I had been obsessively listening to the "Walking on the Chinese Wall" by Philip Bailey for about a month before I left for China- classic 80s song. Probably my main motivation for this trip was to finally see the Great Wall- one of my favourite things about travelling is to actually see those iconic buildings or natural sights that I have only seen in photos before. The Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Fuji, the Eiffel Tower, Angkor Wat, being able to see the real thing is just such an amazing feeling, they are even more impressive up [View Full Entry]

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Somehow with everything that has happened this year (long story) it had completely slipped my mind to blog about my China trip, so quite belatedly, here it is. I didn't have enough points to fly business class in both directions this time, so had to resign myself to sitting with the plebs again on the outbound flight ;-) Only a short flight to Shanghai of course, so not too much of a hardship. Because I was right at the front of the plane I managed to be one of the first to the Immigration counters- what a difference that makes. I [View Full Entry]

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Well, I am ruined for economy class now, I have to say. It is going to be a serious blow next time I have to wait in line with the rest of the plebs and then sit with my knees jammed up around my chin for 12 hours. There was a hitch before I got to check in because Northwest Airlines apparently doesn't allow any lighters to be taken even as stowed luggage, and the x-ray showed I had a lighter somewhere in my small suitcase. I didn't remember having a lighter in my luggage and couldn't find it anywhere, [View Full Entry]

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Okay, I know that 5.5 days in Hong Kong isn't exactly intrepid travel, but it will keep me going until my next tentatively planned long trip, Bangkok to Bali in December this year. Particularly excited about the flight this time because I am using my long stored-up Northwest airpoints to go business class both ways! It's possible to choose your seats online so I have chosen the downstairs section for the flight to HK and the upstairs section for the flight back, just so I can make the most of the experience. I have actually flown business class before, Sydney to [View Full Entry]

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Finally finishing this entry. We woke up the next morning to a white and dripping world again- this is a very foggy time of year in the lowlands of Nepal. After receiving our lunch boxes (each containing 4 boiled eggs- maybe the kitchen staff thought we needed a lot of protein?!) we walked down to the river where we boarded the dreaded dugout canoes again. With 7 people ours was riding very low and the top cleared the water by about 8cm. The slightest movement made the thing rock wildly and for some reason I felt personally responsible for keeping it [View Full Entry]

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...but we made it eventually. Leaving Lumbini mid-morning, we were expecting to arrive at Royal Chitwan National Park by early afternoon. Flow-on from the previous day's bandh made the trip take twice the time it was supposed to however. It seems that anyone with a grievance in the Terai in the current political climate can just set up a roadblock, which is sure to get everyone's attention. We got as far as the crossroads at Bhairawa, site of some unrest the previous day, when a tractor that had been putting along in front of us suddenly turned across the middle of [View Full Entry]

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Up at the very un-Christmassy hour of 4.30am to get a good start on the drive from Varanasi to the Nepali border. As we were getting in the four-wheel-drives Bill the leader handed us all little boxes and cards- very sweet of him, even if it most likely is covered by the company as trip expenses. They turned out to be small handpainted miniature Hindu gods and goddesses- I haven't identified mine yet, seems to be a minor one. Driving towards the border I would occasionally drop off but my head banging on the window would put an end to that [View Full Entry]

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Up early this morning to watch sunrise activities on the ghats from the same boat as last night. Throngs of other tourists, Indian and foreign, were doing the same thing. All kinds of things going on- bathing and swimming, toothbrushing, laundry, a number of funerals and cremations even at that early hour. One old gentleman swimming energetically towards us called out "Hello everyone! Welcome to Varanasi!" Even though it looks like it would be bad for your health to swim in the Ganges every day, maybe there is something beneficial about it. One European-looking man obviously thought so as [View Full Entry]

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Once off the train we had breakfast at a hotel then went into central Allahabad to visit Nehru House, former home of Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi, and occasionally Mahatma Gandhi. It was a base for the Swaraj or Indian liberation movement before they finally achieved independence from the British in 1947. I had been wanting to buy a Rabindranath Tagore book while in India and found one in the bookshop here, at less than the marked price as well. After about 3 long, hot, dusty, shock-absorberless hours on the bus we reached a small village where we had [View Full Entry]

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Now this place is one of the undiscovered gems of India. Orchha is a very small village on the banks of the Betwa River- the cleanest river in India they say- and just about has more ancient palaces, temples and cenotaphs than people. The streets are virtually garbage-free since the population of the village hasn't overwhelmed its public services, and the air is fresh. However someone has taught the local kids that foreign tourists are a good source of handouts- every time we left the hotel we were greeted by a chorus of "hello pen" "hello one rupee"- I heard this [View Full Entry]

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