Diary of a girl addicted to travel!

Walking in New Zealand

2011-12-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

As a child we holidayed all over England, Wales and a bit in Scotland. I vividly remember protesting and refusing to walk whenever my parents suggested it. It's amazing how life changes and your adult outlook is so different to your child outlook. I suppose not that amazing really, but it does amaze me!!

I now LOVE to walk, trek, hike, tramp, whatever you want to call it, I really enjoy it. There is a real sense of achievement when you have walked a certain number of miles, climbed a mountain or stumbled across something unexpected in a wild and remote place of the world.

Walking in New Zealand is like that. I picked 3 walks that I wanted to do this time and the first was the Tongariro Alpine Crossing on the North Island. It's famous for being the location for a lot of the Lord of the Rings filming and my last attempt to do the track was scuppered by bad weather. This time I was blessed with a gloriously clear day. It's a 19.3km tramp across active volcanic crates. The landscape is rugged, baron and extremely harsh. Although the sky was free of rain clouds, the wind was relentless in it's attack on us as we climbed the side of the volcanoes. At one point my bag nearly took a dive over the edge of the cliff. Don't worry, I wasn't planning on following it! Being the adventurous kind of girl that I am I decided to do an extra 3km return walk to the summit of Mount Tongariro. It was a bit hazardous through snow and remnants of volcanic ash which slipped everytime you took a step but the rewards at the top were worth it. After an initial cloudy summit, the clouds parted and we were treated to unsurpassed views across all the three volcanoes in the park, the blue lake, the emerald pools and down to the plains below - pretty special it has to be said. 10 minutes was all that could be spent at the top without your fingers turning blue. I had 5 layers of clothing on as well as a hat, ear covers and gloves! The wind was worth bearing though and I was elated when we reached the end of the trail 7 hours after we started.

Second on the walking agenda was the Queen Charlotte Track. This is a mulit day walk on the north of the South Island in the area known as Marlborough. Again the weather was good to us generally and we only had one afternoon of whipping wind and sideways rain. This was on day 2 when we happened to walk past a part of the track that was a sheer drop off the cliff. Needless to say that we all stayed extremely close to the opposite side of the track at that moment! The walk followed the Queen Charlotte Sound from Ship Cove on the outer sounds to Anakiwa right on the inner sounds. It was a breathtakingly beautiful walk of about 75km with stunning views of sweeping bays with turquoise water lapping the shore. The dappled sunlight peeped through the majestic beech forests and made the rain drops glisten on the end of the leaves. It was light walking through and enchanted forest. I had decided to splash out and do the walk guided and what a good decision that turned out to be!! We stayed in 5 star lodges along the way and dined on fresh seafood, heavenly deserts and really scrummy lunches everyday. It was not a walk to loose weight on!! I was brave enough to take a dip at the end of the second day and I would describe the water as bracingly refreshing! Luckily, a hot tub was waiting for us to jump in and warm up. The whole track proved to be a joy to walk, not too taxing but a bit of up and down to keep the heart going.

The final walk was The Milford Track in Fiordland National Park at the bottom left of the South Island. This is world famous as one of the best multi day walks anywhere in the world so I really felt that it was a must. once again I went for the luxury option of a guided walk and thoroughly enjoyed the pamering! Unlike the Queen Charlotte where the majority of our luggage was transported via water taxi everyday and we only needed to carry our day packs, here we had to carry all of our own stuff for the 5 days. The words 'pack light' had never been more significant! The actual walk is only really 3 days, covering 33.5 miles from Glade Wharf to Sandfly Point. The track meanders through forest, along the Clinton River and through the floor of various valleys shadowed by towering mountains. Once again the lodges were of a good standard and we didn't go hungry! There were 50 people in our group, but it never felt like that and the majority of the time I walked along on my own with only the sound of birds and waterfalls as company. It was a magical experience that I shall treasure and never forget. Day 3 was my favourite day with a decent ascent to the top of McKinnon Pass scattered with wild mountain lilies and then the dramatic waterfalls and moss covered trees of the downward track of the pass. It felt like I had been transported to a place where fairies and red and white dotted toadstools are found. (You are all probably thinking that I am mad, but believe me, this place was something else!).

One our arrival at the end of the track at Sandfly Point (a very appropriate name due to the amount of horrible sandflies waiting to bite you) our wonderful guides had a hot drink and biscuit ready to celebrate out achievement. We then took a ferry to Milford and stayed at Mitre Peak Lodge, looking out to spectacular views of Mitre Peak and the end of Milford Sound. The rain really came thundering down once we had got to the lodge and water cascaded down the sides of the mountains highlighting fiordland in all it's glory. Luckily for us, we woke up to clear skies for the boat ride the next day and luck must have been thrown our way as we saw fur seals, fiordland crested penguins and bottle nosed dolphins. The playful dolphins decided that frolicking in the waves off the bow of the boat was great fun and treated us to a thrilling show.

