TravelStream™ news feed for member darrenlotta on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/darrenlotta en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 25 Dec 2006 08:20:13 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/daniel/1166989080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/daniel/1166989080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/daniel/1166989080/tpod.html Mon, 25 Dec 2006 08:20:13 -0500 Daniel 7/7 2006

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Boden, Sweden

Hi there,

Just a quick note to let you know we are still alive (although only just as it is -15 degrees here!). Thanks so much for everyone's emails, cards, presents, Christmas cards etc. Sorry we have not been very good at staying in touch lately but we do have a good excuse (he's called Daniel!).

Been so busy since he was born, he has already been travelling with his Mum and Dad to the UK for two weeks, France and Paris for two weeks and all over northern Sweden! He got christened last weekend over here in Sweden which was great and he's now looking forward to his first Christmas.

Up until now Daniel has been a really good boy, always happy and smiling but that may now be about to change... We've noticed that he's starting to develop his very own personality and sometimes throw tantrums (gets it from his Mum). He's so big now, nearly six months old weighing 8 450 g (18 lbs) and measures 72 cm long. (Hope he stops soon or he will become as obese as his Fther).

As some of you already know we are leaving Sweden in the middle of January and moving back to France. We will let you know our address in France as soon as we have it.
Until then have a great Christmas and New Year. Hope you like the latest photos.
See you all soon!
Darren, Lotta and Daniel
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/daniel/1152327300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/daniel/1152327300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/daniel/1152327300/tpod.html Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:40:16 -0400 Daniel 7/7 2006

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Sunderby Hospital, Sweden

Hi,

My name is Daniel Benson and I was born at 21.55 on the 7th of July, 52 cm long and weighed 8lb 5oz (3,800g).

I popped out after 12 hours, chilled for a couple of days in the hospital meeting some babe nurses, and now I'm at home with my Mum and Dad. (Oh, they're fine by the way).
Luckily I'm not as fat as my Dad but I'm working on it...

I hope to be able to meet you all soon, I'm coming to England in September for two weeks or you can come and visit me in Sweden.

Lots of love to you all,

Baby Benson
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1142938860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1142938860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1142938860/tpod.html Sun, 26 Mar 2006 13:03:17 -0500 Asia here we come!!

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Bangkok, Thailand

...and so to the final instalment of this trip:

After more than two months in India, we flew back to Bangkok. It is amazing how much more developed Thailand is, you can get pretty much anything you want here and it is cleaner, more hygienic and not that much more expensive. Each time you come here you find new things, and this months great discovery was the largest food court we have ever seen in our lives (at the newly opened Siam Paragon) and we've seen a few....

After a couple of nights in the capital we caught the overnight train down to southwest Thailand and Krabi. Met up with our mate Hilton in Ao Nang who we have not seen in six years and also by pure fluke bumped in to our long lost friend Di after more than eight years. Great to see them both and we spent a few days catching up on all the gossip.

The rest of the month we spent island hopping, starting with Koh Jum which was a stunning, untouched little island, nothing to do apart from chilling out in the various hammocks, reading and sleeping. Could have spent even longer here, but felt the need to move on. Jumped on the boat to Koh Lanta which is a lot bigger but still beautiful and not as exploited as many other beaches. From here we did an island trip around Koh Phi Phi and the famous Maya bay where they filmed "The Beach". Phi Phi was very badly hit by the tsunami, and it's hard to imagine that over 2000 people died on this gorgeous beach just over a year ago. The region has now recovered well and most hotels and restaurants are back up and running - business as usual.

Next stop was Railay Bay where sandy beaches sheltered by enormous limestone rocks makes you feel like you're in a James Bond movie. It was easy to pass a few days here and Darren especially liked it as he got to play volleyball with the local lady boys.

Leaving the west coast we headed to the eastern province of Surathani and Koh Samui. This is where we first fell in love ten years ago... aaahhh. Although we have been back a couple of time since then, the place has dramatically changed in just a few years. We wont go on about how great it was "in those days" but it used to be more of a travellers beach, nice atmosphere, great parties at night and little dirt roads running through the island. Today you have local shops lining every inch of the (paved) road side: Starbucks, Mc Donald's and a Tesco hypermarket fighting for space with go-go bars, western owned restaurants and overprices souvenir stalls.

From Samui, the ferry took us via Koh Pha Ngan (famous for the full moon parties, but again, it was much better before...) to Koh Tao. This relaxed island reminded us of the good old days, and as with all the other islands in Thailand- the palm fringed white beaches surrounded by crystal clear water are really outstanding! On a day trip around the island we were snorkelling with colourful tropical fish and one of the highlights was coming eye to eye with a few black tipped reef sharks, although it was a little scary.

