LA and Tucson November 2016

 All Pictures are at the bottom!

A star is born, Opal Moon, literally a star is born! Yes, Opal Moon the daughter of famed Sara

Erikson and the infamous Peter Oldring well know from his world wide radio show, This is That.

Better late than never, yes Opal Moon was born over 5 months ago we finally made the trip west to see the beautiful rising star. Yes, just five months old but already an Internet sensation. Co-staring with her parent on the famous internet show Coffee with Sara and Peter.

Once we arrived in LAX we got our car and headed to the Oldring compound, not far from the Hollywood Hills. Our stay will be short as we are killing two birds with one stone and also visiting Chephart Yosh in Tucson, more on that later.

Once at the compound we were greeted by Maggie (the family dog), John, Opal Moon's grandfather, and Sara. Peter was recording an up coming show so he was in-dispose.

It was getting close to lunch time so we headed out for an awesome lunch, I am sorry I do not remember the name of the restaurant. While the food was fantastic, everything farm to table and prepared in a sustainable manner. The lunch was rather hectic, we were constantly being interrupted by total strangers. Each stopping and asking for autographs and requesting selfies. I was shocked how many fans got upset when Sara would happily let people take selfies with Opal Moon, but when she explained Opal Moon would not be given autographs, all hell would break loose. What did the fans expect, a five month old to sign her name. I had to remind myself we were in Los Angles, where reality is a reality show.

After lunch we decided it was best to just hang at the house, relax in the pool and catch up.

Dinner was unbelievable. Not many people know this but Peter Oldring prior to becoming a famous

entertainer had actually set his sights on the culinary world and attended the Culinary Institute of America also known as the CIA. In fact Peter Oldring was the first natural born Canadian to graduate from the CIA!

Sorry to digress, the point I am trying to make, is we had the best pizza ever, actually second best, but I do not want to hurt Peter Oldring's feelings, you know how sensitive entertainers can be. So lets stick with the best. A big part of why the pizza was so good was the oven.

Peter Oldring had contracted to have a custom oven built, by a world renowned brick wood burning pizza oven manufacture in Italy. Once built the oven was flown over and installed in Peter Oldring outdoor kitchen. Peter Oldring made many different types of pizzas. From your standard cheese with tomatoes sauce, to truffles and sausage.

After many piazzas and a little wine we decided to call it a night as it had been a long day.

Today we will be just hanging out and continue our bonding with Opal Moon. We did decided to take Opal Moon for a short hike in the Santa Monica Hills. One nice thing about Los Angles, as densely populated as it is, they seem to have a good amount of open space for enjoying the outdoors.

Opal Moon was fidgeting during the hike, while Sara Erikson blamed this on a cold, I think it was the nature of her stardom, and not having her entire entourage accompanying her. (see Pictures)

After the hike we decided to go tour of the Pure Light Candle Factory. As you may remember John Erikson, Opal Moon's grandfather had built a huge soy candle empire on the East Coast of the United States. With all the success John Erikson had on the East Coast, he was always frustrated that he was

never able to get traction on the West Coast of the United States. With the birth of his granddaughter Opal Moon he decided now was the time to grow the West Coast business. So he loaded up his truck and move to Beverly, Hills that is.

While it had only been five months, the Pure Light Soy Candle factory was humming at full capacity. John Erikson in just a short time managed to displace most other West Coast soy candle manufactures and had become the dominate player in the soy candle industry.

After the tour we headed to Hugo's in West Hollywood for lunch. What an experience, and not in a good way. Right from the beginning, with having to wait ten minutes just to park, to the poor service, and low quality food I would say, do not go to Hugo's if you are in Los Angles.

Back to the house for more bonding time and our last supper with Peter Oldring as head chef. Dinner
was black cod, also known as Sable Fish marinated and then cooked in an iron skillet over an open grill. Accompanied by green veggies, and potatoes. All prepared in Peter Oldring's gourmet style.

Another early night as we had an early flight to Tucson the next morning. We said our goodbyes and went off to sleep.

Off to Tucson and a visit with Chephart Yosh, it had been to long time since we had visited our good friend Chephart Yosh almost a year had passed. We will be spending the next four days at Canyon

Ranch Tucson. Once we arrived at the ranch it was off to exercise. Some people might refer to Canyon Ranch as fat camp.

Ross and Sue arrived a little after us. The four of us will be doing the El Tour de Tucson on Saturday. A 106 mile bike ride that circles the city of Tucson.