Having now done three of the main walks in New Zealand, I have the next two that I want to do lined up already and am just planning ahead (I may well be imagining a chuckle from some people, yes I'm as organised as ever!) as to when I can come back and do them.

I've just returned today from an overnight boat cruise to Doubtful Sound and actually still have this feeling that I am out at sea. I keep swaying, well, I think I'm swaying anyway!! The trip was brilliant though and well worth the trauma of staying on a boat overnight. Actually, I'm exagerating, the only trauma was when the skipper decided to head out into the Tasman Sea (not my favourite place as you will recall from my escapades in Tasmania) and I once again found myself horizontal, admiring the lovely white clouds floating in the clear blue sky! Doubtful Sound is much larger than Milford, but they have equal beauty. We had the chance to kayak and swim so I did both. I was thrilled to spot some more crested penguins which are now my favourite type of penguin as they have the coolest eyebrows! Gently sailing along the fiord, with mighty grantie cliffs and mountains all around, listening to the bird song and flowing water was another experience that will be stored in my memory of travels forever. It was nothing less than exceptional.

I'm off tomorrow to begin a job looking after one little 11 month old girl for 12 weeks. It will be a bit of pocket money for the last part of this amazing adventure that I'm having. However, this means no more posts for a little while as I'll be stationary and will have nothing exciting to write about!

Views from the summit of Mount Tongariro.

The emerald pools - Tongariro Crossing

Views across Kenepuru Sound - Queen Charlotte Track

Queen Charlotte Sound

The magical fairy forest! - The Milford Track

Mitre Peak - Milford Sound

Sunset over Doubtful Sound

Kayaking on Doubtful Sound

Beautiful Tasmania

2011-11-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

Tasmania had always been on my list to visit but I'd never made it down there in my previous visits to Australia. This time round my reason for going was not only tourism but catching up with a friend as well.

The little island proved to be packed with heaps of things to see, amazingly diverse landscapes and cute wildlife. I spent the first week in and around Hobart. I climbed the 1972m to the top of Mount Wellington which was a lovely walk and the climb rewarded me with spectacular views over the city and surrounding areas. A rather choppy boat ride allowed the exploration of Bruny Island where fur seals hang out on the rocks and dramatic cliffs tower over the mighty seas. The journey proved a little too rough for me and even after 8 travel pills and sea bands in position on my wrists I still felt sick and had to spend the majority of the journey horizontal on the chairs at the back of the boat! A lesson learned that day...avoid boat trips that venture into the sea.

Bev took a day off work and we went exploring the historical sight of Port Arthur where the English sent all the convicts to in the 1800's. It was a beautiful place set on the water with old buildings steeped in history. You could have spent hours loosing yourself in the stories of the people who had spent time there and imagining what life would have been like for them. I also determioned to see a Tasmanian Devil while I was in Tassie so we did a quick stop at a wildlife park. I got to feed the greedy kangaroos and see some cute baby devils. The older devils are not as cute but there is still something rather nice about them. We camped overnight at the beach at Fortescue Bay, kept warm with a roaring campfire and slept soundly in the back of the camper van. It was lots of fun!

The second week was filled with a 5 day tour of the island with a company called Jump Tours. Andrew was a local Tasmanian who led our small group of 4 on a fantastic tour of the island from west to east. Travelling round the place you realise just how diverse it is. In 5 days I saw the most pristine and beautiful beaches I've ever seen, walked in dense rain forests, jumped on 40 metre high sand dunes, imagined viewing the stunning Cradle Mountain (it was so misty and foggy the day we were there you could hardly see 5 metres ahead of you!) and travelled through farmland, vineyards, bush and along wild and rugged coastlines. Tasmania really has it all and with a population of only 510,000 nowhere feels crowded.

I'm so glad that I got to see Tasmania (in pretty good weather!) and catch up with a friend at the same time. I'm now in New Zealand and enjoying remembering things from my previous visits. It's nice when somewhere is a little familiar and you recognise things.

Venturing into the chilly sea at Bay of Fires

Feeding the kangaroos at the wildlife park.

'All that running around has worn us out!" - Tasmanian Devils

Bev and I at Port Arthur

Enjoying the views at the top of Mount Wellington, Hobart

Animal Encounters

2011-11-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

Turtle Island proved to be an idyllic paradise with white sandy beaches, waves gently lapping the shore and palm trees majestically hanging over the beach to provid some much needed shade. A one hour speed boat ride brought us to the island and as soon as we got off, Joanna (the group leader) made the delightful observation that my legs were the same colour as the sand! I really appreciated her pointing that out!!

