Living out of a Backpack

The Land of the Rising Toilet Seat

langkawi21 — Mon, 18 May 2015 18:13:00 GMT

Japan was always going to be very different after a month in China and it didn't dissappoint. Tokyo was a great city to catch up with friends from Sydney, watch baseball, eat sushi and sashimi and relax.

Travelling around Japan on the bullet trains made travel quick and easy and the fact the staff bowed to you before you boarded amazed us both.

We were lucky enough to catch the end of the cherry blossom season which is quite unique as was bathing in public onsens, staying in Ryokan (traditional Japanese accommodation) and a capsule hotel (futureristic space theme hotel).

Toilets in Japan are also state of the art with functionalities ranges from seat that automatically lifted when bathroom door opens, heated seats, music to mask the pee pee and poo poo sounds, bidet/spray that caters for men and women's anatomy (only way to find out is to press every button) and warm air to dry the private parts. The whole toilet business could be achieved wihtout having to touch any part of the toilet but a selection of buttons. One must admit that they are so amazing and one could spend hours on it.

Uniquely Nippon

Over the top packaging.
How polite the people are: the bowing, very quiet in public transport.
Amazing food: sushi, sashimi, ramen, etc.
Bullet trains.
Onsen and Ryokan.
Golden Gai - tiny pubs that sit no more than 5 people.
The toilet - of course.

Stop Over

Tokyo: Great to catch up with the Bernards, Oon Soon, Louise and Henry and met Karel and Michael.
Nikko: A quiant little mountain side and local onsen experience.
Karuizawa: .
Kanazawa: .
Hiroshima: Peace park for the atomic bombing.
Kinosakionsen: Traditional Ryokan and onsen experience.
Kyoto: Temples, temples and temples.
Osaka: Night life.

In conclusion, Japan is proven to be more expensive than other Asian countries but it is so different or wacky. :)

Click here for more photos of Japan

STOPS: Tokyo, Nikko, Karuizawa, Kanazawa, Hiroshima, Kinosakionsen, Kyoto, Osaka

Date: 26/04/2015 to 18/05/2015 (22 days)

Team Captain vs Champ, who rules in China?

langkawi21 — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 18:18:00 GMT

Everything in China comes in BIG scales, the "Giant" Panda, "Super Loud" Tourists, "Great" Wall of China, "Huge" infrastructure network and "Superb" public transport systems.

Public transport, food and accommodation are fairly cheap, however, as soon as you mention national parks, be prepared to fork out USD40-USD60 admission fee, and the country has many jaw dropping scenic national parks.

Thumbs Up
* Honesty and Equality (no such thing as tourist price).
* Cleanliness - no graffiti in any public amenities.
* Food - Hit and miss, but overall a great experience.

Thumbs Down
* Expect to join hundreds of thousands local tourists. Push or be pushed.
* Chinese middle age ladies in tour groups do not understand the art of soft conversation, they are very loud.
* Spitting

Shenzhen: It was great to catch up with Ah Gee again.
Yangshuo/Guilin: Stunning rock formation.
Fenghuang: Old town. Miao tribe and Tu Jia tribe.
Zhangjiajie: Unfortunately, due to bad weather, our climb to the top for a bird's eye view of the gorge was not rewarded.
Changjiang (Yangtze River): Cruising up the longest and widest river in China was a luxurious 5 day trip.
Chengdu: The giant pandas, chinese opera. While Chengdu is renowned for it's delicious food, we found the local delicacies to be very oily and do not agree with the "sichuan peppercorn".
Jiuzhaigou: Colourful lakes with hundreds of thousands of tourists, push or be pushed.
Xi'an: Terracota Warriors, great street food at the Muslim quarter.
Beijing: Who said Beijing doesn't have blue sky, we arrived on the bullet train and were welcomed with a blue sky. Great wall of China. Tienanmen Square and Forbidden City.

