On arrival in Katmandu the four of us were met by Tula, and with the news that the airline had left my bag in Delhi we were whisked off to a Chinese hotel in Thamel to relax after our long journey which began in Aberdeen. The next day we awoke to meet our collaborators from the NINS (National Institute of Natural Sciences), and had a short formal meeting discussing the trapping web method and design, mouse identification and finalising the itinerary for the next few days before we started work in the field. We had a small shopping list that needing finishing: a few sites to see, the Japanese encephalitis vaccine, to get acclimatised to the incredible heat, oh and that lost bag to collect. Our collaborators looked after us very well in the following days we enjoyed meals, getting to know them on a more personal level, and Tula chauffeured us around the stupas and temples of Katmandu in think, fast, crazy traffic. With every one in good health and spirits, all the shopping done and loose ends tied off we decided to make a move from Katmandu to Pokhara.

In the morning we all woke with pains in our stomachs and much rushing to the bathroom, but the show had to go on and we left at 12 noon with Gopal, and Tula in a 4x4 off road truck.Speeding along the windy high way, eating Immodium, having near misses with busses and bikes we were on our way. Arriving in Pokhara at 7 pm for a quick rest point Tula attempted to whisk us off to a place called Birethnanti but after getting lost for a wee while we stopped at a road side inn for the night. It was, dark, hot, and damp, every one was ill and as far as we knew we were in the middle of no where.

Waking up was not too bad at all, it’s surprising how a place can change with a bit of sunshine, after some refreshing sleep. It turned out we weren’t lost after all and realising a land slide had blocked the road further up we had to walk anyway. For the first time we were going to carry our bags. They each weighed on at 20 – 30 kg. Full of equipment, traps, calipers, pens, tape, even 2 tents! So with all this stuff we started trekking up the valley to Ulleri (our first site) at around 2100m but with everyone being so ill this took ages. 12 hours later after negotiating land slides, rocky outcrops, rope bridges, we had climbed the 3865 steps up the hill to Ulleri and at 7 pm just as it was getting dark we rolled in to the first hotel open and ordered a pot of tea.

(James Margrove)