Berlin the beautiful!

Berlin was a surprise. I'm not sure what surprised me....I was just surprised! First impressions were of a slightly dishevelled, kinda grey, concrete jungle. After spending a week there though I came to appreciate the eccentricities of the place & amp; its inhabitants.

Photo: Brandenburg Gate.....& thousands of tourists!!


We joined a walking tour on our first afternoon & amp; some 5 hours later we at least had some idea of the layout of the city. We also had our first German meal......a turkish kebab or Doner Box as it is locally known. Basically it's a box with chips, kebab meat & salad covered in garlic sauce. I'm not ashamed to say we may have eaten there 3 nights in a row!! It was also my first opportunity to break out the very basic German I could still remember from high school....seems I remembered more than I thought cos the kebab man heard my first couple of sentences & replied with a babble of super-fast Deutsch that I couldn't begin to grasp!! "Sprechen sie Englisch??"......please???

One of the great things about Berlin is that many of it's most popular & best attractions are free. In the centre of Berlin a short stroll from the Brandenburg Gate is the Jewish Memorial or rather The Memorial To The Murdered Jews Of Europe. It is a 5.5 acre memorial consisting of 2,711 stones placed on sloping, uneven ground in an undulating wave-like pattern, giving you the feeling of insecurity as though the stones are on unstable ground. You can enter from all 4 sides, day or night, and wander on your own through the maze of stones, as though visiting a graveyard with nameless tombstones. The columns are sunk into the ground to various depths and at some places, they are higher than your head & there are no set paths or sign posts to guide you. The memorial was designed by architect Peter Eisenman to deliberately disorient people by having all the stones tilted slightly and paths that are not level. Rather than being depressing though I found it quite peaceful. People gathered around it & had picnics, sat & talked, read books, kids ran around it like a maze...I don't mean to sound disrespectful but I find it refreshing to see a memorial to something so attrocious actually being used & appreciated by locals & tourists alike, not just photographed from afar or merely ticked off the list of "war memorials". Under the memorial is a free museum which was also really moving. A small collection of rooms, dimly lit, sparsely furnished.....plenty of room to sit & think & contemplate. One particular room was almost pitch black & every couple of minutes or so a name was projected onto each of the 4 walls.....the name of one of the victims accompanied by a quiet, short narration of their life & death as a Jew in Europe during the war. As strange as it sounds, I found it to be a highlight.

Photo: The thought provoking stone blocks.....


When you're a backpacker free shit is good! In fact every Thursday evening between 6pm & 10pm all the museums in Berlin are free......pretty good considering some of the prices for museums in other European cities. We stopped in at the unusual looking Berlin Gallerie expecting to be pushing & shoving our way through all the other tight arses who didn't want to pay the 19 Euros to see it during the day...we were very pleasantly surprised. Not only was it quiet (we often had entire rooms to ourselves), it was a really lovely gallery. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a museum or art expert by any stretch of the imagination but I know what I like & luckily I found a lot of what I like in here. Evening well spent!

Photo: The very unusual looking Berlin Gallerie


Of course Berlin is most famous for it's past so we did spend a fair amount of our looking through museums & memorials. Another really good one was the very new Topography Of Terror located behind the last remaining section of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately we chose one of hottest days to visit it & despite being so new they didn't seem to have installed any airconditioning!!

Photo: Berlin Wall.........less the graffiti I had imagined!!


To break up the sombre feeling of the day we visited something a bit closer to my heart...the Ritter factory. For those of you who don't know Ritter is the oldest & best selling chocolate brand in Germany. This is not so exciting...what is exciting is that they will make you any flavour combination of chocolate you want in the form of a small sample bar. Think marshmallows, almonds, biscuit pieces, sprinkles.....numnumnums!!

We also visited Checkpoint Charlie where we got our passports stamped with all 7 of the original stamps you would need to get to be allowed to pass from East to West Germany.....maybe a bit touristy but not something everyone will have in their passport so why not!!

Photo: The sign that confronted anyone who was trying to cross from the old East Berlin to West Berlin....written in English, Russian, French & German...just to cover all bases!!

On Sundays in Berlin the whole city stays asleep it seems. All the shops were shut & we had seen all the attractions we could handle so we headed up to the north of the city where there is a massive market. There were also heaps of buskers, great food (crepes, waffles, corn on the cob.....yummy!) & a huge amphitheatre where the locals were belting out karaoke! What a great place to chill out & people watch! It was also a nice way to cap off our visit to Berlin.......Auf Wiedersehen!!! (Frau Winkle would be proud!!)

Oooh La La!!

One word - PARIS!! There was a lot of expectation when it came to Paris...I have listened to many stories about the city over the years from my Dad, who nominates it as his favourite city in the world! So on our first day in the city we joined a walking tour & I waited for my jaw to drop. I am pleased to report that the city didn't disappoint & my jaw didn't just drop, it stayed open for the majority of the walk.

Photo: The controversial Pyramid at The Louvre

When people think of the most famous structure in Paris, chances are they think of The Eiffel Tower. My first glimpse was of the tip over some trees. As we worked our way towards it, more & more was revealed until...ta-daaaah....there it was, in all it's glory. I have to say (as cliched as it sounds) it was a bit of a moment & one of the highlights of our entire trip so far. It's not that it's that classically beautiful...in my opinion that honour would go to Sacre Cour...but it is just so iconic. When you see the Eiffel Tower for the first time, you really know you're in Paris! To add to the romance, we had a lovely little picnic on the grass in front of it....chocolate brownies & coke!! A pretty perfect day.

Photo: Oh...My...God.....I just saw the Eiffel Tower...well the top of it anyway!!

Photo: Ohhhh....that's better!

