19.10.2005

I shipped my school to Kathmandu- I didn't know if I would ever see the
rucksacks again.  I dredged through the packing cases of a huge warehouse
and rode triumphantly out on a forklift with my gliders.

I met with David Arrufat the Swiss acro pilot and Narayan our Nepalese
partner. We loaded the bus roof with our combined equipment- the raft for
the SIV courses was tugged onto the roof of the bus, in hindsight we should
have covered the gliders with it- Our arrival coincided with the last three
days of the monsoon - everything was drenched - the office looked like it
had been ransacked we had to repack all the reserves!

The the sun arrived and it hasn't gone away.  Everyday has been flyable and
thermic - The rice is being cut - so more landing fields are appearing everyday
so beginner courses start soon. At the moment I am flying tandems three times a day.
05

We have just been on a one day expedition to check out conditions in the west
we had 3 hours on the roof of a bus. As I walked through town a small boy on a big bicycle fell off
as he tried to squeeze past me and I ended in a heap on top of him. To
get across the river they loaded up a small boat with all of us and the paragliders. One guy rocked the boat when he stood up to take photos, I overcompensated and we nearly all fell in!


When we got to the other side we hired a jeep to take us to the top but they
had locked the keys into it they had to undo the door to get the keys out -
it looked like it had happened many times before.


We rode up to the top of the mountain for two hours on a scary steep track
and then a short walk and we were on the top.  I was flying a training cross
country tandem flight but when we took off I didn't manage to catch the
thermal and we went down.

We scratched along above the villages and landed in the cut rice fields and
the paraglider went over the haystack.  The women in the fields were
giggling with such fun and were so friendly.

We packed up fast and raced along the narrow string of pathway that weaved
between the fields to try and catch the last bus. We came to the big river
and had to wade up to the theighs, a nepali helped me balance as I started
tottering with my big bag and the fast flowing water.

We caught the bus! And started the long journey back we could see some of
the others flying high over the mountains. Damn! Next time! Anyway It was a
fun adventure race - my guy was happy with the experience even though we
didn't get far!

The next day we both climbed up nice and high above Sarankot