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North India and Nepal - Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal

So I'm sat on a train between Bangalore and Mysore and finally have a couple of hours to write my blog from North India and Nepal. It's been an experience that's for sure and it begins in Delhi. Indias capital city. We arrived on our flight from Bangkok which was very bumpy to a surprisingly simple arrival experience! In to a taxi we got and off we went to our hotel, the time was just after midnight. The first thing we noticed when we got in the car was that the heating was on full blast, then we realised how cold it was outside. We had prepared for chilly weather but this was practically ice and snow (well almost). We arrived at a very basic but perfectly comfortable hotel in Karol Bagh called C Park inn. The only downside was the cold room but sleeping bag liner, duvet and an H and M hoodie which I lived in for the next week, by about 2am we were nodding off wondering what was in store for this part of our trip. We were joining a tour group but not until the following day so we had a day to explore the city by ourselves. Bravely we decided to take the metro, Charlie being an expert at this of course from his last visit. I can honestly say that I thought London was busy, this place was swarming and they pushed and pushed on to the trains, it was an experience but as I stood on the tube I looked around I noticed there were no women anywhere. There is a separate carriage for women but it's a shame that the city is so dominated by men because many women feel unsafe to go out and it's very evident. We went to Connaught Place where we went to Costa Coffee. This was because I had lost our food bag again which was made up of biscuits and crisps which would have been safe to eat before meeting our tour group the next day. We didn't want to risk getting sick before we had even started! We headed to Central Secretariat where we saw the key government buildings before walking to India gate where we felt we had really arrived in India. We stood taking photos for a good half an hour while thousands of school children weaved in and out of each other at the national monument. This was our main day of sightseeing in Delhi so next we headed for Humayans tomb in our first Indian tuk tuk! The tomb was something Charlie had missed on his last trip and we had become slightly lazy by this stage and decided the star system in the lonely planet was there for a reason so we headed to as many 'stars' as we could! The tomb was an impressive terracotta building, the grounds and building exterior much more impressive than the interior and the place was again swarming with hundreds of school children. The tomb was next to a famous kebab stand street which was also a star! We braved the street but weren't brave enough to buy the food when we hadn't even been in India for 24 hours so we snapped some pictures of anything from a kebab stand, flower sellers and a goat before getting away in another tuk tuk to a place called Khan Market. There was a recommended restaurant at Khan market but we couldn't find it, so ended up with a chicken tikka sandwich from Subway! The area was full of designer shops and expensive restaurants, something I expected of Mumbai not Delhi but up until then I had nothing to compare it with. Next I experienced the inevitable 'Oh my god' moment I was nervous but desperate to see and feel. We headed on the chaotic metro again to Chowdi Chowk which is part of old Delhi, next to the Red Fort where there is an old market selling everything and anything. It was complete chaos. There was no real road, it was all dug up and looked like it had been that way for years. Rickshaws, taxis, bikes, people, mobile food stalls, spice stands, total gridlock and people urinating in the street, bodies on the ground which I wasn't sure if they were dead or homeless sleeping. It was something I can't really describe in words but was incredible to witness such a different way of life especially in a capital city. We wandered around past the Red Fort which was closed as it was Monday and went towards the Jamal Masjid for sunset. This mosque the largest Muslim place of worship in Delhi, famous for the amount of birds that flock to it. We got some great photos and spoke to some locals about our trip and at that moment we realised that although India can be tough, when locals speak to you it's not just to take your money (Thailand!) it's because they are genuinely interested and want to talk or as we discovered the next day, they actually live in Birmingham and are on holiday just like us. Thanks for the offer of accommodation in Amritsar lady in McDonalds! After the mosque we went to a popular restaurant