A little help as we go.

One of the things we have tried to do as we travel is help out in different places. While back in the U.K and Germany Ulli made a couple of trips to collect some 'freebies' from shops and companies which we were able to give out. Thanks go to:

Thomas Cook, Lush, The Body Shop, Oxford Rd Dental Practice, and STA Travel for pens, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Special thanks to Kaethe Ipe from Wettringen, Germany for 200 pens!!

Here we are near the Boudhanath Temple in Kathmandu giving out toothbrushes, toothpaste and pens. All of the children were very appreciative of this and there was much hand shaking for me and hugging for Ulli.

We then went to the Paropakar Girls Orphanage in Kathmandu. Here we dispensed dental products and also shampoo and soaps. 

While we were in Lombok, Indonesia we ate at Felices Vegetarian Restaurant and met and talked with Felice. She helps the local 'beach kids' who make money by selling handmade wrist bands. I still have seven of these wrist bands!

One day we rode with Felice and a Spanish man called Roberto to a volunteer educational centre. Roberto and I went into a room with some older people and hopefully helped them to learn some more English!

Felice and Ulli stayed in this room with the younger children and again, helped with the learning of English via song and question asking and answering.

The photo below is from Felices restaurant on a Saturday. The restaurant shuts for the afternoon and they give the local children a good meal and Felice teaches and sings with them.

Below are all of the children's selling boards with their wristbands on.

Felice and Ulli.

Two (or three) wheels in Indonesia.

This is the standard for the lad about town, usually pimped to the max.

The rifle is a nice touch......

They love to modify everything!!

Helambu, Part 2.

26th June 2013.

This morning the rain has stopped and we are ready to carry on....

We move through heavy mist.....

We have now decided to cut the trek short mainly due to the weather conditions. We lost one day and were not making as much progress as we needed to finish the full trek and get back for our flight out.

We took a short cut (still a ten hour day and as hard a day as I had done on the previous treks!) that led us past waterfalls and flooded areas. It was here that we had our first experience of leeches. I seemed less affected than Ulli as she attracted them in their tens!

This valley was our way out....

When we got below the cloud line the heat and humidity was overbearing.....

Once down in the valley we find there are no more busses for the day so walk another hour to Timbu before finding a guesthouse for the night. Luckily the bus out to Kathmandu is parked right outside ready for the next morning!

Helambu, Part 1.

23rd June 2013.

After Ulli came back out to Nepal we decided to do one last trek, the Helambu which can be started after just an hours drive north of Kathmandu. There was rain everyday in the capital by now so raincoats and umbrellas were an essential. Below is the start of the trail at Sundarijal with Kathmandu just visible back down in the valley.

A couple of beautiful butterflies stopped for just long enough....

The biggest worm we've seen!

24th june 2013.

Early the next morning after torrential rains the whole night we had these views back to the Langtang.

This man was guiding another couple on a shorter trek but gave us some advice. There was no one else on the trail apart from us and locals from now on!

This man wanted us to stay at his place and smoke the contents of his garden, but we'd only been walking an hour......

On the map it is quite distinctly straight on, past the monastery.

After an hour it was quite apparent that this was not the way to Kutumsang and we went back the way we came. After getting back on the right track we found the sign about a hundred metres along, rather than at the junction. 

We got caught in a massive downpour and everything had to be dried!

25th June 2013.

Woke up to more torrential rain and decided to not to walk today. This was the right decision as it didn't let up all day.....