We enjoyed a great dinner with Chephart Yosh and had a great nights sleep.

Today Ross and Sue headed out for a warm up bike ride in the western mountains. Margarite and I will be borrowing bike for the ride from Canyon Ranch. We had arranged to pick up the bikes at 7:00
am and take them on a break in ride for size and comfort.

There were 12 other riders with us, we rode Sabino Canyon. The riders ranged from, could barely ride a bike, to advanced. The ride was short and sweet with a fairly significant climb at the half way point. We decided the bikes would be fine, not that comfortable, but fine for borrowed bikes. After the ride it was back to fat camp with classes from muscle max, surf set, to core conditioning and balance and posture. Finishing off with an afternoon half mile swim.

One day until the ride, we decide it would be smart to take the bikes for another warm up ride, Ross and Sue joined us for a short but hilly ride through Saguaro National Park East. It looked like all would be good for tomorrow's ride.

There was a craft show going on in Tucson plus we had to pick up our race registrations at the convention center so we decided to head downtown. Of course you can not go into downtown Tucson without first grabbing a Sonora Dog or two for lunch. This year we had our Sonora Dogs at El Sinaloense #5, to die for.

The expo had many vendors and was well attended, worth the time. The craft show had some interesting crafters, but nothing that got me excited.

Dinner was at the Flying V Bar and Grill as usually we all had excellent meals. The best part Chephart Yosh had a 25% off coupon.

We would be departing at 5:00 am for our ride so we called an early lights out.

Wake up call 4:30 am, off at 5:00 am, it was suggested you get to the race closer to 4:30 am, that seemed crazy to us and we found out it would of been. We reached the convention center where we parked at 5:30 am. We had a full one and a half hours before the start. Plenty of time to kill. We got the bikes and equipment ready and then headed to the start about a half mile away. We reached the start at 6:15 am. The elite riders had been camping at the start for many hours some with cots and sleeping bags.

We lined up at the back of the gold section, there were four starting sections, platinum, gold, silver,

and bronze. Each section was designated with a range of finishing times. It was an honor system, each rider was to pick their start section based on their best guess on how long it would take to finish the race.

The race started right on time 7:00 am. While at the start we could feel a breeze, we had no idea what we were in for. Of the four of us Ross the strongest rider took the lead with Sue right on his wheel. Margarite was next, but not close enough to gain any benefit from Sue's draft. I followed taking all the advantage I could get from Margarite's wheel.

The crowd thin fairly quickly and the course was well patrolled by the police, all the intersections were closed to vehicles. After 8 miles we made a right turn heading due East right into a 30 mile an hour wind. At this point Margarite and I lost sight of Ross and Sue, we assumed it would be the last we would see of them. From that point on it felt as if the wind was always on our nose no matter the direction we rode.

At the 23 mile mark Sue and Ross came up behind us, we did not know it but we had passed them while they stopped at a rest stop. They rode with us for a few miles before getting bored and taking off again. Both Margarite and I were starting to get saddle soreness and tight shoulders from riding bikes that were not fitted for us.

As we continued peddling into the wind, which felt like we were biking through peanut butter, we realized we most likely did not have 106 miles in us. Luckily for us, we had a plan B. Canyon Ranch was on the course at about the 47 mile mark. This was our new goal and we archived it easily. While neither of us were overly tired, we were both ready to get off those dam bikes.

We had a big breakfast / lunch and then went a did a balance class before the hot tube and shower. Ross and Sue both completed the 106 miles. Ross averaging over 18 miles an hour and Sue over 15 miles an hour. Great job to both.

Today Ross and Sue departed for their journey home rather early. Margarite, Chephart Yosh and I went for a hike in Sabino Canyon. Though I have hiked this canyon many times I always enjoy the unique cactus that grow in this area of the country.

After the hike we had breakfast before heading, back to the craft fair. Chephart Yosh had found a piece of art she wanted to purchase. There was also a very special art exhibit at the Tucson Museum of Art we enjoyed.

After the downtown excursion we headed back to Canyon Ranch to just enjoy great conversation and solve the worlds problems.

Today it is off to parts unknown.

