SI & LIZ'S TRAVELS

New Wedding Website!

2011-06-24T14:57:00.005+01:00

Although our travels are now well and truly over I just wanted to post a link to my new website for wedding photography.

http://simonbrettellphotography.co.uk/

Please take a look and don't hesitate to get in touch if you would like discuss this any further.

The fun stops here

2010-02-28T16:46:00.002Z

We can't believe that we've been back in the UK for a whole month already, the time has really flown by. It's taken a little while to recover from reverse culture shock but were slowly returning to normal after 15 months of living out of a backpack. England feels so quiet, clean expensive and cold now we're back.

When we first got back we had a few days staying with my parents before we headed down to Torquay to spend some time with Liz's family. After two weeks of living with our parents we finally moved back into our flat in Birmingham city centre on the 15th February. It's nice to have our own space again after spending more than our fair share of time in some pretty grotty accommodation.

The question we've been asked most is ... is it nice to be back home? The honest answer is no, not really! It's been great to see everyone again and catch up but this miserable English weather really isn't helping much, it feels as if our tans have disappeared already. The sunshine of Goa seems a very long way away.

The other thing people always want to know is what were our favourite countries that we visited. Three places stand out ...

Laos - a really beautiful unspoilt country with great scenery, people and (thanks to the French influence) food.Plus it gets a bonus point for Beer Laos, the best beer we had on our travels!

Egypt - Has something for everyone. The ancient sites were just stunning, the beaches great and the hookah are cheap!

Nepal - Crazy Kathmandu and the stunning Himalaya

Our jaunting officially ends today, for tomorrow we return to the real world of work. Before we sign off we just want to say thank you to everyone who's took the time to read our rantings and kept in touch whilst we've been away. Bye for now, Simon & Liz.

The end is nigh

2010-01-27T12:16:00.006Z

Well our lovely traveling time is nearly up. We have had a fantastic 15 months on the road and we can't believe it has gone so fast. It will be great to see everyone again but very hard to drag ourselves away from the fabulous Palolem beach and get back to a cold, grey February in the UK! We have got a month back in Blighty though before the dreaded work starts again, so we'll be able to spend some time with Si's family in Wyrley as well as my family in Torquay and we'll then have a few weeks to get ourselves sorted out and moved back into the flat in Birmingham.

We have really enjoyed being back in Palolem. It definitely wins our award for best Indian beach.

It has just the right mixture of laid back and chill out attitude and some great bars and restaurants. We enjoyed going to the open air cinema again. It is in a fantastic location and setting, even thought the film (Paranormal Activity) was a bit poor. Unfortunately the Silent Disco was canceled on Saturday apparently due to problems with the police, so that was a shame as we really enjoyed our silent boogie last time. Off to the open air cinema again tonight to see Zombieland.

Well it it has been a tough last week here in Palolem. We have been swimming, sunbathing, doing some light shopping, catching up on out last few paperbacks and enjoying having the full range of cable channels. All the restaurants we have been to here have been really good, especially the Cheeky Chapati and Magic Italy. We also had some in-restaurant cow related entertainment the other night. They just couldn't keep this particular cow out of the restaurant and it was fascinated by the open kitchen!

They seemed to have more luck tempting it out of the restaurant with a chapati than by poking it with a kebab skewer. I'm all for fresh produce but a cow actually walking into a restaurant of it's own accord is pretty strange! Perhaps they need to install a cattle grid.

We will miss the whole Indian beach experience. Vendors wandering up and down the beach will sell you anything from a sarongs, to fruit, to stone elephants, to massages, to henna tattoos, to boat rides and fish, to drums and stickers. You have got kids on tightropes, beggars, Indian women swimming fully clothed and Indian men swimming in huge shrieking groups all with inappropriate small brown pants on! The beach cows are always entertaining and will occasionally have a fight with the beach dogs. I don't think it will be quite the same back in Torquay. We will miss it all.

Bright lights big city Bangalore

2010-01-19T17:46:00.001Z

In total we'd not even spent 24 hours in Bangalore but it felt like it had been a lot longer. It was slightly disorientating and felt a little surreal to be somewhere that was so much like home but still very much in India. Bangalore felt even more developed and westernised than Mumbai and Delhi, there was even an M&S!

The strangeness was probably amplified by the hotel that we stayed in, a place called the Silver Square. They'd tried to set it up like an ultra modern boutique hotel, all the ingredients where there but they somehow got it completely wrong. Adding to the general feeling of wrongness was the fact that the hotel had been built above a nightclub which was so loud it shook the entire fabric of the building. The night we were there it was a Thai, Mongolian hip hop night! No . . . we never knew such a genre existed either.

Thankfully they had an 11 o'clock curfew so we escaped to the cinema to catch the new Sherlock Holmes film (well worth a watch) whilst the hip hop heads where shaking the furniture across our bedroom.

One of the consequences of Einstein's theory of relativity is a phenomenon whereby the faster you move the slower time goes. Normally you can't perceive the effects of this as it is minuscule unless you are traveling close to the speed of light. However; thanks to the insane speed that our tuk-tuk driver blasted us through the streets of Bangalore to Yesvantpur train station we experienced this effect at first hand! The distance from our hotel to the train station was only about 8km but it felt like the journey was never going to end. We never knew that it was possible for a three wheeled rickshaw to travel so fast . . . or so dangerously. We lost track of the amount near misses that we had but some of the more notable ones included: a near head on smash into the front of a bus, a near miss with a crowd of guys that were trying to push start a van (which we also narrowly missed) and the near flattening of a school girl who was crossing the road. The insane driving is one of the few things we're not going to miss when we get back home.

Mysore

2010-01-18T05:07:00.003Z

When we arrived in Mysore on Friday afternoon we were treated to a partial eclipse of the sun. I managed to bag a bit of a ropey picture without burning my retinas out!

Apparently, due to the relative positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth, this was the longest duration eclipse that will be experienced this century. The only annoying thing about it was that if we'd stayed in Varkala we would have been in the area of totality and have been able to have seen the ring of fire (you can insert your own vindaloo gag here). Unfortunately we knew nothing about the eclipse until we arrived in Mysore, they really couldn't have done a worse job in promoting it. Particularly when you think back to the fuss that was created back home when there was the total eclipse in Cornwall in 1999.

Mysore is the historic home of the Wodeyar maharajas who ruled over this part of India from the mid 16th century until independence in 1947. The main focus of the town is Mysore Palace, the maharaja's former home and seat of power.

The palace was designed by the famous British architect Henry Irwin and completed in 1912. The original wooden palace that it replaced burned down in a kitchen fire in 1897. Because of this the maharaja's wife insisted that no flammable materials were to be used in the new building so it is constructed from stone, cast iron and stained glass. This gives parts of the interior the appearance of one of those grand Victorian / Edwardian era London train stations. It sounds a bit odd but it was really spectacular. Unfortunately you're not allowed to take photos inside so we can't show you how it looks.

Despite the fact that we've been in India for nearly four months, the one thing that we still can't get used to is being asked to pose with local tourists for photos as if we were some sort of celebrity. At Mysore Palace it was mad and almost had to resort to running away at one point.

The other thing that happens quite a lot is that people ask us to take their picture with our camera. Here's a lovely relaxed shot that Liz was asked to take . . .

Thankfully we were a little less hassled when we went back to the palace on Sunday evening. Every Sunday the palace is illuminated with ninety six thousand bulbs.

For the first time in a long time we're staying in what would be considered an "international standard" hotel. After over four months in B&Bs, guest houses, homestays and huts it makes Hotel Regaalis feel like the Ritz. It's the first time we've seen carpet since we were in Jordan and the first time we've seen clean carpet since we left home!

Oh yeh . . . and we saw Gandhi too . . .

Luminous cows!

2010-01-15T04:43:00.001Z

Just when you think you've seen all the crazy things that India has to offer it will surprise you with another curve ball. Today in Mysore we encountered luminous cows . . .

Please note that this is not the result of any computer jiggery pokery, they really are that colour.

Varkala

2010-01-14T04:25:00.001Z

Varkala is a small beach resort on the Kerala coast about 100km north of Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of the Indian sub-continent. It's a really nice laid back kind of place that's strung out along the top of the crumbling cliffs that line the back of the beach.

The atmosphere is really nice and much more like Palolem and Anjuna than the package resort hell of Candolim.

We've had a bit of rubbish weather whilst we've been here. However, we feel we can't complain too much over a few days of cloud and a bit of rain when it's been -22 degrees C back home!

We've not done any sight seeing whilst we've been here. Other than a bit of aimless wandering around the cliffs and a spot of sun bathing we've spent most of our time trying to re-arrange our flights home. The booking agent, Terminal A, have the worst customer service of any on-line ticket agent that we've ever used. Getting the money back on our canceled flights is proving to be quite painful. So if anyone asks what our top travel tips are, not using Terminal A is right up there with don't forget your passport.

We've again met up with Leigh and Nicola who were also in Varkala at the same time as us. This was the last time that we'll see them and we were a little sad to have to say goodbye as they've been great company whenever we've crossed paths. They're shortly going to meet up with Leigh's parents who are flying out for a few weeks to do a similar trip around Rajasthan to the one we did with Paul and Sarah back in November.

The Venice of India

2010-01-08T20:25:00.003Z

Having just left the St Ives of India we now find ourselves in the, self proclaimed, Venice of the east (yes, another one!). We've come to Alappuzha (Alleppey) as it's the gateway town to the infamous Kerala backwaters. The backwaters are a network of rivers, canals, waterways, lagoons and lakes that are on the west coast of India, sandwiched between the Arabian Sea and the mountainous Western Ghats.

Our guide book made Alappuzha sound like some quaint little village, when in reality, it was more like Dudley and bore no resemblance at all to Venice! Thankfully we've had a really nice place to stay called Venice Castle where we've been making the most of having a TV for the first time in while.

In order to explore the backwaters we had originally planned to rent one of the rather swanky looking house boats for an overnight trip.

However, the cost was a bit too high so we ended up downgrading a little to something more in our price range . . . a canoe for four hours.

Our canoe trip through the back waters was very pleasant as we floated through the villages, observing local life and relaxing in our little boat.

It was a very relaxing little jaunt, or it was, until we encountered a monster head-wind on the way back. Our oars man couldn't make any headway so I was forced to break out the spare paddle and give some assistance otherwise we'd still be there now. He wasn't the most smiley guide we've ever had . . .

As nice as it was we don't really understand what all the fuss is about. A trip to the Kerala backwaters is one of the things that often crops up on those "10 things to do before you die" sort of lists. It's definitely worth a visit if you're passing but we wouldn't recommend that you went too far out of your way to come here.

Kathakali

2010-01-07T05:51:00.003Z

We spent our last evening in Fort Kochi at a kathakali show at the Kerala Kathakali Centre. Kathakali, which translates as "show play", dates from the 1600's and is usually a dramatisation of one of the Hindu epic myths such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or the Puranas.

There's no dialogue in the play so the story is told through movement, hand gestures and facial expressions. Prior to the show starting the compare gave a crash course in some of the standard gestures and expressions so that we could understand what was going on (it didn't help much!). We also got to see the elaborate make-up process which transforms the actors into the various gods and deities.

The performers are accompanied by a singer who narrates the story and some drummers, whos main function appeared to be to try and cause some form of permanent hearing damage to the audience. Being as the stories are narrated/sung in Malayalam we were given a cheat sheet which explained the plot - some princes lost their wife in a dice game, had to kill the wife's captor and wash her hair in his blood to set her free (que lots of gore and entrails).

Traditionally kathakali shows would last from early evening until dawn, thankfully we only had to sit through a small exert from the Mahabharata that lasted an hour.

The St Ives of India?

2010-01-05T09:02:00.002Z

Fort Kochi lies at the tip of a small peninsular that juts out into the Arabian Sea from the south west Indian state of Kerala. The town feels a little bit like an Indian version of St Ives. It's full of wonky old buildings, craft bazaars, antique shops and has a bit of an art and gallery scene going on. There's also loads of little tea rooms where you can get a fresh brew and a slice of cake. They've even managed to get the bad service spot on so that it's just like being back at home!

Kerala has a reputation of being the most laid back state in the whole of India, where everything slips into second gear. This easy going nature is all very well but it appears that the staff in the restaurants take it a little bit too far, getting served anywhere is nigh on impossible. On Sunday night dinner took so long at a restaurant called "Upstairs" that it may have well have been breakfast by the time they got round to serving it.

Despite the fact that you can't get anything to eat the laid back Keralan attitude does make Fort Kochi a nice place to spend a few days. The cantilevered Chinese fishing nets that line the northern tip of the Kochi peninsular are probably the most recognisable sight in Kerala.

The nets, which take at least 4 people to operate, where bought to the area in the 15th century by Chinese traders. We spent a bit of time yesterday helping out (or should that be hindering) on one of the nets. I thought I'd let Liz get on with the heavy manual labour whilst I had the much more tiring job of taking a few photos . . .

Earlier in the day the guys on the net had caught this funny little fella called a frog fish, so called as he gives a frog like croak when prodded!

Kochi is also home to St Francis Church which dates from 1503 and is thought to be the oldest European built church in India.

Vasco da Gama, the legendary Portuguese explorer, died here in 1524 and was buried in the church for 14 years before being moved back to Lisbon.

Earlier today we went over to the eastern side of the peninsular to the district of Mattancherry. Whilst there we paid a visit to Mattancherry Palace, a Portuguese built palace from 1555 which was a gift for the raja of Cochin. The palace is home to some much revered Hindu murals, one of which features, to quote our guidebook, "Krishna using his six hands and two feet to engage in foreplay with eight happy milkmaids" . . . a nice trick if you can do it! Unfortunately the part of the palace with the said mural was under renovation and out of bounds (making a complete waste of our six and a half pence entrance fee). The area around Mattancherry Palace is also known as Jew Town as it is where the Jewish traders set up their businesses in the 1500's. At the centre of Jew Town is the ornate Pardesi Synagogue.

