Middle East, Nepal, Bhutan & Australia

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Doha, Qatar (10th – 12th and 21st November 2010)

After three months in Africa, the next leg of our journey would take us to Nepal and Bhutan. Our flights took us via Qatar once again, so we spent another few days in Doha where Jason kindly put us up in his spare room for the second time in 3 months. The flight from Jo’burg to Qatar took us over Tanzania, giving us a fantastic view of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was hard to believe that we had been standing on top of it a couple of months earlier. Fuelled by a few mini bottles of red wine, Dave proudly shared this fact with a number (most) of the air stewards.
Whilst in Doha, we managed to do a few things that we had not got round to in our previous visit, including a visit to the Museum of Islamic Art (an amazing feat of architecture with fantastic sunset views across the bay to the city’s skyscrapers) and some great nights out in the Doha Souq, the highlight of which was a fantastic Iranian meal with Jason, Mark and a number of Jason’s ex-pat crowd.
We were amazed to find out less than a month later that Qatar would be the venue for the World Cup in 2022. While it’s a great city to visit, given the heat that we experienced on both occasions, and the very limited number of places to get a beer, it seems to be a bizarre decision. Hopefully they will prove us wrong!

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (13th – 20th November 2010)

As we had a week or so before our flight to Nepal, we decided to take a trip across to Dubai, where we could catch up with Natalie’s old friend Mirka. We booked ourselves on some last minute flights and took the 45 minute journey over to Dubai, where we stayed at Mirka’s apartment in the centre of the city.
Dubai certainly likes to be the biggest and the best. We stood beneath and ventured up the Bhurj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. At 828 metres tall, it soars head and shoulders above the rest of Dubai’s skyscrapers, making it impossible to get any real perspective on how tall it really is. We went up to the observation deck (in one of the world’s fastest lifts – obviously) and enjoyed fantastic views across the city. It seems strange that the public can venture only as far as the observation deck at 450 metres, but apparently one needs to be a lot wealthier than we are to get all the way to the top!
After numerous recommendations, we decided to spend a day at the Wild Wadi water park, where we found some of the best water slides ever. Even better than the slides was the journey to the top - why walk up stairs when you can get shot uphill in an inflatable rubber ring by powerful water jets?
Later in the week, we spent an afternoon ogling at the shops/aquariums/ski slopes/ice rinks/fountain shows and even SEGA world, in the various Dubai malls. Whilst we had great fun looking, we decided that Dubai is certainly a place to visit when you are on more than a backpacker’s budget and were already making plans to return when we are back in the real world (i.e. back at work!)
Having checked out the modern Dubai, we made sure to hop on the dhows across the canal to see the old town and get an idea of what Dubai was like before the skyscrapers began shooting up.
We spent a great last night in Dubai, having dinner and drinks with Mirka in the new souq, followed by more drinks and people watching at a very cool bar set out into the sea at the Jumerah Beach Hotel. The next morning, after another sad goodbye, we hopped on a plane back to Qatar, then on to Kathmandu, from the safety of friends’ apartments, back to the real world of travelling, hostels and shared bathrooms!

Kathmandu & Pokhara, Nepal (22nd – 29th November 2010)

We spent our first two nights in Kathmandu staying in Thamel, a popular traveller district in the centre of the city. The idea was to spend a couple of nights here before getting a bus West to Pokhara and the foothills of the Annapurna mountain range. Thamel is a bit like the Kho-San Road in Bangkok, but possibly with more shops selling crap aimed at travellers. The buildings are old, concrete, multi-story and crammed into a ridiculously small amount of space and the power lines overhead are like nothing we’ve ever seen. When there was a fire at a building down the road from our hotel one morning, you worried that the whole place could go up!
However, you don’t really go to Nepal to see Thamel and it had some good cafes and lots of cheap DVDs to stock up on, so we made the most of our day there before heading down to Pokhara.
The 8 hour bus trip to Pokhara took us through some spectacular scenery. Even if that was not enough to keep you engaged, the near-vertical nature of the cliffs on one side of the road was sure to do so. If you did start to drift off, you soon would be woken by a pothole in the road and greeted by a spectacular downward view.
Pokhara is a pretty town by the lake shore at the base of the Annapurna Mountains. We spent a day exploring the town, then took a boat across the lake, followed by an hour’s climb up to the World Peace Pagoda, where we had fantastic views across to the mountains. We also journeyed up to Sarangkot for more stunning Annapurna views, together with at least fifty paragliders who could be seen soaring above our heads.
Sadly we had to change our plans in order to get home, so did not get a chance to do any trekking in the Annapurnas themselves, or to get to Everest Base Camp. Another trip perhaps…

