India

Upon arrival in Delhi we were faced with many "red" indians. This confused the historically and geographically challenged Renee who thought that Red Indians were from North America. It seems that we arrived on the day of Holi which is a annual festival where everyone takes to the streets and throws coloured powder (usually red) at one another, including complete strangers. As a result, everyone and everything is turned a very distinct shade of red until they have a good wash. This was actually quite convenient in determining which restaurants were safe to eat at... if the staff were still red several days after Holi it implied a certain lack of regular washing practices!


The source of India's strawberry milk... One of many cows on the streets of Delhi caught in the Holi celebrations.


We wandered around Parhaganj (Delhi) feeling quite disorientated for the first day. We found out later that this is a very seedy part of the capital, which probably contributed to the initial culture shock we experienced. Despite hearing stories of cows wandering the streets of India, we didn't really expect them to be wandering on the main streets! We have no idea as to where they get their food from... whatever they eat it can't agree with their stomach too well as evidenced by the multitude of sloppy cow pats everywhere - Just one of many things which make the aroma of the cities interesting to say the least.


The ever present army of "auto rickshaws" that are quite insistent that no foreigner travels anywhere on foot


Red Fort, Delhi. There are no shortage of forts & palaces to visit... One or two was enough for us.

The next day we figured out how the trains work and travelled to Punjab to visit our friend Sunil who we met while he was working at Royal Perth a couple of years ago. We stayed at the Christian Medical College Hospital in Ludhiana where he works. Within 24 hours of arrival we had been introduced to almost every doctor and professor at the hospital and were even attending continuing eduation sessions. They even had a special morning tea to welcome the "guests from Australia".

We spent the weekend travelling to the Shivalik Mountain range, which are the foothills of the Himalayas. The only way Tim could rememer what the mountains were called was to imagine them as icecreams and think that you "shiver" when you "lick" them. We stayed in a small town called Kasauli. It was an absolutely gorgeous place with quaint cobblestone roads and magnificent views of the mountains. We could see the snow topped lesser Himalayan range from our vantage point. Together we trekked up to a lookout which we thought was called "Monkey Point", but it turns out is actually called "Manky Point" - not quite so flattering a title.



When we arrived in the village of Kasauli, Sunil informed us that his plan for accommodation was to knock on the Anglican Ministers front door and ask him if he had a guest house available. He had never met the pastor and didn't know where he lived, so we wandered around the little mountain top town in the dark asking people for directions to his house. When we finally did find it, it soon became evident that there was not in fact have a guest room available... so the poor man set off in to the freezing cold dark night to find us intruding strangers a hotel room (probably just to get us out of his house so that he could go to bed!!). Sunil decided to accompany him, leaving Tim & I perched uncomfortably on the couch with the pastors wife, with whom the only communication we could manage was mutual smiles.


Sunil, India's self proclaimed Casanova!




Tim contemplating the meaning of life... or how he's going to manage to climb all the way down the mountain again now he's at the top.


Lesser Himalayas as seen from the "Shiver-lick" mountains.

Sunil took amazingly good care of us and took us to a number of restaurants and coffee shops that wouldn't be accessible to the vast majority of Indian people. Under his influence (we didn't need much convincing) we ate much more chocolate than we have consumed for the duration of our trip and "watched" a Bollywood movie in Hindi.

We left Sunil and travelled to Jaipur by sleeper train which was an unexpectedly pleasant journey. The highlight of Jaipur was the impressive Jantar Mantar which was a astronomical / astrological park built several hundred years ago by the Maharajah of the time.


Worlds largest sun dial at Jantar Mantar




Elephant procession up to the Amber Palace, Jaipur


Typical street with the sacred beasts wandering and pooing randomly

Now confident train travellers, we moved onto Sawai Madhophur, the home of Ranthambore National Park, the country's famous tiger reserve. Other than the national park there was really nothing significant in the town. We went on a safari at sunrise. Everyone got very excited at seeing three moving orange dots on the other side of the lake which were apparently tigers... but as Tim said, they could well have been local kids paid to dress up in tiger suits from where we were. We did however get a closer look at many other of the parks inhabitants.


Langur in Ranthambor National Park

Feeling brave (and we now realise, misguided) we decided to take the public train to Agra. It took over 9 hours to travel ~250km while sitting on wooden benches without any food or water. For some unknown reason the train was stationary for about 2 hours in the middle of nowhere. For the entire journey we were a spectacle and provided the entire carriage with it's travel entertainment. Every move we made was apparently amusing and the source of much giggling.