called Karims which was of course a star in the book. The chicken looked a bit pink so we picked at the overpriced food but felt it was worth it as we had been in Delhi a whole day and not even had curry yet and that didn't seem right. A star it was, we didn't get sick and we just had one more morning worrying about the food before we met the group we would be travelling to Kathmandu with over Christmas hoping the guide would help to keep us from the dreaded Delhi belly. So we met the group after a short visit to the Red Fort in the morning. If I was really honest, the red fort was good but no where near as impressive as other forts in India, mainly because the English ruined the place after turning it in to an army barracks. Our tour group consisted of Norweigans, Canadians, Australians, Icelandic, Mexican and Brits and General Giri, our guide named so by the loud but sometimes entertaining Mexicans. Our first group dinner was at Pind Baluchi, a restaurant not far from the hotel, we confidently ate a tasty spiced tandoor chicken and veg makhani before heading to the Karol Bagh market where I bought at 75p scarf which proved to help keep me warm over the next few weeks and cover my face from the dusty roads and the smell of ****. (I wanted to write urine, but **** is way more appropriate). We hadn't prepared for it to be so cold and foggy. It looked more like what I expected of Kathmandu with locals burning rubbish to keep warm in the evening. The temperature in the day was okay but at night it was bitter. During the trip we learned that this was a particularly cold year. Next stop was Pushkar, to get there we all took at 6.05am train to Ajmer, alarms going off at a ridiculous 4.15am! On the train we had a basic breakfast whilst travelling through dense fog, past deserted and dusty villages as the sun came up. A local boy singing Insy winsy spider in perfect English to his mum and the Mexicans playing a mixture of Mexican songs and Calvin Harris through a portable speaker. I was rolling my eyes and tutting at this stage! Some of us managed to get some sleep before arriving in Ajmer for a short jeep transfer to the hotel in Pushkar. The hotel was called Hotel New Park. Pushkar is a holy town with pilgrims travelling here to visit the lake and the Brahma temple, the only one of it's kind. The town is built around the holy lake with two temples up on the hills either side. We did an orientation walk past the lake (you have to take your shoes off by the lake) and in to the town past many tourist style guesthouses and market stalls selling the usual Ali baba pants, handmade bags and pashminas. Our memorable activity here was the camel ride. We arrived at the camels and I picked mine carefully hoping it would be the best camel of the pack. It turned out it was probably the slowest so every now and again I turned to my side only to have the camel behinds face right next to me, it's teeth were so disgusting! Despite this, the camel ride was really fun, we rode through the desert at sunset, Charlie leading the group on his reliable and sensible camel as we headed for a campground where we saw a magician (this my challenge) which was his catchy catchphrase! There was a local gypsy group who performed local dances around the fire and we ate vegetable thali, local food eaten with just our hands of course. We took a taxi back, not a camel. Everyone was glad of that not only because it was dark but the temperature had dropped so much since daytime. We kept warm during the entertainment as we were given turbans and trousers or sarees to dress up in, everyone reluctant to give them back at the end of the evening having appreciated the extra layers! Another 4.45am start the next day to catch sunrise from the hilltop overlooking the Pushkar lake. It took around 45 minutes to climb up in the dark. About half of the group made the climb (Deb up ahead, practising for her upcoming Everest base camp trek). We watched the sunrise over the mountains and on to the sacred town which was really incredible whilst sipping a cup of hot chai. It was almost a perfectly relaxing experience until we got our rich tea biscuits out and attracted the monkeys, then Enrique (Mexico) decided to feed the money nuts! Luckily we all befriended a dog who protected us from the huge monkeys! Once we returned to the hotel we had a slow and disappointing Nutella pancake, which was quite clearly not Nutella may I add and hopped on a bus to take us to Jaipur where our hotel was called Bissau Palace. The hotel was amazing, it looked similar to the best exotic marigold hotel with an Indian/English influence. It was an old royal home which had been converted in to a hotel. Our orientation walk with our guide Giri took us in to the walled city of Jaipur, past