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Manchester, United Kingdom

Alex: Back in Blighty. I can't quite believe it is all over. We were greeted at Manchester airport by Dean's Mum and Dad and shortly after by my Mum. After a slap up breakfast, we swapped stories and generally caught up. The sun was out,  the birds were singing and it was all very pleasant and great to see everyone. My friend Haddy turned up and minus Jan and Ray (they had to face the long drive home) we had one of my Dad's world famous Sunday dinners!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1181008800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1181008800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1181008800/tpod.html Sun, 08 Jul 2007 11:12:16 -0400 Alex and Dean's first world tour, Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego and Beyond!

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Kowloon, Hong Kong

Alex: We arrived into Hong Kong late but even so it was still very hot and humid, still our first glimpse of the city was at its best, lit up across the strait from Kowloon where our hostel was. The hostel was like nothing else we had ever stayed in. We had booked it on the internet from a recommendation in a book and as it was cheap and our last stop we went for a "Luxury" room with a window. The room pretty much was a window with a bed and small desk all you could fit in and the en suite was the size of the average downstairs loo in a British house. On the plus side it had air-con, essential I think!  It was in a massive tower block (ironically name Mirador Mansions) full of little hostels/guest houses, flats, businesses of all kinds, from restaurants to tailors workshops and all a little bit grubby and run down with a lift the took about 10 minutes to arrive. Definitely Hong Kong without the glamour!  We loved it. The following day after a little lie-in to get over the 13 hour flight we decided to see Hong Kong the proper way, by shopping. First on the agenda was to find a tailor so Dean could get a suit, but I must admit we got waylaid in a couple of nice, air conditioned malls along the way (I would say I got waylaid but guess who was doing most of the shopping?). We ended up in Sam's, which is a fairly well know tailor and has had a lot of famous clientele (all looking down at us from the wall). We also discovered that picking fabric for a suit is harder than you would think. After that excitement we caught the star ferry across the water to Hong Kong Island itself. It is a bit of a maze, especially as a pedestrian, all these elevated walkways take you over roads, through buildings and I was never quite sure where we would come out. We finished our day in Lan Kwai Fong, a trendy/touristy eating and drinking area The following day, after another trip to Sam's for Dean's suit fitting, we headed to Hong Kong island again and to the university museum. In our inimitable style we decided to walk (you would think we would have learned by now) and got there hot, dusty and just a little bit sweaty, having stopped for at least 3 shops to get a drink. The museum was interesting, as, to be fair, was the walk there. The walk took us through a far more residential area than we had been to before, like our hotel building but replicated thousands of times over with all sorts of interesting shops, my favourites were the ones selling ginseng and birds nests (for the soup - yum) but they all seemed to have lots of interesting looking dried things outside. Whenever we were near a temple loads of shops sprung up selling general household items, fake money, cars, everything you could want to buy, all made in miniature and out of paper to burn for the dead. The museum contained all the usual stuff but was interesting as, being in a different part of the world, it was a different kind of usual stuff than we were used to seeing - if that makes sense? On the way back we stopped in the Man Mo temple, a crazy tiny tumble down temple in amongst all the tower blocks, and I have never seen so much incense! It was great being in a new area everything was so interesting, even the scaffolding. We had been admiring it from our room (through our window!) as despite being on the 7th floor there was a load of scaffolding on another building a lot higher up than us, and like all the other scaffolding, made out of bamboo. After leaving Man Mo temple we saw some guys taking it down. We must have stood on the