Mark And Nic's Big Adventure

Update to living in NZ

2009-03-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, couldn't resist one last post on the blog...

Since arriving home we've seen all the family and the novelty of seeing us has worn off. We are staying at my sister's hosue while we look for jobs. While I'm unemployed and enjoying so much leisure time, my family thought it would be good if I joined in with my brother the builder and did some "real work for a change". Paul, my brother, won't let me have a tool belt yet, but I get to use a crow bar and destroy things. I love being home!!!

Trip Complete!!

2009-02-23T19:56:00.001-08:00

Well, it has been lovely but it had to finish at some point. It is back to reality, finding a job and being domestic.

This trip has been wonderful, and not least because my wonderful Nic said 'yes' to being together for the rest of our lives.

The trip involved hammocks, massages, thai food, sailing, snorkelling, swimming, beaches, pools, diamond rings, Disney Land, Oceanworld, robot museums, markets, mega-malls, towers, rollercoasters, charities, tuk-tuks and some of the most lovely people on this planet.

We hope you enjoyed reading parts of this blog and wish you lots of fun in your own travels.

Lots of love,

Marky and Nic x

Coming through to Auckland Airport...

Nic and her mummy...

Sydney with Nic's Uncle Jim

2009-02-22T15:58:00.000-08:00

We stayed with Nic's uncle Jimbo. In true Australian style, he and his flatmate put on a yummy barbeque. One of the wonderful things about the southern hemisphere...

Sustainable House

2009-02-22T15:55:00.001-08:00

During the trip I've been looking into some green living options that I would like to play with when I get home. Through different research on the internet and some books I came across this guy, Rob, who lives in Sydney. He has used off the shelf products to build a sustainable house out of a normal everyday house on the street. He gave me a tour of his house, complete with getting up on the roof...

Sydney with Dan and Jen

2009-02-22T15:54:00.001-08:00

We flew Bangkok to Sydney. Getting out at Sydney was a bit dreamlike. The city was so clean, like Tokyo. The people were really friendly. This definitely wasn't London anymore. We were sitting down at a bus stop and a postie rode by on his bike. He turned to us and said "Good morning!" We were so shocked we didn't know what to say. This is fabulous; people are genuinely nice.

We got on a bus and the driver was playing AC/DC. This had to be Australia!

Getting to Dan and Jen's house was cool too. Not just seeing them and the boys again, but seeing what they have and how well they are set up. Dan is renovating again (with exceptional skill) and the house is really cool. The two boys are even more beautiful and can talk a bit now too. Check out this lovely family...

Signage

2009-02-17T21:50:00.000-08:00

A few more interesting signs from our travels. These ones are in English, but damned if I know what they are on about...

A Taste of Asia

2009-02-17T21:45:00.000-08:00

Nic and I did a Thai cooking course here in Chiang Mai. It took a lot of convincing on Nic's part to get me to strap on a pinnafore and play chef, however; the experience was well worth it. The chef was quite a character and really got us into the whole thing. We went to the market to buy all the good fresh, even down to having the fish killed and gutted in front of us.

It was great. We made Green Curry, Yellow Curry, Penang Curry, Basil and Chilli Stir Fry and Lime Fish. And the best thing is we got to eat the results of our work. Yum-o. Actually, perhaps not having to do the dishes was the best thing? I wonder how Nic is going to handle doing dishes for two back in NZ? Heh.

This is Nic getting up close and personal with Freddy the fish who moments earlier was alive and well.

Check out our handiwork...

Chiang Mai

2009-02-16T01:58:00.000-08:00

We've booked our flights from Bangkok to Sydney and then to Auckland.

Bangkok to Sydney flight on the 21st.
Sydney to New Zealand on the 28th.
Then it is all over. Boo.

We'll be home on the 28th of February. Nic and I have been travelling for about six months, and if you take into account the motorcycle trip to Marrakech (and back again - what a dude!), I've been travelling for eight months. Time to go home and do some of the non-fun stuff like pay bills and find jobs.

But it will be good to be home soon. Mum's Lemon meringue pie and a new addition of Nic's Mum's apple crumble. We are twice blessed in the baking stakes. Let the life of plumpiness commence.

Chiang Rai

2009-02-15T02:17:00.000-08:00

We took a bus from the Thai border to Chiang Rai, a nice little town in the North of Thailand. The bus was three hours long, but having been travelling for several days, we got off it saying "Is that it?"

We went to a hilltribe museum and also started our preparations for heading home. We've been looking for flights to Sydney and wondering why they aren't less than a tenner. I've only really got enough money left to pay for the ticket and one last foot massage. Dan has been nice enough to let us stay at his house/mansion in Sydney. See you soon my man.

Asia, you are the world's most seductive mistress. Your charms are multitudinous and your hospitality legendary. We love you.

Laos to Thailand

2009-02-15T01:28:00.000-08:00

We took the slow boat from Luang Prabang to Northern Thailand. They call it the slow boat because it takes two days. Don't think the fact that they call it a slow boat lead you to think that there is a faster boat; there isn't. The only thing that goes faster are the speedboats where you sit in a cramped canoe wearing a helmet for seven hours, holding on while the driver speeds past rocks and whirlpools. We saw a few go past on our way with laughing Laos and white-faced grimacing westerners.

The slow boat was rather pleasant with a drinks bar, the graceful motion of the boat and a view to require jaw support. Nevertheless, two days on a boat necessitates a rest. We stayed the night at the border and crossed the next day after a good shower and a last tipple of Beer Lao.

Big Brother Mouse

2009-02-11T22:30:00.000-08:00

We were still searching for some way to pay the world back for the friendly Thais that helped us after the mini-van crash.

There was a place in Luang Prabang called Big Brother Mouse where you can purchase school books and they are given out to the various schools in Laos to help them. Nic and I went along and bought a stack of books to give to the schools around Luang Prabang.

I'm a bit of a cynical soul and find charity often a little self serving and quite often diluted at the receiving end. I seemed to find this through some of my travels in Africa.

I was still umming and ahhing over the effectiveness of what Nic and I had done when we made it back to our guesthouse to see the fifteen year old boy who ran our guesthouse sitting there with a Big Brother book. He was learning to read. Once we saw that, I realised that maybe there are some organisations that are just trying to help.

We haven't paid off our debt to Thailand, but maybe we've helped someone a little bit somewhere. If you are in Laos, maybe take a look around the shop here...

Kayaking the Mekong

2009-02-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

We went kayaking along the river to a couple of caves filled with Buddhas, kind of a bizarre buddha bazaar.

On the way to the caves, we nearly got run down by a massive house boat. He kept turning and our guide kept saying we could out run it. Eventually I decided our guide was either stupid or insane and turned around to give the boat room. Look at the size of the thing...

This girl tried to sell us a baby mole in a little bamboo cage. Apparently they are great between two slices of bread. Thinking of the cute Mr Mole in the Wind In The Willows, we declined to chow down.

Afterwards we kayaked to the Lao whiskey village, so called because this is where they make the potent stuff. The village was a bit of a tourist rat run, but they really did make the whiskey here. It was a bit too much like cleaning fluid for us, especially at 55%, so we bought some as a thank you for our guide.

