SKYDIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my God!!! People if ever you want to live a little then do a skydive. It was the most amazing experience I've ever felt. 14,000 feet up in the sky and jumping out of a plane. The rush you get when you jump is incredible. It was a tandem so to be honest I didn't have to do too much. It took 20 minutes to get to 14,000 feet in a tiny plane which literally wasn't big enough to swing a cat in. I'll tell you, the heart was in my mouth when they opened the door of the plane and I was next to jump. I was hanging out of the plane and the next thing I knew I was plummeting to earth far too quickly. There was a 60 second free fall before the parachute opened. The best 60 seconds ever. We freefalled through a cloud which somehow gave my this peaceful feeling before exiting the cloud to a view over the Pacific Ocean with miles of sandy beaches and blue waters and Islands dotted around the place. It was out of this world. I then had a 6 minute descent before I landed. I was buzzing for ages afterwards. I got a dvd of it so I will have to show you guys when I get home. Sorry still no photos. Gotta go now. See you later.

Cairns and the East Coast

Hi guys, first off i don't have photos this time round because I forgot my cable for the camera. Sorry about that. Well there is some news that I have to share. The group is no more. I split from Colin and Is in Cairns. Its for the best and we are all fine about it. We realised that we are looking for different things out of the trip. Also I am not going to be heading to NZ for the final leg of the journey. I wanted to do the east coast properly and 2 weeks is not enough time at all. So Colin and Is are flying out on the 1st Nov and I will be somewhere up the east coast when they do. Its all change on the last leg. Its all good though. I'm much happier about it and I reckon they are too. I am travelling with a girl I met on the Adelaide to Alice Springs tour. Her name is Sarah. She is more interested in taking it easy going down the coast as well so it should be fun. That is all the news I have for you at the moment. I'll keep you posted on anything else that we do. Later people!!

The Red Centre

People, anyone who has any interest in going to Australia must visit the centre of this vast and wonderful country. The east coast is going to be amazing too but a bus tour to Uluru and Kings Canyon and the Olgas will certainly be a major highlight for me. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to travel with. We all got on really well together and i think our bus driver/guide, Gaz (Wombat) will never forget our memorable singing at the back of the bus. We visited some really cool places along the way including a salt lake and a town with a population of about 5. Gaz was a legend. It took a while to warm to him but once he started opening up a bit he was great craic. The heat was unreal. A couple of nights we slept out under the stars in swags (sleeping mattresses). THat was really beautiful seeing shooting stars and the Milky Way. We stayed one night in an underground town, Coober Pedy, which was cool. The bar was about 10 or 15 metres underground which was an experience. And what can I say about Uluru. Everyone has seen it in pictures but nothing compares to the real thing. At senset we were given champagne and crackers and cheese and just sat around watching the sun set on the massive lump of a rock. I can't speak highly enough about the trip. I would recommend it to everyone and anyone. If you go to Oz go to Uluru. I will definitely keep in contact with the people from the trip and will hopefully meet up with some of them before I go further. Thats all for now. Later people!!

Melbourne and Adelaide

So I am now in Adelaide. We hired a car and drove from Melbourne to Adelaide. The Gret Ocean Road has some amazing scenery. The trip was a lot quieter than i had thought it would be. I guess it is still Winter now and there just aren't that many tourists around yet. But it was still good. Melbourne is a great city. We met up with Alex and Melissa (couple we met in Laos) and had a fun couple of days. It was brilliant to see them again and we reaffirmed our intention to do a skydive when we get to NZ. I can't wait. Something really random happened also. I got an email from a German friend, Rike, who told me that she was in Melbourne. It was a complete coincidence and a very pleasant surprise. Here in Adelaide Colin and IS stayed in the YHA but I stayed in a real funky hostel down the road. It was nice to get away from them for a while. I found the YHA kinda boring but my hostel is wicked. Everyone knows everyone and we all head out together. Oh, I haven't told you about the Goon. The greatest traveller invention known to man. A 4 litre box of wine for about $11. Thank you Jebus!!!! Well we head towards Uluru and Alice Springs tomorrow. I hope it'll be all good. A lot of travelling but I guess we are driving across a continent. Wish me luck. Chat again later

On the road again :)

Hi there again. Well I'm back on the road again and am happy to be on the go. Sydney was a lot of fun but I had had my fill and it was time to up sticks and see Oz. The house i was stating in was really cool. All my housemates were fun to be around, even if they were speaking French a lot of the time. Work was an amazing experience. I have a new found respect for fundraisers. It is a really tough job and the crap you have to put up with from some members of the public is unreal. I had loads of fun though. The guys I was working with were some of the most positive and supportive I have ever had the pleasure of working with. THat will do for now. tune in again soon for the next installment.

