What we doing today, eh?!

This time last year...

2009-02-17T15:14:00.005Z

...I was swimming with sharks!!!

We were in Ko Tao, a beautiful island in Southern Thailand.
Not the touristy resorty type of island, oh no - this is the kind of island where backpackers come to chill...and get there PADI diving certification.

We spent 13 nights here - the most amount of time we've spent in any one place, and with good reason...it was amaaazing! sun, sand and sea...what more could you ask for?

This island was the last destination on our SE Asian adventure, to say it finished with a bang would not be off the mark!

This time last year...

2008-11-28T11:18:00.005Z

...we were in Singapore
We met Angad Singh here
He introduced us to the pleasures of mock meat.
Singapore impressed us with its immaculately clean streets, super efficient transport system, high tech gadgetry and magnificence of Sentosa Island. The night zoo was a highlight - the only one in the world apparently. And if you're into shopping, Orchard Road is paradise! We were here during Christmas so the whole place was teaming with Xmasy festivities and decorations.

A bit too pricey for the average backpacker though - perfect for short stays for families.

And the service in restaurants is appaling.

A year ago...

2008-10-28T10:58:00.003Z

...I met Gurcharan at Krabi airport!

On 28th October 2007, I landed in Krabi.
Exhausted after my 24 hours of travel, consisting of delayed flights, disgruntled Air India hostesses, nasty aeroplane food and 8 excruciatingly long hours in a Bombay airport lobby I finally joined Gurcharan to begin our 6 month action packed adventure!

2 weeks isn't a long time, but boy was it GREAT to finally be with him again!

1 year on...

2008-10-16T09:39:00.005+01:00

Its been one year since Gurcharan embarked on his craaaazy 6 month adventure of a lifetime!

Countries visited in one word (or two)

2008-10-10T16:18:00.006+01:00

Thailand – Thailand is just Thailand…adventurous and interesting in more ways than one!

Indonesia, Bali – Disappointing beaches, but beautiful inland. Way too commercial.

Singapore – clean, ‘eat off the floor’ clean! Efficient in every which way – except for customer service in restaurants! Everything is man made – even the beach!

Cambodia – Awe inspiring Angkor. The beaches are still raw – not yet hit by the package tour crowd. Sad history– but resilient people.

Malaysia – Friendly! We met the nicest bunch of Sikhs here! :o)

Laos – hippyville!

India – expect the unexpected!

Hmmnnn maybe I should change the title of this post!

Dinner is served...Cambodia

2008-09-30T11:33:00.001+01:00

Dinner is served...Cambodia , originally uploaded by Preet_D.

This was in my salad! Dinner at an organic restaurant in Cambodia - cant get fresher than that!

Flashbacks

2008-09-25T13:55:00.004+01:00

A look back at some of my fav pics from our travels...

Rajasthan, India

Bali, Indonesia

Angkor, Cambodia

Flashbacks!

2008-09-11T09:36:00.007+01:00

Ok its time for some flashbacks!

Mr n Mrs D's top 10 countdown (or top 5's or top 2's or whatever!) :

Most memorable moments
A list of some of the most distinct travel moments:
§ Lying inside a cute little open hut...swinging gently on a (sturdy?!) hammock (emphasis on 'gently' - not cos we undermine all the stringent healthy and safety regulations in SE Asia!)...overlooking the blue karst limestone mountain expance...shimmering reflections of the golden sunset on the Nam Song river...and 'proposing' to Gurcharan with a wooden ring bought from Kao San Road! ahhhh...cant get more romantic and mushy than that! (Vang Vieng, Laos)

§ Having dinner with travellers from all over the world! One of my fav things from the travels. Its exhilirating to exchange all the travel tales with fellow backpackers.

§ Eating aloo parathay and drinking masala chai from a plastic bag through a straw(yes...plastic bag and straw) in a slow boat while floating in a slow boat on the mighty Mekong River. These were bought from a real Indian restaurant in a remote little village in the middle of nowhere! (Pakbeng, Laos)

§ Sunset walk in the rice paddies. I'll never forget the feeling of tranquility and sheer hapiness I felt here. Here I was surrounded by nature at its very best bathed in the mellow golds of the setting sun with not a soul in sight...and to share this experience with my husband was a blessing in itself... (Ubud, Bali)

Bbbbad to the bone!

2008-04-16T09:23:00.002+01:00

, originally uploaded by Preet_D.

He thought it was a Harley...

I especially like the touch with the flip flops and shorts - yeah...very mean!

Mean Machine

2008-04-14T21:49:00.003+01:00

Hahahahaha!
Too funny!!!!!!!!

2008-04-10T12:56:00.000+01:00

cheeeeesyyyyyy! haha! ;o)

2008-04-10T12:49:00.002+01:00

2008-04-10T12:21:00.001+01:00

Last supper

2008-04-09T20:41:00.004+01:00

We had our last meal in the hotel we were staying in. Nothing beats a good Indian - and this was no exception. We were joined by Omkar and Tejinder who kept us highly entertained! An altogether perfect way of spending our last evening - good company and good food.

Omkar and Tej - we shared our last supper with these two lovely guys!

Why is food in India always sooo delicious?!

5 Star Luxury

2008-04-09T20:38:00.006+01:00

This hotel was absolutely gorgeous!

This was the most comfy bed with the most comfy pillows and the most comfy room!

Our flight back home was from Delhi airport which meant we had to spend a night in Delhi. Omkar was scheduled to be staying at this lovely hotel in Delhi and offered to get us a room in the same hotel as a treat since we had spent the last 6 months in guesthouses and cheapy hotels. What a nice thing for him to do for us, eh?!

This hotel was the bomb, I felt like I should walk around with my nose turned up and a certain air of diva-ness about me. At dinner we made light banter with the waiters, as you do. They were so stunned that we were actually talking to them that they really didn't know how to respond - all the did was giggle awkwardly nod their head in the famous Indian 'yes no' fashion and went straight back to the script 'more dal madam?'.

We happened to be booked on the same flight as Tejinder Singh (infact, when we got to the airport we met a whole load of friends who were on our flight - it was quite ironic to have spent 6 months in the company of strangers and then to be making our final journey back home with a whole bunch of friends from back home!). Omkar managed to get Tej in at the hotel as well and shared the room with him. It was nice to spend the last day with these two lovely guys.

The bathroom was separated from the bedroom by a clear glass wall! Gurcharan is standing in the bathroom and im taking the pic from the bedroom.
Tej and Omkar were in the room next door - we were laughing so hard at the thought of how awkward they would be when one of them needs to shower up!
Later that evening we realised there was a switch that brings the blinds down!

All rooms had complimentary chocolates which were delicious!

A family that eats together...

2008-04-09T20:37:00.003+01:00

The family dosa!

Gurcharan's uncle took us out for a meal and ordered this huge dosa which covered the whole table. Here we share this dosa with the rest of the family: Puaji, Shani Chachaji and Rattandeep

2008-04-09T20:36:00.002+01:00

2008-04-09T20:34:00.002+01:00

Rangla Punjab

2008-04-09T20:30:00.004+01:00

My uncle in India decided to take us out for a bit of an 'ethnic' dinner.
No…not the local dhaba – this was going to be a tad more upper class than that…apparently.
Most people who have been to Punjab know of Haveli - a pseudo Punjabi village where things take on a slightly curious but interesting turn. Located on the famous GT Road near Jallandhar City, its what you’d call a ‘blast from the past’!

2008-04-09T20:26:00.004+01:00

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Home sweet home!

2008-04-05T18:08:00.001+01:00

So, we are finally home now. Its been a fantastic 6 months.

We still have the rest of India to blog and put up a few more pics. Will do that as soon as we get used to the freezing weather and getting up in the morning to go to work! urgh!

Camel Safari

2008-03-15T13:11:00.004Z

This was a lot more fun than I expected.

Camels in Rajasthan are the main mode of transport. Which for me is an unusual site. I have not really come across any camels in my life - then again I have not really experienced the desert life before. They pull carts, roam free in the fields, take a major part in the big festivals.

Jaisalmere was a major trade route before the days of the Raj. After the British came, they established ports in Mumbai and other places which led to a decline in business in Jaisalmere. The camels were deemed useless and the arrid desert town was slowly turning into a ghost town...until the first tourists arrived. And so the 'desert camel safari' was born.

We opted for a 'non-touristic' safari. Which means we didn't go to the usual sand dunes, but paid a bit extra for a jeep to take us to a remote village from where we started our safari. Unfortunatley, we were not able to do the overnight safari due to time restraints. Nontheless, it was great!

Kalia, my faithful camel, turned out to be a very good little boy. Can't say the same for Gurcharan's ride, Mathura. She had a slight gas problem and might have had too much too eat - I had the misfortune of riding right behind her and had to content with very smelly farts and endless camel droppings!

Apart from that, the experience was very much the 'lawrence of Arabia'

Jaisalmere

2008-03-15T12:49:00.006Z

'The golden city'

Yet another fort and palace! But this fort is unique in that its the only one actually occupied. This is not entirely a good thing, the ageing plumbing system is causing the fort to collapse. The government has no interest in doing something about this, nor do the residents. This fort has made it to the top 100 sites in the world which is on the watch list for collapse.

The best thing here - the camel safari! We loved it!

The Rajasthan tour is now at an end - the lovely car has been sent home - I was quite getting used to living it large! 'driver, chalo!' hehe! :O)
We were lucky with this car (the first one we got broke down in Jaipur, if you remember from my previous post), it was a brand new Tata indigo - a luxury car in these parts. We were priviledged enough to be its very first passengers for its maiden journey.
BUT the good news is...my lovely uncle from Punjab is sending another car to take us from Rajasthan to Punjab! Talk about spoilt little brats! haha! Although im sure those who have travelled on public transport in India will sympathise with us (and especially after our first incident with the trains in india we're determined to avoid trains if we possibly can!)

Ranakpur and Jodhpur

2008-03-12T07:36:00.008Z

RanakpurClose up of one of the carvings
This monkey was so weird!
The Jain temple complex was huge!
Something caught my eye!
Some artistic shots by Gurcharan
A nice passer by took this for us
The intricate carvings were incredible

From Udaipur, we passed through Ranakpur. Here we saw one of the most beautiful Jain temples we have ever come across. It really is incredible. The number of carvings here and the amount of detail is astounding.

Udaipur

The thorne room

Some real jarokas, very much a moghul design, but adopted by the Rajputs.

Another finely detailed Jaroka

The Maharajs bedroom, note the tiny bed for one and the lack of clutter, rather unlike the indian houses that we know, where everything has value from the vinyl suitcases in various shades to the aluminium peti (storage chest) and random bits of clutter.

The coloured glass is the original Belgian glass used, notice how brightly coloured it is even after hundreds of years, our coloured glass on our windows at home has faded already, but then we aren't maharajas, and the glass isn't Belgian, we are not in india and I need to stop typing...

Theses beautiful Jarokas hold a sad tale as this is where the queens and princesses used to look at the outside world as they werent allowed to out into the real world, they were items of the palace to be seen only by those who were allowed.

Me looking at weapons, im interested in swords and kirpans for obvious reasons, I noticed that some of these were forged damascus steel, as there was a fine water-like pattern to the steel.
Sometimes you just crave familiar food, it would be rude not to indulge in the odd paneer tikka pizza! Oh yes, the world famous Pizza Hut gets all local and knocks out some indian inspired pizza! Yummy!!

The reason that Jodhpur is called the blue city... Because it looks blue! Blue they say is supposed to be a cooling colour which is welcome in the heat of Rajestan and it also keeps the mosquitos away, don't know how true that is but there you go!
Most of the guest houses where you stay are located in that mass of houses, the roads in some places are so narrow that you can only get down them on foot or on motorbike. Out guest house had a fantastic fort view from the roof.
Our room, Preet loved it, as it was so nicely decorated with nice traditional touches, like the windows and artwork. was full of mosquitos though, but our Thai mosquito coils knocked out the mozzies without hassle!
Note the 'Mahahraja' pose, i've got it tradmarked, look at the distant look in my eyes and head tilted to the side hands on knees waiting to dish out some authority over the peasant folk!!