ladies selling vegetables on the street floor. We visited many street vendors along the walk with an explanation of what things were. Some of us were brave enough to try some of it, but I couldn't force myself to eat the watery filled crispy bread type thing. I can't remember the name but judging by the faces of most that tried it, it's better off that way! We walked past, tea, coffee, sugar, paan and mouth freshner traders. The paan was perhaps the most interesting. Paan is a mixture of betel nut, lime paste, spices and sometimes tobacco. They chew it and then spit all over the floor and it's red so that's what all the red stuff on the ground is! It's sold everywhere by what are called Paan Wallahs. Charlie feeling confident ate the whole thing in and didn't even spit any out. I thought it tasted of flowers. I spat it out. We finished the tour at the famous Lassiwala which is known for its Lassi and cheap food. The lassi is served in a terracotta pot and you can choose from plain to all sorts of fruit flavours. I went for pineapple because it's the best because I say so. We all had a lassi and now it was time for our Bollywood experience. Off we went to Jaipur's elaborate but colourful cinema to watch the latest blockbuster. It was called Action Jackson. The main character was referred to quite simple as AJ throughout he rest of the trip especially by the 2 Canadians Andrea and Sofiya who were the only 2 that stayed to watch the second half. It was a long film with no subtitles, the most memorable bit being when AJ strolls down the street and ***** in someones Massala Chai. That's my Bollywood memory! Next up was the Amber Fort which is a must see when visiting Jaipur. It's about 11km out of town and stands on top of a hill. Stopping just before the entrance we managed to get some good photos from a distance and see a King Cobra and his owner the snake charmer. You can walk, take a jeep or ride an elephant up the hill to the entrance of the fort. It's not far to walk, jeeps are bad for the environment and the elephants were quite clearly treated badly so we all walked as even our guide told us not to ride the elephants and after visiting the sanctuary in Chiang Mai I don't think I will want to ride an elephant ever again. We had a really informative guide (Sanjeev) showing us interesting parts of the Mughal and Islamic architecture and how the palace was kept cool in summer and warm in winter with the use of fire and mirrors which was really interesting. After lunch where we had a variety of regional Thalis, mine from Punjab and Charlies from Rajastan we headed back via a textiles place (surprise surprise) but myself, Charlie and Alex had been taken to the wrong place so quickly put our foot down and got taken to the new town where we had planned on firstly buying a hoodie and then wandering around Jaipur's backstreets, just the 3 of us without the group. So I had been wearing the same hoodie since I landed in Delhi, day and night because it was so much colder than expected and we knew it might get colder the closer we got to Nepal so we found a shop called Woodland where Alex sneakily bought herself a hoodie whilst me and Charlie got distracted by what can only be described as a bear costume. I ended up with a black Adidas hoodie which I was very happy to put on after a hot shower that evening. Anyway back to the interesting bit. We wandered around the backstreets that we had missed on the brief tour the previous day. Alex was great to walk with as she walks down all the back streets and seemed to find lots of interesting things to photograph. We had the best Chai we had in India on this walk, having confidence to just buy it off a street seller is so worth it. Me and Charlie befriended someone on a motorbike who wanted to cook us dinner and we spoke to a young family outside their home. The best part was the sweet shop. We wandered past a sweet shop and looked in to the back where we could see them making something. We poked our heads round and were eventually invited in to watch them make a particular sweet which is popular in Jaipur. It looked like a large amount of golden syrup which they were stirring, 3 or 4 people using wooden sticks. Then they began to stretch it out as it cooled and it turned a yellow colour like hair consistency and tasted like candy floss. It was really good to see them make it and we spoke with the owner who was happy to tell us all about the business and the sweets so we bought some for the group and went on our way feeling like we had a genuinely authentic experience. It was called Sahan Papdi. Unfortunately I spent that evening on the phone to the bank after receiving hotel bookings made my a Mr Nathan Wong in Bristol. Luckily my cards were fine and I've blocked the ******* off