Memories will be made of this.....

Gallery: Syria - Damascus

matt_bianco — Sat, 10 May 2008 07:37:00 GMT

Gallery: Lebanon

matt_bianco — Thu, 8 May 2008 07:29:00 GMT

The Centre of the Axis of Evil??

matt_bianco — Mon, 5 May 2008 07:50:00 GMT

The last time i wrote, i was just about to go that morning into Syria. I shared a taxi that would stop off in Jerash and Bosra (in Syria) before heading to Damascus, with a French guy and a Dutch mother and daughter. After spending my first week with a variety of cool and interesting people, it was a bit disappointing to spend time with such boring people (however the mother and daughter did help me out with the money situation quite well, as i couldn't be arsed to get some more Jordanian cash and they had some leftover - otherwise i wouldn't have made it to Jerash!). Jerash is a stunningly preserved ancient Roman cities and even though the driver said we could have two hours there (which when we got there i thought was quite a bit excessive), i could have spent a lot longer there. However, onwards - and finally left Jordan. Not before another border and another brief issue as we had to change money so to leave the country! Once in Syria, it seemed so much greener and that there was more life than in Jordan. Trees, greenery, plants and plantations everywhere and a welcome relief from the barren desert. There was still significant desert, but at least it was broken up slightly! We arrived in Bosra in Southern Syria in the late afternoon. Bosra was one of the original superb-towns in years gone by and in during the 1st century was briefly the capital of the Nabataean kingdom (prior to Petra). Built out of black basalt, it would have been much more impressive if we weren't all so tired, however the camera snapped away happily! Finally arrived in Damascus after far too long a day of being squashed in a service taxi and due to the mother/daughter combo panicking about where to stay, they had booked a hotel near to the old town (but also near to the Syrian cinema....as they kept on pointing out...why!?). As is usually the case, you just seem to stay where you first can and despite it being over-priced and under-friendly, i thought i might as well stay for the night. The whole tackiness of the place made me think that i wanted to get out of Damascus as quickly as possible (as i only had 3 days or so until i had to get to Beirut to meet Kari again). The next morning i took the bus to Hama in Central Syria. Its only about 2 hours on the bus (and it was so nice not to be squashed in a small taxi for once!). Hama has a sad history that in 1982, the previous ruler of Syria killed (through his troops) about 50,000 people for an uprising. Needless to say the Syrian's (no matter how annoyed they are with the government, NEVER will rebel against their leaders). On that note, probably the nastiest looking ruler is the Syrian President and the pictures of him adorn every car, building, important area....you get the picture. Its obviously not out of respect for him, more to have him as an omnipresent type of figure for all to remember. Hama is famous for its Noria's. Noria's are basically massive waterwheels - and there are quite a few of these and something that was so beautiful to see after all the rocks. Hama was just a really nice, friendly town where everybody wanted to speak to you and welcome you for a cup of coffee/humous/dinner. It was strange after all the negativity that Syria receives to feel more welcomed by the locals than in nearly any other country i've ever been to! On my last day before heading to Lebanon, i went to see a few places outside of Hama. Krak des Chevaliers is (apparantly) the finest crusader castle in the world. For me though, it was a step too far in looking at rocks and (despite not paying....i merely walked straight in without realising....the advantages of looking like a local!) i just couldn't appreciate the beauty of it at the time! On the way back, went to see the Beehive Houses, where people still live - it all seemed quite comfortable there and quite a nice place. The people at the Hotel Riad (highly recommended!) were superb and despite the oil prices rising by 300% overnight (with no uprising!), they managed to get me on my way to Lebanon without any problem. Its been strange the last few days, as Syria has been far too easy! All the stories and bad press of Syria seems so richly undeserved and just a welcoming place.

Gallery: Syria - More Rocks, Beehives & Hama

matt_bianco — Fri, 2 May 2008 07:01:00 GMT

Sand, Desert, Rocks...Sand, Desert, Rocks...Sand, Desert......

matt_bianco — Thu, 1 May 2008 16:52:00 GMT

So another year and another little trip to keep me occupied...in the meantime I ventured to Barbados, however apart from getting THE most ridiculous tan and going to the sister bar of my favourite in Leeds, I can't think of too much else to say about the place.

This time I decided that it was time that I ventured to the Middle East and explored some rocks (as its been a while!) - the plan being Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. This was treated with shock and horror by most of the people close to me knowing the situations that we hear and see on television all too regularly. However, I've been meaning to go to Petra (scene of Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom) for a long, long time and whilst there felt it necessary to put myself in some real apparent danger zones.

I arrived in Amman, Jordan late at night and my guidebook forewarned me that it was a modern Middle Eastern city - this filled me with dread that it was going to be like Dubai and as plastic a place as is possible. However, in the middle of the night, nowhere looks like it does in the day and i was extremely glad that it was nothing like Dubai and i wasn't immediately hit by neon lights and skyscrapers galore.

A day was spent walking around the old town in Amman, sampling the best homous i've ever tasted and going to the roman ampitheatre and citadel there - it was impressive enough, but i knew that in days to come i would be seeing truly amazing sights (all of which were between 1000 and 5000 years old), so it was all about the Kodak moments there. In the evening I met up with two Canadian girls who were about to go back home to Montreal, so we went to a really cool bar (accessed through a bookshop) with great views over the city and had my first taste of Jordanian wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) and it was actually really, really good much to all of our surprise!

Took the tourist bus down to Petra which involved stopping off at various sites along the way - this included Mount Nebo (where Moses apparently died and there is a cross there to mark it with serpents etc.), as well as Crusader castles and churches. It was all a bit religious for an agnostic person like myself, but interesting enough to see just how barren the landscape was with rock after rock after rock. Upon arriving in Wadi Musa (located just up the road from Petra), it was evident to see that the town only existed due to Petra being there and was full of people trying to extract money out of you as quickly as possible!

Petra was the ultimate reason for the trip and it didn't disappoint in the slightest. The most famous part of this is Treasury, but the site is massive and there is so much to see and do and it really is a special place to visit with such interesting sites. Luckily, at the hostel the night before, a couple of guys had a spare ticket (you buy multiple day tickets) and they gave it to me, so I ended up not having to pay which was doubly good. Whilst there, met up with an American PhD student who i spent the day with. Whilst there and waiting for the sun to lower for some perfect shots, a group of 30 girls on a day trip from Amman came up to us and started with you are so beautiful....clearly blinded by the bright sun, obviously! We then spent a good couple of hours chatting away to them and they begged us time and time again to tell them who we fancied the most, but my diplomatic head was on and I made sure that I didn't prefer any of them (at least not in public).