Every night the same family perfomed some local music and dance, we used to sit here and enjoy the entertainment while enjoying rajestani taalis, where we forced to keep eating and eating, rather like being at an old friends house where you get treated so well.

We're now in Jodhpur. Haven't managed to see much yet but will be going later this afternoon to the huge fort and Palace. We have an incredible view of the fort from our 'haveli'. But then again, every building in the old city has a view cos the fort is right on top of the hill! It's huge - might take atleast 2 hours to complete the tour.

After Jodhpur we move to Jaisalmer to complete the final leg of our journey. Here we plan to go on an overnight camel safari, where you can camp under the stars on the Great Thar desert.

Jaisalmere will be our final stop in Rajathan.
After this we move on to Punjab, where we'll meet both mine and Gurcharans relatives. Especially looking forward to seeing my dear mummy whose also in India at the mo! It's going to be good to see her after such a loooooooong time on the road! We're also hoping to meet up with some friends who are arriving in India from London soon. Boy, its going to be quite a shock to the system to see so many familiar faces! I am looking forward to it - travelling does make one appreciate one's family and friends. Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder!

In a couple of weeks we're back in London. It feels like 6 months has flown past! But its all been such an amazing journey!
I wonder what's changed in 6 months? Do I still have a job when I get back??!! Has my brother finally learnt to drive, bought himself a car and great big mansion??!!!! Has the London underground finally installed an ac system in the trains?!

I just hope the weather's not too cold!

Udaipur

2008-03-12T07:16:00.006Z

Bond, James Bond!

Remember good ol Roger Moore? Well, in Udaipur you cant get enough of him!
A major part of the old bond film Octopussy was filmed in Udaipur. From our hotel we had a brilliant view of the famous Floating Palace/Lake Palace.
Although didn't fancy going over for some munch....the 50 pounds per head price for a buffet dinner had something to do with it!
A view of the lake palace from the boat
Most of the hotels play re-runs of the film everyday. Of course we went to watch it! It was good to see ol Roger after such a long time! It was quite surreal to watch the film and think 'Didn't I just visit that place this morning?!'
Up close - this is one of the hotels on the lake

The City Palace in Udaipur is one of my fav so far. While we were there, we managed to get a sneaky look at the set of a film thats shooting there at the moment. Its called 'Cheetah Girls'. Apparently, Udaipur is quite popular with the celebs. The bollywood actress Ravina Tendon hired out the palace when she got married. The city palace
There are some flashy hotels dotted about around the lake or even on the lake. The Maharaja of Udaipur owns a number of the snazy hotels and makes a good living out of it I can imagine!
One of the many ghats on the side of the lake
Here I managed to find another gooorgeous jharokha! This one has some wonderful carvings on it and an interesting 3D shape. Thank god for the car!

Pushkar

2008-03-12T07:07:00.004Z

After 3 nights in Jaipur, it was time to move on to Pushkar.

This is a very small village, with a strong religious vibe.
Its quite strange, there is nothing to see here but lots of tourists! Its like being in hippy-ville! Most of the foreigners walk around with dread locks with big Om's printed on their baggy cotton tops and a colourful shoulder bag over their arm!

Pushkar is said and still considered to be holy ground, there is no meat or alcohol to be consumed in Pushkar at all, but it seems people supplement there driking with smoking, everybody seems to smoke like chimneys here! But it was nice to know that we could eat and drink everything in every place we went to, and try the food we did, dont expect 5 star type restaurants here, more like cool laid back eateries, or on roof tops in tucked away streets or by the road side. In the evening it was nice to sit by the lake and contemplate our travels, and how lucky we were in being fortunate enough to travel.

On our way to Puskar we were told that we would pass a beutiful Gurdwara on the way, we thought it would be nice to go and pay our respects, but after asking around (thats how people get about in India) we didn't find it. Arriving at Pushkar we were told that we should visit the local Gurdwara by locals, who were mainly hindu, They all called it the baby Taj and seemed proud of it, so we went in search for the Gurdwara, which was easy as everyone knew where it was, on arriving at the Gurdwara and speaking to the Gianis (priests)and Sewadars (volunteers) we were told the tenth Guru of the Sikhs Guru Gobind Singhji rested here on his way to Hazoor Sahib near Mumbai. This made Pushkar a whole lot more special to us, if its good enough for our Guru, then its more then good enough for us!

There is a huge lake where you can see gorgeous sunsets.
Also - lots of shopping! We managed to bag a beautiful jharokha made out of teak wood and a couple of very old looking frames. A jharokha is like a window frame with a shutter. These are found in the Rajathani palaces. You see, the maharanis were not allowed to be seen in public - so these shutters were placed so that they could look out of them without being seen from the outside.

It's lucky we have the car cos the one we bought is massive!

Tour of Rajatan - Jaipur

2008-03-12T06:51:00.003Z

We planned to spend about 2 weeks in Rajastan, starting with Jaipur, the capital.
From Agra we hired a car and driver to make things more comfortable. We have been traveling for over 5 months now and have not had much trouble with getting from a to b. However, we realised that India is a whole new ball game!

On the way we stopped over at a place called Fatehpur Sikri, which has a fort with a mosque dedicated to the grandson of the well known Bhagat Kabir (I cant remember the full name, but it ends with Christi). Apparantely, the mughal emperor Akbar asked for a son, and this Muslim saint blessed him and he had a baby boy, named Shah Jahan.

We got to Jaipur quite late in the evening. Unfortunately, the car broke down just in the outskirts of the city. But we eventually found our 'palace' which turned out to be quite a gem with a very friendly manager.
Jaipur is like any other city in India. It has a palace which the public can view and a popular Hawa Mahal. Other than that, there's lots of shopping!

The Taj Mahal - the actual one!

2008-03-12T06:27:00.007Z

After Khajurao we planned to head to Agra by train, to do this we arranged transport to Jhansi where we had pre booked a train to Agra, at Jhansi station i was joking to Preet how bad the service of the train used to be when I was last visited India. So what happened?? the train which every single official confirmed comes to platform 4, without fail, everyday on platform 4! This meant only one thing, that the day we were catching the train it would come on platform 5, ahead of schedule to no announcement!! And how did we find out, we looked at the train on platform 5 and said to each other how nice it would be if ours was like that, guess what it was ours!

If you can travel by the Stapdi train, do so, its great, comfortable and quick, you also get fed too, with regular and timely tea and complementry mineral water when you board.

Agra, lots to see here but a dirty, smelly city thats over run by package holiday makers and locals trying everything in the book to rip off the poor holiday maker.

With that a side, the best time to see the Taj is at sunrise or sunset, as our guest house was 5 miute walk away we decided to walk it for sunrise. As mentioned earlier we were in traveller mode and had decided to get in all places of interest at local prices, as a comparison it is about £10 per person to get in to the Taj for foreigners and about 50p for locals. So we went in our Indian best and managed without any issue to get in for the local price.

Once inside you are in awe of how breath takingly amazing the Taj Mahal is, even after seeing some inspiring architecture in South East Asia and other parts of the world we have been to, you have to agree with all the books, documenteries and travel programs that this place is to be seen to be believed. Thats not what the British thought, the Taj Mahal, once the Moghul empire had crumbled wanted to auction of the Taj for its weight in marble! Brits on holiday eh?

Even at 6 in the morning the place get quite busy, being a landmark tourist destination for India thats going to happen! but its still worth the early morning as the morning light changes with almost every picture taken. The colour of the marble goes from cool blues to oranges and pinks to bright white.

The complex is quite large with a still used Mosque flanking one side of the Taj and another near identical building on the other side.

The symmetry of the structure is striking and makes you wonder how they managed to get everything so perfect in the days before modern precision instruments, power tools and heavy machinery. But they did!

It must be remembered that the whole thing is a tomb for the wife of Shah Jahan, so that the king can look at it and remember his favorite wife. Its ironic that Shah Jahan commisioned the building to be semetrical and now the only thing breaking the semetry is his own coffin, placed alongside Mumtaz's afterwards.

Some advice, do a day trip to Agra, which can be arranged from Delhi to see all the sites but try to avoid staying in Agra itself as there is nothing to be inspired about in that place.

Our hotel was not very far from the Taj. So we managed to get there just before sunrise.

cup of chai?

2008-03-01T11:05:00.003Z

Preet was going to photo every cup of Chai we had in India, but this failed after the first two pictures, we just drank way too much tea!two teas on the same day in the same place, note the variation in the cup, these are large tea cups as indian standards go.

Khajuraho

2008-03-01T11:00:00.003Z

If you dont know the lure of this place do a quick google search to find out. to get here we decided to indulge and fly from Delhi, we booked the flight the night before and paid about £120 for both of us one way which wasn't too bad.

To get to the airport was straight forward but we got dropped off to the wrong terminal, nothing is ever simple in India, luckily we got a free shuttlebus to the correct terminal..

Once at the terminal we had to go through security to get into the terminal , after hunting down the correct desk we went to check in, once at the desk we were told that we have to go get our bags x-rayed and banded up, so we found the place and went through the process. We queued up again, only to be told that we went to the wrong banding machine as the plastic band said 'Kingfisher' not 'Indian Airways'! so at this point Preet lost her rag a little, but there was no convincing them that a band and security check is the same regardless of what machine you go to, Indians are so stuck in buerocracy they rarely understand why they are doing something! So we went back and got our bags x-rayed by the correct machine.

After our pleasent enough flight we arrived at the tiny but nice airport, and met with our tranfer chap to the guesthouse.

The temples around Khajurao are magnificently carved, some of the best we had seen on our travels, even compared to the Temples at Angkor, Cambodia. After all, this is the architecture which inspired the ancient Cambodians.

There is no explanation to why these temples have the imiagry that they do, but some explainations are they were instructions to the temple boys once they went back to their normal lives. Others say that it is a natural thing and one of the phases of the mind that one has to go through to reach enlightenment. Overall these famous images represent a tiny part of the temples.

Above is a very common image around the temples of Khajurao, dont know what it means though
Two figures being friendly, maybe sharing the latest gossip about Big Brother (please Boycott this program!!)
an example of the amazing carvings, its shocking to see how well the temples are preserved, even open to the elements the detail has survived, this is due to the dry climate and lack of rain, and dissolved pollutants when it does rain.
Some flowers growing in the main complex of temples, we got there as the sun was setting which made for great photography, or attempt at photography!

The above is the feet of a statue in one the temples. the temples were used and worshipped in and still contain imagry from the Hindu Religion. To preserve the temples, only one of the ancient temples in Khajarao is used to worship in.
Man made lake with the sun setting in the back. When we were there the locals were saying that there is a water shortage and because lack of rain crops were dying, it was indeed very dry around the town.

Me pretending to be one of the statues, not quite perfected the pose yet!

Delhi

2008-03-01T10:53:00.005Z

We landed in India with an open mind, tired from the night flight all we wanted to do was rest. After resting we met up with family who were in india at the time and staying not to far from our hotel.

The next day we decided to do a tour of the major sites in Delhi, a good deal can be had from the India tourism Office in Connaught Place opposite Bangla Sahib Gurdwara.

After being in so many countries where we being the obvious foreigners and getting ripped off with entrance fees it was time for payback!

the above is the Lall Gilla or the Red Fort, where many Maharajas have ruled India, including our very own Maharaja Ranjit Singh. By the way those are not pegions flying around but Kites.

one of the interior buildings at the Red Fort

this is the Gandi memorial, thousands visit each day

Not part of the tour but an essential for anyone that visits Delhi, Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, where the 8th Guru Siri Har Krishan Sahib held his seat and cured many from Small Pox. The water here is said to have healing qualities.

one of my favorite pictures with the sun light beaming in and the detail in the ceiling

It was soo good to see family after such a long time and having a cup of tea with biscuits!

