From trek’s end in Pokhara, it was another 5-hour drive to the Royal Chitwan National Park, a game preserve in southern Nepal near the India border.

In many respects, Chitwan was HEAVEN – what with a bed, shower, toilet, etc.!!  ‘Course, you still couldn’t drink the water, and still no diet Coke! But all the amenities, the jungle and animals, and seeing a Poinsettia as a tree rather than a little potted plant at Christmas more than made up for it! Chitwan was fun, especially the elephant rides through the jungle. I didn't see the famed Bengal Tigers (except for their paw prints), but did see deer, boar and a rhino.

The dugout canoe trip was certainly an experience, but the uncontrollable antics of one of my fellow tourists had me in fear that both I and my cameras were due for an unscheduled swim.  Hence no worthwhile photos!

From Chitwan it was another 4 - 5 hour drive to Kathmandu in a beat-up Toyota Corolla.  But it got me there, and I'm sure my memory of that dislocated seat spring will fade with time.

Ah – Kathmandu and Diet Coke! Sweet Ambrosia!!!! (And the jet hi-jacking didn't happen ‘til a week or so after I left!).

As Alice observed: "no, I didn’t 'find myself' in Kathmandu, but I sure found some beautiful cashmere shawls!"  And my golf-addicted dentist is delighted with the "golf ball markers" I brought back – a bag full of shiny Nepal coins, each worth about 0.02 cents Canadian.

Next day it was off to Bangkok (with a not-so-quick exchange of trekking luggage for "beaching" luggage at the Bangkok airport) and thence to Koh Samui, a beach resort in southern Thailand.