Koh Tao diving

Hey kids, just a quick blog today. THe time away for Colin was good as I'm sure it was for him. Well after the Full Moon Party I headed to Koh Tao for a spot of diving and had a whale of a time. The diving was really cool. On one of our dives a spotted a grey shark which is quite rare according to out dive instructor. The group of guys I was with were really great and my Buddy, Scot, a fella from San Diego, really helped me out a lot with all the gear and stuff. i never realised just how heavy the tank and jacket was until I tried it on out of water. Once you get into the water its fine. There is a pretty funny photo of a guy out sunbathing on the beach. I don't know why i took the photo. I didn't want to look at it but you know the way you feel compelled to look at something you don't want to. Well that is how I felt. Ok, I gotta go now. Chat again soon. Keep the emails coming.

Full Moon Party

Hey kids,
let me tell you a story about a party. Now this was no ordinary party. it was a Full Moon Party where people are just a little bit crazy because the moon does something to them. They party till they fall down and drink out of beach buckets. Guys it was the best party that I have ever been to. I arrived last Thurs and that night we headed down to the beach with a few Germans. It was my first experience of drinking buckets (whiskey, red bull and coke). They are unreal. Mam, if you want to turn away now I'll understand. After a few of them you are totally buzzing. We didn't get back to the guesthouse until it was bright the next morning. That's the craziness i am talking about. So I slept most of Friday. The next evening i took it easy. I was in bed by 3 or 4 in the morning. Believe me, that is taking it easy. The few days before the actual Full Moon Party (FMP)are nearly as crazy as the party itself. I met an Irish guy whom I had met in Laos and so I was with his posse for the FMP. We started at 10. By this time the beach was nearly full. We simply drank buckets and danced to House music until the sun came up. It was really cool watching the sun come up while giving it socks to really cool music. I don't know how I lasted the night but I did. At 9 the next morning i was spent and couldn't go on any more. I needed sleep. On Sat we took it easy. Everyone was still tired so we headed down to the beach and just had a couple of drinks and watched the fire show. Oh ya, there were these Thai guys performing a fire show with those balls on chains and a big stick. It was amazing. They were so good and made it look really easy. There was a Welsh guy walking the beach in the Borat lime green beach costume. it was a very disturbing sight. But you couldn't help but look. There were a lot of strange people there. But thats the cool thing about the party. Anything goes. Nobody cares what everyone else is doing. Seriously guys, get your asses over here and come to a FMP. You will not be disappointed. Chat later

Angkor Wat

Now this is a place to lift the spirits. What a magnificant spectacle. The temples here are really blocky with these really cool faces carved into them. To be honest words really can't quite describe them properly. But believe me, if you sre anywhere in the vicinity of Cambodia at any stage in your lives, make sure you take the time to visit Angkor Wat. Those who have been there will attest to that. I really don't know what else to say about it. Locky and Eamon, sorry to hear about Liverpool.

Cambodia

What is there to say about Cambodia? Well I have to say that it certainly is not the happiest place in the world. I have seen things that would make you feel ashamed for us giving out that they didn't cut the crusts off your sandwich at the deli. There are some horribly mutilated people in Cambodia. I had a guy who's face looked as though it had simply melted. There are so many people walking around with no limbs, or blind, scarred from the effects of the Pol Pot regime. i went and visited the Killing Fields, which was a must for me when I am in Cambodia. The memorial to the victims is difficult to look at. All the skulls stacked high into the air. All the skulls are categorised into age group and sex. the monument must be around 10 or 15 metres high containing roughly 8000 human skulls. THat was very difficult. What I found equally disturbing was while walking around the fields I could see the clothes of the victims half buried in the ground. it made it all very real for me. To think that those were the clothes that the people were wearing as they were being battered to death was a very shocking and sobering thought. i don't want to have to see anything like that again for a long long time. We also visited S21, a prison used by the Pol Pot Regime to detain, torture and kill their own people. I think it is that that i find so hard to grasp. It was their own people that they were exterminating. I'm glad that i did it and went to see all these places of horror but I won't be rushing back to them any time soon. On a more positive note we made friends with a street kid called Gia. She is 11 and when not at school she sells books to tourists. I feel so sorry for these poor kids. They seem really happy with life and are all full of energy but they lead such tough lives. We buy food for some of the mothers with children that are begging on the street. its makes me feel good to see them happy. How lucky that i was born in Ireland ...

