Nepal

I've just come back from Nepal. It's typical of 3rd world countries - poor and grubby and overcrowded and corrupt. Yet if you look carefully, the culture and the scenery and the people shine through. A very colourful, beautiful place. Worth a visit. Took this pic at the temple where they cremate the bodies before they toss the remains into the river.

Kathmandu

When it's above 50 degrees every day, and you work outside, it saps your energy. I get home, lie on the bed, and fall asleep. Its just too hot to be outside - even the pool water is 36 degrees, so it doesn't cool you down at all. Thursday was a public holiday here, so a group of us decided to be pro-active, and we went and played some golf. Not a very good idea. It was 47 degrees on the course. I think I drank about 5 litres of water. The only thing that saved us was this little golf cart that came around every 15 minutes, dishing out frozen face towels.

I originally planned to brave out the summer (the official government says its only 4 degrees warmer than the historical average), but I'm taking a week off and going to Kathmandu. Its colder, its green, its the middle of the monsoon and pissing with rain - everything the desert isn't. Oh, and they have strange people I can look at. Gurus, and clever people, and others that hang rocks on their dicks. It might just be an interesting experience....