The island is one of a group of three that is protected and managed by the Sabah Parks organisation. It's really well set up with beautiful accommodation and an excellent program of viewing the turtles. Only a certain number of people are allowed on the island each day so it's not over crowded. The day we were there, there was only 50, so a good number.

After we arrived was had a wander around the island, I read my book on the beach and some people opted for a swim. I ventured into the water in the afternoon, although had decided against snorkelling as they would only allow you to swim in a ropped off section of the bay and it was quite shallow. The water was really warm and you could spot some little fish swimming around.

The main highlight of the visit happened after dinner. We had viewed the extremely interesting video and wandered around the exhibition and were playing cards when we heard a very urgent call from the park ranger........'turtle time, turtle time!'. Everyone quickly put their shoes on and followed along, quietly and quickly, with only torch light leading the way.

When we got to the beach there was a mother turtle sitting in a hole that she had dug laying her eggs. We were allowed to take photos, without using the flash and managed to see everything. She layed 88 eggs all in one go!! They look like smooth golf balls and the shell is different to a chicken egg in that it is softer and plyable. The eggs were collected by a ranger ready for transporting to the hatchery. We went there next. They have a huge amount of turtle nests in the hatchery and protect them with green mesh cylinders so that preditors don't eat the eggs. They put all 88 eggs in one hole, covered it up and labelled it with the date and number of eggs.

The final part of the experience was to witness the release of the baby turtles into the sea. Earlier in the day in one of the mesh cylinders, turtles had appeared from the sand and tried their best to clamber out. They had all of them in a red shopping basket and tipped it over. It was like a frenzy of flapping flippers and a race to see who could get to the sea the quickest. When they reached the edge, they got sent back on the waves, but manage to continue their quest and all but one of the turtles were victorious in their journey to the ocean. One went completely the wrong way and ended up by the steps up to the dining hall!! He was rescued by a ranger and put back by the waves to scramble in.

I think that is was truly a privilege to witness such a special event in nature. The turtles eggs that we saw being laid won't hatch for about 60 days. On the night that I was there, they released over 1000 baby turtles. Sadly only a handful will survive which is why they have the program to try and increase the numbers.

After that amazing animal encounter, more was one the cards!! We headed back to the main land and went straight to the Sepilok orang-utan centre to see the 'man of the forest' as they are known in Sabah. I'd been keen to see them and wasn't disappointed. They have feeding platforms in the forest and put out fruit and milk in the morning and afternoon. They orang-utans came, in a very leisurely fashion, swinging through the trees and along the wires to reach the platfrom. We were treated to a mother and he baby, as well as a juvenile and older male. The most entertaining bit was watching them on the wires. They have amazing flexibility in their joints and pose in the most beculiar positions!

Once feeding time was over, we jumped in our taxi and headed to the proboscis monkey sanctuary, about 30 minutes away. These are very odd looking monkeys with very long, flappy noses. Joanna said that they were her favourite and she called them the 'sexy fat bellied monkeys with the spicy red chilly'!! In some ways, they were more entertaining than the orang-utans as there were so many of them, not only on the ground at the feeding platforms, but in the trees surrounding them as well. We watched for a while, seeing the young monkeys frolic about and the dominant males looking serious, surveying their group.

We returned to the orang-utan centre for afternoon feeding, but only 2 came along. They were extremely cute though as it was a young male and an old male together. They looked like they were silently discussing the ways of the world!

I have to just share with you that it is really funny the things that you get excited about when you travel. After everything that I have seen, all the mountains, people, places and animals, this week I got excited by my shower in the final hotel in Borneo!! Yes, I hear you thinking I'm crazy, but I was excited by the shower. Showers in Asia are usually all open and get everything in the bathroom wet, or are alternatively a bucket full of water that you use a plastic type sauce pan to pour the water over you. There is no cubicle, curtain or anything to stop the water going everywhere. However, in the B and B in Sepilok, the shower had a CUBICLE!! I was so happy to have a dry toilet!

I have absolutely LOVED Borneo and cannot recommend enough that if you have the chance to visit GO!! There is so much to see, the people are so lovely and friendly (I know that I have said that a lot, but it's true!) and the food is good. Visit, visit, visit!!

I'm now is Tasmania and catching up with a wonderful friend who I haven't seen for 4 years. I'm staying with her this week, before heading off on a little tour of the island for 5 days next week. It's lovely to be in one place for a while, have my own room to unpack a little and not have to worry about packing up every few days. Bliss really, well for a while anyway!

On the beach at Turtle Island

At the Proboscis Monkey sanctuary

The mother turtle who had just laid her eggs.

A cheeky orang-utan hanging out on the wire.

The proboscis monkeys at the feeding platform.

2011-10-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

A little bit like Nepal, Borneo, or Sabah as it's known here has been on my list to visit for ages. I've wanted to see the jungle and especially the turtles and the orangutans.