This was one of the things that I really wanted to do before I left Vietnam. I knew about the tunnel system that the Viet Cong fighters had to survive the bombing of south Vietnam and I insisted that we go see them. We were ina group of 35 or more and i was afraid that the tour would be crap but it was anything but. We first saw a Viet Cong propaganda film which was brilliantly biased against the US. Then we headed out to see the tunnels and how the soldiers lived. There was a demonstration of just how small the tunnels really were (some of the tunnels have been enlarged so tourists can go into them) and how cramped the living conditions were. It was incredible just how small and dark and hot it was inside them. While walking around we could see craters the size of swimming pools all around the place made by the US B-52 bombers. It must have been a terrifying time to be alive in Vietnam. Very randomly there is a firing range there where you can buy live rounds for AK47's and go fire a few shots. I didn't do it. I just have no interest in shooting a gun to be honest. The noise out of them is really deafening, even from 15 or 20 metres. I didn't realise how loud they were. our guide told us that only 6 months ago a guy went to shoot some guns but instead of aiming at the proper targets he aimed at his own head and blew his brains out. it was quite a shocking story, all the more shocking that the range is still open after something like that happening. But I guess that is Asia for you. There is no sense of safety around these parts. After a break at the firing range we actually got to go down into the tunnels and travel around 100 metres along them. It was so stuffy and dark in there. I came out the other end dripping in sweat. Some people didn't make it to the end and gave up halfway through it. It was tough getting through it. At one stage I was on all fours shuffling along. And these tunnels have been enlarged 40% for tourists. I can only imagine how small the originals were. A super experience all the same.

some random photos

Halong Bay bliss

Right Guys, well I have just told you about the mad time I had in Sapa with the rice wine drinking and the bong (only tobacco mam) smoking and all that craziness. Well after that we had a nice relaxing, SUPER POSH few days out on Halong Bay. We went on a cruise on a massive junk where we were dining on fresh seafood and sleeping in our A/C twin rooms on the boat. It was great. Unfortunately the weather was not with us and so the views were not as spectacular as they could have been. Halong Bay is a bay where there are around 2000 little islands made of limestone and the water there is a beautiful turquoise blue. The mist kind of spoiled it a little but that didn't stop us from living it up on the boat. The next day the sun came out to greet us which we were delighted to see. It made such a difference to the scenery. We went swimming in the water, jumping off the boat, which was great craic. During the day we got off the boat and went hiking and biking and kayaking. It was so peaceful just paddling around all these fabulous islands. It was one of the highlights of our time in Vietnam. That night we stayed on one of the islands in a stunning hotel. It was the nicest place we have stayed in in our 4 months of travelling. Proper plush with another Vietnamese seafood dinner and buffet breakfast free. Of course that evening we went looking for a Bia Hoi corner. Have I told you about the Bia Hoi? Its essentially a street corner where you can buy a glass of beer for 2000 Dong (around 15 US Cents). It is not strong but for that price who cares. You have to respect a country that sells beer cheaper than water. Well that was Halong Bay. If you ever come to Vietnam, make sure you do Halong Bay. Later kids!!

