The Ocean - Somewhere Off Thailand

In a bit of a strange turn of events we have spent the last 11 days all at sea... that's not to say I have been drunk - but we have actually been living on a sailing boat! After our animal experience on Langkawi, the girls bumped into some South African guy who owned a boat and was heading in the vague direction of Thailand. There was no way we could refuse the chance to island hop, so added our names to the crew list. Those of you who know a thing of two about sailing may have heard that it is very bad luck to set sail on Friday - and for that reason we planned a boat party Friday night, leaving in the early hours of Saturday morning. However - and here is the big however - we still had to take a dinghy to the boat which was moored off shore. In not sure that technically counts as sailing, but it sure was the beginning of our bad luck...

You might get a good idea of the things likely to go wrong, when you learn that our dinghy sunk before even reaching the boat - our bags and most of the girls on board! The boat righted and everything rescued myself and Conor had to paddle to the boat with a saucepan and bucket. That was until some smart alec (aka Canadian Rob) realised he was sitting on an oar. Next to go wrong was allowing Conor to sit on the beer fridge; but we'll come back to that later...

All aboard; sailing commenced. This was until Estonian Pete played wheel of fortune with the steering wheel, and disconnected the rudder. Conor is still sitting on the beer fridge. However his shirt has vanished, gotta really want a beer to get one now...

Next up, I fell down a hole (actually my second in a week); one of the hatches on the boat deck. This was shortly proceed by rain... such stormy seas would become a common affair. Conor is sitting on the beer fridge, but a bit wetter...

Bang - the engine has overheated and gone pop. Nevermind we have sails - or had - one has now ripped in the wind. Slow progress from now on. On the second day of sailing we made our second island stop on a place called Koh Rock (Koh means Island in Thai). A totally isolated place, and somewhere for our anchor to get stuck in the down position requiring everyone to aid it's rescue. Conor is still stilling on the beer fridge, more clothes are missing...

We decided to head to Phuket, Thailand to make repairs and officially enter Thailand (we until this point were illegal immigrants). However the storm finally gets lost, leaving us with no wind, thus leaving us stuck! Conor finally leaves the beer fridge; the beer has run out...

I write this update from dry land. We did finally limp into Phuket where we got stuck for the best part of a week fixing the engine and sails. The bad luck continued as Steph (an American girl who looked uncannily like Natalie Portman) badly cut her hand on a bottle and covered Andy in blood. We did finally leave Phuket where we sailed to Koh Phi Phi (location for the film the Beach), and finally to the main land. Even with all the bad luck - this really was one of the best times of my life. And I even learnt a thing or two about sailing :-) For now goodbye and Merry Christmas! xxx

Malaysia

A world away from India we began our tour of SE Asia in amazingly clean, calm, and peaceful Singapore and then Kuala Lumpa. However, in an apparent oversight in planning it appears that we arrived during the tail end of monsoon season...oops! So whilst I would love to take the mick out of you all stuck in wet england - I finally made good use of my rain jacket. The craziness of India behind us, we took the opportunity to have a well earned break in the Malaysian highlands. High above the clouds we paid visit to Fraiser's Hill and the Cameron Highlands; appropriately named partly due to the tea and strawberries that grow on the surrounding hills. It was also somewhat odd to find tea rooms offering scones, strawberries & cream, alongside stunning views. All rather rah rah!

Heading northwards towards Thailand we decided on two further Malaysian experiences. We began with a visit to Penang Island; a busy fun place with a cheap China town, and paid visit to a Buddhist snake temple with attached snake and monkey farm. The guides kindly pointed out how the King Cobra would like to poison me, how the Giant Python would like to eat me (and how I would nicely fit into his mouth), before giving me two Monkeys to hold. Having always wanted a pet monkey I was thrilled... that was until they both started nibbling my nipples.

My other ideal pet would be of the Penguin variety... currently very much in touch with the animal kingdom I got my chance to see a large number of them being fed in an awesome aquarium on the island of Langkawi; our next and last stop in Malaysia. We rented a car with some fellow English girls Sophie and Jess and explored the island, adding crocodiles, an elephant and plenty more monkeys to my nature experience. Unsurprisingly the monkeys continue to torment me with their cheekie ways, by chasing us and trying to steal Jess' Christmas hat.