All in all, we love China, having Shawn able to read, write and speak Mandarin has made travelling around the country a lot easier. Having that said, the Champ has an advantage and hence ruled in China. :)

Click here for more photos of Hong Kong and China

STOPS: Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Yangshuo, Guilin, Fenghuang, Zhangjiajie, Yangtze River Cruise, Chengdu, Jiuzhaigou, Xi'an, Pingyao, Beijing

Date: 23/03/2015 to 26/04/2015 (34 days)

The Road To Mandalay

langkawi21 — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 23:44:00 GMT

Myanmar (aka Burma)

Minglabah. Neither of us really knew what to expect here and maybe we picked the wrong month to visit. Myanmar was hot, incredibly hot at 38C, it was dusty, so dusty and a smoky haze lay over the country the whole time we were here. We both got sick, the runs and the worst heavy colds in year, we had cold showers, and more oily fried rice than we care to remember.

On a positive note, the Burmese people were incredibly honest, friendly and welcoming, bus transport wasn't as bad as we expected and everywhere in the country there were golden pagodas, temples and tea plantations.

Highlights of the trip were:

Four day trek (100km) through hill villages, staying nights in monasteries and not seeing any other foreigners.
Lake Inle - massive calming lake where we witnessed ancient fishing method and floating farm.
Golden Rock in Kyiathiyo - a massive boulder covered in gold leaves in which thousands of Burmese pay pilgrimage to every day.
Thousands of pagodas in Bagan.
Tasty Myanmar Beer.

Lowlights:

A boat cruise to Mandalay which took 17 hours to do 150km due to breakdowns.
Dust, smoke and heat.
The food, the most memorable being rice served with fried potatoes and potatoes crisps.
Being vomited on route to Golden Rock.
Super slow Wifi and internet.
Cold, Flu, Cough and diarrhoea.

All in all, an interesting 23 days were spent here.

We are sure during cooler months, it's a different country, but to us it was unforgiving and flying to Hong Kong was a flight we ran to.

Click here for more photos of Myanmar

STOPS: Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin, Hsipaw, Shan Villages, Kalaw, Lake Inle, Kyiathiyo

Date: 26/02/2015 to 23/03/2015 (25 days)

Family and Friends

langkawi21 — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 23:23:00 GMT

Singapore - or is it SingaBORE?

Singapore was the start of the Asia part of the trip, but apart from good food and Shawn's brother being here, it was a stopping off point to enter Malaysia.

Date: 02/02/2015 to 05/02/2015 (3 days)

Malaysia - Home Sweet Home

Despite Shawn being born here and Andrew visiting numerous times, neither of us have really seen Malaysia, so our trip through the country was an interesting experience. Malacca was a culinary and cultural experience, Pangkor Island had great beaches, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur were great for catching up with family and friends with great food and Penang to re-kinder with high school friends and history. It was then back to Langkawi for Chinese New Year, a great family gathering, food and more food, beer and firework.

STOPS: Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Pangkor Island, Ipoh, Alor Star, Penang, Langkawi

Date: 05/02/2015 to 26/02/2015 (18 days)

Snorkelling in Thailand

Koh Lipe was a beach holiday with stunningly clear beaches and great snorkelling.

STOP: Koh Lipe

Date: 22/02/2015 to 25/02/2015 (3 days)

Click here for more photos of Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand

It's Time To Go

langkawi21 — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 16:45:00 GMT

After years of saving and months of preparation, so we are off again for a new adventure and what a start it has been to our 2 years away from Australia.

Shawn finished worked on 18th Dec 2014 and a lot of Andrew's family came out for an Aussie Christmas which was closely followed by a New Zealand wedding on Waiheke Island.

After 2 weeks in the South Island of New Zealand catching up with friends//family, we returned to Sydney to move out, pack our packs and we are now ready to go.

We just wanted to share our whereabouts (every few months) via this blog, and please if anyone would like to join us on route, please do so. Friends and family are very important to us.

Please leave comments at the very bottom of this page.

Hope everyone's new year has started well.