Our last dinner on the beach: grilled tiger prawns in garlic butter and a masaman curry almost concludes our story. As you can see from this mail, there has not been much cultural stuff been going on in the last month but we OD'd on temples and markets in the beginning.

Kuwait Airways flew us back to Heathrow Wednesday night without any major incidents and we are now sitting in Dom's house back in England suffering from post-holiday-depression, trying desperately to maintain our suntan..... The heating is on full blast and we are afraid of going outside because it is so cold and the amount of money we are spending in a day in London is a whole weeks budget in Asia. I wonder where our next trip will take us????

Hope we have not bored you to death over the last five months. A big thanks to all of you that have mailed us, keeping us amused and in touch with the "real world" - it means a lot to hear from you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN MARCH TO:

1st Sophie 1- Bonne anniversaire Soso
5th Hanna N- Grattis stora kusinen!!!
7th Hanna M- Happy B-day from T-shirt body
12th Linn- Grattis Linsan
16th Mum- Don't expect a present!!!
Jane- See you soon!!
22nd Antoine- A la prochaine
29th Viktoria R- Grattis Vickan
Gabriella- tank att min favorit tjej blivit sa stor!!!
30th Anna Hak- moj moj muukulat
Andree- Gros bisous Dede et a bientot
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1142321880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1142321880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1142321880/tpod.html Tue, 14 Mar 2006 10:31:21 -0500 Asia here we come!!

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Koh Samui, Thailand

Here are just a few photos that we have taken over the last few months that made us laugh. Hope they will do the same for you!!.

We will be back with our last story in a couple of days as our journey is sadly coming to an end.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1140424560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1140424560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1140424560/tpod.html Wed, 22 Feb 2006 03:42:17 -0500 Asia here we come!!

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Colva Beach, India

Time to move on...

...and so we left Colva Beach today - sad to go, but we are both really excited about going to Thailand (mainly for food reasons...).

Lots of friends have come and gone over the last two months, can't name everybody but it was really good meeting up with you all again. It seems that some people we see more of in Asia then we do in England!

Dom kept us entertained by spilling drinks over anybody within a two foot radius and managed to wind up almost everyone he met to our great amusement! Emma left us with a new addition - the Woo-woo, which is now a permanent fixture on Boomerang's cocktail menu.

Even though it was only the second of January, we clocked up our first wedding of the year when Oliver came from Singapore to get married. It was a great night, so thanks for the invite Ollie and good luck for the future!!!

As the volleyball team has been over there were lots of competitive games being played, anything from volleyball to Rummikub- and it's life or death, not just for fun! It was great to see Leach and Jo at a neutral venue, as when we stay at their house we have to run for our lives from their big, hairy monster-cat.

To break up our time in the South, we went to North Goa for a few days. Some of the beaches were full of Chavs on a two week package tour, others almost completely deserted, but it was a nice change to spin about on the scooter and see some different scenery and people.

Sven and Cathryn came over from Sweden and brought Paul and Michel with them. The sneaky Swedes failed to mention that they were professional hustlers and cleared us out at poker, and a few trips to the casino got rid of the rest of our dosh!

Back in Colva, the deluxe Scrabble Club has been going strong even though Darren and Phil seem to be the only members allowed to play. The Sri Lankan Champion Kristian was no competition when he arrived, in fact, he didn't win a single game so we are a little dubious about his claims from Lanka....

In a sudden burst of energy, all the lads decided to play football on the beach one day when Pod came to visit. Although "Team Europe" did win, with Scouse scoring the winning goal from the halfway line (gloat, gloat), Gary was unfortunately unable to move for the next three days. How this stiffness came about is unclear as he played in goal and didn't really move at all!

Although it was lovely to see them, Lotta's Mum and Dad have now been banned from coming back to Goa as they were spending all day every day in the blazing sun, no sun cream, no shade and not drinking enough water... (They will have to go to Norway next year- north!).

In our last week here we have had to adhere to a tight eating schedule to be able to fit in all our favorite food. Just about managed to succeed, with a final lunch at SandPat before flying out to Bangalore and on to Bangkok. We will now travelling through Thailand for a month, so we will see you then!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO:

JANUARY-
7th Amber- Feliz cumpleanos guapa
12th Janine- Have to try to meet up when we get back
14th Sanna- Grattis varldens basta svagerska
20th Maria B- Grattis Maria, vi syns snart
28th Geraldine- ..not that you read this anyway...

