Will It Rain Away

The Final Curtain

will-n-raina — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:30:00 GMT

..........and so, the end is near and now we reach the final curtain............da dum de da da dum, la la la le, something something highway.....da da da...................I did it myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy

Yes, that's right folks - 3 hours and counting until we head off to Bangkok airport to catch our flight to Sydney. Mixed feelings really. Obviously excitement at seeing loved ones and eating cheese and drinking wine. But still a little sad that the time has flown so fast and that we will soon have to resume our roles of being responsible citizens of the world. I am telling you it is SO much better not having any responsibilities! But hey, as the say, all good things come to an end - and we know that there will be many more good things in store for us, even if some of it will involve working for a living.

The last 3 weeks since the last blog have been great. More beautiful beaches and good times have been had. Highlights included an Island called Ko Hai on the west coast, where we were the only people on a beautiful beach.

Another highlight has been Raina's quest for the holy grail- or search for sticky rice as it is more commonly known. Searching high and low for the memorable sticky rice she ate 10 years ago in Thailand, it seemed to have all but disappeared from the country. In the first 2 weeks only one restaurant had sticky rice, but for the astronomical price of 200 baht ($6) Still, these were desperate times and the price was paid. The next success came at a night market in Trang, where there were many kinds of sticky rice on offer, for only 20-30 baht. However this place was only a stopover for one night and so Raina struggled to consume the amount of rice she would have liked. Two weeks followed with no sticky rice to be found anywhere on the islands of Koh Hai or Koh Tao (hard times) However, on arrival back in Bangkok and a change of hotel from the last time we were here, we have finally found a sticky rice and mango seller. Only 20 baht a pop. So far Raina is consuming 2-3 portions a day, with no signs of tiring of it. Happy times!

I will be putting some photos up on the blog soon of the final few weeks- but the camera cord has gone astray, so we need to get a new one at the airport.

To those of you in Australia - namely my lovely family, we will see you very soon. Mine's a glass of red wine thanks! Please don't take us to any Thai restaurants for the moment or make us any dishes involving rice or noodles. In fact, please don't cook for us at all, as we are dying to do some cooking after 6 and a half months of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner in restaurants.

To those in England - some of you will be seeing us very soon, as we are back in London for a while and also Italy for the marriage of Poppy and Carlo. Can't wait to see you all - we have missed everyone so much. We look forward to meeting Blake Lyons for the first time, who was born shortly after our departure, and who's progress we have been following on Meg's blog. Thank God for the internet - it makes you feel so close to everything that is happening. Still nothing beats seeing people in the flesh. I am pretty sure I will still be drinking red wine by the time we see you,so mines a glass of Pinot and Will wants a pint of cider.Chris and Anna - you know the deal with the cheese right?

and so, we are off to enjoy a final massage, before getting ready to leave. Goodbye Thailand, hello Australia.

xxWill it Rain

Roughing it in Thailand

will-n-raina — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:59:00 GMT

Well with only three weeks to go, we thought we would step up the pace a little and see all of Thailand. Not. Actually we are now inclined to do as little as possible and to spend our days lazing on the beach. So far we have had some success with this, but not as much as we hoped, due to the weather.

Our first four days on Koh Lanta, saw us waiting out the weather in a beautiful cabin up on a hill, overlooking the bay. We came to Lanta to meet up with our friend Suzie, who we originally met at Jungle Beach in Vietnam. So, we still had some great laughs as the rain came down. Still was warm enough to go swimming in between rain showers, but the surf and rips were pretty dangerous.

Finally the sun came out and we had 3 days of beautiful weather. We went on a boat trip to Emerald cave, which was pretty exhilarating. You had to access it from the sea, and donning flippers and life vest the guide took us through a narrow opening in a rock with the tide coming in with us. 80 metres through a winding cave with one flashlight took us out into an interior lagoon. Apparently people were stranded in there for days when the Tsunami hit. We only stayed in the lagoon for ten minutes as he said that in half an hour it would be high tide and impossible to get out. I swam pretty fast to get back, I can tell you. As we got to the exit though, you realised why it was called Emerald cave, as the light reflecting off the white sand of the ocean floor made it glow green. It was so beautiful and scary at the same time!

