Scotland!

This weekend I went for a quick weekend to Glasgow to see family and to see some of the southern highlands of Scotland.

We drove up along Loch Lomond, went to Sterling Castle, the seat of the Scottish Kings, went to the Glengoyne Distillery, visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and saw all my family that lives in Glasgow.

All in all a great weekend!

Dumbarton Rock, home of Rhapsody E11

Loch Lomond at Luss

Loch Lomond

Luss

The Church at Luss

Sterling Castle

Sterling Castle

Sterling Castle

Sitting in the Throne in the Great Hall at Sterling Castle

Sterling Castle

The hills at Queen's View

Glengoyne Distillery

Glengoyne Distillery

Ivan, Uncle Bill and I at Glengoyne Distillery

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow

Ole' Blighty...

So my first 5 days in London have been fairly packed... British Museum, Natural History Museum, Changing ot the guard at Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, etc, etc, etc... I have done more touristy stuff in the last few days than I have in the last 6 months haha
But it's all good fun :)
Off to Glasgow this weekend to see family, then of to Austria next week to climb FINALLY!

Anyway... here are some pics...

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Bridge from across the Thames River

Westminster Abbey

Changing of The Guard at Buckingham Palace

Changing of The Guard at Buckingham Palace

Changing of The Guard at Buckingham Palace


The Wellington Arch

Natural History Museum

The British Museum

Greek statue in The British Museum

Mesopotamian relief in The British Museum

Roman reconstruction in The British Museum

Obligatory phone booth shot...

Obligatory double decker bus shot...

London Calling!

So Asia is all over for the moment and I am sitting in my friend Sophie's cosy apartment in London. It was a sad day eaving Nepal for a alot of reasons but now it's off for a new and different kind of adventure!
After not much sleep over a 3 day period that included an 11 hour bus ride and an overnight set of flights I arrived a little worn out in London, relaxed for a day, slept a bit then headed out for my first day of tourist activities today. Today I went to the British Museum which was amazing, but I have to go back as I foolishly went without my camera so I will head back there during the week. I'll post some pics of London soon as I am off to do the obligatory Big Ben, Westminister Bridge, Houses of Parliament, etc tomorrow :)

For now here are a few last pics of Nepal.

I'll miss that place.

Ed Tranah - Jedi (and boy band wannabe haha)

Camille and Ed on our balcony

Camille looking at the Annapurna Range

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Below are all photos from the Rice Planting Festival in Pokhara that I went to a few weeks before I left Nepal.

Dhorje - my man in Pokhara

Final hours in Asia...

So here I am sitting in Thamel in Kathmandu waiting out my final hours before getting on a plane bound for London.
It sort of feels like a completely new chapter coming up, not just a new country, but after 6 months in Asia and near 3rd world conditions now I'm heading to Europe and it's 1st world trappings and to be fair while I am excited I am more than a little dubious that I will enjoy it as much as my last 6 months... but we will see.
I will definitely miss Nepal... after spending 2 months here I have grown really attached to the place, the people, the scenery, the food, everything.
As if to bid me farewell, the sky's were crystal clear and blue as I left Pokhara yesterday giving me a perfect view of the Annapurna mountain range with its snow capped peaks looming out of the jungle clad mountains below... just amazing.
I have learned a lot here in Nepal, about myself and many other things, to hard to go on about here, but I assure you, I am leaving a better person for the experience.
I will be spending some time in London and Glasgow over the next few weeks, then its off bouldering in Austria and Switzerland, climbing in France and Spain, surfing in Morocco and bouldering in Fontainbleau... that's the basic idea but we all know how much my plans change from one minute to the next so we will see how it all pans out.
For now I'm off, some last Nepali food, then its 'Pheri Betaunla' Nepal, 'Namaste' Europe!

Canyoning photo's

Here are some pics from our day out canyoning courtesy of Charlie :-)

Chris, Charlie and I under the waterfall at the start of the canyon

Me at the start getting ready

Charlie in action

Charlie in action again

Me in action

Chris Charlie and I

Me, Charlie and Chris with some of the Nepali guides at the end of the canyon