Hello my incredibly special friend _________  (please fill in your
name here),

They're very modern and sophisticated up here - this email was written
by connecting a yak's tail to an old computer cable, and then using its
teeth as a keyboard.  Don't even ask how we do a fax ....

Here's the good bit:  After much contemplating and deciding, Greg went
and bought himself a digital camera.  We're both going to use it
extensively on the whole trip.  The really good bit is that it uses
floppy disks for film (25 shots to a disk), so we can go into any
Internet Cafe and transfer all our photos (well, the good ones anyway
- the bad ones we erase a few seconds after we have taken them) onto
our Web page.  The really really good bit is - we've already done this!
You'll find many photos at the following address:

	http://www.zip.com.au/~mvirtue

You might want to Bookmark that page (or Add to Favorites, if you're a
Microsoft person), coz in our emails to you, as we're describing what
we've done, we'll be referring to some of the photos on that page to
serve as illustrations.  Something like this:

"We met some interesting people on the plane (see
Twelve_sexy_babes.jpg) who had some interesting things to show us (see
Monster_hooters.jpg)."

And so on.  The contents of this email message will also be on that
web page, called something like _Kathmandu_Mark_1.txt.  Just go check
it out - you'll see what we mean.

THE STORY SO FAR:

But where to begin?  At the party, I suppose.  After weeks of
increasingly frantic preparations, Greg and I miraculously managed to
get everything done a few minutes before the party started on Friday
afternoon.  Quite a coincidence, really.  Anyway, it was a great time.
I was enjoying myself, and if you weren't - that's OK coz I was too
blotto to notice.  (If you were one of those nasty people who didn't
actually go to the party, then you should probably skip this bit,
because it will make you jealous.)  A big thanks to Christel for
playing that song "I hope you have the time of your life."  So fitting
and very thoughtful.  It also managed to get everyone together for the
inaugural shaving of the Dutton head.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I
knew he was planning this, and was worried that with a Number One he'd
look like a criminal.  Thankfully he only looked like a thug.  I also
got to meet Greg's lovely dad Ross, who is to accompany us on the trek,
but didn't get his head shaved for some reason.

The goodbyes were eventually completed and the limo was eventually
filled with the appropriate bodies, and we glided (gild?) off to the
airport, with Bob Sega's "I'm going to Kathmandu" blasting through the
stereo.  After a teary final goodbye with a couple of special people
who had sneakily followed us to the airport (you know who you are), we
were hurried through check-in and customs only to have to wait for 45
minutes before we could board.  "Hurry up and wait" will soon be the
motto of our trip, I suspect.

Meandering down the gangway we met Andrew Hampton from Manly, who, for
want of a better way of putting it, seemed to be me all over again, but
with glasses and blonde hair (see Mark_and_Andrew.jpg).  Basically he
was doing the same thing as me for the same reasons in the same style,
and we instantly recognised a kindred spirit in the other.  It's a
shame he wasn't going directly to Kathmandu, but I have a sneaking
suspicion we'll see each other again - maybe India, maybe Manchester,
maybe Bolivia.  Who knows?  We exchanged email addresses (isn't that
weird?  How times have changed since I last did that backpacking thing
(1986)).

Bangkok was Bangkok - five hours there is more than enough, and then
the three hour sleep to Kathmandu was equally dull.  After the obvious
hurry-up-and-wait at Kathmandu airport customs, we were met by a
smiling Gerry (my dad, for those that don't know), and whisked off in
a taxi through the streets of Kathmandu, every sense being assaulted
the whole time by the odour and cacophany that is Kathmandu.  Dad has a
long-standing friend who owns a new, very fine hotel in Thamel (the
tourist area), and there was never a possibility that we would be
staying anywhere else.  If ever you're looking for accommodation in
Kathmandu, check them out.  You can get more info at

	http://www.hoteldynasty.com

And so we ventured boldly into the bustle of Thamel.  For any of you
that have been, you'll recognise the constant:

	Changemoney?  Changemoney?
	OneRupee?  OneRupee?
	Rickshawtaxi?  Rickshawtaxi?
	Hashyousmoke?  Hashyousmoke?

and the never-ending offers for you to buy violins, chess sets, Tiger
Balm, flutes, trekking permits, hotel rooms and Barbie and Ken doll
sets.  All at the "special price for my friend," which is actually
likely to be about 5-10 times higher than the price they would sell it
to their friends for.  You can't really get Barbie and Ken doll sets -
I just threw that in to see if you're paying attention.

This morning was truly special.  At 7:50am the bus arrived at the hotel
to take us to the soccer field outside town where they were unrolling
the - wait for it - Hot Air Balloon.  For the mere price of US$195, or
free if you are the ex-director of the company (or his son), you get a
tranquil 2-hour sail 2000 feet above the picturesque Kathmandu Valley,
silently floating past a panorama of the highest mountains in the
world, periodically getting the top of your head nicely grilled from
the heat of the three gas burners that are all that stand between you
and a graceful plummet to your death.  Not to be missed.  If you have
any desire to do this yourself and you feel like spoiling the surprise
for yourself, we have quite a few photos to check out.

Tomorrow we're off to Sagamartha (Everest) for some trekking (and no,
we're not going to the top - in fact, not even half way up).  We're
gone for three weeks, so keep those emails piling up in our inboxes
while we're gone.

Until then,

Mark and Greg.