Recently in diary Category

At Last!!!

Hazel and I have booked onto Mountain Kingdoms' Three High Passes to Everest trek, with an extension to walk in from Shivalaya to Namche Bazaar - partly motivated by giving ourselves that opportunity for training/acclimatisation (I'm sure that helped us on the Annapurna Circuit) and partly (on my part) to avoid the scary flight into Lukla! We have to fly out, but I think landing there is meant to be worse....

Itinerary

DAY 01: Depart London (24m/79ft).
DAY 02: Arrive Kathmandu (काठमांडौ, 1,400m/4,593ft). Transfer to hotel.
DAY 03: Drive to Jiri (जिरी, 1,905m/6,250ft) and on to Shivalaya.
DAY 04: Trek to Bhandar.
DAY 05: Trek to Sete.
DAY 06: Trek to Junbesi.
DAY 07: Trek to Traksingo.
DAY 08: Trek to Kharikhola (2,069m/6,789ft).
DAY 09: Trek to Surke.
DAY 10: Trek to Phakding.
DAY 11: Trek to Namche Bazaar (नाम्चे बजार, 3,440m/11,286ft). Meet the group.
DAY 12: Acclimatise in Namche. Views of Everest and option of visiting Everest View Hotel.
DAY 13: Trek to Thame.
DAY 14: Acclimatisation day in Thame.
DAY 15: Trek to Lungden.
DAY 16: Acclimatisation in Lungden.
DAY 17: Trek to Gokyo (4,790m/15,720ft) over Renjo La.
DAY 18: Rest day in Gokyo (4,790m/15,720ft)/Gokyo Ri (5,357m/17,575ft).
DAY 19: Trek to Dragnak.
DAY 20: Cross Cho La (5,420 m/17,782ft) and descend to Dzongla.
DAY 21: Trek to Lobuche.
DAY 22: Trek to Kala Pattar (5,545m/18,192ft). Descend to Lobuche.
DAY 23: Rest day at Lobuche.
DAY 24: Trek to Chukhung (4,730m/15,518ft) via the Kongma La.
DAY 25: Trek to Pangboche.
DAY 26: Trek to Namche Bazaar (नाम्चे बजार, 3,440m/11,286ft).
DAY 27: Trek to Lukla (2,860m/9,383ft).
DAY 28: Fly to Kathmandu. Overnight Hotel.
DAY 29: Half day sightseeing in KTM, rest of day at leisure.
DAY 30: Fly to London Heathrow (25m/83ft).

Tomorrow, a trip to Cotswold Outdoors in Spitalfields to stock up on trek boots and thermals!

We're reusing our kit bags from the Annapurna Circuit trek we did with Mountain Kingdoms in 2009, so they're sending us a free microfleece each instead of the complimentary kit bag. Thumbs up for Mountain Kingdoms customer service.

I'm back from fortnight away, combining a week's walking holiday along the Croatian coast (with Hazel and Cat) with a visit to Phil's friends Michael and Katja in Berlin, topped off with a few days in Paris on the way back to London. Two very different weeks.

Croatia was fantastic: excellent day hikes, stunning scenery, fab food, a fun group and a great guide - Edo - courtesy of Exodus' Croatia: Islands & Mountains trip. Berlin started off rather damp, but got better once the weather did, and Michael - our Man In Berlin - provided two fascinating guided tours, of Berlin and Potsdam. Paris was, well, Paris! Expensive with the Euro:Pound exchange rate though, and checking in at the Gare du Nord on Sunday for the Eurostar to London was hellish. I'd be tempted to fly next time - seriously.

Here's the super summary:

• Sunday 26 June - Sunday 03 July 2011: Croatia - Exodus' Croatia: Islands & Mountains trip
• Sunday 03 July 2011: Split to Berlin: Germanwings (Split-Köln-Bonn)
• Sunday 03 - Wednesday 06 July 2011: Berlin - DIY, staying with Michael and Katja
• Wednesday 06 - Thursday 07 July 2011: Berlin - Paris on Deutsche Bahn's City Night Line sleeper train (the Man in Seat 61 comes up trumps yet again)
• Thursday 07 - Sunday 10 July 2011: Paris - DIY, staying at L'Hôtel des Grandes Ecoles
• Sunday 10 July 2011: Paris - London via Eurostar.

... and here are the photos* and memories ...

Sunday 26 June 2011: Fly Croatian Airlines from London to Zagreb and transfer to island of Krk (photos)

We spent the first 3 days of our fabulous Croatia: Islands & Mountains trip based at the eponymous Hotel Krk on the island of Krk, a short stroll along the seafront from Krk old town.

Day 1 was the getting-there day. Cat and I rendezvoused with Hazel at LHR T3 and took Croatian Airlines flight OU 491 to Zagreb. At small scale Zagreb airport we were met by our Croatian walking guide and all round expert, Edo-The-Man-Vričić, and said hello to fellow walkers Lina, Paul and Helen. The minibus to Krk town took two and half-ish hours, but en route we passed through forests and mountains before hitting the coast and crossing the amazing Krk bridge onto the island itself. All stunning.

After a drink and info session with a beer on the shady terrace of the Vila Lovorka, our part of the Hotel Krk complex, we walked along the waterfront into the old town to get our bearings and for dinner al fresco and another beer or two....

Monday 27 June 2011: Obzova Peak ridge walk, Krk (photos)

Day 2 - and our first walk: a short climb to Veli vrh peak (541m) then along the windy, rocky ridge to Obzova peak, the highest point on Krk at 569m. We dropped down to Zminja peak (537m) and then down and back up to Veli Hlam (482m) before our final descent back down to sea level and the resort town of Baška.

Our day started with a minibus drive along the coast via Krk's out of town Konsum supermarket (I love mooching around other countries' supermarkets...) for lunch supplies, then on around sheltered Puntarska Draga bay - home to a marina and suspended wire water skiing centre, plus the circular island of Košljun, which hides a Franciscan monastery founded centuries ago.

We parted company with the minibus up in the hills above Punat, which meant the minibus had done a chunk of the day's climb for us. As we slapped on the sunscreen we caught sight of a team of farmers shearing sheep in the shade of the trees; Edo told us that usually they just throw away the fleeces because there's no market for them - the shearing is simply to keep the sheep cool - but that this year someone's provided a skip to collect them.

As we walked we got fantastic views back towards Krk town and its neighbouring island of Cres (closing in on Krk for the title of Croatia's largest island, as sea levels rise), of to the moon plateau (tomorrow's destination) on our left, and more islands on our right. Ahead of us we could see the Velebit mountain range over on the mainland and Goli Otok (Nude / Naked island - there's not a tree to be seen), where political prisoners were incarcerated in a hard labour quarry camp until as recently as 1988.

Beautiful flora and fauna too - wild flowers, metallic green flying beetles and grasshoppers galore.... and the strange white stone circles proved to be sheep pens.

A little after Veli Hlam a steep zig zag descent brought us back into welcome pine tree cover and we lunched in the shade before strolling along a quiet island road and into bustling Baška.

After a cold drink at a seafront bar, a paddle in the clear blue waters of Baška bay (proving that we Brits aren't very good with pebbly beaches) it was back in the minibus to Hotel Krk to dump our stuff and head out for a swim in the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic. Beautiful. And for Mary, Hazel, Cat and Lina, an aperitif of beer and crisps in our hotel suite...

Dinner in Krk town at a lovely waterfront restaurant over by the Bishops Palace and the harbour, then back through the old town - armed with magnificent ice creams.

A fab first day for the simple-photo-laughter-grasshopper group!

Tuesday 28 June 2011: Hike up to the Moon Plateau and down back to Baška, afternoon/evening in Krk Town and celebrating Lina's birthday! (photos)

After another of the Hotel Krk's spoilt-for-choice buffet breakfasts, and a better-prepared stop at Konsum for picnic lunch supplies, we headed off back along the Baška road to the hamlet of Jurandvor. After a bit of background and history at Crkva svete Lucije (St Lucy's church), which is famous for being the original home of the Baška Tablet, we followed Edo through the village outskirts, fields and orchards and up an old track and the start of the walk up to the Planina Mjeseca - aka the Moon Plateau - and the high point of Hlam (461m). Much more of a slog up than yesterday (no minibus assisted ascent today!), but we were walking in pine forest shade for large parts of the way up and down.

Up on the limestone plateau it was a very stark lunar landscape, with more stone enclosures and walls and plenty of flowers, grasshoppers and beetles to keep me happy. We loitered over a lovely picnic lunch in the shade of the pine trees soaking up the beautiful views out over the bay and over towards where we'd been yesterday, before a surprisingly speedy descent into Baška by way of its old yellow church and winding up at the old town harbour and promenade - the perfect location for a drink followed by a sea level stroll.

Back in Krk we succumbed to a dip in the blue waters of the Adriatic, and then went for a stroll around the old town to take photos of the Frankopan castle, the Bishops' Residence, Krk Cathedral and Kamplin square. After a wash and brush up, we all gathered at the Titanic boat bar to start the evening's celebration of Lina's birthday with a bottle or two of Ožujsko beer, followed by homemade pasta (šurlice - Krk's speciality) at a very civilised rooftop restaurant - complete with a fantastic surprise birthday cake organised by Edo.

Having cleared the chill out bar on the rocks at the foot of Frankopan castle, Hazel and I decided it was time to head back to the hotel to pack, leaving Lina and Cat to their Ivan and Luka encounter.....

Wednesday 29 June 2011: Drive to Senj and up into Northern Velebit National Park. Walk to Zavižan mountain hut, on to the Velebit Botanical Garden and up Veliki Zavižan (1676m). Sunset over the islands (photos)

Day 4, and time to say farewell to lovely Krk. Hazel and I took an early morning stroll back to the Titanic Bar spit for some photos from the water front. Total tranquility. Breakfast and then off in the minibus back to Krčki most (Krk bridge) and the mainland. The drive down the Jadranska magistrala coast road was fabulous, and after stocking up with supplies in Senj, we turned inland and zig zagged up into the Velebit mountains.

At the entrance to Northern Velebit National Park we said farewell to the minibus (which took our bags on up to Zavižan), donned boots and day packs and headed off into the Park's forests and high mountain meadows. A lovely walk - lots of flowers - brought us to Zavižan (1597m). From the mountain hut there are fabulous views out over the mountains and forests of Velebit and back out over the coast to the islands and the Adriatic.

After lunch, and a taste of the warden's rakia, Edo led The Ladies down to the Botanical Gardens - a bowl-shaped depression (technically a sink hole or - given the karst terrain - a doline) where examples of Velebit flora have been gathered together, with many also labelled. I had a field day. Part way round the Gardens, we turned left and climbed through the woods and on up through the scrub pines to the peak of Veliki Zavižan (Great Zavižan) at 1676m. A steep climb, and worth it for the views. Edo got his "this is why I love my job" photo; and in honour of *that* Mamma Mia evening, Hazel, Cat and I did our interpretation of Abba's Waterloo.

Back at the mountain hut, we sampled a bottle of two of the Velebit range of beers before mucking in to make salad, chop cheese and generally prepare for dinner. In between starters (Tomato-cucumber-pepper salad, bread, Krk goats cheese) and mains (bean stew and sausage), we took ourselves up the small hill opposite and watched the sunset over the islands - beautiful. Back for beans, then bed.

Thursday 30 June 2011: Premuziceva Trail from Zavižan to Alan mountain hut; transfer to Karlobag (photos)

We woke to low cloud and rain! What a shock to the system. Not a mountain peak or distant island to be seen.

A tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs (so yellow!!) perked us up and donning waterproofs we bid farewell to Zavižan and headed off downhill to the start of the Premuziceva Trail (Premužićeva staza). Built in 1933, the trail takes you through the heart of the Northern Velebit National Park, remote and protected, with beautiful wild flowers every step of the way, and weird and wonderful water carved limestone rocks interspersed with spruce and beech forests. The Croatian National Tourist Board's Premuziceva Trail pages provide an excellent account of the route as well as the history of the trail.

We lunched in Rossi's hut, which looked like it was undergoing a spot of renovation, but at least it provided shelter from the rain. The afternoon leg of the trail included some steep descents and stretches through forests and long grass alpine meadows, eventually bringing us to the Alan mountain hut.

After changing out of wet boots (this was the day I decided my new Merrell Outbounds were Definitely Going Back), we met our new minibus and driver who ferried us down the switchback road leaving the Velebit mountains behind us and continuing south along the Jadranska magistrala coast road to Karlobag.

After checking in at the Hotel Zagreb, and luxuriating in the power showers of our newly refurbished block, Lina, Hazel, Cat and I headed off to explore Karlobag and - most importantly - to find coffee and cake, which we did with great success. We returned to the old town/village for dinner, in a lovely restaurant tucked away on a first floor terrace overlooking a courtyard. Everyone ate well, and we could hardly refuse the buy-one-get-one-free offer on the litre carafes of local white wine...

Friday 01 July 2011: A circular walk via the three valleys of Crni Dabar, Ravni Dabar and Dosen Dabar; then on to Starigrad-Paklenica for the night (photos)

Today's walk started with in another stretch of the Premuziceva Trail (Premužićeva staza), through woods and meadows before rejoining the tarmac, where we turned off left towards the sea views, and more exposed and water carved karst. Climbing up through woods, we emerged into a clearing with the remains of a house where we stopped for a break and butterfly photos before climbing up to Visibaba peak (1160m) for superb 360^o views - out to the sea and the islands on one side and of the famous kuks (hips) of the Velebit mountains.

Retracing our steps to the abandoned house, we continued on through forest and across meadows with paths of leaves and paths of karst, and after a thankfully-not-too-close wild boar encounter we arrived at the Ravni dabar mountain hut, and the end of the (almost) circular walk through the three valleys of Crni Dabar, Ravni Dabar and Dosen Dabar (I'm afraid I couldn't tell one from the other...).

Today's lunch came courtesy of the warden, who had prepared two huge cauldrons of local speciality stew for us, plus bread and beers on the side (Velebit beer, of course....).

Replete, we drove back out to the coast and on to Starigrad-Paklenica which stretches along the Jadranska magistrala for a few miles.

We were staying the Hotel Rajna, a small family hotel with views out over the Velebit channel to the island of Pag, and of olive groves and the ruined Venetian watch tower/fortress on this side of the water.

In the still hot late afternoon sun, Hazel, Cat, Lina and I walked out to the pebbly beach but our attempts to swim in the calm waters of the Velebit channel were foiled by shallow water and sensitive feet.... Leaving the others to head back to base, I pottered on round to the ruin and read for a while. Lovely.

Back at the hotel, we gathered for a home-cooked dinner on the terrace. Another lovely evening.

Saturday 02 July 2011: Gorgeous gorge walks in Velika Paklenica N.P., the off to Trogir for our final evening together (photos)

The final real day of the trip :( But at least the sun was shining for our walk in Velika Paklenica N.P., at the southern end of the Velebit mountains.

The Hotel Rajna's owner gave us a lift in his Land Rover to the start of today's trek - the end of the tarmac road at the edge of Starigrad-Paklenica.

Even with that helping hand, today's walk was hardest of the trip (of course!), a long slog climbing up through the trees to the site of the atmospheric Mirila graves, then upwards again to the col and our last views of the sea.

An undulating path brought us to the abandoned houses of Tomici Village - some of which are being restored with a view to eco tourism/"getting away from it all". Surrounded by Velebit's limestone karst and low trees and shrubs we undulated onwards to Vidokov kuk, and thence to Ramići village where we zigzagged steeply down to the river in Velika (Big) Paklenica gorge, which we followed north to the cafe at Lugarnica - a great place for our final picnic lunch.

The paved path through Velika Paklenica made for an easy stroll back to our walk's end - allowing ample opportunity to admire the rock climbers making their way up what looked like sheer rock faces.

Back in the minibus for our penultimate transfer - speeding along the motorway to Trogir. The whole of the old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it provided a very different place to spend our final evening: staying in an old hotel inside the town walls, eating in its courtyard restaurant, and treating ourselves to One Last Ice cream as we toured the town sights for a final time: the Cathedral church of St. Lawrence, the Kamerlengo Castle. A place to come back to.

Sunday 03 July 2011: Goodbye simple-photo-laughter-grasshopper group. Gutenabend Berlin (no photos!)

The final day of the trip started with a very early morning transfer to Split airport to catch the 06:45 Croatian Airlines flight to Zagreb Airport and on to LHR. We'd said our farewells to Paul and Helen last night, so at the airport it was time to say goodbye to Edo, and for me to wish Lina, Cat and Hazel bon voyage back to Blighty, and then to wait until my Germanwings flight to Köln/ Bonn and an early afternoon onwards flight to Berlin Schönefeld.

A long day of airports. It was grey and cold in Köln/ Bonn; rainy and colder in Berlin. I'd left Split bathed in hot summer sun.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing on the S9 and S3/S75 train lines, I arrived at the Hauptbahnhof with half an hour to spare before Phil's train from Munich was due to arrive. It was all a bit weird to see Phil, plus Michael and Katja appear .... and to actually be in Berlin.

Monday 04 July 2011: Berlin in the rain (photos)

A wet and overcast first full day in Berlin dampened our first impressions of the city somewhat....

We spent the day out and about, exploring on foot, walking from Michael and Katja's to the river and Museum Island, on to Alexanderplatz, following the skyline to find our way to key sights.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Island
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampelm%C3%A4nnchen
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexanderplatz
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernsehturm_Berlin
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_clock
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Synagogue_%28Berlin%29

Tuesday 05 July 2011: Berlin in the sun (photos)

A sunnier day all round!

Michael - Our Man in Berlin - spent his morning showing us the sights, on a personal guided tour - fascinating.

After lunch with Matt Biddulph close to Checkpoint Charlie, we meandered through the Tiergarten and back along the other side of the Spree, soaking up the sun and reading for a spell before walking back for dinner with Michale, Katja and Soeren.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundestag
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_building
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unter_den_Linden
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_War_Memorial_%28Tiergarten%29
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pariser_Platz
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Eu...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler%27s_bunker
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkpoint_Charlie
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiergarten

Wednesday 06 July 2011: Potsdam tour with Michael, catch a final beer and the sleeper train to Paris (photos)

A scorcher of a day out of Berlin, taking another great walking tour courtesy of Michael - this time out and about in Potsdam. My favourite bit? The Glienicke Bridge - top Cold War spy swop spot.

Back to Berlin Hauptbahnhof to rendezvous with Katja for farewell beer, and then the DB City Night Line sleeper train to Paris.

Thursday 07 - Sunday 10 July 2011: Paris (photos)

Staying at the delightful L'Hôtel des Grandes Ecoles near the Sorbonne, a final few days pottering around Paris.

Highlight: Albert-Kahn musée et jardins.

Lowlight: Checking in at the Gare du Nord for the Eurostar back to London. Chaos, and no one cared.

* For the full set of photos on Flickr, visit Croatia - Berlin - Paris, June/July 2011.

After a couple of extra hours at work this morning, I headed out to catch a couple of photography/film events:

• Persia: Paradise Lost, an exhibition of Georg Gerster's aerial photographs of Iran on show at the Wilmotte Gallery at Lichfield Studios
• Reel London: Are the streets all paved with gold? Archive films of the Square Mile of the City of London at the London Metropolitan Archives

Persia: Paradise Lost

... was stunning. A small selection of Georg Gerster's aerial shots of late 1970s Iran, enlarged to poster size. Beautiful images, an amazing backstory.

In case the blurb on Tristan Hoare's website disappears, I've reproduced it here, and added in some wikipedia links:

Between April 1976 and May 1978 Swiss-born, pioneer of aerial photography Georg Gerster spent over 300 hours crouched at the back of a twin-engine light aircraft above Iran. Accompanying him wherever he went was Dr Dietrich Huff, a distinguished archaeologist and an expert on Iran. Dr Huff would sit at the front while Georg would sit behind him next to a gaping hole where the cargo door should have been, pointing his Nikon camera down to the ground below.

'There was no sensible way of conversing with my archaeological guide in the cockpit - trying to shout over the noise coming through the open doorway was no use. So the captain would simply switch off the engines. Thankfully the Islander, with its broad wings, can somewhat glide for a while.'

Commissioned by Empress Farah herself, Gerster's expeditions have provided a unique record of the Persia's amazingly diverse landscapes and of its most significant archaeological sites. We fly over mountains, deserts, gardens, lakes, salt plains, seas and cities. We fly over the spectacular site of Takht-e Soleyman in the north east, where newly anointed kings would make a pilgrimage to humble themselves at the holy fire; we fly over Sistan, a place of legends where Rostam, the hero of the Book of Kings, is said to have been born - in this image the shifting sands look likely to cover the city again; south of Tehran, we pass a camel caravan on the way to the ancient Zoroastrian heartland of Kerman, later famed for its silk and visited by Marco Polo in the 13th century.

Gerster's stunning images have captured the amazing and varied beauty of Persia. They create a sense of wonder at the scale and magnificence of the country and highlight the relationship between man and land - men shape nature but are also shaped by it.

Somehow the higher perspective conjures up a timeless world with the wind as only companion, and gives the viewer a rare opportunity to contemplate civilisation from a different angle. 'Altitude', said Gerster, 'provides overview, overview provides insight, while insight eventually, I hope, leads to respect and consideration.

I'm glad I made the effort to catch the exhibition, which closes today; the photos of Takht-e Soleyman and Sistan in particular have convinced me of the need to pay Iran another visit.

Reel London

Taking the Hammersmith & City line back east from W10, I made for the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell. Their woefully advertised Reel London series has been vicariously touring London using footage from the archives.

Compared to Barbi-topia, which Phil and I went to see last year, Reel London: Are the streets all paved with gold? Archive films of the Square Mile of the City of London was rather amateur in organisation, but served up a great collection of documentaries and promotional films providing "... a look at the City of London over the decades from Tower Bridge to the Bank of England, Mansion House, Guildhall, the Barbican and many other famous City buildings and streets."

In between, lunch in sunny Spa Fields (a hidden gem!), tucking into a veggie salad box from Seed's stall in Exmouth Market. Marvellous.

Next Friday Focus

The Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition¹ at the Royal Geographical Society, and a screening of Khyber² at the British Museum.

1. inspired by the Travel Photographer of the Year slideshow on the BBC News website and the Guardian's Travel Photographer of the Year - in pictures
2. part of the BM's Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World exhibition, "...[t]his film looks at the history of Afghanistan up to the Soviet invasion in 1979 from the perspectives of both British and Pashtun, with fascinating parallels to today's conflict. Introduced by director André Singer."

A tweet from a friend based in San Francisco sent me looking for photography exhibitions on in London at the moment, and the Guardian's Photography pages revealed the following gems:

• Persia: Paradise Lost, an exhibition of Georg Gerster's aerial photographs of Iran - Wilmotte Gallery at Lichfield Studios, London W10 (ends 20 May 2011) (Guardian article: Photographer Georg Gerster's best shot)
• Sony World Photography Awards 2011 winners - Somerset House (ends 22 May 2011)
• Hoppé Portraits: Society, Studio and Street - National Portrait Galley (ends 30 May 2011)

... plus a couple of relatively local exhibitions about London for later in the summer:

• This is Whitechapel - the Whitechapel Gallery (ends 04 September 2011)
• London Street Photography - the Museum of London (ends 04 September 2011)

Running at the British Museum until 17 July 2011, Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World combines the travelling collection of exhibits miraculously saved by the National Museum in Kabul with artifacts and analysis from the British Museum.

My visit was made all the better by attending the curator's introduction (the joy of being able to go to weekday events); St John Simpson provided context to the exhibition before homing in on a small number of exhibits representing four key sites: the bonze age gold and silver vessels found at Tepe Fullol, the Hellenistic city of Ai Khanum, the stunning hidden storerooms at Begram (aka Bagram) and the super high status nomadic burial mound at Tillya Tepe.

As St John Simpson says in Showing Treasures on the British Museum blog:

In the exhibition title we describe Afghanistan as the crossroads of the ancient world and I think that the 200 objects spanning 3,000 years will show exactly why that's an appropriate description.

Its geographical position, on the edge of central Asia with India and China beyond to the east and Iran, the Middle East and the numerous cultures of the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe to the west, it was criss-crossed by ancient trade routes. In many ways then as now it was a hub and meeting place for diverse cultures and neighbours, both near and distant, over thousands of years.

In the modern world it's all too easy to think of Afghanistan solely as a place of conflict - and indeed the objects that will feature in the exhibition tell that story as well - but taking the long view we can see in the rich materials and ornate craftsmanship of these objects a far broader story.

The Afghanistan portrayed in this exhibition feels a million miles away from the land of the Taliban and the Surge, and has whetted my appetite for the Wild Frontiers trips to Afghanistan...

But before then, I'll be heading up to Oxford to visit the Ashmolean's exhibition Heracles to Alexander the Great - as mentioned by one of the audience at the talk (what's the equivalent of name dropping for events?) - to see treasures from the the royal burial tombs and the palace of Aegae, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedon in northern Greece.

Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World - signage on the steps of the British Museum

Just back from a lovely long weekend at dad and Jean's, for the annual birthday party at Forty Acres.

Taking the train out on Friday afternoon meant we arrived in time for tea. In fact, we arrived with plenty of time for pre dinner drinks, dad-style.... with TJBR joining us around 7/8pm and driving on the the cottage after dinner.

Saturday featured the usual familiar faces, and a stroll to The Neville Arms *, but sadly no sign of Buster. The weather today has been gorgeous, and we had aperitifs while reading the papers and soaking up the sun just outside the porch.

The Newport route home was its usual depressing experience - all the more so as our Arriva Trains Wales 2 coacher got shunted into a siding which meant we missed our connection. All accompanied by a glorious sunset.

* You know, I didn't expect them to have a website!

My first foray into putting my photos online was using fotopic - enough of an early adopter to get mary.fotopic.net, and between 2002 and 2005 I created many a collection on sparklytrainers.fotopic.net, before being lured away to Flickr.

Periodically I've put "migrate fotopic to flickr" onto my to do list... and with Friday's having become a non working day I felt inspired to invest the time and effort into recreating my fotopic collections as Flickr sets.

So today I sat down to start the task.... only to find that fotopic appears to have disappeared, without warning and (initially) without trace:

Phil pointed me in the direction of a Google Group, but having joined it seems to be more of a shouting shop than anything more constructive.

So I've resorted to a Loosemore bodge, using the wondrous Wayback Machine from The Internet Archive, to track down their copy of mary.fotopic.net:

I've then copied/pasted the data into a simple text file:

which I then use to profile freshly uploaded photo files on Flickr:

Luckily, I've always kept the file name as part of the photo profile, and the files are organised into event folders, dated and grouped by year on my computer, so recreating the collection hasn't proved to difficult, just time consuming.

Today, I've reincarnated Intrepid Cambodia - December 2002 (formerly http://mary.fotopic.net/) on Flickr. Next week I'll see what echoes remain on the Wayback Machine of my much larger collection that was at sparklytrainers.fotopic.net

Just back from a relaxing weekend staying with Cat in Saltaire. A very civilised train journey up to Leeds, with M&S refreshments serving as a much envied dinner.

As anticipated, Saturday evening featured wine, takeaway and in lieu of Any Dream Will Do we sangalonga Mammia Mia.

Plans for a Sunday stroll in the great outdoors were foiled by laziness and the inclement weather. I was introduced to the wonders of Dinner Date and Jamie's 30 minute meals....

Phil and I made the most of a Saturday evening birthday gathering to spend a weekend by the seaside (Brighton!), staying in the lovely Brighton House hotel (free help yourself cake in the hallway for guests - does it get much better?!).

We pottered around town (shopping and sightseeing) on Saturday, took a leisurely late lunch at the fabulous Bill's, celebrated Anno's birthday at Cafe Koba into the wee small hours....

Beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine made for a glorious Sunday stroll along the seafront.

Brighton House hotel, Brighton

Just back from a lovely weekend in West Oxfordshire with Phil. He'd bought me a 'Driving Experience' voucher for my birthday, and I finally got around to working out what and where: a half day 4x4 off roading in a Landrover Discovery courtesy of Vision Motor Sport, which I did this Saturday afternoon.

We stayed at The Falkland Arms in Great Tew, a fantastic pub with a great range of beers, whiskey and fruit liqueurs - and only half an hour's walk from Vision Motor Sport's site, deep in the countryside of West Oxfordshire. We walked off this morning's vast fried breakfast doing a walk around Great Tew Estate, admiring the repairs to the dry stone walling and the beautiful views under gorgeous blue skies and warm sunshine. After strolling on via Little Tew, it was back to The Falkland Arms for a pub lunch, two more halves of Wadworth's Horizon and then back to Charlbury train station with Mick from the excellent Ambassador Taxis.

The Falkland Arms, Great Tew

My 2.5 days left of 2010's holiday allowance were burning a hole in my work diary pockets, and when Phil and I pondered a visit up to see Sue it made sense to use them up on a long weekend - more time and lower train fares. So we're all booked - train tickets courtesy of East Coast, and accommodation with Premier Inn Edinburgh (Leith).

Current plans include the Christmas markets, Sunday out at Portabello, a sunny day trip to St Andrews for a nostalgia-fest on my part and - hopefully - catching up with Emma. Oh, and a pint of 80/- on arrival.

Hazel and I took the train to Pershore to join Fi and family in celebrating her birthday. We stayed at Arbour House, a lovely B&B in Wyre Piddle, and the party was at Pidele House with beautiful views out over the river Avon.

I'm back from a lovely long weekend in Walton-on-the-Naze after a short first week back at work - from Kashgar to Walton in less than 7 days.

Frinton called on sunny Saturday morning, after a huge fry up breakfast at Walton's High Street cafe which fuelled our stroll along the sea front. One of my favourite beach huts has had a face lift (and an extension):

Then (August 2005)

Now (August 2010)

After eyeing up houses the estate agents' windows, Frinton's charity bookshops provided a goodly haul, mainly unread novels in Ian Rankin's Rebus series. Still too full of fry up to indulge in an ice cream from the 'new' ice cream parlour, we returned to Walton along the side streets and the sea front - aka 'Frinton Park' - which have some lovely 1930's homes, and this overly large scale new apartment block.

Back to the caravan via the Co op and the Wright Family Bakers for a lazy afternoon's reading before venturing out for an early evening pint of Abbot ale and packet of crisps at The Victory followed by a curry at the Ocean Indian Restaurant.

Sunday was a wild, windy and wet day, too blustery for us to venture outside for most of the time. Thank heavens for the new novels and the bakery/co op goodies. Late afternoon we took the footpath down to Hipkins Beach to check on the beach hut, returning via Curiosity Garden.

Monday started windy and cloudy but cleared and calmed down as the morning went on, luring us back out to the Naze and tea and cake at the Naze Tower cafe.

Catching the 4.30pm from Walton we were home for 7pm, even with a (super efficient - yes!) rail replacement service from Ingatestone. Just time for another pint and packet of crisps, this time at The Fox and Anchor.

Well, I'm back from my Wild Frontiers' Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar, aka 3+ weeks travelling by jeep across the high plains of Tibet and then descending into Xinjiang. Flying into and out of China via Beijing added 2 days to each end of the trip.

I was hoping to see the Himalaya again from a different angle by way of Lhasa, Everest Base Camp (North) and the Mt Kailash kora before winding up with a return visit to Kashgar.... but for over half of the trip the views were marred somewhat by the monsoon cloud and rain. That said, the itinerary was great, and the weather did improve as we travelled westwards, and we were taken care of marvellously by Carol, our ever-resourceful WF leader and the Tibetan team from Windhorse Adventures led by the mightily impressive Tashi.

The weather and the road works meant there were some changes to the advertised itinerary, and this is what we ended up doing.....

Thursday 29 July 2010: London - ....

Overnight flight from London to Beijing on CA938. The flight was fine, although the inflight entertainment options were - not surprisingly - heavily skewed towards a Chinese audience.

Friday 30 July 2010: .... - Beijing (Photos)

Landed Beijing just after lunch and were met at the airport and transferred to the Tailong Plaza Hotel by WF's local agent. The hotel was eerily empty but in a great location, especially in view of our limited time in hot and humid Beijing.

Nicole and I navigated our way to the nearby pedestrian shopping street which brought us to the south side of Tiananmen Square which we mooched around, before deciding on a local restaurant in one of the side streets off "QianMen Commercial Walking street" for dinner. Then back to the hotel to resolve the confusion over the next day's very early transfer to the airport for our onward flight to Lhasa. Then bed.

Saturday 31 July 2010: Beijing - Lhasa (Photos)

Up at 4am to our CA4112 flight from Beijing to Lhasa for the 'official' start of the trip. Fantastic views as we flew over mountains, glaciers and lakes. The approach to Lhasa's airport (100 km from the city) is 'exciting', with the Airbus Industrie A330 looping along adjoining valleys to make its gradual descent, and the final approach is over the Kyi Chu river itself.

After a light lunch, preorganised by Carol, the group spent (as instructed) a leisurely afternoon enjoying the peace and tranquility of the Kyichu Hotel and its garden, getting to know one another and starting to acclimatise to Lhasa's altitude (3,600m / 11,800ft).

The obligatory 'start-of-trip meeting took place before dinner, and covered off most queries about the somewhat sketchy itinerary, and Carol's rationalisation-and-improvements. After a delicious dinner at the Kyichu Hotel restaurant - veggie thali for me - off to bed, and my first night's sleep in Tibet.

Sunday 01 August 2010: Lhasa (Photos)

Our first full day in Lhasa, and the start of the trip proper. After breakfast we were minibussed (to minimise AMS) two blocks along Beijing Donglu to Potala Square, crossing to the park and lakes opposite the Potala Palace by means of a very Chinese underpass system. Under blue skies, we got our memorable first sight of the Potala reflected in the lake, and plenty of photo opportunities. Walking through the park to Potala Square, with its Tibet 'liberation' statue, we were decidedly given a Chinese view of the iconic Potala Palace. Once through security and the timed ticket entrance, we had a whistle stop hour's tour of the White and Red Palaces of the Potala, complete with magnificent views from the rooftops, a mind boggling introduction to Tibetan Buddhism and plenty of incense. It was hard work - physically and mentally!

After a morning at the Potala, Tashi took us to a local noodle soup restaurant a short walk from the hotel, passing back street shops selling prayer flags and solar ovens boiling kettles of water. Then it was off again, this time to the Norbulingka - the summer palace of the Dalai Lamas, complete with flowers, gardens and lakes... and our first drops of rain.

Back at base I used the free time to explore Lhasa east of the Kyichu Hotel, fortuitously finding myself in New Barkhor Square. Dinner at the Snowland Restaurant comprised veggie momos and chili potatoes. Yum.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa (ie the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple Monastery and the Norbulingka area)

Monday 02 August 2010: Lhasa (Photos)

Day 2 in Lhasa featured a tour of the Jokhang with views out over Barkhor Square and pilgrims on the kora, some free time to explore the Barkhor for ourselves, then after another typical Tibetan lunch at the aptly named "Jokhang Temple Square Tibetan Style Restaurant", it was off to Canggu Nunnery (aka Ani Sangkhung Nunnery) before rendezvousing with our minibus and driving to spend an hour or so exploring Sera Monastery and watching the monks debate - I could easily have spent longer there.

Deposited back at the Kyichu Hotel we had a couple of hours free time, which I spent blending two of the Lonely Planet's walking tours to capture some more highlights: back to the Barkhor and the muslim quarter, hot footing it along Jiangsu Donglu to get back to the park opposite the Potala, and climbing to the white chorten to the south west of the palace, for more marvellous views of the Potala and the chorten that now acts as a traffic island on Beijing Donglu... Then back to the hotel for dinner, then packing/preparing for the start of our jeep expedition - destination, all points West!

Tuesday 03 August 2010: Lhasa - Gyantse - Shigatse (Photos)

Day 6 of the trip saw us leave Lhasa, destination Shigatse via Gyantse.

A lot of driving, but on tarmaced roads and with plenty of scenery to keep us occupied. And we got to meet our jeeps and lovely, lovely drivers: Minga, Tsering, Tashi and Tenchoe.

There were scenic stop offs by the Yarlung Tsangpo river, at the Gampa La / Khamba La pass (4,794m / 15,728ft) and Yamḍok Yumtso lake before lunch at Nangartse.

Refuelled, we pushed on towards Gyantse, stopping off at the Karo La pass (4,960m) to admire the snow topped mountains and glaciers, and a little further at the Nojin-Kangtsang glacier, currently on a full scale retreat from the road back up towards Nojin Gangzang peak (7,191m).

Arriving in Gyantse mid afternoon we climbed up to Gyantse Dzong from whence we got great views of the Gyantse Kumbum (but no time to visit), the town and surrounding green fields.

Another long drive brought us to the very Chinese town of Shigatse where we ate and slept well.

Wednesday 04 August 2010: Shigatse - New Tingri / Shegar (Photos)

We spent the morning of Wednesday 04 August in Shigatse, touring the Tashilhunpo monastery founded in 1447, returning to lunch at the reliable Songtsen Tibetan Restaurant, conveniently close to the monastery entrance.

There was a bit of time spent faffing for cash, pills and potions, and stocking up at the Sifang Supermarket with food to see us through the culinary disaster zone of Everest Base Camp and the Rongbuk monastery, before we finally said our farewells to Shigatse and started the long afternoon's drive along China National Highway 318 (G318) which runs from Shanghai to Tibet, although today's drive only featured the Shigatse to New Tingri section!

Lonely Planet's "Kilometre markers along the Friendship Highway" (p198-199 of my copy aka the 7th edition) proved invaluable in working out where we were.

We drove through some impressive landscapes, with Gaye enlightening me on rock formations and other geological features, and gradually gained height, leaving farmland behind.

We had a leg stretch stop at the G318's 5000 km (from Shanghai) marker monument, and crossed two passes decked out in prayer flags: Tropu La (4,500 m) where even the electricity pylon had been incorporated into the display, and another, colder leg stretch at the Gyatso La (Lakpa La / 加措拉山口) pass up at 5,250 m / 17,225 ft, which also offered our first views of snowy mountain peaks - albeit under louring grey skies.

In between the two, just after Lhazê / Lhatse, we took the turning left and started heading for the Qomolangma National Park, and 100 km or so further on we reached the checkpoint/village of Shegar / Xêgar, aka New Tingri where we stayed for the night in the appropriately named Qomolangma Hotel Tingri - we're off for Everest Base Camp tomorrow! A basic hotel, but the food was plentiful, and they even had two PCs with (very slow) internet access.