The walking tour was great, it gave us our bearings & made us realise just how much we will be squeezing in when we return for a week or so in a couple of months time.

After only 2 nights in Paris, we were on the move again...this time to the home of my 3 new favourite things: Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate & Belgian beer - we were in Bruges! Bruges is a gorgeous little medievil town in the north of Belgium made up of windy cobblestone streets & the obligitory European town square. We were lucky enough to join a walking tour here too...only this was a walking tour with a difference. It was led by an eccentric New Yorker named Kai, who added some excitement to the tour by getting us to hide behind the walls on the stone bridges & then jump out screaming just as a boatload of tourists appeared from under the bridge...apparantly the aim of the game was to scare one so much that they would fall out of the boat. I am sad to report that we had no luck. Although we did come across a strange German lady who interrupted us in the middle of the tour & asked Kai "Are you a tour guide?"....he replied "Yes"....to which she asked "Do you know what sort of tree that is??". Kai looked slightly bewildered for a second before responding with "No, I'm afraid I don't". The lady gave him massive stink eye, muttered something in German under her breath & stomped off. When she got back to her friends, they had a very animated conversation which involved lots of pointing & staring in our direction. Seriously, what did she expect him to say? He vowed to learn the name of the tree & is now going to make a special mention of it in all future tours!!

Photo: Pretty town

At dinner that night we tried a Beer Taster Plate - a collection of 3 beers all made in Belgium. Belle-Vue beer is my new favourite - it is cherry flavoured & is soooooo sweet.....right up my alley! Also up my alley was The Choco-story factory & Museum. It wasn't until our final morning that I finally got to go there....it advertised the promise of free samples & the world's only chocolate Barrack Obama statue. Well, if you count one chocolate drop at the start, one chocolate drop at the end & one sample of the chocolate made in the demonstration "free samples" you would have been satisfied.....Andrew was even more disappointed than me however (if that is possible!!), so much so that he even asked the sample making lady if he could have a milk & a dark sample...she replied with a very terse "No, not usually". Andrew came back with "Is today a usually day?"...she must have seen how sad & desperate he was & took pity because I think he is the only person in the history of their tours who got 2 freakin samples!! P.S He did not share with me!

By the way, no sign of the Barrack Obama statue either....humppphhh!!

Now, you might be asking yourself...what about the waffles? Well, they deserve a page all to themselves. I don't call myself a religious person by any stretch of the imagination, however I believe that with my first mouthful of waffle, I had a religious experience! A freshly cooked, still warm waffle drizzled in melted milk chocolate & topped with fresh, whipped cream. Oh my God....I have no words....those waffles made me sooooo happy....however, come between a girl & her waffle & there would be bloodshed!! I can't write any more because it making me too emotional!

Photo: Waffles, waffles,waffles.....yummy!

From Bruges, we headed for Amsterdam. Now of course we would choose to arrive in the city at the same time that the Dutch team arrived home from the World Cup. The city was in complete chaos....drunken, orange Nederlanders lined the streets & there was a massive dance party in full swing in the town centre. It was mad! The bus parked on the edge of the city & once we had negotiated all the road blocks & revelers, we had walked almost 5kms to our hostel...carrying our 20kg backpacks!

Photo: Look who we found in Amsterdam....The Griswald's!!


We were only in town for the one night & as such didn't get much sleep. We headed out for a bite to eat, swung by the Hard Rock Cafe & of course up to the red light district. Now forgive my shock, but I was blown away by how gorgeous the majority of the girls were. Talk about a Victoria's Secret fashion parade! For those who are interested the going rate is 50 euros for 20 minutes....allegedly the same price as it was a few years ago when Shawn was there or so he "heard"....good to see inflation hasn't impacted all of lifes simple pleasures!!

Photo: No explanation necessary :)

And so it was onto the bus for Berlin. I am quietly looking forward to Germany...& not just so I can put my high school German to use.....finally!!

London Calling.........

Back in London, this time for a few nights. Stayed at an awesome hostel in Hammersmith, right opposite a tube stop & with a bar that served fantastic, cheap food....such as chips & cheese, wrapped in roti bread!! After arriving in London, we set off for Hyde Park where we spread out our picnic blanket & snacked on flap-jacks while perusing the map of the city. Not sure how, but several hours passed & we hadn't moved! Really in London we did the tourist thing.....Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Scotland Yard etc. Actually we were lucky enough to be at Buckingham Palace when they closed the roads off & had a big parade for all the cadets. Not that interesting in itself but what was interesting was seeing all the mutton that had come in to town to watch their kids march & attend the garden party at Buck Palace afterwards. I think most of the ladies had dragged their 80's bridemaids dresses out of the cupboard......I don't think I've ever seen so much taffeta in one place in my life....not even at my graduation dinner! It didn't look easy to totter around on those cobblestone streets either! Sadly, the Queen was out of town so I didn't bother trying to sneak into the garden party...though I think I totally would have got in wearing my 3 day old shorts, a singlet & thongs.

Photo: The Royal Airforce doing a very American looking fly-over as part of the cadet parade

Photo: A squirrel posing for photos beside Buckingham Palace


I also have to admit that I was slightly underwhelmed by Buckingham Palace. Everywhere else we'd been to, where we were seeing a famous sight for the first time I tended to gasp or at least say "I can't believe I'm here!"...but the palace was a bit tired & dirty looking & the horses were so far from the gate that I lost interest pretty quickly. Near the palace was the other thing that the guards on horses were protecting....I don't know, some museum or something!! What I liked about this was that you could get right up next to the horses & even try to get the guard to smile or something.....well I would have but an American guy tried & the guard gave him such a ferocious & disdainful look that I got scared & chickened out!! While we were there, the boss man turned up for the daily inspection. What a load of pomp & bollocks....I loved it. The boss did lots of shouting, the guards looked suitably scared & I was hooked. I want to be a Queen's Guard & wear the fru-fru hat & the shiny boots that come up to your bum. What a shame I'm a woman.....I don't think all that tradition would welcome me with open arms. Maybe I could just have one of their horses......

