Man who walk sideways through turnstile, he going to Bangkok

So having said bye to Sam and Simon (who had to head back to work at home) and a 3 hour flight (and seeing Everest again from a bit further away) we arrived in Bangkok, quite a shock to the system seeing modern buildings, cars, roads - just about everything seemed to have leapt forwards by 40 years. We met up with Tim and Cheryl who had managed to get Penelope safely back to England (with a few stories to tell!) and out to Bangkok before we got there. Also met Mike H who had done China, Tibet, Hong Kong and a few other places on his own before meeting us again. Our hotel was near the backpacker area of town and the place opposite did pizza - great!

Spent 2 days looking around a bit, went down the river on a boat and the skytrain to the biggest shopping mall in Asia in search of a new camera for Jo, found a McDonalds and KFC downstairs and had my first proper McDonalds beefburger in months! Had a haircut, she took quite a bit more off than I expected but it'll grow back one day... Had a nice meal and night out ending up in ice fights somewhere off Khao San Road I think?

The end of our third day in Bangkok we all loaded our stuff onto fast longboats - long boats with big turbo diesel engines perched on the back which go flippin' quick and deafen you. Then got into some very strangely decorated taxis (bright pink leather seats!) and to the train station where we found our way onto a sleeper train to Chang Mai. This took us from about 8:00 that evening to 10:00 the next morning so most of the time was spent asleep on the surprisingly comfortable beds - didn't see much scenery other than it being quite green outside.

Chang Mai was a really nice place with a great guesthouse where the owner did everything he could to help us arrange stuff to do. Spent the first day chilling out and finding out that Georgia had just been invaded by Russia and Pakistan had really kicked off - add that to the bombs in Turkey recently and it looks like we've been starting wars most places we've been! Found an Irish bar with Strongbow that evening - 2.50 for half a pint but it was nice to find it again!

The next morning we headed off on a guided tour exploring the area - starting at a refugee camp/tourist village where Burmese refugees are allowed to stay if tourists can come and stare at them. Saw some people from the Mong tribe (teeheeehee!) and those people who wear rings on their necks to make them longer (which actually just pushes their shoulders down to "make them look like dragons"). Went for a walk through some paddy fields, had lunch then wandered down a hillside to have a ride on an elephant! Three of us perched on top of Nelly (not her real name) and gently bumped and slid our way through the jungle. It's amazing how easily they climb steep slopes and never feel like they're going to fall, and just how gentle they are. Having done that we walked up the hill and got a lift to go bamboo rafting. By this point it was pissing down with rain and we were sheltering under umbrellas, thinking we'd be able to stay dry on a raft. How wrong can you be, by the time half of us were on the raft it was mostly submerged, by the time we were all on then it was about 6" under water and we were told to sit down on the "seats" which was just one of the supports across the raft. Luckily the river was warm as we spent 1/2 hour floating downstream, up to the waist in water with our umbrellas up to keep the driving rain out of our eyes - must have been quite a sight to see from the shore but unfortunately nobody got any pictures of us - a good end to an interesting day though!

The following day was spent wandering Chang Mai, even went to a Chinese temple briefly but we gave up on that when it started monsooning again. Back at the hotel Tim and Pete were contemplating hiring quad bikes as they'd spent the last days working and wanted some excitement, and as it had been raining hard the conditions were perfect so we booked that for the afternoon. On arrival we were slightly disappointed at the look of the quads, especially as we were told the buggies next to them couldn't be used as it was too slippery but we gave it a go anyway and quickly realised we'd made the right decision - it was amazing! The 250cc quads were a little tired, mine kept chucking the chain off but after the guide fixed it it made it through to the end.

One, Two, Three, Bungee!

A horrifically early start greeted us the morning of our flight, but the sky was fairly clear so things were looking good. Quick ride to the airport and through security and we were left watching a funny looking Guru on telly preaching for a while before we were taken to the plane. Everyone had a window seat which gave pretty good views all around and after about 20 minutes the (most un-smiley person I've ever seen) pilot opened the door and we were allowed to go up and see the cockpit and the view over to Everest. Me being lucky at being sat in the front row meant I went first and got the first view of the mountain through the front windows - certainly an impressive sight but it doesn't look much bigger than all the others around it which also look very impressive. The plane does a loop so everyone can see it from both sides of the plane so I have loads of photos all much the same of the mountain in the distance, should hit Facebook soon...

