Nowhere in Particular

Ask any Italian and they will confirm the rivalry between southern and northern Italy. Those from the chic cosmopolitan cities in the north, seldom give the south the credit that we now know, it deserves. The province of Calabria, at the tip of the boot of Italy, was where we found ourselves after making arrangements on via helpx.net  a few months ago to volunteer our services in exchange for accommodation. If it were not for this arrangement, we might not have visited this area on our round-the-world trip. We landed at Lamezia Terme, hired a car and had to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road very quickly. Warning: driving on the opposite side can be a real test on your marriage and should not be attempted by the faint-hearted. In a nervous and bickering state, we travelled along the western coast to Tropea. When you first see the sea, you forget your petty differences (like who is driving and who is a passenger), and your mood improves vastly. The colours of the clear

One hundred days have passed in a flash. It feels like we were planning this round-the-world trip for so long and now the time is rushing by. Here is a snapshot of what we have done so far: Number of Countries 6 Vietnam , Cambodia , Singapore, India , Nepal , and Italy (excludes countries where we were only in transit like Kenya, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates) Distance travelled 35 000kms At our best guess Flights 14 Including the scenic flight over Mt Everest Bus trips 15 Including sleeping buses Train trips 2 Felt like much more Boat trips 4 Larger ferries to smaller homemade boats to get to Nam Cat Island Other transport used Private car, Rental car, taxis, tuk-tuks, canoes, paddle-skis, safari jeeps and saw plenty by foot     We can’t wait to see what the next 100 days will hold.

Pokhara is the second largest city in Nepal with a population of approximately 260 000. Nestled between the foothills of the Himalayas and next to a lake, Pokhara is a 'must visit' place. It is an outdoors and adrenalin junkie's heaven while at the same time being a tranquil place with a slower pace. In this city you can choose the easier pace activities like visiting yoga and meditation retreats or spas, or if you prefer to take walks and do trekking you can select various trails that suit your ability. For the more adventurous, choose between bungee jumping, paragliding, river rafting and flying in a microlight. If shopping is your thing, the pashmina, cashmere and large variety of handcrafted items are available at good prices.  Excellent coffee, cold beer and delicious local and international cuisine is available around every corner. Needless to say, our stay was far too short, but we put our full day in Pokhara to good use. The day started with a 4:30 am taxi dr

We would not consider ourselves to be adventurous people. At home, we are not naturally inclined to participate in adrenalin inducing activities. Booked through a third party in India, we did not really know what our tour in Nepal encompassed and went quite blindly into it all. But read our story about our visit to Nepal below, and you be the judge of whether this could be considered an adventure. Our tour company, Himalayan Social Journey , had it all in hand and made all the arrangements for us to have nine great days in Nepal. The briefing on the planned activities definitely surprised us, and against our natural instinct, we decided to trust their judgment and participate in the suggested activities. Our second day in Kathmandu started with an early morning flight on a small 30-seater plane. It was a majestic one-hour scenic flight over Mt. Everest and the range surrounding it. The US$200 price per person was not in our original budget, but considering we were in Nepal, s