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Published: December 1st 2009
- 180 days
- 8 countries
- 54 towns/cities
- 8 flights
- 21 train journeys
- 5 boat trips
- numerous bus, taxi and tuk-tuk journeys
We're about halfway through our trip now and have been reminiscing on the past 6 months of travel - the good, the bad and the downright strange.
So, just for the record, here's a collection of Top 5s, plus a couple of other lists that summarise the first half of our travels........
Things We've Lost/Left Behind (excluding toiletries)
Roughly in order..
- Universal sink plug - G, mysteriously disappeared
- 2 bandannas - K, separately, not sure but think they failed to come back with our laundry
- 1 watch - G left on a bus
- 1 sarong - G, another mysterious disappearance
- 1 passport - K, thinks it was left under pillow in hotel but may have fallen/been lifted from bag
- 1 torch - G, thinks he left it in hostel room
- 2 pairs of sunglasses - K, left a pair at the beach, G suspects he left a pair in a bar
Things We've Chucked Out (excluding toiletries)
Roughly in order..
* 1 bag - G, in a state of disrepair from general wear & tear
* 2 hats:, 1 sun hat, 1 cowboy - K & G, both crushed from packing into rucksack
* 2 pairs of flip flops - K, in a state of disrepair from general wear & tear
* 2 handbags - K, wear & tear again
* 1 pair of shorts - G, wear & tear again
* Uno - what a load of rubbish. Better off with a pack of normal cards!
* 1 pair of trousers - K, too big
* 1 vest top - K, too big
* 1 hoody - G, brutal (excess baggage)
Note, (in my opinion) this list should be longer but G hates shopping so much that he'd rather hang on to clothes/flop flops until they actually disintegrate.
Things We've Broken
Again, roughly in order..
- a pair of glasses - K, same glasses twice, see glasses related incidents blog
- a camera - K, got salt water in the waterproof camera, doh! Incidentally it's getting fixed now!
- nose hair trimmers - was just a cheap one so probably just expired
Souvenirs We've Bought
We're very good at NOT buying tat so this one is short!
- A miniature painting on silk, Rajasthan, India - posted back
- 2 paper (folding) light shades, Laos - posted back
- A small cow soft toy, Laos - supposed to be gift for a friends baby but since realized that it won't have passed any safety standards so now not sure what to do with it. We've named him Biff (because it sounds a bit like the French for beef) and still have him with us
(Other) Things We've Bought (excluding toiletries & books)
Again, roughly in order..
- 3 pairs of sunglasses - G x1, Mongolia,because he didn't have any; K x2, Thailand, replacement plus a spare pair
- 1 sun hat - K, Mongolia, replacement
- A sharp foldaway knife - K, Mongolia, because we didn't have one
- 1 long sleeve top - K, China, to cover sunburn
- 3 pairs of socks - K, China, didn't bring enough (or so I thought)
- Camera lens cleaning kit - G, Hong Kong, needed because dust in lens = smudge on ALL photos
- 2 pairs of trousers - K, India, required because I had to cover up most of the time & didn't come prepared
- 1 sarong - K, India, extra one which is just as well since G lost his later
- 3 bags - K x 2, India, Thailand, replacement & replacement for the replacement; G x1, Mongolia, replacement
- 1 epilator - K, India, because shaving isn't good enough, I caved.
- Uno - K, thought it'd be a good travel game (it wasn't).
- 1 mosquito plug in repellent - K, India, because the little gits are so annoying!
- 3 bandannas - K, Thailand, replacements plus one for luck
- 2 pairs of flip flops - K, Thailand, Cambodia, replacement & replacement for the replacement
- 1 pair of shorts - K, Laos, for tubing (had to get wet)
- 1 bikini - Laos, K, spare (as I only brought 1)
- 1 vest top - K, Cambodia, sometimes a girl just HAS to shop
- 1 skype headphones - K and G, Cambodia, because it's annoying when they don't work in the tinter cafe (or they don't have them)
- 1 memory card reader - K, Cambodia, to access photos when camera broke
- 1 mini torch - K and G, Cambodia, handbag attachment for reading on buses etc.