The interior is decorated with a gold pulpit, glass chandeliers and hand-painted Chinese tiles. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any photos inside.

We've also bumped into Leigh and Nicola again whilst we were here and have arranged to meet them again in Varkala next week.

Hello 2010

2010-01-01T14:03:00.005Z

I don't think that we would have chosen to stay in Candolim once the Sunburn music festival had finished. The town is like Torremolinos, the beach is a bit bleak, its not particularly scenic and the rusting hulk of the River Princess isn't exactly inspiring. Unfortunately we had paid for a weeks accommodation in advance and didn't really want to waste the money by going somewhere else. Particularly as the room rates are usually double or treble the normal price over the festive period. Luckily our hotel was really nice and had a swimming pool, so we've spent the last few days since the festival just relaxing there and avoiding the ugliness outside whilst we wait for new year's eve.

We did venture out for a pub quiz one evening where Liz managed to win us some free beer thanks to her specialist knowledge of the West Country. We didn't do particularly well in the main quiz but luckily the bonus round was about Torquay's most famous resident, Agatha Christie, so Liz had a rather unfair advantage over the other punters.

We didn't have the most auspicious of starts to new years eve. We went to the local internet cafe to sort out the accommodation for our next couple of destinations, only to find an e-mail informing us that the final leg of our flight back home has been cancelled. Hopefully we'll be able to cancel the first leg, get our money back and book something else. Otherwise we'll have the pleasure of being suck in Istanbul airport for 24 hours.

After dinner we planned to spend the evening at a nightclub called Butter. However; we decided to go somewhere else when the guy on the door informed us that the entry charge was 3400 rupees, which is almost fifty quid!

We instead ended up at a bar on the beach called Boat Shack. They had turned part of the beach into a temporary nightclub by laying a dance floor, stringing up some lights and sticking a massive sound system on the sand.

Entry was free and it only cost £1.30 a pint. Much more in-line with our back-packer budget.

We ended up having a great night. Most of the shops and restaurants had closed early and the workers had hit the beach to party hard to the latest Hindi and bhangra hits. It made a nice change to be out somewhere in the evening where there were more locals than tourists as it made for a really different night out. I don't think we've ever seen quite such enthusiastic dancing from a huge group of men . . . they we're going absolutely mental!

Come midnight there was the usual assortment of dangerous low level fireworks followed by something called burning the old man (a little bit like a Guy Fawkes character who was set on fire).

The Sunburn festival and new year's eve have been great but we're quite looking forwards to getting out of Candolim and onto to our next destination.

Happy new year to you all!

Feet on the sand and hands in the air - must be Sunburn

2009-12-30T08:26:00.000Z

As we've mentioned on a previous posting , the reason that we've come to Candoliom is to visit the Sunburn music festival. The festival takes place on Candolim beach and is billed as Asia's premier music festival.

It's a little bit like a mini Glastonbury only with more palm trees and less mud.

It's primarily a dance music festival and features a lot of international DJs including John 00 Fleming (the happiest man in dance music), Roger Sanchez (excellent as always), Armin van Buuren (dull), Sultan (an excellent Canadian DJ) and some bloke called Nick Rafferty from Lichfield.

We had a great time over the three days of the festival. The only down side was the usual festival problem of toilets, or in this case, the lack of. 16 toilets for 5000 people doesn't go . . . and neither could you without a long wait!

Costa del Candolim

2009-12-27T07:42:00.000Z

Candolim is only about 10 minutes drive down the coast from Anjuna but feels a whole world away.

Anjuna has a very laid back and fairly relaxing atmosphere, where Candolim feels like it's smack bang in the middle of the Costa del Sol (but with more Russians). The whole resort feels like it's packed full of chip eating, loud mouthed package tourists.

We're not sure why someone would choose to come here for a holiday as Candolim is famous for being home to the rusting tanker the River Princess which was grounded on the beach during a storm in June 2000. It's not exactly what you'd call picturesque.

The only reason why we've come here is to visit the Sunburn music festival which happens on the beach over 3 days between Christmas and new year.

Christmas in Anjuna

2009-12-26T07:16:00.000Z

We've come back to Goa so that we could spend a week at Christmas relaxing on the beach at Anjuna.

Well, that was the idea before I got bed-ridden by a mystery illness. We're not quite sure what it was but initially thought it was a monster hang-over as we had been up until 4 in the morning having a wee drinky after meeting back up with Leigh and Nicola. However, when it hadn't cleared up after three days we realised that perhaps I hadn't gone soft after all but had picked up a seriously debilitating man flu type virus.

By Christmas eve I was beginning to feel better and was helped along by some of that wonder medicine called beer! We again met up with Leigh and Nicola and tried to make our Christmas eve night out as festive as we could.

It wasn't easy though as this was the first time that we can remember a Christmas without any Slade!

We didn't see any reindeer flying through the sky on Christmas eve but we were lucky enough to see some dolphins from the beach at sunset.

On Christmas day I was well enough to venture out for some sun bathing (and to put a Santa hat on a cow).

We could only find one restaurant in the whole of Anjuna where you could get a traditional Christmas dinner. However; it was a bit of a grubby shack stuck on the side of the main road so we decided to give it a miss. Instead we had to settle for that other traditional Christmas meal . . . a chicken and paneer tikka kebab - very festive!

Merry Christmas from Santa Cows

2009-12-25T15:23:00.002Z

You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to get a Santa hat on a cow!

Happy in Hampi

2009-12-19T19:09:00.003Z

After our week on the beach at Palolem we took the train 350km inland to Hampi.

Hampi lies on the outskirts of the city of Vijayanagar which was founded in 1336 but abandoned in 1565 when it was sacked by Muslim invaders. Before it was abandoned Vijayanagar became
one of the largest Hindu empires and had much of southern India under its control. The plains around Hampi are littered with the ruins and abandoned remains of Vijayanagar.

One of the more unusual buildings is the elephant stables which were used to house the royal elephants of the city.

The area around Hampi is also famous for its rather strange granite boulder landscapes that resemble something out of a Road Runner cartoon

We've had a bit of rubbish weather for our first few days here as we caught the end of another cyclone (Cyclone Ward) which was affecting the eastern Indian coastal state of Tamil Nadu. Thankfully we only had to deal with heavy cloud this time and managed to avoid the horizontal rain which lashed us when we encountered our last cyclone when Paul and Sarah visited us in Ranthambore.

We're not actually staying in Hampi but in the village of Virupapur Gaddi which lies on the opposite bank of the Tungabhadra River. We're staying at a place called Shanthi Guest House where there's only a sporadic electricity supply, no TV or air con and your shower is a bucket of hot water! However; despite the fairly basic conditions it's been one of our favorite places that we've so far stayed in India. We have a little thatched hut on the banks of the river in a really picturesque spot just behind a field of rice paddies.

Once the cyclone cleared we were treated to some spectacular sunsets.

Next we head back to Goa for christmas.

Cows on the beach . . .

2009-12-14T13:32:00.001Z

You don't get this in Torquay!

Silent Noise at Palolem

2009-12-14T12:36:00.004Z

After 24 hours on a train (or two) we made it from Ellora to Goa, the former Portuguese colony on the Indian west coast. The Portuguese arrived in 1510 and retained control of the area until 1961, 14 years after the rest of India gained independence from Britain.

We're planning on visiting three or four different resorts along the Goa coast but our first stop is at Palolem, the most southerly of the developed beaches. We've not seen a beach since we left Aqaba 4 months ago and it's also only the 2nd time in 4 months where we've stayed in the same spot for a week. Hence we're making the most of sitting on the beach, not moving and doing no sightseeing! Essential tan topping up time before we head home.

Palolem is a really nice little village that hasn't been spoiled by over-development and retains a lovely ramshackle, laid back feel. There's no international hotel chains (all the hotels and beach huts are locally run) and there's no buildings over two stories high. It also has loads of great bars and restaurants. Best of all a big bottle of Kingfisher beer costs Rs60 (that about £0.78) and a glass of gin costs less than a tonic!!!

A few years ago Goa became well known for its night life and the party scene here got really popular. However; in order to calm things down the government banned loud music in open air locations after 10pm. To get around this problem the local promoters have opened several silent discos. A silent disco is a club that has no speakers, instead everyone is given a set of radio headphones which they use to tune into one of the 3 DJ's that are playing.

On Saturday night we went to an event run by Silent Noise who have an open air club at Neptune Point, on the cliffs overlooking Palolem beach. It was very strange when we first walked in to see several hundred people who appeared to be dancing to no music.

We had a great, if slightly surreal evening!

No sweeming!

2009-12-07T13:50:00.000Z

Cave Temples . . . Like busses!

2009-12-07T13:30:00.005Z

After spending yesterday at the Ajanta Caves today we headed for the cave at Ellora, a collection of 29 Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples cut into a 2km long section of cliff.

The caves were built during the 7th to 11th century and are home to the Kailasa Temple reputedly the worlds largest monolithic structure.

It is estimated that 7000 workers took more than 150 years to cut the temple from the cliff cafe and carve out the interior. This resulted in the excavation of a quarter of a million tonnes of rock.

The guide books rave about Ellora but we didn't think that it was anywhere near as good as those we saw yesterday at Ajanta. However; we may have been a little bit "caved out" by the time we finished there. This guy appeared to be thoroughly enjoying it though (check out that cheeky hand!) . . .

Whilst we we at the caves we bumped into Leigh and Nicola who had our space on the African Trails overland truck when we left it in Zambia. We had a great evening, helped along by a few Kingfishers, chatting about our various escapades and comparing horror stories!

Ajanta

2009-12-06T12:53:00.002Z

We've spent today at the Ajanta Caves, a complex of 30 ancient caves that are carved into a horseshoe shaped gorge.

The caves are a little bit like a Buddhist version of Petra and are cut directly into the rock-face. They were constructed from 200 BC to the 6th century AD and feature some pretty amazing feats of carving. They are considered to be one of the masterpieces of Buddhist religious art.

Marvelous Mumbai

2009-12-05T12:24:00.001Z

We were really surprised by Mumbai. It felt incredibly vibrant, cosmopolitan and, with so little livestock on the streets, it was almost as though we weren't in India!

One of the things that has surprised us the most has been the architecture. The areas around the Colaba and Fort districts are packed with loads of amazing old buildings including Victorian colonial houses, art deco apartments and huge gothic mansions. Unfortunately most of them are in a state of disrepair and slowly crumbling away.

One of the grandest buildings in town is Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, or to call it by its easier to remember old colonial name, Victoria.

The station dates from 1887 but recently had a staring role in the film Slumdog Millionaire.

In total we've had 5 nights in Mumbai but we haven't really done that much sight seeing. Although we did make a point of going to see the Gateway to India.

We've mainly spent our time just wandering aimlessly about, enjoying being in the big city and soaking up the cafe culture. I love Indian food more than most people but it's been quite nice to have some international food after eating virtually only curry for the last two months. You can get western food in most towns but the Indian interpretation is usually way off the mark so you're better off sticking to the extremely tasty local stuff. However; there's loads of proper western cafes and restaurants here (and Mc Donalds!) so we have indulged a little in some blander food from back home!

Last year Mumbai became the focus of the world when the 26/11 terrorist attacks occured at several locations across the city resulting in the deaths of nearly 200 people.

The city is still recovering from the attacks. The main part of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel is still closed (only the tower is open) for rebuilding and repairs. The hotel is home to the Harbour Bar 1933, the first licensed bar in the whole of India. On the day we visited the bar was re-opening for the first time since the attacks so we dropped in for a cocktail to pay our respects.

One of our favorite places to stop for a sneaky afternoon beer, Leopold Cafe, was also hit during the attacks.

The table we were given on our first visit there was right next to one of the bullet holes. If we had been there a year and five days earlier it wouldn't have been the best place to be seated.

Ahmedabad - really bad!

2009-11-30T09:20:00.000Z

The last time we were in Ahmedabad, a few days ago, a tuk-tuk driver asked Liz "What brings you to Ahmedabad?". Her rather blunt answer was "Nothing, we've been trying to avoid it!".

I think that statement pretty much sums up all you need to know about the unbelievably hectic and smoggy state capital of Gujarat, that some call the Manchester of the east. If I was a Mancunian I think I would campaign to put an end to such slanderous associations.

On our last visit we were only here for 7 hours whilst we waited for a train out of town but
this time we've had the misfortune of having to stay overnight.

The two most positive things we can think to say about Ahmedabad is that it has cheap internet access (Rs15 / 20p per hour) and is home to the House of MG hotel. Although the rooms at the House of MG are a bit outside of our budget we have made the most of their very nice restaurants.

I'm not a celebrity, but get me out of Ahmedabad! Next stop Mumbai / Bombay, the home of Bollywood.

Lions go grrrr in Gir

2009-11-28T18:30:00.005Z

We've had a great time in Gir and have been incredibly lucky with the wildlife. On our first trip out yesterday we were fortunate enough to see 14 lions and lionesses.

The one group included a very cute triplet of cubs who were only about 4 months old.

As well as the Asiatic lion the reserve is also home to lots of lion food including various types of deer and antelope.

After yesterdays lion frenzy we spent todays safari looking for leopards but unfortunately our luck ran out and the elusive big spotty cat remained unspotted! However to keep the spotted theme going we did see a couple of spotted owlets hiding in a tree.

Getting to Gir

2009-11-27T15:30:00.001Z

We're currently in Gir so that we can visit the Sasan Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, the last place on Earth where you can see the Asiatic lion in the wild.

The domain of the Asiatic lion used stretch from Greece in the Mediterranean, through the Middle East, all the way to the Bay of Bengal on the East coast of India. However; loss of habitat and hunting decimated the population so that by the end of the 1870's there were thought to be only 12 Asiatic lions left.

