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Wild Frontiers' Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar: shopping for kit

By Mary on 12 June 2010 | | Comments (0)

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

From Waterstones.com

From amazon.co.uk

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

Getting to grips with GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite

By Mary on 11 June 2010 | | Comments (0)

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.

Wild Frontiers' Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar: Chinese visa application and kit updates

By Mary on 11 June 2010 | | Comments (0)

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......

Wild Frontiers' Himalayan Journey from Lhasa to Kashgar: the preparations begin

By Mary on 6 June 2010 | | Comments (0)

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.

We're back from Morocco (belatedly)

By Mary on 6 June 2010 | | Comments (0)

... "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)

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Information

Guide books and reading material

* 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

Weather

Forecasts (www.accuweather.com)

Recent articles

Back from Hong Kong.... finally!

By Mary on 22 April 2010 | | Comments (2)

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.

En route to Morocco

By Mary on 23 February 2010 | | Comments (0)

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!

Tempting treks and trainhotel tribulations....

By Mary on 7 February 2010 | | Comments (0)

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:

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...

Annapurna Circuit: photos

By Mary on 4 January 2010 | | Comments (0)

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:

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.

Southwold in style

By Mary on 13 December 2009 | | Comments (0)

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.

Annapurna Circuit: complete

By Mary on 26 October 2009 | | Comments (2)

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.

Mary, Hazel, Durga - Thorong La (you have no idea how *cold* it was!)

Thank you Mountain Kingdoms!

Annapurna Circuit: the 10 day countdown

By Mary on 23 September 2009 | | Comments (0)

... 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.

Annapurna Circuit: the kit bags are here!

By Mary on 11 September 2009 | | Comments (0)

Yes, the Mountain Kingdoms kit bags arrived today, hot on the heels of yesterday's flight information, which included the names of our fellow trekkers.... There will be nine of us in total: 5 x Mr, 1 x Miss, 1 x Dr plus me and Hazel.

Annapurna Circuit: the kit bags are here!

You'll think I'm mad, but for me planning is half the fun, and I've spent this evening adding to my trip kitlist and money-to-take/mini itinerary/useful phrases spreadsheet. I also found this on www.nepaltrekkinginfo.com:

Can I charge camera batteries along the trek? Yes, Most of the places, you can charge batteries along the trek (per hour USD 2-3 for charging).

.... so I won't be getting a solar charger. I may buy another spare battery though, just to be on the safe side.

Home from holidaying in Herefordshire

By Mary on 1 September 2009 | | Comments (0)

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.

Forty Acres fruit chutneys

Annapurna Circuit - here we come!

By Mary on 11 August 2009 | | Comments (0)

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

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Libya Explorer: the photos

By Mary on 12 July 2009 | | Comments (0)

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.

(Mega)yacht-spotting in Antibes with Hazel

By Mary on 5 July 2009 | | Comments (0)

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.

Megayacht A and a (relatively) small relation in Antibes bay

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.

In Scotland with Sue

By Mary on 14 June 2009 | | Comments (0)

Just a flying visit to Edinburgh to spend the weekend with Sue, admiring her Newhaven flat, the harbour and taking the open top bus scenic route through Leith into town. On Sunday we met up with Emma and Ian, and baby Alice. Lovely! I'm glad Phil bought the the hyperventilatingly expensive Friday/Sunday train tickets.


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Libya Explored

By Mary on 10 May 2009 | | Comments (0)

Slowly digesting my 14 days in Libya courtesy of Peregrine Adventures.

The highs were:

  • drinking in the Milky Way in the desert silence of the Tadrart Acacus
  • walking around the empty streets of Ghat's old medina (although the absence of our local guide contributed to the experience)
  • Pippi, Lois and Sybl

The Greek and Roman ruins of the coast were almost too impressive in their extent and had benefitted from rebuilding/restoration by the Italians. Similarly, the rock art in the Tadrart Acacus is in an amazing condition considering that some of it is 14,000 years old. Ghadames felt like a dying town - a very melancholy place. At least Ghat had been put out of its misery.

The lows were:

  • the unprofessional behaviour of Peregrine's local guide
  • ending the trip feeling that it has been overpriced and that I'd got extremely poor value for money

Lessons for me:

  • avoid local leader-only tours
  • trust my gut instincts on value for money

I'm certainly not travelling with Peregrine/Gecko's again. Libya's worth visiting though, especially if you liked Syria - it has a very similar feel.

Here's an Excel spreadsheet showing what I actually spent in Libya, on top of the cost of the tour, flights and getting a certified Arabic translation of my passport details for the Libyan visa.

And, our reading list.

(And finally - July - the photos.)

Bind your own Wikipedia book

By Mary on 5 April 2009 | | Comments (0)

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.

Less than a month to go until my Libya trip and....

By Mary on 30 March 2009 | | Comments (0)

... 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.

Thank you Travcour: Arabic transcript received

By Mary on 8 March 2009 | | Comments (0)

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.

Libya flights sorted

By Mary on 4 March 2009 | | Comments (0)

Thank you Trailfinders!

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

And still no flight tickets

By Mary on 2 March 2009 | | Comments (1)

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.

British Airways online booking - ARGHHHHHHH

By Mary on 27 February 2009 | | Comments (3)

I'm fuming about British Airways' inability to let me buy flights using any of my debit cards - apparently because I'm not entering the address held by my bank.

Except that I've just been on the phone to my bank to check, line by line, letter by letter.

Apparently, according to BA, banks sometimes have separate internet departments that hold different details.

SO HOW DO I BUY FLIGHTS FROM YOU THEN?

With a deep intake of breath, I call their phone booking team, accepting that it'll cost me £5 for the priveledge. And sit listening to reminders of this fact, and advertorials extolling the virtues of buying travel insurance through their preferred partnership and letting me know I'll be asked if I want to receive useful information from BA..... and put the phone down.

Libya Explorer

By Mary on 26 February 2009 | | Comments (2)

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).

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and now the honeymoon is over....

By Mary on 1 February 2009 | | Comments (0)

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...

Central Asia Overland - now fully Flickred

By Mary on 4 January 2009 | | Comments (2)

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...
FlickrMapSamarkand.png

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

Central Asia Overland - Au revoir, Uzbekistan?

By Mary on 20 October 2008 | | Comments (0)

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.

Central Asia Overland - 'ello Uzbekistan!

By Mary on 12 October 2008 | | Comments (0)

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....

Central Asia Overland - Crossing Kazakhstan

By Mary on 12 October 2008 | | Comments (0)

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!

Central Asia Overland - Bye bye Bishkek

By Mary on 10 October 2008 | | Comments (0)

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!)

