TravelStream™ news feed for member you_know_zo on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/you_know_zo en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:40:22 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1239427560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1239427560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1239427560/tpod.html Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:40:22 -0400 The big one!

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Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

OK, first I would like to mention that for this blog I have decided to take a leaf out of Tom's book and write straight from a diary. I'm constantly thinking of things I want to put into my blog and I try to jot them down and remember to put them in, but all too often they get missed out... This way, I'll put money on a more entertaining entry - nicer for me to write and, hopefully, nicer for you to read.  Also, this blog in all about travel... so it's a bit picture light... sorry about that!Right, that said... We awoke on our last morning in Pokhara at around 5.3 and went straight to the bus station. Here we were treated to a very rare view of the Himalayas - at this time of year Pokhara is usually too misty, but we got a clear sky and a great view to say goodbye. :) We got on our bus and started the 7 hour journey to Sonauli - the main Nepal-India border town. The trip itself was fairly uneventful... our bus did clip another one on the door, which caused us to stop for a minute or two, but honestly, Tom and I barely batted an eyelid... We've had so many near misses that it's not a big event any more! We were dropped off about 200m from the border, so we walked across and got all the necessary stamps in our passports. We then went about trying to make our way to Varanasi. For some reason, we thought there was a direct local bus... we were wrong... We had to take a bus to Gorakhpur and then a train to Varanasi. We already knew that trains needed to be booked in advance, so we didn't really like our chances... Anyway, after downing some water and buying some snacks we got on our first Indian bus... It was pretty empty and we were able to put our bags on some vacant seats... Only the afternoon before I'd said to Tom how weird it was that we hadn't had to travel with chickens on our laps yet... At the first stop the bus made, a couple boarded with their baby goat and sat across the aisle from me. He was very cute and bleated away... then squatted and peed... fortunately this ran down the bus and away from us... but then he turned, rear end towards me.. I managed to gently swing him rond to the middle of the aisle just as he let rip, narrowly missing my flip-flopped feet and my day pack... phew! Unfortunately just afterwards more people got on the bus and put our bags down in it... haha...Shortly after that we had yet more excitement... Our driver (let's call him Bob) was happily driving along when another bus (driven by...Frank) decided to try and overtake us... However, Bob was just getting up to speed from a stop, so Frank couldn't really get past before a car came in the other direction. For some reason, even though he could see it, Frank kept trying to get past us until he was forced to slam on his brakes. This in itself has happened on pretty much every bus trip we've taken in Asia... these days we don't take much notice and Bob just carried on at his slow and steady pace. A few moments later, Frank caught up to us, and this time he was successful in overtaking, but as soon as he did, he slammed on his brakes, causing Bob to slam on our brakes and stop. Then Frank hopped out of his bus and marched over to Bob's window to give him a stern talking to. Obviously I don't know what was said and I couldn't really see what was happening, but the whole bus was pretty intrigued so it must have been juicy. I don't think there was an actual fight, but it struck me as strange that someone that was in such a rush to get past other traffic had time to stop and bicker!!The rest of that bus journey was uneventful, I'm glad to say, and we soon arrived in Gorakhpur. We ended up staying the night because there were no trains available, so we went online, booked a ticket for the following day and enjoyed our first Thali in India. Magnifico!First impressions of India...? It's hectic, dirty, friendly, troublesome, sneaky and beautiful... but you'll get to hear much more about that in the next blog :)
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Pokhara, Nepal

