June where we will see Sarah’s father Jan and also have a rendevous with Sarah’s mom Jacqueline, in Naples on 22nd. We’ll most likely stay in Italy until the end of the month and then work our way to Morocco, maybe via Marseilles and somewhere in Spain or Portugal. Nothing is set in stone and it all depends on the money, but everything is going well so far and we’re very pleased to be back in Europe where we seem to have to put less effort into liking it. No that we didn’t love Asia and enjoy every minute of it, but it really is a different world, which we only really realised after getting back! Like a reverse culture shock!

Will update again soon, hopefully from Bulgaria.

Hope you enjoy them if you haven’t seen them already.

On Thursday we moved to a cheaper guesthouse down the road (still in the Thamel area) and visited the famous Hanuman-dhoka Dubar Square for the day, which is a complex of old Hindu and Buddhist temples and shrines. It is also the place were the kings of Nepal are crowned and their coronations solemnized, and is unsurprisingly a registered UNESCO site. There are 43 points of interest, most importantly the 40-metre high Taleju Temple, which rests on a twelve stage plinth and soars above the rest of the square. Up until very recently it was not allowed to build any house higher than this temple. We also went inside the Kumari-ghar temple, which just happened to be on an extremely special and sacred day; Buddha’s birthday. On just this one day of the year, the living goddess Kumari Devi is present and Buddhists will visit her to offer allsorts of gifts ranging from candy to money to bicycles. Unfortunately we aren’t Buddhist so weren’t able to go upstairs to see her but she did come to the window to see us, which was still an amazing and honourable experience. Just to put into perspective how important she is, the king also visits her on this same day to get her blessing. It is also seen to bring good luck when being in the presence of her as she is the most important living goddess in Kathmandu Valley. The Kumari is unique in that she is selected from a particular caste of Newari gold- and silver-smiths and must be between four years old and puberty. She must also meet 32 strict physical requirements all the way from the colour of her eyes, to her tone of voice, to the shape of her teeth. She is finally tested in a dark room with masked men dancing, making terrifying noises amongst 108 gruesome buffalo heads on display. As this would unlikely frighten a real goddess, especially one that is an incarnation of Durga, then it is seen as the real decider. The Kumari that we saw must have been about five or six years old, so she will stay in this position until se reaches puberty, at which stage a new goddess will be selected and she will join normal life.

Because of the birthday, there were various festivities around Durbar Square as well. Many young girls, dressed in courful indian-style robes, gathered to give offerings such as special food and drinks to the gods in hope that it will bring them good husbands when they grow up. It was called a “baby wedding”. We also sat at the top of some of the temples, which gave a great view over the square. The photos we took will show it all in a much better way so we’ll upload them next time we get chance.

Friday we went to the “Garden of Dreams”, which is a beautiful garden complex with perfectly maintained plants, grass, statues and ponds. The entrance is very small and on a busy street, so going in was like entering a completely different world! The sun was scorching and we bought some nice things from the local bakery as a picnic. It is extremely relaxed and quiet there and very easy to enjoy the day just chilling out away from the hectic streets. We’ll definitely go back for a day before leaving as it was so nice, especially seeing as the weather is so hot at the moment.

There are a couple of other towns outside of Kathmandu that we may visit, otherwise will just chill out for the rest of our Nepal stay. We fly from Kathmandu to Turkey, via Delhi and Abu Dhabi (UAE) on Friday all being well. There will no doubt be some obstacles to overcome, as is usual with these weird connecting flights. The flight itinerary is on our Google Maps page. Maybe we’ll have another update before then. If not then we will report back from Istanbul when we arrive!