Photo: See, I wasn't joking about the fru-fru & the bum high boots!


The highlight in London for us (yes me too!) was our visit to Lord's - the home of cricket...if the MCG is busy! We walked from Baker Street, where Sherlock Holmes lived but we were quite surprised how residential the area around the ground is. We joined the official tour & received our special, green, Lord's visitor stickers...which I think Andrew still peels off the day before's t-shirt to proudly wear the next day! The tour was great...it started right next to the teeny, tiny urn itself. The portly Lord's tour guide delivered a rather animated story about how the urn came about & then spent 20 mintues explaining to a strong Aussie contingent why, exactly, it needs to stay in England.....forever! Hmmpph! The tour continued into the long room & then into the away team's dressing room......we got to sit where Haydos & Langer sat!! Boonie's seat was closest to the door...some say (well the poncy guide said) it was because he needed to be the closest to the toilets but I don't know...Finally it was out into the grand stand to get a proper look at the ground. What a ridiculous slope it has too...over 2 meters from one side to the other..& it's so much smaller than i expected. Still, it does have an aura & the grass was magnificent....I think Andrew got mower envy when one of the groundskeepers rode over on his beast & drove up & down in front of him!

Photo: The view towards the members from the media centre.....impressive!


We poked around in the media centre & looked over the fence at the national ladies team practising in the nets. Then....into the Official Lord's Souvineer Shop....or heaven if you ask Andrew. He rushed from one rack to the next pulling out t-shirts & posters, saying look, there's Clarkie....& finally after much consideration (about an hour) he settled on a t-shirt.....which he still hasn't worn....I think he's afraid it will get dirty!!

Photo: Clutching afore mentioned, still brand new, t-shirt!!

So we said goodbye to Lord's & I dragged Andrew off down the street to the other highlight from London...Abbey Road. Yes, I am one of those sad people who took great delight in walking across & having my photo taken wearing the cheesiest grin. Then I snuck up the stairs of the studio (cos I bet I'm the first to have done that) & had my photo taken under the Abbey Road Studios sign. John Mayer played there people! Oh yeah & The Beatles.

Photo: Say "Super cheese"


Oh my god....I almost forgot to tell you about my other favourite thing.....Harrods! Love at first sight. First stop....Animal Kingdom. Yes the very place where Christian the Lion came from....I still think Andrew doesn't believe me about that. So it was a whole floor dedicated to ridiculously over priced outfits & bedding for the pampered pooches & pussies of London. For example.....a Roberto Cavalli, patent leather dog jacket.....525 pounds...who the hell buys these things?? Oh, & if you don't have the dog to match the outfit, you can pick one up from the Harrods pet shop....only 2,200 pounds for a little ratty, yapper....bizarre! However, when I spotted the four poster cat bed, complete with canopy & covered in pink fluff & sparkles I did think to myself  "I wonder how much it would cost to ship home???". I guess the love we have for our pets is universal.

Photo: No really, love at first sight I tell you!!

Next stop Paris - flying with Air France. It is important that I get that in because at check in we got a lovely surprise. The lady said "I'm sorry, you need to check in at the counter down the end. You will be flying on a specially chartered flight today!". So we went down to were she pointed  & waited with the rest of the bewildered passengers. Next thing these flight attendents arrived, in special uniforms dragging a giant screen behind them. It read "Welcome on board our Air France A380"....how exciting, an A380. Turns out it's a bit of a big deal. In fact, as we were waiting to board in the gate lounge, all these people came over to take photos of it through the window. I must admit it was an impressive sight & we even received a special, commemorative certificate from the Captain as we disembarked. A pretty cool way to end our UK leg!

Photo: Hello big boy!

Introducing Cheryl.....

We made it safely to London......woo hoo!! First thing I need to do is explain who Cheryl is. So, when we arrived at Heathrow, we went straight to the car hire desk & hired a VW Golf & a GPS. This is where Cheryl comes in.....we felt it was important that in order to get the best out of our GPS we needed to name it...I mean her! So began our somewhat turbulent relationship with Cheryl, the GPS lady. Every day began with "Mornin Cheryl!!". Poor Cheryl was blamed for just about eveything....from the many ominous no vacancy signs that seemed to hang from the window of every B&B we wanted to stay in, to traffic jams & no McDonalds were it said there was McDonalds!  Anyway, she didn't seem to mind,  she kept her head & calmy repeated her instructions...over & over & over & over........

Photo: The infamous Cheryl


So we headed from Heathrow straight up to Mentmore to visit Mark Webber's pub, The Stag Inn. Low & behold, who should we run into there? The man himself!! After a quick chat, an invite to catch up at the Hungarian GP in August & some parting advice "Promise me you'll go to the Cotswalds??" & he was gone. Pretty cool to see him again after more than 10 years! Nice pub too, the beer wasn't even warm! Next was a quick stop at the Red Bull Racing headquarters in Milton Keynes. Massive facility & even more massive team trucks parked in the driveway. We did get a few funny looks from the executives in the offices overlooking the driveway so we finished being paparazzi & scampered off!

Photo: What a day...arrive in London....drinks with Mark Webber....doesn't get much better!

Photo: Marky's home away from home


From here we thought it would be bad karma not to visit the Cotswalds so we headed in that direction -Bourton-on-the-Water to be exact. We grabbed the first B&B we found with a vacancy sign & headed out for some dinner. This is where Andrew was reunited with his first love - well that's what he tells me! - fried  scampi & chips. They didn't disappoint & he was briefly transported back to being ten years old again.