Cheers,

Dug

All Pictures

Trenton Half Marathon October 2016

Five Years ago my running buddy Heather and I decided to do a Long Term Challenge. We would run the Trenton Half Marathon every year for the next 30 years. I was 50 Heather was 40. Five years later
we have now run 65.5 (13.1 x 5) miles. Over the next 25 years we will run 327.5 (13.1 x 25) more miles. Below are our times, you can see we have not been very consistent. The one constant we have shown up, started, and finished.

The best part of our challenge - Last year we started running with a charity partner A Love for Life  this year we had over 40 runner on our team.

DUG's times                          Heather's times
2012 - 1:45:33 Pace 8:03      2012 - 1:45:33 Pace 8:03
2013 - 1:52:44 Pace 8:36      2103 - 1:52:54 Pace 8:37
2014 - 1:58:29 Pace 9:02      2014 - 1:58:40 Pace 9:03
2015 - 1:44:06 Pace 7:56      2015 - 2:00:10 Pace 9:10
2016 - 2:01:52 Pace 9:18      2016 - 201:48  Pace 9:17 - Heather beat DUG

Cheers,

DUG

Video of the Race

Nepal - September 2016

All Pictures and Video at the bottom on this post!

As I had mentioned in my post about Bhutan, to get in and out of Bhutan you go through Bangkok,

Thailand or Kathmandu, Nepal. We decided to arrive through Bangkok and depart through Kathmandu, and spend some time in each place. This is the story of our time in Nepal

Arrive September 25th 8:15 AM - Depart October 8th 9:20 PM

Day 1 - Sunday September 25th

We arrived in Kathmandu after a very pleasant flight from Paro, Bhutan. We were ready for our next adventure. Thirteen days in Nepal.

We were met at the airport as we exited by our guide who will be traveling with us through Nepal, Bishnu Acharya. We booked our private trip to Bhutan and Nepal through Bhutan Karma Trails. As I mentioned they did an awesome job for us in Bhutan. For the Nepal part of the trip Bhutan Karma Trails partnered with High Asia Tours we will later find they are as awesome as Bhutan Karma Trails as our trip went off without a hitch.

First things first, we had about a weeks worth of dirty clothes with us, so Bishnu arranged for us to drop our laundry to be cleaned. Nine Hundred Nepali Rupee for about 15 kilograms of laundry or $9.00 USD. The standard price was 700 Rupee but we paid extra to have it done within a few hours.

After dumping the laundry we headed for lunch. We decided on a Northfield Cafe the best Tex-Mex in Nepal. It was actually very good and nice to have some food we were use too, after 2 weeks in Bhutan.

After lunch we headed to Savayambhu Mayachaitya also known as the Monkey Temple. This Stupa is located on one of the highest points of Kathmandu which gave us a great perspective of the city. The city of Kathmandu has a population of over one million people. At first this was a little overwhelming with the noise, cars, pollution. Especially after spending two weeks in country whose

entire population is under 800,000 people.

The name Monkey temple comes from the fact that the Temple is overrun by monkeys. Yes in the middle of the city, monkeys hundreds of them. The monkeys are so brazen we witness one steal a banana right out of a tourist hand.

Nepal is predominately Hindu but there are many Buddhist also living in Nepal, in fact the Monkey temple has both a Hindu and Buddhist Temple on this site.

We also visited Kathmandu Durbar Square with the former Royal Palace complex and a cluster of ancient and medieval temples. Each city /town has a Dubar Square which is right out side the original palace for that area. Before Nepal was unified into one country it had many different districts with their own palace and royal family.

The palace and temples demonstrate intricately carved wood works in the balconies and windows. Of all the temples of Durbar Square, the most prominent are the temple of Living Goddess-Kumari and the legendary Kasthamandap Temple-which is believed to have been built of a single tree trunk.

We walked Durbar Square and the narrow alleys of the area, taking our time getting use to the motorbikes buzzing around us. It was like we were back in Bangkok.

Before heading to our hotel we walked through the vibrant streets of Assan and Indrachowk-the traditional bazaars of Kathmandu. We arrive at our hotel, Tibet International Boutique. We will be spending three night here, if first impressions mean anything we would be very happy.

The Owner of High Asia Tours, Dave would be taking us to dinner. We went to a traditional Nepali restaurant which included folklore dancing. We also got to pick up our laundry, what a great day ending with clean clothes and a great meal with great company.

Day 2 - Monday September 26th

Our plan was to visit the top of Everest, what is the saying the best laid plans, it ended up being to cloudy so we postponed toward the end of the trip.