Sapa madness

hey there people,
well we headed north out of the madness thatis Hanoi and into the relative quietness of the Sapa, or so we thought. We got a tour which included an overnight train to Sapa. Of course it was first class all the way, no but really it was. It was pure luxury. When we got to Sapa we booked into our hotel and our group of 9 was broked into two groups. I didn't stay with Colin and it was the best thing i could have done. My group was amazing. We had a super guide, Sho, who was so bubbly and funny and really made the trekfor us. Our group was 3 from Oz and a Kiwi. We ahd somuch fun. My nickname for the trek was Asimoto, I have no clue why but it stuck. We were followe for the entire timeby tribal women trying to sell us everything from bracelets to cushion covers and blankets. It was constant. We had a laugh with them but it got a little grating after a while. I was thinking to myself that Colin would have hated it, and he did. When we got to the hut, massive, we were staying for the night we went ot a hot spring while the family cooked the food. It was a lovely way to relax after such a long and hot trek. After dinner we were given a bottle of rice wine by the family and we were playing drinking games with our guide. It was so much fun. The girls were slowly getting drunk. Myself and Terry, Oz bloke, were invited to drink with the tribal men which was an experience. I never drank so much and we even smoked a tobacco bong. it was really hilarious. Terry was blowing smoke rings and one of the men nearly lost his life with excitement. i guyess he had never seen smoke rings before. I was buzzing from the tobacco. it sure did give you some hit even though it was only tobacco. When we got back to Sapa town we went for drinks with Sho and some of her guide friends. They are all wired to the moon. They are crazy. Also absolute sharks at pool and cards. I reckon when they are not guiding they are playing cards and pool. I swear they would give a pro pool player a run for their money. We had a great laugh and we were all sad to say goodbye to Sho. She was a really cool girl and hopefully she keeps in contact. well that was all from Sapa. Chat again soon.

Good Morning Vietnam!!

Hey kids, well here I am in Vietnam. its bloody crazy. It totally reminds me of India; the traffic is mad, the beeping of horns, the hassling on the street ... man it brings back such good memories. We arrived into Hanoi on Lao Airlines from Vientiene which was a grand flight. Despite the fact that I was told the day before that they had once been black listed and were not the most reputable of airlines. to be honest I was shitting myself but it was a fine flight. We even got food on board and a newspaper. It was better than taking a 30 hour bus journey that a few guys I met had done. Afterwards they said that it was the worst bus ride they had ever experienced. They said that the bus broke down a few times, ran out of petrol, only stopped twice in the 30 hours and they had a lot of hassle at the Vietnam border. They even said that there were people (prepare yourself for this) going to the toilet (No. 2) in the bus into plastic bags and then throwing the bags out the window. I was glad to pay the extra money for our flight. Oh ya, after nearly 4 months together myself and Colin had our first major fight. I moved out for a while but to be honest we were back on normal terms again in 2 days. All that was needed was that we needed a little time apart. All is cool now, thank God. I love you bro!! Anyway, that is all the news I have for the moment. I will check in again soon and hopefully rob a few photos off Colin's camera. Later people.

Tubing

Vang Vieng people!!!! this is the place to be. I have just come in after my second day of tubing. What is tubing you may ask? Well esentially it invonlves me getting into an old tractor tyre tube and floating down a river. Now that doesn't sound all that exciting. Well that is where you would be wrong. What I didn't tell you was that every 100 metres or so there is a bar set up at the river bank where you can buy beer and swing into the rier from platforms at leasdt 5 or 6 metres high. it is the best fun ever on this planet. You meet loads of people and have the laugh and ,as an Irishman, get sunburned. Some of the swings into the water are really scary. There was one that was definitely 8 or 9 metres high and I swear I was really shitting (excuse the language) myself. For another one it took Colin about 5 minutes to actually jump off the platform. We really had to convince him to do it. It is such a great day and it only costs $4 to rent the tube. Beers along the way cost a dollar. I love this country!!!!!!! The town of Vang Vieng is really cool too. Every bar here has loads of TVs and they are showing either Friends, The Simpsons, or movies all day long. Seriously, if you wanted you could lounge around all day watching 10 or 20 episodes of Friends if you felt like it. What a cool town. Guys, if you ever come to this part of the world you have to get your ass to Laos and Vang Vieng. its wicked. Chat later. Gotta go get food and watch a movie. bye bye

a few photos from Laos

ok so these are just a couple of photos from our 2 day trek we did in luang Nam Tha. The villagers were the best and also the little piggies. How I love bbq pork :) Check out the evil eye on the little guy. It was one of the coolest experiences being in the tribal village.