Photo: What a sweet reunion between a boy & his scampi!


Next morning we headed off to get in touch my roots so to speak. We stopped in Coventry to visit an old family church & some other sites of significance to my family. It was a spot down the road that I most exctied to be going too. Outside Coventry is a little spot called Hassall Green. Yes, Hassall as in my maiden name. So it was a bit of a pilgrimage of sorts. I had all the obligatory photos...Hassall, Hassall Green, Hassall Road, Hassall Moss...the list goes on! It was quite exciting seeing my name in print (spelt the right way) & to know that my ancestors had walked the same path as I did, only hundreds of years earlier. It was also really nice to tie in some my history, having heard & read so much about it from Dad when he was researching & writing our family history book all those years ago. It made we feel a little bit closer to home even though really I was so far.....maybe just a little bit home sick too!

Photo: OMG...that's my name.....kinda!!


So we continued further north, arriving in Kendal on the edge of the Lake District. Now being backpackers we wanted somewhere cheap to stay so we pulled into the dodgiest looking motel we could find with a massive sign out the front that read "Rooms from 19 pounds". We were mortified when the girl said "One room will be 76 pounds please!"....hmmmmm, not going to plan so far. Luckily she was really lovely & said "I know someone who has a B&B out of town, let me call her for you". So we found ourselves driving to a small village called Kirby Lonsdale, where we were confronted with the stunning, 400 year old Foulston Farm. It wasn't much cheaper than the hose out motel room but the character & charm of the place was priceless.....as was the full, cooked English breakfast the next morning! Complete with homemade preserves & farm fresh eggs....heaven after a month of Chinese breakfasts - noodles, pork buns, hot milk, soup...you get the picture!

As lovely as the English countryside was, our aim was Scotland & so today we drove to Fort William, a lovely town complete with a fort...go figure! The weather was beautiful...more of those Tibetan style open skys I had grown so fond of (seems that from now on all blue skys will be compared to the Tibetan benchmark). The driving was easy...well easy for me as I left my drivers license at home...oops!! I must say though that it was Andrew's strong desire to drive again after almost 3 months that saw us travelling around with Cheryl in the first place, so it wasn't really an issue! One thing was a bit perplexing.....we had no idea what the speed limit was. The sight of a speed sign was rare at best so we spent the best part of 4 days driving around with no idea how fast (or slow) to drive. With the thought of a speeding ticket in the back of his mind, Andrew became the new Captain Slow...even Volvos were passing us!

The drive from Fort William to Inverness took in some of the most spectacular countryside we've ever seen. Driving alongside Loch Lomond was hazardous though, as every 3 minutes or so I would shout "Stop the car, I need to get a photo of that!"....with Andrew's (& Cheryl's) nerves beginning to fray, I decided to practise a new skill - out the car window photography. Some of the most beautiful photo's we have were taken through the car window while driving at 80kms.

Photo: My view of the Scottish countryside as seen through the car window!

Photo: One of the more unusual car shots


We stopped off to visit Nessie & then continued on to Inverness. Now having arrived at Inverness, we thought "Where to now?".....Edinburgh of course.....on the same day!! We booked a B&B in Edinburgh from the information counter in Inverness.....they made no secret of the fact that they thought we were totally bonkers for driving from Fort William, up to Inverness & then down to Edinburgh all in one day! We simply said "But we're from Australia, we're used to driving!".

Just out of Edinburgh is the town of Perth. As we approached Perth, we saw big signs up advertising the "Fowl & Game Fair". I got all excited & had visions of the Village Fair I loved going to in Upper Beaconsfield when I was a kid. Mmmmm.....toffees, cakes, pony rides......sorry, got side tracked! So I badgered Andrew until he relented & we detoured into Perth. Cheryl was not happy! Now, when we got there it was 4pm. It also dawned on me that the event was less about the fair & more about the "game & fowl"....I hate birds!! We pulled into the carpark but everyone else seemed to be leaving. The information on the signs indicated that this was the 2nd of 3 days of celebrations. We flagged down a guy on a 4 wheeler who looked kind of official & were proudly delivered a 45 minute spiel on the history of "the most prestigious Highland gathering in Scotland". Sadly it finished at 6pm & as it was almost 5 by this time we decided to continue on to Edinburgh. Did I mention that entry was 25 pounds per person? We are backpackers you know!!

Edinburgh did not disappoint. So much so that we stayed 2 nights. We walked around town & took in all the tourist sites - Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace & the most amazing graveyard at Grey Friars cemetary at the Church of Scotland. I kinda made that up cos I don't really know what it was called - something like that I think!! Apparantly the locals don't really have the same regard for cemetaries that we do & it is not uncommon to see them gathered around on a warm summers day, enjoying a picnic & other frivolities whilst reclining against the grave stones....very weird!

Photo: The beautiful Edinburgh Castle


I also managed to drag Andrew along to the movies to see Sex & The City 2...not quite the same as seeing it with the girls but good fun anyway. Plus we had the cinema to ourselves so I could laugh out loud histerically without Andrew shrinking down in his seat in embarrassment! It was with some sadness that we said goodbye to Edinburgh as it signalled the that our "blink & you'll miss it" driving tour of the UK was almost up. We left Edinburgh with a little over 12 hours to get the car back to Heathrow. We drove as far as Leicester when we pulled over to get a few hours sleep. Andrew found what seemed like a quiet, country lane & he pulled infront of a farm gate where we went to sleep for a few hours. Now, unbeknownst to us there was a crazed, murderer on the loose in the same county. He had just been released from jail for a suitably violent crime & what was the first thing he did? Went to the home of his ex-girfriend, shot & killed her current boyfriend then shot her, leaving her  in a critical condition. He then took off on the run. Did I mention that the new boyfriend was an off duty police officer? So here we were, minding our own business, having a little snooze & all night the police drove up & down the road, stopping next to our car & shining their torches in to check for psycho gunmen. Fun hey?!

