Wrapping Up!!!
Trip Start
Aug 28, 2005
1
37
Trip End
Dec 10, 2005
London,
United Kingdom
Monday, December 19, 2005
Well what a wicked 3 and a bit months on the beaten backpacker tracks of Asia. We have seen some awesome countries, done some wicked things, met lots of great people, eaten way too much tasty food and washed it down with possibly too many cold beers and the odd bucket of whisky. All in all a jolly successful ticky tour plus I still have my 2 travel mates, Jo and Pie and I still have Dan!
For those who know me well you know that food is my passion. The Thai's are still top of my list of Asian food with outstanding meals where ever we ate be it the side of the road or a restaurant. I am now a big big fan on Vietnamese food and hope to rattle up some good recipes to make at home. Like the Thai, their food is incrediably fresh tasting with lots of seafood. Hotpots were one of my favs from Vietnam. I prefer Indian food out of India probably due to my 2 food poisoning bouts in the 1st week and a half but we did get hooked on the Thali dish for lunches and im still a fan of chicken tikka and chicken tikka masala. Lao food is Lao-sy and not so tasty and the Cambodians do a fab Khmur curry. My biggest memories for Nepalese food is from the trek and it was very 'same same, but different' at all the huts - Dalbaht, potatoes, pasta, veges and yak cheese. We were adventurus and tried fried crickets in Bangkok, chicken feet in Laos, unidentified 'meat' in Laos and sea snails and frogs in Vietnam. I must say that they were all tasty except the chicken feet - those toes really are chewy! Best beer award goes to Beer Lao the only beer available in Lao yet has won international awards - great stuff and cheap cheap. The cheapest beer goes to Beer Hoi in Vietnam for only 10cents a mug!
Sad it is all over but we have loads of great photos and memories. On the flipside, I really am glad to put that damm backpack down for a while. It really is restrictive on ones shopping expeditions! Fav purchase (this really is a toughy!) is either a stone jewellery box from Lao or the ring I got made in India.
Its hard to decide what was the number 1 highlight of the travels as we have seen and done so much cool stuff! Some highlights that stick out in my mind are seeing the Angkor Wat, Thai cooking course in Chiang Mai, Chilling out in Luang Prabang in Lao, going to a festival in a small Lao village and partying with the locals, the water puppet show in Hanoi in Vietnam, overnight boat trip to Halong Bay in Vietnam, shopping in Hoi An in Vietnam, the cu chi tunnels tour out of Saigon, staying in a 4 star hotel in Bangkok when we met Dans parents after 1.5 months of cheap backpackers, nearly 4 weeks of eating Thai food everyday, lazing on the tropical island of Koh Samui, the Langtang trek we did in the Himalayas, leaving Delhi (both times!), staying in the Jaisalmer Fort, visiting the Ranakpur Jain temple out of Udaipur, shopping in India and of corse seeing the Taj Mahal!
What I will miss: cheap and tasty Thai and Vietnamese foods, tropical beaches, warm weather, no schedules, not having to do dishes/washing/cleaning, the cool people we met, going to a new exciting place ever wee while, trying the local cuisines, meeting friendly locals, cheap and exciting shopping, bargaining, every day being a weekend, geckos
What I am not going to miss: my backpack, squat loos, hard beds, cold showers, rats/roaches/dung beetles/spiders in the bedroom, food poisoning, ugly and very uncool rain ponchos, bad omelettes, rude locals trying to rip you off, pushy tuktuk/rickshaw/cyclo drivers, mangy animals, riding camels, sneakers, feeling dirty all day.
What I am looking forward to: no backpack, western loos, good western food, the supermarket, seeing good friends, cooking my own meals, staying clean for more than 5 mins, wearing high heels/dangly earrings/makeup, taking the tube, planning our next holiday!
Well its great to be back in the Western world after nearly 2 years in Asia. There was a little bit of culture shock in the first couple of days but we have got the hang of it now. London has got a cool vibe to it and it feels like home already. We have spent the week catching up with Family and Friends which has been awesome! Have started the dreaded job hunt in which Dans had 2 interviews and I got a job! A successful start for both of us. I start up on the 29th of December which will be a huge shock to the system as it has been over 4 months since I quit my easy pesy 5.5 hour a day Japanese job and will be starting a new area for me in Paediatrics or a kiddies dietitian! EEK but should be fun. We are still dossing on my mate Bin's fold out bed in their lounge but will start looking for a place of our own in the New Year. London has surprised us and has been blue skies and sunshine almost all week! Far from 25+ degrees though and is jolly freezing!!! At lease its not drizzling and grey as I was expecting. No sightseeing yet but have booked in a couple of days after Christmas and before I start work to visit the Queen etc.
More good news is that we are off again on the 19th up to Scotland for a week and celebrating Christmas with Dans sister, her Scottish boyfriend Gregor and his family. Fingers crossed for a white Christmas!
For now it is back to the drawing board! That travel bug is still charging inside us and now we have Europe so so close! Ill keep you posted...................
