We are now in Jaipur, India. Since our last update we spent a wonderful 3 weeks in Nepal. We had a great trek through the Himalaya - the scenery was beautiful and the people were interesting and friendly. We got lots of exercise, walking about 16 km per day for 12 days. We had 1 day of rest and soaked in some natural hot springs surrounded by mountains. We saw some spectacular views, an avalanche (from a distance), interesting Hindu and Buddhist temples, mule trains transporting goods along the trails (which in Nepal is the only way to get around), yaks, sadhus (wandering Hindu men on a spiritual search), people making traditional handicrafts, etc. We were amazed at all the villages perched on extremely steep hillsides with terraced fields. We visited a Hindu temple at Muktinath where Hindus make pilgrimmages because they believe that visiting there will release them from the cycle of rebirth. We also climbed up to about 5000 m and got some spectacular views.

Since we didn't have time to walk roundtrip, we were planning on taking a short mountain flight back to the starting point. However, the day we were supposed to fly back, the local people forced the airlines to shut down for several days because they were demanding more seats be made available for local people (they pay $18 vs. $61 but have a hard time making reservations). Furthermore, a couple days later the buses and taxis were planning on going on strike to protest high petrol prices. So in order not to miss our onward connections, we ended up having to charter a helicopter flight back along with our 2 friends who were trekking with us (it's very strange to be somewhere that is a 3-day walk to the closest road!). It was a pretty wild ride, especially when passing only 40 feet above mountain ridges. Wendi was terrified but liked it once we landed and she knew we were safe.

After our trek we spent a couple days looking around Kathmandu and its surrounding cities. We saw a lot of historic and interesting sites. We even saw a living goddess (a girl who is chosen at 5 years old and is worshipped as a goddess in her temple where she lives until she mensturates and her successor is chosen). We also saw a lot of fake sadhus (wandering Indian men on a search for tourists' money).

We're now exploring India, land of a billion people (all of whom were on our train yesterday and most of whom have a propensity for cutting in lines and a disregard for elbow room), of air that is 99% carbon monoxide and 1% oxygen, of the most persistent touts in the world, and of con artists that would put Paul Newman to shame. Where else in the world can you see cars, cycle-rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, scooters, bicycles, cows, cow-drawn carts, camel-drawn carts, and people-drawn carts, all bearing down on terrified pedestrians? The horn is definitely the most important part of any vehicle here. However, there are also a lot of beautiful sites and fascinating culture. We've seen forts from the 17th century and of course the magnificent Taj Mahal. We've also seen Gandhi's cremation site and memorial museum, a world-class bird sanctuary, and a national park where we saw some fascinating wildlife including a tiger and a sloth bear.

This will probably be our last e-mail update until we return home in mid-December. We hope you are all doing well and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Steve and Wendi