We’ve got a list of nice things to do over the next few days, which will enable us to see more of Kathmandu outside of the Thamel tourist trap, which is great for a few days but soon gets a bit much when you can’t walk two steps without hearing “taxi?”, “smoke hash?”, “trek? rafting? paragliding?”, “just look” etc etc. We just ignore everyone because we wouldn’t get anywhere otherwise!!! And I’m sure the intentions of these street hawkers aren’t all genuine. Nepal is of course quite poor so there are a lot of noticeably fucked up kids around begging for money. The correct thing to do is to ignore them as well and not fuel their habits, which usually consist of glue sniffing all day. We saw a kid that couldn’t have been much older than ten passed out with his glue stick earlier today. Very sad, but unless people stop giving them money then they’ll never know better. I’m not really sure how to describe the Nepali people in general, but they appear very pleasant and most seem to lead relatively simple lives. Especially the ones who live off their own farm produce, which is a large portion of the population. The older generations all wear Tommy Cooper-style hats, which is typical Nepal.

It’s currently 22.00 local time and most places outside are closing for the day; the Nepalese like their early nights. The streets were very dark when we were walking back to our guesthouse as the government had shut off the electricity, which happens pretty much every day for a pre-determined period of time. They do it as a form of cost-cutting, so many places have to resort to candle-light, kerosene lamps or generators if they can afford it. Many of the main hotels and guesthouses have backup generators but are often reluctant to use them if the outage is only scheduled for a short time, however it can sometimes be off for up to sixteen hours. We’ve experienced the cut-offs a lot over the past couple of weeks so are getting used to it, although it’s always annoying when it goes out. Today we ate at the momo place that I wrote about earlier and the cook was wearing a light strapped to his head so he could so what he was doing whilst he cooked our food!

Although it is 22.09 now, it is actually 17.24 in England and 18.24 in Holland! Nepal is five hours and 45 minutes ahead of GMT and is one of the only places in the world that has this strange time difference; the other place being a weird island somewhere near New Zealand I think. We finally found out that this is simply to make it very clear that Nepal is a separate place to India. There’s also no daylight saving time here, just like in Malaysia.

We were able to back up our photos today so should have some new ones online in the next few days. We’ve got some great ones from the cooking course, the mountains and some other random ones to upload. I’ll post a quick update when we manage to do this.

On 7th May some of the locals in one of the cities decided to open their shops despite the strike, in protest to the Maoist protestors. They were obviously losing a lot of business from not being able to open up, so they started a revolt of their own. It didn’t really go as planned however, as they were met with flying rocks and smashed windows for supposedly not being supporters of the Maoist cause. We continued to monitor the news and wait, and muh earlier than expected the strike was called off, albeit temporarily, on 8th May. We woke up on that day, the sun was out, most shops were open and the town was buzzing as if nothing had happened. The Maoists are still continuing their peaceful protest but the strike is no more as they realised that it wasn’t solving anything. There is a deadline of May 28th for a resolution to be made so more strikes may come after that if needed. Let’s hope not though!

So the waiting paid off and we booked a bus ticket to Pokhara for May 9th, where we would get a further 4hr bus to Naya Pul – the village where we would begin the trek. On the evening of 8th we stocked up on some easy foods like nuts and muesli bars, Sarah bought a backpack and we were ready to leave the following day. We found a cheap little food place next to our guesthouse and ate there. I ate Dal Bhat again and Sarah had ‘momos’ – another Nepali tradition, which are small dough balls with a filling. She had both the vegetable and chocolate momos – the chocolate were the best.

There were a few things about the trek that we has been considering for a few weeks, which were; 1) Should I get myself some trekking shoes? 2) Should we hire a guide? 3) Should we hire a porter?.. Since Malaysia I had been looking for some suitable trekking shoes/boots as all the guides and books had advised to have some. Seeing as we weren’t sure of the terrain and conditions, it was hard to know exactly what I needed. Back home they would’ve cost at least €120, so I figured I’d be able to pick some up cheaply in Asia. Except I didnt see any anywhere! Besides a few randoms that weren’t very good. Being the trekking mecca, Nepal has endless trekking stores, almost all of which have an assortment of shoes. I wasn’t able to negotiate a price that suited me, bearing in mind that I’d only be using them for a week or two, so went with my gut feeling and trusted my Etnies to be sufficient. If the locals can navigate the trails in flip flops then it surely couldn’t be that bad. As I’m writing this it’s currently day #3 of the trek and they’ve done themselves proud so far. At least this way I don’t need to worry about getting blisters from a new pair of shoes! The only problem I may get is if it rains, as they have almost zero grip. Although they are waterproof, unlike many of the counterfeit ones we saw on sale in Kathmandu.