They probably would have been driven to extinction if it hadn't have been for the actions of the nawab of Junagadh, who in the early 1900's turned his hunting grounds into what is now Sasan Gir Wildlife Sanctuary. The numbers are slowly recovering and there are now estimated to be around 370 lions in the park.

It had taken a fair amount of effort to get here. We left Mount Abu at 9 o'clock yesterday morning, had a 1 hour taxi ride to the train station followed by a 4 hour train journey to Ahmedabad, the state capital of Gujarat. We then had a 7 hour wait before we could catch the overnight train to Veraval.

Veraval had the distinction of being the ugliest town we've had the misfortune to pass through since Lusaka in Zambia. It looked like it had just been on the receiving end of some huge industrial accident that had affected the whole town. . . plus it smelt of fish! We quickly made our escape in a taxi and headed an hour up the road to Gir.

When we arrived at our accommodation we discovered that the booking agency we'd used for the hotel, despite charging my credit card, hadn't actually made a reservation for us. So after more than 24 hours on the road we arrived to find we didn't have a room. After much faffing about we eventually managed to sort things out and get checked in so that we could unwind before we went out on our afternoon safari.

We're staying at a place called Gir Birding Lodge where we have a quaint little hut in the middle of a mango orchard on the edge of the reserve. There's no TV or traffic so other than the sounds of the wildlife it's incredibly quiet, calm and relaxing, something of a rare experience in India.

Nothing to do in Mount Abu!

2009-11-25T08:50:00.002Z

It's taken us two days of train travel, with a brief overnight stop back in Jodhpur, to get from our last destination Jaisalmer to Mount Abu.

Mount Abu is a Hill station on the southern edge of Rajasthan and is a popular holiday destination for people from the neighboring state of Gujarat. It's not a single mountain but a hilly plateau that rises 1.2km above the plains below. The town is centered on Nakki Lake where, if you're swept up in the romantic mood of the place, you can take a pedalo out onto the dirty water.

The town is a strange place and has the feel of a dilapidated seaside town, even down to the penny arcades and greasy spoon cafes! Although there must be hundreds of hotels here there isn't actually much to see and do.

We weren't expecting much from the town of Mount Abu, but you know you're in trouble when your guide book tells you that the highlight of town is Toad Rock, unsurprisingly a lump of rock that is shaped like a toad! If you ask me they only got the name half right, not very much like a toad but 100% rock.

Maybe we weren't standing quite in the right place or squinting hard enough.

Although there's not much to do in town they do have 8% larger which we found highly entertaining when we had a sun downer overlooking the town at Jaipur House Hotel.

The reason why we've come to Mount Abu is to visit the Jain Dilwara Temples which are located a few miles from town. The temples, the oldest of which dates from 1031, are famous for their stunning use of detailed marble carvings. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures but there are a few on line here.

The carvings in the temple are so detailed as, according to legend, the sculptors were paid by the amount of dust they produced encouraging more intricate carving. On that theory I should be a millionaire with the amount of dust the last lot of tenants have just left in my old house.

Jainism is one of the oldest religions in India and was thought to be developed some time around the 9th century BC. One of the central principles of Jainism is ahimsa, nonviolence in thought and deed towards any living thing. The more devout sweep the floor before their feet with a brush as they walk to avoid stepping on an creatures and have a piece of cloth tied over the nose and mouth to prevent accidentally inhaling any insects.

Bye bye Paul & Sarah

2009-11-19T17:43:00.000Z

In the desert with Mr Desert

2009-11-18T23:25:00.001Z

Jaisalmer lies at the edge of the Great Thar Desert and one of the most popular activities is to go on a Camel safari. When Liz was last in India she did a bum numbing, thigh burning, three day trek. In light of the pain that this caused she advised a much shorter half day trip this time.

We booked our trip with Sahara Travels run by Mr Desert (real name Mr Bissa), who runs a tour company and is also a bit of a local celebrity.

We started our trip by taking a jeep into the desert where we were given brief operating instructions before heading out into the dunes.

Steering was fairly simple but I appeared to have been lumbered with a very greedy camel who could barely pass a piece of scrub without stopping to eat it. He appeared to have a severe case of the munchies!

He was also appeared to be affected by a heavy cold as he kept throwing his head back and blowing thick gooey camel snot into the air. This however paled into insignificance when Liz's camel managed to blow a maggot out of its nose!!!

After two hours on camel back we dismounted to explore the sand dunes on foot as the sun set.

Whilst dinner under the stars was being prepared we gathered around the camp fire to hear the story of how Mr Bissa became Mr Desert, the poster boy of Rajasthan, the face of Jaisalmer Cigarettes and the star of a Coca Cola advert.

Once the sun set we we treated to a fantastic curry under an incredibly starry sky. A great end to a the day before we jumped back into the jeep and headed back to our hotel.

Some of the people on the trip where doing an overnight stay sleeping out under the stars. It sounds very romantic and great fun but when we left at half nine in the evening it was bitterly cold and they only had blankets for protection. Some of the people appeared to be quite horrified when they found out that they weren't sleeping on a bed in a tent! As if they weren't worried enough, just as we were leaving one of them had their bag stolen by a wild dog who was after the biscuits that were inside it.

Jaisalmer - the golden city

2009-11-17T22:52:00.003Z

After pink and blue, our final coloured stop in Rajasthan is the golden sandstone city of Jaisalmer.

The town grew to prominence as an important link on the overland camel train routes between India and the Middle East. The wealth that this generated enabled the town's merchants to build some grand, elaborately carved havelis.

The town is dominated by the massive sandstone Jaisalmer Fort which looks like a giant sand castle sat on a hill in the middle of the city.

Inside the fort, which dates from the 12th century, it's a maze of narrow twisting streets full of the usual Indian hustle, bustle, bazaars, temples and cows.

I think we've seen enough forts now after the last few weeks!

Jodhpur to Jaisalmer

2009-11-17T08:51:00.000Z

Last night we caught the overnight sleeper train from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, giving Paul and Sarah their first taste of sleeping on the Indian rail network.

We were traveling in the three tier A/C sleeper car which we appeared to be sharing with half of the Indian Army.

We had a nice welcome when we arrived at Jaisalmer Station in the very early hours of this morning. A cow was stood in the middle of the arrivals hall, looking very pleased with itself, having just finished a big poo all over the floor.

Jodhpur - the blue city

2009-11-16T22:25:00.003Z

We're working our way through the coloured cities of Rajasthan. After the pink city of Jaipur we're now in the blue city of Jodhpur, home of the flappy thighed horse riding trouser.

The old town of Jodhpur is probably the muckiest place we've stayed in a long time (since Varanasi). The sides of the street run with open sewers and effluent whilst the roads themselves are overrun with cows and goats. Outside of our hotel felt (and smelt) more like a farm than a city of nearly a million people!

Normally we can use our hotel as a place to get a bit of peace and quiet from the chaos of the streets outside. However this proved quite difficult at the Jee Ri Haveli where we were staying. The owner and his son where what would best be described as a little over attentive and wouldn't give you a seconds peace. To say it was a little wearing would be somewhat of an understatement.

Thankfully Paul and Sarah where staying on the outskirts of town at the much more relaxing Ajit Bhawan where they had a luxury tent!

We've seen quite a lot of forts and palaces since we arrived in India but we think that Meherangarh is probably the best. The fort sits overlooking the town on top of a 125m hill.

The fort and the views of the city from the battlements where really spectacular.

In Hindu society people are divided into one of four castes which are used to denote your social standing. The highest of the Hindu castes is the Brahmin which is for priests and scholars. In Jodhpur the Brahmins painted their houses blue and from the fort walls it's easy to see how the city got its nickname.

Just down the hill from the fort is Jaswant Thada, a white marble cenotaph that was built in 1899 for the Maharaja Jaswant Singh II.

The marble walls were so thin that on the inside of the building you could see the sun light glowing through from the outside.

We had planned to end our day in Jodhpur with a sundowner at Umaid Bhawan Palace, the home of a Maharaja that is now also a hotel and restaurant. What we didn't know before we arrived was that you needed the wallet of a Maharaja to to be able to afford to visit the bar. There was a cover charge of 3,000 rupees (about £40) per person, which we thought was a bit steep for a few gin and tonics so we headed back to the equally pleasant surroundings of Paul and Sarah's flashy hotel.

Zip-wallah

2009-11-15T09:53:00.000Z

Ever since my bag got broken into and robbed in South Africa I've been unable to lock it as the zips were hacked off by the thieving toe-rag scumbags. Thanks to the Zip-wallah who was plying his trade on the platform at Jaipur station it's now fully repaired and good as new.

You can't get that service at New Street!

Jaipur - the pink city

2009-11-14T23:40:00.000Z

Jaipur is sometimes referred to as the pink city. In 1876 every building was painted pink, a colour that represents hospitality, for the visit of the Prince of Wales (who would later become King Edward VII). The tradition continues today with the all of the buildings in the old city being painted pink.

The most famous sight in Jaipur is probably Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, which dates from 1799.

The practice of purdah, keeping women veiled and in seclusion, was and still is a custom among some conservative Rajputs. The Palace of the Winds acted like a big burka and allowed the women of the royal court to watch the action in the city street below without having the lustful eyes of any men fall on them. I may modify our balcony at the flat in Birmingham in a similar manner when we get home.

Hawa Mahal is located in the heart of the walled Old City and is surrounded by a chaotic and bustling bazaar. The bazaar is divided into quarters each specialising in a different trade such as saris, gems, pots, shoes and even bangles.

In the middle of the Old City lies the City Palace where the current maharaja lives.

The the highlight of the palace was Pitam Niwas Chowk, a courtyard which featured four ornamental gates that represent spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Just over the road from the palace is Jantar Mantar, built in 1728 by the founder of Jaipur, Maharaja Jai Singh II.

Although it looks like a modern art sculpture garden on acid it is infact an observatory used for tracking various celestial objects and assisting in the bunkum that is astrology.

There's loads of different types of astronomical instruments including the Worlds biggest sundial.

With a height of 27m it can be used to measure time intervals as small as 2 seconds.

We also made a trip out to Amber, a massive walled city 11km from Jaipur that was the ancient capital before Jaipur was founded. At the center of the city is the Amber Fort which dates from 1592.

Although the trip around Amber was fairly interesting the best thing was that the effects of the cyclone had passed and the sun came out!

India isn't reknown for it's night life and we discovered why after a visit to Reds, supposedly the most happening bar in town. The music on the evening we visited consisted entirely of pan pipe cover versions of lame 80's power ballads!

We followed the excitement of Reds with a visit to the Raj Mandir Cinema to catch a Bollywood movie. We saw a film called Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahni which proved quite hard to follow as it was entirely in Hindi! We had a great time though as the cinema experience is a lot more interactive than back home. The atmosphere was crazy. There was so much shouting, cheering and jeering it was more like being at a football match.

Cyclones and Tigers

2009-11-13T06:29:00.003Z

Since Paul and Sarah arrived in India the weather has been slowly deteriorating, getting cloudier, grayer, colder and on Thursday, very wet. We originally thought that they had brought the bad weather with them from England. However; yesterday we discovered from the front page of a local newspaper that we were in fact feeling the effects from cyclone Phyan which was causing chaos out in the Arabian Sea.

We'd come to Ranthambore to visit the national park in order to try and spot some tigers in the wild. Up until the 1970's the park was the Maharajas' hunting ground but now serves as a wildlife reserve for the last few remaining tigers in Rajasthan (41 at the time of our visit).

Safaris into the park are conducted in what the locals call a "canter". This turned out to be an open sided 20 seat van with a sheet metal roof. We discovered quite early on that this probably isn't the best sort of vehicle to go out in a cyclone in. To say we got a bit cold and wet would be something of an understatement.

It was all worth while in the end though when we managed to see some wild tigers, one of which at fairly close quarters. However; the cyclone conditions with black skys and driving rain made getting any decent pictures somewhat challenging!

The park also contains lots of other animals including leopards, sloth bears, monkeys, antelope and dear too.

Although the bad weather was a little annoying it was nowhere near as annoying as the staff at Hotel Anurag Resort where we stayed. Apart from the appaling service they were possibly the most incompetent staff we've encountered since the lovely folks at Sepilok Jungle Resort. They tried to overcharge our hotel bill by over 50% for food that we didn't have and they overcharged Paul and Sarah by 25% for a superior room when they put them in a standard one.

Around Agra

2009-11-11T04:08:00.003Z

Yesterday, whilst we were still in Agra we also paid a visit to Agra Fort, a Mughal castle from the 16th century. It was a fairly interesting diversion after the excitement of the Taj Mahal.

Today we hired a car and driver for the day to take us to Bharatpur where we would get the train to our next destination, Ranthambore.

On the way we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri which was briefly the Mughal capital between 1571 and 1585. The town was abandoned 14 years after construction started due to the city being built in an area affected by drought.

The highlight of the abandoned city was the Jama Masjid mosque which contained the white marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti.

The building had some incredibly elaborately carved marble screen windows which childless women tie thread to in the hope of getting a son. Liz kept her string well away from the windows.

To enter the tomb you had to cover your head. For the men this meant that you had to wear a small plastic hat that looked a little bit like something that chicken in a basket would be served in at a Harvester pub.

Before we hopped on the train at Bharatpur we also paid a flying visit to the Keoladeo Ghana National Park where we were whisked around in a couple of bicycle-rickshaws.

The park is supposed to be an excellent place for bird watching as it is a stop off place for migratory birds. Unfortunately the last monsoon was a little dry in Rajasthan so there wasn't much water in the lakes which meant the birds where a little thin on the ground. We saw a spattering of parakeets, kingfishers and a couple of Saras cranes. The lack of water made spotting the mammals a little easier and we were lucky enough to also see a jungle cat and a pack of Jackals.

Taj Mahal

2009-11-10T07:44:00.004Z

The Taj Mahal on the western bank of the Yamuna River in Agra is one of the most well known and iconic buildings in the world.

