As we left off.....
We hopped our flight to The Andamans and arrived in Port Blair to the island life..... we had to walk across the runway to the arrivals terminal! After which we got on the ferry to take us to Havelock. We arrived on Havelock and at Island Vinnie's to our little hut and Dive India. We arranged to start our Advanced Diving course the following day.
We were up far too early but excited and ready to dive again after not doing so for the last 5 months since Honduras. The network of islands that is the Andamans is extensive, with the best dive sites scattered between them. This meant that we had a looooooooong boat ride. We spent the 1hr45m getting to know our fellow divers, and fortunately, this time, we were blessed with some good ones! Kate and Alec, a married young couple from NYC are traveling for 4mths, specifically for diving, and both had a decent number of dives (in fact Alec has been doing it for 20+ years with +500 dives!). We got along straight away. Also, Rahul, an Indian who is doing his doctorate in Marine Biology and lived in New Zealand, was our other underwater companion. We were glad with our group and still very excited to dive.
We spent the 1st 2 days getting our certification, including a wreck dive, fish ID, deep dive, underwater navigation and a night dive. These were extremely fun and were made all the better by the world class surroundings that we had. The diving was amazing! Our last 2 days were fun dives, 2 a day. The 1st day was sketchy, with very strong currents, but the 2nd, and last, day was amazing. We left on an amazing note! (note from jen- the night dive was a bit scary, as i somehow ate part of my regulator and had to use my alternate. the wreck dive was cool, but we didnt get to penetrate. overall, we swam with 4 octopi, a grey reef tip shark, some crocodile fish, and tons more amazing fish. so much fun).
We had a great time there, both diving and hanging out with Alec and Kate, we were definitely sad to leave, but knew that we would be back and that we were off to SE Asia for even more amazing diving. We left saddened but ready for the next leg!
After having to waste 36 hot, sweaty and dirty hours in Chennai, we boarded our flight to Singapore. We arrived there for the 1st of many stop overs, extremely weary and not that excited about 10 hour is the "Budget Terminal"! However, it turned out to be OK and we made it to Jakarta safely, if in need for a shower! When we arrived we were determined to make it straight to Bali, with 45 mins till the flight departed, we left the terminal we arrived in and made it to the desk just in with just 10 mins to spare!
On arrival in Bali we headed for our hotel and then out to eat, it was late though and our choice limited. We stopped in for a beer and western food at a guide book recommendation. It was here, observing the crowds and wandering tourists, that we realised we were not in our element. It was perfect for young travelers, spring breakers and general partiers (Frat boy central!). Which is fine by us, but we were not in the position to meet anyone and ready to simply relax.
The following morning we went to the internet cafe and cashed in some travel miles.... 2 nights at The Bali Hyatt! Unbelievable! Luxury that we desperately need and are appreciating on another level after India! This is or 2nd and supposed to be our last night but we are going to use the remaining miles to stay another as it is just so good!
With that note, a clean body and mind, I sign off with the anticipation of more luxury and even some diving tomorrow!
Love to all!!
p.s. We also received some bad news today, the US government has requested our presence for an interview on the 13th of May to finalise green card proceedings. We are hoping to get the date changed as 2 $1200 flights would not do our budget any good. Please keep your fingers crossed for us as we need all the help we can get!! Have we not proved ourselves a legitimate couple yet? Conquering India together should be proof enough of our stability. Anyone want to send the USCIS a link to the blog!?
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Friday, May 1, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Happy and sweat-free.
We are alive and well! After a week of glorious diving and relaxation on the Andaman Islands, (more on that later), we were in Chennai for 36 hours of hellish dust and chaos before departing last night to Singapore, where we have been in glorious air conditioning in an awesome airport for the past 12 hours. We have gotten much of the filth off of us, eaten too much western fast food (BEEF?!!?) and napped on abnormally uncomfortable lobby chairs. We are about to depart for Jakarta, where we hope to then book an immediate flight to Denpasar, on the island of Bali. We are excited for the change of pace, and the new horizons of food that await us! We will give a much more thorough account of our times above and below the Andaman sea shortly (well, that depends on Oli's promptness of blogging) but for now we are off to our flight! Love to all.
Ps- where are the comments people? We left the internets for a little more than a week and it seems that you have all disappeared. Have we been forgotten?! Say hello please.
Ps- where are the comments people? We left the internets for a little more than a week and it seems that you have all disappeared. Have we been forgotten?! Say hello please.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Poop. Cow poop, goat poop, dog poop, and sometimes man poop.
So our first impressions of Varanasi? Too much poop. It was grotesque, and not exactly what we wanted to wade through as we wandered through tiny slummy alleyways looking for our guesthouse. Of course our rickshaw ripped us off and then dropped us in the wrong part of town, but a friendly local led us through the cremation ghats and copious wood piles to our guesthouse, for a small fee. We breakfasted on the rooftop of the Ganpati Guesthouse while we waited for our room to be ready. We took a wander along the ghats after checking in, avoiding the oppressive touts and attempting to find the peace and serenity that we had heard was found in Varanasi. We found none, and decided to duck in for some lunch at a tiny cafe whose tagline was "Yes, we ARE less dirty". Nice. Awesome cheap food, however, and then we headed back out. Too many beggars grabbing our arms and clothes- we can't help everyone, and sometimes you regret helping the ones you do, but more on that later.
We found our way back to our part of town, where I got a pedicure and I think insulted the ladies when I told them which color to paint my toes- painting is apparently not part of the process here. We headed back to the guesthouse to nap the hottest part of the day away, then had dinner on the rooftop and climbed into bed again.
The following day we planned on going on a sunrise boat tour of the Ganges, but we were hot and tired and in no mood when we woke up. We peeked out the windows and could only see the burning ghats in action, and decided that we were probably not invited to see these cremations and were quite content that we had only seen 1 dead body in India, and that was under a sheet. No need to push our luck, and besides, everything else was pitch black. We went back to sleep, and a few hours later checked out of the hotel, left our bags there, and went in search of grub. We found organic heaven at the Brown Bread Bakery, with yummy baked goods and lots of CHEESE!!!! We were far too discouraged to walk around and be poked and prodded and asked for cash or to see each and every shop along the way, so we lounged and read in the lovely courtyard of our hotel until it was time to head to the train station for our very long journey to Kolkata.
We boarded, and found that a large family without tickets had decided to make our berth home. I clearly could not fit on the 3 person bench with 5 other people, so I climbed up on to the top bunk and slumbered away. Oli was content for the most part with cuddling the locals, until someone decided to lower the middle bunk, leaving him hunched over AND cuddling on the far too narrow bench. He hopped on to the top bunk on his side and relaxed until someone kicked him off. The Indian family was still huddling on Oli's assigned bed/bench, so he curled up in a ball and snapped at every inquiry I had. Finally, 6 hours into the ride when most of the passengers had gone to sleep and Oli was still folded up like origami, I climbed down and had a word with the husband, explaining in hand motions that it was Oli's bunk and they should move so he could sleep. They agreed in Hindi, I think, and had a little family meeting. The family got off at the next stop and left him to stretch out in peace. I cuddled in and slept as well as possible with people grabbing my feet and staring at me, and with the lights being turned on at every stop. Quite possibly the worst journey yet.
We arrived in Kolkata at 7:30 am, and had great difficulty finding a rickshaw who wasn't going to completely and laughably rip us off, so we settled for a shared cab to the Sunflower Guest House. We decided to splurge for the next few days, as Lonely Planet had made the place out to be heaven in India. We were told no rooms would be available for the next 45 minutes, so they ushered us to a waiting room to wait it out. I showered quickly, and when I was putting my things back into my bag, which was resting on the couch, I saw 2 pinky-nail sized bugs. Laughing, I said to Oli "ohhh look, icky bugs, they look like bedbugs! couldn't be though.." But oh yes, they were. And there were plenty more where they came from. Oli and I flicked tons of bugs off the outside of my bag, finding none on the inside, and a few on Oli's bag. And more on Oli's back... and legs... and chest. There was an infestation going on. Was it the train? The trunk of the grotty cab? Or.. the couch?! There were bugs all over the couch, climbing up and down and in and out, and when we lifted the cushions, we saw dead ones, live ones, big ones, and a nest of baby ones. Holy cow, this was bad. We quickly gathered our things, lodged a complaint, and got the heck outta there. We walked to Sudder Street and were harassed again by won't-take-no-for-an-answer touts until we checked out a few places and finally settled on the Times Guesthouse. Nice, and a quarter of the price of the bedbug castle.
We grabbed a lovely large breakfast at Fresh 'n' Juicy, then wandered around the New Market area, once again the subject of more harassment. There was a sad looking woman carrying around a sad looking baby with an empty bottle and she was begging for milk, not money. In a moment of weakness I bough her some instant milk, a large portion and quite expensive comparatively to what you can buy in India. Oli made a funny funny joke about how she didn't want money, she just wanted milk so she could hawk it to some passerby and keep the cash. I scolded him for his negativity, and not 5 minutes later, we passed her hawking the milk to man at a stall. I was livid. First of all, she wouldn't get half the price that I had JUST PAID FOR IT, and her kid looked hungry as hell. Feed the kid! And don't lie and get caught! I shook my head at her and carried on. Ohhhhhhh I think we are ready for our island vacation. We shopped a bit, napped a bit, found a BEER GARDEN - Thanks Whit!! We had a late dinner and then off to bed.
