Jo & G Travels

The Last Chapter....

2008-04-19T05:13:00.000-07:00

24th April 2008 - G's summary - Well it's all a bit strange really, this is our last day we fly out tonight at 2am( tomorrow I guess). In the last 5 months I've....... surfed / body-boarded / body surfed / ski'd / been trekking / been close to collapsing with exhaustion / been way too hot / been way too cold / been drunk / been high / been very scared / puked / shat myself / fainted / been moved close to tears / seen sunrises, and many sunsets / seen desert, mountain, ocean, snow-capped peaks / seen poverty beyond belief, diseases, leprosy, death, burning bodies / been cheated / been seriously filthy / been bewildered, awe inspired and deeply disappointed / lost my job / become more spiritual / laughed until I couldn't make any sound and most of all had the best time ever with my wife.

If anyone is considering doing similar, DO NOT hesitate for a second, mortgages will still get paid, friends & family will still be there (you will just cherish them more) and I guarantee you will grow as a person.

So, finally, in the words of Ferris Bueller - Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

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Soooooooo....... the Final Chapter.............back to India and Rajasthan. Came back to Delhi briefly - we knew we were back - cows, horns, stares, men taking photos of Jo.... Actually a mildly funny story. When we got back Lloyds Bank had stopped my card again (this is the 10th + time they have done this). During my conversation with the Lloyds customer service girl I notice an Indian guy taking a photo of Jo with his mobile (this is a common occurence). Mid phone-conversation I shouted "Oy stop f****** taking photos of my wife" The girl from Lloyds could not stop laughing..... ahhhhh Indians.

Jaipur
Went straight to Jaipur from Delhi - the big pink city. Palace below....

Jo looking through one of the peep-holes in the palace. In the olden days the royal women were not allowed out in public so they viewed the public through these

A procession in Jaipur, to mark the end of winter and the start of spring......they had lots of classic Indian things....like Bob the Builder - RANDOM or what ?!?
More of the procession, Elaphants dressed up, now that's more like it

Amber Fort, just outside Jaipur. very big and impressive

We decided to experience a cinema in Jaipur and went to see ONE-TWO-THREE, it was all in Hindi so we left after half way through....and it was rubbish anyway. The most amusing part was to see western people as extras in the background (as we were asked to be extras in a Bollywood film in Mumbai). They were all clearly travellers, one had dreadlocks and another girl was in a bikini looking really awkward and with tan lines...

Last overnight train - hurrah! An epic 14 hours from Jaipur to Jaislemer near Pakistan. We were lucky enough to be inside the train as many people travelled on the roof, gutted.

Jaisalmer
Next stop was Jaisalmer in the west. A big fort in the middle of the desert, looked very impressive, but was hot hot hot..

Having a lovely romantic dinner on the roof-top of a restaurant overlooking the fort.

The highlight of Jaislamer was our 2 day camel safari, here is Kadu....

Jo and her camel getting aquainted
The two intrepid explorers venture out into the 40+ degrees, in orange
A cool dune where we slept the night
We were joined by Tom and his mum on the safari. Most amusing was the fact that Tom had bought some space cookies with him (called Bhang cookies in India) so we ate a few on the journey. It certainly made traipsing through the desert on a camel a little more surreal

Giving a helping hand to a kid who couldn't drink for himselfOur bed for the night, amaaaaazing stars

Jodhpur - the blue city and home of my favourite riding trousers (Jo's turn....)

Took a zero fun 7 hour bus across the desert from Jaislemer to Jodphur. I needed the loo and was gutted when the bus stopped in the middle of the desert for me and G to pee behind a small shrub! Every pair of eyes on the bus was staring at us when we got back on - as the only westerners on the bus we attract enough attention as it is, their eyes were popping out of their heads!

The desert of Rajasthan is a depressing sight. 80 percent of people depend on well water and you see women walking miles to wells. Women get a tough time here - the rubbish jobs are reserved for women in Rajasthan so you see them working on dusty building sights carrying stones on their head whilst still looking glamerous in their brightly coloured saaris.

Spent a couple of days in Jodphur - we loved it. The blue city (it used to be a caste thing but now they paint houses blue to keep mosquitos away). It was a hetic dusty market town but really untouristy compared to Jaislemer and we treated ourselves to a nice hotel and a pool - we feel that can justify it now that we only have 2 weeks left, so its more of a holiday than proper travelling.

Another 16th century fort and oppulant palace! (Rajasthan is palace-tastic) This one was cool though with really good audio tour with the Maharaja speaking about how it used to be.
G, the museum geek, below listening intently to his headset....

The blue city and fort in the background....
Udaipur - home of Octopussy (they are VERY proud of this fact!)

After a couple of days in Jodphur we headed south to Udaipur on yet another long bus ... with another embarassing toilet incident - this time I thought I was behind a shed but when I looked up I realised I was in full view of the bus. Gutted - self respecting Indian women don't even show their ankles, let alone their bums to an entire bus....

Udaipur is a small city on a lake, with 2 floating lake palaces (where Octopussy was filmed). It was such a nice chilled out place - proper romantical by the lake. Got a nice hotel with a balcony over the lake (....as we edge further and further away from the backpacker scene).

View of one of the palaces from our balcony, part of which is now a super expenny hotel.

Classic Indian scene - elephant, cow, tuk-tuk and brightly dressed woman. The women in Rajasthan wear amazing bright colours to make up for the dullness of the desert. The men too wear cool bright turbans - the colour of which signifies their caste.

Sunset drinkies at on one of the palace terraces. Yup, totally opted out of backpacking. There was an aaaaaaaaamazing views of the two lake palaces.

And then we suprised ourselves by coming back to Goa! G was missing swimming in the sea and Rajasthan was toooooooooooooo hot and dusty (40 degrees, argh!) so we came south to the sea. Just one more epic bus journey to the state of Gujarat (wealthy state and so different to Rajasthan, home of the Patel's - Indias biggest emigrant population as we all know!).

GOA
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Sun, sea and fresh fruit and seafood (lentil curries in Rajasthan were becoming a bit repetitive). It feels like a totally different country here. Must less poverty and lush and green countryside compared to the dusty desert of Rajasthan. Huge Christian population with massive Portugese churches. And much much less hassle and unwanted stares.

Ok, well someone else did this, but we thought we'd pinch it.....

Oops, burnt ourselves yesterday - classic Brits!!

We've landed back in the middle of the backpacker scene in the biggest way possible! We have come to North Goa to a beach called Arambol - the original Goan hippies have come here to get away from the package holiday-tastic beaches of central Goa. Plenty of aging hippies to laugh at and massively budget accommodation. On our first night we arrived late and took the first room we saw. It was only 2 pounds with a balcony and seaview - the only catch was rats scurrying above us on the wooden beams and rat shit on the bed, not condusive for the best nights ! The next morning we spent ages searching for a nicer place to stay but it is really quiet here with a few totally basic huts and houses for max 2 pounds. We saw a series of minging rooms - the pinacle of which was a mad Aussie woman surrounded by cats who rents out patches of floor space on her roof terrace...! There were lots of dreadlocked people passed out on the floor. In the end we found the best of a bad lot - but still only managing to pay 3 pounds a night. It is cool though and we feel like we have the penthouse suite on the beach though - our balcony is the top blue one in the piccie and our room to the left, it is mahhosive and wicked views across the beach.

Our room is to the top right of G's head...View from le balcony....

And thats us! Gonna spend the next 3 days here in Goa and then back to India for two days and to meet up with Irma (a pal from Sri Lanka who is back in Delhi with her family).

Graham again..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW AND FRANNY. Its my nephews birthdays coming up shortly and they will both be.... err one year older. So here you go Andrew and Fran. Jo and I wrote a little message for you in the sand on the beach in GOA. It took us absolutely ages and some Indians even took a photo of it !! See you both soon.

Love Uncle G and Auntie Jo xx

Jo again...... since on the subject of birthdays - Happy Happy (nearly) (big) birthday Auntie Pam!! And Happy birthday Sunday to KBeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Soooooooooo, we're coming home next weekend!!! It feels bizarre as the time has flown. We are excited about lots of stuff - we're excited to see everyone again, to no longer have to carry all of our belongings around and to be based in one place (we have stayed in more than 70 different places over the last 5 months) and excited not to have to barter for EVERYTHING. We also can't wait to see the back of curries and to have some good old English grub (never ever going to an Indian restaurant again!). And it will be good not to worry about getting ill all the time - I have been pretty much constantly "ill" for the last 3 weeks and G had a bad bout which resulted in an accident in an internet cafe, poor G!!! But we will also hugely miss this lifestyle and seeing so much stuff - once the novelty has worn off we both know that returning to real life is gonna be hard - and we'll miss having so much free time, but at least its the summer so plenty to look forward too!

So thats us. Thank you so much for reading this, we hope it wasn't too borning - there is nothing worse than smug travellers, but if it makes you feel better we won't be too smug when we go back to work for the first time!