It was built by Emperor Saha Jahan as a mausoleum for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631 whist giving birth to their 14th child. Some 20,000 people were involved in the construction, which was started in 1631 but took 22 years to complete.

The outside of the building is stunning and doesn't quite look real when seen for the first time. Thanks to some renovation work and a pollution exclusion zone it still looks brand new despite being nearly 400 years old and sat at the heart of a big industrial city. The white marble glows and is inlayed with flowers and verses from the Quran.

The inside doesn't quite live up to the splendor of the outside, mainly because it's so dark you can't see! Only a tiny amount of light comes in through the carved marble screen windows and this is supplemented by what appears to be a single 40 watt light bulb. After entering from the blinding light outside it's impossible to see anything and you spend most of your time stumbling about bumping into the hundreds of other similarly impaired visitors.

If you want to get up close and explore the building you have to take your shoes off or wear the natty shoe covers that are provided.

The Taj Mahal is probably the busiest tourist attraction we've been to on our trip, the crowds were huge and stopped it being the calm and relaxing experience that you might imagine it would be. It's a little bit of a shame really because it's one of those buildings that it's nice to just sit on a bench and look at.

Since we arrived in India we've been continually pestered by people to have our photos taken with them. We experienced it a little in other parts of Asia but in India it happens all the time. Every where we go people stop and ask us to pose in pictures with them as if we are some sort of celebrity. It's truly strange and at first slightly unnerving. At the Taj it was just ridiculous, barely a minute would pass without someone coming up to us and requesting one, some or all of us pose for a picture.

At one point Liz had a new born baby thrust onto her (which she appeared to thoroughly enjoy) so that the parents could get a snap.

In contrast to the beauty of the Taj Mahal, Agra is fairly ugly, chaotic and seems to be a little lacking in visitor facilities despite having India's biggest tourist draw. The Taj Ganj district that surrounds the Taj Mahal is a real higgledy piggledy mess crammed full of wonky buildings, animals, effluent, muck and rubbish.

Just to add to the fun are the incredibly persistent and annoying touts, vendors, guides, rickshaw drivers and chai-wallahs who don't give you a seconds peace.

Despite the crowds, hassle and muck of Agra it still makes a visit for the Taj Mahal well worth while.

Hello Paul & Sarah

2009-11-09T07:03:00.000Z

Our next, and probably final, visitors from back home have just joined us. Say hello to Paul & Sarah . . .

It's great to see some friends from back home but the only problem is that they appear to have brought the dreadful British weather with them. We've had cloudy skies and rain since they arrived. Where has the sun gone?

Udaipur

2009-11-08T10:01:00.019Z

We had a very close escape on Wednesday when we got on the wrong overnight train at Ajmer station. Luckily we realised just before it pulled out and sent us 100 miles in the opposite direction of our next destination, Udaipur.

Rather confusingly, being as there are no canals here, Udaipur is referred to in our guidebook as the Venice of the East - did you know that Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice ;-). The town is centred upon Lake Pichola, which contains Udaipur's most famous landmark, the Lake Palace.

The palace, which was built in 1754 under Maharaja Jagat Singh II, looks like it is floating on the lake but actually completely engulfs Jagniwas Island upon which it is built. Bond fans may recognise the Lake Palace from its staring role in Octopussy where it out acted Roger Moore. Unfortunately we weren't able to visit the palace as it is now the rather exclusive Lake Palace Hotel. Unless you're staying, the rooms start at $450 a night so we're not, the only way you can visit is by booking into their very expensive restaurant, which we also can't afford! We instead had to make do with the view from the shore.

The second main attraction in town is the City Palace which is situated right on the lake side overlooking the Lake Palace.

Construction of the City Palace was started in the 1500's and was added to over the years by various maharajas.

Just outside the City Palace is the Jagdish temple.

The carving on the temple is incredibly detailed and looks as though it was done yesterday despite the temple being built in 1651.

We've also visited Bagore-ki-Haveli, a grand 18th century house built by a former Indian prime minister.

The house has 138 rooms, some of which have been turned into various bizare exhibition spaces. This included some very low quality contemporary art and several rooms packed with turbans, including the worlds largest.

Apparently, the colour and the way you tie your turban can indicate your religion, caste, social status or job. There's even a specific turban of the ground nut vendor.

The strangest exhibition was a room that featured world famous monuments that had been, very badly, carved out of polystyrene. The Eiffel Tower was strangely misshapen and the Statue of Liberty looked like she was holding a giant croissant aloft.

On Friday we hired a car and driver for a few hours to visit a couple of sights that are located further out from the centre of town. The first stop was at Saheliyon-ki-Bari, otherwise known as the Garden of the Maids of Honour.

As well as the gardens and some fountains it also featured the worlds crapest museum. Among the many scintilating displays were some rocks on a plate, three five inch high plastic dinosaurs and a prawn in formaldahyde.

We then made our way out to Sajjan Garh monsoon palace which is located in the Aravalli hills overlooking the town.

We've really enjoyed our time in Udaipur. It's a nice town with some great sights (excluding the crumby museum displays).

There's also lots of really nice roof top restaurants where, after the vegetarianism that was enforced by Pushkar, we've been enjoying copious amounts of meat, eggs and just one or two beers!

More Pushkar

2009-11-03T11:58:00.000Z

We've had a great time in Pushkar as there has been loads to see, at times it's been quite an assault on the senses. In addition to the mad mustaches, dancing and decorated camels, we've also seen lots of other strange, unusual and weird things.

We've seen some dancing monkeys, one of which was wearing a rather nice dress. However, I think the strangest animals we've seen have been the "mutant" cows which are paraded around town. This one particular beastie had 6 legs, with the extra pair sprouting out of the back of its neck!

In addition to all the domesticated and tame beats we've also had a few wild animal encounters. Liz nearly got attacked by some monkeys when she stood between them and their bananas and I've had my biscuits pinched by a chipmunk!!!

Because of the huge numbers of people that come to Pushkar for the camel fair it also attracts a lot of side show entertainment that will try and relive you of your money. We've seen snake charmers, magicians, con men, mystics, small children balancing on high wires and kids painted blue begging in the street.

There's also loads of sadhu's wndering about looking to give blessings or obtain alms.

Mixed in amongst all this is a fair spattering of even more strangely dressed people . . .

To finish, here's a camel in a hat . . .

Incredible India

2009-11-03T10:36:00.004Z

The current tag line for selling holidays in India is "Incredible India".

Here's what the glossy adds don't show you!

365 Days on the road!

2009-11-02T09:14:00.003Z

We left the UK exactly one year ago today. We've just booked our tickets home and shall be returning to (a hopefully very) sunny Birmingham on the 31/01/2010, so for those who are counting we've got 90 days to go.

p.s. Happy birthday Erin!

Mustaches and turbans

2009-10-30T12:12:00.001Z

Yesterday we headed out to see the turban tying and mustache growing competitions at the Pushkar Camel Fair. It was one of the more unusual days out that we've had.

First up was the turban tying, where hapless westerners attempted to don the traditional Rajasthani head gear.

The competition was eventually won by Harold Bishop.

Then came the main event, even the security were getting in on the act!

With the crowd at fever pitch the mustachioed masters of Rajasthan entered the judging tent, making some last minute adjustments to their facial follicle furniture.

Each contender then took to the floor to display his wears (unfortunately there were no ladies entering this year).

Some how this guy won third place . . .

. . . more of a beard if you ask me. If it had been an Osama Bin Laden look-alike competition I could understand the high placing. The eventual winner was a Mr J.S. Chounan, whose mustache was unbelievably long.

He was a bit of a dark horse as he entered the arena with his prize winning growth tightly furled to the sides of his face.

However, when it was uncoiled it stretched about 10ft across the tent.

Oh yeah . . . we saw some more camels too.

Pushkar camel fair

2009-10-29T08:23:00.003Z

We've come to Pushkar to visit the camel fair, an 8 day extravaganza of everything dromedary. The fair features some 50,000 camels and cattle and draws a crowd of about 200,000 people during the festivities.

As well as a heck of a lot of camel trading going on there's also camel racing, camel decoration and camel dancing, which was a bit rubbish (it even made Quentin Wilson's efforts on Strictly look like Fred Astaire).

Ever wondered what a camel would look like in eyeliner? Well wonder no more.

The town of Pushkar is located on the edge of the Great Thar Desert in the middle of the north east Indian state of Rajasthan. The town is centered on the Pushkar lake and is an important pilgrimage site for Hindus. Unfortunately, this year, there's no water in the holy lake as they have drained it to do some work.

Because of the holiness of the town there are a lot of rules and restrictions including; no meat, eggs, alcohol or public displays of affection (kissing is a big no no). Although we are having to endure enforced vegetarianism for the duration of our stay (the cheese tika curries are very good) we have managed to track down a couple of places where you can get a clandestine beer served from under the counter.

It's not all about camel based action in Pushkar, today we made the hike up the 750ft hill that overlooks the town to see the Savitri temple and to check out the views.

Not exactly sure what this penguin was doing up there drinking coke.

Tomorrow we have the excitement of a turban tying competition followed by the mustache competition . . . bring it on!

New Delhi

2009-10-24T22:31:00.001+01:00

Although our hotel is in Old Delhi the centre of New Delhi is only a few minutes away on the tube. New Delhi is a little less cramped and and chaotic than where we are staying. We've even managed to find some nice (but very expensive) bars and restaurants in the area around Connaught Place where we managed to win some napkin holders in a jigsaw competition!!!

New Delhi also has a few sites worth a visit. Our particular favorite was a Mughal funery complex known as Humayun's Tomb. It was a little bit like the Taj Mahal but in red.

We also visited the Gandhi Smriti which is the former home of the Mahatma Gandhi and also where he was assassinated on the 30th January 1948.

It's quite a poignant spot with Gandhi's last footsteps marked on the path ending at the Martyr's column, the spot where he died.

We also paid a visit to India Gate which commemorates the 90,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives during the 1st World War.

Old Delhi

2009-10-24T21:59:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday we made our way back down from the Himalaya by taxi and we now have conclusive evidence that not all Indian taxi drivers are dangerous psychopathic head cases with a death wish. On the two and a half hour drive down from McLeod Ganj back to Pathankot we never once feared for our lives, which is a first on the roads of India. This enabled us to get a good nights sleep on the overnight train to Delhi.

The best way to describe Delhi would be dirty and chaotic, particularly Old Delhi where our hotel is. We're staying at a place called Tara Palace which is one of the nicer hotels we've stayed in since we arrived in India. The rooms are really nice and clean but ours has no windows on the outside world. This would normally be a problem but being as it saves us a having to look at the mess and chaos outside it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The area where our hotel is, Chandi Chowk, is incredibly chaotic and crammed full of lots of
bazaars and markets. On our first day here had a very strange encounter with a gang of rather unconvincing sari clad transvestites demanding menaces from the local chemists!

The biggest tourist attraction in Delhi is probably the Red Fort, which is only a stones throw away from our hotel.

The fort was completed in 1648 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and was also used as the headquarters of the British army during the days of the empire.

We were joined on our trip around the fort by Chip and Dale.

The other big attraction of Old Delhi is the Jama Masjid mosque which was built in 1658.

Although the mosque was fairly interesting in itself, the best thing about the visit was the ridiculous outfit they made Liz ware . . .

McLeod Ganj

2009-10-20T05:12:00.005+01:00

When we were in Nepal we were really keen to head over the boarder into Tibet. However, due to the Chinese occupation, entry and travel with Tibet are tightly controlled and can only be done if you join an organised tour. This made it a little too expensive for our backpacker budget. McLeod Ganj in the Himchal Pradesh district of northern India is probably as Tibetan as you can get without actually going there.

Following the 1959 Chinese invasion a quarter of a million Tibetan refuges headed over the boarder and settled in India. McLeod Ganj is the centre of Tibetan culture in India as it was here that the Dalai Lama was granted asylum and is also where the Tibetan government now reside in exile.

It took us two days to get here from Amritsar and the journey here was a bit trying to say the least. The first leg on Friday, a train journey from Amritsar to Pathankot, wasn't too bad. The following day we took the narrow guage Kangra "toy train" which took us back up into the Himalaya and was supposed to take two and a half hours. It ended up taking over six. To make matters worse it was unreserved seating, which in India, means they can squash as many people into the carriages as possible. It was so busy that people were bursting out of the doors, hanging on the outside of the train and standing on the buffers wedged between the carriages.

It wasn't the most comfortable 6 hours we've spent.

When we eventually got off the train at Kangra it was dark and there was no transport around as it was Diwali. We eventually found a tuk-tuk which we used to drive us around to find a taxi. As per normal, the taxi driver turned out to be a bit of a lunatic and had us fearing for our lives for the 45 minute journey on the mountain roads. When we finally arrived in McLeod Ganj the Dewali celebriations were in full swing and we were greeted with the unusual sight of saffron clad monks throwing fireworks about!

Because of the spiritual link of the Dalai Lama McLeod Ganj attracts a lot of grubby looking hippies. This in turn attacts a lot of new age nonsense such as reiki, tarot card reading, palmistry, regression and resonance therapy (whatever the hell that is). In spite of all this daftness it's still a really nice place to spend a few days. The town has a certain wonky charm about it with lots of guesthouses, hotels and restaurants clinging to the sides of the mountains.

There's also some fantastic mountain scenery around the valley

The main sight at McLeod Ganj is the Tsuglagkhang temple complex where the Dalai Lama resides.

We didn't get to see the Dalai Lama as he was said to be a bit busy fighting for the freedom of Tibet from 50 years of enforced Chinese occupation. Some people seem to have an excuse for everything!

The Ministry of Silly Walks

2009-10-14T11:48:00.002+01:00

Other than the Golden Temple, the other main reason for us coming to Amritsar was to enable us to visit the town of Attari where India has a border with Pakistan. Every evening at sunset there's a border closing ceremony which has to be seen to be believed.

