Hello there, I'm here in Jodhpur - a million miles away from the mountains of Nepal (Figuratively speaking, not literally - that would be impossible....) as it is in the desert! So what has happened since we bailed out of the Nepal equivalent of the Old Man of Conniston trek,? I'll just thumb through the archives and find out..... Ah yes..... We went back to Pokhara and turned our trip into a club 18-30 experience. We got lathered, ate egg and chips and one day even hired a pedalo (I kid you not). Through the blur stories include: * Richard and Phil getting absolutely beaten at wrestling by a 6 stone wet through Nepali. Rich took exception to this and held him over a balcony...... * Our last night together involved Phil and Rich running a derelict night club that someone opened for us at 4am. They gave away free drinks to the locals as they posed as Western businessmen new to the area. As there was only Whisky and Vodka available the clientele were served Vodka, water and some mustard found under the sink - they couldn't get enough of the stuff! * Rich and I fully lathered at 8am embracing with tears in our eyes as he boarded the bus to Kathmandu. He got on it with two full bottles of local beer. A lovely lad. So the rag tag split and Phil and I travelled to Delhi - which is where I started - hence completing an over elaborate loop of the region. The rag tag then split after what has been a legendary 10 weeks. Phil minced off to Goa at high speed (last heard of on the raz with a Scotsman and shoehorning some American author!) and I met my next travelling partner (I may do some of this trip on my own) as Mademoiselle Annette joined me in Delhi. Our first port of call was a 3 day Sikh wedding of Annette's friend. It was the dream - but for all the religious differences it still ended every night in a mobile DJ disco, a finger buffet and lather (although only I seemed to be drunk...). Since then we have been to Amritsar to see a Golden Temple - which was so nice it didn't even turn my eye to glass! A cheeky shoehorn then down to Agra to tick the Taj Mahal off the list (very nice she is too) and now I find myself in the deserts of Rajasthan - which is actually jolly agreeable. India is quite hard work - evryone hammers you for everything. My tactic is to look at the good or service offered, listen to their estimate of it's worth and reply in a stern but affable manner "You've gone mad". Rajasthan is actually a vegetarian place (no eggs even) so imagine my surprise when sat under a sign stating "No alcohol, drugs or meat" in the town of Pushkar, an enterprising young chap tells me this isn't always the case if you know the right people (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). With a conspiratory glance and a raise of the eyebrow he tells me "Alcohol - you come with me, I get you beer, whisky, anything, no problem.....". Having aroused my senses he continues "Drugs - I get you hashish or..." a quick glance around "...something stronger?". Obviously the guy is well connected so jovially I banter "I bet you can even knock me up a Chicken curry eh?". He looks at me disgustedly "Not possible!" and storms off..... Lovely and Normal.... Anyway - the plan is to head down to Goa to guzzle Turkey and Xmas pud with the hippies on the beach and then.... dunno.... somewhere....life is tough. Right - need to go and tell some more people in the street they have lost the use of their mental faculties. Laters Messner with cob on in full down suit.