Ben & Nicola's Year Out.......take 2.

Our week off - Pralognan en Vanoise

2009-03-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

We went to this tiny ski resort only 40 mins drive from Courchevel, it was lovely and so small we kept seeing the same people skiing about and we managed to ski most of the runs in the day! We finished the day with a nice vin chaud in the sun.

Our week off - Ben's Paraglide from Col de la Loze

2009-03-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

Our Week Off - Lunch at Creux Noir

2009-03-18T07:04:00.001-07:00

Our Week Off - Annecy

2009-03-18T06:59:00.000-07:00

We spent an afternoon in Annecy on Tuesday, just wandering round the old town and the lake. We had a lovely lunch - Ben was very impressed, 3 courses, wine and coffee for 14.50 euros - a bargain in these parts! That would buy you a pint of beer in some of the places in Courchevel.

Our Week Off - Val D'Isere

2009-03-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

It is very rare, but this week (15th -22nd Mar) we have no guests so we have been getting out and about making the most of our free time. On Monday we drove to Val D'Isere and had a great day's skiing there (pics above).

Sunrise in Le Praz - 18th Jan

2009-01-18T06:36:00.001-08:00

More pics! Ben at Mont Vallon & Le Praz village

2009-01-09T06:36:00.001-08:00

23rd Dec - Our day off at La Masse

2008-12-23T09:30:00.001-08:00

Nous sommes arrives en France!

2008-12-10T02:24:00.000-08:00

We arrived in the Alps last Friday to lots of snow and our apartment which had no heating or hot water! Thankfully that didn't last long and we are now nice and cosy in our apartment which is in the same building as the chalet we are working in (in the bottom picture above). We did our first practice meal last nice which went surprising well and I must say it was great ordering Ben about the kitchen - he is my kitchen slave for the next 5 months! It is our day off today (wed) and its snowing so we may go out skiing later this afternoon. We skied with all the other staff yesterday for the first time and had great time, there aren't a lot of runs open yet but the ones that were open were really quiet. It didn't take us long to get back into it, and there was no falls on the first day which is always a bonus.

Mysore

2008-11-13T14:19:00.002-08:00

We got a short train of 7hrs to Mysore which will be our final destination in india before we fly out. Its set on a plateau at 700m up and because of that we got out the train to be greeted by a warm but not hot day. The town seems quite small and is all built round the palace which has been the seat of local power for a few hundred years. we toured round the palace (still inhabited by the royals of Mysore) and were really impressed. Its the first sight we have seem since we were in the North of the country that really made a big impression on us - all very grand and opulent. Mysore is also famous for its markets which we wandered round. The colourful picture above is of the powder used to mark the bindi on women's foreheads.
Our hotel was right next door to an open air cinema which blared out hindi movies at all hours - once we moved rooms to the other side of the hotel it was much better.
A nice meal at the best restaurant in the town capped off the holiday and we are ready to head back to Chennai, catch a few hours sleep and get the plane to Dubai..

Pondicherry

2008-11-02T01:59:00.000-07:00

We took a long train to get here but went by first class and had our own wee compartment with wo beds so it was fairly comfortable. We got the bus down from Chennai to Pondicherry which is a lovely wee place. We are staying in the french quarter and after deciding not to book into the worryingly named "golden shower hotel" we ended up at 200 yr old French colonial house. Its typical of the area and just beautiful. The room is cavernous and filled with antique furniture. There are only 5 rooms and the drawing room and veranda are lovely to sit out on ...only in India could you get all that for 25 pound a night.
We have walked all round this town a few times over, visiting the botanic gardens, some lovely french restaurants and walking along the promenade at night - along with half of Pondicherry. All very relaxing which is good because its on to Chennai next.

Varkala Beach

2008-10-29T02:21:00.000-07:00

After some time in the highlands we felt like a spell at the beach so came to Varkala. Its a lovely beach backed by cliffs with a nice walkway along the top. Its got loads of really good restaurants and we have a fantastic place to stay.
We had three nights here then went to another beach place about 70k down the coast - we only stayed in Kovalam one night as it was such a dump...no beach, rubbish all over the place and real tacky restaurants. Whilst there we found out that many European charter flights go there for holidays...we couldn't understand why and decided to head back here to Varkala where we knew we would enjoy the sun and the beach. We haven't really spent more than a couple of days lazing about on the beach in the past 9 weeks since we got here so we are certainly making the most of it. We are catching a 17hr overnight train tomorrow to Chennai ....we are trying out first class in the hope it makes the journey more comfortable...

Houseboat - Keralan Backwaters

2008-10-23T01:26:00.000-07:00

We took a ferry for 2.5hrs to get to Allepey where most people go on a houseboat cruise round the backwaters. We booked our boat when we got there and looked at three boats before we found one of a decent standard. It has a lovely large sitting area and our own en suite bathroom. There were three crew - two to run the boat and our own chef. The scenery really was lovely and it was so peaceful. We sat there watching the scenery drift past whilst intermittantly imbibing whatever wee snacks the chef periodically produced. We anchored in the middle of a lake at night but in a large storm we ended up dragging our anchor and intentionally arrived at shore with a slight bump of the boat. It was the only thing on the trip that didn't go as planned and we immensely enjoyed the trip on the boat.

Periyav Tiger Reserve - Kerala

2008-10-19T04:52:00.001-07:00

We are staying here for a couple of days and did a boat trip at dawn through the tiger reserve. Needless to say the boat was packed with indians (as most places are here) who can be quite loud so we didn't see any tigers. We did see bison, Sambar and a few elephants all of which roam wild in the park so we were really lucky. One elephant swam right across the river in front of us and then had a bit of a stand off about 10m away. It was really amaxzing as we hadn't expected to see any but in fac there were over a 1000 in this huge reserve.

