Anna and Heidi Explore

Woo, we're writing this with some delay to the events but as I'm sure you can appreciate finding the time is sometimes tricky considering all the adventures we're having! So, where we're we? ...Of course it wasn't all plain sailing from Siem Reap to Bangkok...what we thought was to be a five hour bus journey turned into ten hours because the Cambodians stopped at every restaurant or shop along the way...literally! The bus was packed and everyones massive rucksacks were pilled up along the back and down the central aisle, meaning that when we stopped every half hour the entire bus had to clamber over the bags and seats for some fresh air and a much needed leg stretch. And then most arduous border crossing to boot...they held Anna back for about 20mins to simply stare at her passport??? Frustrating but nerve racking nonetheless! Then you are met with a billboard sized notice about all the convictions that deserve the death penalty...welcome to Thailand!!!
So that aside the Thailand part of our journey was much more luxurious and to the point...we arrived in the infamous and touristy Bangalampu area in the evening and we're immediately ripped off for a taxi to a hotel, but you have to hand it to the cabbies, they'll rob you blind right infront of your eyes without even flinching! Oh dear...I hope we havn't put a downer on this for you...really it was an interesting day and the journeys are always full of suprises which make you laugh, and cry.
After a refreshing cold shower we went for a wander only to find we'd landed in a great spot...2 mins from the crazziness of the Khao San Road! The next few days were spent in a Bangkok stupor of shopping and drinking. Although we must tell you about the Ping Pong show! A must on any tourist trail, or so we thought. We did feel a little uneasy when we turned up outside a dodgy back street entrance with no signs, thankfully two other westerners pulled up alongside making us all feel a little more sure of the situation! We went in, paid the extortionate entrance fee (because apparently you can stay as long as you like) and sat down in the front row in a darkened room wih mirrors on the walls and a small stage in the middle. The show incorporated much of what we expected, the women pulling razor blades, flourescent strings, popping banabas and pouring coke from themselves! The actual ping pong bit was another thing altoghether, the poor girl missed the glass she was aiming for and it flew across the stage and rolled down the sari of the woman sat next to Anna - way to close for comfort, and then she had to climb naked off the stage and retrieve it...also to close for comfort, everyone in the front row was in hysterics because my face was a picture of pure horror! The rest of the show didn't go according to plan and we left seeing way more than I've told you about (for now) and feeling really bad for the women and man (maybe you can guess what I don't want to put into writing?!) because they all looked so bored and really didn't seem to be enjoying themselves at all. We should have gone to the 'Lady Boy show'!
When we finally got our act together we booked ourselves another lovely bus journey to Ko Phangnan...for the Full Moon Rave. Our travelling buddies Ted and Sarah went to Ko Tao for a few days whilst we went straight to the party destination, and lucky we did because we met with two crazy ladies from Manchester...Lou and Jess. We all settled in a quaint bamboo bungalow right on the Sunset Beach in Haad Rin...and let the debauchery begin! We spent 6 days in Haad Rin, maybe too long but with the sun blazing, soft sandy beaches and the buckets flowing we weren't able to leave. We can't go into too much detail about those 6 days other than they we're filled with pool parties, beach parties, lots of people and did I mention buckets?! The highlight was on the Full Moon Night when we we're raving our socks off to some much much needed Drum and Bass and the set was as if we we're in Birmingham and Jordan was behind the decks, it took us back and made us miss everyone but it was the best music we could have wished for on such a wicked night.
Following that fun filled week we needed to douse ourselves in relaxation, so we headed for Ko Tao, the next island north, otherwise known as the diving capital of Thailand. We did dabble and didn't really get the rest we longed for as we we're in a classroom for a day learning all about Scuba and then did our training in Scuba skills in a shallow cove then four open water dives in two days. Diving was a very surreal experience for both of us but we really loved it and took to it really quickly, the sites of the coral reefs and tropical fish we're amazing (I'm affraid our photo's don't do it justice). Unfortunately Heidi suffered really bad sea sickness on one of the rougher days, so Anna ventured for her complimentary fun dive alone... This last dive was the best, as the weather had settled we could go further out to sea and to deeper locations, even a few sharks we're spotted (not by Anna). We did see Blue Spotted Stingrays, the rare Yellow Box fish, Eels, lots of Angel fish, Trigger fish, baby Barracuda, Clown fish, anemones and many many types of coral and other fish we can't remember off hand. Hopefully we will get to build on our experience by diving at other sites along our travels. Aside from the diving Ko Tao was a very small island with one main town brimming with good bars and late music, we spent our evenings chilling on the beach soaking it all in.
Leaving Ko Tao was a bit of a mission as its so isolated, but we opted for the night boat...and immediately wished we hadn't when we clapped eyes on it! It looked like a very run down oversized dive boat and when inside we saw two mattresses running down each side of the upper deck, big abough for about 25 people to sleep side by side with not an inch of personal space to speak of! Luckily the storm the Thai's had try to scare us about didn't materialise that night (the end of the Philliphines cyclone)...but we did get the bad weather in Krabi which was our detination for the next few days. It rained and it poured for almost 48 hours so we twiddled our thumbs and drank cocktails to pass the time with Lou and Jess who we'd managed to catch up with again before they departed to California. Whilst the rain stopped for an hour or so we managed to jump on a boat to see some caves and a brilliant fish farm where we could hold the box fish and blow fish, watching it inflate is pretty hilarious.
When the sun finally decided to put its hat on again we had decided to go on a little tour of some of Krabi's best islands, a brilliant day was spent visiting Tup, Poda and Chicken islands for snorkelling, swimming and sunbathing and then to Princess Cave for a suprising and interesting discovery. The limestone cliffs and stunning sandy beaches amongst torquise sea made for one of our favourite days. Hat Ton Sai was our destination and came on good recommendation, a very small beach on the mainland with bamboo shacks, fire twirlers and rock climbers, it was very very relaxed and gave us the opportunity to check out nearby Railay beach (voted Thailands best). Our next trip took us away to Ko Phi Phi for even more Sun and Sand and another day of exploring uninhabited islands, finishing off at Maya Beach 'aka The Beach' for a little dip before out into the open water for a spectacular sunset. Phi Phi was great for the beach bars with a little circus performance and another lot of fire dancing thrown in...they love their fire here...and we loved watching it! Again, we we're liking it so much we stayed for a week and found it hard to leave, but visa's being what they are, they have to run out at some point and so we found ourselves darting back to Bangkok to make our way to Laos.

photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/annaandheidi/ThailandTheIslands

Onwards and upwards. Until Laos! xx

It all began in the vast and varied capital Phnom Phen, with Sarah and Ted. A sprawling city with one of the biggest contrasts in wealth we have seen. For this reason it was difficult to fall in love with this town. The river is dotted with swanky bars and cafe's for the city's elite and western clientel but a few blocks in and the squalor is astonishing in comparison. Baring in mind Cambodia's horrific and very recent event's at the hands of Pol Pot and the Khymer Rouge we visited S-21 and the killing fields. S-21 was the school turned prison used for holding and interrogating hundreds of people for crimes as unfathomable as wearing glasses, speaking a foreign language or being able to read. The killing fields were 10km out of the city and need no explanantion other than the victims from S-21 were taken there for their fate. All in all it was an eye opening and gut wrenching day.

Our journey then lead us to the small dirt track town of Ban Lung in Ratanakiri Province. We travelled for 12 hours in a mini bus crammed with far to many people for the number of seats, along a dirt track made up of pot holes the size of kitchen sinks. Amazingly we got there in one piece and so did our vehicle. We settled into the quiet town pretty quickly with a beer and a bbq dinner. The following day we sorted ourself a driver to explore the surrounding waterfalls. We hopped into the back of his old dusty toyota and drove through villages of stilt houses and forests of rubber trees that the villagers farm earning themselves a staggering low wage (because a rich westerner has bought the land and they have to pay to farm it!) The waterfalls were vast and beautiful but we were to scared to jump the 7m drop into the murky rain disturbed lake at the bottom! Our day ended at the stunningly serene crater lake, a perfect circle of clear shrimp infested water surrounded by jungle. We did brave it and worked on our water acrobats to swim in the soothing warm water. Always watching the shrimps who were after our toes! After a tiring day we returned for a deep slumber to prepare for the return bus journey to Phnom Phen. We made sure we'd got our own seats on a big bus for the return journey, but in true Asian style this did not mean it was going to be a smooth ride! The bus left at 6:30am, not long after 7 there was an almighty crunch and the bus came to a halt at the side of the road and we all piled off to see what was up. It turned out it was one of the back wheels...literally lifted up off the road from a broken back axel and protruding from the wheel arch! We spent hours in the growing heat all trying to cram ourselves in the ever decreasing shadow created by the bus, playing cards and dancing in the road, all to the Cambodians amusement! All the men sat huddled around the back wheel looking at it...we attempted a few times to ask what was happening but their reply was a blank stare, so after the first couple of hours had passed we feared we would spend the rest of the day there! After the third hour hasd passed and we'd stopped looking at oncoming vehicles for rescue we heard an engine stop close by, and turned to see...a replacement bus...our luck was in! We all moved quickly to get our bags and a seat on our new bus, which turned out to be much nicer and had air con!!