Me posing Bollywood style at Jantra Manter which is a rather large observatory from back in the day. there is another one in Jaipur, Rajestan
As you can see the weather was quite refreshingly cool, but nice and bright, perfect for exploring.
The Lotus temple, the place of worship for the Bian's, all are welcome, but must abide by the strict rules, kind of needed in india where people openly do there morning abulations and sacred cows roam.
the something Mineret, rather tall and tower like, like minerets should be, was built and added to by two generations of kings.

India, expect the unexpected!

2008-03-01T05:45:00.004Z

Out of all the countries we have been, India for me has been the oddball, odd as in i dont know what to expect. Its been 10 years since i last visited, have things moved on? Should i expect the same thing? Coming from other third world countries which look after there tourists, has india come round to this or are we still going to have all the hassle from touts, rickshaw wallas, etc etc.

The answer is, India is uniquely India, it cant be compared to any of the countries that we have been ...

to be continued..

This is the end...

2008-02-29T10:15:00.003Z

...my friend!

Oh its a sad sad moment. :o(
Time has just flown past! It feels like only yesterday we were wondering what to pack for 6 months of travelling!
It's been a wonderful 5 months - absolutely wonderful!

Back to Bangkok with a bang!

2008-02-29T10:13:00.003Z

We started in Bangkok - now we're ending in Bangkok!

SO much has happened in between!

We arrived a couple of days before our flight - just so we could sort out our shipping and do some last minute shopping.

On one such shopping trip, we noticed a Mr Singh and his wife - so naturally we rushed over to say hello. Turns out he lives 5 minutes away from us in London and moreover, his daughter was in the same class as Gurcharan! Another example of how small the world really is. You may never meet people that live 5 minutes from your home and you will end up meeting them miles away from home. It was wonderful to meet them and we ended up spending a whole day with them. They we're great company!

Manav, Bobby, Raj Uncle, Aunty, and the 'UK Couple'

Later that evening we were fortunate to dine with another very good mate of ours - Bobby. That's not all, the great Manav SIngh also gave us the pleasure of his company. Manav has his own blog where he posts dilruba lessons! He is a very good dilruba player himself. We only know him through his blog - it was good to meet him in person! (infact, he is single and very good looking hint hint!!!hehe!) ;o) It was quite the party - Manav took us out for some midnight ice cream treat at a 'cool' funky ice cream parlour. I had a ferrero rocher and nutella ice cream! mmmm! they even had...DURIAN ICE CREAM!!!! can you believe that! yuck!

Ban's resort - Ko Tao, Thailand

2008-02-29T09:50:00.004Z

This cost us 15 pounds a night.
Can you believe it - this luxurious resort for 15 pounds a night?! The views were breath taking. Sitting on the balcony watching the sunset after a hard day's work of diving, sun bathing on the beach or swimming in one of the two pools was divine!

Moreover - this place had a whole other room! Yes, we could actually walk out of our bedroom into a whole different lounge room! We found that very strange as for the last few months we only have one room and a bathroom to ourselves!

The beaches in Ko Tao are some of the best we have come across. The vibe and atmosphere here is great. The water is crystal clear and you can even spot a few fishes near the beacht. The sand is soft white and powdery. It's small enough not to be too commercial - but big enough to have some swanky restaurants.

KO Tao is one of three islands in the south of Thailand. Ko Samui is for the package tourist and too commercial - so we didn't bother going there. Ko Phan ngan is where the infamous Full Moon Parties are held. We gave it a miss as it has more of the party all night vibe, which we're not into.
We ended up spending a whole 13 nights here - the longest amount of time we have spent in any one place.

It was our last destination in the whole South East Asia backpacking trip. It was a great way to say goodbye - it couldn't have been better!

Swimming with sharks!!!

2008-02-17T13:54:00.003Z

yes...SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO, Gurcharan and I are fully certified Open Water PADI Divers!

It was the most fun I've ever had. In fact, I had so much fun that we decided to do the Advance PADI! Unfortunately, Gurcharan had a massive migrane and could not complete his course - the crazy boy still went out to do 2 deep water dives though! NUTTER! Despite his migrane and throwing up he still managed to get his core dives done, so atleast he can do the deep dives. I on the other hand am a certified Advanced PADI diver. I got to do the night dive - which was a spooky but exciting experience for me. The last two dives require navigation without the instructor! He just throws you over board and wishes you good luck! This was kinda daunting at first - but the training and instruments really prove useful here!

Diving is one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Its a whole new universe down there. The live coral was teaming with all kinds of aquatic life. Its unbelievable how many different shapes, colours, sizes God has created on this earth - diving with these animals just puts a whole new dimention to the diversity of life on this panet.

Gurcharan all kitted up. Hmmmnnn...Crissy and Camile look perplexed - are they checking out his butt?!
Preet all kitted up! The scuba gear was heavyy - not the best thing on a rocking boat!

My buddy Daphna and me. She's a cool fun loving chick! :o)
Daphna and I again - this is what we look like in the water!

The team. From the front L to R: Kate from London, PReet from the jungle, Amilie from France (works in CHina), Daphna from Israel. In the back L to R: Gurcharan from Ludhiana village, Quintin from France (in China now), Marcel from Holland (one of our instructors - lives in Ko Tao now the lucky bugger!), Camile from US, Flavius Marcus Alexander III from Holland (Flav for short - he is one of the main instructors in the diving school) and Crissy from US.

Small World

2008-02-17T13:44:00.004Z

Meet Harnek and his lovely wife Sabrina

Harnek Singh and Sabrina are travelling the world - in 9 months! They're from West London and are not planning on getting back for a long time!
We met them purely by chance in Ko Tao. Hmmmnnn...small world!
Basically, before we started travelling one of our mates, Diwan, mentioned that a couple of his friends were travelling the world - and that was that...until...we spotted a Singh randomly in Ko Tao, Thailand and went over to say hello. You see, its so exciting to meet another Singh where most Singhs dont dare to venture and also when you haven't seen one in months! It turns out this couple was the same couple that Diwan mentioned all those months ago! We're so stunned that we should meet them, especially as the chances of being at the same place at the same time are so slim!
Just goes to show that some meetings are destined to happen - no matter how far away from home.
That's Sophie- she's travelling with Harnek and Sabrina for a little while.

Chinese New Year

2008-02-08T07:53:00.000Z

Gurcharan looking uber cool at the uber cool Siam Emporium. This is where all the hip and trendy hang out.

7th Feb was Chinese New Year - it is now the year of the Rat. From what I hear, its a good year for romance and for the economy! So either start looking for that special someone or invest in the stock exchange!!!

Me trying to look uber cool!

The decorations for the Chinese New Year were so funky!

The camera man asked for my cheesiest grin! :o)

Khao San Road

2008-02-08T07:52:00.000Z

Any

Anyone who's been to Bangkok has heard of Khao San Road.
This is where all the backpackers hang out. Its a crazy street with equally crazy set of shops/stalls - anything from bead shops to stalls selling fried crickets, scorpion and worms!

This is where I had my hair braided.

It goes wild here at night when all the tourists hit the restaurants and pubs causing the usual chaos associated with holidaying in Bangkok! A bit too wild for us two oldies, im afraid!
Khao San Road by day

Tiger Temple

2008-02-08T07:43:00.000Z

You've probably seen the documentary - or read about it.

Me and Tiger

This is the famous Tiger Temple.

Me and another tiger

What is it? Well its a sanctuary for animals. It all started when an injured peacock was brought here to get mended and recover. After that time people from all over would bring animals here to get better and be looked after by the monks.

Three tigers

Soon after a Tiger cub that was bought by a wealthy thai was brought here as it was in a bad condition, the thai chap had paid for it to be killed and stuffed, when the tiger cub arrived it had already been injected and was in a bad way, but didn't die.

After helping the cub to recovery and it doing quite well it died. But people still brought cubs here and after seeing then do so well and breed there were tigers everywhere.

After a long day in a busted and broken mini van we arrived to the temple where after paying our 300 baht we went to the tiger canyon where the tigers are kept. to have pictures taken with the tigers we had to queue in the heat for about 30 minutes then one by one you are led round by one person while another takes your picture.

The whole thing was a bit surreal, and a bit of a production line as you didnt get to spend time with the tigers but only to take a picture then move on. There were some people who were overwhelmed by the experience and there were those that saw it as a money spinner with little disregard for the tigers.

My, my, what big teeth you have!

But, if you get the chance you should do it and decide for yourself.

Lets play dead!

Oh, and before you enter you must sign a disclaimer saying basically if you get eaten you cant hold the temple responsible! haha.. Thailand!

Cute, but deadly

I had to poke the tiger to get him to do that, guess where?!

Tiger Temple

2008-02-08T07:39:00.001Z

It was a fantastic experience.
Got some really good shots too.

The temple also houses other animals like this deer and wild boar.
Its a huge complex and is continuously expanding

Gurcharan walking through to the tiger canyon.

The monks help look after the tigers.

There are a number of caretakers that help with the running of the tiger temple.

"What's this strange creature touching my backside!"

The Bridge Over the River Kwai

2008-02-08T07:35:00.000Z

Look what I got done!!!!!!

2008-02-08T07:30:00.000Z

Finally got em!!

I been wanting to get em since I started this trip - and I've finally got them now - and I absolutely LOVE em!!!!! :o)
It took 2 1/2 hours to finish! Yes, two and a half HOURS!!!!!
At one time there were four people plus the cute little girl in pink pullin on my hair!

I was worried my head would hurt - but its been fine...so far!

I just love my braids! :o)

"cos I'm worth it!"

Oh yes call me a poser!! heehee - can't stop looking at the mirror!

Ah - I love being a hippy!

Floating Market

2008-02-08T07:21:00.001Z

The Floating Market is a popular tourist destination in Thailand. We didn't get a chance to visit the last time in 2006 - so decided to do it this time.

Its mostly the women that row the boats, dressed in beautifully coloured clothes and hats

The coconut man - he sold us a really yummy coconut! :o)

mmmm...it was so sweet and delicious!

Not sure if she's selling those plants or they are to decorate her boat?! She was certainly trying her best to get the 3 point turn right!

It can get pretty congested - packed full of tourists! This market is now more geared towards the tourists than anything else.

Smile for the camera...I said smile! It was a very hot day!

Gurcharan eyeing up some wares!

On solid ground!

Tailor made!

2008-02-08T07:19:00.000Z

Fatso gets a suit because fatso cant get suits that fit anymore! If you ever come to thailand you will notice the number of tailors and massage parlours dotted around, sometimes two or three in a row.

"Mind where that hands going mate!"

Since the last time i came to Thailand in 2006, i wanted to get a suit made to my specification and made just for me for a price i am willing to pay. So after making a few inquiries i settled on one shop. After speaking to the guys and making sure we were on the same page we made a deal on two suits, two shirts and two ties package.

Breath in!

I just had my first fitting and have asked for some afterations to made, things seem to be looking good. I will let you guys know how it works out when i collect just before we fly to India.

Bobby

2008-02-08T07:18:00.001Z

Me, Bobby and Preet

Its nice to meet nice people. Esp when traveling, its great going to places and taking in the culture, art, history and architecture, but its really the people that you remember and make it.

While in Malaysia at the Sikh camp (Samelan 2007) we met many people, one of those was Bobby and his brother Sumeet. When we met we exchanged contact details and agreed to meet up once we got to Bangkok, so the other day we did.

We agreed to go to a place none of us had been to called Govinda's which is a vegetarian restaurant that serves italian food, i know, even we thought that it should really be indian, but there you go!

Bobby and his family own a successful import and export business that specializes in furniture, this proved useful for us as we could send all our collected treasures back to the UK and not have to lug them around for the next few months. Thanks for that Bobby!

Sukhothai

2008-02-08T07:14:00.001Z

Sukothai is the ancient capital of Thailand from 1238 to 1438. as it wasnt too far off the track from our journey from Chiang mai we decided to break up the long journey and visit the temples and take it easy for a day or two before heading to Bangkok.

Just to give you sense of scale, thats me in the white shirt.

What we saw is in the pictures really, the restored remains of many temples and buddha statues. As you can see most of the stone work has been removed and it was the brick inner structures that remained.