The entertainment starts at about half four in the afternoon when a couple of thousand people file into the grandstands on either side of the gate at the boarder frontier.

There then follows an hours worth of frenzied flag waving, music, dancing, chanting and shouting where the two countries try and out do each other on the noise front.

It was almost as angry as the crowd at a Wolves v Albion football match. During all of this people out of the crowd queue up to take it in turns to run giant Indian flags to and from the border gates as if in some sort of relay race.

To help whip things up even further the compare gets on the mike and leads the crowd in a chant of "Hindustan zindabad" (long live Hindustan).

After about an hour the main event starts with the arrival of the border guards dressed in their rather impressive head gear.

There then follows a half hour period where the border forces of each country march up and down in front of their own supporters and try to out stomp and out shout the opposition guards. This results in some fantastic moves that are like a cross between a goose step and something from Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks sketch. In some cases the kicking is so high that the guards appear to be in danger of knocking their own teeth in.

Once the soldiers on each side are suitably psyched up the border gates are briefly opened and the flags of the two countries lowerd. By this time we really struggled to see the action because the crowd in front of us had been whipped up into such a frenzy. The flags are then marched back to the guardrooms and the border re-closed.

We're not really sure what all this nationalistic ranting does for relations between the two countries but it was certainly an entertaining, if not slightly surreal, afternoon out.

The Golden Temple at Amritsar

2009-10-13T10:54:00.002+01:00

On Monday we left Varanasi and made the 24 hour train journey to Amritsar. The journey was surprisingly good. We had a berth in the 2 tier sleeper carriage and it turned out to be far nicer than any of the Indian hotels we've so far stayed in. We had fairly comfy beds, sheets, towels and air con - things that were lacking in the rubbishy hotels so far. The train also served some great food including some pakoras that were almost as good as Noreen's nibbles.

Apart from when we were in Burma/Myanmar, the sleeper trains we've used have been a great way to get about. It's always quite an interesting experience to wake up in a new city. In The Great Railway Bazaar Paul Theroux says "The sleeping car combines the best features of a cupboard with forward movement."

The main reason we've come to Amritsar is to see the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine.

The original copy of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept in the temple at the middle of the pond. The current temple dates from 1764 with the gold roof, which uses 3/4 of a ton of gold, being added in the early 1800's.

It was also noticeable that the atmosphere at the Golden Temple was really jolly, sometimes the big religious sites can be a bit stuffy.

Varanasi (Benares)

2009-10-11T10:01:00.005+01:00

Varanasi is one of the holiest places in India. The elderly come here to die, it's a little bit like Torquay ;-), as they believe that dying in the sacred city will release you from the continual cycle of rebirth.

Most of the action in Varanasi is centered around the ghats, a 7km long stretch of steps that lead down the western bank of River Ganges to the water. Most of the 80 or so ghats are used for bathing where people come to perform puja, make offerings, prayers and to wash away their sins.

There are also a couple of burning ghats where public cremations take place. The dead, which are wrapped in a cloth, are first carried through the old city to the river on a bamboo stretcher. They are then bathed in the river before being cremated on a pyre of burning logs. About 150 bodies are burnt every day at Manikarnika Ghat.

We quite like to get involved with the local customs but there was no way we were going to get in the Ganges for a bit of a splash around. The following is a quote from the Lonely Planet India book - "The Ganges River is so heavily polluted at Varanasi that the water is septic - no dissolved oxygen exists. The statistics get worse. Samples from the river show the water has 1.5 million faecal coliform bacteria per 100ml of water. In water that is safe for bathing this figure should be less than 500!". No wonder the Ganges river dolphin is blind.

I'm no expert but I think that the 30 or so sewers that discharge directly into to river from the city might be having a slight impact. This is one of the strange juxtapositions that we've found so far in India. This is one of the most sacred places in the country and yet it is, quite literally, covered in crap.

A lot of laundry is also done in the river and considering the many "ingredients" and the colour of the water we're constantly amazed at how clean looking it is by the time the laundry-wallahs have finished with it.

Every evening the ganga aarti ceremony takes place on the banks of the river. We didn't quite undertand what was going on (any explanations would be most welcome) but it involved lots of fire being waved around.

One of the more unusual things we've seen on a daily basis has been this fella . . .

His job is to collect the cow and buffalo dung from the ghats, reform it with his hands and then dry it out in the sun. The patties of dung can then be used for fuel for fires and stoves. Give this guy a thought next time you're bitching about how shitty your job is.

Indian culture shock

2009-10-09T21:59:00.001+01:00

The first thing that strikes you when you cross the boarder into India is the mess. There is an unbelievable amount of litter in the streets which is just left to fester at the side of the road or piled up until it is nosed through by one of the many livestock that are ambling about. Even in the cities there's huge amounts of animals wandering about the streets: cows, water buffalo, goats and dogs, all intermingling with the pedestrians and vehicles. It makes for some very unusual traffic jams.

The other thing that is quite surprising is some of the "fairly intimate" things you see going on at the sides of the road. Such as people lathered up with soap as they have a bath in the trough under a water pump on the pavement. Stranger still are the countless people we've seen going to the toilet at the sides of the road or railway track in full view of the passers-by . . . And we're not just talking about number ones here! It seems a little odd in a nation that is fairly conservative, most Bollywood films still don't show kissing and you won't see local couples holding hands, that such things go on in full public
view.

I think after being on the road for nearly a year we thought that we were immune to a bit of culture shock but India had proved us wrong.

Pokhara to Varanasi

2009-10-07T21:55:00.001+01:00

After the nightmare journey from Tatopani to Pokhara we were a little apprehensive about what our final big overland journey through Nepal would bring us . . . nausea, nightmares, serious injury or death all appeared to be on the menu.

The first leg of the journey was a 9 hour stint on a bus to the town of Sunauli on the boarder with India. Once again we had the misfortune to have a lunatic driver who seemed to be a little lacking in the cranium. This particular fella liked to spend most of his time racing our 50 seat bus against the other traffic as if he were driving a maxed up Citroen Saxo through a Tamworth retail park. It wasn't quite as bad as the last journey but that's like saying having your foot cut off isn't as bad as having an arm removed - neither of them are particularly pleasant.

Because the traffic at the boarder is so bad the bus drops you off a couple of miles short of Sunauli. You then have to complete the remainder of the journey on a bicycle rickshaw. This was also a little nerve wracking as our wonky little bicycles didn't seem to offer much protection as we weaved in and out of the trucks.

We crossed over the boarder and struggled to find the Indian immigration office. Normally there's some sort of official looking building with flags and men in important looking uniforms. Here It turned out to be a small table at the side of the road staffed by a bloke in a grubby shirt.

Once over the boarder we then had a 3 hour taxi ride before we got to Gorakhpur where we were going to spend the night. At last it was a relief to finally have a sensible driver. Things went very well for the first hour until it got dark and we discovered that our taxi had no headlights. This made seeing the multitude of things that you find on the sides of an Indian road very difficult to spot, particularly when there's no street lighting and the traffic coming the other way is blinding you with their lights on full beam. This time we weren't as much worried for our own safety but more for the pedestrians, cyclists, rickshaw drivers, dogs and cows that wander aimlessly about. The last thing we want is to be lynched for knocking someone or their sacred cow over!

The fun continued when we eventually arrived at Hotel Bobina in Gorakhpur. It was more like Hotel Bobins. We only decided to stay there after the glowing review that it had in the India Lonely Planet guide book. It turned out to be the most awful place we've stayed in since the hovel of the Safari Inn at Dar es Salaam. Our room was terrible; dirty walls, filthy bathroom with no hot water and possibly the most evil looking toilet I've ever seen in a hotel.

We needed some dinner after being on the road since dawn but the only option was the hotel's own restaurant. We can't comment about how good or bad the food may have been because we couldn't get served. After being seated we waited 10 minutes for a menu but none came. By this time all the restaurant staff had disappeared so we asked at reception for some service. After another 5 minutes a waiter appeared so I again asked for a menu. The guy completely blanked me and walked past. We ended up buying dinner from the shop over the road and having a pick-nik in our filthy room instead!

Thank god when we eventually got on the train this morning. Hopefully the worst of the long distance, nightmare inducing road travel is behind us now that we are in India. One of the legacy's of the days of the British Empire is the extensive rail network that connects the country. Indian railways is the worlds second largest employer and has a staff of 1.6 million with a staggering 14 million passengers every day.

Pokhara part 2

2009-10-05T19:01:00.000+01:00

We returned to Pokhara after our Himalaya trek and have spent a couple of days recovering from aching muscles and also the psychological damage from the jeep ride back. We're staying at a place called Hotel Sakura, where for the first time in over 2 months we have a TV in our room . . . oh the glory of the magic box! Best of all we have MTV and have been able to listen to some new music for the first time in 11 months (we're liking the new Muse and Calvin Harris stuff!).

We were able to finally tear ourselves away from the goggle box today to make a visit to the World Peace Pagoda which is situated on a hill overlooking the lake and the town.

On a clear day the views over the Himalaya are stunning and you can see Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Annapurna, the 7th, 8th and 10th highest mountains in the World.

Unfortunately that was a photo of a post card as we were instead treated to a blanket of cloud.

Here's another post card shot showing the stunning view at sunrise over the lake, which was also obscured by cloud during our time here.

Akthough we didn't get the killer view from the Peace Pagoda we did see some rather interesting insects, including this mutant grass hopper that was about 6 inches long and a rather dandy looking dragonfly

Tomorrow we leave Nepal and head over the boarder to India. We'll be really sad to leave as Nepal, as along with Laos and Egypt, it has probably been one of our favorite places so far. There has been lots of good stuff to see and do, everything is really cheap and the people are very friendly.

We're just off for dinner at the Everest Stake House to have our last big chunk of cow before we hit the beef free Hindu country of India.

Back to Pokhara

2009-10-02T17:54:00.004+01:00

The best thing about Tatopani is the view you get of Machapuchare down the valley.

Tatopani in Nepali means hot water and the town gets its name from the hot springs that flow out at the valley floor. We thought it might be a nice place to sooth the aches and pains, but like the rest of Tatopani, the springs weren't very nice.

I had intended to leave Liz in Tatopani for for a couple of days whilst I completed an additional trek to make the 2km vertical climb up Poon Hill. However; Tatopani was too horrible a place to leave her stranded on her own so we instead decided to head back to Pokhara.

There are three ways out, a two/three day walk, 8 hours on a local bus or 5 hours in a jeep. We took the jeep option and made our way out in a mighty Mahindra 4x4.

We've had the misfortune to experience some incredibly bad driving since we started our trip; me on a moped in Laos, Vietnamese death wish bus drivers, the Thai taxi driver who thought he was in a video game, the senile Egyptian who nearly killed us in a head on collision and the lunatic Bedouin who drove us around Wadi Rum are just a handful of the many that spring to mind. However; they all pail into insignificance compared to the muppet who drove us back from our trek.

The road that leads from Tatopani, out of the Himalaya to the town of Beni would have my vote in the most dangerous roads in the world competition. It mainly consisted of a mud, rock and gravel pot holed track cut into the sides of the mountains that was barely wide enough for a vehicle. Along most of the route the side road was crumbling away into valley, covered with land slides or obstructed with boulders that had fallen from above.

As if the road wasn't bad enough we had to contend with a driver who appeared to have no concept of danger. We knew we where in trouble when within 2 minutes of setting off we skidded in some gravel and nearly went off the road into the river about 20 meters below. God knows how but we were only involved in 1 accident when we skidded into a motorbike coming the other way. Thankfully both the rider and passenger where ok. We nearly had several other incidents including hitting a herd of cows, hitting some women carrying children and a hitting a donkey.

Once we got back onto proper tarmac roads we thought things would improve but it just enabled our demented driver to go even faster. The only time he slowed down was when he stopped the car to have some sort mentalist seizure at the side of the road!!!

I have never been so terrified in all my life.

The Jomsom Trek - Day 3

2009-10-01T20:20:00.000+01:00

We woke up in Kalopani and had some stunning views of the mountains when we had breakfast on the roof of our hotel.

We left the hotel at about 9am and immediately got stuck in a massive herd of mountain goat/sheep type beasties. It felt a little bit like we were about to be pushed into the knit-o-matic from Shaun the Sheep.

The scenery between Kalopani and Ghasa was spectacular and the highlight of the trek so far. The locals claim that this section of the trek is through the worlds deepest valley. Although the valley floor is at an altitude of about 2km, the mountains on either side (Dhaulagiri and Annapurna) are both over 8km high.

We had intended to stay the evening at Ghasa but arrived there a little early. Being as the going was good we decided to press on to Tatopani, which the guide we had downloaded from the internet told us was only another hour and a half away. It turned out to be more like 4 hours! By the time we reached Ghasa we had been walking for 8 hours solid and were more than a little sore.

The accommodation in Tatopani was pretty awful, not exactly the dreaded yak blanket on a dining room table, but not much better. The rooms at Trekker's Lodge had undecorated breeze block walls with a tin roof and leaky bathroom, it was a little like sleeping in a grotty shed.

Himalaya Porters

2009-10-01T04:58:00.000+01:00

Until very recently there were no roads in this part of the Himalaya and therefore everything had to be transported via yak, donkey or man. The life of a Himalayan porter doesn't look particularly easy . . .

The Jomsom Trek - Day 2

2009-09-30T20:33:00.002+01:00

For the second day of our trek the scenery changed from desert plains to pine forests as we descended further from Jomsom.

We didn't have quite so good views as yesterday as the cloud moved in later in the morning obscuring the higher peaks. We still got some good views of Nilgiri as we set out from Tukuche.

We covered another 12km but the route today proved a little more challenging than yesterday. We somehow found ourselves fording knee deep through several streams of Himalaya glacial melt water when we ended up a long way downstream of a bridge. Liz suggested that we just wade through them rather that back track to the bridge. It wasn't particularly easy wading across a rocky river bed with fast flowing water when you've got a 10kilo back pack on. It's normally me who comes up with the stupid ideas so I was pleased for it to be Liz for a change!

