Day 36 to 41: Elephants and Nepali tea

Over the past 5 days we've wrapped up our time in Kathmandu and journeyed to Pokhara, Chitwan National Park and are now near the Indian border for New Year's Eve in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. Tomorrow we cross over to India. We've really enjoyed having a varied experience of Nepal, from the beauty of the snow-topped Annapurna mountain range near Pokhara, to the bright yellow mustard flower fields in the Chitwan National Park.

Long drives and bumpy roads are part of the experience, along with very different ways of driving than we are accustomed to. A vehicle in front of you will honk and indicate when they want you to pass them, a vehicle coming towards you will honk to let you know he's coming through and you shouldn't pass in the gap, and all drivers generally pass where ever possible. We'd experienced this type of driving in Morocco, so were largely able to relax and trust that the drivers knew what they were doing!

While in Pokhara we awoke bright and early to drive/climb up to a viewpoint where we watched the sunrise light up the Annapurnas. The sunrise was worth the steep climb before breakfast! Pokhara is a beautiful location, with rich tree-covered hills, snowy mountains and a peaceful lake. We arrived in town in time for the start of a New Year festival, so Michael and I enjoyed watching a lively procession of people in different traditional costumes.

From Pokhara we drove 5 hours to the Chitwan National Park, where we stayed in a "village lodge" which felt more like something you might experience in Africa – flat land surrounding, with a river where villagers washed their clothes and themselves, dry fields interspersed with yellow mustard fields. We enjoyed an elephant ride through the forest, where we came upon a couple of rhino peacefully hanging out, as well as deer, a vivid blue kingfisher, prissy peacocks, devilish jackals, and an alligator, who thankfully disappeared from the scene as our elephants crossed the stream where he was lazily swimming. I loved coming upon rhinos in a reasonably natural setting. Another highlight for me was elephant washing, where I helped a trainer bathe an elephant in the river near our lodge. This involved lots of falling off the elephant into the river (me of course, the trainer had better balance than I!) It was awesome to be so near such an amazing creature. We hired bikes with the rest of our tour group and spent a couple of hours cycling in the national park, concluding our time in Chitwan with a delicious Indian/Nepalese meal at a local restaurant.

Now we are in Lumbini where we plan to celebrate New Year’s Eve with our tour group and leader, Bhupendra. Buddhists aren’t meant to drink alcohol, so we imagine the town won’t be welcoming the New Year in any dramatic fashion, but we’re planning a bang with lots of fireworks unseen in NZ for a long time. Happy New Year!

Day 34 to 36: I'm dreaming of a Nepalese Christmas

Before getting to Nepal my emotions were a mix of apprehension and excitement. Our trip was actually starting to venture into foreign and previously uncharted (by us) lands.

As the plane flew north-west, the view of the Himalayan peaks was a stunning sight to behold. There was Everest amongst others! What a way to whet my appetite for what lay ahead in an hour or so. Landing at the airport and taxiing to the "gate" gave us a taste of how strict yet relaxed everything will become.

Impressions
A collection of thoughts and observations from the past couple of days:

• I am very glad for our time in Morocco earlier this year. It has helped to alleviate a lot of what would have been an intense culture shock
• Deep guttural hoicking and spitting: It seems to be perfectly acceptable to hoick up a wad of phlegm and dispense of it where ever you please :-(
• Everywhere we have been so far, there have been sparrows
• Kathmandu has so many people, everywhere
• The Thamel district in Kathmandu is so very touristy. You feel like you are betraying your adventurous self when you eat anything there, but in a land of things to make your stomach sad, it's one of the safest options.
• Pollution!
• Ground pollution: There's plenty of dirt and dust, but overall in the main parts of the city there are not big piles of rubbish
• Noise pollution: There's the constant honking of horns. Nepalese drivers use them to tell people that they are there, they need you to move, they are going to overtake, ... anything really. Unfortunately it makes for a bit of a din.
• Air pollution: Just like when we first arrived in London, I've had a return of "black nose". Dust, exhaust fumes, and who knows what else make my nose filters go into overdrive
• Powercuts: They are a constant in Nepal. Our second hotel in Kathmandu even has a notice on the wall outlining the schedule of expected powercuts! Thankfully there seems to always be hot water, and backup generators for hotels and some shops.

Christmas
Spending Christmas in a country where it's not celebrated as an official holiday was a bizarre feeling. It's a mixed blessing really, because if everything was geared up for it, I suspect that we would be feeling the distance from loved ones a lot more. So how did we celebrate? Slept in a little, had some breakfast, and sauntered though local suburbs to the Swayambhunath Stupa (a Buddhist Shrine known to tourists as the Monkey Temple). We followed it off with a western/local mix of food: momos and chips :-)


Tour

We start our tour this afternoon. Once again I am a bit apprehensive having never done a packaged tour before. It looks like it will be a gentle introduction with quite a small group of people. 5 people including us, plus the group leader! Yay.

Day 25 to 33: Silk Ties or Thai Silk?

Our time in Thailand is drawing to a close as we sit in a coffeeshop in Siam Square, Bangkok. Tomorrow morning we fly away onto Kathmandu where we will spend Christmas and join a small group tour.

Our past week or so has been spent exploring the beaten track of Bangkok and Southern Thai islands.