Walking back to the hostel, we were greeted by various people and it was funny when this young boy of about 6 asked our names and in reply when we asked his he just said 'Jihad'..shocked, i asked again and he proved that this was his name. I walked slightly uneasily back to the hostel after that!!!

From Petra, i took a morning bus to Wadi Rum. Another issue with the bus as it was a 6.30 leaving time, but unlike the good folk in Leeds with their buses, this one decided to leave early and I ran down the stairs chasing the bus down the hill. When I finally got on, the driver blamed me for making him late and then proceeded in ordering everyone on the bus to do exactly what he wanted. We stopped along the way to pick up some lunch (which was basically pitta bread with laughing cow cheese - i'm so sick of that stuff now!) before arriving in Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum is a national park in the south of Jordan in the desert where the Bedouin people live. The day was spent going around the various sites in the desert in a 4x4 looking at some awesome desert scenes, including climb the red sand dunes and running/falling down them. In our group there was myself, a Dutch guy i met before (who most people thought was a long standing friend), 3 American Jewish guys (who had just been on a free holiday in Israel organised by something called Birthright (where some rich Jewish Americans pay for anyone who wants to go to visit Israel in the hope that they will want to move there)), 3 Japanese (who spoke no English), another dutch couple (who spoke very seldom) and an older German guy who went on and on and on about how great Germany were at football compared to the English - admittedly this is true, but I came extremely close to pointing out that they may be better at football, but they were still crap at wars! Got on really well with everybody (save for the German) and had a nice time (even with the Americans!) - for once there doesn't seem to be many of the backpacking nationalities here; very few Aussies or Brits, but lots of French, German and Americans, which I have found slightly strange - but at least I am brushing up on my French language skills in the process!

Along the day, our 4x4 driver continually raced against the other one and in the finally stretch we slipstreamed before blasting past him (us passengers in the back were being thrown all over the place).....just as we overtook the damn car broke down and in true Lawrence of Arabia style, we had to traverse the desert in the 40 degree heat to the camp for the last couple of miles. We stayed in a Bedouin camp that night and the sunset was spectacular, with the most amazing starry sky i have ever seen in the night-time - all the constellations were there to see....a truly unbelievable experience.

The following day, I had to get back to Amman as with time being quite tight, unfortunately I haven't been able to rest. Once again, the idiot of a bus driver ordered everyone about and then had the cheek to demand i recommend him to the Lonely Planet - needless to say I won't be bothering them with that recommendation, especially as it seems that I was the only person that he wasn't able to con. After taking the local bus (and being the only non-Jordanian) arrived back and met up with a really nice Aussie girl called Kari (who worked for UNESCO) and we went out and got drunk until 3 in the morning. The evening was funny, as I had told her about the cool bar at the bookshop where everyone was sitting around having a great time, as well as people on Macs and the Iraqi refugees playing the glitterati, but she insisted we take a taxi - it was only 500 metres away. The taxi driver then got us so lost, we circled the town three times and spent an hour and a half going around and around before he pulled up at the Marriott hotel and we had to go in and get directions for him - felt a bit sorry for him in the end, but yet another one of those stories to laugh about.

Today has been another particularly strange day - I decided to go to the Dead Sea and caught a public bus over there this morning. After swimming around in the sea for a while (which is a bizarre experience as you simply can not help but float!). i got told to hitch-hike back by the guards as there were no buses. This seemed fair enough and after about 45 minutes finally a car got flagged down - a taxi with a family of three going back to Amman. Had to sit in the back and play silly games with the 12 and 6 year old boys. All was going so well until we got back to Amman and they expected me to pay about 25 pounds for the privilege. A few words were said and suddenly it was down to 2 pounds, a fair compromise I thought.

Preparations are now well under way to move into Syria and then Lebanon, where i'll meet up with Kari again - Jordan has been thoroughly enjoyable and another completely different place to the others I have been to. Petra was simply amazing, Wadi Rum unique and Amman has a charm about it that I haven't found that often in capital cities.....another update will come shortly!! Over and out......

Gallery: Jordan - Amman, Dead Sea & Jerash

matt_bianco — Thu, 1 May 2008 06:47:00 GMT

Gallery: Jordan - Petra & Wadi Rum

matt_bianco — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:23:00 GMT

Gallery: Nepal - The Annapurna Road

matt_bianco — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:57:00 GMT

All the Annapurna Bits....Except for MBC and ABC

Gallery: Nepal - Annapurna Base Camp

matt_bianco — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:57:00 GMT

Gallery: Nepal - The Last Resort

matt_bianco — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:01:00 GMT

Bungee Jump Paradise

Gallery: Nepal - Kathmandu

matt_bianco — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 04:38:00 GMT

Sweating in the Annapurnas!

