As you've seen from Josie's post, we're back from Pokhara and are enjoying Tihar (Divali) in Kathmandu – the roads may be quiet but the firecrackers (banned by the government but as one of the papers said, not much point making laws if you don't implement them) are very noisy!

A few more photos from Pokhara.

Watch out North Sails, you have competition

A limited view of the boat I took out but you get the idea what it was like

Cows wander freely round Pokhara which, as Josie discovered, you need to watch wear you tread. Interestingly despite there being plenty of vegetation around we saw a couple of cows really tucking into cardboard boxes – a really good recycling solution.

In Kathmandu yesterday we got up early and met one of my colleagues at Durbar Square to watch a Nepali New Year procession. Colourful and noisy!

The intrepid trekkers got home yesterday. The weather wasn't so good for much of the trip but they have got some great photos, I'll let Josie nag them into doing a guest blog.

Another early start tomorrow to go on an Everest flight – hopefully it will be nice and clear first thing.

Cheers
Roshan

P.S. You may already have seen this in the news. A website that checks how good your word knowledge is and donates to the World Food Programme for every correct answer (www.FreeRice.com). Be warned it starts easy and gets tougher quite quickly.

P.P.S. Couldn't resist taking a picture of the dashboard of a coach I was on a couple of weeks ago. Nepali roads really get the nodding dogs working.