By daybreak we were off again....not quite as rested as we had hoped....turned out sleeping in a Golf, not so comfortable!! Still, the car was delivered safely back to Heathrow & after an emotional goodbye to Cheryl we were on the train heading onto Hammersmith....our new home for the next 3 nights. Wonder if the Queen is as excited about seeing me as I am about seeing her?................

Photo: The true highlight of Scotland.....the Hi-lan Coos!!

A quick trip to Nepal!

We were still on a high from our flight over the Himilayan Mountains & Everest as we arrived in Kathmandu. We jumped in "taxi's" & were off into the crazy traffic to our hotel. Now taxi is a fairly loose term. Ours was a 1961 Toyota Corolla which probably contained more bog than original panels & who's wiring hung down, sadly under the dash board. O-kay......so we were off anyway, all 4 windows down - Nepalese airconditioning! Not far from the airport we got stuck in crawling traffic. Not only did the airconditioning not function too well at 3kms/hour, the smell of the burning clutch peddle was intoxicating. A little further up the road we found ourselves stuck in a dispute between a couple of guys who'd just had a small bingle in the middle of the intersection. The 2 drivers were out of their cars - which were both stopped in the middle of the road - & the situatuion was quickly becoming heated. More & more men arrived until there was a mob of about 30 guys, all standing in the middle of the road shouting, cursing & generally causing chaos. So what does out taxi driver decide to do? Jump out of the car to add his 2 cents worth. So now the guys are kicking the panels on each others cars & I was sure there was gonna be a punch on. All we could do is sit in our taxi, wind up the windows & hope that our driver came back & got us out of there before we died from heat exhaustion. Luckily, after about 20 minutes the police happened to come by & moved everyone on. Pheew, not off to a great start!

Photo: Our beautiful taxi!

Photo: I'm guessing that's not covered by warranty!!


We arrived at the hotel & discovered our first challenge. Nepal faces 3 hour long power cuts, 3 times a day, every day. Hmmmmmm, that meant no airconditoning (it was close to 40 degrees), no lights & worst of all, no WiFi!! The power cuts were scheduled but we soon realised that it was a fairly loose schedule. So we showered in the dark & headed out for some lunch & our first look around the town. We were staying in the "touristy" part of town - Thamel - & had fun shopping the little stalls & trying the fried delicacies that were being prepared on the side of the road (things like samosas & donuts - yum!).

Everything was going ok until the sun went down & it got dark.....really dark. With no power there were no street lights, so it was pitch black walking back to the hotel. Groups of youths hung around on street corners, learing at girls & offering the boys drugs. If Andrew was asked once, he was asked 30 times  - "you want hash, you want drugs??" Coupled with the many young boys sitting on street corners chroming & looking for trouble, we were well & truly out of our comfort zone.

I think that if we hadn't had such an amazing time to Tibet, we may have reacted differently to Nepal but unfortunately neither of us ever found our stride. We both felt like fish out of water & were slightly dreading the next 2 weeks. What were we gonna do if we were too uncomfortable to go out at night.....sit in the hotel in the dark?? So, instead we made the decision to leave early......

You may be thinking - "What a couple of spoilt, cry babies!!" & you may be right but it is our holiday & we'll cry if we want to!! Once the decision had been made & flights had been changed, we both relaxed a little.....though we still didn't go out after dark!!

Photo: Ok, so I have a slight obsession with bottoms......

But we did do stuff during the day. We headed out to see the Swa-something Temple - I can't remember how to spell it but it is affectionately known as the Monkey Temple!! It was completely over run by cheeky monkeys - very cute!

Photo: Oooooh, I is itchy...


We had heard that if you entered the temple through the gate you had to pay 50 rupees to go in, but if you walked up the many, many, steep steps, you got in for free. We arranged a taxi & said to the taxi driver "Steps please??", he smiled & nodded & we thought "bewdy"! Well we arrived at the entrance gate at the top of the mountain, which had about 5 steps up to it & he said, while enthusiastically pointing, "Steps!!". Not quite! So we paid him & made our way on foot back down the mountain & started our climb up the actual steps. What an effort! Luckily the monkeys kept us entertained & after about half an hour of climbing we reached the top.....only to find that our information was about 7 years out of date & it was actually 250 rupees to enter....hmmfff! After all that, we decided not to go in....you could see the temple from the steps & you couldn't actually go inside it, so we saved our rupees!! Oh well, the view from the top was nice & we needed the exercise. Funnily enough, after one of the girls had relented & paid her 250 rupees & gone in, the guard came out of his office & offered us a discount....100 rupees each but we wouldn't get a ticket to keep...if you know what I mean!! I don't think so my corrupt friend!

Photo: This cheeky monkey kept pulling the plastic bag over his head every time I tried to take his photo!!

After all the monkeys & step climbing we had dinner & skulked back to the hotel before all the baddies came out!! Next morning I think Kathmandu decided to punish me for judging it so harshly. I was sick. The kind where the leaving the hotel was not an option. Yuck! The next day, our last, Andrew suffered the same fate. We had really pissed off the gods this time & at this point could not get out of the place quick enough. After pouring half a packet of Imodium down Andrew's throat & strapping him onto his back pack we made a run for it. We checked in at the airport & waited to board. As they called our flight we were extremely excited to find out that we had been upgraded to business class for the one hour flight to Delhi. Seems, at the last minute, the gods forgave us!

We arrived at Delhi airport for our 9 hour stopover & waited.....& waited........& waited! Eventually, at 1am, we were called from the transit lounge for boarding & London was in sight....well, after a brief stop in Frankfurt!