Click here for more photos of Australia and New Zealand

The BIG 5 and Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa)

langkawi21 — Fri, 6 Aug 2010 23:57:00 GMT

Africa - the continent of amazing wildlife, spectacular sunrises and sunsets, incredible costs to the travellers (more expensive than Europe!!), unbelievably friendly and non too friendly locals and a continent which only has 1% internet facilities has made a very interesting 2.5 months for us.

So, firstly, we are alive and well but as we say the internet in Middle/Southern Africa is almost non existant. We have travelled from Kenya to Namibia through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Botswana, we've taken very rough local transport, boats, buses, luxurious coaches and even had to hitch hike 1000km through nothern Namibia.

The game parks live up to their expectations, they have been fantastic and we've seen all the BIG FIVE wild animals all so close up. Leopard, Lion, Buffalo, Rhino and Elephant plus dozens of other animals and now do not think we will visit a zoo again. - The Masai Mara Game Park in Kenya was by far the most rewarding as for a game goes.

Mount Kilimanjaro (as Shawn calls it [Kill Me Manjaro]) was another "must do" on our trip. And from a "must do", it turned out to be "never again"!! One of us reached the top at 5860m and from an easy start, it turned out to be very physically and mentally challenging, a bitterly cold experience which took a week on a beach in Zanzibar to recover from!!

The Victoria Falls lived up to and far exceeded expectations as did northern Botswana/Namibia where we slept over river surrounded by hippos.

So, here we are in Windhoek (capital of Namibia), we are relaxing here from a few days after a few weeks in the desert and game parks before moving down to our final destination, Cape Town, South Africa.We have 2 weeks to see this area before returning back to Perth, Australia on 26th August, hopefully staying with relatives here before flying to Melbourne and driving back to Sydney.

8th Sep, Shawn returns back to Commonwealth Bank.
11th Sep, we move back into North Sydney.
13th Sep, Andrew returns back to his job in North Sydney.
20th Sep, we will begin to wonder if we have been away at all?

We are both looking forward to returning home. Africa has been quite tiring and hard on the pocket and new plans need to be put into action and paid for.

So this is the last update from our travels, we will post a short note once we get back to Australia.

Again, we hope everyone is well and do keep the emails and comments coming in.

Cheers

Andrew and Shawn

Click here for more photos of Africa trip

Amo l'Italia

langkawi21 — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:21:00 GMT

Buongiorno (pronounced Bon journo) from Italy, a country neither of us had visited before but always wanted to, we've had a great 3 weeks here. Arrived into Venice from Croatia and were pleasantly surprised to find Venice as beautiful, relaxing and not as expensive as we were lead to believe. 3 days flew past before moving to Verona (where the story of Romeo and Juliet began), then Cinque Tere which we believe has great walks, however the rain and landslides took us to Portofino, a little seaport with an array of expensive boats, shops and people. Money was everywhere hence we didn't stay over.

Florence was a little disappointment but Siena and Rome made up for it, as one guide book said "Rome has more historical sites than dog poo in any European city!!" - From San Peters to the Colosseum and onto the Vatican City, time here flew.

For the last week, we have been in Positano on the Amalfi Coast, it is amazing unreal coastline. Houses and roads are built in places never thought possible, how buses travel along these mountain roads is a feat in itself. At least 90% of cars are scratched. We had a couple boat trips to Amalfi and Capri (here yachts had helicopters on).

Currently back in Naples, flying back to UK tomorrow for 5 days with Andrew's family.

Italy has lived up to all expectations (gelato, pastas, pizzas and Italians). Whilst expensive, it is still cheaper than bankrupt Greece and instead of staying in backpacker hostels, we've stayed in 3-4 star hotels which work out cheaper. Eating here has also been a culinary experience. The trip ends with staying in the only room in a huge restaurant in Amalfi, with a stunning view of the sea and Mama's traditional Italian dishes.

Next stop after the UK is Africa, starting in Kenya on 2nd June for the final 3 months before getting back to Sydney.