India Part 3

Since I last checked in with you, our month in India has come to an end. I would be correct to say I have a love/hate relationship with this wonderful sub-continent. Whilst the people are generally really friendly, I can never accept that it's okay to push someone out of your way to get onto a train first... especially if that someone has a baby in her arms - unfortunately something that is culturally acceptable here. A small blip on an otherwise fantastic country.

Upon leaving the tiny beach haven of Goa, we made our way south to Kerala. This state is famous for it's backwaters; a network of rivers, canals and lakes that's begging to be explored. We did so via a large sleeper boat with driver, cook and waiter. All for as cheap as chips. However the real exploration was achieved the next day when we took a canoe through a series of small canals with a local as a guide.

Leaving Kerala we decided to spend our last we days in India visiting a National Park, followed by the Taj Mahal - rather touristy, but criminal to miss. Now India is mindbogglingly big. Think of something massive, and a bit and your not even close. Our 'express' train from Kerala to Nagpur (Pench National Park) took 30hrs, with another 18hrs to Agra (land of the Taj). I for one am convinced that I have discovered train-lag.

Stopping at Pench National Park (slap band in the middle of India, and where Jungle book was set), was part of a greater mission to see tigers. And as such a safari was in order. Unfortunately we didn't get to see a tiger, but this may have been a good thing as our jeep broke down in tiger country - twice! We first had to change tyre by crocodile lake, and then the radiator blew right in the tigers hunting ground. Luckily only us humans were stupid enough to be up at 5.30AM. The Tigers were most probably safely tucked up in bed.

Agra - the home of the Taj Mahal, along with monkeys and rats was next on our agenda. With very little time to explore the city we hired a tuk-tuk guide for the day. We also struck lucky as it was free entry day for all tourist attractions the day we were there. It normally cost more to get into the Taj, than we were paying each for a weeks accommodation. Result! Agra also gave us a good lesson on how not to drive - thanks to a driver who I was convinced was blind and drunk! Somehow we only had one small crash in a day where we spent a lot of time driving on the wrong side of the road :-) xx

Goa and Steve, India (Part 2)

BANG - and then there was tourism. After chilling on remote and far away beaches for the last few weeks, finding lots of 'white' tourists ironically came as a bit of a culture shock. Possibly we can direct blame at the start of the holiday season, but to be fair Palolem itself is rather hard to leave... our planned stay has been well extended already.

It is quite possible that I can be a little susceptible to challenges at times, and upon meeting the French version of Steve Irvine (Emanuel) we were easily convinced that heading into the jungle to canyon down some waterfalls would be a good idea... and so we did! A TV show was recently filmed at said waterfall, with 'French Steve' leading the presenters down the route that we would follow. Basically we began by driving into the middle of the jungle in an open topped jeep (I really want one), before hiking 1/2 hour to the the river we would conquer. 'French Steve' decided this an appropriate time to inform us of all the ways that we could die today, not least his story about bumping into a tiger in this part of the woods (sorry, i mean
Jungle) before. If we were to meet one ourselves, it was deemed best that we run at it with our hands above our heads making loud noises (presumably so that it would think we totally bonkers and rather untasty)!

The actual canyoning was great fun, although I recommend doing the same in Europe where you don't have to check for snakes before jumping into the water. Speaking of snakes, we had an encounter with the worlds most poisonous variety - the King Cobra. The King Cobra diets on other snakes, and the Cobra in question was enjoying a nice snakey dinner when we made our introductions. Crazy 'French Steve' offered to
clear the snake from our path and sent us a short distance away, with instructions to leave him should he be bitten (there is not serum for the King Cobra in India). We were left to mull over that fact that should he be bitten we would actually have to pass the snake on our only way out anyhow. Luckily our snake charmer friend was less than charming, and Mr King Cobra hid long enough for us to pass. We met his intended dinner further downstream, who was taking his last snakey breaths thanks to the venom (see photo).

All a bit hungry from this action, we ended our jungle adventure for the day by eating some red ants (which surprisingly tasted of lemon) before heading back to our nice and safe touristy beach. Suddenly the beach seems a nice safer place, if a little less fun. x

Mumbai & Goa (India)

Today I overtook an elephant on my moped, bribed some cops and witnessed a cow dancing on a man's stomach. All in all, a normal day in India it would seem...

