Yes, we're home and getting ready to celebrate our last New Year on our own without babies!
All the best to you all and we promise we'll finish the blog soon and add loads of photos.
Monday, 31 December 2007
Back on the truck again
Back on the truck again....
Suffering a major hangover from the night before meant we were late getting on the truck at the ungodly hour Steve set for us. Nonetheless, we weren’t the last ones on board so at a slightly later than planned departure time we set of for Kakadu National park. This is where Crocodile Dundee was filmed and although we didn’t find “Walkabout Creek” there were plenty other small towns trying to be like it. Kakadu is a Mecca for those looking for Aboriginal art; many rock paintings are many thousands of years old and are set in the most amazing sub-tropical jungle. Many hours were spent over the next few days wandering through the jungle, climbing up steep paths to ridges overlooking the park and swimming in waterholes and billabongs. Saltwater Crocs are a major worry at this time of year so we were careful to only swim in supposedly safe areas.
A big loop saw us eventually hitting the Stuart highway again to head south. Taking a leisurely pace we saw the environment change from lush, verdant jungle to arid plain and then real desert. We called in at several townships and roadhouses for cold beers and hot food, swam more and generally just took it easy. Camping was amazing, just pull off the road when it starts to get dusk and pitch your tent. As long as you get a bit away from the road, the huge road trains that occasionally lumbered past wouldn’t bother your sleep. We ate barbequed meat and fish most nights and we both thought that this was some of the best bush camping food we’d had on the trip so far.
A few more days of this and we rolled p to the Devils marbles, huge boulders littering the desert either side of the road. They’re apparently created the same way as Ayers rock, but ignoring al that, they were great fun scrambling all over them and getting great photos. A day spent there and it was back on the road south to Alice Springs bang in the centre of Oz “the red centre”.
On arrival in Alice, we had to break away from the group to head south to Adelaide as we were due another scan and blood tests to make sure the “bump” was healthy. We arranged to relocate a campervan for www.standbycars.com and got a great deal where we paid $5 per day and got $50 towards petrol. Some of or friends did the same and we got out of Alice pretty quickly in our luxurious (air-con) new transport! Obviously we wanted to get to Ayers Rock and the Kings Canyon so we booted it down to the turn off. Being English, we assumed that it wouldn’t be far from the highway so we had plenty of time. This being Australia, we were wrong! Turning right from the Stuart Highway we discovered we had another 200 miles to go and the light was dropping already...
Suffering a major hangover from the night before meant we were late getting on the truck at the ungodly hour Steve set for us. Nonetheless, we weren’t the last ones on board so at a slightly later than planned departure time we set of for Kakadu National park. This is where Crocodile Dundee was filmed and although we didn’t find “Walkabout Creek” there were plenty other small towns trying to be like it. Kakadu is a Mecca for those looking for Aboriginal art; many rock paintings are many thousands of years old and are set in the most amazing sub-tropical jungle. Many hours were spent over the next few days wandering through the jungle, climbing up steep paths to ridges overlooking the park and swimming in waterholes and billabongs. Saltwater Crocs are a major worry at this time of year so we were careful to only swim in supposedly safe areas.
A big loop saw us eventually hitting the Stuart highway again to head south. Taking a leisurely pace we saw the environment change from lush, verdant jungle to arid plain and then real desert. We called in at several townships and roadhouses for cold beers and hot food, swam more and generally just took it easy. Camping was amazing, just pull off the road when it starts to get dusk and pitch your tent. As long as you get a bit away from the road, the huge road trains that occasionally lumbered past wouldn’t bother your sleep. We ate barbequed meat and fish most nights and we both thought that this was some of the best bush camping food we’d had on the trip so far.
A few more days of this and we rolled p to the Devils marbles, huge boulders littering the desert either side of the road. They’re apparently created the same way as Ayers rock, but ignoring al that, they were great fun scrambling all over them and getting great photos. A day spent there and it was back on the road south to Alice Springs bang in the centre of Oz “the red centre”.
On arrival in Alice, we had to break away from the group to head south to Adelaide as we were due another scan and blood tests to make sure the “bump” was healthy. We arranged to relocate a campervan for www.standbycars.com and got a great deal where we paid $5 per day and got $50 towards petrol. Some of or friends did the same and we got out of Alice pretty quickly in our luxurious (air-con) new transport! Obviously we wanted to get to Ayers Rock and the Kings Canyon so we booted it down to the turn off. Being English, we assumed that it wouldn’t be far from the highway so we had plenty of time. This being Australia, we were wrong! Turning right from the Stuart Highway we discovered we had another 200 miles to go and the light was dropping already...
Monday, 10 December 2007
Tie me kangaroo down sport...
Australia, the beginning of the end. We arrived into Darwin airport at 3am and instead of checking into a hotel for a few hours sleep, we decided to wait there until the hire place opened and we could get our campervan. So ten am saw us bleary eyed being shown round our new temporary home by an Irish fella called Sean. As much as we mock caravans in the UK, these campervans are ideal for Oz. They have all creature comforts including double bed, microwave and gas cooker, air-con and mozzie nets. We booked an appointment with the local GP and then set off to Woolies for supplies and then the open road waited for us. Woolworths is the Oz equivalent of Safeway and was great to stock up on tins of beans, cans of beer and bread etc – we’d find a butcher later for meat. One thing that amazed us in the supermarket was that everything had a sticker on saying “produce of Australia” as opposed to the UK where everything seems to be imported; perhaps they actually have pride in their farming industry in Oz.
Heading south out of Darwin on the main Stuart Highway which runs 4000km south to Adelaide we soon left the traffic behind and as the buildings thinned out and disappeared completely we quickly found ourselves in the middle of the desert. Because we were so tired after our journey from HK we decided not to head too far that day and 300km later we arrived at Batchelor Big4 campsite which is where we’d spend the night before heading deep into Litchfield national park the next day. Christine knocked up a great meal on our little cooker and we turned in for an early night, not taking advantage of the swimming pool, bar or exotic birds aviary.
Bright and early the next morning we set off into Litchfield national park driving past termite mounds the height of houses to our first stop, the hot rock pools where we could have a dip in water heated by natural thermals to a constant 38c. The place was virtually deserted so we had a refreshing swim in croc free waters then climbed the escarpment path to look out over the valley – with hindsight; we should have walked first and swam later! Bloody hell this country is HOT!! Heading south we drove to Hayes Creek Roadhouse. One of the constants of driving in the NT is the prevalence of these roadhouses where truckies and everyone else covering big distances stops for a break, a beer and a bite to eat as well as fill up with fuel. Hayes Creek Roadhouse is bang in the middle of nowhere; around 80k in each direction there is nothing so you don’t have much choice of where to stop. We were glad we did though as we parked up and got into the shady bar to chill and have a break from the road. Within 10 minutes we were having a chat with the owner and his son who’ve been grafting in the field out back and were popping in for a beer break before going back out to dig a cesspit. Far from the reputation of being gruff and unfriendly, the Territorians were the nicest people we met in Australia. Everyone was interested in where you were from, what you thought of the NT and what the beer was like in England (“Isn’t it just flat and warm?”)
The next day we had to head back north to Darwin for Christine’s first ultrasound (yes, the rumours are true) and meet our friends for a bite to eat before heading off again as the truck had been delayed at quarantine. The ultrasound was amazing, being able to see this little thing with a heartbeat and everything. We got a photo, some advice and details of the hospital in Adelaide for the next check-up and were on our way again. This time we were heading a bit further afield down to Victoria River on the border with Western Australia. A big drive but just a tiny fraction of the map, places here are measured in time not distance, e.g. “How far to Vic River mate?”, “About 6 hours if you get yer toe down.” Stopping a couple of times for a loo break and a leg stretcher we met some Ozzies who lived on the road – Pikeys in other words. Unlike our Pikeys they were a friendly bunch happy to offer advice on the road ahead and where was good to camp. We arrived at Vic River just as the sun was starting to set and the canyon walls were a beautiful red and gold and the flies were starting to pack up for the day. Did we mention the flies? Everyone says that Oz is full of things that will kill you, snakes, spiders, crocs, sharks. What they don’t tell you about is the flies, there are billions of them and they insist on getting into your ears, eyes, mouth and nose. When they’re not invading any orifice they can they’re buzzing round your head, sitting on your arms and generally being infuriating. The only good thing is that they dont bite!
Victoria River is a beautiful place, a real get away from it all type of town, well it’s not really a town being made up of petrol station, bar, post office and general store! We met an ex-army guy there who was driving through the Simpson and Gibson deserts in his Hi-Lux and was a great source of information on the area and Oz in general. He is aiming to move to Oz so that he can spend all his spare time driving around the outback, not a bad way of life if you like that sort of thing. We spent the next day walking in the area, discovering Aboriginal art and climbing the escarpment to view the whole river valley. Fortunately we didn't see to many things that will kill you!
The next few days were spent having a leisurly, scenic drive back to Darwin via Katherine and the spookiest stopover ever. On our way north we saw a sign for a “Historic Hotel” which seemed worth a look – 30km later down a dirt track as dusk was setting in we weren’t too sure we had made the right decision. Undeterred and spurred on by the sight of Kangaroos hopping across our path we carried on. Eventually we came across the hstoric hotel, historic must mean dilapidated in the Ozzie dictionary! This place was straight out of Wrong Turn, there were rusting hulks of cars and trucks in the field next door, the main building was made out of wood and corrugated iron and there were old tools covered in cobwebs everywhere. We found the bar to be deserted and were about to leave when the oldest woman we’d ever seen appeared and asked what we wanted, over a drink we decided to park the campervan up and stay over as they seemed nice enough (and we were too tired to drive back), if they were going to kill us in our sleep, we’d have a decent BBQ first! The old lady’s husband got the barbie going and we huddled round the fire chatting and watching shooting stars.
A couple of days later we made it back into Darwin, alive but heartily sick of flies (and Australian beer!) in time to meet our friends and the truck. Kirsty and Steve organised a BBQ on the waterfront where we had Roo, Croc and Ostrich as well as beef and chicken. A good night was had by all especially when we retired to the hotel bar for the night.
Heading south out of Darwin on the main Stuart Highway which runs 4000km south to Adelaide we soon left the traffic behind and as the buildings thinned out and disappeared completely we quickly found ourselves in the middle of the desert. Because we were so tired after our journey from HK we decided not to head too far that day and 300km later we arrived at Batchelor Big4 campsite which is where we’d spend the night before heading deep into Litchfield national park the next day. Christine knocked up a great meal on our little cooker and we turned in for an early night, not taking advantage of the swimming pool, bar or exotic birds aviary.
Bright and early the next morning we set off into Litchfield national park driving past termite mounds the height of houses to our first stop, the hot rock pools where we could have a dip in water heated by natural thermals to a constant 38c. The place was virtually deserted so we had a refreshing swim in croc free waters then climbed the escarpment path to look out over the valley – with hindsight; we should have walked first and swam later! Bloody hell this country is HOT!! Heading south we drove to Hayes Creek Roadhouse. One of the constants of driving in the NT is the prevalence of these roadhouses where truckies and everyone else covering big distances stops for a break, a beer and a bite to eat as well as fill up with fuel. Hayes Creek Roadhouse is bang in the middle of nowhere; around 80k in each direction there is nothing so you don’t have much choice of where to stop. We were glad we did though as we parked up and got into the shady bar to chill and have a break from the road. Within 10 minutes we were having a chat with the owner and his son who’ve been grafting in the field out back and were popping in for a beer break before going back out to dig a cesspit. Far from the reputation of being gruff and unfriendly, the Territorians were the nicest people we met in Australia. Everyone was interested in where you were from, what you thought of the NT and what the beer was like in England (“Isn’t it just flat and warm?”)