Once back in Sydney early september, we are looking to rent or house sit for 6 months. If anyone knows anyone who needs house sitters, bare us in mind!!

Okay, ciao from Italy until the African continent. Hope all is well with everyone.

Click here for more photos of Italy

Next Stop : 2nd Jun - End of August - Africa, Kilimanjaro, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa

Sailing Croatia

langkawi21 — Wed, 12 May 2010 04:13:00 GMT

I should think by this stage, you are all sick and tired of our blog but we thought we will keep this up to date. Here are a few lines about Montenegro and Croatia.

Montenegro - A very small country, beautiful coast line. Great mountain ranges.
The highlight is Kotor, a UNESCO heritage and beautiful walled town nestled around the fjord and surrounded by mountains.

Croatia - Picked up a cruise from Split and travelled around the southern islands to Dubrovnik. Sailed on a small vessel carrying just 20 passengers (17 of them are Aussies and Kiwis!). Did lots of swimming (jumping off the boat), reading, eating and relaxing. It was what we needed a week of doing very little and it is the best (and only) way to see the beautiful Croatian coast.

Left here for Plitvice National Park, a gorgeous area of lakes, waterfalls and fresh air. Spent many hours walking. From here, it was to Pula and then onto Venice, Italy.

Click here for more photos in Montenegro and Croatia

Next Stop : 6th May - 28th May Around Italy

The Geeks and The Greeks

langkawi21 — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:32:00 GMT

Kalimera (Good Morning), that's my very first Greek word, arrived into Athens 18th March and as we flew to Mykonos, we thought we would have a cheap month island hopping around this bankrupt country, little did we know!! Since the Euro was introduced, prices have tripled and because of it, we have demoted ourselves from flash packers to real backpackers, have started staying in dormitories and have not eaten in a restaurant or cafe for 4 weeks, living on salads mixed in plastic bags in our room and plenty of bread and rough local wine. Occasionaly a 2 euro souvlaki to reward ourselves with a bit of meat.

Despite the cost, we have been to some amazing places, island hopped through Mykonos, Ios, beautiful Santorini, Crete (where we spent Easter on the coast). The Greeks celebrate Easter more than any other religious holiday - quite a spectacle, then took a ferry to Athens where we came to an area called the Peloponesse, currently driving a hire car for a week around this unreal area - Vathia, Monemvassia (thank you Maria and Gord for you suggestions). Weather is great there are also very few people around and spring flowers out everywhere.

Moving to Montenegro (via Albania) on sunday for a few days, then picking up a cruise through the islands of Croatia for a week (well, we still need a few luxuries!!), before moving to Venice and down through Italy flying back to UK from Naples on 28th May.

We are both well and cannot believe we are now into our 8th month of travel, time really does fly when you have fun.

Please keep your email and comments coming in as we do appreciate news from home.

Hope everyone is well. enjoy the photos and ciao until next country.

Click here for more photos Paupers in Greece

Next Stop : 18th April - Montenegro and Croatia via Albania

Skiing and Sailing

langkawi21 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:53:00 GMT

Well we are back again after a great week learning to ski in the Bulgaria mountains. Our next stop, or Shawn's next stop will be the 2014 Winter Olympics representing Malaysia at downhill.

Weather was fantastic, plenty of snow, cold temperature and very cheap apres ski, which we took advantage of plenty of time.

Only downside of the week was that we arrived Saturday and all our luggage arrived monday night - not too clever skiing without the appropriate gear (we were in jeans).

Currently we are spending a week in Cornwall with Andrew's sister. Went sailing yesterday and were joined by a pod of twelve dolphins, weather here is spectacular, cold and clear and it's a fitting end to the UK which we leave next thursday for Mykonos, Greece.

Whilst writing this, we would like to thank all family and friends for their hospitality whilst we have been in the U.K., it's been great to catch up with you all and we really appreciate everything you have done for us.

Hope everyone else is well, shall write again from Europe and please keep the comments coming in.

