The return of BanK travels

Kel and Ben hit the road again with their trusty wee bambini, Niamh.  In this latest installment, they buy a Mazda Bongo campervan and take off to Spain and Portugal.  Ole!

Our time in Thailand is drawing to a close. We arrived back in Bangkok yesterday (16th August) and checked in to a "swanky" hotel for a bit of a treat. I dunno. It seems, when it's all said and done, that Ben and I are just not the swanky hotel types. The idea is always more attractive than the reality of these cheesy places. We've far more enjoyed small and friendly guest houses and wooden cabins/bungalows near the beach or in the jungle. Making good use of the gym as, somehow, we've managed to skimp on the exercise and eaten ourselves silly! We will desperately miss the Thai cuisine, and the inverse law regarding food: the cheaper and the more simple, the better!!

Our last few days since Cambodia involved us heading 'up north' to Chiang Mai. It's a great chilled out town, beautifully designed in that it is completely surrounded by an old wall and moat. The food was great (especially after Cambodia; but that doesn't say much for a bunch of folk that chew on deep fried insects such as tarantulas and grasshoppers), and the folk were good fun. It was in Chiang Mai that we had a go at Thai kick boxing for an afternoon. And as a complete counter to that, the next day, we did a Thai cooking course. It was here that we discovered khao neow ma-muang (sticky rice mango pudding - DIVINE). Absolute highlights of our stay there.

We bussed it on to Thaton and had some "monk chat" at a picturesque hillside buddhist monastery. We were tempted to book in for a few days of meditation, but after consideration, we decided we didn't have the patience for it, and actually stood the monk up! Uh oh, bad kharma! We'll probably reincarnate as insects in Cambodia now!

We then took a handmade bamboo raft and floated down the Maekok River (snigger) to Chiang Rai. We had a guide who negotiated the rapids extremely well. Given our experiences of up-ending a solid canoe within the first hour on the Whanganui River in NZ, we were impressed! Sleeping overnight on the raft,under a mozzie net, was a real treat and rather romantic (with the exception of the little girl who kept popping in for a visit and grabbing my leg over the side of the raft!) Once again, the markets were a highlight in Chiang Rai.

For our own independence, we hired a car and tootled off to the very most northern point of Thailand, including Mae Sai. Although it doesn't have much of a reputation, we really liked the bustling border town. We stayed right on the Mae Sai River overlooking Myanmar. It was too close not to just pop over the border for a couple of hours. So, hey! We've been to Burma. Was that politically incorrect of us? It was evidently much more poor and down trodden than it's neighbour across the river.

Aliens have abducted us

Gees, we are REALLY bad at this blog thing aren't we!? I guess the time that has lapsed since the last entry just goes to show we're keeping occupied having fun and less inclined to spend too much time in an internet joint. However, today on Koh Tao (a wee island in the south of Thailand) we just happen to be experiencing monsoonal rain; so I'm taking some shelter.
It seems I have a lot to cover since the last entry six or so weeks ago. Best to start from the here and now and, for your sanity, keep it brief...
If you don't dive in Koh Tao, you may as well not bother coming here. There's 42 dive shops here on this 21sqkm island. Against my cousin, JJ's, advice I signed up for an open water dive course with Scuba Junction. Glad I did. The tropical fish, coral and other marine wild life are awesome. I've seen a couple of moray eels (creepy), sting ray and an octupus which changed colours as it moved. There's a whole other world down there that I'm just finding out about. Don't worry, I won't become a scuba nerd. It's too much faff and expense to get into seriously, but it's great to have the skills for future holidays or trips away with other diving fiends. Not much else happening on Koh Tao except lots of yummy tropical fruit, seafood and Thai cooking being consumed at a rate of knots.
Prior to this, we had a couple of days in Bangkok checking out the markets, eating yummy Thai food from the stalls, riding the commuter ferries, and getting scammed (Ben was on a high for hours after we worked out we were in the middle of a scam. The effort and number of people involved - a 'helpful local', a 'government' tuk-tuk driver, two travel agents, and a 'friendly temple worshiper' - needless to say we didn't buy the latest Armani suits or go to any special shops). We also met up with my 'host sister' from an exchange program, Lekky, and took her out for dinner (for a Japanese meal of course). Great to catch up since my last visit to Thailand about 11 years ago.
Had a rather mad shopping week in Hong Kong and bought our wedding rings and even my wedding dress! (A Chinese style silk number with long slits to dance the night away). Poor ole Ben caught my tummy bug from India, so was out for the count for two days. He made up for it later. We caught up with his brother's sister-in-law, Claudia, who showed us the nightlife and gave us the use of her other apartment in Bangkok. Brilliant.
And then there's India... OK, we need a breather. I'll come back to this. More from us soon. Next stop is Cambodia on 17/7/06. Stay tuned. Love Kel
Then there's India

Dead body!!!