The next day we had to head back north to Darwin for Christine’s first ultrasound (yes, the rumours are true) and meet our friends for a bite to eat before heading off again as the truck had been delayed at quarantine. The ultrasound was amazing, being able to see this little thing with a heartbeat and everything. We got a photo, some advice and details of the hospital in Adelaide for the next check-up and were on our way again. This time we were heading a bit further afield down to Victoria River on the border with Western Australia. A big drive but just a tiny fraction of the map, places here are measured in time not distance, e.g. “How far to Vic River mate?”, “About 6 hours if you get yer toe down.” Stopping a couple of times for a loo break and a leg stretcher we met some Ozzies who lived on the road – Pikeys in other words. Unlike our Pikeys they were a friendly bunch happy to offer advice on the road ahead and where was good to camp. We arrived at Vic River just as the sun was starting to set and the canyon walls were a beautiful red and gold and the flies were starting to pack up for the day. Did we mention the flies? Everyone says that Oz is full of things that will kill you, snakes, spiders, crocs, sharks. What they don’t tell you about is the flies, there are billions of them and they insist on getting into your ears, eyes, mouth and nose. When they’re not invading any orifice they can they’re buzzing round your head, sitting on your arms and generally being infuriating. The only good thing is that they dont bite!
Victoria River is a beautiful place, a real get away from it all type of town, well it’s not really a town being made up of petrol station, bar, post office and general store! We met an ex-army guy there who was driving through the Simpson and Gibson deserts in his Hi-Lux and was a great source of information on the area and Oz in general. He is aiming to move to Oz so that he can spend all his spare time driving around the outback, not a bad way of life if you like that sort of thing. We spent the next day walking in the area, discovering Aboriginal art and climbing the escarpment to view the whole river valley. Fortunately we didn't see to many things that will kill you!
The next few days were spent having a leisurly, scenic drive back to Darwin via Katherine and the spookiest stopover ever. On our way north we saw a sign for a “Historic Hotel” which seemed worth a look – 30km later down a dirt track as dusk was setting in we weren’t too sure we had made the right decision. Undeterred and spurred on by the sight of Kangaroos hopping across our path we carried on. Eventually we came across the hstoric hotel, historic must mean dilapidated in the Ozzie dictionary! This place was straight out of Wrong Turn, there were rusting hulks of cars and trucks in the field next door, the main building was made out of wood and corrugated iron and there were old tools covered in cobwebs everywhere. We found the bar to be deserted and were about to leave when the oldest woman we’d ever seen appeared and asked what we wanted, over a drink we decided to park the campervan up and stay over as they seemed nice enough (and we were too tired to drive back), if they were going to kill us in our sleep, we’d have a decent BBQ first! The old lady’s husband got the barbie going and we huddled round the fire chatting and watching shooting stars.
A couple of days later we made it back into Darwin, alive but heartily sick of flies (and Australian beer!) in time to meet our friends and the truck. Kirsty and Steve organised a BBQ on the waterfront where we had Roo, Croc and Ostrich as well as beef and chicken. A good night was had by all especially when we retired to the hotel bar for the night.
Monday, 26 November 2007
We made it!!!
Ok, we're a bit behind with the blog entries but we're having a great time! We've made it to Sydney, the overland bit is over and we've finally done it - London to Sydney overland, 8 months, 30 people and a 6x6 truck YAY!!
Our internet connection is rubbish here so wecan't post photos but suffice to say it has been great. We will update very soon with the Australia entries, some photos and a summary. Thanks for reading, for being interested in what we're doing and for all the email support (especially the toon reports, even though we're obviously still in desperate need of a decent back 4 as usual!)
We're on our way home soon via Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Dublin. We'll be back early December and if you fancy a pint and being bored by our stories and photos - drop us a line and we'll meet up - Beamish Mary on the 8th anyone? Email addresses below.
All the best, and thanks again,
Nick and Christine.
nickyboy@gmail.com
cpflee@hotmail.com
Our internet connection is rubbish here so wecan't post photos but suffice to say it has been great. We will update very soon with the Australia entries, some photos and a summary. Thanks for reading, for being interested in what we're doing and for all the email support (especially the toon reports, even though we're obviously still in desperate need of a decent back 4 as usual!)
We're on our way home soon via Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Dublin. We'll be back early December and if you fancy a pint and being bored by our stories and photos - drop us a line and we'll meet up - Beamish Mary on the 8th anyone? Email addresses below.
All the best, and thanks again,
Nick and Christine.
nickyboy@gmail.com
cpflee@hotmail.com
Changi again, what a shame!...
Yay, back in Changi again. We had a few hours to kill so it was time for a pint in Harry’s bar, a walk through the orchid gardens, a coffee in the sushi bar and then time to meet half the EOE guys. As most of us were getting to Darwin on the same flight we had a great time catching up on our weeks off, comparing tans and betting on who would get stuck with excess baggage charges.
What can we say about Changi that we havent said before? If you ever get the chance to travel that part of Asia and have to transfer, make sure its there.
This will be the last of civilisation for a while – we’re off to Oz (and nobody prepared us for how primitive the NT would be!)
What can we say about Changi that we havent said before? If you ever get the chance to travel that part of Asia and have to transfer, make sure its there.
This will be the last of civilisation for a while – we’re off to Oz (and nobody prepared us for how primitive the NT would be!)
Hong Kong Phooey...
The ferry was a laugh from Macau, nowhere near as bad as the Langkawi one in Malaysia but a lot more civilised with waiter service and safety briefings. We arrived at 5pm and met Aunty Bing who drove us over to Chiwai’s place in Shatin. Therefore, our first view of Hong Kong island was in the back of a MPV during rush hour. Another amazing Asian city was our first thought and the next week did nothing to dispel this thought. Shatin is out in the New Territories and is not on Hong Kong island so we had to travel in by MTR if we wanted to be in the centre.
Almost as soon as we arrived, Chiwai had us ready and out the door heading for a restaurant and then the national day firework display – no matter how good you think a firework display has been back home, it is nothing compared to what the Chinese can do! For nearly an hour the sky was lit with the most spectacular explosions we have ever seen, all the buildings on the Island and the Kowloon waterfront were lit up and lasers fired from the roofs on to the harbour water. Retiring to Chiwai’s apartment around midnight, we were happy to see our bed and get ready for a week of experiencing the best this amazing place could offer.
We bought an Octopus card at the local train station and were ready to go, Octopus is a pre-paid card that you can use for public transport, shopping, cinemas, McD’s – almost anything. You just swipe it over a reader and the amount is automatically deducted, when you run low you top up at the ATM, over the phone, in a shop or on the net – saves carrying cash and speeds everything up. Over the next few days we realised why HK has so many restaurants, everybody eats out, all the time! We must have eaten at Chiwai’s once in all the time we were there, the rest of the time we ate out, either with family, friends or on our own. Food from every country, culture and religion is available in HK so we could have bacon and eggs for breakfast, yum cha for lunch, a light tea of sushi and Turkish kebabs on our way home from a night on the town drinking German beer. Yes, we put weight on here!
Travelling round on the MTR and Star Ferry was great fun and really quick, clean and efficient. We travelled up the peak at night to see the sun go down and the lights come on across the island and NT, we visited Ocean Park to see dolphin shows, we sipped coffee and watched the worlds bankers hurry by in the CBD, wandered around designer label shops, visited ancient Hakka shrines, walked along the avenue of stars – it’s fair to say we got around a lot and only returned home to sleep!
On Friday we took everyone out for dinner and met our extended family, the dishes kept coming, red envelopes kept appearing and cameras flashed all night long. We had a great time and agreed to do it all again the next night when we would meet up at Grandad’s for a big BBQ. Grandad lives a fair way out, so far in fact you can see China just a mile away from his garden. This was a part of HK many people don’t see – rolling countryside, deserted villages and fishing ponds. To go from the intensity of the city to the peace of the village was brilliant. We relaxed with a beer listening to the cicadas and breathing in the smell of the gardens and fields. We stayed over that night and then had a big lunch in a local town before heading off back to the hustle and bustle of the city.
Deciding to have a couple of nights in a hotel so that Chiwai could concentrate on her upcoming exams, we booked into a boutique hotel in Kowloon. This place was great, totally high tech, we had a huge LCD tv in our room that you used to control everything from the lights and temperature to room service. You could access the net, watch movies and listen to CD’s from a library of thousands – there was even a tv in the shower! If you went swimming you could plug your ipod in and hear your tunes through speakers above and below the water.
We shopped in the markets, bought counterfeit goods, fresh food and Chinese sweets, all in all, this is a shoppers paradise. It was good to not feel like an overlander for a while and be normal again. Unfortunately, like every city on this trip, it was soon time to move on. Before we left though, we had tol walk along the avenue of the stars, like Hollywood but all the HK actors over the years – Jet Li has tiny hands!
Oh well, off again (shame we have to connect in Singapore again!!!)
Almost as soon as we arrived, Chiwai had us ready and out the door heading for a restaurant and then the national day firework display – no matter how good you think a firework display has been back home, it is nothing compared to what the Chinese can do! For nearly an hour the sky was lit with the most spectacular explosions we have ever seen, all the buildings on the Island and the Kowloon waterfront were lit up and lasers fired from the roofs on to the harbour water. Retiring to Chiwai’s apartment around midnight, we were happy to see our bed and get ready for a week of experiencing the best this amazing place could offer.
We bought an Octopus card at the local train station and were ready to go, Octopus is a pre-paid card that you can use for public transport, shopping, cinemas, McD’s – almost anything. You just swipe it over a reader and the amount is automatically deducted, when you run low you top up at the ATM, over the phone, in a shop or on the net – saves carrying cash and speeds everything up. Over the next few days we realised why HK has so many restaurants, everybody eats out, all the time! We must have eaten at Chiwai’s once in all the time we were there, the rest of the time we ate out, either with family, friends or on our own. Food from every country, culture and religion is available in HK so we could have bacon and eggs for breakfast, yum cha for lunch, a light tea of sushi and Turkish kebabs on our way home from a night on the town drinking German beer. Yes, we put weight on here!
Travelling round on the MTR and Star Ferry was great fun and really quick, clean and efficient. We travelled up the peak at night to see the sun go down and the lights come on across the island and NT, we visited Ocean Park to see dolphin shows, we sipped coffee and watched the worlds bankers hurry by in the CBD, wandered around designer label shops, visited ancient Hakka shrines, walked along the avenue of stars – it’s fair to say we got around a lot and only returned home to sleep!
On Friday we took everyone out for dinner and met our extended family, the dishes kept coming, red envelopes kept appearing and cameras flashed all night long. We had a great time and agreed to do it all again the next night when we would meet up at Grandad’s for a big BBQ. Grandad lives a fair way out, so far in fact you can see China just a mile away from his garden. This was a part of HK many people don’t see – rolling countryside, deserted villages and fishing ponds. To go from the intensity of the city to the peace of the village was brilliant. We relaxed with a beer listening to the cicadas and breathing in the smell of the gardens and fields. We stayed over that night and then had a big lunch in a local town before heading off back to the hustle and bustle of the city.