We visited a spice garden and saw all types of spice being used - cardamom, chilli, pepper, coffee, nutmeg, clove, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass....it was really quite interesting as the guide took us round.

Nicola has been for an auyerdevic massage and we are off tomorrow for the keralan backwaters and a stay on a housboat....should be good.

Oh one other thing - Ben is thanking his lucky stars he wasn't born in this country...the indian family who own our guesthouse have a wedding today...its a very small one with only a thousand guests!

Munnar Hill Station

2008-10-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

We took a couple of connecting buses up to the mountains and this small town called Munnar. Its reason for being is the thousands of acres of tea plantations that surround it on the beautiful mountainsides its perched on. We took a couple of trips round the main sights, waterfalls, viewpoints and of course went to the tea factory and learned about how tea is all made. All round the countryside there were women dotted through the fields of tea picking the leaves...the smell is amazing but not really like tea (until its been processed).
The air is much cooler up here - 22 degrees so we are enjoying a break from the heat. We are staying in a "homestay" with an indian family here. The first night one half (ben's) of the bed was just a wooden table with some blankets on top...it was like sleeping on rock...the next night we managed to upgrade a little. Well worth a visit though even just for the scenery.

Fort Cochin - Kerala

2008-10-15T02:15:00.000-07:00

We managed to wake up at 5am and get off at the right stop (they aren't announced on the trains) and we then got the ferry over to Fort Cochin. The only guesthouse that was open at half six out of the 50 or so that we passed was the one that we wanted to stay in...quite good luck. The owner didn't have a room until about 11am but he gave us a bed in his house to catch up on sleep until we could check in. Very nice of him.

We spent our time here wandering about looking at the various churches and cathedral and also at the chinese fishing nets. Enormous wooden contraptions used to suspend the nets they lower into the water and then raise up full of fish (or not as the case may be).

We have also changed our plans for some of the rest of the trip - Kerry gave us a useful suggestion of getting the engagement ring in Dubai so we cancelled the other flights we had and will now stop there for a few days on the way back. In the meantime we've loads more places to see here so we had better get cracking.

Palolem Goa - Love is in the air ;-)

2008-10-15T02:07:00.000-07:00

Palolem was the original Goan Hippie beach and you can see why they chose this place to stay for months on end. The golden sands and palm trees along the curved beach was just amazing from the moment we arrived. We stayed at Ciarans Camp - a beach hut but with black marble floors, hot water and a lovely veranda over the garden with the beach just beyond.

As you will know we got engaged on the second night here. We went for a walk at sunset along the beach - and you can see it was beautiful - and in a quiet wee corner Ben proposed. He arranged flowers and Chapagne to be waiting in the room as a surprise for when we got back from our walk so its just as well I said yes. We then had a lovely dinner practically on the beach with another bottle of champagne to keep us company.

Panaji and Old Goa

2008-10-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

After getting the train from Mumbai we made it to Panaji. A town on the coast that was under Portugese governance until 1961. The town though looks like it is still under their rule. Its buildings are lovely and there are churches everywhere - a noticeable difference to all the hindu temples elsewhere we have been. We think its due to this fact that there are no cows (or cow pats) on the streets of Panaji.

We took a local bus to Old Goa which was the Portugese base in the 17th century. It was apparently a very prominent and powerful town but all that remains now are the churches (one pictured) and cathedrals dotted about a small area on the banks of a river.

The food here is also very different and we can tell we are in the south. Prawn curries abound and we've had three different types already - all excellent. Its also the first town where beer is on sale very openly so we have certainly been enjoying ourselves. It does cause problems for some though - an Aussie guy was killed by his waiters just up the coast yesterday after complaining of slow service.

Bombay....as the locals call it

2008-10-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

We got in off a train late at night (again) and it took about 20mins to get a taxi. There were loads of them but all the rip off merchants seemed to be congregated around the station. We eventually got a fair for 10% of the first few prices we were quoted.
We set off next morning on a walk round the city. We are staying in an area called Colaba, the backpacker type place and from here we wandered round one amazing building after the next. The whole city seems full of remnants of colonial times. India gate, the Taj hotel, The prince of wales museum, Victoria Terminus...the list goes on and time flew past. We watched some of the many cricket matches taking place on the oval maidens. They seem to play the stuff everywhere, from kids using tennis balls and tyres as stumps to proper official looking matches played in whites.
The city was much hotter on our second day here...the are was so humid it felt like breathing water and although the smog was overhead the sun was as fierce as its been on the whole trip. We visited the Dhobi Ghats (pictured), where most of Mumbai's washing is done. The men literally beat the clothes against a large stone over and over...clothes don't last too many washes over here but they certainly get cleaned thoroughly!
We took taxis to the hanging gardens and round Chowpatty beach and walked again for hours. The taxi's are battered old fiats. We reckon that about 80% of the cars here are Taxis...they are just everywhere. Its a lovely city and its the first place in India that feels like what we would call a city...Its definitely much more Westernised here than any other metropolis.

Udaipur

2008-10-01T02:48:00.001-07:00

The train to Udaipur was 3hrs late which got us in about 12.45am. We found a cheap and not so cheery place which opened their shutters and let us in for the night and in the morning we went to the place we wanted to stay at. Its lovely here, as is the whole town although it doesn't quite justify its tag as the Venice of the East. There is very little rubbish here and its a quiet town. The lake is stunning and we splashed out to get a couple of drinks on the terrace of the city palace to watch the sun go down over the lake and the lake palace (of Octopussy fame). Nicola had her first glass of wine in over a month here - they had Jacobs Creek Chardonnay which seemed to go down well. Thats the funny thing with alcohol here - it doesn't appear on any menus. Instead the waiter will sneak up behind you and offer, in a hushed tone, "a lager beer". Bottles usually get brought to your table wrapped in a cloth or in some cases the beer is poured into a tea pot to keep it hidden.

