From Lady-Boys to Kangaroos

Hi everyone! We're now in sunny Australia enjoying the beaches and speeding around in our campervan, but before heading Down Under we had a couple of nights back in Bangkok. Here we spent a very drunken night on the tiles with our friend Ivy (see the photos as evidence!), traipsing up and down the Khao San Road consuming way too much Leo beer!! The hangover from HELL hit Susie the next day and she only started to come round again at about 10 o'clock at night!! It was all Ivy's fault!!

(Having our dinner on Khao San rd, Bangkok)

And so to Oz. First stop was Sydney which is the city with it all - beaches, good weather, too many beautiful people and food from all over the world. We did some of the main obligatory sights, including Bondi beach, Opera House and Harbour Bridge and walked around loads of lovely parks and gardens. Couldn't help laughing when we ordered a "schooner of Toohey's beer" for the first time in one of the many bars in King's Cross!!! Aussie lingo is so funny!!

(Marty in front of the Harbour Bridge)

On a bit of a spur of the moment, we ended up hiring a campervan for the 4 weeks we're in Oz and are currently making our way up to Cairns, where we'll fly to Uluru and then back to fab Sydney on 15 December. Highlights of our journey so far have been our tour of the Hunter Valley vineyards, the Blue Mountains, meeting a couple of lovely 60-year old surfer hippy dudes in Valla beach and basically chilling out in Byron Bay (where we are right now) and enjoying our purchases from the Hunter!!! The 2003 chardonnay gives off strong notes of basil, dahhling!!!

(Its our camper!!)

We'll update you all again soon as we make it up towards Cairns and beyond, so have a look at all the great photos we've been taking!! Love to you all, xoxoxox

Lazy Laos and revisiting Thailand

Hello there!

Greetings from Chiang Mai in Thailand, in what will be our final update before heading Down Under on 12 November!

Since leaving China, the past few weeks have been spent in Laos where we began with a good mix of relaxation and a bit of trekking in and around Luang Nam Tha in the north of the country. This sleepy little town is the gateway to an amazing national park with paddyfield after paddyfield and fast running crystal clear streams. Its also the home of the Akha hill tribe, and we had the good fortune to spend a night in one of their villages and experience their hospitality.
After walking around 7K the first day over mountainous and at times pretty tough ground, it was so nice to meander around the village as the sun set, and meet the dozens of gorgeous kids (who couldn't get enough of everyone's fancy digital cameras and camcorders!). To round the day off we ate a home cooked Laos-style meal and sampled some of the local tipple, Lao Lao, made from rice (of course) and not unlike tequila! It seemed the less you liked the stuff, the quicker yet another glass arrived in your hand and without wanting to offend our hosts, was swiftly downed in one go! What we ate: sticky rice, laap (spicy pork and green bean salad), various curries all full of chillies, more sticky rice, banana flower soup, fresh fruit, all of which were prepared by our team of local guides and served on banana leaves cut a few minutes before each meal, and eaten with chopsticks made from the bamboo trees which surrounded us. Food miles isn't really a concept heard off here in Laos.

Although we did feel like we were somehow intruding on the everyday life of the Akha people, our guide, Sai, assured us that they enjoyed seeing us foreigners as well as the revenue they receive from hosting us, and as long as the village kids are happy, then the village elders are too. And were those kids pleased to see us!! Some were shy at first, but curiosity soon got the better of them as they watched our every banal move - from washing our hands in the nearby stream to watching themselves on our camcorders and cameras. Plus it was hilarious to hear some of them who had gathered around Marty recite their ABC's and 123's in the strongest Norn Iron accents heard this side of Newcastle!!

(Susie being entertained by local Akha children)

The next day we took off again and walked another 7K or so (it doesn't sound like much, but it was tough!!!) through gorgeous green fields and lovely cool, shady forests. I think we can safely say we earned our beers that night back in Luang Nam Tha! And if you're ever in that neck of the woods, Green Discovery Laos which ran our 2-day trek comes highly recommended ( http://www.greendiscoverylaos.com/).

Next stop in Laos was Luang Prabang. Although full of tourists and fellow travellers, Luang Prabang somehow manages to remain very chilled out and the locals couldn't do enough to make us feel welcome. On our first night, the owner of our guest house invited us to celebrate the end of the rainy season with her and her friends, and proceeded to fill us with plates of tasty BBQ'ed food and glasses of chilled Beer Lao. Off to a good start then!