street for quarter of an hour watching in amazement. Because it is so light they literally just throw it down the building from man to man before chucking it on the back of a truck with a few guys at the top swaying precariously as they cut off what are basically tie-wraps holding it all in place - craziness - but very practical! To continue the excitement we went to Temple Street night market that evening, which sold everything and a bit more besides, we bought a few nick naks (well you can't leave Hong Kong with out a tea pot and a couple of Chinese paintings can you), took in the atmosphere and admired the multitude of light (pretty). Next day we had a little walk around Kowloon walled gardens, which is the old old part of Kowloon, and apparently in days of yore was a very dangerous place to be, but is now very pretty and full of flamingos.  Then we were off to see Po Lin Monastery which boasts the "largest, outdoor, seated Buddha in the world - not a tenuous claim to fame at all! After a fair ride on the MTR (underground) to another island and a little bus ride we got to Po Lin just as the cloud cover cleared slightly and we could see the Buddha. It is big, and very impressive. They have a slightly quirky deal going on where you can go up to the Buddha for free but if you buy lunch vouchers you can go inside and obviously get you lunch at the monastery. As there was food involved the choice was obvious for me!  Walking up the stairs the Buddha just looks more and more impressive. We got up to the top and had a look around the outside which on a clear day I suspect would get incredible views, occasionally the clouds cleared slightly and we caught a glimpse of the coast far below. Inside there was a few boards which we basically Buddhism for Dummies, so interesting for us and also ancient wooden panels containing some kind of Buddhist text (I'm not very up on these things). The grub was great (lots of tofu and shitake mushrooms) and it was wonderful to get out of the heat and bustle of the city as the monastery is really remote, despite being on the same island as Disney land! Once back in Kowloon we just had time for yet more shopping, some tea and dominoes and beer in the air-conditioned bliss of our hotel room! On the penultimate day of our trip we got up early for Tai Chi on the prom, sensibly hidden under a building to avoid the drizzle. It was good fun despite the fact the guy who was running it made it look far easier than it was (too much co-ordination need for me). We had intended to go up to "The Peak" which gives great views over the city, but would have only given great views of the inside of clouds so we postponed it again (we had been intending to do it every day we had been there but the cloud had put us off every time) and instead picked up Dean's suit (it looks really good), ate dim sum, tried to squeeze all our purchases into our groaning backpacks (they fit) and rounded the day off with very yummy Cantonese meal, well we had to really didn't we! Our last day, of Hong Kong and of our trip, we finally made it up the peak, it was still cloudy (see the pics) but occasionally cleared enough for us to catch a glimpse of the city below. After leaving our room at the latest possible moment (our flight wasn't until midnight) and taking our time to do everything, we finally caught the tram up the peak and were very confused when it dumped us in a shopping mall. It took us about 30mins to find our way out (I am fairly sure some people didn't even try.) There is a viewing platform at the top but all we could see was grey and the odd blobs of rain (they were too big to be drops) When we did finally get out and the cloud cleared for long enough the view was amazing but it was all a little bitter sweet knowing it was the last place we were going to visit on our trip. The other entertainment in the mall was a Madam Tussauds; we didn't go in but did take up the photo op with a wax Bruce Lee outside! All that was left for us to do after that was head back to the hostel for a quick shower, grab a bite of sushi and get to the airport for the long, sad flight back home....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1180558860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1180558860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1180558860/tpod.html Thu, 05 Jul 2007 06:23:36 -0400 Alex and Dean's first world tour, Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego and Beyond!