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee from India. See you soon! Love Jo and G xxx

Last week in Nepal

2008-04-07T02:14:00.000-07:00

We've had 1 final week in Nepal and off to Iiiiiiiiiiiindia again tomorrow for the final chapter :-(

We have loved Nepal as there is soooooooo much to see and do. Although I think the lack of oxgyen at high altitude did some damage to our brains... as we accidentally signed up for a 160m bungee jump. We need to remind ourselves that we are 30 (or 34) and NOT 18 again!! It was cool though - thanks Marcus for the resort recommendation (Mark has done the bungee so I haaaaad to!! and Sarah, I was always annoyed with myself that I didn't do the Pipeline with you!). It was right by the Tibetan boarder and massively relaxing (well, apart from the bungee and whitewater rafting....).

G on the bridge - 160m is a looooooooong way down!!

Meeeeeeeee and the 160m drop - nice!
Jump Geeeeeeee jump!!!!!!(his screams could be heard in China)

And then a spot of whitewater rafting - 2 days on the steepest river in Nepal, scary mary. We went with Kiki from the trek and was a lora fun....
Ok... enough of acting like gap year students. We hired a motorbike and took off on a mini road trip for some culture. The gnarly bikers....
We drove 4 hours to Gourkha district (home of the British soldiers). Amazing scenery but 4 hours on a bike = soooooooooooooore bottoms for us. Loads of political rallying along the way as the election is on the 10th - mainly from the Maoist party, who have been bullying people into voting for them and campaigners from other parties have mysteriously disappeared.... But we haven't seen any trouble and 2000 temporary police have been recruited to keep the peace (each with a massive wooden stick).

G with Anapurna mountain range in the background (it may look like cloud to the untrained eye)....
We stayed in Gourkha for one night and then went to an olde worlde town called Bandipur (on the old trade route from India to Tibet).
We went to a Hindu temple which was super high on a hill via cable car (the only cable car in Nepal, thanks to the Swiss... we were glad it was Swiss made!). It is a temple where they make wishes and make a sacrifice or offering to god - new couples often wish for a boy or childless couples for a child. GOAT LOVERS AND VEGETARIANS DO NOT READ ON........ sadly goats, chickens and pigeons are sacrificed (luckily for buffalo's they can't fit in the cable car) and it was so bizarre to see people queueing with their offering. People who couldn't afford a live sacrifice would offer a coconut instead!

The cable car price list - second from the bottom is the price of taking a goat up to the temple. They only get a one-way ticket :-(

G in the cable car (no, the chap next to him doesn't work in McDonalds it is a traditional Nepali hat).
Literally hundreds were queuing, many with animals. The poor goats queued so patiently (see below). The god likes black goats or if not they have to have some black on them....
G in front of the queuing pilgrims (the chap to the left has a chicken under his arm - not black though, so not sure whether his wish will come true).
The sacrifices were made inside the temple so we didn't actually see them, luckily. I felt really sad for the animals who were in the queue - but it is such a different culture it is hard to judge and at least they eat the animals afterwards so I guess it is not massively different from being a meat eater (I haven't eaten meat since though!).

Anyways, back to Kathmandu and spent a night in Patan (one of the old Kingdoms of Nepal). The 300+ year old buildings are amazing in Nepal and the main squares in Kathmandu and Patan are full of temples and crumbling old buildings (yep, sounding more like a 30 year old now and less like an 18 year old!).

The main square in Patan (Durbar square) and the old dudes putting the world to rights....
Went to another Hindu temple this morning with yet more sacrifices :-( This time we saw the animals post-sacrifice. A buffalo, goat, duck, chicken and sheep were all offered to the gods and their headless carcasses were outside the temple. NO MORE MEAT EVER AGAIN!!! (G wanted me to put the piccies here but they are not pleasant!)
There were other safe "holy animals" wandering around the temple but they seemed to know that something was up. Check out the lucky holy sheep peeping round the corner to see what the commotion is....
And thats us! We are off to India tomorrow so last night in Kathmanduuuuu tonight. Can't believe we are home in less than 3 weeks - time has floooooooooown.

Anyways, more from India. Love me n G xxx

P.S. Our articles about volunteering in Seenigama are on the website if interested....

http://www.unconditionalcompassion.com/sub/Volunteer_action_in_Seenigama.html

and I wrote an article on another website about our experiences ... http://www.truetravellers.org/default-category/sri-lanka.html

Trekking in Himalayas - photos galore!!!

2008-03-30T01:35:00.000-07:00

We're back! It was a shock getting back to the polluted city of Kathmandu having not seen a car for nearly 3 weeks. We did 19 days solid walking and came back a few days early as we skipped the "rest days" (as it was zero fun resting when it was so coooold).

We had such a great time but it was haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard. We took loads of piccies and have put a selection below (managed to resist the urge to post all 300!!). They are in 3 sections which are the wrong order.... but you get the general idea!!!

Love Jo n G xxx

Part 3 - Dragnag via Chola Pass to Kala Pattar (5,580) and Everest Base Camp (5,350m) and then back to civilisation.
The dreaded Chola Pass, this was one of the hardest parts to climb, the altitude and the carrying ruck sacs and the steepness meant that we would take about 10 steps and then have to stop and recover, otherwise we would get too dizzy. Also we were clambering over a rock fall so constantly on the lookout for falling rocks (give me kinder Scout anyday).

Some places we stayed they would only provide a hot bowl of water for 80 rupees (about 60 pence)....
The gang, after 3 weeks together we knew each others bowel movements and even consistency !!
Me on the top of KalaPattar, this was our highest point and thus most knackerin'. From here we got our best views of Mt Everest and it is where the majority of Everest pictires are taken from (without donning crampons etc). At the top when we had recovered slightly I remember forgetting our height amd when I suddenly got up to walk about had to stop and breathe deeply, very weird feeling, and not too pleasant.
Next to a frozen lake at 5,650m
On the lake, skidding about, much fun
Walking over a glacier, finally heading down from the top of Kala Pattar

Our guides, always streaming ahead, obviously they were more acclimatised than us

Awesome views from every angle.

One of the many many rests we had to take
We met a Dutch guy called Martin, he joined us for one day and we destroyed him, after a day trekking with us he got a bad headache and had to descend to a lower town - oops. I think it was because he had flown in and not had time to acclimatise

The many Yaks we saw en-route, they are used to ferry goods up and down the mountains. And in their spare time they make cheese, we ate a lot of yak-cheese.

The BIG GUY himself - Everest.

View from the top of Kala Pattar - we made it! 5,650m and the thin air made walking a massive struggle. Everest is the one on my head...
SHE RA- princess of power, that aint padding...
Everest towering behind. I have read two books on climbing everest now and I would seriously recommend the Bear Grylls one

Yak with nice ear-rings....
View from Gorak Shep (5,160m) of Everest and Nupste (7,879m) at sunset....
The sun setting on Everest.....
Everest Base Camp - 5,380m and -10 degrees (the dog was cold). No idea why anyone would want to go higher, base camp was enough for us! The expeditions climb in May and already the sherpa climbing teams are setting up base camp, it is a huuuuge logistical nightmare.

Brr base camp....The first part of the climb for people who are trying to summit Everest is called the Khumbu ice-fall, it is one of the most dangerous parts that claims many lives. Its is a slow moving glacier with ice boulders the size of multi-storey houses and is constantly shifting. The best time to climb it is before sunrise because when the sun gets on it it starts to move and crack. The sherpas are constantly working on it providing ropes and ladders to cross the dangerous crevasses. And when they inevitably break the sherpas are up there mending them again. The sherpas are the real heroes of Everest, they are never mentioned however when the teams make it to the summit.

Yaks carrying expedition stuff to base camp....when base camp is in full flow (may/june) yaks and porters also carry human faeces down the mountain to be used as fertiliser for growing vegetables, hmmmm we only found this out after eating much veg...
Sun rise - we were such early birds

Temple at Temboche on the way back down. Sherper Everest climbers go here to get permission from the godess of Everest to climb her....

Brrrr, a lot of time was spent huddled around Yak shit fuled stoves
Tengboche Monestary

Yee hah, nearly back!!!
Greasy hair after 9 days of not washing :-( You have no idea how a hot shower feels after 9 days.....
Porter carrying way too much stuff. I read a story whereby a guy died of altitude sickness below base camp, his body had to be transported down the mountain but rigor mrtis had set in. They tried to bend it but couldn''t so the only option was for them to lean on it and break the spine so as to fold him in two. Then he could be placed in a porters basket and carried down.
Prayer walls with Tibetan Buddhist mantras
We made it! Arrived in Lukla, our final destination - NO MORE WALKING EVER AGAIN! (check out Graham's sweaty arm pits...) Hurrah - in Lukla on the last night enjoying alcohol for the first time in 3 weeks, ahhhhh (well apart from the odd cup of chang - a hideous Nepalese millet wine)
Lukla - 2,800m.
The flight home back to Kathmandu (I was scared). Took 35 mins to fly what took us 8 days to walk, hmmmm.....