To explain; we are currently residing on a beach in Anjuna, Goa (on India's western coast). Elephants and cows are the norm, although a cow dancing on a man's stomach I have seen just once! In this part of the world the main (and only) method of visiting different beaches is via moped, although as a tourist you always run the risk of being pulled over and asked to pay the police a few Rupees :-)

This place really is quite an amazing place to visit. We initially only planned to stay in Anjuna for two days, but now expect to extend our stay to over a week. The beaches are incredible, the water as warm as a bath, and the bars packed with cheap beer (about 50p and bottle).

We initially arrived in Mumbai (Bombay as it was) last Tuesday morning, and spent two days in the city. As expected it was very busy, crowded and chaotic, but fun. The locals are extremely friendly; but the best bit is the transport! We only took two cab rides during our stay in the city, which is more than enough for a lifetime - they are nutters on the busy roads (although we were assured that the roads were quieter than normal due to some ongoing rioting). We have since been on a 12hr coach ride, a rural bus, and a train journey - All of which were more organised than the UK. Their train network beats South-West trains any day; expect perhaps for the lack of doors.

Anyhow, we plan to enjoy Goa and its beaches for a little while longer before heading to Kerela in the south. For now goodbye from me. x

The Baltic States

It would seem to have been a while since I last visited this here webpage and updated you on my adventures. As such, I’m having to really search my brains (I have many), in order to remember what I have been up to in that time…. A problem that I promise you is not directly linked to the amount of beer which I have consumed.

“Where have I been?” you may, or indeed may not, ask. Well since leaving Bosnia I have called upon Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Germany on my way back to a cold n soggy England. Our car actually made it home – honest. Heildlehoff – our £500 home survived, and in good shape. She completed just shy of 14,000 miles on the trip… well done old girl!

Many more Australians have done their bestest to ensure my early death through crazy drinking tactics; Europeans have impressed me with the distances they are regularly able to hitchhike; an Estonian introduced me to a drink “sneakier than Tequila”; oh and someone tried to break into our car forcing our door in operable (meaning we had to enter through the boot, and exiting through the sunroof – until it was fixed by an ex car thief). All-in-all it has indeed been fun.

Before arriving home we took time to visit our friends in Mannheim. It was awesome spending time relaxing with good friends, whilst making the most of home comforts – thank you Nora - you rock x!!

Anyhow now I am home, and have been having a fun 3 weeks: painting, catching up with friends, and more painting. …. It’s now time for the main exciting excursion to exotic and excellent locations - beginning with India and specifically Mumbai (Bombay). We fly tomorrow – so guess its time for me to start organising myself… if I get my arse in gear and actually pack, Ill may even make my flight - and hopefully update you again from India land. So I guess its goodbye for now. Much love. Dave

Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Getting into Bosnia proved more difficult than expected… We were turned away from one border because we did not have the correct papers, and got briefly stranded in no-mans-land (between Croatia and Bosnia) whilst our papers were sorted on the second crossing attempt. Entry successful and my first impression was that Bosnia and Herzegovina is very mountainous, and as a result very pretty. However signs of the recent conflict are apparent, with bullet and shell marked buildings on the road to, and within, Sarajevo. A large new grave site was also visible on the road.

Known as where the east meets the west, Sarajevo itself is the most remarkable city that we have visited. After declaring their independence from Yugoslavia, the city was held under siege by the Yugoslav Peoples Army (the Bosnian Serbs) from 1992 to 1995. The reasons for the siege are complex, but basically boil down to: Serbia’s wish to dominate the region, Croatia’s desire for more land, and a general persecution of the Muslim people (whom made up the majority of the cities population).

Totally surrounded from the hills and besieged from within; the locals built a tunnel under the UN held airport in order to obtain munitions, oil and food from their supporters in the free land to the west. Against all odds Sarajevo never surrendered, making this the longest city siege in known history. As a testament to those that fought, a healthy mix of Churches, Mosques and Synagogues still occupy the small streets of the old town today. Sarajevo is possibly the most cultural and religiously diverse city you could ever visit.