OK... so we got ourselves out of Kathmandu and headed to Pokhara... a beautiful town sitting on the edge of a great big and beautiful lake.  It is here that most people plonk themselves before embarking on one of the numerous treks you can do in the Himalayas... and we are no different...  We had done all our planning, so all that was left was a bit of shopping and bus booking, and we were away! This blog is a bit short on the descriptions because it's going to be long enough without them... but a picture paints a thousand words, so enjoy the photos!! Before I start telling you the story that is our epic Himalaya adventure, there are a few rules about this trek that you should know... The trek itself covers 150 miles of trail going from village to village, following an ancient trade route between Nepal and Tibet.  The high pass at Thorung La goes up to a whopping 5416 metres where there is 50% less oxygen in the air, making altitude sickness, or AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) a real danger... more on that later.   A lot of people hire porters to carry their bags for them - we couldn't afford this and took about 12 kg on our backs... A lot of people hire guides to show them the way... we couldn't afford this either.  The number one rule of not getting lost on the trail - follow the donkey poo... if you can't see any, you're probably not on the trail.  This particular form of trekking is known as tea house trekking, because you stop at tea houses all the way to both eat and sleep, so no camping for us! OK... those are some of the facts out of the way... here we go... Day 1 - Besisahar (1310m) > Bahundanda (1310m) After taking an incredibly dodgy bus from Pokhara to Besisahar, we got going very quickly.  As is custom in this part of the world, the bus left feeling quite spacious, but then stopped as often as possible to load us up with more people, both inside and on top of the bus. We met an Aussie guy called Dane on the bus, and the three of us were the only ones that wanted to walk the first bit, rather than take a jeep to the end of the road... so we all walked together. The first part of the walk was pretty boring... just a loose road following the river, but we soon said goodbye to that and continued into the countryside.  Tom and I had planned to stop fairly quickly on the first day, but we were feeling good and walked faster than we thought we would, and so carried on with Dane until we got to Bahundanda, where we stayed in a small Tibetan teahouse and entertained ourselves by singing 'Bahundanda' to the tune of 'La Bamba' and Bhulebhule (a town we went through on the way) to 'Ruby'.... simple things...! Day 2- Bahundanda (1310m) > Chanje (1430m) We didn't set off too early on day 2, preferring to have a leisurely breakfast at the teahouse.  It started to get steep then, as we were well away from any roads, and there was a lot of going up and coming down... and then, after 5 months with no rain at all, the heavens opened... Instead of walking sticks, Tom and I had brought large umbrellas that could double up as walking sticks... unfortunately, Tom's broke very quickly... I was dry as a bone though ;) :p We stayed the night at a nice little guest house next to a fairly big waterfall, with some inquisitive children who wanted to play with our cards... bless em... :) Day 3 - Chanje (1430m) > Bagarchap (2160m) We started early and skipped breakfast at the teahouse, trekking two hours to Tal for a breakfast break.  We had heard there was a great bakery there and so were pretty excited!!  There were some pretty steep climbs on the way, but we made it in good time and had a nice long breakfast break... it was made all the longer because it started hammering with rain again and we hid inside for a while... but it was here that we met a German couple called Rebecca and Niko and an American guy called Barnabus... we got them involved in a game of cards and then headed out in the slightly lighter rain :) The rain continued to come and go, but we carried on through some very muddy terrain, taking in the gorgeous waterfall and river views along the way, finally settling in the town of Bagarchap where we were offered a free room in return for eating dinner and breakfast there... It was here that Rebecca and Niko joined us for the first time, and we passed the evening drinking copious amounts of tea and playing cards :) Day 4 - Bagarchap (2160m) > Chame (2670m) By now we were climbing about 500 metres per day and so were making early starts to do it while it was still cool... mind you, the higher we got, the cooler it got too, so that wasn't too much of a problem :) First thing in the morning, Barnabus, who had stayed in the previous town the night before, came and met Rebecca and Niko to carry on the trek, and we all set off together.  As it turns out, the rain was a good thing because it left in its wake beautiful clear skies and wonderful views of the mountains around us.  I'm a bit of a slower trekker than everyone else, so the others went a little bit ahead of us for much of the day, but Tom and I weren't far behind.  It was a pretty steep climb that day and I decided to just take it slow and steady... The scenery was spectacular and really starting the change.  Where there had been Hindu towns with wooden buildings before, there were now Buddhist towns with stone buildings. We arrived in Chame quite early and, since there were six of us, got a good deal on some little bungalows.  We had read that there were hot springs in the town, so we dumped our stuff, grabbed our towels and headed out to soothe away our aches and pains... Unfortunately it wasn't that simple... we got there and it was more of a hot puddle than a hot spring... there had been a landslide a few years before, and the hot springs were no more... very, very disappointing!  But we made the most of it and spent our night playing cards, learning each other's games... It was also on this night that our trail names became official... Tom, Dane and I had come up with our names earlier in the trek, but with the new additions to the group, I withheld that information until now... First, Tom - he would henceforth be known as Goat Boy... The reason for this is mostly that he is sporting quite the goaty on his chin, and being in the Himalayas, surrounded by goats, it just seemed natural... Dane would now be known as PK, short for President Kenny... this is because he always got to be president when we played 'Presidents and Arseholes' and that when he did up his Down jacket fully, he looked a lot like Kenny from Southpark...  The trail name given to me by my companions was Nipps... what can I say, when the wind catches you on the mountains it can get a bit... nippy... Rebecca is a nurse and had brought with her a travelling hospital which she happily shared with everyone on the trek, and so became known as Doc. I wanted to call her 'Das Nurse' but she didn't take too kindly to it, so Doc stuck ;)  Niko is a professional barman, and what he doesn't know about whiskey, scotch and bourbon, quite frankly isn't worth knowing... so we named him Glen, after the famous single malt Glenfiddich.  Finally, Barnabus, a pro ice hockey player from the US, but currently living in France, was dubbed 'Scrubber', because we always seemed to score 'Scobba' (not sure how to spell that!) in the card game of the same name... but someone misheard us say it and thought it was 'Scrubber'... plus it's far more entertaining that way :) Day 5 - Chame (2670m) > Upper Pisang (3300m) The next day we all took it pretty slowly... We left early and trekked for an hour or so to have breakfast at a bakery along the way, and then continued on our way to Pisang.  It was a pretty hard day going up hill.  We arrived in Pisang pretty tired, but not being people who take the easy way out (any of the people in our group!) given the choice between Upper Pisang and Lower Pisang, we chose Upper... which was quite a lot more upper, up a lot of steps...!  From here we got our first proper views of the peaks of the Annapurna Range, both Annapurna II and Annapurna IV - some of the highest peaks in the world. OK... since we're getting to that part of the trek, a word or two on AMS, Acute Mountain Sickness, or Altitude Sickness... After you get to an altitude of 3000m the air is thin enough to start giving you symptoms... the first of which is usually a headache, possibly with a little nausea thrown in for good measure.  The best thing to do is to keep hydrated, ascend slowly, trek high and sleep low... Following these rules, you shouldn't ascend more than 300m per day after you go over the 3000m mark... so Upper Pisang was really the furthest we could go.  You should try to trek higher than you are going to sleep, so your body acclimatises better too... If you have any symptoms, rest and take some Diamox, which helps get rid of the bicarbonates that accumulate in your body and cause the sickness.  If the symptoms get worse, descend.  If they don't, rest or go on... SLOWLY! That night we were all fine... apart from Doc... I'm not sure when it happened, but I remember it being an issue on this day... She was walking past a donkey train, which is a regular occurrence on the trail, and unfortunately got trodden on... being a nurse she kept a very close eye on it... and it was that night that she came to the conclusion that at least one of the small bones on her foot was broken... but she kept walking and barely mentioned it... Das Superwoman.... Day 6 - Upper Pisang (3300m) > Manang (3540m) Again, we made an early start to make our way to Manang, after taking a few shots of the morning view of the mountains...Manang was a real mile stone for everyone, as for the first time we would spend more than on night in the same place... luxury!  This was in order to let our bodies acclimatise to the new oxygen levels, and prepare us for what lay ahead. The route to Manang can be done in one of two ways - the high route or the low route.  Obviously, the low route is easier... but again, our group liked the challenge, and if nothing else, it took us higher than our destination - trek high, sleep low - this route is tough, but much better for acclimatisation. The scenery that day was spectacular.  We started with a very sharp climb and everyone was very out of breath.  We took it nice and slowly, getting to the end of one switchback and stopping to catch our breath, then carrying on to the next one... And slowly but surely we made it to a high town for a spot of breakfast and lashings of tea :)  At one point on this little stretch we saw a plane going by that was actually lower than we were... a very strange feeling!! We then went on our way, stopping to grab some baked goods in the afternoon, and then heading on to Manang... and just as we got close, it started to snow... quite heavily...!  We made it just before 3pm and so headed straight for the Himalayan Rescue Association AMS lecture, to make sure we really knew what we were doing. In order to show our appreciation we each paid 100 Rupees to have our blood oxygen levels measured... I had a slight headache and so was curious to see if I was OK... Anything below 85 is bad... mine went up and down... it dropped to 79 but then went back up to about 89, so they said I'd be fine... hoorah!  Nonetheless, I took some Diamox and drank as much water as I could and felt fine and dandy before too long :) Goat Boy, Scrubber and I then spent the evening watching 'Into Thin Air' - a movie about a failed Everest Expedition... topical!!! Day 7 - Manang (3540m) This day had been set aside for Goat Boy and I to visit a holy man in the hills to be blessed for the upcoming trek... not only did it sound like a lovely way to spend a day, it involved trekking high and sleeping low again... Unfortunately the weather had other ideas... there was a good 2 feet of snow on the ground and no-one really wanted to trek off, so instead Tom and I bought some water-proofs and we started the day by having snow fights with local kids, and then, having perfected the traditional snow man, built a snow yak and then let the kids take it in turns to ride it... although I think out of everyone Doc and I enjoyed it the most ;)  Unfortunately it turned out that we bought matching water-proof gear... oops! We spent the rest of the day making sure we had lots and lots of liquids and cake and then piled into a fire lit living room to watch 'Yes Man', which was a welcome break :) Day 8 - Manang (3540m) > Yak Kharka (4000m) We got up fairly early again to check the weather and get a hot breakfast...  The snow had let up and others had gone before us, clearing a nice track for us, so we decided to make a break for it. I went out to buy myself some trekking poles (as my umbrella finally gave up just after the snow - good timing!) and found our snow yak being attacked by an amourous and slightly confused yak...  A wonderful sight to behold! It was a fairly easy day with spectacular views of snowy peaks in all directions, and beautiful blue skies... I think this was also the first day that people started getting sun burn, as the hot sun, lack of clouds and glare from the snow was a bit of a shock to the system! It was also a very short day - we arrived in Yak Kharka early in the afternoon and decided to stay at a small and empty guest house with a hot fire in the dining room.  It was here that I got my first glimpse of a mountain eagle gliding over the tea house while I sipped on a cup of lemon tea... I didn't get to my camera fast enough though... darn!!  The first thing our host, Abu, did was to take us up into the hills behind the guest house to see some yaks.  The town name, Yak Kharka, literally means 'Yak Pastures' and so there are a fair few of them around!  We also counted this as an acclimatisation trek - perfect!!  Before we got too far up in the hills, Abu pointed out some fresh snow leopard tracks, which got us all pretty excited... we knew we wouldn't see one, but still... amazing!!  Then Abu started running down the mountain and got his friend to bring him his bow and arrow... there were a group of deer - or blue sheep, as Abu called them - grazing on the mountain and he went chasing off after them to hunt one down... He managed to hit one too, but its hide was too thick for the arrow to penetrate and it got away. When we came back down I got a horrible headache and had a little nap... fortunately it went away pretty quickly, but we were worrying that I might have to go down because it was a thumping headache accompanied by nausea... but once again the Diamox came through and sorted me out!! Day 9 - Yak Kharka (4000m) - Letdar (4200m) We only had a short distance to travel on this day, so we had a lazy morning chatting to Abu, who let everyone have a go with his bow and arrow... until Scrubber shot a rock a bit too hard and broke his arrow... woops!  It was easily repaired though, so no harm done!! Tom had taken some interest in a Gurkha knife that Abu had for sale, and I still hadn't bought him anything else for his birthday (his present was waiting in Pokhara)... Abu had been really sweet to us, so I decided to get it for him... I schemed with PK and Scrubber so that they could buy it for me while I distracted Tom... first I had to show them which knife he wanted... unfortunately Tom saw me going towards the table and came to have a look... which made his mind up for him, and he started bargaining for the knife... rubbish... the only thing I could do was let him bargain for it and then pay for it when he wasn't looking... then I told him what an idiot he is and he was sorry for ruining the surprise, but mostly just happy that he got his knife :) We set off from Yak Kharka at about 12 and I took it really, really slowly to try and avoid another headache.  As soon as we arrived in Letdar, Goat Boy, Scrubber and I headed into the hills for another acclimatisation trek and then settled back at the guest house to do lots of relaxing reading and card playing :)  The only stop we made was to fix up Rebecca's trekking boot... that's right - one foot with broken bones and the other with the sole of her shoe held on with duct tape... she wasn't having much luck...! Day 10 - Letdar (4200m) > Thorung Phedi (4450m) This was another short day, but a monumental one... Thorung Phedi is the place from which most people do the high pass... the big day... the main event... you get the idea... We set off from Letdar in the morning and then made our way slowly (again) to Thorung Phedi.  