The sweatbath called Delhi

Ugh- Delhi was HOT, and wet. It didn't rain, it just humiditated. I had a waterfall of sweat pouring down my back from about 5 minutes after landing, until I hopped in the shower, to get wet again, but clean, before bed. But we managed to get some sightseeing done- we hired a car and driver who took us to see Humayun's tomnb, which was lovely, but hot, and then to the Red Fort, which was big and slightly disappointing. it looks very grand and gorgeous from the outside, but inside it's rather derelict and empty. Sad, really. Just as Tim was about to fall over from starvation ( we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast on the plane, so his tummy was
good reminder to the rest of us), we headed off to Majnu-Ka tilla, the Tibetan enclave in Delhi, to get some mo-mo's and tea (oh yes, and a beef sizzler). It was a filling meal and came to about 4 quid for the lot of us. We had planned to drive by a few other places too, but found ourselves falling asleep in the car, so we turned round and went back to the hotel instead. See if you can spot Tim, Tom & Rik in the photo below left at Humayan's Tomb (below right is at the Red Fort)...





And today we flew to Kathmandu. Ooo, it's wonderful to be back- despite the clouds stopping us from seeing the Himalayas on the way in, and despite the rain this evening. It's still wonderful :) And I dragged the other 3 on a whistle stop tour of Pashupatinath, one of the oldest Hindu temples in Nepal, and cremation site, where they burn the bodies on slabs by the river then brush the ashes into the river, and then onto Boudanath, which was encased in darkness by the time we got there, so I've promised we'll go back after Kailash.

Pashupatinath was amazing: there were the glowing embers of bodies still burning, plus 2 new pyres that they lit while we were watching. A young Nepalese guy started telling us the history and explaining all about the place, then led us to some caves where various Hindu and Buddhist holy men live (or rather, they stay in them during the day smoking marijuana, and then go home at night!) Sounds like a cushy life! They were also some very cute and adorable baby monkeys around too- the parents were'nt quite so cute- looked like they wanted to steal our cameras or anything else they could lay their hands on! And there were a couple of saddhu's (holy men), one covered in ash and wearing a loin cloth with dreadlocked hair. Apparently one of the 2 we saw had pierced his privates (I'm not sure who's reading this so don't want to use hte 'p' word)- that must be a very effective meditation focus!!!




Tomorrow we go to the reception centre. I'm looking forward to seeing the new garden they've built. It should be quite lush with all this rain! Don't have the camera with me at the moment, so will add some pictures tomorow.