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Sydney, Australia

Alex: We flew to Sydney on Dean's birthday (old git), but that was not the only excitement of the day, not only did we get to catch up with Janine and Sean again but we also got to see Sally (another of my very good uni friends).No one was in when we rapped on Janine's door so we did the only sensible thing and headed to the local pub, which is only a couple of doors away. We were just tucking into our first pint when who should walk up to the bar but Sally, who had been sat in a different part of the pub (no surprises there really). Hugs all round, lots of catching up with Janine, Sally and Sean when he arrived, oh and a little bit of beer and Chinese food too!The following day Dean, Sally and I didn't do masses, more gossiping and a few classic photos in front of the Opera House and Bridge, and a drink in the Opera Bar which has to have some of the best views of any bar in the world. That evening we did something a little different and went to see a TV show being filmed. In a couple of the many hostels Dean and I had stayed in we had watched a programme called Sideshow and at the end it supplied an email address to watch it being filmed so we emailed for tickets. It is a bit of a variety show with comedians, circus-esque acts and bit of music and some people do. The show was actually quite good and it was interesting to see the process but it involved a lot of queuing and then standing for 3 hours clapping, which is utterly exhausting, so although it ended at 9 the most we could bring ourselves to do was grab a bite to eat and crash out...we must be getting old? Sally and I actually spent most of the night being moved around by a woman who thought we would come to a nasty end because of our flip flops and the cameras being moved....not sure what she expected to happen that 2 mm of leather would protect us from...On the Friday Dean and I decided to splash out and climb Sydney Harbour Bridge. Instead of the classic "Over the top" climb we did the new Discovery climb which involves climbing the inner arch of the bridge before climbing to the very top. After a lot of kitting up (you can't take anything up with you, you wear a suit over your clothes, have to attach your glasses to your suit and then are given hats, hankies, gloves, jumpers all which need t be attached and then you need a harness which attaches you to the bridge) we had to walk out in public looking like Star Trek rejects. It was worth it though. We had been told that this climb was better because you get to see more of the structure and engineering of the bridge and we were told right. We got some really great views of the inside of the bridge as well as a close up view of the rivets and joints, loads of great photos opportunities but, you aren't allowed you camera, I am not sure if this is because they haven't figured out a way of attaching them to your suit or because you taking photos yourself would ruin their chances of selling photos they took at extortionate fees at the end..oh I'm a right cynic aren't I? The discovery climb, from what I gather, has a lot more points where you can see directly below you, in fact the first 50m you can see the ground, and then the sea below you, a little scary but very cool (I was terrified standing on the glass floor at the top of the CN tower in Toronto so I think I did very well doing this). The climb itself is pretty easy, and the guide stops regularly to explain how the bridge was constructed or just share some local history so it is very interesting and you have plenty of opportunity to gawk at the incredible views around you. The views from the very top are also great, although with everyone ending up there it felt a bit crowded, also being able to see through the mesh floor here, right down to the car deck however many metres below freaked me out a little (I stuck to standing on the girders!) and I was slightly relieved to be heading back down. If anything the views of the inside of the bridge were even better going down, you can really see the curve in parts. It was a really great excursion and I am so glad we did it, shame it's so bloody expensive! That evening we had a night on the tiles going to a Salsa club in Darling harbour, fortunately they gave lessons first, not that it helped us much! We had lots of fun dancing, drinking and gossiping even if we were standing on each others toes most of the time!After all that fun we weren't up to much the following day, Sally and I managed to drag ourselves out into Balmain to have a look around the market and ended up having an impromptu picnic but our attempt to go out later failed abysmally with us all sat in front of the TV on air beds watching videos!Fresh after our lazy day Dean and I went for a walk with Laura which took us from the famous Bondi beach to Coogee. It was a gorgeous day and we took our time stopping for lunch and taking lots of pictures. The walk takes you along the coast and through all the bays between Bondi and Coogee including through, what must be, one of the best located cemeteries in the world! We weren't the only ones who though it was the perfect day for a walk and loads of people were meandering, sauntering and sometimes even jogging along the path. After all those exertions Laura took us out and treated us in a cafe that only sells chocolate in all its glorious forms. As you walk in there is a big vat of gooey melted chocolate being mixed and the most wonderful smell. After a melt your own hot chocolate (hot milk, chocolate buttons and a candle...) we went back to Rozelle feeling very contented. If that wasn't enough for the remainder of that afternoon and well into the evening we celebrated our last night with a proper Aussie barbie; lots of beer, fabulous food (thanks to Janine) and great company. We had a great time (as the drunken photos attest to); it was like old times but without the rain and even included random witterings that I can only vaguely remember well into the night. It definitely didn't make it any easier to leave the next morning.After a very sad goodbye/thanks for putting us up breakfast with Janine and Sean, Dean, Sally and I had a last mooch around Rozelle before Dean and I left a little tearfully to catch our flight to Hong Kong.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1181468880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1181468880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1181468880/tpod.html Thu, 05 Jul 2007 05:50:06 -0400 Alex and Dean's first world tour, Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego and Beyond!