There wasn't too much climbing, but we did have to try and go quite fast through a landslide area... so that was exciting!  Again, we arrived early and went for an acclimatisation trek following the path that would take us up to the high pass the following day... then just as we were coming down, it started snowing again... not a good sign!!  We spent the rest of the day... you guessed it... drinking tea and playing cards :) Day 11 - Thorung Phedi (4450m) > Thorung La (5416m) > Jharkot (3550m) The next day we were in luck... the skies had cleared and people were going up to the high pass, so we followed... it was 30th March, the day before Tom's birthday... we left at 6am and met the others at High Camp, an hour or so up the pass, to have breakfast... and we decided to stay where we were so that we could do the high pass on Tom's birthday... So we said goodbye to our little gang and promised to try and catch them up... So Glen, Scrubber and Doc gave Tom they're birthday present - a really nice necklace they bought along the way, and off they went. However... about half an hour later we decided to carry on after them... it was a nice clear day and we were worried it might be bad weather the next day... we had also heard that sleeping at high pass was horrible, so off we went! It was a really, really hard climb... the weight on our backs felt heavier than ever before, and the lack of oxygen was making us really short of breath... but we soldiered on at a slow pace, making our way up.  There are a number of false peaks on the way, so it was really difficult to tell whether we were getting close or not.  Tom said that he was starting to get a headache and not feeling the best, but we decided to push on, as we could go down the mountain on the other side... but then he really slowed down... he's never slower than me, but at this point he was... just as I was making the decision to make him go back down and try again the next day, we saw the flags that marked the highest point... 5416m above sea level... that made us both pick up the pace and get ourselves there... it was such an amazing feeling to have made it... and the view was out of this world! We didn't stick around too long - there were three Israeli guys at the peak, one of whom was posing in his underwear when we got there - insane - I have never been as cold as I was up there... with little shelter the wind was howling and blowing snow in our faces and our fingers and toes were stinging from the cold.  They took some photos for us, we bought some biscuits from the guys in the shack, and then headed down the mountain.  Since Rebecca was having trouble going down hill, and me and Tom loved going down as fast as possible, we thought we might catch up to them quite quickly... we thought we saw them a couple of times, and so pushed on, but we always turned out to be wrong!  The way down was hard - fairly steep in places and made all the more hazardous by snow and ice and strong winds in our faces... but we made pretty good progress, stopping a lot to take pictures and film bits of the trek, and we also felt great - a combination of the increase in oxygen levels as we descended and the euphoria of having made the high pass.  Tom also recorded some of his thoughts on his dictaphone/MP3 player, which I listened to later - he's a genius... my favourite phrase was 'sucking in air like a rampant hoover' - William Shakespeare himself couldn't have described it better :D ;) As we went down the mountain we knew we were going to right way - mostly because the snow was clearing, so we were definitely getting lower, and there were poles to show you which way to go when there was more then one option... but then I stumbled across a little pile of duct tape... Aha!  Our friends had been there, and Doc had required a patch up job on her hiking boot... we were closing in ;) After several hours we made it to Muktinath, the next town after the high pass, and had a look around for our friends.  We then put our detective hats on, and registered at the police check point, where we found their signatures from 2 hours previously, stating they would spend the night in Jharkot - just half an hour away.  So off we went, looking for the guest house housing our friends... we picked the most likely candidate, but before we got anywhere close Doc spotted us in the distance and waved us in... so our surprise wasn't quite the surprise we had hoped, but a surprise nonetheless! We then spent the evening telling each other about our high pass experiences and pigging out on lasagne and cheese bread - all you need after that trek is good food, and we definitely got it :) :) Day 12 - Jharkot (3550m) > Marpha (3350m) The next day was Tom's birthday.  Glen woke us by knocking on the door, and I hopped out of bed to retrieve the other little things I had as presents... a little Nepal flag patch for his backpack and a bracelet I had bought from a lady on the way when he wasn't looking :)  Then we went into the dining room for some tea, where Glen had ordered an apple pie with a big candle so we could all stand around and sing happy birthday :)  It was great!! We then set about getting to Kag Beni for breakfast - a little out of our way, but worth the diversion... it was a really nice little town.  The guy we chatted to the night before suggested taking the river bed rather than the road, so Goat Boy, Scrubber and I gave it a try... and got stuck because we were surrounded by river... so we had to go back on ourselves a wee bit... woops! After breakfast in the town we set off again to be met by the famous winds that flow through this, the deepest valley in the world...  They are not joking about these winds... they are seriously strong and we were walking against them on a rocky terrain, which was really, really hard... we all hated it, but pressed on until we got to Jomsom - the first town we had been to that had an ATM - to find that the bank was closed and the ATM wouldn't work... Jomsom is a nice enough town - there were lots of little kids running around playing along the river and we had a nice bakery stop, but all in all, it's a bit of a hole... there is an airport here and people often fly in to start their trek there... there is also a Jomsom trek that takes you to Jomsom as a destination - if I had done this trek, I would not have been pleased!! Fortunately, we managed to get some cash, and Doc was even able to get a new pair of walking boots... we got out of that town as quickly as we could and headed to Marpha, which is famous for its apple cider and brandy - how perfect is that?  A young guy from the South West of England, on his 25th birthday in a Nepalese town that brews cider... amazing!  The walk to Marpha was no less windy than earlier in the day and we were all a bit worse for wear by the time we got there, but it was totally worth it :) We spent a lovely evening playing pool and cards, had a couple of ciders and a great dinner... lovely jubbley! Day 13 - Marpha (3350m) > Larjung (2550m) The next day, Goat Boy, PK, Scrubber and I had a bit of a lie in... I had a brand new blister from walking on the dodgy rocks of the river bed the day before, and everyone wanted to check out Marpha... it was just such a nice village, and luckily for us, the wind had died down.  We went out for coffee and then started trekking towards Larjung.  It wasn't a very long walk, and Doc and Glen had already arrived, so they hung their Brazilian flag outside the tea house they had chosen, and we joined them there, spending the rest of the day... you guessed it... playing cards..! Day 14 - Larjung (2250m) > Ice Falls (3450m) > Larjung (2250m) The next day Doc's foot needed a rest, so the rest of us headed out to check out the Ice Falls nearby.  It was really great to do some trekking without our packs, but we soon forgot about that... the climb up is almost vertical for much of the way and as we got higher, the clouds got thicker. We took with us some chipattis and yak cheese for lunch, and so stopped and had those, looking up into the clouds and they came around us.  Just then an enormous eagle started circling near by - it was just gorgeous, gliding around with such ease, catching the wind, ducking and diving... The climb we had made that far was worth it for that view alone. We carried on going, but after a while Glen and Goat Boy started to struggle... it was seriously steep and the fact that the clouds were coming in and we couldn't see much of the scenery did nothing to push us on...  Eventually, Scrubber and I went ahead because we could see a sign at the top of the hill, to see if it was worth continuing... the sign said we were still an hour away... Glen had a headache and we weren't sure what the view was going to be like, so we made the decision to just go down... which was also pretty tough, but quite a lot faster than the way up! We made our way back to the teahouse and spent the evening the same way we always did :) Day 15 - Larjung (2250m) > Ghasa (2010m) Doc's foot was no better on this day, so she and Glen organised a jeep to take her to Ghasa, where she would find a guest house and hang the flag to let us know where she was :)  It wasn't too far to go and fairly flat, so the rest of us made it in pretty good time and joined her for... yeah, you know... ;) Day 16 - Ghasa (2010m) > Tatopani (1190m) Doc took the bus ahead of us again, but we weren't too far behind, as again, it wasn't too much of a long day.  We arrived, had something to eat and then... joy of all joys... made our way to the HOT SPRINGS!! And these ones were real!!!!  'Tato' is the Nepali word for 'hot' and 'pani' is the word for 'water' - it'd be a rubbish name without the hot springs there... Doc and I went in in long shorts and t-shirts, as Nepali women do not wear bikinis... I was surprised to see how many Westerners were showing so much skin... but they paid the price... a line of Nepali men stood on the sidelines watching and taking photos - Doc and I had no such trouble... so be warned!!  Do as the locals do and cover up at the hot springs!! That night Doc's foot was feeling much better, but Dane started feeling sick and went to bed without dinner... the next day we knew would be a hard climb, and so the rest of us went pretty soon after... Day 17 - Tatopani (1190m) > Ghorepani (2750m) Tom and I got up at around 5am and set of shortly afterwards - I am still the slowest trekker and it was an 8 hour hike for most people, so we thought it best to get a head start.  It didn't matter though... after about 2 hours, my left leg gave up... For the previous two days I had been putting more weight on it to avoid treading on the blisters on my right foot, and after 2 hours of going straight up - it was just hundreds and hundreds of steps - it gave up the ghost.  I tried to keep going but I had terrible shooting pains going up my shin and I had to keep stopping...  This wouldn't be such a bad thing, but when you're trekking it's good to get a rhythm going - I didn't want to stop Tom's rhythm, but I needed distraction from the pain and needed to keep stopping.  The others caught up with us pretty quickly and we tried to decide what to do... I could keep going, or go back down, skip Ghorepani and take a bus to Pokhara, where I could wait for them... I was tempted by the bus, but I am far too stubborn for that... Doc came down from where she and Glen had got to, put my bag on my back and went up to the teahouse at the top of the hill... I tried to stop her, but she's pretty stubborn too ;) There I decided that I could keep going... there were some flat bits and people in the village said it wasn't all up hill... so we carried on... until we came to a town with a pony trekking service... then the boys pretty much made my decision for me...!  I employed the services of a young man called Nande and his pony, Setty...  He was a lovely white pony and I felt pretty bad making me carry him, but he seemed to take it in his stride... Nande insisted on carrying my bag, which I felt even worse about, but we had lots of stops along the way. It's a good job we did get the pony - almost the entire way was just step after step, after step... I would not have made it in 8 hours... I would have been lucky to make it in 12!!  So everyone hiked on, and I sat on my pony... Goat Boy and Scrubber managed to get ahead 10 minutes from the finish line while Nande was resting, and together we sorted out a tea house to stay in.  PK arrived about an hour after us feeling like death - I really don't know how he managed it... but he soon went for a rest.  Then Scrubber and Glen arrived shortly after that, having made a long lunch break along the way. This place had the best fire place we had found so we all gathered around and played cards and chatted, but had very early nights... we were all exhausted... (I can't imagine how tired everyone else must have been!) and had to be up early the next day... Day 18 - Ghorepani (2750m) > Poon Hill (3193m) > Nayapul (1050m) This was to be our last day trekking in Nepal... so we went out with a bang...  Tom, Doc, Glen and I got up at 4.45a.m. and set off from the tea house to climb up to Poon Hill, which offers spectacular views over the whole Annapurna range - we wanted to catch sunrise. It was a difficult and steep climb, but the rest I'd had the day before seemed to have done my left leg the world of good, and we made it up there in about 45 minutes.  The views were amazing, and Tom and I sat up in the observation tower watching the clouds pass over the mountains as the sun lit the peaks up in bright shades of pink.  It's a shame it was so cloudy... I lost patience and decided I was happy with what I'd seen and wanted more rest before the last day trekking... so I headed down alone, followed by Tom, then Doc and Glen. At around 9:00 we said goodbye to Doc and Glen - they wanted to rest for a day and then continue their trek to Annapurna Base Camp - Doc with a broken foot - I told you she was stubborn ;)  Then PK, Goat Boy, Scrubber and I headed off towards our final destination - Nayapul. At first we were whizzing along - my leg felt fine and the whole route was made up of steps going down through beautiful forest.... It was hard on the knees, but all was well...  We stopped for a couple of breaks and at 12 had some lunch... then we found another 3000 odd steps to walk down...  It was somewhere along this stretch that I started struggling... My legs were like jelly, my feet were absolutely killing me and I was not having a good time... Still, I was impressed that it took 18 days to get me feeling this bad... I had thought it would be a lot sooner!! Scrubber and PK went ahead and Goat Boy and I followed at a slower pace for the last 2 hours of the trek... they were the hardest 2 hours for me, and they seemed to last forever, but we made it to Birethani - the last land mark... we stopped for a water top up and then headed off for the last 20 minutes... Unfortunately it was up hill, which I didn't appreciate at all... but it didn't last too long... we made it to Nayapul... there was a bus strike, but we managed to get onto a tourist bus that was going to Pokhara... when I sat down in that seat, I was finished... It was a nice bus ride through the countryside and back into lovely Pokhara, where I had an UNBELIEVABLE shower and then went out for a celebratory drink and a curry... bloody fantastic...!! So... trekking done... OK, so I was in pain on the last day, but a I said, I am very surprised at how long it took... it just goes to show that all the stuff we've been doing over the last year has made us both stronger and fitter, which is pretty pleasing :)  If I could do the trek again, I would... but I'd take less clothes (because they all end up stinking anyway) and I'd probably have an extra rest day somewhere... somewhere with a massage service ;) OK... I'm spent... that is one monster of a blog right there... I hope you made it all the way to the end...!! There are lots more photos available here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/discozo We're back in Pokhara right now, and will be heading to our last country - India - in a day or two... so watch this space!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1237292520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1237292520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1237292520/tpod.html Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:12:30 -0400 The big one!

