Midway through the morning the rain starts to fall, but the temperature is still pleasant, and so I opt to take the drenching, and let my Dryflo T-Shirt do its work. When the rain stops this fantastic material magically becomes dry once again within just a few short minutes - no problem.

As it happens, I am no birdspotter, but I am beginning to take in quite an interest in the brightly coloured birds that flutter around us. Since our arrival in Nepal we have been graced with the presence of flashing blue Kingfishers, who are relatively subdued when in the trees, but on launching forth into flight they reveal a bright turquoise under plumage, that electrifies the trees in a streak of blue. We also cannot help but be attracted by the screeching of the Parrots high above us, buzzing around the lofty treetops. From beneath we can only see them in silhouette and therefore they are simply black to the eye, but distinguished by a long straight triangular tail. When they do happen to swoop down, we get a much better view of their green feathers, and distinctive red beaks. It feels so tropical and exotic to be surrounded by these birds, and their song echos around the deep jungle on either side of the road. As for the other myriad of feathered companions who cross our paths, I can only manage - 'oooh, look it's a yellow one' or, 'did you see that red one just go by?', Andrew and Rob both take the mickey, but I really don't care, I'm in awe of the place.

Kohalpur is at the intersection of the road to Nepalganj, and it is here that we make our next night stop, another easy days ride - only 70km today, and so we are glad to pull in early and have plenty of time to choose the best of the 3 hotels in town. In The Sagar Guest House we are greeted by Rami, the nephew of the owner, and he speaks remarkable English. He bristles with confidence, but also curiosity at his new British friends. As I encourage his questions and return some to him through the course of the evening he grows ever more interested. As his interest grows he moves closer and closer to me in a typically Asian kind of way, first he leans up next to me, his face perilously close to mine, and then his arm rests up on my shoulder. He chats and chats and becomes very interested when I discuss how marriages work in England, he is absorbing every word I say as if his life depends upon it - it's a truly humbling experience - especially as it is quite clear that he is an extremely talented guy, very gifted.

From Kohalpur we have some longer days cycling with growing undulations, and so we steel ourselves to rise at a reasonable hour in the morning even though we feel fatigued. The 236km stretch from Kohalpur to Butwal we break down into 2 days ride, but as we ride away from Kohalpur we are unsure as to where we shall be staying that night. As we ride and as we take chai stops, and talk to the locals it becomes clear that Lamahi will be our best bet, and so this is where we make for - about 6 hours ride at our nominal 20kmh that we estimate on, so we should have no difficulties. Rob however, our new companion who is still with us, is keen to take reels of photos, and he carefully composes each one, meaning quite elongated pauses. This slows us down somewhat. Further, the road today reaches its first real hills since we left the Suleimann Range all the way back in Baluchistan. We find this quite a push, but for Rob who we estimate is lugging around approximately 60kg (fully laden weight of his bike), the hills are killers. He huffs and puffs and perspires his way up each one, and I really feel for his efforts, especially when we can just sail up. I give thanks for our decision to take only the barest essentials, and only to use the 4 small 12 litre Carradice panniers rather than the more traditional Iberian Panniers that most cycle tourists tend to favour. The winding road brings us through truly fantastic scenery, green and lush, and rolling hills. Rivers gush down from the mountains, the temperate but sunny weather conditions that we find are heaven, and so it seems rather like Paradise on Earth. The people too are visibly content, smiling, joking and laughing - life is easy here at this time of year. This would certainly not be the case for other seasons however. In June July and August, the monsoon would see their mud built houses and mud floors awash and hygiene would become almost impossible. And then in May and June the heat here on the plains can soar to over 40 degrees, at which time it becomes hard for adults to work, and the children and babies find the heat dust and flies very trying. For now though we are pleased that our seasonally planned schedule is still working well.

In Lamahi we discover that our cash reserves are severely depleted and in an economy measure we eat street food, fried potato patties and tomato and dahl mash - really surprisingly tasty - and at the bargain price of 10p for a plate served on a fresh leaf. We stay in the Vijay Guest House, seemingly the best of a typically grubby bunch, but we are all pleased with the clean cold shower. Even though we are just a few short days from meeting Dean (my girlfriend and Helen, I continue my ritual nightly washing of Tshirt and Pants, the dryflo certain to be dry by morning time. At breakfast on the street we are treated to a marvellous sight - two chicken beheadings - the first by a young boy of no more than 14. We stand in horror, and also a macabre curiosity as the chopper comes down and the head leaves the body behind. The boy proudly holds the still pulsating and waggling head aloft, whilst the body continues to flap and writhe in his other hand. It is a scene of every day life being enacted out in plain view on the street - but for us it is an education - something I have never seen before - and something that I won't be too worried if I never see again. We head off towards Butwal our day's destination, and run almost directly into a real grinding hill - steep and sweaty - and it takes us a fair while to ascend the 400m climb. At the top we pause for drinks and we meet Rob who had set off before us this morning. Whilst drinking we notice a small animal being dragged around the floor on a piece of string. On closer inspections it turns out to be an Owl - who has his eyes scrunched up in the bright sunshine of the day - he really should be tucked up sleeping. Instead he is being dragged through puddles of dust backwards by his would be master. Rob finds the scene very distressing and decides to play the good samaritan - buying the Owl, and carrying it away in his Barbag. Despite the bumpy ride the Owl seems to recover somewhat and later on Rob leaves the road to make the release into the wild. Andrew and I reserve judgement on the whole incident wondering whether it is right to interfere in such a way - we try not to judge!

Butwal is a large town right at the foot of the Himalayas - the road splits from here to Pokhara - but we shall tomorrow continue our ride along the plains and towards Naranghad. In the town we are treated to small comforts - chocolate bars, coffee, and a great dish of butter chicken for our evening meal. We also manage to send one last email to Dean and Helen - praying that their adventure in bringing equipment from England will unravel without too many dramas! Our last serious day of cycling on this leg takes us to Naranghad, and despite now being very nearly 150 days into our journey, when we should be 'cream crackered' the excitement of meeting the rest of the team pulls us along. Just a few more kilometers and we'll be there, and we can start our proper rest. The bridge over the river Naran is beautiful in the early evening - the deep orange sun slides gently south, and captures the whole bridge and its crossing population in the warmth. We take several pictures, and we joke with the Rickshaw drivers on the way into town. We feel relaxed and satisfied. We have done well to reach here on schedule.

Tuesday and we say our farewells to Rob who heads off to Kathmandu - and towards a mountinous climb up into the Kathmandu Valley - good luck Rob. We enjoy a leisurely breakfast and slowly make our way out and down to Tadi Bazaar. Its just 12km from Naranghad, and a dusty little village before the track down to Chitwan Wildlife Park. We pause for a quick and cheap lunch of noodles and then we make our way down the trail to Sauraha, the main resort for Chitwan Wildlife Park. Here's hoping we meet Dean and Helen safely tomorrow!!!