Today we slept in, then went for a lunch of Kati Rolls- quite frankly the best thing, EVER. A specialty of Kolkata, it is a paratha, often with egg coating in one side, and filled with red onion, chili pepper, and your choice of veg, mutton, chicken, or paneer, then rolled up in a bit of paper and taken to go, all for the equivalent of $0.35. Yum yum yum. We ventured through the Maiden park, apparently the rival of Central Park in NYC, and watched the horses eating dead grass, and garbage floating by in the hot wind. Not exactly the equivalent of the Central Park that I remember, but we have been away from home for a long time. We tried to go to the mall, but it was closed. We tried to go to the Indian National museum, it was closed. We passed the same beggar woman who apparently had forgotten us, and came up begging for milk, not money. I told her she was a liar and a bad mother. Probably a bit harsh, but geeze. Sweating profusely and tired, we headed to the cool sanctuary of the internet cafe, and here we are. Tomorrow we depart for a week of heavenly diving in the Andaman Islands, off of Havelock. We will lounge on clean beaches, eat fresh local food, and hike over to the most beautiful beach in Asia according to Time Magazine. We are seriously looking forward to it.
More soon lovelies!
We found our way back to our part of town, where I got a pedicure and I think insulted the ladies when I told them which color to paint my toes- painting is apparently not part of the process here. We headed back to the guesthouse to nap the hottest part of the day away, then had dinner on the rooftop and climbed into bed again.
The following day we planned on going on a sunrise boat tour of the Ganges, but we were hot and tired and in no mood when we woke up. We peeked out the windows and could only see the burning ghats in action, and decided that we were probably not invited to see these cremations and were quite content that we had only seen 1 dead body in India, and that was under a sheet. No need to push our luck, and besides, everything else was pitch black. We went back to sleep, and a few hours later checked out of the hotel, left our bags there, and went in search of grub. We found organic heaven at the Brown Bread Bakery, with yummy baked goods and lots of CHEESE!!!! We were far too discouraged to walk around and be poked and prodded and asked for cash or to see each and every shop along the way, so we lounged and read in the lovely courtyard of our hotel until it was time to head to the train station for our very long journey to Kolkata.
We boarded, and found that a large family without tickets had decided to make our berth home. I clearly could not fit on the 3 person bench with 5 other people, so I climbed up on to the top bunk and slumbered away. Oli was content for the most part with cuddling the locals, until someone decided to lower the middle bunk, leaving him hunched over AND cuddling on the far too narrow bench. He hopped on to the top bunk on his side and relaxed until someone kicked him off. The Indian family was still huddling on Oli's assigned bed/bench, so he curled up in a ball and snapped at every inquiry I had. Finally, 6 hours into the ride when most of the passengers had gone to sleep and Oli was still folded up like origami, I climbed down and had a word with the husband, explaining in hand motions that it was Oli's bunk and they should move so he could sleep. They agreed in Hindi, I think, and had a little family meeting. The family got off at the next stop and left him to stretch out in peace. I cuddled in and slept as well as possible with people grabbing my feet and staring at me, and with the lights being turned on at every stop. Quite possibly the worst journey yet.
We arrived in Kolkata at 7:30 am, and had great difficulty finding a rickshaw who wasn't going to completely and laughably rip us off, so we settled for a shared cab to the Sunflower Guest House. We decided to splurge for the next few days, as Lonely Planet had made the place out to be heaven in India. We were told no rooms would be available for the next 45 minutes, so they ushered us to a waiting room to wait it out. I showered quickly, and when I was putting my things back into my bag, which was resting on the couch, I saw 2 pinky-nail sized bugs. Laughing, I said to Oli "ohhh look, icky bugs, they look like bedbugs! couldn't be though.." But oh yes, they were. And there were plenty more where they came from. Oli and I flicked tons of bugs off the outside of my bag, finding none on the inside, and a few on Oli's bag. And more on Oli's back... and legs... and chest. There was an infestation going on. Was it the train? The trunk of the grotty cab? Or.. the couch?! There were bugs all over the couch, climbing up and down and in and out, and when we lifted the cushions, we saw dead ones, live ones, big ones, and a nest of baby ones. Holy cow, this was bad. We quickly gathered our things, lodged a complaint, and got the heck outta there. We walked to Sudder Street and were harassed again by won't-take-no-for-an-answer touts until we checked out a few places and finally settled on the Times Guesthouse. Nice, and a quarter of the price of the bedbug castle.
We grabbed a lovely large breakfast at Fresh 'n' Juicy, then wandered around the New Market area, once again the subject of more harassment. There was a sad looking woman carrying around a sad looking baby with an empty bottle and she was begging for milk, not money. In a moment of weakness I bough her some instant milk, a large portion and quite expensive comparatively to what you can buy in India. Oli made a funny funny joke about how she didn't want money, she just wanted milk so she could hawk it to some passerby and keep the cash. I scolded him for his negativity, and not 5 minutes later, we passed her hawking the milk to man at a stall. I was livid. First of all, she wouldn't get half the price that I had JUST PAID FOR IT, and her kid looked hungry as hell. Feed the kid! And don't lie and get caught! I shook my head at her and carried on. Ohhhhhhh I think we are ready for our island vacation. We shopped a bit, napped a bit, found a BEER GARDEN - Thanks Whit!! We had a late dinner and then off to bed.
Today we slept in, then went for a lunch of Kati Rolls- quite frankly the best thing, EVER. A specialty of Kolkata, it is a paratha, often with egg coating in one side, and filled with red onion, chili pepper, and your choice of veg, mutton, chicken, or paneer, then rolled up in a bit of paper and taken to go, all for the equivalent of $0.35. Yum yum yum. We ventured through the Maiden park, apparently the rival of Central Park in NYC, and watched the horses eating dead grass, and garbage floating by in the hot wind. Not exactly the equivalent of the Central Park that I remember, but we have been away from home for a long time. We tried to go to the mall, but it was closed. We tried to go to the Indian National museum, it was closed. We passed the same beggar woman who apparently had forgotten us, and came up begging for milk, not money. I told her she was a liar and a bad mother. Probably a bit harsh, but geeze. Sweating profusely and tired, we headed to the cool sanctuary of the internet cafe, and here we are. Tomorrow we depart for a week of heavenly diving in the Andaman Islands, off of Havelock. We will lounge on clean beaches, eat fresh local food, and hike over to the most beautiful beach in Asia according to Time Magazine. We are seriously looking forward to it.
More soon lovelies!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Array of colours.
We have now arrived in Varanasi after a 13hr overnight train.... pleasant. Our autorickshaw then dropped us in the wrong place so we had to wander down the narrow maze of streets around the ghat area until we found help to get us to our guesthouse. The streets are FILTHY! Anyway, we are here too early to check in and they have decent internet so we can finally catch up on some of the photos that we have from the past few weeks.
To start where we left off, here are the remaining pix from our last few days in Hampi:
From Hampi we travelled to Panaji for the night and onto Mumbai:
Afterwhich we went to Udaipur, for which we have LOTS of photos!
Here are the photos from Agra:
As an update from last time, we headed for Delhi after the Taj Mahal and didn't arrive till late that night. We hadn't planned to be in Delhi so we had no problems with having less than 24 hrs there. We slept in and decided to spend the afternoon at the zoo! The zoo was very big but a little sparse animal wise! We did see some subdued tigers and other beasts.
We left Delhi last night and arrived here in Varanasi this morning..... you know the rest!
Enjoy!
To start where we left off, here are the remaining pix from our last few days in Hampi:
From Hampi we travelled to Panaji for the night and onto Mumbai:
Afterwhich we went to Udaipur, for which we have LOTS of photos!
Here are the photos from Agra:
As an update from last time, we headed for Delhi after the Taj Mahal and didn't arrive till late that night. We hadn't planned to be in Delhi so we had no problems with having less than 24 hrs there. We slept in and decided to spend the afternoon at the zoo! The zoo was very big but a little sparse animal wise! We did see some subdued tigers and other beasts.
We left Delhi last night and arrived here in Varanasi this morning..... you know the rest!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Taj Smaj.
After our tour of Udaipur, Oli and I settled in for a nice long nap during the heat of the day, then went out for a nice meal in town. The following morning we checked our of our hotel and headed over to tour the City Palace. We wandered around the massive museum checking out all of the weapons and paintings. There were entire rooms covered in tiny mirrors and stained glass, and many sitting areas for the maharajahs. We spotted the portable tiger cage AND the crazy monkeys terrorizing tourists in the central garden. It was a treat! After the palace we grabbed some odd veggie burgers at the Sunrise Cafe, then moseyed on over to the Whistling Teal to lounge on their ourdoor couches in the garden and read while smoking hookah. It was lovely to escape the heat! We had dinner at our hotel and then went to a local haveli to watch traditional folk dancing and puppetry. Very interesting! Unfortunately we didn't have our camera, but the sights were pretty cool. One of the elderly ladies piled 9 large water bowls on her head an danced around! Other ladies danced with fire on their heads,and there was a magic puppet ho could juggle his own head. Fantastic!
Firoz took us to the train staion and bid us goodbye. If you know anyone who is going to visit Udaipur and would like a great, honest, reliable guide, let us know and we will send you his contact info.
We piled on to our overnight train to Agra and settled in for 12 hours of sweatiness. We arrived 20 minutes late today, shame shame, and hopped in an overpriced rickshaw to the Yash Cafe, where we had cheap breakfast, a shower, and stored our bags for the day. Then the main event- the Taj Mahal! This is number 5 checked off for us, only 2 wonders to visit after this! The people surrounding the Taj are incredibly forceful touts who scream at you and pull you left and right to go into their shops- we resisted and it is a wonder we made it to the south entrance in one piece.
