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...