Monday 21st November 2005We travel overland and say goodbye to India and hello to Nepal, the landscape changes from the flat plains of India as we climb towards the more hilly terrain of Nepal and the himalayas. Just as I ( mike ) thought I had escaped India without any stomach problems I am hit by Delhi belly the morning of departure, luckily it only lasts 24 hours and all is well the morning after on our 1st day in Nepal. Hence I took a break and missed breakfast while the est of the grouptook a cycle rickshaw ride to some local temple inc the birth place of Buddha.I sat outside our room on the verandah and watched the colourful tapestry of local life unfolding before me. 30 mins ater and Yoran our dutch friends in the group arives back before the rest of the group limping badly fom a 10cm gash in his leg, apparently he was helping the rickshaw driver push the cyle uphill and a nail sticking out from the wheel hub went straight into his leg. A hospital visit was required, so we all piled into our mini bus for the next leg of our journey via the local hospital !!!Would you believe straight into the casualty ward at the border hospital in Bhairawa and he is seen, operated on and back out within 2 hours, with 12 stitches ... we travel towards our next destination Chitwan national park for the opportunity to see some of asias amazing wildlife. Accompanied by a local guide we spend a day treking the jungle pathway in anticipation of seeing man eating tigers, elephants, rhinos, crocodiles, monkeys and a mixture of other wildlife. We stopped halfway into the trek for picnic, alas today we only saw plenty of Tiger, rhino and elephant poo !!!! Our illustrated guidebook ' The animal poo of Nepal will be published in 2006 if anyone wants a signed copy please add your name to the list. Luckily we did see plenty of crocodiles along the riverbank and monkies and birds and a fabulous mix of butterflys. After a night sleeping on the outskirts of the jungle in a small local family guesthouse with outside loo and shower we trekback through the undergrowth to our hotel. Friday 25th November. We journey north towards Kathmandu the capital of Nepaland our final day together with our group before we all go our separate ways - celebration time with an evening visit to a restaurant in the centre of Kathmandu a few street away from our modest hotel, we all exchange email addresses and say our farewells. Yorans leg is healing nicely and he is able to limp along and join us. If any of you guys read this we wish you all a happy and safe forward journey, and thank you for 2 weeks of outsatnding comeraderie and entertainment.
Sunday 6th November 2005INDIA Population 1.04 billionOne week in Delhi and your senses go into overdrive trying to cope with all the sights, sounds, and smells, imaginable. The traffic is a mix of every form of transport on mother earth including Elephant, Ox, Lorry, Van,Car, Bus, Bike, Auto rickshaw, Bicycle rickshaw, Stray dogs and goats, and most bizarre of all a group of monkies at a cross road gathering for breakfast standing, lying, sitting, grooming. We have experienced YOGA lessons at the National Institute of YOGA in Delhi which runs courses, our tutor Doctor ( left name in the room ) gave us the basics during our 2 day session, we are fully kharmered out ! Ummmmmmmmm !Major sights and places we have visited include the Red fort, Humayums tomb, Gandi's home, Qutb Minar, a craft centre, and numerous more not on the tourist trail.Our hotel the Ashok country resort was on the outskirts of Delhi away from the mayhem of central Delhi, it is amongst farm smallholdings to the south of the Capital. We brave the traffic and take an auto rickshaw ( Tuk Tuk ) to visit the sights and places of interest. The tuk tuk journey can only be described as close to a white knuckle experience, just close your eyes and prey as they whizz in and out of the traffic at speed, not having any doors or windows they make an ideal opportunity for beggars and tradespeople, who approach at the crossroads or traffic lights - should the driver decide to stop !!! The beggars come in all shapes and sizes from small children to mothers with babies in arms. Our most bizarre experience was a naked man who appeared out of the traffic to our tuk tuk with his hand outstretched in anticipation of us passing over our cash. He had one huge testicle the size of a mango !!! we were speechless at first, then relieved as the tuk tuk slowly moved away from the traffic lights to continue our journey, even the driver was amused and they see all sorts of sights in their daily work. To date, luckily we have not been plagued with delhi belly as the food at the Hotel and local restaurants we have frequented has been very enjoyable, bearing in mind that we are now Vegitarians for time being. Fresh juices of Mango, Pineapple, Papaya have been delicious. One place of interes was our visit to the main cultural centre near Lodi park which were showing a photographic exhibition of black and white photos of street children of Delhi, we viewed in silence as the images showed some of the most distressing scenes imaginable of children trying to survive in conditions way below any poverty levels experience in the west. Wednesday 9th November. we wander into the national institute of YOGA premises in central delhi and via the secretarys office find Doctor ( name in our room ) having his tea break. We manage