We're in Rishikesh and treated as veritable superstars by various Indian tourists who have stopped us to have their photographs taken with us. When I asked if the most recent photographer was on holiday she whispered in my ear "dead body". "Sorry?" I queried.. "DEAD BODY!" She yelled at me with a smile like I was deaf and dumb. Ah, so not on holiday, but in Rishikesh to cremate Grannie.
It's a nice chilled out place, and we have a wonderful room overlooking the Ganges. We didn't dare touch the waters of 'the Ganga' in Varanasi, so now we're higher up we've dipped our feet in to hopefully benefit from its holy wetness. Planning some white water rafting along it tomorrow morning (is that a bit unholy?) Ben, of course , has to be near a tv for the world cup first England game on the 10th so only after a taste of soccer will we head to he hills for some more trekking to the Kuari Pass and Valley of the Flowers in the Garwhal hills/Himalaya of Uttaranchal.
We were disappointed that Darjeeling did not give us a single view of the Himalaya. It was pretty much solid (haar like) mist and rain for the total 10 days we were there. So we cut our five day teahouse trek to four days, cancelled our trip to Sikkim, and got the first plane outta there. Although Darjeeling wasn't so good to us, we were well looked after by our friend Loben Sherpa (here's a plug for his business!) and his family.
Prior to this, we were in Varanasi, supposedly a 'holy city'. We met some great characters such as Dadu the champion ghat cricketer and Bikki the 13 year old linguist. And we really enjoyed just spending time along the Ganges people watching. People burn their dead, wash themselves, pour raw sewage in and have swimming lessons all in the same expanse of the river. However, I really couldn't bare the kids with limbs about to drop off begging, or more to see an elderly man who had been dumped at the train station to die. I gave him some water, but I fear that I only helped to prolonged the suffering... We also found a great silk manufacturer... anyone interested in some silk bed linen or scarves? I might quit research and go into sales!
Agra was HOT. Oh yeh and the Taj Mahal was pretty speccie. We only stayed two nights there.
Ben has already mentioned our time in Kashmir, but I just wanted to make the comment that I really feel for the Kashmiri people. We found them, as a group, to be a gracious and hospitable who just want to live peacefully in their homeland. Even a shikara-wallah lamented the time the British left. However, the India/Pakistan clash and corrupt government leave it ripped to shreds. If you look at our photographs of the houseboat on Dal Lake and our walks in the Vale of Kashmir you will see or yourselves what a glorious place it could be to visit. However, we got there by 'accident' (green daftness in actual fact) and were happy to leave the heavy military presence.
From Rishikesh it's back to Delhi for some completely unnecessary shopping.
Next stop... Hong Kong.
Namaste

Well, I'm glad to say we're still going strong!

Kashmir wasn't necessarily a mistake but when you have thousands of soldiers around it does tend to inhibit the enjoyment that might have been!

Had a good time on a houseboat near Srinagar but the dodgy manager advising us that we shouldn't go out alone, or after dark, or at all, really started us thinking about an exit strategy as soon as we arrived. We escaped the city, which seemed like a good idea, to try and get closer to the militants that were living up the valley. Unfortunately they were all back in Srinagar but we made a good fist of it and spent a few days walking in the Himalaya. Why does that always sound prententious, Himalaya. Does Himalayas sound any better? I know it's wrong, but it sounds right. Anyway, the walking there was similar to walking up a very steep set of stairs for 4 hours then turning round and walking back down again. Actually, think of a cliff, put a slight incline on it, and you get the picture! Tough on the knees but amazing walking around up there with shepherds and gypsies and tribes from who knows where. Tigers as well apparently, but I guess they were scared off by the sound of creaking joints!