We are now stuck in an internet cafe, waiting out some monsoonal rains, in the crappy seaside town of Ao Nang. We are trying to get across to a deserted island called Koh Poda, but the weather is working against us.

Still, I have only good weather photos to upload and I am sure none of you will sympathise with us when you see them! It is bucketing down....I promise you.

Off now to eat some lunch and say a prayer to the rain God to get us the hell away from Ao Nang.

Till next time (or the next storm)

Will it Rain (yes it will)

Gallery: Beach Bums

will-n-raina — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:49:00 GMT

Gallery: Temples at Angkor

will-n-raina — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:35:00 GMT

Temple-tastic

will-n-raina — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:45:00 GMT

Oooooh...two blogs within a week....that's the rainy season for you! No, actually the weather has been fine, too hot if anything. The reason for another blog in such quick succession is that the temples of Angkor are just SO amazing that they warrant a mention of their own.

What we did not realise is that there are hundreds of temples in Siem Riep province, as all you ever really hear about is Angkor Wat. The most famous of the temples, it is indeed the largest and has the most impressive carvings. However our favourite was one called Bayon, which was something straight out of an adventure story. From a distance it looked like a pile of stones, but up close giant faces looked out of every tower to face north, south, east and west.

Another temple that is very famous, is the one that is shown in Tomb Raider, Ta Phrom. This temple was purposely left to the jungles devices to show what some of the temples would have looked like on discovery, and just how effective the jungle is at dismantling the work of man. It is a completely magical place, with enormous cotton and fig trees engulfing the ruins. In fact the trees are actually holding the ruins up. Beautiful.

We also visited temples further out of town, which involved getting covered in red dust as trucks overtook our tuk-tuk for the 45km journey out of town. It was worth the trip in the heat and dirt but we were very glad to get in the shower after that one.

The Cambodian people are fantastic and after all they have been through it is inspiring to see their smiling faces. People are very poor here and you are constantly bombarded by children selling postcards, books, flutes and drinks. "Lady, mister you want postcard! ten for one dollar. one, two, three, four.......etc" they then name all the temples on the postcards. They can count in numerous languages and have some patter for you depending on where you come from. One amazing boy gave us the populations and prime ministers of the UK and Australia, including the previous PM's. It is very sad as you wish you could buy something from all of them, but it is just not possible. If we had a dollar for everytime someone asked us for a dollar.......

Anyway, Cambodia is definitely somewhere we would come back to. We leave tomorrow morning for Bangkok and then on to hit some beaches. Lovely as it is here, it is stinking hot and we need a swim badly. Unfortunately, this means giving Laos a miss this time, but as we feel we would revisit Cambodia, we will add that to the to do list.

Only 4 weeks to go till Australia beckons! xRaina and Will

Gallery: Cambodia

will-n-raina — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 15:44:00 GMT

Escape from Rabbit Island and other tales

will-n-raina — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 14:04:00 GMT

Well it has been a long while between blogs and many things have happened. I have mentally written many blogs but I don't spose'that counts for anything. Here is some of what we have been up to:

- Left Vietnam after spending 6 weeks there. Had a bit of an adventure in Saigon when we got into a dodgy cab. We had taken plenty of honest cabs in the city already so knew something was up when the metre started spiralling after only travelling a short distance (the guy was hiding the metre with his hand and then manually changing it). The upshot was us confronting the driver and saying let us out - him using the central locking system to try and keep us imprisoned in the cab. The hilarious thing was we could just unlock the doors and wind down the windows from the back seat, so between him threatening us in Vietnamese whilst pointing at the metre, the windows were going up and down and doors kept unlocking and relocking. Quite comedy. Anyway he should have known better than to pick on hardened travellers such as ourselves. The infamous Saigon traffic allowed us to jump out of the car and make our escape. We began briskly walking away from the car (him still shouting) we went to walk around a corner and then noticed him driving up ahead preparing to follow us. We looked at each other and then ran in the other direction, taking a hasty turn into some kind of school and then finding our way through a maze of buildings. It was very Bourne Identity and we kept reminiscing about it afterwards!