Luang prabang

2009-02-05T04:05:00.000-08:00

Luang Prabang, the lovely French-Lao old capital. This place is a photographer's dream with its old French colonial buildings and vibrant Lao village markets.

We went to some waterfalls near here with turquoise waters and several cascading pools to swim in.

We visited a friendly village near Luang Prabang with lots of cheeky kids trying to show off for us and do cartwheels...

Vang Vieng

2009-02-01T00:36:00.000-08:00

Vang Vieng, home of tubing in Laos. This place sported lots of aussies and kiwis lazing about the place, which meant that it had to be a combination of three things:
1. Cheap
2. Totty
3. Lots of beer

With these three pieces in place Antipodeans will hit critical mass and perform a slow meltdown of boozing and partying. The difference with Vang Vieng is that they could do this on the water of the Mekong. We were, of course, delighted to join the fray.

We went tubing, and drank beer floating down the river. The way this works is that you rent a tube, they drive you to the top part of the river and then you float down slowly. To ensure a constant supply of beer there are bars all the way down. The cool part is that you don't even have to get out of your tube. You simply hail a "Beer Lao!" to the bar owners, they throw you a rope, pull you in and hand you a bottle in exchange for a water soaked note. Ace.

Black mountains slide idly by and westerners fling themselves off rope swings.

While we were tubing down the river we heard a splashing sound near the bank. I was facing this bank, while Nic faced me, legs locked, watching the other bank. I noticed that something had fallen into the water. It headed straight for us with its head just poking out. I realised that it was a large snake. With a "Jesus Christ" I panicked Nic so much she nearly flipped out of her tube, and more importantly nearly committed the sin of spilling my beer! Our fairly frantic splashing made the snake change his mind and he veered off towards the other bank. He was about one or two metres long.

The whole tubing thing finishes at a bar no less with hammocks and more beer. No wonder antipodeans seem to be swamping the place. It is beer heaven.

Bangkok to Vientiane

2009-01-30T20:59:00.001-08:00

We took the sleeper train from Bangkok up to Vientiane. It was a great train with beer service to your bed and yummy food. We were supposed to get to the border early in the morning but the train driver fell asleep at one of the train stops so the train was eight hours late. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky the train was stopped at the time, but you get used to these things I suppose... like for instance, this chap working on the power lines...

Vientiane was a nice relaxed capital. We saw a version of an arc d'triomphe here. It was half finished because the Laos ran out of money and just downed tools. They call it the veritcal runway because it was (half)built out of money meant for a new airstrip, heh.

A couple of days here helped us to relax after all the intense relaxing in Bangkok. Time to unwind from all that relaxing and relax a little bit. Did we say 'relax' a little too much? Well, its become rather a specialty of ours these last few months. If we were any more relaxed we'd be mistaken for being in comas.

Bangkok Facial

2009-01-27T00:14:00.000-08:00

Today Nic and I decided to treat ourselves and get a facial each together. I was a little hesitant. This would be the first time I have ever been on the receiving end of a facial. My fears were well grounded and it was a traumatic experience.

They put some leftover food on my face and rubbed it all over, making sure that I had the beautician's lunch spread completely across it. They did this several times, as if once wasn't enough. Citrus, yoghurt etc. I felt like a German breakfast spread and looked like a dog's dinner. Nic was beside me enjoying the experience and laughing her arse off at the fact that I looked like such a twat.

After the luxury of being a tablecloth for half an hour, they started attacking me with a suction machine. It was like being pecked by a hydromatic chicken.

They then started to knife my nose with something called a "cleansing tool". I said to the beautician in a strong kiwi accent, "bloody hell love, this isn't much like fun" so she stopped and skipped to some different torture.

It was all finished off with some cucumber which they mashed onto my face as a final flourish. "Nice one, cucumber face" I thought to myself as I handed over the money for this experience.

They asked me if I would like an extra mask for half an hour. I politely refused, telling them that I had an appointment with a man who was going to put electric current through my family jewels that was more appealling.

Cambodia to Thailand - blowouts and crashes

2009-01-26T23:37:00.000-08:00

The road from Siem Reap to Bangkok has always been a fairly tortuous one. So it wasn't a surprise when we started the fourteen hour journey to find out that almost the entire road on the Cambodian side was in road works. This is actually a good thing because it means they are building a real road; but alas, it meant for a no fun ride for us. Fourteen hours for only around 400-500kms; this has to be Asia.

The bus had a tyre blowout during the ride to the border. When it exploded the floor shook and everyone jumped out of their seats. Upon closer inspection, you could see that a hole the size of a rugby ball had been blown out of the rear tyre. Nice. We rode on the flat until we came across a shack that could do the change.

After the border crossing, we switched to a mini-van with me at the back in the child seats. My thighs were longer than the actual leg room, so a poor Japanese guy and I got nice and close for a few hours.

During the mini-Van ride I noticed that the van drifted into the centre of the road before going back into the left lane. I thought we had passed a car, but couldn't see it in the rear window. What I didn't know at the time was that our driver was falling asleep at the wheel. The drivers here pull massive shifts to get more money; and without the time control that we have in the UK and NZ, they aren't checked for how tired they get.

Later, Nic and I were talking at the back of the mini-van. A traffic island ahead was splitting the middle of the road to turn our traffic left and separate us from the oncoming traffic on the right. We were slowly drifting right to head straight into the traffic island. I looked closer, not really understanding what we were doing. It slowly started dawning on me that we were going to crash.

It was at that point we crashed through the metal knock-down warning sign. The Thai girl sitting in the middle of the van at the front screamed and grabbed the wheel from our driver who had fallen asleep. She yanked it to the left, it woke the driver with a start, and he stomped on the brake. The van locked the back wheels and slid with the van turning sideways. The back wheel slammed into the traffic island, tipping the van on its suspension and knocking the van back onto a straight course. The driver let off the brake and the van kept going along the road as if nothing had happened.

We stopped at a petrol station down the road and all got out. It wasn't clear what our driver was doing. He wanted one of us to drive because he was too tired to drive. He rang his office and they told him he would be fired if he didn't drive us himself. It was all a bit of a mix up and felt like an ad for "tiredness kills".

Nic and I thought better than to hop in the van again, so got out and started to chat/mime with an off-duty taxi driver about how to get to Bangkok. It turns out he was travelling with his son and his sister. She was very lovely and offered to take us to Bangkok with them, an hour's drive away, for free. They were true to their word and took us into Bangkok for free and wouldn't accept any money for petrol or the tolls. We pleaded with them, but they insisted (with hand-signals, because they only spoke Thai) that we pay no money at all. We gave them the strongest Thai thanks that we could muster (bowing with hands pressed together while saying thanks in Thai). They were wonderful and nice and kind. We thank you.

This is one of the greatest things about travelling around. You meet people who are genuinely lovely and nice, and only want to help you and be good to others. I love this part of it and I wish that I could be as nice as some of the people I meet.

We decided that although the family wouldn't accept anything for their good deed, we would have to do some good for other Thais to try level the debt we have to this wonderful country.