Phuket
We opted to stay in Karon beach on Phuket away from the madness of Patong beach. A wise choice. We hired a scooter for transportation and spent the next couple of days exploring the south of Phuket island, enjoying the wonderfully chilli soaked Thai food, wandering along the beaches, and dipping into the hotel pool.

Walking down the road, out of the corner of my eye I spied amongst a photo board in a tailor's window a familiar face. Lo and behold it was Nathan (Sarah's brother)! He'd been there a year earlier and shopped up large for custom made suits. The shop owner remembered him and his friends well.

Phi Phi Islands
The hype is true; the beaches are amazing, but you need to get away from the throngs of filthy tourists that flock to the islands every day. Having never seen the movie "The Beach", I didn't have any preconceived ideas of what Maya Bay should look like. I'm sure that if I had seen it, I would still have been wowed as the longtail boat entered the cove and I caught glimpse of the marvel. White sandy beaches and picture perfect vistas abound. Snorkelling amongst the tropical fish and furry purple starfishes was another highlight of the island.

Eating on the beaches of Koh Phi Phi Don would have been lovely, if the restaurants/bars were not catering to the tourist baht/dollar. We sought out where the locals ate and were rewarded with an "You like Thai hot, no tourist hot. You want 2 chilli or 3?" Glorious food and drinks for about 3GBP pp.

On a more sombre note, the isthmus that Phi Phi town resides on is wedged between two large hills. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like to be there about this time 6 years ago as the tsunami hit and people were caught unaware.

Phuket again
When booking places we stumbled upon a great deal on a 5 star resort in Northern Phuket. Luxurious and brand new at a fantastic price, but unfortunately for us it was isolated, tourist focused and boring. As great as the deal was, we've decided that we are not "resort people", but instead we prefer to get into the thick of things and local life. Needless to say we won't plan to stay at a resort again until we're ready to go somewhere and experience nothing of the culture.

Bangkok
Having been to Bangkok twice before on short stop overs my opinion was low. I was curious to see if 6 years and much travel experience had changed my view... thankfully it had. We've enjoyed a city of fewer than remembered smells and dirtiness. I guess my eyes are no longer fresh after being in several other big asian cities, and my stomach sturdier with the intense smells of Morroccan markets.

We've enjoyed the river more this time; riding the ferry all the way to the end of the line, eating, and wandering. We sought out a huge market where only locals seem to go. We were rewarded with no other white faces, stall upon stall of produce, and a very local experience.

After scammers tried to repeatedly tell us that the Grand Palace had closed for the day, we arrived at The Grand Palace to find it still open ;-) It's a wowey wowey place, full of gold and jewels. Wow.


Revisting Thailand has been good for me. I have come to appreciate the capital city of Bangkok as a vibrant Asian city, and have much enjoyed getting aquainted with the Islands. Thailand will go on the list of places for further exploration. Maybe the north next time?

Day 1 to 25: Wedding bells, fine wines and great times in NZ

An early start to the NZ summer saw us step straight into hot sun-filled days. We enjoyed spending time with family and friends and made the most of the weather with plenty of golf, a good dose of BBQs and lots of relaxing outdoors. Highlights of our time in NZ include:

• Nathan and Bridget's wedding (Nathan being my brother). This was a fantastic day and it was great to be involved, with Michael's photography skills called on, and my sister and I delivering Bible readings as part of the ceremony. With brilliant weather and the company of family and good friends, we thoroughly enjoyed the celebrations, and were pleased to see Nathan and Bridget had an excellent day.
• Wine tasting in Napier We sampled outstanding wines and enjoyed the picturesque surrounds of the Hawkes Bay. Craggy Range winery was top of our list, as Michael had been talking about the outstanding wine and food since a business trip to the region 5 years ago. The wine and stunning food from the winery restaurant more than lived up to my expectations!
• Great times with family and friends - meeting our newest niece Bella and spending time with little Eva-Ellice who is now 2 and 5/6th, as she is pleased to tell anyone who asks her age, a BBQ with friends in Hamilton, kindly hosted by David and Raewyn, a most enjoyable gathering at Mission Bay with lots of Auckland friends to celebrate Michael's birthday and plenty of lunches, dinners and fish n chips on the beach with good friends

All in all we had a fantastic time with excellent people and enjoyed being back in the NZ lifestyle. Thailand is our next stop for beachside relaxation in Phuket and Ko Phi Phi, city bustle in Bangkok, and lots of tasty, spicy food.

Day 0: The inaugural post

After a few long nights we managed to move our Londonly belongings into storage, pack our bags, clean the flat, and move out. After two of the best long-haul flights we've ever had (including 8 hours of solid sleep) we arrived in New Zealand at 8am, bright and fresh without a hint of jet lag!

After much promising (by Sarah) to set up a blog, we thought it high time to pull finger and do it so that interested folk can join us on our journey.

The route that we have planned is:

• London, United Kingdom
• (flying to) Auckland, New Zealand
• (roundtrip flights to/from) Napier, New Zealand
• (flying to) Bangkok, Thailand
• (roundtrip flights to/from) Phuket, Thailand
• (flying to) Kathmandu, Nepal
• (overlanding to) Ahmedabad, India
• (flying to) Bangalore, India
• (overlanding to) Mumbai, India
• (flying to) Dubai, UAE
• (flying to) Cape Town, South Africa
• (overlanding to) Nairobi, Kenya
• (flying to) Cairo, Egypt
• (overlanding to) Istanbul, Turkey
• (flying to) London, United Kingdom

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