After paying the extortionate entry fee, we were told that many of our belongings could not accompany us into the Taj- including but not limited to- a broken lighter, a headphone splitter, Oli's iPod, cashews, and a Suduku Book. We locked these up outside the gates and ventured in. You must walk through 2 large red sandstone gates in order to get the full view of the gleaming Taj. It was absolutely breathtaking (though a bit smaller than I had imagined. Oli says my expectations are too high.) There were tons of people swarming around, cutting each other off to get the perfect picture of them holding the Taj "in their hand". Oli and I made a grand escape to the side by the Mosque and I was lucky enough to take repeated photos of Oli's forthcoming "facebook photo". Oh dear.
We headed into the mausoleum and quickly made a lap as it smelled like 10,000 hot and sweaty feet. Ughhh. It was more impressive from the outside anyway! We sat ona bench outside and watched a ferret scurry across the lawn and then decided it was time to move on. We grabbed a rickshaw to the Agra Fort, and were once again molested by people selling gaudy trinkets, and even a large leather whip. I wonder who their main clientele are? We entered and wandered around the cool passageways and checked out multiple views of the Taj, and then agreed to take a rickshaw back. We realized too late that we were to ride on a cycle rickshaw, peddled by a small old man. Soon after we departed we reached a hill, and the old man's brother pulled up in another peddle rickshaw. Oli hopped over to the other one and away we went. I'm not sure what happened but suddenly I turned around and Oli was the one peddling! That man musta been very convincing. They then stopped on the side of the road and said that we needed to go and visit some shops so they could get commission, they were very poor men. We made them drive us back to Yash cafe, paid them generously, and retreated to the safety of the internet cafe. We don't wanna go back out there- its the most stressful place in India so far! Tonight we are off to Delhi, and tomorrow we have a train to Varanasi. We are attempting to upload photos right now, fingers crossed!
Firoz took us to the train staion and bid us goodbye. If you know anyone who is going to visit Udaipur and would like a great, honest, reliable guide, let us know and we will send you his contact info.
We piled on to our overnight train to Agra and settled in for 12 hours of sweatiness. We arrived 20 minutes late today, shame shame, and hopped in an overpriced rickshaw to the Yash Cafe, where we had cheap breakfast, a shower, and stored our bags for the day. Then the main event- the Taj Mahal! This is number 5 checked off for us, only 2 wonders to visit after this! The people surrounding the Taj are incredibly forceful touts who scream at you and pull you left and right to go into their shops- we resisted and it is a wonder we made it to the south entrance in one piece.
After paying the extortionate entry fee, we were told that many of our belongings could not accompany us into the Taj- including but not limited to- a broken lighter, a headphone splitter, Oli's iPod, cashews, and a Suduku Book. We locked these up outside the gates and ventured in. You must walk through 2 large red sandstone gates in order to get the full view of the gleaming Taj. It was absolutely breathtaking (though a bit smaller than I had imagined. Oli says my expectations are too high.) There were tons of people swarming around, cutting each other off to get the perfect picture of them holding the Taj "in their hand". Oli and I made a grand escape to the side by the Mosque and I was lucky enough to take repeated photos of Oli's forthcoming "facebook photo". Oh dear.
We headed into the mausoleum and quickly made a lap as it smelled like 10,000 hot and sweaty feet. Ughhh. It was more impressive from the outside anyway! We sat ona bench outside and watched a ferret scurry across the lawn and then decided it was time to move on. We grabbed a rickshaw to the Agra Fort, and were once again molested by people selling gaudy trinkets, and even a large leather whip. I wonder who their main clientele are? We entered and wandered around the cool passageways and checked out multiple views of the Taj, and then agreed to take a rickshaw back. We realized too late that we were to ride on a cycle rickshaw, peddled by a small old man. Soon after we departed we reached a hill, and the old man's brother pulled up in another peddle rickshaw. Oli hopped over to the other one and away we went. I'm not sure what happened but suddenly I turned around and Oli was the one peddling! That man musta been very convincing. They then stopped on the side of the road and said that we needed to go and visit some shops so they could get commission, they were very poor men. We made them drive us back to Yash cafe, paid them generously, and retreated to the safety of the internet cafe. We don't wanna go back out there- its the most stressful place in India so far! Tonight we are off to Delhi, and tomorrow we have a train to Varanasi. We are attempting to upload photos right now, fingers crossed!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Namaste
Sooooooooo sadly we hugged Ryan goodbye, and off we went. But FIRST,, here is a little update on what we did until he departed!
We spent another day in Goa waiting for a train to Mumbai, and we spent our time wandering and eating Portuguese Indian fusion food. Mmmmm. Oli and Ryan went to a shady little corner bar and came back without any interesting stories.... and then off we rode! Long ass day on an AC train- far too cold, so we napped most of the time. Arrived in Mumbai and stayed at Bentley's Hotel- very nice! We had our own private balcony and a nice big room. We set off to internet for a little bit then crashed out early, tiring day! The following day we bumbled around the area, passing the Taj Mahal Hotel multiple times in disbelief over the whole terrorist attack a few months back. Insane. We passed the Gateway to India, wandered the streets, and ended up at Victoria Terminus. Micky D's for lunch- no beef but the chicken sufficed. Mmm. Back to our room for a bit to let Ryan nap and then Oli and I set off to buy the train tickets for the rest of our time in India, but to no avail. We went to famous Leopold's cafe and had massive personal beer taps (thanks M+D) then wandered back to our place to chat and sleep.
Woke up the next morning and grabbed tickets for the ferry to Elephanta Island- the ferry was far too long and crowded, but the island was cool. The first of the five caves was infinitely better than the rest, and we got some amazing photos of the different carvings and pillars. There were cheeky little monkeys running around everywhere, and we killed some time before we headed back to the mainland. Finally bought our tickets at the Churchgate train station (sorry it took so long Ryan) and then we headed a few doors down to a hip cafe called Mocha's- it was packed with local twentysomethings eating fabulous cheap food and smoking hookahs. It was pretty cool.
The next day we bid our amazing travel buddy adieu, and hopped on our long train to Udaipur. We departed at 1:40, arriving in Ahemdabad at 9:30pm, and then switching to a nice AC 4 berth cabin for the next train to Udaipur. We had the cabin to ourselves, sweet! We slept nicely, and woke up as we arrived the following morning at 7:30. We groggily packed our things and grabbed a rickshaw- and we lucked out! Our driver was a 30ish Indian local named Farez who sometimes gave tours to tourists, so we booked him to take us to the Monsoon Palace that evening for the sunset. After he dropped us off at a better, cheaper hotel than the place we were planning on going (next door!) we relaxed and had some breakfast, then wandered around the city window shopping and taking photos. Udaipur is where they filmed much of the James Bond film Octopussy, and we got to see the different palaces used in the movie, though we don't remember a thing about the movie to begin with!
Farez picked us up at 5pm and drove us towards the Monsoon Palace, warning us that we were entering a national wildlife park and that there are panthers and wildcats, so to be careful. Yikes. We arrived at the top and toured the magnificent but deteriorating abode, then watched the sun creep down over the mountains, turning the sky a deep orange and illuminating the colors of the palace. We headed back down to town in our rickshaw, and Firoz took a little detour and invited us to have tea with him at his brothers place overlooking the lake. He showed us his photo album of his home and his favorite places in the city, and then took us to a secluded secret lookout over the lake of the City and Lake palaces- the view was absolutely insane. He took us back to our hotel and we booked him for a tour of the northern parts of the city for the next morning (today!) at 9am. We then grabbed some DELICIOUS chicken curry and biriyani at the Lotus Cafe and called it a night.
This morning Firoz picked us up and took us out to see the ghats where the poor people bathe and wash their clothes, then out to the Jain temple and then the burial place for all of the royal family. We visited the vintage and classic car museum and then the gardens that the ladies in waiting used to frequent, complete with elephant fountains. My personal favorite aspect of the tour was the walk through the local fruit/veg/spice market- completely off the tourist track, bustling with little old ladies selling out of baskets and larger operations with bags and bags of spices. The colors were phenomenal. We grabbed lunch at one of Firoz's favorite thalis, and then headed back to the hotel.
We have been having a fab time but we miss Ryan's head waggle and cheeky grins! We are off to Agra on overnight train tomorrow. We will keep you posted! Happy Easter and Passover friends.
btw- we booked our flights back to the states for SNWMF- we will be in California from June 5-28 working before we head back to Bangkok for another segment of our journey.
We spent another day in Goa waiting for a train to Mumbai, and we spent our time wandering and eating Portuguese Indian fusion food. Mmmmm. Oli and Ryan went to a shady little corner bar and came back without any interesting stories.... and then off we rode! Long ass day on an AC train- far too cold, so we napped most of the time. Arrived in Mumbai and stayed at Bentley's Hotel- very nice! We had our own private balcony and a nice big room. We set off to internet for a little bit then crashed out early, tiring day! The following day we bumbled around the area, passing the Taj Mahal Hotel multiple times in disbelief over the whole terrorist attack a few months back. Insane. We passed the Gateway to India, wandered the streets, and ended up at Victoria Terminus. Micky D's for lunch- no beef but the chicken sufficed. Mmm. Back to our room for a bit to let Ryan nap and then Oli and I set off to buy the train tickets for the rest of our time in India, but to no avail. We went to famous Leopold's cafe and had massive personal beer taps (thanks M+D) then wandered back to our place to chat and sleep.