Central Asia Overland - Kashgar and the KKH to Lake Karakul

By Mary on 6 October 2008 | | Comments (0)

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.

Central Asia Overland - Friday night fever, Yarkand style

By Mary on 3 October 2008 | | Comments (0)

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.

Central Asia Overland - Hello from Hotan

By Mary on 2 October 2008 | | Comments (0)

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!

Central Asia Overland - Where next imminent: Western China and Central Asia

By Mary on 24 September 2008 | | Comments (0)

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

Language

Weather
(forecasts from www.accuweather.com)

Central Asia Overland - visa update: all done!

By Mary on 13 September 2008 | | Comments (0)

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!

Central Asia Overland - money planning

By Mary on 7 September 2008 | | Comments (2)

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:

Money estimate for Central Asia Overland tour

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.)

Central Asia Overland - visa update: China

By Mary on 4 September 2008 | | Comments (0)

Telephone calls and emails with Travcour today, asking for more paperwork to support my application for a Chinese visa - they need proof of how I'll be leaving China. Tricky, as we are travelling out of China in a minibus over the Torugart Pass into Kyrgyzstan. I'd already sent in the letter that Explore provided to accompany the Chinese visa application which states this, so I've emailed off a copy of the itinerary together with my e-ticket showing Tashkent as my departure point coming back to London.

Update: 05 September 2008 - Travcour emailed to say that they will attach a copy of the itinerary with my application and a note explaining the route, and will let me know if there is a problem when they submit it to the Embassy on Monday.

I presume this means that they've got my visa for Kazakhstan. Hope so!

Central Asia Overland - visa update: Kazakhstan

By Mary on 3 September 2008 | | Comments (0)

Another update email from Travcour:

Your visa application has been successfully submitted to the Kazakhstan embassy. You will be notified when your passport has been released.

Central Asia Overland - visa update: Uzbekistan

By Mary on 1 September 2008 | | Comments (0)

Travcour have just emailed me to let me know that my passport and visa have been collected from the Uzbek embassy. It's taken 14 working days, which only leaves 17 working days to get the remaining three.....

Central Asia Overland - visas

By Mary on 7 August 2008 | | Comments (0)

Central Asia trip visa applications all completed and posted off to Travcour, together with a b.i.g. cheque (just over £300). Fingers crossed for four shiny visas in c. six weeks time: China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.

Update: 08 August 2008 - Travcour emailed to say that they have received my application pack.

Paris plus Phil = perfect weekend

By Mary on 4 August 2008 | | Comments (0)

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....

IMG_9032_r_small.jpg

Bhutan photos - fully Flickred (finally!)

By Mary on 6 July 2008 | | Comments (0)

... 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...)

The mammoth Bhutan-photo-a-thon begins

By Mary on 20 April 2008 | | Comments (1)

Having spent last Saturday and yesterday shrinking and rotating my only-just-less-than 1000 photos taken on the Land of the Thunder Dragon trip, I'm now starting to work my way through them, adding highlights to my Land of the Thunder Dragon set on Flickr.

I may be some time.

What you see so far is days 1, 2 and 3..... most of which were spent getting to Bhutan. Day 4 we spent at the Paro festival where I took a bazillion photos of whirling dancers and Bhutanese dressed in their best togs .... and day 5 featured the fantastic Tiger's Nest monastery trek and is almost as bad in terms of the number of photos I took.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for Phil to buy me another 2GB memory card in anticipation of my Central Asia trip this autumn ....

It may be tricky adding my photos to the Flickr Map mind you:

Picture 2.png

Paro is somewhere around here - to the West of Thimpu and North East of Haa:

Picture 3.png

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

Central Asia Overland - booked

By Mary on 18 April 2008 | | Comments (0)

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.

Dad's Broadway birthday

By Mary on 7 April 2008 | | Comments (0)

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)

Back from Bhutan

By Mary on 30 March 2008 | | Comments (1)

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)

Uh oh, here we go again....

By Mary on 12 March 2008 | | Comments (0)

... my track record of unwittingly foreshadowing unrest and/or international incidents on my travels seems to be continuing unblemished...... and I thought Bhutan was meant to be a peaceful place!

March 2008 - Bhutan: "2008 January and February - A string of bomb blasts hits the country ahead of elections set for March 24. The attacks are blamed on groups fighting for the rights of ethnic Nepalis exiled in 1991." (BBC Country Profile - Timeline: Bhutan) 'Maoists killed' by Bhutan police (BBC news)
April/May 2007 - Iran: "2007 March - Diplomatic stand-off with Britain after Iran detains 15 British sailors and marines patrolling the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway separating Iran and Iraq. 2007 April - President Ahmadinejad says Iran can produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale." (BBC Country Profile - Timeline: Iran)
October 2006 - Pakistan: "Raid on an Islamic seminary in the tribal area of Bajaur bordering Afghanistan kills up to 80 people, sparking anti-government protests. The army says the madrassa was a training camp for militants." (BBC Country Profile - Timeline: Pakistan)
January/February 2005 - Nepal: "King Gyanendra dismisses Prime Minister Deuba and his government, declares a state of emergency and assumes direct power, citing the need to defeat Maoist rebels." (BBC Country Profile - Timeline: Nepal)

Maybe I should add flak jacket to my birthday list......

Bhutan - preparation and packing

By Mary on 7 March 2008 | | Comments (0)

OK OK, so it's a week premature, but for me part of the enjoyment of a trip is in the preparation, the anticipation and the packing! The rucksack is down from the top of the wardrobe and the things to take are piling up on the spare bed.... so I thought I'd share my preparation and packing list:

Documents
itinerary
insurance Policy
tickets
passport
(+ photocopies to passport identity page, Indian visa page and tickets)

India visa: multi entry tourist visa - in advance [done - thanks Hazel!]
Bhutan visa: 2 passport size photos and $20 cash (visa issued at the border)

Health etc
International Certificate of Vaccination
Typhoid, Tetanus, Polio and Hepatitis A [tick]

Personal first aid kit:
plasters
bandage
cotton gauzes
surgical tape
antiseptic cream
Ibruprofen
antihistamine cream
Immodium / rehydration sachets
mosquito repellent
vitamin B tablets

Money
cash: mixture of pounds sterling and US dollars
traveller's cheques
debit card

Exchange rates: www.oanda.com
At today's (tourist, cash) rate 100 Nu (Bhutan Ngultrum) = £1.24
1 Bhutan Ngultrum = 1 Indian Rupee
FXCheatSheet for Travelers

Bags
rucksack
daypack
money belt
plastic carrier bags
travel kitty wallet

Books
guidebook
novel - flight out
novel - flight back
novel - spare (x2?)