Following breakfast, we visit Patan City-famed as the City of Arts and Craft. The dramatic setting of

Patan Durbar Square with the palace and beautiful temples and the houses with traditional architecture gives you the feel, of traveling in a medieval time. We walk through the narrow cobbled streets with metal, wood, traditional thangka painting workshops. Also jewelry and handicrafts outlets lined up on both sides. We poke into the workshops and meet the artisans. We stopped at Om Handicrafts to get a demonstration of the Tibetan signing bowls. The are specially crafted bowls, called singing bowls made by monks that when used properly can help you relax and stay healthy. We decide we will purchase a bowl, but waited until we return to Kathmandu at the end of the trip.

We visit the religious centers of Patan such as Golden Temple, Kumbheshwar Temple, Mahaboudha Temple, to name few, and watch the rituals and rites there. The temples are testimony of rich architectures of the medieval times.

Though the Nepal earthquake happened over a year ago the damage was evident, many building and historical sites are still being rebuilt. The goal is to be back up and running in 5 years. Most of the manual labor is being down by women as the men have left for the middle east where the wages are higher and they can save money to send home to their families.

Five hundred schools were destroyed in the earthquake. Luckily the earthquake took place on a Saturday the only day school is not is session.

From Patan, we took a short drive to the outskirts of the city to visit Bungamati-a laidback Newari village where it is said that time has stood still. We walk on the cobbled street through the village with dry vegetables hanging from the balconies, ducks and roosters wandering, children running around, women washing clothes in the public or drying the paddies and elderly people chatting in the
paatis (public pavilion).

In the afternoon we visit Pashupatinath Temple-the holiest Hindu pilgrimage destination in Nepal. The temple is situated on the bank Bagmati River-a tributary of the sacred Gangjes River. Admission to the temple courtyard is reserved for the Hindus only, but we could still see the complete temple and the activities from the eastern embankment of the river. While visiting we were able to witness the Hindu cremation services in progress.

For our last stop we visit Boudhanath Stupa which is believed to be the largest stupa architecture in the world! With an octagonal base symbolizing the Buddhist cosmos, the stupa is a giant white dome with 13 stepped golden spire and a parasol atop. The stupa dominates Kathmandu skyline and is a foremost attraction of the city. The area is dominantly Tibetan and reminds of the Barkhor area of Lhasa. This Stupa was also under repair from earthquake damage. This stupa is just a few blocks from our hotel so we walked back.

Day 3 - Tuesday September 27th

Following breakfast, we drove to Bhaktapur (10 miles) -the smallest and the best preserved of the three medieval principalities of Kathmandu Valley. We visit the Durbar Square where we toured the former palaces and temples each with rich wood carving and stone sculptures. The Golden Gate of
the palace is considered the masterpiece metal work in the entire Nepal. We walk through the narrow alleys, stopping in the temples and monasteries and poking into the workshops of carvers and painters. We stopped at the pottery square and I learn the traditional ceramic pottery
making process, unbeknownst to our guide and teacher, I am an expert potter and impressed everyone with my skills of throwing a clay bowl.

From Bhaktapur, we took a short drive through the paddy fields to Changu Narayan Temple situated north of Bhaktapur. This is a multi-roofed pagoda style temple with rich wood carving in the struts and beautiful stone icons in the premises. The temple also has a 5th century stone inscription which is the first written history of Nepal ever found. We had a light lunch and then departed for our hike through the villages and terraced fields to the hill resort of Nagarkot. Nagarkot, situated at an altitude of 2000m (6, 560 ft.) is well known for stupendous views of the Himalayas. We were not disappointed. We spent the night at Club Himalaya.

Day 4 - Wednesday September 28th

Following breakfast, we transferred to the domestic airport for our flight to Pokhara-renowned as Nepal's capital for nature. It's a 35 minutes scenic flight that goes parallel to the Himalayas, offering breathtaking views of the western Himalayas on the right side of the plane and rivers and valleys on
the left. Upon arrival at Pokhara airport we met our Sherpa who will be joining us for the next 4 days of trekking, Bishnu flew with us and will be spending the remainder of the trip with us. We are very happy about this as after three days we feel Bishnu is part of our family.