Deciding to have a couple of nights in a hotel so that Chiwai could concentrate on her upcoming exams, we booked into a boutique hotel in Kowloon. This place was great, totally high tech, we had a huge LCD tv in our room that you used to control everything from the lights and temperature to room service. You could access the net, watch movies and listen to CD’s from a library of thousands – there was even a tv in the shower! If you went swimming you could plug your ipod in and hear your tunes through speakers above and below the water.
We shopped in the markets, bought counterfeit goods, fresh food and Chinese sweets, all in all, this is a shoppers paradise. It was good to not feel like an overlander for a while and be normal again. Unfortunately, like every city on this trip, it was soon time to move on. Before we left though, we had tol walk along the avenue of the stars, like Hollywood but all the HK actors over the years – Jet Li has tiny hands!
Oh well, off again (shame we have to connect in Singapore again!!!)
Friday, 9 November 2007
Vegas with no gangsters (that we could see)...
1am, always the best time to arrive in a strange country. Macau was no different, clear customs and immigration, find a taxi, check into hotel and sleep. Rising late the next morning we went for a stroll around the old part of town to check out the old colonial architecture and grab some street food. We were down bynthe harbour so wandered around checking out the fish and squid drying in the sun – smells we’ll never forget. Macau seemed like a very laid back place compared to the rest of Asia, nobody seemed to be in a hurry, the traffic was reasonably sensible and the streets narrow and quaint.
Christine was eager to get shopping again as we needed to buy gifts for our relatives in Hong Kong with whom we’d be staying next week and there is always the need for some upgrades to the kit in our backpacks, we needed toiletries, gifts, a new pair of shoes, socks – the list goes on. One good thing about shopping here is you can be confident that the stuff is real, Nickm got some North Face walking shoes, Columbia trousers and a Berghaus top for 40% of the UK price. The shop assistants were great, even if we did have a language barrier, Nick kept trying to get discounrt and Christine tried to get free gifts, we had a ball, even if we didn't get everything we wanted.
One of the main things Macau is famous for is it’s casinos, there are loads of them and one, the Venetian is the biggest in the world, bigger than its sister in Vegas. Well we had to go there and check them out. We went to Sands first as you then get a free shuttle bus to the Venetian. Sand was brilliant, huge gaming floors, entertainment, food and drink – even a branch of McDonalds and KFC. Everywhere was polished brass, chrrome and glass, huge chandeliers hung in every room and it was heaving. There were thousands of Chinese there, they come from Singqapore as we had, from over the border in Guangzhou and on the ferry from Hong Kong – all for one reason, to gamble. The noise was incredible, the sound of roulette wheels, men and women shouting, bets being slammed down and poker machines going wild paying out money. A little strangely, you could only use HK dollars and not Macau ones here.
We decided as time was getting on that we’d get over to the Venetian as we’d heard so much about being the biggest, the best, the flashiest in the world – it didn't disappoint! Coming across the river you see the light pollution before you see the building. Styled on Venice (obviously) it has huge screens outside, terraces with Roman statues intespersed with palm trees and red carpets leading you in over highly polished marble floors. There is a shopping centre, restaurants representing every type of cuisine, bars from all around the world and even a canal with gondolas to take you from the shops to the restaurant and vice versa!
We didn't get to the tables as a lot of the games were in Chinese and a lot of them were too high stakes, just being there was enough. We left at midnight intending to get the free shuttle bus back to the city but decided against it when we saw the queues. If we thought Sands was busy, it was nothing compared to the Venetian, while we thought the entire province of Yunnan was inside, it seemed that the whole population of Hong Kong was outside! We got a taxi.
We left later that day on the ferry bound for Hong Kong and a week with family Nick had never met and Christine hadn’t seen in years, fingernails were being chewed on that ferry crossing and not just because of the waves....
Christine was eager to get shopping again as we needed to buy gifts for our relatives in Hong Kong with whom we’d be staying next week and there is always the need for some upgrades to the kit in our backpacks, we needed toiletries, gifts, a new pair of shoes, socks – the list goes on. One good thing about shopping here is you can be confident that the stuff is real, Nickm got some North Face walking shoes, Columbia trousers and a Berghaus top for 40% of the UK price. The shop assistants were great, even if we did have a language barrier, Nick kept trying to get discounrt and Christine tried to get free gifts, we had a ball, even if we didn't get everything we wanted.
One of the main things Macau is famous for is it’s casinos, there are loads of them and one, the Venetian is the biggest in the world, bigger than its sister in Vegas. Well we had to go there and check them out. We went to Sands first as you then get a free shuttle bus to the Venetian. Sand was brilliant, huge gaming floors, entertainment, food and drink – even a branch of McDonalds and KFC. Everywhere was polished brass, chrrome and glass, huge chandeliers hung in every room and it was heaving. There were thousands of Chinese there, they come from Singqapore as we had, from over the border in Guangzhou and on the ferry from Hong Kong – all for one reason, to gamble. The noise was incredible, the sound of roulette wheels, men and women shouting, bets being slammed down and poker machines going wild paying out money. A little strangely, you could only use HK dollars and not Macau ones here.
We decided as time was getting on that we’d get over to the Venetian as we’d heard so much about being the biggest, the best, the flashiest in the world – it didn't disappoint! Coming across the river you see the light pollution before you see the building. Styled on Venice (obviously) it has huge screens outside, terraces with Roman statues intespersed with palm trees and red carpets leading you in over highly polished marble floors. There is a shopping centre, restaurants representing every type of cuisine, bars from all around the world and even a canal with gondolas to take you from the shops to the restaurant and vice versa!
We didn't get to the tables as a lot of the games were in Chinese and a lot of them were too high stakes, just being there was enough. We left at midnight intending to get the free shuttle bus back to the city but decided against it when we saw the queues. If we thought Sands was busy, it was nothing compared to the Venetian, while we thought the entire province of Yunnan was inside, it seemed that the whole population of Hong Kong was outside! We got a taxi.
We left later that day on the ferry bound for Hong Kong and a week with family Nick had never met and Christine hadn’t seen in years, fingernails were being chewed on that ferry crossing and not just because of the waves....
Singapore Slings at Raffles...
Arriving at 8am, slightly sleepy but happy to be in a new country we left the train and went to find a taxi – our first experience of the amazing Toyota Crown and the even more incredible city of Singapore. The station is located in the south, just below Chinatown and as we sailed through it was coming to life, stalls were opening, the street cleaners were out in force and delivery vans were everywhere – the difference here was that there was no congestion, everything worked like a well oiled machine. Mickey D’s for a quick coffee, an introduction to Singapore from a brilliant taxi driver and we were ready to get on the net and then pound the streets looking for a nice place to stay. Raffles was slightly out of our price range but we found a charming boutique hotel round the corner and settled in there for a few days before our flight to Hong Kong.
Of course we did find time to go for the ubiquitous Singapore Sling but before that we needed to see the sights. Orchard Road is a feast of shopping where everything is available, from high-end electronics to designer clothing – costs a bomb though! Chinatown was the same as anywhere really and as we were going to Hong Kong in a few days we only really stopped in there for cheap eats. Further north was Little India wher you can get some of the best curries outsinde of India, or so they claim. An island to the south holds a massive theme park and out to the west is the Zoo and night-time safari. Everyrthing you could want is here and all withing a short taxi ride.
We were expecting the nightlife to be quite tame based on the city’s reputation but we were pleasantly suprised. Down at Merchant Quay we found loads of ex-pats sitting round drinking cocktails and German beers at a brilliant Brewhaus right on the river with seats in the sun and burgers as big as your head! As their menu meant that the beer got more expensive as the day wore on, we all decided to get there for a late lunch and stay for most of the day before heading home for a shower and a doze and then out to Ministry of Sound that night. MOS wasn’t to our taste (“it’s all just noise!”) but the club was something else, loads of different rooms with different themes and different crowds of people. This was the place to be to show off and spend money – the car park was all Lexus, Lotus and Porsche, the women wore little and the men were buying Champers and bottles of brandy.
As Singapore is such a safe place we decided to walk off the evenings excesses on our way back to the hotel at 2am. A good 30 minute walk along the river and we decided that a taxi was in order – a taxi that promptly did a U-turn and took us in the correct direction! He dropped us at the food market near our hotel where we had a mountain of Chinese food for a fiver and then off to bed aiming for a lie in the next morning.
The next day was spent ding little, we ate in a converted nunnery, had a drink on the 88th floor of a friends hotel overlooking the city at sunset and retired early to watch a DVD and pack for Hong Kong. Normally the thought of spending a few hours in an airport is viewed with mixed emotions – boredom, overpriced food, hordes of tourists heading to Spain etc. Changi, however is a different kettle of fish – winner of best airport in the world several times and full of great restaurants, free wi-fi everywhere, shuttle trains between terminals, brilliant staff, exotic gardens and free lounges with massage chairs – nope, spending time here is brilliant. We had a fair few hours where Nick downloaded lots of Top Gear episodes, Christine spent all day on facebook and we generally enjoyed being there. For once, being told that your flight was boarding wasn’t a relief.
Another nice touch was getting free sweeties from the immigration desk – altogether a pleasant experience. Off to Macau....
Of course we did find time to go for the ubiquitous Singapore Sling but before that we needed to see the sights. Orchard Road is a feast of shopping where everything is available, from high-end electronics to designer clothing – costs a bomb though! Chinatown was the same as anywhere really and as we were going to Hong Kong in a few days we only really stopped in there for cheap eats. Further north was Little India wher you can get some of the best curries outsinde of India, or so they claim. An island to the south holds a massive theme park and out to the west is the Zoo and night-time safari. Everyrthing you could want is here and all withing a short taxi ride.
We were expecting the nightlife to be quite tame based on the city’s reputation but we were pleasantly suprised. Down at Merchant Quay we found loads of ex-pats sitting round drinking cocktails and German beers at a brilliant Brewhaus right on the river with seats in the sun and burgers as big as your head! As their menu meant that the beer got more expensive as the day wore on, we all decided to get there for a late lunch and stay for most of the day before heading home for a shower and a doze and then out to Ministry of Sound that night. MOS wasn’t to our taste (“it’s all just noise!”) but the club was something else, loads of different rooms with different themes and different crowds of people. This was the place to be to show off and spend money – the car park was all Lexus, Lotus and Porsche, the women wore little and the men were buying Champers and bottles of brandy.
As Singapore is such a safe place we decided to walk off the evenings excesses on our way back to the hotel at 2am. A good 30 minute walk along the river and we decided that a taxi was in order – a taxi that promptly did a U-turn and took us in the correct direction! He dropped us at the food market near our hotel where we had a mountain of Chinese food for a fiver and then off to bed aiming for a lie in the next morning.
The next day was spent ding little, we ate in a converted nunnery, had a drink on the 88th floor of a friends hotel overlooking the city at sunset and retired early to watch a DVD and pack for Hong Kong. Normally the thought of spending a few hours in an airport is viewed with mixed emotions – boredom, overpriced food, hordes of tourists heading to Spain etc. Changi, however is a different kettle of fish – winner of best airport in the world several times and full of great restaurants, free wi-fi everywhere, shuttle trains between terminals, brilliant staff, exotic gardens and free lounges with massage chairs – nope, spending time here is brilliant. We had a fair few hours where Nick downloaded lots of Top Gear episodes, Christine spent all day on facebook and we generally enjoyed being there. For once, being told that your flight was boarding wasn’t a relief.