Back in Kathmandu. Our guide took us to meet his wife and 3 years old boy at their room in Kathmandu. We had lunch sitting on their bed - they rent one room in which they cook and sleep, it was a shock to see where he lives, especially as he is wealthy by Nepali standards.

Part 2 - Namche to Dragnag via Gokyo and the frozen lakes.......

The Namche was a real turning point for us, above this (3,500m) the altitude was going to affect us more and we were to only walk 5 hour days, as oppposed to 7-8 hour days

A tipple at Mt Everest View Hotel....mainly for rich, lazy Japanese

For the record Jo and I hired our down jackets, however they were so warm that I have since bought my own and also bought my dad one. Roger you lucky man....don''t worry yours is green and black.
Nice hats though, thank you Yaks for your bum hair...

Sleeping with your head torch was essential because the altitude makes you wee more, inevitably in the night too. Something to do with making the blood more concentrated and therefore more efficient with oxygen transportation.

Jo and I having some Sherpa tea, she was looking rough that day

These colourful flags are buddhist prayer flags, used for luck on the mountains. They are absolutely everywhere.
Jo in meditative pose....

Me meditating in a cave, sort of......So far I am onto my 3rd book on buddhist philosophy, but don''t worry I''m not going to start chanting.......just yet

Overlooking a massive glacier, it looks grey because it has been scraping rocks from the sides for years, so the top is rocks but underneath is slow moving glacial ice. Amazingly when we crossed the glacier there were parts which were pure white sand, this is due to the same effect that occurs on beaches, millions of years of erosion on the rocks

A frozen lake, one of 3 in Gokyo. When the wind catches it it makes a kind of distant boomning sound (no idea why), it sounds like there is a drum and base party going on somewhere in the distance
High above the frozen lakes with my chubby wife...;-)

Jo was well pleased with her walking, as you can see
Above 3,500m most of the places we stayed looked like this, pretty drab really, just purely for trekkers. Ice would form on the windows during the night and generally no hot showers, occasionally a bucket, but usually it was too cold to comtemplate washing. Getting out of bed was tough in the mornings, and usually around 6am................next year Hawaii !!

Our guide Rishi, a bit of a nutter really
In the middle of a glacier
White sandy beach in the glacier....weird...

1st half of the trek - Jiri to Namche Bazaar....(Jo) On the first day we took an 8 hour bus journey to Jiri and started our trek on day two. It took 8 days walking to get to Lukla (where most people fly to) and it was super tiring. Our guide Rishie was a legend (especially for me as he helped me carry my bag). We met a Belgian lass called Kiki on day one and spent the rest of the 3 weeks with her and her guide (Raj) which was lots a fun.

The first part was haaaaard work - each day we went up up up and then all the way down again to the bottom of valley, so was a bit soul destroying! The max height was only 3,500 but probably helped us acclimatise for the rest of the trek. This is the old route (pre the flying option) and hardly any tourists still do this route - there was only us three and a crazy Canadian guy was a bit of a lost soul. It was nice to walk through the remote villages - all of the kids rushed over to say hello. Amazing that people have to walk for 3-4 days to get to their houses(Chloe, definitely no taxi option, will mail!) and school kids walk for hours to get to school. We walked about 6-7 hours a day and passed a lot of time by learning super basic Nepali from the guides. Walked along steep hillsides with crop terraces and didn't see any snowey peaks until the 5th day. Went through lots of different ethnic groups but as we got higher we were into Buddhist Sherper territory.

Buddist temple in one of the first villages

More prayer walls and yaks....

And another yak....they carry up to 60kg....
Not sure which day this was, they started to blur into one. Rishie, Graham, Raj and Kiki....

Hurrah, puppy tastic! Saw lots of cool baby animals en route, always a good excuse to stop for a rest!
The highest mountain pass of the first section at 3,500m. It was the first time there was snow on the ground and it was coooooooooooold....

One of the long cold afternoons! We started walking at 7.30am and so arrived at the villages mid afternoon. The routine was the same every day - we had a cold bucket shower and then put on the entired contents of our bag and sat grannies. We played lots of cards and read lots of books - it was so odd being totally away from civilisation. It wasn't exactly luxury... but then we were paying 1-2 pounds a night - there wasn't any heating in any of the lodges (not even a yak shit stove), there was often no running water or electricity and only outdoor "toilets" (holes in the ground covered with sawdust) so getting up in the night was not ideal (and a tiger killed a dog in one of the villages the week before so we were even less keen to venture out at night!).
Cure Sherpa kids - the 8 year old was carrying her younger bro as she helped out in the lodge.

Chang - minging alcoholic drink made from millet
More baby animals, hurrah! (don't think they are massively enjoying being picked up)

Sitting round the warm stove at lunchtime waiting for Daal Baht to cook - our staple diet was rice, lentils and potato curry, mmmmmmmmmmmmmm (especially after 3 weeks). Eating was the highlight of my day and I enjoyed having the excuse of being able to eat as much as physically possible....
There were loads of porters supplies up the mountain as it is cheaper than using helecopter. These guys were amazingly strong and have such hard jobs - they carry up to 100kg by a rope on their heads. Most of the porters are lowlanders from the Rai cast (and sadly some of them were school age boys) - the Sherpers have made a lot of money from tourism and no longer have porter jobs. These guys get paid 2 - 4 pounds a day depending on how much they carry.The porters loads...
More cool Sherpa kids...

Crop terraces - typical terrain for the first 8 days....

We are now back and it is soooo warm compared to the mountains. It is AMAZING to have normal food, running water and a warm shower again. We have spent 2 days seeing the sights in K’du and now off tomorrow with Kiki again to a place called The Last Resort by Tibetan boarder to chill out (cheers sparkle for the recommendation).

Bye for now!! xx

Trekking-tastic, mountains here we come!!

2008-03-09T01:21:00.000-08:00

New chapter for us! We're in Kathmandu. This place is outdoor sports crazy - trying to control Graham in the fake outdoor clothing shops is no small task...

Anyway....we're off tomorrow on a big old trek - just me and G and our guide (who is small and sweet but hopefully strong enough to carry me when required!). We spent ages deciding between Everest region and Annapurna circuit, but have gone for Everest (even though Mark pointed out he has already beaten me there!).

We leave tomorrow and start trekking from Jiri so that we don't have to fly up (felt bad to make an even bigger carbon footprint than we already have - as normally people fly in and out). Its a 24 day trek (in for a penny in for a pound!) - think we will be in need of a good old wash when we get back! We are taking a long route via a mountain called Gokyo Ri (5,483m) and a glacier and then on to base camp. Well thats the plan anyway... but my level of fitness is super low at the moment (especially after our poorly tummies) so we'll see how we get on....

Assuming we survive (only joking parents!) we'll be in touch after the 2nd April!!! (or sooner if we have to turn back!). Off now to get warm clothes galore.

Love Jo xxx

G - boys you would love it....North Face Summit Series Jacket (genuine GBP200, fake GBP20!! The only problem is trying to fit it all in our bag...
x

Delhi, Agra and Varanasiiiiiiiiiiii

2008-03-06T03:47:00.000-08:00

My turn! Am not feeling quite so negative as Graham was (he is now betterererrrrr, phew!) - although I do feel like India hasn't been especially kind to us over the last 2 weeks and we're looking forward to a new chapter in Nepal. I'm entering my 6th day of bum wees :-( but have finally given into antibiotics so hopefully will be on the mend. Graham had it worse than me though (I think it was a bit like man flu....!).

On our way back from the best ski trip in the world we went to the holy city of Haridwar on the Ganges and watched the evening prayers and rituals. We found ourselves sat in amongst thousands of pilgrims chanting and waving our hands in the air with this fella....

And we were splashed with the holywater - which also happens to be one of the most polluted rivers in the world, ideal!

... but after a dose of religous culture we retired to our hotel room for a DVD and burger and chips - sooo nice and easily justified because I was still recovering from being ill in the mountains.

Took a train back to Delhi the next day. Feel like you see the real India at train stations - there are all walks of life from city people on their way back to Delhi to the hundreds of homeless sleeping on every patch of land. Travelled through rural india which is always a depressing sight - lots of mud huts and shanty towns at the side of the tracks and so much rubbish everywhere. It sometimes feels like this country is beyond help, there are just so many people living below the poverty line.

Spent a few days in Delhi in the old town but the hawkers, scammers, traffic, cows, noise, spitting and pissing in the street and fumes started to get us down. The north of India is so much more conservative than the south and especially at night the streets are men only - Delhi in particular feels quite threatening for a woman and I started hiding myself under a shawl to avoid the constant stares (Graham is constantly on his guard watching men around me and the way they oggle at me is getting to him). We retreated to new delhi in the evenings to a few bars and got our western fix in McDonalds so that we were ready to face the rest of India. Did cultural stuff during the day times including Ghandi museum and memorial, Red Fort and Parliament museum.