Thursday 05 August 2010: New Tingri / Shegar - Rongphu Monastery - Everest Base Camp (Photos)

After breakfast at the hotel we departed Shegar / Xêgar / New Tingri, and after a few kilometres on the Friendship Highway we turned onto the gravel road that leads to Everest Base Camp (North).

We zig zagged our way ever higher, under a heavy layer of cloud which deprived us of any mountain views, even at the the Pang-la (5050m) / Mt Qomolangma View Point (and tourist souvenir stalls). That said, we did get to see many amazing rock formations and colours en route, as we wound our way through valleys and villages.

We stopped off at Tashi Dzom for an early lunch at the Cho Mo Lang Ma Ben Ba Guest-House Restaurant, and a while further on at another check point stop, we saw a parade of horse and carts, jogging and jingling their way towards us, crammed full of people - it looked like a celebration of some kind, rather than just a trip to market.

There were a few tantalising glimpses of blue sky and snowy peaks as we passed Rongbuk monastery, Carol and Tashi having decided that we'd be better off staying in the tent camp, a little further up the valley and only 2km from Everest Base Camp. Given Michael Palin's description of the nights he spent at Rongbuk monastery, no one was complaining!

Tent accommodation obtained and toilets tested, we took the minibus (!) up to Everest Base Camp (5,150 metres) where the cloud had come down and it started to rain. EBC itself is denoted by a Chinese checkpoint, a small hill adorned with prayer flags, and China Mobile phone masts. Overall a rather disappointing experience!

Most of us opted to take the minibus back, and we settled into our two tents to relax, drink tea and warm up around the yak / sheep dung stoves... which is where my cold came on - slowly but surely, leaving me weak and light headed. I should have mentioned it to Tashi and Carol, but I thought it would pass and was more worried about how I'd keep warm overnight seeing as we'd not yet met up with our kit crew and so most of us didn't have a sleeping bag and would be reliant on the tents' quilts (which turned out to be super thermal and we all got too hot!).

After (mainly non alcoholic) pre dinner drinks and nibbles in the 'couples' tent, we dined on veg fried rice... definitely not top of my list of culinary experiences, but it filled a hole, and it's not as though the tent camp has an easy job getting supplies.

Then bed and fingers crossed that the skies would clear tomorrow to give us that longed for close up of Mt Qomolangma....

Friday 06 August 2010: Everest Base Camp - Tingri (Photos)

After a relatively good night's sleep at the Tingri Friendship Hotel, we woke to more low cloud and a greasy chapati breakfast.

Leaving the others to walk back up to EBC still hopeful of a Qomolangma sighting, Fran and I decided to cut our losses and to walk down towards Rongbuk Monastery.

Our stroll took us alongside the rocky glacier route of the Rongbuk River valley, dotted with yaks. At the sacred water well, we picked up Tashi, a local Tibetan man who chatted to us as we walked on towards the monastery. About 10 minutes in, he became very insistent we stop and look back.... thereby ensuring we did get a sighting of Mount Everest, peaking out of the lower cloud base. Tu-de-chay Tashi!

At Rongbuk Monastery we pottered around the monastery kora, still getting the occasional sighting of Mount Everest / Qomolangma, and then returned to the tent camp, helping a lady carry her three thermoses of water for the final stretch.

I'd been a bit woozy all morning, and spent most of the exciting off road return drive to the Friendship Highway sleeping in the front seat. Too tired to keep my eyes open to take in the amazing scenery, the river crossings, and towing another jeep out of a bog.

At (Old) Tingri we rejoined the tarmac, and checked in to the Snow Leopard Guesthouse where we had a late lunch and a lazy afternoon to wash, repack and stroll the length of town which stretches along the main highway.

As the light faded, the cloud lifted and we were treated to a very atmospheric view of snow capped Himalayan peaks, including (somewhere!) the elusive Mt Everest

After noodle soup for supper, we made the most of the evening's hot water and hit our beds for a comfier night's sleep.

Saturday 07 August 2010: Tingri - Pekhutso Lake (better known as Peiku Tso / Pekhu Lake) - Saga (Photos)

A long day in the jeeps today, driving from Tingri to Saga via a picnic lunch at Peiku Tso (Pekhu Lake).

The day started well, with magic views under blue skies of those elusive Himalayan peaks - Lhotse (8,516 m), Makalu (8,485 m), Cho Oyu (8,201 m) and Everest (8,848 m), and those same blue skies stayed with us as we drove along the G318 aka China National Highway 318 aka the Friendship Highway - now beautifully tarmacked - all the way to the turn off for Saga and Mt Kailash. The early drive through lush green farmland between ruined dzongs and Tibetan villages (testimony to the late 18th century invasion of this part of Tibet by Nepali troops) offered a myriad of photo opportunities - but it was too early on in the trip for me to have the nerve to ask our jeep driver to pause to allow a quick snap.

Turning off the G318 and saying farewell to the Friendship Highway we got our first taste of true Tibetan unsurfaced roads, dodging between the huge lorries and crossing swollen rivers - very exciting! Travelling along the border with Nepal offered sightings of the north side of the Lantang range and the vast glaciers that drain into the super scenic Peiku Tso (itself 4,591 m above sea level). The lake is receding year on year and with an increasing mosquito count, it's no longer a tempting place to camp for the night.

After our picnic lunch in the less than scenic guest house compound-cum-vehicle repair shop, we had another stop to admire the lake from a higher view point, where Minga dug us up a liquorice root to taste. Shortly after we turned away from the lake and started climbing up into a river gorge, which necessitated some serious 'fording' tactics from Minga, Tsering, Tashi and Tenchoe. Brilliant!

In Saga we had time to visit the shops - and were warned that this would be our last chance for some time.... Fran and I returning to the jeeps with a wide brimmed straw hat each to replace the hats that had 'disappeared' at Tashi Dzom, and biscuits. My straw boater was soon ousted by a particularly fine 30 yuan white knitted stetson - believe it or not, cowboy hats are the rage in Tibet. Fully equipped, we drove on to the municipal camp site on the outskirts of town, where we met our camp crew for the first time. Our blue tents stood smartly in a lovely grassy meadow, with our yellow dining tent and the traditional Tibetan cook tent close by. Best of all, there were spicy/salty fried nibbles to greet us.... The bad news was that we'd only have a few hours to enjoy the location as the roadworks meant that the road to Paryang was only open from 8pm to 8am (ie when the road crews couldn't work), and our revised plan was to strike camp at 12.30am and to drive through the night.....

Sunday 08 August 2010: Saga - New Dzongba - Paryang (Photos)

Sunday 08 August started with our 12.30am wake up call for our 1am departure... destination Paryang by way of New Dzongba. The night passed in an uncomfortable blur of Tibetan/Chinese pop on the in-jeep DVD player (great tech!!) as our brilliant drivers negotiated the road works along this stretch of the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway (aka China National Highway 219 (G219)). I recall traversing raging torrents, slow ascents and descents of the new road's steep embankments, occasional sections of floodlit roadworks and a few pauses while the team worked out which was the best way forward (or back). We had a pre dawn stop for Minga, Tsering, Tashi, Tenchoe to grab a snooze, before they drove on into the brand new Chinese settlement at New Dzongba where c.8am we had breakfast with a very surprised Tibetan lady's restaurant. No one really had a taste for congee but the dumplings went down better.

As the skies grew lighter, we drove on past beautiful mountain range vistas, catching our first sight of the Yarlung Tsangpo (destined in due course to become the Brahmaputra River) before eventually reaching Paryang around 2pm, where we'd had an extended wait as Minga, Tsering, Tashi, Tenchoe and the local experts gathered round to fix Tsering's jeep's battery - very Top Gear! - before driving another 30 km or so to our campsite. We'd done an awful lot of driving (well, 'being driven') in the past 36 hours.

At the campsite, Fran and I put into practice our recently acquired camping expertise (learned yesterday) in helping to put up the tents. With everyone unpacked, we had the afternoon free to relax, wash and wander... under the wide open blue skies of this part of the Tibetan plateau. But first it was time for a lunch with a view of the mountains; we decided to dine al fresco with each of us setting up our dining room folding chair in our preferred location, and then tucking into what was to become a familiar picnic lunch featuring bread (a Saga steamed bun in this case), with chicken (not for me), a boiled egg, some biscuits, a mini bar of chocolate and a most tasty natural yoghurt drink.

Keen to stretch our legs after a long night/morning in the jeeps, Fran, Carol and I went for a stroll skirting the stream and looping round a local farm house. Olga and Peter ventured further afield, heading off towards the mountains, where they got a sighting of local wild horses and the elusive kiang (wild asses).

A delicious dinner in the dining tent and early to bed.

Monday 09 August 2010: Paryang - Lake Manasarovar (Photos)

A frustrating day - my main memories of which are being in a staged "Blonde westerner has her passport checked" photo taken by a charming Chinese checkpoint officer for their regional military newspaper (which was at the relatively 'good' end of the scale), eating lunch at a desolate mountain pass - Mayun La (5216 m) and being halted a few kilometres short of Lake Manasarovar for four hours by a pointlessly pedantic checkpoint guard.

Tibetan nomads believe that the Gung Gyo-tso, which we followed as it flowed from the Mayun La to Lake Manasarovar, is poisoned. It proved an equally unlucky watercourse for us.

For most of our Himalayan Journey we'd find ourselves weaving through roadworks, and, when there was no scope for skirting around the bunting barriers, waiting frustratingly for closed sections to open (as happened here). This epitomised the consequences of the Chinese approach to tarmacking Tibet's main east-west road (Xinjiang-Tibet Highway aka China National Highway 219) which was to do all of it, all at the same time, in disconnected sections, with not a care in the world for people needing to use the road as a means of travel. What made it all the more infuriating was that here the queue of halted traffic actually came face to face, bumper to bumper at that bunting!!

After two hours, our charming checkpoint guard relented enough to allow us to cross on foot, permitting a stroll up to the prayer flags to get a view of sacred Lake Manasarovar. This only made things worse as we could see that there were no road works in progress, and we'd wasted a whole, valuable afternoon.

It was dusk when we eventually arrived at our campsite on the shores of Lake Manasarovar. A beautiful location, nestled at the foot of at Chui monastery, with scope for lake side strolls with stunning mountain vistas. It would have been an idyllic place to have whiled away an afternoon, which made us all even more pissed off with the checkpoint guard. Still, after mucking in to get the tents up and sleeping mats and bags distributed, we were treated to a fabulous rainbow, and a glimpse of the peak of Mt Kailash. Feeling more blessed, it was time for another fine meal - complete with an hors d'oeuvre of chips and Tommy K - and off to bed.

(Google map of Chui monastery - our campsite was just to the south of the guest house blocks)

Tuesday 10 August 2010: Lake Manasarovar - Darchen (Photos)

A much better day! Awake early, I had a pre breakfast stroll along the lakeside, enjoying the peace and tranquility. After breakfast, Carol lead us up to Chiu monastery, where we all spent a happy hour exploring the Gompa inside and out. From the upper area, complete with chortens, mani stones, prayer wheels and prayer flags, we had views out over Lake Manasarovar and up towards Darchen and Mount Kailash. Just a pity it was cloudy.

A short (tarmacked) drive later we drew into the courtyard of the Ta Er Qin Poverty Alleviation Hotel Guesthouse, which was to be our base in Darchen for the duration of our stay to do the Mount Kailash kora. After lunch provided by our cooks in one of the hotel's spare, sparse, dining rooms we had a few hours to explore town (it's larger than we'd expected from the LP's description), where we stocked up on prayer flags in anticipation of the kora and our afternoon excursion to the prayer flag pole at Tarboche. Taking the quicker option to drive to Tarboche in the jeeps gave us plenty of time to circumnambulate the prayer flags, and to walk a little way up towards the sky burial site (which with hindsight I'm not sure I should have done - but at the time I was thinking of the view rather than where I was going).

Back at base we packed, pottered and dined. The afternoon's blue skies gave way to cold, grey skies and thence into a thunder storm... not a good omen for our kora!

Wednesday 11 August 2010: Mount Kailash Kora: Darchen - Tarboche - Dira-puk monastery (c. 5,000 m) (Photos)

Day 1 of our Mt Kailash kora, and most of us opted to walk the first section, from Darchen to Tarboche, just beyond which, at the foot of Chuku monastery, we rendezvoused with the rest of the group, and our yaks which were carrying our main packs. It's the main starting point for the trek these days, with most groups driving there from Darchen. There's some big construction work going on on the other side of the valley, which does not bode well.

We'd been able to leave stuff in the jeeps back at the guest house, so our main packs only had what we needed for the four day trek. Carol and Tashi had decided to allow us one more day than the itinerary, and it proved a wise decision. More practiced pilgrims manage to complete the kora in one day, but most allow three, whether on foot or on pony (which seemed a popular option with many of the Hindu pilgrim groups. For large stretches of the first day we were walking amidst pony packs.

The route took us up the wide, stony river valley of the Lha-chu, which grew gradually narrower and the mountain sides steeper as we climbed. Lots of water running off the mountains. For most of the day the low grey cloud kept Mt Kailash (and other peaks) hidden from view, aside from one magical moment as we passed below the west face, and the clouds lifted to reveal a snow topped peak.

After lunching in a sheltered spot, we continued on to our overnight camp at Dira-puk monastery - by the time we got there it has started to sleet. Thankfully, our tents were up and we could gather in the dining tent for tea and biscuits. Time for Fran and I to take a quick side trip up to see Mt Kailash's shiny black face..... albeit with a scattering of snow.

Thursday 12 August 2010: Mount Kailash Kora: Dira-puk monastery (c. 5,000 m) - Drölma La pass (5,630 m / 18,466 ft) - Lham-chu Khir (Photos)

Leaving our campsite c8.30am, we jostled with ponies and people to cross the basic bridge over the Drölma chu, and then started our slow ascent up the valley. We soon crossed into the cloud layer, which made for cold rest stops. Tashi set a slow and steady pace - reminding me of the lessons I'd learned on the Annapurna Circuit: a slow and steady pace makes for a relatively straight forward ascent, even if you feel you could go much faster.

By the time we reached the Shiva-tsal (5,330 m), where pilgrims leave items of clothing to mark their symbolic death, we'd all spread out and Tashi was happy to let some of us keep our own pace rather and to go on ahead. We did all get to see Richard successfully wriggle under the Bardo Trang, attesting his sinfree state.

After a long slog up from the Bardo Trang plateau, we finally made the top of the Drölma La pass (my highest point yet, at 5,630 m), Fran, Sue, Ian and I arriving there within a few minutes of one another. A great place for our picnic lunch - the cloud lifted a little to reveal razor sharp peaks, and glacier green lakes at the foot of the Drölma Do, watching other pilgrims pass, and adding our prayer flags to the collection.

Refreshed, we continued on shortly after Olga appeared, marking the arrival of the rest of the group, including Tashi who advised against lingering too long at this altitude.

The route down was a clear and easy path - the guide books suggest the need for poles, but to be honest I've done more difficult descents and given the conditions I had no need for poles here.

The long climb up and the altitude meant that we were all feeling tired, and as we descended again the group spread out, with Carol, Olga, Peter and I bringing up the rear - making the most of the photo opportunities: the Gauri Kund (5,608 m) or Lake of Compassion, the beautiful alpine flowers, eagles (?) soaring amidst the craggy peaks and a new river valley - that of the Lham-chu.

On reaching the banks of the Lham-chu, we had a reviving smoky tea at the tea house tent and then pushed on over the hardest terrain of the day - big boulders, some grass covered, some bare, left by a long gone glacier. The normal route is an easy river side path - but at this time of year the river was running so high that the path was well under water.

The campsite was a welcome site, arriving there c 6.30pm and relaxing with tea and biscuits, and later dinner and bed. A big sense of accomplishment, and an easier day's walking tomorrow.

Friday 13 August 2010: Mount Kailash Kora: Lham-chu Khir - Dzong-chu - Zutul-puk Monastery (Photos)

An easier day today, with everyone in refreshed after a good night's sleep and a lie in. A relaxed 10 am departure gave me time for photos of beautiful swathes of the pink flowers on the opposite bank of the Lham-chu, and a chirpy bouncy red breasted bird. Most trekkers aim to complete today's portion as part of day 2 - but to be honest I doubt any of us could have done that without getting to the jelly legs stage. The boulder fields continued, interspersed with patches of bog and mud, but eventually the going got easier and we got a sense of perspective when we encountered two Tibetan prostrating pilgrims on their kora.

We lunched at the new (large) tent camp in the meadow where the Tobchan-chu joins the Lham-chu (now known as the Dzong-chu), and then strolled along to Zutul-puk Monastery. Although the monastery looks old, it's one of the many that had to be rebuilt after the cultural revolution. That notwithstanding it was a lovely small place to soak up Tibetan Buddhism, and put me in mind of the dzong we'd visited in Bhutan.

Our river bank camp was a short distance further on, but it took us ages to get there as we were all distracted by super cute marmots. Unfortunately the rain set in shortly after we arrived, c3pm, and so most of the afternoon was spent drinking tea and chatting in the dining tent and snoozing in my tent - it was one of those times that I wished I had a good book to read! Antisocial, I know....

Saturday 14 August 2010: Mount Kailash Kora: Zutul-puk Monastery - Darchen - Tirthapuri Hot Springs (Photos)

Another easy "day", taking only 3 hours to complete the kora all the way back into Darchen, arriving back at the Ta Er Qin Poverty Alleviation Hotel Guesthouse c12.30. For much of the way we passed by Hindu pilgrims on horseback - I can't believe that they crossed the Drölma La pass on horseback (or more accurately, that they made the descent on horseback without pony or rider coming a cropper), and I don't recall having seen any Indian pilgrims since the pass, either individually or in their very large groups.

The first half of the route followed the Dzong-chu which gouged a white water route through canyons of red/green/gold rock. As the river valley opened out onto the main plain we had views of Lake Manasarovar, and at the scenic cafe there, there were vast numbers of jeeps, waiting to collect their pilgrim groups. Even though Minga, Tsering, Tashi and Tenchoe were there too, we all decided to continue on all the way into Darchen on foot - an easy walk along the dirt track and with view out over the plain.

(Note: Google maps has fabulously detailed, up to date, satellite views of this area, albeit calling Darchen "Bagaxiang" on the map. Here are links to satellite views of Darchen, Tarboche, the 'start point' beneath Chuku monastery, the day 1 tea tents, Dira-puk monastery and our day 1 campsite on the other side of the river, day 2's bottle neck bridge river crossing, the stony first diagonal traverse, the Drölma La and the Gauri Kund, the day 2 tea tents on the banks of the Lham-chu, day 2's campsite, day 3's picnic lunch spot, Zutul-puk Monastery, day 3's campsite, day 4's tricky river crossing, the canyon being carved out of the red/green/gold rock by the Dzong-chu, the cafe at the group jeep pick up point, and the road back into Darchen. And zooming in on this Google map should show you the whole of the Mount Kailash kora)

After a quick shop stop to stock up on moisturiser and beer, we were reunited properly with Minga, Tsering, Tashi, Tenchoe and our jeeps, and swiftly departed Darchen destined for a relaxing afternoon at Tirthapuri Hot Springs. We had a quick roadside picnic en route, and reached the springs a few hours later - zipping along tarmacked roads to Moincer and then bumping over rougher route to the springs.

Our camp was being set up on the banks of the Sutlej river - flowing high, fast and muddy - but the skies were clear and we had a relaxing time sorting out kit, soaking up the sun, washing bits and pieces and generally pottering around, and then walking over to the bath houses to indulge in a wallow in a wooden tub, filled with naturally heated waters from the springs - a very well spent 50¥.

Peter and Olga provided celebratory pre dinner drinks and nibbles - G&T, rum and coke, whiskey, Lhasa beer... a boozy evening celebrating our completion of all 53 km of the Mt Kailash kora including the ascent of the 5,630 m high Drölma La pass, and a wondrous cleaning soak courtesy of the Tirthapuri Hot Springs.

Sunday 15 August 2010: Tirthapuri Hot Springs - Zanda (Photos)

The geothermal activity at Tirthapuri marked it as a sacred site, and before leaving we walked up to visit the Guru Rinpoche monastery, the Rangjung chortens, the Demon's Arrow mani wall, the circular mani wall and the karma-testing hole. Then it was back into the jeeps, and on to rejoin the G219 at Moincer. We then zoomed along to Ba'er / Songsha where we turned off for Zanda.... starting with the hairiest river crossing of the whole trip - even Minga,our most experience driver, wasn't his usual gung ho, confident self!

The next 122 km provided a roller coaster ride, zig zagging high above the Indus river plain to get great views back over the snow capped peaks of the Kailas mountain range. We then drove on through the high upland plains, with their technicolour rock and sparse grass cover, before dropping down to breath taking views of Zanda, home to the erosion pinnacles of the upper Sutlej River valley and the ancient kingdom of Guge.

Our hotel in Zanda was, apparently, the best this army garrison town has to offer, and let's just say it was lacking in the running water and electricity departments.... but the rooms were clean, the beds relatively comfy, and Sonam set up our dining area in the courtyard at the back of the hotel, and we had free use of the public bathrooms next door! And water and power did return, intermittently, during the evenings/nights.

After lunch we had the afternoon to ourselves, which translated for me as finding an operating internet cafe (a surprise all round) and watching the new platoon of soldiers - male and female - receiving an official welcome to town. Lucky them!

Although pre dinner drinks were establishing themselves as the norm, we gathered early to celebrate Nicole's birthday with a cake baked that afternoon by Lhundrup in our cook tent. No mean feat!

Monday 16 August 2010: Around Zanda / Kingdom of Guge (Photos)

A fascinating day... featuring a full morning visit to Tsaparang, the citadel capital of the ancient Kingdom of Guge.

Breathtaking all round, and the cultural highlight of the whole trip for me.

A stunning location, beautiful chapels and a real sense of seeing something hidden and saved, an entrance stair carved into the rock, and panoramic views from the summer palace, perched on a peak overlooking the fertile Sutlej river valley and surrounded by a fairy tale landscape of eroded soft sedimentary mud rock.

Back to the Transport Hotel for lunch, and then down to the other end of Zanda's main street to visit Thöling monastery which dates from the 11th century, and the 21st century Chinese gardens built to belittle the mighty chorten/stupa that over look the Sutlej River. Over fizzy drinks in the tent cafe, we showed postcards of London to local Tibetan families, and were presented with a local guide booklet by the cafe owner in return. My postcard of a London bus may still be on their mantlepiece.....

Pre dinner drinks, dinner, bed.

Tuesday 17 August 2010: Zanda - Shiquanhe / Ali (Photos)

A long day's drive, back over the mountains and westwards ho on the G219 to our overnight stop in the schizophrenically named Ali / Shiquanhe / Senge Khabab.

We took the same route back to the G219 - the alternative route over the Lalung La / Laling Gutsa had been blocked by landslides for a while.

The morning's drive from Zanda up through the eroded adobe landscape was stunning, with Willy Wonka-esque torrents of mud flowing fiercely down to join the Sutlej river / Langchen Tsangpo. As we reached the plateau we were treated to a wonderful, clear view back over the Sutlej valley and of the Indian Himalaya, with Nanda Devi's ice cream cone peak against blue sky backdrop. Beautiful.

On the drive over the plateau we saw more kiang/wild asses, and were lucky with the roadworks/tarmac stops. Under lighter skies the spectrum of colours of the earth shone out, and we crossed still green valleys... where Chinese road construction is in full swing. Goodbye Guge.

Back in the valley of the G219 at Ba'er / Songsha, we lunched at a Tibetan teahouse/restaurant and then motored west under big skies. There were scenic stops at various prayer flag spots in the Gar river valley and at a pass when we left behind the mighty Gar, and turned towards the Indus.

Arriving in Ali late afternoon it took couple of attempts to find our hotel - this was the furthest west our Tibetan team had ever travelled. We had a few hours to enjoy the metropolis (shops!) before pre dinner drinks hosted by Peter and Olga in their room at the Shiquanhe Hotel (formerly the Shi Quan He Victualing House), followed dinner at a Chinese restaurant a few doors down from the hotel - delicious.

Wednesday 18 August 2010: Shiquanhe / Ali - Dorma / Domar (Photos)

A day of few settlements, lots of mountains, vast skies.

Another long day's drive, and the start of the final stage of our expedition, covering more miles on the G219 from Ali / Shiquanhe to our final destination at a remote riverside camp 50 km on from Dormar / Domar.

The Lonely Planet guide to Tibet has one page of info for the entire route from Ali / Shiquanhe to Kashgar - which was to take us the next four full days - and it's written in the opposite direction from the one we were travelling. This part of the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway is little travelled, and passes through the Aksai Chin region which is claimed by both China and India. The only people/traffic we encountered were either Chinese truckers or Chinese military, and the only villages we passed through had Chinese check points and a handful of facilities to service the long distance truckers.

En route we detoured to Rutok, a lovely Tibetan village (not to be confused with the new Chinese town of Rutok Xian a few km further up the road), complete with chorten, dzong and monastery, set amongst green pasturelands, red mountains and the blue of Pangong tso lake, which made up for the petroglyphs we'd missed earlier in the day. Before returning to the main road, we picnicked in view of a flock of fat bottomed sheep and some goats, and new concrete posts, presumably to carry electricity cables.

We had another leg stretch at a monument on the shores of Pangong tso lake, looking across the blue waters to Ladakh before continuing on, hugging the shoreline and clinging to the blasted-into-the-cliff-face road.

A while further on we had an impromptu roadside stop when Minga spotted some black necked cranes in the dried out marshland we were driving through.

After the police checkpoint at Domar, we continued on until we spied our blue and yellow tents set up on a stony plain by the side of a river. Windy and overcast when we arrived, the skies cleared at the end of the day bringing the most amazing light and serenity to the stunning scenery.

Thursday 19 August 2010: Dorma / Domar - Da Hong Liu Tan (Photos)

Another long day's drive along long straight roads (still good old G219!), with few settlements, lots of mountains, wide open landscapes and the best wildlife encounters of the trip.

Today's drive would see us depart Tibet and cross the Aksai Chin, entering Xinjiang and setting up camp, for the last time, at Dahongluitan. Not that we could tell when we crossed any of those all important lines of control.

Persuaded by Carol to break camp early to allow for a stroll along the road, we were all ecstatic when the jeeps did catch us up - it was freezing in the long shadows.

Initially the plateau remained covered in sparse green grass, with the reds, oranges, golds and purples coming through in surrounding mountains, but as we drove onwards and upwards the terrain turned harsher and snowtopped peaks reappeared as did narrower river valleys, and the technicolour palette disappeared.

Crossing over into the Aksai Chin there were plenty of reminders that, as far as Beijing is concerned, we were in Chinese territory - marker posts, sign boards and a semi-submerged hotel on the shores of the Lungma Tso.

We saw more wild animals than humans - several pairs of Tibetan antelope once we'd crossed the Jieshan Daban pass (5,200 m), had a close encounter with large eagle a little further on. Later in the day as we off roaded a short cut, we passed an outcrop where more birds of prey were nesting - not being a birder, i can't remember what they were - possibly Lammergeier.

As the afternoon wore on our route took us along long stretches of dead straight road, no tarmac as yet but it won't stay that way for long; we saw a large army camp unmarked on the map - I'm sure there are more.

Crossing the Khitai Pass (5,150 m) brought us face to face with Xinjiang - with our first sighting of signage in Uyghur. The greens and reds were long gone, and the rest of the day we drove through grey river valleys, and dust.

We camped at kilometre marker 480.... 8 km beyond the army town of Dahongliutan. Setting up camp proved a challenge - not just because of the wind that was blowing katabatic-like down the valley... we were camping amidst a patchwork of shell craters, presumably on the (hopefully disused!) Dahongluitan firing range. You can see the shell holes on Google Maps.

Friday 20 August 2010: Da Hong Liu Tan - Mazar - Yecheng / Karghilik (Photos)

Another very long day's drive, which would take us from Dahongliutan / KM 480 to Yecheng / Kargilik - a surreal return to a modern metropolitan world, and KM 0 on the G219... yes we'd be covering 480 kilometres in one very long day. Trying to write this up I realise I've at least 3 day's worth of memories... we drove through such varied terrains and made the huge emotional shift from remote 'Tibet' to big city Xinjiang.

The morning saw us say kudichay, good bye and safe journey back to Lhasa to our tent and kitchen crew - the first of the farewells that would overlay the next few days with sadness.

Driving the long straight but rocky G219 we had the northern most edge of the Kunlun mountain range on our right, and occasionally crossed the river - presumably the Yarkant He / Yarkand river - whose valley we were travelling in. We saw a bunch of bactrian camels too.

The dusty roads were made worse by convoys of large lorries carrying soldiers, coal and fuel - although we did get one stretch of tarmac as we passed through the large military base/town of Xaidulla (KM 363). 60 km or so later we climbed the Kirgizjangal Daban pass (4,930 m), and 50 km or so later we turned north at Mazar and started climbing the Chiragsaldi Pass (4,960 m) - catching a flat type en route. Plenty of zig zags as we followed the course of the river Tiznap He, but still very dusty until we reached the upper levels, up in the cloud layer, by which time it was a really rather bit scary. I didn't find the concrete bollards particularly reassuring...

We descended from this crossing of the Kunlun mountains to Kudi, where the officious checkpoint proved a painful experience all round, with nasty Chinese officials who treated our Tibetan drivers like criminals. We definitely weren't in Tibet anymore, Toto.

As the tarmac reappeared we made good time over the Kudi Pass (3,240 m) at KM 113 and started our "what happened in this year?" countdown to Yecheng / Kargilik.

Hopes of dinner en route were foiled by Ramadan, and so we drove onward through classic Xinjiang scenery - lots of poplar trees in featureless flat desert landscape, the occasional flare from oil/gas rigs excepted.

Taking into account the fact that Xinjiang local time is 2 hours behind Tibet's "Beijing time", I think we spent over for 13 hours on the road.

Once in Yecheng / Kargilik we had fun driving on the city roads, Tibetan style (aka rules of the road, what are they?), and had to get the lady from our hotel to come and find us on her moped to guide us in. The Yecheng Electricity Hotel was heaven - clean rooms, hot water (eventually), electricity. Dinner at a Chinese restaurant a few doors down. Beers obligatory!

Saturday 21 August 2010: Yecheng - Kashgar (Photos)

A relatively relaxed morning in Yecheng / Kargilik, operating on Xinjiang time. Fran and I went for an explore up the road to the local market and shops, returning a bit late for breakfast in the restaurant we'd dined in last night.

Warmer than yesterday, and than we'd been used to, which was nice.

Another long day's drive, mostly along the G315 from Yecheng / Kargilik to Kashgar, with a detour to avoid high waters and (possibly) out of action bridges. Lots of trees lining the roads, lots of donkey carts taking families to/from market. Late morning we stopped at an open air market, fascinating once we'd got through the wrought iron gates, and a little later had lunch in a cafe somewhere..... with a family making bread on the street below. Hot.

It was strange to be travelling along the same roads I'd been along on my Central Asia Overland tour two years ago. Certain sections were very familiar - the desolate desert stretches in between the oasis towns, Yensigar, home of famous knife makers (and Ali and his family) and its huge resevoir. Sadly Yarkand (Shache/Yarkan) passed by without us being able to find it - if there is one change I would have made to our journey, it would have been to have spent a couple of hours at the mosque and the mausoleums there. Tashi was willing, but no one knew the route.

No photos all day, other than of our hotel rooms at either end. I was out of sorts.

Driving into Kashgar was amazing - so much more traffic and people than we'd been used to, and more urban sprawl that I remember there being in 2008. Still, the centre was the same my memories and we made it safely to the Chini Bagh Hotel, this time staying in the main building - and without any earth tremors. The west side of the old British Consulate was one big building site - clearly business is booming. The architect's drawings showed a swimming pool and deluxe accommodation. I wonder what it turns out like in reality.

Taxis to the Seman Hotel for dinner at the open air John's / Caravan cafe, coinciding with a large party of Dutch travelling in a motor home convoy (!). A nice walk back, and Fran and I headed out for a DIY explore, over to the Id Kah mosque and the Friday square - lots of families sitting at open air restaurants, with piles of pick your own takeaway food on offer. A really buzzy atmosphere.

Photos and memories from my Central Asia Overland trip

• Flickr photos: Central Asia Overland, September/October 2008
• Flickr photos: Central Asia Overland - 03 October 2008: Hotan - Yecheng / Kargilik - Yarkand
• Flickr photos: Central Asia Overland - 04 October 2008: Yarkand - Yensigar - Kashgar
• Central Asia Overland - Friday night fever, Yarkand style
• Central Asia Overland - Kashgar and the KKH to Lake Karakul

Sunday 22 August 2010: Kashgar (Photos)

A packed day touring Kashgar, with a local (Chinese) guide organised by Carol last night at John's Cafe. A day of déjà vus, starting with the Abakh Khoja mausoleum, followed by the livestock market, the Sunday market and a carpet shop. Lunch in the old British Consulate building back at the Chini Bagh, then to the Id Kah mosque and a walk through the remains of the old town.

I'd so been hoping to see Kashgar outside Ramadan, but not this time.

The prayer halls at both the Abakh Khoja mausoleum and the the Id Kah mosque were getting conservation treatment, Chinese style (aka replace, repaint, short term glitz but no thought to the long term - past or future), so I didn't linger.

Walking through the old town, I saw signs of some of the much criticised razing/rebuilding, but there was still much left. We were shown the inside of the traditional Uighur courtyard family house, and returned to the Friday square along a road of restaurants packed with Sunday visitors, interspersed with Uighur shops selling sewing machines, plastic pipes and all manner of other useful stuff.

Dinner was a bit of a chaotic affair - good food (far too much!) at a Uighur restaurant, but marred by our failed attempts to get the whole group sat together - it was our last meal together. Back at the Chini Bagh, we sat in the open air cafe over beers and tea, saying our farewells and our heartfelt thanks to Tashi, Minga, Tsering, Tashi and Tenchoe. Sad.

Photos and memories from my Central Asia Overland trip

• Flickr photos: Central Asia Overland - 04 October 2008: Yarkand - Yensigar - Kashgar
• Flickr photos: Central Asia Overland - 05 October 2008: Kashgar - Sunday Market
• Central Asia Overland - Kashgar and the KKH to Lake Karakul

Monday 23 August 2010: Fly Kashgar Airport - Urumchi Airport - Beijing Airport (No photos)

A day of tears and tiresome travels and tribulations. A suitably Tibetan drive to Kashgar airport, including driving the wrong way down the dual carriage way having missed the turn off, and sad farewells. I shed a few tears as our Tibetan convoy drove out of the airport on the start of their journey back to Lhasa.

Our bookings on the Kashgar-Urumchi flight seemed to have gone missing, but Carol's persistence ensured we all got on board. We transferred between terminals at Urumchi on foot - not the standard approach I'd guess - during which my well travelled Tibetan stetson flew off my head and tumbled down into the carpark below. Au revoir? I fear not.

Slow check in and long queues through security meant it was touch and go for a while, but a helpful security guard opened a new line for us and ensured we queue jumped quite dramatically.

Landing in Beijing it transpired that our bags hadn't made it. In fact no one's had - they'd off loaded passenger luggage in favour of commercial goods. It appeared to be a fairly common occurance, and the lost luggage staff calmly told us to expect it on the next flight, due in around 1am. For those of us staying at an airport hotel, this was an inconvenience - but Fran, Peter and Olga had connecting flights which would mean leaving without their luggage. Amazingly, their bags did eventually catch them up in San Francisco and the south of France respectively. The final hurdle was checking in at the Beijing International Airport Hotel - it still carries its previous name of the Beijing Capital Hotel, and again there was no record of our booking... at least not for a good 10 minutes.

Those who remained split for dinner - I opted for a beer and pizza in the bar. Expensive, but tasty. Carol, Nicole, Jon and Ian did a brilliant job of taking the hotel-airport shuttle back to reclaim our bags in the wee small hours.

Tuesday 24 August 2010: Fly Beijing - London (No photos)

A lazy morning, with not much else to do other than enjoy the hotel facilities - aka feast on my final Chinese hotel breakfast, repack my rucksack and take a good long shower and hair wash - before taking the shuttle bus to the international departure terminal where the speed and ease of check in was the direct opposite of those we'd experience for yesterday's internal flights.

Easy flight home (movie choice on a par with the flight out) and with Phil waiting for me at LHR. I just had to stock up on gin first.....

P.S. In looking online for maps of the Shiquanhe / Ali to Yecheng / Kargilik, l chanced across this account of Peter Quaife's solo unsupported ride from Kashgar, Western China to Lhasa, Tibet: Occupied Territories: A ride from Kashgar to Lhasa - 2,999 km (1,863 miles) over 54 days from July 17, 2007 to September 8, 2007 .... which rather puts my Himalayan Journey in the shade.....

P.P.S Farewell Bhutanese raw silk scarf. I lost you somewhere Out There.

P.P.P.S It's taken me until Saturday 22 January 2011 to upload all my photos from this trip to Flickr, complete with daily notes and Wikipedia links.

My Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar spreadsheet has the actual itinerary we followed and places we stayed, together with a chart showing how high we were above sea level at various times/places.

So, finally, my Morocco via Madrid - April/May 2010 set is "done" on Flickr, with mini diary entries composed en route.

Phew. A long job, particularly getting them (approximately) mapped.... It's been lovely having Phil uploading his photos too at the same time.

Part 1: DIY London to Casablanca via Madrid

* Day 1: London to Madrid
* Day 2: Madrid
* Day 3: Madrid to Casablanca

Part 2: Intrepid's Colours of Morocco tour

* Day 1 (DIY day 3): Casablanca (arrival day)
* Day 2: Casablanca / Rabat / Meknès
* Day 3: Meknès / Volubilis / Fès
* Day 4: Fès
* Day 5: Fès / Midelt
* Day 6: Midelt / Merzouga / Sahara Camp / Erg Chebbi
* Day 7: Sahara Camp / Merzouga / Todra Gorge
* Day 8: Todra Gorge
* Day 9: Todra Gorge / Ouarzazate / Aït Benhaddou
* Day 10: Aït Benhaddou / Tizi n'Tichka Pass (2260m) / Imlil / Aroumd
* Day 11: Aroumd / Essaouira
* Day 12: Essaouira
* Day 13: Essaouira / Marrakech
* Day 14: Marrakech
* Day 15: Marrakech (departure day)

You may spot that some of the evening photos have snuck into the next day's archives..... I forgot to adjust my camera clock at the start of the trip and I can't be bothered to update all the EXIF data. Sorry!