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Kathmandu, Nepal

So... we spent a couple of days in Bangkok after our dive trip, but unfortunately Tom wasn't well again and so we went back to the doctor, got some new medicine and then stayed in the whole time...  However, we then had to fly... first to Hong Kong and then on to Kathmandu, which was nice and straight forward... just how we like it!! On arriving at the airport, we got to the visa queue - finally a country that does visas on arrival! - and found that we could only purchase our visa with cash and that there were no ATMs open... We had arranged an airport pickup and so met our driver, who took us into Kathmandu (without a visa folks...) to get some cash and then back to the airport... We went up to the counter, Nepalese Rupees in hand, and were told they only took foreign currencies and we'd have to get some dollars or Euros... So we went back downstairs to buy some dollars, which for some reason, the guy at the exchange desk really didn't want to sell to us...  But we got there in the end, and all with smiles on all the faces we came across :) We got to our guesthouse and pretty much crashed out... There is limited electricity in Nepal at the moment and we arrived just at the end of one of the scheduled 'on' evenings...  Tom was really not feeling well at all, so after several days rest (apart from moving to a different guesthouse, since they were knocking down the one we were in!) and all his antibiotics, we went to yet another doctor in Kathmandu... this one ran some tests... they didn't find anything too scary, but said that the bug he has must be resistant to the antibiotics he had... so they gave his some stronger ones... and they seem to have done the trick - fingers crossed!! So.... apart from Tom's health, we've been spending a lot of time planning... we want to go on a trek in the Himalayas and after considerable research, budgeting and shopping for supplies, we have decided on the Annapurna Circuit... one of the best hikes in the world... This mostly entailed reading, making notes, checking the finances and making more notes... for which, I decided I always needed my planning socks :)  So we've been taking short trips out in Kathmandu getting all the permits and passes that you need to do that... Today, we decided to see some of the sights of Kathmandu... first stop, Durbar Square which houses palaces of kings that have ruled over the city.  We were greeted by about a thousand pigeons... There are bright brick buildings all around, with cows and pigeons in the middle and lots and lots of people selling Nepalese artwork and puppets. From there we headed out of the main city to Boudhanath, the biggest Stupa in Nepal - it really is beautiful - a huge stupa rising out of the city with colourful flags hanging all around - these have been tied there by visitors for good luck.  We walked around for a while taking photos and taking it all in. Then we took a 20 minute walk down a narrow track to get to our next port of call - Pashupatinath.  This is a collection of temples along the Bagmati river.  We were not allowed into the temple as it is for Hindus only, but we were allowed to watch a funeral taking place on the banks of the river... We felt really, really odd watching this very personal moment, but the guy explaining things to us was adamant that nobody minded... I'm not so sure, and we tried to keep a distance, but it was an amazing thing to see... In Hindu culture, when someone dies they are cremated the same day, so newly bereft families were arriving at the riverside with their loved ones wrapped in white and orange cloth, draped in flowers and bright pink dye.  They then carry the body around the funeral pyre three times before laying it down to pay their last respects and lighting the fire underneath.  For obvious reasons I didn't take any photos... it was heartbreaking but also fascinating to watch... And that was enough excitement for one day!!  We headed back to Thamel, the area of Kathmandu we have been staying in and got ourselves a yummy dal bhat for lunch - thats a pot of lentil dal with rice and pickles and curry on the side... the beauty of this meal is that they keep topping up the dish for you until you're full - great for Tom who finally has his appetite back :) And that's it!!  Next up, we are heading to Pokhara to start our Himalayan adventure... so it might be a while before you hear from me again!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1236169740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1236169740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1236169740/tpod.html Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:08:58 -0400 The big one!

