This is what a Nepali guy told me when I asked what was the name of a huge snow topped mountain that I had seen. This "hill with snow" was over 6000m tall, absolutely gigantic!

"Just as the dew is dried by the morning sun, so are the sins of humankind by the sight of the Himalaya." - Skanda Purana

I have returned safely from the far reaches of the Annapurna range. What a blessing to walk in the shadows of the giants. Perhaps one day I might make it to the top of one. The Annapurnas have to be the most beautiful place I have ever been. I headed from the town of Besishahar to the north to Manang and then around the entire Annapurna range finally ending back at Naya Pul for the busride of the apocalypse to Pokhara on the valley floor. Deep river valleys, distempered yaks, arid desert-like plains, wonderful people, and monumental sized mountains, many unnamed even though they tower over 6000m into the sky. So after 18 days on the trail through amazing scenery, views of many of the world's highest mountains, and a climb through the Thoroung La Pass at 5420m, I am back in the lakeside 'resort' town of Pokhara.

It is nice to be back in reality, though Nepal's reality remains unstable at the moment. A national election, the most important in the country's history, is coming up on the 10th. As the poll is approaching, the Maoists, who have been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for years, have resorted to kidnapping of politicians, beatings, and general mischief. The leader of the Maoists, Prachandra, has said that on the one hand the Maoists would accept the people's wishes if they aren't given a majority,while at the same time he has said that if he didn't like the result they would head back into the hills and would resume fighting, and most likely covering the country in more pointless hammer and sicle graffiti. Most of the time I only come into contact with the election when I see cars wizzing around town with various parties' cadres weilding party flags hanging out the window yelling slogans and blaring loud painfully high pitched Nepali music from loud speakers on the car roof. Usually this music sounds as if the woman singing is being tourtured in some ancient painful manner. I did see a guy standing on top of a car yesterday shouting slogans. I was impressed by his poise and balance as a fall would have probably killed him. Anyways, so as I sit sipping an Everest beer, enjoying plum duff, brie and cavaar, I know that though unlikely I may have to leave this wonderful country sooner than I would have liked. 

If I have to leave I will head back to India, to where I do not know. Maybe north, maybe east, maybe west, maybe up or down, perhaps all of the above. I do know that I will likely be travelling to whatever destination I so choose, in a rikkity old bus jammed full of people enjoying Nepali 'torture music' (this is probably culturally insensitive) moving downhill at speeds that I thought only the USS Enterprise was capable of. I'll keep you all posted.