Rainbow rocks

The clouds had already gathered by the time we boarded our little red and black plane to pokhara. We skimmed past the himalayas with tantalizing glimpses of massive peaks on our right and green hills on our left. Our 20 seater plane was better suited for hobbit size but our very tall air hostess bent double to bring us cotton wool (for our ears),lollies and fanta. We plunged down into pokhara with a heartstopping right hand turn- whew made it.
Pretty party town pokhara with picturesque lake, many bars and cafes. Much quieter than Kathmandu but still the dust and constant construction/deconstruction in progress. Good coffee and good shops. I spent quite some time playing with rocks in a cool corner shop. Garnets, malachite, onyx, lapiz, amethyst and my new favourite taurmaline. Taurmaline is mined high in the mountains and is all the colours of the rainbow but the best is the black with its hidden highlights. I think the storeman loved his rocks more than me and brought out all sorts of treasures.
Lake fish for dinner and an early night for me. Bryan played pool with a ghorkha and then got lost getting back to the hotel. He wandered around for 2 hours, stubbing his toes and followed by hordes of rabid dogs ( ok maybe I'm exaggerating there was about 20 dogs following him but they were sort of friendly). When he finally got back he was filthy and fuming. His dog pack seemed unwilling to relinquish him and barked under our window for half an hour while all I could do was laugh. Haha.

Namaste Sandy

Momos for lunch

Thamel is the congested heart of the tourist district of Kathmandu. A crisscrossing maze of streets and alleys. We spent the day wandering thamel finding enclaves of calm along the way. Many colourful stalls and trekking shops. Felted wool and 100% pashminas all made from Nz wool (so nobody will be getting those as gifts). A genuine pashmina costing about $500.
Found some almost ok coffee at a place called gaias and had a delicious lunch of momos at Mahaaja. Momos are a traditional nepalese dish-steamed dumplings with a spicy sauce. The owner of the restaurant had dreds and was playing katchafire(nz reggae band) so definitely some happy vibes going down. The best music I've heard in Nepal so far, beats ommmm. Finished our wander at a new Orleans bar sipping pina colodas while bryan sampled gorkha beer - I'm taking note of your blog comments! It's funny how quickly the foreign becomes almost familiar. I'm enjoying Kathmandu!
The nepalese people are friendly, sometimes shy. Even the sellers aren't too pushy. I can't help but notice the medical pathology though. A woman whose back is so broken from carrying loads that she walks at a permanent right angle, another with a tumour the size of an orange on her face,milky eyes and crippled limbs. It's very expensive to see a Dr here.
We fly to pokhara soon. Our friend Adam an ex airforce pilot told me on Monday that one of the scariest moments of his life was flying in to pokhara. I'm looking out the window at a very clear day,pale blue sky, no wind so fingers crossed.

Namaste Sandy

Temples and alleyways

Another day exploring Kathmandu. First a very decent breakfast of masala tea, granola fruit and yogurt. Delicious freshly made buffalo yogurt. I'm following nurse Annie's advice to eat the local yogurt and protect my gut with all those good nepalese lactobacillus. It's working so far.
First stop patan square and museum. Brian likes museums and I have to admit it was an interesting museum. I still spent most of my time sitting up in the bell tower chatting to some nepalese school girls and watching the world go by.
Next bhaktapur or the old city which dates as far back as the 8 th century. More beautiful ancient temples- although you can get a bit bored with temples. Much more interesting was venturing down the dark cool alleyways where generations of nepalese lived and worked making paper,  pottery,  silver jewelry, wood carving,  stone carving and painting. 100 thousand people,  artisans, mainly peasants in a 6 sqkm area. Tiny rooms, cramped workplaces,  obvious poverty but clearly a strong community. Always starts you thinking about wealth, work and life.
It's hard to travel without mentioning the weather. So far it's been warm and cloudless but with the Asian haze or smog everpresent but not too bad. It's been 26 degrees during the day but cool in the morning and at night. Already we are at 1400metres and even during the day walking down an alley you will pass in to a pool of coldness like the breath of the himalayas not that far away.