- 1 pair of glasses - K, Cambodia, replacement
- 1 camera - K, Cambodia, replacement (although now the other one is now repaired, doh!)
Top 5's
Most Impressive Sights
1. The Great Wall (of China): Outside Beijing
2. Taj Mahal: Agra, India
3. Karst Scenery in Yangshou (dramatic mist-swept limestone mountains): China Guangxi province
4. Lake Baikal: Russia
5. Angkor Wat: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Cheeky Animals
1. Cheeky monkey in Shimla, India (The Original cheeky animal that prompted this list)
Kerry caught the little blighter pushing the door open to enter our room. It eyed her up for a second before she shouted out in surprise. Only then did it leg it. Cheeky bloody monkey!
2. Pooing Lizard in Ko Chang, Ranong, Thailand
We never saw it but assume it was a large-ish lizzard. We found a (fresh) poo every day on the top of our mosquito net over the bed when we came back in the afternoon. It became routine for Graham to do a poo check & removal every time we came in as (according to him) it was quite stinky and still wet.
3. Indian head-butting cows (there were two)
In particular the one in Varanasi that butted Kerry in the thigh while we haggled for a rickshaw, then stood on Graham's foot.
4. Ger Dog/Mongolian dogs in general, everywhere outside of Ulaan Baatar
But in particular the one that woke us up one morning by running around on the top of the roof of our Ger. While barking, obviously. They ALL woke us up barking.
5. Leech in Kumily
This cheeky one managed to crawl onto Graham's trainer, up into his trousers and all the way up to his lower back (above his trouser rim!) before settling down for lunch. It died mid meal from a salt overdose administered by Kerry.
Honorable mention (because it was a close call for 5th): Desert dung beetles, Thar desert, India
Again, in partucular the one that Graham heard and then found crawling under his pillow.
Funniest moments
1. River driftage, Yangshou, China
The whole thing was too funny. See China blog for details.
2. Monkey Chase, Monkey Island, Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
Graham rescues Japanese tourists from a crowd of rabid monkeys, only for said monkeys to turn on him - cue Benny Hill-esque chase along the beach.
3. Graham vs. random local man rendition of
Let It Be at a Hong Kong Karaoke bar
Midway through the introduction Graham realises that his isn't the only voice singing - a random man walked in off the street, sat on the other side of the bar and has requested a spare microphone from the staff so that we can duet, just like Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey. Surreal.
4. The "Roger Moore?" moment, Forbidden Palace, Beijing, China
Kerry forgets to give context when checking if the audio guide is the one that our guide book informed us was by Roger Moore. She just went to the service window and asked for "Roger Moore, please" to the woman's confusion. When challenged, Kerry just repeated the question in confusion - "Ït's Roger Moore, yeah?" We did get the tape but it wasn't Roger Moore.
5. Indian Loins, Renuka Wildlife Reserve, Renuka, India
We were very much amused when at the Nahan zoo people kept telling us to go see the Loins (sic.)
Foodgasms
Note, these are mostly unexpected. We're talking those rare moments when you are awed by the subtle brilliance of a dish/flavour. So it's not necessarily the best food that we've had, although these would certainly rank in that list!
1. Nahan breakfast, Nahan, Himachal Pradesh, India
After an exhausting overnight bus journey from Dharamsala we found a random food stall in Nahan and ordered the dhal fry for breakfast. Genuinely the best dhal we've ever had and it cost about 10p. So good, we made a return trip via Nahan 3 days later just for the dhal.
2. Chilli Tiger Prawns, Palolem, Goa, India
Big, tasty, chilli and garlic king prawns. Juicy, juicy, juicy baby, yeah!
