Howfield Manor Canterbury

... s house in Maidstone, with a mug of tea reflecting on an amazing 5 days. I have met old friends and lots of new ones. I have never laughed so much or been so impressed by the generosity of complete strangers...a big THANK YOU from us all.

Well I know it's a Friday night & I should be out celebrating but I think I might just have another cuppa & early night!

... believed me.

We now have all the accomodation for the trip sorted thanks to some generous family members and one of the cheapest Motel deals in the UK!

Today we got a call from the local newspaper, confirming that they will be running Colin's story next week and Colin's justgiving site reached over £1600 which is great. Well I better sign off for now as Jackie is trying to watch the "X Factor" and the Jam Doughnuts are calling me!

... amp; sun glasses.

This morning the sun was shining, so I went out to look at one of the motorcycles that will be taking me around the UK and even managed to get my photograph taken. Only 16 days to go, I can't wait. Should be meeting the other riders early next.

Now then, plans are set, although not in stone! I now have an idea of
where I’m going when and how to get there! A couple of domestic flights
have been booked too..and a lot cheaper than I expected them to be!

Sun 27:
Arrive Mumbai at 04:00
Take Cab/Bus to Dadar
Take Bus from Dadar to Pune
Arrive in Pune
Night in PUNE

Mon 28:
Drive down to Mahabaleshwar
Take bus/cab to Satara (unless private bus straight to Goa -12 hours)
Ramsgate, England, United Kingdom kartik_bhudia

... 3 hours 45 mins to get to Pune(a mere 100
miles). This is when I start realising that possibly half of this trip
might be spent travelling.

But that doesn’t bother me one little bit. On the contrary, it gets me
more excited and anxious. I have always wanted to see India but not
from a Limo window or from an aircraft window. I want to see India ‘Up,
Close & Personal’.
Ramsgate, England, United Kingdom kartik_bhudia

Here we go......

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

... the train back to London.

Canterbury would be a great place to spend a day. The town itself is so beautiful and quaint, and I'm amazed at all that has survived given the age of the city and its bombing in 1942. The narrow streets and medieval buildings are truly a site to behold, and had I not be exhausted from all the hiking I did in Dover, I would probably have wandered around a bit more.

Enjoy the pics from this day's journeys! It's back to the archives on Monday.

... got some bagels in a neighbouring restaurant. Finally at 10 we went over to the half price ticket place, but they weren't selling them for the shows we wanted to go to. So we headed down the street to Piccadilly Circus where our theatre for Monty's Python's "Spamalot!" was. We ended up getting tickets in the balcony. After which we headed down past Piccadilly Circus, past Leicester Square, to Trafalgar Square, where the play that Vanessa wanted to see...called "The Dumb Waiter ...

... by ice cream, emerged from the water but not even the sugar hit could keep him awake so we decided to call it a day. It had been one of those lovely rare days when we did very little but as we had got out of the house and away from the telly, we still had a sense that we had achieved something. We spent the rest of the evening at home avoiding packing for our departure the following day.

... and Sunday will be an exciting but busy day! I cant think what else to type this late in the day to be honest, but we shall speak to you all next from Istanbul - Turkey! Take Care everyone, and please know that family and friends we WILL MISS YOU VERY MUCH, MORE THAN ANY WORDS COULD EVER EXPRESS......... Ali and Matt xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx