Hello and welcome back Sorry it's been a while but we've been busy busy busy. So Tokyo ... well stepping off the plane in Tokyo was a little disappointing because for some reason we both expected to step straight into the Tokyo of Hollywood - high rise buildings, thousands of people and organised chaos. But it was in fact eerily quiet. We found later that, that Tokyo does exist but for some unexplained reason everyone was hiding when we first arrived. We found...

After spending a painful 7 hours at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu we somehow managed to bag our visa and eventually leave Nepal to India. A quick note for anyone considering spending time at any Indian Embassy ... don't do it. The combination of tediously slow bureaucratic officials having to serve spaced out hippies looking to find themselves is not a good one. Add to this the complete lack of information or signage and you find you've lost a day. Oh well we m...

So.... when we last 'spoke' we mentioned that we were preparing for a mini hike in the Annapunna Himalayas. Unfortunately our hike never materialised. What have we been doing instead? I hear you ask, well.......we hesitate to say it but ... we've spent the past five days with (for no better word) the trots. So those of you who winced at the earlier 'Yangzhou' entry and don't want to know the details LOOK AWAY NOW ...Still here? You're all sick... So, Pete was...

Hello, Post Everest trek we spent about a week in Kathmandu not doing really very much at all. Both of us were just totally whacked and our battered little bodies jumped at the chance to do nothing for a couple of days. Relaxation over, we have just returned from 2 days of extreme white water rafting. Great fun. This trip took us north of Kathmandu into some beautiful valleys near the Tibetan boarder. Well I say beautiful but the truth is we were too busy hangi...

We did it!!! Yes we are proud to report that we have successfully hiked to Everest Base Camp and - importantly - we're now back safe and sound. It was a glorious 18 day hike in the Himalayas along mountain passes, through villages, past yaks and load carrying Tibetan traders, higher and higher to our goal: Everest (well base camp at least). We'd prepared for the trip well investing in matching 'North Fake' outfits in Kathmandu, and purchasing sleeping bags ...