Namaste*

- Namaste, greetings in Nepali. Let me first say this of the Himalaya's; never before have I experienced a culture or a surrounding where the physical and spiritual worlds embrace each other in a way where the spirit finds it's peace and the physical is left to wonder!
When we first touched down in Kathmandu, I was completely caught out of scene; just coming from China and seeing what I thought were slums seemed middle class here. The traffic in the street was absolute chaos, no directionals, just every car, truck, bike, man, or "holy cow" for itself. We managed to find our way to a nice hotel for about $20.00 a night and started looking for a trekking company, mission complete. The next morning we left early on what we thought would be a 5 hour drive to the city of Pokara where we could catch a flight, weather permitting, to a small town in the mountains called Jomsom. A good bit into our journey, about an hour outside of Pokara we ran into a bit of a problem. A young man had been hit and killed by a bus and traffic was literally stopped dead! In the country of Nepal the policy goes as this: once the family is notified they go to the hospital to identify the body and then back to the site of the accident to work out the legalities/compensation for the tragedy between the family and a representative of the bus company. All of this of course while we are waiting on the side of the road. Once the family,"grantee", meets with the representative of the bus company,"gran tor", without a legal court system they must come to an agreement in monetary terms that must be paid to the family for the death of the son. This process can take days, lucky for us they were paid 500,000 rupees, about $8,000 dollars and after about 6 hours we were back on our way. Crazy!
The next morning the sky's opened and we caught a small plane to Jomsom where we would start the first of a 8 day, 120 K's or 75 mile trek through the Himalaya's. Just as the events that took place in Sydney, I felt as though I had been preparing for these moments my entire life. The first night we stayed in a small village about 7 k's from Jomsom named Kagbeni, which rested at about 9,000 ft in elevation. The next morning we did 11K trek up to another village called Muktinath which was the pinnacle of our trek at 12,540 ft and still only at the base of the great peaks. I could here list each of the edifying villages we encountered along this surreal stroll of the humbling Himalaya's but I will leave those moments to my journal and I will move to the infectious spirit of the Nepali people.
Though these great mountains hold the birth place of "The Great Buddah", Hinduism is still the predominate religion of Nepal. We were very fortunate that our guide, "Raj" was very well educated, spoke good English and could enlighten us on the many great gods of Hinduism and the significance of each. Myself I consider to be very balanced in a monotheistic view of God and the world but I could not help but to be intrigued by this fascinating religion that has molded so many to be so kind, giving and thankful for no more than being blessed enough to eat that day. I can not begin to express how seeing this culture nestled high in the mountains which seem like steps to heaven have effected my spirit and the smiles on their faces will forever be etched in my soul.
Anyway,,,,after the 8 day trek we jumped a bus to Chitwan National park in the southern part of Nepal for a few days of rest, relaxation and hopefully a chance to see a Rhino in it's natural habit. We took 2 elephant rides and on our last night there we decided to spend the night in a "Canopy Tower" located within the N.park itself. Upon approaching the tower we spotted a rhino and it's baby; we climbed the tower and watched them graze until sunset, surprisingly we slept pretty well that night despite all the crazy noises from the jungle and the next day we were back to Kathmandu.

So that's what's up,,,,that's where I'm at. Halfway through this "long strange trip" and anxious to see what adventure will come next! ! !

Love and miss you all,
Mikey***

Beijing and the glory that surrounds***

What's up everyone, checking in from Beijing. I have to say, that so far this has been my favorite of China. The city is all decorated for the Olympics and the sights are Amazing! ! ! We are staying at a great hostel in the Hu Tong district of downtown which is this really cool, older part of town surrounded by the 3 lakes of the 3 kings, long story. Anyway, all along the shoreline are resturants and bars with live music*** At first the hostel, sharing a room and bathroom with 6 other people took a little getting used to but now I would not trade it for the Ritz,,,,alright, that's a lie but we have met some really great people who have really helped us take in Beijing. One of our roommates named Paulo from Brazil has become one of our best friends here and has spent everyday with us so far,,,,he's freaking halarious, Se llama Paulo! ! !We have spent the last few days walking all over town and visiting sites such as, Forbidden City, Tian'men Square, Temple of Heaven, The Birds Nest and on and on but the hightlight of it all was, "The Great Wall". We did a 5 mile from Jinshanling to Simatai on a part of the wall that has not been restored and far away from the tourist traps. It took us around 4 hr's but we stopped, had lunch and let our minds attempt to take in all that surrounded us. There are no words and the pictures are only a blink. What an example of what man can do when we are determined and confronted with losing our homes, family and beliefs. As if that was not enough, at the end of the hike we were able to take a zipline across the canyon for 40 yuan or 5 dollars....Amazing*** Check the pic's! !
We have managed to find some really great resturants and have been eating like kings. Duck, Steak, Chicken, Bullfrog, which is actually very good and then polish it all off with a nice cold Tsing Tao beer, all for a price for less than 10 dollars per person. It's going to be hard to leave with the Olympics coming but I am looking forward to our trek in Nepal so much, it's makes it a bit easier. We are doing the Jonsom Trek which is part of the Anapurna Circut and is a 9 day trek through the Hymalaya's. This trip has already been such a humbling experience, but I think that walking in the "foothills of heaven" will be something that will spark my soul and humble my spirit like nothing else in this world,,,,2nd only to my wife! ! ! I'm not sure when the next time I will be able to check in so until then, take care of each other and know you are all with me! !