schwester

Tana Toraja, most definitely an area of outstanding natural beauty. We enjoyed Tentana, an area 10hrs north by car. However due to sectarian troubles between Christians and Muslims travel in this area is not recommended by the Home office. We were unaware of this, thankfully, so spent a few days enjoying the scenery of rolling hills covered in forests and cocoa plantations, the friendly people, and the absence of tourists. By this time we had ‘chummed up’ with team Dutch, a lovely Hollander couple we met on the Togean islands and found a shared sense of humour. We drove south to Toraja through yet more beautiful scenery, more rainforest than we saw in borneo and arrived in a very comfortable hotel. The area is famous for it’s elaborate animist funeral ceremonies, we got ourselves a guide ... read more

Malaysia. A country of smiles, order, great seafood, crystal clear waters and BLOODY EXPENSIVE beer. That is correct my friends, we did 3weeks without a cool alcoholic beverage between us. And what an achievement that was. We went from the border straight to the prehension islands on the north east coast. The trip on speed boat over to the island was 'interesting'. 12 of us boarded a small speed boat with a small awning just as a storm was approaching. first mistake. we set off at a fair old whack, the wind and the rain started, along with waves which caused the boat to jump off a peak and smack onto a trough, probably not helped by the high speeds we were doing. 50mins of bone jarring jumps off waves, getting soaked by waves and rain ... read more

So I wanted to go back to see a bit of Vietnam, and Tim wanted to see the south of Laos - compromise, we meet in 2weeks time in Cambodia. I got a bus from Vientiene in Laos over to Vietnam, with the destination of Hoi An in mind. I couldn't face putting myself on a bus direct to Hoi An - 22hrs, as we'd just spend the previous 3 days doing 10hr bus trips to get down from northern Laos. So i thought i'd be clever and cross to Vinh, and then get a bus/train south. Stupid idea. I ended up being massively ripped off on the bus ticket, but was in a situation where I couldn't do anything about it. And I didn't get as far as Hoi An, and I had to spend ... read more

so, we left the lovely nepal and headed for the literary and intellectual centre that is Kolkata. we found this to be an extremely friendly and easy city to spend time in. the food was amazing, we managed to eat plates of biryani and masala dosa (pancake with bean and chilli mixture) for 10rs (approx 20p) a plate, and enjoyed espresso cafe culture, even though it was 30 degrees. from there we decided to take a tour of the Sunderbans tiger reserve which happens to be the largest mangrove forest in the world. it was a fascinating insight into one of the few places in the world that tigers seem to be thriving - 274 were known to be living there, and the numbers were rising. their existence however is very elusive due to the terrain, ... read more

anyhow, we arrived in Delhi safe and sound, and stayed in Parhaganj - main bazaar, bustling, in the centre. no motor rickshaws allowed as the streets are too narrow, so we squeezed ourselves, 2 rucksacks and the slug (yes, we still had our 6ft snowboard bag) onto the back of a cycle rickshaw. full respect to the driver, he did well, although i was pretty afraid of getting electrocuted as the slug was often dangerously close to overhanging wires.... we had a fun few days in the big smoke, mostly trying to sort out sending all our snowboarding stuff home, which was on the whole successful. however, i still have my snowboarding helmet and trousers (so much fun to carry around) due to a mix up at DHL. i'm going to have to keep hold of ... read more