So I can't say that Nepal will make it into the highlights package but it was an experience non the less & I'm sure we will laugh about it......one day!

Tibet knocks Cambodia off top spot.........

I have sat down to write the blog for Tibet 3 times & each time have walked away from an empty screen. I don't know where to start....how to convey exactly how I feel about the place...how to do it justice. All I can do is my best....

Photo: Lhasa Airport


We only had to arrive in Tibet to full head over heels-in-love with the place. I was struck immediately by how wide & blue the sky was. It reminded me of how much I miss blue sky & how long it has been since I have seen it. We were met at the airport by our guide, Mr T - it is a condition of our stay that we are accompanied by a guide at all times in Tibet. We were lucky enough to be assigned a Tibetan guide however he was constantly shadowed by a Chinese driver who's other job was to spy on Mr T & report back to the Government if he said anything "inappropriate". Before we were allowed into the van, Mr T presented us each a white Tibetan prayer scarf to welcome us to his country. (I will refer to Tibet as a country cos as far as I'm concerned it is one!). On the way into town we stopped off on the side of the road to see a large buddha carved into the side of a hill. It was beautifully painted with bright colours & decorated with rows & rows of prayer flags. Looking back over my photos from our first few hours in Tibet I am struck by how strongly the colours jump off the screen, a far cry from the haze of smog that can be seen in all our photos from China.

Photo: Carved Buddha draped in the white scarves the same as the ones given to us at the airport

Lhasa is the capital of Tibet & is located at just over 3,000m altitude so we took the rest of the afternoon easy....a gentle walk around town & a small dinner. The next morning we ventured to the magnificent Potala Palace - home of all the past Dalai Lama's...all except the current one who is exiled in India. The Potala Palace is breathtaking. The peace you feel as you enter the grounds is overwhelming. Many buddhists make the pilgrimage to the Palace to make offerings to the various gods & pray at the tombs of the many Dalai Lama's buried there. We are lucky that the Chinese driver is not with us today but it sad to see Mr T look around nervously before answering many of our questions. It is forbidden to talk about the current Dalai Lama & there are no images or references to him at all in the Palace. The views from the top of the Palace take in the whole of Lhasa & what a breathtaking sight. A low rise city in the shadow of a sprawling mountain range.....did I mention the wide expanse of blue sky??

Photo: The magnificent Potala Palace

Photo: A monk carrying his rosary beads

Photo: Looking out over Lhasa

One of the lovely things about travelling around in Lhasa is that the public buses are cheap, easy to use & best of all safe. The locals on the bus would smile at us, laugh with us (& at us) & try & give up their seats for us. On one trip there was a little old lady with a tiny puppy on her lap. When she noticed us making goo goo eyes at it she handed it over without hesitation for a cuddle. Just the sweetest people!

The afternoon was spent shopping in the streets around the other main temple in the middle of town - Jokhang Temple. All Tibetan buddhists are expected to make a pilgrimage to the Temple at least one in their lifetime. The pilgrimage must be made on foot, from their home.....which could be 1,000kms away. Once at the Temple, the pilgrims are required to walk around & around the outside of the Temple & then prostrate themselves on the ground repeatedly infront of the entrance. All while chanting a prayer over & over again. It doesn't end there though. If you are a super devout Buddhist who wants to prove his or her committment you would make the pilgrimage by talking one step sideways, prostrating yourself, standing back up & repeating...all the way from home!! Serious stuff! Did I mention that all while each pilgrim carries a prayer wheel which they must keep spinning in a clockwise direction in rhythym with their chant. Inside each wheel is a long, ribbon of paper which contains their prayer.

Photo: A pilgrim protrates himself outside the temple



Unfortunately it was while strolling around the town that we notice anothor disturbing legacy of the "cultural revolution" - on every street corner & every roof top were armed guards. Now, I'm not just talking one local copper, no I'm talking groups of 4 - 8, fully armed, dressed in riot gear, Chinese, military police. Your full on commando style soldier. They are there to react should they see any sign of uprising & to handle any "innappropriate" behavior. Amidst all this, the Tibetans just go about there business & live their lives as normally & peacefully as they can.


All around the Jokhang Temple are little market stalls selling the most amazing silver jewellery, rosary beads, teapots & old (& not so old) Tibetan artifacts. It was so much fun haggling with the stall holders & even more interesting when a little old Tibetan lady came over & grabbed Andrew by the elbow & dragged him away. I thought here we go - but all she did was whisper in his ear "Don't buy from that lady, she is Chinese!!"....from that moment on, we made sure we bought from the Tibetans only.


Don't get me wrong, I loved China & had an amazing time travelling around there & learning about their culture....I just take issue with them coming into Tibet & not only distroying so much of their heritage but for altering their way of life & changing their culture for future generations.


The next morning we visited the Sera Monastry. It is a working monastry which in the past housed thousands of monks.....it now houses less than 300. Inside the monastry there was evidence of some of the Chinese propaganda from the "cultural revolution" painted on the wall.....although, somehow, it had been whitewashed over & could only just be seen under the paint. Also of interest was a portrait of Chairman Mao - or should I say the outline on the wall where the portrait used to be. Somone had carefully chipped his face off the wall leaving only the outline of his head. This part of the monastry is currently being restored so when I return to Lhasa (hopefully soon!!), these features will no longer be visable!!

Photo: The lovely Sera Monastry

Photo: Buddhas...painted everywhere!

Photo: Where's Mr Mao gone???

