A and B Guesthouse Cambridge

... to keep in touch with us whilst we are away. Many think we are not going to come back-but we will!

Our first stop is Bangkok which I am SO looking forward to.We have 2 days helping in an prphanage and then 2-3 days of visiting the floating market,temple of the reclining Buddha,fisherman village,Erawan shrine etc.

... All went well, though both groups of girls said they had done the case last year, causing a lot of angst for the teachers, and a kind of blasé resignation in me. I must have chilled out a bit since finishing the Australian run, or else the jetlag has utterly fried my brain, as the school told us that in between the second and third presentations, there would be an assembly in the hall, meaning that several hundred kids would be crowding into the same room as our fragile and expensive ...

So after 6 months away and visiting 8 different countries, we have now arrived, reluctantly, back in England. Although its not as cold as we were expecting, which is a bonus!

We have had a fantastic time and visited some amazing places, and we are now hoping that reality doesn't hit us too hard!

Hope that you have enjoyed our blog and will probably see most of you shortly.

The last few weeks have been really manic while we've prepared to put our furniture into storage and get our property ready for letting. Thankfully, most of the hard work is completed and now we can concentrate on getting ready for our travels. It's difficult to believe that we leave in just under a week!

We fly into Delhi on Monday, arriving very early ...

... cousin Elliot, his fiancee Nicole and their little 8 month old baby Isla came to visit. The girl has personality! After a play we were off to the Green Man for dinner - Uncle Alan joined us again. We had lovely views of the countryside and fireworks (Guy Fawkes seems to drag out for a few days!). Then back home to Hudsons Lodge for an early night - to Paris tomorrow!
XO

Friday July 24 to Monday July 27, 2009

Dean and I spent three nights in Cambridge with the lovely Scott Family. Most of this time is a blur for me because I was suffering from some pretty intense jetlag and walked around in a daze for the better part of the 3 days there (and went to bed round 3pm each afternoon). But I do remember the Englishness of it all, including jam bagels and tea for brekkie each morning - I love all the tea! Our first ...

... of the team, our mentor, our 'Kelepouri' (name would have been worth translating!). Not only we owe him the whole idea of a two months trip to the Pacific, but also if he wasn't here, we would probably have ended somewhere in Hong Kong searching for Auckland on the map. Instead of that, we now know for instance that at 3.16 pm on the 23rth December we will be eating ice cream somewhere in Haast! Tango is also a big adventurer ...

Und noch ein touristischer Halt, diesmal in Cambrigde. Einer netten kleinen Stadt, die man eigentlich mit den zwei Adjektiven studentisch und alt zur Genuege beschreiben kann. So viele Studenten habe ich wirklich noch in keiner anderen Stadt gesehen. Und im Gegensatz zu Bradford sind in Cambrigde sogar Europaer dabei. (-; Da die Universitaet seit 1209 existiert sind die ...

... the families of the crew awaited their sons for post-race celebrations. So I ran back towards the start, and after about a half hour (the race course is 4 miles long), I made it across the river and leaped into Jake's arms. The crew were all chatting animatedly, celebrating their hour-old win, still wearing their dirty spandex and huge rubber Wellington boots. All sorts of strangers, mostly young women, and older men, were around to congratulate and flatter the winning crew ...

... and drink Inca Cola, a bubble gum soft drink. People are lovely and hospitable, but Lima sucks. Cuzco (the old capital of the Incas empire) is a lovely town. However, it is not worth making the entire trip from Europe to Peru just to see Machu Pichu - it is nice but overrated I think. Make sure you kiss everybody you talk to. Best moments: walking around the narrow streets of Cuzco and start talking and understanding Spanish. Worst moments: Seeing the ...