Stop 2 - Kathamandu

The view from our room
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So we're in Kathmandu now.  The flght from Delhi was only about an hour long which was good - especially since they fed us and there was free beer.  We got chatting to an Australian guy on the plane who was also on his travels so we've got a list of stuff to do when we finally get to australia.  Our trekking company picked us up at the airport and took us to the hotel which is set on a hillside overlooking all of Kathmandu.  Alan says it's quite a sight at sunrise - I've not seen it yet as I have had my first attack of travellers stomach (which has thankfully only lasted two days).  We're planning to watch the sunset on the rooftop gardens this evening which I'm looking forward to.

Alan enjoying the Dashain festival
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Yesterday Dev (who'll be our guide for the trek) took us to the Dashain festival which is the biggest festival of the year and lasts 3 days.  The point of this festival seems to be killing lots of cows, the favoured method is to cut off their head, smear some blood in front of a shrine and leave the body laying at the side of the road and throw the head in a truck.  I'm sure it's a bit more complex than that but lack of internet has prevented further research.

We're off on our trek tomorrow, we're going by car to a town called Pokhara (I decided that 7hrs in a bus was not something I wanted to do so we paid extra to get a car to take us).  From there we head off into the Annapurna range, according to our guide there could be some snow up there so we're gald we've packed some warm clothes.  We're staying in teahouses which I suspect means sleeping on the floor upstairs in someones house.  I doubt there will be electricity let alone internet access while we're away so it'll be sometime next week before you get another update.