Fat monkeys

2009-01-25T05:16:00.000-08:00

Check out this guy...

And check out this cute little monkey...

Goodbye Cambodia

2009-01-25T04:52:00.000-08:00

Goodbye. You were wonderful...

Tomorrow a fourteen hour bus ride to Bangkok. Boo.

Landmine Museum

2009-01-25T04:42:00.000-08:00

We went to a landmine museum created by a guy that used to be a child soldier for both the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Army. He used to be a specialist at laying landmines and is now a specialist at defusing them. The place was run by victims of the landmines. Boo to the carnage and waste...

And the rest...

2009-01-25T04:32:00.000-08:00

The whole Angkor complex is immense. To get between temples you need to take one of the trailer-style tuk-tuks here. It may just be the wonderful town of Siem Reap, the great people and the amazing Angkor complex, but you simply can't help but feel that Cambodia is a slice of paradise...

Prah Thom

2009-01-25T04:12:00.000-08:00

This temple is the one that everyone likes to take photos at; the one where the temple is left unrestored with the jungle slowly taking over...

Bayon Temple

2009-01-25T04:07:00.000-08:00

Continuing the Angkor Wat theme, this was Bayon Temple, a special example amongst the temples here...

Angkor Wat

2009-01-23T16:51:00.000-08:00

Angkor Wat. This is the big one.

For the last few days we've hired a driver who takes around all of the temples here, and of this Angkor has many; more than two hundred. We've seen reconstructed temples, fallen temples, pyramid temples, cross temples, original temples - enough to give you sore temples.

This place is too hard to describe with my limited vocabulary. It is massive and jaw-droppingly huge. It is otherworldly and serene. It still manages to evoke the same feelings that the French botanist would have had in the 1850s; the feeling of discovery and wonder. Man this place rocks.

Cambodia

2009-01-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

Man this place is cool. It combines some of the best elements from each of its neighbours. It has the ever delicious food from Thailand, it has the calm and kind demeanour of the Laos, and it has its own architectural wonders to boot.

The people here are great. Siem Reap, the small town next to Angkor Wat is just lovely. We didn't expect everything to be so nice and relaxed and wonderful. Even the landmine victims here give you a cheery wave as you go by.

This was the view from one of the hotels here. An incentive to pay your bill perhaps...

Clark Airport

2009-01-21T02:27:00.000-08:00

We left Manila and had to stay near Clark airport, about two hours north. This used to be an American air base. There are still loads of white men around, so presumably it still has some work going on here. I got the taxi to stop inside the restricted base zone to take some pictures of their old antique planes on display...

Back in Manila

2009-01-17T03:03:00.000-08:00

Bye bye Boracay. Back to Manila.

Sailing Boracay

2009-01-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

We hired a skipper and a trimaran for a while and went snorkelling out in the reefs near white beach. This is the life; hanging off the edge of a trimaran, the sea spraying up in your face and then diving off to play with tropical fish.

I've never had the fun of sailing on a trimaran. I was surprised at how fast they can go compared to a mono hull. Close-hauled, Gullwinged, this thing just flew no matter where the wind was coming from. It would lurch forward with a gust and almost dip the bow into the sea, before coming out again and flying along like a giant gull.

Because it is a multi-hull, it was more stable and didn't give Nic sea-sickness like monohulls do. There is hope yet for that dream toy. Now, if only I can work out a way of getting a motorcycle onto one, then this is going to be one happy Marky...

And on the seventh day god created the Snu...

2009-01-13T02:37:00.000-08:00

This was stuck on a thermos of all things...

After reading this I expect some answers from God about the Snu.

Boracay

2009-01-13T02:06:00.000-08:00

We're here for over a week to relax after Borneo. This beach life is great. I have a hammock and I'm not afraid to use it. The pictures can speak for themselves...

Sabang down to Boracay

2009-01-11T01:04:00.000-08:00

After snorkelling and swimming in Sabang, we decided to head further south down to Boracay, the big beach drawcard of the Philippines.

The trip involved a couple of Jeepney rides initially. The roads aren't paved and had been washed out a couple of times this year, so we bumped along in the back watching the wheels slide along next to the edge of the cliff with our hearts in our throats.

The jungle scenery was fantastic. We passed waterfalls coming down through the mountains spraying mist over the road.

After the jeepneys we switched again to a van. The van was relaxing for the first hour or so because no one was joining us. But it slowly filled up to bursting point with Nicci sitting next to a bag of grain with a small lady stuffed on top for good measure while I tried to breathe underneath a pile of backpacks and flax bags.

With some uniquely Filipino driving, we went for a head-on collision between ourselves and a truck, neither wishing to move for the other. The fact that we were on the wrong side of the road, overtaking a bus didn't help. We slipped in with a few feet to spare and our driver did the sign of the cross. I felt like twatting him and saying "God helps those who help themselves. Don't drive like a knob!"

From the van we switched to a ferry, but it was six hours late, so we would get into Boracay at two in the morning. God appeared once again in this deeply religious but painfully daft country. They loudly played a Christian prayer on the boat's screens before leaving. It was asking God to give them a safe journey. I thought it would be better if they asked God to take off the chains they had stupidly wrapped around the emergency doors.

Finally we come to Boracay. It is a delight. Coconut palms line the beautiful white sand beach. A hammock swings gently on the outside of our bamboo hut. Ace. The Philippines is a cool country.

Sabang

2009-01-08T20:49:00.001-08:00

We went down on bus and bangka to Sabang on the island of Mindoro. A bangka is a pumpboat with the polynesian style side floats, except made with bamboo and held together with packing tape - seriously.

Philippines and Manila

2009-01-07T02:59:00.000-08:00

We flew to Manila to spend a couple of weeks in the Philippines. Coming in to Manila we saw the following within a couple of hours:

Whores lining the streets looking for some action

Homeless whole families huddled in street corners begging for food.

Bakeries guarded by security guards with sawn-off shotguns

A child do a poo in the gutter and then wipe his bum with some trash in the street.

And all this rubbing shoulders with Starbucks, Flap Jacks in air-conditioned mega malls

Manila is edgy and exciting. It is quite different from other SE Asia countries. It reminds me of being in Caracas.

We love it here.

Check out the Jeepneys they have here...

The fort in Manila...

Orangutans

2009-01-04T00:34:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to go to an Orangutan rehabilitation centre in Sepilok on the east coast of Borneo. It tries to put Orangutans back into the wild.

The main drawcard here is that in order to wean the Orangutans off human contact they still need to put food out for some of them that have recently been put back into the jungle. This way we get to see some of the Orangutans as they swing in from the edge of the jungle to say hello and have a banana or two.

These guys have such expressive faces. The mother and baby were very cute too.

This cheeky monkey came around the headquarters looking to steal an orangutan or human lunch.

Happy New Years

2009-01-04T00:31:00.000-08:00

We moved back in Malaysia and further along up to Kota Kinabalu, staying here for New Years. Kotal Kinabalu is a quiet town, but we still managed to stay up until midnight watching fireworks and smoking sheeshas.

However; being the lightweights that we are these days, we were almost asleep just after midnight. Not quite the party crew of the old days. Now, where's my rocking chair...

