Back Packing

Aussie Aussie Aussie...Bla bla bla

osiris — Sat, 7 Feb 2009 17:27:00 GMT

I reluctantly left the paradise Mecca I will now think of as a second home and returned to KL. Unfortunately I was not subject to the rock star treatment Dylan and I had previously experienced, instead I checked myself in to a semi-decent hotel in China town and collected my infamous Olympus waterproof camera from the repair centre, apparently fully repaired. I was subject to my main bank account being cancelled and my card swallowed. Due obviously to the unresolved issue with my Olympus camera and the idiots in the store in Vietnam all those months ago charging my cards numerous times and refunding all but two transactions, meaning I had still paid for the broken camera twice. My father had spent many an hour on the phone to the bank and filling in visa dispute forms for the bank to turn around and deny ever receiving them. Eventually when they received one of the forms they stated it was apparently too late under international banking laws to dispute the transactions. So I paid twice for a camera which lasted barely 3 weeks, the interest on my credit card for all those months, the phone calls to the bank on my UK mobile, god knows how much of my time and money on skype and effort attempting to get the camera fixed. Now I headed for Thailand where the camera would last 5 minutes in the ocean before flooding with water again. So the morale of the story: always keep your cool even though you may feel the uncontrollable desire to commit mass slaughter and napalm the Olympus and Nationwide headquarters, never buy anything in Vietnam on a bank, credit, debit or any other card, withdraw cash out days in advance if you have to and never under any circumstance buy Olympus cameras. Their customer care is non existent. You have to make your own way to one of their 20 repair centres across the world and even when you do get there it takes 3 weeks to fix the camera and you have to return it to the same centre to collect the “repaired” item only for it to break yet again and then be told to return it to another repair centre at my own expense and by the way we don’t do refunds is that okay Sir? “Well what exactly do you do to support you warranty if you don’t give refunds and you obviously don’t repair cameras?”

I returned to Thailand to spend a couple of weeks exploring the west coast before heading to Australia in time for Christmas and New Year. My first destination was Hat Ton Sai in Krabi Province. Although the beach is part of the Thai mainland, the vast cliffs and rocky outcrops prevent it being reached via land, the only way to get to the beach is on a long tail boat from Ao Nang, about 20 minutes away. The beach is flanked by steep cliffs making it a playground for some of the world’s best climbers. The place reminded me of the Perhentian Islands off Malaysia’s north eastern coast, a tropical paradise for back packers. I spent a couple of days relaxing on the beach recovering from the journey up from KL before departing to Phi Phi Don, an island a 90 minute boat ride away. The island retains similar features to that of Hat Ton Sai beach and Krabi with harsh steep rocky cliffs scattered throughout. The next few days were spent soaking up the rays in Phi Phi and exploring the islands of the surrounding area, including Phi Phi Le, the beach seen on the block buster movie The Beach and Bamboo Island, one of the most picturesque islands I’ve seen. Regrettably I spent an entire day in the baking heat without applying sun lotion or wearing protection, I paid for my stupidity with diarreah and vomit throughout the night. At one point two stray dogs came along, I wasn’t too sure of their intention but they seemed hungry as they munched away on my stomach bile and proceeded to show their skills at catching my yellow mucus before it had a chance of reaching the ground. On returning to my room and adopting the international I’m a sick pathetic male foetal position, I heard what seemed like running and splashing. I flicked back my curtain to see the same 2 dogs chasing each other running along the decking and jumping in to the pool. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as they carried on doing this for some time. This caused amusement in my state of illness.

I left Phi Phi and ventured to the notorious Phuket, Thailand’s largest and most touristic island. I remember a few years back when Gaz and I had visited Phuket; we were so disgusted by the levels of prostitution and sexual harassment, the latter which we fell victim to, that we cut short our stay even though we had paid for 2 more nights in a 5 star hotel. The island had not changed since then and is definitely the worst place I have been to on my travels. It attracts a strange type of people who clearly have not spread their wings far enough to realise what the place is like. I was purely heading to Phuket to visit Sarah, a girl I knew from London who was actually on the same flight to Mumbai all those months ago. Some how I let her persuade me to save money by staying in Phuket for 2 and half weeks over Christmas and New Year. It was during this time I began to miss Bali more and more and despise this seedy place. Christmas was a no goer, being predominantly Buddhists they don’t celebrate Christmas but the Thais do make an effort for New Year, with an impressive fire work display in Patong, epicentre of the island’s sleaziness.

Escaping the sordid grotty hole of Phuket I landed at Singapore airport with hours to spare ready to do some duty free shopping, spend a couple of hours on a tourist bus exploring the city and possibly watch a movie in the airports free cinema. Alas even the looses plans go array and before you know it I was checked on my flight to Australia yet Singapore Airlines could not check me in as they were missing some magic coupon, which is all part of the round the world ticket between partner airlines. According to Virgin Atlantic I had already flown to Australia in September on the same flight as my ex, even though I had no entry visas for Singapore apart from that day and my passport showed I was in Thailand at this time. To cut a long story short I spent 10 hours in the check in area of the airport on the phone to Virgin Atlantic attempting to get a magic coupon issued. The discrepancy was driving me nuts and Singapore Airlines did all they could to assist me yet they were hampered by bad records and some Nazi type chap at Virgin Atlantic. Eventually the Virgin Fuhrer swallowed his words and informed me to call Air New Zealand as he could not do anything at his end and Virgin no longer had control of the ticket. One of the Singapore Airlines staff phoned Canberra and confirmed that the last time I had been in Australia was in 1997. A 5 minute conversation with Air New Zealand and I was booked on the next flight out, running half the length of the airport (if you have been to Singapore Airport you’ll know this is far) to make my flight, missing my duty free shopping and severely pissed off. Life always has a way of putting you back in your pathetic little box and making you realise what you have. I was seated next to two Singaporeans who were heading to Brisbane to see their young early 20’s friend who seemingly was just about to die. The mood was sombre to say the least, so we decided to forgo sleep for some well deserved red wine and talk the flight away.

Nearly 12 years after I had left my precious Australia I was back and on the east coast, somewhere I’d never visited during my childhood. It’s safe to say the Australian authorities make anything and everything difficult for their entire population and its visitors. I don’t think they are attempting to make life hard I just think they are perfectionists and do not want to spoil their perfect little world. The airport was one of the securest I had seen, with numerous sniffer dogs employed throughout and a vast amount of nosey staff curious as to my whereabouts over the last years. Brisbane is a strange place, a small city inland from the coast along the Brisbane River. It was obviously a shock coming from 9 and half months of the hustle and bustle of Asia. Brisbane and Australia seemed not just quiet but deserted, empty and hollow, generally lifeless and dare I say boring. But with a population density of 2.8 people per square km compared to that of some Asia countries; Singapore 6,336, India 336 or even the UK at 246 and the world average of 45 obviously including areas such as vast deserts, Arctic and Antarctic tundra, Australia is a pretty quiet place and hence the pace of life is very slow. One thing I adore about Australia apart from the vast expanse of ocean surrounding the country and the great weather, Australians view life very differently from us Europeans. They seem to work to live not the other way around which us Europeans thrive on, ok maybe apart from the French god bless their cheesy soles.

Brisbane was the first time I used the traveller website Couch Surfing. I had been meaning to use it for some time now and it is a genius yet simple idea. Locals register themselves on the website as having a couch available for travellers to crash on for free and travellers search for couches available in the area they are visiting. I stayed on one girls couch for 2 days and met another surfer who took me to watch Australian State 20/20 cricket match at the GABBA. I met 2 adorable Welsh girls in my dorm and after a couple of days relaxing in Brisbane realising there isn’t much to do we hired a car and headed off to Byron Bay, a picturesque little town south of Surfers Paradise in northern New South Wales. Byron is home to Jack Johnson, a gorgeous lighthouse, a beautiful golden beach and cool young surfer types. We paid $150 for one night in a ransacked wooden caravan, which doubled as an oven. Being on the east coast one must rise pretty sharpish to see the sun at ocean height, an apparent obsession of the human race. We did not wish to disappoint our forefathers so at 5.00 am we were out of bed and headed up to Cape Byron Lighthouse. The scenery was breathtaking. As the sun slowly meandered its way up through the depths of the ocean, the vast array of colours swayed and changed. The rich blues of the ocean were spectacular, the whiteness of the waves crashing beneath us, the sky switched its way through numerous colours of blues, greys, oranges, reds, yellows, using the ocean and scattered clouds to create a variety of colours and strange patterns. (Pictures on my facebook). So if you do happen to go to Byron Bay, an early morning trip to the lighthouse is a must. Not a lot else happened in Brisbane, apart from meeting up with a diving buddy from Koh Tao, Jade, the night before my flight to Perth. Jade and her friend had unsuccessfully (first time in a while as I do appear prone to persuasion on this trip, especially from females) tried to convince me to stay on the east coast, move in to their flat on the Gold Coast and get a job over there. I awoke the following morning after missing my alarm; I had obviously had a few more than I thought. I woke at 8.50 am knowing that my flight left at 10.00 am. God only knows how I made it but I sure as hell wasn’t missing another flight that had happened far too many times on this trip.

I arrived in Perth with my bank accounts raped ready to seek out employment and start to save some more money ready to buy my future home in Bali and enough cash to hopefully travel a little more and do my Scuba Diving Instructor course. It so happened that I hit Australia just at the wrong time, infact the worst time in years for unemployment. In one week over 20,000 people were fired from Western Australian mines alone and I did read that over 1 million Australian expats living abroad plan on returning within the next 12 months. Baring in mind that Australia has a population of around 21 million, that’s a lot of people. So with increasing job cuts, highly skilled experienced workers returning home and highly skilled miners heading to the towns and cities looking for work, Australia is no longer the job hunters dream it once was.

