jonnik

Up into the hills......
Shimla, India
Sunset on our first night in Shimla
Christ Church, Shimla
Right, at last I get round to adding something to this blog - I'll tell you these sites aren't as easy to get your head round as I'd hoped !!
So, we're now in the Himalayan foothill town of Shimla. At around 2200m it's much more bearable than the 44 degrees we left in Delhi (yes, for you shivering Stokies, that is centigrade !)
We had just 2 days in Delhi, but that was plenty - we'll do the sights there on our way back down south. So we've been in Shimla since saturday evening - it's nice, but there ain't a great deal to do. It's a major holiday destination for Indian familes so there's plenty of watching them watching us watching them kinda flava going on.
Spent alot of time sleeping since our arrival and have finally managed to get round to arranging our exit stategy - we leave for the chilled out village of Manali tomorrow morn at 8. It's a 10 hr bus ride - what fun !!
Anyway, that'll do for now....
Adios amigos
written by  jonnik on June 12, 2007 from Shimla, India
from the travel blog: Jon & Kenty's Grrrrrand Tour

Manali, ahhhhhh
Manali, India
After the mother of all bus rides, including high speed rear tyre blow out , we finally made it to lovely Old Manali.
It certainly is a pretty place, a bit of a scene with probably more Westerners then locals, but heh, birds of a feather flock together and all that.
Gonna spend a good few weeks here. I mean, why not, the world is our oyster and I don't even eat seafood.
So there you have it, a (very) brief synopsis of things to date. We'll explore Manali over the next few days and post some more notes soon.
written by  jonnik on June 14, 2007 from Manali, India
from the travel blog: Jon & Kenty's Grrrrrand Tour

Still in Manali
Manali, India
Our new friend
Jon by the river
Yep, still here, but on the move (sort of) tomorrow. Just round the corner to another guesthouse that overlooks the river and is definately in a nicer location. This comes to us highly recommnded by none other than Mr & Mrs Brozlehoot-Forster (aka Kev n Just).
I've been popping around and about town today as it is Miss Kent's birthday on monday, so there is need for shopping, shopping...So far so good, but don't tell her, it's all a surprise.
Just been for some fantastic Indian food and are whiling away some time as the rain pours down outside. It has cleared the air though after the recent heatwave and we can now see the snow-capped peaks around us. In fact, the weather is all very English (well, Indian actually) with Nik wearing as jumper and sporting socks AND sandals next to me.
We've met a very friendly Israeli couple, Boaz and Adi, who have a month in India celebrating their honeymoon.
Namaste and much love,
Jon and Nik xxx
written by  jonnik on June 16, 2007 from Manali, India
from the travel blog: Jon & Kenty's Grrrrrand Tour

Birthday and tabla lessons
Manali, India
Hello !
As you can see, we have at last got round to posting some photos. Things take a while here and it's been a slightly labourious process.
Anyway, still in Manali and we've been spending the last few days having tabla lessons. It's been pretty hard but good fun and the guy gave us loads of his time for free, even if it did mean sitting cross-legged for 4 hours ! We have now hired a set for a week which was also a task in itself !
We are staying at the Himalaya Cottage, it's just us and the crrrrrrazy guy Sharman who works there, which can make for some pretty interesting times ! Every conversation with him is insane but the views are the best in town and he does make us nice chai and toast in the morning.
Nik had a great birthday, with lot's of nice presents, birthday cake, Indian Head massage followed by trip to the salon, and lots more general madness.
Hope everyone is well, speak soon....
Love,
Jon & Nik xxxx
Nik with chocolate birthday cake
Chilling on the balcony on Nik's birthday afternoon
Sunny morning Manali
written by  jonnik on June 23, 2007 from Manali, India

Change of address and phone number
Waterfall at Vashist
More Manali beauty
KATA GHADI GHEN
TETE KETE TAKU TAKU
Hello there to you all,
Well we hired the tabla, but haven't got round to playing them a great deal. Yes, sorry Kev, we know we're crap. They will go back to the hire shop tomorrow as we are gonna head north to Leh in the next few days.
Had a nice day today over the valley in Vashist where we walked through the forest to a very pretty waterfall.
Oh, and we've moved again. We needed a room with a bathroom (we'll spare you the details) so we're next door rocking it up in the Rockway Cottage. It's a bit more upmarket with a wood burning stove in the room, not that we need it, it's pretty warm here. The mattresses and pillows are crazy though! It's like they're made out of rock or something, very hard....
If anyone needs to call us (maybe Lucy or Luke over the next couple of weeks) then Nik has got an Indian SIM card. The number is 9816576522 - you may need a code in front of that, we'll leave you to work that one out.
We spoke to Iain, our house sitter, earlier and he spoke of torrential rain and biblical floods in the UK. Maybe the monsoon has arrived early there too........
Take care folks and have fun,
Love,
Jon & Nik

Oh Leh, oh Leh, oh Leh, oh Leh...
Leh, India
Leh Palace & Gompa
Nik & Prayer Flags
Big blue skies, Manali to Leh highway
After a cold night under canvas in Sarchu, 4400m
Joolay !!
Well we have finally arrived in the desert city of Leh, and what a time we had getting here !! Day 1: the bus had 2 punctures on the way, so we spent 17 hrs on bumpy roads with sore arses and then spent the night in a tent at 4200m - very cold !! The next day wasn't as long fortunately, but all the way the scenery was spectacular, changing from one valley to the next. We went over Taglang La, at 5328m, the second highest road in the world....the whole journey it was amazing !!
There is quite a contrast between the lushness of Manali and the dry, desert of Leh. We're gonna relax for a few days and get used to life at the new dizzy heights.
The internet connection here is notoriously slow so we will endeavour to post some more photos soon.
Hope you are all well,
Love,
Jon & Nik.
written by  jonnik on July 5, 2007 from Leh, India

Back in rainy Manali
Jon jumping off the dunes
I believe I can fly
Namaste, Joolay and Hello,
Yes, we are back in rainy Manali after a month in sunny Ladakh. The internet connection was so slow in Leh that we didn't bother with anymore blogging there but now we are back !!
We had a great time in Leh, although we didn't really do a great deal, saw the sights (Leh Palace, numerous gompas, the Shanti Stupa...) and did a bit of exploring around the local area on a scooter we hired (note: must remember to always add oil to a 2-stroke engine) and generally did quite a bit of relaxing. Nik attended a 2-day course on Buddhist Meditation but my guts prevented me from attending although the Amchi (traditional Tibetan doctor) sorted me out with a five day course of rabbit shit looking pellets.
Whilst we were in Leh on the day after Dad Walton's 60th birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dad !!!) we had some great news off Lucy and Luke, yes a text to inform us of the birth of our new nephew Rory George Humphries !!! He arrived on 17th July, a bonny 7lb 8oz.
So a HUUUUUUGE congratulations to all, spoke to Lucy last night and everyone is doing great (maybe a bit more sleep needed.......)
We had what seemed a never ending mission to get to the Nubra Valley, but after 20 nights at the Oriental guesthouse and numerous trips to Leh bus station (one BIG toilet) we finally made it to Hunder, effectively the end of the line in India with Tibet (not China) the next stop. The Nubra Valley is an absolutely stunning place, there's nowt to do there, just reading in hammocks and walking and walking and walking and taking it all in. We saw wild Bactrian camels whilst having fun jumping off the Sahara-like sand dunes. On the way back from Hunder the jeep driver stopped at Khardung La, the world's highest road at 5,602m.
So we had a few more days in Leh on our return in the biggest room in the world (ever)then took a minibus for a 17 hour journey back to Manali. The driver must have been some retired minibus rally driver or something because he certainly wasn't hanging around. I mean it took over 30 hours to get there in the bus but he caned it back in only 17 ! It was a bit hair-raising at times (Kev, you know what we mean) but you've just gotta trust the man behind the wheel...
So here we are again and it's lashing down outside as it did most of yesterday, I guess that's the monsoon for you, as we're sure you all know about - the rain in England even made the front page of the Times of India. We're not going to stay too long here again this time as there's so much more of India (and Nepal) we want to see. Our next stop will be Dharamsala, home of HH The Dalai Lama.
Hope you are all well and enjoying yourselves,
Adios amigos,
Jon & Nik
written by  jonnik on August 3, 2007 from Manali, India

An even wetter Dharamsala
Dharmsala, India
Friday night beers & take-away after a hard week's yoga
Jon & rain
Nik in the rain
So...after nearly getting stuck in Manali forever we finally managed to escape to beautiful, but very, VERY wet Dharamsala. We got there around 3 weeks ago (today 31st Aug) and typically spent a bit longer there than originally intended. Whilst there we did a 5 day yoga course which was very good, although the 7 a.m. starts weren't so great - it was like being back at work ! We also did a Tibetan cookery course and learnt how to make momos, mmmmmm. The good thing was that we had a nice appartment in Dharamsala which meant we could put our newly learnt skills to practice. It also meant we could make a nice cup of tea in the mornings. The appartment was nice, a real bargain at about 3 squid a night, but the slight downfall was that it was down 304 (yes we counted them) steps, it was like step aerobics every day !
One evening we were fortunate enough to be invited to a Tibetan family's (Amdo & family) house for dinner which was good fun. We had a few beers with him but we don't think he was over impressed with the bottle of Royal Stag (Indian Whisky) we took with us, apparently he only likes the real stuff.
We did a bit of walking in between the torrential downpours to Bhagshu, Dharamkot and the much hyped but vastly overated Dal Lake. One day we really did get soaked. When we got back to the hotel everything was drenched and this was added to by the fact that half a litre of water had leaked inside my (Jon) bag !!
One thing about Dharamsala was all the birds of prey continually soaring through the sky, this was a bit off putting during the yoga course when we were supposed to be listening to and watching the teacher not gazing out of the window. We also saw lot of mongooses (or should that be mongeese ?) and far, far too many mosquitoes.
written by  jonnik on August 31, 2007 from Dharmsala, India

Amritsar
Amritsar, India
Well, after the lovely cool confines of Dharamsala we headed south and west to the holy city of Amritsar, where we we greeted by pushy rickshaw riders and temperatures of 39 degrees C !! We headed to Amritsar for 2 reasons really, one to see the Golden Temple, and two to get a train back to Delhi - we've had enough of buses in India for the moment.
Amritsar, despite the heat, was a good place. The hotel lived up to it's reputation - it's described as a 'shabby hovel' in the Lonely Planet and we weren't disappointed, but the owners were lovely and that's what counts. The Golden Temple was fantastic, definately a better experience than we thought it might be. We made a few trips there, one at Sunrise and another to see the Guru Granth Sahib (the Sikh holy book) being put to bed, as it is at around 10.15 every night.
One evening we went to the India-Pakistan border to watch the closing of the border ceremony (as seen on Michael Palin's Himalaya programme). It wa a typically mad scene on a very, very hot night. The gate on the border is opened and slammed shut and the flags of the two countries lowered (at exactly the same time) whilst the overdressed soldiers try to out-stomp and out-scowl each other. This all goes on in front of crowds of thousands of cheering 'fans' and they do it every night, mad...
We also sent a bit of time eating ice cream in Amritsar, after all it was very hot and we were both missing the cake we munched everyday in Dharamsala...
Golden Temple, Amritsar
Colourful crowds at border
written by  jonnik on September 12, 2007 from Amritsar, India

Leaving India, bound for Nepal
Delhi, India
Nik at Red Fort, Delhi
We left a very hot Amritsar on 1st September (is it September already ?) on the mid-afternoon train to Delhi, arriving in the capital late at about 10.30pm. After being greeted by the lovely touts and rickshaw riders we made our way to the Smyle Inn where we had a room booked (or so we thought....). The hotel manager told us 'Yes, you may have booked a room with me but it isn't in this hotel'. What?!?! We ended up round the corner in the Hotel Euro International (soon to become known as Hotel Eurotrash, due to crappy service, along with crappy overpriced rooms with air-con that doesn't work !!)
Highlights of the visit to Delhi were the trip to the Red Fort, the avacado sandwiches (mmmmm, avacado....) and Jon's ten dish thali one evening (how daunting was that ?!?!)
After 2 nights we headed out by overnight train towards Nepal, arriving delayed, due to the heavy monsoon rains and flooding, in Gorakhpur, the worst town yet (or is that the worst town in the world, ever ?) We quickly escaped in a very crowded jeep and after crossing the border into Nepal a few hours later spent a night in a gorgeous (NOT) room in the border town of Bhairawa.
Jon overdoing it on 10 dish thali
written by  jonnik on October 8, 2007 from Delhi, India