Clearing the digital decks before my next trip....

I've made five online purchases today, in preparation for The Trip.

From Waterstones.com

• Tibet - Lonely Planet Country Guide

From amazon.co.uk

• Ring Cyba-Lite Sprint Led Headlight
• Pair of Trekrite Hiking / Walking Poles
• Trekmates Micro Fleece Sleeping Bag Liner
• Hama Lens Cleaning Pen

Not the most high end items, but I think that they'll do. Now - beer time!

After much research and picking of Stuart's brains, I suggested that dad and Tom and their respective families buy me the GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite DPL700 for my birthday. I've griped before about how hard it is for my to geolocate the photos from some of my trips to more off the beaten track destinations (Hello Annapurna Circuit! Hello Bhutan! Hello Central Asia!), and a easily portable gadget which promises to do all that for me seems the perfect traveller's treat.

Even though the GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite is now Mac-compatible, the packaging doesn't yet say so and my heart dropped for a time until I unpacked the box to find the A4 print out of their Quick Start Guide for Mac enclosed.

First challenge, how to open the unit to get the battery in. I think I've mastered that now, but only after the same kind of struggle I have with getting the back off my various mobile phones over the years. I'm sure there's a knack - but usually it eludes me. Nails are of no avail.

Next up - downloading the software (always a doddle with the mac - phew) and syncing the time on my camera. "Syncing" suggests something rather more technical than looking at the server time or an online display of local time (aka Google-ing "local time") and manually adjusting your camera's clock setting to match - but that's all it is.

So now I'm all set to take the PhotoTrackr out for a stroll - Hazel and I are shopping in central London tomorrow and I'm planning to map the route.....

The software download page (case sensitive URL I discovered) comes complete with a link to the GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Mac User's Guide, which I'll be reading in more depth tomorrow.

A slight delay in posting my forms off to the Chinese Visa Application Service Center, after Wild Frontiers advised changes to how to complete the application form. But by 9.30am my application was heading off towards Holborn via Special Delivery. Hopefully I'll have something back towards the end of next week.

Sara at WF had also heard from their local agent confirming the equipment being supplied during camping etc, and 4-season sleeping bags will be provided.... but there are no guarantees as to condition or quality. Sara was able to tell me that we'll have porters/yaks to carry our three days' kit during the Mt Kailash kora, which helps on the 'which rucksack(s) to take' front, so tomorrow's kit shopping will focus on a head torch, trekking poles and a fleece liner.... I'm hoping Phil's Sugru will arrive in time to mend the split betwixt sole and upper on my left foot walking boot......

It's taken me a fair few hours to add all the details of this summer's expedition onto my Where next? page, but Wild Frontiers' Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar just gets better every time I look at the itinerary and pre departure information!

I've also worked out my kitlist which I've now added into my trip prep spreadsheet - I started tailoring the one for this trip yesterday, adding details of the itinerary so that I could work out how many days I'd be in China for my Chinese visa application. Talking of which... I've filled out the visa application form and I'm going to post everything off on Friday, once I'm back from S&S Rotterdam. The Chinese Visa Application Service Center's Procedures of Application by Post looks straightforward, and I really like the fact that there is a process flow diagram and a checklist (in the Visa Instruction >> Forms for Download area) on website.

I got the Lonely Planet guide to Tibet out of the library yesterday too, and did a bit of flicking / reading. There's a section on trekking, which includes the Mt Kailash kora. Based on that and my Annapurna Circuit experiences, I'm definitely buying some trekking poles and I may whip up a fleece liner too - assuming I can borrow a four season sleeping bag (Phil!).

Now I just need to get to grips with my Gisteq PhotoTracker Lite gadget and software - this year's big birthday present from TJBR and dad and Jean.

... "belatedly" in the sense that we got back fine, as scheduled, on 09 May - but I'm only just getting round to updating my Where next? page to relocate the details of Mary and Phil Go Mad in Madrid and Morocco to make space for (eek!!!) this summer's expedition: Wild Frontiers' Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar.....

But back to the background on April/May's trip to Morocco via Madrid! Photos still to do....

Why

... to soak up some sun, sea, souks, Sahara, summits and ancient sites and ruins in the company of my husband.... yes, our first stab at a Mary-style holiday together.

When

April/May 2010

How

On Intrepid's Colours of Morocco tour (map), (trip notes).

We were going to get the train down - there was an article in the Guardian Travel section a while ago that we both remembered, by The Man in Seat Sixty-One, and the facts / figures / links are all on his website. Basically we should be able to leave London on the Friday afternoon and be in Casablanca for the 6pm group meeting on the Sunday at the start of the trip.... but there are overnight engineering works on the Paris-Madrid route on the Friday/Saturday we'd need to travel.

So it's plan B: easyJet from London Gatwick to Madrid, two nights in Madrid (at the Hotel Agumar) and then easyJet from Madrid to Casablanca. All for a lot less then Royal Air Maroc's direct flight from London to Casablanca. We're also using easyJet to fly back from Marrakech.

Itinerary

Part 1: DIY London to Casablanca via Madrid

• Day 1: London to Madrid
• Day 2: Madrid
• Day 3: Madrid to Casablanca

Part 2: Intrepid's Colours of Morocco tour

• Day 1 (DIY day 3): Casablanca (arrival day)
• Day 2: Casablanca / Rabat / Meknes
• Day 3: Meknes / Volubilis / Fes
• Day 4: Fes
• Day 5: Fes / Midelt
• Day 6: Midelt / Merzouga / Sahara Camp / Erg Chebbi
• Day 7: Sahara Camp / Merzouga / Todra Gorge
• Day 8: Todra Gorge
• Day 9: Todra Gorge / Ouarzazate / Aït Benhaddou
• Day 10: Aït Benhaddou / Tizi n'Tichka Pass (2260m) / Toubkal National Park / Imlil / Aroumd
• Day 11: Aroumd / Essaouira
• Day 12: Essaouira
• Day 13: Essaouira / Marrakech
• Day 14: Marrakech
• Day 15: Marrakech (departure day)

Google map

View Larger Map

Information

• Wikipedia: London, Madrid, Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Volubilis, Fes, Midelt, Merzouga, Sahara, Erg Chebbi, Todra Gorge, Ouarzazate, Aït Benhaddou, Tizi n'Tichka Pass (2260m), Toubkal National Park, Jebel Toubkal, Imlil, Atlas Mountains, Aroumd, Essaouira, Marrakech, Morocco
• Wikitravel: London, Madrid, Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Volubilis, Fes, Midelt, Merzouga, Sahara, Erg Chebbi, Todra Gorge, Ouarzazate, Aït Benhaddou, Tizi n'Tichka Pass (2260m), Toubkal National Park,Jebel Toubkal, Imlil, Atlas Mountains, Aroumd, Essaouira, Marrakech, Morocco
• Lonely Planet: Morocco
• FCO travel advice: Morocco
• BBC country profile: Morocco
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Historic City of Meknes, Archaeological Site of Volubilis, Medina of Fez, Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador), Medina of Marrakesh
• Metro de Madrid (English version) - which includes a handy metro map and travel planner

Guide books and reading material

• Morocco (Lonely Planet Country Guide) - Paul Clammer (2009 edition)
• The Rough Guide to Morocco - Daniel Jacobs (Author), Daniel Lund A (Contributor), Kate Hawkings (Contributor), Hamish Brown (Contributor) (2010 edition) *
• Morocco (Footprint Handbooks) - Julius Honnor (2008 edition)
• Map 0742 Morocco/Maroc (Michelin National Maps) (2007)
• The Rough Guide Map Morroco (Rough Guide Map: Morocco) (2009)
• Prion Birdwatchers' Guide to Morocco - Patrick Bergier and Fedora Bergier (2003)
• The Caliph's House - Tahir Shah
• A Year in Marrakesh - Peter Mayne

* we took this one with us, not that really need a guide book when you're on a guided trip. Still, it proved handy for those times we had free to DIY. Not that we always had it with us mind you. "Remember Rabat!"

Languages

• Moroccan Arabic
• French

Weather

Forecasts (www.accuweather.com)

• Madrid
• Casablanca
• Rabat
• Meknes
• Fes
• Midelt
• Merzouga
• Todra Gorge
• Ouarzazate
• Aït Benhaddou
• Imlil
• Aroumd
• Essaouira
• Marrakech
• Home (for comparison):London, United Kingdom

Recent articles

• BBC: Dozens die in Morocco minaret collapse: At least 36 people were killed in Morocco when a minaret collapsed at a mosque in the central town of Meknes, officials say.

My business trip to Hong Kong gained another six days thanks to the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic ash cloud and the closure of UK/European air space. I got quite excited at the prospect of rerouting to Spain and sailing back on the Ark Royal, or getting the Trans-Siberian train, but in the end the lovely ladies at the BA office in Hong Kong got me on the second flight back that left once the skies reopened. I landed at LHR at 6am this morning, and spent a fair chunk of the day completing expenses and insurance claim forms.....

The only downside about the extra time was that it meant I didn't get to spend my birthday as planned.... no family brunch at The Diner in Shoreditch! But Simmons & Simmons friends in Hong Kong and London made sure that I had a great day on Sunday.

Getting a big bunch of flowers from S&S at the hotel was a great way to start the day and after a lazy lie in with newspapers and tea, I strolled down to central HK to meet Adam and family and Kelly and his wife for a lovely ("mostly veggie") dim sum lunch, complete with a card and gift, cheesecake birthday cake and candles! I feel very lucky to know such lovely people in HK and in London.

Then over to Kowloon on the Star Ferry to explore the sights and shops. I phoned Phil en route and he told me one of my birthday presents is a "driving experience" - Silverstone Aston Martin here I come!

Strolled around Kowloon taking in the prom, park and night markets - and got a call from my dad and brother and families as I was perched on the prom taking in the harbour and the ferries, all lit up in their evening finery. Them singing Happy Birthday over the phone to me was a *lovely* end to my birthday.

Very glad of the BlackBerry too! Not to mention Twitter and Facebook for keeping in touch with friends, and tracking developments following British_Airways and HeathrowAirport on Twitter.

Destination: Tibet and Xinjiang, China

Why: To see the Himalaya again from a different angle (of course!), by way of Lhasa, Everest Base Camp (North) and the Mt Kailash kora before winding up with a return visit to Kashgar....

When: July/August 2010

How: Wild Frontiers' Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar.

Itinerary

Part 1: Getting there

• Day 1 : Fly London - Beijing
• Day 2 : Arrive Beijing
• Day 3 : Fly to Lhasa (= Trip day 1)

Part 2: Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar trip

• Day 1 : Lhasa (on Getting there Day 3)
• Day 2 : Lhasa
• Day 3 : Lhasa
• Day 4 : Lhasa - Shigatse
• Day 5 : Shigatse - Lhatse
• Day 6 : Lhatse - Rongphu Monastery
• Day 7 : Rongphu - Everest Base Camp - Rongphu
• Day 8 : Rongphu - Pekhutso Lake
• Day 9 : Pekhutso Lake - Saga
• Day 10 : Saga - Paryang
• Day 11 : Paryang - Manasarovar Lake
• Day 12 : Mount Kailash
• Day 13 : Mount Kailash
• Day 14 : Mount Kailash
• Day 15 : Kailash - Tsada/Zanda (Guge)
• Day 16 : Around Tsada/Zanda (Guge)
• Day 17 : Tsada/Zanda - Shiquanhe/Ali
• Day 18 : Shiquanhe/Ali - Duoma
• Day 19 : Duoma - Da Hong Liu Tan
• Day 20 : Da Hong Liu Tan - Mazar
• Day 21 : Mazar - Yecheng
• Day 22 : Yecheng - Kashgar
• Day 23 : Kashgar
• Day 24 : Fly Kashgar - Urumchi - Beijing

Part 3: Getting back

• Day 1 : Fly Beijing - London

Google map
(Not sure if this is our route or not, but it's what comes up as Google Maps' directions from Lhasa to Kashgar!)

View Larger Map

Information

• Wikipedia: China,Tibet, Xinjiang,London, Beijing, Lhasa, Yamḍok Yumtso, Gyantse, Shigatse, Lalung La pass, Rongphu Monastery, Everest Base Camp, Tingri, Yarlung Tsangpo, Saga, Paryang, Manasarovar Lake, Mount Kailash, Toling, Tsada / Zanda, (Guge), Shiquanhe / Ali, (?) Huo Yan Shan, Yecheng / Karghilik, and Kashgar.
• Wikitravel: China,Tibet, Xinjiang,London, Beijing, Lhasa, Gyantse, Shigatse, Tingri, Yarlung Tsangpo, Mount Kailash, Ngari (prefecture), Yecheng/Karghilik, and Kashgar.
• Lonely Planet: Tibet, China
• FCO travel advice: China
• BBC country profile: China
• UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa (ie the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple Monastery and the Norbulingka area)
• summitpost.org: Kailash, Everest, mountains in Tibet, Mountains & Rocks in China
• Brian McMorrow's photos of the Gampa-la Pass / 岗巴拉山口 (4794m)
• The Tibet Map Institute (downloadable maps)
• Walkopedia: Mount Kailash Kora, Everest Base Camp, Lake Manasarovar
• Photos from my Central Asia Overland trip 2008: Yecheng / Karghilik, Kashgar

Guide books and reading material

• Tibet (Lonely Planet Country Guide) - Bradley Mayhew and Chris Taylor (2008)
• China (Lonely Planet Country Guide) - Damian Harper (May 2009)
• Himalaya-Tibet (Gecko Maps)
• Kailash Panoramic Map (Gecko Maps)
• The Mount Kailash Trek (Cicerone Guide) - Sian Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons

Languages (Wikitravel phrasebooks)

• Chinese
• Tibetan
• Uyghur

Weather forecasts (www.accuweather.com)

• Beijing
• Lhasa
• Gyantse
• Shigatse
• Tingri
• Saga
• Paryang
• Totling
• Tsada / Zanda
• Shiquanhe / Ali
• Duoma
• Da Hong Liu Tan
• Mazar
• Tuyugou
• Yecheng
• Kashgar
• Home (for comparison):London, United Kingdom

It turns out that there are overnight engineering works on the line from Paris to Madrid on the Friday we need to travel, so our beautiful plan to travel from London to Morocco by train (and ferry) stumbles at the first hurdle.

Undaunted, we've devised plan B: easyJet from London Gatwick to Madrid and an overnight stay in Madrid (booked into the Hotel Agumar, conveniently close to Atocha train station), which should then get us back on The Man in Seat Sixty-One ...'s (train) track.

But it's never that straight forward.... Renfe and RailEurope both seem to be suggesting that there are no trains from Madrid to Algeciras either! DeutscheBahn looks more hopeful, and if all else fails the easyJet flies from Madrid to Casablanca, and the current pricing is ~ EUR 20 each.

For comparison, London to Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc was coming in at ~£450 per person....

Update: We've gone for the easyJet option, easily extending our hotel booking one more night, and we've just this minute booked our MAD-CAS flights. Sorted!

H and I went to the Destinations travel show yesterday, and had a chat with the Mountain Kingdoms team about what trek to do next, given we enjoyed their Annapurna Circuit trip so much.

I'm tempted by Everest, not Base Camp in particular (or the prospect of 9000 or so fellow trekkers) but the combination of Nepalese hospitality, fantastic scenery, circular routes and tea house accommodation, and corresponding camera battery recharging opportunities!

Currently on my 2010 trek radar I have:

• Everest Base Camp & Gokyo Lakes
• Three High Passes to Everest
• Kangchenjunga North & South Base Camps (still Nepal), and
• Cordillera Huayhuash Circuit, Peru

H and I are both a bit concerned about spending a lot of time over 4,400m - we both noticed the altitude at Thorung Phedi and the following day's crossing of the Thorung La - and all the Everest treks look like there are a few days up that high. The snag with the Huayhuash trek (apart from flying over all that ocean... ) is that it's camping... it is not so much the camping itself that puts me off (so long as we don't get wet, and we've got snug kit for the cold nights), it's not being able to recharge my camera batteries!!! Hey ho....

We also popped in to say Hello to Nat and Jonny at Wild Frontiers, who suggested their High Road to Kashmir (a long time wishlist destination since my Hindu Kush Adventure) and their Lhasa to Kashgar expedition which includes a circumambulation of Mt Kailash and a trek to the Chinese EBC .... OK, neither of them are lengthy treks but those itineraries look awesome....

In the meantime, Phil and I are going to Morocco on Intrepid's Colours of Morocco trip in April/May - a fortnight touring round all the key sights/sites from Casablanca to Marrakech. We're planning to travel down on the train, a la "The Man in Seat Sixty-One...", but so far booking the trainhotel from Paris to Madrid is proving somewhat elusive...

As a belated birthday treat for Rachel, we went for afternoon tea at the Langham Hotel.

Escorted to our seats in the plush environs of the art deco Palm Court, we spent the next two hours trying (in vain) to eat our way through two tiers of dainty sandwiches and cakes, four tiny, feather light scones and a signature cupcake, accompanied by endless (Wedgewood) pots of tea and a glass of champagne each.

Thank heavens for their (suitably non-tacky, but never-the-less surprising) doggy bag boxes.

(Dreadful website though....)

I spent two days over the Christmas break getting photos from the second half of my Annapurna Circuit trip onto Flickr. Hazel's (390) photos are on Flickr too. So, here are my edited highlights, and a link to each day's photos, from the fantastic Mountain Kingdoms Annapurna Circuit trip:

• Friday 02 October 2009/Saturday 03 October 2009: London - Delhi - Kathmandu: Technical failure meant that Jet Airways had to substitute in a smaller plane for the flight from London to Delhi, which resulted in much delayed departure - eventually taking off just after midnight. A lot of our fellow passengers, including the Khumbu Challenge 2009 team, were also flying on to Kathmandu. Luckily we made up time en route, were ushered through Delhi security and on to the connecting flight. Phew. Good views on the DEL-KTM flight, and we just followed the signs to get our tourist visas on arrival. Mountain Kingdoms' local agent met us (Circuit and Everest treks) at the airport and we minibussed it through late afternoon KTM to the Hotel Shangri-La. The evening was taken up with check in, group briefings and for Hazel and me, a leg stretch/nibbles&water purchase stroll and repacking our rucksacks into the MK kitbags. Knackered.


• Sunday 04 October 2009: Trek day 1 - Kathmandu to Khudi: Most of the day was spent on the drive from KTM to Besisahar, with a tea stop at Gol Ghar. After a late lunch, we has our first taste of the trek, walking on to Khudi where we stayed in the aptly named River View Side guest house.


• Monday 05 October 2009: Trek day 2 - Khudi to Bahundanda: A hot morning's walk through rice fields and up to Bahundanda's ridge top location. A monsoon downpour in the afternoon, but we were snugly getting a taste for ginger tea in the restaurant of the aptly named Hotel Superb View.


• Tuesday 06 October 2009: Trek day 3 - Bahundanda to Chamje: An overcast morning turned into a rainy afternoon after lunch at Jagat and a bouncy suspension bridge at Syange. We dried off at Chamje's Tibet Lhasa Hotel.


• Wednesday 07 October 2009: Trek day 4 - Chamje to Tal: The unseasonal rain forced a change of plan after lunch at Tal. Having passed under waterfalls and crossed mudslides and engorged streams we turned back to spend an unscheduled night in Tal. The river was in spate, and new waterfalls had appeared on the mountainsides. The occasional loud crack signalled a landslide or rockfall. All rather unnerving.


• Thursday 08 October 2009: Trek day 5 - Tal to Timang: Having lost half a day's trekking yesterday, Durga and co replanned days 5 and 6 to make up for it. Thankfully the rain stopped in the night and we were able to make it to Timang. Our guides were fabulous, helping us (and other, unguided trekkers) across landslides and the flooding streams whose bridges had washed away. A damp, grey afternoon, and a long climb up into clouds to reach Timang.


• Friday 09 October 2009: Trek day 6 - Timang to Pisang: A beautiful morning - clear skies and our first sight of snow capped Annapurna peaks - made up for the uncertainty of the past couple of days. Morning tea at the New Tibet Hotel and Restaurant, Chame, came with a stunning view of Annapurna II and hot on the heels of fantastic views of Lamjung Himal together with Annapurna II. Amazing geology surrounded us on the final stretch to Pisang, where a Tibetan courtyard lodge and prime restaurant room location awaited at the Hotel Utse.


• Saturday 10 October 2009: Trek day 7 - Pisang to Manang: We opted for the lower route today, after two relatively long days. More stunning mountain scenery made for a relaxed pace, and an awful lot of photos. We took morning tea (and cinnamon rolls) at Hongde/Humde with amazing views of Annapurna III, which were surpassed soon after by the Annapurna Amphitheatre. It clouded over in the afternoon, but lunch at Braga was combined with a visit to the (Bhutanese-esque) monastery and old village before carrying on to the (relative) metropolis of Manang and the Himalayan Singi Hotel.


• Sunday 11 October 2009: Trek day 8 - Acclimatisation / rest day in Manang: Durga lead us up to the Chongkor view point which provided fab views of the Gangapurna glacier, Annapurna II and IV and Gangapurna peaks and our route past, present and future. The afternoon was occupied with shopping, coffee and cake.


• Monday 12 October 2009: Trek day 9 - Manang to Yak Kharka: ... which took us closer to the snow level, and saw us trekking as more snow fell. Our fabulous guides brought us hot lemon "Tang" from Yak Kharka, to encourage us through the final stretch. Getting high now - cold and thinner air. Hotel Gangapurna provided a crazy yak lantern, a cosy restaurant and not-so-cosy-but-definitely-picturesque-chalets.


• Tuesday 13 October 2009: Trek day 10 - Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi: More marvellous snow capped mountain scenery, brand new and en suite rooms at the Thorong Base Camp Hotel, and an acclimatisation climb up to Thorong High Camp View hotel (4,800m) in the afternoon.


• Wednesday 14 October 2009: Trek day 11 - Thorong Phedi to Muktinath: By far the hardest day of the trek, but ultimately successful and hugely rewarding. A cold, clear starlit night at 3.30am when we got our wake up call. A really, really hard climb back up to Thorong High Camp and on through the snow to the Thorong La. Beautifully serene up there, and as we climbed the dawn caught up with us, back lighting the mountain ridges and then turning the snow blue and pink before the sun rose and we were caught between the blue of the vast skies above and the blinding white of the snow covered mountains. Beautiful. After crossing the Thorong La (5,416 m / 17,769 ft), it was a really hard steep slog of a descent to Muktinath / Ranipauwa (3,700 m / 12 139 ft) - but the fabulous views of new mountain ranges, including Dhaulagiri (8,167 m / 26,794 ft/), Tukuche (6,920 m / 22,703 ft) and Nilgiri (6940 m / 22,769 ft) kept us going. Goodbye to Manang; hello Mustang. We were at the Hotel North Pole just after 1pm.


• Thursday 15 October 2009: Trek day 12 - Muktinath to Kagbeni: A splendid day, retracing our steps to take in the temples of Muktinath and then strolling along a basic road through unspoilt villages before crossing the barren uplands bordering Upper Mustang and dropping down into Kagbeni and the wild winds of the Kali Gandaki valley. A fine corner room and smart en suite at the New Asia Trekkers Guest House, Kagbeni.


• Friday 16 October 2009: Trek day 13 - Kagbeni to Marpha: The morning's route (Kagbeni - Eklaibhatti - Jomsom) was mainly on/along the Kali Gandaki river bed, and Jomsom provided a bank, post office and German bakery-cum-Magic Bean Coffee Shop, in addition to the Mustang Eco-museum. My main memory of the afternoon walk to Marpha was the famous incessant-and-strong winds that blast up the Kali Gandaki valley. Marpha offered Tibetan handicrafts/souvenirs, another Bhutanese-esque gompa and apple brandy. It was also the point at which I abandoned the Mary&Hazel "No booze 'til Pokhara" pact. Well, it was Adrian's 60th birthday....Happy Birthday Adrian!


• Saturday 17 October 2009: Trek day 14 - Marpha to Kalopani: More villages (good), more Kali Gandaki gales (bad). Great views of the Nilgiris and Dhaulagiri. A tasty lunch at the Larjung Lodge & Roof Top Restaurant but the afternoon's additional side loop via Titi Lake made for a very long day, and I'm not sure the lake or the villages were worth it, particularly as the Kalopani Guest House was the best accommodation we stayed in on the trek... coming with a beautifully tiled bathroom and hot water, plus magic mountain views of Annapurna I and Dhaulagiri.


• Sunday 18 October 2009: Trek day 15 - Kalopani to Tatopani: Lots of Dīpāvali festival flowers decorated today's route, including Ghasa's Eagle Nest Guest House & Garden Restaurant where we had morning tea. We reentered the tropical zone too - lush green vegetation replacing the more barren uplands around Kalopani. Lunch at Rupse Chhahara teahouse provided great food and a great view of the waterfall plus lots of sun and huge marijuana plants.... The afternoon route was almost entirely on jeep track. Not nice. I got to Tatopani in a grumpy frame of mind where my "no booze 'til Pokhara" pledge was well and truly abandoned in the shape of pre dinner beers at the Dhaulagiri Lodge. Good food (if not quite what was ordered), but a disappointingly scruffy garden room, and leaky loo.


• Monday 19 October 2009: Trek day 16 - Tatopani to Chitre: A lot of uphill today, mainly through rice fields and stone built villages in the morning (from Tatopani to lunch at Sikha) but the early stretch was on the newly carved jeep road. Brutal. We arrived at the New Dhaulagiri Lodge, Chitre, in the mid afternoon. Plenty of time for tea, reading, and rainbows... no hot shower though, eh boys?


• Tuesday 20 October 2009: Trek day 17 - Chitre to Ghorepani: After a leisurely rise and shine we had plenty of time to admire the fantastic clear views back to Dhaulagiri (8,167 m / 26,794 ft), and over to the north east Annapurna South (7,220 m / 23,688 ft). We swiftly covered the two hour trek from Chitre to Ghorepani, arriving well before lunch at the aptly named Sunny Hotel. We whiled away the rest of the morning and afternoon exploring the town (a 10 min job!), taking hot showers, doing washing, napping, reading, playing cards and eating. Oh and listening to cheesy tunes on the hi fi, and as the evening progressed, joining in the Spanish group's DIY disco and limbo party. But I don't think there are any photos of that....


• Wednesday 21 October 2009: Trek day 18 - Ghorepani to Tirkhedhunga: Beautiful panorma from Poon Hill (3,190 m / 10,495ft) featuring peaks galore. As the trip notes say, "To the east across the Kali Gandaki is towering Dhaulagiri [(8,167 m / 26,794 ft)], while Annapurna South [(7,220 m / 23,688 ft)] and Hiunchuli [(6,441 m / 21,132 ft)] are directly in front of you, with Machhapuchare [(6,993 m / 22,943 ft)] and others looking less distinguished a little further to the East." .... Lots of people too .... which made the walk up rather frustrating, especially as we missed the rich rainbow of pre dawn colours. There was still frost on the ground as we returned to Ghorepani, and breakfast back at The Sunny Hotel. The morning trek took us downhill through rice terraces and lush green farmland and sun dappled wooded glades took us from Ghorepani to our tea stop with a fantastic view of Machhapuchare (Fish Tail Peak). After morning tea, we descended the 3000+ steps and 800 m from Banthanti to Tikka Dungha, via the Magar village of Ulleri. The total descent for the day was c. 1,200 m / 4,000 ft. Hard on the toes, knees and back. It was also our last evening as a full group of trekkers, leaders and porters, and so featured final farewell at the Indra Guest House and Restaurant, tip envelopes were presented and dal bhat, several beers and another cake consumed!


• Thursday 22 October 2009: Trek day 19 - Tirkhedhunga to Pokhara: Our final trek day :( It took about 3 hours to complete the final section of the trek, from Tikka Durgha to Nya Phul. The route was through farmland, until the final suspension bridge over the Modi Khola at Birethanti, when we suddenly found ourselves out of Annapurna paradise and back in "civilisation". Shellshocked doesn't really describe it.... As our disco bus drove into Pokhara, we paused periodically to let our porters off. A sudden and sad set of farewells, particularly once we were at the Hotel Barahi. After checking we were all checked in, Durga took us to have lunch in the gardens of the Boomerang Hotel, which provided not only a lovely lakeside location, but also Hazel's first booze of the trip - hurrah! An Everest beer, naturally. And then it was farewell Durga :( After exploring the shopping mecca of Lakeside Pokhara we regrouped for more beers in the hotel bar then dinner at Punjabi Restaurant, followed by a mini pub crawl featuring cocktails at the Maya Bar and, finally, the Love Shack. In bed c 11pm - a very very late night by trek standards!


• Friday 23 October 2009: Pokhara and Kathmandu: There were lovely early morning views from the roof top of Hotel Barahi. Our flight back to Kathmandu left at 4.30pm, so we had a long morning in Pokhara to mooch around the town and the lake, sample the coffee shop offerings and the flick through magazines by the hotel pool. We left Richard to a couple more days of chilling in Pokhara and once at the airport, we found our flight was delayed so we got to watch the small planes from Yeti Airlines, Buddha Air, Agni Air and Sita Air taking off and landing against Pokhara's mountainous backdrop. Our Yeti Airlines flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu provided amazing views of the Himalaya, for those sitting on the left hand side of the plane. Back in Kathmandu, we returned to the Hotel Shangri-La, where we had a much better room than we'd had on our arrival. Definitely 4 star.... and we took the lazy dinner option, beers in the bar and eating in at the hotel's main restaurant.


• Saturday 24 October 2009: Kathmandu: For our one day in Kathmandu, Hazel and I went exploring on foot, using the Lonely Planet maps and walking tours. We walked from the Hotel Shangri-La down to Durbar Square, then back via the tourist shops and eateries of Thamel. Mark, Sean, Sophie, Adrian, Dick, Sue, Hazel and I went our for our final dinner at Kilroy's of Kathmandu.


• Sunday 25 October 2009: Kathmandu - Delhi - London: Unbelievably strict/repetitious/time consuming security checks at KTM airport, first at Nepalese "emigration", and then courtesy of Jet Airways at the bottom of the steps up to their plane. And then there was a "shout out" system for distributing boarding passes at DEL, but - thankfully - a proper size plane for the main flight home. Back at LHR, joy oh joy, there were planned engineering works on the Piccadilly line so the final leg of my journey home comprised the painful Heathrow Connect / Hammersmith & City combo.

I'm not 100% sure I've named all my peaks correctly, and you'll find occasional moments of frustration seeping through into my Flickr notes. I was much helped by the following accounts by people who've done the trek before me:

• Alicam1204's Flickr set Annapurna Circuit trek 10-27.10.07 and Guenter_seyfferth's super-helpful annotations.
• Guenter's own annotated photo of Thorong La Abstieg nach Westen.
• Mark Horrell's account and photos of the Annapurna Circuit in September/October 2006 - The classic 120 mile circuit of the Annapurna range in northwest Nepal. The trail passes through a number of different climate zones in the course of ascending from 800m above sea level to the 5416m Thorong La pass and back down again.
• Expedition Nepal's mountain list, and heights (plus Google's handy ability to convert between metric and imperial measures).

On the subject of identifying mountains, I do like the look of this iPhone app: SwissPeaks & WorldPeaks - identify mountains with your mobile phone. Charlie mentioned it at James' party on Saturday - it may be the thing that finally tempts me to get an iPhone.

Even with WorldPeaks' assistance I'm not feeling particularly inspired to try and add any more to the Flickr map; it's a bit like pinning a tail onto a woolly mammoth covered in snow.

And last, but by no means least, if you fancy trekking in Nepal, I would highly recommend Mountain Kingdoms. Hazel and I are going to visit their stand at the 2010 Destinations Travel Show to ask them for recommendations as to Where To Trek Next......

PS Two things I wasn't sure about before we went:

1. Question: Will I be able to recharge the batteries for my digital camera, or should I get a solar recharger?

   Answer: Yes, No. In almost all the lodges we stayed in there were either plug points in the bedroom (and electricity!) which you could use, or they would offer a "recharge anything" service for 100 rupee/hour.

2. Question: What is appropriate attire when bathing in hot springs?

   Answer: Still no idea as we didn't indulge. Anything goes when it comes to hotel pools though.

PPS My "with hindsight" kit list would have included:

• Annapurna: A Trekker's Guide (Cicerone Mountain Walking) by Kev Reynolds - plenty of detail, which is useful en route but invaluable once back home! We all benefitted from borrowing Sue's copy.
• Better sunglasses - I wouldn't want to go snow blind, now would I?
• Another Sigg-esque water bottle - My one small Sigg-esque freebie was fine, but a big Sigg would have been better than the plastic water bottles - particularly when it came to the super heated water. I'd personalise it too for ease of identification, as everyone has the same kit.
• Trekking poles - solely for the descent from the Thorong La.
• Panasonic Lumix GF1, purely based on Craigmod's travelogue/camera review: Panasonic Lumix GF1 Field Test - 16 Days in the Himalayas.

11 February 2010 Update: Phil pointed out @craigmod's Annapurna Moonrise - night photography at Annapurna base camp, and a travelogue on reaching the sanctuary. Breathtakingly beautiful.

We've returned very bouncy from the Barbican's 2009 "panto" offering: Pied Piper - A Hip-Hop Dance Revolution. No speech, all the narrative was provided via dance, music and mime. The programme revealed the inspired and inspiring development and casting behind the performance.

"Build your own tortillas" proved a popular decision on the pre panto food front with TJBR and Sue, and we just about had room for seven around the dining table.

Phil and I treated ourselves to a weekend away in Southwold, staying at the Sutherland House Hotel and Restaurant, and eating and drinking our way around the town, the beach, the pier and the harbour.

We selected Sutherland House partly on The Telegraph's Where to stay Southwold article and partly due to the Pepys connection, as according to the Sutherland House website our room is:

"Named after the Duke of York (later James II), this room was the Dukes' bedroom over a ten year period when he was high admiral of the English Navy during the Anglo Dutch war (1665-1674). The fact that royalty stayed here is demonstrated by the fabulous pargetted plasterwork ceiling that exists to this day. The ceiling dominates the room, and has the Stuart Fleur de Lys, the rose of the Earl of Sandwich and a seahorse to signify the naval connection within the decoration."

Not many photos, due to the inclement weather. Still, that did provide the perfect excuse to retire to our deluxe room with the papers and a Pieminster pie each on Saturday, and to hole up in The Harbour Inn with a pint or two of Adnams beer on Sunday.

Courtesy of TJBR, Phil and I did a morning's knife skills class at Divertimenti Cookery School over on Marylebone High Street. An excellent exercise of deboning a chicken (I supervised!) and slicing and dicing, batonning and julienning mountains of fruit and veg. All of which was cooked for us to consume as a delicious lunch, accompanied by a couple of bottles of rather nice wine.

And I got to mooch around Daunt Books afterwards.

Returning home via pre Christmas Oxford Street was less of a pleasure, but we *had* to experience the new Oxford Circus X-ing.

Back from three weeks trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, complete with unseasonal monsoon rains, landslides, washed away bridges and fresh snow on the Thorong La.

On the plus side, no AMS at 5416m / 17,769 ft (that's higher than Everest Base Camp folks...), stunning mountains, remote villages, 11 other lovely trekkers, one great guide, three fabulously attentive assistant guides and nine speedy porters.

Thank you Mountain Kingdoms!

If I were in the country I'd be going to Chutfest 09. It sounds just my cup of tea:

Join us in celebrating preserves, produce and pickling at our massive Chutfest event at Barrington Court in Somerset.

If you pickle or preserve, we invite you to come and swap your jars of loveliness with other visitors at the event from 3-4 October 2009.

Or even if you don't make chutney, you can come to learn how to from our resident chutney experts or buy the best quality local produce at our glorious Food Fair.

And I love the fact they've called the Chutfest Facebook group 'Idle Chut Chat'.

I picked the last of the roof terrace tomatoes last night - we've had a small but tasty crop this year - and made Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Tomato gratin, spotted in the Weekend Guardian.

Tasty tasy, very very tasty.

And we've still some tomatoes left.

... and I'm a leeeettle bit worried that I've done no preparatory hikes/gym sessions, and as a result finding that I get a bit freaked out by comments such as "Yes, my friends did The Circuit last year, and warmed up with a 10 day Mt Blanc trek.....".

Gulp.

Still, kit is piling up nicely on the spare bed. Hazel and I spent most of last Saturday and a chunk of Sunday visiting the outdoor equipment shops of Covent Garden and St Paul's/Spitalfields, eventually admitting our ignorance of the differences between the different Goretex and own brand offerings of the waterproof/windproof jacket variety.

Rather annoyed that SportsDirect failed to deliver on the Mountain Equipment Nanga Parbat Goretex jacket. And it's still showing as apparently available on their website - grrr.

I'm going to buy from Cotswold Outdoors instead, but I'll be purchasing in person as their flashy website is too overwhelming / frustrating.

So, still on the To Purchase list are:

• Goretex jacket
• water purification tablets
• more walking socks
• (prescription permitting) Diamox/Acetazolamide
• (maybe) trek sandals

Update: Struck lucky on my after work Friday foray to the Spitalfields branch of Cotswold Outdoors, leaving with an end of line Berghaus Tasman Paclite Goretex jacket in red, for £75. I think it's a man's, but it fits fine! The really helpful guy there explained the pros and cons between that and a reduced Rab and sorted us out with an Aquamira Aquaventure water purification kit too.

I spent some of Saturday turning some of the apples and damson/plums brought back from Herefordshire into chutney. No pan bottom burning this time, and the results are:

Five (smallish) jars of Plum Chutney (fooddownunder.com recipe):

Six (large) jars of Apple Chutney (Keith Floyd recipe, from www.bbc.co.uk/food):

Once labelled, they'll go into the (crowded) kitchen cupboard to mature for 6 months or so. We're still eating our way through various 2008 vintages:

We had a lazy time last week, not merely recovering from the party/BBQ.

Our main activities consisted of pottering around at the cottage, making chutney (so domesticated) and reading. We went over to Hay on Tuesday with Phil's dad to browse the bookshops, but that was about as active as we got. We managed a few meals with dad and Jean too.

Now back in London, feeling rather like a slightly dazed and confused country bumpkin after the drive back last night.