matt_bianco — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 18:42:00 GMT

The last (and first episode) of this was all about a bit of daredevil jumping off cliffs etc. and i had arrived in Pokora for the 8 day trek to Annapurna Base Camp. The organisation of this was a bit of a farce to say the least (something you come to expect when travelling around - unless you're Israeli..). However, by the next morning there was our group of six, which consisted of myself and Dave, an older guy called Tom (who within the first minute of meeting us was immediately banished from our group by me for saying that all people from Leeds have special needs?!), a Swiss girl called Barbara (an absolute legend of a walker/climber/mountaineer - and for these reasons i didn't see much of her during the day), a Malay girl called Janice (who i insisted we call Jasmine, even though she reminded us on numerous occasions that it was 'not my name') and a very pretty boy from Portugal called Philippe. Janice and Philippe had just spent the last month of so in India doing yoga, meditation and meeting the Dalai Lama, so they were doing lots of ohms all the time. Our guide was called Deepak (but affectionately renamed D-Cup, for no other reason than it raised a giggle or two...some things never change!). I was apprehensive to say the least about doing 8 days walking. Quite simply, i don't like it in the slightest...Machu Picchu was okay, as i knew what i'd see at the end, trekking in Thailand acceptable, but the longest trek i had done previously was the Torres Del Paine in Chile and at 6 days was probably one of the worst travel experiences of my life! The trek was 5 days up and 3 days down and the hardest walking of my life. However, with the group (save for Tom), we laughed, played lots of songs on Dave's guitar, sang with the locals all the way up and met some amazing people on the trip. The actual trekking itself saw days of mostly beautiful weather, with views that would scare anyone with vertigo to their wits end! As some might know, i've never been so unprepared for a trip, so completing a trek without any of the following was pretty folly: sleeping bag, any footwear (apart from trainers), a jacket for the conditions, walking sticks (though this was definitely out of choice, as it just doesn't look cool going up hill with skiing poles!). Most of the events that took place on the trip were far too personal to write on here, but i'm sure that they'll come out eventually!! The highlight of the trek was reaching Annapurna Base Camp - this is 4130 metres altitude and the day we made the short ascent to the camp was glistening with sunshine and a perfect day for visibility for the Annapurna's (and Fish Tail mountain, which in Nepali sounds remarkably like Machu Picchu, so much so that most people seem to call it that!). Whilst at ABC, we experienced a bizarre phenomenon - the day we got to the top there wasn't a cloud in the sky, however the next morning we were calf deep in snow and had to encounter a blizzard coming down (remember the lack of appropriate clothing didn't particularly aid this at all!). It really makes you feel so small and insignificant when you reach the top - as though you're looking at the whole world. Unfortunately, not even the best pictures can quite describe it, but it was emotional! Upon reaching the top and getting the famous kodak moment, my only concern was to get back down as quickly as is humanly possible. Therefore, my suggestion that we hike for 11 hours (over terrain which isn't particularly suited to speed and was covered in ice and snow at the top and leech-ridden mud further down) didn't go down that well with many people - however, i seemed to be able to convince everyone that we wanted to get ahead of all the other tour groups as quickly as possible. This was a stupid idea - really daft. We had been doing about 6/7 hours of walking a day and D-Cup had been particularly adamant that 11 hours was not possible on the same day....however, i was in no mood to listen. After about 8 hours (and with darkness setting in), i realised just exactly why i'm no guide, as the last 2-3 hours was purely uphill - climbing over 500 metres step after step. That night, we are collapsed in our beds and i feared that i might not get spoken to again by anybody! The Dashain festival was taking place during this time and because of this, we witnessed lots of 'sacrificing' ('murdering' in any rational person's books) of plenty of goats and yaks. The pictures of these are a bit gruesome, but i admit to being a bit of a happy snapper. Each night, i'd collapse in bed with the Ipod in - Classic albums listened to everynight on the trek: 'Best of Cat Stevens', 'The Wall' by Pink Floyd, 'Rumours' by Fleetwood Mac, 'Urban Hymns' by The Verve, 'Abbey Road' by The Beatles, 'Graceland' by Paul Simon and 'Legend' by Bob Marley (Dave - told you i'd bloody remember them eventually!!) Getting back to civilisation was a bizarre experience - after 8 days of only seeing people, goats, cows, yaks (albeit it dead ones on the way down), goats (again lots of dead ones) the sounds of car horns had long been forgotten. However, within minutes of being back in civilisation the memories of just how normal nepali life was returned - a dead person on the side of the road (with his blood still running down the street - obviously a newly dead person), then riding on the top of the bus, hanging on for dear life again! Adrenaline returned, after 8 days of serenity and peace from the world. The next day, we eventually got back to Kathmandu (subject to yet another horrible bus journey, where nepalis were fighting over my seat and laughing at my height) where Thamel seemed like a different world. Straight back into being hassled for dope, tiger balm, crap necklaces and the like. We had met three danish people on the bus and seeing as it was my last night, we all hooked up for a drunken evening. And it was very drunk (mainly the Danish sheilas and Dave), and despite watching the Rugby World Cup Final i don't really remember it at all!! It was only the next morning, when the realisation that another trip was soon to be over that i cared (albeit not that much) that England had lost! Unfortunately, time to say goodbye to Dave - probably the first time in my life i've spent 24/7 with a guy for two whole weeks...the way we met, connected, buzzed off each other was great and think that if he'd have not come over on my first day there, how different the two weeks could've been. Excuse me all if i come out with any stupid Aussie sayings, but two weeks is a long time! The journey back was another bizarre affair - 30 hours (but thankfully no need for hitch hiking!). The real stand out points - being chatted up by a tall blonde russian air hostess on the flight back (and her attempts to seduce me....the fantasy can be better than the reality!), and having to spend 20 pounds on a one way rail ticket from Manchester to Leeds (thats 2,500 rupees!). When i arrived back in Leeds i realised that maybe this isn't the place to me when i was greeted by a boy rolling around on the floor begging for a Big Mac (i could have kicked the living daylights out of him at that precise moment in time)....welcome home!! Time to start planning the next trip.................

Searching for Kath's In Kathmandu

matt_bianco — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:28:00 GMT

It may have been over two years, however the time has come (for those who don't know) for another travelogue...this time its Nepal. I'm still (even after 4 days of being here) why i decided to go to Nepal (or none that i can mention at the moment!). However, it was booked and here i am.

The journey was a bit of a farce - by saving well over a thousand pounds, I decided to fly from Manchester to Abu Dhabi, followed by a bus journey to a place called Sharjah, then using the low cost airline Air Arabia (who?!) to Kathmandu. This was quite a simple plan in my head, however the realisation that not everything would not be the easiest on the trip dawned on me when i was dropped off in the middle of nowhere in Sharjah by the bus and i had to hitch-hike to Sharjah airport. This involved far too much walking and two different cars picking me up along the way. Sharjah is a strange old place with houses bigger than any of seen before isolated along the main roads, all having at least two gates into them. Once i arrived at Sharjah airport, i then had to wait for 5 hours for the airplane (for information purposes, Sharjah International Airport isn't exactly like Heathrow!). I was the only white person on the plane (and also the only person it seemed not to be bringing TV's, DVD players, or other electronic goods to Nepal). I felt very out of place!!

Once i got on the plane, fell asleep until we were about 200 metres above Kathmandu INternational Airport - and the view was stunning of lush green hillsides and just stunning mountainous scenery. Getting through the visa stage was a bit of palava, but eventually made it through. I hadn't booked any accommodation, but as is usual in Asia, there were hundreds of people waiting to take you to their hostel for free. I had decided upon Kathmandu Guest House (if it was good enough for the Beatles, then surely it was ok by me) and blindly lied about having a reservation. When i got to the hostel, i couldn't say that i didn't, but they couldn't find my reservation, but the luck was with me and managed to get the last room available - so after 28 hours of travelling, managed to down my backpack.

I had only been there about 10 minutes before going back out to Thamel's main street in Kathmandu - as tacky as any main tourist place in the Asian cities - being offered dope 7 times in the first 10 minutes of being out there, fake DVD's etc. etc., so retreated quickly back to the calmness of the Guesthouse bar. I had only been there 5 minutes when an Aussie guy called Dave (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Mark Philippoussis) came over (impressed by by Lonely Planet Nepal book) and asked to sit down. We hit it off relatively quickly and i told him what i planned to do and vice versa - he thought i was crazy to contemplate a bungee jump, likewise i thought he was mad to do a whole weeks worth of trekking. So we went out and investigated for the other. When looking at the trekking place, Dave said if you come trekking, i'll come bungee jumping - well, it sounded like a good swap to me!!