Following a short briefing about the accommodation and facilities in the mountains and the trip itself, we transfer by road with our crew to Nayapul-the trail head for the trekking. The trail for some time goes along a ridgeline in the lower foothills of the Annapurnas with panoramic views of the Pokhara Valley and then drops to Modi Khola Valley ( Khola means river), where our Sanctuary Lodge is located. The location of the lodge serves as a perfect view point for Mount Machhapuchhre ( which means fishtail). Following a picnic lunch, we explore Birethanti -a small village set at the foot of the Modi Khola Valley at around 1,100 meters. Unfortunately the weather is still a little overcast so we did not get the views we were hopping for.

Sanctuary Lodge - Birenthanti, was absolutely splendid. The best part Margarite and I where the only guest so the staff of 6 spoiled us for our one night stay.

Day 5 - Thursday September 29th

Following a leisurely breakfast, we left the Sanctuary Lodge and headed out to Gurung Lodge in Majgaun, approximately 2 hrs easy walking. The lodge is built along the lines of a traditional

Nepalese village. Every room has spectacular views of the surrounding valley and mountains. After lunch at our lodge, we will visited Tanchok Village and visit a house turned ethnic museum. We also visited a local school and met the children and teachers and learn about the schooling system. Children love to test their English on us. We found the local population was made up of old folks and young children, it seems as there are less and less opportunities for the young adults in this small village. For that reason once most leave for higher education and do not return.

We spent the night at the Gurung Lodge, Majgaon. Again we were the only guest and again we were spoiled by the staff.

Day 6 - Friday September 30th

I want to mention our Sherpa Nuri is just fantastic, always has a smile, while he does not have a lot to carry (we pack light), he is leading the three of us, while we have hiking poles and top notch hiking boots, he is in sandals. We did get to meet Nuri's son as we passed though Nuri's village. Today we had a great breakfast with splendid views of the mountains, yes the clouds cleared at least for a little while. After breakfast, we found ourselves back on the trail and we treked through the unspoiled village of Patlekhet. The trail goes through sub-tropical forests that include tree orchids, rhododendrons and magnolias. There were a variety of birdlife as well as incredible mountain views. Along the way, we stopped at the village of Pothana where many Tibetan traders live and sell their souvenirs. We arrived at the Basanta Lodge in Dhampus.

The lodge is centered around a old Gurung village house and offers sweeping views of the entire Annapurna Range. After lunch at the lodge, we want for walk in the village. Basanta Lodge - Dhampus we will be our last stay on our trek, we again enjoyed the attention of the entire staff as again we were the only guests.

Day 7 - Saturday October 1st
 

Today is our last day of the trekking we have an easy and short trek. Following breakfast, we bid farewell to the friendly staff of Basant Lodge and descend through the wooded hillside and terraced farmland to Phedi at the valley floor. We meet our transport here and transfer to Pokhara. On the way
we stop in Tibetan refugee camp and pay a visit to the monastery. The camp was created when the Chinese took over Tibet and the Tibetans look for refuge in Nepal.

After the refugee camp we checked into the Fishtail Lodge, which is situated on a peninsula on the Lake, the only way to get to the lodge from Pokhara is via boat. The Lodge was great, once checked in we found a place in town to get our laundry done, had a nice lunch and then enjoyed the hotel pool for the rest of the day.

Day 8 - Sunday October 2nd

Today we explore Pokhara and see local attractions. Our first visit is to the non-tourist area where our driver drops and lets us walk around and mingle with the locals. From this location we could walk to the Bindhebasini Temple-the center of religious activities in Pokhara. This white dome- like structure

dominates a spacious stone – paved courtyard built atop a shady hillock. It is dedicated to Goddess Bhgawati, a manifestation of Goddess Durga. The park – like grounds offers a fine picnic area, and on Saturdays, and Tuesdays when devotees flock here to offer sacrifices, it takes on a festive flavor.

From this hill side we walked through Pokhara's colorful traditional Old Bazaar with ethnically diverse traders. The temples and monuments do show close architectural connection with the Newari styles of Kathmandu Valley. The market area is strewn with shops selling commodities ranging from edibles to and cloth to cosmetics and gold is a pleasant and shady spot to stroll around.

We encounter our first screw-up of the entire trip. We were to meet our driver to take us to the long

bridge, but no driver. Our guide Bishnu calls but no answer. Having a great and experienced guide is key on a trip like this. Without hesitation Bishnu hailed us a taxi and we were on our way. Once Bishnu got a hold of the driver he chewed him a new you know what!