(Marty and his own kind of celebrations in Luang Prabang )

Luang Prabang has more than a few reminders of its French colonial past (those Frenchies sure got around!) - real coffee and fresh baguettes are all over - but is a true Laotian town oozing relaxation and charm. Days were spent visiting the former Royal Palace (the Royal family was 'removed' when the Communists took over, sent to be 're-educated' and was never heard off again), which was a bit eerie and somehow sad, and cycling around the quiet streets which really came alive at night when the street vendors took up their positions at sundown.

A bit pressed for time, we said our farewells to Laung Prabang (although we could have easily stayed another few days), passed through Vang Vieng, which is famous for 'tubing' ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq5LlHuxQJM), but didn't manage any due to wet and gloomy weather - so much for the festival giving thanks for the end of the rainy season!! And so we arrived in the capital, Vientiane, and found yet another Laotian town where we could easily have stayed for longer.

(Sunset in Vientiane)

But as our flight to Sydney is looming, we squeezed Vientiane into 2 days before crossing the border back into Thailand. No sun drenched islands this time but Chiang Mai in the north instead. Much smaller and nowhere near as mad as Bangkok, we're enjoying doing as little as possible in Chiang Mai, although we did get ourselves out of bed early yesterday morning and take part in a 1-day Thai cooking class.

This was a great introduction to delicious Thai grub, as we learnt from our teacher Perm how to whip up tasty delights such as the ol' favourite green curry, Penang curry, pad thai, coconut cream chicken soup, tom yam, spring rolls and green papaya salad. Oh, how could I forget the sweet sticky rice with fresh mango?? Apart from Susie nearly singeing every hair on her head at one point (see the photos for an action replay), the day was a great success, so expect to be fed some of these specialities once we're back!!

So that's everything we've been up to of late. Heading to Bangkok on Friday night where we'll hopefully meet our friend from Brussels, Ivy, who has been let loose on the city for a few weeks!! God help it!!

Next time we're blogging, it'll be with our latest news from Oz, so til then bye for now!! xxooxx

Travels in Tibet

A big fat hello from freezing cold Tibet!! Don't forget to check out Marty's fab pictures of Mt. Everest and some other amazing spots in Tibet...

Well, the train from Chengdu took a whopping 44 hours and passed through some stunning scenery at around 3,000 m above sea-level. Hi to Lee (from Donegal) and hubbie Mike (from New Zealand) who were our travel companions for the trip and our time in Lhasa (we'll see you two again in Auckland for Xmas drinks, ok?!!).


One of the amazing views on our 44 hour train journey

Arriving in Lhasa, the main city in Tibet, we were now at 3,600 m above sea-level and finding it tough enough to breathe! It was here we spent a good few days acclimatising and learning how to inhale at this height before heading off into the Tibetan wilderness with a lovely German couple, Sangeetha and Mario, in a LandCruiser and with our trusty Tibetan driver!

Over 5 days we visited gorgeous Yamdrok (meaning "dark blue") Lake, the towns of Gyantse, Shigatse (Tibet's second biggest after Lhasa) and Lhatse (talk about a 1-horse town, this was the real deal 1-yak Tibetan town!!),Tingri and finally Mt. Everest Base Camp (where we felt obliged to pay a visit to the highest bar in the world!!). It was extremely cold, particularly since we were dressed for Thailand's beaches and not Tibet's less clement climes - it was here we saw snow for the first time since Brussels!

Marty doing his stuff at Yamdrok lake

Don't think we'll ever forget our night staying in the digs of a Buddhist monk at Rongbuk Monastery, which at the foot of Mt. Everest is (you've guessed it) the world's highest monastery at 5,200 m above sea-level. With no electricity or heating we shivered the night away, but the blanket of tiny stars in the ink-blue sky that night was unbelievable and with the silhouette of Mt. Everest in the background, we managed to put up with it. And hey, didn't we survive and get up at dawn the next morning to catch sunrise over Everest (or Chomolungma in Tibetan). We also risked hypothermia and frostbite to get a couple of nerdy snaps from Everest Base Camp too, so check 'em out!

Right now, we're back in Lhasa taking it easy and enjoying the views of the stunning Potala Palace, former residence of the Dalai Lama and seat of the Tibetan government, ahead of our flight to Jinghong tomorrow (Monday 22/10) which will be our last stop in China.