It's rainy here today, which is good for my chili and tomato plants, but not much else ... it feels like autumn has come early. No Indian summer here.

We spent a lovely weekend in Walton, in spite of the National Express strike (thankfully lifted on the Friday, allowing us to travel down that evening rather than Saturday morning and losing half of a precious weekend).

Saturday started slowly, with a stroll into town for supplies and by luck we met up with Sue at The Round Tables, where we were obliged to indulge in a fry up brunch. The rest of the day comprised a long sunny afternoon sat in my deckchair on the prom at Hipkins Beach reading Revelation, with an adjournment to the beach hut for a late lunch - more of a tea really - of cheese and biscuits, pork pie and scotch eggs for the meat eaters, and bakery cakes for afters: jam doughnut, bakewell tart and apple strudel. Then back to the prom, the sun and our books.

Tasty thai for dinner at Samui after a pint of delicious Abbot ale in The Victory pub.

Sunday started with a champagne and croissant breakfast in honour of Sue's birthday then, once Phil and Sue's dad had joined us, a repeat of Saturday's seaside (in)activity, and chocolate birthday cake for tea.

Distracted by a seal swimming in the surf just off Walton beach, we had to speed walk to catch the (slow) train back to the smoke and a late leftovers supper.

Headline of the weekend: FRINTON: Vicious attack on two men by gang of 30

Hazel and I are booked onto the Annapurna Circuit trek organised by Mountain Kingdoms.

Yay! Amazing mountains and wonderful people, here we come.

Let's hope our legs last out the 200 miles and the 5414m Thorong La Pass.....

Annapurna map, courtesy of Digital Himalaya. See Where next? (now below) for more details....

Destination: Nepal

Why: to trek the Annapurna circuit with Hazel and to see the Himalaya again

When: October 2009

How: on Mountain Kingdom's Annapurna Circuit trek

Itinerary

• Day 01. Depart LONDON
• Day 02. Arrive KATHMANDU. Transfer to Hotel Shangri-La
• Day 03. Drive to BESI SAHAR (5-6 hrs drive) then trek to KHUDI (2,591 ft/790m)
• Day 04. Trek to BAHUNDANDA (4,330ft/1,320m)
• Day 05. Trek to CHAMJE (4,691ft/1,430m)
• Day 06. Trek to BAGARCHHAP (7,086ft/2,160m)
• Day 07. Trek to CHAME (8,628ft/2,630m)
• Day 08. Trek to PISANG (10,465ft/3,190m)
• Day 09. Trek to MANANG (11,482ft/3,500m)
• Day 10. Rest day at MANANG
• Day 11. Trek to YAK KHARKA (13,418ft/4,090m)
• Day 12. Trek to THORONG PHEDI (14,730ft/4,490m)
• Day 13. Cross THORONG LA (17,764ft/5,414m) Trek to MUKTINATH (12,500ft/3,810m)
• Day 14. Morning in MUKTINATH. Afternoon trek to KAGBENI (9,200ft/2804m)
• Day 15. Trek to MARPHA (8,760ft/2,670m)
• Day 16. Trek to KALOPANI (8,300ft/2,530m)
• Day 17. Trek to TATOPANI (3,904ft /1,190m)
• Day 18. Trek to SIKHA (6,600ft/1,980m)
• Day 19. Trek to GHOREPANI (9,105ft/2,775m)
• Day 20. Ascent/Descent POON HILL (Optional) (10,495ft/3190m) 1-2 hrs. Trek to TIRKHEDUNGHA (5,133ft/1,540m)
• Day 21. Trek to NYAPHUL (2,713ft/827m). Drive POKHARA 1-2 hrs drive (arr lunchtime; Hotel Barahi; Lonely Planet Hotel review)
• Day 22. Fly POKHARA - KATHMANDU
• Day 23. KATHMANDU
• Day 24. Fly KATHMANDU - LONDON

Google map

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Information

• Wikipedia: Nepal, Annapurna, Kathmandu
• Wikitravel: Nepal, Kathmandu, Annapurna, Annapurna Circuit
• Lonely Planet: Nepal
• FCO travel advice: Nepal
• BBC country profile: Nepal
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Kathmandu valley
• Annapurna map, courtesy of Digital Himalaya.

Books

• Annapurna: A Trekker's Guide (Cicerone Mountain Walking) - Kev Reynolds
• Nepal (Lonely Planet)
• The Rough Guide to Nepal

Language

• Nepali language

Weather

Forecasts (www.accuweather.com)

• Pokhara
• Manang
• Muktinath
• Tatopani
• Sikha
• Kathmandu
• Home (for comparison):London, United Kingdom

Recent articles

• Nepal: Off the beaten trek in the Himalayas (The Daily Telegraph)
• In Nepal, a Long, Cold Climb to Inspiration (New York Times)

Dad and Jean have been down for the weekend.

Friday evening saw us dining in (almost) splendid isolation at The Modern Pantry, and imbibing one carafe of Marlborough red wine too many....

On Saturday morning we visited the excellent Henry VIII exhibition at the British Library, and split forces in the afternoon with Jean going to see War Horse - which Phil and I saw a few weeks ago; the animal puppets (they're lifesize, so puppets doesn't seem quite the right word) were amazing - and dad and I heading on to the BP Portrait competition exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, and taking a quick look at the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square after a reviving cup of tea in the National Gallery cafe.

Dinner was takeaway from the Barbican Tandoori, the Chawol being temporarily out of action due to a fire! An amazing sunset rounded off a lovely day.

Sunday was more gentle affair, starting off with the Garden Museum over near Lambeth Palace (a tranquil spot, with lots of history) followed by a late Sunday lunch at the Wood Street bar and restaurant - delicious.

A lovely relaxing weekend in Walton on the Naze, and a surprisingly sunny one - against all the weather forecast predictions of wind, rain and cloud. It was breezy, but that's the coast for you.

We indulged in local bakery cakes, curry at the Ocean Indian restaurant and a traditional cafe fry up......

....and read a lot. It was blissfully quiet at the Naze Marine Caravan Park - all the kids/families must have headed elsewhere in search of school holiday sun.

Still working my way through Middle East office tour jetlag, but I've finally finished adding my Libya photos to Flickr.

As you'll see from each day's photos, Libya's well worth a visit ("if you liked Syria, you'll like this too") - although I would not recommend Peregrine as a tour operator (read my earlier Libya Explored post), and note that not everything I/we did was included in their Libyan Explorer itinerary:

• Saturday 25 April 2009 (day 1): Morning flight BA 898 from London Heathrow to Tripoli, where I was met by our local guide, and, together with room mate-to-be Pippi, transferred to our hotel. Our Tripoli base was the Funduq al Mukhtar (rather than the Al Deyafa, which is where Peregrine told us we were staying), which I would highly recommend. Afternoon spent exploring the Old City with Pippi, vaguely following the Lonely Planet walking tour and catching our first sight of the souks and the marvellous arch of Marcus Aurelius. We dined at the Athar restaurant which offers a ring side seat of the floodlit arch. If you're a meat/fish eater, go for the algarra - it's the stew baked in an amphora that the waiter cracks opens at your table.
• Sunday 26 April 2009 (day 2): Daytime photo opp at the Marcus Aurelius arch and the old church, plus a visit to the Jami Gurgi, followed by a tour of the excellent Jamahiriya Museum (marvellous mosaics). We left Tripoli mid-morning for the long, hot and rather boring drive to Ghadames. En route we had leg stretch/loo breaks at historical Nalut (in the Jebel Nafusa) and the not-nearly-as-picturesque-as-it-sounds oasis town of Sinoun, arriving at the Kafila hotel in Ghadames after dark. Eye spying for camels and the giant pipes of the Great Manmade River enlivened the monotonous desert drive.
• Monday 27 April 2009 (day 3): Guided walking tour of Ghadames in the morning, free time in the afternoon which Pippi and I spent exploring the old town and its surrounding paths and field systems on our own. Blessedly free of fellow tourists, but sadly (to my mind) the old city is being done up in aspic. Afternoon tea in the sand dunes turned out to be a rather commercialised experience, taken together with lots and lots of Italian tourists.
• Tuesday 28 April 2009 (day 4): Long drive back to Tripoli via the Qsars of Kabaw and Al Haj. With a few hours of daylight left, Sybal, Lois, Pippi and I explored the Old City on foot, again with the aid of the Lonely Planet, and enjoyed coffee and pastries in the delightful Dar Yakhzen, a collection of souvenir shops in a restored courtyard house. Leaving Lois and Sybal to the delights dining à deux at the Athar restaurant, Pippi and I ate in solitary splendour at the Old City restaurant.
• Wednesday 29 April 2009 (day 5): 90 minute drive in rush hour traffic to Al-Khoms for a two hour guided tour of Leptis Magna, 30 minutes at the Circus and a speedy 40 mins at the museum. It really is as stunning as They Say. Back in Tripoli we had another late afternoon/evening at leisure. After strolling down Sharia Omar al Mukhtar to Green Square and watching families enjoying the sun in the Corniche gardens, Pippi and I returned to our hotel area to dine cheaply/locally, at the Sultan restaurant on the Sharia Omar al Mukhtar.
• Thursday 30 April 2009 (day 6): Another morning drive, this time west to Sabratha. More beautiful ruins in a stunning location, and another information-packed guided tour. Evening flight on Buraq Air, crossing the Gulf of Sidra, to Benghazi. Overnight in the palatial Hotel Al Noran, with a three course evening meal by candlelight in their top notch restaurant.
• Friday 01 May 2009 (day 7): A day of stunning Greek sites, sights and ruins set amidst rolling green countryside. We spent the morning on a guided tour of Cyrene and the afternoon its gentle seaside port of Apollonia. Lots of Libyan (and Egyptian) tourists visiting both sites on the muslim 'weekend'. Overnight at the lovely Al Manara. It may be the only tourist hotel in town (Susah), but it doesn't exploit that fact.
• Saturday 02 May 2009 (day 8): A leisurely morning drive back to Benghazi, taking in the primitive religious carvings at Slonta and the marvellous mosaics at Qasr Libya en route. Buraq Air back to Tripoli, a tour of a suburban spice and food market, a forty five minute last opportunity shopping spree in the souk followed by a tasty early dinner in town and then back to the airport for, eventually, the Libyan Airlines flight down to Sebha and the start of our desert adventures. Overnight in a concrete thatched holiday hut (nicer than it sounds!) at Fezzan Park.
• Sunday 03 May 2009 (day 9): A long day on the road, following the old trade route via Ubari and Germa, through the wadis and then the desert, heading towards Aweinat/Serdeles and then Ghat. Lovely picnic lunch en route, the first of many provided by the not-so-local crew (all Tripoli boys). An American Wild West landscape with amazing mountain escarpments and spooky Kaf Ajnoun dramatised the drive south from Aweinat to Ghat. Sadly we only had 40 minutes in Ghat's lovely atmospheric Tuareg old town before driving back in beautiful evening light to overnight at Aweinat. More thatched concrete huts, but the park wasn't very pleasant. And don't mention the jeeps.....
• Monday 04 May 2009 (day 10): Leaving the tarmac at Aweinat we drove into the Tadrat Acacus and across the barren black rock plains of Wadi Wan Millal before reaching the more photogenic locations of Awiss and Wadi Tashwinat. Adadh - the finger - signaled our arrival in Awiss and the start of many visits to rock paintings and engravings, and giant rock arches. Surprisingly few photos! I was still too angry to admire the depth of history on show .... Camping out under the stars, in our own private cul de sac in Wadi Tin Khilqa was a highlight.
• Tuesday 05 May 2009 (day 11): Another (full) day exploring the wadis, rock paintings and engravings in the Tadrat Acacus: a short stroll through Wadi Tin Khilqa before driving on to Wadi Tashwinat to see the amazing painting and rock carvings in Wan Traghit - the elephant was my personal favourite. Hanging around at the foot of the Wan Casa for our tour leader and mate was annoying enough to block out any memory of the beauty of the dunes. In the late afternoon, having set up camp in Wadi Tiliboo, Pippi and I climbed up into the surrounding rocks to take in the amazing view before dinner al fresco. (Pre-agreed) 4am wake up call from Lois to drink in the jaw dropping Milky Way in perfect silence.
• Wednesday 06 May 2009 (day 12): Morning drive back to Aweinat, petrol and tarmac, then retracing the road back towards Sebha, stopping and stropping at Germa Old City and museum, and overnight in the now familiar thatched concrete huts at the lovely Tekerkiba Tourist Camping, Tikarkiba, where they serve non alcoholic beer. A highlight!
• Thursday 07 May 2009 (day 13): Our exploration of the Ubari Sand Sea with its desert lakes and accompanying adventurous sand dune bashing by jeep was somewhat marred by a sandstorm and jammed jeep window. Back to Sebha for super slow internet, dinner (with irritatingly chirpy Italian tour group with their Tuareg guide on the adjacent table) then an evening flight back to Tripoli.
• Friday 08 May 2009 (day 14): DIY morning exploration of Tripoli with Pippi for final photos, taxi to airport and BA 899 back to London. In absence of Pippi and her much appreciated Bach flower remedies and hand holding support, I was relieved to discover BA serve alcohol on the return flight.

Back from a very lazy and very hot and sunny weekend in the south of France, staying at Hazel's dad's place.

On both Saturday (photos) and Sunday (photos) we did manage to walk down into and around Antibes old town without really buying anything!

Instead we gazed out into the blue of the Cote d'Azur, paddled on the pebbly town beach and marvelled at megayacht A in the bay - very James Bond. I didn't know such things existed. It made the other boats in the marina look small.

On Sunday we explored the Picasso museum, walked around the marina to the Fort Carré, and totally missed stage 2 of the Tour de France as it passed through the town.

The local supermarchés provided lunches and an al fresco Saturday evening dinner on the terrace, and on Sunday we ate a late lunch at Square Sud on the Place de Gaulle before returning to London via bus 200 to Nice, Aer Lingus Nice to London Gatwick and First Capital Connect train from Gatwick to Farringdon.

Spent yesterday pottering, and avoiding starting to work through my Libya photos on my frustratingly slow eMac. The time is fast approaching when I'll need to spend a relative fortune on a new Mac.

The day's successes included buying two "Moneymaker" tomato and a "Red hot chili" plants from the Barbican greengrocer, and Simon's 40th birthday celebrations plus my first Pimm's of the season. I had a lovely evening, and I think my liver's survived relatively unscathed.

I also really enjoyed catching Inside the Mediaeval Mind: Belief on iPlayer. Rather annoyed that I missed episodes 1 and 2 of the series and that these aren't available but episode 4 on Power is in my diary.

But now, back to lounging on the sofa watching Sharpe - the final two DVDs in the box set....

Phil pointed out that Wikipedia is letting you make your own book out of Wikipedia pages, and it is super, super simple to do.

I created my own first book in about 15 minutes, built out of the pages I'd added to my Where Next page, (plus a few more - so easy! Too easy?) and called Libya, April/May 2009.

Comprising 25 Wikipedia pages, the PDF version of my proto guide book weighs in at at hefty 14.3 MB and prints out on over 100 pages. Setting my PDF print options to two pages to a side, double sided that makes more than 25 sheets of paper.... hmmm next time I'll be more judicious in my Wikipedia page selection. But for this edition the plan is to jot down additional information on to the less bountiful pages so that I can give something back to the wonderful Wikipedia.

... Gaddafi storms out of Arab League - although reading this BBC article, it does seems like they just wanted a good headline to hang their "this is who's here and what it's about" story onto.

But more sadly: Hundreds feared drowned off Libya, and subsequently Libya migrant search called off.

The team at Travcour have been their usual brilliantly efficient selves. I got an email confirming receipt of my passport last week and an email on Friday telling me that they'd sent my passport back to me, which I picked up today.

Simple.

Thank you Trailfinders!

The website wooden spoon and online security mechanism FAIL goes to British Airways.

I am at my wits end with British Airways - the charming telesales chap has just told me their system has declined my card because of the number of attempts I've made (ie had to make) to buy flights. My bank tells me the card/account is fine.

It is just ridiculous.

Train there and back to spend a couple of days with my dad working on his Dore Abbey website (now up to No 4 in the Google rankings!).

On Saturday we also managed a trip out to Forty Acres to admire the new indoor train set up and continued along the Golden Valley to Peterchurch for a fantastic meal at Food For Thought.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny spring day, which prompted a lovely walk along the footpath through the woods and fields that line the river Wye to Holme Lacy. Our return route brought us back along the old railway line and past the ghost of the village station. Daffodils, primroses and catkins were out, adding yellows and greens to the first buds on the trees.

Very therapeutic.

The Peregrine Adventures Libya Explorer tour is definitely going ahead - yay!

To do:

• Update my Where Next page (now below)
• Scan and email a full colour scanned copy of my passport to Peregrine so that they can sort out an 'approval' letter from the Libyan Authorities
• Email details of my occupation to Peregrine
• Contact Travcour to arrange for an Arabic transcript of my passport
• Book flights and email the details to Peregrine

Where next?

• Destination: Libya
• Why: somewhere I want to experience before Gaddafi eventually goes, plus they have amazing Roman, Greek and Phoenician remains, a stunning coastline, atmospheric ancient towns, deserts and oases.
• When: April/May 2009
• How: Peregrine's Libya Explorer tour

Itinerary

• Day 1 (Sat) Arrive in Tripoli and transfer to hotel.
• Day 2 Visit Jebel Nafusa and the Qaser of Kabaw en route to Ghadames.
• Days 3-4 Full day in Ghadames, including the museum, the old town and afternoon tea in the sand dunes. Visit Nalut and return to Tripoli.
• Day 5 Full day at Leptis Magna.
• Day 6 Visit Sabratha. Fly to Benghazi.
• Day 7 Visit Cyrene and Apollonia.
• Day 8 Visit Qasr Libya. Fly to Tripoli and then on to Sebha.
• Day 9 Explore Germa and Ghat. Overnight in Aweinat.
• Days 10-11 Two full days to explore the Acacus mountains. See rock paintings and engravings.
• Day 12 More time to explore Acacus area in the morning. Return via Aweinat to Tikarkiba.
• Day 13 Explore the desert lakes. Fly to Tripoli.
• Day 14 Trip ends in Tripoli this morning (Fri).

Google map

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Information

• Wikipedia: Libya, Tripolitania, Tripoli, Eljabel Elgharbi (Jebel Nasufa), Ghadames, Nalut, Leptis Magna, Sabratha, Cyrenaica, Benghazi, Cyrene, Apollonia, Cyrenaica, Qasr Libya, Fezzan, Sabha (city), Germa, Al Awaynat, Jebel Uweinat, Tadrart Acacus, Ghat, Ubari, Erg (landform), Tuareg (collected together in my Libya, April/May 2009 Wikipedia book)
• Wikitravel: Libya, Tripoli, Leptis Magna, Ghadamis / Ghadamès, Benghazi
• FCO travel advice: Libya
• BBC country profile: Libya
• Lonely Planet: Libya
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Cyrene, Leptis Magna, Sabratha, Ghadamès, Tadrart Acacus (rock art)

Books to read

• Difficult and Dangerous Roads: Hugh Clapperton's Travels in Sahara and Fezzan 1822-1825 - H. Clapperton, John Wright (Compiler) (Currently unavailable on Amazon)
• South from Barbary: Along the Slave Routes of the Libyan Sahara - Justin Marozzi
• Libyan Sands: Travel in a Dead World - Ralph A. Bagnold (Currently unavailable on Amazon)
• Wind, Sand and Stars - Antoine Saint-Exupery
• A History of Modern Libya - Dirk Vandewalle
• In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar
• Plus (inevitably) Libya (Lonely Planet Country Guide) - Anthony Ham

Weather

Forecasts (www.accuweather.com)

• Tripoli, Libya
• Zuwarah, Libya (similar to Sabratha / Sabratah)
• Cyrene, Libya
• Benghazi, Libya
• Sebha, Libya
• Home (for comparison):London, United Kingdom

One of the problems of reading on holiday, whether it's Central Asia Overland, or one's Honeymoon, is that there's often no access to a computer to write up my Reading on SparklyTrainers... Hence a backlog of entries covering the reading I did in Xinjiang/Kyrgyzstan/Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan (September/October) and upto/over Christmas (which I spent flickring my Central Asia photos).

I've spent this afternoon on a whistlestop review of that reading and there's still the past week's honeymoon reading to catch up on, but that's only another six books....

Central Asia Overland reading list:

• Mirrors of the Unseen - Jason Elliot
• The Lost Heart of Asia - Colin Thubron
• Sharpe's Rifles - Bernard Cornwell
• The Last Kingdom - Bernard Cornwell
• Dissolution - C. J. Sansom
• Bones to Ashes - Kathy Reichs
• In the Company of the Courtesan - Sarah Dunant

December/January reading list:

• The Island of Lost Maps: A Story of Cartographic Crime - Miles Harvey
• The Anonymous Venetian - Donna Leon
• The Concrete Blonde - Michael Connelly
• The Last Coyote - Michael Connelly
• Sword Song - Bernard Cornwell
• Revelation - C. J. Sansom
• Sharpe's Escape - Bernard Cornwell

The honeymoon six:

• Fleshmarket Close - Ian Rankin
• The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Shooting - Melissa Banks
• The Love Knot - Charlotte Bingham
• Vagabond - Bernard Cornwell
• Suffer the Little Children - Donna Leon
• Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

We got back from a week in St Ives in Cornwall last night.

Yep, nothing exotic, just a cosy "Corner Cottage" in the heart of old St Ives with a (gas-powered) log fire, plenty of books and a sofa each. A great location, with the Tate and Porthmeor (surf) beach at one end of our cobbled street, Fore Street (shops - lots of shops!) and the harbour at the other end and the cheery Norway Stores just round the corner.

We had a beautiful sunny day on Wednesday, so headed out down the coastal path towards Zennor to enjoy great views back over St Ives and dramatic waves crashing against the cliffs. We also discovered the town's main "normal" shopping streets, complete with Pegenna Pasty shop and lots and lots of charity shops with a great selection of second hand books on offer. Most of the others days didn't see us venture out so much, but with plenty to read and a snug cottage to enjoy we did just that!

Bliss.

We indulged in plenty of fine dining too - Alba on Monday, pizza at OnShore on Tuesday, mexican at The Mex on Wednesday, a quiet night in with nibbles from the Fore Street Deli and The Digey Food Hall on Thursday and a final three course extravanza at the Porthminster Beach cafe on Friday, courtesy of a wedding present voucher from Phil's Bristol friends.

I've spent this morning catching up on email, Flickr photos from Tom and Dad, and girding my loins for the return to work. But first I've got to catch up on my backlog of Reading... starting with Jason Elliot's marvellous Mirrors of the Unseen, which I read at the start of my Central Asia Overland trip way back in September last year...

12.30pm at Islington Register Office....

... followed by a fantastic lunch at Vinoteca, Farringdon....

with cake by Jean

But still Mary Loosemore.

Photos

• My photos: Mary and Phil get married
• Phil's photos: Our wedding
• Hazel's photos Mary & Phil get married
• Tom's photos from 24 January 2009
• Flickr pool: Mary and Phil's Wedding

• Hen Party - tick (thanks Hazel, and everyone who came - Photos by Hazel)
• Taxis - booked (thanks Phil)
• Menu selections - made (thanks everyone)
• Cake transportation and icing - planned (thanks Jean)
• Speech - written (thanks dad)

which just leaves:

• Thursday's pre-wedding drinks to be had
• Bouquet to be selected and collected (for tossing in the direction of the single ladies)
• .... and the day itself....

My dad's a super silver surfer, he doesn't just surf he makes too - and he's recently rewritten (text and code) the website for the Friends of Dore Abbey.

It's a very simple site - just seven pages that provide the basic detail on where to find Dore Abbey, its history and role today as the parish church of St Mary's, plus photos of what's there, details of services and events, and contacts.

It's not the whizziest site you'll have ever seen, but one of my dad's objectives was to make it simple for any of the Friends to keep up to date, and another was to be self sufficient. Both achieved.

Dore Abbey was founded in 1147 by French Cistercian Monks from Morimond. Today it is the parish church of St Mary's and as well as regular church services there are concert and choral events.

There are plenty of photos of Dore Abbey on Flickr, including these by a lady who's also been to the beautiful north of Pakistan and along the Karakorum Highway!

Anyway, back to Dore Abbey. You will find it in the village of Abbey Dore in the heart of Herefordshire's beautiful Golden Valley, about half way between Hereford and the Welsh border town of Abergavenny. It's not far from Ross on Wye (antiques! kitchen kit!) or Hay on Wye (books! books! books!), and is in the shadow of the Black Mountains.

Dore Abbey on Google Maps

Next on his list is getting the site to come higher up in the Google search results; now there's a black art....

I do seem to have spent an awful lot of time getting the photos from my last trip (Central Asia Overland, with Explore) onto Flickr... but they're all up there now, in my imaginatively titled Central Asia Overland set.

All (all!) that's left for me to do is:

1. Geotag/map the photos I took in Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The Yahoo! mapping is so frustratingly woeful^[1] that I can only cope with geotagging one place at a time... Transliteration and the original-versus-Soviet/Beijing place name variations don't help.


2. Improve the tagging. I'm sure I've got lots of spelling variations myself... next time I'll be more rigorous at logging the tags I chose, and checking past conventions, before I start.


3. Delete some. I'm hopeless at picking which is the best out of any particular bunch. For example, Registan square in Samarkand, the Kalon mosque in Bukhara, not to mention Khiva.....


4. Defrost. With London's daytime temperatures hovering around zero our spare room-cum-office is freezing. I've been sitting at my computer clad in 2 pairs of socks plus ancient roof terrace gardening slippers, four top layers including fleece and vast woolly jumper, scarf and hat.... and occasionally resorting to wrapping up in the spare duvet too.

[1] This is the most zoomed in map for Samarkand (which you won't find if you search for "Samarkand") - see what I mean...

(and remember the Flickr/Yahoo! mapping for Bhutan?)

Hazel and have just been to the British Museum to see the Babylon exhibition. Interesting, but a bit thin once you're past the first room which has the scale models, maps and the bas relief lions and dragon from the Processional Way and the Ishtar Gate.

Actually, thinking about it there is an excellent short video of stills from the present day Babylon site, with the US army base in situ. It feels like a bit of an after thought, but maybe that's intentional.... it certainly leads you to sympathise with the quote from one of the BM experts that siting the army base there is akin to putting it next to Stonehenge or the great pyramid at Giza.

A quiet one all round, staying at home for Christmas and New Year, and I was at work for the three days between Christmas and New Year - very quiet there too.

In the run up to Christmas we had a few Sunday lunches out with family and friends, and I spent several Saturdays/Sundays on the Wedding Dress Quest which proved quicker and easier than expected. No meringues.

I was supposed to go ice skating with Tom, Barney and Rosa on Christmas Eve afternoon, but we got to the open air rink by Liverpool St station only to discover it had closed due to the warm weather! Ridiculous..... so we went home and had tea and Phil's home made mince pies in front of the TV, watching a couple of episodes of The Simpsons.... all very chilled out.

Christmas Day itself involved a few phone calls to family and a full spread when it came to Christmas dinner: turkey, bacon-wrapped mini sausages and gravy (just for Phil), roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, sprouts and roast chestnuts, cranberry stuffing, home made (by Phil) bread sauce.

Most of the time we weren't stuffing our faces I spent uploading my Central Asia photos to Flickr.... Still ploughing through Uzbekistan, but almost there with my Central Asia Overland set. I've still to catch up on entries to cover the trip's books read....

We welcomed in 2009 celebrating James C's birthday in champagne style. Lovely, and the perfect excuse to spend much of New Year's Day on the sofa indulging in a couple of episodes of Sharpe.

No resolutions.

Well, I can't say Uzbekistan has really lived up to expectations, but perhaps that's the cumulative effects of a four week tour talking... together with rather rose-tinted expectations in the first place.

Although modern Tashkent was a welcome change, and the overnight train to Urgench a very pleasant way to cross the Kyzyl Kum desert, the main historical sights - Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand - were each disappointing in their own ways.

Khiva can only be a ghost of its former self - the whole of the old town has been conserved and restored into a shadow of a city, resembling EuroDisney on a quiet Tuesday. No one really lives there anymore, and we wandered around the sanitised streets avoiding end of season souvenir sellers rather than the genuine detritus of daily life. Hard to believe it was once the capital of the Khanate of Khiva.

Moving onto Bukhara at least offered a slightly more living experience of an ancient Silk Road city, but here too many of the main sights - the domed bazaars, the magnificent Medressas and the potentially lovely Lyab-i Hauz (this is a good map of Bukhara) - were given over to souvenir stalls and tourist troughs. Oh, and there really really isn't anything worth the 2000 sum photo fee at the Ark citadel.

Samarkand should probably have been the highlight - I've wanted to see the Registan for years. It might be the heart of old Samarkand, but I found it sadly soulless - the central area was taken up by a temporary wooden stage and the mosques and medressas that make up the 'ensemble' entirely given over to souvenir shops. I much preferred Russian Samarkand, probably because I had no rose-hued expectations. As for the other main sights - the Bibi Khanum mosque, the Gur-e Amir and the Shah-i-Zinda - these have been almost entirely rebuilt, such that not so much as a whiff of romance or history remains. I like my sites served up in a rather more realistic state, and if that means ruins rather than restoration, so be it. I don't mind maintenance, but not restoration requiring (or resulting in) a complete rebuild with modern materials.

Mind you, I still managed to take a lot of photos; the architecture is amazing and the geometrist in me loves the tile work.

The other feature of this part of the tour was a night at the yurt camp near Yangikasgan, and a (15 minute) camel ride. This too was all a bit too touristy (and male) for my taste - although - again - my reaction says more about my unrealistic expectations as it does about the experience itself.

So no, having now been I don't feel the need to return. But I might pick up my patchworking again.

Day one of the final part of our Central Asia Overland trip.

We've a free morning in Tashkent while Amanda (our Explore leader) goes to collect the new arrivals from the airport, and we start sight seeing this afternoon. It will be weird having new people in the group, plus we'll be 20, which is a big (too big) group.

Tashkent feels very big and modern, a definite contrast to Kyrgyzstan, although some of the mainly Chinese places we stayed in in Xinjiang were similar, if not so big and not so western in terms of products. Tashkent is the first place we've had BBC/CNN news on the TV (plus dodgy Russian pop videos!!) and there are adverts for iPhones, Levis, Rimmel (Kate Moss again) on billboards and TV, and the person before us in our room here left behind Friday's FT. Mind you, having access to international news is a mixed blessing in these times of financial meltdown .... I'll have to work out the impact of the collapse of the icelandic banks, and where that leaves my Icesave-ings...

Next stop after this internet cafe is Il Perfecto, for (what promises to be) a proper cup of coffee....

We arrived in Taskent at 7pm last night having left Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) at 4am - a long day of sitting on the world's highest coach seats, suffering the smelliest squat toilets of the entire trip, and spending hours negotiating the border formalities for a trio of 'Stans.

Our one day in Kazakhstan started with a long wait to get through our exit/entry stamps at the Kyrgyz/Kazakh border (c6am) and ended with an even longer time at the Kazakh/Uzbek border c4pm.

That said, there were some key differences at the Kazakh/Uzbek border - we were the entertainment of the month for the Kazakh guys, who were fun rather than fierce as the leafed through dirty laundry and laughed at the half drunk bottles of vodka and whisky we were carrying, whereas on the Uzbek side of things the guards definitely had a more intimidating style of questioning, mainly focussed on how much cash we were carrying.

Still, the main "interrogator" was an English speaking chap and, after inspecting everything in my "handbag" (for wont of a better word) and checking and signing off my entry declarations in duplicate, he had a good look through the photos on my camera, which featured the long and bumpy roads and rainbows of our 12 hour journey through Kazakhstan, together with photos of Bishkek and the beautiful Ala Archa gorge walk. Definitely no pictures of any border crossings or military locations!

Tonight's the end of the Crossroads of Asia portion of our trip, so we had our farewell dinner with those not continuing on to Uzbekistan, and our last night in little old Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan has turned out to be a lot colder than Xinjiang, but not so cold as to require thermals or my fleece top - quite a few items of clothing will be coming back unworn. That said, daytime Kyryzstan was just right - nice fresh sunny days rather than the dusty/drier desert heat of Xinjiang.

Overall, I have been a bit disappointed with the Kyrgyz leg of the tour - not with Kyrgyzstan itself (far from it) but because key elements of the itinerary had to change due to it being late in the season and getting cold. We didn't get to see Tash Rabat at all, which was high on my list of sights. Back in the summer Explore had notified us that we wouldn't be staying there but I was still hopeful that the route might take us past the caravanserai. As it turned out, this was never going to be, given that it lies 26km off the "main road" (ie track) that connects Kashgar with Naryn, where we were staying instead, and it was a long day's drive plus Chinese/Kyrgyz border crossing (one coach - us - heading west vs an awful lot of trucks heading east).

In fact both our yurt nights turned into guest house stays due to the (tourist) yurt camps having been dismantled. The second was a lovely guesthouse on the southern shore of lake Issy-kul, but I'm not sure it was worth the half day's drive it took each way.... The lake is lovely, with snow capped peaks on the north shore, but the scenery doesn't change that much and we arrived at our guest house at dusk and left straight after breakfast, so no time to really walk or paddle; yes, the lake water was warm enough - we'd dipped our toes in at one of the photo stops en route.....

Our two days in Bishkek coincided with a summit of member states of the former USSR, which included (we eventually discovered) a visit by Medeyev - which meant all the main roads on city centre sights were closed to the general public for almost all the time we were there. We managed to explore the Kyrgyz capital despite that, and probably saw more of Bishkek's side roads than we would have otherwise.

The main highlight has been this morning's (Explore optional extra) walk in Ala Archa gorge - but almost didn't as, technically, the gorge was "closed" for the day because the big wigs were due to visit in the afternoon. Luckily our charming local guide, Maria, worked her magic and we were allowed on on the understanding that we'd be gone by 2pm, and by the time we arrived back in Bishkek most of the roads/sights were accessible.

Next stop: Uzbekistan (via Kazakhstan!)

Xinjiang was definitely saving the best 'til last, although lunch at Ali's family's home was a definite pre-Kashgar highlight.

The main treats encountered in this part of the world were:

• the livestock market - strangely (or not) reminiscent of Hereford's Wednesday market. The more famous "Sunday Market" was really not much more than a very busy bazaar - and we saw lots of those during the trip.
• the stunning Abakh Hoja tomb was definitely the highlight, although we only had three quarters of an hour at the site which also includes two beautiful mosques - not to be confused with the Id Kah mosque in the city centre square, which had been remodelled along Chinese lines into a vast open space with even the santised shopping streets kept at a distance.
• a day trip along the Chinese part of the Karakorum Highway (KKH) to Lake Karakul. The mountain scenery was a breath of fresh air after the deserts of Xinjiang, but not a patch on the Hunza valley....

.... plus we were in Kashgar when the earthquake hit Kyrgyzstan and the hotel room definitely wobbled! Twice.

I'd definitely return to Kashgar. Visiting at the end of Ramadan, I don't we got to see the Old Town at its best - most of the shops were shut. Even so, these smaller scale streets were nice enough to wander through and - as we discovered on our last evening - livelier after dark and away from the main drag.

Yarkand has provided definitely the most fun night out so far (and, it turns out, the whole trip). Famed for its mosque, royal tombs and old town (not much left of that; or perhaps it was just the effects of Ramadan again), the highlight for me was our evening at the restaurant and dancehall. Sadly I've no idea what it is called, but it was only a 5 minute walk from the Shāchē (Yarkand) Hotel, and it seemed to be *the* place to go to dance on a Friday night in Yarkand.

We feasted on Eight Treasures Pumpkin and had our first (and last) bottle of local wine (curiously reminiscent of the childhood cherry-flavour cough medicine I loved!). Dinner done, we were courteously invited onto the dance floor by the local chaps where our attempts to dance Uyghur style were decidedly less graceful than the elegance of the young ladies and gents of Yarkand.

First chance to find an internet cafe here in Xinjiang Province, in Hotan on the southern silk road. We crossed the Taklamakan desert yesterday on the brand new cross desert highway - so new it's not on the maps and the toll booths aren't in service yet.

It's hot, hot, hot, which means I've been living out of the top tenth of my rucksack - hopefully not too smelly. Not much call for anything long sleeved, and I should have brought some more short sleeved/T shirts.

The group's a bit of a mixed bag - mainly ladies, with a few couples thrown in for good measure - but I think we're all getting used to one another's quirks.

So far the Western China experience has been a bit disappointing - a lot of cities and sitting on the coach travelling from one to the next. Hardly any historic places or opportunities to get out and about - but then again I think I was being a bit unrealistic to expect much else, both from Explore and from this part of China. The main excitement of every day is shopping at foodstalls for picnic lunch things - but everyone ends up with kilos of stuff - why Explore don't just buy a picnic (the price of things is peanuts) I don't know.

I must sound like I'm not having a good time - I am, but it's just not as exotic or adventurous as I would have liked.

Anyway, we're in Kashgar over the weekend and that should offer some opportunities for exploring on our own - which will be fun. Then it's over the mountains to Kyrgyzstan!

It's almost time to go....

