This week started out with a mountain flight over the Himalayan Mountains. It was fantastic and more breathtaking than I imagined. I took video with a camera in one hand and stills with the other. I got some very good shots. I still don't have the lap top set up so I can download pictures. Maybe tomorrow.

After the flight we went down the 'west road'. We are not supposed to travel this road because there is little government control in the area west of the Kathmandu Valley. We stopped at small villages on the way out of town and took pictures of the children. We saw both younger and older folks, all with smiles just like anywhere, though here they seem to have the best smiles and warmest hearts.

I now have over 1,500 stills and over 18 hours of video. I'm having trouble picking the stills I want to keep because I have to sacrifice some to make room for more.

Class was very productive today. We had to answer some questions about cooling systems, and we showed everyone how to make a simple cooling system pressure tester out of a hose, a pipe 't', and a valve stem from a tire.

After class we almost made it to China. We stopped only 5 miles from Tibet. We had a wonderful dinner on the side of a mountain looking almost straight down 8,000 ft from the deck. What a beautiful sunset.

I have classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Later this week, I have a meeting with our ambassador at the U.S. Embassy.

I'm getting sleepy now and have to get up at 5:00am.