Dhulikhel

Yesterday morning at the top of Thang La in Tibet it was about -10°C. This morning in Nepal jnext to the river, ust before lunch it was 41°.

The downhill continued, through the border where we swapped the truck and landcruiser for a bus. Was also where I gave Calien's bike back and got the rented bike.

Soem more downhill followed (I could get used to this) and then some very pleasant riding next to a river.

For lunch we stopped at a local restaurant - where we duly followed the local example of eating rice with our hands.

Was a monster climb to Dhulikhel - was very hot and i soon ran out of water. Luckily met Herman the Flying Dutchman about a tenth up the hill, and he emptied his 1.5l bottle of hot water into my bladder - 'twas enough to get me up the hill. With gears slipping, and brakes holding onto the rented bike's rims, I was not very impressed every time there was a downhill after we've gained some altitude - and very glad to finally reach the top a few hours later. The resort was absolutely beautiful (but we couldn't find a swimming pool anywhere) .

The food was once again great - and the view of the mountains around out of this world :)

Kathmandu

Was Buddha's 2554'th birthday yesterday. Big festivities around town.
Here's Boudhanath temple, a favourite pilgrimage destination for buddhists; somehow i didn't expect to see monks talking on cellphones & taking digital pictures - but how else would they talk to family & take home memories?
Saw Kumari, a living goddess, in Durbar square, about 5 yrs old. Monkey temple, where the monkeys were hiding from the heat. Lovely views of Kathmandu from there :)
A Hindu cremation site, where-after the remains just gets dumped in the almost stationary and very shallow river. Won't recommend swimming in that river.
Catchin a flight over the himalayas to Lhasa early tomorrow morning.