The afternoon saw us at another monastry - Drepung Monastry. It is here that we were privilaged enough to witness the great monk debates. It is a tradtional, old practice where the young monks gather in the courtyard every afternoon to "debate" or question the theories they are studying or the issues of the day. What makes this so interesting & entertaining is that the listener sits, crossed legged on the ground while the questioner stands above him & claps his hands while firing off questions. It makes for a very noisy & animated debate. All the while, gathered around the outer edges of the courtyard are the older monks - on hand should any of the debaters get a little over enthusiastic! Quite a magnificant sight.

 Photo: Monks debate their hearts out!

Photo: Nothing wrong with a bit of Monk love!!

Later that evening we made our way back to the Potala Palace to witness it at night. It is subtly lit from underneath & makes for an imposing sight set high up on the hill. As a strange contrast to the Palace, the Chinese have installed a water & light show (much like the one in front of The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas!!) in the square under the Palace. So you turn one way & you have a centuries old monastry & you turn 180 degrees & you have a 21st century water installation. Tibet is definitley a country of contrast.

Photo: All lit up at night

The following day we got to visit the Jokhang Temple - or the temple in the middle of town with all the prostrating pilgrims. It was another lovely, peaceful place & it was nice to see what the pilgrims do once they are inside their "holy grail". The temple was beautiful but the trip there was one of things that sums up our experience on Tibet. We were catching the bus into town & we realised that the driver & conductor were the same ones from the day before. We knew this because as we approached the bus they were both hanging out the windows, waving, smiling & laughing....very excited that we would choose to catch their bus again. Seriously, the bus rides were a real highlight!!

We were also lucky enough to be able to visit a small nunnery not far from the Jokhang Temple. These ladies were amazing. Bigger smiles I don't think I've ever seen. They were making the prayer papers to go inside the hand held prayer wheel as carried by each pilgrim. They sang & swayed while they worked & were very happy to talk to us & answer questions. Inside the nunnery thay have a small temple, a tea house & a shop & the whole place is kept imacculately clean. I was taking photos of some flowers when one of the nuns snuck over & started posing in front of them like a supermodel - very funny!! Of course I laughed, then she laughed then grabbed me in a big, bear hug, slapped me on the back & went back to her day!!

Photo: One of the beautiful nuns!

At dinner on our last evening I got to talking to one of the young waiters. He had noticed me standing on my own, looking out over the roofs adjacent to our top floor restaurant. (I was actually taking photos of the cats sleeping on the roof!!). He went away & came back with some off-cuts of meat which he threw for them so that they would come closer & he laughed at me ooh-ing & aah-ing over a couple of stray moggies. As we stood there, he asked me in a low, hushed whisper if I knew of the current Dalai Lama? I said that I knew about him & his eyes lit up. He then asked me if I had met him. Of course, I said no but I conveyed my dismay at the current situation. Now this young man didn't speak much English but he said something that will stay with me forever. He looked straight into my eyes & said "I have sadness in my heart". I just wanted to cry. He is 17 & he said he will have to leave if things don't change. What a sad situation for a country of warm, welcoming, peaceful people.

Photo: Afore mentioned stray cats!

So I hope I have done Tibet justice. It is with sadness that I boarded the plane to leave - it was a place that really got under my skin. If it was any consolation, as we were flying to Kathmandu in Nepal we did get to fly over the magnificent Himilayan Mountains & we did get a jaw-dropping, birds eye view of Everest. What a sight!!

Photo: Oh yes, that is Mount Everest!!

But Daddy, I want a panda........

We disembarked our luxury cruise ship at Chongqing and began our day of transport.....we took a bus to the airport, flight to Guilin, taxi to the bus station, bus to Yangshuo then we walked 4kms to our hotel....pheew!


Yangshuo is a lovely little town at the foot of the mountains, surrounded by small villages & rice paddies. It was a bit of a hippy town in it's day & it still has that relaxed feel about it. It was decided that to enjoy our surroundings fully we would go on a bike ride. I havn't ridden a bike for about 15 years & it is safe to say I am probably the worst bike rider in the history of the world! I was absolutely terrified. I couldn't tell you about a single sight along the 25km trail we cycled. No, I kept my eyes planted firmly on the ground in front of me as the image in my mind of me flying through the air & landing face first in the dirt played over & over. Not fun, never again, the end! Andrew did say something really nice at the end though, he said that if Nicole Kidman & I were both auditioning for the role in BMX Bandits, they would have definitely picked me!! Bless! P.S Everyone else had a ball & said the ride was spectacular....whatever!

To make up for my horror morning, I decided to have a traditional Chinese "relaxation" massage. Again, I think we lost a lot in translation cos I spent the next hour going "ow, ow, ooooowww!!" while the tiny Chinese lady laughed & laughed! As if that wasn't enough pain for one day I then decided to be really brave & have some acupuncture. It was actually really nice & relaxing & something I will do again at home.

Another flight & another new city - Kunming. Merely the departure point for our final overnight train (unless you count a visit to Walmart). An 11pm departure, 8 hours with stops every 15 minutes, no air conditioning (temps in the 30's), toilet smells wafting through the cabin all night.....enough said??

Photo: Walmart - Chinese style!

We arrived in Dali early in the morning & were lucky enough to get our rooms straight away. Dali is a gorgeous little town in the shadow of Cangshan Mountain. The old town is surrounded by a beautiful, stone wall which we were lucky enough to climb onto for stunning, panoramic views of the whole town. A short trip out of town is the Three Pagodas complex. Entrance into the complex was quite steep & you can see the pagodas from the road so being tight arse backpackers, we took our photos over the wall & went back to town!!

Photo: Our view of the Three Pagodas!! (I should note that the slight haze over all our photos from China is the ever present smog)

Later that day we were walking back into town & we noticed a parade of people walking down the street throwing fire crackers & singing. We got all excited & started taking photos and waving at the marchers. We were trying to figure out what they were celebrating when suddenly we noticed a small glass box being carried on a platform by a dozen or so men. These men were being followed by a huge group of women crying & waving their hankies. It was a funeral.....whoopsies! We skulked off sheepishly before we were arrested or something for being disrespectful.