FEBRUARY-
2nd Maxime- presque grand comme Papa, mais beacoups plus beau!
3rd Jenny Carter(Patsy)- Another bottle of Champagne sweetie???
6th Sven- ...what can we say; who was that stewardess again???
7th Alison- Congratulations Ali, hope to see you soon!
9th Cissi M- kommer hem sa far du kaffe och kanelbullar
14th Maxine- Enjoy South Africa- bring us back an elephant or something
15th Vijaya- Shame you didn't make it to Goa but we had a drink for you
21st Paul Millo- Great Birthday present seeing Man U getting beat in the FA Cup
26th Martine- joyeux anniversaire, pas trop du limonade...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1134742380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1134742380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1134742380/tpod.html Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:47:17 -0500 Asia here we come!!

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Goa, India

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2006!!!!

Yes, yes, we know it's a bit late, but our beach office has been overrun lately and we have been far too busy getting massages, monitoring the dolphins jumping out of the sea whilst watching the sunset, sipping exotic cocktails and cold Kingfisher beer then stuffing our faces with yummy Indian food.

======================================

After we left Angkor Wat, we travelled along a very dusty and bumpy "road" to Poi Pet and the Thai border. It was amazing to see the difference in the two countries; within five minutes of crossing the border we had proper paved motorways, shopping centres and even a 7-11!

Caught a luxury bus to Bangkok where we chilled out and spent the first few days on the hotel's roof top pool for some well needed R&R. Once we managed to drag ourselves away from there, we watched some dragon boat racing on the Mekong river, some of the boats had over 50 people rowing, perfectly synchronized. Did a quick tour of Chinatown, a little boat trip on the river and saw some more temples before finishing off with some professional icecream eating at Maggie Moo's.

Flew to Bangalore in India, where we spent a few days eating and shopping before finally arriving in our second home, Colva Beach, Goa. It was great to see that "Boomerang" had the round bar back on the beach, and here we met up with many of our old friends. Most of our days have been spent horizontal on a sunbed under the palm trees, with occasional refreshing dips in the Arabian Sea, Scrabble, Canasta and volleyball. The funny thing is that even though we are doing nothing, we don't have time to do anything. Time just flies.

Christmas and New Year was spent diving for cover as we tried to protect ourselves from the dodgy Indian fireworks that seemed to go off in all directions 24 hrs a day- no casualties this year though! Traditional Indian Christmas dinner included Butter Chicken, Prawn curry, Naan and fried rice to name a few, unfortunately accompanied by Motorhead and AC/DC until the proper DJ finally turned up at midnight.

New Years Eve was spent on Benaulim beach at "Raj Mahal" amongst hundreds of Indian men passionately dancing to all the latest Hindi tunes. Dom and Scouse/Darren had to jump in and rescue some stupid Russian women who were picking a fight with twenty drunken Indians, Emma lost a flip flop, but other than that the night went without further mishaps!

We will upload more pictures once we get back to Bangkok as it is so slow here, so watch this space!

Once things calm down at the office and the phones stop ringing, we will hopefully find some time to reply to our backlog of emails, but in the meantime we hope that you are all well and are enjoying year 2006!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1133772480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1133772480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1133772480/tpod.html Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:16:00 -0500 Asia here we come!!

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Siam Reap, Cambodia

Over a month in to the trip now and we have covered quite a lot of distance and sights.

Travelling south through Vietnam we hopped off the train at Hue to visit the Demiliterized Zone (DMZ). The DMZ was a five km stretch of land either side of the Ben Hai river and it was supposed to serve as a neutral no-war area, splitting North and South Vietnam. Ironically, when the Americans decided to "liberate" North Vietnam it became one of the heaviest militarized zones in the world.

Just south of the DMZ lies the (in)famous areas of Khe Sanh and Hamburger Hill, the scenes of some of the bloodiest battles of the "American War" as it is known here. One of the most interesting part of our trip so far was visiting the Vinh Moc tunnels. This quaint little fishing village was wiped out by heavy artillery and chemical bombings (Agent Orange) in 1966, so the villagers decided to literally go underground. The original tunnels still stand as they were back then, and it was an experience going down the network of nearly three kilometers over three levels (8, 15 and 23 meters deep). It is difficult to imagine that 400 people lived in these tunnels over five years, but they did, and facilities included hospital (17 babies were born here!), conference rooms, one kitchen, wells, latrines etc.

