Fierce Invalids in Hot Climates Amber and Jerad chronicle their life-changing journey from Napa Valley wine snobs to globe-exploring vegabonds

So since it has been  so long and so much has happened I think I will let Amber do the majorty of the blogging on this subject.  What I will say is this Nepal and Pohkara in particular are places everyone should see in their life time.  Hiking the Himilaya was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life.  Papa you should take some of your new found leisure time and get out there and do a real hike, I'm kidding of course but it is amazing and the pictures are an insult to the true beauty of the Annapurna Range.  The people we met there are some of the nicest I have or will ever meet.  We also did a Buddist meditation and yoga retreat and while I don't plan on growing the top-knot yet it has opened my eyes to a truly enightened philosophy and the meditaton techniques I was taught I believe will help me throughout the rest of my life.  We were truly sad when we had to move on to Chitwan even though we were invited to a wedding there and were excited to be a part of it.  Unfortunately the phones weren't working and we could never figure out the details and missed it.  In Chitwan we bathed the elephants (definitely the highlight), went on a waking safari which resulted in litte wildlife spotting and Amber getting mild heat exhaustion.  We also went on an elephant safari which sounds like a lot more fun than it actually is, though we did see more wildife incuding a herd of Rhinos.  It was miserably hot there and we are happy to now be in Kathmandu even if we are staying in Bodnath which is actuay an area settled by tibetan refugees outsie the main city.  Amber and I ove it though we now have another box of goods to send home $$$.  My hope is that Amber and to a lesser degree myself get the shopping bug out now before Europe.  The agreement is that all Amber gets to by is one pair of shoes.  We have spent the last few days getting ready and excited for Africa.  Love and miss you all.  JN