Toilet Talk

2008-12-30T02:46:00.000-08:00

We saw this at a food court. Where do I go again?

Heh. Instructions for using a western-style toilet. I love it. I especially love the 'No standing on the seat' image and the fact that it shows her doing a poo with her trousers still up.

Trip so far

2008-12-30T01:15:00.000-08:00

The trip so far. It has been rather lovely. NZ soon though to start pretending to be an adult again...

Into Brunei

2008-12-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

We headed off to Brunei. It is a simple two or three hundred kilometres from Miri to Bandar Seri Bagawan, the capital of Brunei, and yet it still took an amazing four buses and one tiny boat. Bizarre set up.

As we come into Brunei, we start seeing see-saw pumps here, slowly bobbing up and down like giant birds feeding on the oil they pump up to the surface. They run along the coast, only a hundred feet apart. This place must be soaking in the stuff, and judging by the fact that they built a hotel here that cost a billion US dollars, that has to be a correct assumption.

Bandar was very quiet for a capital.

Brunei is far more Muslim than Malaysia, so Nic gets the gawping and staring that accompanies a woman who isn't wearing a scarf on her head. Weird because the Malays can walk around here exactly the same without anyone blinking an eye. I think Nic is sexy as hell though so I can't blame them.

They have a cool museum with a collection of all the presents that the sultan has been given by heads of state. They had gold model mosques from Saudi Arabia, silver models of Angkor Wat from Cambodia... and a small flax basket with a feather stuck on with sellotape from New Zealand (no joke!)

We took a ride to Bangar in one of the speedboats. Our man was a dude and could easily have won the F1 equivalent on water.

Mulu Christmas!

2008-12-28T23:08:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you all have a great Christmas.

We were having our own special fun for Christmas, which counted as one of the stranger ones we've had. We played Christmas tunes on the iPod and Nic taught me a new card game called Phooey. I was elated to win the first two games only to later regret crowing about it as my beginner's luck ran out and Nic gave me a pasting.

The afternoon we went on a tree canopy sky walk thing...

In the evening we treated ourselves to a buffet dinner at the fancy resort down the road. They put on a show of Borneo dancing and costumes, including a loin clothed warrior to Nic's delight.

The buffet consisted of all the family Christmas favourites; turkey, chicken, stingray etc. We haven't eaten like this for months, so we had about four plates each. Yum-o. It was Christmas after all.

Merry Christmas!

Mulu National Park

2008-12-28T22:50:00.000-08:00

We decided to go to Mulu National Park, which has the most famous caves in Borneo. A David Attenborough affair apparently.

Getting there requires a trip in a small propellor plane. It seemed very Indiana Jones landing on the small strip at the park headquarters. All we needed was Short-Stop to come up and drive a car with blocks on his feet.

We stayed at a family owned guest house. That evening they invited us to their local Christmas feast at the house. All of the locals came, the head man said a speech, and then we had to bow our heads while prayer was said. Bats would fly in through the open doors, circle to eat bugs, and then quickly fly out again. No one even blinked; a nightly occurance.

But the best was the food. A huge spread of chicken, fish, noodles, vegetables and cakes. We loved it. At the end of the feast we thanked the head man and his lovely wife and later gave them some small gifts to say thanks. They were so lovely.

The park is filled with huge butterflies of all colours. At night fireflies light up the surrounds like fairy lights while frogs call to each other with 'Wat' sounds.

We went with a guide to the caves in the park. The biggest cave chamber in the world apparently. They weren't joking. It was big. It looked like it could fit a twenty story building inside of it. It stank of guano and the droppings formed huge piles under the larger bat colonies on the ceilings. About three million bats lived in the one cave. Stalactites and 'mites hung and squatted everywhere.

Outside of the caves we waited for the sun to go down outside of the caves and then watched as millions of bats flew out to feed. They would form huge ribbons and circling doughnuts of bats in the sky. It was wonderful to be there to see it.

Our accommodation included a tap for a shower. At one point it rained so much the river burst its banks and the water got into our tanks meaning we had to wash in mud. Heh. We would crush the bugs and cockroaches each night before bed. This place was great!

Come again?

2008-12-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

While in Miri we also noticed that the council were getting a bit excited over parking...

...Okay, this one is grammatically correct, but still an unfortunate choice of words.

Miri - Goodbye to Rob

2008-12-28T22:44:00.000-08:00

We headed further along Borneo to Miri, staying there for a couple of days to relax. Unfortunately it was also time to say goodbye to Rob. Apparently the Aussie Rules season is starting, so Rob had to speed himself to Melbourne. Man hugs all round. See you soon mate.

Niah Caves

2008-12-28T03:08:00.001-08:00

Heading east, we left Kuching out in a small ferry boat to Sibu. The thing with this is that the boat has to go out to sea to get to the river mouth about two hours north-east. The ferry captain had great faith in his little passenger ferry because he went full steam despite the rolling waves. This caused the sides of the ferry to slam into the waves on the downward part of the corkscrew. Instead of backing off the throttle like he should have to even it out, he just held on to his stool which he tied to the helm with packing tape. We all held on for dear life while trying to watch a b-grade French movie about drug gangsters who dress badly and fight a baldy man.

After a couple of days travelling, we made it up to Niah caves. A few hours hiking and then these caves. They were incredible. You wander around these massive cave chambers, with millions of bats hanging above you, chirping away. It is pitch black and you have to use a torch to follow the path. Further on there was a cave with neolithic cave paintings showing men and canoes. It was one of those wow experiences that everyone hunts for.

\

One of the long-house communities here...

Borneo - Wet. Hot and wet. Hot, sticky and wet.

2008-12-28T02:35:00.000-08:00

We flew from KL into Borneo for some jungle fun. So it was surprising to land in Kuching and land at such a pretty and modern little town. Kuching is cool. We stayed in a dirt cheap hostel with the only down side that I had to go around and fill in all the peepholes everyone put in the flimsy walls, heh.

One thing though, Borneo sure knows about rain. The houses here are raised on stilts, and for good reason. It rains each afternoon, but not in a normal rain cloud style. It pours with ferocious fat drops that are more like a waterfall than a shower. This happened every day here and thankfully takes away the sticky heat of the day. If you get caught in it though, you can kiss your spiral mullet perm goodbye.

We went to Bako National Park for the day. To get there you have to hire a longboat to take you into the park and to the park headquarters. Cruising along the river, passing dense jungle and monitor lizards sliding in the mud, it felt rather like a Joseph Conrad novel.

The hike was in torrential rain which made it quite exciting, including fording small streams that have overflowed and turned into rivers. We encountered a baby turtle in the rain, making a dash across the path. The weird thing was that we were near the top of a mountain. Not really sure what he was doing up there, but I guess he had his reasons.

Back at the park headquarters these little guys tried to steal my coke. Cheeky monkeys...

Kuala Lumpur

2008-12-28T01:55:00.001-08:00

We caught a bus down to Kuala Lumpur. The driver was driving like a loon as is standard in Asia. He was texting, writing down the schedules for his next trip and driving the bus all at the same time, and in that order of importance. There must be a special time portal here, because he drove like an absolute madman, complained when we wanted to stop at toilet stops, and yet it still took about five hours to go only three hundred kilometres.

