We're back from our trek and still in one piece (just about!). It was an amazing experience that we'll never forget. It was incredible to see how the mountain people live in such harsh conditions and to taste a little bit of their daily life. Unfortunately, the bit that Emma tasted gave her Nepali Belly.... but we won't dwell on that! We hadn't quite anticipated what the trek would entail when we began, and our legs complained bitterly at times! We passed terraces of crops, climbed incredibly steep rocks, waded through streams and fended off leeches... yikes! We saw red monkeys swinging in the jungle, a poisonous snake, lizards, donkeys and chickens everywhere. It was all worth it to see the snow-capped mountains towering above us on the fourth day... awesome! (as we traveller types say). The highlight must have been our encounter with the Maoists (Nepali terrorists). It was totally surreal, as they waited for us outside our teahouse with their guns over their shoulders. We thought it was best not to argue and paid our 'donation to the cause' without a fuss. They gave us a receipt (!) and we asked for a photo, which they happily posed for. Check out the photo page for that one! We had a great laugh with our guide, Navaraj, and our porter, Sunil (well, you didn't expect us to carry our own bags, did you?). We taught them some dodgy phrases and they entertained us with their "singing". Hmmm. It was a very humbling experience and made us realise how very blessed we are. Despite no running water or electricity, the warmth of the Nepali people was amazing and something that we can certainly learn from. Cold bucket showers are a way of life for them, but all we saw were smiles. We've been recovering at a friend's apartment in Kathmandu, where her didi (maid) has been an absolute godsend and done all our smelly washing, made us chocolate-chip cookies and generally mothered us. We all need a didi. We're off for some dhal bhatt now... Love, the girls xx