Destination: The Silk Road: Far Western China and Central Asia

Why: Because it's a part of the world that has been on my list for a long, long time

When: September/October 2008

How: Central Asia Overland, with Explore

Itinerary

• Day 1 Fly London/Beijing
• Day 2 Arrive Beijing
• Day 3 Visit Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City; fly Urumqi
• Day 4 Visit museum; Drive Korla
• Day 5 Drive to Kuqa
• Day 6 In Kuqa; visit ancient sites
• Day 7 Drive to Aksu; visit virgin forest
• Day 8 Drive across Taklamakan Desert to Hotan
• Day 9 In Hotan; visit Cottage Industries
• Day 10 Drive Yarkand
• Day 11 Drive via Uighur knife factory; drive to Kashgar
• Day 12 & 13 In Kashgar; visit famous Sunday market; optional full day excursion through the Pamir mountains to Karakul Lake
• Day 14 Drive via Kyrgyzstan border to Tash Rabat
• Day 15 Drive Song Kul Lake
• Day 16 Drive Bishkek; via Lake Issy Kul
• Day 17 Drive via Kazakhstan to Tashkent
• Day 18 In Tashkent; city tour
• Day 19 In Tashkent; overnight train Urgench
• Day 20 Arrive Urgench; drive Khiva; sightseeing in the Old City
• Day 21 Drive Bokhara
• Day 22 In Bokhara; tour
• Day 23 Drive Karmana; continue to Yangikasgan; 4WD to camp, optional camel riding in desert
• Day 24 Morning at Lake Aydarkul; drive to Samarkand
• Day 25 In Samarkand; visit Gur Emir Mausoleum and Registan Square
• Day 26 In Samarkand; visit Ulug-Beg observatory and museum; afternoon optional visit to Marakanda
• Day 27 Drive Tashkent; fly London

Information

• Wikipedia: Central Asia - Silk Road - China - Xinjiang - Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan
• Wikitravel: Central Asia - Silk Road - China - Xinjiang - Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan
• FCO travel advice: Asia and Oceania - China - Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan
• BBC country profile: Country Profiles - China - Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan
• Lonely Planet: Asia - China - Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan
• BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Freedom to travel in China
• BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Life in Urumqi
• BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Separatists blamed for China attack
• BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Fatal blasts hit Chinese province

Language

• Chinese language


• Uyghur language


• Uyghur phrasebook


• Russian phrasebook


• Uzbek phrasebook

Weather
(forecasts from www.accuweather.com)

• Beijing, China (Beijing)
• Urumqi, China (Xinjiang)
• Khotan (Hotan), China (Xinjiang)
• Korla, China (Xinjiang)
• Kuqa, China (Xinjiang)
• Aksu, China (Xinjiang)
• Yarkand, China (Xinjiang)
• Kashgar, China (Xinjiang)
• Naryn, Kyrgyzstan (Naryn)
• Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek)
• Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Toshkent)
• Urgench, Uzbekistan (Khorazm)
• Khiva, Uzbekistan (Khorazm)
• Bokhara, Uzbekistan (Bukhoro)
• Karmana, Uzbekistan (Nawoiy)
• Samarkand, Uzbekistan (Samarqand)
• Home (for comparison):London, United Kingdom

With the apple trees at the cottage fully laden, Phil and I returned from heavenly Herefordshire with a large bag of eating apples to convert into chutney, together with a first batch made using the recipe from Jean's apples-galore recipe book.

Back at the Barbican I brewed up batch two, using The Cottage Smallholder's apple chutney recipe, and yesterday evening it was turn of the final batch, BBC Food's Spiced Apple Chutney, which featured some of the Hungarian paprika brought back by either Phil's parents or dad and Jean. It's turned out to be very spicey!

I'd used recipes two and three last year, but I find no two batches are ever alike, probably because I'm never entirely precise in my ingredients..... still, the chutneys always taste good and remain in demand!

Our store cupboard, featuring the vestiges of 2007's apple chutney production and batches one and two from 2008.

Mary's apple chutney 2008, batch three. As yet unlabelled.

After a small bout of nervousness on Wednesday, it was a great relief to get this email at work on Thursday:

Your passport has been collected from the embassy and has been posted to you today. You should receive it on the next working day.

Thank you for using Travcour UK Ltd.

My nerves resurfaced when there was still nothing in our post box this morning.... especially as the Royal Mail's online tracking system was saying that the delivery had been made yesterday. So I went to enquire directly with the car park attendant, and after a bit of searching in various storerooms and shelves on his part, I spotted my envelope in the small items drawer... incorrectly addressed to 207 BJH - not that I cared at that point!

Four lovely visas, all present and (I hope!!) correct...... now I can start piling up things to take on the spare bed!

I spent last night and this morning trying to work out how much money I need to take with me on the Central Asia Overland trip.

I always find this the most difficult part of the planning - and if you get it wrong and you end up short of cash without an ATM to hand (highly likely in some parts of this trip!), then you're really stuffed. One big attraction of the Wild Frontiers' approach is that it's all inclusive - all you need to plan for is your souvenir spend, booze and sundries. In contrast, the Explore! model means I need to estimate how much I'll need to cover meals, drinks, tips and optional extras as well, in addition to the local payment.

This is what the trip notes offer by way of guidance:

PERSONAL EXPENSES

You'll need some extra money to cover meals not included in the tour price, other sightseeing, photography fees (approx. £20) souvenirs, drinks with meals, entertainment, laundry, etc.

Foreign Exchange
Local Currency: China: Renminbi/Yuan. Kyrgyzstan: Som. Uzbekistan: Sum.
Recommended Currency for Exchange: Take your spending money in US$ cash, as many bars and shops only accept hard currency (and often lack the facility to change travellers cheques). We recommend you take new (post 1990), good condition dollar bills.
Where to Exchange: In major towns. Your tour leader will advise you.
ATM Availability: Very limited, do not rely on this.
Credit Card Acceptance: Limited to major restaurants and stores in cities only.
Travellers Cheques: Not recommended for these tours.
Additional Information: Remember to keep your currency declaration form. It may be needed when you cross the next frontier.
Up-to-date information re:global exchange rates can be obtained at https://www.currency-express.com/explore/

Local Payment
Payable in USD cash(not Travellers Cheques) to your Tour Leader at the start of the tour.

Meal Plan
Local Food and Drink: CA: 17 breakfasts and 2 dinners; CAU: 27 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners are included on this trip; please be prepared to pay for all other meals. Approximate meal costs are given below:
UK China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Kazakhstan
Tea/coffee £1.20 £0.30 £1.00 £0.20 £1.20
Soft drink 0.80 0.60 0.50 0.50 0.70
Bottled water 0.80 0.60 0.50 0.75 0.40
2 Course Meal* 10.00 2.00 5.00 3.00 5.00
3 Course Meal** 18.00 5.00 7.50 10.00 10.00
*Cheap local fare in a small cafe or restaurant.
**Typical food in a simple, reasonably comfortable mid-range restaurant.

Tipping
Local Staff: In this area, tipping is a recognised part of life. Some local staff will still look to members of the group for personal recognition of particular services provided. Accordingly, you should allow £40 for tipping.
Tour Leader: At your discretion you might also consider tipping your Tour Leader(s) in appreciation of the efficiency and service you receive.

Other Sightseeing
The following excursions and/or activities are usually available and may be arranged locally. Estimated costs are provided below for guidance only, are on a per person basis unless shown otherwise, and may depend on the number of participants.
BISHKEK Ala Archa Gorge £8.00.
KASHGAR Karakul Lake £20.00; Camel riding at Karakul Lake £2 per hour; Uighur folk performance £5.00.

So, to work out roughly how much money I'll need over the 28 days, I've created a spreadsheet summarising the information from the trip notes, and applying the food and drink estimates. I've assumed the 2 course meal plus 2 soft drinks for lunch and the 3 course meal plus 2 soft drinks for dinner. I've also allowed for two bottles of water a day (I drink a lot!). I've then added in dollops of dosh to cover souvenirs and other expenses, and then rounded up generously. Here's my template, tailored for this trip:

I'll post an update on actual spend on my return.

I then need to work out how best to take it. If possible, I'd rather not be travelling with wads of cash. But the trip notes make it sound like I need to be self sufficient, for 27 days, in US dollars.

Now, I know for a fact that ATMs are common in China, at least in the main commercial and tourist centres. Hazel and I used ATMs throughout our two week trip there last year. We didn't take any travellers' cheques or US dollars. The Beijing Olympics, and the PRC's focus on attracting the tourist spend, will have resulted in increased investment in infrastructure - which in tourist money terms means ATMs. A quick look on the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum confirms that there are ATMs in Kashgar, which is our final stop in China. Plus I can even pre-order Chinese Renminbi from Marks & Spencers! So I'm planning to take enough Renminbi to cover my estimated core spend on meals and drinks, and will rely on US$/Kashgar's ATMs should I need more, and Kashgar's banks and/or M&S buy-back should I find I've got to much of the readies. M&S rates beat those offered by my bank and Currency Express, the online exchange operator Explore! mentions.

It's access to cash and likely spend in Central Asia proper that is a mystery. Time to read the guidebook and to work out what denominations of US$ will work best, balancing the desire to have as few notes as possible against the flexibility in the amount I can change/use at any one time.

The other annoyance is that the trip notes provide estimates in GPB £ - so I have to convert that into US$, which means that the original estimate in local currency has gone through a double conversion, and any errors/inaccuracies in the estimates are magnified twice over. They are only estimates after all! I'm also narked that I didn't buy my US$ when it was $2 to the £!

One final tip. I use XE.com's Full Universal Currency Converter to find out current exchange rates, and always like to take a ready reckoner with me, usually just one easy to remember conversion statistic. So, here they are, based today's rates:

• China Yuan Renminbi: 100 CNY = 8.26486 GBP
• Kyrgyzstan Soms: 100 KGS = 1.63118 GBP
• Kazakhstan Tenge: 100 KZT = 0.474864 GBP
• Uzbekistan Sums: 1,000 UZS = 0.429303 GBP

Next weekend*, packing planning.

(* or possibly the one after. I don't like getting to the "piling up things on the spare bed" stage until everything is definite - which means knowing I've got my visas. I don't like to tempt fate.)

... features a photo by yours truly on page 115!

A Falkland Islands' Sea Cabbage no less, as sourced from Flickr.

The lovely people from Bradt Guides sent me a copy of the book, which arrived on Tuesday.

Back v early this morning from spending the weekend in Paris with Phil. We had a lovely time, mooching in the Marais and exploring the streets around Phil's apartment on Saturday, followed on Sunday by a walk from his newly purchased book of Paris walks. It was a great itinerary, taking us off the beaten track and pointing out various places and features that we'd probably have missed. It also helped clear heads after a few large glasses of beer at one of the Paris Plage cafes on Saturday night.

He's got a great set of local shops including a cheese shop and two delis, but all the nearby boulangeries have shut for the summer, which meant NO CROISSANTS for breakfast. So on Saturday we had to decamp to a local bistrot for petit déjeuner instead.

The 07.13am Eurostar this morning was just about bearable....

Just back from a hot, hot, hot weekend in heavenly Hereford, which was perfect for Kate & Warwick's cocktail party and barbeque at Forty Acres yesterday and today's blessing plus idyllic riverside afternoon tea at Kate's dad's place. Here's hoping we get similar good fortune in a month's time.

Photos: Kate & Warwick's wedding celebrations

Take 12 kids and one no nonsense instructor. Combine in a London canal basin with the Islington Boat Club's sharktooth speedboat, kayak catamaran and colourful canoes. Result: one great 11th Birthday Party - as Jo's photos show....

Brilliant! I was rather tempted to join in, especially with the grande finale - the boat roof chute.

Pizza, crisps and chocolate cake completed the celebrations in style.

... all 779 of them taken on Wild Frontiers' Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon - Spring Festival Tour in March 2008.

All photos are in my Bhutan - Land of the Thunder Dragon set on Flickr.

Photos day by day
Saturday 15 March 2008: UK - Delhi
Sunday 16 March 2008: Delhi - Bagdogra - Jaigaon (Hotel Anand)
Monday 17 March 2008: Jaigaon/Phuentsholing - Paro (Hotel Paro)
Tuesday 18 March 2008: Paro Festival (Hotel Paro)
Wednesday 19 March 2008: Taktshang (Tiger's Nest) trek - Thimphu (Pedling Hotel)
Thursday 20 March 2008: Thimphu: Folk Heritage Museum - National Institute for Zorig Chusum - National Textile Museum - 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival rehearsal - Motithang Takin Preserve - Post Office and Bank of Bhutan - shopping (Pedling Hotel)
Friday 21 March 2008: Thimphu - Huntsho Community Primary School - Dochu La Pass (3116m) - Lobesa - Wangdue Phodrang dzong and town (Dragon's Nest Resort)
Saturday 22 March 2008: Wangdue Phodrang - Khuruthang Goemba - Khamsum Yuly/Yuelley Namgyal Chorten and Mo Chhu river valley walk - Punakha dzong - Lobesa farmhouse and family - Wangdue Phodrang (Dragon's Nest Resort)
Sunday 23 March 2008: Wangdue Phodrang bazaar - Pele La pass (3420m) - Chendebji chorten - Trongsa dzong - Zungney village textile shops - Bumthang valley - Jakar (Lodge Rinchenling)
Monday 24 March 2008: Jakar - Chokhor valley walk (Jampey Lhakhang - Kurjey Lhakhang - Polling station - Tamshing Goemba) - Wangdichholing dzong - Yoser Lham shop (aka the Swiss farm shop) - Jakar town - Hot stone bath - Jakar (Lodge Rinchenling)
Tuesday 25 March 2008: Jakar - Shertang La pass (3590m) - Ura village - Thrumshing La pass (3750m) - Langur monkeys - Mongar (Wangchuk hotel)
Wednesday 26 March 2008: Mongar - Kori La pass (2400m) - Yadi - lemongrass distillation "plant" - Trashigang town and dzong - Rangjung town and Monpa or Brokpa ladies, local weaving - Bonfire and Quiz - Rangjung (Rangjung monastery guesthouse)
Thursday 27 March 2008: Rangjung - Thakcho Kunzang Choeden Anim nunnery - Radi valley walk (Khardung - fern-headed man - Khuru contest - weaving - farmhouse lunch) - Rangjung (Rangjung monastery guesthouse)
Friday 28 March 2008: Rangjung - Trashigang - National Handloom Development Project, Khaling - Samdrup Jongkhar - Guwahati (Dynasty Hotel)
Saturday 29 March 2008: Guwahati - Kolkata: Victoria Memorial / St Paul's Cathedral / market - Kolkata (Tollygunge Club)
Sunday 30 March: Kolkata - UK

Other photos from the trip
David's photos on Webshots
Maggie's photos on Flickr
Hazel's photos on Flickr

Next on the photo list: dad's 70th birthday dinner in Broadway (only four months after the event...)

Hirsel Cottage, St Andrews. Some of the photos look very familiar!

(Thanks Ruth!)

Dad and Jean came to stay for the father's day weekend - which isn't the main reason for their visit (in fact I was oblivious to it until I put the dates into my diary...). Rather, Saturday was 'Friends and Family day' degree show for Jo's MA in Design for Textile Futures. After admiring the presentations of several of the different shows at Central St Martins, and Jo's Solar Sanctuary in particular, the assembled Loosemores and Angells adjourned to the British Museum for tea and cake - altogether a very nice day.

The food and family theme continued on Sunday, when Phil and I treated dad and Jean and TJBR to dim sum at The Laureate in Chinatown.

• Jo's photos: Solar Sanctuary, Degree show, Degree ceremony
• Dad's photos: Saturday, Sunday

Organised by Alexis, a small select group gathered near Archway for Lindsey's hen party. After an afternoon of "at home" pampering, accompanied by champagne, fairy cakes and Waitrose deli nibbles, we took a taxi to the Charlotte Street Hotel. There we indulged in a champagne aperitif prior to moving on to dine on high quality tapas at Fino. I wimped out at this point.... the die hards continued on for more champagne and cocktails at Milk and Honey.

Next stop (in a couple of weeks' time): Greenwich and Eltham Palace for Lindsey and Phil's wedding!

For the bank holiday weekend Phil and I went to Bath/Bristol - spending a lovely sunny Saturday on a narrow boat on the Kennet and Avon Canal starting from Bath. It was a birthday treat for Dave, one of Phil's Bristol art school mates. Cam, his girlfriend, always has loads of excellent ideas.

On Sunday, when the weather turned much wetter, we met up with the rest of the crowd for a leisurely brunch in a kid friendly restaurant/café before getting the train back to London. Phil had LISPA classes on Bank Holiday Monday itself.

Cam sent me home with a clutch of tomato seedlings she'd grown from scratch:

Cam's tomato seedlings, split out into their own pots

... a trip to the London Aquarium followed by a late lunch at Yo! Sushi, Haymarket.

Seems a bit macabre now - admiring exotic fish and then eating some! The lovely waitress at Yo! Sushi presented Rosa with a mini birthday cake, and let us take two pairs of beginner's chopsticks - one for Rosa and one as a present for Barney.

• Photos uploaded into Flickr for our morning in Thimphu
• Stroll through the backstreets to Columbia Road Flower Market, returning with four varieties of tomato plant: Shirley, Moneymaker, Yellow and Sun Baby
• Quick catch up with Jo, Barney, Rosa and friends at the Waterside cafe
• Home to chill out on the roof terrace, lounging on the beanbag rereading The Far Pavilions - having long ago forgotten that much of the novel is set in the Himalaya of NWFP
• Once the shadows arrived, refreshing the soil in various terracotta pots and planting out the tommy toes - capturing one snail (large) and one slug (small) in the process; both later liberated in a podium bed
• Heading back down to the podium with book and beanbag for another few chapters and an opportunity to luxuriate in the unseasonably early summer sun
• And now, armed with a pot of tea and malt loaf, back to the Bhutan photos....

.... otherwise known as, "How I spent the bank holiday weekend".

Saturday featured a leisurely sending spree along the Kings Road, with co-shopper Hazel. A successful outing, in the shape of new clothes for work for us both.

Sunday required an early rise and shine to get to Harrold by 10.30, for the church christenings of Gregor and William Murdoch. Bank Holiday weekends being prime railway engineering works, we were fortunate in having the Denton taxi service on offer. Break down engine and digger discussions come free. A lovely day, with plenty of time to chat with Laura and Ian's family and friends - the last such occasion had been Findlay's christening....

Monday was a college day for Phil, which allowed me to spend the morning and early afternoon getting some more of my Bhutan photos online. I only managed to get one more day done - but it was the day we spent at the Paro Tsechu (festival). Phil and I did manage to squeeze in an hour or so enjoying the May sunshine in the Barbican garden before Flickr uploading and profiling resumed..... and the bank holiday culminated in a two hour tutu-making marathon on ye olde Singer sewing machine. The things I do for love....

Phil and I went to see Kneehigh Theatre Company's production of Brief Encounter last night, and it was excellent. I had not realised that the staging at the Haymarket theatre was so significant.

I was particularly impressed with the shift from stage performance to film footage, achieved by the actor diving through the venetian blind film screen at the same time as their image appeared onscreen - a clever technique and dependent on precise location plus split second timing. As always, the physical movement and characterisations were excellent. The one element I found a bit trite was the use of the sea and crashing waves to depict the characters' emotional inner turmoil, although I can appreciate that the 1940s setting, and indeed the whole strength of the story, requires the characters to keep a stiff upper lip.

Well worth seeing, if you can get a ticket.

Next trip: Beijing to Tashkent, September/October 2008, courtesy of Explore .... I know, breaking the Wild Frontiers habit... but their Silk Road Odyssey is full, doesn't include the Western China overland element or an overnight journey on the Uzbek train system plus autumn is better time of year than the summer for getting four (4!) weeks off work....

Happy Birthday to me!

Itinerary: Central Asia Overland

Day 1 Fly London/Beijing
Day 2 Arrive Beijing
Day 3 Visit Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City; fly Urumqi
Day 4 Visit museum; Drive Korla
Day 5 Drive to Kuqa
Day 6 In Kuqa; visit ancient sites
Day 7 Drive to Aksu; visit virgin forest
Day 8 Drive across Taklamakan Desert to Hotan
Day 9 In Hotan; visit Cottage Industries
Day 10 Drive Yarkand
Day 11 Drive via Uighur knife factory; drive to Kashgar
Day 12 & 13 In Kashgar; visit famous Sunday market; optional full day excursion through the Pamir mountains to Karakul Lake
Day 14 Drive via Kyrgyzstan border to Tash Rabat
Day 15 Drive Song Kul Lake
Day 16 Drive Bishkek; via Lake Issy Kul
Day 17 In Bishkek; optional visit Ala Archa gorge
Day 18 Drive via Kazakhstan to Tashkent
Day 19 In Tashkent; city tour
Day 20 In Tashkent; overnight train Urgench
Day 21 Arrive Urgench; drive Khiva; sightseeing in the Old City
Day 22 Drive Bokhara
Day 23 In Bokhara; tour
Day 24 Drive Karmana; continue to Yangikasgan; 4WD to camp, optional camel riding in desert
Day 25 Morning at Lake Aydarkul; drive to Samarkand
Day 26 In Samarkand; visit Gur Emir Mausoleum and Registan Square
Day 27 In Samarkand; visit Ulug-Beg observatory and museum; afternoon optional visit to Marakanda
Day 28 Drive Tashkent; fly London

I'd originally gone for the Secrets of Central Asia organised by Peregrine Adventures, which looked brilliant - lots of time camping/hiking in Kyrgyzstan, travel through the Fergana Valley and crossing into China via the Irkeshtam Pass. Got lots of info from them and an invoice.... only to get an email saying they'd mucked up and there weren't spaces after all. To be fair, the trip was a combo of two separate trips, and it was only one that was already full booked, but they were advertising the combined trip as a single tour.

Anyway, foiled on that front, I had a good look at what else was available, and as WF's Silk Road Odyssey was fully booked I've ended up on Explore's Central Asia Overland trip, September/October this year. What sets is apart from all the other Central Asia trips is the 10 days in the far west of China, another place that's been on my wishlist for a while.... plus that overnight train journey in Uzbekistan (I might see that in a more negative light after the event!!).

My main reservations are about going with Explore, given that they're more mainstream and the group size is relatively large. But then again, I would have thought anyone booking for 28 days in Sept/Oct to go to that part of the world isn't going to be that mainstream.

A lovely long weekend in Broadway, staying in luxury at The Lygon Arms, and waking up to snow on Sunday morning was just wonderful - the fresh fallen light white layers coating the village's Coltswolds limestone buildings like foam, and casting a silence over the surrounding countryside. I did rather envy the families having hillwards pulling sledges behind them....

We were there to celebrate dad's three score years and ten, his third such birthday party in fact, featuring a lovely dinner at The Lygon Arms on Sunday evening, and a leisurely, Monday-off-work, breakfast-turned-brunch the morning after. Dad's already got his photos on Flickr; I need to work my way through Bhutan before I get to Broadway. I've been back a week, and the photos have yet to make it onto my Mac.

(10 August 2008: Photos finally Flickred! Dad's 70th Birthday Party)

Tired, but a great trip - although I wouldn't rate it as highly as the Hindu Kush Adventure or Iran trips - Bhutan doesn't quite have the same edge. Plus there was a lot of driving in India at the end, and the Tolly Gunge Club didn't really provide the 'high note' finale. It felt altogether too worldly and self important after a fortnight up in the mountains and high pastures.

Days 4 and 5 were the highlights for me, featuring the Paro festival and the hike up to the Tiger's Nest. We were there during the country's first democratic elections, which was fascinating, and I returned with a commemorative calendar, prepared in advance of the Fifth King's coronation (due to happen this year - no one knows when!) and lots of woven baskets. Oh, and a taste for cheese and chilli dishes, plus a developing daily G+T habit.....!

Returning home to BJH via the 'new' St Pancras International has added somewhat to the out of body experience resulting from our 90 minute nap prior to driving across Kolkata to check in (early) for our 4.45am flight, which kept ahead of the dawn all the way back west to London Heathrow. I was a bit of disgruntled 'customer' even before we got to the airport. Still, the glamour of St Pancras and a mezze lunch Au Pain Quotidien with Phil, Paul and Jahraj sorted me out!

Work tomorrow. I'm taking my Kings of Bhutan commemorative calendar in for moral support.

(06 July 2008: photos fully Flickred: Bhutan - Land of the Thunder Dragon)

Just back from a great weekend in Bristol, staying with Cam and Dave. The leisurely train ride from Paddington to Bristol provides just the right amount of time for reading The Guardian. Once in the west, we took the bus up to Clifton and mooched around before settling on a small cafe for lunch. Not the best value for money meal I've ever had, mainly due to the small size of the portions. Delicious, I just expected more!

Still, refuelled we headed downhill skirting the edge of Brandon Hill and into Hotwells and over to Southville via the chocolate path and the cast iron pedestrian bridge over the River Avon.

Installed chez Cam and Dave, we caught up on their news and relaxed with David Attenborough's reptiles aka Life in Cold Blood.

The evening was nice and sociable, starting with dinner with for nine cooked by Cam - delicious lasagnes, meat and veggie, followed by a magnificent tiramisu - followed by comedy courtesy of The Comedy Box at the Hen and Chickens.

Sunday started with sausage sandwiches (yum!) to get us fired up for a country walk starting and finishing at the gorgeous Marshfield organised by a friend of Cam's. It was a lovely walk, plenty of time to chat and no rain, despite the forecast! And then a huge lunch at the Catherine Wheel pub in Marshfield - a gorgeous Georgian hostelry. I can see why it's so popular.

Back to Bristol for a breather, then the train back to London - packed to the gunnels due to engineering works, so thank heavens for booked seats.

A long weekend visit from Catriona (with Hazel popping up from Clapham) allowing for a girly gossip catch up on Friday evening over Waitrose deli treats, a day out seeing the sights on Saturday, a night out in trendy Smithfield/Farringdon and a spot of Bond Street shopping on Sunday.

Saturday's highlight was a visit to the Natural History Museum to see the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the year exhibition. Luckily all the families queuing to get into the NHM were intent on seeing the dinosaurs. The photos were stunning - almost unbelievably so in the case of the 10 to 14 and 15 to 17 age groups. It was interesting to read how the shots had been captured; some of them seemed rather too staged given the wildlife/nature theme.

Hazel nipped back to Clapham on flat business, and Cat and I walked back through Hyde Park, Green Park and St James's Park to Pall Mall. Beautiful blue skies but a cruel wind... After a late lunch we headed into the National Portrait Gallery to see the Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition - lovely. A very photographic themed day!

Reunited with Hazel, we caught the tube back to base and after a bit of a sit we got glammed up, slurped a chilled glass of wine each and headed out to Smiths of Smithfield. Sadly not a busy as we'd hoped with few opportunities for talent spotting!

After a Hazel-cooked brunch on Sunday morning, we headed over to South Molton Street for some shop shop shopping. Sadly I waved Cat off at Kings Cross without any new purchases. Home on the tube to the Barbican, where the Estate glowed under a brilliant blue sky, with a daytime moon. A prefect opportunity to photograph the towers, the moon, and reflections of both in the Bryer Court pond. Gorgeous.

Feeling in need of a travel-related highlight for the near horizon, I spotted Wild Frontiers' Easter trip to Bhutan.

Hazel proved keen too, and after a recce of the alternatives at the Adventure Travel show, we've booked on the Land of the Thunder Dragon Spring Festival Tour, which is timed to include the Paro Teschu.

Very excited now it's definite!

Destination: Bhutan (and India)

Why: Holiday with Hazel, timed to catch the Paro festival

When: March 2008

How: Land of the Thunder Dragon Spring Festival Tour, with Wild Frontiers:

• Day 1: Depart UK
• Day 2: arr Indira Gandhi International Airport Delhi, onward flight to Baghdogra/Guwahati (dep from IGIA Terminal 1b). Onward travel to India/Bhutan land border crossing at Phuntsholing
  
• Day 3: Phuntsholing - Paro
• Day 4: Paro Festival
• Day 5: Paro Festival - Thimpu
• Day 6: Thimpu: Dechen Prodrung
• Day 7: Thimpu - Wangdue: Huntsho Community Primary School
• Day 8: Wangdue - Punakha - Wangdue
• Day 9: Wangdue - Trongsa - Bumthang
• Day 10: Bumthang
• Day 11: Bumthang - Mongar
• Day 12: Mongar - Trashigang
• Day 13: Trashigang
• Day 14: Trashigang - Guwahati
• Day 15: Guwahati - Calcutta / Kolkata
• Day 16: Calcutta/Kolkata - UK

Information

• Wikipedia: Bhutan
• Wikitravel: Bhutan
• FCO travel advice: Bhutan
• BBC country profile: Bhutan
• Lonely Planet: Bhutan
• Local English language newspaper: Kuensel
• Other websites:
  • www.bootan.com: roadmap, news, travel tips, travelinfo
  • Bhutan travel

Language

• Dzongkha (official language of Bhutan)
• Sharchopkha (major regional language spoken in eastern Bhutan)
• Bumthangkha (regional language of Bumthang area)

Weather

Average temperatures
Source: http://www.bootan.com/bhutan/weather.shtml

Forecasts

• Delhi


• Baghdogra


• Paro


• Thimphu


• Kolkata

Jess (whose wedding to Mike we went to in Milan last year) told me that the current issue of the London Review of Books contains a review of a book about blogs - Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web by Sarah Boxer - in which it was mentioned that by far the best was that of a "web designer called Phil Gyford":

"The best of the lot, though, is the diary of Samuel Pepys, which a web designer called Phil Gyford has been posting in daily instalments since 2003, using the text already online at Project Gutenberg."

The Diary of Samuel Pepys is available at www.pepysdiary.com.

Phil's moved SparklyTrainers on to Movable Type 4.0, and taken the opportunity to have a play with some of MT4.0's new features and to tidy up some of the CSS and hacks we'd used on previous versions of Sparkly.

So this afternoon we've been busy with the following To Do list:

• Change the navigation, introducing horizontal tabbed navigation between the various bits of SparklyTrainers
• Introduce a more consistent look across the various bits, and more consistent navigation/information facets in the main sidebar
• Use the secondary, far right sidebar to draw in random pictures from my photos on Flickr on every page (other than in Reading)
• Relocate the Author tag cloud in Reading, from a separate page to the far right sidebar
• Revamp the home page to pull in more of the most recent entries from Blog and Reading
• Implemented Google Analytics, to feed my stats fetish

By "we" I really mean Phil, of course....

My To Do list now reads:

• Finish backfill of Author tags in Reading
• Update Where next?
• Update About me

For Phil's Christmas present, I treated him to tickets to see Henry V at Stratford upon Avon, plus a night at the Alveston Manor. We drove up on Friday evening through foul weather, but by the time we got to Stratford the rain had stopped so having checked in and dumped our meagre weekend bags we headed out, crossing the river and mooching around the town centre in search of somewhere for a late dinner. We settled on Lambs, which was lovely and relaxing and felt like a proper start to the weekend.

As the RSC is doing the history plays this season, Phil had treated himself to tickets for Henry IV parts 1 and 2, which meant he spent the morning and afternoon at the Courtyard Theatre - the main theatre and the Swan are currently one large building site as the RSC revamps its key Stratford location. Leaving Phil covering the cultural, I opted for the commercial, looking around the shops and the market stalls in the town centre, then heading back to the hotel to enjoy the sauna, steam room and pool. Very relaxing.

I enjoyed Henry V - a long play, but very energetic, although the end scenes dealing with Henry's wooing of Catherine de Valois felt superfluous.

Sunday provided a cold and crisp morning for a walk along the river, fuelled by a second excellent breakfast at the Alveston Manor, then a leisurely drive back to London via the backroads of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire.

I didn't do a round robin letter this year, but as I always enjoy reading the ones that I receive I've succumbed: here's a very brief round up of my 2007.

Reading

68 books read - from S is for Silence to The Closers; mainly the usual mixture of fiction (predominantly modern / historical / crime) and autobiographical travel.

Travel / Holidays

Big trips

• Iran - on a Wild Frontiers recce tour, in May. Fantastic.
• China - an October fortnight travelling with Hazel from her dad's Shanghai base; plus a week of work.

Short trips and weekends away

• Brecon Beacons - bringing in the New Year with Phil's Bristol crowd.
• Forty Acres - for the annual birthday parties weekend.
• Saltaire - to catch up with Cat in early June
• Seville - with Fiona and Catherine in mid June.
• Walton on the Naze - twice (May Bank Holiday weekend and the week leading up to the August Bank Holiday weekend); both times a bit on the chilly/wet side.
• Bristol - for Tim and Helen's wedding on the SS Great Britain. Glorious.
• Milan - for Jess and Mike's wedding. We travelled there/back by train. Altogether very lovely.

Work

Still at Simmons & Simmons where I spent the first nine months of the year as the elexica editor and the last three seconded to a new role of Knowledge Management Business Manager.

Home and family

Still happily esconced in the Barbican with Phil; still happily doing Aunty Mary duties to Barney (10) and Rosa (8). Dad and Jean both well. I'm off to Hereford for a relaxing weekend with them in January.

Plans for 2008

Currently only features travel - 2008 is the year I'll finally get to see some of the Silk Road in Central Asia. Nothing booked yet, but it's The Trip for the year. Hoping to squeeze in a week in Libya too to maintain my one a year quota of visits to countries in the Axis of Evil. Luckily work have introduced the option of buying additional holiday.....

I'm just back from three weeks in China. Hazel's dad's been based in Shanghai for two years asking when we were going to be visiting, and I'd been looking at spending a week in Shanghai and Hong Kong with work, telling them about www.elexica.com and why Simmons & Simmons has it, so it was an opportunity too good to miss.

Holiday-wise, Hazel's dad, Zhang and the team at Rail Partners put together a fantastic itinerary involving lots of long train journeys and internal flights to the sights, and staying in 3-4 star hotels rather than in backpackerland (mainly because IWW got us great rates through the excellent elong online travel service). Yes, a sign that we're getting old(er) I guess.

Gap filling and photos to follow....

Planning
Weather: Shanghai
FCO travel advice: China
Wikipedia: China
BBC country profile: China
Lonely Planet: China

Itinerary and what we got up to

• Saturday 13 / Sunday 14 October (photos): Fly London Heathrow to Shanghai, Virgin Atlantic. Arrive Shanghai early morning, airport bus No 6 to Shemun Yi Lu (18 RMB). Power nap then afternoon walk around Shanghai to get our bearings - walking through People's Square and along Fuzhou to the Bund where we took a lot of photos of Pudong's ultramodern skyline and the Huangpu river, complete with boats carrying electronic advertising hoardings. Return walk took us along Nanjing Dong Lu, with all its shops and shoppers. Dinner at the Malaysian Chinese (Nonya) restaurant on Dagu Lu.


• Monday 15 October (photos): Coffee out at a Western cafe on Dagu Lu then rendezvous with Ivor to pick up updated itinerary and train tickets. Lunch then bus to Shanghai train station (2 RMB). Shopped for overnight supplies before relaxing in the soft sleeper lounge before boarding the Shanghai to Xi'an overnight train T138 (depart: 15:57, soft sleeper: 516 RMB)


• Tuesday 16 October (photos): Arrive Xi'an 07:58 (but late in). Put day packs into left luggage (we travel light) and catch public bus to Terracotta warriors (left luggage 3RMB per item; bus: 7 RMB; entry: 90 RMB, audio guides 40 RMB), return to train station and catch taxi to check in at Tianyu Gloria Plaza hotel (room: 498 RMB). Walk past endless electronics shops to Big Goose Pagoda (entry: 25 RMB; pagoda climb: 20 RMB), walk to Little Goose Pagoda (closed) to eat at Maogong Xiangcaiguan restaurant. Walk back to hotel (too much walking today ...don't underestimate the size of the Xi'an city blocks!). Overnight in Xi'an.


• Wednesday 17 October (photos): Taxi to Xi'an old town, explore the Muslim quarter, the Great Mosque (my favourite part of Xi'an), the Drum Tower, the Bell Tower, walk along the restored town walls (40 RMB) from the South Gate to Heping Lu / Yanta Lu gate. Walk back to hotel. Taxi to airport (along empty 4 lane motorways). Xi'an to Guilin by air (China Eastern Airline MU2307 dep: 13:40 first class flight: 1826 RMB). Airport coach to central Guilin, taxi to Guilin Bravo Hotel (room per night: 658 RMB). Walk around the Rong Hu and Shan Hu lakes, featuring pagodas and pretty nighttime lighting of the lakes, trees, paths and bridges. Eat in at the Guilin Bravo hotel, overdosing on pak choi, greens and water chestnuts... I wouldn't agree with the Lonely Planet guidebook's assessment that there is "...good food available in the hotel's Chinese Japanese and Western restaurants". Overnight in Guilin.


• Thursday 18 October (photos): Li river cruise (booked via the hotel). The river scenery is lovely, but you lose something when you're following 50 or so other cruise boats in convoy and after a long wait at the departure quays which are themselves an hour or so minibus journey from Guilin. Potter around Yangshuo where we indulged in coffee, lemon meringue pie and recent editions of the China Daily English language newspaper at the Dream and Hope Coffee House. Highly recommended: close enough to the main drag to keep an eye on the action, but far enough away for there to be peace and quiet and mercifully few street hawkers. Return to Guilin by minibus, and a tortuous rush hour fellow passenger drop off. Eat out at the ?Charlotte? lakeside restaurant (much better than the Bravo Hotel's Chinese restaurant). Overnight in Guilin.


• Friday 19 October (photos): Potter around Guilin, walking around the lakes in search of a good coffee (success in the shape of a specialist coffee shop on Shanhu Bei Lu, where an Americano came with fried eggs and toast and a view of the morning dance exercise sessions on the pavement across the road) heading for Seven Star Park (Qixing Gongyuan, 35 RMB) for a stoll up the limestone karst hills for views over Guilin, and around the kitsch Disney-esque tourist attractions at river level, plus the zoo where we watched several sessions of fish feeding frenzy. Taxi to Guilin airport (100 RMB fixed fare) for flight to Shanghai Hongqiao airport courtesy of Shanghai Airlines (FM9332, dep: 20:25 arr: 22:35 first class ticket: 2146 RMB). IWW on hand to lead us through the airport onward connection conundrum - taxis avoid the airport from 10-11pm so that they benefit from the late night fare surcharge that comes into effect at 11pm. IWW elbowed us onto the Airport Express bus into the centre of Shanghai (4 RMB) and thence a short hop home in a taxi.


• Saturday 20 October (photos): Day trip with IWW, car and driver to the water towns over towards Tai Lake. First stop Tongli (80 RMB), second stop Zhouzhuang (100 RMB). Both were busy with Chinese visitors (although apparently we were there on a relatively quiet day) and it was rather like wandering around a Disney recreation than a living town. Delicious dinner at the Four Seasons hotel's Japanese restaurant taking advantage of the all you can eat sushi menu and all you can drink draft beer deal, and the cigar-friendly, jasmin tea (with complementary biscuits) serving lounge.


• Sunday 21 October (photos): Tour of Shanghai with IWW by bus, foot and taxi, featuring the Old City (mostly under demolition), Yuyuan Bazaar (another modern replica housing shops geared for tourists - of which there were loads) and Yu Gardens (40 RMB) (similarly heaving), the Memorial for the site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, sandwich lunch at patisserie Paul in Xintiandi followed by a stroll through the lovely french-style Fuxing park (featuring open air performances of traditional dance from the north/west of China) and the French Concession. After a rest chez IWW we headed out again for the Bund and evening ferry ride to/from Pudong for night time photos of both sides of the river. Dinner at the mediterranean place on Dagu Lu. Hazel's downfall was to go for the lamb pitta....