The first week of my two here has been quite busy and certainly challenging. Let me just ask a question.......What had you done by 8am on Friday morning?? I had already eaten 2 bowls of porridge, hiked 2.7km up to the summit of Mount Kinabalu and then hiked back down again. All by 8am!!

Mount Kinabalu is the highest peak in South East Asia and is pretty tough to climb. The first day is a 6km up hill slog to Laban Rata guesthouse. Our guide for the trek was Sopinggi, a local man who has climbed the mountain several times. his moto for the trek was 'kada arau-arau, logot logoton' which means no rush, slowly slowly, at your own pace. (It's ironic when the trek in Nepal had a moto of 'jam jam' which meant lets go lets go). There are markers every half km so you know roughly how far you have to go. It's a trail that is well maintained, but made up of steps and large rocks that have to be navigated. Tough on the legs that's for sure! The last km was a real killer as the altitude had significantly increased and made breathing more difficult. It took me 4 hours to climb the 6km and never had I been so pleased to see the guesthouse and a piping hot glass of Milo in my life. I don't think that I could have climbed another step.

An early night was in order as we were starting the summit ascent at 2.45am, yes, AM! That was to get us to the top for sunrise. The sight was a pretty amazing one to see really. Everything was pitch black and all that lit the way of our ascent was a trail of small torch lights that looked like fireflies flitting in the night sky. It was strangely reassuring to see lights ahead of you as it gave you an idea of where the trail went. Occasions occurred on the climb when there were no lights and I found it unsettling. Once we had cleared the tree line and finished with the steps, a section of flat, granite rock greeted us and we had to use ropes to pull ourselves up. I was not overly happy with this section, especially as seeing was a luxury as it was dark! After what seemed like forever, we reached a ridge and finally saw the summit. It was still a way ahead, but we were spurred on by the cracks of yellow and orange seeping through the clouds.

We made the summit in 3 hours and were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise over the Sula Sea. Views of Kota Kinabalu were also seen, although the city disappeared in the haze as the sun rose. It was chilly on the summit so hanging around was not really an option. The walk down magnified our achievements in the dark and showcased the sheer faces of the rocks we had scaled earlier. Breakfast was a welcome treat once back at the guesthouse before the 6km downhill descent. If I said I had jelly legs by the end then that would be an understatement!! I had very sore knees and my quads were screaming 'no more stairs or steps PLEASE!'. My legs are still sore 4 days later!! It was worth every step though.

Once we were down we headed to Poring, which has natural hot springs. My legs got soaked in a lovely hot thermal bath which was very relaxing. The complex in Poring also has a butterfly house and waterfalls so we wandered (albeit very slowly) to the waterfall and got our feet eaten by the little fish which was surprisingly relaxing, if a little ticklish.

A visit into the jungle has completed my first week here. We didn't see anything too exciting but found a beautiful, brightly coloured kingfisher, some little monkeys and a monatar lizard. We stayed one night in triangular huts in the middle of the jungle and one night with a local Malay family. I stayed with a 70 year old couple who were very sweet and produced amazing home cooked food for dinner and breakfast. Luckily, I was with Jo (our guide) as they spoke no English at all and she translated for me.

Tomorrow I'm off to Turtle Island for some snorkelling and then it's off to Sepilok to see the orangutans.

Our group at the start of the trek.

Me at the summit at 5.45am!

Sunrise from the summit.

Bye Bye Nepal!

2011-10-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a nice last few days here. I visited Chitwan National Park again and managed to do all the things that the heavy rain prevented last time. We took the dug out canoe ride along the calm waters of the Rapti river into the jungle and walked for several hours on the hunt for the wildlife that lives there. We were about to give up hope of seeing anything when we finally came across a rhino munching on the grasses. Sadly, a tiger remained illusive.

I think that what struck me most about the Chitwan jungle this time was the sheer tranquility and beauty of the place. It's not like the jungle of the Amazon, it's more like forest, with majestic trees towering up and huge varieties of flora growing on the ground. I think that with all the mud and leeches last time I visited, I didn't appreciate all the natural beauty and peacefulness. A ride on an elephant this time enhanced the calmness (although avoiding the trees that slapped in your face as the elephant trundled on through dense forest was not so peaceful!).

My time in Nepal is now almost over. I'm leaving on a flight to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow to go and explore the jungles of Borneo.

I've had such a lovely time here in Nepal. It really is a beautiful country, filled with people who are so friendly, kind and helpful. I would love to come and visit again and do some more trekking in the Everest region.

Next post from another country, that's always exciting!!

A one horned rhino in Chitwan National Park

A crocodile in Chitwan National Park

Spotted deer, Chitwan National Park

It wouldn't let me rotate the picture!