We must be gluttons for punishment because as soon as we arrived back to PP we booked another all day bus to Siem Reap. A lovely arty crafty town with lots of markets, the old, new and night markets - all selling the same thing obviously but with three girls and Ted we managed to cruise them all! The restaurants we're great, particularly the 'Dead Fish Tower' which housed multiple make shift levels of tables in a maze conrcted by ladders and a crocodile farm! We fed the greedy monsters with tiny fish but we're unnerved by their eager jaws! The night life was also pretty happenning so we got stuck into swanky cocktails and not so classy buckets of voddy!!! Siem Reap is a lovely place in its own right, a small chilled town on the riverside, but obviously the main attraction of the area is Angkor Wat.
When we eventually managed to drag ourselves out of bed early enough we journeyed to Angkor Wat for sunrise. It was truley spectacular, the sky growing in orange and red, lighting the dusky clouds as the sun rose behind the infamous towers of the mighty Angkor Wat Temple. We spent the morning venturing the 'small circuit' of the sprawling empire, taking in the many temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom - the larger of the ancient cities particularly stunning was the Bayon temple, made up of hundreds of faces of 5 different people from the ancient kingdom, it grows into a towering point in the middle - also seen in Lara Crofts Tomb Raider!

Our Cambodian journey ended on a definate high, and quite different from the somber beginning in Phnom Phen. Cambodia certainly is a country of extremes but endering nonetheless.

Don't forget to check out our photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/annaandheidi

Off to Bangkok we go!

Vietnam blew us away, everyday was an adventure and we're sad to have left. After a slightly extended and traumatic stay in Hong Kong (visa issues!) we arrived in the chaotic and crazy city of Hanoi. We stayed in the Old quarter where you cant move for fear of motorbikes running you over and Bia Hoi (draft beer) is 10p a glass on the street corners. Obviously we spent most of our time on these street corners passing the hot and sunny time away in child size plastic chairs and nibbling on the odd kebab.
A cultural visit on an over night train took us to a mountain region near the chinese border to a town called Sapa. We spent three amazing days trekking through Bamboo forest and teetering on the edges of thousands (literally) of Rice Paddies. After our first day of trekking we arrived at our home stay in the village of Lao Cai where we stayed with a Han tribe family. To rejuvenate ourselves after the long trek we went for a slightly dangerous swim in the river - almost being washed away by the strong current and heavy storm that had just started! The six of us in our group and our guide Chung who was from the 'Black Mhong' tribe all helped to cook a delicious feast of spring rolls, and various chicken and vegetable dishes, and our hosts insisted we wash it down with several shots of rice wine, before we knew it the karaoke had begun!! (We found out the next morning that all the other groups staying in surrounding homes in the village had heard us, how embarrassing!) After the rain the second day of trekking proved more difficult to manage the muddy tracks, so a few bruises later we arrived at an amazing waterfall, we were able to walk half way across it to appreciate the stunning view. The tribes we saw and met we're Black Mhong, Red Mhong and Han, and that wasn't all of them. Their clothes we're truley beautiful, many layers all hand made and hand decorated with a cross stitch style to make each tribe and then each member individual. Sapa is one of the few remaining places where they still wear their tribal clothes, and not just for the tourists. We we're also lucky enough to be there on a Saturday when the 'Love Market' takes place, all the local tribes people meet and dance near the church in Sapa town and a couple gets together by the men throuwing an object into the air and the a woman catches it, this is enough for them to have babies together (but does not require a commitment like marriage!) From beggining to end of our three days we never spent more than two foot away from a tribes woman trying to chat us up so that we would buy some of their handicrafts, although beautiful we would have spent our entire travelling budget from the sheer number of them and the way they hassled you! We left Sapa tired, our purses a lot lighter and having had the best few days of our trip so far.
We returned to Hanoi for a brief shower before hopping on a bus to Halong Bay. Our home for the next few days was a junk boat cruisng round Halong Bay in the South China Sea (also when the devastating earthquake happened in China, we had a lucky escape, especially since only two weeks earlier we had been climbing mountains in the Sichuan Province). The landscape was made up of thousands of limestone karsts jutting from the clear green sea, we stopped for some kitsch cave exploration and swimming (only brief due to jellies) and a first for both of us - sea kayaking. Going off on our own we explored the floating fishing villages and almost managed to ground ourselves on some rocks! The fishermen had some really cool fish, squid, crab, catfish and a prehistoric shelled number - no idea of its name. We also managed another trek on Cat Ba Island, to one of the highest Karst peaks, through rainforest and narrowly avoiding a snake...our guide reasuringly informed us he didn't know if it was venomous! Cat Ba Island was amazing and the landscape made us feel like we we're in 'Lost'! A short stop on Monkey Island which was quite far out to sea in the Bay was like setting foot on a deserted island.

