Nepal, Varanasi and North India

Here are a whack of pictures from my travels over the last month. Enjoy!

The incredibly short runway at Lukla airport, 2800 meters.

The first and only Starbucks I've seen on this trip, on the way to Everest of all places.

Look closely and you can see how the Sherpa people carry all of their gear on their heads. Crazy. I met one man carrying 90Kg.


The stunning mountain town of Namche Bazzar, 3500 meters. There are no roads up here so everything has to be carried in.

Dawn at Namche Bazzar.

Sam, Me, Tamara, Chris and Jess. Sam and Chris were two stellar Canadians we met on the plane to Lukla who were on their way to summit Everest. By far two of the best people I've met on my trip.

The highest camp, Gorak Shep, elevation 5100 meters.

Of all the days we decide to go up, we arrive on the day a bunch of Brits decide they're going to set the world record for the 'Highest Cricket Game'. British people do some really weird things.

I must say, Cricket is incredibly boring.

An early (4AM) start to catch the sunrise over Everest. This is looking back down the valley we came up over the previous 8 days.

Kala Patthar, 5550 meters. So so awesome.

So we celebrated with some whisky.

Sunrise over Everest, the peak on the left.

Everest and Everest Base Camp below left next to the ice flow.

Later that afternoon we walked to Base Camp.

And had some delicious apple pie!

The walk back through some enormous valley's was impressive.

The streets of Kathmandu.

Kyaking on the lake in Pokhara, Nepal.

A flash storm in Pokhara, I watched lightning strike less than 100 meters away. THAT was scary.

Bathing the Elephants at Chitwan National Park, Nepal.

Sharing the roof of a bus on our way out of Nepal.

Varansi, India. By far the craziest most intense place I have ever been in my life. This is the holy Ganges River, where people from all over India come to cremate their loved ones. Let me just say the water is pretty sick and there is nothing in this world that would get me to jump in there.

But thousands of people bath and swim here everyday. It's holy water.

But aside from watching dead bodies be carried through town and their smell that penetrates the city from being burned on the ghats, and if you can get passed the endless harassment and the dozens of cows and cow shit you have to avoid in the narrow streets that are just wide enough people (and dont forget to keep your head up for oncoming motorcycles) and if you make a point not to look at the dead bodies that wash up on shore after they've been sunk in the Ganges (children, pregnant women and suicide victims can't be cremated) then Varanasi is a really beautiful place.

And the Puja festival performed on the ghats every evening is pretty cool.

Ahh Rishikesh, a quiet hill station in the North, the place where the Beatles came to chill out and write the White Album. Definitely a great place to escape.

I was God awful sick from the food in Varansi so Mama Jee took care of me at her guesthose with tea and thali.

And when I felt better we when rafting on the Ganges, here at the mouth of the river the swimming was pretty stellar.

The Golden Temple in Amritsar. Very beautiful although the constant bombardment to have my photo taken with Indian tourist was really trying.

The India-Pakistan border closing ceremony. This was like going to a sporting event. 'Hindustan! Hindustan!'

The Golden Palace at night.

My last stop in India before returning to Delhi was Dharmsala, the place where the Dali Lama keeps his Tibetan Government in exile.

Outside the Dali Lama's temple. This place was really really beautful. A nice tranquil and spiritual place to end my journey of India.

I leave for Singapore this evening and will start the SE Asia leg of my trip. First stop: Tioman Island, Malaysia. Man I can't wait for the beach!