One of our highlights of South Vietnam was whiling away a week at Jungle Beach which was a lovely deserted place 60km north of Ntrang. We heard about it from people we met in The Andamans and spent a lovely 7 days reading, swimming and having fires on the beach. You can see a photo of one of these fires on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1357036&l=6f4db&id=530231415 The boys were rather pleased with themselves at that one (bloody pyro's)

- We crossed into Cambodia by boat on the mighty Mekong River which is very brown and muddy but rather wonderful too with floating villages and stilt houses along the banks.

- After a few days in the capital we made our way to the south coast for more beach action. We took a boat to little visited Rabbit Island (so called because of its total lack of resembling a rabbit) There we thought we would spend a few days Robinson Crusoe style. Well the first afternoon there was lovely. We swung in hammocks, read books and swam. Our hut was a sweet bamboo and palm leaf structure with a mattress and mosquito net. Ahhh the simplicity of it all. The last thing on our minds was that it is the rainy season here in Cambodia............ Day two we woke to super strong winds and some rain. It then passed and the rest of the morning was fine. In the early afternoon there was rain again and we resigned ourselves to staying indoors and finishing our books and playing cards. We resolved to leave the next day and get back to the mainland as it was not much fun anymore. We slept through the night and in the morning Will had some weird marks on his arm and face. They looked like burns but he said they did not hurt. I was worried about what it was and said we should def get the boat back. We planned to leave at 4pm as we knew we could get a bus from the mainland at that time.

Clouds appeared on the horizon once again at lunchtime but this time it was not just a little rain but what seemed at the time like a hurricane. The wind was SO strong it was whipping up the sea onto the land. A palm tree fell down and plastic furniture was in flight. People had just arrived on the island and we were all huddled behind a tarpaulin in one of the little restaurants. Further down the beach the beach hut next to ours blew over and another restaurant half collapsed. Other huts did not keep the water out so everyones stuff got soaked including the mattresses. Anyway, disaster and we were kicking ourselves for not leaving earlier. All we wanted to do was get off that bloody island. An hour later the wind subsided but the sea still looked dangerous and the boatmen said no boats back. Another hour on and they had changed there minds as there were so many people who wanted to get back. So they took us across the stormy sea in convoy just in case anything went wrong. Needless to say we were very happy bunnies (excuse the pun) when we put feet on the mainland. And there ends the tale of Escape from Rabbit Island. You will see that we were not really that scared from this little video we made http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOBQ-6nWBu4

As for Will's weird skin thing. We read that it was not a good idea to go to the doctors in the provinces and was a much better idea to go in Siem Riep. Well, we did just that and spent $120US in a brand new five star hospital that has been built here. Poshest hospital either of us has ever seen and with consultations that cost half the average annual income in Cambodia, the place was only used by tourists. Turns out that medical tourism (hip replacements, facelifts etc) is big buisness here and way cheaper than having procedures at home. Why not come and see Angkar Wat and have a nose job at the same time?! Weird weird weird, but at least Will got some antibiotics. The doctor thinks some kind of unidentified insect sprayed Will with a burning fluid while he was asleep. These wounds then got infected. Happily he is much better now but we are no closer to knowing what the creature who did this was (probably some kind of deranged rabbit)

Q:How many people can you fit in a minibus?

A: The Cambodians are still working on ways to squeeze more people in, but in our experience it is 22 people and 9 seats. Very cosy and great for added momentum when overtaking (God help us)

Trivia

In SE Asia vehicles play music when they reverse as opposed to in the west where they just go beep beep beep. In Vietnam the reversing tune is "Ït's a small world after all" and in Cambodia it is "Happy Birthday to You" What it will be in Laos is anyones guess but I am thinking "When the Saints go Marching in" What I would prefer to be run over by is still to be decided.

more trivia

The US dollar is king in Cambodia. In Vietnam it is used but you have to bring it yourself. In Cambodia, Australian banks dispense American dollars from ATM's.

Celebrity Endorsements Update- J.Lo is now promoting a massage parlour in Siem Riep.