Finally we reached Kuala Lumpur. Rob and I had been here before about three years ago during one of his "last" trips home to live in Melbourne. It was fitting that here we were again, and here he was saying, again, that this is definitely the last trip home.

We stayed in exactly the same hotel in the middle of China Town, surrounded by all of the market stalls, fakes, hustlers, copy DVDs and ear waxers. A good place to escape the city's choking traffic fumes. I read in their tourist pamphlets that Kuala Lumpur is supposedly called 'The Garden City'. Someone must have built the garden round the back somewhere, because this is the last title I would choose to give it. Don't get me wrong, it is still a great city, bustling with noodle stands and friendly, honest people; just no gardens to speak of that I've ever seen, well, unless garden is a Malay word for sucking on an exhaust pipe.

Crossing into Malaysia

2008-12-28T01:15:00.000-08:00

We crossed the border through to Malaysia, stopping in Pulau Penang, an island just off the Malaysian coast. This is an ex-British-owned island and is now a big resort island. Unfortunately after coming from the southern Thai beaches, it seems like a bit of a poor cousin. The beaches weren't very nice and we couldn't work out why it was such a big resort draw. The Langkawi islands are only a little further north and so is Thailand. Oh well, the people were lovely and we took the chance to treat ourselves at a cheesy pirate ship themed restaurant.

Phuket to Songkhla

2008-12-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

It was time to say goodbye to Keely and Kev. It was great having good company to hang out with during the trip.

After only four hours sleep due to a goodbye party in Patong that overstepped the bounds of decency, we headed out of Phuket on an eight hour bus journey to Hat Yai. After a gruelling bus trip we got off, said "That was horrible; never again!", only to hop onto the Hat Yai to Songkhla bus which was ten times worse. This bus had a sub-woofer in the back and they played bad Thai karaoke videos at full volume all the way to Songkhla. I can assure you that Thai Karaoke is an entirely passable experience.

The Thais helped us again with their friendly ways. A family helped us get to our guest house and went out of their way to make sure we got there safely. No wonder everyone loves this country.

We shared the room with two cockroaches the size of my fist, but we couldn't have been happier to see that bed. Sixteen hours of travelling and that bed was ours. Happy days.

The next day was spent in Songkhla recovering with nice coffees and a visit to the lucky mermaid statue. Local myth says that stroking her boobs brings you good luck. I figure that if I'm stroking some boobs I've already had some good luck!

Tongue-Thaied

2008-12-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

This was on a menu in Southern Thailand. ???

Beach slap

2008-12-12T23:11:00.000-08:00

Patong can only be tolerated for so long, so we headed out to Kata beach for a while, relaxing on the beach there. After Kata beach got a little boring, we headed out to Kamala beach to stay in bungalows just near the water. Strangely the pool here was just as wonderful as the white sand beaches.

We hired a few scooters and wandered around the island a bit, bumping into elephants, seeing waterfalls and visiting gibbon rehabilitation centres.

At night we would eat at restaurants on the beach and watch people light small hot-air balloons made of rice paper that floated out into the night.

Sometimes being on the same beach can wear you down, so we switched again to Laem Singh beach and then switched a fourth time to Nai Thon beach. Since getting bored of beaches was our biggest problem, we felt fairly happy with ourselves here in Phuket.

Nai Thon had a little island out in the bay, so we hired a long boat and went snorkelling until sunset. Happy days.

We heard there is a recession going on which sounds scary. Luckily we don't have to deal with that right now. The only thing destroying my economy right now is Singha and Chang beer.

Thai Kick-boxing

2008-12-11T03:58:00.000-08:00

Blood sports are the only ones I find interesting. If a man is willing to get knocked unconscious for his honour, then that deserves respect. And so we went to Thai kick-boxing, one of the hardest of the boxing sports. We couldn't resist going to watch a match live and there was a European line up that I was hoping to see get a pasting by the professional Thai boxers.

We saw a few knock-outs and one really unprofessional knee to the crotch which made the Thai boxer drop to the floor, and worse, the English 16 year old opponent almost cry because of the poor form and the booing. It was fabulous!

Phuket and Patong

2008-12-11T02:26:00.000-08:00

We took the train & bus down to Phuket from Bangkok, avoiding the protests at the airport.

I forgot about the old Thai comission scams until now. In Surat Thani, a switch-point between the train and bus, there were touts-a-plenty, full of lies and ready for business. After the third comission scam was being played on us late at night in the mini-van to Phuket I had had enough. I got the entire van of tourists so het up that everyone refused to move out of the van until the driver did what we wanted. A small victory against the backhander.

Phuket is where we met up with some good mates; Keely, Rob and a friend of Keely's, Kev. We went to the usual haunts of Phuket. Patong was a favourite for looking at whores, strippers, go-go dancers, lady-boys and iguana pushers. A good thing about this tourist sweat-hole is that you can usually go to a bar and they will let you play any music you like - so we rocked out to our own (slightly dated) tastes.

Bangkok

2008-11-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

We flew to Bangkok for a mini holiday within the big holiday. Staying near the Khao San road, eating banana pancakes and doing a good bit of nothing. This is great.

Still a little bit of sight seeing done though. We went to the emerald Buddha, Wat Po and the reclining Buddha. Then some of the more traditional sight seeing like Patpong and a ping pong show. Strangely not a ping pong bat to be seen though.

We went to the floating market and then went to see a cobra show where we watched a cobra fight a mongoose. Not sure the RSPCA would approve. At one point they had a jumping snake that got away from the snake-guy and it came shooting towards the crowd. It was part of the act a little bit; at least we think so. When it happened a young guy in the front row, ran up the stairs faster than a whippet with its bum on fire. It was hilarious, but we had to say that we would have done the exact same thing.

They milked a cobra of its venom in front of us and told us a guy died doing the show a few years ago. The final act was a guy being attacked by three snakes at once, grabbing two with his hands and then catching the third with his mouth. Freaky.

Night markets, thieves markets, floating markets, China town, poolsides, banana pancakes, pineapples, wats, monks, hippies, sun, flip flops, protesters and freaks. Bangkok has it all.

Disneyland

2008-11-17T21:49:00.000-08:00

After my family left Hong Kong on their own travels, we decided to cheer ourselves up with a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland. I love Disneyland and made sure Nicci set the alarm so that we could get there from opening time until the park closed. The funnest place on earth!

Engagement Ring

2008-11-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong has an enormous selection of diamonds and seems to be paved with them, so we took the chance to get the main engagement ring while we were here. The proposal ring seemed to be getting a little rusty in the ocean air (ahem).

I can't say I share people's enthusiasm for little shiny rocks. They don't do anything useful and I can't ride, drive, surf or fly using them. But seeing how happy Nic was when we found the perfect ring makes it all worth it...

The man at Chow Tai Fook, a famous jewellery chain here, helped us immensely with the selection and smiled each time we came in to see the ring again. If we visited the shop any more times, I think we would have to take him out to dinner. He was great and so was the service here...

