Patan Dubar Square - Nepal

Hello! I am doing quite well with all these updates, one of the advantages with the pictures taking so long to upload is that I have time to kill in-between! Yesterday we went to Patan Dubar Square which is just on the outskirts of Kathmandu and was highly recommended by the lonely planet. An early start of 8am for the coffee run before being picked up by our driver which is costing us a mere 2.00GBP a day each! He has this very sporty looking black car which seems extremely out of place in the dusty city of Kathmandu, arriving with his music blaring through the speakers, music such as Akon and Jamie Bieber...not exactly to out taste but hilarious never the less! A super nice guy as well, with little English but good interpretation!

We arrived in Patan with the sun beating down on us...not quite the monsoon season I was expecting after India. Patans Dubar Square is beautiful but very similar to all the other Dubar Squares with exception of it's incredible museum, a converted temple. We spent a few hours wandering round chatting and getting hassled by touts before jumping back into the then boiling hot black sports car to travel back to our guesthouse.

We spent the rest of the afternoon lazily soaking in the sun and enjoying browsing the shops before going out for a lovely dinner at the Yak (I hear it's Gary's favourite). Daniel also tried a traditional Nepali dish called Tungba, it's made of Millet and is brought to you in a huge wooden jug where you then have to pour boiling hot water over it and wait 2 minutes then repeat once empty...I personally thought it smelt and tasted a bit weird but the lads seemed to enjoy it!

Today we are preparing for the trek, packing, organising etc. Also I want to say a HUGE Happy Birthday to my wonderful friend LUKE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAL...sorry I couldn't get on line to say it yesterday!!

Goodbye for now....

Slow Internet!

The Internet here in Nepal is sooo slow! It's driving me completely insane! So anyway I thought I would have a quick rant on my blog about it...the pictures might take us several days to get anything near the amount we have taken and each day we are taking more. Please don't think it's my laziness.

Meeting Ellie and Chris at the airport and seeing their faces made my day on Wednesday! They were totally shocked! As a wise man said "it was executed with perfection". We are staying in the Siesta Guesthouse in Thamel, I love it, we are treated as family and everyone is so friendly here. Already I know I will be visiting Nepal again!

We have done the usual site seeing around Thamel and Kathmandu, the temples here are beautiful. The people are beautiful and the place....other than a bit polluted is beautiful.

On Tuesday we set out on a 5 day trek around the Kathmandu Valley where we visit local schools and local people, on the 2nd day we embark on a hardcore hike up a large hill and camp in the jungle in tents with Binay, cooks, Sherpa's and guide. I can't wait!

So far I have uploaded 15 photo's in 40 minutes! Just another 300 to go then :)

Nepal is more expensive than expected but that has been the same with everywhere and I can honestly say it has been 100% worth it's money!

Anyway I'm going to get back to the uploaded in the hope that only having one page loaded at a time may shorten the upload time...

x x

Leaving India and Onto Nepal...

First of all I will say this is probably the fastest blog I will ever write so please excuse the terrible grammar, ill spelled words and so on! We left Goa last week to climb on board a 26hour train to Delhi! It was much better than I had imagined it would be and the time passed quickly between reading books, playing cards and general chit chat. Although typical India the meant to be 26 hour train very quickly turned into the 30 hour train and so we sadly had to wave goodbye to our hopes of seeing the Taj Mahal that afternoon! We were obviously disappointed but we were relieved to know we didn't have to cram too much in before our flight from Delhi.

When we arrived at Delhi train station the usual hustle and bustle was to be expected. A race to get off the train that I never quite can understand, the intense heat from outside blasted us as if we stuck our heads in a rather large oven. The rickshaw wallahs who pulled at our sleeves and the children making gestures with their hands to their mouths, money for food! After pushing our way through we managed to queue up for the pre-paid rickshaw service to take us to Pahar Ganj, a district within Delhi where all the backpackers go. We arrived unharmed and in one piece after a very bumpy ride and some rather impressive maneuvering on our drivers behalf! Our room was standard, overpriced and damp...the usual then.