3. Bangkok Sea Bass, off Soi 11 Sukhumvit, Bangkok
Not usually massive seafood fans but this chilli and lemon sea bass was veeeery tasty, hmmmm.
4. Gulab Jamun, everywhere in India
Why oh why oh why had we not discovered gulab jamun before? It's almost criminal that we've gone 30 years without eating this dessert. I only hope Indian restaurants back in the London are prepared for the jamun feeding frenzy that will occur around June 2010.
5. Instant Noodles and a Boiled Egg, various trains between Moscow and Beijing
Our onboard meal of choice for about 3 weeks - boil up a packet of spicy instant noodles, add a boiled egg (initially bought at a station shop but later pre-boiled in the hostel before departure each day) and serve with bread if necessary. Did it get boring? Hell no! Do you know how many flavours of instant noodles there are!?
An honourable mention should also go to the cheese and tomato rolls that we had for lunch after hiking up the mountain near Kampot last week. We were so famished and they tasted soooo gooooood.
Moments When We Really Wished We'd Learned The Language
1. Ordering in a Turkish restaurant from a Russian menu when we didn't speak much Russian, the waiters didn't speak much English, couldn't read the handwritten menu and wouldn't have recognised half the dishes anyway. The waiters eventually found a customer from the attached bar who could speak a little English. Via her we eventually got two slivers of chicken kebab and two pieces of bread. Then got chips from a fast food joint (with picture menu) on the way back.
2. "You reh? You reh?"- Kerry trying to explain symptoms of her illness to various hospital staff in various parts of Thailand and Laos. On this particular occasion it took about 5 minutes for Kerry to work out that the nurse was asking if she was
retching ("You reh?"). Queue stiffled laughter every time we walked into a hospital and heard that particular question.
3. Trying to get a receipt from the owner of the hostel in Listvyanka. We needed it to prove to Russian border officials that we'd followed internal visa requirements. Kerry pointed to the word receipt in our Russian-English phrasebook and the owner just erupted! We have no idea why, perhaps she was just having a bad day......
4. Trying to order train tickets in Russian by talking to someone at a service window through a closed venetian blind whilst a queue of frustrated Russians wait behind you. Surreal.
5. The Russian Post Office - aaaaaarrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
Views
This is a tough one, especially as the views from the Great Wall and Yangshou could quite easily feature in this list as well. We debated for a while but decided on.....
1. The Himalayas, India
Every view but especially from: Shimla (hill city scape), Dharamsala (mountains) and the bus journeys in between various Himachal Pradesh towns (mountains & winding roads)
2. Ban Ton Sai, Ko Phi Phi Island, Thailand
Ok, it's a bit touristy, the beach has a couple of bars on it etc etc, but if you turn your back to the bars and either face the sea, or even better wade out into the middle of the bay, it's just breathtakingly beautiful.
3. Lake Pichola view from our hotel balcony, Udaipur, India
Especially at sunrise/sunset. Eat your heart out, Bond.
4. Mongolian landscape
Over the course of 5 days we saw so many landscape changes we couldn't keep up, all of it beatiful and unspoilt. A personal favourite moment was swimming in a Mongolian river with rolling green hills on one side and plains on the other. Barely another person to be seen in the Mongolian outback, let alone another tourist.
5. Northern Laos, bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng
Sat on the top deck at the front for this bus journey and were afforded spectacular views on the winding mountain rides. A bumpy ride but worth it.
Arguments
1. "My wife will not drink alcohol"- our Renuka "host"/guide tries to make Kerry drink and generally turns into a scary freakshow. A "memorable" day. See also bad shit.
2. "Ïf I see that kid crying you'll have to deal with me" - Graham gets all Grant Mitchell on the owner of a Palolem bar and his staff when they try and beat a child for begging. Stupid.
3. "But, but, but.....WHHHHYYY?!?!?!"- a tired and emotional Kerry loses the plot when our train prodavistna (carriage attendant) confiscates our tickets and passport upon boarding the train at 3am, leaving us without ID or proof of carriage in a country whose police are notorious for coming down hard on those who have 1. no ID, or 2. no proof of carriage. Emotional.