Another thing is whether to hire a guide. The majority of trekkers do opt for a guide who will help you navigate and relay some mountain facts along the way, but the more we thought about it the less appealing it sounded. We wanted to go at our own pace, eat together, talk together (and be silent together!) and did not want the burden of making small talk with anyone else and having to take them into consideration with eveything we did. The particular itinerary we are following is relatively straight forward and we just ask local passers-by every now and again if we need help with where to go. I do think that most people get a guide or porter because there is so much pressure to do so, especially if you arrange a trek via an agency, which is the most common way. The other thing about a guide is that he must also sleep, eat and be insured, which an agency will arrange, but will bump up the eventual price. The only pro to this case is that there is less chance of being robbed along the trail, but unless we’re trekking at night, this shouldn’t be a problem. Fingers crossed. We often see other trekkers along the route so it’s not as if we’re completely alone in the wild or anything.

The porter dilemma is much the same as the guide one, although a porter will speak less English and generally be less knowledgable of the route. His main function is to carry all your belongings over the strenuous trails, making things easier for the trekker. Many locals make a living from this so it is generally encouraged to hire a porter and support the local workers. They are however quite expensive and would add $10-15 to our daily costs, which is over double our budget! Considering that the average Nepali wage is 120 rupees per day (just over one euro) then this seemed a bit crazy. There’s also the issue of looking after their health and the possibility of them disappearing with your bags. We’ve seen many porters so far, carrying what must be well over 25kg all by themselves, with the westerners walking happily behind bag free. So we went without and it has been the right decision so far. We left our large backpacks at the guesthouse in Kathmandu and took only our small ones and essentials with us.

We’re actually having a ‘rest day’ right now in the village of Ghorepani (it’s day #3 of the trek). We decided to tour the Annapurna region of the Himalayan mountains, which is also where Jacqueline walked many years ago. We were contemplating Everest because of a recent road that has been built for the locals along the Jomsom route, which we are doing. The road hasn’t kicked in yet though and we’ve taken scenic side routes up until now, giving us some outstanding views of the mountains. We’re currently at an elevation of 2800m above sea level and are literally in the clouds! Seeing them floating past last night was amazing.

Our itinerary can be planned as we go along so we can keep going as long as we want. First night in Naya Pul we stayed in a local Nepali guesthouse, which was super-basic. It was funny because the Nepalese people are very short, so the man-made beds were too small for us. We also kept hitting our heads on the door frames! It was already dark when we arrived so we decided to start our trek the next morning at 8am. On day #1 (10th May) we walked eight hours in total, through the villages of Birethani, Hille and Tikedhunga, before reaching Ulleri where we crashed out in one of the lodges for the night. Day 1 was extremely strenuous as the second half of the day involved some seriously steep stone steps; 3800 of them to be precise. It was pretty hardcore and I ended up taking Sarah’s bag so she could complete the day. Looks like I’ve become the porter after all! If they can do it then I certainly can. We slept from 8pm in order to get an early start the next day – the sun gets quite intense in the afternoon so it’s better to try and get the day’s work done before then, although we’re yet to manage this.

Day #2 ended up starting at 11am and we really needed to get to Ghorepani in order to stay on track. More steep steps were involved but not as many as day 1 – I think we have surpassed the toughest part of the trail. We passed through the small villages of Banthani and Nangthani, seeing more great views, beautiful natural waterfalls and lots of woods and forests. Although hard work it is also extremely peaceful and relaxing, especially with all the surroundings to take in. We stopped at one of the lodges along the way to eat and keep the energy levels up. It’s weird because we don’t feel hungry whilst trekking but when we stop for food we eat loads! Just goes to show how important it is to stay nourished, even if you think it’s not needed. Depending on how tough the trail was, we found that walking for fifteen minutes, then taking a five-minute break was a good routine and it got us to Ghorepani before dark. We’ll adopt this method for the next few days, as it enables us to set a goal and push ourselves to make it. Before this it was taking us twice as long to cover the recommended distances! We initially didn’t think we’d make it to Ghorepani so the sense of achievement on arrival was great. We ate apple pie, which is famous along this route (some people even call it the “Apple Pie Trail”) and then slept.