Our flight left the next morning from Delhi's International Airport and left without a hitch a few hours later! Delhi airport was nice and clean, Daniel and I sat read our books, wrote in our diaries and sipped some coffee. A 2 hour wait is nothing after a 30 hour train!!!

On arrival at Kathmandu dusty and slightly rundown airport, Binay was waiting for us with arms open wide and quickly took us to a car that his friend had picked us up in! Free of course which makes a change to the usual welcome at train stations and airports! They took us straight to Thamel. Thamel is made up of small roads lined with stores selling Thangka, Buddha statues, paintings, Tibetan hats and the other tourist memorabilia. This little part of Kathmandu has everything and restaurants line most corners along with bars and hangouts! I have to say I love it! We have seen loads already thnanks to Binay.

Binay is a good friend from Nepal and he has been fantastic, it really does help when there's someone to point you in the right direction. There was no messing about and we got straight to investigating the local area within the first couple of hours. The first few nights we stayed at The Kathmandu Guesthouse, very famous hotel in Nepal and one of the first Guesthouses ever built, it has seen everything from backpacker status to the rich and famous such as The Beatles, it hosts a range of rooms from anything from $2 a night to $160 a night. Daniel and I went for the $12 but only because the cheapest were taken!!!

Anyway there is so much more to tell and so much we have done but for now I am running out of Internet time and have to say Goodbye!

Speak soon!

And then the rain came....India

Good Day..

Once again I suppose it would be only right to start with an apology for the lack of information on my part, although with a few nudges here and there I have managed to get my act together. I hope you enjoy the read.

First I'll have to reach back into the depths of my memory to recall some details about the beautiful get-away to Palolem. We travelled by bikes and car on the weekend in a big group of 9 of us. It was on the weekend of the 22nd May and the weather was a perfect 32 degrees. Not too hot, the breeze was a welcoming break and something I've become very fond of since travelling in this ridiculous heat. Palolem is south of Goa, with a it's own little paradise beach lined with large coconut palms and golden sands it really is idyllic. Palolem is by no means quiet though as bars shacks and wooden huts stand proud from one end of the beach to the other, most with 24 hour opening times makes it a very lively place to be.


We arrived at Palolem out of season so things had quietened off quite considerably, which is definitely to my taste. The beaches had free sun beds and you weren't crammed next to a large Indian family when you fancied dipping in the sea for a swim! We spent a couple of days here just relaxing and it was wonderful. We stayed in these little wooden beach huts that were lovely, minus the mosquitoes and the falling coconuts that sounded like you were being bombed when they happened to fall without warning. The drinks were all buy one get one free and the food was well overpriced and a bit tasteless but nothing to get yourself upset about. It was just nice to hang out with everyone and stroll along the beach. I loved swimming in the sea there, it was so rough with big waves that crashed against you, smacking you in the face unexpectedly but when you go out far enough you just bobbed up and down with the waves, floating in the water and trying not to swallow too much sea water. I know I'm not making it sound amazing but it really was good fun.

The following weekend was Avi's birthday. A rented Royal Enfield, full fry up breakfast and a triple chocolate pure indulgence cake for desert was definitely enough to put a smile on the birthday boys face...it was enough to put a smile on everyone's face... We then headed out on the bikes for a bit of a road trip. Driving from beach to beach heading up North past Arambol, Manjim and to Kerim it was fantastic and we then treated Avi for a birthday meal on the seafront of Arambol beach and then headed back. I feel like we've done loads of exploring in Goa and it's wonderful and no way near as touristy as suggested, I do think that it helps that we are somewhat out of season though. The roads are great to drive on and our trusty scooter is still doing an excellent job considering it's antiquated state. Dan even got to drive the Royal Enfield, he went to the road and back a few times and was a master in seconds. He has more guts than me. It was good fun all round.