Travelled through Delhi mostly by cycle-rickshaw but the poor chaps struggled with two fatties so G had to keep getting out to push...

Took morning train to Agra on Sunday. Stayed in a super cheap (4 pounds) and suitably minging guest house - its only saving grace was that it had views of the Taj Mahal from our window. The Taj is as big and impressive as I thought it would be.... however, we didn't appreciate it for long because we were struck down with iiiillness (as per Grahams graphic previous blog entry!!). Managed to muster enough energy to go and see it but it was hard work being away from the loo. But we did get the classic Taj photo...!

Took overnight train to Varanasi (still ill - travelling on trains when ill is aaaaaverage - repeated trips during the night to train loo was not much fun!). We have been in Varanasi for 4 days recovering and mostly hiding from the mayhem of India. Been relaxing by pool and eating a lot of junk western food (3 McDonalds so far for me - its the only food I can trust, but worried I may be supersizing myself!).

Varanasi is super holy Hindu pilgrimage town where people come to die to liberate themselves from the cycle of birth and death. Every morning and night 60,000 people go to the ganges to perform rituals. Here is a Ganges factoid - the river is one of the most polluted in the world; safe bathing water should have no more than 500 foecal bacteria per 100ml, in the Ganges it is 1,500,000. It turns the stomach when you see people brushing their teeth in it...

It was the Hindu festival of God of Shiva yesterday so lots of processions with elephants, camels and kids with freaky face paints (rubbish pictures as camera died mid procession)

The ghats...

Went to the main burning ghat which is the most auspicious place in India to be cremated. We had a morbid curiosity but regretted visiting - seeing the bodies in the pyres is a sight I will remember for a long time (and the smell of burning was not pleasant - especially when our stomachs were already feeling tender!). They bathe the bodies in the water first before cremating them on the bank of the river. If people can't afford a cermation they tie rocks to the body and throw it in. Its really no suprise that the water is so polluted.

So, thats us! Off to Kathmandu tomorrow then into the mountains for trekking and reeeeeeeeeeally looking forward to clean mountain air! Graham is super excited about mountain biking, canyoning, whitewater rafting and paragliding (Matt, thanks for the tip off about the yak attack mountain bike event... I guess am signed up to a few days of looking at bikes, brilliant!)... I really think I may struggle to get Graham back to India.

By the way, our India phone number is 0091 9717654752 (although not sure if it will work in Nepal!).

Hope all well in old blighty, stay in touch with your news on schmemail. Love Jo x

Multiple Bum-Weeees :-(

2008-03-05T07:12:00.000-08:00

I guess it was going to happen sooner or later......

It must have been the lunch at the local Paratha restaurant in Delhi (see pictures below). It was recommended by Time Out, would you believe, so we popped along saturday afternoon and had dahl and Paratha bread (kind of like chappatti but fried in oil) all for about 50p and not another westerner in the place. Jo decided hers was too hot so I finished hers off.

Me in the "restaurant"...

The kitchen....

This was (particularly for me) a VERY low point in our travels so far (even after the ski nightmare). For the last 3 days we have been weeeeing out of our bums (sorry for the squeemish amongst you).

It all started to happen in Agra, on monday we booked into a dingy little hotel but it had great views of the Taj Mahal. Jo started to get worrying rumblings and had to head to the loo sharpish. I was feeling pretty smug thinking I had got away with it, but 2 hours later I followed suit. We both lay in our room just staring into space not moving or saying anything.

I decided to get up and fetch some water as we were running low. My eyes whited over and I started to feel very sick, I managed to get to the bathroom thinking I was about to puke. I realised it was coming from the other end. I then started to sweat, beads of sweat appeared on my face and in my eyes within seconds. I felt really hot so I slipped onto the floor where it was at least a little cooler and wet from the shower. Not sure what happened next but Jo woke me saying "did you just faint" ?

She ran off to get water, like a total legend and I just lay there. I couldn't see anything, just white-out (luckily I had been through this before when my uni house-mate cooked us some dodgy sausages one night so I knew it was food poisoning and nothing worse).

I managed to turn the cold water tap on on the wall and lay under the cold water, fully clothed, just trying to cool down. I suddenly got worried about Jo thinking maybe she had also fainted when fetching water so I tried to call out but had no energy to even shout.
Jo got back with water and I suddenly felt really cold, I had uncontrollable shivers and violent shakes so I lay under the duvet and kept hyperventilating and shaking, this lasted for about an hour.

Jo was an absolute soldier throughout until she got caught short trying to get to the loo...!!
I had a headache for about 12 hours.

It is now wednesday and I still haven't eaten a meal. Jo has managed 2 burgers with fries and a pizza.

We headed off to Varanasi on tuesday on an overnight train, now that was a test of the sphincter. Driving through the crowds in a tuk tuk I suddenly really started to notice the blokes just pissing at the sides of the road, and the spitting they all do regularly, the stench of the raw sewage just trickling down either side of the road and just the general rancid smell of the place. Jo retched at the station because of the smell of stale urine that oozes out of every corner.

So if any of you are thinking of visiting India in the near future, please take on board the fact that it is a rancid festering sh*t-hole.....maybe in a couple of days I will see the funny side and fall back in love with it....((when the antibiotics set in) (Jo hasn't taken any, she wants her body recover of its own acord, did I mention she was a legend)).....
G x

Skiing in India - not recommended!!!!

2008-02-24T02:46:00.000-08:00

Bartlett - happy birthday for 27th Feb! As promised... here the special birthday message - in case you can't read it it says Happy 30th Birthday Matt - (by the way, the 0 is made from cow poo crumbled with Grahams bare hands, the things he'll do for you....! and yes.... we had a LOT of time on our hands in les mountains. and no.... we aren't dossers ;-)

Anyway, back to Indiaaaaaaaaa. We were sad to leave Sri Lanka (tears from one of us as we drove away from the village) but now excited about the thought of 2 months travel. Getting to Delhi was a culture shock - we had forgotten how unbelievable poor and over crowded India is. It is also coooooooold compared to Sri Lanka. We spent one day in Delhi and went to this big old Mosque but mostly shopped for warm clothes. Then we were off en route to the Himalayas.....

Day 1: took over night train from Delhi arriving at Haridwar at 3.15am followed by 9 hour drive into the Himalayas. Twas a looooong journey and the road was crumbling away, so scary at times but amazing views along the Ganges. There were Hundeds of people working at the side of the road rebuilding the bits that the monsoon had destroyed, often women smashing up stones with babies under one arm - mental note to selves never to moan about our jobs again. Drove up through colourful towns perched on the hillside - the higher we got the harsher the climate and the more hardy looking the people were, the towns were very Tibetan looking and goat and donkey tastic.

Me loving the journey, Graham spends a lot of time on the road enjoying his own company - Sarah, this will be a familiar site for you!

Reached the "ski resort" at 3,000m by cable car and were excited about skiing in India. The resort is Auli - India's "premier ski resort" - ok... so we knew India wasn't renowned for skiing but didn't think it would be as bad as it was!!!

We splashed out on "international standard accommodation" as a treat. This is what we were expecting...

But this is what we got...

The front half of the hotel had been demolished ... so we had to pick our way through the rubble to reach it as it (Mum, it was a health and safety disaster!) - without warning the Government smashed it up to make way for a new ski run out the front (for the Asian Winter Games next year!!). Can't believe that the government get away with acting like thugs!

The luxury accommodation turned out to have no heating, which in -5 degrees centigrade was not ideal! We were given a 1 bar heater - we asked if we could have another electric heater but were told that we would soon get used to the cold! So spent our first afternoon shivering in our room wearing the entire contents of our bags.

Another bonus was that there was no running hot water... but we were given a bucket of hot water to wash in. G warming his feet...

G taking a "bath" .... (I've shunk the picture so as not to offend!)

There were also powercuts every half hour. Doing aerobics in our room was the only way to get warm (KB, you'd have been proud of our pendulum and grapevine!). The woman in the room next to us crying because it was so cold. We spent most of the time in hysterics, if we didn't laugh we'd have cried... and we hoped the skiing would make up for it!

Day 2: Our first day skiing...... up and out early doors to get the first lift up. Put on what was described as "the latest skiing equipment" - those of you who are skiers will remember this sight from the late 80's....

But we got to the bottom of the lift only to be told that the lifts weren't opening - bizarrely because of an election(?!) - you can imagine how pleased we were! The Indians didn't see the problem and told us to walk up, as if it was the most natural thing in the world! So we walked up and skiied down 3 times before giving up (walking up a piste is haaaaaard work and the ski down is over all too quickly!).... so spent the afternoon sat inches from the heater in the cold bedroom, brrrr. We thought it couldn't get much worse....