We are now in Siem Riep visiting the amazing Angkar temples that we have heard so much about. Certainly doesn't disappoint. Will couldn't resist the temptation of the setting when making a little birthday video for Jamie which you can all see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hvXj6C5GOk

We have 5 week to go before flying to Oz and have no fixed plans. Next stop possibly Laos and then Thailand. Whatever we do, I plan to be much better at blogging.

xxxxWill and Raina

North of Nam

will-n-raina — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Right. It is very hot outside and the only place I wanna be is by a fan in the shade (this may sound odd to some of you who have been waiting many months for sun!) So I find myself with some time for a blog.

We started our first two weeks in Vietnam with Rhett who flew for Melbourne to meet us. He had been feeling the cold in Melbourne so decided to come and get sweaty in Vietnam. We all really liked Hanoi and ate some good food and were loving the Bia hoi (Cheapest home brew beer. Very good and only 10pence a glass)

We walked alot, got lost in the myriad of streets and had a hilarious time trying to cross the road. The rules are fairly simple, just close your eyes and walk! By some miracle the 50 motorbikes heading your way merge around you like a school of fish. The motorcycles (and drivers of them) provide tonnes of entertainment. Whereas in Nepal you see people carryong unbelievable things on their backs- in Vietnam they can transport just about anything on bike, including families of 5, pigs, furniture, chickens, glass cabinets, mirrors and paintings (toname a few) Will work on getting a collection of photos together.

From the photos you will see that we visited two places in the North. The hill region of Sapa, where we did a homestay and trekking with the local ethnic minority people (amazing women, so friendly, funny and genuine. Men were no-where to be seen) and Halong Bay, a World Heritage Site with amazing limestone rock formations (over 2000) in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Vietnam is King of the package tour and so far we have had to use tours a few times to see the things that we want to see. They have been at times painful but mostly hilarious. The general approach is to cram as much as possible into a very short time span and smile.

"OK everyone, my name is Phoung but you can call me Rooster. Here is the itinerary today. First we go to boat. 12 o'clock you have lunch, 1:30pm you go visit cave, 14:30 come back boat and check into room -then go kayaking- one hour, then swimming. OK, then you have free time, one hour, then you have dinner. Then you can have karaoke before going to bed. Wake up 7am have breakfast then check out of room 8am"

The very sweet Virtnamese seem oblivious to the fact that the reason people visit this place is to see the amazing landscape from the deck of a boat. Just leave us on the boat with nothing to do and we will be very happy indeed. Please don't make us go to a cave that was once naturally beautiful- BEFORE you added the coloured flourescent tubes, penguin shaped rubbish bins and water fountains (really) So you see, sometimes you must laugh or you will cry.

The highlight for Will and I here is the people. They are always smiling and friendly. Even though most are usually trying to sell you something, it is with good humour and a smile. In Sapa, the ladies were just so charming that I relented and bought stuff I really didn't want. After 3 and a half months of perfecting my rebutals these ladies took me by suprise with their selling methods. And then, after you have finally given in and bought....they try and sell you more. If you tell the next lady that you have already bought she says "you buy from her and not me"? Never-ending but very funny too.

Another thing that keeps us laughing on our travels is the number of unauthorised celebrity endorsements you see. For example did you know Demi Moore works in a strip club in Kathmandu? Tiger Woods uses the entire mens toiletries section of an Indian department store in Darjeeling (next to the rice cookers) and then there is the endlesss stream of various starlets on the signs of beauty parlours, hairdressers, massage venues etc. But the one that takes the prize so far was discovered in Hanoi (see photo) Britney Spears, cunningly disguised as Anna Duong tu Huong was born 12/3/82 and sadly died in May 2001. Still it was very nice of her to let the headstone manufacturers use her image to help their buisness! We will be on the look out for more of these gems but something tells me it won't get better than that.

After a fab two weeks with Rhett, he sadly left taking our boots and various other bits and bobs that we could no longer face carrying. Thanks bro, we owe you. Oh, nearly forgot to mention the major lifeline Rhett brought along with him to Vietnam. The taste of the gorgeous red wine is still on our lips as we go back to our world of beer once again. Boo hoo.

Gallery: Nam Baby

will-n-raina — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Lovely Sri Lanka

will-n-raina — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:39:00 GMT

Well once again I write this blog, post experience and once again I have uploaded loads of photos to do the talking for us.