A Sunday session at Ocean Beach Hotel in Cottesloe over looking the beach was called and I met up with a very good friend I’d travelled with in Vietnam, Jimmy, the Welshies from Byron and some travellers from my hostel. Australia sure has become more expensive over the years, with $9 for a beer being the norm. That’s more than you’d pay for the same beer in London. Sarah and Vicky (the Phuket girls) arrived, we spent 2 solid days searching for work and came up with a couple of sleazy bars in the outback for the girls and a Telstra call centre for me, which worked off commission. We soon realised that anymore time spent in Perth and we would be selling our bodies just to buy food and pay for accommodation. Our plan to work the fruit season when we arrived had been squashed by late winter rains in the south of Western Australia. Nonetheless we thought it would be a good place to head to so when the season did start we were down there and ready. We headed down south the night after I had my fairly new fancy Sony touch screen camera stolen in Perth, yes that’s 4 cameras in 10 months that have gone wrong. Well actually both Sony’s ended up stolen, Olympus just refused to work and the Lumix was a stop gap cheap but awesome reliable camera while the new Sony and Olympus were both broke. Anyway on our way down to Margaret River we soon realised that as it was Australia Day weekend we would not be able to get accommodation. Fortunately, Jan and Garry, my adopted aunty and uncle from when we had lived in Perth all those years ago offered us to stay with them for a few days. Overwhelmed and not wanting to turn down a good thing we accepted their generous offer. We were greeted by Jan and taken down to Garry’s work, Vat 2 Restaurant on the beach front of Bunbury’s Koombana Bay, where we spent the next few sun soaked hours sipping on lush white wine. Two weeks later and we are still here in Eaton, 10 kms away from Bunbury. The kindness of Jan and Garry can’t be expressed in words. All these years without any real contact and it’s as if I had never left Australia. Both girls have managed to gain employment as cleaners in local shopping centres (a standing joke between us all), Sarah also washes dishes at a lovely Italian restaurant in town while Vicky worked one night week in one of the “classy” biker bars in Bunbury. Jan has been kind enough to lend us her car when she is not using it so I have become the taxi driver and after being rejected a million jobs in 2 weeks and not wishing to lower myself to man handling faeces, getting abused by manner less drunken Aussies or taking orders off some jumped up lesbian head chef. So until the fruit picking begins I am relying on money from the dole (if it ever arrives), insurance money for my latest robbery, credit card money for a double payment and interest, a refund for the Olympus oh and heaven for bid I just remembered, compensation from the Army for underpaying me for 4 years solid without even an apology. I’m sure it’s more likely to see the Pope go down for rape than the British Army pay me what they duly owe. Its cringe worthy at the best of times watching them attempt to look after their serving personnel never mind those whom have left. Well I actually went for an interview yesterday at the Mantra Hotel, a brand new hotel over looking Koombana Bay. I was applying for a casual (which means two nights a week) night porters job. The manager asked me if I would be interested in a full time job at reception as it was currently all girls and he wanted a male in there to balance things out. I obviously expressed my interest and was informed that 150 people had applied for both jobs and he would try and get back to me by Wednesday. Three hours later he called me offering me the job. I had spent weeks being rejected for work and finally I was being offered a better job than one I had applied for. I start next week, so now I am torn whether I should stay here or go further south for fruit picking in the baking heat. Baring in mind that most people do fruit picking so they can have a year extension on their year visa, something I obviously don’t require.

On a brighter note, one which doesn’t involve chasing after people who are utterly useless at their job, Aussie day was superb, I will give the Aussies one thing, they sure are passionate about Australia day. Especially for a country which really has such a short history and lack of culture and identity apart from maybe beaches, kangaroos, bbqs, surfing and smashing the Poms at every single game we invented. Yes I can hear you yell, “what about the 2005 Ashes series or the rugby world cup?” both a one off lets face it. Don’t even comment on the medals tally of last years Olympics, they have a population one third of ours and actually if you think about it and do the sums in the top 10 points table, Australia has a tiny population compared to China, Russia, USA, Japan and the European countries. The next smallest population in the table was South Korea with 50 million and they finished one place below Australia in seventh, so they are better at sport than us. So Aussie day yes Vicky, Sarah and I along with one of the lovely girls Garry works with, Becs, all went to the beach. It was a gorgeous day and Becs and I were so fortunate to be swimming inches away from a small school of dolphins that were hunting along the shore line. It was a magical moment and maybe beats the day I travelled from Gili to Bali and watched the massive school of spinner dolphins performing across the open ocean. The day ended with a modest but enjoyable firework display in Bunbury “city” centre.

For those cricket lovers amongst you; the IPL (Indian Premier League) auction was carried out yesterday and it’s great to see 2 of England’s finest players, KP and Flintoff bought for the highest amount even though they will only be permitted to play half of the series. The series runs from 18 Apr until 1 Jun and is then followed by the Twenty 20 World Cup, 5-19 Jun. I may have to remain in Australia to soak the atmosphere of the cricket up. Until then I shall attempt to work away and save some dosh for my future home in Bali…hmmmm Bali….

A Hidden Jewel Among The Archipelago

osiris — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:15:00 GMT

En route to Bali we transited through Kuala Lumpur where we spent a night with some German travel friends who work and live in the Malaysian capital. I met one of the girls while I was in the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia and purely by coincidence Dylan and I met her friend and neighbour while diving in Sipadan, Borneo. As any backpacker will confirm, free accommodation rarely appears especially in a relatively expensive city such as KL, so we didn't look a gift horse in the mouth and took the girls up on their offer. Dylan and I found ourselves staying in plush serviced apartments with a buffet breakfast and leisure facilities including a pool. The girls were kind enough to show us the local nightlife and although we were recovering from our last Borneo rock star party, Dylan never turns down the chance for a beer, and I…well I am very easily influenced. As quick as you could watch the GB pound slip away from the Euro and every other global currency we were sipping on very expensive beer (the price was expensive, the beer very ordinary) taking in the KL sky line. The Luna Bar commands a superb view of the city with the twin towers, once the world's tallest buildings, seen in clear reflection by the bar's gleaming pool. Although the girls lived in a splendid complex with a plentiful of night time entertainment at their doorstep, the thought of working 50 hour weeks and being called on all times of day really wasn’t appealing. The encounter brought back the reality of travelling and reminded us how fortunate we were to be exploring this amazing part of the world. Our trip to KL was short lived and we were soon headed to the airport by one of the girls’ drivers and slipping back in to our backpacker lifestyles.

I must admit I had always been dubious about travelling to Indonesia. In my former life as a semi-intelligent geek I had come across undesirable groups whom resided in Indonesia, mainly of the Islamic extremist nature, such as those responsible for the Bali bombings. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country across the world but it also has the world's fourth largest population so there are bound to be some disagreeable characters amongst its residents. Incidentally, three of those believed to be responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings were executed by firing squad two days before our arrival to Bali. Due to the perceived reprisal by the extremist grouping the individuals were linked to, the threat level for Australians, which Bali is plagued with, and US citizens was thought too much for their relative governments and travel warnings were issued.

We touched down at Denpasar around 2200 hours and Dylan was soon reunited with his Koh Tao sweetheart, which I will refer to as the Frenchy (for hopefully obvious reasons). In celebration of...well what ever we wanted, we immediately hit the nightlife of Kuta, Bali's main and busiest tourist area. Immediately I was thrown back by Indonesians, their friendliness and warmth was overwhelming. It was in our first watering hole (which nervously overlooks the monument for the 2002 Bali bombings, the deadliest act of terrorism in Indonesian history killing 202 people) that three waitresses gave me their phone numbers, email addresses, pagers, faxes and whatever else they had, all eager to befriend me and show me around Bali. The following morning, Dylan and Frenchy hired a scooter and I found myself hitching a ride with my new Balinese friend, Vera, on the way to her village. Somehow the night before we had been offered to accompany Vera to her village, so here we were straight in to the Balinese experience. On the way we stopped off at Tanah Lot Temple or Land in the Middle Sea. Tanah Lot is one of the seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. It sits atop a huge offshore rock not more than fifty metres from the coast but accessible during low tide. A beautiful place to wish away hours staring out at the ocean, something I would do for hours on end while in Indonesia. From here we carried on up the west coast of the island to the coastal village of our guide (the village is part of Tabanan yet it’s 50 minutes from the town so I feel reluctant to call it so) where we were invited in to her family home. By Balinese standards her family are well heeled, with a car and several motorbikes parked in the garage. The Balinese style of home reflects their culture and way of life; Vera's family home was no exception. A central courtyard adjoins three family homes and plays as the hub for communal activity. The family compound is walled with a small gateway. Inside the compound there is a small temple for praying to the gods and for placing offerings. There are normally several smaller shrines adored throughout the compound. Once inside, her home appeared no different from what you'd expect in the west with furnishings such as sofa and TVs. Our first day in Bali couldn't have gone any better.

After our short road trip I decided to leave Frenchy and Dylan to their own plans rather than play the awkward role of the single friend. So as they hired a jeep and explored the island I took to surfing and booked myself some lessons. Obviously after all the paddling and hard work involved I felt the desire to pamper myself with the odd Balinese massage. Luckily there was a massage parlour in my hotel so I didn’t have to stray too far for a massage. I was able to spend an hour a day getting the best massages of my life with 17 to 23 year old Balinese girls for a mere £3. The girls really were amazing, so strong for their size and really down to earth. They are just normal Balinese people, which mean they are the friendliest happiest people you will ever meet and every day I entered or left my hotel I could sit with them for an hour or so just talking about nothing or everything.

It is easy to say that I fell in love with Bali or more so with its people. They are by far the most happy, friendliest, genuine, loving people I have ever encountered. By the time Dylan and Frenchy were back from their trip I had befriended dozens of locals.

The vast majority of Balinese conform to Balinese Hinduism. Hinduism came to the archipelago through East Indian traders and soon spread to be the dominant religion in the region. When Islam spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago Bali was the only island to remain Hindu. The Balinese form of Hinduism varies from that seen in India. It is extremely hard to describe the Balinese people and do them the justice they deserve to those who haven't met them and experienced their culture. It took me a while to distinguish the difference between the Balinese and the Indonesians whom live in Bali. Being Indonesia's main tourist centre, Bali gets its fair share of immigrant Indonesians migrating to its shores to profit from tourism and also tourists from other parts of Indonesia, the majority of both are form Java, Indonesia's most heavily populated island. The Indonesians are also lovely people and I befriended many of them yet I can't help but hold greater respect for the Balinese. They are such an honourable unique race of people. When the Dutch attempted to expand its Indonesian empire and include Bali, the Royal Family and their followers, about 4,000 of them, dressed in their finest attire, marched head on to face the numerous forces of the Dutch. Before going in to battle they burnt all of their palaces to ensure the Dutch would not profit from their coming victory. As opposed to surrendering to the superior force, they marched head on in to the Dutch guns in a suicidal pututan defensive assault. The pututan is a mass ritual suicide rather than face the humiliation of surrender and becoming colonial subjects to the Dutch. The Balinese still retain a heavy degree of pride yet they are completely underwhelming with it. They are ever so confident in themselves and their cultural and religious beliefs they do not feel the need to push it upon anyone. They are who they are, life is what it is, get on with life, be happy and enjoy it. I became obsessed with Balinese culture and their people. I soon became aware that the Balinese wanted for nothing. All they required was a roof over their head and to be fed. They generally do not go out or drink especially not the girls. They would not lower themselves to prostitution that is left to the other Indonesians. The majority of bar and restaurant workers are not Balinese as they would rather not work at night, in favour of spending time with their family. If I tipped a Balinese for their services they would be ever so grateful. On several occasions I asked for a mixture of change so I could tip and I was just given a single note followed by a big smile, which in Asia is as rare as seeing a black person. That is how proud the Balinese are. On our road trip with Vera, she had filled her scooter up before collecting me and filled it up to return to Kuta. I had offered to pay for the fuel, a messily couple of pounds, but she had refused so much I was beginning to think I was insulting her. I paid for her lunch, fried rice, which again was nothing and I could see she was slightly offended that I had done so. Yet she earns around 800,000 Rupiah per month, roughly £44.