Potala Palace

Wednesday should see us arriving in Laos where we'll happily laze away a week or so before heading back into Thailand for our flight to Sydney on 12 November.

Hope everyone of you is keeping well, and we'll post more soon!!!

Love, Marty & Susie xoxoxoxo

China, Part 2.......

Here's what else we've been up to of late in China, don't forget to check out Marty's fab pictures!!

Terracotta Army, Xian China

"The Terracotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archaeological excavations of the 20th century", so goes the tourist-driven Chinese blurb, but it might just be true. Spending a couple of hours wandering around the site outside Xian (where work is still ongoing) is a fantastic glimpse at China's past and the kudos that was given to its former Emperors.

But we did have to laugh at the ego on Qin Shi Huang, first Emperor of all China, and his decision (more than 2,000 years ago) to start work on his mausoleum in his own lifetime, complete with over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots and weapons! Hope the photos give an indication of the size of the place - it covers an area of over 16,000 square meters. Enjoy!!

Trracotta Warriors, Pit No 1

In Xian (and later in Chengdu) we met a couple of Dutch volk who as you know are Marty's favourite bunch of people, so hi to Hans and Ellie!!! You should be well on you way to Kathmandu by now, so hope you're still having fun!! And Hans, hope you have recovered after the hot-pot experience in Chengdu!

Another highlight was visiting the pandas in Chengdu, especially the baby ones which are totally doted over by the staff just like real babies - complete with cots, nappies and bottles of milk! Strange but very cute (although Susie was convinced they were really people dressed up in panda suits!).

Us and the Pandas, Chengdu

On our last night in Chengdu we went to a Sichuan Opera performance, one of the oldest traditional opera styles in China. Along with songs and traditional musical renditions, the actors specialise in 'face changing' - have a look here to see what we mean http://www.mixhostel.com/mixtour/sichuan_opera.htm. Marty's photos also show many of the performers.

Fire breathing, Sichuan opera, Chengdu

"Dog hot-pot anyone?"

Hi everybody, just a quick mail but a LOT of photos showcasing our first couple of weeks in China. We started this leg of The Trip in Nanning, a nice-but-kinda-non-descript city just over the border from Vietnam. Here the local delicacy was dog hot-pot, snake hot-pot and just-about-anything-else-hot-pot, but we managed to stick to good ol' boiled rice. Phew!!

From Nanning we travelled into lush, green Guillin and Yangshuo. Famous for their rock formations and rivers, we spent about a week being 'tres sportifs' and putting our newly purchased bikes to good use. Although both of us have since vowed NEVER AGAIN will we cycle 30k in one go!!! But check out the gorg scenery from Marty's snaps, nice. Also had fun watching some very smart cormorant birds catching fish for their handlers, strange but interesting.

Certainly the highlight of the past few weeks has been Hong Kong. This city/country/island (and to an extent, its neighbour Macao) is shockingly modern and has everything any Westerner far from home could wish for. That said, its hard to believe sometimes that this is in fact Asia and not some flashy European city. But much fun was had here, despite the awful result for the Irish against France in the World Cup...

From Hong Kong, we boarded the train on Sunday and 20 hours later arrived in Shanghai!! Staying at Le Tour Hostel, which is possibly the best place we've found so far, and enjoying the many sights of this ultra-modern and sleek city. Attended a formal tea drinking ceremony yesterday, which also happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival Day - did you know you should rub the hot (and empty) tea cup over your face to keep those nasty wrinkles at bay??

Next steps? Em, not really sure at the moment as all the trains are booked up cos of the Mid-Autumn shenanigans but we'll keep you posted!! Love Susie and Marty xoxox

Cambodia and Vietnam

Hi everyone, think we're playing catch-up with the ol blog as computers and a decent WWW connection have been pretty thin on the ground of late. But here we are!

The past 6 weeks or so have been spent checking out some of the main cities and hot-spots of Cambodia and Vietnam, so here goes a round-up of our highlights!!

The highlight of Cambodia was definitely the temples of Angkor Wat. We spent 3 days touring on bikes around these amazing Khmer-era temple ruins, some dating from as far back as the 11th century. Evenings were spent enjoying the happy-hour 50 cent Angkor beers in one of the cool wee bars in Siem Reap where we stayed! No words can do this World Heritage Site justice so check out Marty's photos of Angkor instead.