The taxi dropped us at the hair raising gorge of Seti River at Mahendra Pool ( Pool means bridge) that provides a perfect view of the river’s dreadful rush and deep gorge created by its powerful flow. Amazingly, at certain places the river appears hardly two meters wide. However, its depth is quite beyond imagination, over 20 meters. From the gorge we walked to the Long Bridge, this is one of the longest pedestrian

suspension bridges in all of Nepal. We walked the complete length and returned while very stable looking down still gave us an uneasy feeling.

Once the driver found us we headed to Davis Fall, the falls are named after a British couple, the wife was floating in the lake when she went over the falls and was found several weeks latter. Yes, she perished. From the falls we walked across to the mysterious cave temple of Gupteshwara. This cave and temple were created from the rushing water of the falls, while the cave is thousands of years old, it was only discovered in the last century, with many buildings built right on top of it. With the water running very high we were not able to explore the entire cave.

We tool a quick tour of the local Tibetan village, we did not spend much time here as it was very similar to the Tibetan refuge village we had visited yesterday.

We added a stop at the International Mountain Museum. Well worth it. They have a complete History of Mountaineering in the Himalaya Mountains and other Mountain Ranges.

After the museum we decided to head back to the lodge and enjoy the pool an get some pictures of the Himalaya.

Day 9 - Monday October 3rd

After breakfast, we took a boating trip in Fewa Lake and visit the Island Temple of Barahi. Or at least rowed around it. Fewa Lake is the second largest lake of Nepal ( Rara Lake in Mugu District is the

largest one) and is the foremost attraction of Pokhara. There was a open water swim race going on in the lake and it was a lot of fun to watch the finish.

We gave the beautiful Pokhara Valley a farewell and headed to Bandipur-(pronounced as Bandipore) a traditional Newari Village.

We check in our accommodation at the Old Inn. What a lovely place a little rustic but that was to be expected. The owner and his family was fantastic and wanted to please us any way they could. We enjoyed a very nice lunch on our arrival.

After lunch we explore the village and the surroundings area. We decided to visit the Silk Farm, which is less than half an hour’s walk towards the west. After the drive we thought what a great way to stretch our legs. Once there we found that the silk factory was closed and going under some improvements. We did not get to see how the silk is made, but we had a wonderful walk. We spent some time talking with the locals we found the town was going through a renaissance and they have done a lot to attract tourist which has help the town prosper.

After dinner we headed to bed, only to be woken a few hours later by the loudest thunder I had ever heard, Dragon Thunder it is called. We even witnessed the transformer getting hit by lighting and blowing to pieces. Lucky the storm passed and we quickly fell back to sleep.

Day 10 Tuesday October 4th

In the morning after the rain there was a fairly thick fog, we decided to have a late breakfast and hope the fog would clear. At 10:00 with the air still fairly thick with fog or with our altitude it may have been clouds we set out to see some of the local sites.

We begin with a visit to the Khadga Devi Temple, the most sacred and auspicious temple in Bandipur. Then we head up to the Martyrs Memorial Area, which honors seven Bandipur men who
were killed during the anti-Rana insurrection of 1951. Then we head down to the shrine of Paarpani Mahadev (Shiva), who receives appeals for rain from Bandipur residents during dry spells. We return to the bazaar along the main trail, and visit the two other important temples -Bindhebashini and Mahalaxmi. The rich wooden carving and detailed brass-work that adorn the temple are replicas of those found in the many old pagoda structures of the Kathmandu Valley.

It is now time to depart Bandipur we will be backtracking a bit to Damauli where we will be starting our white water rafting adventure for the next two days, We will be rafting the Seti River. Bishnu will be traveling with us on the raft while our driver goes ahead to our destination. We also have an additional guide and two Sherpa's with us.

The water was running fast after an hour we stopped for some lunch and a little walk. Once back on the river we had a few exciting rapids and then arrived at the Seti River Camp. The camp consists of safari-style tents with beds, a changing room, a verandah and an attached bathroom. With the river running as fast as it was we arrived early afternoon. Margarite and Bishnu took a walk to the local village while I relaxed and caught up on the some reading.

The service and meal were what we have come

to expect nothing less than perfect. After dinner we were ready to hit the sack and we did, until about 2:00 am when we got hit with another very loud thunder storm, again passing quickly only to show up again at 4:00 am this time even louder. The good news both times we quickly fell back to sleep.