Pi Mai water festival

I've come to realise that all the guest house owners and tuk-tuk drivers will sell you weed if you show even the slightest interest. Its so funny with the tuk-tuks. The first question is do we want a tuk-tuk, the next is automatically do you want weed. I guess its obviously the natural progression from asking if you want to be driven somewhere. Why don't our taxi drivers in Ireland not ask us these questions? We are now in Luan Prabang, a lovely town with loads of character and charm and beautiful sights. Of course I haven't seen any of it. We have been too busy soaking people on the main street of the town. Ah yes, the Lunar New Year I was talking about. In Thailand its called Songkran, here in Laos its called Pi Mai. Its all the same though. We have just spent 3 days soaking people and getting soaked. It is the best festival that I have ever, ever been involved in. Its fantastic. I couldn't possibly do it justice in description but I'll try. Early morning is calm, about 11 o'clock a small group will start throwing buckets of water at passing cars and tuk-tuks. From then on most shops close down and stay closed until around 6. Between that time the whole town comes out onto the streets and goes crazy. Its absolutely mental. It like nothing else I've seen. Even if you don't want to get wet, your going to. In fact for those who are dry, its like aneon sign saying "wet me", and everyone duly obliges. You can't do anything around town because you know that you are going to be drenched. I broke my camera on the first day so I have no photos of me and everyone else covered in oil and flour, which appeared on the second day. Before you leave this world you ahve to get to Luan Prabang for the 14, 15 and 16 April. Crazy, crazy, crazy!!!! i'm so pissed off that I can't show you the photos. it would really have given you an idea of just how mad the fun was. i guess you are just going to have to use your imagination this time.

Aaah Laos!!!

Laos is wicked!!!! it is such a relaxed country and nothing like Thailand. It seems such a simple life here. The boat ride was really scenic. To be honest some stretches of the river really had an Apocolypse Now feel about them. i could just imagine arrows coming flying out from the trees at any moment, or seeing some half naked, half wild natives lining the banks. Our first night in Loas was a funny one. Our guest house was as rough as we've seen. Our room had a resident mouse. And as you know mice are not my best buddies in the world. But out host came to kill the moust with some random jagged piece of wood he probably found out back somewhere. The guy was totally stoned out of his tree. Everyone was in stitches laughing, especially him, but the mouse got away. The electricity in the town was shut off at half 10. We all got back to our rooms after dinner to find it in darkness except for a few candles. Rustic doesn't quite describe it. It was grand though. There was a group of us who had met on the boat so everything was fine. Its Laos after all.

Maybe Thailnad isn't so great

Would you believe it but I got sick as well. What are the chances. I don't get sick for 3 months, Colin pukes only a few days ago and now I get sick. It was a bloody pizza too, to add insult to injury. Fecking Western food. I couldn't possibly have picked a worse time either. We were getting a 6 hour bus journey to the Laos border and I puked five minutes into the journey. We were stopped at a guest house picking up some passangers and I ran for the toilet. I actually blocked their toilet. Oops. Hope they don't mind. It was the worst bus journey of my life. I threw up out the window too. Memories of all the people in India puking out the bus windows came flooding back. Eventually We made it to the border town and I collapsed into bed and didn't get up at all, except to puke one last time. Thankfully the next day I felt fairly ok. Just as well because we were going to be tking a baot 7 hour bot ride down the Mekong and I didn't fancy being ill for that. Hopefull this will be my one and only sick on the trip story that I will be telling you guys. i'm sure you feel the same way.

Still in Thailand

Right, so we left Chiang Mai and headed for a tiny little village called Pai. It is a pure hippy place. You know how you always wondered where hippies go when the get older. Well they all come to Pai. There are more hippies there than would be at a hippy convention. Its a cool little place. totally laid back and easy going. We rented scooters and away we went. No drivers licence needed or anything. No obligation to wear helmets either. Health and Safety where are ya!!!! It was so cheap too, only about $3 for 24 hours. We drove around and did touristy things. It was fun. Unfortunately Colin got sick that night. The first time in nearly 3 months. He reckons it was the mango and stick rice he bought from a street vendor. It could have been worse. He threw up a few times but that was it. We were meant to leave the next day but Col was feeling a tad tender so we stayed another day. Around these parts the people celebrate the Lunar New Year. They do so with a water festival. In Pai the festivaties begin a bit early and there were some people throwing water at every cyclist passing by. I felt an obligation to partake so I bought a water pistol in the shape of a sword and found poeple who had a barrel of water and started soaking everyone around me. Obviously I was drenched myself. It was mad craic though. The fun had to end and so the next day we packed our bags and headed back to Chiang Mai. Julie's once again. I swear, I could stay in this guest house for weeks. We decided to bail out of Thailand and go to Laos. I'm realy looking forward to Laos because everyone who we talk to says that it is the best country in Southeast Asia. We shall wait and see.

