We are well into our project in Ilam now with our two 'mini-villages ' built for our workers. We have 330 on site at the moment, mostly locals. The tunnel is started from both ends and is in 60m in total, we have a few more holes opened up, but with the monsoon, they will be full of water.

Back here in Kathmandu, which where we are at the mo, Subarna has delivered her wee baby, no name yet, all are well. I changed my first nappy tonight - first time in about 18 years. Mum and babe come back to our flat tomorrow, so life changes again....

Monsoon has started, but even last month in Ilam, we had 422mm of rainfall, monsoon seems to come early over in the east - guess it is good for all the tea growing. We have two big plantations close to us, all very pretty. The Mai river has certainly increased its water flow, starting to eat away at the river banks. We dumped some earth in front of our housing compound as a sacrificial bund, should the river decide to come up that far some night.