Ocean Park

2008-11-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

Fun parks = yay.
Hong Kong's Ocean Park with the family...

Meet the Hamlins

2008-11-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong is a little special for us because we were meeting up with my family again for a while. My sister has just got engaged which is cause for celebration along with our own engagement.

I've been lucky to see my family a couple of times recently in the last few years. They are wonderful. So here are the photos of my favourite people in the universe...

Hong Kong

2008-11-17T20:30:00.001-08:00

We took an overnight train from Shanghai to Hong Kong. The train was fairly nice. We shared a cabin with an ancient Chinese couple. If they hadn't moved I would have lit a candle on their heads thinking they were good luck charms.

Move they did. They spent the evening and the morning eating freshly cooked crabs, slowly disecting them with scissors and spoon ends. They ate relentlessly.

The smell was not so special, but Nicci fought back with Nail Polish and makeup. I lay down and asked myself why we enjoy this sort of stuff so much; it doesn't make sense that a less comfortable way of living could be so much fun. The old lady looked up, gave me a toothless smile and I knew then why we do it.

Shanghai

2008-11-17T20:19:00.001-08:00

Shanghai, a big city strangely devoid of anything to do.

We thought this would be a great city to visit, steeped in colonial history and dripping with old stories of opium trading and gambling. Unfortunately the city, known for reinventing itself, has changed again and is now a big modern shopping mall that looks great at night, but doesn't seem to have much to do in the day.

We went up the pearl tower though which was a drawcard for me when planning the trip. It had a roller coaster inside it which was fun. Great views of the city too.

Tokyo Fish Market

2008-11-05T22:16:00.001-08:00

We got up at five in the morning to go to the Tokyo fish market to see how all the seafood gets everywhere in Japan. This place was mental. Little carts flying about the place, tuna being cut with bandsaws, men smoking cigarettes while gutting fish and the occasional tourist scurrying around trying not to get in the way.

Japan... you've got to love this place

2008-11-05T21:39:00.001-08:00

Japan is great. No argument. We love this country.

Mformation meeting

2008-11-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

We were very lucky to meet up with some of my Mformation Windsor work mates in Tokyo because we are doing a lot of business there. It was great to meet up and talk a bit of shop which we strangely miss during the days of travelling and pleasuring ourselves.

This is the view from their hotel...

Nice one guys. We hope to see you visiting in NZ soon!

Temples, castles and cool stuff

2008-11-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

Kyoto alone has over 200 temples and it feels like we saw them all twice. But in truth we barely scratched the surface. He are some pictures of the wonder that is Japan...

Geisha overload

2008-11-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

Back in Kyoto and it is time for more geisha baiting. The RSPCA should have this banned. We bumped into these ones while walking the back streets of the Gion district.

Not satisfied, we went to a Geisha show, only on once a year for ten days. It is the time when the geishas present their apprentices to Kyoto, with dancing and tea ceremonies, to show how well trained they are and how ready they are to entertain and become full geisha.

I'm no expert, but the singing made me wonder whether the ladies were secretly mouthing the words while squeezing cats to prduce the desired effect. And why they purposefully detuned the instruments is beyond me. But, this is how it is done and it helped me to stay awake during the dancing.

Since I'm a bit of a philistine here, I'll write with Nic's opinion in mind:
The beautiful geisha came on stage, all dressed immaculately and made up perfectly. They each went through their dance routines showing the beauty and elegance that is the Geisha way of life. Their care and attention to detail and grace was so impressive. How wonderful it would be to be a geisha. "No Mark, they aren't dancing prostitutes. They are beautiful and pure".
I loved the show!

Pooh's friend...

2008-11-05T19:46:00.001-08:00

Nic and I were in a restaurant the other day, enjoying a lovely meal after some temple snapping, when Nic started giggling. The lady serving us had an apron with a picture of a teddy bear on it. Above was written "Dick Bear".

I couldn't look the lady in the eye. Getting served by Dick Bear was just too weird.

Who makes these things? How do you imagine the product meeting might go?

"We need some new designs for our apron range"
"Teddy bears are cute"
"Great let's do that. But what do we call the teddy bear?"
"I know! What about Dick Bear. That has got to have all round appeal. Everyone likes Dick!"
"Great let's do it"

Shodo Shima

2008-11-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

We took a detour and took a ferry to the island of Shodo Shima. Shodo shima is a small island in the inland sea of Japan.

We hired some bicycles and rode around the island scaring the drivers there...

Beppu

2008-11-05T19:26:00.001-08:00

We took the bullet train south and headed down to Beppu, land of the Japanese Onsen (hot-pools). Beppu was a quiet little town which was a welcome respite from the big cities of Japan.

We caught a bus out into the country and walked down some country lanes, through a graveyard and in through the bush to get to a natural hot spring that is free and maintained by the locals here. We had the whole place to ourselves in the morning, pouring scolding spring water over our heads and lazing in the sunshine.

This paradise could only last so long because it is really for the locals, so when two young guys and an old man turned up, everything had to switch Japanese style. We were in swimming trunks but the Japanese bathe in Onsen naked. After Nic being treated to three Japanese willies and feeling pressured to get our kit off too, we decided to head back to our hotel which had its own private Onsen. Less winkies, more fun.

We like Japan, but seeing other men's willies isn't pretty in any country. Beppu is great and the hot pools are lovely though.

Signs and their meanings

2008-10-27T23:58:00.001-07:00

A lot of the time we can't read the signs that we see, so we've had to imagine what they've meant. Here are some of our best guesses from Russia, Mongolia, China and Japan...

No punching cats

Warning! Electric deer

Warning! Drunk cats.

Smelly dog farts ahead

Umbrella golfing prohibited

Hypnotising babies prohibited.

Danger! Falling footballs and anteaters

Warning! Your car roof may explode

Use of magnetic super powers prohibited!

No grumpy women

Vending machine haircut

2008-10-27T23:39:00.001-07:00

The Japanese are awfully fond of using vending machines. I got my haircut paying with a vending machine and with a guarantee of taking only ten minutes. At the end of the haircut, the guy vacumn cleaned my head. I think I will wait a while before I try that again...

Osaka - little city with big ideas

2008-10-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

Osaka is a lovely city. We went up in what they claimed to be the biggest ferris wheel in the world. At the top it was the same as a thirty or forty story building. The view was great. Nic wasn't so happy about the heights and this is the result of me swinging the cabin a little...

Osaka was on a roll when it came to biggest things and so we went to the aquarium which had the biggest tank in the world into which they plopped a couple of whale sharks and manta rays. It was a real treat to see these creatures live and seemingly happy in such a great aquarium...

Japanese Restaurants

2008-10-27T05:54:00.001-07:00

Eating at some of the cheaper restaurants in Japan isn't quite the shoes-off tatami experience that most people think of. It is, however; something more fun and interesting.

You can go to cheap ramen restaurants where instead of ordering from a menu, or talking to any humans for that matter, you simply put money into a vending machine, choose the food you want, and then give the food tickets to the waitress. She will shout out the order to the cook, and within minutes delicious food is at your table.