more Thailand

Bless me friends for I have sinned, its been too long since my last profession. i will tell you a little about our time in Thailand. Well When Colin headed for England I was delighted to see the back of him. I needed a break from him. But then I realised that i was no good at planning and wanted himback. But I survived. I met a few people along the way and travelled around with a German and South African. We had a blast and saw loads. When Colin came back we were heading north towards Chiang Mai. one mini adventure we had was that Derek stupidly locked the room key into our room about an hour before we were hoping to get a train. We had the added misfortune to be in a guesthouse which was run by a complete muppet. He didn't appear to have a master key and couldn't do anything before ringing his mother first. Three hours later the mother comes back and gets the master key and opens the room for us. Thankfully our train was delayed and we got the later one. So four of us headed for Chiang Mai. Christian (German) had heard about a cool place to stay so we headed there. It was a totally relaxed and chilled out guest house which I highly recommend, called Julie's. We organised a 3 day trek and a cookery course from there. THe trek was real good. tHe group that we were doing it with were all sound and everyone got on fantastically. Colin bought a bag of fried worms and a couple of grasshoppers. It sounds disgusting but they tasted fine really. Kinda like fried chicken. Our cookery course was the funniest thing in the world. It was run my a woman called Mieow. I have never met someone so crazy. Any time a photo was being taken she would pose and shout "Sexy". The food we cooked was delicious. I never knew Thai cooking could be so easy. If you ever come to Thailand do this cookery course in Chiang Mai. Well worth the money. before I go and update any more blogs I must apologise because my memory card is now lost and so I cannot post any photos until I get myself a new camera. Sorry guys.

just a couple of thai photos

The waterfall that Leo DiCaprio jumped off in the beach isn't looking as good as it did in "The Beach" but at least I got to see it which is some consolation.

Thailand

Hey guys, well I am a week in Thailand now and things are going swimmingly. Its a really cool country. Bangkok was amazing. Its just like an American city with Asians everywhere. The tuktuks there are brilliant. They are like drag racers flying down the street, and they sound like one too. Khoa San Rd where all the backpackers go is madness. There are bars and parties and street food vendors everywhere. One sign that I saw was all the drinks promotions and at the end of it was "we don't check IDs". Fantastic!! One of the street vendors was selling roasted water beetles, crickets, worms, cockroaches, and other nasty stuff. Before I leave this country I will try one of them. I said I'd try the local cuisine and I'm going to stick to that, even if it kills me. You'll be glad to know that I didn't cause another international relations disaster by dancing to the Thai national anthem in the airport. Everywhere here is so clean and ordered. The food is great, thank God. The women in this country are gorgeous. They all are, not just a few. Sorry mam :) Colin flew back to see his girlfriend so I've been going solo for nearly a week. It not too bad. I think i would not like to do it for too long on my own though. It can get a bit lonely at times, sob sob. its still grand but with Colin is the best way. Well hopefully I'll get some photos up in the next week or so. Thats it for now. chat later.

Thailand

Hey guys, well I am a week in Thailand now and things are going swimmingly. Its a really cool country. Bangkok was amazing. Its just like an American city with Asians everywhere. The tuktuks there are brilliant. They are like drag racers flying down the street, and they sound like one too. Khoa San Rd where all the backpackers go is madness. There are bars and parties and street food vendors everywhere. One sign that I saw was all the drinks promotions and at the end of it was "we don't check IDs". Fantastic!! One of the street vendors was selling roasted water beetles, crickets, worms, cockroaches, and other nasty stuff. Before I leave this country I will try one of them. I said I'd try the local cuisine and I'm going to stick to that, even if it kills me. You'll be glad to know that I didn't cause another international relations disaster by dancing to the Thai national anthem in the airport. Everywhere here is so clean and ordered. The food is great, thank God. The women in this country are gorgeous. They all are, not just a few. Sorry mam :) Colin flew back to see his girlfriend so I've been going solo for nearly a week. It not too bad. I think i would not like to do it for too long on my own though. It can get a bit lonely at times, sob sob. its still grand but with Colin is the best way. Well hopefully I'll get some photos up in the next week or so. Thats it for now. chat later.