So the next morning, we got the 'tourist bus' to a place called the Last Front (about 5 miles from the Tibetan border for the bungee jump). As is always the case with me and planes/trains/automobiles nothing ran smoothly. Upon leaving Kathmandu, saw many army people on a training exercise, including one that was dead on the side of the road. About an hour into the three hour journey, the accelerator cable snapped and we pulled over - needless to say they didn't ask me how to fix it! Eventually, we got on our way again, but within another half an hour, it was gone to for good - we stopped in a place we affectionately named 'Fish-Kebab City' (obviously due to the amounts of fish kebabs which were hanging from all the shops and must have been there for several years). We were there for about 6 hours, waiting for the local bus to come. It came and there was no space, so we moved onto the top of the bus for a 2 hour rollercoaster up to the site.

We were meant to bungee that night, but it got put off 'til the next morning. We had to cross the bridge that we meant to bungee - a nervous experience, looking nearly 200 metres down to river rapids, knowing that shortly i'd be jumping off with a piece of cord attached to my body.

That night, the locals decided (as the only english person there) to get me drunk on McDowells whiskey (a unique blend of Scottish and Indian malts). By the next morning, i realised that half a bottle of whiskey wasn't particularly condusive to a clear head for what would be the scariest thing i've ever done. Anyway, the jump itself was simply awesome. Unless you have bungee jumped its impossible to describe (160 metres - the second tallest bungee jump in the world, bigger than any in NZ). I so wanted to stop myself and my brain was saying no, but the DVD will be out soon, so you can see it on Facebook at a later date!!

After jsut surviving the scariest thing i think i've ever done, the journey back was to replace it as the scariest thing i've ever done. We had to get the local bus back (easy enough i thought), but what transpired was a bus full of nepalis bringing stuff back from China and there were 80 of us in (and hanging out of the bus - remember on the Himalayan hills). After 10 minutes, we couldn't stay in there - we were sweating all over each other and so squashed that we couldn't breathe, so Dave, a girl we called Red and I got onto the roof of the bus after a relatively nice experience the previous day). However, this time we had to share the top of the bus with lots of people, electrical items and duvets - so we were a good 5 foot higher. The nepalis wouldn't lt us touch the duvets (they seemed to have pride of place and were pushed off anytime we got close to them). On the way down, the bus was really not safe and the three of us were holding onto cords so we didn't fall off (the roads being typical potholes and windy). On top of this we were regularly hit by tree branches and within inches of our heads being knocked off by electricity cables - if we had not ducked at the right time, we would all have died. At least the bungee only lasted a couple of minutes, this was 2 hours of the biggest rollercoaster ever, we were petrified!!! Saw another dead body in the middle of the road - but finally got back to Kathmandu to have a few drinks thankful that my travel insurance wasn't needed!!

Today, we travelled to Pokura (in the west of Nepal), where tomorrow we will be embarking on an 8 day trek to Annapurna (i'm still with Dave, a cool guy that getting on with great - especially after England beat Australia in the rugby!). In Pokura, i am currently surrounded by cows outside the internet cafe. To say Nepal is basic and primitive is a massive understatement!! Another day and another incident, we were walking back to our guesthouse, when a motorcyclist got hit by a car (its been raining) and we had to pick him up - thankfully this time he survived and we managed to get him up before the police and a doctor arrived.

There are so many things left to say, but alas i have no time. Having just the most amazing experience and feeling very alive again. Can't believe its only 5 days since i left England - feels so much longer.

Anyway, thats all for now - i'll get pictures / DVD's and all the other modern things you can do on asap (but probably when i get back to the UK).

Gallery: China

matt_bianco — Sun, 2 Oct 2005 06:13:00 GMT

The Short Road Home

matt_bianco — Sun, 2 Oct 2005 06:04:00 GMT

Well..unbelievably its very near time to head back to Sunny Leeds and face the computer on a daily basis once more. The last week has been far the quietest and also the most bizarre.

After leaving the serenity of Lijiang, I got a flight to Shanghai - I don't really know what i was expecting, but what i got in Shanghai was certainly strange. After spending so long travelling on nice trains and seeing lots of beautiful scenery along the wy, i arrived in Shanghai (by myself for the first time in what seemed like an age too - its amazing my nicknames of the Smiler and Negotiator have also disappeared out of the window too!) and managed finally to get a taxi from the airport. It was nighttime and it the taxi ride managed to put me off Shanghai instantly.....it was though i had suddenly been placed in some sort of arcade game with bright lights like i don't think i've seen before - the number of lights was blinding and the buildings just got bigger and bigger and bigger the nearer i got into town. By the time i'd arrived in downtown Shanghai i was cranking my neck just to be able to see anything apart from concrete. Shanghai has been developed at an alarming rate, so much so that developers have now realised that due to all this development, there is a significant danger that the city will collapse - as town planners hadn't taken into account the possibility that building so many skyscrapers in such a small area may lead to damaging the fragility of the surface of the town (maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing!). After one of my favourite songs ever called 'Shanghai' by Ed Harcourt, i'd romanticised about the place, but just found it to have no soul in the slightest and just a place to make money and for the ex-pats to pay over the odds for everything.

I only ended up being in Shanghai for a day, as due to the National Holiday Week (that started on the 1st of October), it has meant that i haven't had much choice in when i was to return to Beijing - so after having a look around Shanghai (and even the Lonely Planet highlight of the Bund didn't grab my attention that much), i got on the overnight train back to Beijing.

Beijing - i don't really know why, but i love it here! Its certainly not for the continually hawking or spitting, the madness of the streets, or the unbelievable amount of pollution.....but there is something about it that i really, really like. I checked back in to the hotel and so many people recognised and remembered me from before.

Since being in Beijing, I haven't done that much. The major thing is i've been going to Silk City most days to try and haggle on just about any type of thing - and i'm coming home with ridiculous amounts of things i just don't need - bags, DVD's (I think i've got about 45!), suits, pictures, shirts, belts, cufflinks, shoes, memory cards.....the list goes on. The place is just an unbelievably large shopping complex with every type of commodity you could ever imagine and i can't imagine going home and having to pay full price for things now - bargains galore!

I've also been sampling a fair bit of the Beijing nightlife and got dragged in a KTV bar - which is basically just a Karaoke Bar. The Chinese are as mad for karaoke as the Japanese and got dragged onto the stage kicking and screaming to sing a Chinese song (which is so popular over here), that is literally translated as 'Mice Love Rice' - it basically goes 'I Love you like Mice Love Rice!' - and all the video is of is tow mice running after grains of rice! It may sound corny, but it is actually a really sweet song!