We were lucky enough to be taken through the tunnels by one of the locals who actually lived there during the war. Down in the tunnels it was wet, hot, smelly and claustrophobic and Lotta was panicking after only 30 seconds and nearly didn't't go in.

A 10 hour train journey south of Hue took us to Hoi An, which turned out to be the "eating capital" of Vietnam. The city has a Unesco protected old quarter and and amazing beach like Colva in Goa. Sadly, it was out of season and the weather was not great so we spent our time eating in the huge array of really cool restaurants. French, Italian, Asian fusion and we even managed to find at Swedish place that served home made meatballs and mash!

Sevral temples, beaches and pagodas later we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) where we got a further insight in to what happened during the war and spent a few days sight seeing (more churches, markets, palaces, temples....).

A visit to the War remnants museum left us speechless after seeing in graphic detail some of the horrific damage to the Vietnames people and it's country caused by the Americans. (And yet, 30 years on, the U.S still keep "liberating" countries that haven't asked for its help).

After all the depressing war stuff we'd seen, we decided to take a trip down the Mekong Delta to cheer us up. Floating down little waterways in various shaped boats, we chilled out for the day, visiting lots of different villages that sprawled along the Mekong river.

Time to say good bye to Vietnam and catch the seven hour bus over the border to Cambodia.

Our first stop was Phnom Phen, which is a fairly small capital city set on the banks of the Thonle Sap lake. PP feels like a quite laid-back, modernized city in places, but it also seems a lot poorer than Vietnam with quite a lot of beggars.

Went to the Killing Fields which is now a picturesque place in the lush countryside and it is difficult to imagine that 17 000 men, women and kids were murdered here and dumped in mass graves only 25 years ago. This was the execution ground for the prisoners that were held in the Tuol Sleng prison (S21) which we visited next. The Khmer Rouge took this old school over and made it in to a prison, turning ordinary class rooms in to torture chambers and cells. It's now a genocide museum which explains in detail through stories and haunting pictures the atrocities that went on until 1979 under Pol Pot's evil regime. During this time, it is thought that around three million people were killed and many more tortured.

Once all the usual must sees in the guide book were ticked off, we headed to Siem Reap to visit the Mother of all Temples- Angkor Wat, which is believed to be the largest religious structure in the world. There are hundreds of temples scattered across a huge area and most people spend three to five days checking them out, but we decided to organize our own; "Scouse and Lotta 12 hour sun-up to sun-down express tour" and even after this short time we do not want to see another temple again for at least another five years! What we did see was very impressive, the highlights being sunrise over Angkor Wat and the overgrown Tomb raider temple Ta Prohm.

We thought it would be much more beneficial to spend the extra days relaxing in Siem Reap, stuffing our faces, so this is what we did.

So that brings us to the end of your history lesson.... We expect your homework to be handed in before Christmas and the exam will take place when we get back. Sorry this has been a bit boring and gloomy, but when you spend time in countries so deeply scarred by unimaginable horrors, you can't help thinking that we were really lucky when we were kids. Just walking around on the streets, you are constantly reminded of the history: beggars with no arms or legs blown away by land mines and people deformed from the effects of the war.

On a more cheerful note, we can guarantee that the next installment will be full of happy sunshine, as the next two months will be spent under a palm tree on the beach our second home, Colva, Goa, so see you then!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN DECEMBER TO:

9th Brollan- 30 years old and the best brother in the world
21st Benedicte- Get your e-mail sorted out!
28th Matt Simmo- Gave up on you a long time ago.....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1132567620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1132567620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1132567620/tpod.html Sun, 27 Nov 2005 06:26:12 -0500 Asia here we come!!

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Tam Coc, Vietnam

Good morning Vietnam!

We hope you are all OK, we've seen the snowy pictures and it looks cold...brrr.

Time for our latest update. First of all, thanks for all your messages and emails, keep them coming. (We hope you've managed to work out how to use the site).

Since our last mail we have been really busy. Started in Hanoi with a trip to the hospital as Darren's back got worse, but with some tablets and plenty of rest it seems to be slowly getting better. Hanoi is a nice capital city, packed with shops, good restaurants and sight seeing to keep the thousands of visiting tourists happy. The streets are full of motorbikes and you do really need eyes everywhere so as not to get run over. Our days here were spent eating and strolling around the old quarters.