I got a hair cut today...the first one since we left 78 days ago. I say a haircut but actually this involved an hour and a half of sitting in the chair. I got a head massage, a haircut, a face massage, a shave, arm massages and a back massage (all using oil) at the end of it all the old barber took a handful of detol and rubbed it all round my freshly shaved face. This hour and a half (during which elephants were trooping past the window) set me back one pound twenty (we gave the guy double what he asked for) and was certainly an experience. We have really enjoyed it here and splashing out on top accommodation and other stuff has definately recharged us a bit...We're off to get another bottle of wine now....

India - Pushkar

2008-10-01T02:15:00.000-07:00

Someone on the bus out of Pushkar asked us why we had come to visit and the fact that neither of us could answer him probably tells the story - there isn't much here.
We arrived into a bit of typical indian town, lots of coughing, spitting and rubbish but the difference here was the smell...there were dead fish all over the lake in the centre of the town.
There is a festival to Ganesh (the elephant god of good fortune) each year. Locals carry mini metal statues of the god through the streets before laying them into the water of a holy river or lake. In Pushkar, just 3 days before we arrived they immersed thousands of statues into the lake and by a cruel twist of irony managed to kill 10,000 of the holy carp that lived there. God of good fortune my ass. You can imagine the smell of 10,000 large fish baking in 35 degree heat for 3 days! Luckily we managed to get out before the flies and the stench got too much.

Jodhpur

2008-09-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

This is the town where those baggy riding pants were invented and that seems to be its second biggest draw. The first being its majestic hilltop fort - Meharangath. We walked uphill for 20mins to get to the entrance and the walls towered about 30m above us. The view all round is fantastic and we paused regularly from our audioguide tour to take in the scenery below. The Maharajas still own and run the fort and you can see what a place it must have been. The palace is carved out in amazing intricate detail from the stone and the whole thing overlooks what would have been their capital. The houses below ar mostly painted blue and the desert stretching beyond completes the amazing picture.
In the afternoon we stood for half an hour in a "queue" to buy some train tickets. An indian Queue is like no other - everyone pushes to the front and its everyman for himself. One of the few concesions that women get in this country is that they don't need to queue so Nicola took our little reservation form to the desk. You have to complete forms for everything here. Checking into a hotel involves a barage of questions and many details need to be filled out in duplicate which can take up to 15mins of writing. The police keep records of every guest staying in every hotel for some reason. Anyway we got the tickets for a later train journey. Travel by train is really something in India. We have been travelling mostly in 2AC which is a sleeper train with one bed above another. The beds are set up along both walls of an open compartment and along the facing corridoor wall as well. Its fairly comfortable and an absolute luxury compared to the sleeper class most Indians use. People fight for seats in there, they sit on luggage racks, backs of seats, the roof of the train and hang on precariously out the doorways. There is such a crush for seats that people often get killed in the crush...we got caught on the edge of one a week ago and it wasn't too pleasent. Anyway one thing we have to put up with in 2AC is the view. As the train ambles through stations you are often faced with a wall of arses..people live by the side of tracks and in the early morning and evening they come out to go through their daily ablutions. It can be very graphic and its certainly safer to pull the blind down when you're eating. Again there are people regularly killed mid act...obviously facing the wrong way. Anyway apart from that the trains are quite something - moving over 14 million people every day (most of whome seem to be on whatever train we need to take).
Anyway Jodhpur was nice and now its on to anotehr new place...

Jaislamer

2008-09-25T00:27:00.000-07:00

This is a hot dry and dusty town on in the Thar desert. It really is roasting here and we stepped off the train (from our 12hr overnight journey) into what felt like an oven. Once we had checked in it was out to wander round the old town. There is an ancient fort built on a hilltop which has 99 bastions. Its a large fort and is still lived in by many folk including the maharaja. The town is not like other parts of India...its quiet and laid back. There are stalls and shops everywhere but the lack of traffic makes for a more relaxing visit. You can do camel safaris from here but after our trip to morocco a few years ago we both swore we wouldn't get on a camel ever again...its very much overraterd! Walking at night here is strange, there are hardly any lights and those that they do have just cast weak pools of light. That makes it dificult to avoid the hundreds of cows roaming about and even harder top avoid all the cow pats. So far we've been lucky but as you can imagine - the thought of standing in a cow pat whilst wearing sandals is not an appealing one.

We have been down to the lake which has existed for hundreds of years. The desert here gets an average of 5cm rain a year which makes a large pool of water all the more impressive. We also had a tour round the maharajas palace which is very grand. The palace along with the rest of the fort is sliding away down the hill because of all the water they use in the fort. It wasn't built to handle much water and as is typical in India they haven't renewed any of the services so the old pipes just struggle on.

Everywhere in India they seem to be renovating some tourist attraction or other. At each of these scaffold clad sites there is a sign saying "we are sorry for the inconvenience or the building work. Next time you return we will be sure to give you an unforgettable experience". Its definately been worth the journey out although I don't think we will return to review the place when building stops.....