During our stay, we were taken on a tour of the (formally mentioned) war tunnel and the surrounded hills by a soldier who had helped to defend the city. One of the remarkable stories that he told was how they used to swap cigarettes for alcohol with the enemy across the front. At times the battle front’s were less than 15 meters apart, and one soldier from each site would make the exchange in no-mans-land. This story more than any other, brought home to me the stark human realities of war. Real people lived and fought for their lives and homes, in a ‘civilised’ Europe, only a decade ago.

Upon leaving Sarajevo we drove to the Serbian border intending to visit Belgrade. We actually entered Serbia; however the same could not be said for our car - Unfortunately it would have cost us too much to obtain the documents necessary to drive through the country… we turned round and decided to head north to our next stop – Lithuania.

Croatia

The Croatian coast is beautiful! It’s easy to see why so many Europeans come here on their summer holidays. For our first few nights we stayed in a tiny campsite called Paridiso, right on the sea front. It was run by a Croatian guy called Mario, who made his introductions over homemade vino and his special “medicine“ drink. Very special. On our first night we met lots of fellow campers; including Yan and his wife a Polish couple who offered honey Vodka to everyone in the camp as “integration“. Some people’s hospitality in amazing, and on the last night a German family, whom we had just met, cooked us a grand BBQ dinner – a welcome change from noodles indeedy!

I brought my pirate boat with me to Croatia, and we used it to good effect invading lots of islands. From the safety and comfort of the mainland these islands usually seemed pretty close, but would often take us pirate wannabies hours to row out to. As such we decided engines are an awesome invention. You cant complain over a cheap form of island hopping though  Sadly we ended our trip in Croatia “sitting on the dock of the bay, watching our boat float away“ that might learn us to bring rope...doh. Anyhow tis Bosnia nx. Ciao for now. daves xx

(P.S. new photos in the album)

Leeds Festival (UK)

One day I was in sunny Budapest watching the Red Bull Air Race, the next I was in the rather colder and wetter city of Leeds for a certain music festival. Apart from adjusting to a 20 degree drop in temperature, I also encountered a strange substance - mud - and lots of it!! This initially made me regret not taking a tent :-) The festival itself wa great, and well worth flying back for. I had a mini reunion with some of the legendary Bennicassim crew, and also met some great new people... I´m beginning to think that I have picked up some of this northern lingo too.

On my return to Budapest I met up with Andy again (who had spent the weekend in Poland). We spent our final afternoon in Hungary at the Statue Park watching old communist spy training videos; learning how to bug rooms and keep people under surveillance - always useful. Anyhow the car still lives, so the trip continues. Nxt stop = Croatia...

Sziget Festival (Hungary)

Hello from the Buda side of Budapest, Hungary. I thought this an appropriate time to check in with you all again, following our latest music festival; Sziget. Sziget literally means Island, and rather unsurprisingly is located on, yep an island!  It’s on the Danube River in between Buda and Pest. The festival is one of the biggest in Europe attracting just short of 400,000 visitors per year. This seemed to include lots of Germans, Dutch, Italians and of course Brits. The headliners included; Iron Maiden, Jamiroquai, the Sex Pistols, REM, and the Killers. However my favorite band was actually the Hungarian Queen Tribute band. Their attempt to emulate Freddy was inspired - they used two people; a pretty blond Freddy and a big scary dude Freddy! Every festival defiantly needs to follow Sziget’s example and have a tribute tent. Anyhow another festival over, and many more new friends met (Big shout to the legendary Dutch people who shipped their VW camper van home from Australia and drove to the festival!), its time to recover in the best way I know how – another festival – Leeds here I come. I shall be giving the car a well needed rest and flying this time. Take care all, and have fun. dxx

Italy

Heidlehoff finally had a wash yesterday... its been a while since the last time that we saw rain, but drivin thru the alps has changed all that. We have just completed a wirlwind drive to prague thru slovenia, austria & czech after spending an inpromptual week in italy tryin to push over a wonkey tower (Pisa), attending mass at the Vatican (Rome), invading a castle (SanMarino) & sailing down a city high street (Venice). Once again the best hightlights have been meeting new people - in particular a big shout to Alice from Auz and Sushi from the US. There are so many young people travelling around Italy and on one single evening in Venice we had Italians, French, Germans, Americans, Dutch, British, Kwies, Aussies a Mexican, a Brazilian and a Guy from Prague called Prague sharing our free drinks collection of delights such as pesca venezia, sexy bitch mix (cheers Rach) and pesca limon lido, (oh and pragues cologne). Another highlight in Venice was watching Indiana Jones on a big open air cinema in Italian - not a clue what was said, but it was great fun. Anyhow we are off to explore prague now, so ill leave you with an appropriate bad joke:- What happens if you throw a czech guy out the window?... He bounces.xx