To sum up, two weeks was not enough time for us to see all that we wanted in Sri Lanka. After so long in India I guess we had gotten used to the luxury of taking our time and really experiencing places. So we decided to take the same approach in SL and just see a small part rather than do a rushed whirlwind tour. Of course this was also due to the problems in the north of the country, but really this has no effect on the south apart from a shortage of tourists.

We started in Colombo, went to Kandy then Ella on the train (in the hills-amazing scenery and tea plantations) and then finished with a week on the coast in Tangalle and Galle Fort where we were put Will's birthday money to good use at the amazing Galle Fort Hotel. It basically cost what we spend a week to stay for one night and was absolutely amazing. Thay certainly weren't used to people rocking up in tuk-tuks with backpacks on, and perhaps from the shock of it, thet upgraded us to a deluxe suite (perhaps they knew we would not leave the room and scare other guests) But actually, as in every other place we visited, we were the ONLY guest bar 1 or 2. You really have to feel for the Sri Lankan's. Not only the tsunami but now the war is really stoppin gthem from getting back on their feet. Everyone we spoke to said the same thing, "no tourists, no buisness" It is very sad to see. So, rather than giving to charity, why doesn't everyone go on holiday there instead (you won't regret it- so much better than wearing a red nose)

So after a fab two weeks we spent 3 days in Bangkok sorting Visa's for Vietnam and eating icecream and watching movies in plush, enormous shopping malls. And now we are in Vietnam, at the airport awaiting Rhett's arrival. In fact his plane will lnad in 10 minutes, so I am off to give my big brother a big kiss and hug!

Until next time,

Will and Raina

Gallery: Chilling in Sri Lanka

will-n-raina — Sun, 18 May 2008 11:54:00 GMT

Gallery: Darjeeling, Sikkim and Delhi

will-n-raina — Sun, 4 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Loving the north of India

From Cool to Scorching in North India

will-n-raina — Sun, 4 May 2008 17:36:00 GMT

Well, it is a bit difficult to know where to begin with our time in the north of India. Our experiences were so varied and now that they are passed and we have arrived in Sri Lanka it is hard to sum everything up. They say a picture speaks a thousand word so rather than go on to write a novel I have uploaded a multitude of photos that will hopefully tell the story for us. (and Chris, I know how you prefer picture books!)

I believe I finished the last blog mentioning the horrendous bus journey we had to take to get from Kathmandu to Darjeeling. Well although much time has passed, the horrors of the journey are fresh in my mind and I can say that I will NEVER, EVER do that journey again as long as I live. Door to door it took 24 hours on the worst bus, on the worst roads, with the worst driving. Needless to say we were happy to reach our destination of Darjeeling, where although shrouded in clouds, with no view of the mountains, we cooled off and drank lots of tea. It was an interesting region of India...lots of political unrest and not a day went by without a protest march invlving thousands of people. Whether the march was for Free Tibet or Gurkha Land (this is the Nepali people who have lived in Darjeeling since British rule, who want there own state) the procession was always arranged in orderly sections of men followed by students followed by women.

We had high tea at The Windamere and walked around the town, but really you could feel that the people were not happy here and it came across to us. It is also worth mentioning that Darjeeling is not home only to tea but to the most horrendous knitwear known to man! The wealthy Bengalis head to the hills to escape the heat of Calcutta and obviously forget to pack something for the cold. This is the only reason (read excuse) I could come up with for the fact that they were all wearing these ugly jumpers and putting there darling daughters into flourescent crocheted flouncy dresses. Hilarious!!

So then it was to lovely, lovely Sikkim which deserves a blog of it's own. Lovely people, lovely landscape, amazing scenery Sikkim has it all. You need to get a permit to access this part of India, and it really is like entering another country, which it was until 1975, when the British very kindy gave it to India (never quite understand how they got away with this behaviour) The people speak Nepali, they look very different and they are all Buddhists. They still feel that they are separate to the rest of the country. The central government pumps load of money into this state and it has lower taxes and good schools. The govt wants to keep them happy as this state has only just been recognised or is not recognised (depending on what you read) by China as being part of India. Chinas attitude seems to be 'we won't argue about Sikkim if you don't mention Tibet' Still it is to the advantage of this state and the people certainly benefit from it. The roads are great, transport cheap (all new jeeps ferry you around 6 hour trip about 2 quid) All the children are in school uniform and you come across them even on the most remote village roads in the middle of the forest.