Day 3: .... it did get worse. I was sick as a dog and spent the day in bed :-(

So Graham went out and did the only run that was open on his own (no need for a piste map, even he couldn't get lost).

Day 4: Hurrah, ski lift open and both fit and healthy. Did the one run umpteen times until we were bored. It was a good day though and made up for the other days. Views were aaaamazing ...

After a good first (and last) day skiing we ended up cutting the ski trip short, we couldn't bear the thought of 2 more cold afternoons and evenings confined to our room in the most depressing hotel in the world.

Drove 9 hours back down the crumbling road, thawing out as we went. Stayed in Rishikesh last night at the foot of Himalayas on the Ganges. It claims to be "Yoga Capital of the World" and should be renamed "City with the most annoying travellers in the world". Leaving today to another religious town called Haridwar before back to Delhi. Hoping to go to Nepal next but the fuel crisis is on going so we will seeeeeee!

Goodbye to Seenigama

2008-02-15T18:24:00.000-08:00

It's very sad that we are coming to the end of our time here in Seenigama. We have made many friends and we were just getting the hand of pronouncing kids names but we have to move on...... ;-(

It will be weird not to have kids shouting my name every time I go anywhere on my scooter - being white in this village gives you the right to wave at anyone and they will always wave back (like being on a boat anywhere, you think about it..)

We were on the beach the other day and two kids came up begging, one of them was one of my swimmers, I felt very sorry for him, but he gave me a massive grin and said "hello Gram". Its weird but when we are all in the pool training I tend to forget about what their lives are like at home and it really reminded me. Every day consist of moments like this that bring you back down to reality.

The triathlon was a success....I was worried that no one would show up because in true Sri Lankan style everything was left to the last minute - no one signed up and no one came to the briefing session, but on the day there were lots of competitors. Planning seems to be an alien concept.

The triathlon consisted of a 250m swim to Temple Island and back, then a cycle around the villages (about 5km) and finishing off with a 2km run around the sports field. The competitors were legends and predictably all set off as if it was a mad-sprint, then they were surprised when they were realing in cramps, pains and stitches by the time it came to the run...being their first ever triathlon you can hardly blame them for not understanding the concept of pacing themselves.

The starting line-up ...

What a great swim to start with, it beats the docklands in London anytime...

The first swimmers are out. That is Devil Temple Island in the background. If you are ever robbed you go to the island with some chillies and offer them to the Buddha....then something bad will happen to the robber with 24 hours (like he will get hit by a falling coconut) - its a Kharma thing...

This kid is a legend, the event was for over 14 year olds, he is only 11 yet he came 13th. His name is Nippun and I guarantee he will go pro at some sport in Sri Lanka in the future - watch this space!

The winner in a time of 22mins 34 secs, not bad (all in bare foot too).

My last swimming session was on friday 15th Feb - I was so surprised that loads of the kids got me presents (including some valentines hearts !!) and they were asking me to sign their hands....

I got chocolates, bracelets, necklaces, hand-made dolls, a wooden elephant, some flowers, shells and little hand-written cards and letters.

The most touching, for some reason, was some hand-picked flowers wrapped up with plain paper and a 10 rupees chocolate bar. The fact that these kids have nothing but went to such an effort was so amazing, I almost embarassed myself by blubbing.

My turn (Jo)..........

So after just under 2 months we are moving on next week - we will be sad to say goodbye to everyone and we really hope to return one day. Its been busy finishing stuff off (and feels like it did when I left work work) but lots of stuff has come together. We have actually worked long hours (those of you who think we are dossing!!!) so in some ways are looking forward to another break!

Gill (another volunteer) and I have finished our a donor leaflet which is asking for donations to replicate the Village Heartbeat Centre (a small training and community centre in another village http://www.unconditionalcompassion.com/sub/aug_2.htm ). It is such a good concept - most of my time in English classes was spent at this centre and Kushil (founder) wants to do 10 more in Sri Lanka and then ideally in other developing nations. He has already taken copies of the brochure to Australia so hopefully the money will start coming in!

We said goodbye to the pre-school kids. They did us a leaving dance and sang "My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean", ahhhhhh. Being the softie that I am I wept as I walked away - needless to say G didn't!

Working with the Womens Enterprise has also been loads a fun. About 10 graduates from the sewing classes have been beavering away (for no salary) making new samples from our designs. They keep asking our advice on details.... it feels a bit like the blind leading the blind.... but I guess inputting designs from the Western world is better than the old fashioned stuff that they were making. We bought the material and they have made loads of stuff like make-up bags, purses, cushion covers and tops with lace (although Graham thinks that the tops look like a Milkmaid...) - I am taking them to a contact in Colombo when I leave to see if they can market them in the shops there and maybe one day they will be on sale in the UK!

Beavering away making the lace for the Milkmaid tops....

Some of the new stuff...

I have also put adverts out for new volunteers so hopefully they get more people, as they seem to need outside input to make stuff happen, and finished the report with recommendations for HR stuff (to be honest at times I wished I was a swimming coach standing in the sun with G!).

But it wasn't all work work work - piccie below is a boat trip with the other volunteers to an island with temple and friendly monks....

View from the temple on the island - it was so beautiful and made us want to shave our heads, don orange robes and live with the monks!

The Devil Temple at the end of the road....

.... and we broke our no alcohol rule and had a bit of a big night on Arrak (blurgh), shame on us (sorry villagers).

This is our last weekend and we have been invited to peoples houses to say goodbye. We are leaving in style and staying at Kushils house in Colombo in his absence so we will have his chauffer and chef at our disposal, iiiideal!!!!

And on Friday we're off skiing in Himalayas in IIIiiiiiiiiiiiiindia - a bit of a contrast but also very exciting!!!

(opps, sorry this is so long, well done if you are still reading!)

Goodbye to the village people (not The Village People) ...

Tsunami

2008-02-11T02:17:00.000-08:00

We haven't really written much about the Tsunami, but being as though its one of the main reasons the charity exists, we thought we'd let you know what it is like now.

Nearly 3 years on there is still evidence everywhere of the destruction - most of the houses along the beach road were demolished by the waves leaving behing only rubble. 186,000 homes were destroyed in Sri Lanka. Grave stones line the shore and boats that were washed in land are still where they landed. The least damaged houses have been patched up with plastic but most people have abandoned their coastal houses and many are lucky enough to have been rehomed in houses built by aid workers in-land. 3 new estates were built here in this village by KPMG, Aviva Insurance (a big hand to the insurance industry!!) and Australian Government Victoria. The last people in the village here were re-homed in December 2007, after 3 years in temporary huts - other villages aren't as lucky as this one as they haven't had the benefit of central coordination.

Most of the aid agencies have gone home but there is still lots of help needed, especially when it comes to re-building livelihoods as people had their businesses destroyed. To add to the problem, the tourist resorts are nearly empty so people are really struggling to make a living - I guess the LTTE are the main reason why tourists aren't here - they almost suceeded in bringing this country to its knees (schools have been closed in Colombo for the last week because of the high terrorist threat) but are reported to be weak at the moment so fingers crossed there will be a resolution soon.

Back to the Tsunami.... this is the Estate built by the Victorian Government - they have built it in the style of an Australian estate (Ramsay Street in Sri Lanka, bizarre!) so it looks massively out of place in the village here. Most people have now moved into these houses, but some are still in consultation with the priests awaiting their auspicious move date!!

Everyone has a tale of loss and a horror story of returning to the damage and bodies after the waves had retreated. There are so many horrific pictures of what it was like. The founder of the charity was in the village the day it happened (8 people died in his house, 220 in this village in total) and he immediately set up a relief control centre in what remained of his home - the charity developed from there. 700 people in the village were homeless - apparently supplies weren't a problem but organising people for cooking etc. was the hardest task as lots of arguements broke out... these continued as new homes were allocated.

A train was washed off its tracks in the next village along and the 1,200 passengers were killed. The battered train is still here and this chilling memorial was opened last year to remember the victims.

Children were encouraged to express their feelings through art, the following piccies are in an exhibition near the site of the train disaster (we went to the exhibtion yesterday and it made me cry).

But 3 years later and it isn't all bad - in this village a lot of good has come from the Tsunami as they would never have had so much overseas aid if it hadn't happened - so none of the new facilities such as the Bryan Adams pool, english centres, computer centre, medical centre, womens enterprise, mental health unit etc. would been possible.

The thing we have enjoyed about being here most is the people. Some people see Westerners as walking wallets (which is understandable as they have had so many handouts in the last 3 years) but the vast majority are the friendliest and kindest people we have met. Even when they have nothing they are still so giving - sharing food and buying us drinks for us that they would never buy for themselves. And I know we've said it before but the kids are so amazing - they are super enthusiastic and love any chance to practice speaking English.

The boys queuing for their English classes!

Graham's favourite little swimmer beaming away in her English lesson...