my emails. At 5.45am we took a tuk tuk ride to the train station through thick fog in Jaipur to catch the train to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal and definitely a highlight for me and for many others on the trip. The train journey was pretty dull because of the fog you couldn't see much out of the window until we rolled in to Agra to be greeted by piles and piles of rubbish both sides of the train track and men peeing all over the place and child beggars around every corner. I noticed 2 dogs sleeping in ash from a fire to keep warm as we boarded a bus to take us to the hotel. It felt like a strange place, quite depressing, dark and unsafe but the weather didn't help and our guide seemed to think the same advising that we don't wander off too far. It's far from the image you paint in your head of the home of the Taj Mahal, India's iconic landmark and officially one of the 7 wonders of the world. We were so excited to see that there was a Costa Coffee pretty much built in to the hotel we were staying in and the showers here were the best we had anywhere so far. But the wifi in Costa was non existent and Charlie was desperate to get photos downloaded on to the Dropbox in order to free up some space on his phone. So we headed across the street to another cafe which was better, probably excellent wifi by indian standards we had experienced so far! We were due to visit the Taj Mahal at 3pm but when the group met our guide in the lobby we were told that the president of Bangladesh was there and they had closed it for the rest of the afternoon so we would have to wait until tomorrow. Instead we headed to the gardens the other side of the river to see the Taj from the back. It was the first glimpse we all had and a great view, and luckily the sun came out and allowed us to get some great photos. On the way back we stopped at the baby Taj which is well worth the visit. It's actually older than the main one but a lot smaller. The marble inlay and building itself is still really impressive. It was Jenny's birthday and that night we went out to a restaurant where a few of us shared some incredible food, particularly the paneer tikka. We played some Christmas songs on the Ipod through a speaker and then a Hindi dance version on Happy Birthday to celebrate Jenny's Birthday. The chocolate cake was ridiculously huge like the one off Matilda! Now it was time for the Taj. In the morning we visited Agra fort and learnt the story of the Taj Mahal as this is where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son and where he looked out towards the grave he had built for his wife. We saw where he was imprisoned and parts of the fort showing off architectural influences from Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism. The fort was so impressive but lies in the shadow of the Taj as an attraction but I would recommend it to anyone who visits Agra, they are just a few kilometres away from one another. After lunch we headed to the Taj Mahal and witnessed the incredible site that we've all seen time and time again on TV and posters everywhere. Even though we've all seen it, actually being there is well worth the trip. Our guide told us about the history and let us walk around, past the queue to sit on the 'Diana' bench of course! Inside you can see the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan but the building is so much more impressive from the outside. The detail of the inlaid marble which all came from Rajastan and the Arabic calligraphy as well as the shape and symmetry are amazing to see close up. I loved it there and will remember that moment forever. Unfortunately I will remember the next part of the tour for all the wrong reasons but I can happily say that I am laughing about it now as I write! That night we headed to the station to catch the overnight train to Varanasi. If you were there you know what's coming! It was a journey on a sleeper train that would take 13 hours. We had been told there are often delays on this route and despite having good weather for the Taj Mahal that afternoon, as the evening came in the fog worsened. We were told once we arrived at the station that the train was delayed by 8 hours. Giri arranged mattresses for us to sleep on the floor of the waiting room at the station but a few of us including the Mexicans, us, Alex, Tuva and Lorentz (who was severely suffering from Delhi belly) decided we weren't happy to do that especially as a rat crawled around the floor we were expected to sleep on. After a lot of confusion we made it clear we wanted to book in to a nearby hotel. We thought that even if the train does arrive at 4am when it was now scheduled, it was better to try and get a bit of sleep on an actual bed. So we piled ourselves in