Annapurna Another early rise and we taxied to the bus stop on our way to Pokhara, a quieter city south west of Kathmandu in the ever popular Annapurna Mountain Ranges. The bus took the same route as if heading to Chitwan, and even stopped at the now seemingly familiar samosa bakery. At some point in the sluggish, winding journey we deviated from the Chitwan highway and spun into Pokhara and were ditched at the Tourist Bus Park. Making a deal with the head honcho...

Mera Peak Expedition 2009 From our same hotel suite base in Kathmandu we sorted out our kit bags for Mera. Having collected our 1980' plastic snow boots, well used crampons and ice axes from Shona's Rentals; we packed our gear for the expedition into large hold alls and transferred to the Vajra hotel on the edge of Thamel over the stinking dumping ground of the river, towards the Monkey Temple. Just a brief word on the Vajra, if you ever go to Kathmandu make...

Chitwan National Park Happy to be fleeing Kathmandu once again, we were up early and checked out headed to the bus stop for our reserved seats to Chitwan. Prepped with leftover bread and some bananas haggled over on the street, the bus trailed slowly through the traffic to the outskirts of the capital and with the solidarity and pace of a tank, zig zagged up and down the valleys snagging what space could be claimed on the road with the other buses and trucks s...

Kathmandu - EBC Wide-eyed with excitement after spotting what we both assumed to be Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) piercing the clouds on the short flight, we arrived in Kathmandu's modest little airport in the early evening. Evading the barrage of touts and baggage donkeys, we were led by Deepak from our pre-booked hotel to a tatty taxi car, loaded in and shipped across town. Deepak chatted constantly all the way, and not fully comprehending everything he was sayin...