• Monday 22 October (photos): Taxi to Shanghai Hongqiao airport for early morning flight to Kunming (CA 1797 dep: 07:45 arr: 11:05 economy fare). Met at airport by one of Zhang Min's contacts with train tickets and a ride to the train station - lovely people. Bags into left luggage then a leisurely potter around Kunming city, taking in various cafes, the Carrefour (they're in lots of the cities - a bit of a strange experience shopping in a familiar French hypermarche, in China), various small parks, the relocated City gates, Jinmabiji Square and surrounding alleys and the East and West pagodas. I don't think the LP does it justice. Overnight train to DaLi (N810 dep: 22:13 soft sleeper: 136 RMB)


• Tuesday 23 October (photos): Arrive Dali train station 07:28, No. 8 public bus from the train station to the old city (30 mins or so). Stroll around Dali old town, and indulge in a traditional Tibetan breakfast on Huguo Lu before joining the ever descending crowds to admire the water channels, the old town streets, the "still real" market, the town walls and gates (2 RMB each). The public bus service having disappeared (or at least proving impossible to track down) we caught the 13:45 minibus from Dali to Lijiang (45 RMB). Taxi to Lijiang South Gate (7 RMB) and navigate our way to the Lijiang Wangfu hotel (520 RMB per night). Explore on foot to get our bearings. Again, lots of domestic tourists thronging the streets. Dinner in a restaurant Qiyi Jie overlooking the Yu river (I think... or else it was a large water channel!).


• Wednesday 24 October (photos): Explore Lijiang - the traditional shop houses (albeit not as trad as they once were), the waterways, town square, Black Dragon Pool Park (60 RMB - the guide book gets is right, it does offer outrageously photogenic views of Yulong Xueshan - Jade Dragon Snow Mountain - and the park itself has a beautiful lake with bridges and pavilions and temples). Back in the old town, climbed up to Looking at the Past Pavillion (15 RMB), tried a glass of Yulong tea in a cafe with views out over the old town roofs. Dinner was sizzling vegetable and tofu hot pot at the Blue Papaya.


• Thursday 25 October (photos): Up for 06:30 breakfast and hotfoot through town to catch the No 7 bus to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain National Park (10 RMB; departs from the square opposite the statue of Chairman Mao. Park entry costs 80 RMB plus an additional 80 RMB payment for something I forget, but it seemed reasonable at the time, and there was a laminated sheet with an explanation in English of the various charges), stopping off en route to rent a full length down jacket for Hazel. At the main visitor centre we joined the well organised system for the cable car ascent to the snow fields of Yulong Xueshan (40 RMB). we spent a good few hours climbing the stairways up to 4680 m and taking lots of photos, although the peaks and glaciers themselves remained determinedly shrouded in cloud. Return bus to Lijiang - with the same driver and lady conductor - via Baishui (with beautiful turquoise lakes and "moon" waterfall) and Baisha, which now calls itself Jade Peak Village - clearly with the tour group in mind. Second visit to Black Dragon Pool Park (for frustratingly cloud-free views of Yulong Xueshan, and "grannie" tracking). Indulged in coffee and cake at Don Papa's - a french patisserie despite the Italian sounding name (it also does pizza!) - before exploring the backstreets on the west side of Dong Dajie where life is a little bit less tourist-driven. Chilled out in Sifang Jie (Market Square) watching the tourist groups and the "get your photo taken with a Naxi horseman in traditional fur-plus-rifle outfit" operation). Dined out on momos at Lamu's House of Tibet - very chilled. Overnight in Lijiang.


• Friday 26 October (photos): Another very early morning breakfast to allow for (relatively) tourist free photos in the old town, including watching the grannies gathering in Sifang Jie and taking more photos of snow capped Yulong Xueshan peeking out over the rooftops. Indulged in mid-morning coffee at Don Papa's, thawing out on the suntrap roof terrace before more mooching around the backstreets and ultimately ending up at the modern market by the South Gate, which I loved. Taxi through the countryside to Lijiang airport (80 RMB; 30 mins) for Shanghai Airlines flight to Shanghai Hongqiao (FM9452; dep: 14:30 arr: 18:50; economy flight: 3158 RMB).


• Saturday 27 October (photos): Shanghai Museum (20 RMB) with IWW then a DIY No 36 bus trip to Jade Bhudda Temple (20 RMB x 2). Dinner out at The Naked Cow - 3 bottles of fine red wine, tasty beef for H and IWW, scrummy pizza for me - and a final jasmine tea and cigar session at the Four Seasons.


• Sunday 28 October (photos): Shanghai metro Longyang Road station, where Hazel headed off on the Maglev to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, leaving me to backtrack a little to explore the Pudong side of the river and to read Black Swan Green in a quiet riverside park before strolling back to base. Four Seasons for all you can east sushi dinner.... and the end of the holiday part of the trip.

Main impressions

• In London terms, Shanghai is Canary Wharf to Hong Kong The City. It's got glittering newly built office blocks on every street, and very little "old" building left - and, with the exception of the listed buildings of the French Quarter, most of what remains is being rapidly demolished to make way for modern housing and office blocks. The pace of change is phenomenal - the Time Out Guide to Shanghai quotes Sir Norman Foster as saying, "The process of urbanisation, which in Europe took 200 years will take just 20 years in China". In Shanghai, the change from low rise shophouses to skyscraper apartments, commercial centres and office blocks has taken place in less than 10 years.


• Most of the places we visited outside of Shanghai were mainstream tourist destinations. What I wasn't ready for, however, was the sheer scale of domestic Chinese tourism, and it is as clear an indicator as any of the country's prosperity. One consequence is that very few of the mainstream destinations manage to retain any sense of reality and historical sites are surrounded by (or in some cases, converted into) businesses targeting the tourist yuan. If you're looking for "ancient" China, you'll need to look beyond the places we went to. I'm still hankering after the remote deserts, mountains and towns of Xinjiang, and the snow festival of Haerbin.

Jo Angell (my sister in law) is studying an MA in Design for Textile Futures at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.

Very excitingly, her collection of wallpaper designs based around the bittern won first prize in a competition set by wallpaper company Graham & Brown 'To design a collection of innovative wallpapers with a focus on sustainability'. The bittern is a bird whose reedbed habitat is seriously under threat from rising sea levels.

Even more excitingly, her wallpaper featured in the Space section of Guardian Weekend magazine today! Sadly, not featured in Guardian Unlimited Weekend, the online version.... but you can see samples on Mac's Flickr stream, and on the Graham & Brown website.

No, not mine!

Phil and I have enjoyed a lovely long weekend celebrating Jess and Mike's wedding in Monza and Milan.

We took the relaxing and green route as far as getting there and back was concerned, travelling by train with the excellent assistance of Seat61.com for itinerary information and RailEurope for booking tickets.

Our journey out on Thursday comprised:
London Waterloo - Paris Gare du Nord (Eurostar, and by far the most expensive leg of the journey)
Paris Gare du Nord - Paris Gare de Lyon (RER)
Paris Gare de Lyon - Milano Centrale (TGV)

Very easily done in a day, with a leisurely sun worshipping lunch in Paris in between trains and minimal border/security controls. We were at our hotel in Milan - Hotel Sanpi, 10 minutes walk from the station, recommended but bring your own iron - by 9.30pm, and eating pizza 20 minutes after that.

On Friday we walked through the Giardini Pubblici into the centre of Milan, passing by La Scala and the Duomo, window shopping in Galeria Vittorio Emmanule II and mooching along the pedestrianised zone down towards San Bablia. After an al fresco late lunch on car free Via Dante we wandered up to Castello Sforzesco and spent the rest of the afternoon snoozing and reading in the gardens.

That evening, Mike hosted a dinner at L'Infinito, an excellent idea which allowed the wedding guests a chance to meet and get to know one another before the Big Day. A lovely evening, with superb food and wine and in great company.

Saturday brought more blue skies and the day of the wedding. As instructed, we assembled at 11.15 by the suitably wedding cake-esque fountains in front of the Castello from whence coaches took us to Monza, and Villa Mirabello in the Parco di Monza. After a simple civil ceremony, with the Mayor of Monza, resplendent in tricolore sash, presiding over the vows and paperwork we adjourned to the courtyard for champagne and canapes.

Back in Milan the celebrations continued in the Palazzo Visconti, just across the road from San Bablia, where we enjoyed more drinks and canapes before sitting down to an amazing meal in splendid surroundings. After non-traditional (for Italy) speeches, and the cutting of the gigantic wedding cake, guests chatted and mingled as Mike took up the clarinet and joined the three piece band for some early 20th century jazz (?) classics.

A lovely, lovely day.

Sunday saw our return to London by train - the exact reverse of our outbound route, and just as easy. Leaving the hotel at 8.30am, we were back in our flat for 8.30pm.

I reckon we'll be taking the train for long weekends in Europe again.

Our first full week at the Naze Marine Holiday Park, which allowed for:

* a lot of reading
* a couple of lovely days sitting on the sea front, making full use of the beach hut
* watching the whole of Freaks and Geeks (complete with a pre ER/blonde Linda Cardellini and a pre Dawson's Creek and ER Busy Philipps)
* an afternoon in Frinton, buying second hand books and eating delicious ice cream
* a tour of Curiosity Garden, peering into the windows of 2007 issue caravans
* lunch and dinner out with Phil's mum and dad

The replacement bus service made the journey there and back a bit more tortuous than the usual easy train ride, but once there we had a really relaxing week.

The caravan park wasn't as busy as I'd expected - perhaps people had decided not to risk a second cold and wet bank holiday (week). Any which way, it meant that it was nice and quiet - so no complaints from me, and we did have some lovely sunny days.

Tim and Helen's wedding on the SS Great Britain, today. A simple ceremony on the upper deck followed by a cruise around the docks in a smaller vessel before returning to board the SS Great Brit for fine dining, speeches and a spot of dancing.

A lovely, relaxed celebration, with lots and lots of smiles.

And the sun shone!

I've finally finished sorting through my photos from Iran, shrinking and uploading them to Flickr.

Mehran, Stan and Reza really were a winning team, and I would recommend a visit to Iran to anyone - it doesn't really matter where or when, and different people will be interested in different things. Once you've been and seen what an an amazing and beautiful country it is, and that the people you meet in the bazaars and at the sights are so welcoming and hospitable, rightly proud of their history and culture, I am sure you will want to return - I know that I do.

I've so many favourite memories - wandering the backstreets of Yazd, marvelling at everything in Esfahan, exploring the bazaars and mosques of Shiraz, hearing Persian poetry by moonlight at the mausoleum of Hafez, being presented by a beautiful flower by a young woman as we walked back to the hotel one evening, getting dressed up in traditional nomad wedding dress, carrying out conversations by way of the Lonely Planet Persian phrase book, being interviewed for local telly near Bazm and for an advertorial in the Abbasi Hotel, tucking into melon (various varieties), cheese and fresh bread with a breathtaking view of Mount Dena and minutes later chancing upon Qashqai nomads and their flocks on the annual migration to summer pastures - the young and the weak getting a ride tucked up snugly in carpets pockets on the back of a donkey, unexpected hail and film crews in ancient Hamadan, the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence (even when disrupted by the 21st century noise of young blokes on motorbikes), the kitsch souvenir shops, signage and stalagmites and stalactites at Ali Sadr Caves, staying in amazing converted/restored caravanserai in Yazd and Esfahan, relaxing in the Eram gardens, taking tea with the nomads near Bahvanat and trying my hand at churning butter in a goatskin, the smell of freshly baked bread and the production line four man bakeries in Kashan, Shiraz and Hamadan, the amazing switchback road climbing up and through the Alborz Mountains, through the green of the orchards and wheatfields, the grandeur of Persepolis and the peace and tranquility of the gardens of Fin, the stunning colours decorating the mosques and traditional houses, palaces and citadels - and flowers everywhere.

How: Wild Frontiers' Land of the Peacock Throne tour
When: April/May 2007
Weather: Tehran
Advice / Info: FCO, CIA Iran Country Profile, BBC Country profile: Iran Wikipedia: Iran, Lonely Planet: Iran, Pars Times: Iran

This afternoon I spent a lovely few hours planting out the two clematis that Jean sent via TJBR (together with a potted sage and fuschia) and the african (?) poppies Jo added to Jean's contribution to the BJH roof terrace. And now, four hours later, it is chucking it down, with thunder and lightning thrown in for free.

I hope my poor tender plants survive.... the current collection comprises:

- jasmines x 2
- sweet peas (Walton, on a similarly wet bank holiday weekend)
- tomato plant (from Jean and dad's April visit)
- two sweet pepper plants (from Jean and dad's April visit)
- bright red geranium - freshly liberated today into the great outdoors after a spring/summer of TLC
- clematis x 3 (1 from Hereford last year, 2 sent by Jean)
- sage (from Jean)
- african poppies (from Jo)
- fuschia (from Jean)

Tomato plant with rainstorm raindrops

At least the downpour will keep the snails and slugs at bay. I spent a satisfying quarter of an hour or so last night scooping up at least 10 the new leaf eaters (grrr) and corralling them in an empty flower pot. I was planning another recce/removal session this evening... let's see if it dries up.

Back from a relaxing few days in Seville with Catherine and Fiona. The plan had included rather more sunbathing by the pool of the lovely Hotel Al Andalus Palace, but the cloud and occasional rain put paid to that. We did manage a couple of afternoon and evenings on the sun loungers - on the first and last days of our five night stay.

Palm trees and clear blue sky, from the poolside, Seville

Instead we swopped sunbathing for shopping - or more accurately mooching around the shops in Seville city centre, and taking time out for food, drink and people watching.

As planned, we indulged our cultural sides too - exploring the Cathedral and Alcázar in Seville and making a day trip to Córdoba on the excellent AVE train system (aka TGV, Spanish style).

Córdoba old town was lovely - but must be so much better under blue skies and blazing sunshine. We didn't really have the chance to appreciate the benefits of the cool calm interior of the Mezquita mosque/cathedral or the roman bridge across the Guadalquivir, or the shady narrow alleyways. That didn't stop us from enjoying an ice cream or two though.

Definitely places to go back to - very moorish (ho ho). Even Ryanair there and back worked out OK.

To see Cat, and her new house in Saltaire. What with the planned day trip to Córdoba when Catherine, Fi and I are in sunny Seville, June looks like it will be UNESCO World Heritage Site-tastic.

After a late night train journey from "St Pancras International" and an unplanned 60 second dash to catch the last train out from Leeds to Saltaire we had a very relaxing weekend.

Saturday saw us walking in the Yorkshire Dales around Malham Cove where we got to see nesting peregrine falcons courtesy of the special RSPB monitoring station there. Late pub lunch was a winner too, and back at Cat's we had a girlie evening watching Dr Who and the final of Any Dream Will Do. Lee definitely got our vote!

On Sunday we walked down to Salts Mill for some shopping and lunch; then back on the train to London. See you soon Cat.

Why couldn't it have come last weekend??

Still, a sunny Saturday at the start of June has been lovely - lounging out on the balcony soaking up the sun, reading the Saturday papers and planting the Walton sweet peas (and rehousing snails - grrrr) in the morning ; in the afternoon buying books (and raffle tickets) at the St Giles Cripplegate summer fete, mooching around the first of this summer's monthly food festivals (aka markets) in Whitecross Street and returning with goodies galore.

After an early evening of getting up to date with my Reading entries and watching Dr Who, the day's about to be topped off with a dose of lightweight cinema in the form of Mean Girls, and some more Whitecross market treats. Yum.

... and a May Bank Holiday one to boot. Still, Saturday was dry so we got to stroll into town and returned with the revamped Walton and Frinton Gazette, the Guardian, essential groceries, a selection of traditional cakes from the baker's on the High Street and some Sweet Peas for BJH. Esconced in the caravan with all those goodies, we were able to snuggle under duvets and read and eat our way through the Sunday and Monday as the rain bucketed down, creating ornamental lakes all around the caravan park, including the Gyford caravan.

Back from a fantastic fortnight in Iran (more about that once I've downloaded and sorted through my 500+ photos).... Phil is spending the day in Bristol, but he left me a Welcome Home quest, consisting of fuschia kiss shaped post it notes hidden around the flat. So far I've found kisses:

- on the bathroom light switch
- in the washing basket
- on the washing machine door
- on the bedroom window frame
- on one of my bits of post that arrived while I was away
- under my pillow
- under the duvet on my side of the bed
....
- inside the bathroom cabinet
- in one of my slipper socks
- in my dressing gown pocket (he knows me so well...)
- on one of the bits of Barbican-related blurb that arrived whilst I was away
- inside my Wild Frontiers travel folder
- inside the tea caddy
- inside the biscuit tub
- on the top of the bookshelves in the lounge
- on the lounge rug (with the info that the most recent episode of "The Apprentice" is in the VCR)
....
- under the freeview remote control
- on the floor lamp light switch
....
- in my left hand washing up glove
- on the wood panel ceiling in the kitchen
- in the le creuset pan
- in the cutlery drawer
- in the breadmaker
....
- on the hot water cylinder
- at the back of the wardrobe
....
- on the green lentil jar
- in the dishwasher
....
- in my diary
....
- in our mailbox
- in my coat pocket
- in the back of the under sink cupboard door
....
- in the colander in the saucepan drawer
- tucked away in my knicker drawer
- in my beautiful blurb.com photobook Phil made for my birthday
....
- on the side of the red geranium plant pot
....
- on the lounge laptop keyboard
- in the drinks cabinet
....
- in the veggie cookbook
....
- in my photo printer

05 August 2007
- in the pocket of my short beige skirt (summer's finally shown up!!)

12 August 2007
- under my painted papier mache tea tray from Kerala

On our first day, in Tehran, we were treated to an evening show of electric thunderstorms complete with amazing lightening, together with a fresh fall of snow on the Alborz mountains from the previous day, and were welcomed in Hamedan with hailstones the size of Mint Imperials bouncing off the main roads!

There's a film festival on here, and Stan (our leader) has already been nabbed for an interview on the merits of guidebooks. Today was a scorcher, and Hamedan was a great first stop after the metropolis of Tehran - offering both ancient monuments (Ectabana mud brick built city excavations, the stone lion carving Alexander the Great commissioned to commemorate the death of one of his generals who died on the trek back from India ...) and a brilliant couple of hours exploring the bazaars and backstreets. I've got some fab photos for vol 2 of my travels :)

Life's been hectic recently as dad and Jean came to stay Saturday to Wednesday. Jean's daughter, Kate, had her West End stage debut in Whipping It Up on Monday, which we went to, and we went out for an early birthday dinner for me on Tuesday. On Saturday evening we had Phil's mum and dad over for a parentals dinner and on Sunday Tom, Jo, Barney and Rosa came round for afternoon tea, birthday cake and banana muffins and a mooch in the Barbican's busy, sunny private gardens. Exhausting!

So I spent yesterday - my birthday - having a lazy day (as much as work allowed) to recover. And enjoying my fantastic present from Phil.

Just spotted this on the BBC News website:
"Fifteen British Navy personnel have been captured at gunpoint by Iranian forces, the Ministry of Defence says."

That does not bode well for my trip to Iran in just over a month's time....

.... courtesy of Haddock. I can claim no credit. Joke 4 used to be my favourite, but 3 and 5 are new challengers for the title.....

Q1 What do you call a three legged, one eyed donkey playing old fashioned jazz piano?
Q2 What's a specimen?
Q3 What do you call 2 mexican fire fights?
Q4 What do you call a French man in Sandals?
Q5 What do mexican carpet fitters say??
Q6 Why does Edward Woodwood have so many D's in his name?

=============== Continue reading for the answers ...======================

I've enjoyed greatly Tim Mackintosh-Smith's TV versions of his two books, Travels with a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah and (the as yet unread) Hall of a Thousand Columns: Hindustan to Malabar with Ibn Battutah that have been shown on BBC Four over the past three weeks. It was a bit strange knowing that in the TV programmes Tim Mackintosh-Smith is recreating his original travels after a space of a fair few years, but his enthusiasm and expertise translate beautifully to the small screen, and the maps and footage really added to my appreciation of how far Ibn Battuta[h] (and Tim M-S) travelled.

Sadly I can't say the same for the BBC Four website/listings - despite searching and navigating and knowing when the three programmes were screened, I had to resort to Google to find the details on Travels with a Tangerine, and could only track down episode 3: Trade Winds.

An excellent dim sum lunch at the New Loon Fung followed by interesting conversation at the Nanobyte bar. Now very full of salt and chilli beancurd and crispy noodles. Beautiful Chinese New Year lanterns festooning Gerrard Street.

Came home and updated my Flickr buddy photo.

Phil tagged me to find out five things most people don't know about me. It feels a bit like one of those round robin emails I always delete, but this online verson seems to be receiving positive responses from a surprising range of people. Look - in terms of Five things tags, I'm 2 degrees of separation from Tim O'Reilly!

So, here are my five things:

1. I'm a physical freak
I have an area on my forehead where my skin is fused to my skull. You can see it if I raise my eyebrows. My memory is that it was caused at my nan's when either my nan or my mum opened the dining room door as I was crawling towards it. But seeing as it happened when I was a baby, I'm reliant on my dad to post a comment to set the historical record straight if required. And yes, I am a bit more vain than most people who know me would expect ....

2. Computers bored me stupid as a teen
My mum got the family a BBC B when I was about 11 or 12, and taught herself enough Basic to build programs for the French classes she taught at Arden School. Tom soon learned how to program the PCs in WHSmiths to fill the screen with "Tom is ace" and variants before disappearing off into the world of Elite. I on the other hand couldn't see the point in learning how to use a keyboard (Typing wasn't a class O-level students were encouraged to do), let alone how to code. More fool me. I still haven't got into gaming mind you.

3. I've (probably) broken the law
I had my first driving lesson on Ewyas Harold Common in my mum's MGB GT age 15. Still love driving, still love Herefordshire, still love MGs.....

4. I've been a league-level canoe polo player
I was a member of the St Andrews University canoe polo team and played in the Scottish league. I wasn't very good, but I made up the numbers. I could just about manage an eskimo roll if required. Actually, more often than not it was a case of releasing my spraydeck and doing an emergency exit.

5. I'm scared of flying
Yes, quite an admission from someone who loves to travel far and wide. During the world tour with Hazel I got most used to it, but nowadays the excitement of every big trip carries with it the flying fear factor. I find that browsing the duty free shops plus the routine queuing for overpriced coffee and cake helps keep the adrenalin under control in the departure lounge, and then a a good book carries me through to the start of the in flight entertainment and through those odd occasions when the in flight movies let you down and the PC games require a level of comprehension and coordination beyond me. The return flight fright is generally offset by having new trip friends to talk to, but I always keep a good book in reserve just in case. In fact, making sure I have enough to read on any trip is A Must. I've learned the hard way to make it frivolous fiction or spritely autobiography rather than a weighty tome of an "I *ought* to read this" nature.

Feel free to add in a comment with any other gems you feel fellow readers should know about me.

Today has ended up being a day spent on the Mac.

First off, I uploaded photos of our somewhat solitary but very relaxed and enjoyable Christmas Day (dinner and presents) to Flickr and activated my Pro Account renewal gift token from Phil. Next I set about geotagging my Flickr photos as far as possible. London, Walton and Herefordshire proved relatively straightforward, but lack of decent map data for Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and Northern Areas proved an insurmountable barrier to geotagging my Hindu Kush Adventure photos, and I suspect that all of my non-Yalta Crimea pics are far from accurately located..... Indeed I do have to gripe about the map functionality generally: why does the map move so far/fast when you click the left/right/up/down arrows? How do you stop the map moving when you spot the location you need? Why let you search for a location and then not pinpoint its coordinates when you click through to the map - eg Foros, Crimea, Ukraine?

After a break for lunch, I thought I might as well join the merry Twitter throng. Having spent the Christmas holiday in the constant company of Phil's buzzing treo - aka altering Phil and his nearest and dearest to the arrival of a new Twitter from one of his friends - it was an obvious move. Quite how I'll fit it into my work day, I can't imagine. In fact, I suspect that it will turn out somewhat similar to my Haddock-ing, catching up at the end of the day.

Last but not least, I tweaked the SparklyTrainers templates, to include four random Flickr pics on the homepage, to update the link to Sparkly Trainers >> Photos so that I now goes to Flickr rather than Fotopic and to change the colour scheme for Sparkly Trainers >> Reading (and added entries for my Christmas reading so far).

Yes, it's the week before Christmas which means the annual festive night out with Rachel and the now traditional karaoke-fest at Zyrus on Clerkenwell Road. Emo kids eat your hearts out, this is where 80's power ballads and rock anthems rule. Brilliant. Glad I only had to manage a half day today mind you....

I finally made the change from black&purple to white&red, courtesy Phil and his ace CSS skillz.

Still wondering if perhaps I shouldn't have gone for a sunshine shade of orange instead of the red, to match with the background colour in Phil's photo of me......

A lovely weekend - after a very successful DIY pizza lunch with TJBR we all headed over to the Barbican to watch the matinee performance of Dick Whittington, which was good although I wasn't too sure how much the Dame enjoyed herself. Back to base for tea and cake.

On Sunday, Phil's mum and dad came round for a traditional Sunday roast - a nice excuse for a roast chicken with all the trimmings. Paul joined us as he was going to see In the Face of History - European Photographers in the 20th Century. Between the five of us (four meat-eaters) we managed to get through a couple of platefuls each and still had some remains for leftovers. A lovely day.

We booked with Lastminute, we travelled on Eurostar, navigated via Mappy and stayed at the Hotel du plat d' etain - I must remember that if you book a "cheap" citybreak you are guaranteed to be given the smallest, shabbiest room available.... our room was OK, but definitely on the compact side (as in I think that the bed was a 3/4 size...) which the angular 80s decor did little to disguise.

Still, we spent a happy Saturday mooching around the foodie street markets around Les Halles, along the Seine and back along the Rue du Bac. On Sunday we walked up to the Sacre Coeur and down to the Tuillerie Gardens, but I'm ashamed to say that stressing out about finding veggie food resulted in grumpiness on Saturday night and Sunday lunchtime/afternoon .... sorry Phil!

My photos and Phil's on flickr.

Yes, I've booked onto Wild Frontiers' recce tour to Iran in April/May next year.

I decided that:
(1) it isn't going to get any safer to go there any time soon, and the chances are it might get even more difficult to visit - so better to go sooner rather than later/never;
(2) I needed something to look forward to over the winter, and to help out on the "work-to-live" ethos; and
(3) If I didn't book asap the trip might get booked up, or I'd become too stingey to shell out.... either way I'd be missing out on (what I anticipate will be) an excellent trip to a destination that has long been on my travel wishlist.

My Amazon Wishlist has been updated accordingly.... for those of you wondering what to buy me for Christmas (hint).

Outline itinery is:
Day 1: London to Tehran
Day 2: Tehran
Day 3: Tehran to Hamadan/Hamedan
Day 4: Hamadan/Hamedan
Day 5: Hamadan/Hamedan to Kashan
Day 6: Kashan to Yazd
Day 7: Yazd to Bazm
Day 8: Bam to Persepolis
Day 9: Persepolis to Shiraz
Day 10: Shiraz to Yasuj
Day 11: Yasuj to Isfahan / Esfahan
Day 12: Isfahan / Esfahan
Day 13: Isfahan / Esfahan to Tehran
Day 14: Tehran to Bandar-e-Anzali
Day 15: Bandar-e-Anzali to Tehran
Day 16: Tehran to London

Maps of Iran:
Iranian Cultural & Information Center - "Sensitive" map
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - Iran Maps

Taken by Rob and now available on his Rob's Journeys Flickr pages. So we get to enjoy his Skardu adventures (vicariously at least).

I quite often meet friends for a drink near London Bridge, and we always have a conversation along the lines of "where shall we meet?", "mmm, don't really know anywhere round there", "OK, how about [insert randomly selected venue from BeerInTheEvening here]".

So I sought recommendations from friends for pubs near London Bridge/Monument, "ones that serve good beer and aren't always rammed to the gills". Here are the results:
=====
The Rose
The Royal Oak
Market Porter
The Southwark Tavern
The Wheatsheaf
The Boot and Flogger
The George Inn
The St Christopher Inn

... and available in my imaginatively named "Hindu Kush Adventure" set on Flickr.

Day 1 (28 September 2006): Depart London on overnight BA flight to Islamabad
Day 2 (29 September 2006): Arrive Islamabad, drive to Peshawar
Day 3 (30 September 2006): Peshawar
Day 4 (01 October 2006): Khyber Steam Train up the Khyber Pass
Day 5 (02 October 2006): Drive over the Malakand Pass to Dir
Day 6 (03 October 2006): Drive over the Lowari Pass to Ayun
Day 7 (04 October 2006): Ayun town tour and into to the Rumbur Valley, staying with the Kalash at Balanguru
Day 8 (05 October 2006): Balanguru and hike to the Nuristani village of Shakanande
Day 9 (06 October 2006): Balanguru and hike to Pelaga, the Wild Frontiers hideaway
Day 10 (07 October 2006): Balanguru to Chitral town - sightseeing and shopping!
Day 11 (08 October 2006): Chitral town to Hindu Kush Heights hotel
Day 12 (09 October 2006): To Mastuj, via Buni Zom, for dinner with Colonel Khushwalalt Ul Mulk
Day 13 (10 October 2006): Over the Shandur Pass to Phander
Day 14 (11 October 2006): Phander to Gilgit, then on to Karimabad along the Karakoram Highway
Day 15 (12 October 2006): Karimabad (shopping!) and the Eagle's Nest Hotel
Day 16 (13 October 2006): Karimabad to Chilas, back along the Karakoram Highway
Day 17 (14 October 2006): Chilas to Islamabad
Day 18 (15 October 2006): Early morning flight to UK

Note: those links will take you to the photos for each day - but they display in reverse order. If you go to my "Hindu Kush Adventure set, you'll see my photos in the correct order.

At last. Lots of compliments from work, and a bunch of new users have registered on the revamped www.elexica.com.

Home from my 18 days on the Hindu Kush Adventure - shared plenty of both in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and Northern Areas with a bunch of crazy ladies (Ali, Amanda, Ann, Annie, Joan, Thelma, Trisha) , and honourary 'girl' Rob, with Benedict, Stan and Zafar guiding the way.

It's a really beautiful part of the world, with a fascinating history and cultures - from Alexander the Great to the Great Game right up to the Taliban and the present day. The region's emerging tourist industry was virtually wiped out by 9/11 - so the sight of 11 westerners was guaranteed to generate excitement, together with lots of smiles and hellos. Plenty of hiking high up into the mountains and shopping in the bazaars kept everyone happy, as did Kalash home brew, Mastuj apple brandy, Karimabad's Chinese beer and red wine and pizza in Islamabad. And who said Pakistan was a dry country?!!

I only succumbed to vertigo once - looking out from Palaga, aka Jonny Bealby's hut perched on a mountain top high up above the Rumbur Valley where we were spending the night - even lying down on my charpoy the world continued to spin, but not for long. With my lack of head for heights I wasn't too keen on some of the roads either - particularly the KKH, which is chipped into mountainsides with sheer drops down to the Gilgit and Indus rivers a long way below. But it was worth it - I have returned with a rucksack of very dusty clothes, a collection of Chitrali hats, and lots of photos - edited highlights accumulating on Flickr.

Anno and Anna's wedding was today, and it was a lovely occasion. Afternoon tea in the grounds of Lewes Castle was a delight, and the speeches both funny and heartfelt.

We're at the stage where were eating tomatoes for every meal..... Highlights have been the tomato tarte (puff pasty + pesto + halved cherry toms + Parmesan slivers) and spicey chickpeas and tomatoes. They're lovely au natural too.

A lovely party to celebrate Jean's 60th birthday at Forty Acres with lots of family and friends old and new, even if it turned out a little wet and windy after the past x weeks of hot, dry weather. The marquee came into its own and Food From Here laid on a mouth watering menu, all sourced from the Golden Valley - right down to the Three Choirs wine. Delicious, and a few glasses helped oil the joints of those who could still co-ordinate their limbs for the ceilidh. and Jean's birthday cakes were fabulous, especially the photo transfers!

A decidely autumnal (aka dark, wet and windy) drive home, courtesy of Tom and Jo, who'd left Barney and Rosa in the tender care of Grandad and Aunty Jean for the rest of the week. We took the opportunity to discuss sports cars.... Mazda MX 5 vs Smart Roadster.

Persuaded by Rachel, I spent the weekend on a nostalgia-fest in Solihull, with the first ever Tudor Grange School reunion - to mark the school's first 50 years - on Satuday evening.

Carl drove us up to Rachel's mum's on Friday and on Saturday we called in at Rachel's dad's and then headed over to Jane and Dan's to see (meet in my case!) Merlin, and for an impromptu lunch.

Went to the fair at the school in the afternoon, but it was more for current students and parents so we didn't stay long and headed off into Solihull for some shopping instead.

Returned to TG in the evening all dressed up for the party, and met Fiona and Jenny in the queue, but there wasn't really anyone else we recognised, or in our age range for that matter. Still, a few glasses of fizz later we were being taken on a tour of the school by one of the current students - a lovely girl about to go into the 5th year - who coped marvellously with our nostagia fest, and we did bump into some more people from our era: Kirsty Ogden and Claire Whitely (as were), and Neil Karet and (I think) Spencer Griffin. I'd expected more staff to be there.

The highlight was the Memorabilia Room where we found a collection of school registers, report and magazines from various years, reviving such memories as Tom's woodwork prize, my magazine illustrations, Jane's articles on pets...

Rachel's mum collected us (and our helium balloons) c 11.30pm - by that stage it did feel just like being back at school, having parents doing the taxi service....

Jean and Robert's Golden Wedding party on the Thames yesterday + lunchtime BBQ at Tom and Jo's plus fun fair today = lovely family weekend.

After a delicious BBQ lunch at Tom and Jo's, most of us headed round to Priory Park and spent a happy hour or so at the Steam Fair. I especially enjoyed the dodgems with Barney at the wheel - not forgetting the risque illistrations on the slot machines and Jo and Rosa whirling past on the flying chairs.

Mind you, not sure how much dad appreciated having Geoff the Bear named after him, on the basis that Geoff the Bear looked a little grumpy.....

A lovely afternoon cruising along the Thames from Hampton Court pier to Teddington Lock and a little beyond, watching people messing about on the river in gorgeous sunshine. There was just enough of a breeze to keep us cool as the Western Belle motored along, complete with jazz band, Pimms and afternoon tea.

Organised by Nick, Jo and James, the guest list of people celebrating Robert and Jean's Golden Wedding Anniversary ranged from Jean's bridesmaids to assorted grandchildren and inlaws (resulting in the revelationary realisation that technically I'm Jo's sister-in-law!!). Barney, Rosa and I spent most of the afternoon on desk, posing with our complimentary fans, and pondering The Language of Fans.

Plus it means that Dad and Jean have come to stay for the weekend. Lovely.

Several clusters on the roof terrace ones, and some fairly well developed ones on the less flourishing fire escape balcony plants. Woo hoo!

On the rocket front, we sampled out first pickings on Saturday, and very pleasantly peppery they were too.

Garlic needs a little longer - my test bulb-lift was about the size of a large spring onion, with cloves not wholly developed. Not that it will be allowed to go to waste.....

We had an amazing sunset last night - reds, pinks, mauves, purples vibrant enough to prompt us to pause the video (My So-Called Life for 1994 US teenage angst nostalgia) to take some photos from the roof terrace!

Still no tomatoes on the tomato plants up there.... and they are looking much much healthier than the plants on the lounge balcony, which have one each. Bizarre.

... on Saturday night. Lots of people, lots of fun - even if I was a lame early leaver. It doesn't seem that long ago that we celebrated Haddock's 5th birthday, and I was a real newbie. "Matured Phishes"? Maybe not - although "More babies, Less hair" would be true. "Smoked / pickled/ steamed"? Almost universally.

And [Monday now] Tom Coates's photo of Phil, me and him is the top search result if you search for "haddock" on Flickr... for now at least. No one else seems to have manages to take/upload any pictures.... me included.

After a lovely Saturday - including a sunny afternoon chez TBJR - and not too late a night (for me at least), Phil and I managed to rise and shine in time to meet up with the key movers and shakers in the crowd formerly known as the Sunday Brunch Bunch (RIP) for bagels at the Columbia Caf

Argh - the frustration.

I've been merrily working my way through Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, Alphabet series, and having finished R is for Ricochet a couple of weeks ago, I wandered over to the Barbican Library this morning to pick up the next installment..... only to find that it's not yet published.

Actually, I tell a lie (actually acutally, the Barbican library catalogue tells a lie, as that's where is says "not yet published"), according to Amazon, it was published on 05 May 2006. OK, so that brings the good news that - all being well in library-land - I should be able to read S is for Silence in the next couple of months. But what about T? and U? and V,W,X,Y,Z? At the current rate of one novel a year, that's going to mean I'll be waiting/reading until 2013!!!

Anyway, at least I came away with A is for Alibi, as I *think* I may have managed to miss out on that one when I started the series ....

I've been looking for a Big Trip for later this year for ages, and having re-read World Expeditions' Central Asia and Iran offerings I wasn't so convinced that they were right for me. So back to the drawing board (aka going online), I took a look through my "Planning" links, and returned to the Wild Frontiers website that has elicited so much excitement a few weeks back.

Looking more closely at the scheduled departure dates and destinations, and realising that I'd only got 12 days holiday left until 31 December 2006, (too many weekday parties over the summer!!) I decided that a trip to Northern Pakistan was the answer, and the Wild Frontiers itineries, all-inclusive-pricing and not one, but two, conversations with Jonny Bealby himself clinched it.

Having just missed the last space on Hindu Kush Explorer II in September, I'm booked on Hindu Kush Adventure, which means I'll be there over Ramadan, and - hopefully - in photogenic conditions (blue skies, colourful autumn leaves, turquoise melt water rivers). I would have liked to have done the Shandur Pass camp, which is the main difference between the two trips, but then again I am (inevitably) drawn to the journey up the Khyber Pass on the Khyber Steam Train.....