Some of the temples were depicting Hindu dieties and gods a bit like the Khymer temples of Angkor, which would mean that hinduism was prevalent in Thailand. these hindu temples were later adapted to be used as Bhuddist places of worship. this was part of the khymer empire which was taken over by the thais. We have found that while visiting ancient temples that they are still used for everyday worship by locals as well as tourist spots for people like us.

Sukhothai was also the birth place of the writing system which is still used today in thailand. the writing was based on South Indian styles of characters.

I forgot to mention that we visited the whole site which covers some area on bicycles which we hired for the day, this i thought would be really tiring in the heat of the day, but was a really nice way to see the historical park. By the way preet had a pink!! haha! no pictures as our camera died.

The pleasures of travel

2008-02-07T11:42:00.000Z

After Pai we spent a night in Chiang Mai again (just a stop over) then took a bus to Sukhothai.

The bus itself was designed to make sure every conceivable space is utilized for placing bums on seats! There were three seats in one row and two in the other - obviously designed for some very skinny Thais. Somehow - us two overfed fattys traipsed our way onto a pair of seats.

All was well and good...until this happened!Oh well, we knew it was bound to happen sometime during our travels. We've been lucky so far - having traveled on some seriously painful looking buses.

Guess who?!!!!!!!!!?

2008-02-07T11:08:00.000Z

Hmmmnnnnn....who could this be??!!!!!!!

Muay Thai

2008-01-28T09:01:00.001Z

Yes, Gurcharan is crazy about it. He is currently at a Muay Thai Training Camp.
Which is why I am here catching up on my blogging.
I will let him fill the rest of this post in - if he is physically capable when he gets back!

Yoga in Pai

2008-01-28T08:52:00.001Z

All hippy-ness is slowly creeping in - Gurcharan is wearing baggy cotton pyjamas and I am hunting for a cheap place to braid my hair! Soon I will have Gurch in dreadlocks! heehee!

Continuing with the hippy trend, this morning we went for yoga. It was Gurcharan's first time, and he absolutely loved it!
We rode about 5 minutes out of the main town up a hill. This place has a beautiful pool.
The yoga stage is beside the pool, open on all sides. On one side you can see the tall hills shrouded in morning mist, the other side is a farm and the rest is surrounded by banana trees and lush green vegetation. It was a wonderful experience - the whole set up was perfect. It was a small class of about 4 others so a more personal lesson.

Hopefully this will promt us to have more regular yoga sessions.

Rain, beautiful rain!

2008-01-28T08:45:00.000Z

I would never have thought rain could look so beautiful!

Its raining today, which I am told is quite bizarre for this time of year - evil Global Warming strikes again!
But it never looked more beautiful! Its been raining all night and all day. Pai is an area surrounded by high hills and lush tropical vegetation, the 'hut' we are staying in overlooks the hills and is surrounded by banana trees and lovely green plants. So when I opened the curtain this morning the whole place looked like a fresh wet tropical paradise!

Big Bad Biker Chic

2008-01-28T08:29:00.000Z

That'll be me! Yup - I have finally conquered the dreaded bike! (ok so its only really a scooter, automatic one at that!)

So far, Gurcharan has been the rider and I'm the one that sits in the back suddenly aware that I must do my prayers more regularly!

But yesterday, I overcame all fear and rode with Gurcharan sitting behind me (feverishly doing his prayers!)

Gurcharan has become quite the rider. He is pretty good and I do find that I feel more and more relaxed sitting with him. If you recall, I put a post on the first time we hired a bike - a rainy wet day riding on a muddy sloshy road with puddles as large as ponds in their own right! But he manouvered through it like a pro - very impressive stuff!

Gurcharan has already decided to buy a scooter when we get back to London. We got an email from a friend about the ridiculous price of fuel in London - I think everyone will be considering buying a scooter!

Pairadise in Pai

2008-01-28T08:21:00.001Z

Just chillin....

So what have we done so far in hippyville? Well, while in Rome do as the Romans do!! While in Hippyville do as the hippies do! (sorry, couldn't help that one!)
More chillin...

What does that mean, really...you ask?! well, in my book it means doing a whole load of nothing! We have been totally chillin and relaxing!
mmmm...chillin while sippin on some yummy ice cold fresh fruit smoothies

At night the streets turn into a massive stage for live bands positioned between various hippy paraphernalia - loads of street food stalls, stalls selling anything from jewellery to shoes.

They sell a whole load of hot teas in large earthen pots - I tried out a corn milk which was like...well, drinking corn!

We tried out this Japanese restaurant that turned out to be FAB!
The sushi was the most delicious sushi I have ever tasted!

The atmosphere is relaxed and everyone walks around with a big smile on their lips!
Some more delicious Japanese noodles

Pairadise

2008-01-28T07:48:00.000Z

This is where we're staying in in Pai.
Its made of bamboo and is the roof is thatched with grass and leaves. The furniture inside is made of thick bamboos and the bed is draped with a flowing white mosquito net (although I haven't seen any mosquitoes so far as its not the season for it).
The whole front side is made of glass doors which all open so that there are only 3 solid walls to the hut.
Breakfast near the coy pond
A long windey cobble path lit with linen lamp shades leads to the reception area which has a coi pond and bamboo bridges and beautiful bright red Japanese umbrellas.
A circular bamboo staircase leads to the open air message parlour.

I could live here forever! :o)

Pai - hotsprings

2008-01-28T07:47:00.000Z

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Need I say anymore!?!!

tuk tuk

2008-01-28T07:46:00.001Z

This is a tuk tuk.
The tuk tuk driver is Charlie.
That is Preet sitting in the back.
Charlie took us to the gurdwara in Chiang Mai.
It cost 60 Baht. This is too expensive!

Some of you may have seen this vehicle in India. In South East Asia this is a common mode of transport and is what tourists mostly get around in.
I believe the name is derived from the sound it makes
tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk..........

Chiang Mai Gurdwara

2008-01-28T07:41:00.001Z

We went looking for this Sikh Temple and just couldn't find it.
Then, a day before we were about to leave Chiang Mai we met a sikh family dining at an Indian restaurant - Dr Sarin and his wife Dr Savita. Their dad was a very fit 92 year old whose wife was a Thai lady. We were told that she was quite the looker in her day, and she still looked stunning for her age (we didn't ask her age). They wrote the exact directions in Thai so that the tuk tuk driver would have no trouble finding it.
As we were leaving the next day, we had to wake up extra early in order to visit the gurdwara before the bus left for Pai.
The gurdwara is currently undergoing major construction - which explains why we couldn't find it the first time.
Always so nice to go to a gurdwara. While travelling we hardly get the chance to see any sikh temples.
We even had a lovely langar (breakfast) at the gurdwara.

Close encounters

2008-01-28T07:36:00.000Z

Gurcharan v Alien v Predator

2008-01-28T07:15:00.000Z

Pie in Pai

2008-01-26T12:34:00.000Z

Today we arrived in Pai which is a hippy (Preetville!) town based in northern Thailand. After a 3 hour mini bus ride through some of the windiest terrain we arrived in Pai. As of late we haven't been booking our accommodation, because we havent any trouble before so we thought there wouldn't be a problem, how wrong we were, HOW WRONG WE WERE!

After ringing around for a while to different guest houses we managed to find two, which were quite pricey that had rooms for the night. So for our money we got a private bungalow style wooden hut, which is really nice and set in some nice gardens. We are yet to sleep there, but hopefully it will be ok.

It looks like that we are going to be doing some serious relaxing here and maybe some muay thai, if i find it not too tourist orientated (in other words im not doing it if i think i might get damaged!!).

Oh, and we haven't really had pie...... yet!

Chiang Mai - Quad BIKING!!!!!

2008-01-24T12:38:00.000Z

The Two Terrors!

Officially, quad biking rocks BIG time!

Today we went quad biking, which was really full on, like most of the things in SE Asia, there is no faffing around and doing things slowly, you are basically thrown in the deep end and made to get on with it.

This is my good side!

With minimal or non existent safety briefing and training, we were told where the accelerator is, the gears are and how to stop and then made to drive around for a few minutes before we headed for the open road, yup public roads, there was a sticker right in front of me saying that the quads are not for use on public roads, but what the heck, this is SE Asia, laws and rules only serve as a rough guideline!

I tried to look like a big bad mean terror rider - but this is the pose that came out!

Gurch looking more the part in his army shorts and bandana and pose!

So after a some on road stuff we headed for the off road, and after a bit things got really fun with lots of quite dangerous terrain, dangerous as in you could fall easily into a valley or river!

I gave up on the mean poses and went for the 'im contemplating' pose

I managed to crash twice and burn my leg on the manifold and to loose all gears, ok, so i was pushing a bit hard and being a little reckless, but i thought when am i going to get the chance again?!

In case you are wondering what that white thing dangling from Gurcharan's ear is - its not his sexy new look, its a surgical mask to protect from the dust.

Preet really had a good time too, she was being far more sensible not doing power slides and drifting like i was or ripping the poor engine,, ahh i miss driving! We had to wait for her a few times, she did crash too, but the quads are built to take a beating.

I thought id bring some glamour into the quad bike scene!

On the way back it felt like all our bones had been shaken up, but it was really fun and well recommended!

Follow that quad bike!

Chiang Mai - 23rd Jan 08 - Thai cooking school

2008-01-23T06:27:00.000Z

Today, finally the blog is pretty much up to date, this has been more work then anticipated, but worth it. Preet is at a cookery course as i type learning some vegi Thai cooking, which is great for me when I get back to the UK. I have been watting again (visiting the temples. Wat is temple in Thai) and walking around the city and sampling some normal local life. Right, pictures to go up later, im hungry, I spotted a vegetarian restaurant so im going to get my fill!

Its an apron - not my outfit!

They taught us to carve this beautiful lotus flower out of an onion!
Everyone's attempts - can you spot the one done By the instructor?
Some more pretty pictures - mmmmm the food was SO yummy!

The team - each had his or her own wok and cooker. Very professional place.
I cooked fish cakes. Except mine were the vegetarian variety made of soya - sooooo goooood! mmm!
This was my atempt at a rose - this was made out of a tomato.
They took us to the fruit and veg market in the morning to introduce us to Thai vegs.
Not sure what this is - but it looks pretty!

Yes - this i saw at the veg market! Yes - it is for consumption!!!!!!!

Thai Green Curry - we made this from scratch. So now when I get home i'll treat you all to a great big Thai feast! haha!

Chiang Mai - Long neck village tour

2008-01-23T06:12:00.000Z

Yesterday we got in touch with a tourist agency to organise a very touristy tour of Northern Thailand. Gurcharan pulled this sexy lady! (that's how the tour guide described her anyway!)! She is from the Akha tribe in North Thailand.
They are found roaming the streets of Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai selling various traditional crafts and jewellery
Long neck village or Karen Tribe of Northern Thailand

We headed out to see a village on the northern most tip of Chiang mai, called the Golden Triangle, where on one side lies Burma, the other Laos.

The day started off in an orchid garden and butterfly park, nice but we have seen some amazing orchids in Singapore and some beautiful butterflies in Malaysia. But it was a great opportunity for Preet to practice her picture talking skills.

The orchids had been freshly watered

I was doing an impression of an orchid! The colours, varieties, shapes and sizes of the orchids was incredible!

We then headed for some caves where about 200 hundred years ago a rishi had done some time praying and meditating.

This was great spot and saw some impressive stalagmites and tights. Outside the cave there was a pool with some huge fish, koi and cat fish i think. Preet was also ambushed by the old ladies selling herbal remedies for anything and everything!

I love this pic! A subtle positioning of the hand - one of many (over 200) postures of Buddha

On the way to the village we stopped for some food and also a viewpoint where we could see the point where Burma, laos and Thailand meet. There was a huge Buddha image here too.

A while later we arrived at the 'Long Neck Village', well this was a village setup 12 years ago which had 4 or 5 different tribes there, it was very touristy, but gave the opportunity for tourists to see the different village people and for the village people to get some trade and to better there way of life.
The grannies were the most adorable things! They smiled their toothless smile which made them even more adorable. They have a habit of chewing tobacco - hence the black teeth.