In another restaurant we ordered the food from the waitress, human-style, and she typed it into a small PDA. The chef started cooking the food and we saw our bill automatically print out without the waitress even leaving the table. Getting the bill before even getting the food is a whole new level of Japanese efficiency.

Did I make a mistake?

2008-10-26T04:37:00.000-07:00

This is my fiance...

Geisha Hunting

2008-10-26T01:15:00.000-07:00

One of the dreams Nic has is to spot a live Geisha in Japan. This is partly the reason we are going via the Asia route back to NZ.

We got to Kyoto, dropped our bags off at the Ryokan and headed off in search of Geisha. It would have been just as appropriate to don a deer stalker hat and a couple of scope rifles with the way we tracked down our prey.

The poor geishas didn't have a chance. After combing the streets for a couple of hours, I spotted some Geishas having tea through a window. I had to boost Nic up to peek through the bamboo windows.

The trap set, we sat and waited; they had to come out sometime! Finally with a flash of white painted skin three geisha made a run for it. Too late, Nic had her finger on the trigger and bagged herself a live geisha snap.

Not content with one, we followed the frightened things down the street taking our tourist's worth.

Staying in the Ryokans

2008-10-26T01:09:00.000-07:00

The traditional Japanese Ryokans tend to be the best hotels for our oily rag budget. This isn't such a bad thing as we get to play Geishas and Shoguns with tea ceremonies and tatami mats...

Nara

2008-10-25T23:23:00.001-07:00

Nara, a lovely little town just outside of Kyoto and chock full of Japanese temples. One of the drawcards of Nara is that wild deer wander the streets and parks. We each had a go at feeding them. A little insistent, one of the deer decided to butt and nip at Nic. This resulted in a lot of squealing and the deer crackers being thrown everywhere with Nic sprinting halfway up the road.

Nic staring down her nemesis...

There were school trips out visiting Nara too. Little people, aged five to eight, would come up to us holding their English practice books and ask us in small groups if they could ask a few questions. After asking our names and introducing themselves in a very formal way, the children would ask our preference of sushi or tempura. At the end of their practise they would shyly tell us they have a gift for us and then hand over some origami shuriken. Possibly one of the sweetest experiences we've had on the trip...

Nara is a very beautiful part of Japan...

Walking through Nara you notice red buckets next to each house. All of the houses are made of wood, packed next to each other like matches. So this is a fairly simple practice in case of fire - and a nice stop for thirsty cats. I liked the simplicity of it all. Bullet trains and fire buckets - Japan is an enigma.

Tokyo to Nara - bullet speed

2008-10-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

We caught a bullet train down to Nara. Gliding along at 200 miles an hour, these trains make you feel as if you are in a jet-plane skimming just above the ground.

Japan being the way it is, the conductor enters the carriage, bows to everyone and introduces himself. On the way out again, he will also turn and bow to everyone. He doesn't just do it the once, he will do it every single time he enters the carriage.

It took all of two hours to get the equivalent of London to Newcastle. If anything went this fast in the UK or NZ, people would be too afraid to get on it.

Japan rocks!

High-class Pussy

2008-10-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

We went to Nekobukuro which is like a penthouse for cats. For a small fee you can go in and play with the pampered feline tenants. Nicci loves cats. I imagine I might like cats with some barbeque sauce, however; some of these furry things were actually quite cute...

Tokyo - Fashioning its own style

2008-10-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

Tokyo sure tries harder than most countries with its styling. Most people are impecabbly dressed, although occasionally an eyebrow lifts at the attempts...

Tokyo　- Open Kimono

2008-10-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

A little longer in Tokyo and it starts to reveal itself to you. Below the bland shopping and plastic veneer a real personality starts to emerge. This city really starts to grow on you...

Tokyo

2008-10-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

After only scratching the surface with Beijing, we unfortunately had to say goodbye. It is a bit of a mad-house but has an infectious energy. This led to a stark change when we got to Tokyo. Expecting it to be a jumping and bustling city, we were quite surprised to find it serene and quiet in comparison.

Everything in Tokyo is orderly and well thought out. People obey road rules (a novelty in China) and form queues in the underground. Wonderful.

Tokyo managed to split Nic and I right down the middle. Nic loved it beyond measure and thought the culture was amazing. I was disappointed to find Tokyo a bland American mall (and no robots!)

Between the two of us we are probably both right. The city gave up some of its identity to become a pseudo-US, but retained enough of the mad Japanese culture to be interesting.

Take a look at a few of the photos and decide for yourself...

Erm... Some toilet paper please...?

Dinner and a show

2008-10-19T04:55:00.001-07:00

A trip to Beijing wouldn't be a trip to Beijing without going to an acrobatic show...

The grand finale consisted of all of Beijing on one bicycle. Most impressive...

Summer Palace

2008-10-19T04:40:00.000-07:00

A trip to the Summer Palace to escape the smog in Beijing for a while...

Tired...

Lama Temple

2008-10-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

We went to Lama Temple which was right next to our hostel. It had lots of big Buddhas and praying Chinese people.

All the religious people praying fervently to a god mixed together with tourists snapping away like some kind of religious oxymoron. Not sure if it was heresy, but the result was more bizarre than watching either one or the other do their thing alone.

We were firmly in the tourist camp, not knowing anything about Buddhism, and probably maligning someone's channeled energy with our clashing ensemble or shoes that weren't pointy enough. But religious things make for great pictures.

One tip to Buddhism though is that, on the face of it, it sounds a whole lot saner than the Catholic fantasies I was taught. Their fantasies sound nicer and seem more inclusive than the Catholic Club.

Chiney Foo

2008-10-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

I've heard horror stories about the real Chinese food in China, but I wasn't expecting this... it's delicious!

One of the first dishes I ate here was Szechuan style beef. Check out the chillies in this bad boy....

It was so delicious I've ordered it several times. The other dishes are just as fabulous.

We've also been to a Korean barbeque where they served dog and I'll kick myself for not ordering it. It looked really nice. Hopefully we'll get another chance in Shanghai.

But what the hell is this? ...

A Pea Flavoured Iceblock

2008-10-19T03:55:00.000-07:00

Why? Just why would you?

The Great Wall

2008-10-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

In an effort to avoid the tourist throng that jams, bustles and oozes throughout the city, we hired a car to go out to a far section of the Great Wall.

It is called the great wall for a reason; it runs for some 5000kms like a ribbon across the Chinese landscape. To comprehend the scale of the work involved requires simultaneously a close look at one metre of wall filled with bricks and weeks of labour, and also a low earth orbit view across all of China showing how much all of this work is multiplied by. A scale unmatched in human history, including works like the pyramids.

We went with a new friend from the hostel, Rob AKA "Dutch Rob". He is in Beijing for work presenting his PHD at a conference. Lovely guy...

Autumn is one of the prettiest months here. Not too hot and colours that sizzle...

Beijing Zoo

2008-10-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Yay! The zoo. Time to see some pandas...

People come up to Nic and ask to have pictures with her quite often here. They say things like "Can we have picture? You very beautiful. Lovely eyes". Nic takes it all in her stride, but secretly loves it, flicking her hair and putting on a model smile. I have to take the pictures for them as they don't seem to find me quite so stunning.