So that's us! Only 1 week left before heading on and we'll miss it for sure - if anyone is thinking of coming out we'd hugely recommend it! (after the current volunteers go there is no one else lined up for the rest of the year so there will be plenty to do!).

Girlie, the cleaner at the centre, looking cool in G's sunnies....

Me and Girlie at her house in the Aviva village...

Swimming and G's big race!!!

2008-02-03T18:41:00.000-08:00

Swimming galore. On saturday they held the annual swimming competition in the village, which was a big event. Graham was lucky enough to spend all day standing in the hot sun starting the races.... I snuck off after about 10 mins - if you've seen one race you've seen 'em all, but Graham knew the kids from swimming coaching so it was different for him I guess.

G presenting the medals...

Sunday was another swimming tastic day - Graham and the teenagers he has been coaching entered a 2km sea-swim in Amblangoda. It was a massive event - 300 entered from across Sri Lanka.

G and the boys of "Seenigama Aquatic Club"!

Check out the cloth swimming cap....

Graham was the only white person which made it easy as a spectator - spot the pale arms...

He did well and finished in just under 23 mins, which put him 9th overall and 1st in the oldies category (over 21's). He was presented 2 trophies (we've no idea why 2) - his Seenigama boys were disappointed that he wasn't 1st overall, so we're be back next weekend for the 2 mile swim to see if he can do better next time!!

Anyway, enough swimming chat!

I am also loving it here. Have also been teaching English, helping at the pre-school and doing other stuff that is more like proper work. Am doing a donor leaflet to help raise more money to build basic computer and teaching facilities in more remote villages (as so much stuff has been done here already that they are now looking to spread a smaller version of this to other areas).

Am also working with a couple of others on the Womens Enterprise, which is hugely interesting. They offer free training in sewing but the women are finding it hard to make a living with these skills. A big problem is that most of what they make is really old fashioned or grim (like lace table cloths or garish clothes) - so we have been helping them with new designs for tops, cushion covers, bedspreads etc (and basically other stuff that we like!). We have also spoken to a guy who owns the Next factory out here (who conveniently is the founders cousin) so and he is gonna send some advisers to help. So they are making the new samples - after which the plan is to market the stuff in Colombo and local hotels and boutiques. Most of this will happen way after I'm gone, but it is good to be involved at the outset.

It is an amazing experience here but also frustrating at times - we have had to get used to "Sri Lankan time", as nothing ever happens on time... if someone arranges a meeting at 2pm it basically means anytime after lunch and before dinner. The language barrier is also a huge issue - most people don't understand English but they don't like to disappoint so they always nod or agree, so you have no idea what is going on half of the time. The work ethic also is pretty much non-existant so it takes ages to get anything done. And communication in general is severly lacking - Graham has often turned up to swim at 7am and found that the others decided upon a different time without telling him. But the positives are far outweigh the frustrations - most of the people are super friendly and welcoming. We can't walk down the road without people stopping us to say hello. And the kids are amazing and super keen to learn and they love just being able to speak English at any opportunity. We have also been invited to a few peoples houses for dinner and were taken on a boat trip by the English teacher the other day.

So thats us! We are safe and well - the LTTE are doing everything they can to cause disruption with 3 bombs in the last two days and more expected today as it is Independence Day. It really seems like the government are fighting a loosing battle - they hope to gain control by April, but it remains to be seen.... However, we feel totally safe here though and avoiding going on public transport (worry not parentals!).

Hope everyone is well at home! x

Mid-Way through this work-malarky

2008-01-30T04:42:00.000-08:00

Well, we are about mid-way through now and keeping ourselves busy....

I (G) am swimming every morning at 7am with some teenagers - we are all entered into two annual swimming events - a 2km sea-swim on 3rd Fed and a 2 mile race on 9th Feb. The races are in the small town of Ambalangoda, just north of here. These boys are doing pretty well considering they couldn't swim a year ago, and the sea can get pretty rough.

I'm also coaching kids between the ages of 5 - 18 in the pool 4 times a week - they are brilliant fun and I have been rewarding the swimmer that put the most effort in with a pair of goggles. They really need swimsuits as well - Speedo donated loads but still some of them still have to wear their undies... however, I don't want to push the boundaries as hand-outs are discouraged.

We are both teaching in English classes most afternoons - it mainly involves getting them talking in English and playing word-type games with them - we have been leaving the important grammar stuff to the actual teachers. People here are able to read and write English but not speak or understand it, which is massively limiting when all decent jobs require fluency in English (sadly even the English teachers can't speak English especially well). The classes are also massive with up to 50 kids.

We've started helping in a different pre-school in a temple a few mornings a week. Playing football with monks at breaktimes is kind of surreal to say the least... It is hugely rewarding though - the school isn't connected to the foundation so they haven't had volunteers before - all of the kids call us "white auntie" and "white uncle".

We took them swimming in the pool here last week - these kids had never been in a swimming pool before and loved it. The pool rules about swimming costumes and hats went out of the window as about 40 of them stripped off and jumped in in their undies. There was lots of splashing, not much swimming and only 2 near death experiences, not bad!

We have gotten out and about at weekends. Last weekend we spent a day doing a cooking course. We learnt how to cook 8 Sri Lankan dishes (future dinner parties will prove whether this day was worth it or not...). It was much fun - we started with a trip to the market in the morning to buy the ingredients. She then showed us how to cook lots of curries and other dishes I can't pronounce. The best part was at the end of the day when we got the chance to eat the fruits of our labour which, even though I say so myself, was bloody lovely (and bloody hot). Mmmmmmmmmm

We've only been on a few nights out - we are just a few km from a touristy town but the contrast between living in the village one minute and then being amongst the tourist tastic bars the next minute is a bit bizarre. And our livers are loving the detox! Drinking is also really frowned upon in the village (they aren't good at drinking socially - people seme to be either tea-total or alcoholics) so we have barely touched a drop... we are gonna be lightweights when we get home!

Pre-school trip and other photos

2008-01-21T05:14:00.000-08:00

We took the pre-school kids to the turtle sanctury today. It was much fun (as much for us as them) - lots of baby turtles who were not loving being handled by 60 kids (they make sure they are strong enough before releasing - I think they may need extra time after today). They released a bigger turtle into the sea who had been nursed back to health, ahhhh.

A baby turtle...

The teachers ...

Other stuff....

Went to a presentation ceremony on Saturday when a bank from Colombo came to donate schools supplies (shoes, uniform, bags etc.) to 50 children in surrounding villages. The kids were amazingly cute and it was so sad and embarassing that they had to go through such a big ceremony to collect basic things that we all take for granted. There were tears at the end from parents and nearly us - it felt wrong being there when we had played no part in it, but they love having token Westerners at such events. We were also asked to give out some of the packages which was even more embarassing...

G in the pool with the iccle ones (well done Bryan Adams for donating it - he is yet to visit though!)...

The beach at the end of the road (we can't pretend that it a hardship being here...). Graham swims here every morning with some teenagers who are training for a 3Km sea swim.

Full Moon - Poya Day celebrations

I'm working too.....honest!!!

2008-01-15T03:17:00.000-08:00

As Dad pointed out it looks like Graham is the only one working, so figured I should add my two-penny worth...

We are loving it here - it took a few days to settle in at first - there are so many people to get to know with confusing names and we spent a few days trying to find out how things work, understand the different projects and work out how to be of any use. The charity has done amazing things and our initial impressions were that it would be hard to help given the amount they have achieved already... but there is still lots to do and so many different ways to be involved. It is great to to be based here for a while and the people are really friendly and welcoming (went to swimming coaches house for din dins on saturday which was an interesting experience!).

Like G, I am also spending the mornings in the pre-school with the iccle ones - singing nursery rhymes, counting to 10, doing the alphabet - not exactly taxing but lots of fun... they are massively cute (when they aren't crying that is!). G and I are gonna to hire a mini bus next week and take them on a school trip to the turtle sanctuary (no Mum, no health and safety issues here!). Have also been asked by one of the English teachers to help on alternate mornings at his pre-school in another village, as unlike this village they haven't had any volunteers before.

Am also helping teach the English classes for the older kids because their spoken English is limited (the schools focus on reading and writing). Not sure why the obession with nursery rhymes but the teacher asked me to teach them some - so have just come back from singing "If you're happy and you know it" to a class of 40 12 year olds, I think they thought I was crazy (surely 12 is too old for nursery rhymes!). They are uber keen though and one by one at the end they came to bow at mine and the teachers feet (poor kids... must remember to wash my feet before the next lesson!)

The charity does lots of other stuff too - all of the projects were set up in a hurry during the frenzy of post-tsunami activity, so a big thing now is making sure that projects are running properly and ensuring that momentum is maintained. One of the main things I have been asked to do is review the projects and make recommendations for improving systems and processes as well as suggesting new ideas - not that I really have a clue... I they saw that I worked for a consultancy and clearly thought I know more than I do! So I have been working with the different areas to help make improvements - including mental health (lots of post traumatic stress following the tsunami), English classes, the pre-school, children's activity clubs and the women's centre (where they train women in things like sewing, cooking etc. to help them set up their own businesses). Am also looking at HR stuff and making recommendations for engaging staff more (it is starting to feel like work work!).

