It’s taken the best part of two days including another 6 hour journey on the top of a bus, a (wet) border crossing, another four hour bus journey to Gorukpur and then a 20 hour ‘sleeper’ train journey to New Delhi getting here at 5pm today.

We start a tour of ‘the golden triangle’ tomorrow – Delhi, Pushka, Jaipur and Agra before coming back to Delhi. This time around looks like it will be a little more settled than my first visit three weeks ago, although we had some problems with the train tickets yesterday; things seem to be going a little smoother now.

Onwards…

Because Sam was not feeling up to scratch yesterday, I went off around noon to visit the Peace Pagoda (1100m) and Damside on foot. The walk is a few km, and I accidently acquirred a guide very quickly who took me to the top and back down, fending off cows, leeches and snakes en route. By the time I got back down to the bottom I chose the more relaxing boat trip across Phewa Tal to Lakeside where we are staying. By this time Sam had recovered so we went to watch “Into Thin Air” while food was served.

This morning was our last proper one in Pokhara, so we spent it in style, paragliding over Sarangkot and the town. An absolutely fantastic experience, I managed to get some very decent photos (which will be uploaded soon, hopefully).

Following in the same “extreme sports” vein, we took a taxi to the local bat caves and after hiring another guide, found that the whole thing was unlit, uneven, and untouched. The Rough Guide says you can climb out through a small opening if you feel adventurous enough, and so we did. Covered in dust and bat droppings, we moved onto the next destination – the Gourkha (Gurkha) museum. An impressive collection of uniforms and stories kept us busy for another couple of hours before heading back to lakeside via a Tibetan monastary and Devi’s Falls.

Named after a tourist who fell to her death there in 1992, Devi’s falls drops 100m underground and all you can see from the surface is a thin canyon carved in the soft rock. While trying to retrive the body a large number of caves were found underneath and a shrine has been established. The whole thing floods during monsoon which is about 2 weeks away, so we were here at the right time.

Because of a technical problem with Royal Nepal Airlines we have had to take the bus then train to Delhi where we are taking a brief tour of North India. With temperatures around 47/48 degrees celcius, this may be an interesting week…

Yesterday was a lazy day. Pokhara is laid back, clean and quiet and we had planned to have a late start then go off for a row around Phewa Tal, Nepal’s second largest lake; but we ended up spending most of the day trying to arrange the week we have in India, so the lake has been put on hold.

This morning we got up at 4am to watch sunrise in Sangakot, but when we got up we discovered firstly that our taxi driver hadn’t turned up, and secondly that the weather was bad so there wouldn’t be much view of the Annapurnas anyway. We went back to sleep for a few hours. Unfortunately in another bad twist of fate, Sam appears to have acquired some bug overnight (it happens from time to time due to westerner’s non-resistances) and so we’re waiting to see whether our original plans for today go ahead.

Today can only get better…

After a six hour roof-rack drive (on the top of a bus with the luggage – it’s the only way to travel) we arrived in Pokhara this morning. The past four days have been spent at Hotel Parkside at the Royal Chitwan National Park after a final farewell to the other VSNers (the orphange folks Sam works with including a slap up pizza meal at Roadhouse in Kathmandu).

A total change of scene from Thamel, Chitwan is safari land and several degrees hotter. Tropical rainforest, elephants, rhinos, bengal tigers etc etc

We (Jen, Sam and myself) met up with Kiwis: Kiri, Dave and Sharon for the six hour bus journey through the mountains. The schedule was pretty jam-packed for a four day trip and in the afternoon we immediately went off on a tour of the local village and elephant patrol houses. After substantial amounts of food in the thatched resteraunt platform of the hotel were jeeped to a ‘cultural evening’ put on by the locals. Despite my initial reservations about these types of events it was very impressive and the compere certainly made the “presentation of the presentation” very presentable.

The next day was an early rise for an early morning dugout canoe trip down river and a jungle safari on foot. Unfortunately we didn’t spot much apart from small or stationary things like bugs and beehives, but it gave us an opportunity to dazzle the guides with a mid-safari human pyramid display.

After more food (and of course, with seconds) we all got onboard elephants for a higher and more unstable safari where we finally managed to spot some larger wildlife including our first rhino. We got back just in time to order some cocktails and watch the sun go down over the river.

The next morning was a slightly later start, but we made our way over to the elephant breeding centre and spent an hour or so trying to feed cookies to the baby elephants. We were then jeeped over the river to sit on the bank for a couple of hours until the highlight of the four days for me, elephant washing and bathing. These huge animals are incredibley gentle and are more than happy to wash you too. Really good fun. In the evening we took a jeep safari to the 20,000 lakes for sunset where we saw deer, rhinos and macack monkeys, but alas no tigers or leopards.

Despite not being lucky enough to spot one of the rarer animnals, the whole time was really entertaining and the staff at Parkside were particularly good making the whole thing very relaxing and smooth and we (very) attentive.

We’ve now arrived in Pokhara, another popular destination and starting point for trekking in the Annapurnas. The views are spectacular. We also ran into a few more VSN guys who spotted Sam, Jen and myself on the front page of a nepali language paper this morning, bathing the elephants in Chitwan. Apparently the story is to do with tourism being on the up. We have already demanded a reduced celebrity rate at the hotel and are trying to sell signed copies.

