Hello there!
It's been a while since I wrote a blog - the main reason being internet access in Japan cost an arm on a leg, so I was never on long enough to write one! We are now in the beautiful city of Auckland in New Zealand staying with friends of Jake's parents. It's been so nice staying in a proper hosue eating proper food for a change.
Anyway, I feel a quick overview of Japan is in order. When we first arrived in Tokyo 3 weeks back it was a culture shock to say the least. Their train system is extremely efficient but extremely comlicated so it took us a while to work out how to get around. The hostel we stayed in on our first night was disgusting so we were glad to get out of there. Overall, I have to say Tokyo was a little disappointing. I expected it to be as good, if not better than Hong Kong. But really it reminded me of London, except without the sights. In other words it's a massive bustling city without many things to see. We did have some excellent meals out there though - my favourite being a teppenyaki restaurant where they cook all the food in front of you. Yum!
Next we spent a night in a little place called Nikko which has a famous cluster of beautiful temples and shrines set in the hills. Then we took the train up to the Japan Alps where we spent a few days touring around Nagano, Matsumoto and Kamicoche. The scenery was beautiful in the Alps and we did lots of hiking - plus Matsumoto castle was a real highlight. Whilst in Nagano and Matsumoto we were lucky enough to stay in 'Ryokan' which are traditional Japanese Inns. You basically sleep on a futon and you get your own robe to wander around in ... fab! We also visited a couple of 'onsen' which are basically natural hot spring baths. Only draw back is you have to go in naked!!
The train to Kyoto was long and tiresome - it took about 6 hours to get there in the end. But once we got there it was worth it as it's a great city. Much better than Tokyo in my opinion! We stayed near the train station which was convenient so we could see the sights quite easily. Once again Kyoto was temples, temples and more temples - but some of them were just incredibly beautiful. The highlight for me though was when we visited the Gion district, we managed to spot 11 real life Geisha! Apparently it's really rare to see just once, so we were incredibly lucky.
After spending three days in Kyoto we went to Nara for a day. What a wonderful, quirky place! Here we saw Todai-ji temple which is the biggest wooden building in the world, and inside is the larges enclosed Buddah in the world. It was awesome! The best thing about Nara though is the deer! There literally hundreds of them everywhere and they are so tame. We also visited an absolutely idyllic Japanese garden . But Jake had an accident while we were there... he opened a bottle of coke and for some reason the lid flew off the bottle and hit him in the cheek! All I saw and heard a loud bang and Jake shouting "SHIT"... I thought he has been shot! Luckily it only cut him a little bit. Good job it didnt get him in the eye.
Next on the list was Hiroshima - probably the place I most wanted to visit in Japan, obviously because of the history. What really struck me about Hiroshima is how green and modern it is and the people seem so happy and positive! For some reason I expected it to be all doomand gloom. We spent at least 4 hours looking around the amazing Peace Memorial Museum, which told the history of the atomic bomb and told stories of the aftermath. The museum was set in beautiful grounds in the epicentre of the bomb, and there were lots of memorials to the dead. The most famous building there was the so-called 'A-Bomb Dome', the only building in the whole city that has been left in the state it was in after the bomb. I spent a bit of time sketching it from the other side of the river.
The following day we took a boat across to nearby Miyajima which is famous for its bright orange floating tori shrine. Then we went to Matsuyama for a night which is actually not on the main island of Honshu, it's on the island of Shikoku. It's a really pretty city and we went up to see the castle thats perched on a hill right in the centre. That evening we went in another onsen... bliss!
A couple of nights were spent in the mental city Osaka. We visited one part of called 'America-Mura' where teens parade around in American gear. I'm afraid some of them look rather silly with their orange skin, fake blonde hair and hot pants. It doesnt look quite right somehow.
Our last stop (before flying out from Tokyo) was Mount Fuji! We got a bus up to the 5th station which is about half way up the mountain last Thursday afternoon. Then we started to climb it. It was gruelling to say the least, and at some points we were pretty much rock climbing! That evening we stayed in a mountain hut about 2,500 metres up. Then we resumed climbig at 4am the following morning having had roughly zero hours sleep. The views were incredible though cos the clouds had cleared - you could see all the way down the mountain and across the landscape to other distant mountain and towns. We arrived at the summit at 8am absolutely exhausted, but then the only way was down again! I know it sounds strange but the journey back down was about 10 times harder. This was because the path was made of rubble, was quite steep, and zig-zagged really repetitively down the mountain. I found it physically but mostly mentally draining. By the time we reached the bottom at noon, we all almost collapsed.
So that's Japan in a nut-shell! Will try and write about Kiwi-country soon
Miss you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Hong Kong and Macau
Hello from HK - the best place we've been to so far by miles!
We arrived in Hong Kong last week - it was such a culture shock!! It's soo busy with neon lights flashing everywhere, but it's so vibrant and colourful. I absolutely love it here. Accomodation's quite expensive here so we're staying in a big complex called "Chungking Mansions" - it's like something from an American Gangster movie. The complex is full of hostels, cheap Indian Restaurants, and immigrant accomodation... lovely. Not the most glamorous of locations: we have a TINY room with 2 beds crammed into it, but it has a shower with hot water and air-con. And, it's only 5 pounds a night each which is half what you'd pay anywhere else.
It's been quite cool cos we've been meeting up with some of Jake's old work mates. Matt works as a english teacher out here and he's been taking us round all the sights - we went up 'The Peak' on Saturday and saw the view by night across the whole of HK. One word - amazing. The most beautiful city I've ever seen. He's also taken us out to sample the night life which is also brillant: I've never seen so many bars in one place! The best one we've been to is a Russian bar which has an ice room inside, where you drink vodka shots!
Two more of Jake's work colleagues, Cat and Pete, are also on holiday in HK this week so we've been meeting up with them loads too. Last night a huge group of us went to the races and it's the most fun we've had in ages. I spent about $100 in bets (about 7 pounds) but I won about $190!! So overall I came away with 8 quid! How brilliant is that?! Everyone else either lost money or broke even so I did really well :-)
Over the weekend we went to Macau which is the gambling capital of Asia and it's also home to the biggest casino in the world: "The Venetian". It was so big it even had a canal inside it!