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London, United Kingdom

London Heathrow
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Uluru, Australia

Alex: After a false start leaving Alice Springs (the bus left early and then had to turn back after 20 minutes to pick up a package that needed to be delivered!) we got to Ayers Rock resort at lunch time just as the morning chill had disappeared. The whole resort is owned by one company and has the monopoly on Uluru accommodation so prices are seriously hiked up, so it was dorm beds for us once again, yippee. We figured out that it was a lot cheaper for us to hire a car than take the bus as we wanted to see the Kata Tjutas (aka the Olgas) as well as Uluru (aka Ayers Rock) so we had the luxury of our own wheels. We picked up the car the following day and headed straight to Kata Tjuta, which is a number of unusual domes springing up out of the desert. We did the 7km Valley of the Winds walk, which was spectacular, winding around the domes and through tight valleys. The colours are just incredible, the dull greens of the plants, the red of the earth and the bright blue of the sky. Stunning. After our walk we stopped off at the picnic site to eat our lunch with a weird but amazing view. We actually ended up eating in the car, forced there by the very irritating flies that call this area home. Fly nets over your head are the height of fashion and practicality here!The next stop was Uluru itself. The aborigines in this area regard Uluru as sacred and ask that people don't climb it, so we didn't. To be fair after the trek around the Kata Tjutas a climb up Uluru was not in the least bit appealing. Instead of the climb we walked the 9km around the base of Uluru. The rock itself is truly massive and surprisingly varied. There are massive valleys, caves created by overhanging rocks, cliffs, parts that have been eroded to look like honeycomb. One large area has special significance to the aborigines and, as well as other things, there are caves with walls and ceilings covered by paintings. One of the most beautiful spots for me was a watering hole fed by a gorgeous trickling silvery waterfall. It is such a tranquil spot, deep in the shadows of a crease in the rock, cool and peaceful on what had become a very hot day.After our little walk we headed to the cultural centre to learn a little more about the people who live in the area. It was quite interesting, telling the creation story of Uluru (the Kata Tjutas creation story is a secret) as well as some of the customs and how the people manage to survive in such a dry desolate place. After that it was the perfect time to join hundreds of others in the car park to watch Uluru turn blood red as the sun set. Beautiful.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1180290780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1180290780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1180290780/tpod.html Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:32:32 -0400 Alex and Dean's first world tour, Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego and Beyond!

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Alice Springs, Australia

Alex: I don't think landing in Alice Springs at 12 pm on a Sunday gave us the opportunity to see Alice at her best as everything was shut or shutting and the town was pretty dead. About all we managed to do was buy the obligatory boomerang, feed ourselves and sleep. It is an interesting place to see though, surround with so much nothing set on the river Todd that doesn't look as though it has ever trickled let alone flowed (there was no water in it when we saw it and quite a lot of healthy looking plants and trees).  Tomorrow morning we get the Greyhound down to Uluru.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179798120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179798120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179798120/tpod.html Wed, 30 May 2007 22:30:53 -0400 Alex and Dean's first world tour, Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego and Beyond!

