Top 21 photos from ... Nepal!

We've just got back from a week in Nepal. We had a brilliant time - a couple of days in Kathmandu, a couple of days in Pokhara and four days trekking in the mountains. Here's a little map:

We actually stayed in Patan, just on the edge of Kathmandu. The walk that we did was just northeast of Pokhara. 

We did a loop starting at Nayapul (just south of Birethani in the middle at the bottom of the map and about an hour and a half drive from Pokhara), stopping the night in Ghandruk, then Deurali (just before Ghorepani) and then the third night in Tikhedhungga before walking back to Nayapul. There were a LOT of steps. I never want to see any steps ever again. It rained one afternoon while we were walking up some of said steps, but other than that we were lucky with the weather and had some beautiful views of the mountains. 

I tried to narrow it down to a 'Top 10' of the photos but I couldn't. So here are 21. 

Newa Chen hotel, Patan (Kathmandu)

Patan Durbar Square

Pokhara lake (Pewa Tal)

Nepali bike shop in Pokhara! This is a juice seller. Brilliant!

We were with our friends from Delhi. The dog appeared out of nowhere  just before this photo was taken and then followed us up the mountain for three hours. The boys named him Tony.

The rhododendrons were out in full force - absolutely beautiful.

Dhaulagiri mountain in the Annapurna range

The guesthouse in Tikhedhungga

Golden Temple in Patan

Durbar Square in Patan

  

DAY 730!!!

It's Day 730 which means it's two years in Delhi and the end of my blogging project. There are a few gaps which I'll be filling in over the next few weeks, but I hope you've enjoyed our (almost) daily updates. I'm quite proud of myself for managing to stick to it until I got to 730, even though I got a bit behind sometimes.

I've ummed and ahhed about whether to continue or not but to be honest, there are only so many matchboxes in the world and I'm running out of ideas of things to post. So I think I will end the regular blogging here. Instead I will be doing mini photo projects and posting the photos from time to time... we're off to Nepal next week so I will upload some pictures from there when we get back.

We still don't know how much longer we will be in India, but we will let everyone know as soon as we have any news.

As our final blog post I leave you with the exciting announcement that we have a sequel to the blockbuster film Superhero Tom vs Evil Jack. We hope you like it!

Click here to watch the film!

DAY 728

We discovered this massive old mosque opposite a huge mall in Saket, South Delhi. You'd never know it was there if you were hanging out at Starbucks or buying a new pair of Nikes. It smells really strongly of bats, but it's pretty cool - in the middle of a residential area. There are about twenty of these rows of columns and archways, with open courtyards in the middle.

DAY 727

Here's the photo of the ghats or steps leading down to the Yamuna River. The river looks quite nice here. It's not. It's one of the most polluted in the world. But it's still quite calm and the boat ride was nice. There's a crematorium just up the river. We cycled through it and saw someone being taken to their funeral pyre. The ashes are thrown into the river.

DAY 726

I had the day off today and I did a bike tour of Old Delhi. It was brilliant - the second one I've done with Delhi by Cycle. It even included a boat trip on the Yamuna River. I'll post a photo of that tomorrow. 
It was also a special day at the end of an eight day fast for women. There were loads of groups of women outside in the street making offerings of sweets and ghee and milk. I still haven't quite got to the bottom of exactly what it was about.

DAY 723

Slightly random picture of the Red Fort just after sunrise. I've been in Delhi for six years and I've still never been inside.

DAY 722

I'm not sure why, but I really love this photo, taken in Old Delhi. The man on the big poster is Arvind Kejriwal - the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party that recently won a landslide victory in the Delhi elections. He's the same guy who got elected last time and then walked out in a huff after a couple of months because no one would pass his corruption bill. Quite right. Anyway: he's been voted back in and everyone is very hopeful he's going to make a big difference. Let's see.