On the 4th June we went out to Old Goa and Panjim the day of buying my first Sari. We set out late morning with Lee and Michelle, jumped on the bikes and headed for Panjim. I always love the feeling of jumping back on the bike, It gets so hot here and nothing seems to cool you down, Indian people can't understand why we sweat so much but it comes on out of nowhere and suddenly your face is bright red and your skins got a glow to it made up of all the tiny sweat glands perspiring, I like to call it the "Great Sweats" it just happens even when you don't think your that hot...It's a mystery. The bike always does the trick though it always manages to cool you right down.

We arrived in Panjim and wandered around looking for this great market that we'd heard about. It was no where to be seen. We wandered up and down streets and meandered through the busy people sat on the sides of the paths selling fresh fruit, sugar cane juice and other various items. As it happened the block that we had just walked around was the market, just an inside market which I wasn't expecting. On entering the market there wasn't an inch of space available, the paths to walk through were narrow but surprisingly bright and many different stalls lined either side of the corridors made up of hundreds of shoes, cloth, clothing, sari shops, tailors, sweet stands and many more. We finally got to a much bigger space and it opened up into an area for fruit and veg. This was amazing, so many vibrant colours and delicious looking fruit. Ladies sat on top of their stalls that threw fruit down to their customers, all locally sourced produce right at your finger tips and at a reasonable price.


After the market we then headed down back along the seafront which was very well maintained and had a European feel to it, street lanterns lined the side walk and the glorious sunlight reflected easily off the white stone paths. It's Goa's capital city so is well looked after much better than anywhere else I have seen. We then moved on to Old Goa, a magnificent place that once was Goa's capital and now is a Worlds Heritage site, Old Goa was abandoned in the early 17th Century after outbreaks of Cholera and Malaria it now is a shadow of it's once former glory and is very hard to have ever imagined it as a capital city. It is a beautiful place with old monasteries and ruins of old churches. We looked around art galleries and climbed over and through mazes of ruins. Some of the buildings here have been renovated and are in impeccable condition. It was all round a really good day and of course I had purchased a Sari as Priya, Michelle, Sam and Myself were heading out for a posh meal for Priyas last week.


We got back to our apartment that we shared with Mark, Michelle, Avi, Sam and Priya. We're not all in the same apartments but all the apartments are next to each other so we're always in someonelses or there in ours. We showered and did our make up and hair and then it was time for Priya to work her magic! Have you ever looked at a Sari and thought that looks complicated? I haven't, I'll be honest, I thought you'd just wrap it around you and then chuck the remainder of the material over your shoulder...How wrong could I be? In short I think it starts with a double wrap around the waist whilst carefully tucking the material into the underskirt, then you have to measure the remainder of the material to ensure the correct length is given at the end, pleating the material about 10 times (neatly) tuck that into the front, take the rest of the material around and up across your front and over your shoulder and then pin it in about six places. Nightmare or what? I think all Indian women are absolute marvels to go through this everyday and on top of that to deal with the heat. Sari's are hot and heavy to wear and every step is a possible gamble on standing on the tip of the material and unravelling yourself in public!


Now I have rambled on for long enough about it below is a picture of Priya doing Michelle's Sari and us all looking rather regal in our finished outfits. We went out to a very posh restaurant which wasn't very expensive but we were treated like royalty, however we did get mixed reviews on the Sari's I don't think the women were very impressed. It was a great experience and one I will never forget. As for the here and now, we have just been relaxing and saving pennies..oh and fighting with Indian Railways who it seems the only chance of getting a train tickets for long distance travelling is by booking it 2 months in advance. It's not easy to be that organised when so many things can change in such a short space of time. So our train now heads out of Goa next Friday 25th June and we embark on a 26 hour journey to Delhi! That is the fast train?!



Monsoon has now shot upon us and everything is wet, muddy and humid but much cooler than it was before. I quite like it, I love standing out of the balcony while the rain vigorously bounces off the rooftops making an almost deafening sound, there's something so soothing about it. Could it be missing England?! Hmmmmm....


