Spiders, Monkeys, Soldiers and Faeries

Two months into our Kathmandu-ing and we finally got it together and went for a little trek with our little people. Harv and Eve started school a week after we arrived, and finished term one at the end of last week, so we haven't had much time to explore - it's been heads-down-and-run-for-it.
This was 5km of track up through forest to a temple on the rim of the Kathmandu Valley. As well as the slightly ewwwwy spiders, we came a cross a wee faerie door, a troop of monkeys in the treetops above our heads, and a small group of armed soldiers (the king / ex-king lives in the forest somewhere - it's a national reserve) who were fascinated by the littles, Thom in particular. They were very friendly and, in spite of the guns, much less scary than the spiders.
Thom has a handful of words in his repertoire of communication now, but his monkey call is his most accomplished. The children were all enchanted by being able to watch monkeys in the wild.
A great day.