Day #3 (today, as I write this) is a rest day. It is recommended to gain no more than 300m per day between sleeps when you get above 2500m. Our plan was to get up this morning at 3.30am and trek one hour to ‘Pun Hill’ for sunrise, which boasts some great views. It is about 3210m high though and because we barely got any sleep last night, we decided that it wasn’t wise and are going to let our bodies acclimatise and maybe go tomorrow. Trouble sleeping is an initial symptom of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) so our bodies need to get used to the reduction of oxygen in the air before going any higher. I’m writing this entry on paper so will write about the next few days when I get chance and submit it when we return to civilization.

Day #5… Just woke up… Sarah’s phone was an hour ahead so it’s actually 7.30am! To say that yesterday was a major achievement would be an understatement, as we managed to stick to the hardcore-trekkers’ time of eight hours whilst getting to out next main village ‘Tathopani’ (which translates as ‘Hot Water’). It wasn’t without a price though. Today my calves and thighs are so sore I can barely walk! Sarah is the same and has eight blisters on her feet! Not major ones but sore nevertheless. We just finished breakfast at the lodge we stayed in last night. Tathopani is famous for its hot springs, which apparently get as hot as 42 degrees celcius and are the main reason for us choosing this route. We’re going there in a few moments in hope that it will help sooth the muscles, as well as to experience first-hand this apparently amazing creation of nature. Nepal used to be (and still is to an extent) very popular with hippies and they would all come to Tathopani to bathe naked in the hot springs! Times have probably changed since then, but you never know.

We set out from Ghorepani (which similarly translates as ‘Horse Water’) a bit late yesterday, at 10am. The first two hours were amazing as we caught a glimpse of the spectacular glaciers protruding from above the mountains. It really was a sight to behold. The warm sun and fresh breeze was perfect and the trail was mostly flat for this time. We passed through Chitre, Shika, Ghara and Garkhola before finally reaching Tathopani, which sits at 1190m above sea level. We descended A LOT and much of the second half of the day was down steep stone steps. By the time we got to Ghara we were physically beat. My knees were mega sore and an afternoon storm was brewing – not something that we wanted to be caught up in! We stopped for food in what was supposedly a lodge restaurant but in reality was much more like a local Nepali person’s shack. The hygeine was questionable and we didn’t really want to stay there for the night. We decided to go on for the final two hours with the risk of getting stuck in a storm and nightfall coming before we reached the next place. We pushed as hard as we could, stopping for only five minutes every fourty-five and despite the regular teasing of rain and black sky, we successfully made it at around 6pm. It was a miracle that it didn’t rain an we were very lucky. But the feeling of getting here beat any of that by miles. We now know that eight hours is possible, but maybe it is too much for one day, or just too much, period!

Day #7 (May 16th)… Currently in the room of our guesthouse in Pokhara and it’s 17.45. Literally just stepped in the door and a HUGE hailstorm started, the size of marbles! Absolutely crazy, we’ve never seen anything like it. We’re no longer in the mountains and are now back in real civilization. We tasted enough of mountain life to understand and appreciate it so decided to head back here for a few days before going back to Kathmandu.