Jaipur

2008-09-24T04:48:00.000-07:00

Our train was a couple of hours delayed and so we arrived into Jaipur just after midnight. After fighting our way through the scrum of touts and drivers we managed to negotiate a decent price and went to a nearby hotel which thankfully had one room left. It turned out to be a beauty of a place and is easily the best we have stayed at in India. We went into Jaipur and saw many of the sites - the Maharaja's Palace, the cenotaph where the royals are buried outside the city and the water palace (pictured). A really interesting one was an observatory built a couple of hundred years ago. It was filled with massive marble constructions which included the 27m high sundial which is accurate to a degree of 2 seconds (sunny days only). There were plenty others as well and despite our guide explaining everything I'm still not sure we grasped it all.
Hawa Mahal is the palace of the winds and is fairly famous locally. Its a building with some 360 tiny windows all carved out of the rock. Princesses used to watch life go by from there without having to be seen themselves.
The final thing we packed in here was a visit to the Amber Fort nearby which is again very impressive. On returning from that we decided to follow a walking route round the city. It was pegged at roughly 1hr but we thought that was fine - there was an air con cafe listed near the end which we could rest up in. Well, 2 and a half hours later we trudged wearily past where the coffee shop should have been. We were knackered and hot and still had another 8hrs to kill before our overnight train to Jaislamer which leaves at midnight (hopefully).

Agra

2008-09-24T04:29:00.000-07:00

We arrived at about half eight in the morning and luckly manage to get a room in an area immediately to the south of the Taj. he hotels here all have roof top restaurants with great views of the Taj. Unfortunately though the area is a bit of a dive. We didn't let that deter us and booked into a room with a bizaare air con contraption. It was a box about 5ft hight and 3ft wide filled with a kind of grass or moss. The room was fine actually and we didn't need it. We had two days here and as the Taj is shut on a Friday we went to see Agra fort which is a really nice building. all the forts in india are really well preserved and you get the feeling they are still in use. Half way round here the heavens opened and we were drenched. We did have a cycle rickshaw man waiting for us outside and both felt very guilty as we sat under his canopy while he peddaled away in the torrential rain..he seemed delighted with the 50p tip (which lso appeased our sense of guilt.

The second day we visited the Taj. Its simply amazing and we spent hours there gawping up at the building from every different angle. It somehow carries an aura and provides a peaceful feeling and we really can't describe it - fantastic.

That evening we had a diner on a family run restaurant overlooking the Taj. We had a passable enough meal served by a waiter who was at least 103 years old. We were asked to pay the owner downstairs and he directed us to take a seat, went through our bill and we exchanged money. Then, without a word of a lie, he offered us a very good discount on some quality toilet roll. Now in India under normal circumstances this kind offer would be readily accepted but when your restaurant owner offers you a post meal bog roll you really do start to worry. We both wondered if this was standard practice or whether he had simply run out of mints.

Needless to say any fears we had were allayed over time.

india - Amritsar

2008-09-19T03:13:00.000-07:00

Amritsar is in punjab right up in the northwest of India within a few kilometers of the border with Pakistan. We arrived off a bus and took a rickshaw into town where we knew there were a few hotels. One of the funny things about India are the descriptive (or perhaps misleading) the trading names establishments adopt - Lucky Hotel, Hotel Decent, Good Times hotel and so on... Amritsar was no different and one of the hotels we considered was the utterly misleadingly named "Hotel Deluxe". The rates quoted were reasonable but when we viewed the room it was a little dingy due to the fact it had no window. Deciding to give the proprietor a second chance (and not relishing lugging our packs about in the heat) we asked if he had any better rooms, with windows. He proudly informed us that none of the rooms in his hotel possessed something so common as a window and even seemed a little mystified when we took the news of the world line.... made our excuses and left.

Anyway once we successfully procured ourselves a room we set out to the Golden Temple, the most holy of sites in Sikhdom. It really is something to behold and the place is very peaceful and welcoming...you don't get that feeling of trespassing you do when visiting some holy places. The temple itself is reckoned to be covered with 750kg of gold. There are free rooms here for anyone that wants them and there is also a kitchen open to everyone. Volunteers serve meals of dhal, roti and rice to all comers 24hrs a day right throughout the year. There certainly is a lot of washing up but we managed to slip through the net and avoid being pressed into service.

The other reason people (including ourselves) visit Amritsar is to view the closing of the border ceremony that takes place each night in front of a crowd which is thousands strong. The soldiers on each side (all selected for their height of over 8ft- or so it seemed) prance about with much pomp and ceremony. They goosestep right up to their counter parts kicking so high their feet touch their hats, shake hands and then slam the gates shut. Meanwhile the crowd of indians is whipped into nothing short of a frenzy by the cheerleader and the hindi music... They dance shout wave and chant for 25mins before the flags are lowered and everyone heads off home no doubt only to return the following evening. It was all very captivating and not a little amusing....we watched the guards "warming up" behind their hut. This involved star jumps and dancing to the hindi music and despite their imposing stature we found it impossible to take them seriously after seeing the prancing warm up....I don't think GMA should even consider adopting such a routine!

India - Dharamsala

2008-09-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

This is the official abode of the Dalai Lama and the place is appropriately laid back. Saying that we haven't actually seen the guy wandering the streets. There are however loads of Tibetans seeking asylum from the Chinese...many of them walked over the himalayas to get to India. The museum where we learned this was fairly graphic and during the trip of about 22 days almost everyone loses fingers or toes to the frostbite.

Anyway back to the good stuff...the place was very very relaxing and the locals are almost permanently horizontal at their work. The attached picture shows two, yes 2, men operating one shovel (and you thought the Scottish councils were bad!). One of these workshy chaps seems to halfheartedly move the shovel while the other pulls on a rope in roughly the same direction. I guess efficiency is not the main thing on the agenda in a country where one billion people need to work.