Woke up the next morning and grabbed tickets for the ferry to Elephanta Island- the ferry was far too long and crowded, but the island was cool. The first of the five caves was infinitely better than the rest, and we got some amazing photos of the different carvings and pillars. There were cheeky little monkeys running around everywhere, and we killed some time before we headed back to the mainland. Finally bought our tickets at the Churchgate train station (sorry it took so long Ryan) and then we headed a few doors down to a hip cafe called Mocha's- it was packed with local twentysomethings eating fabulous cheap food and smoking hookahs. It was pretty cool.
The next day we bid our amazing travel buddy adieu, and hopped on our long train to Udaipur. We departed at 1:40, arriving in Ahemdabad at 9:30pm, and then switching to a nice AC 4 berth cabin for the next train to Udaipur. We had the cabin to ourselves, sweet! We slept nicely, and woke up as we arrived the following morning at 7:30. We groggily packed our things and grabbed a rickshaw- and we lucked out! Our driver was a 30ish Indian local named Farez who sometimes gave tours to tourists, so we booked him to take us to the Monsoon Palace that evening for the sunset. After he dropped us off at a better, cheaper hotel than the place we were planning on going (next door!) we relaxed and had some breakfast, then wandered around the city window shopping and taking photos. Udaipur is where they filmed much of the James Bond film Octopussy, and we got to see the different palaces used in the movie, though we don't remember a thing about the movie to begin with!
Farez picked us up at 5pm and drove us towards the Monsoon Palace, warning us that we were entering a national wildlife park and that there are panthers and wildcats, so to be careful. Yikes. We arrived at the top and toured the magnificent but deteriorating abode, then watched the sun creep down over the mountains, turning the sky a deep orange and illuminating the colors of the palace. We headed back down to town in our rickshaw, and Firoz took a little detour and invited us to have tea with him at his brothers place overlooking the lake. He showed us his photo album of his home and his favorite places in the city, and then took us to a secluded secret lookout over the lake of the City and Lake palaces- the view was absolutely insane. He took us back to our hotel and we booked him for a tour of the northern parts of the city for the next morning (today!) at 9am. We then grabbed some DELICIOUS chicken curry and biriyani at the Lotus Cafe and called it a night.
This morning Firoz picked us up and took us out to see the ghats where the poor people bathe and wash their clothes, then out to the Jain temple and then the burial place for all of the royal family. We visited the vintage and classic car museum and then the gardens that the ladies in waiting used to frequent, complete with elephant fountains. My personal favorite aspect of the tour was the walk through the local fruit/veg/spice market- completely off the tourist track, bustling with little old ladies selling out of baskets and larger operations with bags and bags of spices. The colors were phenomenal. We grabbed lunch at one of Firoz's favorite thalis, and then headed back to the hotel.
We have been having a fab time but we miss Ryan's head waggle and cheeky grins! We are off to Agra on overnight train tomorrow. We will keep you posted! Happy Easter and Passover friends.
btw- we booked our flights back to the states for SNWMF- we will be in California from June 5-28 working before we head back to Bangkok for another segment of our journey.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Celebrity Shot
This is Ryan, I've been the third wheel on J & O's honeymoon for the last six weeks and these are some of the things that I've learned:
- If you feel something crawl across your feet in the middle of the night, but it weighs less than a pound, it's not worth looking to find out what it was.
- No matter how pissed off Jen might get she's easily calmed by a fat grin and head-waggle.
- Gin is poison. And if a guy who weighs 22 stone tries to get you to keep pace with pints, do not even try. I'm glad I was only around their English friends for two weeks or I might have needed a liver transplant.
- If you think you saw a medium-sized black cat run out in front of you, it wasn't a cat.
- Oli knows how to make your feet feel goooood.
- Your skin can start to smell of curry after only two days of pure Indian cuisine.
- While not showering for two days will get you extra space on the bus in Los Angeles the same is not true in India.
- If you are white man wearing a dhoti (basically a dress folded up like a skirt for men) locals will stare and giggle. If you are a ginger (red hair, freckles) they will ask to have their picture taken with you.
- Squat toilets are reason enough to be thankful for being born in a Western society.
- While it might feel manly to order prawns the size of your hand the ones that are like big fingers have more taste.
- Prawns in England are not prawns but itty bitty teeny frozen shrimp.
- Farting is always funny. Rumblers are funnier.
- The soft flab of skin over the triceps does not bruise when you pinch it.
- Jen thinks that all baby animals are cute. Including flea-infested kittens and mangy puppies.
- There is no need to refer to the travel guide as the "Lonely Planet." While talking to other travelers you can say "I read in the Bible..." and everybody will know what you're talking about.
- McDonalds in India does not serve beef, but you can still get a Big Mac.
- Sitting on the back row of a bus is better than any roller coaster at Magic Mountain.
- Cockroaches make good shower buddies. Sometimes when they fly to the opposite side of the shower it's like they're singing the harmony.
- If someone approaches you on the street and says you've got something in your ear it is not a courtesy. Be prepared to have them stick metal things in your ears, pull out ungodly amounts of wax and charge you 1000 Rs. Oli learned the hard way.
- If you normally only have one Coke per month be prepared, on average, to drink about five a day.
- "Anchorman" quotes are always relevant.
- Watching chickens eat trash on the side of the road makes you think twice about being a vegetarian.
- Packing extra pairs of socks is a bad decision when you wear flip-flops every day. Pack extra skivvies instead.
- Speaking of flip-flops: duct tape is a gift from Mount Olympus.
- Always have plenty of rolls of white gold.
- While being a third wheel the most important piece of equipment you carry are your big-ass noise-canceling headphones.
- United Airlines does not give free booze to economy class on international flights.
- The yoga instructor will always make it look soooo easy.
- If you start to feel alone in the world the thought of a Double Double and animal style fries from In N Out upon return to California will cure any depression.
- Double Double deserves double the bullet points.
- While it might seem like a cool idea at first growing a beard on holiday is probably better suited for cooler climes.
I had a lot of fun traveling with the two of them. I think they expected me to add a degree of crazy but India is not the place to go nuts. For one thing I don't think they expected to have only two nights of beer while I was here (and a reasonable three beers at that.) I'm glad they convinced me not to take a job my heart wasn't into so I could fly half-way across the world at the last minute and see a side of life that is completely different than anything I've ever seen before. So it is with a heavy heart that I take my own way and head back to the United States and once again be insanely jealous at what they've been managing to do for a half-year and still have the guts to keep going for another half.
- If you feel something crawl across your feet in the middle of the night, but it weighs less than a pound, it's not worth looking to find out what it was.
- No matter how pissed off Jen might get she's easily calmed by a fat grin and head-waggle.
- Gin is poison. And if a guy who weighs 22 stone tries to get you to keep pace with pints, do not even try. I'm glad I was only around their English friends for two weeks or I might have needed a liver transplant.
- If you think you saw a medium-sized black cat run out in front of you, it wasn't a cat.
- Oli knows how to make your feet feel goooood.
- Your skin can start to smell of curry after only two days of pure Indian cuisine.
- While not showering for two days will get you extra space on the bus in Los Angeles the same is not true in India.
- If you are white man wearing a dhoti (basically a dress folded up like a skirt for men) locals will stare and giggle. If you are a ginger (red hair, freckles) they will ask to have their picture taken with you.
- Squat toilets are reason enough to be thankful for being born in a Western society.
- While it might feel manly to order prawns the size of your hand the ones that are like big fingers have more taste.
- Prawns in England are not prawns but itty bitty teeny frozen shrimp.
- Farting is always funny. Rumblers are funnier.
- The soft flab of skin over the triceps does not bruise when you pinch it.
- Jen thinks that all baby animals are cute. Including flea-infested kittens and mangy puppies.
- There is no need to refer to the travel guide as the "Lonely Planet." While talking to other travelers you can say "I read in the Bible..." and everybody will know what you're talking about.
- McDonalds in India does not serve beef, but you can still get a Big Mac.
- Sitting on the back row of a bus is better than any roller coaster at Magic Mountain.
- Cockroaches make good shower buddies. Sometimes when they fly to the opposite side of the shower it's like they're singing the harmony.
- If someone approaches you on the street and says you've got something in your ear it is not a courtesy. Be prepared to have them stick metal things in your ears, pull out ungodly amounts of wax and charge you 1000 Rs. Oli learned the hard way.
- If you normally only have one Coke per month be prepared, on average, to drink about five a day.
- "Anchorman" quotes are always relevant.
- Watching chickens eat trash on the side of the road makes you think twice about being a vegetarian.
- Packing extra pairs of socks is a bad decision when you wear flip-flops every day. Pack extra skivvies instead.
- Speaking of flip-flops: duct tape is a gift from Mount Olympus.
- Always have plenty of rolls of white gold.
- While being a third wheel the most important piece of equipment you carry are your big-ass noise-canceling headphones.
- United Airlines does not give free booze to economy class on international flights.
- The yoga instructor will always make it look soooo easy.
- If you start to feel alone in the world the thought of a Double Double and animal style fries from In N Out upon return to California will cure any depression.
- Double Double deserves double the bullet points.
- While it might seem like a cool idea at first growing a beard on holiday is probably better suited for cooler climes.