A three hour bus journey took us to Halong Bay where we went on a two day boat trip, great apart from the annoying American couple in our group; Mrs Dominator and Mr Gimp... Halong Bay is a Unesco World Heritage Site (more of these to follow...) and it is very picturesque. We spent the days chilling on the sundeck whilst cruising past some of the 3000 limestone rocks and islets that make up this archipelago. (Think Krabi and Phi-Phi for those of you that have been to Thailand). Cooled off with a dip in to the South China Sea before a stunning sunset, seafood dinner and a calm night on board.

12 hours on a luxury sleeper train (30 US$ return) took us to north Vietnam and the former French Hill Station of Sapa, only 30 km from the Chinese border. The main reason for visiting Sapa is the numerous hill tribes of indigenous people who are amongst the poorest and most disadvantaged people in Vietnam. These minority groups live in very basic conditions in villages scattered along the Fansipan valley. They still follow a traditional way of life, including Darren's favorite, as many wives as you want.

We did a 15 km trek to a couple of the these villages, which we enjoyed apart from the slippery mud, thick fog and persistent rain... Saw lots of colourful tribal people like the Black H'mongs and the Red Dzao. Back in Sapa, a visit to the market unveiled the local delicacy of dog (sorry Molly, Sam, Scoot and all our other canine friends) which they eat at the end of the lunar month to bring them good luck. Not so lucky for the dog...

Back in Hanoi, a daytrip out to Tam Coc and the Cuc Phuong National Park saw us being rowed around by a little old lady through beautiful scenery and three caves. The amazing thing was that she was rowing with her feet (see video)! In the afternoon we took a trip to the Endangered Monkey Sanctuary where we saw ginger gibbons that looked like our friend Howie swinging through the trees.

So far, we have found it really easy travelling around Vietnam. The quality of everything (e.g accommodation, trains, buses) is of a very high standard although some things are relatively expensive. The streets are very clean and not many beggars about, although this would be preferable to the large tour groups that keep appearing everywhere, spoiling the peace.

Bird flu mania has hit Vietnam big time and nowhere serves chicken, some places not even eggs. Every day we read in the paper how the government is killing tens of thousands of poultry, but as soon as you visit the countryside you realize that there is no way they would be able to contain a major out break as there are chickens and ducks everywhere.

We will slowly be working our way south towards Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) which is about 2000 km from where, if we manage to escape the underground tunnels and not catch the chicken disease, you will get our next update. Until then, keep the messages coming and put another jumper on.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1131020520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1131020520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/asia_05_-06/1131020520/tpod.html Wed, 16 Nov 2005 02:33:09 -0500 Asia here we come!!

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Bangkok, Thailand

Hi there everybody, hope you are all OK.

We are sure most of you know, but in case you didn't: we're travelling around Asia for six months, yippie!!!

We have decided to keep you all updated (bored) with our stories and pictures using this new Travel-diary-thing, so hopefully you can all figure out how to use it. The way it works, is that every time we write something on it or upload some photos you are automatically sent a link. When you click on the link you can view it and also reply with your own messages which means we get to hear back from you and catch up on all the latest gossip from back home.

...........................

Had a bit of a hectic last week in the UK. Finally got the house packed up and put in to storage, so thanks to Leach and Trev for helping us with that. Spent a night at Darren's Mums and headed down to London on the train, with Lotta carrying all the bags as Darren had done his back in. Met up with Natalie at Euston who we used as a baggage porter, helping us with our bags on to the tube.

Flew Kuwait Airways to Bangkok (via Kuwait). They were not bad, apart from having to fly over Basra, not having any alcohol on board and the flight entertainment system being broke for the entire journey, but what do you expect for 450 quid?

In Bangkok it was difficult finding time to eat all our favorite food, but eating five times a day overcame that problem.

Khao San Road, where we stayed, is an institution in itself and has to be experienced first hand. In a short sentence; it's a massive street, packet with bars, restaurants and shops where you can buy anything from a fake degree to a special "body-to-body" massage, full of characters including "normal" people like us, local lady boys and 70 year old pony tailed acid heads.... more on this later.

Sightseeing so far has included a visit to the Grand Palace, an enclosed complex of temples built in 1782 for King Rama I as the Royal residence, but it also contains government offices and a throne hall amongst other things. Next to that lies "Wat Po" the reclining Buddha, which does exactly what the title suggests.

Also visited another Royal residence, the Vinanmek Mansion in the Dusit gardens. This impressive house was built for King Rama V who lived there until 1906. It is the "worlds largest golden teakwood mansion" and now poses as a museum where you are allowed to snoop in it's 31 exhibition rooms, including the King's bedroom, bathroom and throne room maintaining the atmosphere of the Tahi past.