Click here for more photos Skiing and Sailing

Next Stop : 18th March - Greece and around Europe

Walk Like An Egyptian

langkawi21 — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:12:00 GMT

Assalamu Alaikum.

We finally escaped the harshest winter in England for years on the 20th Jan for Luxor, Egypt - and we landed in heat!!

Egypt was also the first country that we both looked like tourists unlike just Andrew in the last 5 months.

During our 23 days here, we covered the whole country and saw everything from the pyramids, temples, tombs, deserts, Egypt's ancient rail system and of course the locals, who I must say are one of the most persistently annoying and unscrupulous group of people we have met.

The cities along the Nile were full of tourists though we managed to escape by taking a luxury 5-star cruise down the Nile to Asswan - it was bliss!!

Our trips to the desert were off the tourist route and were well worth the long hours of travel to get there, spectacular scenery, heat during the day and freezing at night - We travelled every form of transport from donkey cart, horse carriage, camels, the ancient rail system over night, un-road worthy taxis and luxury liners.

We flew out of Sharm el Sheik, the busiest airport we have ever seen and full of British package holiday tourists, all keen to eat lots of pizzas, drink beer and buy duty free items, it was quite a sight - and I am glad I'm an aussie now!! (Though travelling into Egypt using UK passport)

Currently have a few more weeks in the UK visiting friends and family and then off to Bulgaria skiing on 26th Feb, will update again after that.

Hope you are all well and please keep the communications coming in.

Click here for more photos in Egypt

Next Stop : Bulgaria - 27th Feb till 06 Mar

Front Page News - Clowning Around

langkawi21 — Sat, 9 Jan 2010 22:22:00 GMT

We have been in England nearly one month and are experiencing harshest winter in 30 years. Every trip we have done is affected by snow and ice, and as spectacular as it was initially, it is making out trip very hard work.

Had a very good christmas and new year with Andrew's sister in Cornwall and even made news headline dressed up as clowns as we went swimming on New Years Day. Something you will only ever do once in your life, and it was FREEZING!!!!!

Last week, while travelling north, we flowed the snowplough on one of England's main motorway which was reduced to one lane due to blizzard.

In the forth coming week, we have about 1000 miles to travel and the forecast is for yet more snow. Let's hope we make it.

Off to warmer climate on 20th Jan with 3 weeks in Egypt before returning to UK for a couple of weeks then off skiing in Bulgaria for one week, then back to England and flying to Greece on 18th March and working our way over land back to England (again) for end of May.

Hope winter or summer or the tropical weather is treating you well, look forward to hearing from you.

Check out these pictures posted on BBC
Frozen England - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/8447758.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8442877.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8443307.stm

Next destination : Egypt

Shall blog about it then.

Cold Winter, England

langkawi21 — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:34:00 GMT

A quick update before christmas. Laos continued to go well and we even managed to get tickets for the opening ceremony of the SEA games (South East Asia Games) in Vientiane and saw Malaysia beat Cambodia in soccer.

On flying into Kuala Lumpur then Langkawi, the heat and humidity really hit you. Good to catch up on family and then flew into UK. Left Langkawi in 36 degrees celcius, landed into London at 0 degree celcius, a real shock to the system but there was more to come, we got snowed in in Aspenden staying with a friend's mother, 7 inches of snow fell and we had to cancel our trip to Hartlepool on the North East Coast of England as we couldn't leave the house, England almost came to a halt with very beautiful and pictureaque but so cold.

Currently on route to Banbury and then down to Cornwall for xmas and new year, from here we have no idea where we are going but now have 8.5 months to work out our way down to Cape Town before flying back to Australia.

We would like to wish you all a very happy christmas and all the best for 2010, and please keep the messages and comments coming in and let us know if you want to join us en route in 2010.

ps. we got a UK mobile number. it's +44 7758 013 795

For more photos, check out the photo gallery titled England.