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Cairns, Australia

Alex: After our final overnight bus journey we got to a blisteringly hot Cairns but decided not to hit the beach (well, it's actually a man-made lagoon) thinking we would have plenty of time later..ha ha ha. The following day we went out to the reef so I could snorkel and Dean could do a couple of dives. It wasn't quite the glorious weather we had hoped for with a fair bit of cloud and rain. The reef was beautiful but as you are in pretty much open ocean it was a bit too choppy for my liking, the benefits of diving I suppose, you get to go below all that. I found a snorkelling buddy called Leon and we saw loads of fish and reef including a barracuda (they are big) but not much else other than an underwater somersaulting Dean, very rare indeed.The following day we went on a rafting trip, as this was our first time we decided to try out the shorter and more serene Baron River. Unfortunately we really enjoyed it and I think we both wished we'd been a bit more hard core - oh well plenty of chance to do it again I suppose. After we had been kitted out in our safety gear we hopped into the inflatable raft with a really nice family from India and our muscle bound guide - it obviously keeps you fit this rafting lark. We made our way through the rapids with an occasional dip in the water for a swim and had a great time and as we ended up completely soaked anyway the rain was not a problem this time.Our last activity of the week was a trip to Cairns Tropical Zoo to see all the native animals we had missed so far. We got some really good photos of us feeding kangaroos, me cuddling a koala and Dean warily holding a baby croc (which has since been deleted!). We also caught croc feeding time (you wouldn't like to get in the way of that) and stroked a snake. Lots of fun basically and even the rain didn't damper it. We followed that with a very boozy night in the Woolshed, the travellers equivalent of a student union bar, need I say more...Our final day and our final chance to top up our tans was once again thwarted by the rain so we didn't do very much at all but did round the trip off with a wonderful meal at a nice restaurant where we got to eat all the things we had been cuddling the previous day (kangaroo, croc and emu, all but the emu are really good).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179625140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179625140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179625140/tpod.html Fri, 25 May 2007 03:33:11 -0400 Alex and Dean's first world tour, Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego and Beyond!

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Airlie Beach, Australia

Alex: It took a bit of convincing to get Dean to agree on a full day sailing trip but in the end he did and we were both please he did.After recovering from our second to last overnight bus of the trip (and first for a few months) we headed out early in the morning to set out on Camira, a bright purple, $4million catamaran yacht. The Whitsunday islands are beautiful complete with tropical rain-forests, pure white beaches, turquoise blue seas, the lot. We stopped for a slightly disappointing snorkeling session at the north end of Whitsunday Island (the water was too cloudy to see anything and our masks kept steaming up no matter how much spit we used) but the water was warm and it was fun to splash about in it a bit. After that we headed to the spectacular Whitehaven beach, 9km of brilliant white silica sand. I just lay enjoying the scenery and topping up my tan while Dean joined some of the other guys for a game of beach soccer, with the odd dip in the sea to cool off. Back on board we tucked into a proper Aussie BBQ before carrying on, on the perfectly calm waters to finish our circumnavigation of Whitsunday Island. We didn't do much but it was a wonderful day, the sea behaved, the sun made an appearance and we were in a spectacular area.  What more can you ask for? We were dropped off on Daydream Island to catch a ferry to Long Island where we would spend the night. When we got off the ferry we were greeted by the local wallabies, always a good start. The resort on Long Island was a bit like the usual UK Package holiday resorts, not normally my thing, but for one day it was wonderful. Once again we didn't do much but it was really nice just to chill out in a little piece of paradise.Back in Airlie beach we caught our last overnight bus to Cairns.....
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Hervey Bay, Australia

Alex: Hervey Bay was just a quick stop to break up the journey between Noosa and Airlie Beach. We didn't do very much, sat by the pool in the hostel, wandered down the beach, which when the tide was out was like Southport, with the sea along way away. We preferred Noosa but it is a nice enough spot!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179124140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179124140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alexndean/world-trip-01/1179124140/tpod.html Thu, 17 May 2007 21:26:49 -0400 Alex and Dean's first world tour, Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego and Beyond!