Preet posing with a lady from the Lisu Hill tribe.

So from what we know, nobody really knows why the women lengthen there necks, some say it is to beautify them, some say its to protect against tiger attack, some say its to identify tribes. But anyhow, the way they do this is to where heavy rings round there nicks which actually compress the shoulders down and pull on the head.

A lady of the Lisu Hill Tribe. They call them angels because their beauty is renowned in all of Thailand. They have beautiful skin and originate from Myanmar (Burma). They say a beautiful girl will have the skin of a Burmese and eyes of an Indian.

Preet posing with a lovely little girl of the Karen Tribe (Long Neck Tribe). She has the sweetest smile!

Even with out the rings we saw in pictured that the neck looks really long. When the girls are young they can choose to have a long neck or not, so they aren't forced into it.

Yes, that is a massive hole in her ear!

Preet testing out her bargaining skills.

We decided to buy a hand woven scarf of one of the women, she was sitting and weaving interesting scarves, with some interesting patterns and colours.

Gurch scrutinizing this handmade scarf. He ended up buying it for Gurpreet, his sister.

The little girls were really cute, but made me think, shouldn't they be in school or playing with friends instead of being a tourist attraction,,, but hey!

Isn't she adorable?!

Here she is again with her baby brother.

This is called a jumbo! In other words its a cattle truck for carrying farangs (tourists). We always felt like cattle being taken to the slaughter house when sitting in the back of one of these!

Chiang Mai

2008-01-23T05:58:00.000Z

Yipee, and boooo all at the same time, boooo because we had such a great time in Laos and were leaving it behind but Yipeee as we were about to start our adventure in Thailand! After crossing the border over the Mekong river and getting our stamps in our passport, of which we have a fine collection, we headed for the bus station to catch the 9am bus for Chaing mai.

It was really strange to be in Thailand, instantly things seemed familiar and very thai!

Our bumpy bus journey, after 7 hours had dropped us off at the Chiang Mai bus terminal, we together with Marc and Katie got a tuk tuk to see some guest houses, after seeing a few and being dissapointed we went on Katie's feeling and headed to Gaps House, Chaing Mai, which turned out to be a little paradise in the busy city sprawl.

Set in some mature gardens lined with the owners antiques, the brick and wooden rooms are huge and feel like you are sleeping on a boat, the price was great too, about 9 pound inc breakfast, which is more then we are used to but welcomed the comfort.

As we arrived on a Sunday, the Sunday market was on which meant that although we were all really tired had to go and investigate, and investigate we did with several purchases. It was nice to finally see a market which sold a variety of things rather then the same thing that we found at the night market in Luang Prabang. Oh, that night we had indian too!!! Indian food rocks!

The following day we did nothing much, a bit of investiagting and some Watting.

We were told about a place run by nuns who do a vegetatian buffet for cheap, we walked which seemed like forever in the heat of the day but couldnt find it, but as we were heading back we spotted it it and had some great food for about 50 pence for both of us! It was a great setup, it felt like a Sikh Gurdwara kitchen where you are served the food, and you have to wash your dishes when you finish.

That night we headed for the much talked about night market which runs daily, and again, we shopped, Preet was in bargaining made and came away with some really good deals!

luang Prabang to Hua Xiay (Thai border)

2008-01-23T05:43:00.000Z

There are a few options to get into Thailand from Luang Prabang, one is to fly from Luang Prabang to Thailand, there is a 16 hour bus journey, a speed boat to the border, or a slow boat.

The 'slow boat'. It was not really as slow as we thought it might be.

We took the latter after being put off by the windy roads in Laos and so many people, even the lonely planet doesn't recommend the speed boat as its dangerous and uncomfortable with casualties or worse almost weekly!

Travelling monks

The inside of the boat - they do tend to pack em up before they leave port! But it was not too bad this time, it could be alot worse!

So the slow boat it was, after getting quotes, we found the cheapest option was to head for the pier at 7.30 in the morning and buy the ticket there and then. We did this and managed to get some good seats too, otherwise we would have to sit on a wooden bench for 10 hours.

The plastic seats didn't topple over - but not sure how comfy they must have been for these guys!

The trip to Thailand would involve two days on the boat, one night stay in a place called Pak Beng and a night in Hua Xiay. The Boat would go upstream on the Mekong river, which would provide us with great views for the two days on the boat.

Some amazing sunsets on the Mighty Mekong River

The journey was great with some stunning scenery, friendly people and the chance to view some villages where people still live off what they grow or catch in the river.

After the first day we arrived at Pak Beng, so the hunt was on for a guest house, after viewing a few bomb sites we found one that was reasonably priced and acceptable.

That night we went out for dinner, even here we found an Indian restaurant, the food was great but the service non existent! We were warned about the shortage of electricity, so woke up at 6am to find that there was no light, so we had to get ready using candle light.

What is that tall white structure at the top of the big mountain?! A stupa maybe?

For breakfast we arranged some takeaway aloo paratas and tea to be eaten while cruising in the boat. That was such a good idea and they went down really well in the cold of the early morning. Yes, folks! Aloo Paratha...from a village in the middle of nowhere! it was such a weird feeling to be eating a typical Indian breakfast in an obscure village in the middle of nowhere!

That, folks, is tea! Tea in a bag! In a plastic bag. And it was HOT tea! Not sure what the bags are made of they looked pretty normal to me.

On the way to Hua Xiay on the boat we started talking to an Austrian couple, Marc the tattooist and Katie, they are a really nice couple we are still with in chiang mai.

Marc, Kati, Gurcharan and Preet. We're sitting in Laos - but way over there beyond the Mekong River is Thailand. The sun was setting and the colours over the river were GORGEOUS!

On arriving at Huay Xia we could have crossed the border to Chaing Kong in Thailand and borded a bus to Chiang mai, after 10 hours on the boat we didn't decide on that so stayed in Huay Xia.That over there is Thailand - where im standing taking the photo is Laos!

Luang Prabang 2

2008-01-22T14:19:00.000Z

smile!
Pose!

Luang Prabang sometimes looks really European, with the French influence and the cosmopolitan atmosphere it would feel like we are sitting in a European city in the summer, as preet sipped on her cappuccino and i a papaya smoothie (for my tummy!).

After asking around and going on recommendations we thought that we would check out the even more impressive larger waterfall, about an hour from the center of town.

hmmnnn...its high up here!

So we joined a group already going which worked good for us as it was cheap!

This is on a bridge at the foot of the waterfall.

The view from the top of the waterfall

At the waterfall there was a bear sanctuary and rescued tiger named Phet, there is some good work going on there as the bears were rescued from being used as street performance animals or in bile farms where bile would be extracted from the bears through open wounds and the tiger would have been used for ingredients in Chinese medicine.
But thankfully the animals were doing great when we saw them, not sure about the tiger is she was apparently 'sleeping'.

Phet the little (well, she's very big now)

A short walk and were at the foot of the waterfall, a great cascading waterfall which fell into the bluest of pools, which fell into a another pool which went into another and another....

The view from the top of the waterfall

Seeing that there was people really high up the fall, we decided that we had to go and join in the fun so we trekked up the mountain about half way up the fall, after taking in the views we saw that there were people swimming even higher so Preet decided for us to trek up there too, what a trek it was, going through the jungle, over slippery rocks, through rivers and over felled trees, but the views were worth it.

But, the big But... we over shot where people were swimming so decided to come down the other side, so we came down slowly keeping an eye out for the access to the pool, but we never found it so sadly we came all the way down without finding the access. Oh well!

Some gorgeous flowers at the waterfall park.

Our German Parents...

While out having dinner we met a nice German couple and got chatting, as we wanted to change guest houses they recommended the one where they were staying, so we walked with them to have a look. Klaus and Dorris, were staying just out of the main area in a quiet guest house for $15 a night in a room which had Ac, Cable tv and was quiet and big so we checked in the next day. We told them about an indian restaurant in town so went there for dinner for one night too, where we learnt a little about Jehovah's witnesses and Dorris's hate for cats!

Luang Prabang

2008-01-22T13:58:00.001Z

The view from top of the hill looking over Luang Prabang

As some of you may have figured we are doing the Vientiene to Hua Xia trek, Luang Prabang is the very old capital of Laos. We got here by a long but scenic bus journey through some mountains, which took about 6/7 hours. The bus was sold to everyone on board as a VIP bus, but that asks the question what defines a VIP bus?? In this case its the lack of Air conditioning, broken seats, crazy driving, lack of storage and overall a pretty shoddy bus which required a water top at every stop! But still it got us there, just!

On arrival we set about looking for a decent guest house, we were met by guest house touts at the bus station so a few of us went with one of them to check out the rooms. The rooms were nice, but a little noisy and a bit far from the center of town, which consisted of one road!

Luang Prabang is a peninsular set in between the joining Nam Khan and Mekong rivers. this makes it potentially one if the most beautiful place to visit. We went for a few walks on the river front which was really nice, but coming from Vang Vieng where the we spent so much time on the river, here it didnt seem all that.

These looked like poppadoms drying in the heat, i think they might have been.

On one of the days when we were feeling a bit better we scaled a large hill that over looked the city to catch the sunset. this was far from the beutiful serene sunset we had expected, as you can see in the picture below there were hundreds of other tourists who had the same idea as us. But the other side was a lot nicer. On the way down preet was swarmed by a gruop of kids selling things, each one claiming that she had prmised to buy something off them, they were quite funny so we did buy a few dollies.

a Stunning sunset over Luang Prabang

what we really saw, never mind the tourists eh?

Preet doing the deal, or getting ripped off, who knows.. who knows!

Tummy bug!

Yup, i felt as bad as I looked, but the Papaya smoothie really helped!

Our plan was to spend one or two nights here, but had to stay a few more as me and Preet got a tummy bug on the second night so had to spend a few days recovering. The worst thing was that we had checked into a teak wood guest house, which looks nice but you could hear your neighbours through the wooden walls, which meant they could here us with our tummy problems! But we recovered and were soon in action again.

Tad Sae waterfall and Elephants,

The waterfalls, the water was soooooo cold though.

Yipee i feel better! Good enough to be on the fried rice and sprite!

We decided that we were feeling good enough to head out on tuk tuk to go see the small waterfall, which wasnt too far out of town. So getting down to the river bank we chartered a small boat to the waterfall and elephant sanctury.

The elephants needed no encouragemwnt to pose, naturals!

the waterfall was great with large pools which cascaded into one another, the water was a cool blue, almost good enough to drink, except that the elephants bathed in it and you would probably be really ill if you drank it, not something we would risk in our condition at the time!

Vang Vieng 3

2008-01-22T13:55:00.000Z

After rock climbing, Adam took us to the 'Blue Lagoon' to cool off.
As you can see the boys couldn't wait to strip off and splash around in the lagoon!
Just so you know - there has been no photoshopping on this pic - the water is really that blue! This place was quite literally in the middle of loads of rice paddies! mad!

Here we have a beautiful room complete with fake flower on towels being advertised by the lovely Mr Durhailay.

Ummm...no matter where in the world you are, nothing beats an aloo paratha for breakfast! Hehe - they gave us a knife and fork to eat it with! our brown skin didn't fool them!

Gurch chillin on a hammock by the river - Laos is the most relaxed place we've been to so far! They say Laos PDR may stand for Laos Peoples Democratic Republic...but really it stands for Laos Please Dont Rush! heheheehehee!

One of the reasons I LOOOOVE TRAVELLING! You get to meet sooooo many wonderful people. Here we're having dinner with:
Patrick from Quebec,
Ali from Iran (but lives and was born in France),
Osho from Holland,
Greg from Hawaii
and I just cant remeber the name of the guy from Argentina!
We took them all out to dinner at this Indian restaurant we found - needless to say they were very happy by the end of a wonderful meal! They wanted Gurch to teach them how to order good Indian dishes!

