With great delight I found that David Tarrant was giving a talk at El Charco del Ingenio, the botanical gardens in San Miguel. Not only is David a successful transplant from Vancouver, now living here for seven years, but El Chaco is one of my favourite places – great for nurturing body, mind and spirit.

Greetings from Kathmandu – city of temples, the living goddess, Buddhist stupas, bustling bazaars, teeming masses, foggy pollution and motorbikes galore. When I called my Nepalese friend Shanti to say I was here, she said: “Welcome home.”