Or second to last, not sure how far I’ll make it tomorrow. The last two days have been a strike, nobody on the roads, thanks to the Maoists. I forgot to add that when I was rafting, there were many Maoists on the shores and one of their first questions was, Do you have any Americans? I guess we support the Nepali gov’t in the civil war, so they don’t like us. The guides always said No, and I was told to say I was Canadian if ever asked. The guides also had to give them 1000r for each of us westerners on the trip.

I spent the last few days with food poisoning, not so much fun, but at least I had my own room and time to relax. I am both looking forward to and dreading India, with the constant harassment to buy things. A Japanese girl I ran into every day on the Everest trek is going with me to Varanasi, so at least I won’t be alone on the first part.