After returning to Hanoi once again we hopped on a (supposedly) sleeper bus down the coast to Hue ('supposedly' sleeper because the beds are long enough for children and you have to put your feet in a box which is restricting and does not induce sleep!) Hue was a lovely small town with cheap acomodation and many ancient tombs and pagoda's which we explored solo on motorbikes. We also stumbled upon an incense making village, so smelt like cinnamon for the restof the day. We stayed there a few days to chillout after our fun filled week all over the north. Next on the agenda was Hoi An, the UNESCO listed cultural town on the Thu Bon River. We ventured into a tailors and had some clothes made and wandered around the old streets before discovering the stunning white sandy beach...it started to rain when we set foot on the beach so we scarpered to Nha Trang where the sun was blazing, the drinks we're cheap (and travellers we're everywhere!) We ended up staying for a week because we we're having so much fun. We'd also bumped into an Irish couple we just couldn't get rid of...Sarah and Ted who we'd first met in the visa office in Hong Kong and then several places in Vietnam! (We ended up staying together for the rest of Vietnam, Cambodia and now Thailand). We hired two (non) Easy Riders (the local motorbike tour guides) for a day trip to the salt mines, some waterfalls (where we we're supposed to swim, but jumping of 6 meter high rocks into unknown water didn't take our fancy when we got there!) and the cities Buddhist Temple and sitting Buddha. The salt mines we're not really in operation because of the time of year but we also went to a salt cooking factory where they refined the salt by cooking it in massive vats in a scorching hot warehouse, it was really cool to see. Another day was spent on an Island water park which was great as we had the whole park to ourselves. We tried out Parascending over the bay - it was really fun but scary when they stopped the boat and we descended towards the deep blue!
After Nha Trang we took off on our own again for a few days to the mountain town of Dalat, it was quaint and kitsch with different coloured buildings and apparently is the Honeymoon destination for the Vietnamese - not sure we appreciated its romantic charm but we had a lovely time all the same! Dalat was also a refuge during the war years of the 60s and 70s due to its remote and difficult location (our bus broke down several times with burst tyres and overheating on the way up!) The highlight for us was the 'Crazy House' Vietnam's answer to Gaudi...a higgeldy piggeldy maze of concrete mastery. Uneven floors, odd shaped rooms and even odder beds all conected to make an Alice in Wonderland style experience.
From Dalat we made our way to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City, a wonderfully vibrant city with lots of sites, the War Memorial museum (truly harrowing) with photo displays, peoples accounts of horrific experiences and a display of weapons and vehicles and some of the prison cells used for interrogation. A visit to the Cu Chi tunnels was enlightening, telling us of the Cu Chi guerrilas who lived beneath ground to hide from the Americans, their intricate maze of tunnels with living quarters, escape routes, secret fresh air holes and kitchen chimneys and booby traps was astounding and very impessive, we had a crawl though a small section of the tunnels and its frightening to know that the Cu Chi guerillas spent weeks at a time in these tiny spaces.

So thats Vietnam in a nutshell, we're onto Cambodia next so keep an eye on the blog for further tales from the travelling two.