Vang Vieng 2

2008-01-17T12:21:00.001Z

Gurcharan looking handsome in his climbing gear! Just making sure its comfy in the places that matter!

After enquiring at a few place there looked there is lots for us to do in VV, so on our third day there we went Rock Climbing, as it was something we both wanted to do but didnt have the time in Thailand's Krabi, it was very cheap here too in comparison!

This, boys and girls, it the Lao version of a taxi! Yes, this is the crazy contraption that transported us to the mountains! As you can see, it can even manouver through the river...upstream!

Our guide was an young man named Adam, who turned out to be an experienced climber and a great teacher.

Adam bilaying for Patrick and also showing off his tattoo - which is the name of his girlfriend! For his sake - I hope he marries her and stays with her forever!

After being taught the basics of the 8 knot and bilaying we were one by one told to climb a 18m limestone rockface, which at first seemed daunting, but was a really nice climb to get used to the feel of climbing.

oooh I dunno it looks a bit shakey...

The climbing shoes on the other hand, were horrible and tight, but thats the way they are meant to be!

Preet showing that girls can be good at this too! :o)

By the end of the day we could all bilay, tie our safety ropes to the harness, and climb some mildly difficult climbs involving overhangs.

What's your opinion of rock climbing Gurcharan...?!

Vang Vieng

2008-01-17T12:20:00.001Z

From what we had read this little own was going to be quick stop to move on to Luang Prabang, but for some reason we were captivated by the place.

We had read that people sit at tv bars all day watching friends, and they really do! the town is one main street connected from one end to the other by restaurants, bars, tour operators and guesthouses.

Sunset from the balcony of our room.

The town is on the bank of the Nam Song River, so sunsets over the river and karst mountains were stunning everyday, and made even more enjoyable kicking back in a hammock overlooking the river sipping a nice cold drink and listening to some chilled out music!

This place was sooo laid back! so cool that we stayed fr 6 nights not the 2 like we first thought.

Everyone who comes to VV goes tubing, which involves lying in a tube and letting the river sloooowly take you from the start to the end which is 4km away but takes over 3 hours.

You just lie in the tube and let the river take you! Bum gets a little bit cold though! ;o)

The experience, as silly as it sounds was great, the scenery was amazing, it was quiet funny to see people swinging over the water and diving in at the many waterside bars, a little too many for us, but after 2km there were none and only peace and quiet to accompany you to the end of the tube!

Ok - so this is how they ram the tubes onto the tuk tuk and if you notice the tourists spill out from the back bearly able to sit straight!

After one night at an expensive guesthouse we moved to a fantastic place which was newly built, so was clean and fresh and had a really comfy bed and a funky sink in the bathroom, all this for 3 pounds a night, nice! the place was called New Nana Guesthouse for those who care to know.

Gorgeous Gurch showing off the room!

Pancakes, both Preet and I dont eat eggs so we dont eat pancakes, but here they make pancakes which are like a dish we ate in Malaysia called Roti Chennai, which is dough folded many times and heated on a pan to make a flaky flat bread, except here they made them as deserts with chocolate, bananas, fruit, peanuts etc etc.

This turned out to be our staple on most days, we needed it with all the activities we were doing (Yeah right, fat boy!)!!

Gurcharan and I went for kayaking which was FANTASTIC fun! Alot quicker than tubing!

Laos - Vientiene

2008-01-17T11:33:00.000Z

Sunset in Vientiene
One of the many temples (Wats) - this particular one has a large collection of budhas.

So we arrived in Vientiene the capital city, not knowing what to expect from Laos at all. Coming early morning from a hot and humid Kuala Lumpur we landed and the first thing that we noticed was that it was really cool, almost cold enough to put a jacket on, which was a pleasent surprise. Thinking that i was going to get a hard time by immigration because i look like a terrorist mass bomber to a lot of the immigration people at airports around the world, i was again surprised at the lack of hassle, especially considering that the people here have probably never seen a Sikh before.

Vientiene..

We collected our luggage, changed some money for Kip, the local currency and got in a taxi to our guest house. The streets were free from traffic and congestion, especially considering this is the capital city, the centre of town was really clean and quite European looking, all nice surprises.
This is the Laos equivalent of the Arc de Triomph. A lot of French architecture can still be seen in Laos.

I was so impressed with the wide clean streets lines with flowers.

The black stupa

The guest house we stayed in was really nice, it was called Mali Namphu and was centrally located and clean and quiet.

This is a shot of the breakfast area from the balcony. Fantastic guest house at 9 pounds a night with breakfast.

On going out and exploring we found Vientiene to be charming, with a great mix of people, restaurants and places to go, there some fantastic sunsets to be had over looking the Mekong. Sunset and the Mekond river - because of the dry season it was very spindly.

Shopping was great in the day market and the variety of vegetarian food was good for us too!

Overall, Vientiene has to be my number one city, simply because its so unlike a city, the place and the people make this a true gem in the South East!

Gurcharan bought some Birkenstocks - fake ones. Very cheap.

Durians - The King Of Fruits....

2008-01-17T11:04:00.000Z

.... Some say! In South East Asia we heard of the fabled Durian, a fruit that was the most unusual, delicious, revolting and a delicacy all at the same time. We had seen Durians for sale on the side of the road in many countries, its spiky green exterior enticing passers by to purchase them and eat their fleshy fruit.

On speaking to many Malaysians, whom the majority love Durians with passion, the best description I received was that trying one is like 'eating custard in a toilet!'. But yet i was undeterred and had to try out for myself. I was convinced i would like it!

All smiles, this is before the torture began. We were amused to have found one that looked like a love heart! Foolishly, we thought that was a good sign - but little did we know what vile gastronomic terrors lay ahead.
Ps yes, those really are my biceps (Preet's) - im not just a pretty face you know!

So the quest for the elusive fruit...

So one evening with Captain Sukhdev Singhs family it was decided to eat durians as a dessert, to find the fruit we searched the deepest darkest corners of Kuala Lumpur, but alas no Durian's! On went the search, as we exited a dark alley way a lone seller sitting in a corner had a few Durians for sale, on enquiring the price we moved on as the price was deemed extortionate. We went to a spot where we would be guaranteed to find them, and find we did, so after careful selection by the captain, three were percured. They were loaded into the boot of the car, a moment later a strange smell arose, the smell was something similar to an open Drain, or as Preet mentioned, off onions. Later I nailed the smell to being like off mangoes being fried with off onions!!!

So the taste....

We just had a great dinner, so went to the garden for 'dessert'. The smell of the fruit in the garden was eye-watering, really it was that bad. The Durians were skillfully cut open with a special knife (yes, they actually have a special durian knife!) and the fleshy seed was pulled out, the feel of the fruit like holding on mushy gone off apple, but yet i persisted! The taste was revolting, much like the smell but a lot worse. My dinner nearly made a second appearance, it was that bad. But a few minutes later i thought i would try again, but on tasting and having the same gag action i gave up defeated by the king of fruits!!

The before shot...
The after shot!

I watched in horror as our host family were laughing and joking at me in pain, and gorging on the king of fruits. This was a bad, but memorable experience for me and Preet too!

The haze is not from taking a bad photo, im sure its the evil fruit spirits dancing around!

Zafar went crazy for the fruit - he loves it more than all of the family put together!

My theories on Durians...

1.God was experimenting with fruits, but on this occasion got it badly wrong, so packaged the fruit in spikes, made it look ugly to prevent man from eating it, but man invented special tools to crack the skin to get to the flesh!

2.Adam ate a Durian not the forbidden apple.

3. Hell is having to eat only Durians for eternity.

4. Durians are like eating mouldy custard in an open sewer.

5.Durians are just bad news!

So there you have it... my experience!

After seeing Gurcharan - do I reeeeally want to do this!??!!!!

I will touch it with the end of my tounge - that's as far as im going!

Penang

2008-01-15T13:49:00.000Z

Speed Singh of Penang!

So after spending a few days in the capital city we decided to head out to one of the islands - Penang. We wanted to go here even before arriving in Malaysia but couldnt get any accomodation because of xmas and new year the whole of Penang was fully booked. But at the Samalan, Mr Sukhinderpal Singh came to the rescue and offered us to stay with him, so we did!

We arrived to Penang via the 8km bridge which connects the island to the mainland on new years eve, which meant that we would be lucky enough to attend the evening diwan until after 12 am into the new year.

Firstly we attend a program at the local Gurdwara with our host Mr Sukhinderpal Singh where he resites 30 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib every monday with a screen showing the text romanised, translated and in gurmukhi for sangat to follow, and follow they do.

After the program we headed to the old Gurdawara which is the oldest standing Gurdwara in Penang and possibly Malaysia, i can't remember. The Diwan was great and Kirtan was done by the local sangat in to the new year.

The next day we met Mr SS's lovely family who arrived from Ipoh- which is out of town. The kids would be our source entertainment for the next few days. While in Penang we managed to catch some of the local life in there many and ever increasing malls, and debt is a problem in Malaysia it seems with many people wanting all the latest stuff and not affording it so they buy on credit, we were treated to a fantastic meal at an indian restaurant by Mr SS, we saw the snake temple with its drugged and not so dangerous reptiles, we visited the beach and ate pronta's and drank tea curtosey of Mrs SS. We also visited the rest of Penang on the way back from the beach, which isnt difficult as its an island so you go round in a circle and end up in the same place!

The girls are adorable - they were so excited and giggly, which was quite infectious! Here Gurcharan was putting his Engineering skills to practice.

The Temple with all the drunk snakes

Overall Penang is a great place with lots of history and culture and worth a visit, but the highlight has to be our host on a bike (yes, Mr Biker Singh!) Mr Sukhinderpal Singh and family!

Kuala Lumpur II

2008-01-15T13:46:00.000Z

As mentioned previously, the Malaysians are super duper nice, and that's an understatement!
We had the good fortune to stay with another fantastic bunch of people (and a dog!). Harkiren is one of my brother's good mates - she's a bright bubbly young gal who studied in London and is now back in Malaysia with a high flying job - you go girl, you! hmmmnnn...this is sounding more like an ad for the matramonials! heehee! (pssst...she is quite a catch actually!)

Anyhooo, we ended up staying a good 3 nights with her wonderful family and had an absolute blast.

Harkiren and the wonderful family...yes, including me - im the adopted one!

Meet Zafar - the durian loving dog. He is the most adorable furry thing you will find

Kuala Lumpur

2008-01-15T13:41:00.000Z

Gurcharan got a tad excited when he saw this.

This update is long overdue!

After the Cameron Highlands we headed back to KL.
Accom was, as I understand it, in the heart of the city - in the Colonial District. Not far from the sizzling spice scents of Little Indian or the blazing red lanterns of China Town...er...for a country with so many Chinese, yes, they still have a China Town!

Malaysia was never on the books - so we were kinda caught out with what to do. However, we were promptly rescued by the locals! This has been our most memorable experience in Malaysia - always someone willing to help...with a smile!

On our first day, we were lucky enough to visit the Gurdwara (Petaling Jaya Gurdewara) for a wonderful kirtan programme led by the very popular Veer Manpreet Singh Ji of UK (Better known as Mr Tuhi Tuhi by the Malaysians).
Here we got to see many of the wonderful people from the Samelan again.

The Samelan Times

2008-01-06T14:14:00.000Z

These mug shots should be on the most wanted poster - not in the copy of the Samelan times!!!!
Anyways, have a read.

Apparently there is a dodgy video of the two of us and the notorious Raja floating around on you tube! I dont know how to put em up so you'll have to check it out yourself!
http://snsm.org.my/samelan2007/?PHPSESSID=3b34a8c421702fbf03f60607fd85ef1f

Raja's concert was ELECTRIFYING!!!!! some seriously good stuff! So don't get bored by our interview bit - wait till the end to when the concert starts! No wonder the kids keep coming back to the camps!

This is a fantastic website put together by the media crew we met at the Samelan.
http://snsm.org.my/samelan2007/

Malaysia - The Aftermath

2008-01-06T13:23:00.000Z

So after the Samalylan which was great and made some good friends, we decided that while in Malaysia we should check out what else there is on offer. Before we came to Malaysia we had trouble getting accommodation so had to cancel our original plans of going to Langkawi- which is meant to be a beach paradise, so had to change to the Cameron Highlands and Melaka.