I had a lot of fun traveling with the two of them. I think they expected me to add a degree of crazy but India is not the place to go nuts. For one thing I don't think they expected to have only two nights of beer while I was here (and a reasonable three beers at that.) I'm glad they convinced me not to take a job my heart wasn't into so I could fly half-way across the world at the last minute and see a side of life that is completely different than anything I've ever seen before. So it is with a heavy heart that I take my own way and head back to the United States and once again be insanely jealous at what they've been managing to do for a half-year and still have the guts to keep going for another half.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Home from home
The last time we left off we were going to spend our 2nd day in Hampi exploring the town. Well it didn’t quite happen like that! We loved it so much that we decided to stay a 3rd night and postpone the sightseeing another day. We lounged, ate, read and generally had a wonderful time relaxing in the beautiful surroundings.
Despite deciding to stay for a 4th night as well, we went out to see the temple complexes the next day. They were very impressive and our auto rickshaw driver took us to all the right places. After an hour and a half we were starting to feel the heat though and headed back to the town. We had decided to have a nice cold drink at The Mango Tree, more or less directly opposite our hut on the other side of the river. After our refreshing drinks we inquired as to how easy it was to traverse the river on our own. Of course the question was met with a quick head wobble and directions for the best route.
There are more pictures to add to this album when we are able to.
We left the safety of the road and wandered down, through the rice paddies, to the banks of the river. It looked deep! There wasn’t really anywhere to go either. We clambered over some rocks (another trouser crotch gone) and through the mud (nearly lost a flip-flop) to no avail. We ended up enlisting the local kids to help, Ryan 1st, Jen 2nd and me, with a bag full of cameras, last. This was interesting! It was very slippery and murky, not an easy crossing, and by the end I had 3 kids trying to take me 3 different routes! We did make it though, a little damp, 30 rupees and a pen down, feeling that our sense of adventure had been satiated – time to get back to the safety of our porch!
Our last full day in Hampi was spent as the others before it, doing nothing and loving it. We lounged and contemplated our early morning and day of travel the next day. We had heard about a temple only 10 mins by tuktuk from Mowgli that was kept by a guy who looked after the local monkeys. The plan was to get there for sunrise and see the monkeys being fed. We agreed a price with a tuktuk driver the night before and met him at 530am yesterday. When we reached the entrance to the temple we realised the extent of the climb ahead. The steps up to the top zig-zagged up the side of the rocky mountain and brought back memories of the Inca Trail, fortunately only for 15 mins rather than 4 days!
We sat at the top of the hill, watching the sunrise and seeing the monkeys roaming around the temple, trying to avoid too much confrontation with the local dogs! The steps were just as tiring on the way down and we were in no position to rest when we got back to the guesthouse. We finished packing and headed out the door for the long day ahead of us.
Three buses, 3 tuktuks and 12 hours later we arrived here in Panji tired, hungry and filthy! We checked into a budget hotel, my turn to sleep on the floor, and went in search of food and cold beer! We found them at a great restaurant that has both Indian and Portuguese roots in keeping with the town itself. After a lovely meal and deliciously cold beers, we got our heads down for the night. Today we had planned to leave for Mumbai but the train is full so we leave tomorrow at 940am and arrive a full 12 hours later. At least we went for the AC class this time.
We have spent the last few days planning the tail end of India and from there onwards. We fly to the Andaman Islands on the 21st from Kolkata for some island life and SCUBA diving, we will be getting our Advanced Open Water certification ready for some wreck and deep diving on the rest of the trip. We return to Chennai on the 27th before flying to Singapore on the 28th, where we head straight to Jakarta, Indonesia, for 3 weeks exploring Java, Bali and Lombok. On the 19th we return to Singapore for the night before flying to Borneo, the Malaysian part, for a week where we will hopefully get to see Brunei as well. After this we should have enough time to explore Kuala Lumpur and a little more of Singapore before we head to CA for SNWMF and family visits.
More updates soon!
Despite deciding to stay for a 4th night as well, we went out to see the temple complexes the next day. They were very impressive and our auto rickshaw driver took us to all the right places. After an hour and a half we were starting to feel the heat though and headed back to the town. We had decided to have a nice cold drink at The Mango Tree, more or less directly opposite our hut on the other side of the river. After our refreshing drinks we inquired as to how easy it was to traverse the river on our own. Of course the question was met with a quick head wobble and directions for the best route.
There are more pictures to add to this album when we are able to.
We left the safety of the road and wandered down, through the rice paddies, to the banks of the river. It looked deep! There wasn’t really anywhere to go either. We clambered over some rocks (another trouser crotch gone) and through the mud (nearly lost a flip-flop) to no avail. We ended up enlisting the local kids to help, Ryan 1st, Jen 2nd and me, with a bag full of cameras, last. This was interesting! It was very slippery and murky, not an easy crossing, and by the end I had 3 kids trying to take me 3 different routes! We did make it though, a little damp, 30 rupees and a pen down, feeling that our sense of adventure had been satiated – time to get back to the safety of our porch!
Our last full day in Hampi was spent as the others before it, doing nothing and loving it. We lounged and contemplated our early morning and day of travel the next day. We had heard about a temple only 10 mins by tuktuk from Mowgli that was kept by a guy who looked after the local monkeys. The plan was to get there for sunrise and see the monkeys being fed. We agreed a price with a tuktuk driver the night before and met him at 530am yesterday. When we reached the entrance to the temple we realised the extent of the climb ahead. The steps up to the top zig-zagged up the side of the rocky mountain and brought back memories of the Inca Trail, fortunately only for 15 mins rather than 4 days!
We sat at the top of the hill, watching the sunrise and seeing the monkeys roaming around the temple, trying to avoid too much confrontation with the local dogs! The steps were just as tiring on the way down and we were in no position to rest when we got back to the guesthouse. We finished packing and headed out the door for the long day ahead of us.
Three buses, 3 tuktuks and 12 hours later we arrived here in Panji tired, hungry and filthy! We checked into a budget hotel, my turn to sleep on the floor, and went in search of food and cold beer! We found them at a great restaurant that has both Indian and Portuguese roots in keeping with the town itself. After a lovely meal and deliciously cold beers, we got our heads down for the night. Today we had planned to leave for Mumbai but the train is full so we leave tomorrow at 940am and arrive a full 12 hours later. At least we went for the AC class this time.
We have spent the last few days planning the tail end of India and from there onwards. We fly to the Andaman Islands on the 21st from Kolkata for some island life and SCUBA diving, we will be getting our Advanced Open Water certification ready for some wreck and deep diving on the rest of the trip. We return to Chennai on the 27th before flying to Singapore on the 28th, where we head straight to Jakarta, Indonesia, for 3 weeks exploring Java, Bali and Lombok. On the 19th we return to Singapore for the night before flying to Borneo, the Malaysian part, for a week where we will hopefully get to see Brunei as well. After this we should have enough time to explore Kuala Lumpur and a little more of Singapore before we head to CA for SNWMF and family visits.
More updates soon!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Stressful overlanding, wonderful relaxing.
Well it is just a brief update as we have the chance, we haven't done too much since the last time.
We left Sulthan Battery a little frustrated that we were not able to visit the wildlife park but we decided to see it as a positive as we are now a day ahead of schedule to get Ryan home. We spent the afternoon on a bus to arrive in Mysore in the early evening. It was time to make a tough decision.... see the palace there or stick out the travel and head overnight for Hampi. We chose the latter and I think all 3 of us are glad with the choice. The palace is supposed to be wonderful but we have made great time and given ourselves a little window of calm.
The overnight train was as expected, nothing luxury by any means. The booths have 9 bunks, 3 on each wall, and they are not overly comfortable! But we were able to catch a few hours kip before waking in time to disembark at our stop, they don't exactly announce the stations and we certainly didn't want to miss it.
The station is about 15mk from Hampi itself and we hopped in the slowest tuktuk in India and pootled on toward the town. We arrived and passed through the town to the river crossing. We are not staying in Hampi proper, but across the river on Hampi Island. It is much quieter here and just what we needed. We wandered down the road and found the Mowgli Guesthouse were we had opted to stay. We snagged ourselves a great little cabana looking over the rice paddies and banana plantations and some of the amazing rock formations. The scenery here is amazing, the rock formations and boulders appear to defy gravity as the river runs between them. We have spent the day lazing around, not doing anything and enjoying every minute of it! The only thing is that there is no meat or alcohol! I guess I will have to deal.
We are planning to stay another couple of nights here as we are enjoying it so much. Tomorrow we plan to do some exploring of the 500 odd temples here and see more of the phenomenal landscape. Hopefully we will also be able to get some more of our pics up too!
We left Sulthan Battery a little frustrated that we were not able to visit the wildlife park but we decided to see it as a positive as we are now a day ahead of schedule to get Ryan home. We spent the afternoon on a bus to arrive in Mysore in the early evening. It was time to make a tough decision.... see the palace there or stick out the travel and head overnight for Hampi. We chose the latter and I think all 3 of us are glad with the choice. The palace is supposed to be wonderful but we have made great time and given ourselves a little window of calm.
The overnight train was as expected, nothing luxury by any means. The booths have 9 bunks, 3 on each wall, and they are not overly comfortable! But we were able to catch a few hours kip before waking in time to disembark at our stop, they don't exactly announce the stations and we certainly didn't want to miss it.
The station is about 15mk from Hampi itself and we hopped in the slowest tuktuk in India and pootled on toward the town. We arrived and passed through the town to the river crossing. We are not staying in Hampi proper, but across the river on Hampi Island. It is much quieter here and just what we needed. We wandered down the road and found the Mowgli Guesthouse were we had opted to stay. We snagged ourselves a great little cabana looking over the rice paddies and banana plantations and some of the amazing rock formations. The scenery here is amazing, the rock formations and boulders appear to defy gravity as the river runs between them. We have spent the day lazing around, not doing anything and enjoying every minute of it! The only thing is that there is no meat or alcohol! I guess I will have to deal.