(Marty in front of Angkor Wat)

Next stop was Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. Here we tried to learn a bit more about Cambodia's troubled and bloody past - shocking to know that Pol Pot and his regime murdered so many of their own people in pretty much our lifetime. A look around the notorious S-21 prison, not to mention the horrific 'Killing Fields' with the skulls of almost 8000 innocent Cambodians killed under Pol Pot's orders, was hard but important for us to do. Overall we found the Cambodian people really warm and welcoming, and despite their real poverty never without a smile on their faces.

(Us in Phnom Penh; Marty after sitting on a branch of a thorn tree!)

(Cute wee Cambodian girl selling something or other)

Compared to Cambodia, the places we visited in Vietnam seemed relatively wealthy and prosperous and the people although friendly, weren't adverse to trying to squeeze us for every last dong!!! We managed to pack in a lot over the past 3 weeks or so, and here's a short summary! Without a doubt, one of the culinary highlights in Vietnam was the availability of fresh coffee (none of that Nescafe rubbish!) and warm baguettes that wouldn't be out of place in Paris or Brussels!

Formally Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is a busy, noisy but enjoyable place with some lovely French colonial-era architecture. Have a look at our photos of the places we visited - Reunification Palace, War Crime Museum, and the ingenious 200 k-long Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong hid out from the French and later the Americans in the 1950s and 60s. Needless to say, our 'petit' Western frames weren't best suited for these tiny tunnels!!!

(Marty in Cu Chi Tunnel, widened especially for Western visitors!)

(Bang, bang! Susie and an AK-47, Cu Chi Tunnels)

The bus north from HCMC to the beach town of Nha Trang passed through some gorgeous countryside - nice to see green mountains for almost the first time since leaving home! Lazy days were spent on Nha Trang's beach, with Marty chatting up the wee Vietnamese ladies selling all sorts from fresh lobsters to dirt-cheap cigarettes!

Once refreshed from chilling/roasting on the beach, we moved on to the quaint Unesco World Heritage town of Hoi An. The town boasts over 200 tailors and of course, being tourists we snapped up 3 made-to-measure suits (in the finest Italian cashmere if you don't mind!!) as well as some fine leather shoes for Marty!! Let's hope they arrive back in Ireland in one piece!! Oh, almost forgot - we found the cheapest beer in Hoi An, at 3000 dong a glass (less than 10p/15Euro cents)!

In keeping with visiting places beginning with 'H', other pitstops in Vietnam included Hue, Hanoi and Halong Bay!!! The 3-day trip to Halong Bay was excellent and despite the 2 FAT rats sharing our boat with us, this was certainly one of the big highlights so far!! Hi to Manu, Benoit, Heather and Mark who we met on this trip (Benoit, tant pis pour le rugby samedi dernier!!! Allez les verts!!!)

So, after 2 very enjoyable weeks in Cambodia and 3 in Vietnam, we bid fab Hanoi farewell on Saturday and are now in Guilin, SW China. First impressions of China? So far so good, we'll keep you posted as we head on towards Hong Kong, Shanghai, Xian and hopefully Tibet (provided we manage to find internet cafes there!). Take care everyone, xoxoxox

"Hey Sexy Man, where you go??!?!"

Much of our time in Thailand has been spent catching rays on the various gorgeous beaches on Ko Tao and Ko Samet, but we did hang out for a couple of days in Bangkok and Pattaya, chuckling at the ladyboys, avoiding their advances and generally kicking back in Pattaya, living the high-life in Susie's uncle Dennis' hotel Metro (http://www.metro-apartments-pattaya.com/).

In Bangkok, in between the infamous 'ping pong' shows and plenty of noodle soup, we took in some of the main sights - Grand Palace, Wat Pho with Thailand's largest reclining Buddha statue (46M long, 15M tall), Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Thieves' Market in China Town (lane after lane of narrow streets selling all sorts of shite), a spot of bargainous shopping at Siam Square, as well as checking out Bangkok's famous backpacker hangout, Khao San Rd.

(Marty hanging out at Grand Palace, Bangkok)

Despite the warnings from many of our friends who had visited here, we actually enjoyed Bangkok! Full use was made of the cheap river boats that sailed up and down the Mae Nam Chao Phraya, allowing us to see what the city had to offer, and we managed to packed quite a bit into our days in Bangkok.