End of Sri Lanka (Thank God)

And so it comes to my last blog for Sri Lanka. By Jaysus it were a tough two weeks. We had lunch and it didn't just taste shit, it actually tasted OF shit, literally. You gotta love the ole rice and curry. Well I'm really sorry to say it but I'm absolutely delighted to be getting out of this country. It sure doesn't lend itself to tourism. People are ignorant, unhelpful, the sights very ordinary and massively overpriced and the food ... well see above for details. To be perfectly honest both myself and Colin have been counting down the hours until we leave here. Thank God it was only a two week stay or we would have cracked up altogether. May I categorically say that not only will I never return to this country but I would also recommend each and all of you to stay as far away from here as possible and don't even think of contemplating coming here. You will only be disappointed unless you actually enjoy getting ripped off. So goodbye Sri Lanka. I hope you win the cricket World Cup because it may be the only thing you've got going for you.

Elephants rock

My faith in Sri Lanka is restored somewhat. We went to the elephants today and it was fantastic. Man, elephants are the coolest ever. What a day. We saw them all feeding and bathing and there was this abay one which was just one and a half months old and you couldn't help but think it was the cutest thing in the world. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a man and think manly thoughts but shucks it was so cute. This has difinitely been the highlight for me. The rest of Sri Lanka can go to hell for all I care. Elephants rock

I'm having my doubts about this country

Not too many blogs for Sri Lanka because the internet service here is a joke. Well its a weeks and a half down and unfortunately thinks have not gone as I had expected them to. We had a good few days hiking and even climbed a really big mountain in the middle of the night. I know that sounds crazy but Iit was absolutely worth getting up at 2 in the morning to see the sunrise. I guess you just had to be there to appreciate how beautiful it was. Anyway apart from that things have not been as good as hoped. This country it seems is only interested in one thing, totally screwing the tourists. Its incredible, for entry into a national park, which consisted of a field, a bit of a hill and a waterfall, we had to pay $40 while 2 natives would pay 60 Cent. Something wrong there I think. It was the world's greatest rip-off. the whole country is the same. Honestly, I wouldn't mind paying the money if the sights were worth it. They are absolutely not worth it. You constantly feel as though you are being royally screwed every way you turn. II don't really know if we are missing something but we both feel that the country is not that great. The people are generally ignorant pricks, with the exception of a few, the food is muck and the sights are less than ordinary. I am sounding like a real moan but its the way I feel. This country is crap so far and I would not be recommending it to anyone. We are heading to an elephant orphanage ina couple of days so hopefully that will lift the spirits. Chat soon

First impressions of Sri Lanka

Hi everyone,
so this is my first blog from Sri Lanka. My first impressions are really good. There are a couple of differences from India that are obvious from the off. First is the lack of rubbish all overr the place. It is so clean here. Also the fact that all vehicles, cars and lorries, have both wing mirrors. Such a strange sight coming from India. The thrid thing that struck me is that all the people on the motorbikes wore helmets. I mean everyone, even the children. I have a feeling that this country is going to be enjoyable. A really embarassing thing happened to me in the ariport when we arrived. We were heading to the baggage reclaim and I heard music playing and started doing a little dance (as you do). Only then did I realise that everyone in the entire hall was standing to attention. They were playing the Sri Lankan national anthem. I nearly died. I then started giggling and couldn't stop. Colin was the same as me and couldn't dare look at me or he would have burst out laughing. I sure know how to make an entrance. When we arrived in Colombo city the amount of security was unreal. I wasn't expecting it at all. On our way into the city our bus was pulled over by the police and everyone was ordered out and their ID checked. We didn't know what was going on but we were told to stya in the bus. Then this guard with an uzi climbed into the bus and asked to see our passports. He was really friendly. We were walking around the city and every 100 metres or so there was a police checkpoint. We were not allowed to photo the parliament building or anything but again they were all seriously friendly. We got chatting to this retired Navy officer who seemed a bit crazy but a nice guy. We went for a beer with him and he was offering to send tea home to the folks back home. We gracioously declined his offer. The place we stayed in was a YMCA. yes, yes, I can see you all laughing now but it was the cheapest place we could find in a short space of time. We giot exactly what we paid for. It was the worst place we have ever stayed in. i got eaten alive by mosquitos (no mosquito net) and the size of the cockroaches was wicked. THey must have been at least an inch and a half long. His death was quick and painless. Never again will we be staying in a YMCA. Roll on the rest of this country