Today me, Jake and Si are gonna look around a few museums and then we're meeting up with Cat, Pete and Matt for dinner. Then we're going to see a laser show which lights up the whole of HK harbour. Cant wait!
It's such a hard life... every day feels like a Saturday and I dont want it to end!
Miss you all as ever though. We're off to Tokyo on Saturday so I'll try and write from there to let you all know what it's like.
Love Emma xxxxxxxxx
We arrived in Hong Kong last week - it was such a culture shock!! It's soo busy with neon lights flashing everywhere, but it's so vibrant and colourful. I absolutely love it here. Accomodation's quite expensive here so we're staying in a big complex called "Chungking Mansions" - it's like something from an American Gangster movie. The complex is full of hostels, cheap Indian Restaurants, and immigrant accomodation... lovely. Not the most glamorous of locations: we have a TINY room with 2 beds crammed into it, but it has a shower with hot water and air-con. And, it's only 5 pounds a night each which is half what you'd pay anywhere else.
It's been quite cool cos we've been meeting up with some of Jake's old work mates. Matt works as a english teacher out here and he's been taking us round all the sights - we went up 'The Peak' on Saturday and saw the view by night across the whole of HK. One word - amazing. The most beautiful city I've ever seen. He's also taken us out to sample the night life which is also brillant: I've never seen so many bars in one place! The best one we've been to is a Russian bar which has an ice room inside, where you drink vodka shots!
Two more of Jake's work colleagues, Cat and Pete, are also on holiday in HK this week so we've been meeting up with them loads too. Last night a huge group of us went to the races and it's the most fun we've had in ages. I spent about $100 in bets (about 7 pounds) but I won about $190!! So overall I came away with 8 quid! How brilliant is that?! Everyone else either lost money or broke even so I did really well :-)
Over the weekend we went to Macau which is the gambling capital of Asia and it's also home to the biggest casino in the world: "The Venetian". It was so big it even had a canal inside it!
Today me, Jake and Si are gonna look around a few museums and then we're meeting up with Cat, Pete and Matt for dinner. Then we're going to see a laser show which lights up the whole of HK harbour. Cant wait!
It's such a hard life... every day feels like a Saturday and I dont want it to end!
Miss you all as ever though. We're off to Tokyo on Saturday so I'll try and write from there to let you all know what it's like.
Love Emma xxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
The Three Gorges and Shanghai
Hello
Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote - some internet cafes block this website so I'm unable to keep up to date with my blog.
We're now just over half way into our tour of China. The last time I wrote, we were just about to visit the Terracotta army. It was really interesting to see - thousands of them were built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang to guard over his tomb - apparently he was a bit mental. We also saw the man who discovered the first Terracotta warrior - he's a big celebrity in China!
Our next stop after Xi'an was a 2 night cruise down the Yangtze River to see the Three Gorges which we started on Monday 1st June. Ironically, two girls we bumped into on the trip went to Jake's school in Halifax! - we ended up getting on really well with them and spent most of the trip with them.
The Little Three Gorges was one of the highlights. We travelled down a tributary of the Yangtze river to see them in a hydrofoil. The gorges were much more narrow than on the main part of the river, but the cliffs shot up from the water just as far, 40o metres or so. We had a cabin on the boat so we slept on it. The next day, we got up quite early to have a dragon boat race! Slightly random. Then we walked along a sort of floating pontoon along the cliff edge with turned into steps which went into the gorge. The views from up there were amazing. We then made our way back down and watched a rather bizarre Chinese play. We were just about to get back on our boat when we noticed a really long wire stretching between the two sides of the gorge... with a man on a unicycle riding along it! To make it even more strange, someone was hanging off the bottom! To top off the trip, we visited the Three Gorges Dam - soon the gorges will be no more as they will be flooded with water. We're quite lucky that we've seen them as they'll be gone forever - quite sad really.
Next on the list was the bright lights of Shanghai - a slight contrast from the calm and serenity of the Yangtze River. We spent 4 days here in total and managed to cram quite a bit in. My birthday on Saturday was good fun - we visited the tallest building in China, the Jin Mao tower and went up to the top! In the evening, we went out for a Thai and then some cocktails :-) The next day was great fun because we went up another one of the towers, the Oriental Pearl. The views were even better from here as it was night time.
We are now in Hangzhou which is an hour from Shanghai and we're spending one night here. It seems like a beautiful plac - really green and it boasts one of the most famous lakes in China. Only problem is is bucketing it down with rain so we cant really go anywhere :-( Hope it clears up by tomorrow. Tomorrow night we're heading back to Shanghai so we can catch a plane to Hong Kong the next day! Can't wait.
Miss you and will try and write soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote - some internet cafes block this website so I'm unable to keep up to date with my blog.
We're now just over half way into our tour of China. The last time I wrote, we were just about to visit the Terracotta army. It was really interesting to see - thousands of them were built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang to guard over his tomb - apparently he was a bit mental. We also saw the man who discovered the first Terracotta warrior - he's a big celebrity in China!
Our next stop after Xi'an was a 2 night cruise down the Yangtze River to see the Three Gorges which we started on Monday 1st June. Ironically, two girls we bumped into on the trip went to Jake's school in Halifax! - we ended up getting on really well with them and spent most of the trip with them.
The Little Three Gorges was one of the highlights. We travelled down a tributary of the Yangtze river to see them in a hydrofoil. The gorges were much more narrow than on the main part of the river, but the cliffs shot up from the water just as far, 40o metres or so. We had a cabin on the boat so we slept on it. The next day, we got up quite early to have a dragon boat race! Slightly random. Then we walked along a sort of floating pontoon along the cliff edge with turned into steps which went into the gorge. The views from up there were amazing. We then made our way back down and watched a rather bizarre Chinese play. We were just about to get back on our boat when we noticed a really long wire stretching between the two sides of the gorge... with a man on a unicycle riding along it! To make it even more strange, someone was hanging off the bottom! To top off the trip, we visited the Three Gorges Dam - soon the gorges will be no more as they will be flooded with water. We're quite lucky that we've seen them as they'll be gone forever - quite sad really.