On returning to Kathmandu we drove out of town on what was to be my last trip on Archie, our not-always-that-reliable truck, towards the Tibet border and The Last Resort, an adventure holiday sort of place which I absolutely loved. You drive along a bumpy road following the river for 50 or so km, dodging parts of the road hit by landslides and then round a corner and see a footbridge crossing a huge gorge in the distance. This bridge is the only way to the resort and it isn't the most sturdy of things and has slats in the floor where you can look down 160m to the raging river below. Luckily I was desperate for the loo the first time I went over and I just kept looking ahead, otherwise I might not have got across!
Accommodation is in large tents with tin roofs over them, with beds, tables etc. so you feel close to nature but nicely away from it. There's a bar and large covered chilling out area where we spent most of our time when not doing activities, of which there were quite a few on offer...
The first morning 8 or 9 of us had signed up to do the canyon swing and bungee jump from the bridge, so I woke incredibly early in an excited/terrified mood. We were weighed for the bungee jump and then headed to the bridge. Pete went first, choosing to do the swing by his back so it feels like you're flying through the gorge. Seeing him jump and then just drop vertically did little to calm my nerves as it takes 3 or 4 seconds before the rope takes up the slack and starts to arrest your fall. Luckily I had the excuse that I was taking photos from the top so a few others went first and gradually you get used to the feeling of standing on a wobbly bridge (with schoolkids running along it as if it's the most normal thing in the World, which I guess it is for them) and the fact that you're about to jump off it. Eventually it came to my turn and I was strapped into the harness and reluctantly shuffled my way onto the platform, took a deep breath and waited for the jump master to count down and let go of me, when I took a small step forward and started to yell as loudly as I could, then let go of the rope (there's not much point in holding it as it's attached to your waist) and fell towards the floor. Seconds later I felt the rope tighten and start to swing me along the canyon and I felt a huge sense of relief that I wasn't actually dead. I swung on the rope a few times and then a rope was raised that I could pull myself to the side with. On reaching the side my first thought was, lets do a bungee jump too! So we trekked the 20 minutes up out of the gorge to the bridge again and prepared to jump.
Again I wussed out and waited until someone else had gone so Andrew had the pleasure of going first, doing a perfect dive towards the river below, then bouncing back the other side towards us on the bridge.
I was called over to put on the waist safety harness and then the tight ankle harness, then slowly shuffled towards the platform where I was clipped to the rope and helped to the edge. It was at this point I made the mistake of looking down between the slats on the platform and seeing again how far I was about to fall, so my plan for an elegant fall forwards and jump turned into one of my swimming pool stylee bend my knees and plop over the edge. As soon as I was off the platform for some reason I felt safe and absolutely loved it - seeing the ground rushing towards me and knowing there was nothing I could do about it so I might as well enjoy it! The rope slowly took up the tension and I was tilted downwards until I stopped and was then pinged right back up again towards the other side of the bridge, yelling like a madman all the way. After about 3 bounces I started to spin so I couldn't tell how high I was or where I was going but I was gently lowered towards the ground where I grabbed a pole held over the water and was dragged down to a table where the rope was taken off and I decided I really wanted to do that again. By the time I'd walked to the top of the gorge again I changed my mind and decided to do it in a few days time as it's such hard work walking up again!
We had the rest of the day to ourselves to recover and relax (and have a massage if we wanted, but after the last experience I decided not to!), then the next day we booked canyoning, where you wear a wetsuit and harness and slip, slide and abseil down a waterfall into the gorge. This involved 7 abseils of various lengths, the longest being 45m, and took about 2 hours. By the last one I had almost got used to it but still couldn't help holding on too tightly and getting cramp in my left hand (the one that doesn't need to hold anything). After that a few of us made use of the sauna and plunge pool to unwind before food.
Our last morning at the resort we got up early again to do some more jumps for those of us who wanted to. Kirsten and Elaine who hadn't jumped the last time had been persuaded to do it this time, so after a few people from another group had gone, they went, giving a most impressive display of screaming and peddling in the air as they dropped!
I chose to do another bungee but jumping backwards this time, so you see the bridge disappearing into the distance as you fall. I was terrified again but made it over to the platform, shuffled backwards until my feet were halfway over the edge, paused for a moment then heard the countdown - one, two, three, bungee! And leant back over the edge and kicked away from the platform, screaming at the top of my voice and then laughing as the rope caught me and I boinged back towards the bridge, spinning slowly in the air. What an experience!
We left the resort that morning but a few of us had signed up to go rafting so we left the rest of the group to take the truck back to Kathmandu and went in a bus with a load of other rafters. There were about 25 of us in 3 boats this time, with 2 kayaks with us for safety and a guide in every boat. After a long safety briefing covering falling in, turning upside down etc. I started to wonder how much worse it could be than our last time as the river looked similar, but as soon as we set off it became clear - the guides were complete nutters! With 3 boats every time we got to a rapid one would head towards the roughest part and see if it would flip (which none of them did in the end), with the other 2 boats ready to pull people out who floated downstream. On calmer bits we were encouraged (or pushed) to jump in the water, invade other boats and push them out, shout abuse at others ("Secretary, Follow Me, Make Me Tea" being my favourite) and generally mess around - it was great! If we get the chance to go again then we'll be looking to do it in a larger group as it was ten times better than our first trip.
When we finally finished we got on the bus which took us to Kathmandu, where we then went out for the night as Sam is leaving us to head home. My head still hurts now...

Surviving The River Wild

Managed to arrange white water rafting at the last minute one night for the next morning at an entirely reasonable twenty quid. Considering this included transport and it took us nearly 3 hours each way to get there and spent over 2 hours on the water and got a meal at the end I think we did well! Rafting was much smoother than I imagined, and much faster, wetter (for some reason I didn't bring dry clothes...) and fun! For an energetic sport I was impressed with the amount of time our guide shouted STOOP! and we just floated on down the river... Definitely going to try doing more either at the next place we're heading or in New Zealand.
A 6 or so hour drive along narrow mountain roads, spotting 5 or so trucks and coaches that had hit the rock wall or fallen over the edge towards the river below, got us into Kathmandu. We left the truck at a workshop and got taxis to the hotel, arriving just as the days monsoon rain fell, leaving us soaked and sheltering in a bar - so it's not all bad!
The area we're in is very touristy with shops selling knock off North Face gear, DVD's etc. everywhere, hippy stuff, and lots of restaurants - I love it! Chaotic but chilled out. More people trying to get money out of you again (or in one case today, Horlicks "I am student sir, I don't want money, my brother and sister very poor, need horlicks sir"!) or take you on a rickshaw ride and see all the sights. Ignored them and booked a flight to go and see Everest tomorrow morning, should get a good view and a nice picture or two...