Best Western Merrion Hotel Leeds

... at Sea Paradise, Mandrem. It was great to be welcomed by Philip, Dinesh, Nittin - Raj, Padam & the very cheeky Shesh. And time to relax by the sea... With the motorbike we could nip off to other small beaches and of course pop into town. By now the terrible damage caused by the Cyclone had been put right and all mended - only the awful postmortem of how so many fishermen who drowned had to be completed - we were led to believe around 70-80 perished..... Many warned that the ...

... the gorge up the gorge” debacle followed by kilometres of what, bog? on top of a mountain?!! where the hell were we?!! Also, damn the reservoir where, having run out of water, Ryan requested that I wade in and try and get some water for boiling. Cold! Muddy! Undrinkable! Squidgy!

Well the day has finally arrived! The alarm was set for 6.00am but we were both awake before it went off. After a quick breakfast we were on the bike heading for a rendevous at Colin's house in Halling in the rain!

After a quick cup of tea, Leigh up turned on his Triumph Tiger and it was time to set off for the Marsden to meet Lyndsey & David & guess what it ...

Last brief entry, just to say we are safely back home, arriving yesterday with Sue picking us up at Manchester airport.

We've had a fantastic trip - very memorable! Thank you for following our trip. Hope it hasn't been boring, certainly hasn't for us.

... br>Headtorch
Water treatment (chlorine)/neutraliser
Gaffa/Duck tape
String
Rubber bands
Plastic bags
Alarm clock with calculator
Travel adaptor (with USB connexion)
SD card reader
DVT socks (for long haul flights)
Personal electronic equipment: MP3, mobile phone, digital camera.
Spare batteries/charger: Power Monkey (solar?)
Matches
Marker pen ...

... pictures to express my thoughts : During my first night, Argi and his friends took me out clubbing and I was surprised with the very active nightlife here. We actually went club-hopping, first to the quiet and sophisticated bar at Radisson, then to the very hip and happening Living Room and finally ending our night (or rather morning) at ...

... Surely to be an organising admin whiz you'd be a bit more attractive if you had experience in said job. As I have. Well, apparently not - students only and we won't believe you're going back to your studies in the UK unless you PROVE IT as the all the small print smirked meanly. 'Humph' I grumped. Who wants to earn £70 a week for 6 days over 7 of split shifts for 4 months anyway? Been there, done that and at least at Butlins there was somewhere to go on my 1 day ...

... was also realistic about these friends; a few of them I would keep in touch with, but even with Facebook and instant messenger and everything else, within a few months of getting home, a vast majority of these friends would just become memories and email addresses in a journal. I figured, might as well take advantage of it while I could.

All this is a long-winded way of saying, I had less than a week and a half left in my trip and I was trying to figure out what ...

... but it just strikes me that long-t**m, sustainable investment rath** than wads of useless cash would be the way forward instead. The trouble with aid, as far as I can see, is that far too much of it is simply siphoned off at the hands of greedy politicians, only to be squand**ed on arms, unviable "prestige" projects or - worst of all - opulent palaces for the current "Big Man" in charge. Food aid is requisitioned by local armies or militias on the ground with alarmingly regularity ...

The current plan of action! 26th October - Fly from Heathrow (England) to Cairo (Egypt) Make my way overland down to Cape Town SA, covering the following countries: Egypt Sudan Ethiopia Kenya Uganda Tanzania Mozambique Zimbabwe Botswana Namibia South Africa 15th March - Fly From Johannesburg (SA) to Perth (Australia) - Arrange flights ...