We are planning to stay another couple of nights here as we are enjoying it so much. Tomorrow we plan to do some exploring of the 500 odd temples here and see more of the phenomenal landscape. Hopefully we will also be able to get some more of our pics up too!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
That West coast feeling.....
After the beach the other day, we all went up onto the cliff to have Ayurvedic massages. Delightful! The boys said theirs was more like a rubdown, but mine was pretty deep tissue. Different customs here as well, no modesty allowed as you do the whole thing without privacy towels or anything. Interesting.
After the massage we were all too mellowed out to go to yoga in the 100+ heat, so we grabbed our things and headed to a restaurant for a bite to eat and some cool refreshments. We spent the evening chilling out, in preps for another early yoga morning.
But alas, we slept through our alarms, so we grabbed some breakfast and then Ryan and I headed down to the beach while Oli braved a rickshaw on his own to town to get a haircut. When he returned with his very Indian hair, he hung out on the beach for a while as well, sipping coconuts and jumping in the waves. After we had all burnt a bit, we headed in for a shower and then Oli and I went to the tailors to get some more clothes done and to have the ones we had made in Madurai cut down to size. We found out that we had been totally and completely scammed before, ahhhhhhhhhhh the perils of travelling. We met up with Ryan and some friends he had made on the beach for some drinks, which turned into more, which turned into watching how the locals dance at the clubs- if it was a bit more in sync, they could have passed for a Bollywood film! Oli and I called it quits at 3, and headed off to bed. The following morning when I went to wake Ryan up, he had apparently just gotten in after dancing all night, swimming at dawn, and then a game of cricket on the beach with some locals. Never a dull day with Mr. Stern.
We grabbed a rickshaw to the train station, then a 30 minute train to Kollam. When we arrived, we threw our stuff down at the hotel, then headed to the jetty to signup for the backwater canoe trip. It left immediately, so we hopped in (another) rickshaw and headed out of town for 45 minutes, before we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere with 5 other Westerners. We were led to a tiny canal with a long boat, and we hunkered down for our afternoon tour.
The trip was amazing, as we were guided through tiny little canals along houses and tiny towns, where we got to see men building houseboats, prawn farms, and lots of children begging for pens. It was so quiet and serene for the most part, and all of the people were incredibly friendly. It was an amazing experience. After the tour, we grabbed some dinner on the way home(burgers, how lame of us!).
The following day, yesterday, was the hell day. We left at 9am, took 2 trains, a few rickshaws, and a bus, and after 11 hours of travel, made it here to Sulthan Bathery, where we found out that the animal reserve is currently closed. UGH. So today we are going to head out to Mysore to view the palace, and then hopefully had overnight to Hampi. Love and kisses!
After the massage we were all too mellowed out to go to yoga in the 100+ heat, so we grabbed our things and headed to a restaurant for a bite to eat and some cool refreshments. We spent the evening chilling out, in preps for another early yoga morning.
But alas, we slept through our alarms, so we grabbed some breakfast and then Ryan and I headed down to the beach while Oli braved a rickshaw on his own to town to get a haircut. When he returned with his very Indian hair, he hung out on the beach for a while as well, sipping coconuts and jumping in the waves. After we had all burnt a bit, we headed in for a shower and then Oli and I went to the tailors to get some more clothes done and to have the ones we had made in Madurai cut down to size. We found out that we had been totally and completely scammed before, ahhhhhhhhhhh the perils of travelling. We met up with Ryan and some friends he had made on the beach for some drinks, which turned into more, which turned into watching how the locals dance at the clubs- if it was a bit more in sync, they could have passed for a Bollywood film! Oli and I called it quits at 3, and headed off to bed. The following morning when I went to wake Ryan up, he had apparently just gotten in after dancing all night, swimming at dawn, and then a game of cricket on the beach with some locals. Never a dull day with Mr. Stern.
We grabbed a rickshaw to the train station, then a 30 minute train to Kollam. When we arrived, we threw our stuff down at the hotel, then headed to the jetty to signup for the backwater canoe trip. It left immediately, so we hopped in (another) rickshaw and headed out of town for 45 minutes, before we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere with 5 other Westerners. We were led to a tiny canal with a long boat, and we hunkered down for our afternoon tour.
The trip was amazing, as we were guided through tiny little canals along houses and tiny towns, where we got to see men building houseboats, prawn farms, and lots of children begging for pens. It was so quiet and serene for the most part, and all of the people were incredibly friendly. It was an amazing experience. After the tour, we grabbed some dinner on the way home(burgers, how lame of us!).
The following day, yesterday, was the hell day. We left at 9am, took 2 trains, a few rickshaws, and a bus, and after 11 hours of travel, made it here to Sulthan Bathery, where we found out that the animal reserve is currently closed. UGH. So today we are going to head out to Mysore to view the palace, and then hopefully had overnight to Hampi. Love and kisses!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
From sea to shining sea......
Namaste, faithful readers!
We last left you in Trichy, digesting a delicious curry. The following morning we woke up and were out the door by 7am, and on the bus downtown, to check out the Rock Fort Temple. Built on a rock (surprisingly), it towers over the short city and gives a 360 view of the area. Gorgeous! We discarded our flipflops and ascended the many stairs up to the first temple, which looked amazing but as we are not Hindu, we were denied entrance. On the second set of steps, Ryan cut his foot open on some broken glass, and while Oli played nurse with him, I jumped up and down at the sight of monkeys and played photo shoot. We continued up to the summit, and were greeted by a very nice Hindu who gave us candy, blessed our heads, posed for a photo, and stole Oli's special pen. We climbed back down to the street and hopped back on the bus to head to the outskirts of town to checkout some standing temples. Phenomenal towers of vibrant colors and carvings, the temples are scattered throughout all of India, and are all still in use. We wandered around taking photos and enjoying the local people watching before hopping on a bus back to the hotel. We had the best Indian breakfast ever, then grabbed our bags and headed 5 hours south to Madurai.
Madurai has a giant complex of temples, with dramatic carvings and paintings around every corner. The place was swarming at 7am when we took a look around, after being foiled the night before by mixed up directions and wardrobe issues. We wandered throughout the complex, feeling a bit awkward taking photos while the people around us worshipped. After the temple we had a bite to eat then headed to the bus station to head down to the tip of the country.
Three hours on a bus and we arrived at the end of the subcontinent- Cape Cormorin. Our main goal in this town was to watch the sun set and then rise over the same beach. The Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea all meet at this point, making this town a very spiritual retreat for Hindus. Rad! We checked in at our 350 Rupee hotel ($7 for 3 people)then rushed to the sunset point. We trekked a few kilometers and once we arrived, we were greeted with the beautiful Arabian sea and an overcast sky. Shoot! We headed back to town and had a delicious but cold dinner nearby. When we arrived back in our room, we discovered that Ryan's bed was absolutely covered in baby ants. We requested a change of room, but they dishonestly declared the hotel full and gave him a sheet to cover the bed . We were the only people on our entire floor! We slept in our sleep sheets and surprisingly had no more problems.
We woke up at 5 to make sure we could see the sunrise, which we could just view from the rooftop outside our room. Of course, we were foiled again by the clouds. Doesn't it figure? We slept a bit more then grabbed a big breakfast before we headed out towards Varkala. Two bumpy bus rides and 2 terrifying rickshaws later, we arrived in the beach side resort town and checked in to our lodgings. Starving, we grabbed a pizza and attempted to watch the sunset- clouds again. The boys went out to check out the local 'nightlife' while I did laundry and tried to enjoy some solitude, though at the restaurant next door some people decided to see who could make the best and loudest animal noises... for an hour. Boo.
Woke up for yoga today, but the instructor never showed up. Grabbed breakfast, and now we are headed for the beach!!
Love and kisses, miss you lots. BTW there is a pause in beer photos because we have been in dry areas, but thank you so much for the donations and we will put photos up asap! xoxo
We last left you in Trichy, digesting a delicious curry. The following morning we woke up and were out the door by 7am, and on the bus downtown, to check out the Rock Fort Temple. Built on a rock (surprisingly), it towers over the short city and gives a 360 view of the area. Gorgeous! We discarded our flipflops and ascended the many stairs up to the first temple, which looked amazing but as we are not Hindu, we were denied entrance. On the second set of steps, Ryan cut his foot open on some broken glass, and while Oli played nurse with him, I jumped up and down at the sight of monkeys and played photo shoot. We continued up to the summit, and were greeted by a very nice Hindu who gave us candy, blessed our heads, posed for a photo, and stole Oli's special pen. We climbed back down to the street and hopped back on the bus to head to the outskirts of town to checkout some standing temples. Phenomenal towers of vibrant colors and carvings, the temples are scattered throughout all of India, and are all still in use. We wandered around taking photos and enjoying the local people watching before hopping on a bus back to the hotel. We had the best Indian breakfast ever, then grabbed our bags and headed 5 hours south to Madurai.
Madurai has a giant complex of temples, with dramatic carvings and paintings around every corner. The place was swarming at 7am when we took a look around, after being foiled the night before by mixed up directions and wardrobe issues. We wandered throughout the complex, feeling a bit awkward taking photos while the people around us worshipped. After the temple we had a bite to eat then headed to the bus station to head down to the tip of the country.
