Our next stop was the lakeside town of Pokhara. We spent a few days chilling out, eating nice food and planning our trek in to the Himalayas.

We went on our trek with a rough plan and a really good guide, our only criteria was 7 days!

With our bare essentials and hiking boots on (no porter!) we headed to the start of our trek at Naya Pul. The first day was tough, climbing very steeply up a stone staircase to Ulleri where we spent our first night in an old teak house.

The next morning brought the first good views of the mountains and an easier trek through the forests of oak and rhododendron - the nationa flower of Nepal. After a lunch of Daal Bhaat (rice, daal and curry dish) we climbed yet more steps to Ghorapani with spectacular views of the Annapurna range.

Above Ghorapani is Poon Hill, one of the best Himalyan viewpoints in Nepal. It was an early cold start at 5am but the views were well worth it once we reached the top in time for sunrise. Coming down is always much harder than going up and after spending 8 hours going down knee-buckling slate steps, we were rewarded with the natural steaming hot springs of Tatopani!

What a way to soak off the aches and pains, even if it was only temporary relief! It was here that our guide Prem suggested that we do the rest of the 'Jomsom trek' as we'd already done half of it without realising it, & in good time too.

Waking up in agony and wondering how I was going to do another few days, I agreed and we all headed up the Kali Gandake river towards Jomsom. We walked along spectacular valleys, precarious tracks through narrow gorges, dodgey-looking rope bridges, all this made the more extreme by the powerful winds of the Mustang Valley.

It was always nice at the end of a long day's trekking being welcomed at the local teak house by smiley friendly villagers. Every night we seemed to be the form of entertainment for the locals and quickly became Nepali 'Dai & Diddi' (their brother & sister). For most of the last 2 days, I was in agony through aching calf muscles and open blisters on every every toe, even having to use 2 hiking sticks as crutches! But the boys pulled got me through and i was very proud of myself to complete all 95km of it!

Spending so much time with our guide Prem and the indigenous people of the mountains has been the most rewarding part of Nepal as we;'ve seen such friendly honest people, & it'll be a shame to say goodbye.....

Back in Pokhara, safe and sound and almost fully-recovered, we're looking forward to our first Thai massage, as that's where we're flying to on Tuesday - Bangkok!

Jim's itching to hook into some giant Mekong catfish and i can't wait for green curry and beaches!

Bye for now xxx

(Just as I'm typing this we've just been told that there are strikes in Kathmandu, where our flight to Thailand is from, and our bus is cancelled tomorrow......oh the joys of travel!)