The end of India

So this is it. The end of my 7 week stint in India. I can't believe that its over already. But thats the way it is I guess. Instead of writing a long story of my arrival and how I survived India I'm going to just list some of the things I've encountered, experienced and seen on the trip. In no particular order ... People bathing in ponds and lakes; orange looking bananas; people breaking stones on the side of the road using primitive hammers; an entire village turned white from the local stone-crushing factory; beggars; invalids pushing themselves around little wooden carts; absolutely vividly coloured saris; palm trees; spice gardens; people staring; people delighted when you smile at them; scams; schemers; crazy tuctuc drivers; overloaded trucks and tractors; traffic police being totally ignored by everybody; tea plantations; lots and lots of hippies; fantastic looking Bollywood actresses; roadside shanty villages; absolute filth like nothing you could ever imagine; some of the friendliest people i've ever met; caves hewn from mountains; numerous temples; Taj Mahal at sunrise; paradise beach; stoned Indian (very funny) lots and lots and lots of rats at train stations; people puking out moving buses; piss corners (well I've smelled them more than saw them); beautiful Indian food. There is so much more that I can't put in because if I did I would still be writing next week. The best and the worst of India was seen. I have to say that it won't be forgotten in a hurry. Well now it is time to head south to Sri Lanka. We are going to live it up this evening and eat in a really fancy restaurant and spend loads of money ($20) on delicious food. So I'll be chatting to you all soon. Bye for now :)

The nicest family I've ever met

i feel really bad that I don't have any photos of Shashi and the famaily that we stayed with in Kanpur. Sorry about that. Well I guess its better late than never. So here are just a couple of photos of the nicest, friendliest family on God's green earth. I cannot speak highly enough about them They were a life saver. I really wasn't enjoying myself in India up to then but this family renewed my belief that people can be good and helpful and not everyone is talking to you just to try sell you something. God bless this family. I'm not really that religious but i believe Heaven was made for people like these.

Tea plantations of Munnar

Arriving into Munnar was worth the bus fare alone. Toi see all the tea plantations with all the women picking the leaves was really something. Munnar is pretty high up and so wasn't the warmest of places. We checked into our room and straight away went to book a trek through the mountains and plantations. We knew of these treks from a few guys we were talking to on our Backwaters tour who had just come from Munnar. We booked a two day one night trek which suited us because we were not looking for hardcore trekking, just a relatively easy trek so we could take in all the sights of the plantations and anything else that was to be seen. The rest of the day was spent just taking in Munnar which was not a lot. We tried some homemade chocolate which was horrible. give me Cadbury's any day. Our first day of trekking was a good one. We were doing it with another couple who we realised were more into the hardcore trekking. We found out that they were looking to do min 8 hours trekking every day. Needless to say they were mental. I sure had no intention of doing that and dying in a foreign country up the mountains. Our guide was of the same opinion as me, thank God, and so the pace was doable. The views going through the plantations were fabulous. The greenery was amazing. It was pretty hot and I was sweating buckets, but it was worth it for the views. Its so peaceful up there. We camped out up the mountain that night and sat round the campfire and sang Kumbaiya. Ah no only messing. There was a fire but no singing. Col and I had a couple of beers. THe next morning we were awake at half 6 to see the sun rise over the mountains. Beautiful sight. So beautiful that I fell back asleep after it for a few more hours. The homeward trek was pretty misty so we couldn't see a lot. We did come across some fresh tiger tracks which had us all a little on edge but nothing came of it. There was also elephant poo everywhere. Don't ask me how elephants could get that far up mountains, because it was really high uo and very steep. We got a public bus back down into town. It was the most memorable bus jourbey so far. The driver was uber-impatient and while trying to overtake a lorry which was parked our bus smashed the lorry's wingmirror. No stopping for our man though, just keep on going. Next we got a flat trye. It was one of the inner tryes at the back but not even that could make our driver stop. He did have to go a bit slower though. Drivers in India have this need for speed. Even when driving on a tiny road that is teetering on the edge of a cliff they bomb it down the road and only break if absolutely necessary. So on we went. Then came the woman that was puking out the window. The poor woman couldn't even get of the bus. Luckily there is no glass in these windows so there was no problem throwing up out the window. What a wonderful sight. Never a dull moment in India.