They are also environmentally aware and plastic bags are banned (anyone who has been to India will know how much of a miracle this is)
We had a great time here and will definitely return to do a proper trek. We only saw a very small part of the West and North but there is much more to see here. I think Nepal was probabaly like Sikim before tourism really took off. It is unspoilt apart from the main towns which are growing rapidly. However you only have to head off the main road to see the real Sikkim which is like stepping back in time.

Oh, the other thing worth mentioning is our scary landslide incident. We were in a jeep heading back from the North Valley to Gangtok and it was raining heavily(see photo of waterfall after the rain) When we came around a bend to see a potential landslide that we had to cross things got pretty ropey. I guess I would have felt more confident if the driver wasn't so wide eyed and clearly panicking. The guide got out of the jeep to get a closer look and move some larger pieces of rock from the road. He got back in the jeep absolutely drenched. Rocks kept falling down as we floored it past that section. This was all made far worse by the company of quite possibly THE most annoying man alive, a 'been there, done that' Belgian who kindly informed us during the ordeal, that we needed to be aware of the realities and that 25 tonne of earth could collapse on us in 2 seconds. Needless to say we won't be keeping in touch with the twat.

So sadly we left Sikkim as our flights from Delhi were booked. After the trauma of the bus ride from Kathmandu to Darjeeling we decided to stop being stingy with the cash and avoid the 27 hour train ride in 40 degree heat by flying. Best decision ever.

Delhi was somewhere we had been before and actually had hated. We would not have been there if it wasn't for the flights. So we were blown away by the changes in the city and by how much we liked it there. If it wasn't averaging 42 degrees everyday we would have stayed longer. The temps were unbearable but Delhi has changed so much we even braved some sightseeng to Jamma Masjid (Indias largest mosque) and the Red Fort.

Since our last visit nine years ago, Delhi has converted ALL it's public transport to green gas. Every auto rickshaw, taxi and even the shittiest old rickity buses were converted in one foul swoop. You can't imagine the difference this makes to the air pollution we had experienced previously. It is quite incredible. If India can achieve this with all it's other huge problems then why can't we in the West?

and so, I have written more than I planned but as I write, I relive it and the memories return. We are now enjoying experiencing the delights of a new country, Sri Lanka, which I will no doubt write about in the next blog update.

Until then, lots of love

Will and Raina

Trekking, Elephants and Birthdays

will-n-raina — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:13:00 GMT

Well we have just come to the end of three and a half eventful weeks in Nepal. We have done so much in this short time that it is hard to know where to start.

Firstly, as you may have heard, the elections have been going on during our visits, which has resulted in the Maoist's winning with a landslide victory. We have never been far from the politics, even when in remote villages in the Annapurna's. Very often one of the forty something parties would come rallying through trying to drum up supporters. We did not experience or witness any tension to do with the elections and the Nepalese certainly think it all went very smoothly. To quote "The Himalayan" on the 11th April; '...Despite the deaths of scores of people in poll related violence, the election day itself has been largely peaceful.....' Hate to read what an un-peaceful election has to offer!

The other big event that has taken place during our stay is the advent of the New Year. That's right folks, on April 13th Nepal entered the year 2065. Celebrations were restrained due to a pre-occupation with the elections and a ban on alcohol for the 12th. We saw on the news that there was a procession that took place here, which unfortunately saw 12 people badly injured after a huge ceremonial chariot toppled over and squashed them. People are superstitious here and it is reported that this incident does not bode well for the year 2065. Last time this happened to the chariot was the year of the Royal massacre(!)

All that aside our time here has been amazing. Most of the time we spent trekking in the Annapurna Range, which was just so spectacular, there are no words to decribe it. We flew to Jomsom in a tiny plane and saw below the return trek. It was a 15 minute flight, and it takes 10 days to get back on foot! We had 14 days in all and saw such varied and wonderful things. This is the time of year when the Rhododendron forests are in bloom and it is quite a sight.Pink and red everywhere you look and every corner you turn presents another postcard view that you can't quite believe. Although some days the trek was very strenuous, we were easily distracted by all this natural beauty.

