The evening of my 28th birthday was filled with laughes and strange food.

Ant and I arrived at the bar for drinks a bit later because it took me a while to clean up in the three drops of water the hotel called a shower. It really was a retched hotel, typical of border crossings. Bleh.

We sat down to eat and I thought I'd treat myself to a steak, with mushrooms and other veggies because a guy at another table recommended it. When it came out, looking very impressive on its sizzilng hotplate, I poked around to find the steak. There was no steak!!! The mushrooms were the "steak." Grrrr.. I wanted beouf!!!! Ahh well.

The evening pushed on, and after everyone had eaten their food, Mark motioned to the staff to bring out what I knew was the cake. Scott, another of our group, had his birthday in Chengdu and the shop mangled the attempted dragon (they specialized in flowers and added a few to the "dragon") so I figured mine would be equally silly. I was completely wrong- it was a masterpiece!!! The dragon was highly detailed and had spikes coming off his back and everything!!! I'll be posting a photo soon...

After and during cake, our drivers and guide (the WongDues and Tsering) gave me big huge prayer scarves. Everyone else got them too, but mine are huge!!! It was a sad night because we knew the next day would be our last with these cheery Tibetans. The boys couldn't stay too long because they had to meet up with the Chinese official who had stopped them earlier to fine them for "improper paperwork." (We later found out that our wily guide got him drunk and had his fine eliminated while the drivers' were reduced drastically.)

From Zhangmu, we moved into the highest country in the world, Nepal. There is a 8k stretch of NoMansLand in between checkpoints, and we got stopped so a BIGWIG Chinese military guy could get by on the half built road. During our wait, our truck watched a small boy (2-3yo) sitting in a window above his older sister (6-7yo) build up a massive loogey and spit it on her. She wiped it off as if she's used to it.

We were tired, dirty and worn out by this point. We needed pampering... and we got it. When the group got to Dhulikel, Nepal, we had found paradise. The rooms were seriously nice (balcony, sitting area, and a bathroom big enough to live in) no one wanted to budge for sightseeing. We were supposed to go on an afternoon walk, but we all vetoed that idea. We wanted to sit on our asses and vegetate. Did I mention that the Himalayas were what graced our balcony views? Nevermind that you couldn't see them, they were THERE!!! Much doing of nothing went on for a day.... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....

And then we got to Kathmandu.... more on that tomorrow....