Another nice touch was getting free sweeties from the immigration desk – altogether a pleasant experience. Off to Macau....
What a shiny erection....
Malaysia, a Muslim country where you can still drink beer. Crossing the border around lunchtime we were sad to see the back of Thailand but the tropical island of Langkawi was waiting for us (it’s a hard life island-hopping), as soon as we entered Malaysia it started to rain – REALLY rain! Fortunately it didn’t last long and we were soon on our way, the roads were excellent once more and by 4.30 we were on the ferry. You know how every taxi driver in Asia is a failed F1 driver? Well the ferry captains obviously think they are F1 powerboat pilots! The 1 hour crossing was done at full speed, crashing through rough seas and allowing Christine to discover just how seasick she could be!
On arrival though, all was forgiven. Langkawi is a tax free island so everyone was busy stocking up on tabs, spirits and chocolate as soon as we docked. Another wacky races taxi got us to our hotel where there just happened to be beach on one side and an Irish bar on the other. Pints of the black stuff for a quid, why thank you, we’ll have some of that! Having had enough of the beach for the time being, we decided to move to the interior for a few days. We hired a log cabin in the forest and had a few days relaxing with the unique flora and fauna of this beautiful island. We took a boat tour to see some of the other deserted islands and see eagles feeding, swim in lagoons and have a picnic on the beach. The only downside to the day was when a monkey stole Nick’s Doritos and he chased it down the beach promising to do some serious damage to it if he caught it – fortunately for the monkey (and Nick probably) it was too fast and got away. Nick did get a round of applause from the other tourists though!
Instead of getting on the truck for a 2 day drive to KL, we decided to fly direct instead. Tiger Airways took us on the 1.5 hour flight for less than a tenner and we were soon in the back of a taxi looking for somewhere nice to stay near the twin towers. If you think the traffic is bad back home, try KL for size – where Bangkok, Saigon etc had lots of mopeds, everyone in KL seems to drive a 4WD or S-Class so nobody gets anywhere very quickly. After an hour of sitting in traffic with the most irritating driver so far, we dived into Planet Hollywood for a beer and a bit of ringing round. We eventually caught up with everyone else and spent the next two days shopping for laptops and PSP games as well as lots of pirate games, DVD’s, music, watches and handbags. When the truck left for JB and the border we decided to have a couple of extra days here and take the sleeper train to Singapore.
Queuing up at 8am the next day we got our (free) tickets to go up the Petronas Twin Towers to see KL from the highest twin towers in the world. The views were amazing but the glass viewing bridge was not for the faint hearted. We returned that night to see the towers lit up and gleaming against the black sky. Huge flocks of birds circle ahead in the floodlights giving them an eerie as well as spectacular image. Once again it was cer6tainly a case of the photos not doing the view justice. As our time was nearly up, we headed to the station to catch the overnight train to Singapore. 2nd class sleeper bunks set us back less than $20 and would take from 10pm to 8am the next day at an average speed of 50km/h. Our bunks were basic but clean and comfortable and as usual food was hawked along the carriage for the first two hours, we then settled down with our new toys and eventually were rocked to sleep by the motion of the train. Rudely awoken at 5am, we had to cross the border at JB, brilliant system you simply get off the train walk along the platform to immigration, get stamped out of Malaysia and into Singapore then get back on the train for a couple of hours sleep before breakfast is served. See you in Singapore....
On arrival though, all was forgiven. Langkawi is a tax free island so everyone was busy stocking up on tabs, spirits and chocolate as soon as we docked. Another wacky races taxi got us to our hotel where there just happened to be beach on one side and an Irish bar on the other. Pints of the black stuff for a quid, why thank you, we’ll have some of that! Having had enough of the beach for the time being, we decided to move to the interior for a few days. We hired a log cabin in the forest and had a few days relaxing with the unique flora and fauna of this beautiful island. We took a boat tour to see some of the other deserted islands and see eagles feeding, swim in lagoons and have a picnic on the beach. The only downside to the day was when a monkey stole Nick’s Doritos and he chased it down the beach promising to do some serious damage to it if he caught it – fortunately for the monkey (and Nick probably) it was too fast and got away. Nick did get a round of applause from the other tourists though!
Instead of getting on the truck for a 2 day drive to KL, we decided to fly direct instead. Tiger Airways took us on the 1.5 hour flight for less than a tenner and we were soon in the back of a taxi looking for somewhere nice to stay near the twin towers. If you think the traffic is bad back home, try KL for size – where Bangkok, Saigon etc had lots of mopeds, everyone in KL seems to drive a 4WD or S-Class so nobody gets anywhere very quickly. After an hour of sitting in traffic with the most irritating driver so far, we dived into Planet Hollywood for a beer and a bit of ringing round. We eventually caught up with everyone else and spent the next two days shopping for laptops and PSP games as well as lots of pirate games, DVD’s, music, watches and handbags. When the truck left for JB and the border we decided to have a couple of extra days here and take the sleeper train to Singapore.
Queuing up at 8am the next day we got our (free) tickets to go up the Petronas Twin Towers to see KL from the highest twin towers in the world. The views were amazing but the glass viewing bridge was not for the faint hearted. We returned that night to see the towers lit up and gleaming against the black sky. Huge flocks of birds circle ahead in the floodlights giving them an eerie as well as spectacular image. Once again it was cer6tainly a case of the photos not doing the view justice. As our time was nearly up, we headed to the station to catch the overnight train to Singapore. 2nd class sleeper bunks set us back less than $20 and would take from 10pm to 8am the next day at an average speed of 50km/h. Our bunks were basic but clean and comfortable and as usual food was hawked along the carriage for the first two hours, we then settled down with our new toys and eventually were rocked to sleep by the motion of the train. Rudely awoken at 5am, we had to cross the border at JB, brilliant system you simply get off the train walk along the platform to immigration, get stamped out of Malaysia and into Singapore then get back on the train for a couple of hours sleep before breakfast is served. See you in Singapore....
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Thai Green Curry
Over the border in record time (there’s something to be said for travelling in small groups) we caught our first Tuk-Tuk since Pakistan to the train station. First thoughts were how expensive Thailand was compared to Nam and Cambodia. We could travel 100k in Nam for the cost of 10k in Thailand!
The train station was something out of the famous five books, leaded windows, immaculately uniformed staff and flower pots and window boxes everywhere. Bearing in mind the first paragraph, one thing that is cheap in Thailand is train travel – 200k from border to Bangkok in hard seat 2nd class was 85p. Admittedly the seats were hard and the train travelled at an average of 45kmh, but it was bette
r than GNER or any of the other thieving bastards who run the railways in the UK. At seat catering was an assortment of old ladies peddling beer, boiled eggs, noodles and other snacks from baskets on their shoulders or buckets of ice. The ticket inspector came to have a chat everytime he passed, as did the uniformed police who travel the entire journey. We called at around 20 stops and we were on time for every one of them – funny how public transport owned and run by the state as a public service works everywhere we’ve been whereas in the UK where it is run for profit, it fails miserably.
Enough ranting, we reached Bangkok
at 8pm, a beautiful old station that has seen better days but was a joy to arrive into – clean toilets, fresh food, helpful staff and plenty of taxis. We hopped in one of these down to the Khao San Road where we would meet the others the next day. Bangkok was just coming to life, the sun had set and the neon was lit – another failed formula 1 driver (are they all in Asia?) took us on a high speed Ridge Racer type journey in record time, when he asked for a tip Nick suggested he get a new clutch, he missed the joke completely.
If you’ve ever been to Khao San you’ll know that you either love it or you hate it – we hated it. It is a main drag of bars, massage parlours (not all legit) fast food joints and clubs. Imagine the Bigg market taken over by fifteen thousand 18 year old backpackers living off mummy and daddy’s money, throw in some ex hippies and mix up with cheap beer and a few sex shows – welcome to Khao San!
We spent a night in a hotel around the corner as it was too late to do anything else, then checked out the next morning. Deciding that area wasn’t for us, we checked out a couple of places in the CBD and ended up with a serviced apartment just 10 minutes from Patpong and 2 minutes to the sky train station. Having a wander around the area to do some shopping that afternoon we found The Duke of Wellington pub, ably run by a Hertfordshire lad and his Thai wife; we promised to return as they had bottles of dog, fish and chips, steak pies and rugby on the TV – can’t beat a bit of local culture eh?
(un)fortunately, Christine wasn’t feeling up to it so Nick and Stu set off at 7pm, intending to have a couple of quiet pints, bit of food and read the papers; funny how they rolled in at 1.30 with no money but a belly full of beer! Still, at least they didnt go to Nana Plaza – that was saved for the next day. After a prolonged shopping trip, we met up with Kenny the Mancunian and went for a tour of the seedy side of Bangkok. After far too many ladyboys, strippers, elephants and Singha lager, we called it a night, slightly disappointed at the newly cleaned up city.
Jumping back on the train a few days later we took the sleeper to Surat Thani
to catch the ferry to Ko Samui for a week of lying on the beach. The weather was brilliant, the sea was sparkling and the sand soft and white – just what you need after the sticky pollution of the big city. We hired a 4x4 to go for a drive in the hills but genearlly just lazed about enjoying the sun. Alas it was all to end too soon and we boarded the truck for a drive down the coast and into Malaysia....
The train station was something out of the famous five books, leaded windows, immaculately uniformed staff and flower pots and window boxes everywhere. Bearing in mind the first paragraph, one thing that is cheap in Thailand is train travel – 200k from border to Bangkok in hard seat 2nd class was 85p. Admittedly the seats were hard and the train travelled at an average of 45kmh, but it was bette
r than GNER or any of the other thieving bastards who run the railways in the UK. At seat catering was an assortment of old ladies peddling beer, boiled eggs, noodles and other snacks from baskets on their shoulders or buckets of ice. The ticket inspector came to have a chat everytime he passed, as did the uniformed police who travel the entire journey. We called at around 20 stops and we were on time for every one of them – funny how public transport owned and run by the state as a public service works everywhere we’ve been whereas in the UK where it is run for profit, it fails miserably.Enough ranting, we reached Bangkok
at 8pm, a beautiful old station that has seen better days but was a joy to arrive into – clean toilets, fresh food, helpful staff and plenty of taxis. We hopped in one of these down to the Khao San Road where we would meet the others the next day. Bangkok was just coming to life, the sun had set and the neon was lit – another failed formula 1 driver (are they all in Asia?) took us on a high speed Ridge Racer type journey in record time, when he asked for a tip Nick suggested he get a new clutch, he missed the joke completely.If you’ve ever been to Khao San you’ll know that you either love it or you hate it – we hated it. It is a main drag of bars, massage parlours (not all legit) fast food joints and clubs. Imagine the Bigg market taken over by fifteen thousand 18 year old backpackers living off mummy and daddy’s money, throw in some ex hippies and mix up with cheap beer and a few sex shows – welcome to Khao San!
We spent a night in a hotel around the corner as it was too late to do anything else, then checked out the next morning. Deciding that area wasn’t for us, we checked out a couple of places in the CBD and ended up with a serviced apartment just 10 minutes from Patpong and 2 minutes to the sky train station. Having a wander around the area to do some shopping that afternoon we found The Duke of Wellington pub, ably run by a Hertfordshire lad and his Thai wife; we promised to return as they had bottles of dog, fish and chips, steak pies and rugby on the TV – can’t beat a bit of local culture eh?