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Noosa Heads, Australia

Alex: Noosa is actually about 5 villages that have merged into one low rise, sprawling town on a beautiful, white sand beach. We were staying in Noosa Junction about a 10 minute walk from Noosa Heads and the beach and after we got settled into our hostel that is where we headed to sort out a Fraser Island tour.Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, which causes all kinds of dubious claims to be spouted about it, mainly that it has more sand than the Sahara and all the sand from eastern Australia ends up there. Whether you believe that or not it is a pretty impressive, 120km of sand, which supports snakes, spiders, dingoes, fresh water lakes, not to mention a rain-forest. The tour was one long day but I think we saw a fair bit and after the many types of bus we have traveled on in our trip we got to ride in our first 4x4 bus, definitely more comfortable than the chicken bus in Belize which traveled over similar roads. After getting the ferry at Rainbow Beach we drove a little way along 75 mile beach which run most of the eastern side of the island before heading inland through the rain forest to Lake McKenzie. There are no roads on the island only sand tracks and we soon realised that the wet sand by the tide line gives a far smoother ride than the inland tracks. Lake McKenzie is stunning, there is no other way to describe it, crystal clear waters ranging from white at the lake shore to blue black in the deep centre of the lake, soft white sand beach, all edged by rain-forest. After a bit of persuading I managed to get Dean to come for a swim with me, the water is really soft (and apparently good for your skin) and it is very strange for it not to be salty. I never really got used to the idea that everything below me was sand, up to 200 meters below sea level, rising to about 240m above sea level at the highest point. After a proper Aussie BBQ & beer we headed to Central Station to take a walk through the rain-forest, which up to that point we had only seen from the coach. Before being classified as a world heritage site Fraser Island was mined for minerals in sand and the forests were logged, Central Station was the central point for the logging industry. Now it has a far more green use and is the starting point for a number of walks around the island. Once again it was difficult to get used to the idea that all these massive tress were just growing in sand, apparently their roots just grow straight down in order to support them sufficiently and the nutrients come from the levels of brown sand, that were previously the forest floor. The pathway followed a creek, which was very odd. Firstly the bottom of the creek is white sand, so it looks wrong running through a rain-forest, but because it is running on sand it is completely silent, basically it doesn't fit with any kind of river or creek you have ever come across so it take a good while to actually work out what it actually is, even though you know you are on a sand island...bizarre. The other unusually thing about the creek is the water level doesn't change at all even after rain, and hasn't done for over 2500 years, because it is actually the water table so the water has to be filtered through the sand to enter the creek. They know the water table hasn't changed in that long because of a King Fern growing at its edge. King Ferns are very picky about where they grow and one thing they cannot tolerate is a change in water level, and this King Fern is estimate to be over 2500 years old so the water level can't have changed in that time. The crazy thing is if you didn't know you wouldn't look at this fern twice - and it is older than Christianity! It was good being shown around by a guide because we picked up on these things that we would otherwise have missed out on, that and the Funnel Web spider burrows he liked to point out, scary. After taking in the beautiful rain-forest we headed out again along the beach and back onto the mainland. Before getting onto the ferry we saw our first (and last) dingo, which Fraser Island is famed for as they are the most pure-blooded dingoes in Australia, it just looked like a small, skinny, yellow German Shepard to me though. We drove back to Noosa through the main land rain-forest and along the beach stopping at Teewah Coloured Sands in Cooloola National Park. The sands we really spectacular, not just slight colour variations but really bright reds fading in really bright yellows and a few other colours in between, contrasted with the green of the eucalyptus and the blue of the sea it was really gorgeous. We got home after spending a long time on a bus, feeling pretty exhausted but it was definitely enjoyable.The following day we had reserved for heading into Noosa Heads National Park and chilling on the beach but on our way to the park we came across the most beautiful, deserted beach that we stopped and never quite made it any further, maybe this Aussie lifestyle is rubbing off and I am turning into a beach bum! After that the most energetic we got was finding somewhere for lunch, buying ice-cream and moving beaches. That evening as we headed towards the beach to find ourselves something to eat we had an impromptu David Attenborough moment. There on the pavement was a snake attempting to eat a possum, really interesting to watch. It's eyes we obviously bigger than it's belly though (or jaws anyway), when we walked past again about 15 minutes later (we decided the place next door to the hostel was the place for us to eat) it had given up and was slithering away, either that or it didn't like eating with an audience.
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