The other picture is of an auto rickshaw absolutely packed with people... I am not even sure how its tiny engine actually managed to move it at all.

Nicola had the unfortunate luck to find a large lump of human tooth in her muesli one morning here. Even more unfortunately it turned out to be her own and she then had to brave the dentist. We shopped around and elected not to go with the chap who was plying his trade whilst sat on the pavement but rather found someone who actually had his own premises and more than two pieces of equipment. All turned out well in the end and hopefully things will stay that way. At least, on the bright side, we had some excitement in sleepy Dharamsala.

India - Shimla

2008-09-12T04:35:00.000-07:00

We caught the early morning express train from Delhi...Its a very civilised affair that includes two waiters per carriage...they served breakfast and then morning tea during the journey...it all comes with the ticket. We had to change trains for a narrow gauge train for the journey up into the foothills of the himalayas. The 100k journey took just over 5hrs on the smallest train you have ever seen (the locals aptly refer to it as the toy train). It was an unbelievably scenic journey crossing bridges, ravines and ridges.
Shimla is much cooler than Delhi...its a chilly 20 degrees C here and its obviously the reason its so popular with the hoardes of wealthy Indians who come here for Holidays. We Found a suitable hotel early enough. 8 pounds a night buys you a room with a 30yr old carpet, plastic chairs on your balcony, mirrors on the ceiling above the bed and a cover with a massive tigers head printed on it....and that was the best room we looked at! Its comfy enough and we have an amazing view down one of the valleys.
We have visited the old Viceroyal Lodge (in the picture above) which was the seat of the indian government over the summer months. The tour round it took in the room where the partition with Pakistan and Bangladesh was signed in 1947ish...Anyway it was such an opulent place with teak and mahogany everywhere. We had to wait a while after the tour finished whilst a group of about 20 indians took their photos with us.
We have also been for a walk which took us through some pretty nice wee "glens" as they are referred to here...
Anyway we have really enjoyed things here and have even managed to plan out most of our trip...The indians produce a phonebook size book called "trains at a glance" which is the timetable for the whole of the indian railways. I hate to admit it but we have both spent a few hours enjoying the read through this....anoraks or what!
We will be getting the bus to Dharamsala and Mcleod Ganj tomorrow...a quick 10hr hop through the mountains....

India - Delhi

2008-09-08T03:59:00.000-07:00

The flight over from Turkey was fine although we landed at 3am so not the best timing. We changed some money and got a Taxi to Paharganj (for those of you who havent been it ca be summed up by the famous star wars line "Never before have you seen such a hive of scum and villany". Anyway as we passed the sleeping people and cows along the side of the dirt road we were glad to see our hotel. Relief was short lived as they had no recor of our booking and no rooms available other than one which seemed to be themed on prisoner cell block H. We stood at the reception desk while the staff fussed about and as Nicola was reading a notice about the "luxury tax" at the hotel a mouse ran past her on the reception counter....needless to say I was sent out to find some alternative. The street was not lit and all the hotels lock up at 12 so I had to wake the staff up by banging on the doors to check availability. A couple of hotels later I found a place and after a good bit of haggling we took a room. The place is nice although a little whacky (its got a fishtank set in the wall and another wall is completely lined with mirrors. Anyway we certainly know we are in Delhi and we have really enjoyed it. All this stuff is just part of the fun. We have booked train tickets to Shimla and seen a few of Delhi's sights such as Jama Masjid - a massive mosque that can hold 25000 people and the Red Fort. We also managed to post some stuff we don't need back home. The process is quite funny in that a tailor who works in the post office sews up your package in cloth for a small fee. We opted for air mail after being told that sea mail wouldn't arrive until "next year".

Turkey - Istanbul

2008-09-05T03:12:00.000-07:00

After arrıvıng ın a bus statıon bıgger than most aırports we have been to ıt was great to crash out ın the hotel for 30mıns after the overnıght bus. The hotel ıs rıght ın Sultanamet and about 10mıns walk to the blue mosque, Aya Sofıa and Topkapı Palace where all the sultans stayed. We have been ın each of those and are stıll debatıng whıch ıs the most ımpressıve (that may contınue for some tıme). We have taken a ferry up the bosphorus whıch ıs always teemıng wıth boats of all sızes and as such I have reconsıdered my plan to swım from europe to asıa. (Its probably just as well gıven the current that washes through from the north - I would have probably ended up back ın greece.
The cıty really does seem to epıtomıse the word cosmopolıtan and just seems busy all the tıme. We are lucky enough to be here durıng Ramadan whıch means at nıghts the park between the two mosques ıs teemıng wıth stalls and people. Everyone seems to come out to celebrate the sun goıng down and every nıght we get caught up ın the atmosphere - sıttıng ın the park and eatıng far too much. They sell everythıng from Kebaps, baked tattıes, candy floss, toffee apples, massıve cakes.....the lıst goes on and those are just the starters!
Anyway we have had a real great tıme here and head off to Indıa on the 6th Sept....lookıng forward to that and startıng to plan out what we wıll do from there on ın....