Kathmandu & The Last Resort (near Tibetan Border)
Kathmandu, Nepal
Would you sleep here ?
Holy Baba
Festival in Kathmandu
The Garden of Dreams
Bodnath Stupa, Kathmandu
Chillin' at The Last Resort
Well, We spent a couple of lazy days in Kathmandu, booked into the Kathmandu Prince Hotel (a real bargain at US$10, the internet price is US$40 !!) and did most of the main touristy sights. We hiked up the 333 steps to the Monkey Temple at Swayanabath where the Buudha gave some of his teachings, visited Pashputinath Temple (the most holy Hindu temple complex in Nepal) where the bodies are burnt, hung out at Durber Square, and joined the throngs of Tibetan pilgrims at the amazing temple at Bodhnath. Kathmandu is a fantastic and very busy place, but we found solitude in a beautiful garden called the Garden of Dreams, which has recently been restored to it's former glory - we loved it ! The food in Nepal is great, as are the bars, but it's nowhere near as cheap as India and we were quite shocked at the restaurant bills after 3 months of much cheapness. The shopping is also pretty amazing with a million (and one) shops selling fanastic fake (but authentically fake) outdoor gear (clothes, shoes, and everything else you would want or need to scale Everest). After about a week of that crazy city we decided we needed a holiday (it's a hard life) so headed north, almost to the Tibetan border, to spend 3 nights at a beautiful place called 'The Last Resort'. It is home to the world's highest bungy jump, but at 162m we both resisted the temptation. The jump was off a swing bridge, like something out of Indiana Jones, only 10 times as high !! It was a nice place to chill out and enjoy some great food. We stayed in a tent and met lots of funny people including 4 crazy guys from Belarus. We did a bit of walking (in preparation for the BIG one - watch this space), relaxed in the sauna and plunge pool, and had our first (but by no means last) encounter with a Nepalese leech (uurrrrggghhhh !!!). Another reason for heading up to The Last Resort rather than Pokhara was that the monsoon was still in flow. There is no point going somewhere like Pokhara, with it's magical mountain views, if you can't see the mountains and the rain storms we were still having would have meant no views at all.
written by  jonnik on November 23, 2007 from Kathmandu, Nepal

Pokhara
Pokhara, Nepal
Pokhara Lake
So after returning from a relaxing few days at The Last Resort we took a bus (another delayed bus, this time mechanical trouble) to gorgeous Pokhara, for some mountain views and maybe (just maybe) a trek up into the Himalaya. We stayed up at the top end of the lake at the Vienna Lake Lodge, run by the incredibly friendly and helpful Santos and family. We spent a couple of days exploring Pokhara (it's only small) - swimming in and boating on the lake, a walk to the Shanti Stupa and what we thought was going to be a walk around the lake but ended up in us having to pay a fisherman to take us back over the water to our hotel (that lake is BIG). On the walk we somehow managed to take a wrong turn and were soon disoriented and becoming food to the many leeches that inhabit Nepal during the monsoon. Jon got off fairly lightly (it's the mosquitos that like me !) but Nicky took the full force of the onslaught and ended up with about 15 bites by the end of the day - but nothing a cold beer and some hot food couldn't fix. (Lesson learnt: never go walking in Nepal during the monsoon wearing open toed sandals, waders would be a better choice). One noticable difference about Nepal compared to India (certainly in Pokhara) was just how friendly and charming the people are. We met such nice, happy faces - the family that ran the juice bar where we had a daily fix of fruit smoothie, Buti the Tibetan refugee whose beaming smile we saw nearly everyday, and all the others.
The weather, after sitting out the monsoon all summer, now seemed to be breaking and after much (gentle) persuasion Nicky had agreed to come on a trek into the Annapurna range with me. We met with Bhek, the man who would guide us through the mountains for 6 days, and he explained that each day would be relatively easy (ha ha !!) and arranged that in a couple of days we would set off. The plan was to walk up to Poon Hill at 3210m and witness the sunrise over the mountains from this amazing viewpoint, as the Lonely Planet put it 'in an area blessed with many amzaing viewpoints Poon Hill stands out'....we shall see....
Row, row, row !!!
written by  jonnik on December 23, 2007 from Pokhara, Nepal

The Trek
Pokhara, Nepal
Day 1 - Phedi to Tolka
Up early, sun shining and sky blue - here comes the mountain views !! Power breakfast ready for big day, Bhek and Prakash (guide & porter) arrive saying how fantastic it is that the weather has changed and the monsoon is finally over. Bhek confirms that we won't need to take waterproof trousers (ha ha !!). Take a taxi to Phedi to start the ascent up to Poon Hill and on the way we have fantastic views of the Annapurne Range (come on !!!).
So we start out from Phedi (altitude 900m) and it's a steep, steep climb up an endless stone staircase and the sun is belting down and it's boiling !! I ask Bhek how long the stairs will go on for, and despite telling us earlier it is an easy trek, he replies 'hours'. We stop after an hour or so for a drink at a chai shop and Nik purchases bamboo staff, to become her best friend over the next few days. We continue, it's uphill, uphill and more uphill (and still hot and sunny), and stop for lunch in Pothana (1900m). We have been told that it's best for everyone to order the same food at these small teahouses so we follow Bhek and Prakash's lead and have Dhal Bhat Takari (veg curry, rice, dhal and poppadom). As we're waiting for lunch to arrive we notice the sky isn't so blue in one direction, it's looking a bit grey. We ask Bhek if he thinks it might rain this afternoon, 'Possibly', he answers. Soon after we set off again the rain has started, gentle at first but soon it's raining very hard and the snow-capped mountains have long since vanished. We continue upward to Deurali (2100m), but after a while, mid afternoon, we start a steep descent, this wasn't what we imagined !! We thought it would be slowly upwards each day to our destiny at 3210m, but it seems we are very wrong and all the hard work of this morning will be lost. The steps are very slippery and we both take a fall, we are also getting reacquainted with our old friends the leeches, they seem very hungry ! And to top things off Nik has developed a migraine ! We arrive in Tolka (1707m) at around 5pm, but it seems our hotel is at the far end of 'town', and we finally make it there, knackered and very wet (it's still raining) another half an hour later. Bhek has chosen the Hira Guesthouse ('more comfy than the others')....
Classy hotel on the first night
...Nik isn't feeling very good at all by now and has a lie down in our 'comfy' room (it was only 100 Nepalese Rupees - about 80pence). We order more Dhal Bhat Takari and are in bed, fast asleep, by about 9pm. Let's just hope the rain stops by tomorrow...
Day 2 - Tolka to Chhomrong
Up early, power breakfast, Nik feeling better, still raining hard. We set off downhill again, and continue the descent for 2 hours down to Landruk (1550m) where we stop for chai and to remove our boots and socks and de-leech our aching feet. They have these bowls of ash on the table at the teahouse that people put the leeches into (we don't) so that they end up a writhing mass of ash covered leech, lovely ! The descent is more gentle after (but we're still heading down and it should be up !!) as we follow the river to New Bridge (1380m), but soon we are climbing steeply again all the way up to Jhinu (1760m) where we stop for lunch. Luckily the food takes a while to arrive giving us chance to rest (Nik sleeps) as we shelter from the torrential rain. After lunch it's another steep climb to Chhomrong (2150m), but it's not as hard as we'd feared and we seem to arrive before schedule at around 3.30pm. Hot shower and hot tea to warm up, Bhek was going to show us around the village but the rain is persisiting so we have a well earned pre-dinner nap. We meet some girls from San Fran who are heading to Annapurna Base camp (next time...) and then it's another early night. (P.S. It's still raining.....)
Day 3 - Chhomrong to Tadapani
Up early, it's lashing down and has been all night. Bhek quickly shows us round the village and we realise (to Nik's amusement) that he thinks Jon's name is David !! He's been calling it me for 2 days now and it seems too late to correct him, so it continues. We set off in the rain, it's uphill for a bit, and we have a scarey moment crossing a landslide. The new path that has been made in the rubble is barely 6 inches wide and it's a steep and very long drop down to the valley below. We take a tea break in a small village and there are a few other trekkers there, we are all very wet and all pick the leeches out of our boots, socks and everywhere else the buggers have crawled to. Again, the path leads us down, down and down again and we're all cold, wet and getting a bit miserable - we are so close to huge mountains but can't even see a glimpse of them. After descending all morning we stop for lunch at Gurjung. We are soaked and cold but keep our spirits by teaching each other card games - it's very funny as Bhek and Prakash have totally understood our instructions and we seem to play by different rules. We have yet more Dhal Bhat Takari and it is amazing how much these guys can eat !! It's also pretty crazy that they have the same meal twice a day, everyday. We ask them why they never try anything else and they tell us they like Dhal Bhat Takari (fair enough). We set off again in the neverending monsoon heading uphill this time to Tadapani and Nik asks Bhek if Tadapani is the village we can see high up in the clouds, miles away. 'Oh no', he replies, ' you can't see it, it's beyond that village' (oh dear). So up, up, up we climb through the forest and the mud and finally we arrive at Tadapani (2680m) late afternoon. It has rained all day again, we are cold so take a hot shower to warm up then crawl into bed with sleeping bags and blankets to try and get warm. After an hour or so (and still pretty cold) we head into the communal room at the guesthouse and are amazed and delighted to find that it is warm, very warm in fact. The room is dominated by a huge table, big enough to seat about 30 people, and under the table there are numerous terracotta fire pits keeping the place warm. The table has blankets hanging over it's sides and we pull them over our laps and warm up (it's heaven !!). Also under the table is washing lines where everyone can hang their wet clothes to dry. The guesthouse is quite busy and we meet lots of funny people all talking about the rain. We learn that after dinner the local villagers have arranged to come to the common room and put on a performance for us all. They soon arrive with, about 15 initially, and are soon singing and dancing for us. More and more arrive as the evening progresses and before long we are all dragged up to do a little dance of our own !! It's all very funny, very heart warming and just what we needed to lift our spirits after a hard, cold and wet day.
Joining in with local entermainment
We head to bed after receiving our flower garlands with smiles on our faces, despite the rain which is still falling heavily.
Day 4 - Tadapani to Ghorepani
It's another early start, amazingly it's not raining and we catch a glimpse (allbeit a fleeting one) of the mountains through the mist. Life goes on around us in the village, the women washing dishes and cooking and the children playing.
Faces of Nepal
We set off towards Ghorepani, downhill at first and along a ranging river, stopping at Banthanti for chai mid-morning. Checking our feet for leeches (amazingly there are non today) Nik notices the first signs of a blister developing (let's hope it doesn't grow). We then set off and are soon climbing again up through amazing scenery in the worlds largest rhododendron forest.
Kenty enjoying the trek
It's pretty steep all the way up until we stop for lunch in Upper Deurali at 3190m. By now the rain has started again and, given the altitude, it's cold outside. We huddle round a wood burner in the teahouse and swap stories with a cool Dutch couple from Amsterdam. After a fairly long lunch we are reluntanct to leave the warmth but eventually set off, in the rain, for an easy afternoon stroll, up slightly and then down, down, down to Ghorepani (2870m). At the guesthouse we huddle round another wood burner, play more confusing cards and (like everybody else staying there) talk about how we hope and pray it will be dry and clear the following morning for the 4.45 a.m. hike up to PoonHill for the dramatic Himalayan sunrise. We order (yet) more Dhal Bhat Takari and are so tired (almost too tired to eat, but not quite) and are in bed not long after 8 (party animals !!). It's cold in the room and we pile on the blankets, Nik has a makeshift hot water bottle (hot water in her drinking bottle) to keep her warm. We set the alarm for a frightening 4a.m. and say our prays that tomorrow (like no day yet) will start clear and without rain. There's not much hope as we can hear the rain lashing down as we drift off to sleep.
Day 5 - Poon Hill/ Ghorepani to Tatopani
The alarm goes off and it's still hammering down, it has been all night. We know there's no point bothering with the hour's hike up to Poon Hill this morning, there will be no sunrise views. We go back to sleep and wake again at 5.45a.m., just as it's getting light and get another glimpse of the Annapurna range. It's not quite what we hoped for but still very impressive. We go back to sleep again and when we wake up we decide to stay here for the day, have a chiller, and hope that tomorrow will be brighter and give us the views we have trekked up here for. We spend the morning and afternoon huddling around the wood burner, playing cards and reading and the sun actaully appears, giving us hope for tomorow. In the afternoon Jon makes the hour long trek up to Poon Hill with Bhek to see if there are any views form there, there aren't !
Another cracking view from Poon Hill
Many other trekkers have also decided to stay here another night in the hope that it will be clear tomorrow morning, but as the afternoon turns into evening it goes very grey and soon is lashing down again. We ask Bhek what he thinks the chances are that it will be clear tomorrow, he tells us that he doesn't think it will be and it's very unlikely we'll see the sunrise in the morning. As we're due to get up at 4ish tomorrow morning it's another early night (about 8.30pm) and before going to sleep we discuss whether or not we will go up to Poon Hill tomorrow just in case it clears when we are there. Jon decides he will probably go for it, Nik is not so sure. We are asleep before 9, and the rain is coming down by the bucket outside.
Day 6 - (Still in) Ghorepani to
We wake up at 3.30a.m. and can hear the rain lashing down outside. Jon stays awake listening to the rain until 4.30 and (being insane) decides that he will make the hour long trek to Poon Hill just in case it stops raining and is clear for the sunrise. Nik patches up her blisters and reluctantly decides to come too. We set off in the darkness, howling wind and pouring rain and after 10 minutes or so our torch batteries decide to give up on us !! So we trudge on up the hill, getting soaked, it's a kind of Sam and Mr Frodo experience. There is no sign of the rain ending and when we get to the top there are no views at all.
Poon Hill (3210m) - check that view !!!
It's all pretty funny though and we spend a few minutes up at Poon Hill sheltering in a wooden shack. We then trudge back down the hill in more rain and are greeted by looks of disbelief when we get back to the guesthouse. "Did you really go up there this morning ?!?!", people ask us. We have a huge breakfast, then are on the road about 8.30a.m. for the long descent to Tatopani. As we are leaving the guesthouse Nik picks up her trusty stick only to realise that it isn't her trusty stick at all - someone has made off with her faithful friend leaving a much inferior model, the cheeky @#*@ !! So we set off and it's down, down and more down until we stop for lunch at Sikha. After lunch we carry on down and on a steep descent we pass a porter carrying another man !! This guy must weigh about 75kgs and he's sitting in a little basket being carried by the porter uphill !!! To say the porter is struggling is somewhat of an understatement.
The rain has been coming down steadily all day but before long it's coming down by the bucket. Late afternoon, after heading down hill all day, we finally come to the Kali Ghanaki valley. We cross the river, which after 5 days of torrential rain is raging, on a rickety swing bridge and follow it up stream towards Tatopani. Along the way we have to cross a huge landslide (very scary - the river is raging below) and dodge the mules that carry things up and down the valley. At this point Nik is in severe pain with her blister, it hasn't been examined yet but she is wincing with every step. We eventually arrive in the village and it's quite civilized with bakeries and restaurants. We get a quick shower, Nik checks her feet...
The mother of all blisters !!!
...then it's down to the river for a bath in the hot springs we have heard much about. We didn't really know what to expect but after walking for 6 days it was a slice of heaven. The water was nice and hot and it felt fantastic to soak our aching limbs.
Cooking in the hot springs after a hard day
We stay in the water for about an hour then it's food and another early night. It's been a long day today, we were up early and have descended from 3210m at dawn to about 1200m now. We look forward to a short easy day tomorrow (or so we think !!) - there's no more hills to climb up or down and we should only be walking for about 2 or 3 hours (ha ha !!) - p.s. it's raining heavily outside.
Day 7 - Tatopani to Beni (or so we think)
So, today is gonna be an easy one. It's been raining all night but we head down to the hot springs first thing and get the pool all to ourselves, that is until a party of about 30 pilgrims arrive and decide to join us - all very funny. After a lazy breakfast (there's no rush today) we head off about 8.30 into the pouring rain.
Trekking Posse (all smiles before 'easy' last day)
Nik has done her best to patch up her blister and decides sandals are a better option that boots today, she still looks in pain with every step she takes. The first hazard we reach is the landslide that we crossed last night just south of Tatopani. Due to the rain, that has hammered down all night (and is still heavy), the landslide is still sliding in a places and it's even more scary to cross today, The newly formed path across it is the width of a human foot and it's the raging, angry, swollen Kali Ghandaki below us (don't fancy that much). It's back across the swing bridge, Jon grabs a handful of the local herbs to eat along the road and then we follow the river and the path is well formed and nice and flat if not a bit flooded in places. We carry on for 2 hours, Nik in pain and with very wet feet in her sandals, and arrive at a small village - the end of the trek. It's here that we will take a Jeep to Beni and then take a bus back to Pokhara. However, things don't quite go to plan...we learn that due to many, many landslides along the track the jeep won't be running today (gutted !!). We have some lunch and try and dry off a bit then set off again. Bhek tells us not to worry, there will be transport available soon. We walk for another 2 hours, crossing raging rivers where we all hold hands to help each other across, crossing more scary landslides (one that sees us very nearly hit by a nice big rock that bounces down the mountainside), and eventually stumble upon a jeep that will take us to our destination. We get in (us 4 and 13 others !!) and set off. We don't get far, in fact after about 7 minutes we have to stop as the jeep breaks down !!! So it's back out and walking again. Amazingly, the rain finally starts to stop and the sun comes out. We arrive at another village and negotiate a lift with a guy in his battered Toyota Corolla. This lasts for about 3 minutes before we reached another landslide and have to set off on foot again. Finally we reach Beni, where we should be catching the bus, however there are no buses due to the landslides. We get another Jeep but only for about 20 minutes to the next landslide !!
After that we struggle to find any more transport and it's back on foot along the river. By now it's starting to go dark, but hey, at least it's stopped raining !! We walk until about 6.30pm and get to cross one last scary raging river before we negotiate a taxi (he knows he can charge us loads !!!) to Pokhara. By this time we have walked for 10 hours and are nearly in Baglung.
It's a cold drive back to Pokhara (we've got wet clothes on and the driver insists on the windows open we must smell) which we finally reach at about 8.15pm. We grab a nice hot shower, then go out for a 'quick' bite (it takes hours !!!) and finally crash out about 11pm - what a day !!!
written by  jonnik on December 25, 2007 from Pokhara, Nepal

