Kathmandu, Nepal.

Heaven. Paradise. Western Food. Taxi drivers who speak English. Amazing People.

Nepal.

After the insanity of Tibet - the endless permits, the horrible toilets, the Chinese bureaucracy that never ends- I have finally made it to destination-number-3-of-places-I-want-to-see-before-I-die: Nepal. I arrived in Kathmandu a few hours ago, after enduring a painful 20km walk through this rugged mountainous region in No man's land between Tibet and Nepal; and a bumpy three hour bus ride. The Stark contrast between the two areas is apparent - one minute I was in the plains of Tibet, the next minute I emerged in this lush, almost tropical like landscape. I guess when you go down 3500M in the space of two hours, the scenery is bound to change.

I will miss Tibet - I would have liked to stay longer to be honest, but with the permit situation and the Chinese government, travel "on the roof" can be very very hard. I'll go back there for certain.

(Oh yeah to go on a tangent, a side story you might call it, I was very very lucky in Tibet. The day I made it to Everest Base camp, the Chinese government decided to stop selling tickets to foreigners. The reasons varied: 1) another protest (I didnt see one, unless you count me when I raised my Aussie flag 6000M up; 2)the floods made the road impossible to cross; or 3) Tibetans need to be protected. Take your pick - or rather let the Chinese government pick. After EBC, I met heaps of foreigners who had been waiting for days to try to find a way to Everest. Point is: I was lucky, very lucky. Faith was definitely on my side. On another note, it is very refreshing to finally be able to bag the Chinese government without the fear of blog monitoring. Praise democracy.)

Back to Kathmandu. What a place so far. My first impressions in the place of six hours: educational advertisements everywhere, natives who speak English, beautiful landscape...almost New Zealand-esque. Westerns galore - I almost forgot in China that natives do actually speak the language and that getting from A to B doesn't take two translation books. As for my plan, I am just going to take it easy here in Kathmandu. Read. Walk. Internet. Explore. At that point, I will start my adventures outside Kathmandu. I have this feeling that Nepal would be a nice starting point, an learners license if you will for India. Insanity but with the comforts of home nearby. And since I will be doing nothing for the next few days, I will update this blog properly: photos, more blogs and other random shit to waste your day.

But, in summary (finally Eddie!), all is well. Lihfe is good. (yeah I know, get over college.)

A new chapter begins.