We have also been to the National Stadium where there was a football match on and even better, outside there were some lads playing an amazing game of foot-volleyball, check out the film. Darren was going to show them how it's done properly, but was still carrying that back injury...

This was followed by three hours of hell (for Lotta) heaven (for Darren) at the MBK Eight storey shopping centre, jam packed with shops, fast food joints, cinema, bowling alley.... and millions of people.

Spent our last night in a bar watching Man U beat Chelski live. It was great watching Darren become more and more agitated and loud, turning in to the biggest Chelsea fan in the world in the hope that Man U might lose. (Sickening...)

The next morning, extremely hung over, we flew to Hanoi in Vietnam, where we are now and from where you will get the next update - watch this space!

Don't forget to reply by posting a comment. Hope you are all working really hard and are wrapping up warm for what we have heard is going to be the coldest winter in a loooong time. Lots of love/ Darren and Lotta

Almost forgot; HAPPY BIRTHDAY in November to:

5th
- Dad - I love you!
- Nicki Millington - a year older and still only 18.
- and CONGRATULATIONS to Micke and Kristin on the birth of their gorgeous baby daughter Mirabelle!

8th - Nat - Good to see you. Hope your new little friend showed you a good time...

16th - Howie - Enjoy Ginger boy!

26th
- Mikey B - Happy birthday, Bro.
- Christophe - Allez Totoffe, encore plus des cheveux gris....

30th - Emma - Oh dear, the big 30...we'll celebrate when you get to Goa, can't wait to see ya.

...and anybody else we might have missed off.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/india_03/1044086040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/india_03/1044086040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/darrenlotta/india_03/1044086040/tpod.html Sun, 13 Nov 2005 07:36:02 -0500 Time for some R and R after the South American Trip!!! (Goa 2003)

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Goa, India

Dear All,

We?re in Goa at the moment, enjoying what is left of our little
52-week-vacation. We?ll keep it short as we?ve only got ten minutes to
spare
before heading back to the beach for the usual sunset and maybe a cold beer

or two. But let?s not jump ahead.

Hope you all survived the end of 2002. We spent a very drunken Christmas in

Buenos Aires (never drinking again), before heading north to the Iguazú
waterfalls. We spent two very hot days (+40°C) enjoying this incredible
mass
of water, including a boat-trip under the falls.

..."As we stood in the tropical sunshine overlooking the majestic falls,
exotic birds and butterflies swarming around lush vegetation and even a
rainbow to top the picture off; Darren asked me to marry him. I thought it
best to accept or he might have pushed me into the falls."...

So there you have it, finally engaged! No marriage plans yet, as we don?t
like rushing into things.

Very sad to leave Argentina, we have come to love it as "our special
country", but it was time to check out those Brazilian beaches. Spent a
fairly quiet New Years Eve with a bottle of Champagne on a beach amongst 10

000 Brazilians, chucking flowers in the water according to local tradition
and ending the night scoffing hotdogs and peeing behind parked cars (local
tradition?).

Stopping off at beaches along the way, we travelled up the coast to Rio de
Janeiro. Splashed out on a four star luxury hotel on Copacabana beach,
complete with Jacuzzi in the bathroom and a rooftop terrace with pool. Only

the best for us jobless and homeless!

Rio was great, sights included: Maracaná- biggest football stadium in the
world (220 000 capacity), Christ the redeemer airing his armpits, fantastic

sunset on the Sugarloaf Mountain etc. etc. Spent most of our days on
Ipanema
beach (didn?t see the girl), Scouse/ Darren in his pink leather thong
looked
very good and blended in well with the locals.

After a truly amazing adventure in South America, we left Brazil at the end

of January, and arrived back in "rip-off" Britain. (Spent more in a week
here, than we did in a month in S.A.). Went to France to see our friends
and
to try to sort things out over there.

Following such strenuous travelling, we headed to Goa for some R&R. Here
we?ve been eating, drinking and sunbathing with old and new friends for
three months (never EVER drinking again), and even managed to fit in some
sightseeing, however brief.

We are due back to the Real World on the 26th of April. Don?t know what we
are going to do for work, or even which country we might end up in!!!!!

So the good news is that you?ll not get any more long boring e-mails, but
the bad news is that we are really brown and have got 52 reels of photos to

show you next time we meet up... yawn!
Below is our contact address (Darren?s Mum?s) where we will be based until
we win the lottery or get a job. Hope to hear from you soon!!!

Lots of love/ Scouse and Lotta
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