Good Bye Asia!

langkawi21 — Mon, 7 Dec 2009 22:36:00 GMT

Vietnam

Been a few weeks since we last blogged so we thought we would give you a quick update before we leave Asia for UK.

Vietnam continued to go well though never really trusted the Vietnamese people. It's all about getting as much money from you as possible. Ho Chi Minh City was a bussling motorcycle filled hub and contained lots about the war. We ate great food, did all the sites and even went to a local circus. From here we travelled to Mekong River Delta for 3 days by boat, crossing the border into Cambodia.

Cambodia

First stop was Phnom Penh, which is now becoming a very modern fast growing city. It also contains numerous horrors of the Pol Pot regime. It also gave us our worst accomodation and dinner. From here it was a 7-hour trip to Siem Reap, where tourist money is very evident compare to the very poor country side.

Angkor Wat is an amazing site as are all the ruins in these areas. Though after 2 full days of temples, we had seen enough and enjoyed great food and cheap beer in the evening.

Laos

We then flew from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang in Laos. This saved us a 48 hour bus trip (money well spent even if it was with Laos Airline). Luang Prabang is a beautiful relax city in the hills in northern Laos. Here we kayak'ed, trekked and even did the cookery school before bussing it to Vang Vieng which is a beautiful city surrounded by amazing mountains, but full of drunken backpackers. (ps we are not backpackers, we are called flashpackers).

Today we went caving (a first for us both) and more kayaking. Tomorrow we leave for Vientiane and fly to Langkawi on the 10th Dec before UK.

We are both well and really appreciate all your comments and messages. Keep them coming.

Good Morning Vietnam

langkawi21 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:22:00 GMT

We are back! A few weeks later, we are now half way down Vietnam. Been an exciting cheap experience. Flew into the capitol Hanoi, home to thousands of motorbikes and 1km strip of dog meat restaurant!! Crossing the road means a whole new meaning in Vietnam.

Travelled by night, soft sleeping train (no more hard sleep like 22 years ago) to the north, great cool scenery, stayed in the home stay with locals before moving east to Ha Long Bay. Spent a night on the junk amongst 2000 lime stone peaks and a further night on an isolated island.

From here, 29 hour bus travel brought us to Hoi An. Beautiful laid back town, staying in great hotel, relaxing, cycling before moving to Ho Chi Minh next week, followed by Cambodia and Loas.

Weather hot humid
Food getting better
Beer cheaper than water
Health good
All easy travelling in 2009
Locals trying to rip you off

More later. Keep emails and comments coming. Love to hear from you all.

Relaxed, Ready to Move

langkawi21 — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 16:35:00 GMT

Relaxed in Bangkok for the last 3 days. Eaten lots of great food. Organised visas for Vietnam and ready for our flight tomorrow morning.

More from Vietnam. Hopefully the typhoon clears up by then.

Apology for the photos. They will have to wait till mid december.

Next Stop : Hanoi - 4th Nov

We Did It!

langkawi21 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:34:00 GMT

We did it. 22 days of trekking round the Annarpurna, we made it back to Pokhara in one piece. We went through all weather conditions, torrential (unseasonal) rain for 36 straight hours which produced amazing waterfalls, but most scary was that number of landslides, snow, heat, humidity and cold- real cold.

We started trekking at the beginning of Oct in Besishaar (height 820m) and rose steadily to cross Thurong La Pass at 5416m in thick snow, again very unseasonal. We passed through amazing Nepalese villages and spent each night in the local hotels, all very basic but all very adequate. Though when I think back to 22years ago when I was trekking here, it is luxury now.

We also employed a porter/guide for the trek which was a godsend. He carried our pack and made life so much easier for ourselves.

HIGHLIGHTS

Crossing Thurong La Pass in thick snow (5416m)
Competleing the Circuit
Re walking to Annarpurna Sanctuary 22 years later
Experiencing Nepalese village life.
Relying on your feet for 320kms of walking
Sleeping in a storeroom in ABC with rats and Koreans. (sorry Jimmy/Sarah :)
Arriving back in Pokhara on the roof of a local bus

Since reaching Pokhara, we have relaxed, eaten, drunk beer (first time in 22 days). Shawn off to paragliding tomorrow then flying back to Kathmandu on 28th Oct.