Lots of Love xxxxx

We arrived in Beijing on Tuesday 8th April, only to find it shrouded in heavy cloud and drizzle – rather different to the 35 degrees we had finally gotten used to in India. The language barrier was immediately evident as we tried to get a taxi to our hostel. The cabbies are supposedly learning English in preparation for the Olympics, with only four months to go it seems they have left it quite late! A few looks at the trusty lonely planet and a few phone calls later and we were on our way, and to our surprise arrived at the correct destination.

We had a few days to relax before our guided tour started, so we explored the delights of Beijing. A highlight was wandering the narrow winding Hutong or alleyways that house a quarter of Beijing’s population. This was a great way to see the locals living their daily lives and we saw lots of surprising things on sticks ready to eat! As yet we haven’t indulged! Due to the Olympics much of Beijing is being remodeled and we suspect much of the original character has been destroyed in favor of flashy skyscrapers and modern housing in the hutongs. Another favorite in the Chinese capital was ‘798’.

A massive disused factory saved by the art community and transformed into a hive of activity…there are literally hundreds of galleries of all sizes displaying a wide range of modern art…we really appreciated this after a month of traditional Indian art, and felt more in touch with the world after a full afternoon. Anna's favorite was some amazing photography related to the Three Gorges Dam Project by Yang Yi, showing towns underwater. Heidi favoured the colourful bubble paitings by someone we can't remember!
We met with our group, 12 of us from all corners of the world (Aus, NZ, UK, USA and Norway) and our guide Amy is from Chongqing. We went for a group meal to get acquainted and everyone was great (and young…we had feared a group of oldies as that is all we had seen in previous days around Beijing!) And thankfully Amy doesn’t use the matching group hats and guide flag that is so common in Chinese tours! Group visits included the famous Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, an acrobat show and the Great Wall. We ventured out of the city for a few hours to get to the less touristy part of the great wall, to walk from Jinshanling to Simatai, a very hilly 10km section…there were many, many, many steep, narrow and often non-existent steps between each of the 30 towers we trekked. An exhausting day but how cool to be able to say ‘we’ve walked on the Great Wall of China’!
Another afternoon in Beijing was spent visiting the 'Beijing Huiling', a community project for adults aged 16-45 with learning disabilities. We we're really impressed that this kind of work, helped by volunteers and donations was happening here. The trainees make arts and crafts to sell so they can make their own living and contribute to society. During our visit they cooked us lunch taught us calligraphy and performed some songs including jingle bells.

Our first train journey took us to Xi’an in Shaanxi province to see the Terracotta army…and those of you who said India would prepare us for anything we right! The trains in China are so much cleaner and comfier with a supply of fresh pillows and duvets – its very odd to be using duvets again - a cosy luxury we hadn’t realized we’d missed so much. After bland Beijing, Xi’an was a breath of fresh air, a smaller city with a buzz about it that the whole group loved. We explored the Muslim quarter and some great markets and celebrated a birthday in style with a fancy meal, cake and a Chinese karaoke disco! The Terracotta Warriors were pretty cool too…a few miles out of Xi’an itself they were discovered by accident by 3 local farmers in 1974, whilst digging a well. Now one of the farmers spends his retirement signing copies of the official book! Each of the warriors (over 7000 found so far) are individual, right down to the tread on their boots and once finished the artist and soldier they were modeled on were killed along with those who constructed Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi’s tomb – the man responsible for the new 8th wonder of the world. All of these people were killed to keep the location of the tomb a secret – it appeared the Emperor was slightly paranoid about his enemies in the west. The purpose of the tomb and warriors was to protect the Emperor in his afterlife as it is thought he believed he would continue his reign past death, which is also the likely reason for burying 3000 concubines alive around his tomb…nice guy! It all made or a great day.

Panda's was next on the itinerary so we travelled far and wide again to Chengdu in Sichuan (yep like the beef!) The Panda's we're amazing (although we couldn't help thinking they looked like humans dressed as animals!), we arrived for feeding time so a few of them we're full of activity...they spend most of their time sleeping so we we're lucky. The babies we're almost 1 year old and really playful and if you donated enough money you could hold one! We learnt that 9 baby Panda's were born at this breeding centre last year so help to save the Panda is on its way. The evening followed in true Sichuan style with the 'Sichuan Opera and face changing'. The show was great, the costumes we're very colourful and very ornate and they show delivered a range of Sichuan cultural performances from hand shadows to chinese instrumental solo's and th face and costume changing finale where the artists change the colour of their outfit and mask in a split second before your very eye's, it was most impressive.

