Adventure before dementia

Photos: Belgium - Spa

dawnandmark — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 23:42:00 GMT

Visited the thermal baths in the town of Spa. Fabulous hot baths inside and outside as well as steam rooms, sauna, and jacuzzis. These aren't my photos because cameras not allowed, they are from the website. Great to relax.

Photos: Belgium - Malmedy

dawnandmark — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 16:57:00 GMT

Back to the land of fantastic beer. We have started our return journey and are enjoying exploring Malmedy, Haute Fagnes national park and surrounding area.

Photos: Liechtenstein

dawnandmark — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 16:49:00 GMT

Decided to visit one of the smallest countries in the world. Not much to say about it! It's small, exceptionally clean, modern and expensive looking.

Photos: Austria - Ladis

dawnandmark — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 16:42:00 GMT

Stayed in a beautiful mountain village. Did another downhill bike park with uplift.

Photos: Austria - Innsbruck pt 2

dawnandmark — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 18:21:00 GMT

Been back to the bike park to complete another days downhill, very exciting. Also completed a fabulous cross country bike ride up to a restaurant at 1700 metres above sea level. Stunning views all round. Also spent the afternoon in Innsbruck, really lovely city. Been sunny for two weeks but it is heavy rain today but I am glad because I need a rest! Having a fabulous time. Mark met one of his biking heroes in Innsbruck, I've never seen him so star struck! Hope all good in the UK. D x

Photos: Austria - Innsbruck pt 1

dawnandmark — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 16:08:00 GMT

Pitched up on a beautiful campsite by a lake. Been mountain biking using the ski lifts to get up the mountain. Fantastic riding but very challenging! Beautiful sunny weather.

Photos: Luxembourg

dawnandmark — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 16:47:00 GMT

Spent the day in Luxembourg, beautiful and sunny. I was going to say what a lovely place it is but after the total stitch up of Boris I'm not so sure! Anyway here are the photos for you to decide if Luxembourg is nice!!

Photos: Belgium- Houffelize, continued

dawnandmark — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 16:42:00 GMT

Photos: Belgium- Houffelize

dawnandmark — Sun, 15 Sep 2019 00:06:00 GMT

Stayed two nights in this lovely rural town. Both days mountain biking in the surrounding forests and hills. Very good motorhome stopover in town, lots of nice little bars and loads of excellent Belgium beer. Hot and sunny couple of days.

Photos: Belgium - Dinant

dawnandmark — Thu, 12 Sep 2019 23:13:00 GMT

The birthplace of Adolph Sax who invented the saxophone, the home of Leffe beer and a lovely riverside location. We cycled, drank and kayaked. Great time and mostly sunny.

Photos: Belgium - Ghent

dawnandmark — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 18:25:00 GMT

Great day exploring beautiful Ghent.

Bye, bye, India.....until the next time.

dawnandmark — Mon, 1 Apr 2019 20:06:00 GMT

Absolutely fantastic time in India. The people are the loveliest and most kind we have ever met on our travels. I came to India with some trepidation because of the way it is portrayed in the UK. None of my concerns were experienced and everything has exceeded my expectations. We survived a whole month without getting the dreaded Delhi Belly even though we have eaten in some very questionable establishments!! I can confirm that curry in India is very spicy and often very hot. We have often been told in UK Indian restaurants that the curry in India isn't hot and they only make vindaloo hot curries in the UK because that's what we want. This is not true, curry is vindaloo hot in India!! Chicken tikka masalla is available all over the areas we have travelled so I'm not so sure it is a British invention as is often reported in the UK! Maybe just the addition of cream is a British thing because the tikka masallas in India aren't creamy. There aren't lots of beggars in India and there aren't children beggars everywhere. In a whole month only one child asked aunty (me) for money and there are generally less beggars in India than any UK city. Nobody is trying to rip you off. On a couple of occasions we have mistakenly given too much money and been given it back by the vendor. The people genuinely want to speak with you and there has never once been an ulterior motive. I felt very comfortable in India and all the men are very respectful. To give a balanced appraisal, on the negative side, most of India needs a really, really good scrub and a mega litter pick! Riding in any vehicle is hair-raising most of the time and downright terrifying some of the time!! The rule is to never look out of the front windscreen because invariably there will be a vehicle heading straight for you. No joke. I am so glad we didn't hire a car like we normally do. Working conditions are appalling by our standards. There is little or no protection for manual workers and often the work looks physically painful. There isn't always access to electricity and it often goes off. We experience power cuts for short periods very frequently throughout our travels. Indian people generally don't queue or follow rules, it's every man for himself. Which means you need to hold your ground or you'd never get over the road, on the train, served in a shop, to the buffet breakfast, through passport control, etc, etc!! In fact we've never made it in a queue with someone pushing in front of us!

An Indian lady we spoke to in first couple of days said we should experience India with an open mind and we would love it. She was right. Experiencing India without comparing it to the UK is the way to do it. Love India for all the nuances that make it India and you will love it!! We did.