4. "Oi! Do you think we're just standing here for fun? Yeah, of course" or something - a young Indian gentleman jumps in front of us in a (very long, like 100s of people long) queue as we wait for train tickets. Kerry helpfully points out the error of his ways in her usual, discreet manner.
5. "Nyet, nyet, nyet, NYET, NYYETTTTTT"- Graham refuses to pay a rip-off taxi fare using flawless, if limited, Russian in a very loud voice. Seemed to do the trick.
Rip-offs (successes and failures)
1. GBP 7.00 for a bag of cherries, Beijing (successful rip-off, can't believe we paid that, failed to calculate the exchange rate properly & just said yeah ok, then 2 mins later realised...)
2. INR 200 (about GBP 2.50) per king prawn in Benaulim, Goa (failed - we'd paid a fraction of that a couple of days before, the ensuing arguement almost made it into the Top 5 arguments above)
3. INR 200 for a 5 minute taxi ride in Renuka (half failed, half successful - a problem with the language barrier that we ended up compromising on)
4. Bangkok tuk-tuks - all of them quote ridiculous prices for short journeys knowing that, eventually, they'll get a tourist willing to pay (failed - we took buses everywhere anyway)
5. Same-Same Guesthouse in Chang Mai, Thailand (failed - refused to pay for what was on offer from the incredibly obnoxious staff and walked around the corner to JD Guest House, much nicer)
Bad Shit
1. Lost passport - not just the admin hell of getting a replacement, but the travel time lost and our terrible, terrible experiences of dealing with DHL and Halifax Card Care, an insurance service that doesn't provide you with any coverage for your registered documents (thanks Halifax, we'll be leaving you upon return to the UK)
2. "Should the dam be built?"- yup, it's our mate in Renuka again, pissed up and obnoxious but still willing to take us to a local proposed dam site (against our will) and consult us on whether or not it should be built. The dam is to provide safe drinking water to Delhi but will mean the displacement of several hundred locals, and our drunken land-owner friend has final say on the project. No pressure to give a right answer then.......
3. Hong Kong hangover - if ever there was a hangover that would persuade a man never to touch alcohol again, this was the one. Luckily, I'm made of sterner stuff 😊 An epically painful near death experience.
4. Health issues - Graham through the end of China and the beginning of India and Kerry from Thailand through Laos. It's just miserable being stuck in bed and being like crap when there's so much to see.
5. Cockroaches in Alleppey, India - eeeauuuck. Thank God for our mosquito net, but a miserable night's sleep regardless.
Books We've Read
In no particular order, undoubtably incomplete and excluding guidebooks (except the "Trans Siberian Guidebook" which is a great read as well as a guide)......
- Flashman - George Macdonald Fraser
- Kim - Rudyard Kipling
- White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
- The Trans-Siberian Handbook - Bryn Thomas
- The Zebra Striped Hearse - Ross Macdonald
- Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth
- A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson (Kerry still in progress)
- White Butterfly - Walter Mosely
- The Quiet American - Graham Greene (Graham only so far)
- Picture This - Joseph Heller
- Jigsaw Man - Paul Britton (Graham only 1/2 read)
- Rough Guide to Poker - Iain Fletcher
- Dead Babies - Martin Amis
- Anthem - Ayn Rand
- Secret Diary of a London Call Girl - Belle Du Jour (Kerry only)
- The Faithful Spy - Alex Berenson (Graham only)
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
- Twinkle Twinkle, Little Spy - Len Deighton (Graham only)
- Terror and Consent : The Wars for the 21st Century - Philip Bobbitt (Graham only)
- History of Great Britain and America - unknown (some Italian school text book)
- Addicted - Tony Adams (Graham only)
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compelling reading, awesome pictures cant wait for more.