There's also something about the rain that brings the cows out they, sit in the middle of the road in packs of 3 and 4 they wander through the market and push themselves out of the rain and into any dry spot they squeeze into. The market fills up with water and the water fills any dips up in the road with ease, the muddy water meanders it's way through the street and forms large pools everywhere. It's going to get worse, at the minute I am still enjoying the coolness that the monsoon has brought here but I'm sure it will soon wear thin and become tedious. Anyway for now that's it and the next time I write I will be in another country all together!....

Calangute, Goa & Hampi, Karnataka: India

We arrived in Calangute after a day an a half of travelling, two trains and a long, jolting taxi ride. A few beers later and some good conversation we were already beginning to settle in nicely. Daniel and I planned to stay for about a week but after speaking to Michelle and Avi in great detail, we agreed it would be far cheaper for us to travel from here to different places so the next step was finding our self an apartment and a scooter to get around. 2 months in Goa here we come.


The apartment: We live next door to Michelle and Avi, it's all technically one place with a door in the middle with a lock on it so we can all have some privacy when we want it. We live about 5 minutes walk from the beach in an area called "Gaura Waddo". We've been here nearly 3 weeks now and our apartment is just perfect. We have a nice clean shower room, a large lounge with pull out sofa bed and Sky TV, a kitchen that we never use (It's so much cheaper to order Punjabi) and a reasonable sized bedroom with a small private balcony which always catches the sun first thing on a morning.

The Bike: Well we've had some fun with this. We love it, turquoise in colour and somewhat old and antiquated, but it gets us from A to B whilst making some interesting groaning noises. Daniel and I nip in and out of traffic, it's truly the best way to travel here. We have been all around Goa visiting places up and down the coast on it, there's no better way to visit places on a hot day, as soon as we get too warm we're back on the bike heading to the next place. I don't think the traffic here is that bad and once you get use to the fact that there's no right of way as such you just go with the flow of things.

Last weekend we took our first big trip out of Goa to Karnataka which is east of Goa. Michelle and Avi had introduced us to a group of friends they had met through the charity they're volunteering for so we all travelled together. There was seven of us in total. Daniel, Myself, Michelle, Avi, Sam, Prya and Peter. Very nice friendly people with a true passion for helping which I admire very much. The plan was to go to Hampi for Sam's 25th Birthday.

On Friday morning we all had to be up at the crack of dawn. 6am sharp. It was still dark outside and I struggled to convince myself to get out of bed. We packed our bags last minute and rushed out of our apartment with Avi and Michelle following close behind. The taxi was waiting at the end of our road and we were heading to Prya and Sams next to pick them up. The train departed from Vasco da Gama and headed to Hospet which is the closest town to Hampi. We boarded the train at 7:40am and set off on our 8 hour journey to Hospet. This train was second class sleeper which was perfectly fine, in fact exactly the same as 3 tier AC but without the AC! The one other difference is there are alot of beggars in second class.


We all sat down made ourselves comfortable and began playing card games to kill a few of the eight hour long journey. Part way through our embark to Hospet an Indian man joined us and told us he was an under cover police officer. He seemed to take a particular liking to Prya and stayed and chatted to us for the next few hours. This smartly dressed gentleman with impressive gold jewellery and excellent English then did something that totally shocked me. A woman or what I though was a woman at the angle I could see her from, pounced on him. A green and pink sari covered her and she was demanding something in Hindi. Suddenly I heard this sharp sound that peirced the air, alarmed and unaware of what was going on I turned around to see the smartly dressed under cover police officer giving this woman the hardest slap I think I have ever seen on both cheeks. Her face was shocked and then a realisation of who he was suddenly swarmed over her. She ran off and we didn't see her again. At this point I was confused I didn't understand why this man had just hit a woman in public so asked Prya what had gone on. Prya explained that in India men often dress up as woman and pounce on other men to make them feel uncomfortable and threatened, so the man pays them to go away. Often they are seen to put curses on people if they do not give money. This lady-boy however obviously got more than she bargained for. A sharp slap to the face is often given in public to disrespectful people. I better be careful ay!?