Last few days in Pokhara
Pokhara, Nepal
We had a well earned lazy morning the day after the trek. Bhek came round and we arranged to go to his village the following day. By now the weather was just as it was when we set off, hot and sunny - what happened to the bit in between ?
The next day we were up early to head up to Sarangkot for the Annapurna Sunrise, and we finally got to see the beautiful mountains.
At last we see the mountains
Later that day we headed to Bhek and Prakash's village where a huge landslide had killed 5 people just before we arrived in Pokhara. Bhek recounted the story of what had happened as his wife made us lunch.
It was then back into Pokhara and the final farewell to our mountain guide - what a man !! That night we packed our bags ready for leaving Pokhara tomorrow morning. We both felt pretty sad to be leaving this beautiful place and it's amazing, friendly people.
written by  jonnik on December 31, 2007 from Pokhara, Nepal

Chitwan National Park
Sauraha, Nepal
After Pokhara we headed south for a few days at Chitwan National Park - we hoped to see some wildlife. We stayed in the Traveler's Jungle Camp, which had been recommended to us by a fellow traveler, in a place called Sauraha just outside the park itself. Chitwan is located south of Pokhara and at a lower altitude and the weather was boiling !!! We went on an early morning canoe ride down the Rapti River, which was good, and saw some real life crocs !!
A real life Croc !!
After the canoe ride we took a jungle trek through the National Park but didn't see any tigers or rhinos, in fact it all felt a bit contrived. We saw some funny baby elephants at the breeding centre. Later that day we helped to bathe some more elephants
Look out !!
There wasn't a great deal to do at night here apart from chill out with a cold beer and watch the glorious sunsets.
Sunset at Royal Chitwan National Park
The highlight of our time here though was getting to see a wild bull elephant who would emerge from the park each evening and head into town to do the wild thing with a female elephant who was based at one of the lodges. He was cool....
Wild elephant
written by  jonnik on January 1, 2008 from Sauraha, Nepal

Back to Kathmandu
Kathmandu, Nepal
After 3 nights in Chitwan we took the bus to Kathmandu where we would get a flight back to the madness of India- there was no way we were gonna spend 3 days on a bus to get to Varanasi !! We didn't do a great deal here over the next couple of days- we did a bit more shopping (it's Kathmandu after all), bumped into a couple of people we had met on the trek, and spent too much time trying to book a room in Varanasi.
The security at Kathmandu airport was like nothing we have ever seen. Talk about the world gone mad !! We must have had our bags checked about 5 times and even had to have a hand luggage checked at the bottom of the ladder before getting onto the plane, k-razy !!! But eventually we were up in the air for the hour or so flight to Varanasi and it was bye-bye to Nepal. We both said what an amazing place it was and how we would definitely be back one day.
written by  jonnik on January 2, 2008 from Kathmandu, Nepal

The holy city of Varanasi
Varanasi, India
We arrived in very hot Varanasi late afternoon and were met by hard working and very friendly Indian touts outside the airport. We negotiated (with about 10 people) a taxi into town, which only actually took us half way into the city as he informed us it was too busy to go all the way to our hotel. We then took a rickshaw who also failed to take us to the hotel (apparently it was too busy) so we ended up walking the last bit in the burning heat ! We finally found our hotel and very nice it was in a prime position on the ghats overlooking the holy Ganges.
Life on the ghats is very, very interesting. It's the kind of place you can sit and people watch all day. People are washing in the river, drinking the filthy water (there are dead pigs and monkeys and God knows what else in it), getting a shave, playing cricket, leading their water buffalo, and just about everything else.
Gambling by the ghats
We took all this in on the first full day, and took a sunset cruise down the river on the first night. We passed the various ghats including the Manikarnika Ghat where hundreds of cremations take place every day. At the end of the cruise we watched the nightly ceremony of light at the Dasasvanedha Ghat, performed by young Brahmans and pretty impressive.
The following morning we went on a sunrise cruise and performed our own puja, placing lighted candles and flowers onto the holy river.
Pooja
Later that day we took the slowest rickshaw in India (maybe the world) north to Sarnarth where the Buddha delivered his first sermon about 2,500 years ago. They have attempted to recreate the deer park that existed in these times but we're not sure how the Buddha would feel about seeing the deer fenced in and birds in cages. We also went to see the Jain temple in Sarnath, which was pretty impressive and got hammered by the resident mosquitoes. After another ride in the extremely slow rickshaw we took a stroll along the ghats at night, still very busy and very crazy...
The ghats at night
The last morning Jon was up early to take a final walk along the ghats and soak up some more of Varanasi's unique atmosphere - it was just such an interesting place. Back at the steps up to the hotel I met a friendly goat who posed for this lovely photo - he must have known I'm a Capricorn.
What is it?
written by  jonnik on January 3, 2008 from Varanasi, India

Agra
Agra, India
After leaving Varanasi and it's lovely, friendly, helpful, honest rickshaw drivers we boarded the night train for the ride to Agra, mainly to see the Taj Mahal. We initially had lots of room in the carriage, there were us and an Indian couple in a carriage for 6, but this soon changed as they spread out and basically hogged like you wouldn't believe !! The train was late into Agra but we were soon at the hotel, a shabby chic affair, whose only plus point was the amazing view of the Taj - never mind, there's not really any other reason to visit this crowded and polluted city. Later that afternoon we had a tour round the city, taking in Agra Fort and Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (also known as the 'Baby Taj')
Baby Taj
At the end of the day we headed down to the Yamuna river to see the Taj Mahal from 'the other side', witness an amazing sunset and chat with all the crazy children than come down here to chat with the tourists.
The following morning we were up before the crack of dawn to see Sunrise at the Taj. It's a bit of a con as entry for Indians is 25 Rupees but they charge us Westerners a whacking Rs700 !!! Anyway, musn't grumble, it's a fantastic experience to see the Taj change colour as the sun rises. We took about a million photos, and here is one with us both in...
The Taj
At night we nearly got proper ripped off by a pharmacist buying malaria tablets (nearly but not quite) and then wandered the crazy streets enjoying a festival (not sure what it was about) that was taking place.
written by  jonnik on January 4, 2008 from Agra, India

Pushkar, Rajasthan
Pushkar, India
The journey from Agra to Pushkar was much fun indeed. The autorickshaw broke down on the way to the station so the journey was completed by cycle rickshaw. It really is incredible to see those guys cycling in temperatures in the mid 30's with 2 people and 2 heavy rucksacks in the back, you almost want to offer to do it for them, well almost.....We thought we might miss the train, but there was no need to worry as the train was over 2 hours late departing - we could have stayed in bed !!! It was a long, dusty, hot train ride to Pushkar but the time was passed by chatting with other travellers and some Indian students in our carriage. We eventually arrived in Ajmer (about 15kms from Pushkar) around midnight and there was a heavy police presence in the city - a bomb had recently been detonated in the city killing 3 people. We made a hasty exit crammed into a taxi with Bret (English), Chris (Polish) and Naria (Spanish) and, after Chris's fantastic bartering with the hotel owners, finally got to bed in the wee small hours.
We'd planned on spending about a week or so Pushkar, it's the kind of place to just kick back and escape the madness of those big Indian cities.
The holy town of Pushkar
Pushkar is a small town and an important destination for Hindu pilgrims due to it's Brahma temple (one of the few in the whole country). It's a beautiful place set around a lake in the desert of Rajasthan. We soon checked out of the shabby place we'd arrived at on the first night and moved round the corner to a place called 'Seventh Heaven'.
Jon relaxing in Seventh Heaven, Pushkar
Nik in Seventh Heaven
We'd read about this in the Lonely Planet, and after months of cheap dives we'd decided we'd splash out a bit (it was about a tenner a night) and do some serious relaxing. Things didn't quite go to plan as, after only a day or so of being in Pushkar, Nik had developed a nice bout of Gardiasis - a microscopic intestinal parasite. We'll spare you the gory details but this was what Jon got in India all those years ago and ended up weighing 8st 4 lb on his return !! Nik duly spent pretty much the rest of the time in bed (at least it was a nice bed) confined to the hotel. Jon managed to get out and about (between the numerous trips to the chemist), catch a few of the glorious Pushkar sunsets and make the sunrise pilgrimage up to the temple one morning.
Languar monkeys, Pushkar
We ended up staying nearly a week in beautiful Pushkar by which time Nik, after some strong antibiotics, was on the mend.
Nik and camel, Pushkar
written by  jonnik on January 5, 2008 from Pushkar, India

