http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Tony-and-Amy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Tony and Amy en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:31:18 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:31:18 +0000 We crossed the border into Chile and were immediately met by a tarmac road the like of which we hadnt seen for about 5 days. We were soon in San Pedro De Atacama which is a little oasis in the Atacama desert. The town and the hostel were nice enough but it is a tourist town and didnt feel real. Saw the second oldest church in Chile had a nice traditional Chilean meal though and a couple of nig http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-381402.html Bolivia has been a total blast from start to finish. After leaving Copacabana we went to La Paz to meet up with our group. Everyone is really nice the group includes brits Americans canadians french canadians and south americans.La Paz was manic but in a great way. We walked about town and visited the witches market where you could pick up potions charms and even llama foetuses. obviously we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-378540.html Arrived in Copacabana after a 9hr bus journey from Cusco. It wasnt bad except the mad old bint next to us kept opening the sky light window which we and several other passengers kept closing. we gave up in the end and kept warm beneath our llama woven blankets.We alighted the bus at around 8am the following morning along with several other travllers and were bundled into the slowest mini bus ev http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Isla-del-Sol/blog-374643.html After a few relaxing days in Cusco we decided to get back at it and go see the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. the easiest way to get to machu Picchu is by train from Cusco but this is extremely expensive. Its about 50 dollars one way. So we decided to make our own way there. Its a bit of a trek. First we caught an early bus to a place called Santa Maria which took about 6 hours. got to use my http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-373645.html We left Pisco after several days of fun filled relaxation and sightseeing and made our way to Cusco. We had to take several buses for this journey as there was no direct service from Pisco. Travelled to Ica then onto a transit town called Nazca where we waited for several hours to board an overnight bus to Cusco. It really wasnt that bad and for 90 sol each which translates into about 20 quid http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-373631.html Lima was fantastic and a great introduction to Peru. If we had more time we definately would have stayed longer.We left Hotel Espana which was very nice and caught a bus to a town called Pisco famous for a drink called th Pisco sour we are sampling them tonight in fact. We got off the bus to find that we were in a place called Ica about 75 km past Pisco. No one thought to tell the two gringo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Pisco/blog-372055.html Hello everyoneWell we arrived...eventaully. Can you believe that the one bloody time it snows in England we needed to catch a flight out of Heathrow Were due to leave London at 9.40am and after a hairy car ride from snowy Southampton cheers pa we arrived early and eager to leave the cold. 4 hours later and we were on our way Missed our connecting flight to Lima from Miami but AA knew w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-370499.html Kerala is a large place so deciding where to venture for our next adventure was difficult. We had been given loads of places to investigate but set on a place called Kochi or Cochin. We arrived by train into a place called Ernakulam and caught a tuc tuc to Fort Kochi which is about an 8km drive away. Not having booked any accomodation we were unsure whether we would find anywhere to lay our sl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-357245.html Had to keep the title on a musical theme again you'll find out why as you read this interesting entry.After much deliberation about whether we stopped at Mumbai on our way to Kerala or not we decided that our plans had to continue. The attacks in Mumbai made us seriously consider whether we were safe to venture there but we knew that we couldn't come all this way and not see this wonderful city http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-353812.html shimla was fantastic and we left there very happy. Since our last post which was a bit rushed we got talking to a professor in an Indian coffee house and he asked if we could meet that night for a chat. We agreed and met him in the same coffee house that night. He was great to talk to and very interested in our travels and how we perceived India so far. He was also a bit eccentric bless him. He http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Punjab/Amritsar/blog-351858.html Arrived safe and well in Shimla. It was the summer capital during the time of the Raj. Today we are going to see the Viceroy's old residence where the empire approx one fith of the globe at the time was ruled from during the summer months. It is also the place where the meetings were held finalising Independance and Partition in the forties. We caught the Himalayan Queen here it is a 'toy' tra http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Shimla/blog-349561.html Dehradun was a nice place but didn't hold very good memories so it was nice to gain some altitude again and head up to Mussoorie. It's a hill station that was originally created by the british and it's now an Indian holiday escape. It definately had the feel of an old english seaside town but up a mountain side.We decided to get the bus and got ourselves psyched up for the mayhem only to find http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Mussoorie/blog-348692.html We left Bareilly after having what we thought was a pleasant meal at a resturant specifically for families and women The food tasted pretty good so we were happy to indulge in a chicken dish. We had booked our train ticket the day before which would take us all the way to Derhadun. On booking the ticket we were informed that the coaches were all pretty much booked up and so we were left with l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Dehradun/blog-347469.html After leaving Lumbini we stayed the night in Sonauli before crossing the border back into india. We actually got through all the Bureaucratic form filling and stamping relitively quickly. We were then on a hunt for a bus back to Gorukhpur. We managed to get exactly the same bus that had taken us to Sunauli in the first place shudder. The bus was packed to bursting point and I had to endure 2 an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Lucknow/blog-344355.html Arrived in Lumbini refreshed and ready for our next adventure. Well we certainly got that Left Pokhara early and took yet another tourist bus yeah right wheels hanging off and full of locals to Lumbini. It took around 7 hours but we are hardcore now and have arses made of steel and so those 7 hours were a breeze Except that we had been assigned 2 very small seats with minimal leg room fo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Lumbini/blog-344339.html We started our travels in a city called Kathmandu which was where we last updated this blog. We met up with our group of which there were 1 Norweigien 1 Londoner 3 Oz 3 Kiwi's and a lad from Southampton Pompey supporter Tony was not impressed The initial days were spent sight seeing and generally getting to know one another. It was a strange experience after being on our own for severa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Pokhara/blog-341192.html Well what can I say The days seem to be merging into one and the memories are starting to get blurred. We have managed to download some photos for you all to see on our blog. Go to gallery to access them. There is a great one of a Rhino We have one more night left at our guest house before we leave to go to our meeting point hotel. This hotel is in Kathmandu and is where we meet with our g http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-335356.html Thank you all for your lovely messages. It takes a long time for the internet to load because the boy pedaling for power tends to get tired after an hour so so you'll have to be happy with our blog entries. Photos can't be uploaded unless there is an SD slot. Of which there appears to be none...so far.Nepal is beautiful which is a good job considering what we had to go through to get here To http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-334066.html Namaste everyoneour first train journey was brill. it was as we expected long and with a few hitches along the way. we got to the train station in agra well early expecting the train to arrive in good time for us to board early and get settled. it didn't we waited an extra 1 12 hours just enough time for us to get talking to one of the railway police and for him to clear a bench full of loc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-332134.html we have arrived safe and sound and thought wed let you know how were getting on here. We arrived in Delhi tired and hot and were instantl hit with the aroma which can be found only in india. We were met at the airport by Raj our driver and he took usto our hotel. It was a very scary experience. The driver beeped and darted through the busy streets and no one was allowed to get in his way. We we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-330379.html