Going back to day 5, to get up to speed, we visited the hot springs after breakfast, as planned. It was like a concrete cubicle, about 2ft deep, next to the wild river and contained water at a natural temperature of 42 degrees celcius. We saw some locals skinning chickens about 1/2 mile up the river, in a pool of steaming water, so there must be a few small areas in Tathopani where the earth heats the water. I guess it was like gettin into a very hot bath. After a while in there we chilled out (muscles still sore) an had a look around the village. Somehow even the most remote villages in the mountains still find a place for a Rey Mysterio t-shirt amongst the small selection of things for sale. I forgot to mention that the previous day we saw two wild deer chasing each other over the hill ahead of us! Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime sight and I’m pretty sure that it’s very rare to see wild deer here, or anywhere for that matter. We didn’t do much else on day 5 and set about moving on to the next village on day 6. In the morning however, we were still sore and figured we had walked enoughso decided to get the local bus back down to civilization. We got to the road early but the bus had broken (as is the norm in Nepal) so we saw this as a sign to keep on walking to the next village, Dana. There has recently been a “road” built from Tathopani onwards to Jomsom, which although great for the locals in the sense that they have access to non-mountain products, has had an adverse effect on tourism as trekkers do not want to walk on a dusty road and will often avoid the route. It was “road” from Tathopani to Dana and nothing really more amazing than what we had seen so far. Although there were copius amounts of ganja plantations growing everywhere, which we couldn’t believe. Not even owned by anyone, they were just happily growing away on the sides of the hills and roads. Thousands and thousands of plants, it was surreal.

We stopped for a tea in Dana and thought more about whether to head back, given the rather uneventful morning, and considered whether we’d regret finishing a bit early. After being unable to come up with a good reason to either stay or leave we drew straws and let fate decide, which ultimately ended up being the right decision. The mountains were spectacular and having the opportunity to see some of the Himalayan peaks was a second-to-none experience. The further on we would go would mean more rain (monsoon season is beckoning), more road and the likelihood of landslides getting in the way of our route (of which there had already been some, a bit further up, causing loss of electricity and lots of rubble along the way). Our intial plan had been to walk to Jomsom, a few more days away, and to get the bus back as there wouldn’t have been time to walk back the entire way. Seeing as the landslide meant no vehicle access then the decision to continue became less appealing. There are indeed more superb viewpoints as the trail goes on but after talking with some other trekkers and hearing their stories, we had definitely seen and experienced enough to feel good about what we had done and to have no regrets. A great experience overall.

What was also an experience (yet slightly less great) was the 2hr bus ride, which we got from Dana to Beni. After Tathopani the new road veers off to a village called Beni, which has direct local buses back to Pokhara. I swear this must’ve been the bus’ last ever journey; it was the most rickety, overcrowded piece of junk ever! I haven’t been jerked around that much since Duelling Dragons, although this time there were no seatbelts and the possibility of death was actually a reailty! There was no suspension, so every stone or rock was felt as we hung on for dear life, bouncing out of our seats and watching on as we teetered over the mountain sides. The road was windy and all we could see when looking out of the window was the hundred-metre drop down the cliff! Fuck extreme sports, this was a real heart-in-mouth adrenaline rush. We tried to find comfort in the fact that many buses do this route every day, although found it impossible to believe that there haven’t been any fatalities. The bus from Beni to Pokhara was four hours and still bumpy, but much less scary.

Upon arrival in Pokhara we located the lakeside area, checked into our guesthouse and treated ourselves to tea at a nice restaurant where I had a steak and chips and Sarah had a lasagne. They went down very well after six days of vegetable mountain food! Today we checked out the city, which is mainly a long strip of restaurants, souvenir and local shops, all beside a beautiful lake, hence the name “lakeside”. Pokhara is so far very nice and we’ll no doubt be here for a few days.

May 18th… Is the date today… Yesterday was scorching hot and we rented a paddle boat for the day and spent it on the large and relaxing lake that Pokhara is famous for. Yesterday and the day before we ate at a nice place we found called the “Little Indian Restaurant”, which sells Nepali Dal Baht with Indian spices in the lentil soup and in the vegetable curry! It was so divine that I’m going to have to go back every day I think. It was just like having a delicious Indian curry, with the bonus of them completely refilling my plate when I had finished. They also have other nice things on the menu, including some western-style garlic and cheese pasta, which Sarah enjoyed both nights. Today we slept late, visited an Internet cafe and just relaxed in a few nice cafes around town. No sure if it’s hayfever, or the change of climate, or the fact that my entire fluid intake has been replaced by Mountain Dew, but I’ve gotten a cold so am glad that there’s nothing major planned. We came equipped so it’s all good.

I’ll post again when we’re back in Kathmandu next week.