Udaipur, Rajasthan
Udaipur, India
After Pushkar we headed down the road (well down the road by Indian standards) to the the lake side city of Udaipur, as seen in the James Bond movie 'Octopussy'.
Udaipur (as seen in 'Octopussy')
We decided to blow the hotel budget again (another tenner or so a night) and booked into a suite at the Hotel Anjani. The 'suite' was more like one of the student houses Jon lived in in Bradford and the hotel housed the world's coldest swimming pool (brrrrrr !!!). We spent the couple of days in Udaipur wandering the streets looking for somewhere nice to eat (there isn't anywhere), taking a sunset boat trip on the lake and around the Lake Palace Hotel (now one of the world's top hotels - the Presidential suite costs a mere 3,750 pounds per night !!!), up to the monsoon palace at for the sunset on the last night and a trip to the very impressive Jagdish Mandir temple.
Pilgrim at Jagdish Temple, Udaipur
Whilst we were in Udaipur the festival season was in full swing with everyone throwing coloured tikka at each other, luckily we managed to avoid ending up a nice shade of purple.
Festival, Udaipur
written by  jonnik on January 6, 2008 from Udaipur, India

Goin' to Goa
Goa, India
It was a long slog on the train down from Rajasthan to Goa.
On the sleeper train to Goa
We had a brief stop along the way in lovely Ahmedabad, basically that meant a wait of about 7 hours. Not wanting to spend 7 hours at the station we booked into a seedy hotel downtown. To say it was grim would be an understatement but it meant we could crash for a few hours.
Back on the train, then arrival in a wet, humid and overcast Tivim at 8ish the following morning - will this monsoon ever end ? We took an autorickshaw to gorgeous, sleepy Chapora where we met up with Ros, Simon and the lad Alex. It was great to see some familiar faces, especially as they had brought some goodies from the UK. Ros's mum, Joy, was also there visiting them for a 2 week break.
Chilling on the balcony, Chapora
We spent a lot of time relaxing down the beach in Goa, swimming in the very warm sea. The beaches around Chapora are nice but nothing in comparison to the beach at Polalem where we spent a couple of nights - a kind of mini break from the holiday from the trip.
Sunbathing cows, Palolem beach
At Palolem we stayed in a hut literally right on the beach, but amazingly it was a beach hut with en suite bathroom - how things are changing....
Beach hut, Palolem
Another gorgeous beach we visited was across the Chapora River at Morjim which we went to on the little scooter we hired for the 2 weeks. We didn't stay too long there though as there was no shade and it was an incredibly hot and sunny day.
Cyclist, Morjim beach
We had lots of little day trips out, either on the scooter, or more often courtesy of Balchang and his wonderful taxi service. We visited the market at Mapsa, a typical Indian affair, and at Anjuna which is cool but definately geared up for the tourist rupee. On a day out to Arambol we took Alex to see the enormous banyan tree and bumped into our friend Depo who ran the laundry in Manali (in the summer) and was washing clothes down in Goa for the winter months.
The nights were usually spent down at Santos's bar (he's Balchang's brother) where many a cold, cheap Budveiser would be consumed. It was a pretty funny place to hang out, full of regulars, a bit like a soap opera !!
Usual Suspects, Santos' Bar
It was nice to spend the last 2 weeks of the Asian leg in Goa as the food there is fantastic and generally a lot healthier to eat than most other places in India. We had some gorgeous meals at the Tibetan Kitchen in Calangute and many nights we dined like kings on barbequed food we did ourselves in the back garden at Olga's. It was extremely hot and humid in Goa, even at night, and cooking round 'the flaming pit from hell' was hard work but the end result always made it worthwhile. A few afternoons were spent chilling down at the Boom Shanka restaurant down on Little Vagator beach. This was a nice little spot to enjoy a cold sunset beer.
Chapora was pretty quiet when we were there, it was early season so the madness of the Goa Trance scene hadn't kicked in yet. We did go to the Primrose a couple of nights and get a taste of what was soon to be....those nutters and that music, oh dear....
Alex was a star and kept us entertained for the 2 weeks. Each morning he would wake us by shouting across the balcony from his apartment to ours and by the end he had was quite keen on a good scrap with Nik. Ros looked after us while we were there - it was nice to have a mug of tea brought to the room each morning, and Simon also kept us very entertained with his constant chatter, crazy man....
The day we left was Alex's 2nd birthday and, after a great couple of weeks, we were very sad to be going. We knew that after 5 months the Asian leg of our journey was nearly over. Goa is a cool place to chill out and we'd met some nice people duirng our time there. The next stop, after yet another long train journey, would be Mumbai and we both knew there'd be no chilling out there.....
written by  jonnik on January 7, 2008 from Goa, India

The madness of Mumbai
Mumbai, India
We stayed at the Hotel Volga in Mumbai but it soon became known as the Hotel Vulgar, all shabby and no chic. Mind you, the views out of the window certainly compensated for the cramped and overpriced room.
The view from our hotel window, Mumbai
We only had a couple of nights in Mumbai and that was plenty. We've been there before so spent our time visiting the cafes and bars we knew were ok. Leopold's is a nice place for a cold beer but after the much cheapness of Goa we were horrified at the prices. Mumbai is definately a lot more civilised than Delhi, it's the kind of place you wander round and not get hassled too much.
Railway Station, Mumbai
That said, we did get asked repeatedly if we would like to star in a Bollywood movie...no thanks. Nik was in the blockbuster 'Pinjar' and anything else just woudln't compare. We spent a bit of time shopping, stocking up on some bargains before we left (incensce, etc) and managed to find a fantastic record shop to purchase some Indian music. Before we knew it though, we were packing our bags and in the taxi bound for the airport with a bit of a tear in our eyes. Next stop would be Sydney and all the cultureshock that a western metropolis would bring. Before we got on the plane though we visited the bar for a final beer in India, we were in an airport after all. This was not Santos's bar though and we were horrified to be charged 500 Rupees for a small glass - at just over a fiver it seemed expensive even for an airport.....
written by  jonnik on January 8, 2008 from Mumbai, India

G'day Sydney
Sydney, Australia
The 9 hour flight from Mumbai to Sydney couldn't really have been any better, we had 2 seats each and the time flew, literally. We say it couldn't have gone any better....it would have been nice if, after 5 months of curries, Quantas didn't serve us curry for breakfast after curry for evening meal ! Nevermind, beggars can't be choosers and the free bar made up for things.
We arrived at lunchtime and were soon checking into the hostel in Coogee, right near the beach. It certainly felt a bit starnge to be in Oz, and it was certainly a bit cooler than the heat of India, but after a few scooners on the first night we were soon getting into the Australian lifestyle. The following day we walked the coastal path from Coogee Beach up to Bondi which was stunning.
Us at Coogee Beach
An exhibition, Sculpture by the Sea, was on and along the whole route we passed various amazing works of art.
Sculture by the Sea
Sculpture by the Sea
We had a swim on Bronte Beach and could not believe just how cold the springtime sea was in Oz compared to the bath-like temperatures in Goa. We also had to dodge the swarms of blue bottles (no, not flies...there'll be more about them later) the small jellyfish that were ever present along the beach. At Bondi we went to the local market then had a nice picnic on the beach.
Jon at Bondi Beach
After food that night it was out for a couple of scooners at the backpackers institution, the Coogee Beach Hotel.
The next day was our final full day in the city so we got a bus downtown to do a tour of the Sydney sights. We had a couple of hours in the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Sydney Harbour from the Botanic Gardens
The place is full of the most amazing trees all full of huge fruit bats hanging upside down. We visited the Opera House, but being poor backpackers resisted the urge to attend a show or do the Harbour Bridge Walk.
Opera House & Harbour Bridge
After the sights it was a wander round the rest of downtown taking in a few shops. We also spent a bit of time trying to confirm whether or not we had a campervan booked for tomorrow (gotta get more organised Jon and Nik !!), but by the end of the day we were still none the wiser... That night we wandered down to the beach in Coogee for one of life's little pleasures, chips on the front !!
written by  jonnik on January 9, 2008 from Sydney, Australia

