After spending a couple of days in Kathmandu we had settled on a trekking guide and were on our way. Our trek "began" with a 6 hour bus ride from Kathmandu to Besisahar and the Annapurna Circuit trail head. We were booked in a microbus and we were told that although it might be less of an authentic experience, the bus will be more comfortable and take less time to reach our destination. So let's see... our experience included 20 people being fit into 12 seats, more weight on the top of the van than inside the van - as you can guess, raising the vehicle's center of gravity and creating an interest rolling effect, hindi music (the norm) blasting through every speaker, an interesting discussion about muslims, christians and hindus living together in Nepal, a cock finding its way into Annie's lap (a rooster folks!) , a road side lunch consisting of samosas and pakoras, school children climbing up and riding home from school on top at no charge and not surprisingly no less than 4 turns where I felt at least two of the van's wheels lose contact with the asphalt. I'd say we got an authentic experience! An added benefit of our speedy driver was that an uncomfortable 6 1/2 hour trip was completed in 5 1/2 hours.

Great, so were in Besisahar... but our vehicle adventures were not over. We checked in with the trekking officials in town, then walked a km before jumping on to a 4x4 bus, which would bring us the next 5 km or so to Bhulbhule. Here the walking actually began. This bus, was more tank than bus, getting us through what many would consider an impassable road; potholes varied in size from stones to station wagon, and this began, what became a common theme in our trip - our guide Pradip road the entire way... on the roof. That's Pradip's profile on top there to the right.


Our tank topped driver guided the rugged machine, often without looking, or without both hands on the wheel (often fiddling with the tape player, at one point having to flip the tape once the side ran out..haven't seen that done in a while), coming ever so close to the road's edge. We're talking 60-100 ft drop into the river below. Annie couldn't bear it, so wasn't looking, I was checking on Pradip and the other roof riders periodically. Everything turned out fine, just another commute in Nepal.. these guys are professionals. We jumped off the bus, our walk began, and we were all excited to reach our first night's destination - Ngadi Bazaar.

Our first impressions of Nepal came quickly as Annie and I grabbed luggage at the airport and walked out front to grab a cab. I had expectations of the scene, several folks vying for our business, wheeling-and-dealing for a good price. If unprepared this can be your most vulnerable moment - not knowing how far from your accommodation you are, how much it should cost, if this guy is legit, it's all quite an experience. Kathmandu, no different, but I had armed myself with a bit of info so was ready for whatever was coming my way.

I had read stories about taxis taking unsuspecting passengers to "preferred lodges". "Hey Pally, no no strings attached, just come see this lodge, it's very nice!" ... what the dude doesn't tell you is that if you stay at that place, then he gets a hefty commission. I had booked accommodation beforehand and armed myself with some info on average taxi prices into town, so felt pretty good about that. Now, it was just a matter of identifying someone honest....for that you just have to go with your gut.

As we exited the airport we passed the fixed price taxi counter, where "airport officials" try to get you to pay, what we found to be, at least 1.5x the price you could get outside. They insisted their price was fair, but we moved outside, into the lion's den.

Once outside, the onslaught began. These guys LOVE tourists with big packs, especially those that look clueless. Even when I'm well prepared I can give off the impression of being clueless, so it was on like Donkey Kong. No less than 15 people touting their services rushed to our side "Taxi?...Thamel?....You need guesthouse?"

Surrounded, the group looking up at me...I said... "Already have a place, thanks. Need to get to Kathmandu Peace Guesthouse. 400 Rupees" ... some moans "400? No!", some laughs - I got lots of laughs throughout the month in Nepal, but one guy, in the back, looked, pointed and said "400? OK."

Now, once one guy agrees to a price, the rest start to denounce him. "Oh, he's not licensed, he's not official, he's not in the association, he's not in queue" At that time, I didn't know and didn't want to get into a pickle... so I started to ask others. "OK, so who IS official?" Oh boy, what a mistake. I got everthing from driver's licenses, to taxi licenses to Member's Club cards thrown in my face. OK, bad idea, how do I decipher? I didn't have to. Seconds later some dude, in something of an official uniform, perhaps airport police?! came by and told the guys to back off. I asked the uniformed 16 year old with a gun.... "Are any of these guys legit? Can we go with anyone?" He said yes... so I looked back at the first guy, who was still sitting back a ways, not getting up in my face and said "Let's go."

