TravelStream™ news feed for member dixieannie on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dixieannie en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:19:35 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1246622415/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1246622415/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1246622415/tpod.html Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:19:35 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

It wasn't an easy secret to keep for 6 months! It all happened in Honduras on Christmas eve and made for a lovely Christmas so far from home. We told people we met along the way and swore them to secrecy...they did a good job! Here are the photos of where it happened and the ring at the time.....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1244206787/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1244206787/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1244206787/tpod.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:33:33 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

Jaisalmer fort can be only be described as a sandcastle on a rock in the middle of the desert. It looks so cool (and of course we forgot to take a photo of it) and when walking in it you get a real feel of it being lived in, with the close streets, wandering cows and locals selling their wares to you from the front room of their house. We had a few days here and spent the first day wandering about the surrounding town and the next day wandering about in the fort itself. That afternoon we organized a trip into the desert on camels. We left mid afternoon and travelled 60km out of town to meet up with our camels and our camel guides. We spent the next few hours travelling through the desert at a very leisurely pace and then had a cooked meal under the stars. Probably our most relaxed period in our whole time in India.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1244692800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1244692800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1244692800/tpod.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:01:47 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Delhi, India

We have had such an amazing 8 months and seen places, people and cultures that will stay in our memories forever more. We have been so lucky too, to take a step out of "real life" and live without responsibilities or worries and to have had the majority of our decisions be where we go, how we get there and what to eat and drink when we get there. We have seen and felt a little about how it is to live without the materials and the routine of work that is so much a part of our culture at home. We have also learned a balance with each other that may take many married couples 20 years to reach (that one might not last!). I can also safely say that Dunnes knickers last longer than Primark (other brands are available) and that a needle and thread goes a long, long way.

Although its only been 8 months, we have missed everyone at home and really look forward to seeing faces and catching up on lost time. Not all the decisions we made during our time away were easy ones. See you all soon or in the near future.....

Here are our highlights....
South America
Argentina:
- The excitement of exploring our first stop, the beautiful Buenos Aires
- Enjoying an ice-cream on our first night away and then watching the city go by from the roof top of our hostel
- The sumptuous steaks and red wine
- The beautiful buzzing cities of Argentina where I tried some white wine ice-cream
- Our little romantic boat trip searching for caimen by night in Carlos Pelligrini
- White water rafting along with a couple of adventurous dogs

Brazil:
- The amazing Iguassu Falls on the Brazil/Argentinian border

Bolivia:
- Stunning entry into La Paz, a city nestled in a valley
- Taking a step back in time to see the Bolivian ladies dressed in bowler hats and traditional dress
- Staying with a family on an island in Lake Titicaca
- Some of the craziest cities and maddest driving habits yet (although there have been many places to rival since!)
- Death road (Declan!)

Peru:
- A tiny peek at the great Amazon and seeing some rare giant river otters
- A chocolate birthday cake, cooked from scratch by our porters, for our friend Tweak at 4am before another days trek on Machu Pichu
- A cold beer upon completing the Inca trail, probably the best beer ever
- And just to let everyone know what a bore I am (Declan), the amazing geometric beauty of the Inca stone work in Cusco

Central America
Nicaragua:
- Crazy bus journeys with crazy people and crazy music pumping
- The taste of Victoria beer
- Visiting the stunning volcanic island of Ometepe and sampling the simple life of the islanders

Honduras:
- The tranquil tourist town of Copan Ruinas where we happily spent a week sipping mojitos

Guatemala:
- Spending New Years week in the beautiful city of Antigua while brushing up on the Spanish
- Making a dodgy New Years day climb up Volcan Pacaya to be rewarded with some of the best views of the trip and to stand inches from a river of flowing lava
- Taking in the sights on a cycle around the captivating beauty of Lake Panajachel

Mexico:
- The vibrant and colourful cities of Oaxaca, San Cristobal, Taxco and many more of this brilliant country
- Learning to cook up a feast in Oaxaca after mucho good food
- Anne asking an old lady seller to pose for her with the rooster she had just bought. She hadn't a clue what Anne wanted her to do
- Catching up with my uncle Packie in Monterrey, meeting his great friends and being shown around the city he calls home
- Chilling on the beach in Puerto Escondido with a lunch of corona and nachos