(un)fortunately, Christine wasn’t feeling up to it so Nick and Stu set off at 7pm, intending to have a couple of quiet pints, bit of food and read the papers; funny how they rolled in at 1.30 with no money but a belly full of beer! Still, at least they didnt go to Nana Plaza – that was saved for the next day. After a prolonged shopping trip, we met up with Kenny the Mancunian and went for a tour of the seedy side of Bangkok. After far too many ladyboys, strippers, elephants and Singha lager, we called it a night, slightly disappointed at the newly cleaned up city.
Jumping back on the train a few days later we took the sleeper to Surat Thani
to catch the ferry to Ko Samui for a week of lying on the beach. The weather was brilliant, the sea was sparkling and the sand soft and white – just what you need after the sticky pollution of the big city. We hired a 4x4 to go for a drive in the hills but genearlly just lazed about enjoying the sun. Alas it was all to end too soon and we boarded the truck for a drive down the coast and into Malaysia....Friday, 5 October 2007
Shiloh Pitt
One of the most bombed countries in the world, one of the highest amounts of landmines per head of population, mass genocide within living history, Brad Pitt’s adoptions and the world’s largest religious monuments – welcome to Cambodia! 
One of the easiest borders so far saw us into the country where we met the truck after our solo jaunt through Nam, good roads to the river, a quick ferry crossing and back to dirt roads. First impressions were much the same as Laos; however Cambodia is much poorer and lacks the confidence and optimism of Laos.
It took us the best part of the day to reach the capital Pnomh Penh where, unsurprisingly, it was full of Gary Glitters, just like Saigon. Lots of mopeds, lots of prostitutes and lots of pollution, we didn’t stay for long; three days was enough to visit S21, the temples and a few bars and street food markets where we found such delicacies as deep fried tarantula or locusts.
If we thought the war museum in Saigon was heart-wrenching, it was nothing compared to S21 where thousands of Cambodians were tortured to death simply for disagreeing with the Khmer Rouge, being “intellectuals” or even just for wearing glasses. Being shown round by an ex-inmate really brought it home and nobody left without a heavy heart that day. The following day we went to visit some temples and the royal palace before settling down with some apple crumble at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club to watch the sun set over the river.
The next day saw a return to dirt roads with the odd stretch of random tarmac, eventually though we reached Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat.
The first night was spent trying to find a decent bar to watch the football before heading out to the Wat the next morning – some 
brave/sober souls even got up at 5am to watch the sunrise; the rest of us left it until a more sensible hour. 
Angkor Wat is something we believe everyone should see in their lifetime, the largest religious complex in the world; it took some 500 or so years to build. It is spread over an area the size of Chester le Street at the smallest and takes days to visit all the sites/sights. Have a look at the photos, although as usual, they don’t get close to doing it justice. One of the problems we faced when visiting is that it is extremely hot around midday and never fails to pour at teatime so you have to
plan where you’ll be at those times.After seeing the state of the roads so far, a handful of us decided to break from the truck and
travel into Thailand ourselves so we booked taxi’s to the border and then a train from the border to Bangkok. Although the taxi driver thought he was the late, great Colin McRae, we had a better journey than those on the truck as they suffered their first breakdown since Bulgaria. 
Fortunately it didn’t take Steve long to sort the problem and they were on their way again. By this point, however, we were on the Thai border eager for our first green curries......
One of the easiest borders so far saw us into the country where we met the truck after our solo jaunt through Nam, good roads to the river, a quick ferry crossing and back to dirt roads. First impressions were much the same as Laos; however Cambodia is much poorer and lacks the confidence and optimism of Laos.
It took us the best part of the day to reach the capital Pnomh Penh where, unsurprisingly, it was full of Gary Glitters, just like Saigon. Lots of mopeds, lots of prostitutes and lots of pollution, we didn’t stay for long; three days was enough to visit S21, the temples and a few bars and street food markets where we found such delicacies as deep fried tarantula or locusts.If we thought the war museum in Saigon was heart-wrenching, it was nothing compared to S21 where thousands of Cambodians were tortured to death simply for disagreeing with the Khmer Rouge, being “intellectuals” or even just for wearing glasses. Being shown round by an ex-inmate really brought it home and nobody left without a heavy heart that day. The following day we went to visit some temples and the royal palace before settling down with some apple crumble at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club to watch the sun set over the river.
The next day saw a return to dirt roads with the odd stretch of random tarmac, eventually though we reached Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat.
The first night was spent trying to find a decent bar to watch the football before heading out to the Wat the next morning – some 
brave/sober souls even got up at 5am to watch the sunrise; the rest of us left it until a more sensible hour. 
Angkor Wat is something we believe everyone should see in their lifetime, the largest religious complex in the world; it took some 500 or so years to build. It is spread over an area the size of Chester le Street at the smallest and takes days to visit all the sites/sights. Have a look at the photos, although as usual, they don’t get close to doing it justice. One of the problems we faced when visiting is that it is extremely hot around midday and never fails to pour at teatime so you have to
plan where you’ll be at those times.After seeing the state of the roads so far, a handful of us decided to break from the truck and
travel into Thailand ourselves so we booked taxi’s to the border and then a train from the border to Bangkok. Although the taxi driver thought he was the late, great Colin McRae, we had a better journey than those on the truck as they suffered their first breakdown since Bulgaria. 
Fortunately it didn’t take Steve long to sort the problem and they were on their way again. By this point, however, we were on the Thai border eager for our first green curries......Wednesday, 26 September 2007
Good Morning Vietnam
Another day, another country, SE Asia is flying by and this is our first real test at travelling ourselves as we left the truck to travel through ‘Nam on our own occasionally meeting friends en-route. We crossed the border just south of the DMZ and paid a flying visit to Hue, a beautiful old citadel city before catching a tourist coach to Hoi-An. 
Travel in ‘Nam is extremely cheap and easy – a 4 hour ride on a brand new air-con coach was less than $2, an overnight trip of 600km was $6!
Hoi-An is one of the few towns in the country to escape damage by American bombs during the war and as such is a quaint mix of traditional Vietnamese, French colonial, Chinese and new architecture. Built on the banks of a lazy river a short distance from the sea it was a perfect place to recharge our batteries and put our feet up. We stayed in the sumptuous Hoi-An Riverside Resort and Spa for a few nights,
lazing round the pool, having massages and lazy days catching rays on a private beach. On the rare occasions we could drag ourselves away we were wandering around town, popping into Chinese trading houses and getting measured for suits. Hoi-An is the centre of Vietnam’s tailoring industry and we had some great stuff hand made for a fraction of the cost back home. As we intended to be there for 3 days and ended up there for six, we decided we had better move on. 
Catching an overnight bus we went to Nha-Trang, Vietnam’s most popular beach resort – nice if you like that sort of thing but we may as well have been in Spain, we hired a motorbike for the day to see the sights and then left the following day to the much more relaxed resort of Mui-Ne, home of the famous red sand dunes. En-route Nick made a new friend in the shape of a three year old Vietnamese boy
travelling with his grandmother. He was intrigued with Nick’s PSP and they spent most of the four hour journey playing games, having fun-fights and generally being mischievous. 
His grandmother didn’t seem to mind as she decided to go to sleep as soon as he left her for Nick!
Mui-Ne is a long stretch of white sand with bars, restaurants and hotels facing the sea, we rented a bungalow in the centre if the strip and quickly set ourselves up to do very little for the next few days (can you see a pattern forming here?)
we did hire a motorbike for one day so we could visit the 50m reclining Buddha 45km down the road, a cable car took us over the limestone hills and we had a relaxing morning visiting several shrines in the area before heading back on the infamous highway 1. We stopped at a small “Bia Hoi” for lunch and a fresh beer to take back with us. Bia Hoi outlets are to be found all over Vietnam and sell cheap snacks such as chilli beef and (more importantly) fresh beer. An example of how cheap is as follows: 1x chilli beef, 1x pork with ginger, vegetables and nuts, 7 litres of beer – all for 70B or one pound ten!
Reluctantly moving on we met some friends in Saigon just in time for the Newcastle v. Boro game. As we were in a hurry we dived into the first bar with a large plasma; it took us a while to realize that we were the only ones watching TV and Christine was the only girl in the bar over the age of 18 and not wearing a tiny skirt. All the men were over 50, fat, bald and American – still the beer was cheap and they even sold chip butties! Once they were convinced that all we were interested in was the footy, they were sweet.
Saigon has to be seen to be believed, the traffic is incredible, nothing ever closes and it is hot, noisy and busy – one of our favourite cities so far! For once we didn’t hire bikes as the roads were too mental, instead we hired motorbike taxis to get us around, we’ll try and post video as it was really cool darting between buses and trucks with hundreds of other bikes doing the same. On one journey five of us got the taxi-bikes lined up and told them the first to get us to our hotel got double the fare – we ran red lights, went the wrong way down back streets, cut everyone up and generally had a ball. We had a night out in a German bierkeller after visiting the war remnants museum which was really sobering,
especially
after seeing the weapons used, the effects of American biological weapons and what has been happening since then. 
On that happy note, we’re off to Cambodia to visit the reminders of the Pol Pot regime and Angkor Wat...
Travel in ‘Nam is extremely cheap and easy – a 4 hour ride on a brand new air-con coach was less than $2, an overnight trip of 600km was $6!Hoi-An is one of the few towns in the country to escape damage by American bombs during the war and as such is a quaint mix of traditional Vietnamese, French colonial, Chinese and new architecture. Built on the banks of a lazy river a short distance from the sea it was a perfect place to recharge our batteries and put our feet up. We stayed in the sumptuous Hoi-An Riverside Resort and Spa for a few nights,
lazing round the pool, having massages and lazy days catching rays on a private beach. On the rare occasions we could drag ourselves away we were wandering around town, popping into Chinese trading houses and getting measured for suits. Hoi-An is the centre of Vietnam’s tailoring industry and we had some great stuff hand made for a fraction of the cost back home. As we intended to be there for 3 days and ended up there for six, we decided we had better move on. 
Catching an overnight bus we went to Nha-Trang, Vietnam’s most popular beach resort – nice if you like that sort of thing but we may as well have been in Spain, we hired a motorbike for the day to see the sights and then left the following day to the much more relaxed resort of Mui-Ne, home of the famous red sand dunes. En-route Nick made a new friend in the shape of a three year old Vietnamese boy
travelling with his grandmother. He was intrigued with Nick’s PSP and they spent most of the four hour journey playing games, having fun-fights and generally being mischievous. 
His grandmother didn’t seem to mind as she decided to go to sleep as soon as he left her for Nick!Mui-Ne is a long stretch of white sand with bars, restaurants and hotels facing the sea, we rented a bungalow in the centre if the strip and quickly set ourselves up to do very little for the next few days (can you see a pattern forming here?)
we did hire a motorbike for one day so we could visit the 50m reclining Buddha 45km down the road, a cable car took us over the limestone hills and we had a relaxing morning visiting several shrines in the area before heading back on the infamous highway 1. We stopped at a small “Bia Hoi” for lunch and a fresh beer to take back with us. Bia Hoi outlets are to be found all over Vietnam and sell cheap snacks such as chilli beef and (more importantly) fresh beer. An example of how cheap is as follows: 1x chilli beef, 1x pork with ginger, vegetables and nuts, 7 litres of beer – all for 70B or one pound ten!Reluctantly moving on we met some friends in Saigon just in time for the Newcastle v. Boro game. As we were in a hurry we dived into the first bar with a large plasma; it took us a while to realize that we were the only ones watching TV and Christine was the only girl in the bar over the age of 18 and not wearing a tiny skirt. All the men were over 50, fat, bald and American – still the beer was cheap and they even sold chip butties! Once they were convinced that all we were interested in was the footy, they were sweet.
