Butwal to Saurama

ok, I am back in Saurama on the edge of the Chitwan National Park now and should have a pretty steady supply of electric and internet connection so will write a bit about the trip as a whole.....Yesterday was the fifth day of vulture conservation work and was a slow start ....on driving early out of Butwal for the last time and heading East....we headed to many sites in the pick up truck on very bumpy dusty tracks with great scenery the whole time......sadly there were no vultures in the nests and moving from one site to another made the decline in there numbers very much apparent to me and i could feel sober feelings and frustrating in the team....luckily the last site we visited there were a few nesting birds but by then the heat had picked up.....i managed to gain some shelter from climbing the back of the tree in the shade but still was very hot work....we have taken to a supply of water, sugar and salt strapped to out harness in a bottle to keep all our levels up.....the day finished well but felt a little numb and exhausted from the last 5 days toll.....today and tomorrow we will be resting and heading (4 hours) North West to Pokhara on the edge of the Annapurna Conservation Area (Great views of Annapurna and Machhapuchhre, if time allows may try and squeeze a few day trek in)...the rate of our work will drop as there will be longer walk into the site in hilly areas where the trees are even bigger....we have achieved nearly half of the required work already and could not really ask for a better start...things now may change as we gain height but will be a little cooler.....today I have been helping out with work at the Biodiversity Conservation Centre (BCC) and the rest of the day I will be stenching out my aching limbs.......

A few other points of interesting...sorry if I sound very British but have noticed a further rule to driving Nepal if you want to over take then u beep your horn, then when the car in front signals right then over take...or overtake any way....but they also signal right to turn right....again if there is a car crash then the person who wants to claim compensation blocks the road( what they call a strike here) until they get paid!

One last amusing thing that I am ashamed to admit is that I have spoken to many different people in BCC whos english is very good and Surya (A Vet) who has been great has started using "IS IT".....hmmm cant think where he gets that from!

Thanks for the support from everyone Cheers Steve