(Standing Buddha, Bangkok)

Keeping up the Thai city vibe, we left Bangkok for Pattaya's equally busy (read: sleazy) treats!! Susie had to practically keep Marty under lock and key for fear of him getting accosted by the many gorgeous wee Thai ladies, who at any time night or day can be heard shouting "Hey sexy man, where you go??!". Dennis' hotel provided some well-earned comfort and respite after 4 months on the road, and it was cool to spend time with Susie's cousins Declan and Rosaleen and their mum Somkid.

Our next stop was the island of Ko Samet, where on 3 August the most momentous and joyful of days came round - Marty's 30th birthday!!! There was much Thai whisky flowing that day, as the Birthday Boy spent the day lazing on the sandy beach with his ho's (Susie of course as well as her sis Kate's best friend Eimear 'King Kong' King fresh of the plane from Oz en route back home!!!), and most of the night shaking his aging hips to the 'hits' of Shakira, Brian Adams and Dr Dre as performed by a Phillipino band playing in one of the island's bars (they were actually really good, promise...!!).

(Marty's birthday, 03.08)

So after 6 weeks or so in Thailand, it was time to move on, and off we went into Cambodia. Although we certainly enjoyed the lazy days on the beaches of Thailand it was a good feeling to be back on the road and seeing more of the 'real' Asia. Passing through paddy fields and palm leaf houses, we made our way to the Thai-Cambodia border and after a LOT of negotiation we got the most packed taxi EVER (5 in the front of the car, 4 in the back!!!) for the 5 hour ride to Battambang.

Cambodia's roads are famously bumpy but they really have to be seen and felt to be believed. So after a whole lotta shakin', we arrived late at night into the second largest Khmer city. To learn more about Battambang's painful history under the Pol Pot regime we took a motorbike ride through the beautiful surrounding countryside. Our guide took us to one of the area's so-called Killing Caves - very eerie and sad to know what went on here such a short time ago.

We left Battambang (by boat, had enough of the roads already!) en route to Siem Reap where we are right now. Siem Reap is home to the temples of Angkor, the country's biggest tourist attraction and the world's largest religious building. There is such a European feel to Siem Reap, its hard to believe we're in Asia sometimes, as the streets have that old French look about them and you can dine on anything from Italian to Mexican and anything in between (there's even the obligatory Molly Malone's Irish pub!!).

From Siem Reap we plan to head south to the capital Phnom Penh some time next week, and from there we'll be going into Vietnam. Hope everyone's keeping well, lots o love from Susie & Marty! xoxox

Singapore, Malaysia and into Thailand

Hello everyone!

Well, on leaving India on 1st of May we swiftly arrived in Singapore and spent about 5 days basking in the air conditioned shopping centres and chilling out in our hostel. It was strange to be in a country where we didn't get stared at constantly and trains ran on time, and we loved it!!! Our time was spent hanging out with the orangutans at Singapore Zoo (where there was even one called Vera - sorry Mum!), taking a night safari and spotting elephants, lions, tapirs and too many others to mention and generally loving the spicy food (the night food markets rock) and cold beers!

(Ahh aren't they cute, the orangutans that is...)

From Singapore we left for Malaysia, the third country on our tour of S E Asia. We arrived in the small colonial town of Melaka, which was really cool and laid back and where our hostel owners were a bit, erm, whacky/ hippy types but very nice all the same! The large Chinese population in Melaka meant great cheap food and some hilarious karaoke bars!

(Melaka's colonial buildings)

Next, we moved on to the capital Kuala Lumpar, and dodged the thunder storms and flash floods, tried to climb the Petronas Tower but settled for the KL Towers instead which gave us an even higher viewing point of the whole city, so that worked out OK. As always we gorged ourselves on fab grub but gave the local speciality of Frog Porridge a wide berth!

(Petronas Tower, KL)

For one night only our next destination was Kuala Selangor to take a look at the amazing show put on nightly by the thousands of resident fire flies. These wee creatures flicker and glow in the dark, and would put anyone's Christmas tree to shame with their fairylight-like sparkle!

Rather taken with the Malaysian greenery and their love of nature, we headed on next to Taman Negara, a 30 million year-old (and therefore the world's oldest) rain forest. This giant national park was a 3-hour boat trip down muddy and winding rivers from the town of Teremling, and was well worth the journey. Here we took another night safari by jeep, and spotted a few snakes, wild cats (and an owl of all things) but no tigers alas. We were also lucky enough to visit a Malaysian Aboriginal village (one of many in Taman Negara) and learnt how to shoot (or in Susie's case, send into the air and lose) the wooden darts the tribesmen make and use for hunting. We were well impressed to watch one villager make a fire from nothing but some bamboo and some nifty wrist action.

