It is the sort of cold that gets right into your bones and nags at you. It is the sort of cold never felt in Australia, EVER. We put on just about all our clothes (and look like the "Michellen Man" !) then pile both the heavy yak fur quilts onto one of our single beds and snuggle in together on the one single bed.We are at the Rongphu Monastery, a mere five kilometres from Everest Base camp. When we arrived, after two long days of travel over mountain switchbacks...

"It is estimated that the money spent by each tourist supports 10 to 11 Nepalis for a year." (source - Lonely Planet). Well, we hope we have done our bit! We hit the ground running when we got back from Pokhara by hiring a taxi at the airport to take us for an afternoon of sightseeing and had him wait for us between sights. In medieval times there were two other major cities, Bhaktapur and Patan which now, in present times, are joined completely to Kathmandu. Eac...

Argentina had spoiled us with quality bus travel.Our 7 hour bus ride to Pokhara was definitely NOT an Argentinian style bus!Although we had booked a "Tourist Super Deluxe" bus, it was a pretty ordinary with no on-board toilet, and not a western tourist in sight. As it made lots of stops instead of going direct, we knew that the people on board were locals getting from A to B - not tourists. We had paid for an included lunch which was supposed to be at a resort al...

 Kathmandu - it sounds exotic and heady as it rolls off the tongue. Visions of holy men, breathtakingly beautiful mountains, hardy Sherpas and hippies spring to mind.It is this, but much much more. It's quirky and full of contradictions. The sounds, colours and smells assault the senses. The many UNESCO World Heritage sights are bustling and full of Nepalis going about their business, rather than being overloaded with tourists.   Kathmandu is amazing, int...