The main attraction of Agra is the Taj Mahal. Despite the suggestions of many frends, there have been no proposals... too predictable Tim claims. Anyway, we haven't actually been there yet but plan to go at sunrise tomorrow.

The Taj Mahal is the biggest mausoleum in the world (and the people of Agra also claim it to be the most beautiful building on earth). It was built by the 5th Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal to fulfil one of the promises that he made to her on her deathbed: To erect a monument to match her beauty and show the world their love for one another.


Q: What do you see if you fly via- (A)gra?
A: The biggest erection a man has ever made for a woman


Taj Mahal view from our 2nd hotel in Agra... hopefully this one doesn't have bed bugs... will know by morning!!


Baby Taj, Agra


Tim's cute squirrel photo at the City Palace, Jaipur.
Obviously we hadn't yet given up on the palaces when this was taken...

Chiang Mai

Back to Thailand - where it all started from all those weeks ago... :)

We had heard good things about Northern Thailand from a number of people. We would have to agree with them all as we thoroughly enjoyed our six day stay in Chiang Mai before saying goodbye to South East Asia. (for now!)

We already had our heart set on achieving three things before we went back to Bangkok to fly out. Those were - experience some of the mountain trecking and experience some of the hill tribe culture; try expanding our somewhat limited culinary repertoire by signing up for a Thai cooking course; and wind down with some traditional Northern-Thai massage (because we had heard it was gentler on the body .... and cheap to boot!! ;o)

I am pleased to say we managed (and enjoyed) all of them.

First up was the 2 day Trek.
I (Tim) was a little concerned at how I would go... given how lazy I am... (oh yeah, and the foot splint thing). It was a very hard slog on the first day, walking for approx 5 hours and climbing over 500m through very steep terain. But we made it and our small group and guides were great! We stopped at a Hill tribe village (the Lahu people), staying in a wooden/grass hut with a magnificent view over the valleys we just climbed. We were served a huge and tasty feast and given a show by the children of traditional dances and songs before getting traditional Lahu massages on our mattresses (oh, how those sore muscles loved that!) and falling asleep then and there!















Our trekking group (Heidi, Ryan, Adolpho, Renee, Timmy, Jo and Hod)



Lahu (Hill tribe) village where we stayed over night
















Lahu children (one giving Renee the evil eye)

In the morning, after another big feed of pancakes and fruit (yeah, very traditional I know!) we climbed back down the other side of the mountain (much easier going down for some reason! ;) following a small creek and series of waterfalls, that eventually turned into a decent size river.

Here we stopped the trek in favour for the more fun/adventurous activities!

First up was Elephant trekking/riding. Apart from the zoo, I'd never seen these guys in the flesh. It was amazing! Our elephant was called Cappa, and once she got over her initial reluctance to cross the river (showing her fellings with a mixture of fairly scary, deep growling sounds, and bizarrely high pitched squeals like seal pup!) we enjoyed a fun meander along the river as elephants would see things. (except for the fat westerners on their backs)
At the halfway point we bought a bunch of bananas, which Cappa was well aware of, as she proceeded to ask for by reaching up over her head for them, until they were all digested!



Tim feeding the banana addicted "Cappa"





The Elephant trek was followed by white water rafting (which was fun, but not really hair-raising as it wasn't wet season) and bamboo rafting when the water had quieted down a bit.

Unfortunately we don't have photos of them as they wouldn't let us take cameras or bags on this stretch... :( Probably for the better though, as we got pretty wet!


arriving back in Chiang Mai, we signed up to spend the next day in the great-indoors.
We found a small Thai cooking course run by a lovely couple who were fun, informative and (strangely for South East Asia...) efficient! :D There were only six people in the group so it made it all the more enjoyable and personalized.

We got to pick seven dishes each - so naturally Renee and I chose different ones to make the most of it. (and Renee wasn't too keen on the meat dishes for some strange reason!)
It started with a trip to the markets, explaining the wierd and wonderful things we don't normally get outside of Asia, as well as explaining what we can use as alternatives when we get home!

I can't believe how great the food turned out! Many of our dishes tasted better than what we had in local restaurants! (Honest, I'm not just talking myself up!) We ended up with more food than we could eat, and ended up taking some back to the guest house for our take-away tea!

Hmmm.. now we let that slip, you are all probably going to want us to prove it when we get home and invite you over for a Thai dinner huh? .... well, OK. ... let see if you remember in 6 months! ;oD






Now I know why I've always just bought my curry paste...



Tim gaining a few skills to make himself a more attractive marital option

So that pretty much wrapped up Thailand... a quick internal flight back to Bangkok (which saved another tiresome bus trip and gave us more time in Chiang Mai) before flying out to start our new adventures in India!