Will write again before leaving Nepal and tell you about Everest scenic flight.

I see dead people

langkawi21 — Fri, 2 Oct 2009 21:54:00 GMT

Today is our last day in Kathmandu. We are leaving for a 21-day trek early tomorrow morning.

After sorting out the trekking stuff. We took a taxi to 2 of the temples suggested by hotel front desk. The first was Boudha Stupa, the iconic landmark in Kathmandu (like Opera House in Sydney).

We then walked 2km to Pashupati Temple, one of the holiest and largest Hindu temples. While only Hindus are allowed in the main temple, we were ushered to the back court yard by a paid tour guide. The first thing came to sight was 5 platforms by the river bank with burning pires. 3 of them are still burning. And yes, that's cremation in process. We were allowed to watch it from the viewing platform and the fume was blowing in our direction, so we have inhaled whatever that was there.

We were then led to the other side of the river and there lied a dead body that passed away this morning (Hindus don't keep the decease over night). They were cleaning the body using the water from the river (which is really filthy) before moving it to the cremation platform.

There were children swimming and picking up coins that were swept into the river with the ashes and old ladies doing their laundries.

This is something I've heard about but never thought I would see it. Words can't describe my feelings. It wasn't scary, but very interesting to be able to witness such a different culture.

Surprisingly, we were allowed to take photos and videos. Again, I will update them to picasa later.

Next update in 22 days time.

Conquering the Giant

langkawi21 — Thu, 1 Oct 2009 12:21:00 GMT

29th Sept. Arrived in Kathmandu International Airport. It felt like we have time traveled back to the 70s. The amount of time and paperwork to get through Immigration was ridiculous. Not a good first impression. Our transportation to the hotel (Ganesh Himal) had to be pushed to get started. Funnily, I felt very comfortable, the city reminds me of my home town (Malaysia) when I was a kid, and Andrew doesn't think it has changed in 22 years.

Tho a poor country, the streets are surprisingly cleaner than I expected. There is no nasty smell and the locals look harmless and tidy. Very pleasant. Very noisy traffic, but it doesn't bother me at the slightest.

After unpacking our bags, we went out for a walk and tried to sort out trekking permits. There is a Chinese Agency who speak mandarin but we ended up in another agency that offered a lower service fee. Again, I could have blended in as one of the locals, so the agent Mr. Rajendra said. (ps. I was mistaken as Thai in Bangkok)

Chatted up with two girls, very cheerful people, we were gonna join them for dinner but ended up in the hotel restaurant. Had a pleasant local cuisine, candle lit dinner in the garden, but avoided the uncooked stuff.

The people here speak very good English. Hotel is very clean and even comes with a bathtub. It's 5min walk from the hectic part of the town. Very pleasant. I would give it a 4star rating for Nepal's standard.

30th Sept, OK sleep last night. Got up at 6am and the city is so qiuet. The view from the roof top garden is amazing. Looking forward to exploring the city more today.

Taken a few photos but they don't have memory card reader. So gotta wait longer for the photos. :)

Next trip : 3th Oct Bus to Pokara to start trekking.

Back from England

langkawi21 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:12:00 GMT

Here we are, 3 weeks of racing around the world to England and back to australia. We are now in Kathmandu to begin the trip. In UK, managed to c all my family which involved travelling the length of England. Never been on so many trains or slept in so many beds for a long time.

Good to see family in UK and know that I'll be back in 3.5 months time. Amazing landing back in Sydney in a dust storm. Then had a very long 10-hour trip to country Victoria, where it snowed, hailed and rained. But good to see Alex. had 48 hours in Bangkok. Good to relax and ready for the next epic part of the trip.

Next stop: Kathmandu, Nepal