Next on the list was the bright lights of Shanghai - a slight contrast from the calm and serenity of the Yangtze River. We spent 4 days here in total and managed to cram quite a bit in. My birthday on Saturday was good fun - we visited the tallest building in China, the Jin Mao tower and went up to the top! In the evening, we went out for a Thai and then some cocktails :-) The next day was great fun because we went up another one of the towers, the Oriental Pearl. The views were even better from here as it was night time.
We are now in Hangzhou which is an hour from Shanghai and we're spending one night here. It seems like a beautiful plac - really green and it boasts one of the most famous lakes in China. Only problem is is bucketing it down with rain so we cant really go anywhere :-( Hope it clears up by tomorrow. Tomorrow night we're heading back to Shanghai so we can catch a plane to Hong Kong the next day! Can't wait.
Miss you and will try and write soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Saturday, 31 May 2008
I can now write blogs in China!!
China's obviously not as Communist as I first thought as I'm able to access my blogs in Xian. So here's my first from China! xx
First I need to update some of you on my last few days in India. We spent our last week in Delhi, which was so welcome because it was so Westernised compared to the rest of the country. I know that sounds a bit uncultured, but after eating so much dodgy food a few KFC's and Pizza Huts went down a treat. We also spent the day in Agra which is where the Taj Mahal is. I know it sounds like a cliche but it really is 100 times more amazing in real life. It is absolutely enormous and the designs on the marble are so intricate - it seems almost impossible that anyone could have built it. Anyway, our journey to China ended up being a total nightmare. We were supposed to fly from Dehli to Colombo then from Colombo to Bangkok, but our flight was diverted. So we ended up having to fly Delhi - Colombo - Bangkok - Beijing. By the time we arrived at the youth hostel on the 25th May feeling like zombies. Our time in Beijing was awesome though... it's such a modern city and so vibrant despite the communism that's still prevalent. We visited all the main sights - the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, The Summer Palace. But the highlight (obviously) was the Great Wall of China. The wall is divided up into lots of different parts and we decided to get a tour bus to the one that's furthest away from Beijing at Jinshanling. The reason was because this is the most unspoilt least touristy part of the wall, and you're able to trek along it to a place called Simatai. It was a gruelling journey to say the least. Some parts of the wall were in their original state so were crumbling away and other parts of it were really really steep so you had to climb loads of stairs. In total we walked a total of 10 kilometres - I feel bloody fit now!! The views are absolutely breathtaking from the top though - you're right in the mountains so the scenery, even without the wall being there, is amazing. After we'd finished our trek, to get back down to the bottom we had to take a zip wire from a bout 200 foot up in the mountains... I was absolutely shitting myself at first... but I conquered my fear and bombed it down to the bottom! It was awesome!! Another quick point - I have bought my birthday present!! We went to a camera shop in Beijing and I found my perfect camera - a bright pink Sony CyberShot with a touch screen. It's a bit like an IPhone. It was 200 quid but it would have been a lot more cos we got some money off it. Jake's putting some cash towards it and I'll use my birthday money to pay for the rest. My old camera was fine but Jake and Si's cameras are so brilliant that mine seemed quite out of date. Now I have the best camera... hah! We arrived in Xi'an, our next leg of our China trip, this morning by sleeper train. What luxury that was compared to the sleepers we got in India! We had our own cabin with 4 bunks in it, air con, really comfortable bedding, our own tv screens... and not a cockroach in sight! The main reason we have come to Xi'an is to see the famous Terracotta Army (we're going on a special tour to see them tomorrow). But, today we had a brilliant day just exploring the city itself. Xi'an is surrounded by huge grey city walls and you can go round them by bike - so that's what we decided to do! There were tandems available, so we rented one tandem and one normal bike... it was hilarious cos we took it in turns to ride on the tandem! I'd never been on one before so when I first went on it I was wobbling all over the place, but in the end it was so much fun. In the end we cycled 13 kilometres... so after doing that at walking the Great Wall, I reckon I could run the marathon in the Beijing Olympics!! (?) So what's in store for the rest of our China tour? Well, on the 1st of june we're going on a 3 day, 2 night cruise down the Three Gorges. Then we're getting a sleeper train to Shanghai.... so that's where I'll be for my birthday!! Cant be bad eh? Cocktail night it is, even if I have to drag the boys kicking and screaming!! ;-) After Shanghai I think we'll get an internal flight to Guanzhou, in the south, then we'll spend the last week doing Macau and Hong Kong. Cant wait!! Anyway, sorry this is so long!! Had a lot to talk about. We're having the time of our lives - I'm sooo glad we've decided to do this. Sorry this is a group email but I will send individual emails very soon... I'm getting death stares from other people who are waiting to use the computer in the internet cafe!! Missing you loadsAll my love, Emma xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
First I need to update some of you on my last few days in India. We spent our last week in Delhi, which was so welcome because it was so Westernised compared to the rest of the country. I know that sounds a bit uncultured, but after eating so much dodgy food a few KFC's and Pizza Huts went down a treat. We also spent the day in Agra which is where the Taj Mahal is. I know it sounds like a cliche but it really is 100 times more amazing in real life. It is absolutely enormous and the designs on the marble are so intricate - it seems almost impossible that anyone could have built it. Anyway, our journey to China ended up being a total nightmare. We were supposed to fly from Dehli to Colombo then from Colombo to Bangkok, but our flight was diverted. So we ended up having to fly Delhi - Colombo - Bangkok - Beijing. By the time we arrived at the youth hostel on the 25th May feeling like zombies. Our time in Beijing was awesome though... it's such a modern city and so vibrant despite the communism that's still prevalent. We visited all the main