USA
- Meeting Louise and Johnny in LA
- Driving up the stunning Californian coast with them
- Cycling the Golden Gate bridge and visiting Alcatraz in the beautiful San Fran

Fiji
- Spending my birthday on the white sands and clear blue seas of a Fijian island
- Scuba diving and seeing Anne take to it like a pro

New Zealand
- Meeting with Dirk, our home and companion for 4 weeks!
- Probably the most scenic country we visited, you name it, this country has it
- The best selection and finest tasting beers and wines we had on the trip
- Waking up to a walk or run on the rugged empty beaches of New Zealand
- Watching an impromptu comedy show in Wellington whilst having a Tui beer
- Skydiving in Queenstown

Australia
- Visiting the iconic sights of Sydney and sampling the vibrant city of Melbourne
- St Patricks day in Sydney
- Relaxing on a sail-boat around the beautiful Whitsunday islands and doing some amazing snorkeling at the coral reef
- Sleeping under the stars in a swag bag on our Ayers Rock trip

Singapore
- Great food except for the chicken feet

Vietnam
- Exploring the hectic cities of Hanoi and Saigon
- Taking off on a motorbike around the beautiful east coast beaches
- Haggling to the last for that all important souvenir
- Being paddled through the paddy fields and huge limestone karsts of Tam Coc

Cambodia
- A desire to revisit the awesome temples of Ankhor
- Learning of their awful recent past and seeing today how they are slowly getting over it

India
- Being blown away by the Taj Mahal
- Watching the sun set over the Taj from our roof top restaurant while kites were flown in the evening breeze, chants to draw worshipers to mosque filled the air and the monkeys jumped from roof to roof
- Being charmed by a snake and being followed by a troop of monkeys at the Monkey Temple in Jaipur
- The delicious curries and Nan's that added that final inch to our waists and a cookery lesson to learn the art of Indian cooking
- Spending one of our last nights under the stars in the Indian desert
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243905020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243905020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243905020/tpod.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:27:32 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

No, we're not talking the imminent arrival of Johnny Curry....we're talking some spicy, tasty proper Indian stylee curry! Yesterday evening in Udaipur we had a cookery lesson from the lovely Shashi who taught us how to make practically every dish under the hot sun here. We were cooking for hours and made a right feast....curry, pilau, naans, chapatis, chutneys, chai tea, you name it! Always a problem with snacking your way through the cooking is a full belly when it comes to the main meal...we were so stuffed but had a great evening. When we arrived we noticed the resident tortoise lurking in the small yard and then realised that it was the same place that Edel (Decs sis) did her cookery class this time last year....bring on the cook off!

It felt a bit greedy getting stuck in to our feast when Shashi and her family were fasting. It was a festival day celebrating good karma, where you give to the poor and your rewards are multiplied ten fold. It was a little intimidating for us as the poor or the lower caste in society line the streets and basically do some hardcore begging. The higher castes walk past and give money, food, grain (it seemed mostly grain) and walk off happy awaiting their reward. We chose this festival day (maybe unwisely) to visit the temple which was the centre of worship and begging for the day. It was bedlum with women elbowing and pushing like it was a Daniel O'Donnell concert! Coming out of the temple, Declan thought he was going down Fermanagh street in Clones on Ulster Final day. Such a mix of beautiful colours took the mind slightly off the stress of it all! Strange festival.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243675500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243675500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243675500/tpod.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:13:23 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Upon arrival here, BAM we were hit with the India we had been warned about. On getting off the bus we were surrounded by at least a hundred rickshaw and tuk-tuk drivers. A hundred "No thank you"s later, we finally broke free from their claustrophobic clasping. What an exhuasting experience especially after a sweaty 4 hour bus journey. We made our way to our hotel (by foot) and it immediatley felt like an oasis in the desert. A quick shower and some grub, we headed off (on foot again) into the old city to see what sights and smells it offered. But the old city ,especially around the bazaar's, was just as bad as the bus station. After an hour or so, we headed back to our oasis, fed up with the continual harassment from shopkeepers, beggars, tuk-tuk drivers, children etc etc etc... The next day we tried a different tac, and went straight to the palace museum. Once inside the walls we were left in relative peace. The museum was quite good and we got to see some of the really grand and royal rooms. Do watch out for the pidgeons though! One little bugger shat on me when we were taking a breather in one of the recesses of the courtyard. After the palace, we headed to the museum that contained astronomy instruments that one of the maharjas had spent his life building. They are described in our bible (The L.P) as straight out of alice in wonderland, and upon seeing them you would have to agree. Some of them are quite fantastic monuments. And very strange to look at, but apparently they have been proven to be very very accurate.