The Road Trip
Sydney, Australia
Day 1 - Sydney to the Blue Mountains
We left the hostel at 10am but still didn't have confirmation that we had a campervan booked !! After many calls and some wasted time we spoke directly with Wicked Campervans who told us they had a booking for us and we arranged to pick the van up at noon. We then went online to print off a route for the week long drive from Sydney down to Melbourne...Who needs a map anyway ? So the van was collected, a kind of transit van thing but of the Toyata persuasion and decorated in fantastic X-Men grafitti.
The X-Men Van
We then filled up with petrol, had a brief glimpse at a map in the service station and set about getting out of Sydney. Surprise, surprise we were soon a tad lost and at that point decided maybe a map would probably be of use to us. Said map was soon purchased and we headed out of the city, west towards the Blue Mountains. We picked up some details of campsites at Glendale and the very helpful lady suggested we did a bit of bush-camping (i.e. free) at 'Old Ford Reserve'. We stocked up on some provisions (food and beer) at Katoomba and eventually rocked up in the Blue Mountains late afternoon. The campsite was in a stunning little spot with all the facilities you could ever need - a pit toilet and a creek. We'd planned a nice veggie breakfast for tea but soon found out that the stove in the van didn't work !! Being in the middle of nowhere there was little we could do but build a fire and cook on that - good job the fire ban was not yet in place.
Cooking with fire
The food, washed down by a botlle of sparkling wine, turned out pretty good and we spent the rest of the evening chilling and taking in the amazing night sky which, given no light pollution at all, was a sight to behold.
Day 2 - The Blue Mountains to Bulli
Yeah, the first night in the van went pretty well. We made another fire in the morning so we could get the brews on and soon set off the take in some of the sights in the Blue Mountains National Park and to get away from the flies !!! Up until this point we had never really understood the Australian corked hat thing but now it was all beginning to make sense. The flies in Australia are very annoying and there are millions and millions and millions of them !! The first point of call that day was 'Evans Lookout', which gave us this amazing view over part of the park.
Evans Lookout, Blue Mountains
After that we were back on the road and heading to perhaps the most famous part of the park, the view of 'The Three Sisters' from 'Echo Point'. It was pretty impressive and the didgeridoo playing Aboriginee added to the flavour, well that was until the 200 Chinese school kids turned up !!
The 3 Sisters
We had lunch in the van and then decided to head down to Bulli (everyone likes a bit of Bulli), stopping in Penrith along the way to buy a replacement part for the gas stove. Here we encountered a crazy thunderstorm and got a proper soaking but at least we'll be able to cook on the stove tonight. After driving most of the afternoon, as recommended by Wicked we drove at 80kph so it took a while to get to places, we stopped at the information centre in Cambletown who pointed us in the direction of a campsite at Bulli, where we arrived at about 5pm and managed to claim the last pitch on the site !! We then went for a quick walk into town for some wine, an hour later we were back at the campsite, walking along the beach and cursing the everpresnt flies !! That night we met Ozzie lady who had already clocked up 15,000kms on her road trip and uttered what was soon to become our favourite phrase 'I'm a birdo' (Oz for birdwatcher). We had another bottle of lovely local sparkling wine and crashed.
Day 3 - Bulli to Jervis Bay
It was down to the beach first thing to swim in the outdoor pool there - one of those pools that is filled by the high tide. It was bloody freezing, and we shared the water with some sea slugs, but it was very invigorating and certainly woke us up !!
Nik in very cold pool, Bulli, New South Wales
After brekkie we were back on the road, doing 80kph, and heading down the coast towards Jervis Bay. In our hurry we managed to forget the battery charger and plug adaptor, DOH !! After stopping for info at Shell Harbour we then managed to drive the van over Jon's water bottle, oh dear....(Rich, thanks for the bottle mate but they ain't indestructable !!!). We found out at the info centre in Nowra that there was no bush-camping at Jevis Bay but that there was very nice site in Boderee National Park. We arrived Green Patch Campsite in the afternoon, had lunch and then headed down to the beautiful white sandy beach for a swim (more cold water !!) and a couple of hours chilling.
Relaxing on the beach, Jervis Bay
On the way back to the van we saw a wallaby and a kookaburra, but the best was yet to come...We had a nice pasta dish for tea and were sitting around relaxing afterwards when we noticed a very cheeky possum finshing off the remains of the tomato sauce for us !!
Kookaburra
Sharing dinner with cheeky possum
Day 4 - Jervis Bay to Mystery Bay
We stopped at the Boderee National Park Botanical Gardens on the way out and caught our first site of a kangeroo and the ranger there showed us a Long-necked Turtle, very funny ! It was then south down the coast to Bateman's Bay, where we had lunch and saw some very large and amusing pelicans.
Lunch at Batemans Bay
On the way to Mystery Bay
We stocked up on more groceries and then carried on the crawl to Narooma where we learnt of a place just down the road called Mystery Bay, where we could camp in the bush. It lived up to the recommendation, another beautiful place right on the beach. After a stroll along the beach we collected a load of firewood, got the fire going and cooked some spuds in it, lovely !! We spent the rest of the night sitting round the fire talking about what a fantastic place Oz was...and Nik didn't shut up about her favourite meal in a long time, baked potatoes (in the fire) with cheee and beans.
Day 5 - Mystery Bay to Mallacoota
After being woken by Craig, the friendly ranger, we headed down to the beach for another early morning swim (no showers at Mystery Bay), then it was on the road to the beautiful old village of Central Tilba. After a walk round the village and it's many galleries we were back on the Princes Highway heading towards Eden. The rain came down when we arrived and the info centre told us that there had been 3 whales in the bay up the road yesterday. We quickly headed up there for lunch hoping they would still be around. They weren't and we left disappointed (next time...). It was a long drive to Mallacoota where we stayed on the waterfront with a fabulous view of the lagoon and the many pelicans and our own jetty (no boat).
Pelican
On the waterfront
We sat out for a bit a night but the flies (and mosquitoes) really were on form here so in wasn't a late one...
Pelican watching on Mallacoota
Day 6 - Mallacoota to The Blue Pools (via Hollands Landing)
That morning, after a walk on the beach and loads more annoying flies, we saw some very comical gallahs ('Ya flamin' gallah !!) and then headed down the highway to Orbust, and then for lunch at Metung. We had originally intended to stay the night in Metung but it was a bit flash for us and the X-Men van, one of those places with very big, expensive houses where everyone has there own yacht. So we headed further along the coast to Lakes Entrance but decided against staying at one of the many busy campsites there. So, after consulting the map, we decided to stay at a place called Hollands Landing. It was long drive from Lakes Entrance and on arrival we wished we hadn't bothered. The place was proper red-neck country and the only ugly spot we had seen so far on the trip. The road into the village came to an abrupt end at a dark canal and it gave the place a kind of 'end of the road' feeling, not very nice at all. It was then about-turn and after consulting the map we eventually ended up in a very pretty place called Blue Pools, and it was free to camp there. We collected a load of firewood and got a nice fire burning. At that point a fellow camper (the only other people there) came over and warned us of a severe weather warning they had just heard on the radio. Right on cue it started to lash down and the fire was soon out....the storm was pretty violent with thunder and lightening that lasted through the night.
Day 7 - The Blue Pools to Wilson's Promontory
It was another early start and the rain had stopped, it was a beautiful morning. We checked out the pools up the creek but decided against a swim and were on the road by about 9am.
The Blue Pools (as seen in B&W)
It was a long, hot drive and we finally rocked up in stunning Wilson's Prom early afternoon.
Ozzie road sign
We went into the very expensive grocery store and were gutted to find out that there was no grog for sale at all !!! Wilson's Prom is all National Park and the road in wasn't the greatest - it would be a 2 hr round trip to go out to the nearest shop to get some beer. So we headed onto the campsite, a really nice place, and parked up next to a couple of guys. They were soon over warning us that they had about another 30 mates due to arrive and had a big party planned for the evening. We told them we weren't bothered, they could make as much noise as they liked. We then realised that if they had loads of people still to arrive then all might not be lost, and duely asked them if they would mind ringing some of there friends to ask if they could pick us some beers up. A quick phone call later and it was all sorted, in fact the guy they rang was actually in the liquor store when they called, so no problem....That afternoon, after reversing the van into a tree (luckily no damage) we headed down to the stunning beach for a swim in the freezing cold water. We were going to stay on the sand all afternoon but the flies on the beach were the worst we had encountered, they were in our eyes, mouths and ears, so it was quickly back to the van to escape.
Those pesky flies/ Jon Merrick
Day 8 - Wilson's Promontory to Phillip Island
We were up very early today due to the heat, it must have been well over 20 degrees C at 6am. It was down to the beach to cool down in the sea but we didn't hang around for too long after as the flies were too much again. We soon headed off and the weather forecast on the radio said that it would be up to 37 degrees C here today !! It was already cooking with a really strong wind and we could see how easy it must be for the bush fires to get going in Oz. Before leaving this beautiful place we went up to Mount Oberon, the highest point on the penninsula, but it was far too hot to hang around for long. Next stop on the way out was stunning Squeaky Beach (so named for the noise our feet made on the white sand as we walked) but again it was a flying visit as we knew we would be frazzled in an instant if we stayed any longer.
Nik at Squeaky Beach
After a couple of hours of driving we got to Philip Island and our first port of call was the chocolate factory on the way in. As we arrived a woman was buying all the chilli chocolates so we resisted any others and instead bought tickets for the world famous Penguin Parade that evening. It was then onto the Koala Santuary where many cute koalas were seen.
Sleepy Koala
The Knobbies, mainland Australia's most southerly point
We then booked into the campsite and headed down to the most southerly point of mainland Australia, The Nobbies. By this time the weather head taken a turn for the worst, and it was pretty cold and windy in this remote spot. Seagulls nest here and we were surrounded my hundreds of noisy gulls and fledglings.
After tracking down some chippies we went to the Penguin Parade - every evening about 600 Fairy Penguins come out of the ocean to nest up in the sand dunes. This is witnessed every night by hundreds of visitors, mostly Chinese tour bus types. It was a very funny spectacle and fantastic to watch the penguins nervously waddle up the beach, avoiding the onlooking seagulls. They are the smallest type of penguin in the world, with an average height of only 30cm, and very entertaining indeed !!!
Little Penguins, Phillip Island
By the end of the show we were prety wet as the rain had started to come down - a bit of a change from Wilson's Prom this morning. We headed backto the campsite for some food and an early night ready for tomorrow's BIG adventure !!!
Day 9 - Phillip Island to The Great Ocean Road
We had originally planned that today would be a relatively easy drive. The van is due back in Melbourne tommorrow, so the idea was to drive towards the city and camp somewhere on the outskirts for the final night so we could get the van back at 10am as previously arranged. However, our plans changed somewhat (somewhere) and we decided that we might like to take a look at the Great Ocean Road. We set off early this morning in the rain, but as we later realised not really early enough. After about 2 hours we reached Melbourne and spent the next couple of hours crawling through the city in a traffic jam. We eventually arrived in Geelong (pretty much the start of the Great Ocean Road) at 1pm and the very helpful guy at the information centre told us that it would take about 6 hours minimum to drive the famous route (we have since read a newspaper article that said that you shouldn't try and cram the Great Ocean Road into 2 days, it deserves at least 3 - how about an afternoon ?!?!). We hadn't banked on this as the van was due back at 10 tomorrow morning, but we checked the small print of the contract which stated we would be charged A$10 for each hour it was late....looks like its gonna be late then. So we set off immediately, stopping for lunch at Bell's Beach, the first recommended stop on the route. Afer lunch we headed to the beautiful Erskine Falls, very pretty even in the torrential rain. After carrying in along the twisty turny coastal road with it's amazing views we stopped in Apollo Bay for a well earned bag of chippies. We then had a walk through a beautiful rain forest home to some pretty big trees....
Nik in rain forest
By now the time was ticking on and we stiil had a good way to go to get to The Twelve Apostles, the most famous part of the journey. After driving inland for a while the road eventually joined the coast again and we were finally there. It was now starting to get dark and we were pretty knackered after driving all day. It was all worth it though as the scenery lived up to the hype and the wild weather added to the whole experience.
The 12 Apostles
Loch Ard Gorge
Us at the Twelve Apostles
After seeing this stunning coastline we decided we'd better find a campsite for the night. There was still quite a bit of the Great Ocean Road ahead of us (and we'd missed a lot of it out) but the further we drove the further away from Melbourne we would be in the morning. We found a nice spot in a little town called Port Campbell, got some food on and then crashed. It had been a long, crazy day but we were both glad we had decided to do it.
Day 10 - Port Campbell back to Melbourne.
Typically we weren't up as early as we should have been and it was about 10am before we were eventually ready to leave Port Campbell. Bearing in mind the van was due back at 10am we thought it might be wise to ring Wicked and explain the thing would be late. The girl who answered asked how late it would be and she didn't seem too impressed when we said about 3 hours, telling us that we would be charged an extra day's rental fee. There was no way we were accepting this especially considering that there was no mention of it in the small print, only that we would have to pay $10 for each hour it was late. After some discussion (us with her and her with her manager) it was agreed that as long as we got the van back into Melbourne by 1pm we would only have to pay an extra $30. We set off straight away, knowing that it would be touch and go whether or not we would make it. We went inland rather than back along the Great Ocean Road and the roads on the inital part of the journey weren't great. That didn't matter too much and the 80kph that we had until now pretty much stuck to was out of the window. However this meant a vast increase in fuel consumption and it was long before the fuel warning light was on !!! By now we were properly in the middle of nowhere, with no gas station for miles. The initial speed had done us no favours and we spent the next half hour of so limping along at about 60kph convinced we would soon grind to a halt...we didn't . We eventually crawled into a garage, filled the beast up and were soon onto better roads where the van was given a good thrashing !!! Driving into downtown Melbourne was great fun, that is one BIG city !!! But by now Kenty was something of a ninja-navigator and she got us through the crazy one-way system. We pulled up outside the Wicked depot at 12.59 - we had made it !!! We emptied the van of all our stuff and handed over the keys and, after all the rush, we weren't even charged the $30 for bringing it back late !! We were sad to say goodbye to the van but were both agreed that it had been a great way to get round and see things in your own time, and decied that we would have to get a van booked for the time we would soon be spending in New Zealand...
written by  jonnik on January 10, 2008 from Sydney, Australia

Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia
After bidding farewell to the X-Men van we got a cab through Melbourne down to the Ritz Backpackers in lovely St. Kilda. The hostel was no Ritz, but it was ok, and nicley located above The Elephant & Wheelbarrow pub. We had a power nap when we got there, that turned into an afternoon snooze, and in the evening we had a walk into St Kilda. We walked down the pier where we got to see some more Little Penguins and a fantastic sunset.
Sunset, Melbourne Harbour
It was then into town where we drooled over the famous cakes in the cake shop windows - sweet tooth heaven !
The following day we spent a lot of time researching a campervan for NZ, had a fantastic brunch in one of St Kilda's many amazing cafes, then caught a tram into downtown Melbourne. We had a wander round and went to a market that didn't live up to the hype (think Stoke market but on a much larger scale). Back in St Kilda we had a nice cold beer courtesy of the hostel then some gorgeous Asian food in a veggie restaurant. It was then down to cake shop street where you first have to choose which shop, from many, to treat yourself in and then which of the many stunning cakes to have - it's a hard life !! We had cake with coffee and watched the crazy St Kilda street entertainers doing their thing. The funniest being the guy who sat with his big belly hanging out singing 'Oh, the hokey hokey pokey' and asking people if that would like to poke his belly and make a donation to this wothwhile cause....we resisted. It was then back to the hostel to pack the bags again ready for the morning flight to Auckland.
The final night in Oz didn't grant us much sleep - there was a band on in the pub below and to say it was noisey would be an understatement. The people being sick in a bin in the corridor later on didn't help either...
written by  jonnik on January 11, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia

Ole Ole Ole
Santiago, Chile
Well, here we are in Santiago, Chile.
Santiago seen from Parque Metropolitano
Yes we did spend some time in NZ (eleven weeks to be precise) and details of out fantastic time will appear here shortly. Yeah, we decided that this blog needed to be more like a blog so are doing an entry for Santiago whilst here....as opposed to 2 months later !! The flight from Auckland was no fun, no fun at all, it was held up for 4 hours or so and we were in the air for 12 hours. But hey, that's all in the past now and we're here in sunny Santiago. We are staying in a pretty crazy hostel called La Casa Roja, a huge 18th Century mansion home to hundreds of other travelers. We have been here for a couple of nights and have spent both of them at the hostel bar. Last night we were gonna go out to a jazz bar with TJ, the crazy American guy we have met, and Nicky from Germany (who amazingly has never met another Nicky before) but we ended up staying at the hostel and drinking with other guests until about 3 in the morning....needless to say, we felt pretty good this morning. Tonight is our last night in Santiago, tomorrow we're heading to the coast to a place called Valparaiso with the aforementioned friends.....should be good...
written by  jonnik on February 10, 2008 from Santiago, Chile