The last thing I am doing is looking into ways to get more volunteers (anyone keen!) and putting together information for potential new volunteers - as there was lots of info that would have liked to have been told when we arrived.

So thats me! Have been surfing a few more times too - am determined to turn myself into a proper surfer, although can't say the learning curve is as steep as I hoped it would be! Eating is also a major part of my day - the food here is aaaamazing.

Graham has officially turned into a fish.

Hope all is well back home, Love Jo x

Work work and more work

2008-01-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

Folks,
Well we are finally settled into our new home for the next 6 weeks. We have a 10 berth dormitory to ourselves which is based on the sports complex so a swimming pool next door and a cricket pitch. The pool is awesome so I am getting Jo into a rigorous swimming routine everyday, she was even up at 7am this morning for 30 laps before b/fast.
Unfortunately I have got a cold (due to being in the pool with the kids for 2 1/2 hours yesterday) so had to pass on the morning swim.
We have both been allocated tasks now from the main man Kushil who set up up this charity using money he inherited from his parents.

The guy is a legend having his own sugar business, but such a big heart because most of his time is taken up with the charity. He set this up 6 years prior to the Tsunami just to help with the village kids who don't have the same opportunities as most of us. (he was from this village but was sent to Columbo for schooling) However when the Tsunami hit things just got so much worse and the charity has had donations worldwide so the work everyone is doing is sustaining the momentum created by the relief efforts from the Tsunami.

Its pretty heartbreaking playing with the kids knowing that every one of them lost a relative or friend and most lost multiples of this. We can, at least, take their minds of it and its not difficult to put a smile on their faces. They are massively positive...........anyway I won't go on !

My tasks are as follows:
To help with the swim training/coaching. All the kids have ever done is swim in the sea with no coaching so their technique is pretty bad. I am working with the coach to demonstrate and encourage them to learn proper techniques. After the Tsunami the sea is demanding some pretty big respect so the kids are mad keen to get good at swimming. This means I am in the pool 4 days a week for 3 hours at a time (I think I have some gills sprouting).

Help out with the swimming galas (when I was a kid every saturday was at a swimming gala so this is second nature......but without any stop-watches)

I am organising a triathlon for the surrounding local villages. Obviously they have never done one so its pretty exciting. After speaking with the swim coach he told me that when they organise swimming galas they literally drive around the local villages with a loud-speaker, how cool is that ?

Helping with the pre-school kids. This is where our superb english teaching skills are required, ahem. 8am to 11am is running round after the little shits making sure they don't kill each other. There are 70 kids and 2 teachers so they need all the help they can get. This morning we sat reciting english nursery rhymes, its amazing how many I still knew.

Help out at the sports centre and produce a report to recommend running it more efficiently. One thing I would do immediately is sack half of the staff cos they spend so much time doing absolutley f*** all. I guess this is just the way things are in SL.

Make the pre-school playground safer - at the moment its a death trap.

They are setting up a dive school to provide employment for the locals. I am sorting out the logistics of this.

That is all.......luckily we are only 2km from a half-decent surf break (5 mins on my 50cc scooter) so any spare time is used wisely.

I will leave Jo to explain her role(s).

Hope everyone is well back in the UK. Please keep us updated with any news or just general chit chat, as we miss you all.
Big love
G xx

Happy New Year!!!

2008-01-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

Came down to the south coast for New Year to the small village of Marissa. Sadly there is evidence of Tsunami devastation everywhere and many houses have not been repaired or rebuilt. It is so horrific to imagine what these people have been through, everyone we meet has been effected in some way.

Spent New Year on the beach with some randoms - lots of vodka (served in 100ml shots!) and fireworks galore. Went to bed at 12.30am, we are just not hardcore these days!

Moved on to beach at Weligama and been relaxing for a few days as we psych ourselves up for work tomorrow! Been surfing (G spent 5 hours in the surf yesterday, he was a prune) and I've even been learning and standing up like a proper surfer (almost) - as you can imagine G is excited about the prospect of having a wife who likes surfing!

We are starting work tomorrow in the village of Seenigama on the South West coast. No idea what we will be doing, but am sure all will be revealed when we arrive! Will be good to get to know local people properly instead of passing through... and we are massively looking forward to staying in one place for 6 weeks - we have stayed in over 20 places over last 4 weeks so being based somewhere will be a welcome change. The project we will be on is... http://www.unconditionalcompassion.com/

Happy New Year! Love Jo n G xx

Adams Peak

2008-01-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

Stayed in a village at the foot of Adam's Peak in the hill country to continue with the pilgrimage theme. It is Sri Lanka's holiest mountain (2,200m) and pilgrimage for all religions depending on which legend you believe - some think it is where Adam first set foot on earth, others think that Buddha's foot print is here as he stepped towards paradise.... but me n G were mainly here for the views and sunrise....

Stayed in lovely guest house for 2 pounds (cheapest yet) but didn't spend much time in bed as up at 2.30am to get to the top before dawn. 5 mile climb and over 5,000 steps - ideal! The route well lit with hundreds of pilgrims - most barefoot, many carrying kids, lots of old grannies being helped up by family members (judging by the speed of some of them I think they might still be up there now). Lots of teahouses along the way so good excuse to stop.

It was so bizarre at the top, literally hundereds of people - it was really cold and many had slept there to get a good spot for sunrise. Well worth it though - aaaaaaamazing sunrise above the clouds and views across the whole of Sri Lanka. It took 3 hours up and 1.5 hours down, and the old legs still ache three days on....

Check out the crowds (and spot the yellow hair)....

Sunrise over t mountains....

The shadow from Adams Peak...

Back down at 8.30am and took bus and train to another town in the hill country for the night. Had to stand on both for 4 hours, not ideal after the climb :-(

Sri Lankaaaaaaaaa

2008-01-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

Spent one night in Trivandrum (busy polluted city) before flying to Colombo on 27th Dec. Headed straight to Kandy through rice paddies and up into the hills - Kandy is an ancient capital on a lake. Sri Lanka is a bit of a culture shock after India - the towns feel much more progressive - sooo much cleaner, no cows in the street and much better roads (although the drivers are worse - saw 4 accidents in our first two days...). The villages are a different story though as wealth distribution is massively uneven.

Had a few nights in Kandy. Couldn't resist a trip to the elephant orphanage.... 60 welefants, sooo cute!

Went to famous Buddhist temple in Kandy which is meant to hold a sacred tooth relic from Buddah (taken from his funeral 2500 yrs ago)... but you don't actually see it coz it is in 6 gold caskets. This temple is a hugely important pilgrimage site for Sri Lankan Buddhists - one chap was so overwhelmed that he fainted... somehow I think the significance of the tooth was lost on us.

Went to tea factory - the workers get paid 70p a day (and the cost of living here is much higher than India) - fair trade tea for me from now on.

After Kandy headed up higher into the hill country to the tea estates. So many tea plantations and colourful tea pickers. The british influence massively evident.

Happy Christmas !!

2007-12-25T06:21:00.000-08:00

Wow....Happy Xmas everyone, although does not feel one iota like Xmas at all, I (G) got sunburnt today having woken up and saw lovely 4 footers rolling into the beach I have spent most of the day in the water (only body-surfing however as the lifeguards would not allow people to hire out boogie boards as the surf was so big!!).

Happy Christmas love from Jo!!! We are thinking of everyone at home!

Anyway, back to the 21st Dec. After the Keralan backwaters we headed to Kollam whereby the plan was to canoe into the backwaters away from the main canals to experience some village life. However everything seemed to conspire against us and the lack of places to stay, (apart from an ayervedic treatment retreat which we stayed at for one night), meant that we decided to move on to Varkala for some beach relaxing and our overall plan to spend Xmas on the beach....

Ayervedic retreat was v peaceful. We didn't actually have any treatment (ayervedic is traditional herbal medicine and preventative treatments) but enjoyed staying in a cottage with a hammock outside that backed onto a lake. Also was able to handle a glow-bug, amazing thing we found outside our room, its ass just glowed!!

On to Varkala - very nice beach with loads of backpackers everywhere, massively touristy but nice to spend Christmas with other people. Groups of young Indian men come on day trips to the beach to stare at tourists in bikinis! Lots of restaurant and shops up on the cliff-top overlooking the beach. In the evening each restaurant displays its catch for the day - blue marlin, tuna, barracuda, squid, shark, red snapper, butterfish to name a few. We have eaten some fantastic fish curries for about GBP2 each (150 Rps).

We stayed in Sea Pearl Chalets which is perched on the cliff edge.... the government wanted to close the Chalets down because the cliff is crumbling into the sea (it is especially dangerous in the monsoon). Luckily the owner chucked a load of money at the authorities who then withdrew their threat - hmmm, comforting. Bribes seem to get you anything in India.