So from the Samaylan we went to stay with Balwinder Singh and his family who kindly put us up for the night, staying with them a luxury after the hardship of staying at the Samalan's 59685098 star luxury accomodation (Really it was tough!!)! The next morning we attended the wedding of Avtar Singh's daughter, we wern't actually invited but went along for the samosa'a and ladoo's.

Balwinder SIngh Ji and lovely wife who made us some nice paronthay before our bus journey to Cameron. mmmmm they were so yummy!

After the wedding we caught a bus for the Cameron Highlands, this was going to be our chill out few days. It didnt start well.... our fellow passengers were monster ants, a noisy man on a telephone and other obnoxious people. Then , the bus broke down, twice! We had to change buses, then on nearing our destination the bus was stoppped and searched by the police and two people were arrested!!

The Hillview Lodge - a beautiful guesthouse with a beautiful view of the hills!

Cameron, what can i say, its a beautiful hilly destination which is cool, so cool that you have to keep a jumper on you. But this was a nice change to KL and Klangs heat. There was lots of opportunity for trekking and other excursions but we did little else then eat and chilllllllllllllll out! But on the last day we went for a day out visiting tea plantations, strawberry plantations and a butterfly park who's highlight was the HUGE insects!

During the colonial rule, the British established Cameron Highlands as a retreat to beat the heat of Malaysia. Hence the traditional scones and tea!

The temperatures here are ideal for growing strawberries - here I am eating a strawberry naan! as you can tell I should have stuck to strawberries with cream!

Big mother of INSECTS..

At the butterfly park there was a collection of insects, ranging from millipedes to scorpions which our guide saw it fit and quite funny for us foreigners to hold these creatures, and hold we did, the big ass mother insects, man they were huge! But quite tame, esp the scorpion who didn't, thankfully run up my arm and bite my face!

Overall we had a great time in Cameron, the 4 nights was too short- we didn't even visit the two nearby Gurdwara's.

Gurch spotted these old school motors and went a bit mad over them!

A taster.....

2008-01-05T11:26:00.000Z

For the sake of the BBC (Beadhbi Baba Club), I am posting up some pics - they keep pestering me and I definitely dont want to get in their bad books - lest they curse me with their super Baba powers!

These pics are from the Gurmat Parchar Samelan 2007 held in Malaysia. We had TONS of fun, met the most WONDERFUL (and weirdest) people, learnt a whole new perspective of what the Sikh religion is all about, tasted the most scrumptious langar and showered in the most awful showers (!)

In this pic - from left to right Sant Ji, 'the UK couple', Desi BabaJi, Scotland aka Pink Panthar Ji, Smiley Baba Ji, Baa-ba Blacksheep Ji and the other guy!
Where is Hargobind, anyone seen Hargobind, one minute he's there the other minute he's gone. where is he where is he where....

Apparently, this is an impression of what was Gurcharan was doing on the beaches of Thailand while I was in London!!!!

Hippy Gurcharan being blessed by the blessed BBC!

Who's more holier than who... who is the disciple and who is the Baba...that is the question! Let the battle begin!

Malaysia - SAMELAN 2007

2007-12-29T08:15:00.000Z

So, on the 16th of December we arrived from Siam Riep- Cambodia to Kuala Lumpur, and contarary to popular belief there are absolutely no, None, Koala bears here at all, trust me, i looked, all i found was furry looking Singhs, that were more like Grizzlly bears not like the cute fluffy kind found in toy shops.

On first impresions it looked like any other top notch airport, but the visa stamp was the fastest we have ever got, no funny looks, no bribery, nothing. As planned, our lift to the Samelan (sikhi camp) was waiting for us outside, once we got there we were off to Klang on the outskirts of KL and the start to an amazing week.....

Cambodia - the sequel

2007-12-24T08:47:00.000Z

Cambodia - more than the temples of Angkor. More than its violent history of land mines and Khymer Rouge.

Our dear friend Angad Singh (er...that status is still to be verified!) advised Gurcharan to go check out the shooting range! (not quite sure why our dear friend would advise my husband to do that!!) But it was quite an experience!

On out last evening in Cambodia we decided to do a river cruise.

Wish we had another day in Siem Reap - it felt like we still didn't manage to get the full flavour out of the town itself as we were too busy traveling to Angkor. It was quite saturated with tourists though. Seems like the tourist trail starts and stops in Siem Reap.

Exceptional People (Cambodia)

2007-12-24T05:59:00.000Z

While travling, you come into contact with many people, some nice some not so nice, but occasionally you meet people who go beyond the call of duty and just really look after you.

One such guy was Alan, the owner of Deva Raja Bungalows in Sianoukville, Cambodia. Firstly Cambodia has some fantastic beaches which are still to developed like the beaches in Thailand, so its still quite easy to find your own secluded beach.

Although we only stayed with Alan for two nights, we went to see home for advice almost daily, which he gave without hesitation. while staying at Deva Raja we felt more a part of a small family then staying at a hotel, i think maybe Nigel, Alan's dog had something to do with that!

Alan and his team. The dog, Nigel, was the most adorable thing ever!!!! :o)

So if you find yourself or are thinking about staying in Sihanoukville give Alan a call! check out the website .... http://www.devarajavilla.com/

Through Alan we made contact with Chinda, a Bruce Lee lookalike (when he wears his raybans!) tuk tuk driver in Siem Riep. If you are to visit the Angokor temples you will be visiting them with a tuk tuk driver, through experience it helps if your driver can speak and understand english, we had experiences where the tuk tuk driver can not understand that we want to go to the hotel etc, which can be a little annoying. Chinda on the other hand was very professional, always on time and reasonably priced. In Siem Riep there are a great number of tuk tuk drivers jostling for customers, so we thought it would be right to help Chinda out by letting potential visitors to the Angkor temples have his details.

Chinda with his beast (no, not Gurcharan, I meant his tuk tuk)

Name: Chinda
Based: Siem Riep
Number: +855 (0)12 606 156

He can also collect and drop off to the airport/bus station etc if needed.

Cambodia

2007-12-15T06:05:00.000Z

A sunset, a fresh coconut drink by the beach with your adorable husband - what more do you need?! :o)

Ankor Wat - we managed to wake up and make it to the temple to witness one of the most beautiful sunrises! (which meant we had to be at the temple by 5.30am!!!)

Its been a while since the last update, but we have been in Cambodia for tha last two weeks. To summerise, Cambodia has been full of suprises, we have seen the hardships the people have faced, seen some stunning natural beauty and seen some of mans greatest accomplishments in the Temples of Angkor.

We started off in the capital city of Pnomh Penh, which i found to be be very clustered and chaoitic, much like any other capital city. Coming from Singapore it was required to readjust to the way of life of people in a far poorer country.

In Pnomh Penh we went and visited the killing fields and Toule Seng, for those of you who dont know, do a quick serach on the Khymer Rouge, which was communist movement which killed over two milllion people between 1975 and 1979. Really messed up and saddening that this happend relatively recently.

We also visited the royal palace and the national museum which was really filled with things from Angkor.

Sionoukville, from the capital city we took a 5 hour bus journey to the coast. We only came down to get a vietnamese visa, but anded up cancelling going to vietnam and staying much longer at the cambodian coast. What a coast it was, there are many beaches, all of which are different. the first beach we went to was Serendipity beach, a cool and busy backpacker beach with many beach front shacks serving food and drink.

Gurcharan lounging around on Serendipidy beach - those seats are soooo comfy!

Madam likes being pampered she does!

She is one of the most insistent hawkers out there! she did so much hard work to get me to buy her beads that she had to sleep on my sun lounge! One minute we're talking the next she's sleeping next to me on the lounge! awwww! so much hard work!

The next day we went Sokha beach, a resort dominated beach for the rich kids, but it was far more quiet and cleaner then serendipity.

on the third we visited the top end of Occheteal beach, which was near enough deserted, maybe only 15 - 20 people on the long white sandy beach which was lapped by calm clear waters. Lovely!

Kampot.

We visited, for a few nights the sleepy town of kampot where you wont even find a cash machine, this nearly put us into a difficult situation! There is not much to do except kick back and relax, which we gladly did. the days consisted of lounging, eating, reading, eating and watching the sunsets through our bedroom window over the river and Bokor mountain.

To break the routine we visited some nearby caves, which was nice, and some little kids claiming they were guides tried to fleece us, but we prevailed, gave them something though as the families are very poor here.

Siam Reap- (which means the defeat of the Siamese - or thai!)

this is the tourist town where you will stay to project you into Angkor. This place is so different to the rest of Cambodia in that is so tourist oreitated, there are so many bars and retaurants, un countable Indian Resturants, internet shops and tour operators. But its quite nice to have these facilities after so long with limited or none of the above!

by the way we got bumped on our hotel booking the night before we arrived, but we managed to get to stay in a one year old hotel, which has a huge room, ac, hot showers and clean for $15 a night and right next to all the major restaurants etc!

Angkor!

There isn't anything to say except WOW! A true master piece of art and architecture which has survivied to this day, and preserved so that people like me and you can go visit and get up close to the exquisit detail which has been crafted in producing these temples.

There isn't much written history but it is known that the temples were made in devotion to the Hindu gods, which was the dominant religion in the region at the time, after the demise of hinduism the temples were still worshipped in by Buddhists, and even to this day Buddists still worship here, which is nice to see.

The hindu religion came to the area due to traders from india coming here to trade in the early days. the locals adopted the religion, traditions and also the art forms. this can be seen in the sculptures and reflief work on the temples.

After 500 years the temples were abanoned to the jungle, this happened after the defeat of the Khmer's to the Thai's. in the early 20th century interest from mainly the french meant that the temples are being restored since.
Some of the temples are well preserved and have been reclaimed from the jungles, but a few have been left, stone entertwined with trees and vegetation make you feel that you are walking in to a lost civilisation.

Garden City!

2007-11-30T07:34:00.000Z

Also an allias to Singapore.

FOOD FOOD FOOOOOD!
Was amaaaaazing!!!!

This is Gurchran digging into some chicken, shrimp and pork ribs! No, not the real thing before you start jumping up and down!!! Its all mock meats...and very delicious!

Yes - its a chocolate dosa!!!! and it was reallly nice!

A masala dosa! mmmmm!

Angad SIngh

We met a lovely gursikh in Singapore - you may know him from his blog.

Angad Singh and Gurcharan at the street food market.

Angad Singh took us to a street food market - here we were introduced to the delights of Singapore's mock meats. In this pic we're munchin on duck, chicken and fish!

Botanical Gardens…
We managed to visit the Botanical Gardens and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was free. It is a massive park – but unlike Hyde or Regents Park, this one has jungle trails and loads of exotic plants! They have a wonderful orchid garden (this you have to pay to go see – only about 2 pounds). Gurch fully well knows – I am a big flower fan, and this simply took my breath away. Gurcharan was thoroughly impressed too. Word of warning – never do this on a warm day which is the mistake we made.

Toy Museum…
Gurcharan took me to the Botanical Gardens – so I took him to the MINT Toy Museum. Both of us were very impressed with that. They had the old favorites from childhood. And some other interesting items!

The island of SENTOSA…
Hmmmnnn….sounds more like the name of an Italian mobster! But this is the themed island of Singapore. It has romantic beaches, pricey restaurants, shows (Songs of the Sea is one of the shows here – read previous post for details on this) as well as a pink dolphin show, 4D cinema is quite a treat. We took a cable car ride to the island from Singapore mainland – which was kinda scary for me at first, and G wasn’t helping when he started rocking the cable car! I eventually got over it and was mesmerized by the view – it was quite romantic actually! :o) It was nice to see large groups of elderly Indian and Chinese aunties and uncles here enjoying themselves. It looked like package tours for the elderly are common here and it’s nice to see that the elderly take the time to go out and enjoy themselves with their friends. I wish I could see more of that in the UK.