We arrived 8 hours later in Hospet. Tracking down 3 Tuk Tuks to take us 15 minutes down the road to Hampi was very easy and very soon we arrived in the most picturesque place I have ever seen. The first night we stayed in Hampi Bizaar. The side with no drinking, no meat and lots of beautiful temples. It's mounds of ginormous boulders make Hampi look like a prehistoric landscape. This once dazzling Hindu capital was apparently devastated in the early 1600 which left it looking like a ghost town, it has a certain magic to it and every view is breath taking.


We managed to bag a room for 150RPS each a night between two (About £2.50) and we all slept amazingly well after a long day of travelling, watching the sun set over the Virupaksha Temple as we all sat in a row looking down over the Hampi Bazaa in the warm air of the night against the still impressively hot stones which hadn't yet cooled down from the midday sun. We had a lovely meal and scurried back to our beds for a good nights sleep.

The following morning we were up bright and early 7.30am with 4 bikes waiting outside for us. We hired them to see the temples further a field and that we did. We visit the Lotus Mahal and behind which was the elephant stables. A series of high ceilinged stables built from stone with arches for the elephants to enter, extremely grand looking. It was a fantastic day with lots of new sites to take in after which we headed to get the boat across to the other side "Virupapuragadda". Apparently they were going to build a bridge across but the boat company that charges tourist to travel across paid off the police. I don't know the exact amount but it's a lot of money. They now charge you 15RPS for a 2 minute boat ride across the river and there's no getting round it!

Once arriving on the other side we managed to get another room for 150RPS again thanks to Prya's excellent negotiation skills, she's a very handy person to have about as she speaks fluent Hindi and is a very lovely lady! We had a reasonably quiet night with a few spirits and a couple of easy going drinking games. Another early start in the morning and hangovers and sun don't mix well!

The next day we hired more bikes and explored this side of Hampi: it's alluring, stunning backdrop sincerely makes this my number one spot in India. We visited Hanuman Temple which it involved climbing an unholy amount of stirs in scorching midday heat, although the monkeys that sat and followed closely behind you were a real pleasure. All with their own personalities and smiling faces. A day of following small dirt roads and going off the beaten track! Just idyllic.


Back home we went on late Sunday night on a sleeper train back to Vasco. It went really fast and I am getting increasingly competent of sleeping wherever I'm put! A fabulous weekend all round and my writing just doesn't do Hampi justice. I really really loved it!

Since then, we've had days exploring Goa, window shopping and relaxing. We have found a hotel up the road from us that will let us swim in their pool all day long for about £1.40 and it means we get to use the sun loungers too! Perfect way to make us feel like it's a holiday and a good way to balance the adventuring and the relaxing.

This weekend we're hoping to travel to Palolem which will take us about 3 hours on the bike in the far south of Goa. Apparently, deserted beaches and a real hippy hangout....we'll soon see! Anyway know that we're having the time of our lives but that we miss you all very much. Please keep reading and leaving your very much welcomed comments.

Love and Light x

I am shocking at keeping up with this!

So, I know..... I am terrible and I can't use an excuses of being busy because I'm not. I have however been unable to use the Internet for more than 10 minutes at a time which can be somewhat limiting when your trying to reply, update and not ignore people. You'll be glad to know It's all sorted now as we're are living in Calangute, Goa for 2 months!

The last time I updated I was in Sri Lanka and we are now in India. Our first stop was Trivandrum. We arrived in Trivandrum, Kerela's capital city on the 19th May 2010. We flew over from Sri Lanka by a short 1 hour flight although both Daniel and I had very little sleep the night before and this made for a tough first day!


We took a Tuk Tuk through the busy, dirty city to the main popular strip called MJ Road, north of the train station. The Tuk Tuk driver as a granted tried to rip us off but we were having non of it. Daniels bank card wasn't working however and luckily at times like that you praise being together as it means you always have a spare. Mine worked without any trouble and we continued to our destination. After arriving we then had to find somewhere to stay so started our walk up an down the street and after about 3 tries we found somewhere with expensive rooms for what they were but in a big city it was to be expected! Daniel and I dumped our bags down and headed out to investigate our new surroundings. I don't know if it was because of the lack of sleep but I remember feeling like a little girl in a very big city, like an unwelcome guest almost. It felt everywhere I turned people were staring and no one spoke to me they just addressed Daniel. I remember feeling like I hated it, hoping that all of India wasn't going to be like this!