The other major event this week has obviously been the National Day celebrations and i went down to Tiananmen square with the Chinese girl i've been hanging about with for the 5am kick-off of this very special event. The Chinese go absolutely crazy for this and i couldn't believe when i was going down to the square - there were hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people up in the middle of the night strolling towards Tiananmen. People getting crushed (including myself) to get as close as possible to the Forbidden City walls and then all that really happened was that the flags were raised and the fountains started pumping out water! Now, i've become used to people looking at me strangely and laughing incessantly at my height, but when you're the tallest person (by a country mile) out of nearly a million people it can make you quite paranoid when just everybody is pointing you out! Tiananmen has remained ridiculously busy ever since (and apparently will be this way for the whole of the week long celebrations).

The week has also had some very sinister happenings and quite a bit of sadness - however, i can't go into any sort of detail on this, as it has been quite upsetting for me...but for anyone i know well, i'm sure the story will come out soon.

So, by the time most people get this i'll be on the plane back to Blighty again....and despite not missing the language issues (of which i'm getting better and better at - Mandarin isn't as hard as i'd thought!), the continual staring and giggling at my height and the hawking and spitting, I've had the most amazing month that has surprised me time and time again. China has been one of my favourite countries i've ever been to (and is pushing Argentina hard as my all-time favourite!).

Top 5 Things from China

1 - Terracotta Soldiers, Xian

2 - Tiger Leaping Gorge

3 - Lijiang

4 - Great Wall of China

5 - Panda Sanctuary, Chengdu

That's all folks - until the next trip!!

PS - Top 5 IPod Tunes of the Week

Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts - Arctic Monkeys

Fix You - Coldplay

True Love Waits - Radiohead

What Katie Did - The Libertines

The Importance of Being Idle - Oasis

Dicing With The Big Drop

matt_bianco — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 06:03:00 GMT

Well it just continues to be a mad dash around China. After leaving the email the other day, i went to the 'opera' in Chengdu. It turned out that it was less of a traditional opera and more of a Chinese variety performance, with lots of spinning of heads, removal of multitudes of facemasks and lots of other generally bizarre acts - it was a good evening, but not exactly what was expected.

The next day we went to the Panda Sanctuary (i've still been travelling with the couple who i met in Beijing) and this was very sweet. The giant pandas (the black and white ones), thankfully, are kept in quite good conditions and are free to roam around - there are about 40 there in total and are completely adorable - even the hardest nosed people there were ahh-ing and ooh-ing in front of them. Also there was a baby panda who was only born about 3 weeks ago and so miniscule it was unbelievable - so much smaller than baby humans. The scientists there seem to actually care about the animals (which s nice to see in a country which isn't exactly famed for either its human or animal rights). Also at the sanctuary there were a few red pandas - these weren't either as cute or adorable, but still nice to see all the same!

After the panda sanctuary, it was a time to board another train - this time to Kunming (in the South West of China). This had to be the best train journey i think i've ever taken - despite being on another top-bunk hard sleeper (i'm getting used to the nine inch space between you and the ceiling of the train) and spending 18 hours on it, we started chatting to a group of chinese people who were all in their fifties. My Mandarin phrasebook was perfect and before we knew it we were being fed with fruit, nuts, sweets - you name it. When this started, other people on the carriage started to get a bit jealous and then came over with more food and drinks for us - as soon as we looked like we had had enough of one thing, another would be there waiting! We had brought our own food as well, but no-one would take anything from us. We were singing together and it was a really fun journey - we even had to do 'The Birdie Song' dance (in the middle of the carriage, with people taking pictures and videoing us!). It was all very surreal and just something that you can't help laughing about days later.

We arrived in Kunming, only to try and get out as soon as possible - it is the Yunnan province's main city and has lots of people (about 6 million), but little charm. We booked immediately for an overnight sleeper bus to Lijiang and just wasted the day wandering around the skyscrapers and shops. Now after the most enjoyable journey, came the weirdest. The South America trip had led me to forget how bad the buses in Asia can be and i was picturing the full monty with reclining seats, a waitress on board and decent toilets - however, the 'deluxe sleeper' that we took is pretty much impossible to describe. If you can imagine the American yellow school buses (or a normal single-decker) with all the seats taken out, scaffolding put in and beds so small that even the Chinese people couldn't fit in them you'd get near to knowing what it was like. Ead, Neil and I were allocated the 'beds' on the back row (with three other people) - imagine 6 people even fitting on the back seats of the bus, let alone with rucksacks and trying to get to sleep. This was the night when the three of us all got a bit too close for comfort and were sprawling all over each other - i was in fear of going through the window, so sleep was hard to come by! The landscape was also very bizarre - as if we had entered Middle Earth, with lots of industrial furnaces burning for as long as the eye could see. It was all a bit too hysterical and even more so when they started blasting out Bruce Lee films in the middle of the night!

We arrived at 6am in Lijiang - however, what really happened was that i woke up (after finally we all managed to get some sleep) to an empty bus in what looked like a derelict area. Panic ensued for a few seconds, before we realised that we had arrived and then that none of our bags had been taken (once again, i'm astonished by how safe a place China is). A lot of people we'd met along the way had raved about how beautiful the town was, but it looked awful! It was only after the taxi ride from the drunken Chinese guy that we arrived in the old town and it was like entering another world - the first thing we saw were a group of people doing Tai Chi in the sunrise air. The old town of Lijiang is stunning - cobbled streets and full of Naxi heritage. Another World Heritage site ticked off the map! The streets dwindle through the old town and are connected by lots of bridges. The place where i am staying is the oldest building in the town with a beautiful courtyard (and it is only cost about 90 pence a night!). The weather here is bizarre - we are at about 1800 metres altitude and you can see the rain coming from behind the mountains with blue sky further behind - it never rains for long, but when it does there is so much havoc and the cobbles become particularly slippery.

After a couple of days in Lijiang, we decided to do the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek (so named as legend has it that a tiger leaped from one side of the gorge to the other across the Yangtze River - no mean feat!). It was a 2 day trek in which on the first day you climbed 900 metres in a few hours and quite tiring. The views down into the gorge were stunning, but it was a bit hairy as you were inches from the edge of a 2000 metre cliff straight into the gorge and passed many falling rocks along the way. It wasn't helped by the fact that it had rained and the rocks became slippery - however, the views more than made up for the risk....or so we thought. On the evening, we stayed in a guesthouse on the trail that had the most beautiful view over the gorge and the mountains and it looked straight from a postcard. On the second day, when descending we had a few near fatal accidents (as instead of being rocky, the terrain was more soil which had become wet), as a German girl, who we were doing the trek with (there were 5 of us), slipped and fell only to be held from the drop by a very loose tree. We rushed to grab her legs and pull her back over the side and that started a series of events where all 5 of us lost our footing at different points (my scars from it are just grazings on my arms and legs). When we had nearly finished, we met a group of elderly people walking up and advised them to be particularly careful and described what we had happened (you barely see anyone on the trail - maybe a total of 20 people in the two days). We got to the bottom and were trying to organise a way out when we met a girl from the US Embassy who were with that family (the elderly group) who had returned to look for their son/brother who died last year after slipping on the surface - no-one has been able to find him. This put a bit of a sense of reality on how close we had all come and made the heart beat faster as we walked a bit further. However, in saying this, it was a stunning trek and well worth doing and maybe it was better that we didn't think of the risks at the time.