After all that fresh air and greenery we felt we deserved a break (!) and so headed (on Anna & Ian's recommendation, thanks guys!!) to the gorgeous Perentian Islands, off the Malaysian coast and near the border with Thailand. These wee beauties are thankfully car-free and as we were a bit out-of-season, were largely people-free too. We stayed at Coral Bay in a beach hut right on the sand and woke every day to the sound of the waves - that is, when we weren't woken in the middle of the night by rain coming in through our leaky roof!! Days were spent sunbathing and snorkling and being amazed by SO MANY species of tropical fish there. This was a great stop-off and most welcome after so many cities of late. So nice in fact, that we ended up staying on Coral Bay for 10 whole days - lovely!

And so that brings us up to about a week ago when we crossed the border into Thailand. Not too sure where to go, we spent a night in Hat Yai, at the establishment of the friendliest hotelier ever - his wife even got up at something like 5 AM to make sure our laundry was all pressed and ready for us when we left at 7 AM. Now that's service! Still not too sure where to go, we overheard some fellow travellers talking "full moon parties" and realised there was only one place we should go - straight to Ko Pha-Ngan, just in time for the monthly bash on the Hat Rin sand that is the Full Moon Party!!

And so here we are.

We'll probably stay another day or two here and then maybe check out some other parts of the island before heading back to the mainland. Or maybe we'll visit neighbouring Ko Samui and do some more snorkling there, who knows! Anyways, we'll be in touch again soon! Enjoy the photos as well! xxxx

To the tip of India and back again

Hello folks, it's been a while! Here's what we've been up to over the past fortnight or so!

Reached the tip of India - Kanyukamari in the state of Tamil Nadu - which seemed to be a mostly tourist and pilgrim town (I think you know which category we fall into!). This was the place with the worst accommodation to date - the hotel was literally a building site cunningly kept from our vision until cash exchanged hands! Ah well, it was only for one night and we managed to pack in a good few sights in that time. Right on the edge of the subcontinent stand 2 monuments; the first being the fruit of the labour of 5000 sculpturers, a statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. The statue is a mighty 133 ft high (sorry all you Europeans, don't know what that is in metres!) in honour of the 133 chapters of Thiruvalluvar's poetry. The second monument is to the 'wandering monk' and philosopher, Suami Vivekananda who meditated in Kanyukamari before heading off on his travels and 'finding' himself. Let's hope we manage to do the same...!

(Statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar)

Next stop was Madurai, where we viewed the impressive 17th century Sri Meenakshi temple complex. Madurai - one of the oldest cities in the south - dates from the 4th century BC. We stayed in a bit of luxury at the Hotel Supreme, which didn't have a Diana Ross theme but a rather strange spaceship-style bar in it instead. So on arrival, off we went for a wee drinkie until Susie was nearly refused a beer purely for being of the non-male variety (it's true!!). Needless to say, Big M stepped in, roughed up a few of the locals (he didn't really Deirdre (Marty's mother)!) and we were soon knocking back a couple of cool Tiger beers in the comfort of the AC bar!!

From Madurai we headed on to Pondicherry, an odd piece of leftover French colonialism which retains a very French feel in its architecture, particularly on the east side of the city. Oh, and it was the first Indian town or city we noticed had litter bins on the streets...

In Pondicherry we stayed in an ashram overlooking the sea and promenade. The ashram was set up to honour the principles and goals of Sri Aurobindo and his pupil, known as the Mother, namely "the evolution of another kind and form of life which would in the final end be moved by a higher spiritual consciousness and embody a greater life of the spirit", and is where mainly 'spiritual seekers' stay when they're in this part of the country (http://www.sriaurobindosociety.org.in/subnav/ashram.htm).

Intrigued by all this, we stayed a few nights at the ashram and duly obeyed the no-alcohol rules and 10PM curfew... (Sounds more like punishment than enlightenment, eh). We also took a trip to Auroville (http://www.sriaurobindosociety.org.in/subnav/aurovil.htm), a township designed by the Mother and aimed at creating "a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities ". Confused? So were we...

The aim was to have 50,000 'Aurovillians' living in peace here, but only around 2,600 live there today and it was difficult to see who was now in charge of progressing this "project for humanity" and giving direction to the place following the death of the Mother in 1973. Anyways, it was an interesting trip and did leave us wanting to learn more about this place.