Saigon has to be seen to be believed, the traffic is incredible, nothing ever closes and it is hot, noisy and busy – one of our favourite cities so far! For once we didn’t hire bikes as the roads were too mental, instead we hired motorbike taxis to get us around, we’ll try and post video as it was really cool darting between buses and trucks with hundreds of other bikes doing the same. On one journey five of us got the taxi-bikes lined up and told them the first to get us to our hotel got double the fare – we ran red lights, went the wrong way down back streets, cut everyone up and generally had a ball. We had a night out in a German bierkeller after visiting the war remnants museum which was really sobering,
especially
after seeing the weapons used, the effects of American biological weapons and what has been happening since then. 
On that happy note, we’re off to Cambodia to visit the reminders of the Pol Pot regime and Angkor Wat...
Monday, 24 September 2007
Coffee & Croissants
After all that bother getting out of China, we eventually reached Laos and what a difference a border makes. While still being a “People’s Democratic Republic” it still retains a great deal of French culture and style. Before we got to experience that, we drove through some stunning country – all jungles and houses on stilts. It was a very innocent way of life with small children running round the village naked and running out to wave at the truck as we passed. 
We had a bushcamp halfway to Luang Prabang and as we weren’t cooking that night a few of us wandered into the next village in search of the fabled Beer Lao. Easier said than done when there are no street lights, most houses in the village had no electricity and there was no moon – if we ever appreciated our Maglite’s and Petzl’s, it was that night. This was to be our first experience of the amazing hospitality the Laotians show to visitors. We found the village store that unfortunately had no beer but then one of the local guys arrived and said he had some at home that he would happily share with us; after an interesting conversation and a quick run up to his house, we had our beer and were back to the bushcamp in time for tea. 
That night was one of the most spectacular since the deserts of Baluchistan with amazing stars, an electrical storm in the distance and the sounds of the jungle all around. 
The next day we set off early after waking to the sounds of Guns ‘n Roses “Welcome to the jungle” over the truck PA. Within half an hour we were lost and then an hour later we discovered the mighty Mekong River – good and bad news: bad because we couldn’t get the truck across and would have to backtrack for several hours; good news because it meant twenty of us could hire a longboat for a leisurely cruise down to Luang Prabang. This was a great journey, virgin jungle on either bank with isolated settlements only reachable by boat, the slow running river and the sun shining. It took seven hours but it was amazing reaching town by boat at dusk after another incredible storm (something we would get used to in Laos).
Luang Prabang was at first sight just another little town with a main road and a few side streets but once you started wandering through the night markets and past beautiful French colonial buildings you soon realized that this was somewhere special. We checked in to our hotel and set off to explore. We’d heard about a French restaurant called Apsara and had to check it out – we had a really nice meal with an ice cold Pinot Grigio and for five of us the bill was only forty pounds! Walking back we were caught in the heaviest downpour any of us had ever experienced, a waiter who was closing his bar dragged us in off the street just as the thunder rolled in to deafen us, we can’t describe what it was like except that the lightening turned night into day and the thunder was like being front stage at a thrash metal concert, the rain came down in one solid wall reducing visibility to a few yards and bouncing off the ground to knee-height. Just as abruptly as it started, it stopped and we waded back to our hotel.
We had a few days here enjoying fine food, great wine and the best baguettes outside of Paris (without the surly staff). Alas it was to end far too soon and we hired a car and driver to take us to the next town of Vang Vieng where we would meet the truck. Where Luang Prabang was relaxing and classy, Vang Vieng was the opposite – loud, brash and full of backpackers getting wasted. This is home to the finest tubing days in SE Asia where you grab a truck inner tube, float downriver and stop at the numerous bars for a beer or five before carrying on your way. 
Fortunately we were only there for two days (our livers wouldn’t have survived if we were there any longer). Time for a detox in Vientiane! Not much to say about the capital I’m afraid as we didn’t get far and there wasn’t a great deal to see or do anyway. We did celebrate Louise’s 22nd birthday in a bar/restaurant that sold brilliant curries, burgers and pizza’s (well you get sick of local food sometimes!) 
Oh well, time to move on and leave the truck for a fortnight as we enter Vietnam….
We had a bushcamp halfway to Luang Prabang and as we weren’t cooking that night a few of us wandered into the next village in search of the fabled Beer Lao. Easier said than done when there are no street lights, most houses in the village had no electricity and there was no moon – if we ever appreciated our Maglite’s and Petzl’s, it was that night. This was to be our first experience of the amazing hospitality the Laotians show to visitors. We found the village store that unfortunately had no beer but then one of the local guys arrived and said he had some at home that he would happily share with us; after an interesting conversation and a quick run up to his house, we had our beer and were back to the bushcamp in time for tea. 
That night was one of the most spectacular since the deserts of Baluchistan with amazing stars, an electrical storm in the distance and the sounds of the jungle all around. 
The next day we set off early after waking to the sounds of Guns ‘n Roses “Welcome to the jungle” over the truck PA. Within half an hour we were lost and then an hour later we discovered the mighty Mekong River – good and bad news: bad because we couldn’t get the truck across and would have to backtrack for several hours; good news because it meant twenty of us could hire a longboat for a leisurely cruise down to Luang Prabang. This was a great journey, virgin jungle on either bank with isolated settlements only reachable by boat, the slow running river and the sun shining. It took seven hours but it was amazing reaching town by boat at dusk after another incredible storm (something we would get used to in Laos).
Luang Prabang was at first sight just another little town with a main road and a few side streets but once you started wandering through the night markets and past beautiful French colonial buildings you soon realized that this was somewhere special. We checked in to our hotel and set off to explore. We’d heard about a French restaurant called Apsara and had to check it out – we had a really nice meal with an ice cold Pinot Grigio and for five of us the bill was only forty pounds! Walking back we were caught in the heaviest downpour any of us had ever experienced, a waiter who was closing his bar dragged us in off the street just as the thunder rolled in to deafen us, we can’t describe what it was like except that the lightening turned night into day and the thunder was like being front stage at a thrash metal concert, the rain came down in one solid wall reducing visibility to a few yards and bouncing off the ground to knee-height. Just as abruptly as it started, it stopped and we waded back to our hotel.
We had a few days here enjoying fine food, great wine and the best baguettes outside of Paris (without the surly staff). Alas it was to end far too soon and we hired a car and driver to take us to the next town of Vang Vieng where we would meet the truck. Where Luang Prabang was relaxing and classy, Vang Vieng was the opposite – loud, brash and full of backpackers getting wasted. This is home to the finest tubing days in SE Asia where you grab a truck inner tube, float downriver and stop at the numerous bars for a beer or five before carrying on your way. 
Fortunately we were only there for two days (our livers wouldn’t have survived if we were there any longer). Time for a detox in Vientiane! Not much to say about the capital I’m afraid as we didn’t get far and there wasn’t a great deal to see or do anyway. We did celebrate Louise’s 22nd birthday in a bar/restaurant that sold brilliant curries, burgers and pizza’s (well you get sick of local food sometimes!) 
Oh well, time to move on and leave the truck for a fortnight as we enter Vietnam….
Thursday, 6 September 2007
Noodle Soup
See, we said China was big - 5 weeks in total to cover a small portion of it! We eventually arrived in Lijiang to find we had no accommodation. So, while Steve sorted that one out we decided to go for dinner by the river in the old town, what a beautiful place; it was exactly what you think of when you watch those old Chinese movies except you had a choice of Chinese, Japanese, Western or Korean food.
We'd heard a rumour that there was an English bar in town so we decided to hunt it down - lo and behold there was one run by a yorkshireman who married a local girl and never left. We spent far too much time there swapping stories, playing pool and drinking English ales.
We did get some culture, it wasn't all about the beer - a night in the old town watching lanterns float down the river, Karaoke competitions with the locals and great street food. Christine took part in a fancy dress party dressing up as Vicky Pollard and doing a very good job of it - You can take the girl out of the North East but you can't take the North East out of the girl!
After a few days here we headed further south to Dali which was similar to Lijiang but much more relaxed - Dope was openly sold and smoked giving the place the feel of Amsterdam. Not much culture here, just relaxing and unwinding after long drive days. Little did we know what we would get on the trip to the Laos border. Heavy rains had washed away huge sections of road meaning that a 2 day journey took four instead with us having to dig the truck out on more than one occasion - try digging a 22 ton truck out of the mud at 6am in the rain and you'll appreciate the office job!
Not only were the roads dodgy, but so was our compulsory "guide" - 20k from the border he told us we didn't have the correct paperwork and it wouldn't be available for four days. We ended up staying in a one horse town called Mengla waiting for the papers, as we had all but exhausted our Chinese money in anticipation of leaving we were not amused to find that the ATM didn't work and we had to wait until office hours to get cash. There were high points though, we went to a traditional tea house and were served a selection of teas in the traditional way by our hostess who waited on us hand and foot in our private room - much like a Geisha. Everyone else went on the beer and confirmed that Chinese nightclubs are nothing to write home about. Oh, there were loads of brothels as well - a very confused little town that we were happy to see the back of.
And on we go - Laos, yay!
We'd heard a rumour that there was an English bar in town so we decided to hunt it down - lo and behold there was one run by a yorkshireman who married a local girl and never left. We spent far too much time there swapping stories, playing pool and drinking English ales.
We did get some culture, it wasn't all about the beer - a night in the old town watching lanterns float down the river, Karaoke competitions with the locals and great street food. Christine took part in a fancy dress party dressing up as Vicky Pollard and doing a very good job of it - You can take the girl out of the North East but you can't take the North East out of the girl!
After a few days here we headed further south to Dali which was similar to Lijiang but much more relaxed - Dope was openly sold and smoked giving the place the feel of Amsterdam. Not much culture here, just relaxing and unwinding after long drive days. Little did we know what we would get on the trip to the Laos border. Heavy rains had washed away huge sections of road meaning that a 2 day journey took four instead with us having to dig the truck out on more than one occasion - try digging a 22 ton truck out of the mud at 6am in the rain and you'll appreciate the office job!
Not only were the roads dodgy, but so was our compulsory "guide" - 20k from the border he told us we didn't have the correct paperwork and it wouldn't be available for four days. We ended up staying in a one horse town called Mengla waiting for the papers, as we had all but exhausted our Chinese money in anticipation of leaving we were not amused to find that the ATM didn't work and we had to wait until office hours to get cash. There were high points though, we went to a traditional tea house and were served a selection of teas in the traditional way by our hostess who waited on us hand and foot in our private room - much like a Geisha. Everyone else went on the beer and confirmed that Chinese nightclubs are nothing to write home about. Oh, there were loads of brothels as well - a very confused little town that we were happy to see the back of.
And on we go - Laos, yay!
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
China in your hand...
China, we'd been building up to this for weeks - Everest was our first port of call and then we'd head south through Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lijiang and Dali, not forgetting Lhasa.