The following day after a good nights sleep, the world and India seemed like a much brighter place an all my worries slowly drifted away from there on out. We also soon got accustomed to our new pet cockroach. Most rooms seem to come with one with no extra charge. They don't bother me anymore, after screeching like a little girl and throwing my hands around whilst running in circles for the first few times, I'm now starting to name them and the lizards like they're a new family pet! Oh dear!.... We spent the next 3 days sorting out our travel plans and trying to get a train out of town but with all the will in the world and pain-staking long hours spent in the train station to no avail. Last chance was a AC bus out of town straight to Ernakulam which sits opposite to it's neighbouring tourist island Cochin or Kochi it's more often called.

The bus trip was very easy going and the mere 4 hour journey felt like a walk in the park. We arrived at night and Ernakulam is somewhat more high tech than Trivandrum with it's high rise buildings and luminous signs on every shop which lit the streets up with a multi-coloured glow and led the way to our next guest house after another short Tuk Tuk ride. For the first night we treated ourselves to a non cockroach room with soap and toilet roll (big treat). We left the next day to a room at half the price about £4 a night and got some free bed bugs this time. My bum was not a pretty sight for the next few days even though we provided our own bed bug free sheets!

We travelled over to Kochi by ferry and it's very, very touristy. The buildings are Portuguese in style with influence from the English and Dutch. The huge and impressive Chinese fishing nets line the sea front, in front of which stalls tried selling all kinds of rubbish to passing by tourists. I wasn't blown away by Kochi and am somewhat surprised that it is seen as one of the top places to see in India. You can do it in a day.

The Backwaters "Kochi" a very worthwhile experience, we were collected at our hostel by transport that took us an hour away at the starting point of the trip. We got in this huge weaved house boat, it was beautiful. Two men stood either end of the boat steering it with just a long wooden stick! No motor, no extra help..... Amazing. It's truly wonderful meandering through the small backwater passage ways with no sounds other than the odd bird or cricket in the grass. We later stopped off to see women spinning coconut hair to make rope and ate traditional Thali off a banana leaf which was followed by a long peaceful ride back through a large lake. Perfect!


After Kochi we got an over night train to Goa. The trains are not as bad as what you would imagine. They are reasonably comfortable and not as busy as you think they would be as long as you reserve your seat. So a great nights sleep and we arrived in Mangalore the next morning to wait for 5 hours before getting on the next train to stop at Margao, Goa.


We decided to have a look around Mangalore to kill some time and get some food. This was by far my worst place so far. The food we ate made Daniel and I quite ill so we spent the next few days getting well acquainted with Avi and Michelle's toilet. Not to mention the worst moment of my life having to use a toilet in the ground in Mangalore. This is not an exaggeration and for that reason I'm not going to give you all the details of the state in which the toilet was in when I entered it, as I don't want to put you all off eating your lovely Sunday dinners (I miss a good Roast!).

Finally we arrived in Calangute, Goa after a terrifying and long taxi ride from the station at 8pm at night. Going over speed bumps at 40mph is not advised! They wonder why all the suspension on the cars are shot!!!

A few beers and a great catch up was very much appreciated after the day and a half of travelling. Also hello soap and toilet roll it's so great to see you again! Lol. Here we are.

To think there's still so much more to tell you but that will have to be it for now. Stay tuned for more very soon....I promise.

Last Days in Sri Lanka!

So, I'm sorry it's a bit late. We haven't seemed to have the time but using the Internet in India is hugely cheaper than in Sri Lanka so I am doing them both today!

