Ashford International Classic Hotel - A Q Hotel

Well I'm getting quite excited now! last night I met Colin, Wendy, Leigh and Sarah, 3 of the team that will be riding with me. They were all really nice and Wendy had even made me a leather waistcoat but I might have to cut down on the doughnuts as it was a little snug! <br><br>It was good to meet them all and we discussed the trip, what gear everyone was taking and what the weather would be like. I told them that the sun always shines up North! but I don't think ...

Two days left - still can't really believe we're going. Excited and also a bit nervous - how will we get from place to place especially around Cambodia and China?<br><br>Working our way through our final to-do list and just hoping not to have any last minute panics!!<br><br>Suppose it won't sink in until we're on the plane:)<br><br>Viv xx

Well, I arrived down in Kent safely yesterday and have now settled in to my new home for the next couple of weeks before we set of on the trip. <br><br>I went out last night with Martyn and Jackie to get kitted out with my new biker gear! don't know about the pants but I like the ...

... bus from Satara to Panaji<br>Night on bus<br><br>Tues 29:<br>Arrive in Panaji at about 8am <br>Take bus to Calangute &#8211; 45 mins<br>Night in Calangute/ Candolim<br><br>Wed 30th:<br>Visit Calangute<br>Depart for Madgaon<br>Depart from Madgaon to Jog falls OR<br>Depart from Madgaon to Ernakulam (Train &#8211; 14hrs)<br>Night on train/bus<br><br>Thurs 1st Oct:<br>Visit Backwaters - Allepey <br>Depart for Coimbatore (Train &#8211; 8-9 hours) bus? <br>Night in Coimbatore ...

<br>Well well well&#8230;Planning a trip is by no means an easy feat especially<br>when we&#8217;re talking about a country that is approximately 14 times the<br>size of the UK!<br><br>It&#8217;s turning out to be a nightmare to be honest. So much to see, so many to see&#8230;and 21 days just isn&#8217;t long enough! <br><br>Having never been there, it&#8217;s hard to understand just how big India really is. <br ...

Here we go......<br><br>I recently watched a movie called 'Julie &amp; Julia' starring Meryl<br>Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams who plays a character called Julie<br>Powell. Julie turns 30 and has nothing interesting in her life. She<br>doesn't enjoy her job and wants to do something that she enjoys. She<br>loves cooking and is an avid fan of Julia Child who has written a<br>cookbook for servantless American women! So Julie then decides that she<br>is ...

So this is my first entry... (great introductory line). Well never actually blogged before, so we'll have to see how this one pans out. Chances are I might get bored and 'forget' to keep this up (I've never been good with diaries or putting down thoughts onto paper) or internet may be hard to come by in Tanzania. But I'll certainly try this experiment! At the moment still in the UK ...

... goes down again. We found a very pretty tea house - very French - in the Soho area and had tea and French pastries! Not very Chinese, but delicious. Not so the authentic Chinese meal we tried - I could have had Fried Pigs Blood but settled for Roasted Duck and Chris had a selection of Duck and Chicken. The restaurant was packed with Chinese people which we took to be a good sign but on the whole, we think we prefer the ...

... China) and ordinary passport. Let's hope travel insurance will come to the party and refund most of this. Without a refund from Zurich, it has put a huge dent in my budget for both China and the UK. I never want to lose a passport again... I think I'll ditch international travel forever more if I do! It's just not worth the cost and hassle. Tip... ditch hotmail, especially the new version. I have since logged in and hotmail has decided to delete all but my last ...