A huge country, you wouldn't believe it until you got there - distances are measured in days not hours, the timezones are crazy as the whole place runs on Beijing time and the scenery was stunning. It took a few days to drive to the genearl area of Everest, another day trying to find someone to guide us and then success - leaving at 4am we piled into ancient taliwagons for the most bone-jarring ride of our lives with no heaters, chainsmoking drivers and chinese covers of the worst 80's songs at full blast on the stereo. several hours later we arrived at the monastery where we would start trekking. As we were at 5,400m people were coming down with altitude sickness, everyone was short of breath (Nick, however continued to smoke on the way up!) and muscles were aching from the start. My goodness it was worth it though, the sun was rising burning off the mist and we saw it so close you could almost reach out and touch it - the highest mountain on earth and we were there at basecamp! a quick strip down to the Beamish Mary Inn T-Shirts for photo's (Graham, we'd best get a free drink out of that!) and getting shouted at by the army for posing in front of their APC's. We can't describe how amazing this was - ok, we didn't climb to the summit or anything but just base camp was enough.
A couple of days bushcamping in the most amazing countryside before heading to Lhasa. Now this was a shock, we were expecting a medieval city with the Potala palace at it's heart - what we got was an incredible Chinese city that catered for every whim, Christine even found an Avon shop! One of our friends who is a trance DJ managed to play a set at a local club to great acclaim, we drank brilliant coffee and generally enjoyed ourselves wandering around and getting confused stares from the locals as they couldn't understand how Christine didn't speak mandarin and was married to a white bloke!
Our time in Lhasa was too short but we had a lot of ground to cover to make it to Tiger Leaping Gorge. We arrived there in a major rainstorm and many of the trails were washed out but we were assured by a crazy Australian woman that the next day would be fine, all the same, we decided to kick back and relax for a few days with the low trails while other brave souls headed up the high trails. They had a great time and got great photos but came back muddy and exhausted.
As we said earlier, China is huge so it was several days driving before we reached our next destination, Lijiang.
At the end of the Hippy Trail...
Well, we survived India with only the odd bout of Delhi-Belly and eventually crossed the border into the Himilayan kingdom of Nepal. Our first night was spent camping in the jungle (we thought that Nepal was all mountains) on our way to Royal Chitwan. 
An extremely hot and humid night, especially when you're cooking over an open fire for 30 people! The next day took us through fabulous jungle roads to our resort in the national park, this was the sort of place you would come to shoot Tigers in the olden days, in fact many did! there were photo's and accounts of old colonial types bagging 40 tigers in a single hunt - no wonder there's only a handful left. 
We had several things to do over the next few days, we wandered around the local villages, ate buffalo steaks and then got down to the business of seeing some wildlife (through a lens, not a rifle scope, much to Nick's disappiontment!) On hearing the local elephants were going for a morning swim and wash in the river, we decided to tag along. This was one of the most enchanting times we have had so far, the elephants would let you climb on their backs before playfully throwing you off into the river and then spraying you with water. We scrubbed them with stones and generally had a great time. You know how a cat responds to being stroked by purring and rubbing into you? Imagine a huge elephant doing the same! When the current tried to pull Nick away, the elephant grabbed him with it's trunk and pulled him back, since then he has fallen in love with them (but still claims they are untrustworthy, just like the dolphins!!)
That afternoon, Christine went canoeing down the river to look for crocs and hippos,
an amazing afternoon where all you could hear was the water and the sounds of the jungles - she also made new friends, a legion of leeches! Being caught in a monsoon downpour while trekking back through the jungle did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm (pun intended!) 
From Chitwan we headed to Pokhara,
this is a great little town where we spent a week riding motorbikes, white water rafting, fishing for carp and eating yet more steaks! A relaxing week before heading for the end of the hippy trail, Kathmandu. 
Kathmandu was quite a shock, our first taste of east asian cities, noisy, polluted, frantic and full of people trying to sell you hashish and tiger balm. We looked for the pink curtain restaurant on freak street but were unable to find it and settled for lunch on a rooftop surveying the sprawl. It was in Kathmandu that some of our group left to do their own thing in SE Asia and skip China (one of which has yet to return!) This is where we steeled ourselves for several weeks in China.
An extremely hot and humid night, especially when you're cooking over an open fire for 30 people! The next day took us through fabulous jungle roads to our resort in the national park, this was the sort of place you would come to shoot Tigers in the olden days, in fact many did! there were photo's and accounts of old colonial types bagging 40 tigers in a single hunt - no wonder there's only a handful left. We had several things to do over the next few days, we wandered around the local villages, ate buffalo steaks and then got down to the business of seeing some wildlife (through a lens, not a rifle scope, much to Nick's disappiontment!) On hearing the local elephants were going for a morning swim and wash in the river, we decided to tag along. This was one of the most enchanting times we have had so far, the elephants would let you climb on their backs before playfully throwing you off into the river and then spraying you with water. We scrubbed them with stones and generally had a great time. You know how a cat responds to being stroked by purring and rubbing into you? Imagine a huge elephant doing the same! When the current tried to pull Nick away, the elephant grabbed him with it's trunk and pulled him back, since then he has fallen in love with them (but still claims they are untrustworthy, just like the dolphins!!)
That afternoon, Christine went canoeing down the river to look for crocs and hippos,
an amazing afternoon where all you could hear was the water and the sounds of the jungles - she also made new friends, a legion of leeches! Being caught in a monsoon downpour while trekking back through the jungle did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm (pun intended!) From Chitwan we headed to Pokhara,
this is a great little town where we spent a week riding motorbikes, white water rafting, fishing for carp and eating yet more steaks! A relaxing week before heading for the end of the hippy trail, Kathmandu. 
Kathmandu was quite a shock, our first taste of east asian cities, noisy, polluted, frantic and full of people trying to sell you hashish and tiger balm. We looked for the pink curtain restaurant on freak street but were unable to find it and settled for lunch on a rooftop surveying the sprawl. It was in Kathmandu that some of our group left to do their own thing in SE Asia and skip China (one of which has yet to return!) This is where we steeled ourselves for several weeks in China.
On the way to the border we stopped for the day at "The Last Resort" where Christine decided to throw herself off a 160m high suspension bridge (with bungee attached, naturally!) There has been some debate as to whether this is the highest in the world or the 2nd highest - that will rage on but suffice to say, it was bloody high.
We'll update some photo's soon, when we get a decent internet connection; there are some great photo's of us fishing, rafting and the elephants.
We'll update some photo's soon, when we get a decent internet connection; there are some great photo's of us fishing, rafting and the elephants.
Friday, 10 August 2007
Last days of the Raj..
India, what a difference from Pakistan (well almost); the women still have to dress modestly but the headscarves came off and the T-shirts went on. Within seconds of crossing the border we had traders offering us cold beers – that man made a mint!
The temperature didn’t drop much but cold beers made it more bearable. Our first stop was Amritsar, home of one of the holiest sites of the Sikhs – the golden temple. If you think Durham or York cathedrals are impressive, come to Amritsar. If you think we are charitable in England, come to Amritsar. This was a real eye-opener, the temple is plated in gold and shimmers in the strong sun, there are thousands of pilgrims and visitors walking, socialising and praying. Once all this has sunk in, a group of visitors approach you and invite you to eat. We go upstairs to find a hall seating hundreds, all being fed by volunteers who donate food, time and effort. They don’t care if you are a Sikh or not, simply by being there they are happy to invite you into their hearts and look after you. We had amazing vegetarian food, surrounded by happy, smiling people – all of which would talk to us and show interest and amazement in us and our journey. Leaving the temple we took a rickshaw around town where we were given fruit juice from more Sikhs offering donations to pilgrims and travellers – truly these are incredibly hospitable and friendly people!
We stayed at Mrs Bhandari’s guesthouse. Mrs Bhandari is a 100 year old Hindu woman who has run her guesthouse since 1930s and is a local hero due to her age and being the first businesswoman in the state. Her guesthouse is an old colonial mansion and entering is like stepping back 100 years to when we ran India (and everything worked, presumably). A wonderful way to relax after some hard driving and even harder weather in Pakistan!
From Amritsar we headed to Dharamasala and McLeodganj which is the current home of the Dalai Lama in exile – unfortunately he wasn’t home, preferring to travel to NZ than meet 30 scruffy travellers. Great place all the same, a 4x4 taxi costs 7p for the 10k trip up the mountain where we visited Buddhist monasteries, temples and shrines (as well as shops filled with tat). Some of us stayed on the roof of one hotel watching the monkeys and eagles in the treetops while the rest of us settled down in our hotel only to find our balconies and rooms under siege by the monkeys who were after our food and drinks!
Delhi was our next stop for a few days, We’d like to say we absorbed the culture of the city but instead we went to TGI Fridays to celebrate Danny’s birthday and suffered both with a hangover and shock at the size of the bill for days! We spent most of our time around Connaught Circus where it was possible to forget you were in India for a moment and just drink cocktails, eat decent food and shop at the Levi’s store amongst others! We did very little apart from rest and recover after the last few weeks which have been quite a hard slog, great city though, just a shame we didn’t see more of it. Some people went to see a Bollywood movie but the thought of a 2 ½ hour song and dance routine in Hindi was too much for us. You can see why India is going to be one of the next economic superpowers just by spending time with people in Delhi; they are very single-minded with a great education behind them – it’s not just call centre jobs that they’ll “steal” from us in the next decade. Saying that, paying for a UK call to speak to the bank and instead speaking to a girl based 20k away from us in Delhi was a bit irritating!
Jaipur was our next destination, named the pink city because of its beautiful pink sandstone marble palaces that are around every corner in this amazing city. We hired a rickshaw for £3 for all day travelling round the city visiting Mughal temples, British forts and shrines taken over by (more of those bloody) monkeys. The elephant garage was fun, they’re still used to transport goods here so we went to their “depot” to take some photos and have a quick ride – let’s just say they’re a little less smelly than camels and leave it at that! Oh, the Subway was nice as well, only 50p for the sub of the day.
Moving on to Agra and the Taj Mahal, The Taj is a beautiful, soaring monument to love; Agra is a rival to Dalbandin (see “Bandit Country”). Well it’s not that bad but it is populated by the world’s supply of rogues, thieves, vagabonds and dodgy dealers. Every transaction is a hassle, from getting a rickshaw to buying food; everybody wants to get their hand in your pocket even after being told to FCUK OFF repeatedly! Still, we’ve been to Pizza Hut for lunch – who said globalisation was a bad thing?
Moving on again (can you see a theme here??) we went to Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges. This is a very holy site for Hindu’s and where their dead are cremated. We were honoured to be able to observe bodies being burned and the ashes spread in this holy river. For those less affluent Hindu’s, your body being placed in the river is the order of the day. Sailing at dawn only to have a dead body drifting by 5 yards away is quite a wake-up call. We then retired to the hotel pool where we stayed during our first real monsoon downpour. A couple of days here saw Christine having a facial and Nick getting his head shaved ready for the adventure sports awaiting us in Nepal.
We’ll update soon (and add some photo's - Nick's got a beard!)…..