Clothes etc
3 pairs of trousers
2 light cotton shirts
2 T-shirts
1 long sleeved T-shirt
1 long sleeved cotton top
1 light woollen jumper
1 hooded cardigan
underwear (16 days)
socks
pyjamas
swimming costume

sun hat
sunglasses
sunscreen & lipsalve & aftersun/moisturiser

1 warm jacket
waterproof jacket
umbrella

1 pair of trekking boots
1 pair flip flops

silk sheet sleeping bag
towel
toothbrush & toothpaste
shampoo & conditioner & intensive conditioner
shower gel
nailbrush
flannel
hair brush and comb
hair bands and hair clip
antiseptic handwash
small packs of tissues and wet wipes
handkerchief
loo roll
washing up gloves
washing powder
universal sink plug
Swiss Army knife
sewing kit
torch
watch with alarm
ear plugs

whisky/gin
sweets
other treats
photos of home
notebook and pen(s)
moo cards

camera, cables, battery recharger unit
plug adapter
spare battery
additional memory

Back from Bristol

By Mary on 2 March 2008 | | Comments (0)

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.

Land of the Thunder Dragon Spring Festival Tour: booked!

By Mary on 3 February 2008 | | Comments (0)

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:

Information

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

January to June (High/Low °C)
  JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
Paro 9.4/-5.8 13.4/1.5 14.5/0.6 17.6/4.6 23.5/10.6 25.4/13.1
Thimphu 12.3/-2.6 14.4/0.6 16.4/3.9 20.0/7.1 22.5/13.1 24.4/15.2
Punakha 16.1/4.2 19.6/5.3 21.2/9.2 24.4/11.9 27.2/14.8 31.2/19.5
Wangdue 17.0/4.3 19.0/7.8 22.8/10.4 26.2/12.9 29.1/17.7 29.2/20.1
Trongsa 13.0/-0.2 13.9/0.4 16.7/4.4 20.1/6.6 21.0/11.6 22.2/13.6
Bumthang 10.8/-5.1 10.0/-1.4 16.2/3.5 18.7/3.9 21.3/9.5 22.5/13.5
Mongar 15.5/8.2 15.9/8.3 20.0/11.6 22.8/14.0 25.1/17.4 26.1/19.5
Trashigang 20.4/10.5 21.7/11.5 24.8/14.4 28.3/17.0 30.0/20.6 30.7/22.6
 
July to December (High/Low °C)
  JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Paro 26.8/14.9 25.3/14.7 23.4/11.7 18.7/7.4 13.9/1.4 11.2/-1.7
Thimphu 18.9/13.4 25.0/15.8 23.1/15.0 21.9/10.4 17.9/5.0 14.5/-1.1
Punakha 32.0/21.6 31.4/19.8 29.9/20.0 27.8/18.9 22.3/13.0 15.0/7.9
Wangdue 18.4/16.2 29.1/20.0 27.5/19.1 26.1/14.7 22.6/9.6 19.1/6.3
Trongsa 25.3/15.3 23.8/15.0 22.6/14.2 21.8/11.7 19.8/6.4 18.2/2.5
Bumthang 14.1/10.9 23.0/13.7 21.6/12.1 19.5/5.9 16.1/-0.5 12.3/-2.3
Mongar 16.1/15.8 25.4/19.6 24.7/19.4 22.7/15.8 19.9/11.2 15.7/9.5
Trashigang 31.5/23.1 30.2/22.7 30.0/23.9 29.1/17.7 26.1/13.6 23.0/11.6


Forecasts


Weekend in Stratford upon Avon

By Mary on 6 January 2008 | | Comments (0)

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.

2007 round up

By Mary on 31 December 2007 | | Comments (0)

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.....

Back from three weeks in China

By Mary on 4 November 2007 | | Comments (1)

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.

Marriage alla milanese

By Mary on 17 September 2007 | | Comments (0)

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.

Iran - Land of the Peacock Throne

By Mary on 29 July 2007 | | Comments (1)

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

Back from not so sunny Seville

By Mary on 19 June 2007 | | Comments (0)

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
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.

Swift trip to Saltaire

By Mary on 10 June 2007 | | Comments (0)

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.

I got my Iranian visa yesterday

By Mary on 4 April 2007 | | Comments (0)

I got my visa back yesterday. Applied for it through Travcour:

Saturday 24 March: The final pieces of paperwork for my Iranian visa application arrived (including details of who else is booked on the Wild Frontiers Land of the Peacock Throne trip)
Monday 26 March: Checked with Wild Frontiers that it was still worth applying for an Iranian visa. Their answer was "Yes, asap."
Tuesday 27 March: Posted forms, passport etc to Travcour. 1st class post, recorded delivery
Wednesday 28 March: Travcour emailed confirming receipt
Monday 02 April: Travcour emailed confirming they had got a visa and were posting everything back to me. 1st class post, recorded delivery
Tuesday 03 April: Passport and visa arrived.

I was rather surprised given the current state of affairs, but it suggests a quick turn around time by Travcour/the embassy. Then again, as Simon remarked, "They're probably not getting many applications for tourist visas at the moment."

I've been keeping an eye on the FCO travel advice, and as their Iran page says, "The overall level of the advice has not changed." Long may it continue.

Things don't seem to have changed much in Stanley....

By Mary on 29 March 2007 | | Comments (0)

Compare:

In pictures: Life in Stanley (BBC News, March 2007)

A typical Stanley house, and a-typcial transport (My photos, December 2005)

Although at least that flat tyre seems to have been fixed and the morris minor's mobility restored.....

Uh oh - "UK sailors captured at gunpoint", BBC News

By Mary on 23 March 2007 | | Comments (0)

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....

Ibn Battuta[h]: Tim Mackintosh-Smith and televisual travels with a tangerine

By Mary on 26 February 2007 | | Comments (0)

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.

Back from our weekend break in Paris

By Mary on 24 November 2006 | | Comments (0)

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.

Question: Where next Mary? Answer: Iran .....

By Mary on 8 November 2006 | | Comments (0)

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

More Hindu Kush Adventure photos

By Mary on 8 November 2006 | | Comments (0)

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

Hindu Kush Adventure - Photos finished

By Mary on 29 October 2006 | | Comments (0)

... 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.

Continue reading Hindu Kush Adventure - Photos finished.

Back from the high Hindu Kush

By Mary on 15 October 2006 | | Comments (1)

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?!!

Mary Loosemore on the Shandur Pass, NWFP, Pakistan - October 2006

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.

Hindu Kush Adventure

By Mary on 4 May 2006 | | Comments (0)

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.