Turkey - Cappadocıa

2008-09-03T04:39:00.000-07:00

You know you have been travellıng for too long when you leave the hotel and ıt takes a hundred yards before you realıse you left your shoes ın the room...thats what happened to me ın Goreme so maybe prevıous assessments of my mental prowess (or lack of) have been correct afte all - or maybe we are just relaxıng loads.
We stayed ın Goreme ın Cappadocıa. The regıon ıs covered ın weırd and wonderful rock formatıons. They are all over the place and come ın all types of shapes and sızes..I wıll try to add a few photos... Some of the cone shaped rocks were lıved ın and an even greater number (ıt seems) were used as churches. We vısıted Zelve - a large town carved ınto the rock whıch was ınhabıted untıl 1952. It seems amazıng but the houses dıdnt really change over the 2000 years sınce they were fırst used. We hıred bıkes on day and the 3hr cycle took us to the valley of the faıry chımneys. About 10mıns ınto the cycle we puzzled over why there were no other cyclısts...by the tıme we got back to the hotel we knew why...my backsıde ıs stıll kıllıng me and ıt was three days ago!
One mornıng at sunrıse we took a hot aır baloon whıch would have been magıc ın normal cırcumstancs but over thıs terraın ıt was sımply awesome.
We have an overnıght bus to Istanbul - ıt takes 11hrs whıch gıves some ıdea just how bıg Turkey ıs...lookıng forward to the next destınatıon and a busy cıty after a long tıme ın one street towns...

Turkey - Olympos

2008-08-26T05:38:00.001-07:00

We got dropped off by the bus on the maın road about 10k from Olympos and waıted a whıle for a smaller mınıbus to take us the last part of the way. It seems to be the way they do thıngs here and ıt actually works ok.
Olympos ıs a dusty road surrounded by 'treehouse camps'. As you could ımagıne ıts very very laıd back and tıme seems to pass at a dıfferent pace here...There are some fantastıc ruıns through the jungle and on the sıdes of the mountaıns that thıs place ıs buılt round. The beach ıs really ımpressıve and remınds us of Thaıland wıth the bıg clıffs one sıde and the azure sea on the other...really nıce.
The best bıt though has to be the absence of mosquıtos. We cant understand why there are none her bt ıts a blessıng thats for sure. The holes ın the sıde of our bungalow are bıg enough for eagles to fly through never mınd small bıtıng ınsects!
We vısıted the flames of Chımeara the other nıght. Its a short walk up mount olympos to see these natural flames. They have burned for thousands of years and no one knows exactly what the gas consısts of. Seeıng them spoutıng from the mountaın you can defınately see why legends of fıre breathıng monsters came from.

Turkey - Kas

2008-08-25T02:47:00.001-07:00

Turkey has been gettıng better and better as we go whıch ıs a pleasent surprıse as we dıdn,t know much about ıt. Kas ıs a lovely wee town - pıcturesquely sat on the mountaınsıde around a small harbour.
The fırst day we spent wanderıng around the shops and coffee stalls and readıng a lot. We then had a day kayakıng - we went to the sunke cıty of Kekova whıch was plunged under the water ın roman ımes by an earthquake. Because the water ıs so clear you can stıll see many of the buıldıngs and roads. We got a double kayak and paddled away quıte happıly. Ben was sat at the back and everytıme I looked round he wasnt even paddlıng but kept ınsıstıng he had only that second stopped...a lıkely story.
We then spent a day at a lovely beach just up the coast from Kas. In the evenıng we met up wıth Nıcky and Brandon (two south afrıcans who had been on the cruıse wıth us) and another couple for drınks and rather a late nıght. It was a good end to our stay ın Kas and we are now headıng for Olympos...a treehouse backpacker type town.

Pattara

2008-08-20T03:03:00.000-07:00

The bus doesnt go to Pattara but rather drops you at the junctıon 4k from the town. Luckıly we managed to catch a small mınıbus type truck ınto the vıllage (populatıon 59) whıch ıs descrıbed ın our guıdebook as beıng vısıted by 'eccentrıc turks and europeans'. I would rather just say we are ınquısıtıve.
The place was really nıce and has some really ımpressıve ruıns and a beach stretchıng to 20k. You need shoes to get down to the water as the sand ıs unbelıevably hot...really burnıng but maybe thats a help for ıncubatıng all the turtle eggs that are laıd ın the many nests here.
Nıcolas Frıend Kırsty and her partner Jonathan came down from theır holıday up the coast and we spent a nıce day ın the sun catchıng up.
Not havıng much ınfo on Pattara we dıdnt realıse there ıs no bank here so ıt gave me an objectıve for a wee run...get to the next town up the coast and fınd a cashlıne. I managed to fınd one and get back before Nıcola asked whether today was sunny or not - a bıt of a joke questıon as we have hardly seen a cloud sınce we left Venıce over 4wks ago...

Marmarıs and Fethıye

2008-08-20T02:53:00.000-07:00

We got the ferry to Marmarıs from Rhodes and the weather ımmedıately seemed to get hotter. Dıgıtal sıgns everywhere are tellıng us ıts 44 degrees C and ıs only about half ten ın the mornıng...not much fun when you have a couple of Ks to walk wıth the backpacks.
Its not as bad a place as we had ımagıned but we are a lıttle dısappoınted to hear we cant saıl from here to Fethıye as we had planned. We catch the bus down the coast after one nıght and arrıve ın Fethıye.
Its a bıt smaller and more relaxed sort of places and ıs full of the Gülets that we want to do a cruıse on. We are lucky enough to fınd one wıth a spare cabın and set off for 4 day 'blue cruıse' as they are called.
The boat ıs about 100ft long and there are 14 other guests. Its a good mıx of folk and we all get on really well. The food ıs great and we each have our own spacıous cabıns whıch actually dont get used. They heat up lıke saunas and so we all sleep on deck under the stars. whıch ıs really nıce. On one of the nıghts the moon had a partıal eclıpse. It went from beıng a full moon to a tıny crescent and then back agaın ın the space of a few hours and we got a great vıew beıng so far away from any lıghts. We snorkelled, fıshed, swam and sunbathed on the deck as we went between all the ıslands and beaches.
One of the stops was at a town called Oludenuz. THey have held the world aır games there and we both dıd a tandem paraglıde from the top of the 2000m mountaın. It was really awesome and we have some nıce photos (most of whıch ınclude my knees and feet). As ıt turns out the truck rıde up the dırt road was the scarıest bıt. On the way down I asked my pılot hopw many flıghts he had done - 6200 was the ımpressıve answer. Once we landed Nıcola told me her pılot had admıtted to only havıng done 30 'jumps' so I decıded to keep my ınformatıon quıet for now...Lol.