For sunset we visited Galta temple, otherwise known as the monkey temple and we were soon to find out why. As the dusk falls, lots of little monkeys appear out of nowhere (helped along by some locals feeding them fruit and veg). Some of them had cute little baby monkeys hanging off their belly! It can get a tad intimidating though being followed by a troop of monkeys! The temple itself was high on a hill overlooking the city to worship the sun, so there were great views. The whole way up was a bit like animal farm as along with the monkeys we were accompanied by cows, goats, pigs, dogs and a cobra with his snake charming owner. We were also not so subtley stalked by 3 strange Indian dudes...interesting evening!

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243588800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243588800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243588800/tpod.html Sun, 31 May 2009 06:15:37 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh, India

After a few sweaty nights in Agra without air con, we decided here we would spend an extra few rupees and upgrade for our stay in Fatephur. For our extra rupees we got an air con machine that wouldn't work because the electricity was on the blink throughout the night due to thunder and sand storms that were blowing through this part of the world from the afternoon on. I have to say though that the sandstorm was kinda cool, especially when it started, for the first sign we saw of it was a yellow looking cloud coming racing towards us. Quite quickly we were enveloped by it and had to take refuge in an abandoned part of the old city that once used to be the capital of this area. After that, the rain storm came and we found ourselves sharing our shelter with a family who seemed to take great delight in how we were attired and how strange we looked. They didn't understand us and we them. An amusing afternoon.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243418400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243418400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1243418400/tpod.html Thu, 28 May 2009 06:02:41 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

Waow...what more can I say. We visited the beautiful Taj Mahal at sunrise and it was well worth the early morning! The monument was lovely and quiet when we first arrived and with the sun rising and lighting it up, it felt like we had stepped into a fairytale. What a dedication of love...however to be skeptical about it all, the man had a palace full of harems, I suppose you can only have one true love though?! There might be quite a few photos for this one because I was definitely snap happy this morning!

The city of Agra is so different too from any other city we've been to that hosts such a spectacular draw, like Copan Ruins and Siem Riep. Agra is rough and ready and a bit higgledy piggledy and not really set up for the tourist but I think that makes it all the better. Our hotel has a rough top view of the Taj Mahal so your sitting in the middle of this mad city and the beauty of the Taj looks like its within reach. Last night, we watched the sun set over the Taj Mahal. It was so magical with excited kids flying kites from all the roof tops around and mosque time chants filling the air. That's where we'll be tonight again, Kingfisher in hand!

Our arrival into Delhi was a bit chaotic.....our driver was a lunatic for a start. It was four in the morning as we stumbled up the hotel stairs and we thought we had arrived into a shithole. When we awoke the next morning, our thoughts were confirmed, but for one night at 10 dollars and in the middle of a very busy bazaar we thought we'd stick with it! The first really bizarre sight (and I'd say the strangest thing we have seen on our whole trip), was a herd of cattle sitting munching on their cud in the middle of the streets. Sure enough, by day the cows were meandering through the streets. We were told that a cow is owned by someone who milks it in the morning and lets it wander by day. Being a very holy animal, everyone feeds it throughout the day. It then wanders back home for evening milking.....the happy life of a cow. We didn't get to see much of Delhi but we go back there at the end for more exploring.....might go to a different hotel though!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242742036/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242742036/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242742036/tpod.html Mon, 25 May 2009 06:51:25 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Siem Reap, KH.16, Cambodia

After the the assault to the emotions that Pnomh Penh caused, we journeyed on towards Siem Reap to experience the magnificence of Cambodia's ancient culture. At one of the bus stops on our journey here, the snack sellers were selling tarantula and cockroach kind of like the way shops would sell you Maltesers and crisps at home. To be honest there wasn't much taste of either of them, and a little bit of HP sauce would have made them go down that little bit easier!

