Bowman with Nepali Buddies

We met Mr. Pepi on a day hike from Pokhara to a small village called Bhumdi.  We were eating our honey sandwiches and bananas in a field when he invited us to his house for ginger tea.  We sat on a straw mat outside between his two-cow stable, his onion and potato garden, and his small two-floor house while his wife chopped fresh ginger and boiled water.  Dad said it was the best tea he had in Nepal, and he had a lot of tea on this trip!

These women were clearly grandmothers at heart, and stopped us on a bike trip so they could give me a few cuddles.  I had to stay with the one on the left because I was a bit too fascinated with the taller woman's nose ring.

Here I am with one of the kids from the Shangri-La Children's Home in Pokhara.

Finally, here is the first woman I ever kissed.  She gave me her crackers at a lunch stop on our trek, so I thanked her with a peck on the nose!