A week hiking in the Himalayas

2011-10-07T23:38:00.000-07:00

I was sooooo excited about trekking in the Annapurna Range once our itinerary had been changed and the whole week really has been amazing. It's been very tough and I have definitely decided that 7 days of trekking is enough and I could never make the whole 3 week circuit on the full Annapurna Trek. My knees held up very well and I only had a twinge here and there. It was a miracle when you think that on one day alone I climbed 4,600 steps, let alone all the others on the rest of the days!!

Our route took us on a circular route from Pokhara via Hile, Ghorepani, Tadapani, Ghandruk, Chhomrong and Pothana. The total distance was about 70km and took in some of the best views of the Himalayan Range that Nepal has to offer.

Throughout the week we stayed in basic tea houses in small villages along to route of the trail. Facilities were quite basic, but we were well fed and toasty at night. We were amazed at how chilly it got. We had a good support team of porters and guides, all local to the Pokhara area and they carried all our bags and sleeping bags. Most days they beat us to the tea houses, even though they were carrying about 24kg each!!

An early morning alarm on day 3 was well worth the effort of getting up for spectacular panoramic views of the range. Poon Hill was very busy and hard to climb up to (yet more steps!) but my goodness me, what a view!

I've certainly seen a mix of scenery this week. Rice terraces mix easily with the steep valleys and dramatic snow capped mountain peaks. They look like little blankets of velvet with dark green edging when you see the terraces from afar. Clear blue skies have added to the beauty of the area and we were finally cheering that we seemed to have lost the rain and the cloud.

The trek was really hard but the sense of achievement felt when you realise how far you have come and how many up hills you conquered is worth every step and sore muscle!

I'm back in Pokhara now and have just taken an Ultra Light flight over the area. I've wanted to go in one for a while and it was super fun! We whizzed along above the valley and I had lovely views of the lake, mountains and city area. I forgot to write that I took a mountain flight over Everest which I was a little disappointed with. This was much better than that as there was no clouds and the little plane had open sides so the pictures weren't through a window.

I'm leaving here on Monday to head back to Chitwan National Park on the hunt for some more rhinos and a tiger!

View of the Himalayan Range from Poon Hill - 3210m

A local lady at one of the teahouses where we had morning break.

The Ultra Light plane that I flew in over Pokhara.

Views from the Ultra Light across the lake to the mountains.

I Love Nepal!!

2011-09-30T03:40:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday today and I'm extremely happy to be in a beautiful country on a grand adventure! This country has been on my 'to visit' list so long and I'm not one bit disappointed with it.

This week we have stopped for one night at three different places - Bhaktapur, Nuwarkot and Bandipur. Bhaktapur was a heritage sight and filled with ornate buildings, alleyways, outdoor cafes and bustling everyday life. There were lots of different squares in the town to explore, 'pottery' turned out the be my favourite. It was filled with open kilns and people making clay pots. Going down early in the morning allowed you to see the square covered with neat rows of freshly made pots.

Nuwarkot and Bandipur are small villages set high in the hills above the Trisuli River. Winding and steep switch backs roads led to small villages filled with a beautiful local people. I know that I said the people in India were friendly, but they are even more so here. The narrow streets and paths are filled with the cries and shouts of 'NAMASTE!!' which is the local greeting for hello. The children come running up to you, waving and even the adults who initially look serious blossom into a gorgeous smile when you greet them in the traditional way.

We have been very lucky with our accomodation in both villages as Intrepid have bought and restored some beautiful 17th century farm buildings and lodges. The food was plentiful and fresh and the views were unsurpassable.

The itinerary on my trip has changed due to the monsoon rains causing a landslide and blocking the road that we needed to take to the Langtang region. Consequently, we have moved things around and are now trekking in the Annapurna region. I'm ecstatic as trekking in this region is more dramatic and beautiful than the Langtang region. The mountains are bigger and higher so hopefully all the cloud will clear to give us the views seen on all the postcards.

Hopefully the next post will come with amazing photos attached and reports that my knees have held out for the 6 day trek! Keep you fingers crossed please :-)

A busy week in Kathmandu

2011-09-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a lovely week in Kathmandu. I've discovered a clean, friendly city filled with bustling life and endless temples and shrines. Walking the back streets whiled away several hours and enlightened me to a really lovely place.

I've visited some of the main Buddhist temples and seen beautiful views of the valley that Kathmandu is nestled into. I had a local guide and took a walk up into the Shivapuri National Park on the north side of the city. We climbed to a hidden monastery where 25 Buddhist monks live and work. Sadly, the spectacular views that I had expected to see where blocked by cloud, but on the way down through the forest, glimpses of the vast city and lush green hills were awarded to me.

As I had several days in the city I decided to venture out a little and booked a 2 day white water rafting trip along the Trisuli River. I had already had the pleasure of admiring the scenery from the bus on the drive from Chitwan to Kathmandu but the perspective is always different when you look up rather than down. The river cuts through a deep valley of steep, terraced mountains and hills. Along the path of the river are many little villages on both sides that are linked by suspension bridges. Locals cross to go to school, deliver supplies and watch tourists on the river!!