sights - the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, The Summer Palace. But the highlight (obviously) was the Great Wall of China. The wall is divided up into lots of different parts and we decided to get a tour bus to the one that's furthest away from Beijing at Jinshanling. The reason was because this is the most unspoilt least touristy part of the wall, and you're able to trek along it to a place called Simatai. It was a gruelling journey to say the least. Some parts of the wall were in their original state so were crumbling away and other parts of it were really really steep so you had to climb loads of stairs. In total we walked a total of 10 kilometres - I feel bloody fit now!! The views are absolutely breathtaking from the top though - you're right in the mountains so the scenery, even without the wall being there, is amazing. After we'd finished our trek, to get back down to the bottom we had to take a zip wire from a bout 200 foot up in the mountains... I was absolutely shitting myself at first... but I conquered my fear and bombed it down to the bottom! It was awesome!! Another quick point - I have bought my birthday present!! We went to a camera shop in Beijing and I found my perfect camera - a bright pink Sony CyberShot with a touch screen. It's a bit like an IPhone. It was 200 quid but it would have been a lot more cos we got some money off it. Jake's putting some cash towards it and I'll use my birthday money to pay for the rest. My old camera was fine but Jake and Si's cameras are so brilliant that mine seemed quite out of date. Now I have the best camera... hah! We arrived in Xi'an, our next leg of our China trip, this morning by sleeper train. What luxury that was compared to the sleepers we got in India! We had our own cabin with 4 bunks in it, air con, really comfortable bedding, our own tv screens... and not a cockroach in sight! The main reason we have come to Xi'an is to see the famous Terracotta Army (we're going on a special tour to see them tomorrow). But, today we had a brilliant day just exploring the city itself. Xi'an is surrounded by huge grey city walls and you can go round them by bike - so that's what we decided to do! There were tandems available, so we rented one tandem and one normal bike... it was hilarious cos we took it in turns to ride on the tandem! I'd never been on one before so when I first went on it I was wobbling all over the place, but in the end it was so much fun. In the end we cycled 13 kilometres... so after doing that at walking the Great Wall, I reckon I could run the marathon in the Beijing Olympics!! (?) So what's in store for the rest of our China tour? Well, on the 1st of june we're going on a 3 day, 2 night cruise down the Three Gorges. Then we're getting a sleeper train to Shanghai.... so that's where I'll be for my birthday!! Cant be bad eh? Cocktail night it is, even if I have to drag the boys kicking and screaming!! ;-) After Shanghai I think we'll get an internal flight to Guanzhou, in the south, then we'll spend the last week doing Macau and Hong Kong. Cant wait!! Anyway, sorry this is so long!! Had a lot to talk about. We're having the time of our lives - I'm sooo glad we've decided to do this. Sorry this is a group email but I will send individual emails very soon... I'm getting death stares from other people who are waiting to use the computer in the internet cafe!! Missing you loadsAll my love, Emma xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
We're in Delhi... thank god!
Hey!
Well it took a few days but I'm fully recovered from my horrible bug ;-)
We spent Sunday at a posh hotel's pool in Jodhpur as we wanted to pamper ourselves before our horrific train journey to Delhi. And it was just that. What we didnt realise when we booked the tickets was we'd actually been put on a waiting list for seats cos the train was so busy. So when we got on the train there was only one sleeper seat available for all three of us!!! This was for an 11 hour train journey: 7.30pm - 6.30am. It was the most horrible night ever. Looking back, it makes me laugh cos we were all trying to get into different positions to sleep on one bed. RIDICULOUS. Needless to say we didnt sleep at all.
So, when we checked into our hotel yesterday morning we had a few hours kip, before heading to 'Connaught Place' for lunch. I couldnt believe how Westernised it was - modern shops and restaurants everywhere. I was soooo happy when I saw a McDonalds, TGI Fridays, Subway and a Pizza Hut. We opted for Pizza Hut for lunch - it was soooooooooo yummy and welcoming. we spent the rest of yesterday looking round the shops, drinking coffee at a cafe, and topped the day off at a nice 1940's style restaurant. What we've seen of Delhi we really like so far, as it's a great mix of Indian and Western culture. Think we're going to do a bit of sight seeing today around Central Delhi, then tomorrow we're catching the 5.30am train to Agra... TO SEE THE TAJ MAHAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cant wait.
I'll write very soon. Love you loads and Loads! xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Well it took a few days but I'm fully recovered from my horrible bug ;-)
We spent Sunday at a posh hotel's pool in Jodhpur as we wanted to pamper ourselves before our horrific train journey to Delhi. And it was just that. What we didnt realise when we booked the tickets was we'd actually been put on a waiting list for seats cos the train was so busy. So when we got on the train there was only one sleeper seat available for all three of us!!! This was for an 11 hour train journey: 7.30pm - 6.30am. It was the most horrible night ever. Looking back, it makes me laugh cos we were all trying to get into different positions to sleep on one bed. RIDICULOUS. Needless to say we didnt sleep at all.
So, when we checked into our hotel yesterday morning we had a few hours kip, before heading to 'Connaught Place' for lunch. I couldnt believe how Westernised it was - modern shops and restaurants everywhere. I was soooo happy when I saw a McDonalds, TGI Fridays, Subway and a Pizza Hut. We opted for Pizza Hut for lunch - it was soooooooooo yummy and welcoming. we spent the rest of yesterday looking round the shops, drinking coffee at a cafe, and topped the day off at a nice 1940's style restaurant. What we've seen of Delhi we really like so far, as it's a great mix of Indian and Western culture. Think we're going to do a bit of sight seeing today around Central Delhi, then tomorrow we're catching the 5.30am train to Agra... TO SEE THE TAJ MAHAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cant wait.
I'll write very soon. Love you loads and Loads! xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Friday, 16 May 2008
A poorly post from Jodhpur..