Our last few days in Sri Lanka were particularly memorable ones, we met our driver early morning on 16th April. He was the same age as us and pulled up in his sisters car, a very nice Japanese people carrier with A/C. We started early and went down the south coast further east towards Yala National Park, along the way stopping at a Turtle hatchery, Various Buddhist Temples and to see the stilt fisherman. The towns: Koggala, Welligama, Mirissa, Matara, Dickwella, Tangalla until we reached our destination... Tissamaharama.

It was all very interesting and there was some particularly idyllic beaches along the way but what struck me most was the turtle hatcheries, I can't say I enjoyed this experience. Though the people are doing a good thing in general, buying eggs from local fisherman and replanting them safely in protected sand to expand the turtle population, I couldn't help but think there is NO WAY that it is a non profit organisation and that the poor big turtle they kept in a tank not much bigger than itself to show visitors what they grow into looked extremely un-happy and Daniel and I almost smuggled it out and ran off with it down the beach!! The day was otherwise fantastic and finished in a trip to Yala National Park by Jeep! This was a truly magical experience and certainly lived up to my expectations for our first ever safari. In moments of entering the park we saw a leopard and hoards of elephants of all ages! There was loads of peacocks (Which made me think of home and Grans house) and some beautiful colourful birds. I have to say I think the monkeys were my favourite, they swung daringly from tree to tree in an almost acrobatic manner! We stayed there late and had the pleasure of a sunset on our drive back.

The next couple of days were followed with a magnificent trip to Ellie and a walk up "Little Adams Peak" I know...we planned to do the big Adams Peak but ran out of time. I am however slightly glad about this as I struggled with making it to the top of the little one! We had the most enchanting view of the mountains in the place we stayed in Ella and even when it began to thunder and lightening, Dan and I still sat out on the balcony admiring the shots of lightening snatch down the valley while the rain poured down! Just Phenomenal! After this we headed to Kandy stopping through Budalla, Nuwara Eilya (Little England) and other little stops on the way! By this point Daniel, Sharn and I had talked about everything and anything. Sharn was a great driver and a lovely guy who very kindly drove us to the airport the next day at 2am in the morning for our flight to India.

In all Sri Lanka was a beautiful country and very friendly although not backpacker friendly and everything isn't budget apart from when we stayed at Ransi and Phillips at the South Ceylon which incredibly cheap compared to anywhere else we found!

Onto India....

Unawatuna, Sri Lanka

The time is 1:30pm on Monday 12th April..34 degrees outside (Not however in this lovely A/C cyber cafe!)

Arriving in to Unawatuna was a breeze compared with Hikkaduwa! We haggled a tuktuk down to 900RPS (5.00GBP) and jumped in for a much more comfortable hour long journey! On arrival, following our Rough Guide book religiously we searched for the cheap hotel stated within called "Sunshine Beach Hotel" after driving back and forwards on numerous occasions down the small dusty roads of Unawatuna, Daniel and I finally gave in and told him to drop us somewhere central and we'd make our own way. Quite by chance, this was most definitely the best decision we had made in the last 2 weeks of travelling, as we stumbled across this incredibly cheap hostel. From the outside you'd think nothing more than it being a restaurant on the first floor of a run-down but somewhat quirky building. The guy upstairs asked if we were looking for a room...we replied "Yeah but we don't have much money" he looked somewhat amused by this and the further reply answered why he said it with a certain smirk! "500RPS ok?" he giggled.. Dan and I looked at each other like we'd won the lottery...There hadn't been anywhere cheaper than triple that so far!

We got to our room, smelling faintly of wet dog and stone (which has increasingly worsened throughout the visit) was small, dark and dingy but it had two beds that pushed together and some fresh covers...all we need! The bathroom is shared but very clean and respectful looking!

After a few days the place we've been staying already feels like home! We never rest and being use to working hard I don't think we've let Phillip and Ransi do much at all for us. We have participated with cleaning, serving dishes to customers and kneading bread! Last night was the real challenge as we had 9 customers come in and all the meals were made from scratch! I am becoming quite the expert at Dosa's and Uppuma! In return of course although we ask for nothing (it's nice to feel useful) they bring us extra big pots of tea, make us little extras for food and even give us a beer at the end of the night!