Falklands photos - finally fully Flickred!

By Mary on 9 April 2006 | | Comments (0)

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:

22/23 December 2005 Flight(s) out to Chile, and an evening and overnight in Punta Arenas
24 December 2005 Depart Punta Arenas airport and fly to Mount Pleasant Airport (aka MPA), Falkland Islands, meet Sue, settle in at No 6. Capricorn Road, sing carols by the whalebone arch outside the Cathedral and dine out at Shorty's Diner, Port Stanley
25 December 2005 Christmas Day in the Falklands! Presents, Christmans dinner with all the trimmings, gentle stroll along Surf Bay and back via Whalebone Cove/Lady Liz/Charles Cooper and tea and cake at Sue [No 1's] house, all rounded off with the inevitable snooze through the Christmas movie on BFBS.
26 December 2005 Cape Pembroke Lighthouse, with Sues 1 &2, Kirsten, Jenny & Mike, and Andrew
27 December 2005 Blending in in Port Stanley (taking cover amidst the cruise ship passengers ashore for the day), Moody Valley walk and watching a Black-crowned night-heron, fish for tiddlers in Stanley Harbour, then Deb's birthday party at Fran's (a late night, so photos continue on into 28 Dec...)
28 December 2005 Recovering, inadvertant matching hat buying, the last day of Stanley Races, Falkland Islands Travel & Tourism Christmas Party at the Falkland Islands Brasserie.
29 December 2005Walk - Whalebone Cove -> The Narrows ->Gypsy Cove -> Yorke Bay - and PENGUINS. Sue's lamb feast (dinner) party
30 December 2005A cloudy day - thank heavens (ie. scope for Cape Pembroke sunburn recovery)! Friday lunch club at the newly renovated Malvina Hotel, paying our bill at the Port Stanley offices of International Tours and Travel, trip to FIPASS to check out foolhardy would-be solo Antarctic circumnavigator
31 December 2005New Year's Eve! Drive to Bluff Cove with Adam, Jenny and George, flat tyre change (eventually!), King penguin and Gentoo penguin colony at Bluff Cove, picnic at the Sea Cabbage Cafe, quiet at home welcome to 2006
01 January 2006Port Stanley New Year's Day Raft Race, tea at Adam and Jenny's, Saunders Island preparations
02 January 2006FIGAS flight from Port Stanley to Saunders Island, catching up with the extended Pole-Evans family (aka Sue No. 1, Kirsten, Jenny and Mike), stroll to Port Egmont, feeding time at the Magellanic penguin burrows and seashore walk, and a stunning sunset (which snuck into 04 Jan because I didn't reset my camera's clock)
03 January 2006Amazing day out at The Neck - King penguins, Magellanic penguins, Gentoo penguins, Rockhopper penguins, Black-browed albatross, King shags
04 January 2006Farewell to Sue, FIGAS flight to Sealion Island - a cosy afternoon in Sealion Lodge and Lots of Grub
05 January 2006Morning walk along the shore from Elephant Cove towards North End Point and back via the north bay and Cow Point - drizzle, ORCA, elephant seals, Magallanic, Gentoo and King penguins, Magellanic Oystercatchers and big-foot birds; afternoon blue skies hike west, via the Long Pond, big scary swooping birds and dramatic cliffs
06 January 2006Wet walk to the penguin colonies, goodbye Sealion Island and the team at Sealion Lodge, FIGAS flight to Stanley, Farewell to the Falklands (Part I) - dinner at the Falkland Islands Brasserie and post-dinner drinks at the Vic (both in 07 Jan)
07 January 2006Farewell to the Falklands (Part II) - Drive to MPA, flight to Santiago, Chile, overnight in the v plush Park Plaza in Providencia
08/09 January 2006Day in Santiago - walking from Barrio Concha y Torro to Plaza de Armas, along O'Higgins to plaza Barqendana, lunch outside an Italian restaurant near Metro Ricardo Lyon and flight home to London via Madrid (teeming terminal and last minute gate change in Madrid, lost luggage and tube strike in LHR)

Oh Oh Oh! I so want to go: Kalash spring festival, Pakistan

By Mary on 4 March 2006 | | Comments (0)

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
.... and You Just Want To Go.

Maybe I'll just take a little look at the Wild Frontiers "guided 10-day Kalash Spring Festival Tour, departing May 10, from

See how brightly the sun shines in Stanley (yes, in the Falkland Islands)

By Mary on 7 February 2006 | | Comments (1)

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:

We're back!

By Mary on 9 January 2006 | | Comments (0)

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!

Booking hotels in Chile

By Mary on 4 December 2005 | | Comments (0)

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

A week in Yalta

By Mary on 2 October 2005 | | Comments (0)

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

Hurrah - no need for a Ukrainian visa!

By Mary on 11 August 2005 | | Comments (0)

I called VJV today to ask what we should write in the "personal number" box on the visa application form, and they told me that Ukraine has scrapped the need for a visa for holidays!

I had a look on the Ukrainian embassy website - just to be on the safe side.... et voila.

Y - a - l - t - a we're booked!

By Mary on 29 July 2005 | | Comments (1)

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!

Au revoir Avignon, salut chaises!

By Mary on 26 April 2005 | | Comments (0)

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!

Hurrah for the holidays!

By Mary on 7 March 2005 | | Comments (0)

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)

Delhi to Kathmandu: The photos

By Mary on 19 February 2005 | | Comments (0)

I've been getting my photos up online, slowly but surely, over the past couple of weeks. Next step: set up my S&S leaving pressie photo printer, and to print off the best. In the meantime, here is my day by day pictorial record of the Exodus trip, Delhi to Kathmandu: 22 January to 5 February 2005.