Day 1: Depart UK
Day 2: Arrive Islamabad
Day 3: Transfer to Peshawar, old town
Day 4: Khyber Steam Train up the Khyber Pass
Day 5: Drive over the Lowari Pass to Ayun
Day 6: Into to the Kalash Valley
Day 7: Kalash
Day 8: Kalash and Wild Frontiers hideaway
Day 9: Chitral Town
Day 10: Mastuj
Day 11: Mastuj and walk up the Yakund Valley
Day 12: Over the Shandur Pass to Kalti PTDC
Day 13: Gilgit
Day 14: Hunza
Day 15: Hunza
Day 16: Karimabad and Gilgit
Day 17: Fly to Islamabad
Day 18: Early morning flight to UK

To be honest, looking at the itineries on the WF website, I reckon that I could happily spend *months* on trips with them in Central Asia they're offering Gateways to Tartary, Silk Road Odyssey, Trans Caspian Adventure, Silk Road Mountains and Towns. They have trips in Tibet/China, and even Afghanistan......

Update: The trip more than lived up to expectations - details and photos now available.

For our May Day Bank Holiday "trip" this year we booked tickets for the Modernism at the V&A. I wish I'd realised that there is a second room, which proved to be must larger and less cramped than the first one I focused my attention and energy on, taking in details of the utopian ideals, the place of mass manufacture in the domestic setting, the machinery to deliver a modern life, and the impact of modernism on performance art and national ideals. All very interesting, but a bit too academic for me at times. I much preferred the second room, which looked at the living environment, ranging from modernist architecture, up to town planning and down to furniture and kitchen design. The ticketing prevented is getting too packed, but I'm sure a lot of people didn't continue on past the first part of the exhibition.

It surprised me how many "modern" designs actually date from the period between the two World Wars - verging on 100 years ago, particularly in relation to architecture and lighting design.

After a light lunch in the cafe in the cellars, we managed a couple of quick tours around the photography and book illustation award exhibitions. Then back to the City on the District line. Nice and easy - we'll do it again.

Hmmm, a bit of a disappointment to be honest. Yes I learned the AppleMac OS 'model' and came away with a good understanding of how to set up my tool bars and the dock, and with an appreciation of the differences between OSX and Windows2000, but I could have got that in a couple of hours at most rather than taking a whole Saturday from 10am to 5pm. The tutor was good - but the class has an enormous mix of abilities and interests. For instance, a lady near me had never used a mouse and another chap started by explaining how he'd recently discovered the "return" key.

My feedback will be - make it clear that it's a course for complete computer novices or run two versions, one for complete beginners who happen to have (been given) a Mac, another for people who are reasonably IT literate and are shifting from PC to Mac.

Having a Bank Holiday Monday to lengthen the weekend was a saving grace, although it wasn't intended. The second session is next Saturday and I'm planning to go..... we're looking at the various standard Mac applications such as iCal and Mail, which it won't do me any harm to understand more fully.

A lovely evening in Ben Jonson House, with Mary Ruth visit to London for Sunday's marathon precipiting the arrival of both her and TJBR for dinner, complete with lemon cheesecake birthday cake and candles for Rosa's birthday. She's 7 on Sunday.... I hope she likes her presents; Barney is sworn to secrecy (but he's told me that he thinks the glittery purse will go down well, and that even though they've already got some of the Roald Dahl books having them in a proper box set is better). It seems hard to believe that 7 years ago Hazel and I were in Laos.....

Exactly 3 months after we got back to Blighty, I've finally finished sorting through my photos and uploading them to Flickr. All 359 of them now available for viewing in my Falklands Islands Trip set.

(and I also uploaded my four photos from dad's Birthday Weekend.)

It was a great holiday - here's a day-by-day synopsis, with links to photos of the day:

Sometimes, reading the travel section of The Guardian is a dangerous thing. Sometimes, you come across articles like today's one on Pakistan unveiled by Ed Douglas, which ran with the teasertext:

To get to the remote Kalash spring festival, you first have to negotiate spectacular walls of ice and epic mountain passes

Maybe I'll just take a little look at the Wild Frontiers "guided 10-day Kalash Spring Festival Tour, departing May 10, from

Phil and I bought some garlic bulbs when we went to dad and Jean's to pick up the sideboard at the start of the year, and planted them out in pots on the roof terrace and left them to it. Peeping out through the 10cm square of glass in the door out onto the terrace last weekend, I spotted some shoots - very exciting!

It makes me feel like spring is on the way....

Today is another lovely bright sunny day, but very cold under those clear blue skies. There was frost on the grass in Fortune Park at 8am this morning. The geraniums in mum's "Le creuset red" Normandy bowl continue to thrive, as do the ones in the plastic pots hanging off the roff terrace trellis, albeit to a lesser extent. Once the weather turns warmer I'm planning to relocate them into a large terracotta pot. I think that that will suit them better, and that will leave the sunny trellis available for a passionflower climber I'm hoping to pick up from dad and Jean.

I'm gradually uploading photos from our Falkland Islands trip onto Flickr. Phil bought me a Pro subscription as part of my Christmas present, so I'm effectively free of the monthly limit (unless I manage to hit the 2GB monthly limit for Pro users....). It's reminding me just how fantastic the weather was, and how beautiful Port Stanley and Cape Pembroke are:

• Photos from Sunday 26 December 2005 - Our trip out to Cape Pembroke lighthouse (the day everyone got sunburn)
• Photos from Monday 27 December 2005 - Being touristy in Stanley, and walking back to Stanley via the Moody Valley, and Fran's party in the evening

I've finally got around to looking at the www.spatial-literacy.org website mentioned in last weekend's Observer article on Placing Surnames.

No surprises on the Loosemore front, (well, not for those of with the benefit Uncle Vic's and Major Ronald's combined research) - the 1881 map shows that we're just starting to move away from North Devon, with families clustered around Cardiff and Bournemouth. By 1998, which is the other year for which this UCL project has mapped data, we're more widespread, with the 1998 map showing us in the north and east.

I couldn't find 1998 Gyfords or Vezeys though, which I found a bit odd especially as both had data from 1881 - 1881 Gyford Map, 1881 Vezey map.

Search for youself on the Surname Profiler.

A fortnight in the Falkland Islands is just not long enough - even if you discount all the yuletide socialising, the islands are beautiful and varied and it takes time exploring them, not to mention the watching time demanded by five different species of penguin, plus seals and killer whales, albatross and scary giant petrels, amongst other wildlife.

Photos and more details to follow - but first, time for a welcome home Indian takeaway!

I've been keeping an eye on BBC Weather to see what sort of weather to expect in the Falklands, in order to decide what clothes to take.

Today's forecast looks like this:

So, whilst we may be spending Christmas and New Year in the southern hemisphere, I don't think we'll be seeing many barbies on the beaches.....

I had a lovely time at your party; here's the photo Mrs Roberts took to prove it:

...... hmmm, should that be a contender for the caption competition in the next issue of S2?

Rachel and I had a long-standing engagement for Friday night, to have a girls' night out on the town, gladrags, lipgloss and all. However Christmas Party fever, and in particular the Office Private Party strain, seemed destined to thwart our plans. Both Digress and The Cuban told us that our presence was not required, because we weren't on the guest list. Bah. So Rachel pulled an excellent Plan B out of her hat - the Karaoke Bar in Farringdon. Now, I know I might not be the top of anyone's list as a Karaoke-ite, but a pint of Spitfire combined with the Christmas spirit and a soupcon of devil- may- care- I- won't- know- anyone- other- than- Rachel- and- she's- known- me- since- we- were- five- so- she's- seen- worse- (much- worse) made all the difference. We had a fab time. Our evening started with just the two of us, the songbook and a bottle of Corona each and ended with a bar-full of people singing along to the pick of the 80s power ballads culiminating in Alone, and Love is a Battlefield, via Whitesnake, Abba, Oasis, The Cure, Toni Basil, Christina Aguilera and many many more.

Surprisingly Saturday didn't see any sore heads (all that singing left little time for drinking), and after an emergency trip to Somerfield for breakfast goodies, and a chinwag, Rachel headed home leaving me to start work on writing Christmas cards, with brief interludes of newspaper reading and City shopping.

TJBR arrived just after 5pm, bearing scrummy sushi after which we headed over to the Barbican for the evening's main feature: Tintin in Tibet, as portrayed by The Young Vic. Back home, tom and Jo took their leave and soon after Barney and Rosa were tucked up in bed, and Mary-and-Phil's lack of suitable bedtime story reading material materialised. Luckily it was late enough for that not to prevent B&R falling asleep.

Sunday had a surprisingly late start (9.45), which allowed for professional levels of tickle-monstering before a breakfast of toast and crumpets, slathered in all varieties of jam, plus honey and marmite (not together I hasten to add). Phil and I then took Barney and Rosa on a residents-only tour of the Barbican Estate, featuring the Circus, the Lakes, Waterfall Island, the duck slides, the Secret Garden (v1 - underwater), the whirlpool, and the Secret Garden (v2 - with the playground, all weather court and cricket nets - all new to me!). We rendezvoused with a hungover Tom who subbed in for Phil who headed off to Somerset House for December's Sunday Brunch Bunch. After a semi-restorative drink and straw-construction session at the Waterside Cafe, we re-did the sight-seeing circuit, albeit at a rather faster pace and opting for the St Giles Church and Barbican Highwalk alternative ending.

After meeting Jo on the Podium, we retired indoors for a midday feast of yet more crumpets and toast. Jo and Rosa headed off for Damien's party, leaving Tom to continue on his 'recovery' on the sofa, watching BBC News 24 coverage of the Hemel Hempsted petrol storage depot explosion, and Barney and me to upload our whirlpool photos and video footage.

Phil arrived home and kept Tom company in the lounge until Tom and Barney left, headed home (planning to go via the Museum of London) c 3.30pm, by which time I was succumbing to Rachel's cold and feeling too tired to move (or to do any more Christmas card writing). I did manage to upload the best of the day's photos, and made a small dent in the Yalta backlog: Chersonesus [tick], Nikitsky Botanical Gardens [tick]. They're accumulating on Flickr, joining the ones of Hazel and my first day exploring Yalta (rust bucket chairlift, War Memorial, Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral, coast road/path east (in fools' quest to walk to Nikitsky), and the first half of the Ancient Wonders of the Crimea day trip, featuring Bakhchysaray in the morning which was followed by Cheronesus in the afternoon.

After much procrastination, I got around to looking at hotels to stay in when Phil and I have our overnights en route to/from the Falklands, using a combination of my Rough Guide to Chile and Hazel's Footpint Chile Handbook from our 2003 trip(s), Google and the indispensible XE currency converter.

In Punta Arenas, we shortlisted:

- Hotel Nogueira
The most expensive hotel in P.Arenas, but v central and a converted loggia (old house) and highly recommended by the guide books: "the place to stay in PA".
Double: USD 179 (c

Tom, Jo, Barney and Rosa came round for the day, spending a couple of hours this morning at a silhouette animation workshop at the Barbican, tied into the London Children's Film Festival (and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), before a lunch of soup/bean on toast and then out again. Leaving Jo to explore the delights of Spitalfields Sunday market, I took TBR on a winding walk through the City's backstreets to get to The Monument and Pudding Lane, where the Great Fire of London started in 1666 and which Rosa is studying at school at the moment.

I know, sounds like it's a rare event, which in many ways it is. Phil and I are great at walking into central London to get to classes at the City Lit, and to the cinema, and for the occasional mutually successful stroll along TCR for gadgets and flat furniture/stuff, but we rarely head into town for anything else, apart from the occasional group drinks, which are becoming increasingly rare as folk settle down and start sprogging.....

However, having been talking with Cait for a while about a night out at the theatre after our joint trip to see Stuart Lee at the Soho Theatre, we ended up arranging to meet her and Mackay in Leicester Square to watch Richard Herring do stand up in Ruby Blue, after which we headed round the corner into China Town for a leisurely meal - there was even a veggie set meal option! We all had a lovely time, and a late night!

.... in Emily Bell's piece on the new search they've implemented on The Guardian's websites, Forget the baroque syntax - searching is now easier than ever:

We have ditched what Stephen Dunn, our chief technical officer, described as the "baroque syntax" of our old search, which delivered poor results, and replaced it with something that enables you, we hope, to find what you are looking for, but also offers added information about our journalism.

One for Silhilians only I suspect, but it still makes me go "How cool is that?!".

I've just had a go at doing the homework our tutor, Alex, set us at the end of last Saturday's session - the first of three classes on Learn to write JavaScript at The City Lit. Doing a Saturday class is a bit of a killer, especially one that runs from 10am to 5pm.

This week's homework came in two parts:
1. Write half a page of A4 on why you're studying JavaScript;
2. Write some JavaScript to do a calculation similar to the make_triple one Alex talked us through at the end of session 1, demonstrating variable scope.

Here it is: Download file

And here is another example Phil talked me through: Download file

It feels as though I've been on the go every day for the past few weeks * (well, since H and I returned from Yalta at any rate, which was at the start of October) but today Phil and I had set aside for a mammoth vid & veg session. The extra hour from the clocks changing was an unexpected bonus, and meant that we could have a lie in and still watch all of the accumulated episodes of The Sopranos series 1 (from More Four), and a couple of The West Wing series 5 (playing catch up on a whole series there....), and the repeat of this week's episode of Lost on E4.

Bliss.

Phil and I headed over to Witham this evening for Janet's book launch. Whilst we've got a complimentary copy of A History of Witham sitting on the to-be-read shelf at home, it was the official launch this evening, and we saw lots of people carrying copies - a very good sign!

The party was in a lovely old barn behind the Spread Eagle pub on Witham High Street, and Phil, the tee-totaller, was in charge of the first free drink vouchers and welcoming people into the barn. I arrived about half way through the gathering, but in the remaining hour I was introduced to many of Family Gyford's friends and neighbours, aquaintances and contributors. No one was willing to divulge any embarrassing stories about Phil though. Apart from the one about losing at Scrabble.....

... starting off with drinks in The Bishop's Finger with Matt on Friday evening after one of his visits to St George's hospital in Tooting. He assured us (Cat, Hazel and I) that he wasn't looking at avian flu.... phew.

Next stop was Pho on St John Street for a tasty bowl of noodle soup, with summer and spring rolls for starters, and Beer Lao to wash everything down.

Saturday morning was a lazy affair with newspapers, coffee and croissants before we got our act together for a stroll through Smithfield and St Pauls, over the wobbly bridge to the Tate Modern for a quick look at Rachel Whiteread's Embankment, aka Dougal's sugar cubes, then along the south side of the Thames through Borough Market and on past London Bridge to More London where we paused for a bagel and a coffee before heading back to the Barbican via a typically deserted weekend City.

We took the bus down to Clapham Junction where Cat got to see Hazel's revamped flat and to meet Luke, and after a cup of tea we moved on to a couple of glasses of wine with crisps and The X Factor, which was subsequently (inevitably?) followed by pizza home delivery and another couple of bottles of wine and the Top 100 Horror Films.

Surprisingly, Sunday didn't see us suffering, especially after a tasty fry up rustled up by Luke as we girls vegged out in front of the box - trying to catch up on a year's worth of Hollyoaks plot. After clothes shopping on Northcote Road drew a blank, Cat and I headed north to Kings Cross, where Cat boarded the 14:53 to Leeds, and I the number 214 bus to Chiswell Street.

For the rest of the afternoon Phil and I indulged in a marathon session catching up on the episodes we've missed of The West Wing (the whole of series 5....2 down, 19 to go), accompanied by tea and cake.

Phew! Our one-year overdue flatwarming feels like it has been a great success today. We had lots of guests - family and friends from all parts of Phil and my various worlds - who came bearing lots of bottles and edibles, and the odd small person. No injuries or lost infants and 8 hours of host[ess]ing!

Just don't mention the pizza to Phil..... well, Saturday's pizza practice at any rate ;)

We've got Phil's Bristol mates Tim and Helen staying this weekend, and after a leisurely morning Tim and Helen arrived in time for a late lunch, after which we headed out for our local guided tour, taking in Smithfield/Farringdon, St Barts, St Pauls, the Wobbly Bridge, Tate Modern (where we revisited Rachel Whiteread's Embankment (white plastic moulds of cardboard box interiors, which bear a striking resemblance to giant sugar cubes), Bankside to the Royal Festival Hall - where Phil succumbed to the lure of scaffold-and-sheet-wrapped buildings, lit up by the late afternoon sun (it must be catching) - and then across Hungerford Bridge, then into Trafalgar Square, popping into the National Gallery and then catching the bus from Shaftesbury Avenue up to Islington.

This latter section (i.e. from Bankside onwards) was an extension to the usual round trip, but allowed for an evening in Islington, featuring time for shopping in the Angel centre (or whatever it's called), an early viewing of Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-rabbit (all the better for spotting Jay's name second in the list of animator credits, and Jay and Fi's baby Felix name checked in the 'babies born en route' credits a little later on) rounded off with a scrummy meal at the habitual Giraffe. Then a stroll home to atone for the feast.

Flatwarming tomorrow....

Gary's leaving drinks/do at Digress: good, bad and ugly.

I had my last HTML for Beginners class at the City Lit this evening, and after 12 hours (OK - I only made it to 3/4 of the sessions, so that's 9 hours...) I feel like I'm getting my head around the basics. I've not the self-motivation learn code from a book, and I'm too much of a novice with the concepts to feel comfortable learning from a website, and I have to say that our tutor, Puneet, provided just the kind of mix of explanation and exercises that suit me down to the ground. I now understand why some commands need a closing tag, and others don't, and why you can string together certain things and not others! Just the ticket for a control-freak, would-be coder.

Next stop, Advanced web design and hosting.

Laura and Ian on Ian's appointment as a District Judge, and Helen and Mark on the safe arrival of baby Lewis.

Hazel and I had a great week in Yalta courtesy of the Voyages Jules Verne package.

As well as discovering the delights that Yalta has to offer, we visited the historic sites of Bakhchysaray and Chersonesus, Balaklava and Sevastopol, drank lots of beer, the occasional (obligatory) vodka and ate lots of deep fried foods. Excellent all round.

Photos on Flickr: Yalta and the Crimea

25 September 2005: Flight from London Gatwick to Simferopol and 2 hour coach journey to Yalta (much more interesting than it sounds!)
26 September 2005: Exploring Yalta
27 September 2005: Daytrip 1: Bakhchysaray/Bakhchisaray Palace, Chersonesus, Simferopol, beer!
28 September 2005: Nikitsky Botanical Gardens, Yalta, Black Sea Fleet choir and dancers
29 September 2005: Daytrip 2: Balaklava, Charge of the Light Brigade, Sevastopol, Pizza, beer and vodka
30 September 2005: A DIY cruise on the Yalta-Alupka ferry along the Black Sea's Crimean coast, passing by the Swallow's Nest, the Livadia Palace, the Alupkinsky Palace and St Peter's Mount
01 October 2005: Last day, strolling around Yalta, paddling in the Black Sea and a final beer at our Hotel Bristol before coaching/flying home

The Barbican Talk discussion forum is a never ending source of local news. Today's discovery was details of the development that's going on next to CityPoint, on the site of what used to be Merrill Lynch offices.

According to SkyscraperPage.com, the Ropemaker Place redevelopment is going to get us a new skycraper:
Height: 93m
Floors: 23
Architect: Gensler Associates
Developer: Helical Bar
Artist's rendidtion

and a quick google gets me the Mayor of London planning decision, from 2003!
- Ropemaker Place initial representation (PDF)
- Ropemaker Place report (PDF)

::phew::

I'd almost convinced myself I'd messed up that 40 minute wander through project management technique.

Now I can stop thinking how to break it to Nigel and Anita that they wasted

Other than lounging around in deckchairs on the patio, reading, and snuggling under the duvet watching Firefly, Phil and I didn't do very much in our week at the cottage. Which is just what we wanted.

That said, we did venture out to Hay-on-Wye returning with another wonderful haul of second-hand books, (and still wondering just how The Granary manages to take 15 minutes to serve a couple of rounds of coffee and cakes ... ). We also made it into Hereford for an afternoon before heading over to dad and Jean's and off to Malvern to watch Daisy Miller at the Malvern Theatres. Excellent venue, not-so-good play. Foodwise, dad and Jean introduced us to the delights of Cafe Zam Zam indian in Malvern, and the fantastic Peterchurch Bistro (?) where we celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary with lots of delicious food and New Zealand chardonnay.

I made chutney too, *loads*. The limited edition Forty Acres range joins the hot off the hob Blanfred Little Plum range, and comes in three varieties:
- apple (it's a bit like Branston pickle, with fewer crunchy bits)
- spicey apple
- apple and red pepper

* Breakfast: 1 large tea, 2 slices of malt loaf
* Lunch: Deep Fried Brie with Cranberry Dressing, with mediterranean vegetable cous cous accompaniment
* Afternoon tea: 1 large tea, mini Bakewell coconut tart from M&S Teatime selection (birthday cakes from Jenny)
* Dinner: TBD, but hopefully followed by some moments privilegés

It may sound like some dental hygiene 'event', but in fact it's the long-planned - and I'd thought lost-on-leaving - ISEB exam to become a BCS-certified project manager.

Theresa surprised my with a "We've booked four slots. We are now but three. Do you want to make up the numbers?" email within hours of my re-joining Simmons & Simmons, and my reaction was, "Why not?". So after re-reading my OU course books and notes, joining Theresa, Steve and Maurice for a couple of revision sessions, and trying to map those and my experience to the ISEB syllabus, I headed off to Covent Garden this morning.

Two nice gents were the examiners, and the 45 minute oral was a series of high-level questions on mainly practical points. That said, it wasn't as interview-like as I'd thought it might be, and they seemed very focussed on scoring the buzz-words. That said, they didn't seem to concerned that I offered up a mixture of "we do this" and "we don't do this, but I know the theory/what we should be trying to do". Goodness only knows if that was the right thing to say, but it felt like it at the time. I hit a few blank spots, even with their prompting and pointers.

Have I passed? I don't know - maybe; maybe not. I'll let you know in a fortnight or so when we get the results. Fingers crossed times four.

Matt pointed me to the Londonist (set to be come my main source of info on London and London events) which is publicising the fact that this year's London Open House weekend prebooking has started.

Hot off the blocks, I booked Phil and I onto two tours:

- Behind the scenes at the Barbican
- St Paul's Cathedral Triforium, Library & Trophy Room

I have to say that the search facility for what buildings are open and booking details is pretty well hidden up in the horizontal menu (Buildings information > Online search), especially given that there are big flash buttons all over the main body of the website pages.

That's all I'm going to say.

Blimey - who'd have thought I'd become so obsessed with my roof terrace veggies! The runner beans are coming on a-pace, and on Helen's advice I had an exploratory grope in the potato pots.... and - YES! - there's pots in them thar pots!!

I've finally managed to book Hazel and I onto a week's holiday in Yalta, with Voyage Jules Verne. We've not been away with them before, but their package seems an OK deal, and they have a charter flight to Simferopol, wheras scheduled flights only get you to Kiev/Kyiv. The Crimea isn't everyone's top destination, but the area looks really interesting, and Yalta seems very geared up for tourists. We opted to treat ourselves to a stay at the Hotel Bristol, rather than the vast soviet-era Hotel Yalta.

We'll need tourist visas, and VJV charge £65 all in to get one for you. The Ukrainian embassy website gives visa costs as being £40 (£20 single entry tourist visa fee plus - get this - £20 visa processing fee). The Embassy is in Notting Hill, open Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 12noon and application requires invitations and other stuff.... so H and I agreed that it was worth paying VJV the additional £25 to do it for us.

I found this handy website with LOTS of info about Yalta and the Crimea, and includes Hotel Bristol.

We fly in 8 weeks!

In /Reading, I faithfully include links to Amazon for each book, and in doing the entries for the past week off between jobs, I've become increasingly irritated by two of the new (to me) features: the adverts - aka 'sponsored links' - inserted between the initial information and the reviews; and being unceremoniously dumped into the new 'Search Inside" tab in the search results.

What makes these all the more annoying is that they seem to happen on a sporadic basis, so I'm not able to train myself to ignore them or to identify how best to work around them.

Just try searching for "The Star of the Sea", and see what you get with the Search Inside results.... time to tweak your algorithm, Amazon?

After weeks of waiting, I spotted my first runner beans today!! And from the size of them I wonder if I've been watering with my eyes closed this week... the same goes for the double-figure quantity crop of french beans.

And it's not just beans - two tiny tomatoes have apeared on Phil's tomato plant.

Green-finger-Good-Life-tastic!

Phil returned with copies of The City Lit's Courses for Adults 2005 - 06 guide the other night, and today I signed up for a couple of courses that start in September:

- HTML for beginners + Advanced web design and hosting + Learn to write Javascript - yes, I know it might look like I know how to do this already, but that's all due to the technological smoke and mirrors provided by Movable Type, plus Phil's skillz

- Ways into anthropology: part 1 - because I've always fancied delving more into the theory of why, in time and through time, people and places are so 'same same but different'

The last time I signed up for adult education classes, other than language ones, was in 1993, when Nadia and I did a term of calligraphy in Chester....

This afternoon and evening was spent in the Tardis-like Whitbread Brewery celebrating Bob and Yoz's wedding, with a warm up snack-fest at ours for the geeky gentile contingent. Thanks to Yoz's excellent "Beginner's Guide To Jewish Weddings" we were all appropriately attired and able to appreciate the significance of most of the ceremonies ... and didn't shout Mazel Tov too soon.

Lots of dancing, fantastic food and Yoz and Bob carried aloft on chairs - what more could you ask for? And the speeches led to a few tears on our table I don't mind telling you.

• Creating a Favicon, courtesy of Alice's StorTroopers and Phil's Photoshop Skillz
• Demoting "Mary Loosemore's Selected Services" from the banner to a template area heading, and promoting "The travels of Mary Loosemore" - a more accurate description with fewer 'fnar' overtones - in its place
• Playing around with heading font sizes and paddings generally
• Changing the layout to move the Rilly Special Links over to the left hand side and to include excerpts for the most recent entries to /blog and /reading

I wish I'd had a lego submarine kit and a Star Wars DVD box set when I was 8!

Jo's birthday tea with Grannie and Grandpa was lovely - a gorgeous summer evening with very happy kids. It always makes a sad day into a much much happier one.

Farewell Norton Rose ... hello (again) Simmons & Simmons.

It's a long story, best told over a few beers, but I'm heading back to Simmons & Simmons to take up a role in the training and development team in Personnel.

Cue quips about:
* bad pennies
* returning leaving presents
* overly long commute

Catherine, Danny, Grainne, Rich, Neil, Fiona, Gary, Anthony, Sonal, Sabeena, Nisha, James, Kasia, Rob, Ted, Rhoda, Amber - I'll miss you guys!

It's 11:36, and I'm in an office on Camomile Street, which runs between Bishopsgate and Houndsditch.

When I was walking to work from my flat in the Barbican, I went past Moorgate where they had just evacuated the station. Everyone seemed very calm, commuters and staff. I helped a guy with directions, and he headed off towards Liverpool Street station to get the Central line. I can remember thinking that if this had happened just after 9/11 I would have felt extremely un-nerved, but that x years later evacuating a station didn't have the same impact and I assumed that it was "just a bomb scare".

Continuing my walk along London Wall I noticed lots of police vans, ambulances and sirens but didn't really think that much of it.

In the office, the sirens continued to wail as lots of police and emergency services headed towards Houndsditch, and as people trickled in we got more stories of stations being closed and a loud bang at Liverpool Street. Then we spotted that the police had cordoned off Houndsditch and the roads towards Aldgate. People started checking BBC News and pictures and Sky News online and getting calls from colleagues, family and friends about the bombs. Initially we heard that there had been an explosion on the Metropolitain line between Aldgate and Liverpool Street, which then became a power surge before reverting back to an explosion. The emergency services activity suggested that it was something serious.

I had a meeting in our main offices at 10, and coming out of that c10.45 Reception confirmed that the tube network had been shut down and that we had BBC News 24 playing in one of the main conference rooms. We went to watch, and saw reports of the bomb on the bus in Tavistock Square, and an incident map showing Edgare Road, Liverpool Street station/Bank and Aldgate.

About 20 minutes ago, the police evacuated the offices between ours and Aldgate and we heard reports of a bomb there on the news, but we've not heard anything and the police update to our IT Director was that they were only evacuating offices to give them more civilian-free space around Aldgate. We were told to lower the blinds and to stay away from the windows.

Now I'm feeling like I did with 9/11.

11:36 - I got Phil to sub my work email to Haddock so that I could get their updates from other parts of London and further afield. Anno and Ian mentioned that Brighton and Swindon stations were closed.

The office analysis is that it's linked to the Olympics decision yesterday, although the G8 summit could be a factor.

11:37 - email from Hazel, responding to Helen Vicars, saying "I'm fine - just got to Bank station just as they were closing the network down".

11:58 - email from Rachel Whorton (Vezey) saying that she's alright and asking if I was.

12:00 - BBC news reporting

Two people died and large numbers of casualties were reported after at least six blasts on the Underground network and a double-decker bus in London.

A police spokeswoman confirmed there had been two deaths at Aldgate and UK home secretary Charles Clarke said the explosions caused "terrible injuries".

12:07 - We've just had an email update:

This to let you know there there is no substantial change to my last message.

About half an hour ago there was a rumour of a bomb in Hounsditch, but the Police have told us this is not correct.

We (along with all London organisations) have received the following message:

"The number to contact for the Casualty Bureau is 0208 358 0101".

I will continue to keep you informed of any developments.

12:15 - We decided to venture over to the canteen for lunch. Whilst the roads are eerily quiet, there are some cars and vans trying to find a way through the road blocks. There is a cycle-policeman and horse-policeman at the Houndsditch junction and policemen further down Camomile Street towards Aldgate. Today of all days I left my digital camera at home and my mobile is almost out of battery power. Gallows humour over bubble and squeak and chips, with the older hands reminiscing over the two bomb blasts that Norton Rose has been through in its lifetime.

12:45 - Recharging mobile, courtesy of Danny.

12:55 - Flickr photos

13:19 - BBC picture of the bus, BBC news report on transport disruption, and Stef's realtime tube disruption map

13:29 - Reading blogs on Haddock and The Guardian. Phil's safe at home uploading links being posted to Haddock.

13:40 - Gary's brother is in London today for a meeting in Holborn, and he's reported that the police are evacuating everyone westwards towards Paddington.

14:17 - Ian's sent in a link to pictures of Brighton station.

14:24 - A siren, the first for a while - sounds like it's going down Bishopsgate, or Houndsditch.

14:31 - TfL and National Rail Enquiries have got their homepages set to running updates on transport options. Earlier this morning, TfL just had it's normal page, without any indication of the disruption.

14:43 - Reading BBC's consolidated "In depth" coverage

15:41 - email telling us that the police update is that things seem to be calming down and that cordons are being reduced.

16:26 - Heading home now.

17:21 - Home and reading emails from family and friends. I'm strangely chuffed to have sent the first email about the bombs to Haddock. But then again, my emotions today have been all over the place. It was very weird walking back through the City... as quiet as a weekend, but with lots of lines of people snaking their way towards the suburbs. All under blue skies and sunshine.

The BBC is now saying that there are more than 30 dead. Matthew Somerville's BBC backstage enabled rolling log of changes to the BBC News site must come into its own on days like today. Ditto Flickr as a photographic record of the day, the news coverage and people's reactions.

19:32 - Just to end on a lighter note, I took some photos on my phone camera on my way home, and having discovered I couldn't get them off using InfraRed or anything like that (not having PC to load the PC suite onto...), I thought I'd mms them to Phil... until i got distracted by the 'send to e-mail' option which has worked like a dream. I'd assumed i've have to input some too-complicated-to-bother-with settings, but no - simply type in the email address and send! So the resolution is rubbish, but they capture my views of the calm evacuation of Houndsditch, and the eerily quiet homeward-bound lines of commuters on foot.

.... who've just won the New Stateman New Media Awards 2005 for TheyWorkForYou.

No doubt they are all celebrating in style at Fabric as I type.

Phil and I went to see In My Father's Den at the Barbican this evening, and really really enjoyed it. Set in modern day New Zealand, it's a gently paced film that turns from an awkward family reunion to a still slow-paced whodunnit/whydunnit.

A quite breathtaking and beautiful film.

But the *best* bit for the laydeez is the main male lead.... the gorgeous Matthew MacFadyen playing the deep and meaningful Paul Prior. He will be the perfect Mr Darcy.

As ever, the first test of any new Google feature is a 'Loosemore' ego-search.

Hmm, never heard of Martin Loosemore before - usually it's Sandra that tops the lists.

Maybe Jean wasn't so wrong when she told me I had green fingers!

It's a french bean, on the runt of the seedlings.

Look!

Phil and I went to see Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre last night, and it was superb. The singing and the choreography of the cast was amazing, especially the four main leads, and the sets were simple yet atmospheric. Ewan McGregor and Jane 'the psycho secretary from Ally McBeal' Krakowski did not disappoint.

Well worth the price of the tickets, and the suntrapped heat of the theatre, all rounded off with tasty Japanese at Zipangu between Chinatown and Leicester Square.

I've read their reasons why*, and I'm currently considering whether I commit to paying the annual cost of fotopic's premium service - currently

We're just back from a fab party to celebrate Yoz and Bob's civil wedding. The ceremony was at Camden Town Hall, followed by refreshing drinks at Smithy's Wine Bar and it was a chance to catch up with lots of friends that I'd not seen for ages. It was so hot - still - that Phil and I just had to nip home to change out of our posh outfits and into more chilled summertime togs.

Here are my photos; whilst there are two sets accumulating on flickr.

And come hometime, we could walk - which brought an opportunity to take lots of gleaming shots along Goswell Road and the Barbican.

A lovely end to a lovely day, that started with our first breakfast on the roof terrace (check out those runner beans!!), and winding up with take out curry. No response from Spice Corner (uh-oh), so we tried Chawol, which turned out to be very, very tasty...

Phil and I went to the Barbican's Balcony bistro for dinner last night - it's above the Waterside café and has a lovely terrace dining area looking out over the lake. It's not cheap (and the food was OK, but not great) - about £10 for a main, £5 for a starter, £5 for a pud, and the wine by the glass was pricey. But a fab summer-time location, and off the beaten track.

Last night's summer party was very much fun! Boiling hot on the first day of summer's first heatwave, well organised, a really good live band and a disco that was prepared to play S Club 7. Dodgems too!

The only fly in the ointment were the over-aggressive and unnecessarily rude security staff.

... was a lovely day of nuptials in beautiful Surrey settings, and although I didn't cry in the church, I did shed a tear at Neil's speech. Here are my photos.

We're just back from spending the Bank holiday weekend with Tim and cardtastic Helen, two of Phil's college crowd. We had a lovely time - enjoying a range of activities, from an excellent production of Chekhov's Three Sisters at the Tobacco Factory, to sampling the delights of the Slow Food Market, to laying a brick patio at the allotment.

I got garden centre vouchers from Jo and Tom for my birthday - at my request - showing my maturity by getting green fingers.... or at least trying to! I spent the vouchers this evening buying bedding plants at Homebase in Wandsworth Town, having been to Hazel's to water their plants.

I did succumb to a burst of anticipatory amateur green fingeredness a few weekends back, inspired by the onset of the warm weahter to get rid of all the old plants and 'garden furniture' that the previous owners/tenants had left behind, and weeding the planters. But that left everything looking a bit bare with just a straggly ivy and two evergreen climbing bush things (yes, see how natural a gardener I am!!). Hopefully the new plants will survive and brighten things up a bit, plus provide some runner and/or green beans!

Phil and I were in Avignon for my birthday, spending a long week there courtesy of Eurostar and the TGV, and staying in a nice family run hotel just inside the old town walls. Hotel d'Angleterre's free wifi proved a hit as Phil had his laptop so we could check mail (and deal with comment spam - grrr) while on holiday.

We had a very lazy time, lots (lots!) of reading and soaking up the spring sun, with the occasional dollop of culture and sight seeing, mooching around the old streets, and heading out on a day trip into the Provencal countryside with Cars Lieutaud and taking the train up to Orange - to see the Roman theatre, sandwiched between lunch in a lovely brasserie terrace and wicked coffee/chocolate and cake in a salon du thé! - and down to Montpellier - lots of sitting in cafes and watching the world go by.... and trying to recall places and geography from when Tom was there.

The holiday all seems a long time ago now, and we only got back yesterday. Mind you, it was a relief to get back to eateries that serve at least one veggie food option as standard. We had take away from the recently opened Spice Corner to celebrate, and very tasty it was too.

On the home front, our lounge chairs arrived today, so the sofa has some companions, and the lounge area looks more like a lounge and less like a sofa + bookselves + TV/Video/DVD/Amp!

On holiday, and suffering the worst comment spam attacks in the history of sparklytrainers.... 500+ yesterday, the same again overnight.

I just love spending an hour of every sunny Provencal day communing with MT-Blacklist. Not. On the other hand, if it wasn't for the wonders of Wi-Fi at the Hotel d'Angleterre, and Phil's powerbook, I'd have it all to do when we get home by which time it would be much, much worse I suspect.

I know that the volume of comment spam I'm getting probably pales into insignficance compared to other people's experience, but for me it begs the question: Should I turn off comments altogether? I occasionally get some genuine comments, particularly in relation to A little mouse with clogs on, and on my reading, and I do value these. But how much?

It's not only the comments, but it's the notification emails clogging up the pop mail I pick up via Yahoo Mail - over 1000 comment spam notifications, on top of the 200+ spam emails, completely overwhelming the 10 genuine emails in there. Thank heavens for filters....

I've had a satisfying evening downloading my February and March photos from my Canon Ixus V, sorting them out into folders and uploading selected collections to fotopic:

• Tower42, blue skies and backlit clouds
• Valentine's Day Pasties, by Phil
• Sunny views - Farringdon, Smithfield, Barbican
• Barbican in the snow
• Snowing in Camomile Street
• Good bye Copper Grill, Sayonara Salon Yamamoto
• Spitalfields, old and new - including the noted house for paper bags, and Dino's cafe
• Dad's birthday weekend at Forty Acres - The new tree house, and walking to the Neville
• White wrapped office block, demolition in progress, Ropemaker Street / Chiswell Street / Moor Lane / Finsbury Street
• Easter weekend at Walton on the Naze (brrrr)

There's been a thread on Haddock today about not missing the chance to talk to your grandparents about their lives while they are still alive, and taping these conversations to capture that family history for posterity.