I do love it here although my mind is already wandering...thinking of India! I also could do with a night in a nice hotel! We are staying until Friday and then we head further down the south coast to see the turtle hatcheries and the temples and then onto Yala National Park where we're getting a jeep ride!

So for now I can't write anymore I have promised Ransi i will be back to help her make...and eat.. some famous Sri Lankan Rice and Curry!

Take care guys and hopefully we'll have chance to write again properly on arrival in India (19th April). Hope all is well back in England! x x

Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka and Getting There!

Our journey began on Sunday 4th April first thing (about 6.30am) we said our goodbyes to the guesthouse manager Vincent, who we had grown fond of. With our backpacks packed and stuffed full to the point of bursting we headed to Dehiwala train station. We bought our tickets and jumped aboard, trawling up and down the rickety old, battered train there was no sign of a seat anywhere and very little chance of anyone making space for us. Instead we stood up awkwardly with our backpacks strapped tightly on our backs and stood up in between carriages, hanging on for dear life whilst the train (without warning) through us from side to side. Within a matter of time we soon got use to it and even, dare I say it, began to enjoy the feeling of the warm wind vigorously flow through our hair. We later arrived at Hikkaduwa two and a half hours later!

Hikkaduwa is fantastic! Beautiful and serene with idyllic picturesque view of beaches with palm trees and turquoise seas. There's a lot of "Surfer Types" here but being the back end of the season everything is really starting to quieten down.

We have spent our mornings walking up around 7.30am and going down for a morning swim in the Indian Ocean. The waves here are pretty big and the currents quite strong so we're careful not to swim far out...it does wonders for your thighs though! Our mid-mornings are then followed by walks down the beach and talking about all the things we have planned, re-arranging ideas and putting them into some kind of organized mess! Our afternoons are filled with some kind of walk or trip out of town. Today we went and saw two Buddhist Temples and The Largest Buddha in Sri Lanka and we met a really nice guy that showed us around everywhere and didn't even try and blag a few extra pennies!

Tonight we're heading to a local restaurant for some Traditional Roti, it's awesome and very cheap! Just perfect! Tomorrow we head to Unawatuna for some more Beach times and fit in a few cultural experiences along the way! I know this ending seems a bit rushed but whilst I am typing the power in the Cyber Cafe keeps on flicking on and off (luckily only the lighting) so it makes it particularly difficult to type!

I will write again soon... there's so much I have still to tell you all!...

First few Days in Sri Lanka, Colombo, Dehiwala

Good Afternoon,

We arrived yesterday with next to no sleep! The flights were punishing and we had 15 minutes to transfer at Qatar as there was a delay from Manchester. We ran our socks off and just about made it! On the first flight I enjoyed a bit of Sherlock Holmes and some music. Second flight I tried my hardest to sleep, but with the combination of bright lights, cramped space and screaming children, I must have got at best an hour in total.

On arrival at Colombo airport ( which is NO WAY NEAR Colombo!!) we thought for a couple of seconds about getting the 2 hour bus journey and then decided an air conditioned taxi would be much more suitable at $25 it was a little over priced but we still haggled him down to $23 (Anything to save a few pennies). Whilst fearing for our lives, the drivers in Sri Lanka will literally try anything just to gain a few inches. It took a mere hour and a half to arrive at Hornbill Home Hostel.

Hornbill Home Hostel is very quiet and secluded...away from tourists that is. There's very nice staff here that really do go out their way for you. I would definitely recommend it on service although unfortunately the location is far from great- located in a very poor suburb where families sleep on the beach, there's half built buildings everywhere due to lack of money in the area and the smell of rotting fish, sewers and strong incense fills the daytime air.

Although our first day was tough, we have been and investigated the area and train station. We plan to take the train tomorrow to Hikkaduwa which is a much nicer area famous for it's surf, snorkelling and beaches.

So until we can next post, Au Revoir! x