to to persuade him to tutor us for two days in the art of YOGA . Day one was a 4 hour session in the meditation hall teaching us the rudiments of 48 yoga positions, Day two was more the spirtual, and mind relaxing practices, kharma has descended on our daily life - you need it in Delhi !!! we are now proud recipients of having been taught YOGA at one of the worlds finest establishments.Saturday 12th November We leave the tranquility of the outskirts of Delhi and move to the Hotel in the centre of town where we meet the rest of the group who will be our companions for the next 2 weeks on our Intrepid tour called Delhi to Kathmandu overland. Our group consists of 2 dutch, 2 italians and the rest british including ourselves making up a total of 11 plus our tour leader Nitin Dhami a 30 year old from a farming family in northern india near the kashmir border. We spend our first day visiting the place where Gandi lived in Delhi, which is now a museum and then an authentic craft museum managed by the Indian government.Sunday 13th November. Having got to know everyone in our group, we join the locals on a train to Agra. Indian railways is the worlds biggest employer with 1.6 employees, the total population of India at the last count was 1.4 billion, this doesn't include those nomads living outside the system!!! Our main attraction today in Agra is the world renown Taj Mahal monument, which was one of the sights mentioned in our book ' a 1000 places you should visit before you die ' The experience lived up to and surpassed all our expectations ! On the advice of our guide we visited just before sunset as the sun was setting in the west as a huge red ball while simultaniously the full moon appeared in the east looking like white marble. In the grounds of the Taj we met numerous Indian families asking us if their children could be photographed with us and the Taj as a backdrop - we felt like royalty and the people were so friendly and polite.Monday 14th November. Gwalior and a visit to a living Maharajahs palace called Jal Vilas which has amongst its bizarre collection of furniture and artefacts the worlds largest Chandelir - must be a nightmare to clean !!Tuesday 15th November. Overland to Orcha on the banks of the Betwa river, as well as visiting the palaces and temples we are invited into a locals house for a lesson in Indian cookery - we all sit on the floor in a small room 2 metres square while the owner prepares an array of dishes containing all the spices and herbs which make India famous worldwide for its food. The grandmother was an expert at cooking Chapatis on a 2 ring gas burner positioned at floor level. We sat crossed legged on the floor indian style or in the classic kneeling position in amazement as the food was prepared in front of us, we then consumed every morsel, fantastic.Wenesday 16th November - Bike riding in the local forest to a small tribal village to mix with the locals, the children loved to see the digital photos taken by the groups cameras and crowd around to see the instant results of themselves on screen. Over night train to Allahabad in an open sleeper compartment - didn't sleep very well due to anarray of snoring, grunting, lights going on and off at random and the air con vent being 6 inches from your face if you are on the top bunk near the ceiling of the train.Friday 18th November. The highlight of the tour so far in our opinion, we take four boats with four people from each of our group in 3 of the boats an a support boat which is crewed by the kitchen cooks and helpers down the river ganges.After all the noise and constant motion in the towns, this is heaven, we sailunder a canopy and sit on cushions on open deck and relax and soak up all the wildlife and passive activity along the river bank, at meal times the boats would all tie up together mid stream and the most fabulous Indian food was passwed across to each boat. We all took turns to help the two Indian brithers manning our boat to row down river, if the wind dropped and we couldn't use the sail. Great fun !!! At night we moored the boats alongside a sand bank in the middle of the river. The crew erected 2 man tents in a semi circle around a carpet floor and prepared our evening meal on a camp fire, which we enjoyed under the most magnificent sky parading a galaxy of stars and planets, as ther was no background light, after the meal we laid on our backs and tried to plot the various constellations and looked in ore at the fabulous views above. Camping and sailing on the Ganges will be in our memories for a very long time.Saturday 19th November. Overland to Varanasi to visit the ultimate destination for Hindu pilgrims, we walk the riverbank and see the various ghats ( steps alongside the riverbank ) and absorb the ceremonial burning of the bodies, and watch as small lighted candles in paper saucers float out across the river as the priests chant there homages to their gods. We take a boat at sunrise along the river to watch the people in all forms of washing activity and preys as the sun rises in a huge red ball over the ganges. At sunset we take another open decked boat along with 2 musicians, one playing the Sitar and the other small drums, we sail down river and watch the activity along the river bank with an array of Indian music to accompany us.Monday 21st November. We travel overland and leave India at the border point of Bhairwa, we are now in NEPAL.
