Day 4 - Kathmandu to Pokhara

Thanks to a blockade from India, the price of gasoline has tripled and the price for most other items has doubled.  Nepal is a landlocked country with India to the south and China to the north.  Unfortunately, with Himalayas also along the northern border there is really only easy way for goods to reach Nepal - through India.  

Given the embargo people are doing anything to stay warm and cook.  Oil has been replaced by wood or anything that will burn.  The result?  Very polluted air.  Add to that just above freezing lows (with no heated hotel rooms in the city).  To get us to see as much as possible on short visit I planned for us to visit the Hindu temple on our way to the airport on our first morning in Nepal. What is best for time is not always best for morale.  

First stop of the day:  

I hesitate to post this picture; this is a family grieving at a funeral.  The priest(?) is washing the head and feet of the dead.  Near the center of the picture is a block of cement where they will build the funeral pyre.  It is a very solemn ceremony.

Meanwhile, in another part of the temple are guys dressed like this:

This is my sister's very polite yet very, "What the hell did Steve get me into?" look.

 And finally, we are off to Pokhara.

 The guard standing behind them did not appreciate our stopping for a picture.

 I think, just maybe, Miriam began to warm up to Nepal on this walk along Fewa lake with the great Fishtail mountain overlooking us in the background of this picture.  This mountain is higher than any mountain in North America... why it has no snow is a mystery to me.

Day 3 - Abu Dhabi and travel to Nepal

Day 3 started early with a trip to Abu Dhabi before catching a flight to Nepal.

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque is an amazing structure.  I wanted to take M & G inside but we didn't have time. Next up was Emirates Palace: 

Quite simply, this picture doesn't do it justice.  

Here's a giant Christmas tree inside the hotel and... and...

A gold ATM machine.

My friend Youssef was our driver for the day.

Although Dubai has more skyscrapers, Abu Dhabi has some of the most amazing architecture.  

On the flight to Nepal we were able to see the Palm Jumeirah - man-made islands.  

 Once in Nepal we were greeted by my friend Vikram.

 A toast:  Here's to travelling to the other side of the planet!

Day 2 - Christmas in the UAE

Traveling 10 time zones can be a bitch.  Day 2 is always the hardest for me so we kept the day - Christmas day - pretty calm. The term "Ain" in my home city of Al Ain means "spring" or "oasis."  Back in the day before roads Bedouins traveled across the desert to reach this oasis where water and dates basic vegetables were grown.

Miriam with the guy wearing an interesting shirt in a Muslim country...

After the Oasis we stopped by the camel market.

Miriam with a rare black camel.  So here's the story:  We were only in the camel market for a short time - 10 minutes.  A guy volunteered to be our "guide."  The Pakistani was very helpful and showed us the cool things to see very quickly.  Meanwhile an entire group of Pakistanis joined in.  All were trying to be our guide.  As we were leaving I should have given our guide a 10 dirham ($2.70) but I gave him 40 dirhams ($11).  By the time we made it back to the car a fight had broken out.  The other guys wanted a cut. In 8 years in the Emirates I have been to the camel market many times.  Normally I blow off the guys offering to be guides and there's no problem.  In this case it was just sad to see fist-fight break out over $11... on Christmas day.

Finally, we ended up at my friends' place for Christmas dinner.  Laurie (the pregnant woman in blue) and her husband Chris have been friends for years.  She's British, he's Kiwi (New Zealand) and they are planning to move to Canada in the summer.  Directly in front of me is Caleb and Maura(?).  Caleb is another Kiwi and the brother of Chris' best friend.  Maura is Russian and from the most polluted city in the world.  At Caleb's brother's wedding last summer in Wales I listened to her stories about life back home.  Just be happy you don't live there.

The great Simpson adventure - Day 1

It is a difficult sell to ask anyone to fly to the other side of the planet.  The arduous trip takes at least 24 hours - more than 16 inside one plane or another.  I was pleased Miriam & George agreed to make the trip. 

They were greeted with a nice welcome cake from my Sri Lankan friend Christian.  That evening they met American friends Christine and Dan.  We went to a traditional local restaurant where Miriam decided at the last minute that it might not be a good idea to follow tradition and sit on the floor.

M & G handled the jet lag remarkably well, better than I do on most trips.  My promise is to post each day about the next day of their trip.  Trust me, it gets way more interesting.