Once the love birds returned from their road trip they ventured to Lombok destined for the Gili Islands, three sand swept islands off Lombok’s west coast. I decided to leave a day later so I could surf the world renowned Ulu Watu. For my first big surf trip Ulu Watu was a real challenge. It took 20 minutes to actually paddle out to the line up, by which point I could barely move my arms anymore. The waves were pretty big and very fast; needless to say they were hard to catch. Ulu Watu is a reef break so if you aren’t at the top of your game and come off, something which seems to come naturally to me, then you do have the danger of smashing your head open on the reef below. It was a tiring day but I had learnt that I couldn’t master surfing in the same speed I had scuba diving and I would actually have to work very hard at this one…hmmm. On returning to the surf club my worst nightmare had come true, I had been followed to Bali by the girl I was with, kind of seeing or how ever you put it, while I was in Koh Tao. Without droning on about women, she did ask me several times if she could come travelling with me and several times I had politely declined the offer yet here she was standing in front of me clear as day explaining how she hadn’t followed me here yet she had emailed me many messages on face book asking where I was and if she could join me. In the usual polite English manner I excused myself after stating how crazy it was that we were both there together in Bali. The next day I delightfully headed to Gili, fortunately avoiding my friend. I met a lovely young Dutch girl on the boat to Lombok, Janneke, who helped kill time on possibly the slowest boat in the history of maritime. We had departed Kuta at 1100 hours and arrived in Senggigi at 2330 hours. Considering the islands are about 50 kms away, it was a long time. Janneke had been working in Java as part of her degree and was travelling around Indonesia for a few weeks before heading home in time for Christmas. One night in Senggigi and a few beers later and Janneke was joining us to Gili Trawangan, relieving the burden of travelling with a couple.

The Gili Islands are truly spectacular, tiny coral fringed islands covered in pure white sandy beaches. The islands are a peaceful getaway, no motorised vehicles are allowed. Bikes and cars are replaced by horse driven carts for transporting people, food, dive gear and pretty much everything around the small islands. We spent a total of five days on Gili Trawangan, the largest and liveliest of the three islands. Although we had intentions of diving daily, attempting to surf the coral break at the south west tip we actually managed one dive and not a lot else. The surf was far too rough and dangerous for amateurs like us and when you’ve been diving pretty much for free for two months the thought of paying for diving didn’t really appeal. When you can step off the beach and in to the water place your head under and see turtles and giant puffer’s right in front of you there really isn’t any great need to dive. We spent our days relaxing, swinging in hammocks, chilling on beaches, chatting and just chilling out and taking in the tranquil surroundings. The Gilis could really be a place time has forgotten and I could imagine being swallowed up there for several weeks not doing very much at all.

Time in paradise is normally short lived and it wasn’t long before Frenchy became a woman possessed, turning Gili in to a living prison for Dylan. He did manage to see the funny side and he did have a very valid comment; “I now know why they always name tornados after women.” My friend from Thailand who I gratefully left behind in Kuta had managed to follow me to Gili. I couldn’t hide from her in Kuta but I somehow managed to hide from her on an island barely one by one and a half kilometres.

Our speedboat ride back to Bali was much quicker than the Spanish Galleon Janneke and I had endured to Lombok. Although we were racing across the Bali Sea doing what felt like mach ten with water nearly drowning half the passengers, someone did manage to spot a giant school of spinner dolphins. I have never seen spinners in real life before, only on David Attenborough programmes where they jump four to five metres out of the water, spin around and land back in to the ocean causing a huge splash. The school was enormous and must have stretched out for five hundred metres across the water, with dolphins continuously spinning in the air. The scene was mesmerising and I found my eyes glued to the horizon long after the school had left our sight. I adore nature and especially wild animals playing and enjoying themselves in their natural playground.

When we arrived back in Kuta I received a call from a good friend from my time in the Army, Mo. He and his girlfriend had planned to go to Thailand but two days before their flight was due to arrive it was cancelled due to the riots and airport closer in Bangkok. I had planned to meet them during their time in Thailand. Instead they came to Bali, which was a great excuse for me to extend my stay in Bali from the original two weeks to one month.

The night before I collected Mo and Hannah from the airport I was watching dvds with two Indonesian girls I knew. I had fallen asleep and stayed the night. The next morning to my surprise I was short of around £35 in Rupiah and Thai Baht. The girls obviously denied taking my money and I had learnt once again not to trust anyone while travelling. I had left my wallet in so many places in Bali, on bars while going to the bathroom, on a bed while having a shower in a massage parlour yet every single time I trusted that no one would steal from me and no one did until this point.

With Mo and Hannah in Bali we managed to catch up and spend some time surfing and chilling together before they went off on recommendation to the Gilis. I attempted one more surf trip after my abysmal performance at Ulu Watu. This time the surf school took us to Canggu up the west coast on the way to Tanah Lot. The spot was much nicer, the waves still very big yet a lot slower and easier to catch. I was pretty happy with the day and it was nice to catch up with 2 Swedish girls I’d surfed with before and spent time with in Gili.

Just as I was considering my next move, Janneke returned from her ventures to Komodo and other islands to the east. We teamed up with a Norwegian guy and gal and decided to hire a jeep and do a Bali road trip. It is so cheap to hire vehicles in Bali, 120,000 Rupiah (£6.50) per day for a seven seat 4x4, it’s actually stupid to get buses and other transport around. We pushed ourselves in the four days of travelling and didn’t leave much room to relax. We explored the deserted eastern coast where we witnessed farmers walking their cattle and chickens across the beach. We spent a night in the cultural centre of Bali, Ubud a beautiful peaceful place. We watched a traditional show which starred the famous chak-a-chak-a-chak-choir, not one to be missed. Ubud is also famed for its Monkey Forest, where our Norwegian friend got well acquainted with some of its residents. No road trip is complete without getting utterly lost, not finding any signs and instead stopping to take pictures of local kids playing. Eventually we found Tulamben on the northern coast. There was only one of us who didn’t scuba dive but the rest of us took the opportunity to dive the USAT Liberty wreck. The wreck is a former US supply ship which was sank in WWII by the Japanese and sat twenty metres away from our hotel. A short paddle at dawn and we were down on one of the best dives I have done. The wreck was spectacular and adorned with various marine life from a huge school of Jacks, Lionfish, Scorpion fish, Stone fish, Giant puffers, Giant groupers, Giant parrotfish, Trumpet fish and numerous Nimo families.

The next stop was Lovina also on the northern coast and famed for its dolphins. We spent a few hours in some local hot springs while I was the only one to actually go in to the water. Everyone else thought that maybe the Indonesians were too dirty, who knows. The next morning we arose early again, this time before sunrise in hope of seeing the dolphins. We headed out to sea on the narrowest sea vessel I have seen, not as narrow as the canoes in Chitwan, Nepal though. As advertised we saw numerous dolphins swimming and playing around us. It was a game, when ever we saw them the boats would head for them and as soon as we got near they would disappear for a few minutes and then it would start again. I must say after my spinner encounter I find common dolphins, well, common and dull. But I must pinch myself and remember I was in the Bali Sea watching schools of dolphins play around us. From Lovina we headed down through the mountains to the Munduk Waterfall and past the Danan Buyan and Danan Bratan Lakes where the weather and rain closed in and it was the first time I’d been cold since arriving in Bali. I found Bali much more humid than the rest of South East Asia so to be cold here was novel to say the least. We made it back to Kuta with car and passengers all intact, although I admit we did have so close calls with the more junior drivers amongst us.

My time in Bali was coming to an end and I was deeply saddened. The remaining days I tried to stay happy yet I knew I didn’t want to leave Bali. The day I left I received nice messages off my new found friends and even the massage girls cried and told me they didn’t want me to go. I got to the airport and Air Asia didn’t want me to go. They said I hadn’t changed my flight and had missed it several days ago. Regrettably I booked another flight. I was amazed that Air Asia actually let my bag onboard as it weighed seventeen kilograms. Their limit is fifteen kilograms and they are ruthless. In all of my previous Air Asia flights I have held passengers up while I stuff my flight bag full of dead weight from my back pack to please the check in Nazis and here was my seventeen kilograms bag thrown on the belt. “Ahhh the check in staff are Balinese”, I smiled and wandered to customs where I discovered I had overstayed by a day and had to pay a $20 fine. The Hindu gods didn’t want me to leave and now they are making me pay for leaving their beloved land.

I am travelling the world, how is it that I could become so attached to a single place when I still have so much more I want to see. Bali really has more appeal than all other places I have been to in Asia. The landscape is beautiful with all shades of rich greens littering the countryside blended in with the stepped rice fields, turquoise lakes and icy lush waterfalls. The coast can be rugged and harsh, steep cliffs drop down in to huge swells of giant waves creating some of the best surf spots in the world. On other shores the water is so calm it looks more like a lake on a summer’s day, creating the perfect conditions for diving. Bali’s location in the centre of a 13,000 island archipelago means the underwater life is so vast and varied it would be nearly impossible to fish out. It is an island paradise with beautiful amazing people, a strong inviting culture with shrines and temples abound with smells of Balinese incense, food offerings sat in fresh hand made baskets waiting to feed the Gods. The Balinese girls enhance their natural beauty and draw attention to their long flowing hair by adorning themselves with a fresh frangipani placed behind their ear.

I knew it would not be the last time I set foot on this blissful island.