a taxi to the Hotel Periyar. Now I wasn't expecting the Ritz for £4 a night BUT I wasn't expecting prison. This was the worst place I have ever seen in my life and that's the honest truth. The pillow was black and the sheets filthy, there was no heating and there was an open window with bars that was pretty much outside (just to an outside corridor). Me, Alex and Charlie shared a room. Initially we weren't sure if it was any better than the train station but once we came round to the idea and managed to get a discount on the rooms because he only provided 1 toilet roll to give us between 4 rooms we settled down for the night. We slept in our clothes but it was freezing. Trying to huddle together, we left the duvet off as it was so dirty but as the night went on we accepted defeat and the duvet moved closer up our bodies to help us keep warm despite how dirty it was. 3am came and the Mexicans woke us up to see if Giri had been in touch. We were told the train was now delayed even more and that we didn't need to be at the station until 8am. This made us feel that we definitely did the right thing so we tried to get more sleep. Eventually the train came at 11.30am which was about 15 hours later than scheduled. It arrived and someone shouted 'Run, it won't wait for long'. I was thinking, we've been waiting for 15 hours, how can we have been waiting on the wrong platform the whole time!!! The train finally pulled in to a station about 1 hours drive away from our destination at around 4am so that's 35 hours after we left our hotel in Agra! On this train I definitely hit my 'India low point' at one stage I was wandering around almost crying that I was so hungry and there had been a cockroach in my bed. It was not good. It honestly felt like we would never get off the train. But we did and I got over it almost as soon as we arrived in Varanassi at 5.30am. We checked in to the hotel, had breakfast and a shower and went out with our guide to see the ghats of Varanassi. Moving on. This place is the holiest city in India, it is said it is the oldest city in the world. Lying alongside the Gangees, many of the cities ghats are used for washing clothes, bathing and burning dead bodies in ceremonies or funerals before dropping the ash in to the river. You won't experience anything like this anywhere else, although it felt quite sad knowing what goes on here day in day out, it also felt very calm and relaxed. First we wandered down to Assi Ghat admiring all the painted adverts on the walls leading up to guesthouses, restaurants and businesses from the river in to the town. At the far end we stopped and went to a cafe/shop recommend in the book called open hand with Alex and Deb for a coffee and another more filling breakfast than the piece of toast we had at the hotel. From there we took a tuk tuk towards a place called Blue Lassi but due to traffic restrictions we had to walk most of the way but that meant we got to find a rooftop to observe a local flower market! I couldn't believe how polluted Varanassi was, it felt far worse than anywhere in China we had been, it wasn't just the pollution but the dust from the road. Everyone struggled to breathe properly and we're all very grateful for our scarves which kept us warm and stopped you from breathing in the fumes. Blue Lassi is supposed to be the best place in India for Lassi. Many customers taking a passport photo and sticking it to the wall which makes quite an interesting wallpaper! The Lassi was good but personally I preferred the one in Jaipur. But as the book said, if you visit here you can be sipping on a Lassi when a dead body passes you followed by many people carrying them through the alleyways down to the ghat for the burning ceremony whilst throwing flowers and chanting in Hindi. And that was exactly what happened. I don't think you can ever prepare yourself to see what we saw in Varanassi but having been there it didn't feel like a sad place and people didn't seem upset like our funerals despite it being so visible and for us, an alien way to say good bye to a loved one. We wandered down towards the main burning ghat where we saw bodies being carried down and then dowsed in the water of the Gangees before being placed on the specific wood they had ordered (and paid for) and burnt. The ashes are then placed in to the river. There are fires burning all over the place and cows walking in and amongst the area. Tourists can look but understandably no photography is allowed. We stood for a while before heading away from the burning ghat to a rooftop restaurant for lunch and then some shopping downstairs where we bumped in to Jenny and Rachel. All four of us bought the same same but different coloured blankets/huge scarves as the weather was even colder here. We looked