The journey to the river was on a tourist bus from the city and we were trundling along nicely until we came to a complete stop. Turns out that a truck had hit a tourist bus and nothing could happen until the police arrived. Everyone from the various pieces of transport was stood in the middle of the road throwing in their ideas and comments. It took about an hour for the police to arrive and then everything cleared surprisingly quickly. The whitewater was quite mild compared to previous trips that I have done, but the breathtaking beauty of the area and observing the local life made the trip worth while. We stayed over night on the edge of the river in lovely little tents and ate fantastic home cooked food. In the morning we rafted again a little further down the river to the exit point.

I had to get a local bus back to Kathmandu and with no obvious stop, the rafting guides just flagged it down and told me to get on! It was certainly an eventful ride to say the least. The road is very windy and extremely busy as it is a main highway. Lets just say that there were several occasions where I was grabbing the seat with my eyes shut! I was unfortunately sat next to a man that can only be described as crazy and who insisted on talking to me by shouting in my ear. His English was good so I couldn't even plead that I didn't understand what he was saying. We stopped at a cafe for the driver to have a break and a very lovely lady told me to move and sit anywhere I liked, so I did and the second half of the journey was much more pleasant.

Getting off the bus in the right place was always going to be interesting. Another man on the bus spoke a little English and asked me where I wanted to go. I showed him on my map and he then told me when to get off. I was extremely thankful as without him, who knows where I would have ended up!! I needed a taxi to get back to the hotel and once again, luckily there was one little taxi man in a shop along the road from where I had got off the bus. Certainly an interesting journey home anyway!

My next trip starts today so I'm switching hotels (although I'd rather stay at this lovely one) and meeting the new group tonight. It's full this time with 12 people which will seem a lot after travelling with 4 and then 7 people for the previous 2 trips.

I'm excited about seeing more of this fabulous country.

Relaxing at lunch on the rafting trip.

Sunset over Kathmandu.

On into the jungle

2011-09-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

Animesh turned out to be right and the movie was excellent. It was really funny and had good songs with great dance routines. The monkey temple was great to see as we visited on a day that just happened to be a day of the week to worship Lord Hanumana, the monkey god. Consequently the temple was packed with worshipers and had an amazing buzz and vibe pulsing through it. Music was being played, chants were being said, people where writing wishes on the walls of the temple and chatter filled the line of people queuing to enter the temple.

India has been an amazing place to visit I have discovered so much about the Hindu culture that I didn't know, met some of the friendly people that I have ever come across on my travels round the globe and survived the heat and humidty with only a few grumbles here and there! I found out that the only Indian food that I like comes from south India and is called a Dosa. It is absolutely delicious and is a rice pancake filled with potato and vegetables. I am certain that I will return to this fantastic country as I want to experience the Ganges properly and return to Varanasi when the water levels are not so high. Also, a triip to South India may well be on the cards to eat some more dosas!!

Crossing the border in Nepal was a pretty hassle free experience, once we had got the right papers from the dodgy immigration men on the Indian side. The countryside in Nepal is lush, green and filled with rice paddies . It reminds me a lot of northern Thailand. We stayed one night in Lumbini and visited the place where Lord Buddha was born before heading to Chitwan National Park.

The park is located in the south of Nepal and home to rhinos, tigers, crocodiles, sloth bears and heaps of bird life. Once again the high water levels scuppered our plans and 2 days of jungle adventures was reduced to one. We took a jeep into the jungle, travelling though picturesque little villages with waving children, rice growing in the garden and corn drying from the eves of the houses We got dropped off in the middle of the jungle at a check point and began our walk. It was hot, humid and threatening rain. Luckily, within the first 5 minutes we found a one horned rhino not too far from where we were and got a few pictures. Then the rain began and we headed to shelter.

The rest of the day continued in a similar fashion but the walk was pleasant, if not a little too hot. All of the high levels of rain made the terrain wet and muddy. At one point we found ourselves wading through mud that was knee deep. It was an odd sensation as one step would put you ankle deep and the next had you sinking down to your knees in cold, slimy mud! Leeches were also a huge problem and not a jungle creature that I enjoyed having an encounter with! The two fantastic guides Suc and Lashmi looked after us, although they did think that my reaction to the leeches was pretty funny.

Overnight we stayed in a little guesthouse on the edge of the Rapti river and watched the sunset over the river. Ladies collecting grass, children fishing and elephants going for an evening cool off in the river provided a picture perfect image of local life in the jungle.