5 February: Kathmandu - Thamel and the Rum Doodle 40,000 ft bar
4 February: Kathmandu - Walking around Thamel, Durbar Marg and Durbar Square
3 February: Kathmandu - Pashupatinath hindu temple, Bodhnath tibetan buddhist stupa, Swayambhunath "Monkey" buddhist temple, Thamel, Durbar Square and the Kumari, Giovana's birthday
2 February: Chitwan to Kathmandu
1 February: Chitwan - Elephant breeding centre (Elephants there, canoes back)
31 January: Chitwan - Dawn safari, Canoe trip, Elephant briefing, Tharu village visit
30 January: Bhairawa to Safari Narayani Lodge Ghatgai, Chitwan, and our first elephant safari, traditional Tharu dancing
29 January: Adieu India, Namaste Nepal
28 January: Varanasi
27 January: Allahabad, Village school visit, Vindachal Temple Mirzapur, Chunar Fort, Boat ride down the Ganges, Barry's and Maria's birthday
26 January: Taj Mahal, the Red Fort at Agra, Fatepur Sikri and the Magadh Express
25 January: Jaipur - Albert Hall, Palace of the Winds, Amber Palace, Jaipur Old City rickshaw ride
24 January: Delhi to Jaipur - En route, Narain Niwas Palace Hotel, Jai Singh's Observatory, the City Palace
23 January: Delhi - Gandhi's tomb, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib sikh temple, New Delhi
22 January: Delhi - Humayun's tomb, Lotus baha'i temple and Qtub Minar


Other links:

Delhi to Kathmandu: Part 2

By Mary on 12 February 2005 | | Comments (0)

The Safari Narayani Lodge was a lovely place to relax and to do safaris by elephant and canoe into the Royal Chitwan National Park, where we saw rhino and crocodiles. We also go to enjoy traditional Tharu dances and a visit to a local village where Kirsty and I were kept busy giving swings.

The drive to Kathmandu was beautiful, even if it featured a few frightening sheer drops as we climbed from the enchantingly named Mugling (fresh spicy samosa, 6 for 30 nepali rupees) along the Prithvi Highway into the high Kathmandu valley.

We couldn't go to Pokhara - a combination of the Maoists declaring a No Travel day, and putting a bomb under one of the main bridges on the road to Pokhara. So no views of the marvellous Annapurnas, and no treks :(

I loved Kathmandu - the Royal Singi Hotel was in a great location in Durbar Marg, close to Thamel, to old city and the amazing Durbar Square. And there is Kasthamandap Bazaar just over the road: a great quasi-department store, with a food hall-cum-Woolies in the basement.

We had a great day of informative tours with our local guide Suresh, starting with the hindu temple at Pashupatinath (I didn't know that Nepal is the only hindu kingdom, although buddhism and hinduism do seem to blend easily for most nepalese), then the tibetan buddhist stupa at Bodhnath with its busy courtyard and beautiful sunshine lighting up the golden spire, and prayer flags fluttering in the breeze. Our last stop before lunch as the monkey temple of Swayambhunath, with its golden stupa and temples on a hilltop with views over Kathmandu and towards the mountains that encircle the valley.

After a great lunch al fresco in the Dechenling Beer House garden, where I had my first taste of Everest Beer, Suresh let us wander through Thamel and down through streets busy with the activities of daily life, before giving us a fascinating guided tour of Durbar Square, including an appearance by the Kuamri, the living goddess.

The rest of our time in Kathmandu was freetime, mainly spent wandering the streets of Kathmandu, and trying not to buy too many souvenirs....

I want to go back to Nepal sometime, all the more so after Michael Wood's The search for Shangri-La programme yesterday. Not sure when though.

All telecoms were off during the week we were in Nepal, but once in Kathmandu we go to see BBCWorld reports telling us that "people who can are fleeing the country" and occasionally saw groups of armed soldiers hanging around on street corners, but other than that you wouldn't have known that the King had just made another step towards increased despotism.

Delhi to Kathmandu: To summarise ....

By Mary on 6 February 2005 | | Comments (0)

Northern India was overcast, squalid and frustrating.
Nepal was sunny, clean and in a state of emergency.

Dehli to Kathmandu - interim report from Varanasi

By Mary on 28 January 2005 | | Comments (0)

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.

Continue reading Dehli to Kathmandu - interim report from Varanasi.

Delhi to Kathmandu resources

By Mary on 9 January 2005 | | Comments (0)

Exodus trip info

BBC Country profiles: India and Nepal
Royal Nepalese Embassy, London - Visa information
(No need to get there early, well in January at least....! I didn't see more than 10 people there when I applied for and then returned to collect my visa the next morning. If you ignore the hour I waited from 9am to 10am for the Visa section to open, during which time I was joined by 5 other "queue-beaters", the waiting time was less than 5 mins.)


Lonely Planet Guidebook to Rajasthan
Lonely Planet - India map
Lonely Planet - Delhi details
Lonely Planet - Delhi map

Lonely Planet Guidebook to Nepal
Lonely Planet - Nepal map
Lonely Planet - Nepal details
Lonely Planet - Kathmandu map


BBC weather forecasts: Delhi, Allahabad, Varanasi, Kathmandu
Nepal Weather Report

The Pioneer
The Kathmandu Post

Itinery and map

Continue reading Delhi to Kathmandu resources.

Delhi to Kathmandu, here I come!

By Mary on 7 January 2005 | | Comments (0)

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

Holi- Holi- Holiday?

By Mary on 5 January 2005 | | Comments (1)

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

Prague

By Mary on 9 May 2004 | | Comments (0)

A great place for a weekend break, even when you coincide with the Ice Hockey World Championships!


Great apartment in Kampa (*right* by the Bridge), booked through aparthouse20, convenient flights on Friday/Sunday evenings with CzechAir, and an easy transfer between the two courtesy of the Prague Airport Shuttle guys.

Prague is a compact city, with sights conveniently split into two halves, balanced either side of the Charles Bridge. We spent Saturday exploring the Old Town, King Charles Square, Old Town Hall with the clock and the Tin Church, the Powder Tower, Wenceslas Square and the Jewish Quarter, with occasional stops to sample various beers! And on Sunday we headed West into Mala Strana and up to the Castle.

Fab!

Belgrade and Novi Sad, Serbia

By Mary on 21 April 2004 | | Comments (0)

In honour of Teodora's christening, Phil and I flew out to Belgrade for a 5 day tour of Serbia. Not your average weekend break destination, but that made it all the more interesting.

With masses of help from Snezana and Voja, (thank you both) and armed with various items sourced from the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree - principally the InYourPocket.com Guide to Belgrade (PDF) and Ben Haines' excellent guide - we explored Belgrade and Novi Sad. There's no Guide book to Serbia, and only a couple of nondescript pages in Let's Go 2004 and the latest edition of the Lonely Planet to Eastern Europe.

Not surprisingly, with tips and transport from S&V we actually got to see lots of old and new Belgrade. Top new spots were the floating cafes on the Danube by the Hotel Jugoslavija and the riverside path that runs all along the New Belgrade side of the Danube and the Sava past the bridges that join New and Old Belgrade. Very walkable, and pleasantly free from fumes, with lovely views out over the rivers and Old Belgrade. Belgrade Fortess and the Kalemegdan park remained as pleasant a hang out as I remembered from last time (Snezana and Voja's wedding in 2002), as did the regular strolls along Knez Mihajlova, the pedestrianised shopping street that forms the spine of Old Belgrade. Later on Saturday, once we'd generated some small dinar notes (pizza lunch at the Snezana restaurant, serenaded by the Police Marching Band. It turned out to be part of the city's 600 birthday celebrations), we also explored Princess Ljubica's Residence (aka Konak Kneginje Ljubice).