Thimphu, Punakha & Paro, Bhutan (30th November - 4th December 2010)

Dave had previously organised a trip to Bhutan, back in 2006, but had to cancel after Kathmandu descended into rioting. Although it initially looked like he may have to cancel once more, we managed (with some last minute itinerary changes and a slightly shorter than planned trip) to get to Bhutan before our flight home.
Bhutan is not the cheapest travel destination in the world. All trips have to be arranged via Government appointed tour operators and cost a minimum of $200 per day per person. However, when you see the state of Thamel in Nepal and compare this to the unspoilt nature of Bhutan, you begin to understand why things are done the way they are.
There is only one airline, Druk Air, that operates flights into Bhutan, situated in Paro. Before 1974 there wasn’t even an airport so you had to travel for many days overland to get here from India. One reason they took so long to build the airport was because of the landscape. Bhutan is a mountain kingdom with peaks topping out at 7500 metres and endless hills, 70% covered by forest. Dave had already been warned that the approach into Paro would be unlike landing at most international airports (it is generally rated as the second scariest landing in the world…), but didn’t want to freak Nat out too much by going into details. Suffice to say that when the plane banked at almost 90 degrees first to the left, then to the right, almost immediately before landing, to avoid the nearby mountains, it was breath-taking, if not a little scary.
The bonus of flying into Bhutan from Kathmandu (which compensates for the 5 minute roller coaster landing) is the unbelievable mountain views you get on the one-hour flight. The captain happily pointed out four of the tallest five peaks on the planet, including Mount Everest. We were lucky enough to have fantastic weather on both the outgoing and return flights, so the visibility was second to none.
As our visit to Bhutan was all sorted out by our tour operator, we didn’t need to worry about any transport, accommodation or meals during our stay. We were met at the airport by our guide Sonam and whisked away by 4x4 to start our hardcore itinerary of sightseeing. We stayed overnight in a great new hotel in Thimphu, the capital. TV only arrived in Bhutan about 10 years ago, so we were pleasantly surprised to have TV and internet in our room. The evening meal was great, if not somewhat filling, as a lost in translation moment resulted in us ordering a main course each, together with a set menu for two. The hotel owners were polite enough not to comment on the eating habits of their piggy western guests.
We spent 4 days in Bhutan and thanks to our personal 4x4 escort, managed to see a good variety of the country in that time. From Thimphu, we took a trip through incredible mountain scenery over the Dochu-la pass, towards Punakha. Unfortunately, we spent 2 hours stuck on one road after a truck careered over the edge of the cliff. Incredibly, given the distance the lorry had fallen and the state of it at the bottom, the driver escaped with only a broken leg. Our guides also kindly reassured us that the driver wouldn’t get the sack as his father owned the company.
When the original itinerary provided by our guide stated that we would be visiting the Bhutan Post Office on the morning of our third day, we politely pointed out that there were probably other things that we would rather see. This was until we found out that the Post Office will take a picture of you and put it on stamps. So, yes, they took our photo and then produced stamps with our mugs on them. A few postcards were duly sent home to bear witness to our new found fame. Our attempts to look like royalty are unlikely to have fooled anyone.
After visiting a number of dzhongs (castles), we hiked up to the most spectacular of all, just outside Paro. Thaksheng Goemba (the Tiger’s Nest) is perched high up a cliff some three hours uphill trek from the valley floor. The views of the valley below are incredible and it seems impossible that anyone could have built something so intricate on a sheer cliff face so far up a track.
We also visited the temple of the madman, another dzhong. The funniest part of this trip was seeing the buildings nearby adorned with drawings of giant penises. Apparently it’s very good for fertility if you decide to draw pictures of giant dicks on your house. We duly got a photo and carried on.
On our final afternoon in Bhutan, despite the offer of a visit to more dzhongs (temples, rather than penises on walls), we decided that there are only so many temples you can visit and opted instead for a traditional Bhutanese hot stone bath and massage. It was the perfect end to our time in Bhutan and, in fact, the perfect end to the first half of our trip - just what we needed before the long journey home.
We flew out of Paro bound for Kathmandu and the long journey back home. Three flights in a row and 24 hours of travelling left us a little tired but happy to be back home for a bit.