After our time in Pondicherry, we moved on up to Mamallapuram. This coastal village hosts ancient rock carvings and yet more temples. The area was partly affected by the tsunami, although thankfully no lives were lost, and the rebuilding of schools and villages continues today. In between lazing by a pool and reading our books, we squeezed in a trip to a nearby crocodile and snake farm and watched in awe as tribal snake handlers extracted venom from deadly cobras to produce the anti-venom used in treating some cancers and as a pain relief.

And so our time in southern India drew to an end. Last Monday (14 May) we flew from Chennai to Delhi to start a mini-exploration of the north of the country, and to see how much we can fit in before the end of the month and Leg II of the Trip!

Delhi was full on and fantastic - although we counterbalanced this by staying in the very chilled Tibetan Colonly in the north of the city in Majnu-ka-Tilla. We woke every morning to the sound of Buddhist monks chanting and welcomed the distinct lack of hawkers trying to sell you everything and anything under the sun. During those few days we took in many of Delhi's amazing sights; the Jama Masjid the largest mosque in India, the 17th century Red Fort, some cool shopping areas and the spot where Gandhi was cremated in 1948. Oh, and Marty got his wish at last and enjoyed his first soya cappucino of the Trip from a Costa Coffee!! Food wise, it was Tibetan grub all the way which was deelish - Tibetan bread is uncannily like Irish soda bread when toasted and hit the spot every morning!

5 days in Delhi went by so fast and next stop was the Taj Mahal in Agra, truely really beautiful and no photo would ever do it justice. But other than the Taj, Agra was a bit of a dive and 1 night there was enough! So off we went to Jaipur, the Pink City (although Susan reckons its more terracota than pink...!). Then we left for Mount Abu which being a hill station was a few degrees cooler, where we spent a few days on a meditation course and learning how to make the perfect curry! Well we are tourists in India after all!!!

Heading tonight to Mumbai where we fly on to Singapore tomorrow (31st) evening - can't wait!! India was a great introduction to the East and now we can't wait to see more of it! XXX

For a great cuppa chai ...

Chai (Indian Tea)

This is what we're drinking litres of every day! It's a strange world when a cup of steaming hot spicy tea is what you really want in near-40 degree heat! Have a go yourself by following this recipe we came across -

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups water
• 1 cup milk
• 3 plain tea bags (Do not use green or other specialized variety)
• Spices: 3 pods of cardamon, ½ inch cinnamon stick, ¼ teaspoon ginger, 2 cloves
• Sugar to taste (essential!)
  

Preparation

• Boil everything except tea and sugar on the medium heat for more than few minutes.
• Add tea bags and boil until desired colour (i.e. strength) of tea.
• Add plenty of sugar.
• Serve hot.

Adventures in Kerala

So much has happened since Goa it'll be tough to get it onto paper, but here goes! Spent a few days checking out the amazing sights of the ruined city of Vijayanagar in Hampi - never thought boulders could be so interesting! From there we travelled to Mangalore which was pretty so-so to be honest, but provided a welcome break from the road for a night (plus the hotel we stayed in had a TV which was a first!)

(View of Hampi)

Next stop, Kalpetta in Kerala state and a breathtaking bus ride through narrow roads with Kerala's tea and coffee plantations on either side - by far the best views so far; greener than Ireland and fab weather to boot, who could ask for more!! From here we visited the Wayanard Wildlife Sanctuary and got a fright from a couple of angry elephants who didn't appreciate us and our binoculars! But exciting and adrenalin-packed nonetheless. (Note to self: next time we do a 5k trek, avoid wearing flip flops!). The next day we took a jeep ride with 2 fellow travellers, Cedric and Marica from Paris, around the sights of Kalpetta - have a look at the photos of what we saw.

(Tea plantation in Kalpetta)

After all that excitement, we decided a bit of 'downtime' was in order and so off we went to Alleppey (about 8 hrs by bus from Kalpetta) and got ourselves a houseboat for the night, complete with our own chef and captain! The backwaters of Kerala are well worth a visit as they are so tranquil and sleepy its hard not to relax here (but the gins n' tonic smuggled on board also helped!).

Another first while we were in Kerala - Marty purchased a skirt!! Or to give it its correct name, a mundu. Its keeping him nice n' fresh in the hot weather conditions!!