Got back last night and stumbled across the English Pub (which had proper toilets for the first time in a while - squatting may do wonders for your leg muscles, but you're never sure if you've got the right angle!) that was run by a guy from Castleford and his Chinese wife and we ended up in there until about 5am this morning on a true drinking session (that ended up costing us each about 8 pounds!). If any of you ever make it over here, you'll see a few photos of me behind the bar (one particularly embarrassing one of me with very little clothing on!).

Tomorrow, i'm going for the flight option to Shanghai as i'm running out of time and already thinking that i've been here for a lot longer than i have - it's amazing how quickly you can adjust to the backpacking life again and forget the nuisances of life back home. Ah well, better start saving for another trip.....

Matt

PS - Top 5 IPod Tunes of the last week:

Walkin 2 Hawaii - Tom McRae

Fake Tales of San Francisco - Arctic Monkeys

Hard Times Send Me - Kaiser Chiefs

C'Mon Chameleon - The Research

Please Stand Up - British Sea Power

Anyone For Duck??!

matt_bianco — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 06:01:00 GMT

Well - its been a long time, but i'm finally getting back in touch with the many people i've met along the years and have kept far too infrequent contact with.....that obviously means that i'm up to something less mundane than sitting behind a desk and yes, indeed i am. I'm currently on a bit of a whistle-stop journey around China. I'm only away for about 4 weeks, but after a week it already seems as though i've been here for ages and work is a distant memory.

So i arrived in Beijing to a rather murky, smoggy city with my bags stuck either in London or Vienna? The troubles that seem to follow my first night on any trip returned again....and this time i had to attempt to converse in Chinese to explain that yes i did have somewhere booked, but i wasn't too sure where it was - great start!! Eventually, i realised that in order for them to one day deliver my backpacks (and all my clothes) i'd better check where i was staying. A bus ride into the town revealed a city that is in the process of mass construction (on the sort of scale that i've never seen before) - everything is being changed in order for the 2008 Olympics and the buildings are immense and make you feel so small here. My hostel that i was staying in was in the Hutong area of the city - which means the poor part where the people are all living in quite bad conditions. However, this is the part of the city that has a major charm to it - the streets are bustling with activity all throughout the day and night and you eat the fmaous Peking Duck (not crispy and aromatic like back home) on the streets with cars driving past your ankles. The really disappointing thing is that the Hutongs are all being knocked down for the Olympics and they seem to be replacing them with a Chinatown that you could see in London, San Francisco, Melbourne, Singapore etc...The thing you just can never get away from is that everybody spits the whole time - i'm surprised there's not swimming pools made of spit here!

Within a couple of days, i got my backpack back and could finally have a nice change of clothes - i'd don't think i've ever been so glad to have a change of clothes! I spent a day wandering around the town and visiting the Forbidden City (an area by Tiananmen Square) which is dedicated to Mao. After seeing so many temples over the years, it seemed to get lost on me the importance of this, but still was impressive all the same. Tiananmen Square (which is the largest square in the world) is absolutely massive, but you can't go through it without at least 5 students trying to get you to go and see their art exhibition 'just around the corner'....a trick that is used the world over but with a slightly different emphasis in Beijing. I hired a bike one day, which everyone thought i was mad for doing, as the drivers were as crazy as in all the other South East Asian countries, but it was good fun! There are lots of stories from my time in Beijing which are either too long or too rude to talk about in this e-mail (including me getting the strangest marriage proposal of my life!), but i'm sure they'll come out at some point when i see everyone!

I spent a day trekking the Great Wall of China - and it was absolutely wonderful. Despite the weather conditions being particularly poor (it was raining for nearly all of the day) and the Kodak moment being very hard to achieve it was great. Parts of the wall have been fully restored and these were very easy to walk, but the ascents and descents at times were very hard and i wasn't completely prepared for them!! However, it was amazing and despite lots of Mongolians trying to sell you T-shirts, postcards, water etc. etc. this didn't put a dampener on it at all.

A lot of the time in Beijing was spent drinking (at about 16 pence for 600ml) and after spending a bit of time with some students in Leeds, a group of 17 Morris dancers who were doing a tour of China, a couple from London (Neil and Ead - a policeman from the Met and a restaraunteur) stumbled across me during a drunken stupour and had just started on their round the world trip. They'd been in China for nearly 2 weeks and were spending every night getting quite drunk and wondering how they were still there. I decided that i should take them under my wing and get them to see a bit of the place before their visas come out! So after some persuasion, i got them to get on a train with me to Xian and after an overnight train (of ridiculously high comfort in comparison to the Thai trains), we arrived.

The only real reason to visit Xian is to see the Terracotta Army of Soldiers (which the Chinese like to describe as the Eighth wonder of the world....whether this is official or not i'm not sure). Unbelievably, it was only discovered in 1974 whilst locals were digging wells. The terracotta soldiers are absolutely stunning. The history of them relates to over 2000 years ago and the story goes that it took about 85,000 people 70 years to create them to celebrate their leader of the time. However, the following dynasty destroyed the soldiers (as is customary for people to destroy things created by people before them) and they lay undiscovered for over 2000 years. There are now over 7000 that have been fully restored (soldiers and horses) and it is a wonderful site.

Upon returning to the hostel that evening, we were ushered off of our bus and straight onto a basketball court where we were told that the hostel had arranged a basketball game against the University of Xian's teachers. When we got to the court, we suddenly realised that this was a bit more serious than we first had thought and there was a crowd of about 100 people who had turned out to watch it as well as 2 photographers from the regions newspapers!! Now, there were only 2 Americans there who had to try and teach us very quickly how to play the game...obviously they thought my height would be to some advantage. However, during the first quarter i was thinking about just curling up like a ball and passing out....obviously i had to play up to the crowd and played the fool quite well (just for a change!). I thought my most significant contribution was to start the cheerleading (of which the Chinese people eventually got the hang of!). It was only in the last quarter that i got the gist of the game, and by some sort of fluke managed to score a three-pointer with the last play of the game to win 27-26 and get the Man of the Match award. We were all presented with Panda teddy bears and then they had a party for us with free beer all night - bonus!!