Sabah, The Lost World

osiris — Thu, 4 Dec 2008 15:22:00 GMT

Our transit through Thailand and Kuala Lumpur to Borneo was tiresome but a typical adventure. We landed in Tawan on the east coast of malaysian Borneo in the semi-autonomous province of Sabah before hitching a ride to our first destination of Semporna, jump off point to the world famous dive site of Sipadan. We spent 5 days here diving and relaxing. Being one of the world's best dive sites, the island of Sipadan is rightly well protected and no one is allowed to stay on the island. The army and police protect the area due to it's natural importance and also for the reasons of protection against no gooders. Only a few years ago several dozen tourists were held ransom on the island by crazed bandits. The government only allow a maximum of 120 visitors on to the island per day, which really means 120 tourists wishing to dive or snorkel. For this reason it is advisable to book your trip to Sipadan well ahead, a week should suffice. Not leave it to chance and hope for a cancellation like we did. The God's were in our favour and we managed to fill in for 3 people who cancelled (thanks guys). Sipadan did not fail to disappoint. The island is perched upon a sandy bank not more than a few hundred metres wide, drenched with lush trees. What makes the island special is its underwater position. Only metres off it's pure white sandy beaches the waters suddenly drop to around 600 metres deep, housing some exotic marine life. Barracuda Point was our first and last dive site of the day. Famed for its large school of giant barracuda in a massive tornado like formation, which some lucky divers have been at the eye of. The site also boasts a school of 200 or so hammerhead sharks. Unfortunately during both our dives we did not see either of these schools. But the site was no disappointment. From entering the water and venturing down "the drop off" (a gap in the wall leading down to the deep depths of the ocean) the water was littered with amazing marine creatures. I lost count of the number of turtles, white tip reef sharks, schools of jacks, giant trevallys, tunas, giant puffer fish, maori wrasse and the list goes on. Our second dive was at South Point but as I sent my log book home I really have no idea what we saw there, nevertheless I'm sure it was a great dive. The town of Semporna really has nothing to offer apart from being the base of most people visiting Sipadan. The streets are grubby, there's no beach and it really isn't set up for tourists. But like all of Malaysian Borneo, the people truly are spectacular. I was shocked to find such down to earth smiley happy welcoming people. the Malaysians speak flawless English, don't attempt to rip you off and are always so welcoming. Of course I don't mean the Malaysians in big cities like KL. I really was shocked by the people. I do not have a bad word to say about them. There are alot less tourists in Borneo than anywhere else I have been in SE Asia, which may add to the fact we were treated like rockstars. We adopted a Nickleback song for our Borneo travels "I Wanna Be A Rockstar" because that is how they made us feel. From Semporna we headed in to the heart of Borneo to the jungle and stayed at a place called Uncle Tans. One thing about Borneo, although the people were amazing I was frustrated with the activities. Malaysia is a rich country so travelling here was pretty expensive, in fact I spent around 44 pounds a day with all activities included. The government love to tax everyone for going anywhere. Everywhere is a park with a park entrance fee and a handful of other fees. So in order to see the real Borneo, the one we all imagine, dirt roads or no roads in the jungle with a handful of dull scientist discovering new species every week you have to pay through your nose and probably sell your arse in the process. There was a lot to offer in the activities but during our 2 & half week stay we were limited to diving, a jungle stay and climbing a huge mountain oh & drinking with the locals. The jungle camp was a great experience, with trekking and boating down the Junggi Kinabatangan river. The river is pretty unique as it does have a lot of wildlife in a short area, apparently. I say apparently as we did not see as much as we would have liked. This is due to the logging and agriculture around it, causing the wildlife to flee towards the last remaining sanctuary around their former homes. We did catch a glimpse of a lot of different wildlife including spiders (huntsman), different varieties of frogs, a scorpion, many different birds (hornbills, eagles, owls, kingfishers, huge centipedes, a tarantula (actually a new species only discovered last year), wild pigs, huge monitor lizards, pythons, lots of varieties of monkeys and two wild orang-utans, which was special as there are only two places in the world where you can see them in the wild. We arrived in to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysian Borneo and the capital of the Malaysian province of Sabah. Like any well experienced traveller will advise, the best way to gain a feeling of a new destination is to trawl the streets at dark sucking in the culture in search of a great night destination to converse with locals and build night long friendships while sipping on amber nectar. Kota Kinabalu was no let down for our alcohol craved bodies. Maybe not a nightspot listed on any blue red or any other coloured list out there for Asia's top spots but the people knew how to party. Malaysian Borneo is a very unique place and for me what makes a place is mainly the people. We truly felt like rockstars in KK, everywhere we went people would smile, wave and speak kind words of friendship. No one wanted to force sell you anything just to say hello and welcome you to their country. We did have some great nights in KK. We saw two live bands one from the Philippines and one from Malaysia, who were without a doubt the best band I have ever seen play live. If, god willing, one day I do wish to end my single life I would love to have one band, N'twine, play at my wedding, the party would be rocking. They dance and sing through the crowd, everyone loses their egos and just dances and sings along. That is one thing I have noticed about Asia, mostly people don't have egos, they are who they are. They let go of any preconceptions or ideas people may have of them and just be. Something maybe we could learn from. Mount Kinabalu or Gunung Kinabalu in Malay, located in Kinabalu National Park stands at 4,095 metres and is the fourth largest mountain in SE Asia. Despite the writings on the reverse of a postcard I bought stating it to be one of the easiest mountains in the world to climb, it is not. You could say I have climbed a few mountains, okay no ice climbing but I have trekked a large amount of mountains but I would say that pound for pound this was the hardest as it is relentless. We went from sea level 0800 hours to the park office 1785 metres 1010 hours to our lodge 3225 metres at 1404 hours. Now any experienced mountaineer will know that this is a lot of altitude to be doing in such a short time. The path is relentless and steep, there are no flat sections, it is literally like climbing stairs for hours straight. But there is no need for any mountaineering equipment and it can be done in just over 24 hours so i guess in that respect it is easier than others. We rested at the lodge for a few hours rest and sleep before commencing to the summit at 0300 hours and reaching it just in time for sunrise at 0530 hours. Guided by our head torches this was the most enjoyable part of the trek. It was a little like a gypsy caravan, gazing down the mountain in the dark light you could make out hundreds of torches of our fellow weary climbers as they gripped on to the worn ropes attached to the steep granite face. The downward section of the trek was by far the most arduous and demanding on the body. My knees were ready to crack and Bob and Dylan both were suffering from wearing their 1 Euro rubber shoes which they had bought for the jungle trip. They lasted the ascent without any hassle but the descent was showing to take its toll on their feet. Dylan in particular was finding it hard to move. The crazy thing is, the guides which take you up here wear these shoes day in day out with no problems. But I guess when you've climbed the same mountain over 1,000 times it's like walking to the bathroom. With joy we reached the park office again mid afternoon. Victorious and proud of our achievement, well that is until we wandered past the chart showing the world record times for ascending and descending the mountain. The current record being 2 hours and 39 minutes...this really does beg belief how anyone can run 21 kms up to 4,095 metres and back down again in such a time. Aching and sleepy we headed back to KK and celebrated the ascent with a beer or two and then were trapped in a local bar as locals drenched us with Johnnie Walker black label and refused we leave but instead dance with the girls they kept bringing over for use, unbelievable. Another night as a KK rockstar. Sadly our time in Borneo had come to an end and it was time to head to Indonesia, specifically the island of Bali. When I initially decided to travel the world and planned my trip and destinations, I wanted to be in Australia by August. But once you enter Asia and throw yourself towards the culture and experience it has to offer, it becomes impossible to leave. For me Asia is like a drug and this is my habit. People ask where I will be for Christmas and what is next on my list but now I feel like I should be unbounded, have no plan and just be, live everyday is it comes. Why restrict ourselves to plans and goals, why live by preconceived ideas of society and culture how people expect you to live and act? Why not just be. I thought never again would I encounter such welcoming loving people as those found in Malaysia and crazy as it is, they are Muslim. But then I entered the world of the Hindu culture found on this tiny island of Indonesia and my love for Asia increased ten fold.

A Home Away From Home

osiris — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:07:00 GMT

Ok so I realise my last blog was over 2 months ago, one would immediately expect this blog to be packed full of stories and misadventures from places far and wide. Without aiming to disappoint, on the contrary it will be far from this. You will note on my last blog I was situated in the Gulf of Siam on a small mecca called Koh Tao. Koh Tao means Turtle Island, because in the past the waters in the area had been rich with sea turtles, nowadays they have mostly moved on to other breeding grounds. Nevertheless, the island is a gorgeous hideaway mainly aimed at pleasing scuba junkies with its relatively cheap diving and cost of living, coupled with the ultra relaxed pace of life. I ended up spending a total of 10 weeks on Koh Tao. Time vanished even more so than while traveling and I was drowned in a world outside of the norm. What did I do you may well ask? Well, not monitor the progress of the outside world that's for sure. It took me several days and an email from the UK to realise there were riots in Bangkok and airports had closed around the country. Koh Tao is an example of humans being able to exclude themselves from the troubles of the world and absorb themselves in an addictive pursuit of living amongst nature’s underwater kingdom.

I actually planned to spend a week or a little more on the island to do my PADI Advanced Open Water diving course before moving on. I did this course within my first few days of arriving and ventured to the famous full moon party on the neighbouring island of Koh Phangan. I had resisted the urge to attend the monthly event last time I was in Thailand as it didn't appear my scene with 20, 000 plus drunken idiots congregating on a single beach to drink the night away to trance and techno music while taking an assortment of drugs, all of which could land you years of anal abuse in a Thai prison. I ignored the same resistance to attend and headed off for the tick in the box. There was a big group of us and the event was actually relatively fun as we managed to avoid the aforementioned idiots, well that was until I had the sense to head home and rest. The problem arose when I began to leave the beach alone and utterly intoxicated from the deadly buckets (concoctions of hard liquor such as a bottle of vodka or rum etc, a mixer and something resembling red bull but a lot stronger and containing amphetamines). I remember leaving the beach and then I awoke on the boat back to Koh Tao with a stinking headache and only able to open one eye. I thought nothing of it until a girl I have no recollection of lifted me up and started to walk me off the boat. She asked me where I was staying so she could take me home and took great care in helping me around. I was baffled to the situation. She started to tell me a story as to what had happened to me...I can't recollect the story as I was furious and started taking pictures of my face to see the damage done. My face was a horrendous mess. The swelling was awful and my eye like a piss hole in the snow. Unsure as to the circumstances of my state apart from receiving a severe kicking by a group of Thais to the point where I was unconscious while being kicked in the head, I headed off to my dive school, hands in head gripping my elephant man face. I hadn't been robbed, which was pleasing but why I was attacked will remain a mystery to me. It took me a week and lots of drugs to reclaim my human features and another week or so for the burst blood vessels in my eye to whiten.

While relaxing on Koh Tao to aid my recovery I realised a few things. I loved traveling yet I was beginning to tire of moving around every few days, I also wasn't happy that my ex had hijacked my route and was suddenly appearing at my planned destinations. I had toyed with the idea of doing my dive master course as my resettlement before I left the army. All these factors stood alongside such a great island and an amazing bunch of people and dive school, well I didn't need anymore convincing. I did my Emergency First Responder course and Rescue Diver course then signed up for my Dive Master course. Despite the name a Dive Master is the entry level qualification of professional divers, although you are actually the daddy so the name is warranted. The course is an excellent mix of all aspects of diving from learning to lead divers, conduct Discover Scuba Diving and Refresher courses and in depth knowledge and theory of diving, rescue techniques and how to deal with certain situations, running a dive shop and planning the logistics and mechanics of diving. You are constantly tested and challenged during the course with 9 knowledge reviews, 8 exams, several timed swim and rescue tests, mapping of a dive site, assisting instructors on numerous courses, underwater stress tests, an emergency assistance plan to name but a few.

My time on Koh Tao was thoroughly enjoyable, the diving isn't the best in the world but it can be very good at times. I was fortunate enough to dive with two whale sharks during my time on Koh Tao. Both experiences will stay with me for a lifetime. Breathing effortlessly underwater with great visibility, being able to see and experience the underwater realm and its inhabitants is a gift every time I dive. But sharing this adventure with the largest living fish on the planet grounds me as to how fortunate I truly am to travel and to have done my DMT on Koh Tao.