Ciao for Niao,
Tim and Renee

Living it up in Laos

Well another country over... :o( and this one has been the best so far we think.

Laos has the lush, (largely) untouched natural vegetation (from rainforest to Australian mountains-ish style) covering a large percentage of the the country. (85% of the land ...or so we have read.)
The mountains here (particularly in the north) are pretty amazing and there is very little flat countryside.

We entered the mid south via Hue (vietnam) and arrived at the quiet town of Savanakhet. It doesnt have a lot to see and do, hence isnt very touristy. (which is the thing we loved about it!)
The people are all very friendly and its a laid back atmosphere. Most people here that are in the tourist trade speak better english than in Cambodia and Vietnam. We missed the deep south which sounds like it would have been fantastic too... (Si Phan Don - the area of the 4000 islands, where the mekong is splintered into forming all the little islands. The towns on generator supply too, so its candles only after 9:30 when lights go out! :D )

We caught a public overnight bus to the capital Vientiane as it was the only option, but it was a suprisingly better service than most tourist "VIP" services that run express busses. The only issue is that you have to get there early - otherwise you dont get a seat, but the locals didnt seem to mind perching on the little plastic stools in the aisle for the trip (anywhere from a few to 10 hours!) We even had a scooter come along for the trip. Lifted up the steps by 4 guys and tied in the little space near the driver. (which meant people had to go in and out the back doors after that.)
Ventiane still has a lot of its french colonial influences showing. Most obvious, the "victory monument" gate replicas of the city. (donated by the french government.)
We hired some pushbikes which was a great way to see some of the city - even if we did get a bit lost trying to find the sights we were after...





Next stop was the touristy but fun Vang Vieng. I think this is probably South Thailand (ie Phuket/Ka Samiu etc 20+ years ago.) The westerners well outnumber the locals and there are more restaraunts, guesthouses and tourist attraction booking places than local houses but its still a relaxed atmosphere and doesnt seem western in culture or appearance. Vang Vieng is located on a small river in the middle of endless mountain ranges. Sunsets are amazing and its great to be able to walk along the river and skim stones without being hassled everywhere for "tuk-tuk rides" or any other activity. We decided to have a day Kayaking and "tubing" inside a water filled cave. A mid-point down river had a huge rope swing that we stopped at for a bit more fun. (Except the mega backflop that had all spectators cringing and exclaiming "Awwwww" was not a highlight for me. (Tim)) The other days were relaxing and making the most of the best food we have tasted on this trip.... and all really cheap! (under a US $ for a burger, or 5 large fresh spring rolls, or any other of countless rice and noodle meals etc.)





We spent 3 days here and would like to have spent more, but time was not permitting as we had to see the rest of the north - and didnt want to miss out on the North of Thailand either. Aint life tough! :)


The best part of the trip to date was unfortunately followed by the worst bus trip to date.
Another one of these "VIP" express tourist busses from Vang Vieng to Lang Prabang, that left an hour late... then proceeded to speed at frightening speeds around the windy, cliff face roads that seemed to meander through the mountain ranges with no overall general direction. >( A lot of people ended up with motion sickness as it went on for 7 hours. It didnt help that we passed two people with machine guns (one a 10 year old boy), stopped to pick up a spotted cat (leopard?) that was roadkill (unknown as to if we hit it or not) and also hit a motorcyclist when overtaking him - and the driver didnt stop!

I (Tim) also contacted some sort of tummy bug around that time (first in 2 months, so not too bad considering the things I've eaten! (much to Renees disgust!) :) The next few days were spent largely relaxing as I tried getting better, but we did visit some speccy water falls and natural swimming pools.

Due to time restrictions and the desire to spend a few days in Chiang Mai (North Thailand) we decided (with aprehension) to catch a speed boat out of Laos to the Thai border. We had heard bad stories about boats flipping, hitting rocks and sinking etc and the Lonely Planet writeup seems to confirm these sentiments. However we figured plenty of people use this method and we didnt fancy spending 3 days via slow boat, so speed boat it was. It turned out to be very cramped (knees up at ears for 7 hours) but there were enough stops, plenty of magic scenery to keep you distracted and it was kinda fun. (VERY noisy though... they should have warned us we needed ear plugs!)

So now its just a few days in Chiang Mai before heading back to Bangkok to fly out to India for the next fun episode.

Hope you all are having as much fun as us,
(if you have made it this far without a break or falling asleep you have done well!)
Catcha next installment,
Love Tim and Renee.