On the 23rd managed to secure some fins and a boogie board so had an awesome session in 3 foot clean waves. And no one else in the water either....

Hired a Royal Enfield for a day on Christmas Eve. A great bike, 350cc, a classic look, they used to be built by the brits when we colonised and after we left the Indians continued to build them. We headed down the coast and found some proper tropical paradise beaches with no one on them except the local fishermen and really sweet children. We came to a Catholic area and everyone was shouting Happy Xmas to us when we were riding along. The villages were preparing for Christmas Eve parties with music blasting out of loud speakers and people dancing in the street. (G helped the local fishermen pull in the net - spot the yellow hair.....)

Bumped into some pals who we met in Ooty and decided we wanted to experience a proper Indian midnight mass so we headed out to a massive Catholic church at 11:30pm (after a few too many G&T's). Varkala is a Hindu town so took taxi to nearest Catholic village. It was massively full-on, 2 hour service all in the local dialect with amazing singing and a lot of kneeling on the floor. At the end Santa appeared dancing and swinging his hips and paraded in a procession around the church.....all in all it was a bit like a weird acid trip, but the locals were very friendly as usual so it was a great experience and at the end everyone wanted to shake hands with us and wish us Happy Christmas.

For Xmas day we are staying in a 5 star hotel, paid for by mum and dad (G's). Thanks Roger and Sue ;-) Its an amazing hotel right on the beach and it will be a while before we see such luxury again. We have had a wicked day on the beach and by the pool. Had fishie Christmas lunch and just about to head out for a fishie din dins (wary of the turkey curry option!).

Happy Christmas! Love from Jo and G xxx

Kerala

2007-12-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

Arrived Kochi in Kerala in the wee small hours and found a homestay. Kochi is a random mixture of Portugal, Holland and England with large Jewish community. Saw massive Chinese fishing nets, old spice warehouses and old Portugese palace from 1500's with amazingly colourful murals (and totally pornographic - e.g. a man with 6 arms pleasuring 8 milkmaids...).

Kochi massively touristy with loads of art cafes and nice hotels - only stayed one night, biarrely we missed the hecticness of other places (think we have got used to the constant noise of traffic and horns).

Kerala is the only decomocratically elected communist state with highest literacy and highest standard of living in India so much less poverty than other states. Hopefully other states will go the same way.

Went to Alleppey next morning which is a hectic market town on edge of the backwaters. The town is in the middle of a 12 day festival so saw procession to temple and music, fireworks etc. Went to fairground in the evening and saw the most dangerously put together rides in the world (I got stared at a lot for being the only female - women seem to retreat into their homes at night and men aren't shy about having a good old stare).

Took houseboat yesterday morning along backwaters with another couple (peaceful if it wasn't for the 6 million other boats... it is massively peak season here). Went past villages and rice paddies. Amazing food and had much fun with the other two. Slept on the boat and back to town this morning.

Its Friday 21st - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM, we will call later!!!!!

Into the hills

2007-12-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Up into the Nilgiri hills of India now in Tamil Nadu, drove through two wildlife reserves to get there and saw monkeys, elephants and deer en route - the smarter animals stayed away from the road!

The Jungle Retreat was awesome place to stay, in the heart of the Mudmalai National Park surrounded by electric fence to keep the tigers and leopards out.......I was wishing I had bought my air-rifle!

It had a great bar area and really friendly place - everyone ate together so we met lots of people. After lunch the staff had time-out which obviously involved a game of cricket (these people are obsessed with the sport). They seemed pretty pleased that an Englishman was so shit at it.

Organised a trek the next day with a guide and another couple (no gun). This meant venturing outside the safety of the electric fence - the comfort we were given is that the big cats rarely come out during the day.....and gladly we saw none, the closest we got was some leopard shit which our guide told us was a day old... In the end the only animals we saw were wild chickens, giant squirrel and one bison - it isn't quite the Serengeti, but then we didn't come here for the wildlife!

In all it was a 4 hour hour trek up to a tea plantation, a welcome cuppa in the village and then 2 hours back down. The people in the village were so friendly - everyone wanted us to take their pictures and show them on the digital camera. Kids appeared from everywhere to wave and practice their English.

Headed to the main town called Ooty that afternoon - it was an amazing journey up through the tea plantations. Ooty is 2,200m high and was properly cold - we had to dig out some long sleeved clothes and trousers... not what we were expecting! It was like an Alpine resort out of season but still with a distinct Indian feel - cows, horses and goats wantering the streets and rickshaws zooming everywhere... This place was a big holiday destination established by the brits in the early 19th century, so lots of old colonial hotels and buildings which are now a bit unkept. It felt like we stepped into a time warp. Had dinner in a colonial mansion recently converted to a hotel and sat by the open fire and Christmas tree. Not exactly real India, but we couldn't resist a festive evening warming ourselves by the fire!

(Dad Neil, we came back down from Ooty on a steam train, you'd have loved it!)

Currently waiting for the midnight train to take us to Kochi (Cochin) in Kerala.....we arrive at 5 am, oh joy.

Jo is still loose but getting better. I had a loose moment but back in the game after a day....

Mangalore and on....

2007-12-14T05:06:00.000-08:00

Alright...... that train we were supposed to catch to Mangalore turned up an hour late, I reckon we'll need to get used to India's pace of life and generel lateness for everything.....

On the platform a western women in all the 'india' gear started playing bongos, and she was shit....I think I am going to have to try and be more tolerant of 'traveller' people.....they just seem like a bunch of tossers, but I had long hair and wore beads once so........

We got on the train and realised our 2nd class, non air-con ticket was a rip-off - the man had charged us 5 x the actual price of the tickets... The train carriage was like a morgue, one open carriage with bunkbeds like book shelves and people lying everywhere (and it totally stunk as the toilet was close-by). Locked our bags to our "beds" and slept for what felt like 10 mins. Arrived at Mangalore at 4:30am - we had been told 7am so you can imagine how happy we were to be on the station in what felt like the middle of the night.

Saldly so many homeless people at the station and around the streets of Mangalore sleeping on any patch of ground they can.

People are eager to help - we stood about looking lost and lots of people came to our rescue. A few hours later we were on bus towards Mysore. 5 1/2 hours on a bus through the mountains that rattled and bounced around so much our arses left the seats - the roads here are mental, huge craters and we were amazed that the bus made it. Amazing scenery though, rice paddy fields and rural villages with dogs and pigs and little kids running around.....and always people have a smile, at first they just stare but if you smile at them they give you a big grin and wave.

Mysore is cool - went to a huge extravagant OTT Palace built in 1930's with materials imported from around the world. Also went to an amazing colourful market selling insense and oils. Cows just wander the streets, so many smells and smiley folk. We got accosted in the Palace grounds by a bunch of school-kids who surrounded us wanting to shake hands and ask "which country you from?". Some people asked us if they could take our photo - it felt that we were more of a tourist attraction than the actual Palace.

Off tomorrow for a few days in this rainforest retreat http://www.jungleretreat.com/ for some trekking action.

....still solid, Jo is a bit loose.....

First week

2007-12-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

Folks,

Arrived Mumbai, all very surreal, drove past some of the slums to get to our hotel, this place is unbelievably poor, makes us feel guilty about our privileged lives.

Spent first two nights in Mumbai adjusting to the heat, noise and mayhem that is India. Went to Gandhi museum which was very interesting, what a top bloke he was, I (G) reckon India needs a new Gandhi to sort out the massive contrast between the wealth of people here.

Ate in Leopolds (for and Shantaram readers), a couple times, saw some old temples 7AD, which consisted of digging out a hole in the rock/hillside and carving outs massive statues in there. Monkeys everywhere.....

We were approached by a casting person who asked if we wanted to be extras in a bollywood movie, they needed westerners in the background of a wedding scene. We had to decline as we were leaving that night. Have since spoken to someone else who was approached and accepted. They left at 7pm and did not actually film until 10 am the next day, no food or water provided !! Glad we declined now.....

Took an overnight bus down to Goa on Sunday, need to acclimatise and build up a bit of a base tan to get rid of the winter paleness. Slept about 3 of the 14 hour bus journey, Jo of course slept like a baby, I've got a feeling I will be spending a lot of time watching Jo sleep over the next 4 months..

Spent 3 days on a beach....managed to find the only surfboard in the whole of GOA (so it seems) and spent the day catching lovely 2 footers rollling in. Jo read a sad book and cried a lot, thankfully that book is finished so I'm going to find her a happy book next.

The food here is amazing, lovely curries and seafood.

Overnight train tonight to Mangalore, hoping to get to Mysore soon and sort out a trek into the hills.....

...all solid so far, fingers crossed.....

Welcome

2007-12-10T06:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome all.
This is our first attempt at creating a blog so please bear with us. I hope you don't find it too dull !!
Cheers
Jo and G
x