Hello all,
This is just a very quick blog from me to say we decided to get a train to Jodhpur yesterday instead of delhi. This is because we couldnt change our flights from the 24th May... yesterday's train took about 5 hours, and unfortunately I felt really really ill the whole way to Jodhpur with a very bad stomach and a high temperature - I havent been able to keep any food down, even if it's really plain food, without needing to run to the loo. Today, I slept until about 12.30pm but woke up still feeling rotten - but Jake and Si insisted I needed to try and get some food down me. At about 3pm we found somewhere to eat - I just had some orange juice and a piece of toast but 5 minutes later I had to run to the toilet to be sick! I really do feel so rotten - the food here does not agree with me at all, and I'm starting to lose lots of weight which really isnt good. I've got some anti-biotics now so hopefully I will be better soon.
Anyway, sorry to write about so much doom and gloom but that's all thats really happened in the last couple of days! I cant even begin to tell you how much I miss British hygenic food... I think one of the reasons I keep getting ill is the hygeine standards are generally quite bad here
Miss u all, as always
from a very poorly Emma xxxxx
This is just a very quick blog from me to say we decided to get a train to Jodhpur yesterday instead of delhi. This is because we couldnt change our flights from the 24th May... yesterday's train took about 5 hours, and unfortunately I felt really really ill the whole way to Jodhpur with a very bad stomach and a high temperature - I havent been able to keep any food down, even if it's really plain food, without needing to run to the loo. Today, I slept until about 12.30pm but woke up still feeling rotten - but Jake and Si insisted I needed to try and get some food down me. At about 3pm we found somewhere to eat - I just had some orange juice and a piece of toast but 5 minutes later I had to run to the toilet to be sick! I really do feel so rotten - the food here does not agree with me at all, and I'm starting to lose lots of weight which really isnt good. I've got some anti-biotics now so hopefully I will be better soon.
Anyway, sorry to write about so much doom and gloom but that's all thats really happened in the last couple of days! I cant even begin to tell you how much I miss British hygenic food... I think one of the reasons I keep getting ill is the hygeine standards are generally quite bad here
Miss u all, as always
from a very poorly Emma xxxxx
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Thank god we didn't go to Jaipur sooner...
Hello all!
We're all safe and sound! As I'm sure you've all heard, 6 bombs went off in the touristy areas of Jaipur yesterday evening. We were chilling out at our hostel in Pushkar, when the manager put the news on TV - we didnt understand because it was all in Hindi. But then the manager said "You're not planning on going to Jaipur in the next couple of days are you?" We said "Yes, we're going on thursday." She said "I wouldnt if I were you as there's been a massive terror attack there!" We couldn't believe it! If we'd gone to Jaipur a couple of days earlier, we could have been there when the bombs went off... pretty scary thought.
Anyway, thankfully - we weren't there and that's the main thing. Only thing is it's thrown our travel plans out a bit as we only have Delhi and Agra to visit, yet we have 10 days until our flight to Beijing. So, we're thinking of going to Delhi tomorrow and maybe trying to reschedule our flight to the 20th may instead of the 24th. Mind you with the massive quake that's just happened in China, do we really wanna go there right now??!!
We are now in the holy city of Pushkar in Rajasthan - one of the only places in the world which follows the Brahmin religion. A bit like Udaipur, the town is set around a huge 'holy' lake. A priest blessed us when we went down to see it yesterday- it was all a bit strange cos we had to recite this chant, thow flowers in the water, and then he stuck some red paint with rice in it to our foreheads! Lovely! It looked like we'd been shot in the head. Anyway, we were a bit annoyed cos he said we could make a donation of our choice but he was really pushy and we ended up giving a fiver each!! An expensive blessing - so I hope it bloody works.
Pushkar's a nice place but there's not really much to do - I'm looking forward to seeing all the sights in Delhi...
I'll try and write very soon!
Loads of love, Emma xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We're all safe and sound! As I'm sure you've all heard, 6 bombs went off in the touristy areas of Jaipur yesterday evening. We were chilling out at our hostel in Pushkar, when the manager put the news on TV - we didnt understand because it was all in Hindi. But then the manager said "You're not planning on going to Jaipur in the next couple of days are you?" We said "Yes, we're going on thursday." She said "I wouldnt if I were you as there's been a massive terror attack there!" We couldn't believe it! If we'd gone to Jaipur a couple of days earlier, we could have been there when the bombs went off... pretty scary thought.
Anyway, thankfully - we weren't there and that's the main thing. Only thing is it's thrown our travel plans out a bit as we only have Delhi and Agra to visit, yet we have 10 days until our flight to Beijing. So, we're thinking of going to Delhi tomorrow and maybe trying to reschedule our flight to the 20th may instead of the 24th. Mind you with the massive quake that's just happened in China, do we really wanna go there right now??!!
We are now in the holy city of Pushkar in Rajasthan - one of the only places in the world which follows the Brahmin religion. A bit like Udaipur, the town is set around a huge 'holy' lake. A priest blessed us when we went down to see it yesterday- it was all a bit strange cos we had to recite this chant, thow flowers in the water, and then he stuck some red paint with rice in it to our foreheads! Lovely! It looked like we'd been shot in the head. Anyway, we were a bit annoyed cos he said we could make a donation of our choice but he was really pushy and we ended up giving a fiver each!! An expensive blessing - so I hope it bloody works.
Pushkar's a nice place but there's not really much to do - I'm looking forward to seeing all the sights in Delhi...
I'll try and write very soon!
Loads of love, Emma xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sunday, 11 May 2008
The bumpy journey through Rajasthan begins...!
Hello all!
