DAY 11

Over to the busy airport early in the morning, the flights that arrive have a turnaround time of less than ten minutes. Our plane arrived on time, full of bags of grain, inside there are only six seats left but there is only a few of us. The flight out is fantastic, we sit at the start of the runway revving the engine with the brakes on, we expected a roller coaster ride, imagining the plane would dip down when the runway falls away before climbing up, but we take off before we reach the end and fly off into the clear sky back to Kathmandu.




We check into a hotel and relax. Later in the day we are flexing our freshly sculptured calve muscles. What benchmark could we measure ourselves against, we pondered. Only the seven times Mr Universe would do it, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger has said the following on his size: "During the peak of my career, my calves were 20 inches, thighs 28.5 inches, waist 34 inches, chest 57 inches, and 22-inch arms."

I measured my calve muscles and they came in at 16 inches. Wow, I can go to bed tonight, safe in the knowledge that 1/8 th of my body is only 4 inches short of emulating Arnie at the peak of his career.

The next evening we go out for a cheap meal in a capital city that has a regular power cut from 6pm till 9pm. We both eat some bad meat from a restaurant and get sick leaving us both bound to the toilet for the remaining three days. Kathmandu is making the BBC world headlines on the day we leave. The Maoist party are now in power and have ordered the King to step down after a ruling monarchy for the past 258 years. Bombs are being set off around the city, but we are safe in Thamel, the touristy part of the city. No-one want to interrupt the flow of tourists that provide so many jobs for the Nepalese.

The international airport is an interesting experience. Decorated in the 70's it hasn't changed one bit. There are no computers in sight, boarding pass's are hand written on scraps of paper. At immigration our names are entered into a school exercise book and we get patted down no less than four times from arriving at the airport to boarding the plane. I set off the metal detector but security looks at my white face and waves us through. The security staff go through the procedures but I get the feeling they only do it for show without knowing the reason. Liquids, gases and aerosols are welcomed on board the plane.

At KL airport we go through immigration but the Nepalese who were on the plane get detained for two hours and taken off into a separate room. We arrive at the airport at 4am and wait till sunrise to take a taxi into town. Before we leave the airport we watch the Nepalese come out from a door and walk in single file. It looks like they have never left the country before so all 150 of them follow each other through the airport. Not one speaks and the long single file line of Nepalese comically stretches along the whole floor of the airport as they troop downstairs to the bus stop.

We are catching a bus tonight up to Thailand and then a boat to Ko Pha Ngan to take a two week holiday on the beach.

Cooper out

Love Dan & Kat