Day 11 - Wednesday October 5th

Following breakfast, we set off on the river again. There are five Class II rapids, which are 50 m long or less, nothing crazy but enough to wake you up. The remainder of the trip was very relaxing as we enjoy the surrounding nature and countryside. The trip concluded in Gaighat where we meet our transport. He was late again, but we were fairly sure he would be late, as we rafted on the river we could see the road was all backed up do to a mud slide from the rain the night before.

Once we had changed and repacked we were on our way to our lodge in Chitwan National Park about an hours drive. We will be staying at the Jungle Villa Resort near the park gate. The resort has three guest blocks, each comprising of 8 air-conditioned and well-furnished rooms with attached baths with 24 hours hot and cold water supply. Each room has a verandah that overlooks the river.

Once we arrived at the resort we had lunch and relaxed before we were escorted to the elephant embarkation platform. The elephant back safari lasts
1 to 2 hr and probably the most adventurous of all the excursions in Chitwan. We spotted Rhinos, primarily a mother and her child. We saw some spotted deer, jungle fowls, and peacock. Tiger population in Chitwan National Park is about 100 but it's a rare sight due to thick vegetation and the fact that Tigers are nocturnal animals. We did not see any. I was able to drive the Elephant the name of an elephant driver is Mahout. While I say I drove the elephant I am pretty sure the elephant knew where she was going better than I did.

Day 12 Thursday October 6th

This morning we are beginning our day with a traditional dugout canoe trip in Rapti River. The canoe trip offers an opportunity to watch two species of crocodiles Marsh Muggar and Gharial. The Gharial

has been listed as the endangered species. We will also see some aquatic birds such as kingfishers, egrets, storks, sand pipers, darter, etc. The ride lasted about and hour. The canoe dropped us at the Turtle and Crocodiles sanctuary were they are working on reinvigorating the populations of both animals.

After an educational tour of the sanctuary and a walking safari of the park we find the canoes and they transport us back to the Jungle Villa Resort for a very pleasant lunch.

In the afternoon we visit the Elephant breeding and training ground. We learned only female elephants do the Safari as they are less aggressive. We also learned that two trainers are assigned to

each elephant and they are paired for the duration. Not only do the elephants learn the commands they are also learn the trainers voice.

After visiting with the elephants we took a tour of the local Chitwan Village we saw families living the way they have lived since migrating from India. Back when malaria was prevalent in this area, the native people were immune. It was thought because of the amount of rice wine they drank. It was later discovered they have a mutation in their blood that keeps them from getting malaria.

After the tour of the village we walked into the larger town of Chitwan. They were getting ready for the annual festival held national each year. One of the traditions is building large swings out of bamboo. The idea is the swing allows you to get closer to heaven. We also came upon a family that was setting up for a wedding the next day. It is typical to have weddings around festival time since so many family members come in for festival. We were welcomed to the wedding preparation and invited to taste the food they were preparing all very delicious.

Day 28 - Friday October 7th

Margarite got up early and went for an hour long birding tour in the neighboring forest. Chitwan

National Park provides habitat to more than 600 different species of resident and migratory birds. Following breakfast, we are transferred to the airport (40 minutes) for flight back to Kathmandu (25 minutes).

Once is Kathmandu we returned to purchase the Tibetan Singing Bowl at Om Handicrafts. We got a demonstration of these bowls when we first arrived in Nepal, but held off purchasing so we did not have to carry the bowl around with us. The folks at Om Handicrafts could not have been nicer they took their time and showed us many bowls and the different properties they had. We were very happy with our purchase.

We had time to kill we convinced Bishnu to go see his family we were fine on our own. We walked the street of Kathmandu, people watching and enjoying the culture. We finally decided to call it a night.

Day 29 - Saturday October 8th

First thing we will be doing is visiting Mount Everest, this was the trip we had planned in the first day in Nepal, but it was canceled because of the clouds. Everest View flight, also known as mountain flight is an hour long flight departing from Kathmandu early morning that gives you an opportunity to view Mount Everest and the other 8000m high snow capped mountains of the Himalaya. The flight is operated by Buddha Air (Beech D craft). Everyone gets a window seat. What a great way to see the mountains. The pilot lets you come up in to the cockpit for a better view.

Our flight back to the United States was not until 9:00 pm so we had the day to enjoy Kathmandu and also treat ourselves to a massage. At 7:00 Bishnu picked us up to take us to the airport, saying goodbye is always so hard.

Well on to our next adventure.
Cheers,

DUG

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