Sorry it's been a while, but my Dehli-belly got the better of me over the last few days :-(
On Thursday, we arrived in Udaipur after getting the horrific night train. All the air-con carriages were booked so we had to go normal sleeper class.... this meant NO bedding. With cockroaches and spiders thrown in for free!!! Urgggggh!!! I slept for approximately zero hours, and arrived in Udaipur feeling like I'd been on the Titanic for about 8 hours. Thankfully, a nice taxi driver called Harminder Singh rescued us and took us to our hotel. Despite catching a couple of hours shut eye, I woke up still feeling groggy and sea-sick. Anyhow, Harminder picked us up at noon to take us to a tradition al Rajasthani restaurant... you basically get a huge plate with lots of little bowls inside, and the waiters keep coming round and filling them up with rice, sauces, curries, breads etc. It was such a shame because I could only manage a few mouthfuls of it, as I felt truly horrific. Things were about to get worse. Harminder took us to a temple, and as he started explaining the history of it, I started to feel really light-headed... and was sick !
:-( Needless to say, we went straight back to the hotel where I slept for the rest of the day, and drank copious amounts of water, followed by a few banana lassis.
On Friday, Harminder took us around some of Udaipur's sights, as I was feeling a lot better. It is a beautiful city, which sits around four massive lakes. The most famous of which is Lake Pichola, where the famous Lake Palace Hotel is (this appeared in the James Bond film Octopussy.) Only problem with the city is that it's very similar to how I imagine Venice to be - very touristy. Everywhere you go, you get heckled basically, which gets a bit tiring. Anyhow, on Friday we visited a few royal gardens, went to see a traditional Rajasthani puppet show, and we also went up one of the mountains to see Monsoon Palace. From here we could see amazing views across Udaipur. For lunch, we tried out one of the zillion roof-top restaurants... but the food was simply horrific. To say they couldnt make Western food would be a mighty understatement. I ordered spaghetti bolognese (due to my poorly stomach), and it resembled orange worms and tasted like curry. Jake and Si ordered "chicken" burgers, which were basically chicken giblets in a breadcrumb coating within a bun. Never in my life have I paid for a meal, and only eaten one mouthful of it.
The thing is - the best option here, naturally, is to order Indian food. But when you have Dehli-belly like I had, you simply can't keep it down. So then you have to settle for their Western food which is nearly always atrocious. Mind you, they seem to be able to do a might good omlette which is quite welcome in the morning.
Anyway, yesterday, the three of us made our own way around the rest of Udaipur's tourist offerings. We visited the Hindu temple, where the people inside were in the middle of prayer. Then we visited the city palace, which is apparently the biggest in Rajasthan. At about 4pm we took a boat ride around Lake Pichola, and soaked in the views of the Lake Palace Hotel and the palace on the lake - beautiful. In the evening, we ate at the hotel and I had an edible tomato pasta, which was very welcome.
This morning Harminder picked us up at 6am to begin our long trip to Bundi... groooan! This was ALMOST as painful as the night train. The first leg of the journey was ok - the roads were pretty decent and flat. At about 8am we stopped off in a place called Chittogargh - a town with a massive fort built around it. The views across Rajasthan were pretty impressive, and you could see for miles across the desert in the hazy glow of the morning sun. After some breakfast (yep, you've guessed it- omlette), our bumpy journey to Bundi got underway. For a mile or two there the road would be fine and quite flat, and then quite suddenly it would turn into rubble and you'd be bouncing up and down in your seat, banging your head against the ceiling. This contined for about four hours.
Now we're in Bundi, we're very glad to be here. It feels like we're away from the hustle and bustle, and tourist traps. Rudyard Kipling came here and got inspiration to write jungle book - Simon quite rightly said that he couldnt understand why, as there's a deserted palace, palm trees and monkeys here. Those things dont appear in jungle book... do they?
Anyway, that's it from me for today - a very long but I hope not boring blog.
Hope you're still enjoying reading them......... miss you tonnes
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx emma xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry it's been a while, but my Dehli-belly got the better of me over the last few days :-(
On Thursday, we arrived in Udaipur after getting the horrific night train. All the air-con carriages were booked so we had to go normal sleeper class.... this meant NO bedding. With cockroaches and spiders thrown in for free!!! Urgggggh!!! I slept for approximately zero hours, and arrived in Udaipur feeling like I'd been on the Titanic for about 8 hours. Thankfully, a nice taxi driver called Harminder Singh rescued us and took us to our hotel. Despite catching a couple of hours shut eye, I woke up still feeling groggy and sea-sick. Anyhow, Harminder picked us up at noon to take us to a tradition al Rajasthani restaurant... you basically get a huge plate with lots of little bowls inside, and the waiters keep coming round and filling them up with rice, sauces, curries, breads etc. It was such a shame because I could only manage a few mouthfuls of it, as I felt truly horrific. Things were about to get worse. Harminder took us to a temple, and as he started explaining the history of it, I started to feel really light-headed... and was sick !
:-( Needless to say, we went straight back to the hotel where I slept for the rest of the day, and drank copious amounts of water, followed by a few banana lassis.
On Friday, Harminder took us around some of Udaipur's sights, as I was feeling a lot better. It is a beautiful city, which sits around four massive lakes. The most famous of which is Lake Pichola, where the famous Lake Palace Hotel is (this appeared in the James Bond film Octopussy.) Only problem with the city is that it's very similar to how I imagine Venice to be - very touristy. Everywhere you go, you get heckled basically, which gets a bit tiring. Anyhow, on Friday we visited a few royal gardens, went to see a traditional Rajasthani puppet show, and we also went up one of the mountains to see Monsoon Palace. From here we could see amazing views across Udaipur. For lunch, we tried out one of the zillion roof-top restaurants... but the food was simply horrific. To say they couldnt make Western food would be a mighty understatement. I ordered spaghetti bolognese (due to my poorly stomach), and it resembled orange worms and tasted like curry. Jake and Si ordered "chicken" burgers, which were basically chicken giblets in a breadcrumb coating within a bun. Never in my life have I paid for a meal, and only eaten one mouthful of it.
The thing is - the best option here, naturally, is to order Indian food. But when you have Dehli-belly like I had, you simply can't keep it down. So then you have to settle for their Western food which is nearly always atrocious. Mind you, they seem to be able to do a might good omlette which is quite welcome in the morning.
