Into Thin Air

Woo-Hoo! From sea level to the thin air at the top of the world!

We saw Everest today. It was spectacular. We took a scenic flight and beheld the mighty force of the Himalayan Mountains. "Wow" is really the only word I can think of.

We have settled into Nepal and are thrilled with it. Kathmandu is a real cross roads. The book stores are full of the most amazing books from the far corners of the earth. We meet unique and impressive people every day. This morning we met a Swedish man who is on R&R from his work in training police in Afghanistan. His experiences there are shocking!

Tomorrow we leave Kathmandu for 5 days. We will be staying on a picturesque lake and will be able to do some day hikes. We are already looking forward to our next trip to this part of the world!

Cruising and Surviving

Our cruise is as fabulous as it looks -- actually even better. There are only 46 passengers (with a total possible of 170) and 79 crew. We've had smooth sailing, good food, entertaining stops, and great company. We've been surrounded by Australians who are always fun!

When we were disembarking the ship in India, the crew was busy making our ship pirate-ready. They put barbed and electrical wire around the edge of the deck. They emblazoned anti-pirate / high voltage signs on each side. They will have the crew on 24-hour pirate watch with someone ready on the water cannon. The captain is an ex-Russian Special Forces officer (who I did a tae chi work out with) and there will be an English military ship escort. We believe we'd have been safe on board (and gained great stories) but instead we are cut loose in India...

Let's just say we have survived India. We saw first-hand many of the scenes that Slum Dog Millionaire made famous. (Thankfully avoiding the toileting scenario.) We are now bound for Nepal.