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Khao Lak, Thailand

So, with Tom all healed up and raring to go, we took an over-night ferry from Ko Phangan followed by a bus ride to finally arrived in Khao Lak - gateway to the Similan and Surin Islands - some of the top dive sites in the world. We spent a couple of days sorting out kit and generally moping around the town - there isn't much there and it was thundering most of the time, so we didn't really get up to much... and then came time for the main event...  We chose to go all out for this dive trip... we had several options, but Wicked Diving had been recommended to us, and for very good reasons!  They are the only eco-friendly dive company operating around the Similans, and just as we were arriving they were beginning their second ever Whale Shark Research and Education trip.  Having fallen in love with Whale Sharks while diving off Ko Tao, we decided to go for this 3 day, 2 night trip. The trip itself was amazing... we got on the boat in the morning and watched the captain let off fire crackers before we set off - this is Thai tradition to keep the boat safe.  Then the boat headed off to our first dive location. All in all we did 9 dives and each and every single one was fantastic - more fish than I have ever seen,  both quantity and variety - clown fish (Nemo!), bat fish, damsels, trumpet fish, cornet fish, lion fish, scorpion fish, box fish (love these!!)... We tried to spot and name as many as we could on each dive... However, there were a couple that stick out in my mind...  We managed to see 3 leopard sharks - two together on one dive, and one fairly big one laying in the sand on another... absolutely gorgeous, they look just how you would imagine - a beautiful, sleek yellow body with black spots. On another dive we saw an elusive octopus that was changing colour and hiding behind rocks - such amazing creatures!!  But then, on our second last dive came the most amazing spot of the trip... as we were making our way out into the big blue, our group turned to see what they call a 'big black aeroplane' coming up behind us... one of the most elegant, beautiful things I have ever seen - a 3.5 metre Manta Ray... We all stopped and watched in awe as it glided around us, travelling in a figure of 8 and coming back round twice or three times past us again... It seemed like a genuinely curious creature - it just wanted to see what we were all about :) Part of the research and education trip, is to present lectures on sharks... this mostly involved us watching documentaries about them, about how we all have preconceptions (mostly caused by movies like 'Jaws') and how actually, more people are killed by vending machines every year, than by sharks... They are beautiful, intelligent and, for the most part, friendly creatures, but they are becoming endangered, and some people say that my children won't even be able to see a shark... Added to that, if there are no sharks to control fish numbers, the fish will eat all the plankton, which produce a large proportion of earth's oxygen...  Unfortunately people in Asia get a LOT of money for shark fins, used in herbal medicine and the prestigious 'shark fin soup', so fishermen actually catch sharks, lop off their fins (so they can't swim any more) and dump them back in the sea... It's disgusting and it's happening all over the world right now... The documentary they showed us was wonderful, so if you have time, please watch it!  www.sharkwater.com Also part of the education, was a new SSI Eco qualification, which focused on perfecting buoyancy (so that you don't crash into the reef), identifying marine life and conserving the reef... this included a reef clean up dive, where we went down with a net bag and tried to pick up as much rubbish off the reef as possible... this amounted to a lot of fishing wire being pulled up and cut from the reef, and our dive leader even found the lid of a water heater! All in all, the diving was absolutely fantastic, and even though we didn't get to swim with a whale shark again, we were so happy to have taken part and seen all the amazing things we did... diving is something we are both addicted to :) Many thanks to Lia for her wonderful photos - she was the photographer on the dive trip and took some amazing shots, that I have pinched here :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1235475360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1235475360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1235475360/tpod.html Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:24:57 -0400 The big one!

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Ko Phangan, Thailand

So, having said our goodbyes on Ko Tao, we took a short ferry ride over to Ko Phangan... the Thai island famous for its Full Moon, half moon, black moon etc. parties... Unfortunately we didn't time our trip right for any kind of party...  However, we did take the chance to do our first Couch Surf. Couch Surfing is a website that was set up to enable people who are travelling to meet local people and stay with them to learn more about their lives... It's a great way to meet people, and even though we were members before, we never got round to trying it... Mike always raved about the people he met doing it, so we thought we'd give it a try... We had a search for available couches on the island and came across a Canadian guy called Ryan, who was house sitting for someone else... we sent him a message, and hey-presto!  He came and met us off the boat and took us back to his place... His place was amazing... a beautiful little bungalow right on the water on the west side of the island.... he even gave us his double bed and opted to sleep in his hammock on the porch instead - legend!!  We decided the first thing we should do was cook our new host a meal, so we headed off to the market and got some ingredients, then cooked up a bit of pasta and had a good old chat over a beer :) The next day we got up really early and headed off to Khao Ra, the highest point on the island - about 640m up.  We left early to try and avoid the heat, but it was still really hot... he had heard that a lot of people take tour guides to get up there, although I have no idea why... the route is really clearly marked with water bottles hanging from branches the whole way, and we actually had a guide in the end anyway - a gorgeous brown-red dog (who I named Jessie) who led us the whole way :) The view from the top was gorgeous... it's a shame really because it wasn't the clearest day - that made it great for keeping us cool, but rubbish for providing a good view... it was still totally worth the climb though :) That night Ryan cooked us a lush Thai curry... unfortunately Tom wasn't feeling well, and he felt like he had a pretty high fever... I was worried... at home I wouldn't have bothered, but I was worried about Malaria or Dengue or something, so I put him on the back of my moped and took him to the hospital... they gave him paracetamol and told us to come back the next day... which we did... It turns out that the cuts and bites he got on his foot in Ko Tao had become infected from all the sand and time in the water... they were not looking good... The nurses at the hospital cleaned him and and the doctor gave us some medicine and sent us on our way, with strict instructions to keep the foot clean, dry and in the open air...  So we went and found a place to stay in town (you never want to be at someone else's house when you're sick...) and set Tom up in bed... Every morning I would go down to the shops and buy a 5 litre bottle of water and snacks and take them back to Tom, and he would read and sleep and rest... and he got much better pretty quickly :)  It was a real shame for him because it was some of our last beach time and he wasn't allowed near the beach, but he took it fairly well :) After about a week he was all better and we took another ferry back to the main land to join a liveaboard dive trip across the Similans... more on that next time!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1234963140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1234963140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1234963140/tpod.html Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:09:03 -0400 The big one!