Monte Carlo (Monaco)

Hi Again. Just to let you know I have added new pictures to the gallery (and video's to Facebook), of our recent adventures in small countries (Andorra and Monaco). As a F1 fan, my highlight was first walking, then driving Heidlehoff, round the F1 track in Monaco.. We also mixed in well with the Ferrari's, Porsche's, and Bentleys outside the Monte Carlo casino.

Benicassim festival (Spain)

I write this entry in my diary as we are attempting to force Heidlehoff (the Cavi) up the Pyrenees mountains and into Andorra, our month in Spain pretty much behind us. Spain has given us the opportunity to meet some great new friends, in particular at Benicassim festival....

Benicassim festival is pretty much exactly opposite to Glastonbury, in that it is sunny rather than rainy. It is also located on a beach town, meaning sleep is best done on the beach during the day, whilst the music runs from 8pm to 8am through the night. The actual music festival only runs for 4 days but camping and general partying is over a week long. We were lucky in that we set up camp next to a great group of English people (I hope to see many of you in a few weeks at Leeds festival), as well as a cool Spanish couple. As for the festival itself, I'll keep it sort and simplify - basically this was one of the best weeks of my life. It rocked! I really really recommend this festival to everyone.... Oh and the bands were good too :-)

San Fermín Festival (Spain)

The next stop on our trip was the festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain. Probably better known as the Running of the Bulls. Basically this is a 9 day festival with bull fights, firework displays, live bands and all night general partying throughout the city. Most importantly there is a bull run everyday at 8am. The bull run takes place primarily to move the bulls to the bull ring for the afternoon fight. The ´running´ part came about many years ago when one crazy dude decided to actually run the route with the bulls. Today hundreds of crazy people follow his example. Andy, Stef and I were them crazy people on the first day - along with lots of Aussie´s from our campsite. We were slightly disturbed by the naming of some parts of the course; such as ´Dead mans corner´ and ´Death tunnel´. As it happened we needn´t have cared - as soon as the rocket indicating the release of the bulls was fired we were off, and actually beat the bulls into the ring. Unfortunately one person did die today during this run, at ´Dead mans corner´. However he was the first in over a decade.

On our last day at the festival we hired a balcony above ´Dead mans corner´ to watch the run (Video is on Facebook). The bulls certainly look less scary from above :-) We spent our last evening watching the fireworks from Pamplona´s main park, before driving to Barcelona with a new passenger in tow - an Aussie named Luke...

Southside (Germany) & Glastonbury (England) Festivals

Festival season started early with a surprise phone call from our good friends Nora and Eti. They were on-route to Southside festival, Germany and suggested we join them. To which we thought long and hard for at least a second before the unanimous decision was made. To Germany we rolled...

Southside is a relatively small festival which attracts some great bands; the highlights for me included Flogging Molly, The Chemical Brothers, The Womats and The Enemy. Annoyingly someone stole my wallet whilst we were dancing to "everything is going wrong, but we´re so happy" - JoyDivision by the Wombats. Luckily as I´m pretty much living a tramps life it must have been the most empty wallet steal in history!:-) Sad to leave, we successfully managed a 1000km drive in a day - in order to catch our ferry to Glastonbury.

Glasto was immense! If you haven´t been - go. Even if you don´t like music you will have a great time, there is just so much to do. I actually spent most of the days in the comedy / circus tents, and my nights in the Jazz tent. My festival highlight was a 200 person only Wombats gig in a tiny tent. My many hours queuing was rewarded with eventual entry. Jay-Z was without doubt the best headliner and blew me away (- after making my way through a massively packed crowd, in an unsuccessful attempt to reach my old boss, Katie). It was however great to meet up with my ex-collegues; Alistair and Chris, and their Friends.