Until the next adventure…….Dawn and Mark xxx

Photos: Gokarna

dawnandmark — Sat, 30 Mar 2019 18:03:00 GMT

Gokarna

dawnandmark — Sat, 30 Mar 2019 18:01:00 GMT

Our last stop in India. Gokarna is about 80 miles south of Goa and chosen because it is relatively undeveloped. Gorkana town is a holy town and a site of pilgrimage for Hindus. There are lots of active temples in the town and the town beach is a site of pilgrimage. We had a walk round the interesting town but none of the temples are open to non-Hindus (I bet you could hear Mark's sigh of relief from there!!) The more tourist hotels are south of the town on a series of beaches. We stayed on Kudle Beach. It has become increasingly hot during the month we have been here so it is a good job we were only intending chilling on get beach! On the photo were I am pointing, I am pointing to our hotel from the beach. We had a great view. There are cows everywhere in India except in fields as you would expect. They are even on the beach! The photo of me and food shows a typical indian breakfast of dosa. This is a crispy pancake filled with spicy potato and served with a very hot and spicy veg curry and a green chutney. I have had this quite a few times, it is really nice. The food has been fantastic. I have had lots of veg currys, dhals, paneer curry and egg curry. My favourite has been egg curry which I have had loads of time with tandoori roti bread!

This is our last stop in India, tomorrow we travel back to Mumbai for our flight home Sunday night. I'll hopefully give a final blog from the airport. Looking forward to seeing you all, Love Dawn and Mark xxx

Photos: Nagarhole & Coorg

dawnandmark — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 22:55:00 GMT

Nagarhole & Coorg

dawnandmark — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 22:51:00 GMT

First morning off on safari again. This was our third National park in India and our last safari of the holiday. This was the best safari, we saw loads. Including a pack of wild dogs with 9 puppies, elephants, a herd of large gaur (like bison), a giant squirrel (it was big but not really giant!), and most amazingly a tiger. We spotted the tiger sat next to the lake and then followed it strolling along. Good visibility with the naked eyed but not close enough for a good photo. We then lost it for a while but found it back next to lake. It sat there for about ten minutes before disappearing into the undergrowth. The guide was confident it would come back out in front of the jeep as the sambar deer next to us was barking warning calls. After a 5 minute wait we spotted it lurking in the trees behind the deer and then it emerged at speed and ran across the road in front of the jeep. Very exciting and about 20 minutes good view of the tiger.

We also went on a bike ride to Iruppu Falls. This was a very lovely ride through the tea and coffee plantations and forest. Only rode for nearly 2 hours but it was enough because it was hotting up. It was 29C when we set off at 9.45am, not sure what temp it was when we finished but it was hot! Chilled back at our hotel in the afternoon with a couple of beers. We stayed at this hotel for three nights and so the bar man was waving to Mark by the end of our stay!! Beer isn't always readily available and I think it is quite frowned upon in many small towns and villages. So the bar next to this hotel was only full of men and if you bought anything to takeaway it was wrapped in newspaper or hidden in your bag!! The hotel was very basic but served really great food at very low prices.

We left Nagerhole by taxi to go further north in the Coorg region. The whole area is very picturesque with the plantations and forests. It is also one of the wealthiest regions in Karnataka. You can notice this in the houses, the roads and the number of cars about. Generally it looks a lot more affluent than anywhere else we have been so far on our travels in India. The people continue to be exceptionally kind and friendly. If ever you need help somebody will always help. Unknown to me the hotel I booked in North Coorg was the equivalent of a UK Center Parcs. It is very posh and well appointed but full of families and family activities!! This is the only 'resort' type place we have stopped at and I chose it because of the location next to a hill hike we wanted to do. On the day of the hill hike we made our way to the meeting place for the local guide but there wasn't a guide there! We waited a bit and then decided to complete the walk ourselves. It started off on a beautiful path uphill for about 2 miles but then we reached a forest check point and the rangers said the hill climb was closed due to fire risk. So we returned to the start and then carried on further downhill for a couple of miles before arranging a pick up. We managed to get 6 miles completed and it was very lovely.

The following morning we had arranged another bike ride with the guy we met at Nagarhole. We did a great ride to a river, had a swim and then cycled back. About 16 miles in total. He had asked us if we would like to sample local food for our lunch, of course we said yes. Little did we know it was at his house!! This was very different from our previous experience as this guy lived on a coffee plantation that his parents owned so relatively a wealthy local family. His mum and sister had prepared a banquet of amazing food including pork and vinegar curry, paneer patties, rice balls, banana flower curry and rices. It was all delicious. Best of all we weren't expected to have a sleep afterwards! Phew!

