In the Dark]

So in recent news the fish I ate made me really sick and I (cydney) spent all of sunday with a really bad stomach ache amoung other things. . . It's sad to think that my body is rejecting meat now that it has been so long not having it. On a brighter note, yesterday brandon and I walked through the city of pokhara on our way to find some caves. About two hours of walking around in the hot sun we found ourselves lost and took the next taxi for about 2$ to the caves. Finding your way around in these cities is difficult even with a map because there are no street signs. Mostly we walk down a street until we find a sign that is in english that maybe has an address. Lucky for me, brandon typically has an amazing sense of direction and has navigated us through these crazy cities with very little error. Upon arrival to the first cave entrance we were greeted by Krishna who insisted upon being our guide (for a fee of course), and axiously took us to see our first cave which was lit by small bulbs and popular with indian/hindu tourists. The next cave was totally different and we were led down a small black hole into a pitch dark cave. Fortunatly having krishna and his torch we made our way deep into this cave, at times crawling on our hands and knees, to a broad opening in the center of the cave. Krishna shone his light upwards and we were amazed to see thousands of horseshoe bats hanging high above our heads. Continuing we crawled up through a small tunnell and into the daylight. Our trusty guide had another cave to show us that he said was about a forty five minute walk. We agreed to go and followed his rapid pace on footpaths through fields of wheat that the women were harvesting by hand. We passed small houses and stables and were led down into a gorge where we crossed a creaky bridge and were led up about a million stone stairs before decending into the mouth of a well hidden cave. This cave was spectacular and had large stalactites and stalagmites created from the small drips of water coming down from the top of the cave. Some of the formations looked more alien than the typical peaks we would imagine, and tiny crystals sparkled in the limestone when hit with light. Climbing out into the sun we began our journey back with aching muscles and hungry stomachs. Another couple of hours and we were finally back at the guest house to clean up for dinner. Tomorrow we begin our next adventure and will take a bus to the royal chittwan national park in south central nepal. The park has over 50 species of animals including tigers, leopards, rhinos, monkeys, sloths, deer, crocodiles, and freshwater dolphins.