After Chengdu we travelled to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha then onto Emei Shan to stay at the Bao Gao monastery. The landscape was now completely different as we had left the cities for the extraordinarily green and lush countryside. We climbed Mt Emei (by cable car!) to the Golden Summit that was 3100m above sea level and we could tell the air was getting thin. Heidi became a bit of a celebrity when about 10 chinese tourists wanted their picture taken with her. We then descended the mountain only to have to walk up it again to Hongchungping, the second monastery we were staying in. The walk was beautiful stepping through streams and up through the leafy mountains before it ended in misery... not really its just that we had to climb 1200 very steep steps to reach our destination. It is only after completing it that we can say it was worth every step because our location was so remote and swathed in emerald - it was breathtaking. Unfortunately the heavens opened the following day so our walk down was a bit wet! We spent the afternoon in the hot springs to recover - a treat we would highly recommend. Our journey took us onto Chongqing to board our accommodation for the Yangtze river cruise. The boat was much plusher than we had anticipated, and took us through the three gorges and to the Ghost City. The Ghost City decides the fate of your afterlife, whether you spend it in heaven or hell! All of us passed the tests to prove we were "good guys". In the evening all of us girls drank enough red wine to get Heidi singing 'Hotel California' at karaoke! The following day (a little fragile) we travelled through the five ship locks of the Three Gorges Dam, before we toured around it. The project isn't quite finished yet, but next year the water levels will have risen by a further 20-50 meters in some places submerging some of the beautiful landscape we have seen and displacing hundreds of thousands of people (the new towns built to house the displaced are completely uninspiring communist concrete monstrosities).

Yangshuo was our favorite place with amazing countryside covered with huge limestone peaks. We took a cruise down the Li river and a bicycle ride through the countryside to explore the landscape. One of the girls wasn't very confident on a bike so she hired a moped and cheeky Heidi a managed to blag being her chauffeur for the day, so had an easier ride than the rest of us! It was great to be out and about and the sun came out to join us, a rare sight on our Chinese tour. We also climbed Moon Hill, another 800 steps up (they love their steps) and then a half an hour trek up the steepest slipperiest muddy and rocky track to the highest peak. All this in three weeks, it has been tiring but an amazing adventure and we have made some great friends.

Hong Kong!!! Our trip finishes in a very diverse city, the buildings aren't beautiful but they are pretty staggering and the mountains make for a unique back drop. We said goodbye to our group after three very comfortable weeks, we all shared one last dinner together. Group dinners (company rather than food) has been one of the highlights of our trip. Our guide Amy always chose a wide selection of dishes, and we've tried goose, duck, pork, chicken, tomato, egg, beef, squid, lotus fruit, fish and lots of greens in every combination imaginable! We also tried the pork filled steamed dumplings for breakfast - not the same as a sausage! One of the most exciting culinary adventures was the Sichuan hotpot. A large pot sits on a burner in the middle of the table, half is a spicy sauce and half is mild. You choose your ingredients and cook it yourself before dipping in a self made seasoned oil, choices of seasoning included garlic, salt, and an old favorite msg!

Our stay in Hong Kong was longer than expected, due to the mayday holiday we couldn't get our visa's for Vietnam until after the weekend, so we kind of blew our budget a bit but it was nice to relax a bit more in such a chaotic city! And gave us a second opportunity to visit the top of Victoria peak and watch the city come alive after sunset.

Tomorrow brings a new day and a new country...

(p.s. check out our pics on http://picasaweb.google.com/annaandheidi)

We finally arrived in the tropical paradise of Goa. We spent a day in the capital Panaji which was very chilled and had beautiful colourful architecture remiscent of europe and lots of windy side streets to explore. The following day we missioned the local bus service up to Anjuna beach to celebrate Holy. Holy is a festival celebrated all over India where people have a great time throwing colours (powder paint) over eachother, everybody gets involved and its a real blast. A group of about 10 children attacked us from all sides and we ended up purple, green, pink, yellow and blue!!
Desperate to chill from the manic rate at which we had been travelling so far,we set ourselves up in Anjuna for 6days. The atmosphere wasnt what we were expecting - as the place was still in the aftermath of the tragedy of the english teenager. There were a few parties going on but they were eventually shut down by the police, one night we were listening to live music in a restaurant called 'Janet and Johns' following an immense seafood buffet and the police came in and shut it down at 10pm!
The first half of our week in Goa was spent in monsoon style rain which didn't allow us to get much sun, but as soon as it cleared up we got enough sunburn to last us the week. We hired mopeds to explore the north coast, Heidi taking control of the bike and loving every minute of it (even Anna commented on my excellent driving!)