31st October 2005EygptWe are now half way into our Eygptian adventure, Lawrence of Arabia, Indiana Jones, Tutankhamun and Rameses we have imagined them all.During our first few days in Cairo we visited the Eygptian Museum displaying the riches discovered in Tutankhamuns tomb amongst other relics dating from over 4000BC !Temples and Mosques and Tombs we have seen them all including the Pyramids at Giza on the west bank of the Nile. Having done the tourist bit we went off piste and braved the back streets inc the local markets, walts and all, smells good and some bad. Being stared at as if we had just arrived from Mars.We bought fresh dates and guavas from the market and managed to barteron the price which is expected by the Eygptians everywhere, so they say 10 Eygptian pounds ( about 1 pound sterling ) and we respond by offering half to 5 and sooner or later we end up agreeing around 6 or 7and everyone is happy.As other parts of the world the Eygptians love football and down the small narrow back streets they drag out a battered TV with the universal coat hanger as an aerial and watch North african league football. There can be up to 50 at a time watching the match, drinking tea in various forms and smoking Sheesha ( Hubble bubble pipe ). Needless to say its all blokes, the women are elsewhere.From Cairo to Aswan by overnight train. The ear plugs have proved very useful to not only dampen the noise of the train, but a group of Australian travellers singing into the early hours of the morning. In Aswan we experienced a felucca sail boat journey down the Nile to a Nubian village to mix with the locals. Wednesday 26th October up at 4am to join our armed convoy of buses across the desert to Abu Simbul. Watched Sunrise at 6am on the way. Visited the temple of Rameses 2 very spectacular. Back to Aswan and time to board our cruise boat the Mona Lisa for 3 days and nights on the Nile up to Luxor, stopping to visit various temples and tombs on route. Dress up in Gabalahs ( traditional Eygptian gowns ) for evening dinner on board boat and afterwards watched belly dancing, needless to say Mike was pulled up on stage to join the action, although his version of belly dancing was more amusing than technical !!!!The belly dancer really did have a belly - big time !Sunday 30th October arrived in Luxor early to visit the Valley of the Kings and Karnak temple, which must rate as the most impressive sites so far. Evening walk into central Luxor to visit typical cafe with our guide Ahmed and try the sheesha, with lemon tea. From Luxor to the seaside resort of Hurghada on the Red Sea which has crystal clear warm waters, ideal for swimming and snorkelling.Hurghada is Eygpts Blackpool, a major holiday resort for Russians, not an American in sight !!!Even some of the street signs are in Russian to keep the visitors happy.Friday 4th November, we are back in Cairo preparing our kit for the next chapter of our adventure INDIA.We have enjoyed the ups and downs of Eygpt which has included the occasional bout of Eygptian gip, which we hope will give us some immunity from any Delhi belly !!!