On my last day in Xian i went with Neil and Ead on a bike trip around the walls of Xian (a 10km bumpy ride) and you got to see the city from the elevated walls which was good fun and very painful on the posterior! Then it was time for another train ride to Chengdu (18 hours, but this time a slightly older and more rickety train). At Xian train station i encountered my first real staring session where everybody was sitting there looking at us and spitting in our general direction the whole time. We will be here for a few days before moving on again - at the moment Neil and Ead are trying to convince me to tour them around Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand and not go home and work!!

The three most noticeable things of China so far have been the spitting and that there is so much construction it's unbelievable and you can see the tangible changes everyday - its not like back home where they need a cup of tea before they will start and then a cup of tea after 10 minutes....everything is so efficient! What has been very nice is that it feels so much safer in China compared to most of the other countries i've visited and i don't need to worry about where my wallet is at all times, because it seems that it just gets returned to you...something i'm not used to on these trips!

I know for the people that have had updates in the past this may seem very short, but i've got a very mad Israeli guy behind me breathing at me and looking quite angry (why is is always those Israelis!!).

Anyway, must dash - i'm off to the Opera tonight!!

PS - Top 5 IPod Songs of the last week:

A Certain Romance - Arctic Monkeys

Shanghai - Ed Harcourt

Don't Look Back Into The Sun - The Libertines

Politix - Coldplay

Asleep in the Back - Elbow

Favourites

matt_bianco — Mon, 17 May 2004 05:53:00 GMT

As a few people have asked, in true Nick Hornby style here are my top-5's (and a few top-10's where it's been a bit hard to get it down).

TOP 10 SITES / THINGS TO DO

1. Machu Picchu, Peru

2. Iguazu Falls, Brazil/Argentina

3. Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

4. Volcan El Tumo (Mud Volcano), Columbia

5. Volcan Paos, Costa Rica

6. Moreno Glacier, Argentina

7. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

8. Tikal, Guatemala

9. Jungle Trip, Brazil

10. Angel Falls, Venezuela

TOP 10 CITIES / TOWNS

1. Buenos Aries, Argentina

2. San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

3. Cartegena, Columbia

4. Bariloche, Argentina

5. Grenada, Nicaragua

6. Antigua, Guatemala

7. El Calafate, Argentina

8. Havana, Cuba

9. Copan, Honduras

10. Foz do Iguacu, Brazil

TOP 5 RESTAURANTS/CAFES/BARS

1. Alfredo's, Bariloche, Argentina

2. Minuteman Pizza, Uyuni, Bolivia

3. Cafe Adobe, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

4. Munchi's, Buenos Aires, Argentina

5. Rudy's, Roatan, Honduras

TOP 5 BEERS

1. Iguana, Argentina

2. Port Royal, Honduras

3. Aguila, Columbia

4. Quilmes, Argentina

5. Gallo, Guatemala

TOP 5 PASSPORT STAMPS (Right, I'm starting to struggle for things now..)

1. Peru

2. Nicaragua

3. Bolivia

4. Guatemala

5. Chile

Islas Galapagos

matt_bianco — Mon, 3 May 2004 05:53:00 GMT

Well this is the last one. After 4 and a bit months of travelling and seeing some amazing things, meeting wonderful people and all that, it is time to venture back home and join the dole queue.

The last week has been spent on the Galapagos Islands - a set of islands made famous by Charles Darwin (who officially worked out all about the evolution process there - and not a bad place to do it). We spent a few days chilling out in Puerto Ayora and doing a bit of sunbathing. The beaches there were beautiful and even though it was deserted with human life on them, you were never completely alone (mainly trying to dodge the ghost crabs and marvel at the iguanas, birds and other wildlife who seemed intent to get their tan too).

We also went to the Charles Darwin Research Station on the island. The most famous thing about this place is that it has been the home of Lonesome George for the last 25 years. Lonesome George is one of the many giant tortoises in the Galapagos. However, unlike the other 10 species of tortoise there, Lonesome George is the last of his kind and they have been trying to find a mate for him for years - but he isn't interested and refuses to get dirty with anyone. Due to all the goats, pigs and cows that were introduced to the islands, all his relatives were killed and he seems a bit distraught about the whole situation. However, he isn't the oldest tortoise on the island (only about 75 years old) or the heaviest (only 300 kilos), but is the main draw and a reason why a lot of people get their money out to help try and find this elusive mate. Also there were lots of giant tortoises and many baby ones (in the Galapagos, they try and take the eggs from the wild habitat and raise them in the Research Station, as otherwise the eggs are usually eaten by the birds. The tortoises are then released back into the wild at about 4 years of age).

After a couple of days, it was time to get on our cruise. We had booked on a first class boat called 'Eden' which, even though there was officially enough room for 16 people on the boat, it was with some relief that there were only 8 of us (4 from the UK, 2 from Ireland and 2 from Austria). Over the next four days, we moved around the islands and saw some amazing wildlife. Amongst the animals were countless blue footed boobies (they are really called that and are amazing looking birds with the cutest blue feet), hundreds of sea lions (often when in the water, where they got so close to you snorkeling), flamingoes, sea turtles, masked boobies, thousands of fish, albatrosses and lots of other birds. It was just a really good way to spend the last few days of our trip. However, travelling over night from destination to destination wasn't the nicest thing as you never knew if when you were to wake up, if it was to be on the bed or on the floor (as the sea was quite choppy - all to do with the many different currents coming from the different oceans around the islands). On most afternoons, while the tourists were busy watching lots of animals, the crew on board were usually catching giant fish (one day we came back and there was a 20 kilo yellow finned tuna on the landing deck of the ship - particularly tasty that evening) and i've never eaten so much fish over such short an amount of time (edit - which at the time was really nice, but after 5 lack of sleep nights because of it, I'm reassessing).

After getting back from the boat trip, we got the flight back to Quito. I think we all got sea-legs, as no-one was feeling to great about being on land (where nothing moves and you're not constantly trying to lean in the right direction). Our last two days were spent in Quito - buying a few things and generally chilling out in the decent hotel, watching TV (as neither us were feeling too good - damn fish..). And then magically after a couple of stops on the Quito-Guayaquil-Madrid-London, I turned up back in the UK - safely landed and a bus journey (£8 for half an hour - rip off..) and taxi ride later (the original plan being to get a cab from Heathrow. However this was thwarted by the promise that it would cost £95 - I got around the whole of Argentina on less than that in transport costs...note to self : must stop moaning) and turned up to surprise mother on her birthday.

So, I've been back about a day. It has already rained, been cold and right now on a Bank Holiday afternoon I'm wearing my fleece as it's a bit chilly. The M25 seems a bit like a caravan park and there's a bit more gossip in the tabloids.

Thanks to all the people who've kept me up-to-date with their lives (it's been an interesting change from nme.com or bbc.co.uk). And please try and keep in touch and i'll do my very best to.