Namaste Sandy

Blue horizons

Flew in to Kathmandu on a beautiful clear day. The vista of the himalayas stretching around the horizon arcing above the clouds above everything. My first glimpse of the himalayas - so exciting. Then the slightly terrifying plunge down in to the Kathmandu valley down past jagged brown peaks with tiny hamlets perched atop. Kathmandu city seems quieter than some Asian cities but equally as chaotic. Ended up at the blue horizon hotel and luckily it's very pleasant and friendly although the hot water is a bit dodgy. Spent our first night eating on a rooftop restaurant 10 stories up. Shared it with a fellow kiwi who had ridden his motorbike from Sri Lanka and through India to Nepal and accosted Matt because he was wearing a Arc 24 hour race tshirt. Watched our first sunset over the rooftops of Kathmandu while the crows wheeled overhead. 
Yesterday was the obligatory sights of Kathmandu day. First the monkey temple with dive bombing monkeys. Then durbar square of many temples and the old palace. Next the largest Buddhist stupa in Nepal and lastly pushupatinath a sacred Hindu temple and crematorium. Just getting around Kathmandu is pretty crazy. 4 million people and like coromandel no traffic lights. Cars honking constantly,  dust, congestion,noise, tangled nests of telegraph lines,  houses like toy logo blocks stacked up high,  cows in the middle of roads nonchalantly  chewing cuts, multicoloured prayer flags and tinsel flapping in the breeze, porters with impossible loads and above it all every so often a glimpse of a pristine snowy mountain.
Pushupatinath is worth a mention because it is so different to what our culture knows. The dead are burnt beside the holy river on funeral pyres in full public view and then the remains are cast into the river which flows to the Ganges. While we were there 3 pyres where burning. We were so close we could feel the heat and smell the smoke. Another body was rushed past us and yet another lay alone on the river bank waiting to be prepared. A rather practical touch was the hospice and old people's home on site. 
Time for another day in the chaos of Kathmandu.
Arohanui sandy

Questions of travel

Sitting in Kuala lumpa airport feeling like crap and wondering why we travel. Auckland yesterday was beautiful and balmy. Bry and I met some friends for lunch at Fish at the Hilton and spent 3 hours over a very lazy decadent lunch overlooking the harbour. Closer to departure time I started to stress. I would like to be at the airport 4 hours prior to flying but Brian likes about 4 minutes and why am I going anyhow? Matt and I lost Bry and ended up talking with a young American. She had spent the last year in .nz and was so excited by all the wonderful tramps she'd done she was literally jumping up and down with joy - why am I going to Nepal to tramp? After hugging her goodbye Matt and I were almost late boarding but here we are. And I spose fleeting but often intense relationships are common during travel - fun! Bry is currently looking for accommodation in Kathmandu. His is the do it yourself and plan as you go attitude to travel. I did remind him I'm not a backpacker anymore and we will see how I go with that. Anyhow enough musing,  hopefully more photos next time.   
Arohanui sandy

Hi. Welcome to corodocsescape blog which is really just a fancy name for Bryan and I heading to Nepal and India. I thought a blog might be a good idea, not that I care if anyone reads it, but because I am an obsessive writer when I travel and it seems a good as place as any to keep my thoughts in order. Hopefully I'll even get Bryan to upload some photos. And if any of you do read it thats great and all comments will be appreciated.

The Himalayas" the roof of the world", the Annapurna circuit, Ladahk, Rajasthan "the land of kings" evocative mystical names. I've read about them but never really thought I'd get there. At this stage I still don't feel like I'll get there but since the tickets are booked to Kathmandu for next Tuesday night elusive dreams seem closer to becoming reality.

Nine weeks of trekking and travelling. Feeling rather nervous right now really. Will the dodgy ankle , the creaky knee and the oversensitive gut hold out? Will I cope without seeing Lisa, Christina, Chico and Coromandel for that long (somehow Matt is coming with us to Nepal).
Will Bryan let me hire a sherpa to carry my pack up the Himalayas? That was the argument this morning anyhow.

I'm sure there will be a few stories to tell. If you are interested tune on in and if not it means you dont get inundated with photos on facebook. As you have probably worked out I can get a bit effusive. No apologies and the ebullience will just keep on mounting me thinks.

Arohanui Sandy