Valparaiso
Valparaiso, Chile
We're now back in Santiago at the infamous La Casa Roja hostel after spending 3 nights in gorgeous Valparaiso. We had a fantastic time there - it is a beautiful city.
Lookin' good
The first night we stayed in a hostel dorm but we soon moved to a 13th storey apartment due to TJ's snoring - this was the man who told us he definately didn't snore (he definately does !)
The view from our apartment
Another quiet night
Our time in Valparaiso was basically spent drinking and frequenting the bars. One night TJ dragged us into this karaoke bar that he had been to the night before. We told him that there was no way we were singing but about half an hour later we were doing a fantastic rendition of UB40's Red Red Wine, very dodgy. The following evening we went to a cool Cuban bar where there was more drinking and we shook our booties on the dancefloor to the cool latin music. During the daylight hours (which were a bit more limited than we'd hoped) we pounded the pavements and saw the sights, including an afternoon trip to Vina del Mar which was ok but a bit like the Costa Brava.
So we've been back in Santiago for 2 nights and yesterday had our first Spanish lesson, it was pretty intense !!! We have four more next week and have been given loads of homework to do over the weekend - it's like being back at school but it is good and will be well worth the effort.
Last night we said farewell to Nicky our German friend, and after we met a couple from none other than Stoke-on-Trent, which was pretty funny....
written by  jonnik on February 16, 2008 from Valparaiso, Chile

Spanish lessons at La Casa Rocker
Santiago, Chile
The weekend after our first Spanish lesson was a fairly mixed bag - we attended the legendary friday night La Casa Roja barbeque, spent most of the weekend doing the ton of homework we had been given and attended the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art on sunday. The following week we had lessons from monday to friday and they were supposed to run from 10 until 2, but Jesus changed the start time to 9am, which wasn´t ideal but it meant we had to show a bit of self restraint in the evenings - not an easy task in that crazy guesthouse ! The lessons were fantastic though and it felt great to be in a learning environment.
Spanish lessons from Jesus
Each night we had lots of homework to do, but we were swots and made sure it was done. This meant that we could have at least a couple of drinks in the hostel bar each night, but we didn´t go to bed too late like most of the crazy people there. One night we enjoyed the sight of a full lunar eclipse which was pretty amazing and kept us captivated for hours.
Lunar eclipse
We met some really cool people at La Casa Roja, none more so than fellow Stokies Vicky and Jon. On the final night, after a couple of drinks (or so) at the friday bar-b-q about 20 of us headed out to rock the night away at a huge nightclub called Blondie. We dragged Jesus with us and a mighty fine night was had by all !!
As sad as we were to leave the place we knew we couldn´t spend the rest of our lives at the hostel so after negotiating Santiago´s metro system we put our Spanish skills to the test and booked some tickets for the overnight bus to Pucon on saturday. Pucon is about 10 hours or so south of Santiago in the Chilean Lakes District. We had a final farewell meal with the usual suspects and said a sad farewell to (apparently) the best hostel in South America - we guess it must be downhill from now on !
The infamous Casa Roja
Nik at La Casa Roja
Bar & pool
The last supper
written by  jonnik on February 23, 2008 from Santiago, Chile

Pucon & Volcon Villarrica
Pucon, Chile
So we had our first experience of an overnight bus in Chile, we´d heard they were pretty good and they surpassed our high expectations. It was like travelling on a plane but only much better (if not slightly slower). The seats were comfy, and there is an onboard attendant who places a pillow behind your head before you sleep and serves you breakfast in the morning - amazing !! We rocked up in Pucon in the morning and made friends with one of the many roaming stray dogs over a coffee before we checked into the new hostel. The hostel was ok, very different from La Casa Roja - much smaller and without the party atmosphere, just what we needed. Pucon is in the Chilean Lakes District and the skyline is dominated by Volcon Villarrica, at 2847m. The hostel owner was soon asking us if we planned to join a group to climb the volcano the following day - Jon signed up, but Nik decided to have a chilled day instead....she was put off by the fact that we would be leaving at 3.30 the following morning and the tales of falling rocks to be dodged on the way up !!
That afternoon we had a stroll round Pucon, which is a very nice place and definately where the rich Chileans come for they holidays. We headed down to the lakeside beach but didn´t hang around as it was like a scene from the Costa del Sol, packed with hundreds of people with towels laid out 6 inches or so from the neighbouring group. That night we tried to get an early night, given the 3am start the following day, but the group of people partying outside the room had other plans and it was gone midnight by the time we nodded off - just what was needed prior to climbing a mountain !
So Jon was up at 3 the next day, and on the road by half past to start walking up the volcano at just after 4. There was about 20 of us and 4 guides and for the first couple of hours we walked in darkness with only the moon to light the way. It was pretty tough going and after 2 hours or so we had to don our mountaineering gear, crampons included, to walk up a huge ice field.
Early morning hiking the volcano
The sunrise on the way up was stunning as were the views but it was very cold and pretty tough going. We were shown how to use our ice axes in case we slipped as it would have been a long slide down without it. The views from the top, when we eventually got there after about 6 hours of walking uphill, were truely amazing and more than justified the effort. We got to peer into the crater but unfortunately didn´t see any lava and couldn´t hang around for too long because of the poisonous sulphur gases the volcano was emitting.
From the top of Volcon Villarrica 2847m
The journey down was great fun as we got to slide down the ice field we had struggled up. We eventually made it back into Pucon at around 2pm and the expedition was celebrated with a cold bottle of volcano beer - why not ?!? It was then off for an afternoon nap as I was proper knackered.
Post volcano volcano cerveza
That night we both headed out to soak our muscles in some nearby hot springs, which were beautiful. The first pool we found was a bit cold but we soon tracked down the hot one and it was like soaking in a hot bath - a pleasure we haven´t experienced for far too long.
Hot springs, Pucon
Soaking those aching muscles
The following day, our last in Pucon, we bumped into the fellow Stokies Jon & Vicky again and headed out to a festival at night where there was a cueca competion (the traditional Chilean dance), which was pretty funny to watch. It was then back to the hostel to pack our bags and get ready for the early morning departure further south to Puerto Varras.
written by  jonnik on February 26, 2008 from Pucon, Chile

Bariloche
San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
After Pucon, we headed south through the Chilean Lakes District to the sleepy town of Puerto Varras where we planned to take a lake cruise of the Andes into Argentina. We had read about this cruise, about how beautiful it is, and Jesus had confirmed this in one of our Spanish lessons. However we had also been warned that there is no point forking out for it if the weather forecast isn´t great as the point of it all is to see the mountians and you won´t see them if it´s raining. We checked the forecast for the next few days and it was rain !!! So we abandoned the idea, stayed for one night in Puerto Varras then got the bus out the following morning over the Andes to Argentina. The journey was stunning, and we arrived in gorgeous lakeside Bariloche mid-afternoon. We headed to a hostel that apparently also offered camping. The campsite was basically the back garden of an 86 year old Slovenian immigrant and there was room for 3 tents, but it was cheap enough and the tent was pitched. We had a couple of days in Bariloch, sampling the most amazing chocolate and ice-cream you could ever hope to find !! Then packed up most of our things and headed off up into the hills for some more nights under canvas. We´d met a girl from the Czek Republic who had just got back from some trekking and she told us how amazing it was up in the mountains. We didn´t fancy the hike up their but she informed us we could get out of that bit by taking the chairlift all the way to the top....nice (we thought). So we got sorted and eventually got the bus out to Cerro Catedral. When we got there it soon became apparent that the lifts weren´t running that day, so a hike uphill it would be after all....
On the way up the mountain
The first part was for the most part pretty easy, if not a tad warm. But after a couple of hours it started to get quite a bit steeper and the temperature started to plummit. Another hour or so later we arrived at the campsite, a gorgeous spot in the forest by a river. By this point is was bloody freezing, so the tent was quickly pitched and we set about getting some food on - a culinary treat of packet soup and savoury rice....not the best to eat but nice and light to carry. We were soon in the tent, wearing most of the clothes we had brought with us !! It wasn´t the best night´s sleep, definately one of the coldest nights either of us had spent under canvas but we made it through to daybreak, which occurs rather late in Argentina around 8am.
First night camp in the forest
Whilst we were packing upo we spoke to 3 Argentinian hikers who had set off from the bottom that morning. They told us there had been frost on the ground earlier, we could well believe it !! We set off again toward Cerro Catedral, and the last bit was pretty steep indeed. The effort was worth it though as the views were fantastic when we arrived. The Slovenian lady had told us that it resembled The Dolomites and she wasn´t wrong. The mountains were stunning and perfect for climbing - Kev, Iain and Rich you would have loved it.
Climbers at Cerro Catedral, Bariloche
After pitching again and another rehydrated meal Nik spent the afternoon reading by the lake and Jon set off to explore the surrounding area. That night, given the extra altitude, we feared would be even colder than the previous but it was quite a bit warmer and we were able to get a bit more sleep.
Nik filtering water from the lake
Early morning at Cerro Catedral
The following day we packed up late morning and set off back down the mountain. We thought it would be easier on the way down but it was harder than we thought - must have been the lack of fod and the fact we did it all in one go. We rewarded ourselves with chips and George Bush juice (coca cola) at the bottom and, after catching the bus, were soon back in Bariloche. We headed back to see our Slovenian friend but decided against another night camping in her garden and checked into one of the rooms she had for rent. We were knackered and felt we´d definately earned it !! So we stayed in town for another couple of nights, feasted on more chocolate and ice-cream and booked our bus tickets to El Bolson, a couple of hours south.
written by  jonnik on March 4, 2008 from San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

El Bolson
El Bolson, Argentina
It was a nice, easy 2 hour bus ride down to El Bolson through the magnificent scenery of the Andes. We found a campsite and the tent was pitched, again.
Basic foodstuffs....
Funds are runing low....
El Bolson is a sleepy little town famous throughout Argentina for it´s hippy market the fact that it´s residents have declared it a nuclear free zone - respect. Piltriquitron, the surounding mountain range, is also believed to be one of the Earth´s energy centres.
Market day, El Bolson
El Bolson was a place for bumping into old friends...we saw Josh , our friend from Portland, Oregon, a Swedish guy we had met weeks ago in Santiago, and on the last day we saw Jesus, our spanish teacher, who had just finished hiking over the Andes and was none too pleased about the fact that he´d just had his new boots stolen.
We didn´t do a great deal in El Bolson...quite a bit of relaxing at the campsite and an afternoon wandering round the fantastic market kept us busy enough.
written by  jonnik on March 5, 2008 from El Bolson, Argentina

On the lookout for Orca Whales
Puerto Madryn, Argentina
After El Bolson we took an overnight bus across the continent to Puerto Madryn, on the Atlantic coast. We arrived early morning and took another bus straight out to Puerto Piramides where we hoped to catch sight of some Orca Whales. Any of you who have seen the BBC Blue Planet footage of the Orca Whales beaching themselves trying to catch baby sealions will be familiar with where we were - this is where they filmed it. The tent was pitched again at the very basic municipal campsite and we then looked into renting bikes to get out to Punta Norte to (hopefully) see the whales. This idea was soon ditched as we realised it would be an 80km journey !! So we booked onto a tour for the following day. We were on limited supplies by this point and the gas ran out that night....nevermind, there´s always fire...
Run out of gas...
That night the weather took a severe turn for the worse and there was a huge storm. Luckily, we had waterproofed the tent in El Bolson and we managed to stay dry. So, the following day we were up and soon on the bus heading out towards the headland to see some wildlife. It was a great day, despite the fact that the Orcas failed to show up. We saw penguins, sealions, elephant seals, armadillos, grey foxes, guanacos (a bit like a lama) and rheas (a bit like an ostrich).
Sleeping Armadillo
El Zorro Gris
Sea Lions at Punta Norte
Elephant seal and pup
We were a bit disappointed not to see the Orcas. This is what it might have looked like if we had, but at least the baby sealions had a good day !
The elusive Orca Whale
We stayed another night at the posh campsite and the following day headed back to Puerto Madryn for a night (laundry had to be done) before the BIG trip north to Buenos Aires.
Camping at Puerto Piramides
written by  jonnik on March 9, 2008 from Puerto Madryn, Argentina

Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Argentina
It was indeed a big journey north to the capital, about 20 hours, and we arrived late morning. We checked into the Hostel Sol and were a bit disappointed with it. Nothing had yet compared to La Casa Roja, and this place certainly didn´t !! Nevermind, we hadn´t come to BA to spend too much time in the hostel. The first afternoon we headed up the road to the district of San Telmo, home of the Tango. We chilled in the square with cold beer and monkey nuts and watched the tango dancers and other interesting characters. We had talked about maybe having lessons whilst we were here but in the end it didn´t happen - 5 days just wouldn´t have been enough.
Crazy Argentine, San Telmo
The following day was spent pounding the pavement, seeing a few sights and shopping - we must have walked for miles !! It was back to the plaza in the evening for food and to soak in the atmosphere.
The next day we invested in some metro tickets. Buenos Aires is a big city and there was no way we were gonna spend another day walking around it ! We headed to the Japanese Gardens in Palermo and had a very nice picnic in that little oasis.
Japanese Garden
That night we headed back out to Palermo for a most fantastic experience - pints of beer and real Indian food in a pub called ´Bangalore´. The food was amazing and the place was like a proper pub back home....just what was needed !!
Before we left Blighty, all those months ago, our wonderful neighbour had asked us if we would try and track down a statue of one of her ancestors, Admiral William Brown, who is credited with founding the Argentine Navy in the early 19th Century. We hadn´t yet seen it, but whilst in the famous La Recoleta Cemetery, the next day, we stumbled across his grave, and a mighty impressive affair it is. La Recoleta Cemetery is like nothing we had ever seen, the graves are almost as big as houses, but William Brown´s stands out from the rest. All the others are black or grey stone but his is a huge green metallic column (maybe like a ship´s mast), it´s green to show that he was Irish, and sits in pride of place.
Recoleta Cemetery
Admiral William Brown´s Grave
Later that day we sampled more of BA´s fine culture at the Thelonious Jazz Club (also in Palermo). The music was ´nice´, the cocktails strong and the clientele rather cool (but not as cool as they thought....). We also got to sample (on the house) Argentina´s national drink, Fernet. If ever you get the chance, and even if it´s on the house, make sure you turn it down - it´s proper grim !!
The following day, sunday, we were a bit hungover after all those cocktails. We eventually made it up the road to the famous San Telmo antiques market. The place was buzzing with loads of market stalls and lots and lots of live music and people dancing. We chilled out to a cool Tango band and rocked it up to some Argentinian roots and treated ourselves to CD´s from both bands (sometimes music is just meant to be heard live !!).
Live tango music
Radio Roots (better live than on CD !!), San Telmo
Tango dancers, San Telmo
Afterwards it was out for more of BA´s gorgeous food. This time to another pub for an authentic Thai curry. We spent the rest of the night watching the numerous Tango dancers in the plaza and talking to some crazy locals...we love San Telmo !!
On our last day we set about hunting down the statue of Admiral Brown and finally located him. We pigged out on yet more gorgeous food (a ´pizza sandwich´...try it, it works !!), packed up and got the night bus back west, across the continent again, to Mendoza, home of Argentinian wine...mmmmm.
Obelisk, Avenida 9 Julio
Street scene, Buenos Aires
Admiral William Brown statue
written by  jonnik on March 12, 2008 from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Argentina

Argentinian wine and back to the House of Fun
Mendoza, Argentina
It was another long, long bus ride from BA to Mendoza, where we didn´t really do anything at all to write home about...apart from sample the gorgeous and very cheap Argentinian Malbec and watch loads of extremely crappy films in the hotel. Whilst there Mum Walton was celebrating her 60th birthday and it was great to chat with her, albeit very briefly. We had a couple a nights in Mendoza then got the bus over the Andes back to La Casa Roja in Santiago. This should have been a 6 hour journey but it turned into 12 hrs because the drivers mate managed to lose the list of passengers details at the Arg./Chile border !! This meant that we missed most of the gorgeous scenery (it was dark on the best bit), although we did get a quick glimpse of Cerro Aconcagua, at 6960m the highest peak outside of the Himalayas.
Cerro Aconcagua
We eventually rocked up at La Casa Roja at about midnight to find the party in full swing. It was great to meet up with old friends and we eventually stumbled to bed in the wee small hours. The following day we booked onto the Pacahamama tour to head north through Chile up to the Atacama desert.
written by  jonnik on March 20, 2008 from Mendoza, Argentina

Pachamama Tour mama !!
Santiago, Chile
It was another tearful (not really) goodbye to our favourite hostel, La Casa Roja, as we boarded the minibus at 9am for the 5 day Pachamama North tour from Santiago up to San Pedro de Atacama in the far north of Chile.
Day 1
The first day was a long one, stopping for lunch at the seaside resort of Pichidangui and then heading up to La Serena which we eventually reached late afternoon. We spent a couple of hours or so on the beach watching the pelicans fishing, but resisted going for a dip.
Pelicans, La Serena
After checking into the hotel we heard a familiar voice and there was Will, our old friend from La Casa Roja in Santiago. We hadn´t seen him for a few weeks and he was booked onto the rest of the Pachamama tour. That evening the whole group (16 of us including Maria-Jose, the guide, and Marco, the driver) went out for food and a few drinks. It was quite amusing to see that Will was now on the wagon....this was NOT the Will we had met back in Santiago ! The group then headed off to a karaoke bar but we made a sharp exit and headed back to the hotel....we had learned our lesson weeks ago in Valparaiso !!
Day 2
The following morning there was much confusion about whether or not the clocks had changed....they were due to but the Chilean government had changed things at the last minute. We headed up the coast to Punta Choros where we took a boat ride out towards Isla Damas, famous for it´s dolphins and sealions. The whole area is part of a national park but after an hour or so at sea we had only seen a few sealions and were a bit disheartened. Things soon changed.....the boat sped off and we soon saw loads of dolphins and more sealions and then came the best bit. Not one but two huge humpbacked whales were in the water right next to us ! We sat and watched them surfacing for about 20 minutes and it was truely amazing...
Humpback whale
We then headed close to Isla Damas and got to see loads more sealions, penguins, gannets, sea otters and vultures to name but a few.
Vulture
Baby sealion
It was then back to dry land - the trip out to sea had been fantastic !
Happy after seeing the whale
It was then further north to eventually arrive in Bahia Inglesa (English Bay - named after an English pirate who arrived here centuries ago) where we were booked into some very nice, compact wooden huts. It had been a long day so after food and a couple of beers we crashed out fairly early.
Day 3
Today was a well earned rest day...we were to stay around Bahia Inglesa, chill out and prepare for tonight´s party. At lunch we headed into Caldera, the nearest town, and feasted at "Empanadopolis". Empanadas are kind of like a cornish pasty but with diferent fillings and we´d had many to date across the whole continent....none, however, compared to the ones we had today. They were fantastic !! That afternoon we had a stroll on the beach but again resisted going in the sea as it was an unnatural shade of bright green !! We later found out that the whole bay is used for fish farming....it was a bit like a giant fish tank that has never been cleaned !! At night the whole group got together for a barbeque courtesy of Maria-Jose and Marco. The food was amazing and much alcohol was consumed by all (except Will)...
Barbeque night, Pachamama Tour
Due to last night´s extravagance we set off fairly late today, heading toward the city of Antofagasta. It was another long drive (respect to Marco), broken only for a lunch stop and then at a huge and very impressive sculpture in the middle of the desert called El Mano del Desierto (The Hand of the Desert).
La Mano del Desierto (The Hand of the Desert)
We eventually rocked up in Antofagasta where we were treated to the delight´s of it´s huge shopping mall and the amazing (NOT) food it had to offer us !
Today was billed as the best day of the tour, and it didn´t disappoint ! After breakfast we headed up the coast to see "La Portada", a huge natural stone archway out at sea.
La Portada
We then headed inland towards the driest place in the world, the Atacama Desert. Late morning we stopped at a train cemetary where there were about 10 or so old steam locomotives (Robbie Rocker,you would love it !!) and various carriages abandoned. Because of the extremely dry atmospheric conditions they were in almost pristeen condition...it was pretty mad !!
Train Cemetery
We then had a late breakfast - possibly the finest scrambled eggs ever made...ever ! It was then further into the firery furnace of the Atacama desert. We stopped at the salt flats where we imbibed in a shot of tequila with what must have been the nicest tasting salt we had ever tried...
Tequila shots with the world´s best tasting salt
Ohhh tequila....it makes me happy !!
It was incredibly hot now but we all cooled down with a swim in a natural pool at the desert oasis of Peine...it was so nice !! Afterwards we watched the sunset at Laguna Chaxa, home to many flamingoes. The place was truely special with huge mountains and volcanoes around.
Flamingoes, Laguna Chaxa
After the sun had set we drove the short distance into San Pedro de Atacama and checked into the ´rustic´ hotel we were booked into. Maria-Jose had been a bit wary about taking us to this place but we loved it...it was a bit like being back in India. The hosts greeted us with a glass of sweet red wine and they had a huge fire roaring....this was just what we needed as we were now at 2438m and it was a bit chilly ! That evening the group all went out for dinner to a great restaurant. We enjoyed free Pisco sours, many beers and fantastic live local music.
Dinner in San Pedro (drunken driver and tour guide on left and right)
A free day to enjoy the delights of San Pedro....we had a nice lie-in after the excesses of the previous evening then in the firery furnace of the Atacama at midday we headed out into the desert to do some sandboarding !! It was a great laugh, but getting back up those huge dunes at that altitude and in that heat was no mean feat !! They really should get some chair lifts installed...
Sandboarding
Totally rad, dude....
Later that day we headed out to the amazing scenery of the Valley of the Moon. We trekked through salt caves and then along a huge ridge to enjoy the beautiful desert sunset.
Enjoying the sunset
Back at the rustic hotel was the last night that the group would be together after a fantastic few days. In typical fashion it was another late night with the odd beer or two being consumed. The trip from Santiago to the Atacama had been a great experience and we had met some great people...
written by  jonnik on March 22, 2008 from Santiago, Chile

Relaxing in the desert
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
After the madness of the Pacahmama tour we decided to chill in San Pedro for a couple of days and not really do a great deal. We stayed at the rustic hotel, practised our Spanish and finally got round to sending the tent and camping gear home (that´s the rucksacks a few kilograms lighter !!). We booked to go on a tour to the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia with Will and generally enjoyed the nice little town of San Pedro...
San Pedro de Atacama
written by  jonnik on March 28, 2008 from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Uyuni Salt Flats tour
Uyuni, Bolivia
So it was bye-bye San Pedro after a couple of days chilling and an extra hour in bed as the clocks finally went back....it's been a bit confusing ! We boarded the crowded bus and headed off up into the Andes past huge 5000m+ volcanoes as the desert town disappeared below us. The border crossing into Bolivia was a somewhat casual affair, a taste of things to come....and before we knew it it was country number 3 in South America. The other passengers on the bus were soon put into groups by the 'tour guides' and off they went leaving us, Will and 4 others sort of stranded at the border ! Not to worry, they all headed off in jeeps but we were soon shown to our luxury transportation... a rather large bus with plenty of room for us to spread out in. This lasted about 15 minutes when we met up with another jeep driver and were soon cramped into his 30 year old Toyota Land Cruiser. As we set off it was clear that this vehicle had made this bumpy trip many times....the suspension was knackered ! Nevermind, only 3 days to go...We soon arrived at our first destination, 'The Green Lagoon', at 5000m above sea level it was stunning and almost didn't look real. We stayed for a while watching the flamingoes and trying to catch our breath.
The Green Lagoon, 5000m
It was soon back into the jeep and across the bumpy tracks towards the next port of call - geysers and hot springs in the middle of the desert with clouds of lovely smelling steam. A short drive away was a hot pool that we all had a nice soak in....it was a bit chilly up at this altitude so it was nice to sit in some hot water.
Thermal Springs
Enjoying the hot springs
We then spent another couple of hours in the jeep before arriving at the place we would spend the first night, next to the 'Red Lagoon'. The scenery here was stunningly bizarre and beautiful again, with mountains around, lamas grazing around the lake and more huge flocks of flamingoes feeding in the salty waters.
Alpaca and flamingo
The Red Lagoon
We took a walk around part of the huge lake and enjoyed the incredible place we were in.....then it was back to our luxury accomodation. To date we have stayed in some pretty basic places, but we had not yet encountered the concrete bed ! Once the sun went down, it soon became very cold very quickly and a stone bed did nothing to raise the temperature !! After eating the first of many 'fantastic' meals on this tour, we huddled round in the communal room (a bit like Emperor penguins) before heading back to the dorm to crash for the evening. It was a cold, cold night and we all slept with loads of our clothes on, including hats and gloves (it really was cold !)
The first stop on the following morning was an area of huge, Dali-esque rocks that seemed to have been randomly placed in the middle of the high-altitude desert....yet more bizarre Bolivian scenery.
Most rest of the day was spent inside the jeep enjoying the beautiful scenery and watching the lamas and alpacas watching us as we drove past. In the afternoon we visited the yet another colourful lagoon, this time the ´Blue Lagoon´for yet more amazing landscapes and even more flamingoes....who would ever think you would become blase about seeing flamingoes ?
The Blue Lagoon
The accomodation that night was definately an improvement on the previous evening....the place was warm and the beds were made of wood (not concrete), sheer luxury ! This hotel was right of the edge of the Salt Flats which we would tour tomorrow. The Uynui Salt Flats are the biggest in the world, covering an area of 12,000 sq km....try and get you heads around that, we couldn´t !!
Another early start for day 3, a few sunrise photos and then it was off in the jeep out onto the Salt Flats. The place was totally flat and blindingly white, and like nothing we had ever seen before. It was almost impossible to get any kind of perspective there....we drove across the flats and it seemed like the mountains on the other side were quite close but after half an hour or so it became very apparent that they were miles and miles away. It was fantastic for taking funny photos though, and, yet again, the camera was put to extensive use.
Kenty in the palm of my hand
Us in Will´s hand...
The driver then took us to a small island in the middle of all that saltiness...yet again, the place was bizarre !! It was covered in huge cacti, some of then over a thousand years old.
View from the island
Us and Will
After an hour or so walking around the island we got back in the jeep and headed across the flats towards the small town of Uyuni. But we stopped on the way to take yet more photos....it just had to be done !
Nik encouraging Will to stop smoking
Jon jumping
It had been another amazing tour and the little, non-descript town of Uyuni seemed rather boring in comparison. We said goodbye to the people who had travelled with us, checked into a hotel with Will and headed out for some food. Later that day we booked our tickets out of here, for the following night's 10 hour trip to the capital, La Paz.
written by  jonnik on March 30, 2008 from Uyuni, Bolivia