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Ko Tao, Thailand

So... after a long night bus ride and a short but cold ferry crossing, we arrived on our first Thai island... Ko Tao...  We headed here to relax on the beach and do some diving... we had some great recommendations to go with Big Blue, and that's exactly what we did... Inititally all their accommodation was full, but we soon sorted ourselves out with one of their bungalows and got to work... My plan for the week we planned to be there, was to lie on the beach while Tom did his Open Water and Advanced dive courses, and get a tan, then do a fun dive or two... take it easy and spend little money...  However, when we got there, we found out that the AUSI qualification I gained on the Anaconda III in Australia, isn't actually worth the paper it's written on, and while PADI Thailand would recognise it, it's not likely anyone else would... in order to remedy this, I decided to do the next certification up and become a Rescue Diver... so much for relaxing on the beach! The Rescue Diver course entailed half a day getting an 'Emergency Responder' (read: First Aider) certification, and then 3 days learning how to be a rescue diver, both in and out of the water.  The First Aid training was with Barry - a name I had already heard, as our friend Kate (who we also met on the Anaconda III) recommended.  It was pretty straight forward and I got to play with a defibrilator too, so that's all good!!!  After that I started learning with Tim - my German instructor, and two other students - Hans from Austria and Stephen from the States. The Rescue Diver course teaches you how to be a bit more confident under water, to cope with panicked and unresponsive divers, both on the surface and under water, how to search for missing divers and how to generally look after yourself and others you're diving with.  It is hardcore... for 2-3 days we had people jumping off the boat screaming for help, then trying to drown you once you got to them... Tim timing us on how long it took to get to our drowining victims, Dive Master Trainees swimming up to us at 15m and ripping our regulators (air supplies) out of our mouths and our masks off our faces...  It was all very tiring, but also really, really fun, and I'm pleased to say that I passed... :) All the while, Tom was working on his Open Water and Advanced courses so that we would be able to five together, and I was able to join his group for their deep dive (up to 30m) on the last day of his course - a fun dive for me and a little test for him... Unbelievable while we were on this dive, we saw a 3m jeuvanile Whale Shark - the biggest fish in the world.  It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen... swimming slowly and gracefull right past us... Tom and I were at the back of our group and saw it behind us - we tried to get the attention of the rest of our group, but by the time they got there, it had gone... which they were not pleased about when we got to the surface! Also while on Ko Tao, Christian, a Norwegian guy who was on Tom's Advanced course, VERY kindly leant me his laptop so I could use the Big Blue wireless, and I was able to do a lot of work on Casey's website.  I met Casey in Pai, and she is starting her own Thai Massage business in the States and needed a website to promote herself, and I need to build my portfolio and make some cash, so it was perfect! We had one good night out with Christian, Eli (pronounce Ellie), Veronica and Havi, all from Tom's advanced course, and had a great time walking down the beach at 4am, swinging on the rope swings :) I've been in love with diving for a long time now, but Ko Tao has sealed the deal for me... I love it, I mean, I really, really love it... and so does Tom... we are seriously thinking about going back to Ko Tao when we can afford it and spending 6-8 weeks doing a Dive Master course with Big Blue, because they were amazing... I can't think of a better way to spend a month or two... :) But soon enough it was time to leave Ko Tao and check out another island... we decided to bypass Ko Samui and head to Ko Phangan... but that's another blog!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1234267980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1234267980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1234267980/tpod.html Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:16:13 -0400 The big one!

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Bangkok, Thailand

So from Kanchanburi we hopped onto a minibus and held onto our hats all the way to Bangkok... these drivers are not shy, I tell you!  We were dropped close to the famous Khao San Road and from there made our way to the guest house that our new friend Eran had recommended for us... My House... Clean little rooms and a movie area where they show films three times a day, for 250 Baht... not bad at all! Tom and I had several missions to complete in Bangkok... the first was to meet the FedEx guy that had my credit cards... I lost them in Cambodia in November and it has taken this long to try and get them back due to customs and stupid banks and stuff!!  The second was the get ourselves Indian visas, which takes a week... The first day the FedEx man said he'd come, I waited in reception at our hotel all day... he never came... first they said AM, then they said PM, then they said 'tomorrow'... So the next day I took no chances and called them in the morning... oh really? You're waiting for a package?  We'll send it... Finally, at around lunch time, my package came, complete with a little card from my Mum :) Mission  completed, but two days of time in Bangkok totally wasted... rubbish! The second mission was much less time consuming... we made our way to the Indian Consulate, filled in the forms, paid the fee and left our passports there... sorted...  So from there on in, business aside, we were able to try to enjoy a bit of Bangkok! Our friend Eran had already been to Bangkok and took us to the Thai equivalent of fondue... You pay 200 Baht (About £4) and load your plate up from a buffet of meat, fish, tofu and noodles, and then cook all your stuff on a grill that has boiling water in the middle, that's set up on your table... It was soooo tasty and highly recommended!! One day we took a trip to see snakes being milked for the anti-venom centre... but we were there at the wrong time and so ended up just wondering around MBK - a massive shopping centre - and riding the Sky Train - Bangkok's rail system that runs above the rest of the city. We also visited Wat Pho, the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok, and home to a reclining Buddha - the largest Buddha in Thailand.  The Buddha itself is amazing and takes a good 5 minutes to walk around, housed in a large building with beautiful, ornate painting on the walls.  Apart from that building there are several others, all with beautiful Thai architecture.  One of the buildings was having a new roof fitted, and Tom went and wrote on one of the slates for the roof - the idea is to write a prayer or wish on there for good luck... From there we ventured on to the Grand Palace, which has a very strict dress code... I have been covering up in Thailand anyway, so I was fine... Long trousers and shoulders covered, no worries... unfortunately Tom and Mike were both wearing shorts and were required to borrow a pair of trousers from the reception area... Mwu-hahaaa!  They are so cool ;) We didn't actually go into the palace in the end... we went down to the entrance and found the 'Thai residents' line (free) and the 'Foreigners' line (300Baht)... We weren't even that bothered about going in, so we decided against it... returned the trousers and went on our way! Then, on one of our last evenings together, Tom, Mike and I decided to venture out and see a ping-pong show... I mean, how can you come to Thailand and not have a look...?  If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm not going to explain here... ask your mother!  We found a place that had no charge for the show, and 100 Baht drinks... we knew that wouldn't be the case and were prepared to get scammed.... We checked the drink price as we ordered... we watched about 4 shows... if you can call them that... There were 2 pretty unattractive women taking it in turns to get centre stage and perform, and they were surrounded by 2 lady-boys and 2 skinny women, all dancing... actually slightly moving... they couldn't have looked more bored!! The scariest part of the evening came when one of the performing ladies sat down on the bar and shot a banana from her nether regions across the room, aiming for an unsuspecting tourist, and then let out the most childish-come-demonic cackle I have EVER heard!!  Shortly after that one of the lady bouncers came over with a torch shining on her sign that read, '1 drink = 350 Baht  1 show = 1000 Baht extra shows = 1000 Baht'.  We knew that was coming... we remained calm and told them we asked the price of drink and blah blah blah... we knew that all they really wanted was for us to leave... it only got slightly heated when the bouncer poked me, and I asked her very nicely not to touch me... We gave them 100 Baht each and were kindly asked to leave... it's all part of the Thailand experience!! A lot of time in Bangkok was spent walking up and down the famous Khao San Road, which is lined on both sides with stalls and shops selling clothes, hats, sunglasses and Pad Thai, as well as a few bars.  You can get some serious bargains here, but being the budget travellers that we are, we just settled for a t-shirt each... We had one night out drinking buckets (you may remember my description of those from Vang Vieng - the kind of bucket you used to take to the beach as a child, filled with rum/whiskey/vodka and coke or red bull or whatever...) and then spent the next day feeling sorry for ourselves :) On our last day, Tom and I became an unstoppable team... we had several jobs to complete... we wanted to buy a camcorder with my newly acquired credit card (the old one was damaged beyond repair) and collect the India visas and get ourselves to a bus south... in order to achieve all this, we had to split up... so Tom went in search of the best camcorder deals he could find, and I went as fast as I could to the Indian Consulate... it doesn't sound dramatic, but at the time we felt like we were completing some sort of travel challenge and it was very exciting!  We managed to complete all our tasks... apart from leaving Bangkok... we had to stay one extra night and go the next day, but we did at least buy the bus tickets... Unfortunately, at that point we also had to say goodbye to Mike... he has been a massive part of our travels in South East Asia, and he really will be missed... He has been a constant source of entertainment (and ridicule ;D) and I for one can't wait to see him again... but for now... the Thailand adventure continues!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233929940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233929940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233929940/tpod.html Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:54:47 -0400 The big one!