When I commenced my DMT one of the group had organised a videographer to follow us and film our underwater skills, or should I say antics. The video was really good but not well organised with a proper theme or dive plan. This was evident when we were fighting with ninja swords at 30 meters, not the smartest thing we did. Two people ran out of air, one panicked, most people’s air went down much faster due to chasing each other at depth, one person lost a weight belt and another went in to decompression mode and had to spend time on the drop tank, a big no no in diving. So I decided to organise the next video with the new batch of DMTs. It was a pirate theme and thoroughly enjoyable to shoot and watch. The videographer, Dan, put a lot of work in getting music off the net and editing all the footage to come up with a great 20 minute video. I managed to sketch a pirate map, make a flag and buy some cheap plastic swords and bandanas. The video was a great success, well apart from when I let go of the flag during the first dive and swam up to the surface to retrieve it. I got a form of an ear barotrauma which led to severe vertigo. It didn’t stop my dive, I should have stopped but didn’t. I carried on with that dive until I vomited the entire contents of my stomach up on surfacing. My dive profile was similar to a sharp tooth and I could barely focus or stand up. Stupidly I went on the next dive, so as not to miss the video. The same thing happened and it put me out of the water for a week. My ear drum has some scaring but the Dr wasn’t sure what from. I had an ear infection though which could have encouraged the ear barotrauma. Ear infections are especially common with divers on Koh Tao. The temperature of the water breeds bacteria at an immense rate. The dive medic was worried at first thinking I may have a form of DCS (Decompression Sickness) but thankful I didn’t and strayed away from the infamous chamber.

I took a break from my DMT on Koh Tao and traveled down to the Perhentian Islands off the east coast of north Malaysia. It was a pleasant week away from the island, even though four of those days were spent traveling and staying in seedy boarder towns. On one occasion I was greeted with twenty Thai prostitutes standing on my floor as I excited the elevator...which is ummm different. The Perhentians are very pleasant if not a little too quiet. The diving was pretty good, at least one sight was outstanding, Temple of the Sea, I saw the same amount of marine life in one dive that I'd be lucky to see in a week on Koh Tao. But the island doesn't have the same edge as Koh Tao or friendliness, well unless you're female. The Malaysian men seemed to enjoy life with non-Muslim girls who aren't restricted by religious boundaries. Infact I can't remember seeing a Malaysian female on the island, just Malaysian men chasing after western girls. I was extremely glad to return to Koh Tao and I actually missed Thailand and the lovely Thai people. This is when I realised I had stopped traveling and actually made myself at home, which if you spent enough time on Koh Tao is not a bad thing. After Malaysia I spent three more weeks on Koh Tao and headed to Kuala Lumpur for my flight to Borneo. My final test as a Dive Master Trainee was as is always for DMTs, an embarrassing night of mishaps where you have to get dressed up and abused by the staff doing a so called "DMT Challange". Mine was a boot camp theme which meant that I, along with my two fellow DMTs both from Holland, Bart and Dylan, had to do various physical tests involving scuba tanks, tiny boxer shorts, a bar full of drunk people yelling abuse, lots of shots and buckets of alcohol oh and the heavy monsoon rain. Yes it was an interesting night. There are photos on my facebook but these can not adequately display the level of humiliation experienced, especially when wearing white boxers in heavy rain.

It was a sad time leaving Koh Tao, yet my time had come, I had become too comfortable there and it's such a big world out there...far too much to see from a bungalow in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a lovely place but it does have its seedy side as well, as does all of the world if you are negative minded and look closely. A lot of its residents and most visitors are free spirits sharing their love amongst many. I managed to emerge myself in the delights of diving and although I ventured out pretty often I focused on diving as much as I could which meant early mornings of 5.30 am with sometimes 4 or 5 dives a day it's pretty hard to do anything when you return to shore. I did become close to one particular DMT, who will remain nameless. Yet my luck with women continued as I discovered on my departure from the island that she had shared the love with one of my fellow DMTs and new travel buddy. Hours of crying and attempts at persuading me to take her traveling were clearly a falsehood, empty feelings. But alas we live and learn. It appears the learning never stops.

It is great to be traveling again, the feeling of not knowing where I will be and what I will be doing from one day to the next is great. My new travel companions, Dylan, now Dive Master, and his friend from back in Holland, Ivo or Bob for ease and amusement, are both great travel companions. Their English is perfect and their humour wouldn't be wasted with the likes of the army.

The Greater Mekong

osiris — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:52:00 GMT

It has been some weeks since my last blog. Saigon was quickly conquered as was the Cu Chi tunnels before moving on to Cambodia via the Mekong Delta on a 2 day boat ride...well it was advertised as 2 days, but the first day consisted of 7 hours on a bus & 90 minutes in a boat. Nonetheless the trip was enjoyable & we didn't receive the normal acts of bribery usually found along this border. It was a huge sigh of relief to leave Vietnam & the big $ sign could also be removed from my forehead. No more rude locals purely out to rip tourists off & rob us of every penny...why work for your money when others can do that for you...this should be the Vietnam national saying. Cambodia was a vast difference. The gap between the poor & the well to do was the vastest I've seen anywhere. I haven't seen so many brand new hummers or Bentleys roaming a poor nation's streets before. On one side of the Phnom Penh street was a new Bentley turbo while on the opposite side lay a limbless mine victim or veteran of the Pol Pox regime of terror. My trip to the capital was short lived, with enough time to see the infamous S21 museum where the Khmer Rouge tortured numerous of their own countrymen & also to see the killing fields where there are still 1000's of Cambodian bodies buried under the earth, slowly surfacing with the floods of the monsoon rains. Phnom Penh has a great atmosphere & is much more rough than the likes of Hanoi or Saigon, it all adds to the travelling atmosphere. Yet with all the sadness of it's recent history it is hard to stay around for more than 2 nights.

I headed off to Siem Reap & was ore struck at the sight of the splendid ancient temples. Angkor Wot is purely massive & breathtaking yet the Bayon temple (one which has numerous massive faces scattered across its stones) & Ta Prohm (the one in the Tomb Raider movie) where much more impressive. Ta Prohm felt so small & humble as so much vegetation in the form of huge ancient trees & plants have swallowed the place up. It feels as if you have just parachuted in with Lara Croft in to the thick of the Amazon jungle & stumbled across this divine place. The peace echoed through my soul as I wandered through this maze of temples. It truly is amazing what us humans have achieved in so little time on this planet. How could such an old civilization be able to produce the amount of temples seen here & to such a scale...

I moved on from Cambodia via a taxi to the Thai border & faced what are possibly the worst roads in the world. In my 4 & half months of travel I have not seen roads like this before. They are just dirt tracks with huge craters in them, many filled with mass amounts of mud & water. Not the best way to spend 3 & half hours hung over. Crossing to the Thai side of the border the difference was astronomical. The roads where better than many found in Europe.

I met up with the ex in Cambodia & spent a day wondering some less known temples while she moaned about the heat & how ill she was. We bumped in to each other at the Thai border & some how ended up sharing our hotel room in Bangkok. Probably not the wisest move I've made. It didn't take long for me to realise why I left her in China. I did feel slightly bad & took her out for her b'day. She finally caved in & gave me something in return, admittedly it was only a headache & tonsillitis but it was the thought that counts. It seems a waste to spend 3 nights in Bangkok with so much more to see but I did manage to get a new Sony camera to replace the stolen one & some new hair clippers & clothes.

From Bangkok I ventured, alone again, to Chiang Mai where I spent the next 4 days in & out of bed with fever, pains etc brought on by tonsillitis. This was a depressing time as I was unable to meet anyone & the hatred for myself by allowing a meet with the ex played on my mind. I did manage to visit this brand new Tiger Kingdom just outside Chiang Mai. They had 3 & 8 month old tigers which are not drugged like in Tiger Temple outside Bangkok. It was purely magical spending time with these creatures in their own environment, watching them play & fight & just be themselves. It brought home what simple yet inspiring creatures exist outside our own species of being. How simple life could be if we lived each day, every minute as nature intended. The tigers are so calming & relaxing for the soul. I also did a day Thai cooking course, which commenced with a visit to the local market & preparing & cooking 12 Thai dishes. A blast even if I was only one of 2 men in the class.

Pai was the next stop. A lovely little town a few hours north west of Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand. The town stood in the mountains & the ride to get there was pretty sickly with so many turns & bends in the mountain road. I was fortunate to meet up with some lovely people in Pai & we soon had a nice group of 8 people. We hired motorbikes for the day & explored the local area including a canyon & waterfalls. The scenery was just gorgeous...mountains are so spectacular from the seat of a bike. After my first experience on one 10 years ago when I fell off & broke my foot I actually thought "never again" but it was a great 2 days. The group split as 4 of the girls suddenly got ill so it was Janna (one of the Canadian girls) & I who ventured off in to the jungle by ourseleves...ok accompanied by a local guide. The trek was amazing. It actually was a thick jungle. For months I have been travelling through what people term jungles yet actually not experienced what I call a jungle until the Pai trek. The jungle was so thick we could not see the path for most of the way after lunch & when I felt a sharp quick stabing pain in my leg I could not even see my leg & had no idea what it was. I heard wasps in the background & realised we must have disturbed a nest. When we reached a clearing the wasps was still on my shorts, exhausted as it had given its all. I survived yet have a nice scar & lump to show for it. That night we stayed in a spartan camp in the thick of the jungle by the river. There was no power or huts only shelter. There wasn't even a kitchen only an open fire & pots for cooking. The food was impeccable for the amenities. We drank a couple of beers with 2 guys who had been trekking that day, played a few games of cards then drifted off to sleep amist the noise of the jungle. It was one of the best sleeps I'd had in weeks. The following day while we waited for our rafts to arrive down the river we trakked to a local cave for some exploration. Little did we know that we were actually doing caving the sport not the tourist caving. The 2 American guys couldn't fit through the tight spaces & had to wait in a cavern as we ventured off in just shorts with torches in our mouths. Some of the gaps were tiny with bends & twists a yoga instructor would be proud of. We washed off in a nearby waterfall before joing the rafts for a tame cruise down the river.

From Pai we (2 Canadian girls & 2 Swiss girls from the Pai possie) mini bused it up to the Laos border for a 2 day boat trip to Luang Prabang. We met 3 great guys on the boat & decided to travel together. Luang Prabang was amazing peacful & scenic. The morning activity is to wait on the street with food for the monks to comje at sunset & get their daily food from the locals & tourists. From here I went on a 2 day Mahout & trekking course & learnt how to command & control & elephant. It was a great couple of days yet the trekking was pretty bad. See it constantly rains in Laos all day everyday, so the paths are like mud pools. But it was still fun, especially playing with the kids from a local village.

Vang Vieng was the next stop in Laos & where most tourists go for the sport of tubing. Getting on an inflated tube down a raging monsoon river & stopping off at bars to drink copious amounts of alcohol & jump off swings & zip lines in to the rapid unsafe river before venturing home utterly drunk on your tube in the dark...need I say why this hasn't caught on in Europe. It was great fun & one of my friend's 21st so we had a blast but also good to get out of the place.