Mumbai was our next stop, we travelled on the konkan express railway with some guys we met at the station, and ate like kings, it was some of the best food we ate whilst in India!! The trains are amazing with snacks, main meals, chai, coffee, cold drinks and all sorts of wierd and wonderful nik naks on sale. We also had a tranvestite join the train and come and harass Anna for 10rupees, he was really agressive. They go up to the Indian men and try to embarass and shame them into giving them money, sadly this usually works (but not on us!)

After hearing horror stories about Mumbai were glad to say none of them are true, we thought Mumbai was beautiful and clean with lovely recognisable architecture and an exciting buzz. It was evident it was and international and sophisticated city (we could tell that from the price of beer if nothing else). We visited the caves on Elephanta Island and spent our last night as bollywood stars! We were recruited by a western talent scout to be extras in a Bollywood film, we were picked up at 5pm, drove for 3hrs through horrendous traffic which made Anna sick and unable to work (she spent the night on the back seat of the car and was a prime target for lots of mosquito's!) Meanwhile Heidi boogied away with the other extras in a party scene in a Hindu film called 'Careful my dear'. After the slightly traumatic experience we got a few hours kip and borded a train to the north.

Our first stop was Udaipur in Rajasthan. Home of James Bond Octopussy, a beautiful mountain city surrounding the lake. We visited Monsoon Palace in the Sajjan Garh wildlife sactuary which was also one of the locations where James Bond was filmed. The palace was set on top of a distant mountain range, we watched a beautiful sunset, with panoramic views of Udaipur. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner at a Boutique hotel and had wine and a delicious meal of chicken and goat next to a pool on a roof top with views of the Lake Palace! We felt very extravagant and decided to return the following day to use the pool! We both got a henna and some new clothes to restyle ourselves as proper travellers!!
Next on the agenda was Jaisalmer. We booked what we thought was to be a luxury sleeper coach, but really our tiny double booth served only as a hard trampoline for the full 8hours of our journey, our bodies lifted several inches into mid air many times - Im sure you can appreciate how bumpy the Indian roads are! After a night of torture that we thought would never end, we finally arrived in the desert town, home of the golden sandstone fort and camel safari's. We booked a 2day safari, setting off at 7:30am we drove 50km into the Great Thar Desert. Our camels were called Cola and Johnny, Heidi's camel was hilarious with a wonky face and a bad temper! After a few hours trekking we stopped for lunch, our two guides Karim and Gagan cooked us lunch of magic chips, onion pakora, chappati's and spiced vegetables - very delicious, and eated in desert style with our hands. A further few hours and we were in the sand dunes right next to the Pakistan border. The sight of the dunes was amazing and it was very surreal to think we were actually in a real desert! We set up camp for the night exploring the dunes and sleeping under a million stars, it was the most beautiful sight and not one we will ever forget.
Camels are a very bumpy ride, and the experienc wouldn't have been complete without the spitting and farting for good measure!

Having spent so much time in the south we hadn't left ourselves long for the north so we had to scarper quickly to Delhi and Agra before our departure. Delhi was a shocker, having thought we'd seen all India had to offer we arrived and were taken aback by the rubbish and sight of people using the train tracks as public loo's right before our eyes. Delhi was bigger, dirtier, smellier and far busier than anywhere else (almost more than everywhere else put together!) and we were pretty glad we didn't have much time there. A short stint in Agra also gave us time for the Taj Mahal, this is truely a beautiful monument and we felt our India trip was strangely complete after seeing it. It really doesn't disappoint and is exquisite in the attention to detail in the carving of the marble and design of precious stones used for detail.

So to sum up!...India was everything we were and weren't expecting, the people are beautiful honest friendly and always helpful and once you get over the amount of rubbish every sight you see is full of amazing colour and vibrancy... Anything can happen and it always works out, (that is the beauty of travelling) and it did many times...

India...we'll be back! xx