We spent our first night here on the lash, with beer costing us 50 cents and cocktails working out at $1.50 each. Needless to say we had a late morning the next day. As in Pnomh Penh, we were struck by the number of people begging, most of them children. The following day we hired the services of a tuk-tuk driver called Tin-Tin to bring us out to the temples surrounding Siem Reap. Truly stunning to see what was accomplished 800 years ago and still standing. I think my favourite temple was Bayoun, with all the carved faces in the stone. Unfortunately we forgot to charge the camera battery the night before, so these images will have be forever stored in our memories.

After seeing the splendor of the temples, we spent the next afternoon at an orphanage just outside town. Equipped with markers and paper we had some fun drawing and colouring in pictures. After a sterling (and very impromptu!) English lesson given by Anne, we then played a game of volleyball with the kids. It was great to see kids with smiles on their faces, not like the ones we only ever seem to see in town who are selling you stuff. The kids had come from differing backgrounds, many of whom had lost their parents through AIDS or malaria. Due to lack of funding the numbers had to be cut from 54 to 30 recently, no idea where the 24 others went. Tough stuff, but good to see some real efforts being made for these children so much in need of it. We were told that what the kids really wanted was a volleyball net. If you are interested, the website for the orphanage is: www.cofco-angkor.org. The website is basic but gives an idea about the children and the organisation and hopefully our own photos will be up soon!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242639540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242639540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242639540/tpod.html Thu, 21 May 2009 10:23:38 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Arrived here from Vietnam, making the journey from Chau Doc by two boats and one bus.We spent two days here, and the main difference we spotted immediately from Vietnam, was that so many people (including young children) were begging. It really seems you can't go 10 yards without someone else with the hand out. Its very hard to come to terms with. With that and the impact the Khmer Rouge made as we witnessed by going to S-21, an interrogation prison and the killing fields, were thousands of people were murdered, it has made Cambodia a very different experience to any other country we have been too. Saying that, you do see alot of people smiling and being happy and that is obviously good to see. You just feel that, whatever contribution you make, it just would never be enough.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242551700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242551700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dixieannie/1/1242551700/tpod.html Tue, 19 May 2009 05:26:19 -0400 The Jewel in the Crown (we hope!), India.....

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Chau Doc, Vietnam

Chau Doc was our leaving point from Vietnam. From here we took a boat along the Mekong into Cambodia. It was a long and sweaty day. The boat took 6 hours and the bus to Phom Penh, another hour or so (both boat and bus, very basic!). The first few hours of the trip were lovely, cruising along the river, checking out all the floating homes and the homes along the river bank. The river is obviously very important to the people here, its where they fish and transport their rice. We saw some families building huge boats for the river, just outside their homes. The river is also where all washing of body and clothes takes place, as well as lots of play of course. There were lots of very excited and waving kids along the way to see a boat full of tourists float past.

While in Can Tho, we did a cruise along the Mekong to see the floating markets. These markets are in a steady decline with the increase in decent roads and bridges in the area. This was clear to see. Although there were quite a few boats around filled with fruit and veg, there didn't seem to be alot of buyers around. Its a pity really to see a large part of the culture in this area disappear. Our boat driver also took us a little further along the river where we had a stroll through some of the villages along the river bank. We got to see lots of the exotic fruits growing in the wild and crossed some of the extremely rickety bridges the local use to get from one side of the river to another!

That night, after sampling many of the weird and wonderful fruits on offer at the markets, Declan decided it was time to get to grips with some real local delicacy and sampled his first snake curry....
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