Anyway, yesterday, the three of us made our own way around the rest of Udaipur's tourist offerings. We visited the Hindu temple, where the people inside were in the middle of prayer. Then we visited the city palace, which is apparently the biggest in Rajasthan. At about 4pm we took a boat ride around Lake Pichola, and soaked in the views of the Lake Palace Hotel and the palace on the lake - beautiful. In the evening, we ate at the hotel and I had an edible tomato pasta, which was very welcome.
This morning Harminder picked us up at 6am to begin our long trip to Bundi... groooan! This was ALMOST as painful as the night train. The first leg of the journey was ok - the roads were pretty decent and flat. At about 8am we stopped off in a place called Chittogargh - a town with a massive fort built around it. The views across Rajasthan were pretty impressive, and you could see for miles across the desert in the hazy glow of the morning sun. After some breakfast (yep, you've guessed it- omlette), our bumpy journey to Bundi got underway. For a mile or two there the road would be fine and quite flat, and then quite suddenly it would turn into rubble and you'd be bouncing up and down in your seat, banging your head against the ceiling. This contined for about four hours.
Now we're in Bundi, we're very glad to be here. It feels like we're away from the hustle and bustle, and tourist traps. Rudyard Kipling came here and got inspiration to write jungle book - Simon quite rightly said that he couldnt understand why, as there's a deserted palace, palm trees and monkeys here. Those things dont appear in jungle book... do they?
Anyway, that's it from me for today - a very long but I hope not boring blog.
Hope you're still enjoying reading them......... miss you tonnes
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx emma xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Ahmedabad... groan!
Hi everyone ,
We are now in Ahmedadbad, the capital of Gujurat. We flew here from Goa yesterday, and I'm missing Goa already!! It's a different world here from the gorgeous beaches, quaint houses and lush scenery. We really enjoyed our time in Panaji - we found some lovely little restaurants there and went on some nice walks. We also spent the day in Old Goa, where there were lots of churches and ruins to look at.
Ahmedadad, by contrast, is a bit like a mini-Mumbai; hot, sweaty, smelly and noisy. Sitting here in this internet cafe, all I can hear right now are car horns outside... they never stop!! We've found it a bit weird being here because literally everyone we walked past today stared us. I guess it's strange for us cos in Britain, it's not the 'done thing' to stare. It's not polite. I've kind of got used to it now - we all feel like proper celebrities!!
Today we visited the City Museum as well as a couple of temples. Tonight, we are catching a sleeper train to Udaipur in Rajasthan, at about 11pm. It gets into Udaipur at about 7.30am tomorrow morning! The annoying thing is, all the air conditioned sleep cabins have been booked, so we're gonna have to sweat it out for the night. Mind you, nothing new there.
I'm really looking forward to Udaipur. It's described in many ways; "The Venice of India", "the most romantic city in India", etc etc. In the centre of the city sits a huge lake, and there's a huge palace right in the centre of the lake. Thing we're going to try and get a hotel near there.
Thank you to all of you for reading my blog :-) I've had lots of nice feedback about it so far. I'm glad you're enjoying reading what I've been up to.
I hope to upload some photos to facebook very soon so keep an eye out!
Lots of Love,
Emma xxxxxx
We are now in Ahmedadbad, the capital of Gujurat. We flew here from Goa yesterday, and I'm missing Goa already!! It's a different world here from the gorgeous beaches, quaint houses and lush scenery. We really enjoyed our time in Panaji - we found some lovely little restaurants there and went on some nice walks. We also spent the day in Old Goa, where there were lots of churches and ruins to look at.
Ahmedadad, by contrast, is a bit like a mini-Mumbai; hot, sweaty, smelly and noisy. Sitting here in this internet cafe, all I can hear right now are car horns outside... they never stop!! We've found it a bit weird being here because literally everyone we walked past today stared us. I guess it's strange for us cos in Britain, it's not the 'done thing' to stare. It's not polite. I've kind of got used to it now - we all feel like proper celebrities!!
Today we visited the City Museum as well as a couple of temples. Tonight, we are catching a sleeper train to Udaipur in Rajasthan, at about 11pm. It gets into Udaipur at about 7.30am tomorrow morning! The annoying thing is, all the air conditioned sleep cabins have been booked, so we're gonna have to sweat it out for the night. Mind you, nothing new there.
I'm really looking forward to Udaipur. It's described in many ways; "The Venice of India", "the most romantic city in India", etc etc. In the centre of the city sits a huge lake, and there's a huge palace right in the centre of the lake. Thing we're going to try and get a hotel near there.
Thank you to all of you for reading my blog :-) I've had lots of nice feedback about it so far. I'm glad you're enjoying reading what I've been up to.
I hope to upload some photos to facebook very soon so keep an eye out!
Lots of Love,
Emma xxxxxx
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Mandrem and Panaji
Hello all, from a very hot and sweaty Panaji, the capital of Goa!!
We spent the last two days in the North of Goa in a place called Mandrem, which boasts the best beach in Goa. When we went to it, it was completely deserted. The sea was soo warm! We only stayed out for an hour, and despite wearing suncream we all got a bit burnt!
We stayed at a quaint little place called Toor Resort - the rooms were lovely, with Air Con, which made a nice change. The staff were really attentive. We walked down the beach yesterday to the next town along, Arambol, and chilled out there for the day. We're still trying to get used to the food - which is very spicy. All of us have Dehli belly already!! :-(
This morning, we caught a taxi to Panaji, the capital of Goa. It's so pretty and quaint. It used to be run by the portuguese so there's a real meditteranean feel here. Lots of trees, and all the buildings are painted in pretty bright colours. We still havent eaten today though as no where appears to be open!! I'm starving!!
Tomorrow, we're going to spend the day in Old Goa, the old capital of the region. Apparently in 1500, it had a bigger population than Lisbon and London??!! There's supposed to be a lots of nice old sights there.