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Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Having spent about a month in the north of Thailand, we decided it was time to head south... so Tom, Mike and I took a night bus to Bangkok, arrived at 5a.m. and then got straight onto another bus to Kanchanaburi, about 3 hours away, which is famous for its Bridge over the river Kwai. As is customary with our little squad these days, we got mopeds almost immediately and spent a day ranting around the area to see exactly what it had to offer. First up was the famous bridge, which was built during the Second World War by Prisoners of War, and then bombed.  It is still standing, although not all of it is original, and you can take a pretty thrill-less train ride over it and back again... which we did!  It all made for a good start to the day though!!  Unfortunately as we were going over the bridge I saw a begging elephant chained up under the bridge that was pacing back and forth in distress... it broke my heart, especially after everything we learned at the elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai. Getting back on our bikes we decided to head to Tiger Temple... we had heard from some people we met at the elephant sanctuary that you could go here and stroke a tiger, that it was a bit of a personal experience and that the money was all going towards building "tiger island", where the tigers that had been rescued at the temple could roam free.  The temple itself is run by one monk who started by looking after one tiger, and it just grew from there. Unfortunately, this description wasn't entirely accurate... We got there and were ushered (with about 60 other people) to where a number of tigers were lying down, chained to the ground.  You could then queue up and wait to have your picture taken with one of them, but not touch them... and there were keepers around with Fanta bottles on a string that they were dangling in front of them, like over-grown house-cats.... Once you had had your picture taken near to a tiger, they were walked by the monk down to their 'play area' with 20 people at a time, each person taking it in turns to walk and stroke the tiger... so at any one time each tiger was absolutely surrounded by people.  Once they arrived at the play area, they were once again chained to the ground so that people could go up one-by-one with a keeper and have their picture taken stroking them, or if you paid extra, with a tiger head on your lap. I'm sure it's obvious by now that I didn't really enjoy this trip... and it shows in the photos - I'm trying to smile, but it's not really coming through... don't get me wrong, I was in absolute awe of these amazing animals and I really wanted to stroke them... but at the same time it felt wrong... they were out cold when we were all allowed to stroke them - we're told it's because they had just eaten which makes them groggy, but I am pretty dubious... does a tiger really sleep to heavily during the day that a person can walk up and stroke them and they don't react? I felt much better about having given my money to this place when I heard about the tiger island plan, but since I have also heard that they should have made enough money to finish it by now, but still say they need a lot more... so I don't know what to think... everyone likes a conspiracy theory, that's true, and I usually like to give the benfit of the doubt... but in this case something just doesn't seem right...  so my advice, if you really are an animal lover... don't go here... I just felt sad all day :( The rest of our time in Kanchanaburi was spent relaxing... reading a lot and then drinking around a sheesha on the street, courtesy of the lovely Sugar, who let anyone sit outside her place, as long as they chatted and sang along...! Our time in Kanchanaburi was pretty short lived though, as soon it was time to move on (with two new friends in tow) to Bangkok.... watch this space!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233730620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233730620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233730620/tpod.html Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:02:05 -0500 The big one!

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Chiang Mai, Thailand

So... ever since I can remember I have had a pretty serious love of elephants... I even wrote a book of poems when I was about 10 with the intention of selling it to raise money for elephant conservation charities... My marketing skills were somewhat lacking back then though ;)  Anyway.. you get the idea... I love elephants, so when the opportunity arose to go and visit the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, where they look after unwanted and orphaned elephants and give them as much freedom as they can... well, let's just say I was keen :) The lady that runs the park is called Lek, which is Thai for 'small' - and she is!  She is the daughter of a hill tribe shaman, and has adopted all the elephants in her park.  She started with one small baby that villagers found after the mother was killed and has gone on to adopt another 35, with the number still rising!   Lek is a woman on a mission to educate people about elephants in Thailand.  In the last century their numbers have declined by 95%.  In 1989 Thailand made logging illegal, so many working elephants were suddenly unemployed.  Some are now being used for street begging, a practice that is technically illegal in Thailand, but not enforced at all and often leads to the elephants being terrified on city streets or hit by cars.  More about that later... Anyway, we arrived at the park and I got my first look at the elephants and got pretty darned emotional immediately... they are so beautiful!!  Almost straight away we got to go and feed them, which was brilliant... having these incredibly gentle giants take a banana out of my hand with their massive trunks, which then curl up and reach their happy little mouths... (I say little, they're actually very big, but big happy mouths doesn't paint the right picture!)  We also got our first elephant kisses, which I found incredibly ticklish, wet and hoover-like!! When their lunch time was over, we had ours - a really great buffet style dinner... mmmm!!  Then we all got into our swimmers and gathered by the river to get up close and personal and bathe our big friends :)  Tom took a bucket and I took a scrubbing brush and we got in the river... each elephant has his or her own kwan (mahout in India) or elephant trainer, and they stay with the elephant and make sure that the visitors are safe.  It was amazing, I was standing in a river, scrubbing an Asian elephant while she flapped her trunk around... My only complaint is that it was over all too quickly, and I felt there were a few too many tourists crowding round each one... but they didn't seem to mind...  Unfortunately we didn't get any photos because we were too busy doing it!!!  As all the elephants were getting out of the water there was a chance to give them a little rub on the nose, get an elephant kiss and I even had a hat placed on my head by one happy girl! After that we all got up into a tower near the river and watched as a mother, aunty and baby came over for bath time... Whenever there is a baby elephant one other female from the herd becomes 'aunty' and helps the mother to protect it - they become inseparable.  At the sanctuary the 38 rescued elephants have formed three herds that all live together quite happily.  They are all very people-friendly, but when a baby comes into the equation it's a different story... then only the kwan are able to get anywhere near the little family unit, as the mother and aunty become fiercely protective.  So we stayed up in our tower and watched from a distance, which was fine by me :)  There were two mother-aunty-baby groups, with one 8 month old baby and one 6 month old and they were really playful and mischievous...!  One found a hose pipe on the ground, picked it up and wrapped his mum up in it - little scamp!! After that we had a session where we could ask questions about the elephants and also watch a documentary on elephant training practices in Thailand.  Earn, our guide, told us about some of the injuries the elephants have overcome - one female trod on a land mine in Burma, Max, the tallest elephant in Thailand, was hit by an 18 wheeler truck when his kwan was making him beg on the streets... those are just two very sad examples... The problem is that while wild elephants are protected in Thailand, working elephants have the same rights as cattle and livestock, despite being an endangered species, and as I said before, the laws that do protect them are rarely enforced.  Elephants take in the world around them using the vibrations from their feet, so being on a busy city street in Chiang Mai or Bangkok must be terrifying.  Their kwan offer tourists, who don't know any better, the chance to buy fruit from them and feed the elephant... this is a practice that the nature park is trying to stop. The documentary that we watched near the end of the day showed us the traditional methods used to train elephants in hill tribe villages, a practice that Lek is fighting to stop, despite being from such a village herself.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the house when we watched this part of the film - it's not so much training as it is breaking the spirit of an elephant - causing so much anguish and stress that they are just shells of their former selves.  I have seen elephants that have been trained like this pacing back and forth and you can see the marks on their heads where their kwan have hit them with a hook to let them know who's boss.  Lek's elephants have no marks on them, they are trained with positive reinforcement, the same way you might train a dog with little treats.  Remember, all kwan are not the same - some are good and use these gentle training methods, others are not.  I am pleased to say that all the elephants at the park looked happy and seemed to have a good relationship with their kwan, doing things like kissing tourists and putting hats on their heads because it was fun, and not because they were scared of what would happen if they didn't. After the documentary we went back down to the river to get another chance to bathe with our big friends, and then it was home time... What a day and what an experience.  I knew there were problems with elephants and I am really glad to have learned more on the day, as well as getting to help look after what are definitely the happiest looking elephants I've seen on my travels :)For anyone travelling to South East Asia and wanting to get close to elephants, this is definitely the best way, and here are the tips that they gave us - please pass them on!!- Don't support street begging - it may feel like you're helping a hungry elephant, but if the kwan keep making money they will keep abusing their elephants.  If they can't afford to keep them, they'll sell them, hopefully to someone like Lek :)- Don't buy art work done by elephants or support the shows - it sounds impressive, clever and harmless, but the training methods used to get an elephant to paint a picture are downright torturous - if they make no money, they'll stop doing it- Do go on elephant rides - elephants giving rides could have been given gentle training by one of the many kwan that really do love their elephantsAnd that pretty much concludes our time in Chiang Mai... :)More of my elephant photosTom's elephant photosTom's blog
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233571080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233571080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/you_know_zo/2/1233571080/tpod.html Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:21:36 -0500 The big one!