One of the stranger things we saw today was a man parading through the main street of the village of Kokhethanti with a freshly severed goats head with all sorts of entrails hanging out of it. I thought better than to take a picture for the blog! We also met a grubby child who we took pity on and gave some apples to. He looked thoroughly disappointed and demanded money or sweets instead. Cheeky little bleeder!

We ended the day in the tiny village of Kalopani where we stayed at the Kalopani Guest House. Once again it was a fantastic hotel for £4 without a yak blanket in sight. We also got visited by this little fellow, a hoopoe . . .

The reward that awaits after a hard days trek . . .

The Jomsom Trek - Day 1

2009-09-29T20:12:00.000+01:00

The 20 minute flight from Pokhara to Jomsom was probably the most thrilling plane ride we've ever taken. You fly up the Kali Gandaki river, skimming the valley floor and weaving beneath the peaks of the surrounding mountains.

The takeoff and landing were particularly hairy as both runways felt a little bit too short for comfort.

The Jomsom Trek follows one of the old trade routes between Nepal and Tibet. Because of this the route is peppered with lots of small villages that have lodges and shops. This means that you don't need to employ an army of porters to carry a tent, cooking gear and supplies for you.

After our early morning flight we walked out of Jomsom and headed 6km down the valley to Marpha to grab some brunch. The scenery en route was pretty stunning. We were hiking through high altitude desert with the snow capped 7km high peak of Tilicho looming overhead.

Marpha is the self proclaimed "delightful apple capital of Nepal".

It was a stunningly pretty little village that had the feel of one of those wonky old Cornish fishing villages.

From there it was another 6km to Tukuchi where we were planning to spend our first night. Having heard stories of having to sleep under a grubby yak blanket on a dining room table we weren't sure what the lodge accommodation would be like on route. However; we were pleasantly surprised by our first nights accommodation at the High Plains Inn at Tukuche. We had a lovely clean room, which was styled like a log cabin, en suite bathroom and a hot water shower for relieving those aching limbs. It was quite possibly the best hotel we've ever stayed in for £4 a night!

Pokhara part 1

2009-09-28T15:58:00.003+01:00

Pokhara is the gateway town to the central region of the Nepali Himalaya. The town is situated along the side of the Phewa Tal lake and is really picturesque. The are supposed to be some stunning views of the Himalayas from around Pokhara but because we're here at the tail end of the monsoon we only get the odd tantalising glimpse.

In between sorting out the last of our trekking gear, arranging permits and booking flights we've sampled a few of Pokhara's tourist attractions.

For some inexplicable reason the International Mountain Museum is located in a new building 5km from town in the middle of no where, a bit like Millenium Point in Birmingham. It was an interesting museum to visit but the displays looked a little like something that the local primary school had thrown together. The yeti display was unbelievably crap.

The yeti is the one on the right!

We also had a go at rowing an unfeasibly large boat around Phewa Tal lake. This proved quite hard work in the 30 degree heat and 80% humidity, not one of our better ideas!

Tomorrow we fly to Jomsom, a small village in the central Himalaya. From there we will do the Jomsom Trek, a week long hike which will bring us through part of the Annapurna range back towards Pokhara. We'll be keeping 'em peeled for any yetis.

Snakes on a Plane (Part 2) - Goats on a bus!

2009-09-25T21:43:00.000+01:00

In this part of the world you quite often see groups of people riding along on the tops of buses. Hanging on the roof bars as the buses pick their way through the city streets or hurtle along the dangerous mountain roads.

However we've still not got used to the fairly regular sight of half a flock of goats surfing on the roof of a speeding bus.

Kathmandu cough

2009-09-24T19:41:00.000+01:00

We both really like Kathmandu, after the reserved atmosphere that you get in the Middle East it's great to be somewhere that is a little more lively. However there are a couple of things we're not so keen on when in the Nepali capital.

The first is the traffic. In most of Asia the traffic is pretty bad and crossing the road on foot is fairly challenging. Here it just seems downright dangerous.

Vietnam always felt a little risky as the traffic never seemed to stop. The guide books recommended that you just step confidently into the road and stride across at a constant, steady pace (whatever you do don't suddenly stop or run). If you do this the millions of mopeds that are hurtling past will just swerve and swarm around you.

The traffic never seems to stop in Kathmandu either. However; the Vietnamese (or any other) method of crossing the road doesn't work as no one seems to be fully in control of their vehicle. Even if you think that you're safely across the road and out of harms way, some bicycle, moped or taxi (usually all three) will make some improbable out of control maneuver and end up running over your feet or hitting you with a wing mirror. On the narrow, pavement-less streets around Thamel you need to have eyes in the back and sides of your head to avoid the constant threat of a mangling.

The other thing we're not too keen on is the pollution. Kathmandu is situated in a bowl shaped valley which traps the fumes from the vehicles and makes the air thick, gray and soupy. We're now both afflicted with deep, hacking, Kathmandu cough which would give a 60 a day smoker a run for their money.

We've not had any time for sightseeing since we returned to Kathmandu from the Chitwan. We've wasted yet more countless hours at the Indian embassy attempting to collect our visas. When we've not been slowly aging at the embassy we've been trying to get kitted out for a Himalaya trek. The streets around Thamel are great for getting knock off climbing gear. I managed to pick up a pair of Salomon climbing boots that cost £89 at home for the princely price of 1500 Nepali Rupes, about 12 quid!

After months of pestering and badgering I've finally managed to cajole Liz into a bit of mountain hiking. She still steadfastly refuses to discuss the 16 day climb to Everest Base Camp but has agreed to something a bit less strenuous.

Please remain seated . . .

2009-09-24T13:25:00.002+01:00

Going wild in the Chitwan

2009-09-22T22:00:00.010+01:00

We've just arrived back in Kathmandu after 4 days out of town at the Royal Chitwan National Park. The park is the former hunting reserve for the nobles of Nepal and sits in the South of the country on the border with India.

The journey to and from Chitwan was a bit of a pain as it involved spending far too much time on a clapped out old bus on dangerous twisting roads.

The journey is only about 150km but took 7 hours to get there. However, the journey back managed to take 9 hours when we got stuck in a jam in the mountains when a bus went off the road. Although the delay was more than a little annoying we were just thankful that it wasn't our bus that had gone AWOL.

Unfortunately we've had to back track to Kathmandu to pick up our Indian visas. It was either that or wait in town for another week until they were ready. We decided to press on anyway even though Pokhara, our next destination, is annoyingly back they way we've just come.

We stayed at great hotel in the Chitwan called Hotel Parkside which is located in the village of Sauraha right on the edge of the park. The staff were really friendly and also acted as our guides when we went out into the reserve.

Whilst we were there we visited the Elephant Breeding Centre where they breed and train Indian elephants for use in the tourist industry. Although the big adults are tethered, the babies are free roaming and came over to sniff everyone out for biscuits.

They were incredibly playful and once all the biscuits were gone proceeded to have an elephant style wrestling match, nearly squashing several people in the process!

Getting to the breeding centre was a bit of an adventure in itself. The centre is reached by taking an incredibly unstable dug out canoe across the Bhude Rapti River.

Back on the other side of the river we got to partake in the daily elephant wash where we got to play mahout and scrub 5 tons of pachyderm clean with stones out of the river.

In reality the elephants spent more time washing us as with a call of "chhop, chhop" from mahouts the elephants would fill their trunks with water and give anything in range a good soaking.

We had yet more elephant action when we took a safari on elephant back through the park.

The Chitwan is one of the few places on Earth where you can see the one-horned Indian rhino in the wild. The Indian rhino is highly endangered and 30% of the worlds remaining 2000 are found in the Chitwan.

After only seeing rhinos at a distance in Africa it was great to be able to get up closer to them, and somewhat surreal to do it whilst perched upon an elephant.

Although we were lucky enough to see a few rhinos, the other big draw of the Chitwan, the Royal Bengal Tiger, remained elusive.

It wasn't all elephant based action though. We also did a jeep safari to Bis Hajaar Tal, the so called 20,000 lakes. If there was ever a case of mis-advertising then the 20,000 lakes has to be it. Despite being there for over two hours we only saw one.

It wasn't quite the safari experience of the Serengeti but we still got to see a fair few beasties including more rhinos, snake eagles, spotted deer and the mash mugger, a sort of small crocodile.

Kathmandu

2009-09-18T08:38:00.000+01:00

It's felt really good to be back in Asia again. Nowhere is quite so geared up for the needs of the grubby backpacker as it is here. Cheap accommodation, cheap food, cheap transport and cold beer. Good times!

Even though we've only been away from Asia for three and a half months it was still a bit of a shock to the system with all the chaos, noise and people when we stepped out of the airport. We'd also forgotten how much smaller your personal space is here compared to elsewhere, the scrum at the baggage carousel was worse than anything I'd ever seen on the rugby pitch.

The thing that you immediately notice coming here from the Middle East is women! Virtually the only women we've seen out and about in Egypt and Jordan have been tourists. The local ladies are usually hidden away out of sight and are more noticeable by their absence. It felt slightly strange to be in mixed company again.

We're staying right in the heart of central Kathmandu in an area known as Thamel. It's a little bit like the Koh San Road in Bangkok . . . only much nicer. It's a lot more civillised too as the gutters aren't overflowing with drunk kids and their vomit. Instead you have to contend with the odd hippy who's still stuck in the 60's or armies of Gore-tex clad trekkers who look like their kitted out for an attempt on the summit of Everest.

We've spent most of our time here just wandering around the streets soaking up the atmosphere and sights.

Just South of our hotel is the medieval old town. The whole area is like a set from a Dickensian film or Blackadder gone a bit wrong. Master Ploppy would certainly feel right at home here!

Looking at the buildings it's a wonder any of them are still standing as most of them appear to be at some obtuse angle with very little holding the bricks together.

Durbar square, where the Nepalese royal family lived until about 100 years ago, is the main focus of central Kathmandu. As well as the former royal palace the square is full of Hindu temples and shrines, none of which we really understand!

We also made a trip out to Swayambhunath, a Buddhist temple on a hill a few kilometers from the centre of town which has great views over the Kathmandu valley.

Today we've been out to see Bodhnath Stupa, which although it is only about 4km from the centre of town takes half an hour to get to by taxi. The traffic up just appaling and barely moves above the pace of a Yak.

Bodhnath stupa is one of the biggest in the world and the most important in Nepal for the many Tibetan Buddhists who live here in exile.

We've had to spend quite a lot of our time in Kathmandu trying to plan for our next few
destinations in Nepal and beyond, including the dreaded task of trying to obtain an Indian visa. No matter where you are in the world getting a visa for India is never a straight forward task. It will usually involve having to queue at some ungodly hour of the morning and a long wait. We only have to wait a week! It doesn't even take that long in the bizarre land that is Burma/Myanmar.

Smile!

2009-09-17T08:54:00.000+01:00

Dentist Street in Kathmandu . . .

Generous measures on Gulf Air

2009-09-14T07:14:00.002+01:00

We left Amman at the incredibly stupid time of half three in the morning flew to Manama in Bahrain for a brief stop over. Thankfully our fifteen minutes through Israel weren't spotted by the immigration officials and we were allowed to change planes.

The leg of the flight from Bahrain to Nepal passed in somewhat of a blur, for me at least. Not long after take off the stewardesses came round with the drinks trolly. I think that they must have known that the passengers were escaping from a Ramadan no alcohol zone and felt the need to provide much support, the gin and tonic that I was given looked like it was at least a quadruple. Then when the food came round shortly afterwords I was given another equally large measure.

The lack of alcohol intake during Ramadan, the unusually generous measures and having no sleep for two days then took its toll. I feel I should apologise to anyone who was on Gulf Air flight 260 yesterday and had to witness the sight of me zonked out with my trap open for a large proportion of the flight. I only woke up when I managed to dribble down my own arm. Liz never realised what a classy fella she's married!

Amman

2009-09-12T17:50:00.003+01:00

We ended our trip through Jordan and the Middle East in Amman.

Amman is the first big city that we've been to since we left Cairo over five weeks ago. It felt very strange being back in the big smoke amongst all the hustle, bustle and traffic.

Our first problem was disposing of the mighty pea. We had to drop the little fella off in the centre of Amman and were a bit apprehensive. Driving in the desert and smaller towns isn't too bad as there's not that much traffic to contend with, you're more wary of the donkeys, camels and children that wander aimlessly into the road. However; after witnessing the chaos of the roads in Cairo we weren't sure how bad Amman would be. It wasn't quite the all out war of the Egyptian capital but it was still fairly full on. We only nearly got mangled the once and thankfully made it to the drop off point without damaging the car (or ourselves).

Amman's not the most exciting city we've been to but we still managed to entertain ourselves for three days. It's not the prettiest city either but it does have a certain wonky charm about it.

Amman's the site of the Roman city of Philadelphia and there are a few remains scattered around including an amphitheater and an old citadel on the hill overlooking the town.

We also managed to sneak a trip into the cinema but there wasn't much of choice, Day of the Dead or GI Joe (no contest - zombies all the way!).

Our accommodation in Amman was a bit crumbly. The Bedeiwi Hotel and Hostel had great reviews on Trip Advisor and Hostel World but our experience was a little different, it made an attack by zombies seem quite pleasant. Once we negotiated the stroppy cow on reception we then had the fun of our room to contend with. In the first room we were given the fan didn't work and the toilet didn't flush. When we complained to the owner he suggested to use a bucket instead. I should point out that he meant to flush with, not to go on! We said that it wasn't good enough and wanted a different room. The next room we were given was marginally better as the fan worked and toilet flushed. However, the toilet seat wasn't attached and the toilet itself wasn't properly screwed to the floor. Sitting down was quite a test of your balance. It was a good job that it was Ramadan and we could get any alcohol otherwise there could have been all sorts of toilet related injuries! The sink wasn't attached to the walk either so if you grabbed that to steady yourself you would end up in even more of a mess squashed between two lumps of porcelain.