like I bunch of old English pensioners with our blankets asking when we would be getting our next cup of tea and a biscuit! Our long but really enjoyable day was topped off with a boat ride along the river in the dark where Giri our guide explained a bit about the Hindu religion, the importance of the river and we all placed a floating candle and made a wish to the river Gangees watching them float off in to the dark. It was a really incredible end to the day and I don't know about everyone else but I felt relaxed, somber and spiritual, whether that's the place or the fact that I had probably not slept for a few days I don't know but either way it didn't matter. It was a good feeling and I will take that with me from Varanassi. Moving on to 4.30am on Christmas eve and off we went to the train station yet again where we took a 6 hour train to a place called Gorakhpur, from there we all squashed in to jeeps and headed towards the Nepalese border. After a quick late lunch stop (which smelt if wee) we eventually arrived at the border after dark. This was of course very chaotic. We were greeted at the Indian departure stamp station by a guy with no uniform, taking our passports. Then he told us how we should all exchange our money with his friend across he street and explained that when he isn't at work he likes to drink alcohol and smoke weed. It was very professional. It didn't matter though, we were all stamped out and walked through no mans land singing Silent Night at the top of our voices! Everyone paid for their visas on arrival and we drove a few miles to our hotel just north of the border. Alex, Me, Charlie and Deb went to the restaurant for dinner and had Momo's which are everywhere in Nepal, like steamed dumplings with chicken or vegetables inside. In my opinion much better than Chinese dumplings. Then off to bed with a hot honey and lemon tea brought to the room to keep warm as a Christmas treat! We woke on Christmas morning to a slow but pretty good breakfast all wishing each each Happy Christmas. Sofiya donning a very busy but magical Christmas jumper! Our main activity for today was visiting 'Lumbini' which is the birth place of the Buddha. It felt very strange as we sat on the bus to Buddhas birthplace singing every Christmas song and carol we could think of, projected by mainly Charlie Jenny, Rachel and myself. Lumbini was nothing spectacular, if fact it felt like a waste of time as most of us were looking forward to getting to our Tharu homestay in Chitwan national park. Again it was a long day travelling on a local bus to Chitwan, I sat next to a girl with a SpongeBob handbag wishing I had worn my matching SpongeBob socks that day! We drove until just after sunset in and out of the clouds going up and down on Nepals hilly and pretty scary roads, every time we drove out of the clouds everyone singing "here comes the sun" hopeful that Nepal would prove brighter weather than India's dense fog! We arrived at the Tharu village homestay to be greeted by the villagers and welcomed with flowers and of course a blessing which stayed on my forehead for almost 24 hours. We walked through the village and across the fields in to the homestay area which has recently been adapted to accommodate tourists. They even had Christmas lights on the trees and everyone was really excited to be there and looking forward to Boxing Day spotting wildlife! We were also looking forward to getting here as we had planned to meet up with the Bensons whilst in Nepal. As it was Christmas it seemed fitting to go for a Christmas dinner together so we arranged to meet at KC's restaurant in Sauraha. Our homestay was right in the countryside and we had to get a local man from the village to drive us to meet them. We picked Dave and Gemma up on the way and headed to the restaurant. Probably one of my most memorable Christmas dinners and not just because it's the most recent. Well we couldn't not invite the taxi driver in, so there we were, 5 of us and one local that didn't say much but must have thought we were crazy when Gemma pulled out cardboard cut out Christmas hats, moustaches, beards and glasses! There were no tables inside so we sat in the cold wrapped up with our hats and scarves on and ordered a mixed thali and Chicken Biryani for our Christmas dinner! The taxi man got involved and wore his hat and glasses too and joined in the festivities! Next Gemma and Dave handed over presents. The Christmas socks were perfect, I was wearing my aeroplane socks as a last resort and this present meant that on Boxing Day I could put a clean pair of socks on. I was one very happy man! The next day we headed out on a full day trip with our tour group. I was so nervous about doing a jungle walk after hearing that Dave and Gemma were