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Sanitation is not the strong suit of the Nepalese. Cows are holy here, as they are in India, so you can imagine how the people live. This is on the way out of Kathmandu, where the banks of the river are lined with garbage on good days. I happened to be there in the midst of a garbage collection strike, so you can imagine how wonderful it smelled.

Sanitation is not the strong suit of the Nepalese. Cows are holy here, as they are in India, so you can imagine how the people live. This is on the way out of Kathmandu, where the banks of the river are lined with garbage on good days. I happened to be there in the midst of a garbage collection strike, so you can imagine how wonderful it smelled.

Here’s one of the other guides climbing up the side of the waterfall.

Here’s one of the other guides climbing up the side of the waterfall.

Here’s the river captain at a pit stop at a waterfall on day 6. Dude had a great sense of humor.

Here’s the river captain at a pit stop at a waterfall on day 6. Dude had a great sense of humor.

Every now and then we would have to stop at a village to pick up dinner. These chickens were a particular treat. Unfortunately I spent almost the whole trip with an upset stomach. It lasted for almost a week after the trip, so I finally went to the doctor where they determined I had cyclospora. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say it wasn’t the chickens’ fault, but the fault of the guides.

Every now and then we would have to stop at a village to pick up dinner. These chickens were a particular treat. Unfortunately I spent almost the whole trip with an upset stomach. It lasted for almost a week after the trip, so I finally went to the doctor where they determined I had cyclospora. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say it wasn’t the chickens’ fault, but the fault of the guides.

Everyday we would paddle down river for four hours or so, then make camp on one of the many sandy beaches lining the river. I spent each night under a proped up raft and a tarp with these two guys, a South African journalist makeing his way by land from Hong Kong, and a British guy learning how to be a river rafting guide.

Everyday we would paddle down river for four hours or so, then make camp on one of the many sandy beaches lining the river. I spent each night under a proped up raft and a tarp with these two guys, a South African journalist makeing his way by land from Hong Kong, and a British guy learning how to be a river rafting guide.

This is the beginning of an 8 day river rafting trip down the Sun Koshi River in Nepal. We caught the river a few hours east of Katmandu and made our way down to near the Indian border in the far south east of the country. The Sun Koshi is rated one of the top ten river rafting trips in the world.

This is the beginning of an 8 day river rafting trip down the Sun Koshi River in Nepal. We caught the river a few hours east of Katmandu and made our way down to near the Indian border in the far south east of the country. The Sun Koshi is rated one of the top ten river rafting trips in the world.

Here’s another one.

Here’s another one.

These boys, and a few others were taking turns floating down the mini-rapids on this river. They also tried to teach me how to use their fishing nets, but I almost managed to ruin them on just the second try, so they took them back.

These boys, and a few others were taking turns floating down the mini-rapids on this river. They also tried to teach me how to use their fishing nets, but I almost managed to ruin them on just the second try, so they took them back.

After surviving my intitial night in Kathmandu, I moved to a southern suburb called Patan for a couple nights. This is Patan Durbar Square, and the view from my guest house window. An interesting place. At one point there was a dance competition, where people from different nationalities displayed their traditional dances. The Indians, Pakistanis, and Nepalis were all fairly obvious. Then came the Americans. It was a group of fat ugly white women, dressed up in ostentatiously fake arab costumes, veils and all, doing embarresingly bad versions of belly dancing. I can only assume that it was a misguided attempt at stating American multi-culturalism by stupid uber-liberal expat NGO workers who have probably never danced before. I haven’t felt so embarresed to be American since we invaded re-elected Bush. fortunately, by this point, my beard was so long that most people just assumed I was Muslim, so my obvious disdain for the performance was most likely mistaken as directed towards Americans making fun of my people, rather than embarresment. The Austrians were next, and stole the show with quite an amazing dance performance that earned them a standing ovation and made me feel even worse.

After surviving my intitial night in Kathmandu, I moved to a southern suburb called Patan for a couple nights. This is Patan Durbar Square, and the view from my guest house window. An interesting place. At one point there was a dance competition, where people from different nationalities displayed their traditional dances. The Indians, Pakistanis, and Nepalis were all fairly obvious. Then came the Americans. It was a group of fat ugly white women, dressed up in ostentatiously fake arab costumes, veils and all, doing embarresingly bad versions of belly dancing. I can only assume that it was a misguided attempt at stating American multi-culturalism by stupid uber-liberal expat NGO workers who have probably never danced before. I haven’t felt so embarresed to be American since we invaded re-elected Bush. fortunately, by this point, my beard was so long that most people just assumed I was Muslim, so my obvious disdain for the performance was most likely mistaken as directed towards Americans making fun of my people, rather than embarresment. The Austrians were next, and stole the show with quite an amazing dance performance that earned them a standing ovation and made me feel even worse.