Vientiene was merely a stop for our connecting bus to Bangkok where Joe & I spent one night. We experienced an unforgettable night with 3 recently graduated school girls from the UK as they invited us to a ummmm how do you say....ping pong show. I was completely terrified of the place & could not wait to leave, especially when one of the ummm employees came over with a drawing of me she had done, hands free I may add.

I am currently doing my Advanced Open Water diving course in Ko Tao, a great quiet Island in southern Thailand. I did a refresher dive yesterday as it has been over 6 years since I dived & then we did a fun dive followed by a deep (30 m) dive & photography dive today. We have a night dive tonight & I can't wait. It's just like riding a bike & I haven't forgotten a thing.

My SE Asia experience has improved vastly even though my water proof camera leaked & is now filled with water & my new Sony camera broke. I am on camera number 4 but surely will attempt a refund from the broken ones.

The Highs and Lows of Travelling

osiris — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:21:00 GMT

It has been a long old month since my last blog...the honeymoon period of travelling has lapsed and the stresses of travelling have begun...as glorious as it sounds travelling the world, nothing in life is ever as easy as one may think & the grass always appears greener no matter who you are.

We finally managed to do the river cruise down to Yangshuo, which was breath taking even though the heavy flooding made it more like a rafting trip than a cruise. The heavy rains had churned up the river bed making the river murky and a light brown colour.

Please skip the next chapter if you want to retain the happy thoughts of travelling.

In Yangshou I finally bit the bullet and graciously ended the so called "relationship" with my travel companion. Not one to slate people yet certainly realistic enough to acknowledge the truth...we were utterly not suited. I believe in the forgive and forget approach and even remaining friends as that is how we departed and had been for the last few weeks. I do however find it difficult to conquer the moral high ground when the dumped party go out of their way to harass me and veil the truth from family and friends in order to draw desperately needed attention to themselves from their unsuspecting victims. And indeed who isn't going to believe a lonely helpless girl who has been dumped in the middle of nowhere by her selfish boyfriend? The truth always prevails and although there are always two sides to every story I think the facts speak volumes. To invite someone to travel the world with you is a big step and even to invite a near enough stranger to your family's homes over Christmas is a great step in itself. Not to mention buying them bags of travel equipment, paying for their vaccinations, giving them your oyster card & inviting them to live in your home rent free all so they can save for the trip. The repayment was probably not foreseen on my behalf; waiting months before telling people we were in a relationship, still in contact with her former boyfriends & numerous lovers, all of which were blinded to her newly trapped love. If continuous lies were not enough acting like a teenager & slouching around the world not lifting a finger, acting unexplainably selfish & completely forgetting her partners birthday sure were. Yet what did I expect from a reformed druggy who had spent every week for the past 8 years taking class A drugs? Hijacking my face book so they could look at my pictures, then get utterly jealous and commenting on my new found female travel friends is pretty childish. Especially when the said party is sleeping their way through SE Asia. I could continue for many hours yet I think enough has been said so no more questions please...

In Yangshuo I managed to ride a bike through some of the most breath taking scenery & unspoilt villages as well as climb through one of the many water caves. A highly unprofessional encounter yet great fun. From here I went on to Kunming in Yunnan province undoubtedly the highlight of China (Yunnan not Kunming). One night in Kunming was enough before going to Dali, a gorgeous historic walled town by a massive lake & engulfed by 4000m plus peaks. As of most of SW China the streets were scattered with fresh flowers & scrumptious street food. For peace and quiet I ventured up into the mountains & stayed at the Highland Guest House (2600m), a beautiful isolated tiny place in the mountains. Due to no villages or inhabitants in the mountains it felt much more isolated than my time in the Himalayas. The only inhabitants was the guesthouse owner, two girls who worked there & temporarily an American guy, Chester, who was working there for a while. Oh & not to mention the two crazy dogs and cat who loved to fight. It was so relaxing and even walking the following day I got off the main path, Cloud Pass, and didn't see a sole all day just the sound of the waterfalls.

I returned to Dali to hear two lots of bad news, the death of a good friend and fellow Intelligence Corps soldier and also the failure of my dissertation. The first news was such a shock and I managed to pay tribute to Sarah in a local temple. As for the other news, it was opptimistic to attempt such a large dissertation during the difficult times I experienced at the start of the year with so much going on. I ignored my tuitor's advice and slaved on. It just means I will need to resubmit on my return, if I do return of course.

From the minute I became a lone trevller I met the nicest people in a place not really abundant with tourists. But every day there always seemed to be someone new to brighten up my trip with some little adventure. Infact in the last month I have never been so unalone as before. Travelling is so easy nowadays and it really is much more fun travelling by yourself. Anyone dreaming of venturing out in to the big bad world should definately do it alone.

I travelled to Vietnam by sleeper bus from Kunming to Hekou where I crossed the border in to Vietnam. That bus was an experience and a half, the smells and noises alone made it. Across the border my first stop was the mountain town of Sapa, where the locals could never stop smiling. Admittedly they follow you every step on the viallge tours across the countryside but you can't help but buy things off them. They are ever so persistent yet so adorably cute, the girls that is.

One night in the mountains was enough before Hanoi. Hanoi is actually a suprise, a sleepy large town if there ever was one. The two night boat trip to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island was enjoyable as it could have been since the place is packed with tourists. The bay was spetatcular with 1000's of amazing peaks jutting out of the still clear blue water. The night aboard the boat was actually the first time on the whole trip that I came close to utterly intoxicated...ok I was. It was a great laugh and fortunate that we were all stuck with 10 single youngsters. The Island wasn't as fun but I ended up celebrating Rachel's birthday (one of two Norweigan girls I had met in Hanoi) with a bunch of guys. On return to Hanoi I headed straight to Hue, an ancient walled town with loads of character. I visited the DMZ (site of the famous Vietnam war where the borders of north and south met) with a group of 3 lovely copuples. The DMZ was slightly disappointing yet it was great to see the place especially the tunnels.

The following day the Norweigan girls headed down and the late nights started and continued for the next 10 days. We headed to the colonial town of Hoi An, famous for its numerous dress makers who are renowned for tailoring any item of clothing you desire. I did manage to refrain myself. I think the fact I was 85kgs at the start of the year and then only 70kgs while in Hanoi helped. No doubt this was thanks to the culinary delights of India. It would have been foolish to follow suit (no pun intended) and spend 100's on tailored suits. Hoi An is a beautiful place and a complete suprise for Vietnam, a must on anyones trip here. The restaurants were amazing and the town was so tranquil you could have been in a village in the south of France. Nha Trang, the following destination was not so tranquil. I ended up spending 6 tedious nights here waiting firstly for my visa renewel (I had overrun in both Nepal and China) secondly for my police report as I was mugged by 6 transvestites on my first night here. I met a great couple of Aussie guys on the bus here and along with the Norweigan girls we had a good little team together. The first day was spent on the seemingly nice beach in the blazing sun, jet skiing and relaxing. We met 4 more Norweigan girls and all ventured out for fun and frollocks to the Sailing Club, which by midnight is not as classy as it sounds. It is a nice place and one night here would have left us with good memories of a crazy time. It's perched across the sand and up to the ocean, which we later ended up in. I stupidly ventured away from our drinking group on the way home and was jumped by 6 transvestites othering me favours of a vile nature. It was only on their swift departure I realise they had robbed me of my camera. The following day I reported the incident to the police, for what ever that was worth. I decided to treat myself to a new camera but upon opening my travel wallet, which was secured in the safe I found $20 missing. This led to a full out argument with the receptionist. As the situation heightened my language dropped to that of an infanteer in the heat of battle, forcing the terrofied 4 foot nothing young girl in to a dribbling pool of tears. Angered I ventured to an electronics shop where I found a great waterproof camera. Slightly cheered up I handed over my credit card and later bank card only to watch the ill trained staff swipe my cards 8 times. They clearly aren't use to technology and hadn't fed the receipt paper through. By this point I was near erupting on a scale not too disimilar from Mount Vesuvius. I phoned my bank on my mobile to find out I had been charged over $2500 for a single camera. So at this point I had lost one camera, been robbed $20 from the hotel safe, been charged $2500 for a $430 camera and now faced an extoitionate bill for my mobile. Eventually when all seems lost you just have to laugh. If Jimmy and Rach hadn't been there I would be doing life time in a seedy Vietnamese jail.

I spent the next few nights (along with the growing group of 15) drowning my sorrows and it wasn't until we got the gondalla over to Vin Pearl where we found a theme and water park that I started to cheer up. What a park though. This place had the best water rides I had been on. It seemed a pretty new place hence why it wasn't in Lonely Planet (the Bible) and why it was so dead. After 6 nights in Nha Trang I was grateful to reach the laid back surfing (board, wind and kite) town of Mui Ne. This is much more mellow and I really wished I had arrived here instead of Nha Trang and learnt to kite board.

Onward and upward...surely now my SE Asia experience can only get better.

The Long March to China

osiris — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:06:00 GMT

Writing this blog using the world's slowest connections is not easy. Finally after an hour I have come this far. My previous work crashed along with this ancient machine which should actually be in a computer museum not here in Guilin. At least I managed to upload some photos in Hong Kong where the connection speed is slightly better, as one would imagine with a modern sky scrapper city. Advice after my last blog...if you haven't already, please make a cuppa before reading any further.

Anyway so after trekking we headed to Kathmandu where I booked the next adventure trip. With a lot of persuasion Trudy decided to book the rafting too but canyoning was a definite no no. Luckily Trudy didn't contact her mum prior to the trip otherwise it would have been 4 days of shopping in Kathmandu for her. I originally wanted to do the Sun Khosi or River of Gold but the best time of year is around September after the monsoon rains have finished, making it one of the top 10 rafting trips in the world. At the start of the monsoon it would have been flat, long & relatively dull. So instead we ventured up to the Borderlands, a lovely peaceful resort not far from the Tibetan border. The first two days were spent on the Bhote Khosi, a relatively steep river (8 times steeper than the Sun Khosi). Day 1 was a kind of team training day to get the rafters working together on the boats & use to the captain & his commands. This was carried out on the lower half of the river which I later found is actually positioned after a dam, making it pretty easy to learn to raft. It never really exceeded grade 3. The second day was on the upper half of the river & we actually started the trip from the resort. The first rapid was a very short distance away & out of the 3 boats ours was the only one fortunate enough to survive. It was a grade 4 rapid & the other two rafts became stuck on rocks. Both crews had to exit their rafts with one attempting to re-enter the raft, losing one rafter to the rapid, stranding the guide & a rafter, leaving 3 rafters to paddle aimlessly down the rapid before being stranded on another rock. The ordeal lasted just short of an hour but all were rescued unhurt apart from a few bruises & one very pale looking English guy, Henry, who survived his swim down the river.

