That's OK - hope everything's good with you - and yes, it's all worth it! I took the boots off because the stream was knee-deep and I didn't fancy walking the rest of the way with soaking wet boots...
Catching Up Hi, sorry - haven't checked your blog for a while. It sounds as though you are having an incredibly multi-faceted journey. Broken rib, death-defying cab rides, frustrating encounters with officialdom = small price to pay for stunning scenery, immersion in other cultures and encounters with royalty, I presume?
Just one question: why were't you wearing your boots when fording the streams?? Surely your feet would have appreciated it? OK - that was technically two questions, but they were on the same subject. There will undoubtedly be many, many questions at some point in the future, along with food and drink, I hope.
Take care. Loads of love El
No problem! I might be a little scared of Khiva now though - I'll be there in about a month, and it'll be even hotter by then... I stayed in Sabyrbek's guesthouse and then with someone from www.couchsurfing.com
Matt
Thanks Matt We're sitting here simply boiling in Khiva and facing a 5.00 am flight from Tashkent to Bishkek tomorrow.
Not sure if I was more pleased to read about the no hassle getting of a visa or the cool, cool air.
Where did you stay in Bishkek?
Christine
Yuck..... Hmmm. I had been envying you for your trip but that right there is enough to stop any envy. Of course, given that there is no way that I would want to stop in a hostel anyway, I imagine that it is kind of a moot point.
Glad to see that you are surviving. Just to let you know what you are missing here. Snow, protests at the Olympic torch rally, London mayoral campaign, freezing cold temperatures, the slum village at Heathrow T5 - passengers sleeping in cardboard boxes whilst trying to get a flight out of there. It looks awful.
Anyway, take care. loads of love
El
Not sure about that...... ....are you sure hitchhiking is safe? I know that I worry far too much compared to most people but hitchhiking is perhaps not the safest form of transport ever. Take care!
What's the Tongariro Crossing? Ok now googled and there is even a youtube video about it. Looks pretty fabulous. Hope that you had a good hike.
Wow That does indeed look amazing. I can see why you wouldn't want to leave....... though I note, that there are no photos of the sunburn so that we can laugh, sorry that shouldu be sympathise, with you.
Photos?? Are there photos of your forehead for posterity? And to, you know, enable the rest of us to laugh with you. Though given that it has gone cold again here, and it feels as though it we are once again in the depths of winter, I'm not going to feel to sorry for you for excess sunshine...... Actually, that's a lie, I do feel a bit sorry for you. Just more sorry for the rest of us!
So jealous Hi Matt, Looks like you are having a wicked holiday - love the photos. Some of them look a little like a still from Lost so I was wondering whether you had crashlanded down there. C x xx
Mr Can I Buy You A Beer OK, so I left that cliffhanger lying there... Nothing happened! He obviously lost interest because I'd told him I wasn't available, so he didn't turn up for dinner. I just slunk back to the hotel and ate on my own again.
Happy New Year Hi Matt,
Happy New Year to you too! I spent New Year in a bar in Paris and confusing my family due to the time difference, when I rang them to say Happy New Year.
Whenever you get the chance, it would be good to see the photos.
Have a fabulous 2008.
El
Dinner? Matt, I've just finished the previous entry and was expecting to hear about your dinner with Mr "Can I Buy You a Beer/I'm Not Trying to Sell You Anything" but there's nothing. Did you not go for dinner? Or am I misusing your blog, by expecting a continuous narrative train?
I'm sure that I would feel much more sympathy for your bad/horrible/frustrating day, if I hadn't been stuck in the office, with little access to sunshine, for the entire day. And further, if I wasn't aware that you are not going to be sitting in an office for a fairly long time. And that we don't have months of low sunshine to endure. Newspapers are full of stories about Vit D and rickets and the difficulty of getting enough Vit D in the UK during winter. Particularly bad up north apparently..............
However, in the spirit of empathy, it seems a shame that your last day was so frustrating when the rest of the trip sounds to have been fun/fabulous/interesting. On the bright side, you have a reason/excuse [delete as applicable] to go back.
You didn't queue up for fabulous ice cream?? Tell you what, I'll buy myself some ice cream tonight and eat it on your behalf, just to atone for your actions, a little! It'll probably take me an hour to choose a DVD to watch whilst eating it, so that nearly fits in terms of timing.......
Hope that your ankle is better now and that you have rested it sufficiently. Your hotel sounds fabulous; admittedly so does the internet cafe. I'm going to guess that soap and toilet paper have been in short supply then. Feel free to not go into details about how you have survived without them.
How was dinner? I look forward to reading the next instalment...
Sounds like fun You sound as though you are having the most incredible journeys. Your descriptions are very atmospheric. But surely nothing can beat travelling to MPW through snarled up traffic every morning, arriving irritated to start another fabulously entertaining day solving simple IT queries......?
To make you laugh (or despair perhaps):
Speaking of [simple IT queries], our IT manager must think that I am a complete airhead. I have a new laptop (yippee!) which I have been using for a few weeks, though they only set up the docking station and screen to go with it on Monday. I took the laptop home to do some work and thought that I'd broken it. Rather than letters U I O P J K L M working, they were numbers and I couldn't figure out why. I didn't notice the little blue numbers on the keys as I never look at the keyboard when typing........ Email back from my IT Manager told me to take num lock off. I eventually figured out how to do that on the laptop (by looking at the manual) and subsequently realised that if I had left it docked then it would have been much easier.......... I'm getting there, slowly!
What no lying on a beach?? You mean to say that you haven't gone to stay in one of the beach resorts in Cuba...? All inclusive, 5 star hotel, lying on a beach. I'm shocked. I know a couple of people who have been there and those who enjoyed it the most, seem to have been those who feel that they connected most with the "real" Cuba. With the notable exception of my sister and brother-in-law as they got married in a Cuban beach resort; but I think that may have had something to do with the marriage itself!
Immigration schmimmigration Well done Matt! Just one more example of why I won't fly to or through the States. Bunch of crazies. The United States of Paranoia... Have fun...
Welll Done Glad to hear that you made your flight from Heathrow. I wasn't sure that you would, given the ocean of alcohol imbibed. Hope that the hangover wasn't too bad on the plane.
Have a fabulous time. Am not in the slightest bit jealous given the horrid weather and lack of daylight here at the moment.
Loads of love El
Mmm Matt
Having spent a month messing around, packing, storing, re-packing, moving in somewhere else, moving out and generally faffing around before I headed off in 2002, I know you've got it right. BUT my God you must have worked hard to get away so promptly. Nice one.
burningmatt
Matt C
That's OK - hope everything's good with you - and yes, it's all worth it! I took the boots off because the stream was knee-deep and I didn't fancy walking the rest of the way with soaking wet boots...