It reminded me of the tape that my dad sent out to me in the US when Hazel and I were on our round the world travels of a recording my mum had made at a family do back in the 80s when we tried to get her mum, Nana Helen, to reminisce (sp) about her life. It wasn't particularly successful on the family-history-as-told-by-nan front because she felt too self-conscious about talking near the tape recorder with everyone around, but it brilliantly captures a Print-Trumper-Tapp family afternoon of chaos at Uncle Norman's. That alone got me welling up when I first heard the tape again, and thinking about it now, out of the family that were there then and whose voices the tape holds all the grandparents and half the parents have since died.

It also got the thinking, that the next time the family gathers at dad and Jean's we should direct Barney and Rosa's regular demands to "Tell me about naughtly things you/daddy did when you were young" onto the older generation.....

... and I'd like to think that when we are 'the older generation', the youngsters will be able to mooch around here to see what was happeing in my life, and what I was like/doing/feeling from my mid-30s on.

We're off to Walton, la la la la laaaaaaaaa

We're off to Walton, la la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

We're off to Walton, la la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

We're off to Walton, la la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Hurrah for the Easter holidays.

Neil and I went to Foyles to listen to Tom Stafford and Matt Webb talk about their Mind Hacks, as documented in their O'Reilly book. A fun and relaxed talk, with several DIY tests to show you that you can carry out experiments that teach you more about cognitive science.... cool!

'I'll show you mine...', Phil's article on Flickr, appeared on the BBC website today.....

.... as did this 'E-mail is under-used in politics' technology article, which has WriteToThem as a related link.

I'm a very proud girlfriend and sister.

Phil and I went to see 5x2 this evening... I like modern french films, and the Barbican's 3 cinemas (count 'em!) are soooooooo handy. So handy in fact that Phil wore his sandals there!!

What did I think? The concept worked well - 5 scenes from a couple's life, workng back from their divorce to the start of their relationship. I didn't particularly enjoy the early scenes - they felt too much like things were on the edge of violence, which made them good, strong scenes, and made the later scenes, dealing with the couple's history, all the more effective.

and I hardly thought about work at all!

*and* we have Monday's ER to watch on the vid while we have tea too!!

Something to look forward to - a week in Provence over my birthday.

We booked return tickets (Waterloo - Lille Europe - Avignon) on the Eurostar and TGV yesterday, for a grand total of £109 each (I'd expected more, but then again it's more expensive than a cheap budget airline flight, and than a comparably long train journey in the UK, eg London - Aberdeen).

And today Phil's confirmed a booking for a double room at the Hotel d'Angleterre, a family run, Logis de France hotel in central Avignon with WiFi in every room!!! Phil's in seventh heaven at the prospect (of WiFi), as I am (at the prospect of a holiday, in France)

Rach came to stay last night, and we had a great evening gassing away about life, the universe, Frankfurt, jobs and..... Moscow!!

Yes, more than a decade after spending 6 months there as part of her degree (and when Ruth and I went to visit after our 3rd year finals) Rachel Graham's heading back east! She's got a job on The Moscow Times, and starts in the summer. Cor!

I've already put in my request for a trip on the Trans-Siberian-or-Mongolian once she's settled in :) Oooh look - you can take in the Ice Festival at Harbin....

So that's next year's holiday sorted!

Hmmmm, *maybe* I could combine it with a trip back westwards along the Silk Route....

After much deliberating and a couple of trips around Brick Lane / Spitalfields and over to the furniture emporiae of Tottenham Court Road we've finally settled on two armchairs to add to the sofa in the lounge of Ben Jonson House.

We've decided against getting a matching pair, or trying to make the chairs and sofa look like a suite, and have gone for a chair each from the SIT range at Little Book of Furniture (don't bother if you can't bear to wait for the irritating flash movie to load....) shop in Spitalfields:

Phil: Cube chair in a brown suede finish (no link because of the marvels of flash)
Mary: IT chair in polished brown leather (no link because of the marvels of flash)

I've just set up and done my first photo printing with the Canon Pixma IP4000 I got as my leaving gift from Simmons & Simmons, and it's fantastic!!

Set up was painless (once Phil had raided his box of "cables and stuff" to dig out a USB cable to connect the printer to my Mac) and I've just printed off 5 copies of this photo to send to the porters in the picture.

The quality's great and I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon playing around with the various settings. Well, I would if the printer came with more than a photo printer paper sample of more than 5 sheets.....

A long overdue purchase for my eMac, which came with a bog standard, albeit aesthetically pleasing mouse: a scrolling, right-clicking mouse, courtesy of Saitek, by way of MicroAnvika.

And soooo easy to install - just plug in and play. Bliss.

Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear.

What were they thinking?

Season Two, Episode 4: The New Era, as screened this afternoon on C4 - Marissa's cockernee stylee baker boy cap, with green velvet derriere bow, waistcoat over white puffy-sleeved shirt, and Rupert-the-Bear/golfing-closet-of-shame checked trousers.

Sadly the looks-lovely-but... The OC official website from Fox won't let me link to anything, so you'll just have to go and find the gruesome evidence for yourself.

Phew - you're saved the trouble, but not the trauma.

Thank heavens for the internet.

Phil and I went to see Richard Herring's one man show The Twelve Tasks of Hercules Terrace last night, and the £4.60 (ouch) return tube fare to Hammersmith was worth every penny.

It was a last minute decision, and I'm v glad that we decided to stir our stumps and head west to the Riverside Studios. Not only did we get to enjoy a very funny show, but we had plenty of time for a tasty meal beforehand, courtesy of the very fine Riverside Cafe/Bar. We almost ran out of time for dessert though, which would have been the second time that particular ill-deserved, non-dessert disaster would have befallen us at the Cafe/Bar..... Top tip: order pud well in advance of when you think you'll want it!

But back to the main attraction - Richard Herring, and his twelve tasks....

Phil introduced me to Warming Up a while back, so some of the material in the show was familiar. But seeing the writer in action and delivering their own work changes everything. For starters, I'd thought RH was rather taller than he is (Sorry!), and as he recounted the background to his taking on Hercules Terrace, and the Twelve Tasks, the self-depreciating humour of Warming Up became tinged with the sadness of reality: the tasks were a means of working through a period of depression, not some juvenile jolly jape.

Go see it, and discover the joys of CNPS - there's another whole sub-culture out there, just *waiting* to be discovered.....

LONDON RUN OF THE TWELVE TASKS OF HERCULES TERRACE:
February 8th - 20th February 2005 (not 14th) at 9pm
(except 13th and 20th Feb at 5.45pm, 11th and 19th Feb at 7.30pm)
Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith.
Box Office telephone: +44 (0)20 8237 1111

Nationwide / Gig listing

One of my least favourite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.... writing another letter to Jewel in the Crown about why Hazel and I are seeking a refund for the holiday we bought from them, staying at the half built, not quite 'Le Meridien' yet, Kovalam Beach hotel. Judge for yourself: brochure vs our reality.

Typically Jewel in the Crown's response to my letter of complaint arrived the week after I left on my between jobs trip to northern India and Nepal, and when I got back I also found Donna's letter with copies of her equally unsatisfactory correspondence with Jewel in the Crown.

So I've spent my first Saturday back in the UK, at the end of my first week in a new job, writing to Jewel in the Crown. Again. If anyone ever hears me considering a swanky package holiday ever again, please remind me of this unhappy experience.

I've emailed Pauline to see if Jewel in the Crown are being equally unrepentant to all three of us, and I'll have another look at Which?'s website, to see what they say about package holiday horror stories, and Citizens Advice Bureau's AdviceGuide to see what we need to do to take our complaint to the small claims court.

I'm not quite at that stage yet, but it will depend on Jewel in the Crown's next response.

.... wasn't nearly as scary as I'd built it up to be in my overactive imagination, despite the distractions of India and Nepal. That said, it does feel really weird to be the newbie and to be somewhere that has some elements that are really familiar and others that are totally alien.

This morning was given over to a general induction, including an overview of the firm, security briefing (another glorious photo on my pass/the intranet) and some basic IT training. I spent the afternoon exploring the intranet and setting up Outlook (hurrah!). I have DMS training tomorrow, and (probably) laptop training on Thursday (flat screen monitor and laptop come as standard!), and *then* I'll probably have to do some real work!

After the tortuous return flight from Kathmandu (the killer stage being the 6 hour stop over in Abu Dhabi - home of the world's most uncomfortable airport seating - from 9.40pm to 3.30am), it's been a nice but weird day back in London. Phil met me at LHR, which was really really lovely, and once back in the Barbican and after unpacking and starting the washing marathon we headed over to Warwick Avenue for a very tasty lunch at the Prince Albert Pub and Formosa Dining Room, organised by Tom Coates.

Time for a bit of a veg session now catching up on all the telly Phil's videoed in my absence (USA-tastic: The OC! The West Wing! Desperate Housewives!). Then I'll think about getting my stuff together for day 1 at Norton Rose...... Sorting holiday pics will have to wait a while.

I'm sitting in Varanasi in the internet cafe in the hotel we're in - the first time I've managed to get online so far. At 50 rupees for 90mins works out at less than 1p/minute and as today is a free day, I'm making the most of it. Oh yes - before I forget, Elke also showed me the Clinic Beaucare website.

But back to Varanasi....

We were up at 5.45 to go on a boat ride on the Ganges to see the sun rise over the ghats (the steps where people come to wash/pray/cremate) .... but all we saw was lots and lots of rain and about 5 people instead of the hundreds shown in the postcards, the magnificent palaces built by kings and princes, which rise majestically above the ghats, looked rather rundown and forlorn in the daylight.

We've been really unlucky at times with the weather - overcast and cold in Delhi and Jaipur where the morning fog made it cold too, and not so good for taking photos :( That said, Jaipur and the Amer/Amber Palace still managed to impress, as did the camel carts and colourful local life as well as the buildings and scenic settings of Rajasthan.

We've just had 2 hot and sunny days, in Agra (so good pics of the Taj Mahal, which is every bit as amazing as you'd expect, and the Red Fort, which was equally stunning), and then travelling on an overnight train to Allahabad (11pm departure, 5am arrival, confluence of 3 sacred rivers, and lots of pilgrims). After three hours of recuperation in an Allahabad hotel (not sure why we needed 3 hours...) we continued on by coach through sunlit rural villages, and in one we had an impromptu stop at the village school (which proved to be less voyeuristic than I initially feared), in addition to the programme's scheduled stops at a temple (where I felt we weren't really very welcome...) and the old fort at Chunnar. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on a tranquil 4 hour boat cruise down the Ganges to Varanasi, where we arrived under cover of darkness and so were able to see the evening prayers in full effect.

I've just booked the Exodus Delhi to Kathmandu trip I spotted earlier this week - paying extra for business class/premium economy flights but what the hell, travelling is why I work!

So next step is to sort out visas for Nepal, and possibly India (Grrrrr - I can't believe that I may have to get another visa because the Kerala one expires on 03 Feb!!! Why was I so organised about getting my India visa for Kerala sorted out???), and to check out books and background info. Oh, and to transfer some

Well, having provisionally arranged to start at Norton Rose on 07 February, I met Sue Hobson today and fixed my leaving date for Friday 21 January..... so this evening I have been checking out holiday options, and in the wee small hours (well past 1am on 06 Jan), I found this Delhi to Kathmandu trip with Exodus:

Delhi, the booming capital of modern India, has had many rulers and contains a wealth of buildings and culture that bring to life its rich and turbulent history. Safe in its natural mountain fortress, the fabled city of Kathmandu was virtually cut off from the rest of the world until the last half century. Smaller, but no less fascinating, this city has been described as having more temples than houses and more gods than people. To travel between these two very different cities is one of the most beautiful and fascinating journeys in Asia. For culture vultures the Taj Mahal, the 'Pink City' of Jaipur, the holy city of Varanasi or the Buddhist Stupas of Kathmandu may be the highlight; for those more interested in nature's treasures, spotting rhino on an early morning elephant ride through Chitwan National Park may feature as high on the list as their first view of the mighty Himalaya, towering 8000m. (26,000 ft.) above the plains on the India/Nepal border. On any journey however it is often the friendliness of the people you meet on your way that lasts longest in the memory.

Travel: Private bus, train, boat and elephant.
Group & staff: Min. 8, max. 16, plus leader, driver, local guides for sightseeing.
Accommodation: 11 nights hotels, 2 nights jungle lodge, 1 overnight train.
Food: All breakfasts and 1 lunch included; full board at Chitwan.
Travel dates: Fri 21 Jan 05 Sun 06 Feb 05
Cost: TBC

.... that I'm leaving. Part of me feels awful, but a bigger part feels relieved.

.... but Abby's asked me not to tell anyone until the new year. It's a relief to have handed over my very short letter, and to have started the path towards leaving. i can see that I'm going to have to get my Reasons for Leaving off pat.

..... Hello Norton Rose.

Despite the last minute curve ball, I've decided that I'm going to accept the offer from Norton Rose to join them as a project manager in their IT department, and I've just called Computer People Kate to let her know. She's getting NR to send out my contract today.

Next task is to write my letter of resignation and hand it in to Abby without her thinking it's a wind up.... wihch I think might be her first reaction after all the gallows humour of the past few weeks.

Another of the things my dad fails to tell me!!

I knew that Huw and Allison David were travelling around the world on their bikes, but I didn't know they had a website - nay "blog" - which they update with diary entries and photos.... Mary Ruth told me about it today, so I've got a couple of months of catching up (and envying) to do.

Whilst I envy their 2 year trip, but not so sure about doing it all on bikes (give or take a RTW air ticket) ....

Occasionally I do something really, really stupid which upsets someone else, albeit unintentionally.

And today was one of those days.

So, sorry Maurice.

:(

That's what I'm now offically allowed to call Hazel. Not that she's *my* girlfriend of course. That's Luke's priveledge and, no doubt, his pleasure too.

And apparently Raji and I get to meet the man next week - v.g.

See what sharing a bottle and 2 glasses of Australian red gets you? Bridget Jones would be proud.

Yesh, informashion and a spinning head. uh-oh - french tomorrow. double uh-oh....

... with the 'witch' in this case being the OU PM exam.

No more revision!
No more feeling that I should be / haven't done enough revising!
No more activity-on-arrow / activity-on-node analysis!
No more PRINCE2 Components, Processes or Techniques!

Woo hooo!

Let's just hope I've passed, otherwise I'll be regretting this euphoria (currently mixed with exhaustion) in 2 1/2 months time... yes, exam results are not due out until 'late December'!

We've completed!!!

Zone 1, here we come

:)

Such a relief.... It's been a nerve-racking few days of phone calls and frantic faxing.

Next step, completion on 01 October.

... required a mad dash back from the OU Revision weekend in Reading, but worth it as:

1. Everyone was wonderful and happy, Matt and Fiona most of all
2. There were lots of Mary-and-Phil friends there
3. I saw inside the RSA - a fascinating building, where Barney and Rosa outdid themselves in the Olympic Stair Jumping stakes (Tom Coates did quite well too)
4. It gave my sides a rest from Maurice/Tony/Steve induced laughter

Photos by Tom Coates
Photos by Chris and Helen Locke
Photos by me and/or Rosa and/or Barney and/or Phil

My favourites:

I feel unworthy for saying this, but Phil and I went to see Dodgeball on Friday night, and I've not laughed so much and so loudly for ages, to the extent that I had tears streaming down my face (unlike Wednesday's tears which were booze-fuelled. uh oh).

Just what the doctor ordered.

First day back at work after a lovely long week at Forty Acres where Phil and I enjoyed days of endless sunshine, a pile of good books, and fine food and wine in deepest darkest (sunniest) Herefordshire.

After spending Sunday at Dinedor with dad and Jean, TJBR and Jean's parents, we ventured out on Bank Holiday Monday to sample the (as it turned out, limited) delights of Peterchurch Show & Sports before driving on to Hay-on-Wye for afternoon tea at the Granary (their service is sooooooo slow) and a mooch in the bookshops.

We didn't go out again until Thursday when we entertained dad and Jean and Jean's aunt Jean to morning coffee after which we all headed down to Abbey Dore, and lunched at Abbey Dore Court, and then in the evening dad drove us all over to Crickhowell for dinner at The Bear to mark their wedding anniversary.

Drove out to Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye on Friday, returning with more books and a bag full of tasty goodies from Truffles (veggie scotch eggs - heaven! - from the Handmade Scotch Egg Company), and on Saturday we headed into Hereford to sample the delights of the farmers' market and shops generally.

Saturday afternoon saw dad and Jean arrive for reading and relaxation (Jean) and mowing (dad) followed by a fantastic BBQ courtesy of dad and the Hereford Butter Market butchers.

The rest of the time Phil and I simply pottered - reading out on the sunsoaked patio, moving out onto the lawn as the shadows lengthened, cooking and baking cakes, practising guitar and Japanese (both Phil's!) and watching old episodes of James Burke's Connections.

A: 3 trees

How: Using the Woodland Trust's Dedicate a Tree scheme

Hazel and I are giving Findlay 3 trees here.

I just hope we've spelt (spelled?) his name correctly.... Findlay vs Findley, oh the dilemma.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,
Knees and Toes
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,
Knees and Toes

And Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

As sung by the Teletubbies, here, and as in Bits Of Me That I Foolishly Managed To Sunburn This Weekend.

That'll be another slathering of moisturiser for me tonight. And tomorrow. And the day after.....

But we did have the most lovely and relaxing weekend at Walton on the Naze. Again.

Phil and I took a day trip out to Witham today to go to the dowsing day at Cressing Temple Barns - the oldest barns in the world.

We started off exploring Silver End, a complete 1930s village built by philathropist businessman Frank Crittall, for the workers (and their families) at his Crittall windows works, and then walked the mile or so to Cressing Temple Barns, built by the Templars in the 12th Century to store the harvest and grain seeds produced by the Cressing Estate given to them by Queen Mathilda.

Cressing Temple is a great site, with a lovely 16 century walled garden and lots of old farm buildings in a quiet green setting. The dowsing was led by one of the county archeologist, who favoured a scientific explanation as to why our coat hanger dowsing rods swivelled when we walked over buried things. We started off crossing mains water pipes that he knew existed, and where he could show us the route they ran underground, to dowsing an unexcavated part of the site, where they think the Elizabethan farm house once stood. Our dowsed outline matched the outlines generated by expert dowsers, and the geo-physical survey....

A lovely active summer day.

After a quick flit around the Silk Road exhibition at the British Library, and the amazing photos taken by selected 20 century european explorers, I headed back to EC2 to rendezvous with Phil to go to see Before Sunset at the Barbican.

I've not seen Before Sunrise - even though I tried to persuade Hazel to get it out on many a vid 'n' veg night - but even without the background I loved the film. The head straight into cliche-ville, it tugged at the heartstrings, and by the end I had tears running down my cheeks, not wanting the story to end.

The *only* annoyance were the fake walks around Paris (you know, where they turn left at the Eiffel Tower and find themselves looking at Notre Dame) but I don't suppose many viewers would even notice that.

The dilemma delivered by Before Sunset is... do I watch Before Sunset ....?

After many frustrations with the OU's required project management software package (PS8), and irritations with the lack of constructive support from the OU in general, I've finally managed to do my second assignment (with heart-felt thanks to Theresa and Tony who helped me get past the point of wanting to quit purely because PS8 and OU's customisation of it is such a waste of everyone's time), and after a dispiriting 2 hours in work on a Saturday (on top of 2 Sundays here mainly spent grappling fruitlessly with PS8), I'm only 200 words over the limit, and have reached the point where it's not worth agonising any further, so I've sumbitted it.

And emailed Miles asking him to check that he can open the document and type his tutor's comments in it.

British Library, here I come!

Hazel and I are off to a fortnight of luxury at the Le Meridien Kovalem Beach in November!!! I booked today, and I can't wait. It's just the carrot I need to get me through the shitty BMS Portal project at work, and the Open University Project Management exam - both of which are due to crystalise mid-October.

We're going with Jewel in the Crown holidays (they *really* need to sort out the website optimisation, it took me a lot of perseverence to find their website again so that I could book!), so it's a convenient package of flights, transfers and B&B accommodation, in a deluxe hotel, the very same place where Janette and I enjoyed a couple of amazing yoga classes when we went to Kerala with Kuoni in 1996, not forgetting the massage and beauty treatment session we induldged in on our last morning. I won't be getting my hair conditioned this time....

All that remains is to get a tourist visa from the Indian High Commission at Aldwych.

Hazel and I went to see Jerry Springer - The Opera last night. It was an excellent evening, warming up for our American theme with burgers at Ed's Diner in Soho.

The show itself was excellent, albeit a tad "blue" on the words front. I don't think 5 minutes went by without a slew of **** ***** ***** *****. All beautifully set to music though :)

David Soul played Jerry, and he was far better than I'd expected - not a whiff of Starksy (or was he Hutch?). In fact the whole cast was superb, really getting into the spirit of the show, drawing the audience along with it. I've spent today singing "Talk to the hand....." at various colleagues, and warming up with a spot of "Jer-ry Jerry", complete with hand movements on both counts.

Hazel and I headed up to Brum yesterday for Louie's birthday party at Priory School, and to catch up with Fiona, Greg and Family. We took advantage of the mid-afternoon start to squeeze in a spot of shopping, once I'd recovered from the shock of the Bull Ring transformation - no more underpasses! a completely new route for the Queensway! No more market! Instead, the lovely new shiny shopping mall, containing some very swanky shops. There was an amazing number of shoppers about too - although H and I weren't amongst them.

At Priory School it was 6 hours of blasts from the past, with loads of Links Drive neighbours, more of whom have moved on the pastures new: The Balmers, The Blays, David Gill, Jayne Hanson, the Harmans, the Whites, the Albutts. The whole Kennedy clan was out in force, complete with 7 grandchildren, and the musical performances by Andrew's 2 eldest daughters (5 and 3) won the day - their violin renditions were better than anything heard at No 78 I reckon!

I got to drive back to London, and H and I made the mad dash onto the last tube from Ealing common, leaving dad and Jean to overnight wih Kate, and to spend the day at her graduation today.

A manic, but fun, morning at Alexandra Palace Ice Rink was had by all, even the adults whose ice skating days were long past. Barney sped around like the regular rinker that he is, although some of his other friends struggled to gain their balance, looking more like ducklings on ice than budding Robin Cousins.

The Ally Pally package came complete with a Birthday Lunch in the far end of the cafe - the first time I've had chocolate spread sarnies for years. It was all a bit chaotic, but I guess that's the sign of a very good time when you're 6/7!

Jo's photos
My photos

Back home, Barney unwrapped a pile of lovely pressies, and tried out Operation and the microscope. And we all had a spot more lunch.....

The Guardian's published a piece on Phil in it's Online supplement, which makes me very, very proud. The paper edition comes complete with a lovely quarter page close up too.

It's a pity about the spurious space in TheyWorkFor You.com, and the absence of any mention of gyford.com!

Post script: 14 July 2004
When Phil went in for a meeting at Poke today, they'd produced this Man of the Moment wall display :)

Phil and I have just returned from a delightful weekend in Derbyshire, joining his mum's cousin and family in celebrating Roger's retirement.

We travelled up from the revamp-in-progress St Pancras, a mere 2 hours on Midland Mainline, and were met at Derby station by Roger and Ben. They ferried the collected family and friend to Rose Cottage, Kirk Ireton where we enjoyed a lovely supper sat around the kitchen table, soup and souls warmed by the aga.

Saturday saw us decorating the Quakers' Meeting House in Bakewell in honour of Roger's Retirement, and laying out the feast prepared and provided by Liz for assorted family and friends. After a lovely walk along the disused railway route, everyone ate themselves silly before heading off in all directions. We returned to KI for a snooze, some tennis and then more food and lots and lots of chat.

Sunday was a very relaxed day, with a late rise and shine, a leisurely breakfast over the weekend papers and then a stroll around the lanes before late lunch and the train back to London.

Lucky Janet's staying until Tuesday.

I'm dead proud (and yes, a little envious) of my brother's involvement in this, the BBC's "vision of the future and manifesto for action".

Matt's most esteemed appearance in a publication to date - The Sun

Cor, wot a stunna etc etc etc......

He tells me he's amended his CV accordingly.

Hazel and I have just returned weary and wan from an excellent weekend in Leeds/Saltaire, celebrating Cat's 30th birthday.

We spent a very pleasant Saturday avoiding the rain, mooching around Saltaire, built by philanthropist Titus Salt, and the eponymous Salt's Mill complex, now converted into a fine collection of eateries and shops.

The main event on Saturday was Cat's Big Night Out, and after a celebratory glass of champagne, we took the train into Leeds to meet up with the rest of the birthday party people at the Cactus Lounge, and from there moved next door for drinks at the Wardrobe, and thence (oh how the mighty are fallen) to the Walkabout where we were outshone by the Pink Ladies hen party on the dance floor, and almost everyone else on the drinking front.

Sunday was a decidedly more relaxed affair, with tea and toast and telly taking us gently through the morning, before we went round to Cat's parents for a fantastic Birthday BBQ - despite the rain!

Back to London on the train, in a speedy 2 1/2 hours.

I've been buried in OU Project Management M865 studies and working on the first assignment for what feels like an age. But, TMA 1 is done (all be the inevitable editing to get closer to the word limit - sigh) and I've decided that I need to have something Good on the horizon to keep me motivated. The Barbican flat buying looks like it's going to take an absolute age, if indeed it comes to fruition (I'm keeping my head in the sand on that one a bit I fear), so that leaves the good old standby of holidays.....

So, I've dug out my bumf from plannings past, primed Hazel and we're going to be looking at trips to China and the 'Stans in 2005. The contenders are:

Something from Silk Road Tours (but - ouch - they're expensive and maybe a bit too posh for our tastes and pockets)
Good old Intrepid Travel .... except that they aren't running the *ideal* trip (Ancient Road of the Traders) in 2005 :( which leaves either China or Uzbekistan
Far Frontiers - again, expensive
Adventure Bound - aka The Imaginative Traveller ... hmm and it looks like they only do Uzbekistan or Mongolia out of Central Asia. Although Jewel of the Silk Road looks interesting... World Expeditions, another aussie outfit, so that could be a good sign
CTS Horizons
China Holidays - but their Silk Road tour is only 9 days

oooooooh. I think i've found it:
Silk Road to Samarkand via Kashgar
... but still e.x.p.e.n.s.i.v.e and looking at the brief itinery, there's travel almost everyday, so maybe not so much time actullay *in* places .... hmmm

Better late than never, I've spent this evening editing and uploading my photos from the 5 days Phil and I spent in Serbia for Teodora's christening (and my birthday), and writing up the highlights for Ben Haines' guide.

Photos, by day, are:

Friday 16 April - Belgrade and dinner chez Petrovic
Saturday 17 April - Belgrade (and sushi)
Sunday 18 April - Teodora's Christening, and my Belgrade Birthday
Monday 19 April - Bye bye Belgrade, Hello Novi Sad!
Tuesday 20 April - Splendid Novi Sad

And seeing as I've just discovered that Phil's at home in bed with a cold, time for me to return to do my Florence Nightingale duty!

The former bowling green in Priory Park was taken over by a horde (sic) of 4, 5 and 6 years olds, mainly dressed in pink, celebrating Rosa's 5th birthday on 23 April. I enjoyed myself first as warden of the giant bubble wand (more of a sword actually) from the Early Learning Centre and then later on as one half of the legendry Loosemore Footballing duo. Legendary I tell you* !

Photos by Jo.

I've just realised that as I no longer live in Clapham Junction, I no longer need my daily Travel Alert emails from TfL...

Route: ClaphamCmn-Moorgate - deleted
Route: Waterloo-Bank - deleted

:sniff:

Everything's packed up and has headed off into storage in SE14, courtesy of the lovely folks at Field Transport (thanks for the recommendation, Lotti!).

It's been Go! Go! Go! going to Chandresh's office to sign the contract and transfer and to exchange on the sale of 12A, sorting out removals for 29 April, sorting out change of addresses for a million and one bodies (admin), getting paperwork together for completion and mortgage application (joint!) .... and that was all before I got home to pack more boxes, send out change of address (family and friends) email, wash hair and get things ready for heading over to Belgrade tomorrow. Taxi pick up at 5am. URGH! Took it easy with an Akash Indian takeaway - yummyandstuffed.

Baby Russell arrived on 08 April, just in time for Easter!

I got an email from Ruth and Pete this morning, with pictures taken yesterday. Lovely.

... just about, delayed by spending Friday sleeping and snoozing in Hackney thanks to the on-going snotty cold.

Recuperated in the fresh seaside air, eating fresh chips and snoozing on the seafront; getting a bit pink cheeked in the process. Makes a change from the pale and sickly look I'd sported all last week.

Phil spotted a large 2-bed flat in Bunyan Court on the Hamilton Brooks website on Monday night, and I set up a viewing for 4.20pm yesterday afternoon. After a bit of a dither and a bit of a chat with one of the estate agents in the office, we made an offer. Eeek!

And at just gone midday, Nicola "Hamilton Brooks" called to say that the seller had accepted. Eeek #2!!!

This is it.

For years people have told me of the gourmet delights on offer at Borough Market, but it's taken me 9 years [1] to get there. Not really a case of "well worth the wait" as it's an amazing place, albeit a bit crowded at 2pm on a spring Saturday. The whole place is very photogenic and we've been enjoying our tasty purchases over the rest of the weekend. It's not cheap mind you.....

Whilst I don't consider myself to meet the anoraky trainspottery stereotype, my dad's passion for mechanical engineering has obviously had an influence on me (unless it's in my shorts). I've spent two very happy Saturdays discovering more about London transport and the modern history of the mighty metropolis at London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, and at their Depot in Acton Town.

Having enjoyed an afternoon at the main Covent Garden museum with Phil who took most of these photos, I rendezvoused with Tom and Barney yesterday lunchtime for a day Down at Depot rounded off with Barney and I taking the tube and the train and the bus back to Crouch End (via the Model Shop in Holborn.....). Some of these photos are Barney's.

I finally remembered that I'd heard a trailer for this on Radio 4 late last night... and had drifted off to sleep drumming the need to remember it into my weary brain....

"This" it" is a programme about Ted Dick and Myles Rudge who are the comedy* song-writing team responsible for A Windmill in Old Amsterdam, aka A Little Mouse with Clogs On. Woo Hoo!!!!

So, where and when is it on?
BBC Radio 4
Tuesday 02 March 2004
11.30am-12noon

* I'm sure Phil would disagree!

Snezana and Voja are currently planning Teodora's christening and last week Snezana emailed me to say that they have decided to have a small do, just immediate families and closest friends. And that includes me, and Phil, which makes me very happy!

Today I got an update from Snezana telling me that they've now booked the ceremony for Sunday 18th April, which is My Birthday!!! So I've been looking at flights to Beograd....

• JAT Airways (Yugoslav Airlines)
  
• JAT Airways (London)
  
• Visa requirements as specifed by the Consular Affairs section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro
  

... not without significant hyperventialation on my part.... I'd not spotted that Alan's email on Friday had actually included the fact that someone had made an offer at the asking price, which made the emails he sent yesterday read rather oddly, and it wasn't until he emailed saying the offerer had been chasing him for my response that I knew that I had an offer. gulp.

Sent an email formally accepting the offer, and headed off to Phil's on an adrenaline high. It takes things (i.e. selling, buying, moving in together) one stage further, which makes things all the much more real.... especially as getting my flat on the market and having all the viewings has mainly taken place whilst Phil's been away in the States. But we had a lovely evening last night, which reminds me that all the stress (and it's been remarkably stress free so far!) is worthwhile.

James from Curzon Wilson made me laugh when he asked if I actually lived in my flat, as it was always so spectacularly neat and tidy!

On the Simmons & Simmons website home page, and with the public-friendly url http://www.simmons-simmons.com/takeovers/.

We had 2 requests from Numiscorp/Numis Securities Limited for copies of the Code Index within minutes of the links from the home page going live.... don't ask me how they were so quick off the mark, but it's quite satisfying to get real people responding at this early stage!

I've just looked back over my analysis and project records, and see that it's kept me occupied for the past 217 days... the initial request came in on 10 July 2003 and the TCR launched (one day early!) on 11 February 2004. And Mark's already asking about scope for future development.... this one's just going to run and run.

Seeing your home on sale online makes it seem all the more real....

Had plenty of viewing and interest (and low offer), but CW are advising holding out for the asking price. The agent from JH (who I've realised really reminds me of Anthony Bott) phoned to query the asking price... reckoning that their higher valuation was definitely achievable. I'm not enjoying this.

... as in I've finally got them all up on http://photos.sparklytrainers.com (aka the fantastic fotopic).

The main reason for the delay (unusual for me I know!) is that I had to resize some of the larger ones I took in Chile. Over-enthusiastic use of all the Ixus' maxumum settings for dimensions and resolution/smoothing meant that I had pictures that were 1+MB in size.... waaaaaaaaay too big to do anything useful with. So I used a batch process in Phil's Photoshop to scale down all the ones taken after 21 November, and then had to file them in amongst the full scale photos, and then select the ones to upload to fotopic. Except that I wimped out on that last step and just uploaded everything! As you will see if you look at the El Chalten / Fitz Roy collection ..............

Cor, it's Go! Go! Go!

After meeting with all three contending estate agents, I decided to use Curzon Wilson to sell my flat (sniff) last night and telephoned all concerned to let them know this morning. Main reasons for picking CW were that (1) I'd bought through them and get on well with Alan Wilson; (2) the valuation was consistent with another of the agencies (although not the highest); (3) their fee was the lowest, by a couple of points of a percent.

... and the first viewing is arranged for 10:45 tomorrow!

I also instructed solicitors on the sale of the flat: Chandresh Bhatt of Bishop & Sewell, as recommended by Phil and Master Cronin.

Chandresh ran through some of the preliminary steps involved in selling a share of freehold flat with a mortgage:

1. Seller's solicitor requests deeds from the mortgage lender. eta c 1 week.
2. S's sol. sends out Seller's Property Information Request to Seller. eta up to me!
3. S's sol. sends out Freehold Management Questionnaire to Freehold Mgmt Company. eta up to Mr Turner (!)
4. S's sol. prepares contract based on details in deeds, SPIR and FMQ
5. S's sol. sends contract, copy of lease and freehold flat management particulars to Buyer's solicitor.
6. B's sol review contract and negotiate as required

I'm not 100% sure of that being the correct order, but I think they are the key steps for the start of the process. Progress reports and update will follow in due course.

Next stop: moneyextra to sort out a mortgage....

Phil and I are going flat hunting. Together.

:)

Actually, we've been planning to for a couple of months, but Chile and then Christmas got in the way of getting the selling/buying thing in motion, but we have spent the past couple of weekends replacing the mondrian-esque colour scheme of my flat with Crown's "Ivory Cream", on the basis that such muted, neutral tones provide as a blank canvas for potential buyers' redecorating imaginations.

I'm about to ring round a selection of Clapham Junction's finest estate agents to ask about agency fees and to arrange viewings to get estimates, the plan being to get dear old 12A onto the market next week, after a final Saturday of tarting up and a trip to the tip.

On the "fun" side (aka buying), we started off considering quite a wide area, WC1 and the ECs, on the basis that we wanted to be true metropolitan types, and live in zone 1, and (for me) within walking distance of work. After some online mooching over Christmas and New Year, we both confessed to a strong liking for the Barbican. The only fly in the ointment was the

Rachel and I had a funny, leery night out last night. We went for drinks, chat and dancing at Digress, which, at 10pm on a Thursday night, is full of besuited men who think they are God's gift. They may well be - but they weren't ours!

All very strange, but enjoyable, and I even managed to say "chips" (as opposed to "chpsh") at the Istanbul Kebab Shop on Battersea Rise.

Both were very relaxing - spent Christmas in Clapham with Phil, had to work the m/t/w up to New Year's Eve but then motored over to Herefordshire to welcome in 2004 with Hazel and Catriona, followed by more relaxing - aka reading and vegging - with Phil.

Photos here.

... after a lovely lazy Christmas with Phil. The most active day was yesterday, when we took the bus to Holborn and walked eastwards and northwards through WC1 and EC1, getting a better feel for the areas we're going to be flat-hunting in.

We travelled from SW11 to E9 on Saturday by way of the West End, where met up with Manar to see the third and final part of Lord of the Rings - a suitably grande finale for the epic, although the absence of Saurman (sp?) was noted.

And now, I'm facing up to spending the next 3 days sitting in CityPoint, with the rain plunking gloomily down outside. Not inspiring....

During our Chilean travels, Hazel and I spent a couple of great days and nights in Ancud, staying at the Hostal Mundo Nuevo built and run by Silvia and Martin.

I promised to provide comments on www.newworld.cl - and here they are:

Download file

Phil's PepysDiary has won the best specialist weblog category in The Guardian's second British blog awards. I'm so proud.

Between them, Phil-and-Tom have installed MT-Blacklist for me. It is "A Movable Type plugin to eradicate comment and trackback spam". So that's the end of pathetic Penis-Enlargement URL type comments here, I hope.

Thank you Jay Allen.

Following on from my praise for Simon Reeve's programme on The 'Stans, I spotted this BBCi article on Kazakhstan's plan to try to restore the northern part of the Aral Sea. It includes an amazing ESA satellite photo showing just how much the Aral Sea - once the world's fourth largest - has shrunk.

but a lovely one.

Friday night Phil and I went out for a thai meal with Phil's friends Paul and Kamjit, Sam and Toby. A very pleasant evening all round- if a little chilly coming home from Cockfosters.

On Saturday we caught the train to Herne Bay, where Helen Locke and Lisa Butcher were holding a private view of their Passport, Camera, Sketchbook exhibition at the Bay Art Gallery. The travel theme got me all excited about going to Chile, especially as Lisa has just come back from South America. Chips on the seafront were tasty too.

Back to dine London town, where we just managed to get a table at The Italian Kitchen on New Oxford Street and feasted on hearty italian fayre polished off with ultra rich chocolate torte, before making our way to Stef and Kay and Matt and Tom's party at Parkers on Parker Street. A fine fine evening all round. Lots of lovely people, lots of chat, two hoarse voices for Sunday.

After all that travelling around and being social, Sunday was a more static social day, spent watching LOTR:The Two Towers at Simon and Susa's, preceded by scrummy roast red pepper soup and pear crumble. Just the ticket for chilly (well, ish) Sunday in October.....

Watching BBC Four News... (still!) and there's a report on clashes in Bolivia - which have left 50 dead over recent days.

and guess where Hazel is.....