I got a littly bit scared in the cable car - especially when Gurcharan was rocking it!

Underwater world...

This place is something else - still within the Sentosa Island. Its got the biggest tunnel i've ever seen. We got to see some fantastic deep water creatures here. An added feature is a "interactive area" where you can actually stroke the manta/sting rays!

Gurch in the tunnel - the sharks had some nasty teeth!

4D max...

The island has a cool 4D cinema...

Dolphin show...

In the evening we went to a pink dolphin show (still on Sentosa Island). A first for me - I've never seen a dolphin before!

Bird Zoo...

This is not on the island - they had a great show and birds that actually did talk! Another first for me - i have never heard a bird say 'hello'!

Our room in SIngapore was teeny weeny eeny! but it was clean and quiet and cosy! :o)

Lion City!

2007-11-30T05:12:00.001Z

Otherwise known as Singapore!

the White Tigers, there were 3 in the enclosure, amazing!

For a country, it’s a tiny little place – but with quite a punch packed into it! I can honestly say it puts London to shame!

Streets are clean, the facilities immaculate, transport systems efficient, internet speed’s superfast…I could go on!

It is a haven for the ‘stop over tourist’ – meaning it’s somewhere you would visit for 3-4 days before moving onto somewhere else. This is due to the size of the place – they say you will hit the sea within15 minutes of traveling from anywhere in any direction.

However, it’s a nightmare for the budget traveler. The prim and proper country comes with a price. Budget accommodation is rare, almost always fully booked unless you book way in advance and you get much less for your pennies here. Coming from Bali and Thailand, we were not prepared for the shock – we got a bed and four walls here for the same price of a hotel room with with a pool and a view in Bali! Saying that, food is cheap-ish. Transport on the ever-so-efficient MRT (equivalent of the London Underground) is fairly cheap.

Its great for families – its geared for kids and boy does it take the gold medal! I must admit I did miss the family during my stay here – it’s somewhere best visited with the folks and siblings and kids (if we had any!). We have seen some fantastic shows/places/activities:

Our favorite so for is the Songs of the Sea – pyrotechnics, hydraulic powered, laser lights, massive fountains, projectors – all create a fantastic show that vowed even us who have been to some award wining shows in the West End in London.

Above, some pics we took, you can just make out the 3D images projected into water fountains

Another favorite is the Night Safari and Singapore zoo. The zoo had some incredible animals. The night safari is unique to Singapore. Nowhere else in the world will a golf trolley drive you through jungle landscape to view nocturnal animals in their own habitat. No cages here – just carefully sculptured landscape that prevents you from being the leopards/lions dinner! The clever design of the safari allows the visitor to have great views of the animals. I was quite surprised at the number of animals we managed to see, I initially thought the animals would be in hiding and shy from any nosey Homo Eructus.

The lion was scared, he didnt even look at me!

to be cont…

Ubud

2007-11-21T12:26:00.000Z

Strange gaurdian Demon at one of the temples in Bali

Ubud, this is a town in central Bali, its in the hills making the climate more acceptable, what its really known for is the chilled back atmosphere, the many eateries and the varied artisans. This vibe has attracted many travellers and package tourists and also the infamous Hippy crowd.

Our new buddy, Anna the Anaconda, 40kg worth of snake!

We enjoyed our stay at Ubud which was only meant to be for a few days but turned out to be 5. the combination of the climate, scenery and FOOD! yes this was the place we officially got fat! some of the highlights for restaurants were Indus, a restaurant overlooking Rice fields and the tallest mountain in bali, spectacular! also Bali Buddha was great for vegetarian food and deserts, where we had Mexican and Preet had a Tofu burger. being a healthy hippy joint they had a range of healthy drinks, i thought lets try one, so i ordered a drink thinking it would be a nice refreshing health drink, what i got was something that resembled boiled mud in both taste and looks!! i really couldn't drink, even after stirring in a pot of honey and ginger sugar!

It looks like ####, tastes like #### must be ####!

I'm sure the waiters had a laugh as i was ordering, there is o way anything living could drink that! apart from that the rest of the food was great, and they do a killer chocolate mouse made with rice starch.

Offerings...

The locals in Bali are mainly Hindu, they are quite superstitious, they all put out offerings in front of there doors, the offerings are for good spirits, to keep them happy and bad spirits so they dont enter the house/shop/office.

Egg-plant! in Bali we found vegi food more difficult to get hold of, i was just saying to Preet before i took the below picture, it would be so easy if eggs grew on plants!! and as if by magic, we found an egg-plant, which was really someone being artistic by putting empty egg shells on a plant. after a day or two in bali we found many, many vegi options. so all good!

Rice Paddies...

Ubud is known for its rice paddy walks, and hadn't been for since we got there, so one afternoon we thought we would go, so taking the moped we went to the start of the walk. after an uphill walk we were greeted by some great views and fresh air of the rice fields, oh and the many ducks. rice walks, highly recommended.

Shadow puppet show..

One thing Bali is known for is the shadow puppet shows, this is something which is entwined with the religion of the locals, which happens to be Hindu. the traditional way of doing this is to have a master puppeteer who sits behind a white linen screen which is lit by a large flame. the shows are normally based on Hindu mythology, the show we saw was based on a scene i think in the Mahabharata, two of the characters were Krishan and Arjun. the show was great but it would have been better if i understood the language.

Markets...

Ubud is a base for the arts, a lot of the local people have skills which have been passed down over generations be it wood carving, painting or masonry work. some of the artifacts can be bought in the market at sometimes really good prices and things you would never find in london, except in boutiques for really high prices. Yes, we did shop, but only after confirming that we could ship the goods to london, which cost as much as the products themselves.

Pics to Follow!

Tour of inner Bali

2007-11-16T10:09:00.001Z

After our white water rafting experience we thought it would be nice to see some more of Bali and its people.

So we booked ourselves on a tour to mount Batur and lake Batur, that took us through the art and crafts villages to see the local work and to get in some kathak Balinese dancing.

Beautiful and elegant Balinese dancers

We started the day with balinese dancing which is performed to a live band which is made up of mainly percussion instruments such as drums, cymbals, flutes and xylophone type things. The production we watched was great, and the music was really good too.

a monkey and Barong- a good spirit!

We then went to see some of the 'authentic' craft work, I say that as i felt the art being created was just for show and the artists were really sales men wanting you to buy there 'art'. It was funny, in one paint shop we pulled up and the 'artists' were lying on their backs, as we pulled up they sprung to their feet and got painting like they been doing it for hours and are really into it, I pointed this out but they didnt seem to understand that little bit of what I was saying.
Out of all the art it was the woodwork that most impressed us, huge pieces carved from single blocks of wood.

Mount Batur

The highlight of the tour was Mount and Lake Batur, which is an active volcano which last erupted in 1975ish. The landscape was sparse and barren, but amazing all the same. Near to the volcano there was a village where the people leave the bodies of the dead un covered under trees, we didnt go there apparently the villagers get quite rough when asking foreigners for money.

We also went to the monkey forest in Ubud, a forest with lots of cheeky monkies and a 15th century Hindu temple which is still used today for religeous ceremonies such as cremations etc. the temples and the forest again made it look like something out of a Hollywood movie set. I think this confimed to us both that Bali is one of the most scenic places we have been too.

A Big tree in Monkey Forest - complete with monkies!

Preet and the stone iguanas

me winding up the locals, but this old fella was chilled!

On the way back we through the stunning scenery we stopped at a coffee plantation where they grew fruit and various spices etc. we tried for the first time 'snake fruit' also known as Salek, snake fruit because the skin looks like the scales of a snake.

Snake fruit
Snake fruit, yummy kind of sweet and sour and a bit dry like cranberry if you know what I mean. We also had some fresh ginger tea, coffee and cocoa.. yummy, but the coffee would knock the death out of you!

White water rafting in Bali..

2007-11-16T09:31:00.002Z

Sunday 11th nov '07
We decided to try out white water rafting, let me tell you it was an amazing experience, especially for two that have never done it before.
The day started early and we were greeted by tropical rainfall. We made our two hour journey in an ac mini bus to our destination in a central hilly part of Bali - the Telagawda River (sp!).

You expect us to go down that?!

We got to our destination in one piece given the washed roads and steep gradients, thankfully our minibus and driver were up to the job.

For our safety we were given life jackets and helmets by our guide Leo. We waited for the heavens to settle as the rainfall had made the river fast and some areas quite dangerous - not that is any real concern to them! We boarded our raft with another older Japanese couple, the guy thought it would be funny to point out I look like Bin Laden! I didnt pursue the matter to educate him.

The next 14km and 2.5 hours of river were like a magnificent and thrilling interactive ride through what looked like the set to the next Indiana Jones movie. the scenery was a mixture of paddy fields, waterfalls, sheer valleys and of course some serious rapids.

We were totally drenched head to toe, thankfully as the weather got better, in fact it got quite hot.

En route we passed many people whos rafts had overturned and were waiting to regroup, we tried to help...well, kind of, as its hardly the easiest thing to stop a raft crashing around in the rapids!

After the rapids, we had to climb 360 steps to get out of the valley and have our lunch of Balinese noodles and rice....yummy!

We couldnt take pics while on the raft, but this trip showed us an amazing and beautiful side of Bali that we didnt know existed.

Bali - took a few crazy adventures to get here!

2007-11-12T07:16:00.004Z

So, we're in Bali now!

Not sure how this happened! hehe!
We were loungin around in Ko Lant (Thailand) one day reading the good ol Lonely Planet - and we suddenly realised that Bali's wet season begins in November. So...here we are! :o)

me outside the legendary MBK

Getting here was an absolute mission!
Adventure 1 - it starts off mild
First - took a van to the harbour in Ko Lanta. This took us to Phuket Town.

We spend one night in Phuket Town. Went to this rather posh Indian restaurant - oddly out of place in Phuket Town - and met the owner, Billy Chima. (I think we'll do a separate post for this)Preet posing outside the national museum, Thailand

Adventure 2 - add a bit of spice
Anyway, we took a flight to Bangkok the next day. Stayed one night.
We had enough time here to pay a visit to a good friend - MBK shopping mall! This is a mall like no other - you can find EVERYTHING here! ;o)

Adventure 3 - next come the chilli!
Then another flight to catch to Jakarta, Indonesia. This is where the 'fun' started. As none of our trips are planned, we hadn't booked an onward flight. We thought we'd just leave when we'd had enough of Bali. But when we got to immigration at Jakarta the guy made it out that we couldn't enter because we didn't have an onward ticket! He just needed an excuse cos the next thing he said was 'I'll help you and you help me!' basically he wanted a bribe. It was midnight, we were tired and hungry, so we gave in.

Adventure 4 - somebody order it X-tra Hot?!
Next - the transport to the hotel was a nightmare. We got harrassed and overcharged. Again, too tired to mess around at midnight in a strange country.

Adventure 5 - now the heat's kicked in!
Then - this takes the prize - we got to the hotel and realised I had booked it for the wrong day! The hotel was fully booked so he couldnt even offer another room. So we took a taxi to a nearby hotel which turned out to be a dump. Plus we needed to withdraw money in the local currency. Easy enough right? NO! the taxi driver spoke no English whatsoever! Finally managed to get to an ATM. Got the driver to take us back to the original hotel - where they offered us a 3 bed appartment which was the only thing available - and we gladly took it. It really wasn't our day - everything went wobbly. Must be something to do with the mars and venus alignment or something! hehe! ;o)

Adventure 6 - mission accomplished...I like a good ending!
The flight the next day was to Bali - we finally got to our destination in one piece! The hotel was much much more fantastic than we thought it would be. Which kinda made up for all the crazy mission of the journey.
Its low season in Bali so prices are theoretically more attractive. We have been lucky with the weather - it only really rained yesterday. And boy did it rain! But as all tropical showers go, it only lasted a little while.
It has been a nice stay here in Kuta beach - a bit too touristy for me though. Can't imagine what its like in the high season.

We'll be moving to another beach soon - hopefully something a bit more secluded.