Then the day after that (the 6th) we're flying to the capital of Gujurat, Ahmedadad, before we embark on our grand tour around Rajasthan!
India is such a wonderful, friendly place. It's far exceeded all my expectations. I would recommend everyone to visit at some point in ther lives!
I'll try and write soon,
All my love, Emma xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Gorgeous Goa
Hello
As you can tell by the title for today's blog, we have arrived in Goa. And it's slight contrast to Mumbai - our guest house overlooks the sea on a cliff edge -it's beautiful here.
That's not to say I didn't emjoy Mumbai though - we met a taxi driver on day 2 who called himelf "Bali the Great" - and he was! He spoke really good English and showed us around all the main sights like Ghandi's house and even the biggest slum in Asia. Yesterday we caught the boat to Elephanta Island off the coast on Mumbai - buddist caves. Jake, Simon and I kept getting approached by Indians who wanted their photos taken with us. We felt like celebrities!!
Last night we caught a sleeper train to Goa, and me Jake and Si had to sleep on bunks one on top of the other. Plus it was really noisy and uncomfortable so not the most pleasant experience!!
Anyway, we're going to head down to Anjuna's famous flea market soon.
I will write soon
Missing you xxx
As you can tell by the title for today's blog, we have arrived in Goa. And it's slight contrast to Mumbai - our guest house overlooks the sea on a cliff edge -it's beautiful here.
That's not to say I didn't emjoy Mumbai though - we met a taxi driver on day 2 who called himelf "Bali the Great" - and he was! He spoke really good English and showed us around all the main sights like Ghandi's house and even the biggest slum in Asia. Yesterday we caught the boat to Elephanta Island off the coast on Mumbai - buddist caves. Jake, Simon and I kept getting approached by Indians who wanted their photos taken with us. We felt like celebrities!!
Last night we caught a sleeper train to Goa, and me Jake and Si had to sleep on bunks one on top of the other. Plus it was really noisy and uncomfortable so not the most pleasant experience!!
Anyway, we're going to head down to Anjuna's famous flea market soon.
I will write soon
Missing you xxx
Monday, 28 April 2008
Mumbai - noisy, busy, colourful...
Hello!
Well we have finally arrived in India. The flight was quite tiresome as I didn't manage to sleep at all. Mainly because of my cold! :-( But feeling a bit better now cos caught up on sleep last night.
When we arrived in Mumbai yesterday, we all got the culture shock we expected - after the heat and humidity, the traffic is the next thing to hit you. Cars, Rickshaws and buses everywhere, all weaving between each other - there's no road system - no lanes on the roads, just a free for all! Also, as you walk around you notice the sharp contrasts between the rich and poor - there were grotty slums with beggars, right next to posh boutiques. Really strange.
We ventured out to a place called Bandra last night for food and to soak up some of the culture. We found a European restaurant called "Pot Porri" which served the spiciest meatballs I've ever had! Then we walked down by the sea - we were approached by a couple of beggar children, one of whom pinched my arm!! You just have to completely ignore them.
We're just about to head out for breakfast and then see some sights. Hopefully going to Chowpatty beach tonight, it's supposed to be buzzing in the evening.
Love to you all, and missing you already xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Well we have finally arrived in India. The flight was quite tiresome as I didn't manage to sleep at all. Mainly because of my cold! :-( But feeling a bit better now cos caught up on sleep last night.
When we arrived in Mumbai yesterday, we all got the culture shock we expected - after the heat and humidity, the traffic is the next thing to hit you. Cars, Rickshaws and buses everywhere, all weaving between each other - there's no road system - no lanes on the roads, just a free for all! Also, as you walk around you notice the sharp contrasts between the rich and poor - there were grotty slums with beggars, right next to posh boutiques. Really strange.
We ventured out to a place called Bandra last night for food and to soak up some of the culture. We found a European restaurant called "Pot Porri" which served the spiciest meatballs I've ever had! Then we walked down by the sea - we were approached by a couple of beggar children, one of whom pinched my arm!! You just have to completely ignore them.
We're just about to head out for breakfast and then see some sights. Hopefully going to Chowpatty beach tonight, it's supposed to be buzzing in the evening.
Love to you all, and missing you already xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Goodbye all!
Hello and welcome to the first part of my travel blog.
I'm not the most tech-savvie person on the planet so I hope you'll all congratulate me on managing to set up this on-line blog thingy!
Well, just two days to go. I can't believe how quickly this has come around! Me, Jake and Simon are flying from Heathrow (not from Terminal 5 thankfully) at about 9.30pm on Saturday evening. First port of call - Mumbai in India. We're spending three days there before heading down to Goa. I understand it's roughly 35 degrees there at the moment. Not bad, could be worse! ;-)
Unfortunately, I seem to have contracted a cold - so I hope that will budge before Saturday. Wouldn't be the best way to start the trip would it?!
I thought I would start an online blog so I can update all my lovely friends and family on what we're doing. Could've done those round-robin email things - but thought this was a bit more fun. I will still keep in contact with you all on a more personal level via email too though.
Right well, welcome to my first blog - and here's to many more to come!
Love you all
Emma xxxxxxxxxx
I'm not the most tech-savvie person on the planet so I hope you'll all congratulate me on managing to set up this on-line blog thingy!
Well, just two days to go. I can't believe how quickly this has come around! Me, Jake and Simon are flying from Heathrow (not from Terminal 5 thankfully) at about 9.30pm on Saturday evening. First port of call - Mumbai in India. We're spending three days there before heading down to Goa. I understand it's roughly 35 degrees there at the moment. Not bad, could be worse! ;-)
Unfortunately, I seem to have contracted a cold - so I hope that will budge before Saturday. Wouldn't be the best way to start the trip would it?!
I thought I would start an online blog so I can update all my lovely friends and family on what we're doing. Could've done those round-robin email things - but thought this was a bit more fun. I will still keep in contact with you all on a more personal level via email too though.
Right well, welcome to my first blog - and here's to many more to come!
Love you all
Emma xxxxxxxxxx
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