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Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai is a town absolutely bursting with things to do... you name it, it's here - Thai boxing, temples, hiking, hill tribes, cooking, language courses, yoga, meditation, quad biking, elephant trekking, tigers... and me and Tom being the get-up-and-go types we are want to do ALL of it... but we've had to pick and choose... here's part one of the Chiang Mai diary :) So our first night in Chiang Mai was a Sunday, which is lucky for us because every Sunday the area around our guesthouse turns into an amazing market and stretches along loads of streets and inside the city walls.  The stuff they sell on the stalls is all great - traditional and modern clothes, souvenirs, massages, but best of all - dirt cheap foot stalls where you can sample all the local food along with an Indian curry and kebab or two! On our second night we went to watch a Muay Thai boxing match... they are renowned for being pretty brutal, and this one was no exception... the first few rounds were fairly tame - they were kids and young women fighters.  I really didn't like seeing the kids fighting, but they seemed pretty pleased to be in the ring... then the big boys came on and it got serious.  We got there early so we were within spitting distance of the ring... which isn't necessarily a good thing for Muay Thai, but still!!  When the match was finished the ring was taken over by lady boys (for anyone that doesn't know... it's not rude, that's what they're called!!) miming to terrible songs... so we went out for a few drinks and went to Spicy - a club that had been recommended - I have no idea why, it was absolutely rank - bursting with Thai hookers and lady boys and old man westerners circling like vultures... then us dancing in the middle... we didn't stay long...!! Soon after that we headed off to Pai (see my last blog) but then came back to Chiang Mai on a Sunday again, so were able to enjoy the Sunday market and cheap eats again :)  This time, though, we had to shop for white clothes, because we were booked in to attend a meditation retreat at the International Buddhism Centre at Wat Doi Suthep, the famous temple on the hill - they say you haven't really been to Chiang Mai until you've visited it! So, fully armed with our white clothes, Tom, Mike and I set off for our retreat... Here are the rules in no particular order: - Wear nothing but white - No talking, particularly about your meditation practices - No reading, writing, phones, e-mail, etc. - No food after 12 noon - No more than 6 hours sleep We signed up for a week here... the idea is that you clear your mind of all distractions and learn Vipassana mediation, which is insight meditation, to bring you back to your centre and make you more aware of what's going on with you right now - no past, no future, only now. On a typical day, I got up between 4 and 5 a.m., meditated and made my way for breakfast at 7 a.m.  Then we had the Dhamma Talk at 8 a.m. where our teacher would tell us little stories with a moral and techniques for coping with the stresses of modern life.  Our teacher was brilliant and really funny... He became a monk when he was in his twenties and ended up walking from the north of Thailand to the south with another monk... Amazing! From 9 a.m. we were free to meditate and break as we pleased, until lunch at 11 a.m.  Then we were free again until 2.30 when we had our Report time, a one-on-one session with our teacher where we could tell him how we were doing with our meditation and ask any questions.  Then he would give us new techniques or allow us to extend the time that we meditated for.  We practiced two kinds of meditation - walking and sitting - I won't go into the details, but if you want to know, just ask! :) - basically for walking you focus on the foot that is moving, and for sitting you start with focusing on the front of your belly (which I think is a little bit cruel when you've been starved all day!!).  We started with 15 minutes of each, walking then sitting, and by the end were up to 25 minutes of each.  I usually did walking, sitting and then break for the same amount of time I had meditated for... and in my breaks I started stretching (because sitting in the lotus position all the time makes your back ache!), walking around the grounds (and getting VERY funny looks from tourists visiting) and playing with the puppies that lived there, who I named Maddie and Max... they were gorgeous and I totally fell in love with them! After report time we were free to meditate or break as we pleased.  I split my time between my room, the meditation hall and the garden, where if you happened to glance in you would see what looked like a scene from a mental asylum - lots of people dressed in white moving very, very slowly! I usually went to the temple at 6 p.m. to listen to the monks chanting, and started joining in.  It was really interesting to get involved with the Buddhist customs and learn about the etiquette, as I never knew what to do when I visited a temple and now I do!  I also found the chanting really soothing (and difficult!) and there was a chance near the end to meditate with the monks too. I found the whole experience really refreshing... it was hard for a day or two because it's very frustrating when you can't focus on the meditation - your mind plays tricks with you and things you haven't thought of for years will pop into your head - for example I remembered a car journey I took when I was 10 - really, really random stuff... and it can also get quite distressing... and I kept imagining the things I was saying in my head in different voices - often that of a Dalek, which was most distracting!!  But as the week went on it got easier and easier and actually pleasurable, to the point where I was jumping out of bed to meditate... I don't think that level of enthusiasm will last forever, but I do hope it stays with me and I can use the things I learned every day, because I came out of it a much happier person :) On one of the days we were taken out to buy some food for the monks, and the next day we lined up at 6.45 a.m. to present them with the alms food.  They came past us one by one and let us drop our offerings into their baskets - as a woman I am not allowed to pass anything directly to a monk or touch them or their clothing...  I had no idea it was going to be a line-up situation, I thought it would be more like a 'monk buffet' and had two big packs of biscuits, so I had to carefully select which monks I gave my goodies to... haha... :) The grounds of the temple are absolutely beautiful and even though we weren't supposed to talk very much, Tom, Mike and I would usually meet at the look out point at night to soak in the view of the city by night, watch the planes coming in and drink hot chocolate (which amounted to our dinner!).  It really was one of the most spectacular city views I've ever seen. On one of the nights I went looking around the temple when it was really quiet and took some photos... It really is a beautiful temple with so much gold. Our rooms were set back from the temple near the monk's living area.  The rooms were pretty big but sparse, with a foam mattress on a white tile floor and not much else... I assumed all the things we had to distract us would be locked away - like books, phones, etc. but I was wrong - they sat in the corner tempting me for a week... but I'm pleased to say that I didn't give in!! I had plenty of visitors to my room as well - one night I was sitting down to meditate when out of the corner of my eye I saw a gigantic (about the size of my palm) spider lower itself down from the curtain onto the floor... I grabbed a cup, trapped him, slid card under and was making my way to the door when he got through a little gap and ran across the card, causing me to throw the cup (which fortunately was plastic) and the card and scream a little... not ideal at a silent retreat... Tom came running out all worried... I interrupted his meditation... oops!   I also found two spiders on my first night in the corridor - one above the door to the outside - Harry - and one above my door - Henry - and these two spiders moved no more than 2 inches the whole time we were there!!  Then one night I discovered a third - Howard - who every now and again lowered himself from the ceiling right in the middle of the corridor, just to catch me out! After our week was up we said a big thank you to the monks that had looked after us and made our way back down to Chiang Mai, where Tom and I spent a LOT of time on the internet and booked ourselves in for the Elephant Nature Park... tune in next time to read all about it!! More of my photos Tom's photosAnd for a different perspective - check out Tom's blog
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