When I got back to Srinagar I thought it would be a good idea to shower. This is when I discovered something burrowing into my leg. It didn't have far to go to hit a major vein, and from there, who knows where. Luckily, though painfully, I managed to grab its hind legs and extricate the little creature - who, after all, was merely trying to pursue its life cycle - sending it scurrying away across the bathroom floor. What the was that?

Leaving Srinagar the following day by jeep with a 30 hour journey ahead of us and only mild diarrhoea, we managed to avoid, by 24 hours, some major goings-on in the city. Details are probably left unwritten! The jep driver was quite a card. He started with glazed, red eyes, smoking furiously, gobbing frequently through the window. He seemed to maintain his concentration with an endless supply of instant coffee which he would munch on while his eyes became more glazed and more red. He had only one rule when driving. "I must overtake". Be it a blind bend, be there an oncoming lorry or bus, be it on the inside or outside, be there a steep drop next to the road. Best way toovertake was on the inside, lorry approaching fast (possibly, you couldn't see it because of the blind bend), next to a vertical drop. If you didn't have loose bowels before, you certainly would after.

Spent some time in Agra (the Taj Mahal) and Varanasi (the Hindu Vatican?) over the next week. Both of which were beautiful and hot (48 degrees, believe me, that's bleedin' hot).

Enjoyed plenty of traffic jams in Varanasi. Rickshaws, lorries, cars (old type Ambassadors), bikes, cows, pigs, pedestrians, you name it. Everything stops, people shout, engines are turned off, nothing happens, people get out of vehicles (if they have them), walk around, distant shouting, general confusion, cows unmoved, engine starts in distance, everyone jumps back in to vehicles (if they have them), engines start, nothing happens, more shouting, one car moves a foot, general excitement, everyone moves a foot to fill spaces, everything stops, repeat ad infinitum.

Varanasi though was especially beautiful. Great people, bunch of hippies.

Now we're in Darjeeling in the NE of India and we've been sitting in a cloud for three days drinking tea. Heading off trekking for a fortnight from tomorrow in Sikkim.

Hope you are all well!

Lotsalove,

Ben and Kel

In de Delhi

Howdy folks!

Well, it feels like a while since I sat at a keyboard and that is, perhaps, overstating a "while". Funny, because now that I'm here, I wonder why it took so long, and why I put myself in a position where I am having to try and remember what we've been up to over the last month or so!

To summarise briefly:

We had a fantastic time in Australia.

We are now in India.

Clearly, more detail is required but if it is enough for you to know that we are both alive and well, then you can skip to the end, or go off and do the dishes, or whatever it is that you're putting off by reading this.

Starting with Australia, Adelaide is a fine city, and this is where we spent most of our time staying with Kel's folks, Kerry and Jeanenne. It was good spending time will them and also with Kel's friends but, as expected, time always flies and another trip (or more) beckons in the near future. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, as you would expect for Kel, but also for this particular Pom! Besides the people, Adelaide has a large number of fine eating and drinking establishments. I tried to reach them all but this proved impossible. Kel seems to have a mental list of all the places we never saw in Adelaide. My list is bigger.

Apart from the time in Adelaide, we spent three weeks in a campervan going form Darwin in the Northern Territories to Broome in Western Australia. We saw some amazing sights, my favourites being Kakadu National Park and the Bungle Bungles. The pleasure of seeing these sights was sometimes overwhelmed by the struggle of sleeping in an oven, but overall, and sometimes it is important to keep an eye on the horizon, the trip was good and maybe a bit of a taster for a future holiday. Next time though, we'll try and work out when the days are either a bit cooler or a bit drier which I think limits it to about 2 possible weeks a year!

Well, these two brief paragraphs don't really do justice to Australia, but we arrived in Delhi last night at 0230 and after a bit of a sleep this evening, my brain is fried.

It's decidedly hot here at the moment but fortunately the pollution stops the sunlight from reaching my frazzled brow! In a couple of days we're heading up to Srinagar in Kashmir (a la Michael Palin) to stay on a houseboat for a few days. All this hectic running about, we really need time to collect our thoughts! Do I detect even a smidgeon of sympathy? I should hope not!

Will write more when my brain is operational.

Take care,

Lots of love,

Ben and Kelly