The temperature didn’t drop much but cold beers made it more bearable. Our first stop was Amritsar, home of one of the holiest sites of the Sikhs – the golden temple. If you think Durham or York cathedrals are impressive, come to Amritsar. If you think we are charitable in England, come to Amritsar. This was a real eye-opener, the temple is plated in gold and shimmers in the strong sun, there are thousands of pilgrims and visitors walking, socialising and praying. Once all this has sunk in, a group of visitors approach you and invite you to eat. We go upstairs to find a hall seating hundreds, all being fed by volunteers who donate food, time and effort. They don’t care if you are a Sikh or not, simply by being there they are happy to invite you into their hearts and look after you. We had amazing vegetarian food, surrounded by happy, smiling people – all of which would talk to us and show interest and amazement in us and our journey. Leaving the temple we took a rickshaw around town where we were given fruit juice from more Sikhs offering donations to pilgrims and travellers – truly these are incredibly hospitable and friendly people!
We stayed at Mrs Bhandari’s guesthouse. Mrs Bhandari is a 100 year old Hindu woman who has run her guesthouse since 1930s and is a local hero due to her age and being the first businesswoman in the state. Her guesthouse is an old colonial mansion and entering is like stepping back 100 years to when we ran India (and everything worked, presumably). A wonderful way to relax after some hard driving and even harder weather in Pakistan!
From Amritsar we headed to Dharamasala and McLeodganj which is the current home of the Dalai Lama in exile – unfortunately he wasn’t home, preferring to travel to NZ than meet 30 scruffy travellers. Great place all the same, a 4x4 taxi costs 7p for the 10k trip up the mountain where we visited Buddhist monasteries, temples and shrines (as well as shops filled with tat). Some of us stayed on the roof of one hotel watching the monkeys and eagles in the treetops while the rest of us settled down in our hotel only to find our balconies and rooms under siege by the monkeys who were after our food and drinks!
Delhi was our next stop for a few days, We’d like to say we absorbed the culture of the city but instead we went to TGI Fridays to celebrate Danny’s birthday and suffered both with a hangover and shock at the size of the bill for days! We spent most of our time around Connaught Circus where it was possible to forget you were in India for a moment and just drink cocktails, eat decent food and shop at the Levi’s store amongst others! We did very little apart from rest and recover after the last few weeks which have been quite a hard slog, great city though, just a shame we didn’t see more of it. Some people went to see a Bollywood movie but the thought of a 2 ½ hour song and dance routine in Hindi was too much for us. You can see why India is going to be one of the next economic superpowers just by spending time with people in Delhi; they are very single-minded with a great education behind them – it’s not just call centre jobs that they’ll “steal” from us in the next decade. Saying that, paying for a UK call to speak to the bank and instead speaking to a girl based 20k away from us in Delhi was a bit irritating!
Jaipur was our next destination, named the pink city because of its beautiful pink sandstone marble palaces that are around every corner in this amazing city. We hired a rickshaw for £3 for all day travelling round the city visiting Mughal temples, British forts and shrines taken over by (more of those bloody) monkeys. The elephant garage was fun, they’re still used to transport goods here so we went to their “depot” to take some photos and have a quick ride – let’s just say they’re a little less smelly than camels and leave it at that! Oh, the Subway was nice as well, only 50p for the sub of the day.
Moving on to Agra and the Taj Mahal, The Taj is a beautiful, soaring monument to love; Agra is a rival to Dalbandin (see “Bandit Country”). Well it’s not that bad but it is populated by the world’s supply of rogues, thieves, vagabonds and dodgy dealers. Every transaction is a hassle, from getting a rickshaw to buying food; everybody wants to get their hand in your pocket even after being told to FCUK OFF repeatedly! Still, we’ve been to Pizza Hut for lunch – who said globalisation was a bad thing?
Moving on again (can you see a theme here??) we went to Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges. This is a very holy site for Hindu’s and where their dead are cremated. We were honoured to be able to observe bodies being burned and the ashes spread in this holy river. For those less affluent Hindu’s, your body being placed in the river is the order of the day. Sailing at dawn only to have a dead body drifting by 5 yards away is quite a wake-up call. We then retired to the hotel pool where we stayed during our first real monsoon downpour. A couple of days here saw Christine having a facial and Nick getting his head shaved ready for the adventure sports awaiting us in Nepal.
We’ll update soon (and add some photo's - Nick's got a beard!)…..
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Bandit Country
Big difference between the north and south of Iran - from lush, green fields and hills to barren desert landscapes. This was our first taste of truly hot weather as it hit 42c at lunchtime in the Baluchistan Desert (little did we know that would be cool compared to what it would do in Pakistan).
We spent the night at the border crossing as the soldiers were a little confused by 30 brits turning up in a truck aiming to cross the desert! however, the next day we were slowly processed out of Iran and even more slowly into Pakistan. Despite the heat we were still able to have an England v Pakistan footie game in the car park - all I can say is that Pakistan should stick to playing cricket!
Once across the border we thought it would be a straight run but the Pakistan Authorities had a different view - we had to wait 2 hours for our armed guard before driving at the speed of sound across the most barren place we've ever seen - no life anywhere, no water and no vegetation. We stopped in Dalbandin overnight as it was too dangerous to travel in darkness. Dalbandin is quite easily the arsehole of the world - it makes even Sunderland look good! Seriously, it was awful; mosquitoes everywhere, filthy beyond belief, horrible people and the hotel - well Aushwitz would have more of a cheery atmosphere! We were only there one night and every single one of us woke up covered in bites.
Quetta, by comparison was quite pleasant. Ok, it's in the 3rd world with open sewers and a huge problem with Afghan refugees but beer was available, the hotel grounds were delightful and the people by and large were really nice. Wandering around one of the bazaars we had Ali Khan introduce himself to us with the immortal line "Welcome to Pakistan, we're not all terrorists you know!" this was a sentiment we were to get used to over the next few weeks. Shopping for local clothes (salwar kameez) and turbans was the order of the day, eventually settling on an attractive beige number from an Afghani tailor, Nick's turban when unfolded goes for 6 metres! he'll get it made into shirts in India. Apart from one old guy denouncing us as infidels who should not be in a muslim country, everyone else was cool and very interested in us and were concerned for our safety giving out useful nuggets such as "don't stand still - you will become a target" or "don't go out on your own, you will be kidnapped" .
Moving on from Quetta, we had 18hr drive days up to Peshawar - out of the frying pan and into the fire you may think. Again, quite a difference to what we're used to as it was a very busy, dirty city with a large refugee population. however, it meant we got to drive up the Khyber pass to Afghanistan but were prevented from going to Kabul as our Pakistan visa's were for single entry only - one for the future though. Darra Adam Khel was also on offer up here, if you haven't heard the name, you'll know the place as it's where every business in the town is dedicated to either drugs or guns! you can walk down the street with a huge doobie in your mouth and fire virtually any gun in production today. could be good for a stag party, except there are no women and no booze!
after a few days in Peshawar, we pushed on up the Karakoram Highway, allegedly the 8th wonder of the modern world. This was an incredible road, carved out of the sheer rockface and extends from Islamabad to China at heights of up to 5000m. it follows the Indus river valley and then into the Hunza valley where we stopped to go trekking. Waking up at the side of a crystal clear lake with snow-capped peaks everywhere you look is an amazing experience. we walked to the Passu glacier, traversed wild rivers on wooden suspension bridges and generally had a ball. The local firewater certainly keeps the chills off, as does the bottle of single malt Nick kept in his backpack (for emergencies, obviously!). Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for ever so we hit the road again heading for Islamabad and Lahore before crossing into India.
In the mountains, it was pleasantly cool at around 30c, once we got down onto the plain it was a different story. We reached Islamabad in the middle of a heatwave - 51c on the first day! Luckily, Nick had arranged for a dozen of us to go for drinks with the Deputy High Commissioner - what a relief, everyone was British, there was John Smiths and Brown Ale all for about a pound a drink, fish and chips for dinner and a pub quiz made this our highlight of Pakistan.
Lahore was no cooler and the only thing to do was head to the Pearl Continental for cool drinks and the coldest air-con in the country. Not a great deal to report from here as we did very little due to the temperature being 50c!
Next stop India......
We spent the night at the border crossing as the soldiers were a little confused by 30 brits turning up in a truck aiming to cross the desert! however, the next day we were slowly processed out of Iran and even more slowly into Pakistan. Despite the heat we were still able to have an England v Pakistan footie game in the car park - all I can say is that Pakistan should stick to playing cricket!
Once across the border we thought it would be a straight run but the Pakistan Authorities had a different view - we had to wait 2 hours for our armed guard before driving at the speed of sound across the most barren place we've ever seen - no life anywhere, no water and no vegetation. We stopped in Dalbandin overnight as it was too dangerous to travel in darkness. Dalbandin is quite easily the arsehole of the world - it makes even Sunderland look good! Seriously, it was awful; mosquitoes everywhere, filthy beyond belief, horrible people and the hotel - well Aushwitz would have more of a cheery atmosphere! We were only there one night and every single one of us woke up covered in bites.
Quetta, by comparison was quite pleasant. Ok, it's in the 3rd world with open sewers and a huge problem with Afghan refugees but beer was available, the hotel grounds were delightful and the people by and large were really nice. Wandering around one of the bazaars we had Ali Khan introduce himself to us with the immortal line "Welcome to Pakistan, we're not all terrorists you know!" this was a sentiment we were to get used to over the next few weeks. Shopping for local clothes (salwar kameez) and turbans was the order of the day, eventually settling on an attractive beige number from an Afghani tailor, Nick's turban when unfolded goes for 6 metres! he'll get it made into shirts in India. Apart from one old guy denouncing us as infidels who should not be in a muslim country, everyone else was cool and very interested in us and were concerned for our safety giving out useful nuggets such as "don't stand still - you will become a target" or "don't go out on your own, you will be kidnapped" .
Moving on from Quetta, we had 18hr drive days up to Peshawar - out of the frying pan and into the fire you may think. Again, quite a difference to what we're used to as it was a very busy, dirty city with a large refugee population. however, it meant we got to drive up the Khyber pass to Afghanistan but were prevented from going to Kabul as our Pakistan visa's were for single entry only - one for the future though. Darra Adam Khel was also on offer up here, if you haven't heard the name, you'll know the place as it's where every business in the town is dedicated to either drugs or guns! you can walk down the street with a huge doobie in your mouth and fire virtually any gun in production today. could be good for a stag party, except there are no women and no booze!
after a few days in Peshawar, we pushed on up the Karakoram Highway, allegedly the 8th wonder of the modern world. This was an incredible road, carved out of the sheer rockface and extends from Islamabad to China at heights of up to 5000m. it follows the Indus river valley and then into the Hunza valley where we stopped to go trekking. Waking up at the side of a crystal clear lake with snow-capped peaks everywhere you look is an amazing experience. we walked to the Passu glacier, traversed wild rivers on wooden suspension bridges and generally had a ball. The local firewater certainly keeps the chills off, as does the bottle of single malt Nick kept in his backpack (for emergencies, obviously!). Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for ever so we hit the road again heading for Islamabad and Lahore before crossing into India.
In the mountains, it was pleasantly cool at around 30c, once we got down onto the plain it was a different story. We reached Islamabad in the middle of a heatwave - 51c on the first day! Luckily, Nick had arranged for a dozen of us to go for drinks with the Deputy High Commissioner - what a relief, everyone was British, there was John Smiths and Brown Ale all for about a pound a drink, fish and chips for dinner and a pub quiz made this our highlight of Pakistan.
Lahore was no cooler and the only thing to do was head to the Pearl Continental for cool drinks and the coldest air-con in the country. Not a great deal to report from here as we did very little due to the temperature being 50c!
Next stop India......
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