Highlights of the trek were climbing Poon Hill at 4:45am to an amazing sunrise and incredible mountain views. Also the Hot Springs at Jhinu were fantastic. Nothing more wonderful than being able to soak your tired limbs in natural hot water pools by a white water river. Even though the last thing you felt like was decending for 20 minutes to reach it, it was so good we went twice. This was especially worthwhile as sometimes (most of the time) the guaranteed 24 hour hot showers, were not exactly working; "Hot shower working"?

"Yes"

"Yes"?

"Yes, solar power. But not today because no sun"!

You get the picture!

Christine (mum) celebrated her 60th in style and I was pretty amazed that chocolate cake and candles were at hand so far from Kathmandu. In fact the choice of food on the Annapurna Circuit is pretty phenomonal; from Pizza and burgers to soup and apple crumble. Everywhere you go the menu's are the same, it's just the variations on how the food comes out that keeps you guessing! Hilarious, but the best news is, none of us got any tummy upsets along the way. All the guesthouse and restaurants have signs assuring trekkers of there high quality. A favourite of mine was in Tatopani, which stated "See through kitchen for guaranteed hygenic fooding"

Along the route and in fact all over Nepal you pass people carrying amazingly heavy and enormous loads. It is astounding what the Nepalese can haul. For a largely diminutive race of people, this is just everyday work for them and it certainly makes you stop and think how easy we all have it. Carrying stuff is what keeps this country together. Men, woman, children, packhorses, cows and yaks make it possible for people to live in the most remote places.

After returning from our trek, we headed off to Chitwn National Park. Mum, Will and I got friendly witht the elephants and we saw 3 wild rhinos.

Then it was back to Kathmandu for sightseeing before mum headed back home for Australia.

So much more to say, but off to get on a bus to India (17 hours for our sins) Hopefully the photos will sum up the rest for me.

Love to all and you will hear from us soon

xWill it Rain

Gallery: Nepal

will-n-raina — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:30:00 GMT

Kathmandu, Pokhara, Trekking and Chitwan National Park

Gallery: Andaman Islands

will-n-raina — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:24:00 GMT

paradise on earth

Paradise is a place called Number 7

will-n-raina — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:16:00 GMT

I don't really want to rave about one of the most beautiful places on earth, becauase everyone will want to go and it will go and get ruined. But the Andamann's are truly a special place. They are so remote and somewhat difficult to get to that it is totally unspoilt. The sea is teaming with fish of the most brightly coloured varieties I have ever seen, the sand is white, coconut palms line the islands and mangroves still flourish.

I had a fantastic two weeks of diving, eating freshly caught snapper, barracuda and squid...Raina unfortunately only enjoyed half the holiday as she succumbed to Andaman fever, but found recuperating in a two story beach side hut a little easier than it would have been on the mainland.

When she got better she joined me in the diving and is now a proud member of the scuba diving fraternity.

I won't go on, because writing about paradise is really unfair to all those stuck in winter storms back in the UK. But before I sign off, I should mention that on our last day on the island we took part in the Holi celebrations, basically a paint throwing free for all (see photos for evidence). Great fun, but still haven't got the colour out of our skin and hair yet (Raina's is an attractive red and purple).

We're now in Kathmandu preparing for a two week trek around Annapurna, picking up Raina's mum from the airport tomorrow. So, once again we'll be off the radar for the next three weeks as we trek through the Himalaya's. Keep the news coming as it's nice to come back to a few emails after being in technological no mans land.

Flowers and Temples in Tamil Nadu

will-n-raina — Fri, 7 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT

We have just spent the last week and a half in Kerala's neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, which always makes me think of Xanadu and Olivia Newton John on rollerskates every time I say it (if you have not seen that film you are missing out) Anyway, I digress...