Three hours on a bus and we arrived at the end of the subcontinent- Cape Cormorin. Our main goal in this town was to watch the sun set and then rise over the same beach. The Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea all meet at this point, making this town a very spiritual retreat for Hindus. Rad! We checked in at our 350 Rupee hotel ($7 for 3 people)then rushed to the sunset point. We trekked a few kilometers and once we arrived, we were greeted with the beautiful Arabian sea and an overcast sky. Shoot! We headed back to town and had a delicious but cold dinner nearby. When we arrived back in our room, we discovered that Ryan's bed was absolutely covered in baby ants. We requested a change of room, but they dishonestly declared the hotel full and gave him a sheet to cover the bed . We were the only people on our entire floor! We slept in our sleep sheets and surprisingly had no more problems.
We woke up at 5 to make sure we could see the sunrise, which we could just view from the rooftop outside our room. Of course, we were foiled again by the clouds. Doesn't it figure? We slept a bit more then grabbed a big breakfast before we headed out towards Varkala. Two bumpy bus rides and 2 terrifying rickshaws later, we arrived in the beach side resort town and checked in to our lodgings. Starving, we grabbed a pizza and attempted to watch the sunset- clouds again. The boys went out to check out the local 'nightlife' while I did laundry and tried to enjoy some solitude, though at the restaurant next door some people decided to see who could make the best and loudest animal noises... for an hour. Boo.
Woke up for yoga today, but the instructor never showed up. Grabbed breakfast, and now we are headed for the beach!!
Love and kisses, miss you lots. BTW there is a pause in beer photos because we have been in dry areas, but thank you so much for the donations and we will put photos up asap! xoxo
Time for some visual updates.
We have finally found a competent internet cafe so we are able to share the last months worth of photographic evidence with you all.
To start, more England:
Then, our 1st glimpses of India with the photos from Mamallapuram:
And to get up to date with the blog, Trichy and Pondicherry:
More pics to come with the next update, enjoy!!
To start, more England:
Then, our 1st glimpses of India with the photos from Mamallapuram:
And to get up to date with the blog, Trichy and Pondicherry:
More pics to come with the next update, enjoy!!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Barefoot and pregnant.....
Not us though... just lots of the people we see. And those who aren't pregnant are still definitely barefoot. It's amazing, seeing as we still have to do a sort of dance in the street to dodge cowpies, dog doo, and other unmentionables. Ahhh the brave locals!
So, last I left off, we were taking the 2 hour bus ride at 7am to Mamallapuram. What a wake up call! Well, for Ryan anyway. Oli and I conked out on the bus pretty quickly, and awoke to a mad dash to exit the bus in a small little village. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied some stone carvings... we had arrived! We grabbed out bags and headed out into the chaos. Immediately a tout latched onto us and tried to get us to come see his guesthouse, but we cunningly told him we had reservations and were meeting friends. He pointed us in the right direction (score!)and off we wandered, a bit shell shocked from the past 24 (or 36?) hours of travel. We found the place, a small little guesthouse run by a friendly man named Xavier, and he showed us to the room. Decent enough, for less than $4 each! We threw down our bags and looked at the clock.. 9:30am. Damn, we couldn't just pass out like we wanted to! We locked up and headed down to the beach, just a block and a half away down the dirt road.
Mamallapuram was hit pretty hard by the 2004 tsunami, and it was easy to see that they had begun to recover but that there is still lots of work to be done. Rubble litters the streets, and children run out of decrepit buildings begging for change, while piles of rubbish burn in the alleys. Cows swarm the roads, followed by goats and dogs. This is pretty typical of India as we have now gathered, but the rubble bit was definitely aftermath of the disaster.
The beach was strewn with fishing nets and boats, and we wove our way to the beach to dip our toes in the water. Delightfully warm! We then headed over to the Shore Temple, which we discovered was completely shut off by a metal fence, and we decided to leave that for later. Feeling pleased that we had at least ventured out, we stopped at a little cafe to have some pancakes, then headed back to the room for a short nap. Fast forward to 5pm- ahhh we overslept! Jetlag is harsh. We attempted to make sense of everything and set out once again, basically just wandering the streets until dark, then finding ourselves at the restaurant above our place having another delicious meal (this is a recurring theme- the food has been outstanding). Off to bed after watching Slumdog Millionaire on Ryan's iPhone.
Yesterday morning we woke up, headed out to see the Five Rathas, a group of stone carvings that were uncovered by the Brits 200 years ago. They each (apparently) resemble a wooden caravan of some sort. Lots of schoolchildren who were delighted to see some white people, especially one with shockingly red hair! We then ventured up to a hilltop monument to see over the entire town (a whole 2k people!), before heading down to the Shore temple for a quick wander. A local family asked us to take a photo with their teenage daughter- random!
We grabbed our bags and hopped on the next bus to Pondicherry- 2 hours south but still on the coast. More chaotic driving, interesting people watching, and varying landscapes. We decided to walk from the bus station in Pondicherry to our guesthouse, grabbing some samosas on the way. The guesthouse was full, and the next place was far overpriced, so we trekked back around town until we found the International Guest House- basically the same price as the night before but with private bathroom! We went on a walking tour (led by Oli) where we saw a poor elephant being poked with a stick, visited a tomb in an ashram, walked along the promenade by the bay, took pix of the Gandhi statue, wandered through a food fair, walked through the local park, and then grabbed dinner at a pretty great place! Early to bed, early to rise!
This morning we slept in until 9ish, stopped by the bakery for some treats, then hopped on the 5 hour bus ride to Trichy. We arrived in the afternoon, with Oli feeling poorly, so the boys napped while I read, and then Ryan and I wandered around this part of town before grabbing some dinner (mmmm paneer butter masala and garlic naan!). And that's the news!
Hope life is swell for all you readers. We are (unexplicably) enjoying India to the fullest! If you have any advice, or know anyone you can scam some advice off of, please let us know. Lonely Planet is a blessing and a curse! oxoxoxo
So, last I left off, we were taking the 2 hour bus ride at 7am to Mamallapuram. What a wake up call! Well, for Ryan anyway. Oli and I conked out on the bus pretty quickly, and awoke to a mad dash to exit the bus in a small little village. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied some stone carvings... we had arrived! We grabbed out bags and headed out into the chaos. Immediately a tout latched onto us and tried to get us to come see his guesthouse, but we cunningly told him we had reservations and were meeting friends. He pointed us in the right direction (score!)and off we wandered, a bit shell shocked from the past 24 (or 36?) hours of travel. We found the place, a small little guesthouse run by a friendly man named Xavier, and he showed us to the room. Decent enough, for less than $4 each! We threw down our bags and looked at the clock.. 9:30am. Damn, we couldn't just pass out like we wanted to! We locked up and headed down to the beach, just a block and a half away down the dirt road.
Mamallapuram was hit pretty hard by the 2004 tsunami, and it was easy to see that they had begun to recover but that there is still lots of work to be done. Rubble litters the streets, and children run out of decrepit buildings begging for change, while piles of rubbish burn in the alleys. Cows swarm the roads, followed by goats and dogs. This is pretty typical of India as we have now gathered, but the rubble bit was definitely aftermath of the disaster.
The beach was strewn with fishing nets and boats, and we wove our way to the beach to dip our toes in the water. Delightfully warm! We then headed over to the Shore Temple, which we discovered was completely shut off by a metal fence, and we decided to leave that for later. Feeling pleased that we had at least ventured out, we stopped at a little cafe to have some pancakes, then headed back to the room for a short nap. Fast forward to 5pm- ahhh we overslept! Jetlag is harsh. We attempted to make sense of everything and set out once again, basically just wandering the streets until dark, then finding ourselves at the restaurant above our place having another delicious meal (this is a recurring theme- the food has been outstanding). Off to bed after watching Slumdog Millionaire on Ryan's iPhone.
Yesterday morning we woke up, headed out to see the Five Rathas, a group of stone carvings that were uncovered by the Brits 200 years ago. They each (apparently) resemble a wooden caravan of some sort. Lots of schoolchildren who were delighted to see some white people, especially one with shockingly red hair! We then ventured up to a hilltop monument to see over the entire town (a whole 2k people!), before heading down to the Shore temple for a quick wander. A local family asked us to take a photo with their teenage daughter- random!
We grabbed our bags and hopped on the next bus to Pondicherry- 2 hours south but still on the coast. More chaotic driving, interesting people watching, and varying landscapes. We decided to walk from the bus station in Pondicherry to our guesthouse, grabbing some samosas on the way. The guesthouse was full, and the next place was far overpriced, so we trekked back around town until we found the International Guest House- basically the same price as the night before but with private bathroom! We went on a walking tour (led by Oli) where we saw a poor elephant being poked with a stick, visited a tomb in an ashram, walked along the promenade by the bay, took pix of the Gandhi statue, wandered through a food fair, walked through the local park, and then grabbed dinner at a pretty great place! Early to bed, early to rise!
This morning we slept in until 9ish, stopped by the bakery for some treats, then hopped on the 5 hour bus ride to Trichy. We arrived in the afternoon, with Oli feeling poorly, so the boys napped while I read, and then Ryan and I wandered around this part of town before grabbing some dinner (mmmm paneer butter masala and garlic naan!). And that's the news!
Hope life is swell for all you readers. We are (unexplicably) enjoying India to the fullest! If you have any advice, or know anyone you can scam some advice off of, please let us know. Lonely Planet is a blessing and a curse! oxoxoxo
Sunday, March 22, 2009
More...
After a very fun night with Tom and Catherine, including the most fabulous meal, we got on the tube to go to Nick's flat the following morning. We left there to go out sightseeing in London, something that I had not done for years. We saw the houses of Parliament, Big Bens, Westminster Abbey, No. 10 Downing St., Trafalgar Square and then to the Tower of London and the late night Jack the Ripper tour.
