Leaving Raylei was bittersweet.  We were a little sad, leaving such a beautiful oasis, but eager to go explore new places. Krabi was quite nice. There are more choices for food and accommodation, and cheap motorbike rentals. I was a bit anxious at the idea of negotiating the crazy traffic, but after a few minutes the worry lessened, but occasionally returning, as oncoming traffic swerved into available space on our side. Overall, it’s pretty easy to pick up, Mostly stay to the left, and if something gets in your way, go around it!

The next day we started the epic, and exhausting trip to Nepal. Five hours by bus, 15 hours on a train(this time we had sleeper berths, thankfully), half a day in the train station killing time and using the wifi, rapid train to the airport in KL, a five hour flight to Delhi, 12 more hours in the airport, and finally an hour and a half flight to Kathmandu. Our bags didn’t make the flight, but after all the confusion in KL over whether or not we could even make our flight , we were just happy to be in Nepal.

VSN has been just fantastic for making the transition to our ‘new life’ in Nepal effortless. This is day three, and we haven’t even needed to change money yet. Our host family is very nice, the house is spacious, clean and comfortable.  They only have power during certain hours. ‘Loadsharing’ they call it. We are taking Nepali language lessons, then guided sightseeing in the afternoons. I haven’t really done much yet, having gotten sick the first night. I spent the entire second day feverish and nauseous. Today, I’m just weak, trying to fill up on popcorn and juice boxes.

We are staying in Pepsi Cola. That’s right, Pepsi Cola, named after the local bottling plant. Yesterday, Su and Raven went to visit the VSN orphanage, which is very close, as is the VSN headquarters(our only access to wifi). Raven, of course, made some new friends, and had some much needed ‘kid time’. Because of a major Hindu festival, we won’t be going to Salleri for two weeks after our orientation is complete, so we’ll have three weeks to see the sights of Kathmandu, and to visit all of the VSN projects around the Kathmandu valley.

 SIM cards and cell rates are very cheap here, so we may have a phone number here soon.