Last night was the finishing party in Lhasa. Guy, our resident Buddhist Israeli and all around character had booked out the top floor of some restaurant in the old town. The afternoon before was spent walking around the Jokhang and exploring the markets stalls of the eager vendors before taking a long sit and reminisce in the little coffee shop until 8.30pm.

About thirty five of the forty five on the tour turned up and there was drinking and dancing and cards (playing some ridiculous rules) which went on until the early hours of the morning. There was plenty of fun.

Unfortunately there were two upsets on the last day – one being that Sonya lost her entire travel documents and monies in the back of a cab and Nicholas was mugged (although not hurt) near the Potala.

This morning was a 5.30 start again, this time a trip to the airport. The flight takes you back to Kathmandu over the lofty peaks of the Himalaya and very close to Everest so you can have a good look.

Despite asking the lady at check-in for a seat on the right hand side of the plane with a window, she put me on bog-duty and so sat on the last seat of the plane in the aisle. Brilliant.

It didn’t matter in the end as no one else sat next to me so I shifted over to the window seat and as Matt had the same setup the other side I was able to get a good view of the mountains as we passed.

I also managed to get a Chinese (Tibetan) stamp in my passport (they don’t usually do this).

At the far end, I was able to whistle through customs, but everyone else got held up due to the visa regulations and it took about an hour and a half to get sorted fully before catching a (free) taxi back to the Potala Guesthouse in Thamel.

Tomorrow we go to Chitwan national park for safaris and the like.

I am so fed up of Yak with everything.

I’m in a cafe that resembles a Starbucks – an unusual find in Tibet which is mostly full of noodle houses and yak butter tea cafes.

Lhasa is very Chinese in look and feel, and after writing the last entry we headed over the road for some noodles. We were starving, and so went into the first place we found which was an unusually posh and large Chinese resteraunt. The four of us hearded ourselves over to a table in the vast eating room and quickly noticed we were the only people in there, except for the staff. And there were a hell of a lot of staff.

The far wall was a glass construction allowing us to view directly what the 15 chefs were up to. 15 chefs all washing down the huge panes and stainless steel surfaces until they all stopped to watch the strange group of foreigners sit down and ask for the menu.

It soon became apparent that none of the 10 waiting staff could speak any english, and even when they wheeled out a reluctant girl from the back, the best we could get was a string of apologies, “Sorry, so sorry.”

It became even more difficult when we started to try to explain what we wanted. The number of staff had now increased further, all wanting a look at their new patrons, but as equally as confused as to what was meant to be going on. Our food descriptions (four chow mein) didn’t seem to work, and we nearly resorted to drawing things before they whisked the menus away, claiming they now knew what we wanted.

Three minutes later a waiter re-appeared and summoned me into the glass-fronted kitchen. Clearly the kitchen staff were even more amazed when I entered, where I discovered another pocket of four or five waiters who were just sitting and talking. I was shown a washed and peeled potato, and although my knowledeg of chinese cuisine is not the greatest, I assumed they hadn’t understood the noodle request. I said “chips”, they said “yes”, I said “no; four chow mein”, they said “ah, ok, sorry, sorry”, and back I went.

And amongst a whole lot of laughter and misunderstanding, the 14 chefs produced four small bowls of noodles.

The next day we visited the Potala. Despite forgetting our passports, they let us in for a 1 hour express tour of the Dalai Lama’s former residence. Poor weather made it a bit drab, but after visiting the Sera monastry (the monks who discovered the Dalai Lama) we went back to take photos in the square when the clouds had cleared and there was a clear view of the mountains.

This morning was a similar start, this time off to the Dreupang Monastary, one of largest in Tibet. Once home to 7,700 monks, it now has just 700. After some sightseeing, photos and souvenier shopping we were taken back to the old town.

This afternoon is the last here in Tibet. There is loads to write up in full at a later time, but that will have to wait until I am back in Kathmandu tomorrow.

Tibet’s capital city, Lhasa is actually one of the lowest points we have been for the past few days.

Like everywhere in Tibet, there is a strong Chinese influence in the architecture, but moreso here than out in the country and up on the plataeu from where we have come from.

Last night we found a great place for Yak burgers before turning in early at our nice, but very cold hotel. This morning we had to be leaving by 7am to get on the road up to the lakes and after our driver finally turned up (half an hour late) the convoy of 11 land cruisers moved off.

It was more beautiful snow-capped mountain scenery, and after some initial cloud and snow, the skies cleared and we stopped at several lakes and viewpoints along the eight-hour journey to the capital.

The driver was passing out tsampa barley the whole journey (to eat like popcorn), and making the most of his newest toy. Our driver has pretty much pimped out the jeep to look like a police car – we have blue and red flashing lights on the bullbars and his newest addition – a siren and PA through the horn to make announcements to fellow drivers. We probably have the coolest driver.

The hotel tonight has warm hot water and so I managed to get a bath in – the first wash in three days. Some of the girls have been going spare (not from our group though – we don’t grumble as much as some people). Each move makes the group anticipate the next set of a facilities, as so far standards have been very basic. Getting out of bed at 2am in sub-5-degree temperatures, tredding on icy floors and to go and relieve yourself outside makes you learn how to hold it in for a few hours longer.

Headaches from altitude are all but gone and we’re going to the Potala tomorrow.