The remainder of the day wasn't as eventful but there were some close moments. We lost one of our trusty team from the raft but a quick thinking crew member managed to keep hold of his foot & we quickly brought him back onboard. It was a truly exhilarating trip down the river & the guides were very professional, well for Nepalese people. The only reckless moment was when the lead guide river surfed his raft, along with all 7 crew members, under a small waterfall which had an amazing undercurrent. It was unsuccessful & all crew had to jump out to be picked up by the other two rafts.

Canyoning was a lot of fun & it basically involves abseiling & sliding down waterfalls. The first day was a training day & was pretty easy. The second day I managed to convince Trudy to come along & "watch" safely from the side. Before she knew it she was fully rigged up & managed to do two pitches. The first pitch of the day, also Trudy's first abseil ever was more difficult than any attempted the previous day. The instructors have a knack at making their anchor on the edge of the cliff meaning you have to shimmy along the slippery cliff attacked to a safety rope before changing on to your abseil rope. This is actually the scariest part of the experience. The last pitch was around 45 meters down & I managed to go half the way through the waterfall, not as peaceful as it sounds. The water is crashing down on your helmet giving you a mild case of whiplash & a cheeky headache, but fun nonetheless. To add to the experience we had to change ropes half way down, clutching on to the slippery rock face with our fingers, feet & teeth while the smiley faced instructor leans back unclipping & reclipping your gear. A great experience but not for the faint hearted. Both trips are a great way of meeting fellow travellers & we met some great people.

On our return to Kathmandu we spent the last few days relaxing & taking short trips around Kathmandu seeing the various world heritage sights such as Bouddhanath Stupa, Durbar Square & Swayambhunath Temple.

We flew to Delhi where we stayed for one night before flying on to Singapore & then Hong Kong. We were pretty suprised by Delhi as parts are very modern & pleasant. It is a vast contrast from Mumbai & it isn't too taxing to spend a day amongst the western air con shops while waiting for your flight. It was amusing to see Trudy chatting away to a Delhi con man while I ordered food in McDonalds. She just aimlessly told him everything he wanted to know about us. When we passed McD's about 5 hours later he was still in the same seat waiting on his next tourist victim.

As we embarked on our Singapore flight from Delhi the staff informed us that we should transit as quickly as we could in Singapore to reach our connecting flight. We were confident as we did have 90 minutes. However, my last trip to Singapore airport must have been when I was about 16. They have clearly extended the place since then as we only walked (assissted by the flat escalators) about a quarter of the airport distance from one gate to another & this took 25 minutes at a brisk pace. Luckily our flight was delayed or we may have missed it.

Our Hong Kong trip was purely planned to visit Trudy's best friend & their family. We only stayed 3 days as it is pretty expensive in the city but impressive nonetheless. We experienced our first fall of black rain & infact the rain didn't stop until the day we left. The weather limited or sightseeing. We did visit Victoria Harbour & the famous dragon boat races as well as being spoilt by Trudy's friend on several occasions. If it wasn't for this we may be on our way home now with our bank accounts drained.

From Hong Kong we ventured north to Guangzhou where we stayed one night in a lovely new boutique type hotel & then on an overnight train to Guilin in Guizhou province. The train was very similar to that found in India only much nicer apart from the fact the Chinese smoke everywhere.

In Guiling we found a devine new youth hostel (no jokes about youth please), Backstreet Youth Hostel, with big double rooms, great bathrooms & a brilliant lounge diner area. We based ourselves from here & organised all of our trips through the friendly girls at reception. The hostel arranged a free taxi, & along with a Spanish/Bolivian couple, which took us to the Solitary Beauty Peak & Reed Flute Cave. We watched a local Lijiang show at the theatre. It was a mix of ballet & acrobatics. Very entertaining & amazing what one girl can do with so many umbrellas. Yesterday we visited Longsheng & saw a local village show where the women unraveal there very long hair. The longest hair in the world is within the village. The women have to keep it hidden to all men until they are married when their husband is the first male ever to see it. From here we drove & walked to Ping An & viewed the amazing site of the numerous tiered rice terraces spread throughout the valleys. The day was plaqued by heavy rain but it didn't put a damper on things too much...our trip down the River Li to Yangshou was cancelled today due to the vast amount of water but hopefully tomorrow the weather will clear. Last night was total bedlam on our journey back from the rice terraces with cars, bikes & people past their kness in water. Roads were turned in to shallow rivers & even had currents.

China is a stunning place, so modern & hip. The ladies dress in beautiful skirts & dresses & the men adore their sportswear. The people are so friendly & it really is so different from the preconceptions I gave myself for all these years. So far it is my favourite country on this trip. Oh & the women aren't locked away like in India & Nepal so you get to see both sexes...bonus.

One thing which had us hooked in India was the new Indian Premier League 20/20 competition. We followed it in every place we stayed & our team, the Rajasthan Royals (led by the wizard of Oz, Warney), won the league victoriously with a gripping final going down to the last ball. For all those budding sports fans it's well worth watching if you have sky. Look out for it next season, be warned you will be hooked.

Gallery: Nepal

osiris — Wed, 4 Jun 2008 20:07:00 GMT

Nepal, the great escape from India.

osiris — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:53:00 GMT

Well it's been 3 weeks since my last blog....oh so much to tell. Ok so from Bundi we went to Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan. Famed for being the best place in the Indian sub-continent to see the elusive tigers due to their unnerving attitude towards humans & vehicles. They aren't scared of us or jeeps apparently. Anyway we spent 4 hours driving around zone 5 (a tourist gets picked at random from the jeep to select a zone before entering the park). Apparently zone 5 has 7 tigers dwelling within its jungles...I say apparently as we clearly didn't see any. We did manage to spot lots of deer...both spotted dear & the biggest dears in Asia as well as the beautifully coloured kingfisher(yawn). It was still exciting to be roaming through the tiger's habitat. The locals just roam around on foot with non protection at all, "crazy people", is what we thought, at the time that is.

It was non stop from Ranthambore, we travelled to Agra where we visited the Taj Mahal, worth every penny, even though tourists do get ripped off. We pay about 50 times more than the locals but we did get a free 300ml bottle of warm water & some cotton shoe covers, which meant we didn't have to remove our shoes. Above the Taj peregrin falcons roam majestically over head. It is an amazing building & we managed to watch the sun go down & even get stuck in a sand storm at night with no lights to guide us out. The only intimidating part of this was walking the gauntlet from the Taj back to our taxi past all of the dodgy restaurants & cafes who are known to drug tourists in order to rob you blind (one of the harsher ways the Indians acquire our hard earned western money). We escaped unharmed & managed to visit Agra Fort the following day before our night train to Varanasi. Two days & one night was more than enough to experience the flavour of one the most ancient cities in the world. It certainly looks & smells like it. We stayed on the ganges & took a two hour boat ride down the river at dusk. Just in time to row past a floating human corpse, as well as dead pigs, dogs oh & a cow. In the old part of the city there is an area famed for its religious activities...in short there is always at least one dead body burning in a fire by the river. Well Varanasi is one of the most holiest places in the world & hence a few things go on which one may perceive to be a little out of the normal. A ride down the river does make you question if you are in a Hollywood movie. It was even hotter here than Rajasthan, probably around 48 degrees c. So hot we had to throw cold water on to our hotel room floor to cool the place down. Good character building nonetheless. From Varanasi we travelled by the overnight train in first class (not as luxurious as it may sound) to Gurakphur where we (& 14 other people) hired a local taxi to Sonauli. The taxi consisted of a normal 4x4 rammed with 16 paying customers, a driver & a bag boy on the roof. This 3 & half hour journey to the Nepalese border seemed to go on for ever. Finally we arrived & got a cycle rickshaw to the border crossing point, which was the most effortless part of the trip. From Sonauli, after several agruments with local touts, we got a bus to Chitwan National Park (a listed world heritage site). Chitwan is a must for any visitor to Nepal. Our first morning consisted of riding bare back on an elephant & washing it in the local river, which is infested with crocs. We also visited the elephant breeding centre (yes girls that does mean baby elephants), rode through the jungle on elephant back & spotted 6 rare one horned rhinos & several other species. A visit to a Tharu Village was arranged & we got to see these amazing people & how they live still in their mud huts, obviously with tv's & mobiles. They actually came from Rajasthan 100's of years ago & eventually became immune to the plague of malaria which once roamed through Chitwan before the government eradicated it around 60 years ago. The most nerve racking part of the trip was the canoe ride down the river. The local canoes are so narrow & sit about 2 inches above the water. Any slight heavy movement would tip them over. So when we approached a croc & the guide got us closer for a photo it is safe to say that I was close to soiling myself. We broke the journey by venturing to dry land & spotted a rhino bathing in a swamp, a truely memorable moment to be so close to such an amazing creature in its natural environment. We canoed further down the river to start our jungle trek. We then spent over 2 hours retracing our route down the river but on land. No tigers, leopards, bears or snakes were spotted but we did encounter a rhino grazing in long grass. This was especially scary as they often charge humans (they feel threatened because of their bad eye sight). Probably not as scary as a wild elephant which are known to rip trees out of the ground with scared tourists clinging on. On one track we spotted 3 fresh snakes tracks, the last was so big we didn't know what it was - apparently a python's track. A lone trekker, accompanied by 2 guides, showed us pictures he had just taken of tiger prints a 2 minute walk away but still no sightings of the elusive tiger. The final night in Chitwan was spent in a jungle tower, a 3 storey tower smack bang in the middle of the jungle. We spotted a rhino with her baby, a huge monitor lizard which was right next to us & scared the life out of us. In the morning a rhino strolled right past us while searching for good breakfast grass. We were slightly unlucky with the weather as it rained meaning we didn't afford the luxury of the moonlight to see some animals & most animals hide under trees during the rainfall.