The beds were also horrible too and looked like they were straight out of a Victorian sanitarium or prison. They had been partly hacked about with a saw and had jaggedy bits of metal sticking out which Liz managed to gash her leg on. It was a long way from the Movenpick Dead Sea Resort and Spa, they didn't even have a pillow menu!

In the early hours of tomorrow morning (at 3:30) we leave the Middle East and its deadly toilets behind and fly to Kathmandu via Bahrain. Lets hope that the immigration folks in Bahrain don't see our little Israeli diversion.

A jaunt to Jerash

2009-09-09T22:18:00.001+01:00

This morning we left Madaba and drove North towards the Syrian boarder and the town of Jerash.

The big attraction at Jerash is the Roman city which is often referred to as the Pompeii of Asia. Thanks to the dry desert heat it has some of the best preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy.

Most of the city dates from the 1st to the 3rd century AD and although it isn't on the same scale as Pompeii it's still really impressive.

The colonnaded street that runs the length of the town is nearly 1km long and was lined with 500 columns.

The city also features a hippodrome where daily chariot races are held. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any Ben Hurr style action as the 2pm race that we turned up to see wasn't on. We did however get to see a bagpipe recital!

We just thought it a little strange to see a Bedouin Arab playing the highland fling on the bagpipes in the middle of a Roman Amphitheater in Jordan.

We ended the day by going for a meal at Jerash's most well known restaurant, a great place on the outskirts of the town called Lebanese House. The back of their menu features some entertaining spellings of some famous past patrons including, Richard Gear and Nilson Mandela.

Not mad about Madaba

2009-09-08T12:08:00.002+01:00

To get away from the Dead Sea truly tested the performance of the mighty pea. Its food processor sized engine had to work overtime to haul us from -400m down at the Dead Sea to 800m up Mount Nebo in the Moab Mountains. I nearly wore out 1st and 2nd gear.

According to the bible Mount Nebo is the site where Moses first saw the promised land, died (at the age of 120!) and was also buried. Because of its biblical connections it has been an important pilgrimage site since Roman times.

At the top of Mount Nebo are the ruins of the Moses Memorial Church which we couldn't get to explore due to archeological work. We did have a nose from the viewpoint though and got to see the views (through the haze) over the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea to Bethlehem, Jericho and Jerusalem.

We then descended into the town of Madaba where we were spending the night. Madaba is famous for its Byzantine era mosaics, the most famous of which is the map on the floor of St George's Church. The map was made in 560AD and shows all the biblical sites of the Middle East. We can't show you a picture of it because I was too annoyed to get my camera out. After paying to go into the church (which severely hurt my inner Atheist) I then got told off for having my legs crossed. When I uncrossed them I then got told off for not having both feet flat on the floor, and for good measure the guy came back and told me off for wearing my hat. Welcome to Madaba, home of the Middle East's most friendly Christians! Oh, and the mosaic wasn't much cop anyway.

Dead Sea delights

2009-09-08T12:01:00.000+01:00

Before heading off to the Dead Sea we checked out Karak Castle. It's another thousand year old crusader castle standing halfway between Shobak and Jerusalem. Si and I weren't too impressed with the castle but it did have some great views of the surrounding area which is the alleged location of Sodom and Gomorrah!

It was a fantastic drive from Karak, at over 1000m, down to the dead sea which is 400m below sea level, the lowest point on Earth. It's strange to think that all the boats in the world were floating above our heads! As you drive along the Dead Sea Highway you can see the salt crusting on the cliffs below.

Thanks to Si's Mom and Dad being very generous and giving us some money for a treat, we were able to stay at the very lovely Movenpick Resort and Spa. The hotel is very luxurious and set in large gardens which drop down to the sea and include four different pools.

We couldn't wait to get into the sea and try bobbing about. No matter how hard he tries Si can't ever seem to be able to float, however he floated like the best of them in the Dead Sea! It is a very strange sensation indeed, you literally can't sink. The water is up to 31% salt, 9 times that of normal sea water. If you were to get any in your eye or if you have any cuts it would be quite painful. It didn't mention in the guide books that 31% salt can also be rather uncomfortable on the more delicate body parts, so watch out! You can't really swim in the dead sea, if you try and do breast stroke the buoyancy of the water just flips you onto your back. As you can see below we did the time honored reading of the paper whilst bobbing about.

The hotel also supplied a big tub of mud. Dead Sea mud is supposed to be full of all sorts of minerals supposedly good for your health. I don't know about that but it was fun to get muddy and slap some on anyway.

We really tried to make the most of staying somewhere so nice. We sampled all of the pools, had some of the Movenpick's best ice cream, captured all of the free toiletries, soaked up the satellite tv, walked round in the robes and took our first bath in a very long time! We also thought they had left a box of chocolates in the room. Imagine our disappointment to open them and find dates, horrifying! We did however find a pillow menu. Yes, at the Movenpick you can ring housekeeping and choose between 10 different pillow types. Now that's choice for you.

We had a good meal at the resort's Italian restaurant and they served alcohol, but i think i must have the smallest glass of wine i have ever seen. However we made up for it at the buffet breakfast, we ate that much we doubted even the dead sea could keep us afloat! We were very sad to leave the Movenpick and head back to our normal backpacker type accommodation where even toilet paper, towels and sheets are sometimes seen as optional luxury extra items.

The mighty pea

2009-09-06T11:57:00.000+01:00

Well we've got our own transport again which is great. This time it's a bright green little number, like a moderately sized pea, only with less power.

Once again our vehicle is so woeful that you need to turn the AC off if you want enough umph to get up the hills. At one point Si thought that I was going to have to get out with the bags and push!

The driving conditions aren't too bad here in Jordan, at least it's a little calmer than Egypt. The biggest dangers are the enormous number of unmarked speed bumps and the high probability of meeting a speeding car on the wrong side of the road.

Today's trip went well though. First we visited Little Petra, very much like it's larger cousin but . . . smaller! It was well worth a look in and best of all we had the place entirely to ourselves.

Next stop was Shobak Castle, a thousand year old desert crusader castle, which we were really disappointed with. It didn't even warrant leaving the car! We carried on up the Kings Highway to our next destination, Karak Castle. The scenery en-route was fantastic, very much like the Grand canyon in some places.

However we did have a bit of a shock when for the first time in 5 weeks some clouds appeared in the clear blue sky, horrifying!

It was too late for the castle by the time we arrived in Karak so we headed to the Kir Heres restaurant for tea. It was rumored in the Lonely Planet to be the only place in town serving alcohol. When we asked if we could have two beers the waiter looked at us as if we were very dubious and said yes but we had to move tables from the front of the restaurant to sit behind a curtain at the back to drink our beer! Not that we are alcoholics or anything but we do enjoy a beer at the end of a hard day's sightseeing. Alcohol is quite hard to come by in Jordan and is only served in a few restaurants and hotels. But now that it's Ramadan even most of these places won't serve it at the moment. We were reading in the Lonely Planet that in Pakistan in the 70's the only way to get a drink was to obtain a medical certificate from a doctor declaring that you were an alcoholic. Only with this certificate were you allowed to buy drink, so it could be worse!

Petra

2009-09-05T11:46:00.003+01:00

History tells us that Petra is the location where in 1938 Indiana Jones found the holy grail, thus saving the world from Nazi domination. Or at least that's what anyone who grew up in the 70's or 80's has been lead to believe.

Petra was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom and was at its peak about 2000 years ago. The Nabataeans controlled the overland incense and spice routes that linked China and India to the Mediterranean. The profits and taxes that this generated funded the building of the city.

The city started to decline when the Red Sea route that harnessed the monsoon winds opened up, bypassing Petra. By the 11th century the city was lost to the West and remained that way until it was discovered by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

Entrance to the city is gained via the Siq, a 1.2km long gorge with 80m high sandstone cliffs. The Siq starts off quite wide before it narrows to barely a couple of meters.

At the end of the Siq you get your first glimpses of the Treasury (Al-Khazneh), the most famous sight in Petra (and final resting place of the holy grail!).

The Treasury is believed to be the tomb for the Nabataean King Aretas III, who ruled during the first century BC. The whole building is carved out of the sandstone cliff and makes a truly spectacular sight.

Although Petra is most famous for the Treasury there's also a lot more to see. It's a vast complex that contains over 800 sites including more than 500 tombs and a Roman style amphitheater and colonnaded street.

There's also some incredibly strange shapes weathered into the surrounding sandstone.

The second most famous site is the Monastery (Ad-Deir). The Monastery is hidden high up in the mountains and is accessed via 800 steps hewn into the cliffs.

It was a fairly strenuous hike in the heat of the desert. You can get up to the Monastery on the back of a donkey but even Liz refused stating that there's no way an adult can look anything but undignified perched on the back of one.

We also got to see Petra by night, where the route through the Siq and the Treasury are illuminated with 1500 candles.

Madonna madness

2009-09-03T13:13:00.001+01:00

After our first day exploring Petra we had a very narrow escape from being mangled by Madge.

Madonna was also (briefly) in Petra having popped over for the day from Israel where she is doing some concerts. We were trying to cross the road outside of the ruins and were nearly knocked down by her cavalcade as they whisked her away at high speed to her awaiting helicopter.

I swear that we're not making this stuff up! We didn't manage to get a photo as we were too busy trying to avoid being run over . . . But we can prove that she was here, have a look at this link.

Wadi Rum

2009-09-03T08:36:00.005+01:00

Yesterday we left the "delights" of the Aqaba coast behind and headed for Petra, stopping en-route for a 3 hour detour around the desert at Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum sprung to prominence for being the setting of T E Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom, later filmed by David Lean as Lawrence of Arabia. It was here that Laurence fought with the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Turks during the First World War.

For the tour around the desert we left the comfort of our air conditioned taxi and jumped into what is probably the worlds most dilapidated Toyota Landcruiser. All of the interior, with the exception of the seats and steering wheel, had fallen off, most of the exterior was in a similar state and at random intervals the bonnet would open itself. The vehicle resembled one of those exploded views of a car that you get in a Haynes Manual. Best of all though was that every time we stopped (or the engine cut out) it could only be restarted by removing the gear lever from inside the car and using it to poke/batter something in the engine.

The desert scenery around Wadi Rum is just stunning.

The wind, sand and water (when it does occasionally rain) have sculpted the cliffs, mountains and canyons into some striking shapes.

As part of our tour we got to see the ruins of a 2000 year old Nabataean Temple, had a hike to a desert spring and got to climb some huge sand dunes.

The sand on the dunes was unbelievably hot, so hot that it melted the adhesive holding my shoes together. I think the heat had quite a strange effect on Liz too. Here, captured for the first time on camera, is the incredibly rare sight of Liz running!

Once Liz regained her senses we also got to explore Khazali Siq, a narrow fissure worn into the side of a mountain, and then headed for a clamber over one of the many naturally formed rock bridges.

Despite the cruddy nature of our 4x4 the tour had gone really well, that was until we got to the end. We then discovered why all of the interior had fallen off as our driver became possessed by an idiot and decided to head back through the desert flat out. We spent more time in the air than on the sand. It may have been an exciting experience if the driver had of looked remotely in control. As we hurtled our way back through the sand he decided to do a dangerous high speed swerve in order to try and deliberately run over a dog. This resulted in Liz flinging a volley of abuse at him and the loss of his tip.

Aqaba

2009-09-02T20:25:00.003+01:00

We've spent the last 3 days at a place called Bedouin Garden Village which is about 12km outside of Aqaba city centre.

The Red Sea coast South of Aqaba is touted as another top place for some underwater acton. And it may have been if it wasn't for the hurricane force winds that swept down the coast from the dessert, it was like standing in a hot wind tunnel. Within minutes of getting out the sea you would be bone dry. The biggest problem with the wind was that it really whipped up the water which made maneuvering through the narrow coral channels quite difficult. We ended up only being able to go in once for fear of being grated on the reef. It was a bit of a shame because the sea was a lovely and blue

Other than snorkeling and diving there wasn't really a lot else to do there. You could sit on the beach, trying not to be blown away, but it was a all a bit desolate and fairly horrid.

We ended up having to spend most of our time by the pool of our hotel, at least we were more sheltered from the wind there. That did present us with another problem though. One of the hotel staff, who bore a bit of an uncanny resemblance to Borat, spent most of his time dribbling at Liz in her bikini. Nice!

Israeli stamp syndrome

2009-08-30T20:16:00.002+01:00

After a really enjoyable month in Egypt we headed overland to our next destination of Aqaba on the Red Sea coast of Jordan. Egypt and Jordan don't actually share any land borders so the trip involves a brief detour through Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

We arrived at Dahab bus station to be greeted by the unusual sight of lots of shiny new buses. It appears that the only reason that they are shiny and new is because they don't actually use them. When our bus turned up it was a right clapped out old knacker. After our last couple of life threatening journeys on the roads of Egypt at least it was a relief that the hour and a half journey to Taba was completed on time, without breakdowns, collisions or excessive speeding. The biggest danger we faced was when we actually got to the border as we needed to avoid getting the dreaded Israeli stamp syndrome.

Due to the ongoing tensions between Israel and the Arabs, having a Israeli stamp in your passport can cause you problems in parts of the Middle East. Proof of a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories can result in you being refused entry into a number of Arab countries. Unfortunately Bahrain, where we fly to en-route to Nepal, is one of those countries. In order to avoid the stigma of the Israeli stamp you have to cajole the immigration official to stamp a separate piece of paper rather than your passport. Although this avoids the problem of the stamp it isn't a foolproof method as you still have an exit stamp for Taba in Egypt and and entry stamp for Aqaba in Jordan. This can only mean that you've been to Israel in between. Hopefully the Bahrain immigration officials won't be too thorough!