Interlaken (Switzerland)

Wow – it seems to have been a while since my last contact, so I’ll play a bit of catch up and tell two stories today. I’ll begin at the beginning – Interlaken. Now this is certainly the most foreigner filled (aka tourist) place that we have visited; but that is for very good reason….it rocks! Interlaken literally means in-between two lakes (and lots of mountains and glaciers too). These lakes are the cleanest in Switzerland. The fantastic location means that it’s ideal for a large number of sports (skydiving, paragliding, canyoning etc). We could only afford the cheapest – rafting; but this was immense. I certainly wish to go back one day – but with plenty of money.

On our 3rd day (NB: def the most time we have spent in one place) we visited Brienz, a town on one of the lakes. We saw a waterfall a little way up a mountain and decided to go for a free shower. Now somehow we missed the waterfall and soon found ourselves heading to the top. Well, we couldn’t very well turn back, so found some sticks and made for the summit like proper hikers. It soon became apparent that we were the only muppets doing so - everyone else was going downwards (and annoyingly we later discovered a train that takes you up = doh!).However we did finally make the top, and enjoyed a deserved cold beer 1202 m above sea level. To make up for our foolishness we found an even better waterfall we could drive to; and did so on our 4th and final day before leaving Interlaken.

Today we invaded Liechtenstein

Today we invaded Liechtenstein... a country any less diligent tourist may have missed. This tiny tax avoiding zone has only 33,000 inhabitants. As usual our two man invasion was stopped at the border for the usual hooligan checks and 101 questions. But like all good invaders we talked our way through and made for the castle. The prince sadly didn’t invite us in for tea or a beer and our invasion was halted again - this time by their army (a single security guard) :-) We decided instead to head for the hills and start our own country. Heidlehoff (our car) doesn’t generally do hills, and on this occasion she complained constantly. However, she soldiered on up some steep and winding roads to the highest village in the country, 1602 meters above sea level. The views were immense as we gazed down onto the top of the clouds. Considering how small this country is we decided it would not be fair conquer their land; that mission will continue elsewhere! Before leaving we joined the locals in their capital village (Vaduz) to watch the day’s football on a big screen. The invasion abandoned we left in peace. x

First Sweden Match - Salzburg

As most of you will be aware Andy and I decided to support Sweden for the Euro 2008 championships. Therefore on Tuesday we went to Salzburg, Austria for their first game. This place rocks. We found cheap(ish) diesel, and even found a Macdonald's that had a euro menu! The city itself is amazing and overlooked by a giant castle. Its set in the foothills of the Alps, and moving around the city involves using tunnels under the mountains. The Sweden army had arrived, making the town slightly more yellow than normal. Before watching the match on a big screen, we joined the (reportedly) 60,000 fans on a 5km march around the city - inheriting a good collection of hats & scarfs along the route. These fans rock! We are now currently taking a break in Bratislava before heading to Vienna later. Next Sweden stop Innsbruck in a few days. Ciao for now. Daves x

Update from Munich

Hi again! Finally i have a mo to write my first proper post :-) ... Lets begin at the beginning shall we. Back on June 1st we had an unsuccessful attempt at navigating the english roads, which involved a tour of hastings (dont ask why we were there). Anyhow this meant we were on the top of a very un-dover like cliff as our ferry left port = awesome start! :-) As soon as we did finally find dover and made it to mainland Europe; we did what any self respecting traveller should do and make for the border to escape France! Our 1st night was spent in our tent in a Belgium service station b4 we headed to Amsterdam... Since Amsterdam we have now visited Utrecht-Holland, Leuven-Belgium (home of Stella beer), Bastogne-Belgium (site of the biggest battle in ww2 the Battle of the Bulge), Luxembourg city, Strasbourg-France, Basel-Switzerland, and finally Munich-Germany. I promise photos are on the way. Anyhow for arguements sake we have decided we can only say we have been to a country if we actually spent the night there! Rightyhoo im gonna leave it there as its time to explore Munich. Goodbye for now. Davex

The tour has begun

Heya everybody!

Just a quick note to say that our travels have begun. So far we have visited Holland and Beligum, and are due to head to France tonight. Will get this travel blog on updated properly very soon... :-)

Dave

Welcome!

The countdown continues... leaving on Sunday 1st June 2008 at midnight :-)