charged at by a Rhino on Christmas Day. The lonely planet warns you about this happening but you never think it will actually happen to you. The start of the day took us to the shore of the Rapti river where all 16 of us sat in a huge canoe and rowed down the river spotting birds up above and crocodiles in the water of which there were quite enough for my liking. I was more impressed by the scenery than the wildlife. Mist was rising off the river and the water flowed silently while we drifted downstream keeping eyes and ears open for wildlife. We then got out of the canoe and took our jungle walk. Although I was petrified of being chased by a Rhino, Elephant or Tiger I did actually enjoy the walk but tried to keep in the middle of the group. Again for me the exciting bit was the scenery not the searching for animals. We didn't see anything apart from loads of Rhino Poo and some tiger tracks anyway! I wasn't disappointed at all. That afternoon we were doing a 4 wheel drive Safari and that I felt much more comfortable on and I was more confident we would see some animals. And we did, first we saw crocodiles as we had to cross the river again to get to the jeeps, then we saw wild boar, spotted deer and 2 Rhinos. It took a while to find a Rhino. At one point we had to get out of the jeep and walk through the trees to get a glimpse of it keeping very quiet so that it didn't see us! Only later we were told that particular Rhino had killed someone. On the way back we saw another one, the group in front saw a third but our Jeep was too occupied eating biscuits and keeping warm wrapped up in mine and Charlie's blankets that we bought in Varanasi that we missed the Rhino! That night we met up with Dave and Gemma again at our home stay village and saw a Tharu dance show followed by dinner. This we ate with our hands off banana leaves on the floor washed down with some local rice wine! The following morning it was time to leave the national park and head to Pokhara. It was again a long bus drive, taking all day made more enjoyable by munching on a box of Choco Pies! Pokhara lies on a lake with the Annapurna mountain range just behind it making it a perfect tourist mountain town that would remind you of the Rocky Mountain towns or Queenstown in New Zealand. Many Trekkers start their journey here but for us it was a quick 2 night stop to take in the scenery and explore the town and the festival which started the day after we arrived. We stayed at Hotel RaaRaa where the hot water was temperamental but they did have a washing service and I think everyone in our group including the guide got their washing done here! We went on an orientation walk which we didn't need as it was very touristy and easy to navigate. A few of us split from the group that night and did some shopping and dinner at Cafe concerto, not the most cultural evening but the puddings were amazing and we all felt like we needed some western food and a chill out. We both managed to buy another jumper and a wooly hat to keep us warm. They lasted about a week which was all we needed but note to anyone wanting to pick up fake North Face fleeces in Nepal, buy it at home and pay the real price! The zip is more likely to stay intact! Probably on of my most memorable moments in Nepal begins with a 4.30am start which I am perfectly used to now. We headed up to Sarangkot which is a village with a viewing platform looking out to the Annapurna range for sunrise. We arrived in the pitch black and waited for the sun to come up, knowing it was going to be good as you could see all the stars in the sky. As the sun rose, hundreds of shades of orange, blue, red and yellow lit the sky with the snow capped mountains in the background. It was well worth the early wake up and the best sunrise I have seen to date! For breakfast we headed to Mikes place with Deb and Alex where we hoped we would get English muffins but turns out they were savoury American muffins, although a little disappointed the free flowing coffee and table right by the lake made up for the muffin confusion! Alex went off to do a paraglide, Deb to see her friend while me and Charlie put a life jacket on and got in a boat to take us across the lake to the path up to the World Peace Pagoda which stands on the hill the opposite side of the lake. We had to refuse to give the boatman or boat teenager our Apple ID as he kept asking, obviously thinking we were completely stupid. We climbed to the top and as expected got amazing views across towards Sarangkot where the paragliders left from and down to the lake and the town the other side. Walking back the same way and boating back across the lake we went to Moon Dance restaurant for lunch where we had arranged to meet Gemma and Dave for the afternoon. From there the