Foodwise, we ate pizza at a cafe on the cobbles of Skadarlija and sushi (excellent sushi!!) at the Ikki Sushi Bar and Japanese Restaurant on Gospodar Jovanova (No. 46) only a 5 minute walk from Trg Republike and the National Museum. G. Jovanova wasn't marked on any of the maps we got, but it runs parallel to (and between) Gospodar Jevremova and Strahinjica Bana. Admittedly, not your typical Serbian cuisine, but it was recommended by japan-o-phile Snezana, and they do do beautiful sushi, a lot cheaper and a lot better than some I've had in London.

On Sunday, we joined in the family celeberations marking Tea's christening, in the beautiful Saborna Crkva (across the road from Princess Ljubica's Residence), followed by a fantastic buffet lunch at the Hotel Intercontinental. Together with Lawrence and Heather we walked off our gluttony, and the delicious chocolate christening-and-birthday cake, in the spring sun, strolling from the Intercontinental, down to the river, along the north bank and crossing back to Old Belgrade over the Brankov Most, winding up at the iconic Hotel Moskva.

On Monday we took a bus (*) an hour north and spent a lovely couple of days in Novi Sad. It's a complete contrast to Belgrade - beautiful Baroque architecture and a lot less traffic. The excellent Novi Sad tourist info office was a fountain of suggestions, maps and booklets, just a pity we only found it on day 2! It's at Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 9, but lots of info is available on the Novi Sad Tourism website.

At Ben Haines' recommendation, we stayed in the Hotel Vojvodina which has a prime position on Trg Slobode. Excellent location and a fantastic old hotel - we felt like we were living in luxury, albeit with a tinge of faded glory. To attone for our japanese indulgence, on Monday night we dined at the Restoran Lipe, Mileticeva 7-9, which offers Serbian specialties.... Phil feasted on 5 (count 'em!) homemade sausages and I managed to find a variety of veggie options scattered across the bi-lingual menu. Earlier on in the day we'd had great coffee and cake sat outside the Figaro Poslasticarnica cafe just off the square behind the church of St Mary's Name. We can confirm that every cafe we visisted offered an extravaganza of excellent cakes!

On Tuesday we crossed the Danube and explored the olde worlde streets nestling at the foot of the imposing Petrovaradin fortess. Back in Novi Sad centre, our tour of the Vojvodina Museum was an experience too, with the ticket girl opening up the rooms for us as we went along and switching the lights off behind us! The exhibitions became more interesting and accessible as you progress from the stone etc age sections to social and cultural history rooms.

Postcards seemed hard to find other than at the postcard, card and map stalls in Old Belgrade. In Novi Sad we chanced upon some quite good ones in the Forum shop (newsagents-y) on Kra. Aleksandra.

One thing that struck Phil and I is that Belgrade and Novi Sad both seem to pander to the Serbian Shoe Fetish - as evidenced by the number of Office shoe shops in both cities!!

Back by bus to Belgrade On Tuesday and pasta dinner with Snezana, Voja and Tea. A lovely lovely visit.

Finally, my photos are up!:

Continue reading Belgrade and Novi Sad, Serbia.

The weather in Belgrade

By Mary on 13 April 2004 | | Comments (0)

5 day forecast from the BBC

More Serbia searches

By Mary on 30 March 2004 | | Comments (1)

... this time from Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, searching for "Serbia" in the Europe - Eastern Europe and the Caucasus branch.

The useful threads I found there were:


And the online goodies I tracked down from those included:

Why? Off to Belgrade in April for Tea's christening.

Back in Blighty!

By Mary on 8 December 2003 | | Comments (0)

Can't quite believe that the 4 weeks has gone by, but then again looking back we did do loads.... ended up having a lazy last few fews - nothing much to do in Punta Arenas apart from visit the penguins in Isla Magdalena, which we did on Tuesday 3rd, and by a total fluke H and I bumped into Nodoka and Chako - or rather they came flying out of Lomit's to catch up with us walking past after an hour in the Swiss style cake/chocolate shop - on the Wednesday so we had a nice final meal, preceded by Patagonian strenght pisco sours in La Luna, before leaving the south, flying back upto Santiago on the Thursday.

Santiago was hot hot hot in comparison to Patagonia, and we spent Thursday afternoon seeing the City centre sights, primarily the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, and people-watching from a pavement cafe whilst struggling through mammoth ice cream sundaes.....

On Friday we headed out to the craftshop village of Pomaire (where I bought a Pomaire Piggy bank each for Barney and Rosa - the type you have to smash to extract your pennies), and returned to Santiago to take the funicular up Cerro San Cristobal where we sat in the shade and wrote post-cum-Christmas cards to all and sundry. For our final dinner we took the metro to Providencia and ate in "Santiago's best veggie restaurant" (Rought Guide) - La Huerta - I had Thai green curry...... not an egg or an omlette in sight.

Saturday, we mooched around the City centre again for a couple of hours in the morning, before many people were up and about, taking in the Plaza de Armas, the Post Office, the Cathedral, La Moneda and the Central Market (cast iron structure made in Birmingham at the end of the 19th century and shipped out to Chile) before returning to the Youth Hostel in Los Heroes. Of all the places we stayed in during the month, this is the only one I'd actively discourage people from going to - rude staff and inexcusably shabby accommodation; relatively expensive too.

Long flight home, involving 5 hour stop over in Sao Paulo where I got my one and only mozzie bite (b*****d), but it was worth it all to see Phil waiting for me at LHR..... and he'd got flowers, lunch and home made mince pies waiting for me when we got back to CJ. Lovely.

So now it's just a questionof getting back up to speed with things at work, and sorting out the 500 odd photos on my digital camera....

Four seasons in five days in Torres del Paine

By Mary on 1 December 2003 | | Comments (0)

We've just returned from a great 5 days in Torres del Paine National Park:

Day one saw blizzards, hail and force 12 gales (it felt like force 12 anyhow.... and we both almost got blown over despite large rucksacks) en route to Glaciar Grey, which made it worth the 4 hour hike from the ferry drop off.

Day 2 was better - no wind, and we saw our first condors as we backtracked alnong the shore of Lago Grey to Lago Pehoe and skirted the north shore of Lake Skotendbild (?) under the vast bulk of Los Cuernos. Stayed 2 great nights in Refugio Los Cuernos, which meant that on day 3 we could walk up the stunning Val de Frances under clear blue skies, getting amazing 360 degree views out over the lakes, of Los Cuernos (from the other side) and the avalanches coming from glaciar Frances. Amazing.