Rhodes

2008-08-12T04:08:00.001-07:00

We stayed ın the old town of rhodes and ıt ıs, ın part, lıke steppıng back ın tıme. THe small cobbled streets and old buıldıngs leanıng over each other and us as we walk along. The castle was nıce as were the walls. We walked past the sıte where the collosus had stood but there ısnt really much there now.
There ıs a defınate package holıday feel here that we havent really had elsewhere and that kınd of takes the shıne off thıs town. Gıven that we decıded, over a couple of nıce frappes ın the sun, to head to turkey.
We are gettıng the boat to Marmarıs tomorrow and from there we wıll head east along the southern coast. Dont really want to lınger too long ın the more tourısty areas.

Amorgos

2008-08-11T05:00:00.001-07:00

We arrived into Amorgos and quickly realised that not having a map of the place would not hinder us at all. The town is tiny and we could see the guesthouse we ended up staying at from the pier. We lucked out yet again with the room which had great views over the bay and a loverly wee balcony.

We spent the first day wandering about and lazing on one of the wee beaches nearby. THe second day we were on the motorbike again and heading round the island. Its like mote carol with all the winding roads across this small place. You're always either going up or down...never along the flat.

We stopped at a couple of beaches and a few small towns as well as going to see the monastery they have built high into a cliff face. All really interesting and we definately enjoyed the change of pace on this small island.

Santorini

2008-08-11T04:51:00.000-07:00

We had a nice trip down to Santorini on a proper ferry, we could sit out on the deck in the sun and watch the sailing boats and islands drift by. It definately felt like a good way to travel and we got the benefits of it as we arrived into Santorini. THe cliffs that towered above us were really amazing and when we eventually found somewhere to stay we were rally pleased.

THe Cori Rigas apartments had a view right out over the "crater" which is now filled with water. We had our own terrace looking out over it and spent loads of time just looking out at the wonderful views. The cruise ships would moor in the bay below and you could actually while away quite a bit of time just watching all the wee pilot boats shuttling back and forth. The breakfasts at the place were awesome. The owner seemed to want to fatten us both up and there was no way we could eat everything he offered us.

We also hired a motorbike and went round loads of the island. Managed to find a wee stretch of beach all to ourselves which was just minutes walk from Red Beach where the people were crammed in like sardines..

We'd definately come back to Santorini.

Paros

2008-08-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

Given we have only been away for just over two weeks you would imagine we would still have a grasp of the days of the week. Apparently not as we found out today. When we got to Pireaus port in Atens we were told that all ferries were full…we couldn’t figure out why these massive ferries were so full but today realized that of course it was Friday so half of Athens seemed to Share our boat out.
We were met at the pier by the usual gaggle of hotel touts foremost amongst which was Jimmy. We agreed to have a look and went off with what we had presumed was “Jimmy’s” great great great grandfather but who in fact turned out to be the driver.
The apartments were great and we definately got lucky with them. We walked round the old town, spent a couple of days on the beach and a day touring round the old villages on a scooter. It was all great fun...once nicola got over her fear ;-)

Peleponese

2008-08-03T06:37:00.003-07:00

We caught a metro and a bus to get to the bus station to get to Corinth…It was all a bit like eating a spider to catch a fly and eating a…..Anyway we made it to Corinth and saw the sights there. Not a great deal left but was certainly worth the trip. The flowing day we headed to Nafplio and from there visited nearby Mycenae which was really impressive. Having seen the sights we chilled out for the rest of that day and the next in Nafplio. It’s a really lovely wee town on a headland with a clifftop fort above it. We spent time eating ice creams and watching all the mega yachts coming alongside at the harbour.
The change of pace let us plan out the next step of the trip and we caught the bus the next day for Athens and on to the Cyclades islands.

Athens

2008-08-03T06:37:00.001-07:00

We caught a train to Rome and because we have been before we didn’t stop but we had a couple of hours to spare so we took in the colleseum and the trevi fountain again….both were predictably impressive and busy (of course). Anyway we eventually got our flight to Athens and arrived late. By the time we located the hotel it was almost one so we crashed out waiting to see what the morning would bring.
Breakfast on the roof terrace with a view of the acropolis was fantastic, we later returned and had a bottle of wine whilst watching the sun go down but before all that we had some sightseeing to do.
The acropolis didn’t at first have the awe inspiring impact I thought it would but as te day wore on and it was still visable seemingly wherever we went I realized how lucky we had been to see it before the hoards of cruise ship passengers that descend on it later each morning.
The roman Agora and the temple of Zeus also impressed and generally Athens felt like a really nice city….certainly exceeding our (perhaps misguided) expectations.