Photo: Does it look like these guys are grieving??

Not long after that we were doing some shopping & we noticed a couple of older, Chinese men trying to take sneaky photos of us......with massive cameras bearing giant lenses...not so stealth! We took photos of them taking photos of us & we all had a laugh. Another memory we will take away from Dali was the discovery of the best chocolate milkshakes in the world....random but true.

Photo: I love being a rock star!

Now it was time to embark on the epic Tiger Leaping Gorge trek. Day one was a lazy 10kms to Mr Nice's house....and yes, he really is nice! The hike was tough, uphill mostly & very hot but it was merely a taste of what was to come. After a fantastic dinner, reasonable sleep & lovely cooked breakfast it was time to hit the trails again....all 18kms of them! The other thing I forgot to mention is that this hike is at approximately 3,000m altitude so being out of breath is a given. The trek itself turned out to be not too bad & the views were magnificent. Miles & miles of mountains and the never ending river crashing below us. I can't say I was sad to see Tina's (our next bed for the night) as we came around the final bend but I was sad when it dawned on me that we still had about 2 hours of downhill to negotiate before a hot shower. It was the downhill that was the killer....must have old knees or something :) Finally we were down & it felt like quite an achievement, quite a mountain to conquer.

Photo: The breathtaking view from the courtyard at Mr Nice's

Photo: With my head literally in the clouds!


Our ordeal didn't end here however......next morning we were soooo happy to discover that we would  the travelling by mini van back to the starting point instead of having to walk the 10 or so kms along the flat road back to town. Sounds good aye......weeeeellllll, due to roadworks we spent most of the hour it took to negotiate the road, clinging to the side of the mountain approximately 700 metres above the afore mentioned crashing river & trying avoid being crushed by earth moving equipment or slipping off into oblivion. Can't tell you too much about the drive as I spent most of it with my head between my knees watching my life flash before my eyes...still it all worked out in the end!

This brings us to our next brief stop in the town on Lijiang. Lijiang is a strange contradiction of old, traditional buildings & lots of neon lights. It kinda reminded me of Disneyland....not in a good way!! As a matter of fact they actually charge to enter the "old" town but we managed to avoid paying every day quite easily just by walking past the surprising lax ticket office....makes us wonder if anyone actually pays?? Still we had a great time shopping here where haggling is somewhat of a sport. Lijiang is very popular with Chinese tourists (don't forget the Chinese have only very recently been permitted to leave their own village so the majority of tourists everywhere in China are Chinese). As there are soooo many Chinese tourists, our western money doesn't really excite the local stall holders much. This was proven over & over as we witnessed bus loads of Chinese, toting dozens of shopping bags each back to their tour buses at the end of each day. Our 100yuan each really didn't hit the sides. One funny story from Lijiang occurred one night after dinner. I spotted a "local" guy all dressed up in traditional garb, riding along on his horse with his dog on his lap. I whipped the camera out to take a photo & mid click he started to yell & point at me....turns out he doesn't dress up for the love of it. He wanted money & I wasn't paying. As I made a hasty retreat, I checked the offending photo.....a lovely shot of my sleeve!! In the panic I must have tried to cover the camera up just as I took the photo.....all that drama for nothing!! Oh well, it still makes me laugh!

Photo: Looking out over Lijiang at dusk

So a morning flight from Lijiang took us to Chengdu. A dirty, smoggy, unfriendly city in south western China. Apparently they havn't seen blue sky there for over ten years....I guess that explains why they were so unfriendly. Our visit to Chengdu was not about the city though....it was about the pandas. The city is famous for its Giant Panda Research Centre. I took over 300 hundred photos of the pandas so it is safe to say I'm in love. We came across a group of about 8 juvenile pandas who had just been fed and we were lucky enough to witness an hour long display of eating, playing & general showing off from some pandas who clearly love their public!

Photo: Number 67 of 300 shots......

That afternoon we headed into town where there is the Wenshu Si Temple & a fantastic vegetarian restaurant. Who knew tofu could taste like.....well anything?! Walking around the grounds of the temple we came a cross a group of old, Chinese men sitting under a rotunda, playing some sort of chess like game. They spoke no English & we had no idea how the game worked but we had a fantastic time barracking along for whoever was winning (we think) & they all wanted to pose for photos...very sweet really. On the way back to the hotel we decided on a detour to Tian Fu Square - where there is a giant statue of Chairman Mao waving out to his adoring public. It wasn't the statue which was memorable, rather the trip getting there. We were lost, nothing unusual for China, when a young guy spotted our bewildered looks & crossed the street to help us. We had a rather sad map & having taken one look at it, he decided that it would be easier for him to show us......so he walked with us, about 10 minutes down the road until we got to a corner where he could point the way. With a smile & a wave he went back to his business.....what a sweetheart.

Next morning we headed out of town to see the Giant Buddha. It was, well, giant. The photos tell the story but sadly the smog seemed to be the main star of the show. We did seem to attract a bit of attention from a group of teenagers who were ahead of us in the queue. When we got to the bottom of the Buddha, one of them got up the nerve to come over & ask for a photo. We posed & smiled & thought it would end there. Then I felt another tap on my shoulder & the young fella was back, this time with his mates & girlfriend. We all had to have a photo. The girls were so shy they wouldn't look us in the eye & hid behind there boyfriends when we talked to them. They were very sweet though & obviously very excited by there first encounter with some "western folk". I don't think I'll ever get used to being a tourist attraction. I seem to be rushing through this blog entry but it is only because I am so excited to get to Tibet..........

P.S Did I mention I love pandas??