We started walking with intention and the angry mob saw that they had lost the deal, game over ... and we were on our way.

Still a bit shakey we climbed into the van and off we went to Peace Guesthouse.

It was late, it was dark, we passed stray dogs, street side fires and an occasional lit street lamp. We took, what appeared to be back roads, which at the time felt like... roads leading to our impending demise. "Did we get the character call wrong on this guy? are we being brought to that preferred lodge of his?" Not lots of english exchanged, so couldn't get a good read, until 15 minutes later...we arrived, safe and sound at Peace Guest. We were both relieved. We had gotten through the first encounter. I was so relieved that the guy played us straight that I gave him 500 Rupees just cause. He had made our first trip in a new country a good and safe one.

So we checked in and laid down with good thoughts in our heads. Not only were we preparing ourselves the trek we had been looking forward to for months, but we had a good feeling about the people of Nepal... perhaps prematurely, but that's exactly what happens when you start a country off with a good experience.

Hey Everyone!

Annie and I are back to civilization here in Kathmandu after 20 days trekking the Nepalese Himalaya. I think Annie O will agree with me that the trip met or exceeded all of our expectations and has to be the top highlight of everything we've done thus far. I shouldn't speak too soon though, as as we're headed out, with friend Scotty Rokis, who dropped in on us from India, to spend our Thanksgiving on the Bhote Kasi, one of Nepal's most famous white water rivers. Thanksgiving indeeeeeeed! Before headeding out we wanted to wish everyone back home and abroad the very best this Thanksgiving holiday - may your time be spent surrounded by laughter and loved ones.

Talk again soon, to catch up on China and the haps here in Nepal.

Love you.

I'm writing with Annie watching over my shoulder from a remote town in Lower Mustang Province, Nepal called Marpha. This is the closest this country gets to Tibet outside of forbidden Upper Mustang territory). It's full of Tibetans and their cultures. Very interesting how that land has bled into this country...more like it's interesting how country borders were drawn without regards to cultures and the people
who inhabited the lands. OK, more later, but wanted to let you all know that we're really enjoying ourselves, we've crossed Throng La..the 5400 meter (over 17.5K foot) pass and we're on our way down...oh, until we go back up again to the Annapurna anctuary - should be a blast. Ten more days until we're back in contact.... hope all is well with you. We think about everyone very often, post again soon.

It's hard to believe that we've made it all the way through China and didn't post once, I feel like time is speeding up. China was amazing, a bit of a shock at first but then it completely grew on me. We arrived in Beijing to a dust storm and pushy tourists that have no consideration to ones personal space. At first you feel taken back by it, but within a few hours I was just one of them, giving a little elbow when needed and joining in the game of queueing up at Mao's mausoleum. What an experience that was, seeing Mao Zedong's body - of course a little freaky - but being in the rat race to get in, was the true Beijing experience.
My favorite part of China would have to be the hotungs, small ally ways filled with fruit stands, steamed dumping shops, and anything you could possible imagine 'on a stick.' You can also find your tailor, your bike maintenance crew and probably the best rice, noodle or dim sum dish you've even had. These little side streets are where it all goes down in China, and they're everywhere. I've decided that in my next lifetime I want to come back as the lady that sells the kettle corn in the hotung near our hostel, such a big smile on her face as she passed out on-the-spot popped bags of goodness, what's not to love about that?
We made our way through the northeast China, but only scratched the surface of something much much more. Visiting the Great Wall on our last day gave us some perspective of what this country is about, showing grandeur and art with a massive stone wall that never provided much protection. China is huge and they want you to see them as dominating, but really, this country has a long way to go before they actually fulfill the image they're showing the world.