Amalfi Coast

2008-08-03T06:36:00.001-07:00

Yes, we really did manage to get round tem all in one day…we got the train to Sorrento and wandered its streets. I have to say that as a resort type of town its really nice, not commercialized and there wer’nt too many of those English breakfasts on offer ;-)
Its situated right on a cliff overlooking the bay of Naples and a myriad of tiny boats ploughing back and forth.
From there we caught a bus to positano (pictured). In doing so we unwittingly made the common (I suppose) mistake of sitting on the cliff side of the bus. As the driver spoke on his mobile and took Cliffside hairpins and F1 speeds we didn’t really have a chance to take in the amalfi coast. We spent some time wandering the many steps of positano and sunbathed for a while on the baking hot black sand before the bus to Amalfi.
Amalfi didn’t have the same aesthetic impact as positano but it seemed nice enough. Maybe it was the long day but we seemed to have thought more about the places we went early in the day…

Pompei

2008-08-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

Pompeii was really amazing. It feels like the whole place is in tact and you can almost picture the people walking around 2000 years ago. Its a huge site and we literally walked round it for the whole day, never even getting tired. THe detail is incredible and we saw everything from houses, bakeries, shops, amphitheatre,s sports grounds, theatres....the list goes on. The body casts were pretty gruesome and their expressions gave you an idea of what it must have been like. Over everything loomed vesuvius as a reminder. We didn't expect there to be half as much there and so were really surprised. It wasn't even too busy which was a great thing after florence. We save some murials as well as wall paintings and frescos, all were remarkably in tact as were the roads and pavements....It really was incredible

Pisa

2008-08-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

We caught the early train from Florence to Pisa. We hadn’t even reached the Duomo square when we saw the expected yet bizarre sight of the leaning tower. The cathedral which shares the square was impressive but to be honest its very much a side act to its more famous nieghbor.
We walked right round the tower and despite best estimates gauging its safety for something near to another 300yrs I couldn’t help but have a tinge of apprehension as we walked "under" the tower. Needless to say we survived this mild ordeal. All that remained was to leave without succoming to the urge for one of those holding up the tower photos….we just about managed and the opposite is the best we could manage in the glare of the sun.
Pisa was well worth a look but I wouldn’t want to be spending too much time here….or maybe anywhere would seem bland after the sights and scenes of Florence…

Florence 22 July 08

2008-07-23T08:33:00.000-07:00

We have had the last couple of days in florence and its yet another cracking place.
Weve been over the Ponte Vecchio (a few times - all without having to purchase any jewellery), the uffuzi gallery and seen Michaelangelos David. They are all well worth seeing but the highlight has to be the food.

Its been the best so far and I would kill for some of the dishes we have had the last couple of days. Today we took a bus out to the countryside for a couple of walks in the hills. THe view down over florence was stunning and we hardly say another soul. We had taken some Chianti, proscuitto, cheese, bread and fruit and had a great wee picnic on the way.

Tomorrow we are heading to Pisa and then it will be south from there. We are starting to get used to the warmth now and will quite happily go for a few more weeks without the rain!

Nicola came up with some stats last night...these will probably tell you why we are so well suited...for the spell of travelling before December we are 6% through the trip but have used 15% of the budget. No doubt we will be addressing that imbalance in the coming days...Lol

Venice

2008-07-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

Getting off the train in venice is like stepping into a postcard....or a james bond film depending on your point of view. I prefer the james bond angle myself and managed to locate the hotel first time through the maze of wee roads.
Its weird having no cars or bikes around but definately something quite relaxing about it all. We went down to St Marks Square and had the first of several ice creams in Venice. Sitting on the front next to all the gondolas in the sunshine was really nice. It doesnt quite feel real that weve actually managed to make it away.
The list of churches and fantastic buildings here is longer than both my arms (and they almost trail along the ground as you know!). Everywhere you look there is something to photograph and we actually found ourselves taking the scenery for granted. The city reminds Nicola of a theme park in Florida...it really is a kind of perfect place....unless that is you stay in the hotel we did. It came rated as a lofty one star but we reckon that was rounded up...Lol.
It did the trick and saved us a few pounds but we wouldnt go back to the place. That said the location of it was amazing. On the saturday night the Piazza San Margherita had to be the busiest place in the whole city....we bought 2litres of wine from a wee shop. The guy was selling it on the QT as he brewed it himself and you had to bring your own bottle to get filled up from his selection of massive casks...it was really decent stuff and for 2eur a litre we both had something to be pleased about...

A boat trip on the canals and a few romantic walks at night rounded up what we did and saw here. Its been imense but there is plenty more to look forward to....its off to Florence next....

Lake Como

2008-07-21T07:39:00.001-07:00

We got up early....yes "travellers" can rise before lunch....and caught the train up to Lake Como. Arriving there it was absolutly stunning. There had been Rain in Milan but the sun was splitting the sky in Como.
Its such a lovely little town full of small piazzas little cafes and everything you would expect to see in Italy. There are loads of boat trips around the lake and we took one towards a town called Tremezzo. The boats are all really ferries which connect the towns but we walked between a few oursleves.
The scenery is amazing and some of the houses here are stunning...One was even in the new star wars film where Anakin married whats her face... Anyway the weather and scenery was amazing. We had dinner by the lake before we headed home to Milan which is only half an hour on the train...

Milan

2008-07-21T07:32:00.001-07:00

Well for the shopper Milan has a lot to offer...needless to say I was not entirely at home here. Everyone goes about in sunglasses even when it wasnt sunny...I was starting to wonder if they were all hangover but then these Italians seem far too healthy to indulge to that sort of excess. Everyone here looks in shape and its kind of disconcerting...they werent so much checking your passport at the airport as checking that you would fit in...anyway enough of that.

The city is really quite nice, not as run down and depressing as our guide book had hinted. The Doumo was magnificent and my only complaint with it is that we couldnàt get far enough back to get it all in one photo... I will add what we managed to take later on when I have the camera....

La Scala was quite cool to see...thesimilarly named Inverness cinema isnt a patch on the real mccoy....probably just as well.