Well it's about that time again when we thought we'd update you on what we've been up to since last we wrote ... oh and we've found a cheap internet cafe (20p an hour!).
Since we last wrote we've certainly got our heart rates up ... in different ways:
Rafting
As we probably mentioned in our last mail, we went on a 3 day/2 night rafting trip on the Khali Gandaki river. You'll be glad to hear that the excrement levels were definitely the lowest of our trip so far - in fact we can't remember seeing even one vagrant turd .... if you exclude those that may or may not have been present in other crew members' underwear as we went through some of the more "interestring" rapids.
In all fairness after we were told how lucky we were to be able to go on the trip - "Last of the season because the river is getting far too dangerous" - there was definitely much more hype than substance - with a lot more serene floating than clinging on for fear of death.
We were lucky with the weather, sunny and hot all 3 days, which was good given the ball shrinkingly low temperature of the water and the fact that the monsoon draws ever nearer ... oh and the fact that we didn't have a tent so were sleeping under the stars.
Anyway, despite the lack of near death experiences, the trip was a real laugh with a really cosmopolitan bunch of people - we were the only Brits.
Trekking
After a day's drying out in Pokhara, we headed off with our very smily guide (or more importantly "bag carrier") Hari.
As we set off, the sun was shining, the sky was clear and we were feeling good - full of self congratulation for doing something so outdoorsy ... and in fact wondering whether we were really in need of Hari's services.
Despite the fact that, like all Nepalis seem to be, Hari was only about 5 feet tall, the initial guilt we felt from giving him our big rucksack to carry soon evaporated as he jogged off into the distance closely followed by other "poor little Nepalis" carrying all manner of things from multiple crates of San Miguel to a couple of gross of live chickens and what looked like some very large railway sleepers - oh and obviously they've got bored over the years of carrying these things on their backs so they've decided to spice things up a little by carrying them on their heads ... as you do!
Unlike Hari however, we weren't looking quite as spritley 2 hours later. With Hari trotting along ahead (still smiling) and Tessa only a couple of steps behind, I was not looking particularly picture postcard - sweat rag gripped in one hand with the other clutching my chest, I wasn't a particularly good advert for my monthly subscription to Men's Health magazine. Now for fear of sounding stupid, given the raw statistics of a net climb of 3km in the first four days, there was far more up and down than we had imagined. What looked like a simple 200m climb from A to B on the map invariably involved a descent of 400m followed by an immediate climb of 600m - haven't these people heard of bridges!
Anyway, much to our relief, the first couple of days were easily the worst. We soon got our mountain legs and fuelled by regular meals of Dal Bhatt (Lentil soup with veg curry and rice) we managed to make it all the way to Annapurna Base Camp (or "ABC" to those of us cool trekker dudes) on Day 4, 4,130m above sea level and 3km above our starting point, surrounded by some of the tallest mountains in the world - it was mind boggling. Unfortunately we could only take the guide book's word for these alleged mountains, cos we could barely see past the end of our noses by the time we reached ABC due to the heavy cloud cover! We spent possibly the coldest night of our entire lives beneath 2 blankets and sleeping bag - each! - not to mention the five layers of clothing and wooly hats - at base camp in order to get what we hoped would be a more spectacular vista in the morning.
Well, morning came and the clouds went. Then at 5am when we got up the clouds came back. The guys who were up an hour before us said the views were amazing though ... so that made it all worth while!! To be fair we did get good views of about 80% of the mountains surrounding ABC, with only one mountain remaining elusively behind the clouds. All pretty impressive!
We then spent 6 more days coming down via a longer route. The promise of more great mountain views was somewhat false unless you were willing, as Tessa invariably was, to get up at some ungodly hour (like 5.30am!!) ... I'll just live the experience through the photos she's taken - I can't wait!
Overall, trekking was really good. We covered 106 km in 10 days and climbed a total of 4.5 km. The scenery was, at times, truly breathtaking and the hard work definitely worth it - if only because I now need a belt to hold up the trousers that were, let's say a snug fit, when I left the UK. The trails were very quiet - June is one of the quietest months of the year for tourists and has been particularly quiet this year because of the Maoist situation that is keeping the tourists away ... although we're not exactly sure why having seen no hostility at all ... except from the leeches which kept us on our toes (literally) for the last few days of the trek - truly disgusting creatures which thankfully didn't seem to like the taste of British blood.
In hindsight maybe more than two T-shirts would have been a good idea, as by the end of the 10 days, even the water buffalo were avoiding us - and they love nothing more than to wallow in cesspits of mud and excrement!
Which brings me nicely onto the question you're all asking yourselves - "How did the excrement level compare with the rest of our trip?". Well, there was a lot, but as we were roaming through agricultural land, where cows are supposed to live - as opposed to the middle of roundabouts and lurking outside Indian McDonalds restaurants with a smug "You cant touch me cos I'm sacred" look on their faces - we didn't mind quite as much.
So that's been about it. We're now in Kathmandu, with freshly laundered clothes. Despite what the guidebooks say, Kathmandu does not seem as minging as we'd thought it would be. In fact we're having a really good time - the restaurants have been excellent so far and the shopping has been ... erm ... intense!
Nepal has been a really wicked place. We're already planning a return trip, maybe to mount an expedition to climb the as yet unconquered East Face of Everest.
Back to Delhi on Sunday, just for a day - an air con room sounds like a must from the stories in the papers about the heatwaves and deaths - then it's off to Singapore to start the South East Asia leg of our trip. Looking forward to a country where spitting is banned and cows aren't sacred.
So until we write again, keep the emails coming. For want of sounding wanky, it really is great to hear all your news, no matter how mundane it may seem to you, so keep them coming.
Love Jules & Tessa xxxx
P.S.
Williams - counting down the days to Bermuda?
Tory - how are your Greek lessons coming along?
Jonesey - Just read another Allan Folsom book called "Day of
Confession" which is just as good as "The Day After Tomorrow" - highly recommended! - You moved in yet?
Leon - I hear a civil war has just broken out in Liberia - seems like the obvious next destination for you after Peru and Argentina!
Mum (Rose) - Hope France was nice.
Parents Morris - Hope US was nice
Rob & Stu - ditto
Tom S - thanks for the Becks update - it's headline stuff here too!
Tim H - keep the cricket updates coming - at least it'll give you a purpose in life ;-)
Janet - congrats about the new pad
Brian - Mayhem
Richard - MAYHEM!
Sarah T - definitely arriving on the morning of the 17th - hope the champers is on ice and the washing machine is primed for an absolute pummeling!
Amy/Jade - did you make your flight ok?
Vicki - Hope the holiday is sorted.
Weener - how's college?
Marissa - Searchspace? Que?