Our chosen transport to the zoo was somewhat ignominious but exhilarating in the mad Beijing traffic. With the two of us in there it felt like the whole thing might tip onto its side.

Sheep penis, half price...

2008-10-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

Beijing is just wonderful. A week here may not be enough. The city is huge and is full of wonderful sights.

One of the night food markets had the following on the menu:

Fried Silk Worm
Sea Snake
Sheep Penis
Centipede
Scorpion

As yummy as all that sounded, we went for pineapple and noodles.

The Forbidden City

2008-10-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

The forbidden city - all this for one man...

One of the enduring memories of the Forbidden city will actually be the Chinese themselves. Here in their thousands on organised tours from all over the country, they are asserting themselves with new money, sufficient to spend on leisure. And occasionally asserting themselves with lack of manners in queues etc (although this isn't impolite in China as far as we can tell). Fortunately being six foot tall I can see over every person here and if anyone tries to pull a Chinese swifty on me, I go up to them, and lean over the top of them so they turn around, look at my chest and then follow a gaze up to my face directly above them, at which point they usually move back into the correct place in the queue again.

Beijing

2008-10-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

We could say Nihao or some other noddy thing when starting to write about Beijing, but a more succinct word would be 'Boom!' as in, Boom! you are in Beijing. Boom! The smells, sights and people hit you like a baseball bat to the head. Boom! This place is full frontal and in your face. Beijing is great!

Leaving Mongolia

2008-10-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

The last leg of the Trans-Mongolian was a sad one. We loved Mongolia and we will remember it forever.

Going from Mongolia to China we had to change from Russian to standard gauge bogies. They jacked us up, still in our carriages, and switched them in a process that took simply forever. Nic and I spent a good part of our time saying the word 'bogie' to each other and giggling.

Mongolian Throat Singing

2008-10-18T02:04:00.000-07:00

We went to a Mongolian traditional dance show and were treated to the delights of Mongolia. Apart from being pretty cool, they had a specialty unique to Mongolia - the Mongolian Throat Singers. Weirdest sound I've ever heard coming out of a human, I reckon. I can't play you that on the blog, but can show you some of the pretty dancing...

Two girls playing on these instruments did the equivalent of "dueling banjos"...

Check out this guy's boots... (he was a great singer)

Contortionists that defied the bounds of decency...

This was the guy that did the throat singing. Strangest thing I've ever heard. Uber cool...

Leaving Terelj National Park

2008-10-11T03:36:00.001-07:00

It was sad leaving the park. It is a wonderful place, even if you exclude the fact that we just got engaged here. It is so peaceful, and the stars shine like diamonds.

Mongolia is one of the best countries we've ever been to. Go there...

Horse riding - Mongolian Style

2008-10-11T03:07:00.000-07:00

Mongolians are expert horsemen. One Mongolian, named the "Axe Hero", apparently could pick up silver dollars while riding full gallop.

I am not an expert horseman. We proved this just the other day. Fortunately Nic could ride, although this made my embarrassing attempt at riding look even sillier...

We rode 5km to a rock called "turtle rock", which looked rather like a rock to me, but I was busy trying to hold on for dear life on the flimsy Mongolian saddle while the guides smacked the horse's arse with a stick to make it gallop at break-neck speeds.

Our guides were cheeky little monkeys. They took a shine to Nic and found my riding highly amusing.

Life in the ger tent

2008-10-11T00:39:00.000-07:00

Lying in bed, reading a book by the fire; this is the right way to live. This place is magical...

Wild horses outside our ger. We watched a guy slowly and expertly break one of them in. They are feisty. Nic is just cold, not needing the toilet...

Since it is snowing and I didn't pack any warm clothes, I had to get inventive with what I had here in the national park. Cutting the feet out of a pair of socks makes for great tubular arm-warmers. Cutting five holes in each of a pair of other socks resulted in some Michael Jackson-esque fingerless gloves. It is all the rage in Mongolia; trust me...

We're Engaged!!!!!

2008-10-11T00:18:00.000-07:00

It is hard to describe just how amazing this trip is. But it just got a whole lot better. Last night I asked Nicci to marry me. She said 'Yes!' Yay-o

After a meal in a nearby ger-tent come restaurant, I plopped an alarm clock down on the table and told Nic not to return to our ger until fifteen minutes had passed. She was suspicious, but couldn't work out what was happening, looking towards the kitchen to see if a cake would arrive or something similar. I headed off and started implementing my plan...

(Nic continues the story...)

I came back to the tent to find it filled with tea light candles in every available space.

"How long have we been looking after each other?" he asked. I stammered an answer, still trying to comprehend the situation. Mark was still acting odd, sitting on the floor surrounded by candles.

After making a little speech he proposed with a lovely ring and before I'd even accepted, I had taken the ring from the box and placed it naturally onto my ring finger! Mark was still looking anxious waiting for a response.

I said... 'Yes! Of course!' and with that we were engaged.

Mark had been lugging a bottle of bubbly, 2 champagne flutes, candles and the proposal ring since we left London!!.. (He told me it was a box of UK treats to open when we got REALLY homesick so I wasn't allowed to look)

Needless to say, we are over the moon!!

Staying in a Ger tent

2008-10-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

We stayed for a couple of days in the national park in a traditional Ger tent, sharing it with a friendly mouse and a faithful dog which we nicknamed, 'Mongdog'.

One of the friendly Mongolians that lived nearby...

Heading out to Terelj National Park

2008-10-10T23:51:00.001-07:00

We took a private car out to Terelj National Park in outer Mongolia (seriously).

We tossed a stone onto the cairn and circled it three times for good luck on our travels as is the Mongolian custom...

Ulan Baataar

2008-10-10T23:36:00.001-07:00

Hello Mongolia! This place was nothing like what we expected. Modern and slick, the capital city was impressive. But best of all, people smile at you as they walk past. A joy to behold.

We arrived during the first snowfall of the season.

We can't seem to get away from this guy...

Ulan Baataar: a trans-mongolian gem.

Russia to Mongolia

2008-10-10T23:14:00.000-07:00

It was time to say 'da svedanya' to Mother Russia. We will miss your terrible food, rubbish service, dirty rooms, run-down buildings, lazy cleaners and impoliteness. Actually, we won't.

Most of what we saw was akin to some of the second or third world countries we've been to; sometimes worse. But Russia still insists on charging for it like it is providing first world comforts. Russia is an anachronism in a modern world.

It isn't all cabbage and grunts though. The country is beautiful and magnificent. The Russian's can also show kindness and warmth if you get past their surly veil. We will have to return with some Russian under our belt and try again in the future.

Hello Mongolia!

Ulan Ude

2008-10-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

Getting into Ulan Ude was like stepping into another country. All this time we've been travelling through Siberia surrounded by white Russians. Ulan Ude changes all that by being predominantly Asian.

This town's claim to fame is having the largest Lenin head in the world. Considering Moscow owns Lenin's real head, I'm not sure this is the best approach to advertise the town. Good head though...

Can't move for Lenin's around here...