Pokhara was our next destination. We spent two nights in a hotel by Lakeside (which reminded me of the Lake District just alot bigger & cheaper) before we set off on our 8 day trek. Pokhara actually sits at around 820 meters above sea level so you do have a slight hand when trekking from here. We started in Nayapul (1070m) & strolled up the dirt track past numerous school children hiking to school (some walk 2 hours or more to school then 2 hours plus home every single day). We reached the army check post where they check your trekking permit. The initial pains & aches started as the trail gradually got steeper. We passed Chimrung (1130m) Syauli Bazar (1220m) Kimche (1640m) & Chane before reaching our night time resting place of Ghandruk (1940m). The hotel was actually pretty nice with an en-suite shower & hot water. The first day wasn't too bad & infact most days only consisted of 5-6 hours walking. We (ok well I would get up about 5am) breakfast was around 6.30 & we would normally plan to leave around 7 but Trudy liked to take her time so it became 7.30 then 8ish. We would walk with several rests until lunch where we took an hour break & normally reach our destination by 2-3 pm. So the days weren't too testing & infact with a small pack of 10-12 kgs it made the trek very enjoyable. Our friendly guide, Leela, carried Trudy's pack...purely so she could practice her Maori stick dance ready to defend us from the wild leopards & bears. Hence why she also like to adopt the defensive position at the rear of our small coloumn. The second night we stayed at Chhomrong (2170m) & didn't really make much height as we went down a huge steep valley & back up it again. Day 3 landed us in the village of Himalaya (2920m) where we started to feel more isolated & we met some nice Tasmanian men & a German couple. The fourth day was the trek to the base camps. We passed Machhapuchhre BC (3700m) first but its shallow position in the valley means that the views are rarely great. We stormed through after a spot of lunch & made our final ascent to Annapurna BC at 4130m. We weren't here long before the weather started to come in. Within 5 mins of snow falling the ground was covered & visibility was impossible. We huddled together in the dining hall with other trekkers & passed the hours with games of cards & chess accompanied with hot chocolate. One Canadian girl, Nancy, had been at ABC for a month while her boyfriend, Ignacio Ochoa de Olza (a Spanish climber), attempted to reach the summit of Annapurna I. We learned that he had already climed 12 of the world's 14 8,000m peaks successfully & without oxygen. This meant that if he summitted Annapurna I he only had one more peak to climb & he would be the 8th person in the world to achieve this great feat. The next morning we woke to prestine clear views of the Annapurna range. We were utterly surrounded on all sides by these huge rocky white peaks. It truely was an amazing experience & we were so lucky with the weather. We saw Nancy who informed us that her boyfriend along with the two other climbers, a Swiss & Russian, were 500m from the top & had spent the night on the east summit. The view was clear & although it looked sunny it also looked windy but we were positive they would summit that day. It had taken them 4 days to reach the east summit from ABC, amazing really considering a Russian team had previously spent 11 days climbing & hadn't reached that far. Annapurna I was the first of the 8,000m peaks to be conquered by man & is considered to be the most difficult due to the numerous avalanches & the technical skill needed to summit. Most deaths occur on this mountain in preportion to the people who climb it. Which leads me on to today's (24 May 08) edition of The Himalayan newspaper. The front page reads "Two climbers dead on Annapurna, Everest trails". Yep unfortunately Ignacio or Inaki was one of them. Apparently he died from brain and lung damage. He tried to reach ABC, but suffered a seizure and was unable to descend the mountain below camp four at 7,400 meters (24,278 feet). His two companions remained in a tent perched on the side of the mountain until Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck arrived carrying medicines to try to save him. However, Inaki died after five days immobile and semiconscious. Mountain rescues at 7,400 meters are practically impossible as few people are able to climb to that height and the air is too thin for helicopters to fly. Such a sad time for the mountaneering world yet these climbers are aware of the danger they put themselves under. It just reminds us how vulnerable we are to the wrath of mother nature. On a lighter note...

An amusing snippet from Wikipedia regarding my malaria tablets, Lariam. "Mefloquine may have severe and permanent adverse side-effects. It is known to cause severe depression, anxiety, paranoia, agression, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, peripheral motor-sensory neuropathy,[2] vestibular (balance) damage and central nervous system problems. For a complete list of adverse physical and psychological effects — including suicidal ideation — see the most recent product information. Central nervous system events occur in up to 25% of people taking Lariam, such as dizziness, headache, insomnia, and vivid dreams.[citation needed] In 2002 the word "suicide" was added to the official product label, though proof of causation has not been established. Since 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA has required that patients be screened before mefloquine is prescribed." I may try & get some new ones. Thanks to Ode & Wilfid who pointed this out. Descending the Annapurna range was much easier & we actually took our time. On the second day we branched off from Chhomrong down to Jhinu (1780m) and spent the afternoon in the hot springs accompanied by our new found trekking companions, Ode & Wilfrid - a nice French couple. We even managed to sneak a couple of beers in to the springs & it was a welcome relief to soak our aching muscles. All in all the trek was very enjoyable and relatively easy considering the altitude & lack of oxygen at high altitude (I don't think it was less than 50%). The further we ascended the better we slept. I think this may have been due to the increased oxygen in the body, placing us in a state of euphoria. The only other rime I have experienced this was travelling from Mammoth Mountain in California to Death Valley (the lowest place on earth, which is actually below sea level). Like India, Nepal has a large homeless or wild dog population. They are much cleaner than those found in India (like the people - no dig just a fact). They also like to follow trekkers between villages, which are never more than 2 hours apart on the ABC trail. We thought this was very sweet until we discovered that they used us as protection. The dogs are known to be attacked by the spotted & snow leaopards roaming Annapurna so they don't stroll outside the villages without a human escort. Leopards don't attack humans & actually avoid us until they are too old to hunt their normal prey or injured which is when they wander in to villages at night time & eat humans.

A Month On

osiris — Sat, 3 May 2008 20:15:00 GMT

Today marks our anniversary of arrival, one month ago. We are currently in Bundi, a small (by Indian size) walled town in Rajasthan, with the fortress walls and palace dominating the belt of hilly lands surrounding the still modest market town. The population stands at around 100,000, relatively tiny for Indian standards, yet a vast increase from its former 3,000. We managed to get up at dawn today to beat the heat and "stroll" up the hill to view the palace and its grounds. We ventured down at 0830 exhausted and dripping in sweat. When the guide book says; average daytime temperature in Rajasthan 45 degrees C, I think it means it.

We arrived during the afternoon heat yesterday from Pushkar on an old non air con taxi through the middle of the desert. That was pretty hot but when we got to our first floor room, (with perfect view of the palace from our balcony) the solitary fan blowing around the stale 40 degree heat (just like an Indiana Jones movie) was a little too much to bare. We managed to change rooms and now are blessed with a fan and air cooler (the cheap version of air con) so the temperature drops to around 31 degrees at night, while it's still around 34-35 outside. Apparently the locals tell us this is cool! In 2-3 weeks time temperatures hit the 50's...but by then with any luck we will be in the Nepalese hills. The Bundi Palace is an impressive sight tearing its way up the steep slope of the hill. A walk to the top - Taragarh tower - (which we will attempt later when the heat has slightly dropped) takes around 25 minutes. Bundi itself is relatively untouched by tourism and the locals are so friendly. We still managed to catch a rare glimpse of local custom; a child dropping the kids off literally on his door step. In his defence though, he was using the open sewage network which navigates itself ever so conveniantly alongside the main streets. For those of you wondering, and I know a few are, what if he lived on the other side of the street, would he have to use his neighbours door step? Well fortunately the network flanks both sides of the road so such a predicament wouldn't occur. Well unless one of the holy cows or stray dogs is scavaging for food or having a drink near by, then one might have the moral courage to switch sides as it were. Anyway yes Bundi is a lovely little town and very peaceful and calming compared to other tourist cities in India.

Pushkar too is also a relatively quiet place. Busier than Bundi but it is on the tourist radar for both westerners and Indians alike. We spent 4 nights in Pushkar, 2 is enough but finally I caught the dreaded Delhi belly and had 2 days of what I can only describe as an exorcism, bodily fluids leaving through which ever exit they could. It was pretty horrid but swiftly over and did not linger. Trudy again caught the milder version (just one exit) for the second time. So on the points table Trudy is ahead with 3 cases of Delhi belly and I am trailing with a feable one.

Pushkar is a lovely little place and the best way to experience it is at the rivers edge while the sun goes down. It is one if India's most religious sights and is surrounded by 500 temples. At sunset many bells can be heard ringing throughout the town and it becomes somewhat erri yet very calming.

I did see a sea snake during our time in Palolem. I informed Trudy who subsequently screamed, swam/ran out of the water as soon as she could and started hyperventilating. I initially thought it was an act, but no men, this is what women do when they are scared. Learn by my mistake - don't laugh. Now we are far enough away from Goa so as not to scare myself or Trudy. Later that night I flicked through my SAS Survival Guide (don't laugh we've all got one) under the dangerous animals section (page 346 if you're interested) and there she was; the banded sea krait, with venom twice as toxic as the cobra. But apparently sea snakes aren't vicious and they find it hard to bite their venomous back teeth in to our large bodies (not worth testing by the way). Still it's little head was only one meter or so away from us but did flee once it saw us.

It turns out that our Dr in Jaipur is the Dr of the Jaipur Royal Family. I assume he visits them though as his surgery wouldn't pass the most relaxed health and safety Nazi. The Colonel we stayed with is infact the descendent of the Royal Family who's father was a Baron and they own the Shahar Fort near Agra. Like most of the once ruling class, after the government took control in 1947 they had to lease their estates off and move in to smaller dwellings. If we would have stayed at their guest house another night we would have met the Royal Family including the Queen mother as it was Mr and Mrs Colonel's wedding anniversary. I'm sure the chance will arise again.

Gallery: India

osiris — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:42:00 GMT

First stop - India

osiris — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:42:00 GMT

We landed in splendid Mumbai, the city where dreams are made (dreams of rats, poverty beyond explanation & sights & smells of human excrement, all of which are impossible to escape apart from meal times where you can sneak off to a semi-decent restaurant). For the first stop on a round the world (RTW) tour it was a little shock. Three days here was more than enough as there is really nothing to see. The famous Chapatee Beach is ok for a stroll but only if you don't mind the oncoming wind bringing the stench of the city's 14 million inhabitants waste straight down your throat.

Goa was a welcome relief. We spent 2 nights in Candolim before venturing to Palolem where one of the Bourne scenes was filmed. It is such an easy pace of life (a vast contrast to the rest of India) & a great place to relax. It was so hard leaving that we actually stayed 13 nights...ok well Trudy was ill with Delhi belly so our tickets to Hampi couldn't be used & our plans for the Backwaters were drowned by the packed trains of the Indian summer holidays. Apparently 2 weeks notice is required to book trains to the Backwaters at this time. Just short of 2 weeks was spent on the beach swimming, watching dolphins & relaxing. We met some lovely people, a nanny Becca (who is from Barnet, minutes from North Finchley) who was looking after 2 adorable blonde children from Brighton who now live in Goa; Tai who is 3 & Xavier who is 7. We spent many a day body boarding with them & playing in the sun. Nat & Mike, our neighbours in both San Fransisco & the Pacific are from Cornwall & a lovely couple. We hit it off straight away & stalked them for a good few days on the beach & for meals. We even fed our adopted stray dogs together; Hunter, Scooby, Georgina, Cyclops & another girl who looked just like George.

The 28 hour train ride from Magao to Jaipur was delayed slightly & was more like 38 hours meaning my birthday was entirely on the train. No great deal & infact it's refreshing to see that no one really complains about the delay. It makes you feel like a demanding school child for complaining at the extra 5 minutes on the underground. Trudy is worst for wear now but the Dr has been so hopefully by tomorrow she will be on medication. Our travels are suspended at the minute until she is fit & well. All is not bad as we are staying in a lovely guest house in Jaipur, it's minutes from a busy high street but it doesn't seem like it in the large peaceful garden with the family's array of plants, flowers & wildlife, oh & a tiny chitsu dog. The father is a former Colonel in the Indian Army, we have already exchange war stories. I think he is in the lead with tails of Centurion tanks blasting away at the Pakistani Army in the 15 day war.