Our stay in Israel is probably the shortest amount of time we've ever spent in a country. From when we got the entry stamp on our passport (piece of paper) to when we got our exit stamp must have been no longer than 15 minutes. Which is the time it took to drive across the city of Eilat to get to the Jordanian border. Eilat was a slightly strange place, it must be the only town we've ever been to with an international airport that runs down one side of the high street.

We would have loved to have spent a few days in Israel and gone to see some of the biblical sites such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem (even though we're atheists). However, accommodation and transport were just way too expensive so we've had to save those sights for another time.

Once we exited Israel it was then just a short walk over the Israel / Jordan frontier before grabbing a taxi to Aqaba.

Excellent Egypt

2009-08-28T09:10:00.000+01:00

We've really enjoyed our time in Egypt. There's loads to see and do and unlike sub-Saharan Africa it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to do it. The people are really friendly too, a bit too friendly in one instance. Ok so there's a lot of pestering from touts but at least it's all good natured and fairly harmless.

We've liked Egypt so much that we had planned on staying a bit longer. However; we miss-interpreted the visa information and thought that we had up to three months stay when we've only got one. It's a good job that the woman who runs Alaska Camp mentioned it in passing or we would have been in a wee bit of a pickle with the immigration authorities. As well as a hefty fine you also have to get a signed letter of apology from the British embassy!

So instead of staying for a bit longer we have to leave by the end of the month. Next stop Jordan, where things may go a little bit Indiana Jones at Petra . . . I've packed my hat and whip especially!

Mount Sinai and St Katherine's Monastery

2009-08-28T08:49:00.009+01:00

The 2285m peak of Mount Sinai is believed to be the mountain top where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. The only commandment that I received was "Thou must be back at the bus for 10am or risk the wrath of the bus driver and a walk back to Dahab!".

Being as it's another one of those "be at the top for sunrise" and that there's no cable car, Liz decided to give it a miss. I was picked up at about 11pm on Wednesday night, joined a bus load of sleep deprived climbers and driven out into the desert for a couple of hours. We started climbing at 2am and managed to bag a place on the summit about 15 minutes before sunrise.

Climbing in the dark is always an unusual experience as you don't actually get to see what you're climbing up or anything of your surroundings until after sunrise, by which point you're usually on your way back down. The views from the top and on the way back down were quite spectacular and well worth the effort of struggling through the darkness on the way up.

The most dangerous aspect of climbing Mount Sinai is avoiding waking into a camel in the dark. The route we took up the mountain is called the camel trial as, for a fee, the local Bedouin offer the lazy and unfit a ride up on their great stinking beasts.

Because it's pitch black you have to really concentrate on where you're putting feet. This means that you're walking with your head bent down looking at the floor. This in turn makes it quite difficult to keep your eyes peeled for any camels that might be lolloping down hill out of the darkness at you. I had a couple of close shaves where I was nearly crushed under a giant camel hoof.

Being as it is an important site for Christians, Jews and Muslims (I was just there for the climb!), the route up and the summit were absolutely packed. The climb up at times resembled a giant conga snaking up the mountainside. I guess that it's far from the serene and spiritual journey that a lot of those who are on religious pilgrimages imagine it to be!

The route down was via a trail known, rather ominously, as the Steps of Repentance. The route consists of 3750 steps that were laid single handedly by a monk as a form of penance.

Being as I was on my own I ended up joining with a couple of other solo climbers from our bus; Bart, a slightly angry man from the Netherlands, and Basmah, an Arabic speaking Canadian living in Jordan.

Basmah had my dream childhood job and is a pilot, unfortunately for her this mean that she had to put up with me wanting to talk about flying and planes most of the way up and down the mountain.

As we were working our way back down the mountain we met a couple of donkeys going in the opposite direction. Basmah asked the old croan who was herding the beasts if she could have a photo taken with her donkeys. When she started to feed the donkeys some left over biscuits that she had she was admonished by the croan. Apparently because the sun had come up and it was ramadan the donkeys should be fasting!

In the bottom of the valley at the end of the trial lies St Katherine's Monastery.

The monastery was founded in 330AD when a chapel was built beside what was thought to be the burning bush. You can't see the actual burning bush (I guess for health and safety seasons). However; they do allow you to see what is described as a "descendant" of the burning bush.

I guess it must be a cutting!

Diggin' Dahab

2009-08-26T08:57:00.000+01:00

Dahab is often billed as the Koh Samui of the Middle East, in reality they're not like each other at all. The only thing that they have in common is that they are on the sea and the sea is full of fish. The same logic would make Blackpool the Koh Samui of England!

It is very nice here though and incredibly laid back, the exact opposite of Sharm el-Sheikh. We've gone from a five star luxury hotel with swimming pools, private beach and big buffet breakfast to a backpacker guesthouse with . . . not much. To be fair Alaska Camp is really nice and probably one of the better backpacker places that we've stayed at since we started this trip. The room is really smart (and clean!) and we're located just off the beachfront right in the middle of the bay. It just felt like a bit of a come down having stepped straight out of the Hilton.

Dahab town has a really nice atmosphere. The whole of the bay front is lined with Bedouin style bars and restaurants. The bay also has a fairly good reef for snorkeling which is right off the end of the beach.

After a couple of days of soaking up the atmosphere in the bay, yesterday we had a day out at a dive site called the Blue Hole.

The Blue Hole is massive corral fringed sinkhole that drops over 100m deep and is Egypt's most famous dive site. It would have been a nice spot if it wasn't for the fact that half of the tourists in Egypt turned up whilst we were there. At one point there must have been about 80 people circling the reef top, splashing, shouting and scaring the fish away. Not the most relaxing snorkeling trip we've ever done.

Nightmare journey - part 2

2009-08-25T09:44:00.000+01:00

On Thursday we had a bit of a nightmare journey that was partly due to us being in a clapped out old car. We discovered today that going in a new car is probably even more dangerous.

This time instead of crawling through the desert and breaking down every five miles, our taxi driver decided to test out the performance of his car and drive at warp factor 10. I don't think the speedo needle went below 120km/h on the entire journey and seemed to spend most of it's time bouncing around 160. It was the last thing we needed after the near head on collision from a couple of days ago.

Sharm el-Sheikh

2009-08-22T09:00:00.001+01:00

We only booked 2 nights in Sharm el-Sheikh, partly because of the cost of staying there, but also because of the unfavourable write-up that it had in the Lonely Planet Egypt book.
Of all the travel guides that are available we think that the Lonely Planet books are by far the best. The're more detailed, have more maps and reviews, and generally tell you most things that you need to know to get from A to B and what there is to see when you get there. We rarely go anywhere without one, we even have the UK one for when we're at home.

Our main criticism of them though is that anything that is geared more to the package tourism end of the market usually gets slagged off, sometimes quite unfairly. There's an occasional whiff of inverted snobbery where if your not sleeping in an isolated mud hut in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity and a five mile hike to the nearest water supply, then you're just a no good for nothing package tourist scum bag who's hell bent on destroying the environment.

Sharm el-Sheikh is most definately and unashamedly a package tour resort that caters mainly for the needs of Western tourists. The Na'ama Bay area where we stayed consists of a 1km wide bay lined with four and five star all inclusive resorts, shops, bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

As a result the Lonely Planet says you should avoid it or risk being turned into a pillar of salt.
At the end of the day it is what it is and even though it's very package tour orientated, we really liked it. And it's a dam sight prettier than the heinous mess that is Hurghada.

Our stay at the Hilton Sharm Dreams Resort was probably the best bargain we've had so far on this trip. Prior to arrival we were a bit suspicious that our £33 per night deal through kayak may have had some sort of sneaky catch involved with it. It wasn't the case and we had a great couple of nights (once we recovered from the nightmare journey to get there). We had a lovely room with the obligatory towel art, huge buffet breakfast, and best of all, use of the private beach at the even more expensive Hilton Fayrouz Village hotel next door.

Nightmare journey

2009-08-20T08:55:00.001+01:00

Today we had tickets to get the ferry from Hurghada to Sharm el- Sheikh. The distance across the Red Sea is about 50 miles and the journey should only take 90 minutes. It ended up taking over 12 hours for us to get there.

Unfortunately the ferry was cancelled due to rough seas and the only other way to get there was by road. There's only one ferry a day and we couldn't wait for tomorrows as we had a made a non-refundable booking for a hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh. There isn't really any budget accommodation in Sharm but we found a great offer on Kayak which got us a room at the five star Hilton Sharm Dreams Resort for £33 a night, which is quite a saving on the standard listed rate of $350!

After an hour long scrum we managed to secure a couple of seats in a Peugeot 504 estate taxi that would take us to Sharm. It was a bit of a squeeze, along with Liz, myself and the driver we also had three other adults, three children and all our luggage.

The journey by road is a little bit further than the 50 or so miles that the boat takes. First you have to drive 395 km North up the gulf coast, cross the canal at Suez, and then drive another 388 km South back in the direction that you've just come but down the opposite shore. We thought that the bus journey to Hurghada on Tuesday was a bit trying but it was a walk in the park compared to this trip. At least the bus had the benefit of air con to keep the 40 degree desert heat at bay. Unfortunately when our taxi was built, which looks like it was some time in the mid 70's, air con wasn't on the options list. Thankfully neither was a stereo, so this time we were spared the sounds of Quran FM.

The car was also lacking in a few other areas too. There were no seat belts, no functioning hand brake, no door handles on the inside (making it quite hard to shut the doors when you got in) and only one window winder which had to be pulled from the door and passed around if anyone wanted to open or close their window!

As we left Hurghada we stopped to fill up with fuel. After we filled up the smell of petrol in the car was quite overpowering but we just put it down to a bit of spillage somewhere.
I was a bit suspicious when after only about an hours driving we stopped again for more fuel. As the attendant was filling up I got out of the car to stretch my legs and discovered the source of the petrol fumes. As quick as the petrol was being pumped into the car it appeared to be drizzling out of a hole in the fuel tank and onto the floor. The driver seemed to have no concern whatsoever that we were heading out into the desert with a ruptured fuel tank. To make matters worse none of the guages in the car worked so not only did we not know how fast we were going but we also didn't know how fast we were depositing our fuel over the desert, and more importantly, how much we had left.

About another hour or so down the road the car started to judder and shake in the same manner in which a car that has run out of petrol does. Thankfully we hadn't run out but just had a blocked fuel filter. After a 10 minute repair we were back on the road again before we ground to a halt another few miles down the road with the same problem. This pattern continued all the way to Suez where we were treated to the luxury of a new fuel filter.

However; we were about 50 km before Suez when we had an altogether different type of incident.

We were making our way around some fairly tight and winding sections of coast road when were were met by a speeding pick-up truck coming in the opposite direction but on our side of the road. He had come around the corner far too fast and was skidding out of control, head on into our car.

Our septugenarian taxi driver furiously pumped the brakes but being as the pads probably hadn't been changed since King Tut was on the throne nothing much happened. It really was one of those moments where everything goes in slow motion. Thankfully at the last second he remembered that there was also a steering wheel and managed to avoid a full head on collision, hitting each other side on instead. Thankfully, God/Allah knows how, no one was hurt and the car was still driveable (or no less driveable than before bearing in mind the punctured petrol tank and blocked fuel filter).

Just to increase the comfort levels for the paying passengers, when we got to Suez as well as picking up a new fuel filter, we also picked up the drivers son. Taking the occupant count to a very cosy ten plus luggage.

Even though the fuel filter had been fixed we still had plenty of stops on the remainder of the journey. In addition to more stops to fill up with petrol we also had to stop twice to refill the radiator and a couple of additional stops for some random under bonnet tinkering. Finally after 10 hours on the road, and with still over 200km to go to Sharm, the car finally gave up and came to a spluttering halt on the side of the road. After more under bonnet tinkering the driver decided that more extensive repairs were needed. With that he flagged down a passing minibus and loaded us onboard to complete our journey.

After leaving our hotel in Hurghada at 8am, we eventually arrived at our hotel in Sharm just before 10pm, thoroughly dehydrated and covered in a nice crust of dust. We certainly had a few odd looks from the receptionists as we checked in, looking somewhat more dishevelled than the average guest at a Hilton hotel.

Hurghada-ski

2009-08-19T15:37:00.004+01:00

After a quite trying seven and a half hour bus journey through the desert we eventually made it to Hurghada on the Red Sea coast. The trip should have only taken five hours so to liven things up a bit we were blasted with what sounded like Quran FM over the tinny distorted bus speakers for most of the journey.

Just so that we could end the day on a high after our never ending bus journey we went out for dinner and had the worst meal that we've had in a long time. Some of the guide books give Egyptian food a bit of a rough time but we really like it. You can get fantastic mezze (the Middle Eastern equivalent of tapas), kofta, kebabs and a dish called fatta, which is rice and bread soaked in a garlicky vinegary sauce (it sounds odd but is incredibly tasty). You have to have a bit of a poke about but there's also some really good restaurants too, Sofra in Luxor being our favorite so far.

The food we had at Agra Restaurant in Hurghada on Tuesday evening was far from good though. It was supposed to be an Indian restaurant but it wasn't like any Indian we've ever had before. Liz's butter chicken was actually a can of chicken soup with extra lumps of chicken thrown in it. My chicken curry was indescribable . . . Gritty is the best that I can come up with.

Hurghada originally became popular as a dive resort but is now more famous for being a package tour destination for holidaying Russians. You're more likely to be approached by an Egyptian speaking Russian than English (or Arabic).

Apart from the food at Agra Restaurant the other shocking thing about Hurghada is how ugly it is. There's a beautiful stretch of turquoise blue sea along the coast but the town is a real eyesore. It's one of those places where you can't tell if they are in the process of knocking the whole place down or building it up! This is the stunning view from our hotel balcony . . .

We were looking at trying to spend a few days here but I think we can hear Sharm el-Sheikh calling us from across the Gulf of Suez.