four of us hired a boat for an hour or so to take us around the lake, Dave set up his selfie stick that he had for Christmas pretending he was embarrassed but actually loving it! In the evening we walked through the street festival together trying a variety of street food including Chicken skewers and vegetable Momo's with Dave, Gemma and some of the group. We ended up in Maya restaurant where I finally tried an Everest beer which seemed to have sold out everywhere else we went! We only had one more destination in Nepal before heading to Mumbai and then on to the southern part of India. The final destination was Kathmandu, which took me by surprise, mainly because I had pictured in my head that it would be surrounded by high peaks and fresh mountain air. It was in fact the most polluted city so far. Not just because of the cheap fuel used to power the vehicles on the road but the amount of dust. We both walked around the city with face masks on for the next few days! We were at the end of our tour and to say goodbye, Giri our guide took us to a place called Rum Doodle where we did a dance to the happy birthday song, wrote on a cardboard footprint and reluctantly tried to eat a water buffalo burger. It was a had to be there moment. We stayed just one night at the hotel Harari and the next day checked out before heading to Durbar Square, the cities main attraction. There we just 3 of us, Me Charlie and Alex. In Durbar Square there were priests, temples and pigeons everywhere! The pigeons were very real, not sure how real the priests were but they looked good and we had a stash or US 1 dollar bills ready to hand over for clicking pictures as the Indians say! We spent most of the morning in the square and then headed to our hotel. We had all booked the Shangri La for that night. A bit over the top but after spending the last few weeks in very cold and sometimes very uncomfortable digs we decided to treat ourselves and luckily we were upgraded to an executive suite, complete with complimentary fruit and more importantly free (decent) wifi! Alex treated us to an amazing western dinner at the hotel restaurant that night and then we sat in the bar sipping a hot mulled wine talking about our adventures we had shared over the past few weeks. New Year's Eve came and we checked out of the Shangri La and into the Hyatt Regency with Dave and Gemma for 2 nights over New Year. We did nothing but relax all day until around 4.30pm when we headed up to the Monkey Temple where we just missed sunset due to the conditions of Nepals terrible roads but we did see a load of monkeys and a view over the city at night. Then we headed to 1905, a restaurant we had picked for dinner. The plan was to have dinner then go for a few drinks, however, the restaurant had been mainly transformed in to an open air nightclub playing Tiesto and Calvin Harris. Gemma was furious as it was a $$$ in the lonely planet and ambassadors are supposed to dine here don't you know. We laughed it off and the food was actually very good. We had heard from the others in the group that the town was not good and everyone was heading back to their hotels so we did the same! We ended up at Rox bar in the hotel along with maybe 15 other people and managed to see in the New Year with everything you need. A party hat, pom poms, whistle and the black eyed peas (not in person)! First beverage of 2015: Gin and Tonic. We didn't stay up much longer as we had a full day exploring the Kathmandu valley for our last day in Nepal. New Year's Day was spent travelling around the valley. We had a driver called Nettra who took us to Patan, Bhaktapur, a temple on the hill which I can't remember the name of and Nagarkot for sunset. There were amazing photo opportunities along the way in the towns and on the scenic roads between the attractions. As the sun set Gemma managed to pay more than double the price for a fridge magnet in comparison to what Nettra paid and Dave was happy as he had a good opportunity to get his carbon fibre tripod out! A day out with friends on the first day of the year was topped off with a luxurious meal at Dwarikas which is a boutique hotel and restaurant in Kathmandu. In the morning of the 2nd the boys went down the road to Bodnath Stupa as Gemma was feeling poorly. The Stupa is the largest Tibetan Stupa outside of Tibet and whilst we where there there was some sort of ceremony or festival taking place, so we found the only open rooftop cafe and shared a large pot of Nescafe for breakfast whilst we watched what was going on below. We had to head back to catch our flight to Mumbai. Dave and Gemma still had an afternoon there but our flight was just after lunch so we said our goodbyes and off we went for our next adventure. Mumbai and then the South of India...