Kathmandu Dogmandont

Namaste
Hope everyone is okay. Don't really know where to begin as we have done quite a bit since the last post.

Cricket was really good even though England lost. We luckily managed to get our tickets upgraded to executive and watched the game from sofas while waiters bought us free food and drink. It can be really hard this travelling lark. We also managed to sneak past security and straight into the press conference.

The game was in a place called Jaipur. It wasn't really nice there as it was polluted and all the sites were just poor versions of other places we had been. We did however learn not to take pity on cycle rickshaw drivers and go for the poorest looking one. They (and this is said in hindsight) don't seem to have a well balanced diet and because of this their fitness levels aren't up to much making your journey take the time it should.

We also went to Agra and saw the Taj Mahal, which was nice. I thought it was one of the most amazing man made things I had ever seen and could have stared at it for hours. Garlen wasn't so impressed and described it as a little room.

After that we went to the river Ganges; one of the holiest places in the Hindu faith and also one of the most polluted rivers in the world. It was weird seeing dead bodies (the first I have ever seen) being taken to the river side put in wood rafts, set alight and pushed out while other people jump in to wash away their sins. I sort of lost some respect for the hindu faith there as Garlen told me had seen the raft bearers joking and messing about as they went about burning the bodies. We also watched the A-team in our hotel and I washed a 700 rupee train ticket in my shorts. Garlen looks after the tickets now.

We've left our fellow traveler Jo (From Ramsbury not Swindon) now, it was really cool having another person to talk to for the last 3 weeks, changed the group dynamics and meant I didn't have to listen to Garlen going on about; Chelsea, the oragami chicken and his bad/awful Ewan Mcgreggor impression (only kiding Garlen I love you really) but we'll miss Jo. Cue tears.

After the Ganges we left for Nepal, but on the way, while sitting at a road side Cafe, Garlen had a bag stolen with loads of expensive stuff in it, including most of his clothes (I haven't noticed him smelling more despite him wearing the same top since, but then he always has had a strange smell about him). He also lost some jeans which he seems to have a strange emotional connection to.

It was quite a weird journey really; the change in climate and landscape was dramatic and sudden as was change in people's faces and attiutdes to tourists. Also, our coach owner kept trying to start fights with people, one on Garlens behalf as he searched for culprits. The most annoying thing about the theft was the loss of the video diary we had been making. Memories, water colour, memories in the corner of our minds. Oh and a tyre blew up.

This place is a bit pollitically unstable at the moment - something to do with Maoist rebels, a king that is really a dictator and a fixed election - so there are lots of soilders with guns, one brushed against me, but only the butt so don't worry mum.
We're in Kathmandu at the moment making plans to go to Mount Everest Base Camp and then into Tibet, which will be fun.

But anyway take and we'll post again soon (sorry if this post makes no sense but I've only had about 3 hours sleep over the past 35 hours)

Damo