Inca Trail

matt_bianco — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 05:51:00 GMT

Well - one of the best weeks of the trip so far...

After a couple of days in Cusco, we travelled back to the Peru-Bolivia border to go to Puno and check Lake Titicaca out. Lake Titicaca is set at about 3,500 metres (in attitude terms). After taking a tourist bus from Cusco and stopping at various sites along the way, we got to Puno in the late afternoon and managed to get a tour the next day to the floating islands. The floating islands are a bizarre set of islands that just are made out of reads and straw from the river and look as though they are about to sink at any moment. I was seriously ill on that day and this not not help, however it was still enjoyable. The floating islands now have solar panel electricity, so they can keep up to date with the latest football games (any they are aiming to have by this time next year internet connections).

After another bus journey back to Cusco, we spent a few days attempting to chill out (before the big trek to Machu Picchu). However, this was hindered by a group of about 20 18-year-old kids who seemed intent on pissing everyone off in the hostel we were staying in, by shouting all night and every night until about 6am. However, unlike most hostels, the management didn't seem to give a damn and any plea for them to shut up was met with the usual expletives from a group of pissed up school kids. Thankfully, we decided to leave the hotel the day before the Inca Trail started (as we were warned that it would be a 4am get up on the first day and we really needed some good rest before it all started). Had my haircut by some woman who didn't seem to have scissors but hedge-cutters (even though my hair isn't that long anymore). On the night before the trail started, we met up with the group that we were to go with. We decided to use the most expensive agency in Cusco (as we had received numerous reports about how good they had been). Our group consisted of 15 tourists, 2 guides and just the 21 porters. After being told what to expect from the next few days, everyone was feeling a little bit nervous (as the talk was less motivational and more scary) , so went to the Irish bar for a few last jars of beer, before heading to bed very early (for a much better nights sleep).

INCA TRAIL

Day One

After meeting the group at 6am, we took a 3 hour bus journey to Km88 (the start of the trek). On the way, we stopped off to pick up all the essentials - chocolate, walking sticks, water, ponchos etc.

At the start of the trail, everyone got there customary pictures next to the Km88 sign and got stamped into the Inca Trail (not sure if this was completely necessary, or just because they think that it would please us tourists). The first day's walk was relatively painless - only about 6 hours of walking on relatively flat ground. Obviously, there were a few rises along the way, but it wasn't too strenuous and felt more like a long walk in the park - don't know what we were worrying about..

When we arrived at the campsite, the porters had all our tents ready for us and gave us some coca tea, popcorn and some snacks, before a really nice three course meal and an early bed time, as it was an early rise the next morning.

Day Two

Another 6am rise, greeted by the porters with their cups of coca leaf tea to wake up the muscles. Even though this coca tea seems to make you a bit more alive than without it, it is a weird taste. Apparently, it takes 16 kg of Coca Leaf to make 1 gram of cocaine. The US government is trying to persuade the Peruvian and Bolivian governments to stop production of this stuff (as they aren't particularly happy about the amount of white stuff consumed in their country), however this is used for completely different purposes and it would take a lot to persuade people like porters (who live on coca leaves) that suddenly (after centuries of using it) to just stop.

Anyway, after porridge and pancakes for breakfast, we set off on the second day (which we have been told on countless different times is a really, really hard day of walking). Basically, you have to climb about 1,000 metres in about 3 hours to pass through dead woman's pass (apparently named because from the bottom of the hill, the shape of the mountain is like a dead woman lying down - took a while to realise that that was what it looked like). The trail was quite hard, however i had imagined that this would have been the stage where either Clare or I would say that we would be going back, but this didn't happen. I didn't find it anywhere near as hard as i thought it would have been and actually quite enjoyed it.

After reaching the top and having a few Kodak moments, we started to descend rapidly and only walking for a couple more hours before setting up camp for the night.

Day Three

The third day was the longest day of walking (about 11 hours), as we stopped many times to see different Inca sites along the way. Thankfully (again) it was largely downhill (which I preferred - I now realise that i have no problems with my knees). The Inca sites were stunning and all very different - the views spectacular. In the afternoon, we spent a bit of time getting a history lesson from the guide and found out a lot about the historical and cultural aspects of the Incas. Following on from that was a mad dash to the third camp site, where a few of us raced porters down to the camp (I only managed to beat a couple there). The motivation was a hot shower (the first in three days) and it felt very, very good...

On the night, we also had our first beers of the trail (also very good) and an amazing meal (all the meals provided by the company were top class) and settled down for another early night, as the last day was a 4am get-up.

Day Four

Obviously the highlight of the whole tour - and the only reason to do it. We started walking at about 5.15am (as the control gate opens at 5.30) and everyone seemed liked they had more energy than at any other point in the few days. The walk to the sun gate was a couple of hours (however, most of the group did it in less than an hour). Unfortunately, as we were so quick, we were a bit early for the sun rise and had to wait a while for it to rise. Because it was quite cloudy, we were unable to see Machu Picchu from the sun gate and a few people were quite despondent, as they thought that would mean we weren't going to see Machu Picchu at all - however, after another hour of walking downhill, suddenly it appeared in front of you and was mind blowing. Absolutely stunning and left us all speechless. Without doubt, the highlight of the trip - so different from what you see from the pictures and the television. Calm, beautiful, mystical. We were the first people to arrive and it looked so beautiful.

After taking countless photographs, we had a tour by our guide around all the areas of Machu Picchu, which was really interesting and educational. It was a perfect end to a great tour. However, by about midday, we were ready to go (as all the tourists who were too lazy or fat to do the Inca Trail had arrived and suddenly the place had lost some of its mysticism with thousands of people wandering around). In the afternoon, took the train from Agua Calientes (where the mudslide happened about a week ago - the train station is still officially closed with huge boulders still on the track) back to Cusco and got back after a 4 hour train journey, completely knackered and not wanting to climb another stair in the near future.

The trail had been an amazing and self-rewarding 4 days in which i really enjoyed myself and would have started it again the next day. I had been dreading it for so long and couldn't believe how (relatively) easy we both found it.

The next morning was back to reality and we had to be at Cusco airport for 6am for the flight to Quito. Naturally, flight was delayed and only just managed to get the connection at Lima. However, arrived in Quito without to much worry and checked into a very nice 4 star hotel (with lots of luxuries including bath - one craving satisfied) and wandered around town for the day.

Yesterday, we took the flight over to the Galapagos Islands (where we are now), which is absolutely beautiful (with lots of amazing wildlife - I'm sure this will fill the content of the next e-mail). We've booked a 4 day boat cruise starting on Sunday (which will include lots of snorkeling and some diving) and we're looking forward to that now.