Leaving

Exhausted but exhilarated we stayed in Pokhara for a couple more nights in a great room at the Panorama Hotel, with two huge windows facing north to Macchepuchhre (occasionally revealing a side view of it's magnificent fishtail) and east to Annapurna II. If you sit on the hotel's front balcony, you can see Dhualagiri on a clear morning. After a sweltering day with no electricity to enjoy the relief of a fan, the night brought a thunderous storm lighting up the sky, and in the morning revealed such magnificent peaks. I can see why people love it here.

We return to Kathmandu on a brighter cooler day and go straight to Blue Horizon guest house. The friends I bumped into at Bouddhanath recommended it and I guessed they were probably recommended to go there by other friends from the Manchester Buddhist Centre. It is a gorgeous spot, with huge windowed rooms, potted roof terraces and pretty gardens. Right next to the Himalayan Meditation Centre. Definitely a good vibe. With the added bonus of Himalaya Java at the corner of the lane, a cracking breakfast cafe frequented by NGOs and expats. But Bijay does want to know why we haven't come 'home'.

We sent home a load of trekking gear and some presents, so we are now super light travellers. Pricey postage but then it was 17kg in total! We spent the next couple of evenings hanging out at Parina's & Bijay's apartment. Parina cooked us a stunning dhaal baat with a special fish stew. The next day I went in search of english cheese and found a nice lancashire cheddar and some ciabbatta. I made macaroni cheese and bruschetta with coriander and chilli. Lee made some mash potato on the side as Bijay says our mash is the best he's ever tasted. We explain how we overcook the spuds, then leave to sit for 5 minutes before mashing – and that we never put sugar in it! His favourite was a vegetable pie topped with mash, I made when we had the apartment. Parina's says she's going to buy an oven so she can make shepherd's pie. I warned them that eating too many pies, as we so often do, makes you fat!

After a farewell brunch at Java, and a sad good bye to Parina, Biz escorts us to the airport for our flight to Bangkok. We're going to miss our friends very much but we have a permanent reminder of our time in Nepal, as I have a new tattoo and Lee has his first. I have a Tibetan Om on my wrist and Lee has our names in Nepali across his chest. Excellent job Biz, and healing nicely thanks.