We had a complete change of temperature on arrival here. One moment I am standing in a bucket of hot water in Munnar and we are huddling under four blankets to keep warm, the next sweating like pigs on a bus to Madurai. The lower down the mountain the bus got, the hotter the temperature gauge became until the thought of blankets and hot water was about as pleasant as being in a room full of flies and mozzies (....hang on a minute....where's the mozzie net gone?....)

Once we had acclimatised again we were able to enjoy this dusty temple town. The spires of the towers were sadly half covered by bamboo scaffolding as they repaint them every 12 years. This in itself was very interesting to see though, and I am sure would not pass any health and safety tests back home (still, not much in India would!)

Inside the temple complex we were both blown away by not only the carvings but by the everyday workings of the temple. Unlike some we have visited, this complex is used by the masses and visited by up to 10,000 people a day, many of whom are pilgrims. Just watching the rituals, along with all the sounds and smells makes you feel you have stepped into another world and time. We were glad we had employed a guide to explain everything to us, as we would have missed alot of the finer points of the temples. People not only go for religious purposes but also to arrange marriages among other things. He explained the two families of the proposed couple come to the temple along with the details of their son/daughter including job, education, dowry,horoscope and of course mobile number(no stopping progress) On asking what happens if the horoscopes don't match the answer was all can be fixed by a Brahman priest for the right price. Easy peasy Japanesy.

After all the temples we went in search of the flower market which was just incredible. We made some friends and I tried to learn how to make the flower garlands but failed miserably, so just watched in amazement as the people strung and tied tiny flowers into beautiful garlands at amazing speed. It never ceases to amaze us how friendly people are here. Once you leave the tourist enclaves (where all you get is the hard sell and hassle) you end up having broken conversations, being offered chai and having endless combinations of photos with the same people as more and more of there friends and family arrive and see they have missed out on being in the shot!

We also visited the Gandhi museum in Madurai.After this we read in the Lonely Planet that next to this museum was another, the Government museum which apparently houses a collection of sculptures and carvings. It was instantly recognisable as the building with the large T-Rex out the front. Needless to say, we assumed this was the best bit, took a photo and moved on.

From Madurai to Pondicherri was the next stop and quite a contrast. This is a town that was colonised by the French and the influence of this time lives on. The first child we walked past said 'Bonjour' which was the first clue. After that there were street signs, croissants and cows with French accents......all quite surreal really. Of course there was no supressing the Indian side to the city and we passed a hilarious day watching Australia play India in the cricket. It began as just Will and I and a few Indian guys in a cafe for the first 30 overs but as the game went on and it looked like India would win the room slowly got fuller and fuller until by the end I was praying Australia wouldn't make a comeback as I could hardly bare to witness the disappointment on such a scale! India did win and there was much cheering and shaking of my hand. Obviously I put all my good sportsmanship into play and took the defeat gracefully!

The architecture in Pondi was amazing, a mix of colonial French and traditional Tamil styles. I am already planning on somehow getting rich enough to build a house like these one day! As in every Indian beachside town, promenading along the shore in the evening is a must and certainly presents a million photo opportunites. I have put a couple favourites on the blog (the candy floss sellers and the baby in the dolphins mouth!)

I am writing this post from Mamallapuram, just south of Chennai. Yet another temple filled town and the home to many stone masons. Granite sculptures everywhere, mostly of the Hindu God's but as one guy showed us yesterday, he had brought this artform into the 20th century by depicting his Ganesh sculptures with the elephant reclining with a laptop! Tempting.....but no thanks.

and so, our next stop on our adventure is the Andaman Islands. We fly from Chennai tomorrow morning and will spend the next two weeks there before heading to Nepal to meet my Mum. If the Lonely Planet is up to date, then we will be without internet during this time. But I can tell you that I am planning to learn to dive (Amy-we shall truely be twin dolphins now!) and Will is going to get some long awaited dives in too. Apart from that it will be snorkelling and laying about on pristine beaches. Hard work but someone has to do it (call me a cow if you must as here they are sacred!) So, until I post again, love to you all and welcome to Blake Lyons who leapt into the leap year just in time!

xxxxWill and Raina

Gallery: Tamil Nadu

will-n-raina — Thu, 6 Mar 2008 16:58:00 GMT

flowers and temples

Gallery: Kerala

will-n-raina — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:08:00 GMT