This was a lot of fun and was great to hear all of the facts about the case and then get to the theories ourselves. However, Jen was not impressed. We finished the evening with a good ol' English curry! Sunday followed with a trip to Harrods, and then to the V&A museum, we were able to make it out of here just in time to visit the Science Museum and go and play in the Launchpad area! Big kids!
We left London, leaving Ryan there for a few days and we were back of to stay at Nick's before meeting the folks again. We met them Monday morning in Burton-on-Trent, an old wool town not too far from home. We had another fun evening playing cards and having a "few drinks" before the pre-birthday birthday lunch on Tuesday.
We went to the Yew Tree, a Marco Pierre White establishment where we had the most fabulous meal (http://www.theyewtree.net/menus.php)! Thanks again Mum & Dad!! That evening we went and picked up Ryan from the station to start the influx of visitors to Wylye.... we went to the pub and ate Welsh Rarebit!
Okay, Jen taking over now.
So Wednesday we gave Ryan the classic Buchanan Salisbury tour, complete with multiple views of the Cathedral and numerous pints. We went back to Wylye for some more pints and a delicious dinner, and stayed up late chatting. Thursday was a mellow chill out day, with a few errands thrown in and some movie watching. Friday, trouble arrived from Vegas, by the name of Chrissi. We also had our old friend Mark train in from Eastbourne, and we started the prebirthday celebrations at the pub, followed by the most fantastic roast dinner, and more drinks.
Sunday (happy bday Oli!) we basically hung around until Nick arrived, then the boys minus Ryan killed some brain cells by playing guitar hero for hours on end, while Ryan, Chrissi and I went on a walk to the nearby village with James. We walked along the countryside, watching the sheep roam around, and found out the answers to such deep questions such as "What exactly IS thatch?" and "Who keeps these country paths so dang clean?!". Oh America, we must educate ourselves so we don't feel so silly asking such obvious questions!! Thanks James for tolerating us!
We ended up back at the house doing a bit of group band practice, passing around the mic and breaking some eardrums (poor Luce! sorry!), then it was time for a delicious paella and a surprise cake for Oli! It was in the shape of a pork pie, complete with pint of lager and pickled onions- it was eerie how lifelike the cake looked, though thankfully it didnt taste like pork. It was amazing! Well done Soz and Emma!
Then it was off to the pub for some drinkies before heading into Salisbury for the evening. I won't bore you with the details of our evening, but there was a heck of a crowd out there to celebrate, and we painted the town with lager. Seriously, that floor was lethal.
Sunday was a bit of a chill out day, watched a bit of Rubgy in the pub in Wylye, then off to bed at a reasonable time to head to Brighton for the next few days!!
Once again, details aside, Brighton was fab, a great mix of revisiting old haunts and memories and making new ones with some of our favorite people. Lovely! Wednesday we headed back to Wylye for out last evening there, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Thursday we were able to pick up some last minute supplies for our trip, and after a sad goodbye, we hopped on the train to Waterloo. Waterloo-tube-heathrow-Comfort Inn hotel. Bar food and bed, early morn! Check out- shuttle bus- 8am flight to Mumbai. Crappy plane but oh well! 5 hours in Mumbai airpirt, 2 cruddy meals later, we boarded our 3am flight to Chennai. MOSQUITOS EVERYWHERE; it was impossible to sit still in the plane until well after takeoff because of the swarms. Welcome to India!
We arrived in Chennai at 5am, emerged from the airport by 6, and were met by a sea of touts and rickshaw drivers. After a bit of chaos and frustration, we successfully found an atm and ended up in a legit cab to the bus station. Yet another sea of confusion, we found our way to the proper terminal and bay, and finally got on a bus to Mamallapuram at 7am. WOW. The lines in the road are strictly for show, as the buses are all over the place, dodging cows and motorbikes. Craziness! More soon my lovelies!
This was a lot of fun and was great to hear all of the facts about the case and then get to the theories ourselves. However, Jen was not impressed. We finished the evening with a good ol' English curry! Sunday followed with a trip to Harrods, and then to the V&A museum, we were able to make it out of here just in time to visit the Science Museum and go and play in the Launchpad area! Big kids!
We left London, leaving Ryan there for a few days and we were back of to stay at Nick's before meeting the folks again. We met them Monday morning in Burton-on-Trent, an old wool town not too far from home. We had another fun evening playing cards and having a "few drinks" before the pre-birthday birthday lunch on Tuesday.
We went to the Yew Tree, a Marco Pierre White establishment where we had the most fabulous meal (http://www.theyewtree.net/menus.php)! Thanks again Mum & Dad!! That evening we went and picked up Ryan from the station to start the influx of visitors to Wylye.... we went to the pub and ate Welsh Rarebit!
Okay, Jen taking over now.
So Wednesday we gave Ryan the classic Buchanan Salisbury tour, complete with multiple views of the Cathedral and numerous pints. We went back to Wylye for some more pints and a delicious dinner, and stayed up late chatting. Thursday was a mellow chill out day, with a few errands thrown in and some movie watching. Friday, trouble arrived from Vegas, by the name of Chrissi. We also had our old friend Mark train in from Eastbourne, and we started the prebirthday celebrations at the pub, followed by the most fantastic roast dinner, and more drinks.
Sunday (happy bday Oli!) we basically hung around until Nick arrived, then the boys minus Ryan killed some brain cells by playing guitar hero for hours on end, while Ryan, Chrissi and I went on a walk to the nearby village with James. We walked along the countryside, watching the sheep roam around, and found out the answers to such deep questions such as "What exactly IS thatch?" and "Who keeps these country paths so dang clean?!". Oh America, we must educate ourselves so we don't feel so silly asking such obvious questions!! Thanks James for tolerating us!
We ended up back at the house doing a bit of group band practice, passing around the mic and breaking some eardrums (poor Luce! sorry!), then it was time for a delicious paella and a surprise cake for Oli! It was in the shape of a pork pie, complete with pint of lager and pickled onions- it was eerie how lifelike the cake looked, though thankfully it didnt taste like pork. It was amazing! Well done Soz and Emma!
Then it was off to the pub for some drinkies before heading into Salisbury for the evening. I won't bore you with the details of our evening, but there was a heck of a crowd out there to celebrate, and we painted the town with lager. Seriously, that floor was lethal.
Sunday was a bit of a chill out day, watched a bit of Rubgy in the pub in Wylye, then off to bed at a reasonable time to head to Brighton for the next few days!!
Once again, details aside, Brighton was fab, a great mix of revisiting old haunts and memories and making new ones with some of our favorite people. Lovely! Wednesday we headed back to Wylye for out last evening there, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Thursday we were able to pick up some last minute supplies for our trip, and after a sad goodbye, we hopped on the train to Waterloo. Waterloo-tube-heathrow-Comfort Inn hotel. Bar food and bed, early morn! Check out- shuttle bus- 8am flight to Mumbai. Crappy plane but oh well! 5 hours in Mumbai airpirt, 2 cruddy meals later, we boarded our 3am flight to Chennai. MOSQUITOS EVERYWHERE; it was impossible to sit still in the plane until well after takeoff because of the swarms. Welcome to India!
We arrived in Chennai at 5am, emerged from the airport by 6, and were met by a sea of touts and rickshaw drivers. After a bit of chaos and frustration, we successfully found an atm and ended up in a legit cab to the bus station. Yet another sea of confusion, we found our way to the proper terminal and bay, and finally got on a bus to Mamallapuram at 7am. WOW. The lines in the road are strictly for show, as the buses are all over the place, dodging cows and motorbikes. Craziness! More soon my lovelies!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Catch up time
It has been another 10 days since the slightest peep from us..... lame I know. But here we are, now in India!!
However there is a little to recap on first. The last few couple days in Rio were hot and sweaty! We braved the beach, only to turn around 2 mins later because of the extreme heat and we wandered the streets taking in the last of ou Latin flavour. When it was time to go we were sad to be leaving the continent that we had called home for so long, but happy to start the new leg of our trip and be going home to England!
The flight, as always, was non eventful, and in fact, relatively short for us considering the bus journies that we are now accustomed to. Mum & Dad met us at the airport (a little late!), complete with pork pies, pickled onions and a cheese $ onion sandwich! We went off into the cold new weather of England for lunch at a wonderful old pub right on the canal, not too far of the road home.
We headed back home to Salisbury for the evening with some great, old fashioned, English style home cooking..... mmmmmmmmmmmm!!
Sorry but our time is up here, we are safe, it is hot, there is a lot of yummy looking curry!!
We WILL update again soon xx
However there is a little to recap on first. The last few couple days in Rio were hot and sweaty! We braved the beach, only to turn around 2 mins later because of the extreme heat and we wandered the streets taking in the last of ou Latin flavour. When it was time to go we were sad to be leaving the continent that we had called home for so long, but happy to start the new leg of our trip and be going home to England!
The flight, as always, was non eventful, and in fact, relatively short for us considering the bus journies that we are now accustomed to. Mum & Dad met us at the airport (a little late!), complete with pork pies, pickled onions and a cheese $ onion sandwich! We went off into the cold new weather of England for lunch at a wonderful old pub right on the canal, not too far of the road home.
We headed back home to Salisbury for the evening with some great, old fashioned, English style home cooking..... mmmmmmmmmmmm!!
Sorry but our time is up here, we are safe, it is hot, there is a lot of yummy looking curry!!
We WILL update again soon xx
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