Lama foetus anyone ?
La Paz, Bolivia
It was a cold and wet morning as we arrived in La Paz, at around 3700m, the world's highest capital. It would probably be hard walking around if the roads are flat, but they're not....for the most part they are very, very steep...the kind of place you get out of breath just thinking about going for a stroll. We soon booked into the not too majestic Hotel Majestic, our home for the next few days and passed out for a few hours, in the extremely cold room. Over the coming we were to find out that the room wasn´t just freezing cold in the morning, it was always like this ! This meant limited time spent here, and more time sampling the coca tea in the many nice cafes of La Paz. In total we spent 5 nights in the capital (and this was just the first visit of 3 !) - as ever, we didn´t seem to do a great deal apart from lots of wandering around and soaking up the generally mad vibe of this crazy place. One day we walked up to a park on top of a hill in the middle of town, which gave us a spectular vista of the whole of La Paz, with Mt. Illamani towering over the city.
La Paz & Mt. Illamani, 6402m
La Paz cathedral
We met up with our old friends Matt & Kathryn who we had originally met on the Pachamama tour in northern Chile and headed for a night out with them at ´Oliver´s Travels´ a traditional English Pub in the middle of Bolivia. Here we had a very enjoyable curry and a pint of beer, a most authentic experience !
One of the best things about La Paz was just to wander around and watch all the locals going about their daily business, the best place for this was the Witches Market where our hotel was. Now we don´t know if the women on the stores were actual witches, but you wouldn´t want to risk it. They all sold the most bizarre selection of things, from aphrodisiac potions to lucky charms to lama foetuses, which apparently bring good luck when buried under the porch of a new home.
Store in the Witches Market
The Witches Market
Another fantastic aspect of La Paz was the food, especially the 100% Natural cafe that we seemed to frequent almost everyday....we loved it ! This place and the cafe down the road where the crazy owner was possibly the world´s biggest Wycliffe Jean fan (give that DVD a rest, please...)
So yeah, a good time was had in La Paz. We also spent quite a bit of time researching what shopping would be done here when we returned in a few weeks. The shops were amazing, with so much Alpaca wool stuff to buy ready for the return to cold and rainy England. Oh and the choice of woolen finger puppets wasn´t too bad either....
Lady selling finger puppets
written by  jonnik on April 2, 2008 from La Paz, Bolivia

Copacabana (no not Brazil) and Isla del Sol
Copacabana, Bolivia
So, after somehow occupying 5 nights in La Paz we took an early morning bus to Lake Titicaca, often wrongly quoted as the world´s highest navigable lake. The views of La Paz, as we headed up to the Altiplano, were amazing. The journey was a nice short 3 hours or so, and after a couple of hours we all had to get off the bus so we (and it) could cross the Strait of Tiquina, a narrow stretch of water that seperates the 2 parts of the lake. We headed over in a small ferry boat and the bus crossed over it what has to be the most interesting vehicle ferry we have ever seen.
Vehicle ferry, Lake Titicaca
We soon arrived in the lakeside town of Copacabana and checked into another nice and cheap hotel, this one chilly but not as cold as the one in La Paz. Copacabana is even higher than La Paz, at an altitude of 3841m. The days were sunny and fairly warm but as soon as the sunset we could feel the temperature plummet. It felt weird to be at Lake Titicaca because it is so big (118 miles by 50 miles) that it feels more like the sea than a lake. Most nights we would wander down to the lakeside to enjoy the extremely beautiful sunsets...
Sunset over Lake Titicaca
...and then head into one of the many restaurants to warm up around the fire. Again we bumped into some old friends, this time 3 English girls we had done the Uyuni Salt Flats tour with.
Being only a small town, there wasn´t too much to keep us here for too long. We had a wander around the famous cathedral and lit a candle to the memory of our Grandads.
Cathedral, Copacabana
After a couple of days we took a ferry across the lake to Isla del Sol, the birth place of the Inca religion. We only spent a night here and it was like a journey back in time...the kind of place that you get the impression hasn´t changed in centuries (apart from the addition of Gringos). We took a stroll that evening and it wasn´t just the altitude (over 4000m)that took our breath away, the views of the mountains across the lake were amazing, as was the sunset.
Jon on Isla del Sol
Sunset from Isla del Sol
The following morning we got up extremely early to enjoy an even more amazing sunrise (check those mountains !!)...
Sunrise, Isla del Sol
...and after breakfast set off to walk the 3 hours to the top of the island to see the Inca ruins of Challapampa and catch the afternoon ferry back to Copacabana. The walk was generally fairly flat but where it did undulate it was really hard to walk uphill and the sun was strong, really strong.
Main road, Isla del Sol
We just about made it in time to catch the ferry and were back in Copacabana in time teatime and another cold Lake Titicaca night. The following day we were booked on the bus to Arequipa in Peru.
written by  jonnik on April 7, 2008 from Copacabana, Bolivia

Jon enjoying early morning cuppa on the train

More lama foetuses and other lovely things

The cable car in Salta

Nik on the train

Lama foetuses in the Witches market, La Paz

Nik chilling in the hammock

Sunrise in the jungle

Baby aligator

5 Cheeky Monkeys

Jon just been stung by wasps

Eco-friendly guide with anaconda

Nik about to get stung by wasps

Bird (name unknown)

Bird drying it´s wings

Scarey Black Caiman

Another gorgeous sunset

Cheeky squirrel monkeys

Hoxy bird

Smiling aligator

Turtle power

Sunset over the Rio Beni

Nice hat

Our transport to the jungle

Bolivian ladies dancing

One man and his dog

Mt Illampu, 6368m, near Sorata

Sunset over Lake Titicaca

Ollantaitambo

Peruvian youth

Cusco at night

Us at the end of a long day...

In the ruins

Steep steps

Hanging on at the top of Waynupicchu

Machu Picchu from Waynupicchu

The mist sets in....

Early morning, Machu Picchu

Big stones at Saqsaywaman

Arequipa Cathedral at night

More of those condors

Andean Condor at Colca Canyon

Sunset at Colca Canyon

Condor at Colca Canyon

Colca Canyon

Sunset from the monastry

Kenty not taking 'confession' as serious as she should do...

Preaching to the masses

Help !!!

Through the key-hole, Monasterio Santa Catalina

'Traditional' transport, Lake Titicaca

Little Will

The Red Lagoon

Enjoying the hot springs

Main road, Isla del Sol

Sunrise, Isla del Sol

Jon on Isla del Sol

Sunset from Isla del Sol

Cathedral, Copacabana

The Witches Market

Vehicle ferry, Lake Titicaca

Store in the Witches Market

Lady selling finger puppets

La Paz & Mt. Illamani, 6402m

La Paz cathedral

Jon jumping

View from the island

Nik encouraging Will to stop smoking

Us and Will

Us in Will´s hand...

Kenty in the palm of my hand

The Blue Lagoon

Alpaca and flamingo

Thermal Springs

The Green Lagoon, 5000m

San Pedro de Atacama

Enjoying the sunset

Totally rad, dude....

Sandboarding

Dinner in San Pedro (drunken driver and tour guide on left and right)

Flamingoes, Laguna Chaxa

Ohhh tequila....it makes me happy !!

Tequila shots with the world´s best tasting salt

Train Cemetery

La Portada

La Mano del Desierto (The Hand of the Desert)

Pelicans, La Serena

Cerro Aconcagua

Happy after seeing the whale

Barbeque night, Pachamama Tour

Baby sealion

Vulture

Humpback whale

Tango dancers, San Telmo

Admiral William Brown statue

Admiral William Brown´s Grave

The elusive Orca Whale

Radio Roots (better live than on CD !!), San Telmo

Japanese Garden

Obelisk, Avenida 9 Julio

Recoleta Cemetery

Crazy Argentine, San Telmo

Street scene, Buenos Aires

Live tango music

Elephant seal and pup

Run out of gas...

Market day, El Bolson

Funds are runing low....

Basic foodstuffs....

Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires

Camping at Puerto Piramides

Sea Lions at Punta Norte

El Zorro Gris

Sleeping Armadillo

Early morning at Cerro Catedral

Climbers at Cerro Catedral, Bariloche

Nik filtering water from the lake

First night camp in the forest

On the way up the mountain

Soaking those aching muscles

Hot springs, Pucon

Post volcano volcano cerveza

From the top of Volcon Villarrica 2847m

Early morning hiking the volcano

Bar & pool

Nik at La Casa Roja

The last supper

The infamous Casa Roja

Lunar eclipse

Santiago seen from Parque Metropolitano

Spanish lessons from Jesus

The view from our apartment

Lookin' good

Another quiet night

Valparaiso

Sky Tower

Downtown Auckland

Nick swimming with Hectors dolphins

Jon swimming with Hectors dolphins

Hectors dolphins

Wetsuits on !

Baldwin Street, Steepest Street in the World

Gollum inside tree

Nik precariously crossing bridge

Picture postcard NZ

Lord of the Rings country

Southern Alps at Franz Joseph

Us at Franz Josef Glacier, Christmas Day

Christmas decs

Christmas Eve beers

The first supper in the van - good old sausage and mash

Us at Wharariki Beach

Seal at Wharariki Beach

Mount Tongariro aka Mount Doom

River crossing

Pancake Rocks

Us on the beach

Jon enjoying outdoor shower

Jon wwoofing

Wharariki Beach

Evening meal with wwoofing hosts

Rakey Master

Another Rakey Master

Sam and Mr Frodo in Mordor

On the way to Mordor

Jon cooking in thermal pool

Meeting house, Waitangi

Sunset, Russell

Watch out David Hasselhoff

Escapee piglet, Sheepworld

Auckland as seen from Mt Eden

Nik in rain forest

Little Penguins, Phillip Island

On the waterfront

Us at the Twelve Apostles

Pelican

The X-Men Van

Sydney Harbour from the Botanic Gardens

Sculpture by the Sea

Jon at Bondi Beach

Nik in Seventh Heaven

Sculture by the Sea

Sunset, Melbourne Harbour

Loch Ard Gorge

The 12 Apostles

The Knobbies, mainland Australia's most southerly point

Sleepy Koala

Those pesky flies/ Jon Merrick

The Blue Pools (as seen in B&W)

Pelican watching on Mallacoota

On the way to Mystery Bay

Lunch at Batemans Bay

Sharing dinner with cheeky possum

Relaxing on the beach, Jervis Bay

Nik in very cold pool, Bulli, New South Wales

The 3 Sisters

Evans Lookout, Blue Mountains

Cooking with fire

Opera House & Harbour Bridge

Us at Coogee Beach

Railway Station, Mumbai

The view from our hotel window, Mumbai

Usual Suspects, Santos' Bar

Beach hut, Palolem

Cyclist, Morjim beach

Sunbathing cows, Palolem beach

Chilling on the balcony, Chapora

On the sleeper train to Goa

Udaipur (as seen in 'Octopussy')

Pilgrim at Jagdish Temple, Udaipur

Nik and camel, Pushkar

Languar monkeys, Pushkar

The holy town of Pushkar

The Taj

Baby Taj

The ghats at night

What is it?

Pooja

Gambling by the ghats

At last we see the mountains

Pokhara Lake

Trekking Posse (all smiles before 'easy' last day)

Cooking in the hot springs after a hard day

The mother of all blisters !!!

Classy hotel on the first night

A bridge too far

Poon Hill (3210m) - check that view !!!

Another cracking view from Poon Hill

Kenty enjoying the trek

Joining in with local entermainment

Faces of Nepal

A rare glimpse of the mountains

Row, row, row !!!

Would you sleep here ?

Chillin' at The Last Resort

Holy Baba

Festival in Kathmandu

Bodnath Stupa, Kathmandu

The Garden of Dreams

Nik at Red Fort, Delhi

Jon overdoing it on 10 dish thali

Colourful crowds at border

Golden Temple, Amritsar

Jon jumping off the dunes

I believe I can fly

Leh Palace & Gompa

Nik & Prayer Flags

Big blue skies, Manali to Leh highway

After a cold night under canvas in Sarchu, 4400m

More Manali beauty

TETE KETE TAKU TAKU

KATA GHADI GHEN

Nik with chocolate birthday cake

Chilling on the balcony on Nik's birthday afternoon

Sunny morning Manali

Jon by the river

Christ Church, Shimla

Sunset on our first night in Shimla