Treks and the city

Over the last week or so we've gone from teeny mountain villages to the jungle to the chaotic backstreets of Kathmandu. We were all over the place in Pokhara, climbing to the World Peace Pagoda via lostness and biting ants, cycling around the old town and embarking on a three-day trek in the hills for gawping views of the snowy Anapurna mountain range. The trek was hot but very pretty - the only downside was on the last night, discovering we were staying in a hotel run by children. That felt a bit wrong. We taught our waiter to play Snap after dinner - he was ever so excited. Watching the sun rise all gold and glowing over the snowy peaks was pretty cool, though.

After relaxing back in Pokhara we headed to Chitwan National Park to get cosy with some wildlife. The jungle is green and steamy and tigers live there. We saw their very pawprints. We got up early the first day for a canoe trip down the misty river, spotting all sorts of fancy birds like maribou stork, kingfishers and love-birds, and a couple of crocodiles. We got out to walk in the park. This was a bit scary as our guide started by explaining what to do if any animals decided to attack us. For rhinos, climb the nearest tree. For sloth bears, get in a group and shout and clap. For tigers, make eye contact and back away. I was eyeing every tree, figuring out how I'd climb it, but I needn't have worried. Everyone else saw a rhino, I did not.

The next day we rode elephants through the jungle. Like the camels, this isn't something I ever thought I would want to do, but it's a safe and silent way to see animals, aside from just being a lush way to see the park. Elephants are everywhere in Chitwan - they plod past as you're eating breakfast, and you can jump on their backs while they're being bathed in the river by their mahouts. Anyway this time I saw the rhinos - a little crew of them chilling out in a pond.

It was time to leave the peacefulness behind and brave a big city again. Kathmandu is total hippie-land - the traveller bubble is rammed full of shops selling hideous cyber-crusty wear and tiger balm. Once you escape this though it's brilliant - tiny paved streets teeming with people and things. There are big pigeon-poo splattered temples, grubby little shrines and intricately carved courtyards on every corner. There's a dark side as well - street kids inhaling solvents and shifty-looking men everywhere. And we saw a dismembered cow-hoof discarded at the side of the road.