Next day we returned to the tranquil village of Sauraha to enjoy the views over the river, indulge in a little shopping and meet a few more of the locals. Heather and I wandered into the village and found a cute group of children sitting outside what was labelled as an orphanage. However, with lots of hand gestures and some broken English, we discovered that it was a family of four children, grandma and mum. The children were so lovely and keen to take pictures with our cameras. One of them took the one below! We think that the family had fostered some of the other children. I got ushered into the house when I said that I was hot and made to stand right in front of the fan! It was a jolly interaction with a delightful Nepalise family.

My jungle guides in Chitwan - Lashmi and Sooc

Heather and I with the children at the 'orphanage'.

A week of ups and downs

2011-09-12T03:16:00.000-07:00

The ups being the places I'e visited and the downs being a poorly tummy! I finished my trip around Rajasthan on the Sunday and decided to move to a different hotel to save some money. Ravi laughed when I told him how much the hotel room was costing and wished me luck!! I didn't think that that was a particularly good sign, but then I'd come to understand that Ravi quite liked his comforts!!

The hotel certainly was a step down from what I'd stayed in for 2 weeks, but it was clean, had a fan, a cold shower (there is definitely no need to a hot shower in this heat) and I was only there 2 nights, so all was good. It was in a much more touristy area of Delhi within easy walk of the main centre of New Delhi.

I had a bit of a revelation on my return to Delhi...I actually quite like it. I was not expecting this but it really is so easy to get around. The metro train is dead cheap, clean, air conditioned, easy to use and I totally love the fact that they have women only carriages. I took myself round to some of the monuments and did the touristy photos before hopping back on the train and going to South Delhi to hunt out the Hard Rock Cafe to buy a pin for mother. It's become a tradition that I bring one back for her. My whole journey on the train, which totaled about an hour cost me the equivalent of around 60p!!

I departed Delhi on Wednesday with a new group of travel companions, a new leader and a very dodgy stomach. I'd had a drink on the Tuesday afternoon in Delhi and forgotten about the ice. The drink was cool, refreshing and delicious, but the aftermath was not!! It took me 12 hours to recover by not eating anything and drinking only water. I almost missed my second visit to the Taj Mahal but luckily felt better by 5pm and went. It was as beautiful as it was the first time and luckily, no rain! I decided not to go in and just sit and admire the view and sheer magnitude of this amazing building. We were treated to a stunning sunset that just got better with every passing minute. It definitely goes down as the most beautiful building that I have ever seen. It's simply magical.

Next stop on the journey was the rural town of Orchha. I had been told that it was very picturesque and pretty and it most certainly turned out the be that. A longish train ride followed by a CRAZY ride in tuk tuk's took us to the town. We happened to arrive on the final day of the 10 festival celebrating Lord Ganesha. There were people everywhere, dancing, singing and throwing brightly coloured paint all over peoples clothes. Tuk tuk's are small and only designed to carry 3 to 5 people. However, we saw some that must have had at least 15 in, all smiling, cheering and generally have an absolute ball. The music was unbelievably loud as we passed vans with these humongous speakers strapped to the back, blasting out decibels of music that blew your ears off!! On the vans and tuk tuk's, there were large statues of Ganesha that they were taking to put in the river. It signifies the end f the celebrations when they are laying at the bottom of the river. The atmosphere was electric and was an experience that I was thrilled to have witnessed.

The small town of Orchha is rural and set along a gently flowing river. Small shops, fruit and vegetable markets and souvenir shops line the short main streets. The palace dominates the town skyline. We stayed in fancy tents in Orchha with air conditioning, fridges, tv's and showers. A very luxurious style of camping! It's a small town, so easy to walk around. Locals were once again friendly and wanted to talk to us and shake our hands.

We visited a wonderful local family to have a cooking demonstration in their house. The mother cooked fresh, gorgeous looking Indian food that was rich in colour and filled with spices and aromas. I had a go at rolling a chapati which is a type of unleven bread that is a stable of the Indian diet. It was not to tricky, bit like rolling pastry but quite hard to get the perfect round circles that they manage! I, of course, didn't sample anything that she cooked but she had prepared me my own special lunch of rice and lentils, with no spice. I was so touched that she has done that. Everyone enjoyed the food and said that it was delicious. The experience was worth everything. Visiting local people like that gives you an insight of what Indian life is really all about. She has two beautiful daughters, one shy, one extremely not shy who came home from school while we were eating lunch. The younger, not so shy one was happy to hold court and entertain us with her rendition of 'Heads, shoulders knees and toes'! Very adorable!

We visited a paper factory that was an initiative to give local village women work. They take scraps of old fabric and turn it into paper. It was fascinating to see these piles and bags of scrap fabric and how it finally ends up as paper. They turn it to pulp and press it, then let it dry on the lawns and washing lines outside. The people were lovely there and wanted us to have a go. I did and discovered that the frames were really heavy; I got a squashed finger!