Day 4 we hiked onwards in light drizzle to refugio Chileno, which lies un the valley leading up to Los Torres, and as we whiled away the afternoon under grey skies, the clouds lifted enough for us to see them... and today (day 5) we woke to clear blue skies again and marched off double quick along the 2 hour return path to Los Torres... making it in under 3, including the vertiginous bouldering section to reach the lake at the base fo the Torres. Lovely.

We're now clean and fresh and will be meeting up with Nodoka and Choko and Simon for pisco sours at El Living in the not too distant future! And do you know what.... Puerto Natales isn't too bad in the sunshine.....

Off down to Punta Arenas tomorrow, hopefully to see the penguin colony on Isla Magallena before flying back to Santiago.

Snow at the border....

By Mary on 25 November 2003 | | Comments (0)

We arrived in Puerto Natales last Thursday, and took the bus over to the eastern side of the Andes on Friday, and have spent the past few days exploring various sections of Argentina's Los Glaciares National Park, which rivals Chile's Torres del Paine, our destination this coming Thursday.

The 4 hour bus ride from P.Natales brought us over the border at quiet Cerro Castillo, and as we descended from the high plains we had fantastic views of the milky blue, glacier-fed waters of Lago Argentina. Two nights in the Argentinian metropolis of El Calafate (well, in comparison to P.Natales, it has much more to offer the visitor, from delicious ice creams at pavement cafes, to souvenir shops!) allowed us to enjoy pizza and a parilla grill as well as the Perito Moreno glaciar, which was our first encounter with the amazing blue skyscrapers of ice (or, more accurately, compacted snow). The northern part of Los Glaciares is home to El Chalten, and we had a fantastic couple of days there, hiking amidst spectacular scenery under blue blue skies.

In contrast, today's return to Chile featured a 6 hour bus journey, with horizontal snow at the border.... still, back here in P.N. we have spent the afternoon chilling out in El Living, a cafe-bar which would not be out of place in Hoxton Square. Great food, the odd glass or two of chilean red wine, and The Guardian Weekly, courtesy of the Croydonese-owner.

Rain rain rain rain rain

By Mary on 16 November 2003 | | Comments (0)

rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain

it's one of those words that becomes meaningless when you type it out a zillion times.

but rain has been the stuff that's been falling from the skies here in Ancud _all_ day. incessantly. from before we woke up (it filled my dreams) and it's 6pm now and there is no sign of it easin goff, or the clouds lifting. although it did ease off a little when we bobbed out into the Pacific Ocean to visit the penguins (Magellan and Humboldt) cared for by the Otway Foundation, on the Isolotas P.

:(

Amazing Ancud

By Mary on 15 November 2003 | | Comments (0)

We've managed to find some sun here in Ancud, a "town" on the north west coast of the island of Chiloe. We're staying in a great hostel - Hostal Mundo Nuevo - brand new, complete with woodstove and helpful hosts. It's been the first time without rain, or at least low clouds, since... Wednesday morning, when we took the tour from Puerto Varas to the based of Volcan Osorno and across Lago Todos Los Santos. A beautiful trip. And we got the black and white (aka cloudy and rainy) version on the return leg.

We're booked (hopefully - it was a bit of a saga at the Navimag agency in Pucon) on Monday's Navimag ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales; 4 days, provided the weather isn't too bad. People keep telling us horror stories about crossing the Bay of Sorrows, which should be on Tuesday night for us. All being well, we'll have almost a fortnight in Patagonia, enough time to get up to El Calafate and Chaiten, and to do a hike around Torres del Paine.

Been eating well - you'll be surprised to hear!! - most places we've been to have a veggie option, even El Trebol, a cafe on the seafront in the small fishing port of Chonchi where we were yesterday.

The only down side, apart from the rain, is that we're a bit early for "the season", which means that a lot of places aren't geared up to run trips, so we've been a bit limited at to what we can get to see. Still, the day hike we did in Parque Herquehue was great, and hopefully in Patagonia we'll find a bit more activity.

And to finish on a personal note, I've been grinding my teeth, accompanied by bizarre dreams. It must be the strange beds and late meals.... and beer.

Drying off and warming up in Chile

By Mary on 11 November 2003 | | Comments (0)

arrived in Santiago safe and sound, H met me at airport and we took a TurBus into Santiago and another straight out ot Valpariso where we chilled out for a couple of days as I slept through jetlag. In our more active moments we wandered around the old town, taking funiculars up the steep hills and enjoying beers with splendid views of the bay and slightly mouldy gateaux in faded glory tea rooms.

Left Valpariso by TurBus on Monday, at 6.15am and arriving here in Pucon on the shores of Lago Villarica at 20:30, seeing, but not stopping in the fablously fertile Central Valley. Great views of the snow capped Andes en route too.

H and I are just drying off after a great day

Chile Weather - 2 weeks to go...

By Mary on 24 October 2003 | | Comments (0)

Santiago: 22C
Puerto Montt: 15C
Punta Arenas: 5C
Puerto Natales: 3C
Ushuaia: 7C

Chile weather

By Mary on 4 October 2003 | | Comments (0)

Santiago: 27C
Puerto Montt: 7C
Punta Arenas: 5C
Puerto Natales: 5C
Ushuaia: 1-2C snow!

Chile mind maps

By Mary on 21 August 2003 | | Comments (0)

Here are the maps and scribbles from dinner with Stef 'n' Kay, Nico and Lara.
- Santiago to Puerto Montt
- Chilo

Burning Man Memorabilia

By Mary on 30 July 2003 | | Comments (0)

aka the Carson City Lock Up Kit List compiled after Burning Man 2002 (that blog's bust, and I don't know how to fix it - keeps telling me permissions denied in rusty red letters....)

