TravelBlog » chrisandbecky

chrisandbecky - Chris Robb and Becky Alleyne

We did it! We're packing it in and leaving our lives in Victoria ... at least for a little while.

We'll be gone for about six months and we plan to visit India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia. Although we've got our trusty guidebooks in hand, we don't intend to stick to any timelines or itineraries. We're going to go where the wind takes us ... okay, more likely where a third class train ticket takes us.

We've decided to create this journal so that our friends and family can check in to read about our adventures and more importantly, so that Becky's mom can see that we are alive and well.

Take Care! We'll see you when we get back. - Chris and Beck

To email us through the site, you can hit the "Private Message" button. If you'd prefer to reach either of us individually, you may continue to contact us through our personal email addresses.

You can also leave comments about our entries and pictures by hitting the "Add a Comment" button on the left hand side of any journal entry page. Any comments will be posted for all to see.

Also, if you want to be kept updated each time we submit a new journal entry, you sign up to receive an email notification by hitting "Subscribe" below. Otherwise, just check into the site any time after January 9, 2008 for updates.

Private Message Subscribe 1 Forum Posts Blog Map

Blog Comments Search Blogs First Entry Latest Entry

Joined on: December 20th 2007
Last Login: July 4th 2008

Blog Entries: 17
Photos: 404
Recommended by 1

TB Code: [blogger=55083]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by chrisandbecky, order by Date newest first.

By chrisandbecky
June 15th 2008

Getting High in Nepal: Trekking in Annapurna

Asia » Nepal » Annapurna

Us!
Posing before the Himalayan peaks and the Rhododendron forests

The bus ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara had its highs and lows ... quite literally. The scenery was beautiful as our bus careened along the exposed and guardrail-less mountain roads in a manner I thought better reserved for sports cars on the Autobahn. Every bus driver in Nepal seems to feel it is a personal insult to have to have another vehicle leading the way. As a result they desperately try to pass everything in sight, no matter how narrow the road or sharp the corner. Bex slept through scariest bits ... I, on the other hand, just clenched my jaw, [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
May 28th 2008

Ahhhhh, Kathmandu

Asia » Nepal » Kathmandu » Thamal

Girls Playing in Durbar Square

Both of us let out a long low sigh of relief as we stepped off the plane onto the Nepali tarmac. After the stifling heat and pollution of Delhi, the cool mountain air of Kathmandu was an immense relief. We had heard that Kathmandu was a polluted and chaotic nightmare and that we should get out of there as quickly as possible...but those people had obviously flown in from somewhere other than India. As our cab pulled away from the airport towards the backpacker district of Thamel, we both couldn't help commenting on how clean and peaceful the city seemed. We [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
May 27th 2008

Camel Humps and Sandcastles

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaisalmer

Chris and Disgusting

From Pushkar, we boarded an overnight sleeper bus to Jaisalmer. The bus was coming from Jaipur, so the bus was already packed by the time we got on - there were already a number of locals sleeping on the floor. We weaved our way to our reserved sleeper compartment (a little coffin like box the size of a double bed and just tall enough to sit up), trying to step on the fewest people on our way....and what do you know when the bus conductor pulled back the glass door about eight people were sleeping in our bed. This is India [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
May 4th 2008

Holi Cow!

Asia » India » Rajasthan

Showing my True Colours
The final product of Holi

Leaving Agra and Taj Mahal behind us, we made our way into Rajasthan, a desert state in Northwest India, bordering Pakistan. Rajasthan is one of India's main tourist draws, and so once again we found ourselves immersed in a backpacker culture, with all the good and bad that comes along with that scene. One very nice thing was the availability of western food...don't get me wrong, I love Indian food, but try it for three meals a day for three weeks and you'll definitely be ready for a change. We were also excited about the upcoming Festival of Colours, Holi, which [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
May 1st 2008

Bollywood and the Taj

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra

Us at the Taj

The next day we headed to Agra - home of the Taj Mahal. Seeing the Taj is what initially motivated me to visit India so I was really excited to get there. I had been refusing to look at any images of the Taj for the past few months, which was sometimes difficult, considering that it is on the cover of the Lonely Planet. I wanted to be blown away when I finally saw it in person. We arrived in Agra in time for dinner and went to a little restaurant across from our hotel run by a large family. The [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
April 29th 2008

Erotic India

Asia » India » Madhya Pradesh » Khajuraho

A Man and His Horse
Note the woman covering her eyes ... she's peeking!

After a six hour journey with our driver Raju, we arrived in Khajuraho. Although we hadn't intended on visiting this area, other travelers at the Tiger Reserve highly recommended stopping in Khajuraho and the neighbouring town of Orchha. They told us that Khajuraho's primary tourist draw are several beautifully carved erotic temples.... ‘Erotic’ was all Chris needed to hear to be sold on this little detour. The temples were really quite something! It was a complex of about five stone Hindu temples which were built in the early tenth century. Some of the subject matter of the carvings was pretty risqué. [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
March 26th 2008

My Third Decade Begins

Asia » India » Madhya Pradesh » Bandhavgarh NP

Om
Although this is the Hindu symbol for the absolute - for the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe and the awareness of ones own spiritual identity, Bex thinks it looks like a 30.

As many of you know, on March 8th I celebrated my 30th birthday. Its a pretty big milestone and I think hitting it while in India with Becky is about as good as it gets. I want to thank you all so much for your email and messages. It really made me feel great, especially because we are so far from family, friends and home. Ok, enough of that....on with the blog: Leading up to my birthday, Bex and I struggled to figure out what we should do to ring in my 3rd decade. There were a few pretty good options, [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
March 15th 2008

Varanasi Pilgrimage

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Varanasi

Rooftops of Varanasi

Varanasi, the City of Life, is one of India's oldest and holiest cities. It was founded, where the Ganges, Varuna and Assi rivers meet, over 3000 years ago. Hindus believe that the city is tied to the god Shiva, the creator and destroyer (who essentially plays the roll of your super-fun but kinda sketchy drunk stoner friend in the Hindu Pantheon). For a number of reasons Hindus attempt to make at least one pilgrimage to Varanasi during their lifetime and it is also regarded as the most holy place to die, as a death in Varanasi will release a soul from [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
March 12th 2008

The Indian Rollercoaster

Asia » India » West Bengal » Kolkata

Kolkata from Above

OH - MY - GOD, we're in India!! People have been warning us that India is an assault on all your senses, that everything is really intense and that it takes some time to get used to ... and each of those warnings is absolutely true. The only description we've come up with is that it's like a non-stop rollercoaster ride with all the highs and lows. From one moment to the next we either love it in India or hate it. It's not a matter of good days and bad days, it's a matter of good minutes and bad minutes. [View Full Entry]

By chrisandbecky
March 11th 2008

The Beach

Asia » Thailand » South » Ko Phi Phi

The Beach
The secluded beach from "The Beach" has been found by thousands of tourists.

After Cambodia we returned to our home base of Bangkok and purchased our tickets to India. We had a week to kill before leaving for Calcutta so we headed south in search of the rare whale shark. Chris has a dream of seeing a whale shark and, at this time of year, they are migrating north and can be spotted off the western coast of Thailand. So, we flew to Phuket where we immediately caught a bus to Khao Lak, which arguably has some of Thailand's best diving. Khao Lak seemed to be a major tourist destination for German families and [View Full Entry]

Drinks at the beach with Katie and Jordan ... and some other guy