Right now we're continuing the chilled vibe and are staying at Varkala beach, which is en route to our ultimate goal of reaching the very tip of India at Kanyakumani. From there its onwards and upwards to Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu and from there we hope to fly from Chennai to Kathmandu and spent a couple of weeks in Nepal.

(Dinner on Varkala beach)

More to follow... xox

Go on Goa!

Having had our full of Mumbai, we decided to take a 12-hour bus trip south, and finally arrived in Palolem, south Goa on 6 April. Palolem is a picture-perfect beach with the warmest water ever courtesy of the Arabian Sea, and cute beach huts scattered right along the sand. Our home for the next week was to be Chattai, a group of bamboo huts on stilts 2 minutes walks from the beach. The rest of the Manchester Gang arrived later that day and the party had begun!!

(Palolem beach)

Everything you could want was to be found in Palolem - freshly caught fish, cold beers, cocktails and of course the best curry! We had a fun filled week with our Irish/Manchester/Polish/Greek buddies (take a look at the photos) and were delighted to be able to share this part of The Trip with them. The weather has been awesome and if the only complaint is "It's too hot!" then there's not really that much to complain about, is there!!

(Our boat trip in Palolem beach)

On Saturday 14 April we left the lads as they returned to Mumbai to catch their flight back home and we headed back north to catch a 2-day music festival, The Big Chill Goa (http://www.bigchillindia.in). This was a really cool event which seemed to bring together mainly UK-based acts and Indian performers, and proved its hard to beat listening to live music on a beach as the sun sets with a cold beer in your hand...
(Sunset at Arambol)

Since Sunday, we've been unwinding at another gorgeous beach in north Goa (Arambol) and plan to head a bit more inland tonight to Karnataka where we'll be staying in Hampi for a couple of nights to check out the ruins of the ancient city of Vijayanagar. After that, the plan is to move on to Bangalore (where the beautiful people congregate, apparently!!).

So over and out for now and don't forget to click on the picture links at the top right of the screen! XX

40 degrees and rising

Welcome to Mumbai!

Well, you can read all the books you like about a place but as we've learnt, there's nothing quite like arriving off a 9-hour (and at times, bumpy) flight to a manic city like Mumbai to give you a total culture shock! The first thing we noticed was the heat (goes without saying, we are from Ireland after all!) and then the mosquitoes, not to mention the erm, interesting rules of the road as seen from the back of a black and yellow Premier taxi cab.

What else - there is the poverty of course which is widespread and hits you like a smack on the face, along with the hardship of so many people, plus the relentless hawkers and touts and the inevitable rats ... (Susie is surprising herself and is no longer having a panic attack every time something small and black which moves faster than her jumps out from the undergrowth). The food is excellent (Rusholme in Manchester for a curry? You must be joking!) and we can't get enough of it! From bhelpuri to paneer masala to vege kulcha, experimentation is definately the key!



In the past 3 days we've done quite a bit - visited Mahalaxmi Hindu temple, viewed ancient rock carvings on Elephanta Island, taken in Mani Bhavan, Gandhi's residence when he stayed in Mumbai from 1917-1934, chilled on Chowpatty Beach and generally enjoyed getting to know this mad but amazing place.

(Me posing on Chowpatty Beach)

Next stop is Goa for some no-brainer relaxation on beaches and dining on freshly caught fish ... sounds like heaven after 4 days in hectic Munbai! But that said, we're meeting up tomorrow (Saturday) with my brother Conor 'Hasselhof' McC, his girlf Emma 'Legs' Halpenny, Steph 'Muffin' Sloan, Stavros 'The Greek' Karapakledis, Bal 'Innit' Sekhon and Phil 'I am the Prince of Wales' Flacke, so the relaxation might have to be sacrificed for a wee bit of partying...!

(Fishing boats, Elephantas Island)

Namaste for now! XX

The calm before the storm

Hello all, this is our first post and probably will be the least exciting one. We have said goodbye to all our friends in Brussels and Manchester (and Cafe Belga our favourite bar pictured).









(The mountains of Mourne, Newcastle Co. Down - Marty's backyard view!)

We are currently back in Ireland preparing for our Big Trip that gets underway on Monday 2nd April. The time has flown while we've been back in Ireland and we only have 3 full days left here now, NERVOUS....




(Sunset at Susie's home, Rathfriland Co. Down)


The prospect of experiencing the sights and sounds of India, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Oz, New Zealand, China and Japan is all very exciting (and a wee bit daunting). We are going to party around the world :)