Uncategorized – Page 16 – Five Go Round The World

Zipping zip lines

In Laos we went to a brilliant place called Vang Vieng. We went to the Blue Lagoon where you can do dives off trees and backflips and front flips. We saw how much the zip lining was and the next day we went back and did it. It wasn’t like a normal zip line withContinue reading “Zipping zip lines”

Laos 1 – Limes, Coconuts, Lemongrass and baguettes are back on the menu.

(Our camera is broken so it’s on way its’ back on a plane to John Lewis to be fixed! The phone camera will have to do from now on…. AHHHH Asia ! It’s great to be back in SE Asia. We make a quick 24 hr stop in KL. It was bad planning stopping here,Continue reading “Laos 1 – Limes, Coconuts, Lemongrass and baguettes are back on the menu.”

Arrival in Nepal

We arrived in Nepal with Greetings from Karma who was going to take us on a tour around the mountains. We headed towards him and he headed towards us and gave us some scarfs as a welcome to Nepal which was lovely! We arrived in Kathmandu at 9 am – as we arrived we gotContinue reading “Arrival in Nepal”

Chilling in the mountains

We’ve seen Karma’s village of Syafru from several vantage points throughout our trek. However, it’s only when we arrive that we can appreciate its unique situation, perched along a sharp ridge with views on one side to the Ganesh Himal (elephant) range and the Langtang peaks on the other. Straight down the valley, we canContinue reading “Chilling in the mountains”

Nepal 4 – Village Life

Karma’s mother weaves a belt On completing the Tamang Heritage trek we join the more popular Langtang trek as the valley creeps up the mountains and we get quite a shock as we are now suddenly without any warning on a mainstream trek, following large groups of tourists. The high-tech Japanese in droves, with multiContinue reading “Nepal 4 – Village Life”

Nepal 3 -In the shadow of Everest

We take the 7.30 am bus to Pokhara. Karma and his wife Karmu accompany us there, his guiding duties are over, but they decide to take a few days holiday with us. Karma is a delightful man, with a fun sense of humour and we all enjoy his company. It’s a lovely bus journey, easy,Continue reading “Nepal 3 -In the shadow of Everest”

Nepal 2 – Tamang Heritage trek

This is the starting point of our trek There are not many places in the world where you can walk in the stunning mountains, stopping frequently in local villages, bursting with culture and interest, and enormous hospitality, to be fed cardamom chais and soups by day and suppers with a glass of beer by night,Continue reading “Nepal 2 – Tamang Heritage trek”

Nepal trekking: Dal bhat power, 24 hour!

So first of all, it’s back into a 4WD for the drive from Kathmandu to Syabru Bensi before our trekking begins – this time it’s an old Mahindra rather than a Toyota; much more basic and fairly clapped out, but it gets the job done. After we turn off the main highway the drive getsContinue reading “Nepal trekking: Dal bhat power, 24 hour!”

Kathmandu: Buddhist Diwali!

Having navigated Kathmandu airport, we are met by our guide and host for the next month, Karma. Even though he comes strongly recommended by our great friends Heather & Toby, I’m a bit apprehensive meeting a stranger who I know we’re going to be spending most of our waking hours with for the next month.Continue reading “Kathmandu: Buddhist Diwali!”

Nepal 1 – Festival of Light in Kathmandu

Karma’s daughters, Jemima and Millie set to work on decorating the entrance to their house Divali in Kathmandu We had been introduced to Karma Lama by Toby and Heather, our most intrepid/mountain climbing friends who have kids the same age as ours. We called them up in New Zealand in May to ask their adviceContinue reading “Nepal 1 – Festival of Light in Kathmandu”