Sydney, Australia (30th December 2010 - 8th January 2011)

We flew out to Sydney on the 28th of December to celebrate New Year in style. We stayed with Alex and Alice in their new place in Darlinghurst for just over a week. It was great to start of the second leg of our big trip with friends and in familiar, relaxed surroundings.
On the New Year’s Eve we took a trip to the famous Sydney seafood market to stock-up on mussels, scallops, octopus and oysters for the BBQ later that night. It was a very strange to experience such hot weather at this time of year, but after the miserable weather at home, we certainly weren’t complaining! After an amazing seafood BBQ and some champagne, we headed out for drinks in the city. Our hosts made sure we were near enough to some great viewpoints for the fireworks displays and near enough to stagger home when the evening was over. It was a great evening and a very cool way to usher in 2011.
New Year’s Day was spent sunbathing and eating ice cream on Palm Beach (the Home and Away Beach for those in the know). Certainly a much better way to cure the New Year’s Hangover than leftovers and rubbish tv.
The following day we caught up with one of Nat’s old colleagues, Christine, whose wedding we would be going to later in the week, for brunch at Bill’s in Darlinghurst. After some of Bill’s famous eggs, Dave set off for the first of 3 days at the SCG for the final Ashes Test. After a great few days of Aussie weather, the rain sadly arrived in Sydney just as the cricket was starting. Rain affected the first day but there was still plenty of play and Dave happened to be seated right next to the Barmy Army which is always good value. He even bumped into an old work colleague by chance so enjoyed a beer with him during the rain interval.
Alex joined Dave on the second day, where we enjoyed much better weather and cricketing fortunes. Even The Hoff made an appearance during the lunch break, just to see the aussies suffering. England bowled Australia out and Strauss led the charge as England looked to tie-up a 3-1 victory in the series.
The fifth and final day of the series, they decided to let people in for free, probably because they were worried that nobody would turn up, given the nature of the game. We decided it was too good an opportunity to miss, so even Nat managed to be a spectator for the Ashes victory (much to the subsequent disgust of many serious male cricket fans). England duly wrapped up a 3-1 series victory inside the first session, much to the delight of the thousands of Brits present.
The post-match presentations were particularly hilarious as the Barmy Army were in full force, singing their repertoire of songs, generally slating the Aussie players and team. Dave’s personal favourite was when Ian Healy asked Alistair Cook what had made the difference to his form in this series compared to his two previous Ashes series. Before Cook could speak the Barmy Army started on their rendition of “he bowls to the left, he bowls to the riiiggghhhhtttt. That Mitchell Johnson, his bowling is shhhhhiiiitttteeee”. Cook couldn’t help but laugh.
On the Thursday evening, Al and Al took us for our wonderful wedding present, dinner at Café Sydney. We had a fantastic night with a table right on the balcony and amazing views across Circular Quay and out to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It’s just a shame we can’t enjoy dinner with Al and Al like this more often.
The day before we left Sydney, we headed to Watsons Bay to Christine and Luke’s wedding. The ceremony was in a beautiful spot, followed by a reception in a great old building with views across the water. We also managed to catch up with some other friends from down under, Donna and Patrick (and baby Julia), who came down to Sydney to join the celebration. It was a great day, the bride looked stunning, the weather was great, the food fantastic and plenty of drunken dancing to finish off.
We left for New Zealand early the next day, with the obligatory travel hangover, after a sad goodbye to Al and Al and many promises to return.


New Zealand blog to follow shortly.

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