Nepal brief update

One of the things you look at when studying geography is why things chance so much when you cross an international border. There's no real reason, it's just a line on a paper map, most of the people on either side feel they're from the same 'region' and the physical landscape doesnt change much yet everything is different. India, despite its charms, is a bikers hell, dirty, polluted, overcrowded and with fast deteriorating roads full of insane drivers. Nepal is a bikers paradise. Great roads in reasonable condition bar the odd landslide, barely any traffic to speak of., people drive slowly and curteously Life goes more slowly and whilst there should be more poverty (there are few if any billionaires here like in India), there seems to be more quality everywhere, in buildings and how people look after their local places.

My laptop battery's fast running out so a fuller update to come, but for the first time on this trip, moving one side of a line on a piece of paper brought a chalk & cheese change transformation in circumstances. I'm very much looking forward to the next few weeks!