More amazing experiences in this area of India. In hindsight we probably should have stayed longer in the Coorg area as there is opportunities for hiking and biking, and it is really beautiful. Next stop the beach. After a 3 hour taxi ride and a 12 hour train ride! The beach is our last stop in India and then we head home. We'll be seeing you all soon, love Dawn And Mark xx

Photos: Mysore & Bandipur

dawnandmark — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 21:46:00 GMT

Mysore & Bandipur

dawnandmark — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 21:44:00 GMT

Great overnight train to Mysore and we both had a good sleep, must be getting used to sleeping on a train! Mysure was just a quick stopover really, although we did have a very nice hotel. Not that much to see in Mysore but it is an attractive city with wide avenues, grand roundabouts and large buildings. The reason most people come here is to visit the palace, which is all that we did. It was very opulent and gold. Next stop was Banipur National Park for more safaris. We are now in elephant country. Saw a small herd of elephants on all safaris. Got very close to a large tusked bull elephant who made his presence felt to the point the jeep driver pulled away! Lots of other birds and animals. Beautiful countryside, forests, lake and hills. Saw an amazing peacock display with his full tail feathers fanned out. Off to the Coorg region next which is a countryside area growing tea, coffee and spices. Weather still hot and sunny. Love Dawn & Mark xx

Photos: Hampi, Karnataka

dawnandmark — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 16:36:00 GMT

Hampi, Karnataka

dawnandmark — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 16:34:00 GMT

The epic journey was seemless, even managed a quick beer at Nagpur airport before we left the state of Maharashta for the southern state of Karnataka. We flew into Bangalore and got a taxi straight to the train station for our overnight train to Hampi. Luckily there was only us in our four birth train cabin so it was very chilled. I managed a good sleep, Mark not so much! It's quite a jerky experience and a bit noisy.

The landscape at Hampi is completely different to anything I have seen anywhere. The hills consist of piles of massive boulders. In the valleys it is very green as there is lots of rivers and tanks (reservoirs). The main reason for visiting Hampi was to explore the ancient city. The city dates from the 15^th century and consists of temples, baths, bazaars, palaces, walls, tanks and monoliths. None of the buildings are occupied anymore and nobody lives within a certain area of the site. It is all really spread out so we hired a tuc tuc driver for three days to take us everywhere. We started on the outskirts of the area and climbed up to a number of shrines. We were blessed in numerous Hindu temples including those dedicated to Ganesh, Orm (snake god), monkey gods and others I couldn't understand. The blessings included ringing a bell, the application of a bindi, chanting (the priest, not us), eating sugar, drinking holy water, passing your hand over a flame for cleansing and receiving flowers to put in your hair. We ended up with the bindi dye running all over our heads and noses with the sweat!! Not a good look and all the Indian people had perfect circular dots on their heads. The snake temple was a bit tense. I kept asking if there were any actual snakes in there and was told no. But then we had to descend through a small opening in a cave to get there, which was a bit suspect. Fortunately there weren't any snakes just a priest with a very loud bell and lots of chanting. We politely declined meditating with him! Back to hotel to chill and have a few beers and watch the world go by from our patio windows. The world from this view is very interesting. It includes cows, pigs, goats, tuc tucs, ladies in beautiful sarees carrying items on their heads, white tourist looking a bit bemused, really cute children and everything else you can imagine! Great first day in Hampi.

Day two started at 9am and involved touring the inner ancient city. All amazingly well preserved buildings with intricate carvings. An unusable carving was a large stone cart carved from a single piece of stone. One day isn't enough to see all the structures but we saw the most spectacular. At the last temple it was still active so we had to take off our shoes to enter. All good until we started walking across the long open plaza to the temple. OMG!! My feet nearly burnt off, we started off all calm but ended up running across the flags. I nearly cried it was so bad. The worst thing was we had to get back. We discussed our strategy for sometime but in the end opted for running as fast as possible to get out!! The local people were looking at us like we were mad but I was not bothered, fast was the answer!

Later in the afternoon Sami took us to a real Indian drinking den! It was a bit dimly lit and full of Indian men. They didn't seem too bothered by our intrusion so we had a few beers with our driver. Maybe not such a good idea getting your driver drunk but we survived the journey home! On the way back we climbed up to another temple on a hill to watch the sun set. This was a really lovely end to another great day in Hampi.

On our last day Sami invited us to his house for lunch. In for a penny, in for a pound! This goes in the 'experience' category! He picked us up and we went to the market to buy mutton and fresh herbs. Then onto his home to meet his family. Very lovely people, his wife and two children. They were all quite shy and couldn't speak English so it was quite a challenge. We went for a drink at the local hotel whilst his wife made food. Back to his house for mutton biryani which was very nice. Then it was group siesta all in the same room! We tried to explain that we didn't need a sleep but Sami said it was what you did after a big meal in India so we joined in! We got the bed in the corner and he and his family rolled out mats on the floor beside us. It was very special to go to his house and we were honoured but it was also a challenge. We got up later and went exploring a dam and parkland close by. We were supposed to go back to his house to wait for our train but we managed to clock a bar close to the station to chill out in for a couple of hours before catching our night train!! What a day! You couldn't buy this experience so we are really chuffed to have done it and I am sure it will be the lasting memory of the holiday! On the night train to Mysore now. Love Dawn & Mark