Thanks everyone for the comments on here it is great to here from home. Since I have been here for a week now and Im an old hand let me tell you a little about Kathmandu. Everywhere you go you see sherpas carrying stuff. They will carry anything. Ive seen them carrying a big metal filing cabinet, a 3 piece lounge, a single bed and matteress and a basket full of about 20 bricks. If they can get a rope around it, and they always can, they lift it up and put the rope around their forehead. They are amazing. Kathmandu is the dirtiest city I have been to. ( not been to India yet) The whole of Nepal (Ne-pul) is clay soil and now is the end of the dry season so the clay has dried to a fine dust. Just moving around you are in a constant dust cloud. Add to that the black smoke from the traffic and everywhere they think nothing of lighting a small fire to keep warm. The fires they light are usually the rubbish off the street and they burn the plastic and sit around in the fumes. There are no bins here and everyone just throws their rubbish in the street Speaking of dirty you should see the river. The mighty Vishnumati river flows through KTM and these people use it as a dump. This time of year it is a trickle cos no rain and no snow thaw. The other day I was walking down there and there appeared to be an abbitior where they were cutting up animals on boards on the ground. They then threw the bones and any rubbish they couldnt sell into the river. Strangely the dogs didnt seem to bother with it. Further down was a shanty town where everyone sleeps under plastic. They have toilets of 4 posts in the ground and plastic around. Anything you do in there goes straight into the river. I assume when the river gets up all this rubbish will wash down into India. Great system to export your rubbish for free. Everyone spits!!!! Everywhere there is big gobs of spit on the ground, and as with any Asian country the road rules are only a suggestion. They buy milk and cooking oil in sealed plastic bags. The other morning I was standing in my hotel room in jeans and windcheater, and feeling cold, when a woman over the road came out to have a wash. It was about 4 deg and she came out and pumped the water ( no one has running water they all have a communal pump), they had a wash. She was wearing a sari and just started to pour cold water over herself, wash then pour water over again. Better her than me. Being a quiet day yesterday we went up town to do some errands. It was quite cold so I decided to buy a jacket. I have been resisting cos I have to carry it around India. Anyway Thamel (Ta-MEL) is kinda like Kuta in Bali except the gear is Goretex trecking gear instead of T shirts. Now proper North Face Goretex jacket at home start at $600 and go up from there. Here I bartered the guy down with morning price to the princely sum of $18. Im sure I got a good deal. He assured me it was real North Face Goretex and we were best friends after the deal so he wouldnt lie to a mate. Would he? Julie and I headed to the local bus station to catch a bus to Kirtipur to see Julianna. The local bus station is a **** hole where almost no one speaks english. This was gonna be my chance to ride the roof of a bus. Not to be, the bus was a high roof Toyota high ace, the kind that are built to carry about 12 or 13 people. We had a few more than 13 in when we left the station and stopped at a few stops for more passengers?? At one point we had 27 people in the bus and I can tell you not all of them smelt as sweet as me. Because of the petrol being hard to get and expensive they stop at the bottom of the hill in Kirtipur. Sooooo more walking up hill. Everything is up hill even coming back seems to be up hill.At the top of the hill is the Gompa where Julianna is studying Buddhism. It was built by Singaporeans in 2001 so is very new and well kept. We met a few other people and had a look around then went for a walk around Kirtipur. Kirtipur is one of the oldest cities in Nepal and the old part of town has narrow streets so no cars was a pleasant change. Like so many other places in Nepal there are Stupas and temples everywhere and some very old. One is said to have been built by King Ashoka in th 5th Century. I found myself walking around wondering who else had walked these streets in the years before me. I really did enjoy the day out.