BLUE LID 1 - kitchen
3 bottle openers
7 knives
7 forks
3 spoons
3 wooden spoons
frying pan
saucepan
sieve
9 plates
washing up liquid
tupperware pot
scrubbing brush
coffee pot
kettle
chopping board
4-pint water bottle
stove
2 crisp bag top clips
3 litres vodka
1 litre tanqueray gin
1 litre jack daniel's
1 silver dish

RED LID 1 - camping misc
5 blue ground sheets
2 plastic drop cloths
2 flags
3 pairs heavy duty gloves
2 pairs mid duty gloves
1 pair warm gloves
bells
light bulbs
braces
4 goggles
11 dust masks
string
4 clamps
filament
3 polar shield emergency blankets
lots of tape
glitter spray/gel
feathers
brown and red spray paint
light stick
2 poor sprays
gold tape
wd40
mallet
rope
ski goggles
permanent markers
sunglasses
emergency poncho
4 steel 9 inch pegs

RED LID 2 - electrics & misc
3 5-gangs
toolkit
tons of fairy lights
5 power extentions
bike inner tube
hookup speaker wire
fairy light blinker
phono splitter
male-male stereo miniplug lead
2 small clamps
2 outside bare lights
3 night lights with handles & hooks
1 really long extension cable
spare fairy bulbs
cable ties
baling wire
vaseline
9 pocket kleenex
eye drops (2004)
firestarter
burn relief spray
cards & dice
suntan lotion
4 novels, low quality
1 idler, summer 2002 issue
2 frisbees
4 9v sguare batteries
4 C batteries
13 AAA batteries


BLUE COOLER 1 - food
salt
ziploc bags
freezer bags (no zips)
black bin bags
gatorade mix, orange
gatorade mix, fruit punch
spaghetti
angostura bitters
lea & perrin's original worcestershire sauce
popping corn
brown sugar
english tea bags
camomile tea bags
lime cordial
1 litre pimm's
4 tins tuna
1 bag Peet's french roast ground coffee
1 bag raisins
4 toilet rolls

RED LID 3
2 parachutes
2 good sprays
2 small speakers
tupperware
2 Virgin blankets

2 x 28 qt coolers
2 x 36
1 x 100
4 speakers in the coolers

NOT IN BOXES:
3 roll mats
1 glitterball in blanket
1 large lamp
1 small pink chair
2 deckchairs
2 hard folding chairs
4 camp chairs
1 5-gal water cooler
2-bulb black light
2 long lamp poles
4 large pieces of white card
2 bikes
2 blankets
1 megaphone plus 2 sets batteries
1 spare tatty yoz hat

pvc poles, hubs and rebar

TO BUY FOR NEXT TIME:
clothes pegs
crockery drainer
hanging shelves/organiser
adjustable spanner
kitchen knives
strong bin bags
shower water
AA batteries
music tapes

DON'T BUY NEXT YEAR:
ziploc bags
loo rolls
gatorade
salt
sugar
washing up liquid
weak bin bags

OTHER NOTES
Carson lockup has landfill/recycling one mile away

Why it's good to go shopping in foreign currency (if you're stingey)

By Mary on 15 May 2003 | | Comments (0)

Simple - you aren't focussing on the price, because to understand the true price in your own familiar currency you have to convert it; and for most people that conversion has to be done in their head; and for most people, that'll be the first mental arithmetic they'll have done since primary school. Salaries may not be much, but they're a darn sight more than pocket money.

(and "for most people", read "me")

Top Tips for Things to do in London

By Mary on 7 March 2003 | | Comments (0)

Leslie asked:

"Say a friend was coming in who'd never been to London before. besides
the museums, what two things would you tell them not to miss?"

which got my mind working.....

Continue reading Top Tips for Things to do in London.

Weekend breaks - woo hoo!

By Mary on 15 January 2003 | | Comments (0)

Janette and I are off to Istanbul for a long weekend at the beginning of March - yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!!!

5* hotel, 3 nights for the price of 2. Thanks Lastminute.com!

It's going great!!

By Mary on 18 December 2002 | | Comments (1)

I've have just eaten a huge khmer veg and tofu curry, and am fit to burst, or maybe that is due to the big bottle of angkor beer i had with it.... I passed on the deep fried spiders thankyouverymuch! i'm not kidding!!!!

Each day is packed with new things, and having 10 new people to get to know and to get along with, not to mention the challenge of trying to communicate with the cambodians we meet on the way, means that the days feel fuller than the itinery suggests.

Blue blue skies here, temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s, and i got sun burned the day before yesterday to prove it (doh!), on top of a morning express boating along the Mighty Mekong from Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham (map)which left me with a rosy red face :) not quite so red now, thank heavens. En route from from Phnom Penh we visited some off the beaten track towns and temples, and as a consequence have done lots of smiling and waving and "helloing", and riding pillion on motorbikes.

It's a good trip - bit of an odd mix of people (10+leader), but not bad, and probably less oddball than any trip which takes people away for the christmas holiday has any right to be. We'll be spending Christmas Day in Sihanoukville, down by the coast and on the Gulf of Thailand.

We're now in Siem Reap which is the town 6 km from Angkor Wat, where all the tourists base themselves for their X days in the temple sites. It's a bit like going into Alton Towers, with tourist buses pulling up at the toll booth, disgorging passengers who get their photopass tickets and then climb on board again to be ferried to their site-du-choix.

We spent the morning on a bumpy bus ride from our overnight stop at Kampong Thom, and the afternoon at one of the Angkor Wat sites - lovely detailed carvings of everyday khmer life in the 12 century... and great big faces carved onto the temple towers - in honour of the king who commissioned the temple. Next door is a vast frieze of elephants doing what elephants did in the 11 century - hunting, carrying, warring....

We're here until Saturday morning, with tomorrow a full day's Angkor Watting, Friday a half day, with the afternoon free to do what we want, which for H and I
will invovle a Seeing Hands massage (blind masseurs, japanese massage) from 4-5pm.

and back in PP before the trip got underway, we bumped into Miss Universe at the Russian Market, as you do....

And I've taken lots of photos!!

Holidays!

By Mary on 5 December 2002 | | Comments (2)

Been googling for our hotel in Bangkok (and was caught "sucking up all our bandwidth!" by Nick...) to get maps and an idea of location. All I could remember from Pip's info was that it was near the Siam Square stop on the new Skyrail link, which didn't exist last time H and I were there.

It turns out that the Asia Hotel, Bangkok is quite a swanky hotel! Plus I've found info on getting to/from the airport, and a cribsheet for Thai numbers..... num song sam etc etc etc.

korp khun ka!

Oooh - and googling on Phnom Penh, I've also found some stuff on Phnom Penh, including our intrepid hotel. And a lovely map of Phnom Penh (even if it is a gif).

West Brompton to Clapham Junction with Silverlink

By Mary on 13 November 2002 | | Comments (0)

Weekdays on Silverlink:

dep West Brompton: 21:18 21:45 21:48 22:18 22:43 23:47 (last train)
arr Clapham Junction: 21:26 21:53 21:56 22:26 22:51 23:58

(wish I could get those times to display in a proper table format.... but that's beyond me at the moment!)

A great little line! West Brompton is handy for Earls Court, west to West Kensington and Barons Court and east to the Fulham Road and Chelsea.

Info courtesy of the Railtrack Travel Timetable.

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