To the Himalayas!

Lack of updates, and a terribly fragmented one now, due to spending the weekend writing a 3300 word essay for "Doctor, Patient, and Society" class. I'm all "written out."

I did find out that I have been selected to receive a travel bursary from The University of British Columbia Medical Undergraduate Society, but there were so many applicants that it will be worth less than $120 CAD, as opposed to the projected $150-250. A bit of a dissappointment, but at least it is something.

I booked my flights from Vancouver to London (Air Transat through escapes.cafor $888 CAD [July 4th-Aug 24th] was the best I could get) but I'm still trying to sort out the London to Delhi leg of the trip. Best prices are available through UK sites (~411 pounds return,) but I have to have a UK credit card to book those. These flights are so expensive and it isn't easy to get the right dates/times. Travel companies in Vancouver don't have any contracts for flights that originate outside of Canada, so I'm a bit up the creek. The cheapest (North American company) so far is Travelocity, but by the time they add on all the shipping fees (no e-tickets!) it gets to be a lot more than I'd thought.

There have been many developments in Nepal since I last wrote about it. In summary, a 3-month ceasefire declared by the Maoists will allow the government a chance to get settled. Also, all MPs voted in favour of negotiating with the Maoists, who have been somewhat appeased by the announcement of impending elections for the constitutional assembly. The new PM, Koirala (who has attempted the job 4 times before) has some sort of lung problems which may interfere with his role.

On the lighter side of things, I did find a great Flickr account full of photos of the Himalayas that may offer a bit of a preview of what I hope to return with.