After Orchha we were supposed to be sailing on the river Ganges for 2 days to Varanasi. However, the river levels are so high that we were not allowed on the river and have come straight to Varanasi. It's a bustling city with extremely narrow streets, filled with the usual traffic. We were in a traffic jam today and the traffic consisted of cars, motor bikes, tuk tuk's, bicycles, cycle rickshaws and buffalo! I've visited the place where Lord Buddha gave his first sermon, and seen been to the edge of the river. There are hundreds of ghats (steps leading to the river) but they are all hidden by the high water level. It's a shame that we can't go on the river, but nice to see it all the same.

Tomorrow will be my last day in India before crossing the boarder into Nepal and we are off to the monkey temple and venturing to my third Bollywood movie. Animesh, the leader says that this one is filled with dancing and is easy to follow. I'll wait and see

Rajasthan - The place of kings

2011-09-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

Well, what a busy 2 weeks it has been. I was always a little apprehensive about coming to India. It was a place that had never really been top of my travel list. However, I have found it to be a filled with genuinely lovely, friendly people, beautiful country side and extremely spicy food, which has proved to be my nemesis!!

Arriving and transferring to the hotel in Delhi was easy and without hassle ( I think is would have been less so if I hadn't arranged an arrival transfer). Driving along into the city it was interesting to see a cow wandering down the middle of the road. However, as the 15 days have progressed, I have come to realise that the cow is a consistent traveller on the roads of India. Everywhere you go there are cows, it's the equivalent of sheep in New Zealand. The cow is a sacred animal in Indian culture so the don't eat them. Therefore, there are HUNDREDS of cows milling around the towns, strolling down the roads and munching on grass along the winding country lanes. It still makes me chuckle now, after 2 weeks!

We have explored only a small amount of this area of north India known as Rajasthan. Our guide for the 2 weeks has been Ravi, a very comical, extremely tall man local to Jaipur. He has been insightful, kept up safe and educated us on the wonderful culture and beliefs of the Indian people. We took a visit to his family in Jaipur and met his mother, father, sister and wife. All very lovely people who fed us traditional Indian snacks.

Having explored both countryside and city, I think I definitely prefer rural India. We stayed for two nights in a stunning castle in Bijapur as well as one night in a fort in Madhoghar. Strolling out into the villages we found humble people who just wanted to say hello and shake your hand. It seems that life in India is happy to breath and take everything in. Nothing is a hurry or too much trouble. Tea points in villages are places to hang out and chat about politics! It's so refreshing to see people just 'being', rather than rushing from one thing to the next, not really enjoying or appreciating life.

Rajasthan is crammed with old palaces and temples. By far the most amazing has to have been the Taj Mahal. Sadly it decided to rain, and when I say rain, not the English style. This was full on monsoon rain, coming down in sheets and bouncing up off the pavement. My trousers represented an item of clothing that had been in the washing machine without the spin cycle! Thankfully the rain was not cold though, and we soon dried off. Even with all the rain you were totally in awe of this beautiful, beautiful building and it's grounds.

Using the transport here has been an education. Initially, we started off on the super fast, air conditioned train from Delhi to Agra. This was a very pleasant experience with drinks, breakfast and large comfy chairs. As I'm sure you can imagine, this lulled us into a false sense of security as what followed was, lets just say, in a different league!! We had to experience what the locals do so later on took a train that was very local indeed. Luckily, there are only four of us in the group as none of us could imagine our journey had the group been at it's full capacity of twelve. The platform at the station was busy and the train even worse. We battled our way onto the train with our big bags but a seat looked highly unlikely. Ravi came to the rescue though and forced some people to move up. The seats were in bench rows, with a bottom and a top. I managed to squeeze onto the bottom, others had to clamber up to the top bunk. Next to me there were four men playing cards. The journey passed quickly and I was entertained by card playing, tried to join in, but only succeeded in shuffling as I couldn't get the rules and no one spoke any English to explain them to me!

Rajasthan really is a beautiful part of India and I have enjoyed the two weeks. Villages, cities, deserts and mountains as well as camels, cows, a terrific guide and a long and confusing Bollywood movie have made the experience one that I won't forget. The jury is still out as to whether I come back to India or not.

We are catching to overnight train to Delhi tonight and then it will be the next section of my journey that begins on Tuesday. Luckily, I haven't ran out of tomato ketchup yet!

The final count down

2011-08-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the final count down has now truely begun. 5 days to go!! Currently my bedroom is looking like a bomb sight with various different bits of travel paraphernalia that I am contemplating whether I can live without or whether it really is an essential item for the year. The backpack has been dusted off and given a rather needed wash.
All that remains is to decide what to take, bottle up my various pills, potions and remedies and PACK!
I'll once again have the remarkable pleasure of exploring the wonders of this extraordinary world again.