Nepal Summary

Days Travelled - 21 days (3 weeks)

Distance Travelled - Approx. 830 km (516 miles).

Hours Travelled - 25 hours (1 day, 1 hour)

Destinations - 2

Top 3

Since we spent far less time in Nepal than India we picked our top 3 moments, instead of top 5 to make the decision more difficult.

3 - Hot Springs - Half way through the ascent of Annapurna, we stopped at the hot springs and relaxed our legs, it was heaven on earth. Although, the hiking that followed the relaxation period was a bitch. Our legs hated us that day.

2 - Kathmandu - With it being my first ever Christmas away from home I was missing the usual rituals. But I really enjoyed Christmas in Kathmandu, we had a turkey dinner and partied at night. I think it was suited as the best place to spend a first christmas away from home out of all the previous places we had visited. The catastrophe of Ady dropping his turkey dinner and eating off his crotch was a highlight too.

1-Reaching ABC - When we finally made it to the Annapurna Base Camp at 4200m. It was a dream. The mountains were covered in bright white snow and the sky was so clear. The good few hours we spent warming ourselves up in the lodge eating chocolate and resting our feet was a well cherished moment. We were both proud of our achivement that day. The avalanche the following day was a great thing to see as an addition.

Final Advice

If you ever go to Nepal you must venture out into the Himalayas to experience their might and beauty. They are incredible. There are hikes that are suited for everyone, and each contains their own highlights. The food is great if you know where to go, with many western classics on the menu. The local speciality of Dahl Bhat is cheap and plentiful but was a bit too ghetto for us snobs. Transportation is common between the big cities of Pokhara and Kathmandu but venturing outside of these places is far more difficult (feel free to ride by rooftop too). Waterproof bag covers are great for the bus journies, just in case a goat pisses on your bag too. The nightlife in Kathmandu is really fun, and many locals speak English to make things easier. I really think I will be returning here one day.

Kathmandu - Christmas and New Year

With the strike finally over, we were able to make our way to Kathmandu, so we oould spend Christmas and The New Year in the capital. We got a tourist bus (350 Nrps), which took us 6-7 hours and found a place to stay in Thamel, the tourist area of Kathmandu (Deutsch Guest House). The plan was to spend Christmas in Kathmandu, do the Langtang valley and be back just in time for New Year. However the plan was scrapped as we found out the next day that it took 8 hours for a bus to get there, which would mean we would not be back in time for the New Year and that’s just criminal. This meant we had lots of time to kill so we decided to treat ourselves by watching lots of movies on the T.V. and eating loads of snack food (for some reason, the western chocolate tasted nicer over here!). The good thing with being in a very tourist area was that there was a very good selection of western food, something that we missed in India, and it was pretty cheap, so that meant we just feasted for our days in Kathmandu.

With Danny coming to the mosque with me when it was Eid, I thought it would be fair if I come and have Christmas dinner with him (fair deal me thinks!). Aidy was with us (the guy who we met at Annapurna Base camp) and soon as he tucked in, he dropped all his Christmas dinner on his lap. He had no choice but to eat off his crotch while it was burning him and we were taking the necessary pics. I’m sure that’s going to be a Christmas he’ll never forget.

Nothing much happened for the Christmas week apart from we applied for our Chinese visa and went to the cinema to watch Avatar. We had to move guest houses too because there was no promised hot water. We complained for like 4 days and he was adamant that hot water was coming out of the top but it definitely was cold. We told him to either sort it or we’ll leave and he told us to leave, -some customer service that is. We stayed at Sacred Valley Inn, the same hotel as the one in Pokhara but they have a branch here. It was so much better than Deutsch Guest House and Bishnu was so helpful so I’d definitely recommend staying there.

We finally did get bored and on the 30th and 31st, we decided to see what Kathmandu offered us. We first visited the Durbar square, which is a square with loads of old temples and then Swayambhunath, which was a temple at the top of a big climb of steps. This is where we saw a big monkey fight and obviously Dan was there with the camera but stood behind me for some reason (Pussy). We were meant to see more temples but we were distracted by a game of football so we could show these Nepalis how to play football the English way. On New Years eve, we hired some proper mountain bikes and cycled to the outskirts of Kathmandu, which was a total of 40km and meant we had to weave in and out of Nepali traffic, which required a lot of skill. We wanted to go to Nagarkot, where you can see Mount Everest from but it was really foggy so we decided it wasn’t worth the cycle up.

We picked our visas up on the 30th and booked our flights to Chengdu (2nd Jan). This meant our trip to Nepal was finally ending but China was there to pick us up.

Kathmandu Photo Link:

http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2341173011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Trekking The Annapurna Sanctuary

They day after collecting our mountain permits (2000 rps) we began our long hike to the Annapurna Base Camp, aka, ABC. Annapurna is the 10th highest mountain in the world at 8091m. It has some pretty devasting facts to go along with it. There have been recorded 129 succesfull ascents of the mountain, with a fatality rate double that of the attempted ascents. Another mounatin in the same range, Machapuchhre, known as the fishtail because of the shape of its peak, is now forbidden to be climbed, because of how dangerous it is. Making it to both of these great mountains base camps should be a challenge.

Day 1. Phedi - Tolka. 1030m ascent. 870m descent.

We set off quite late on the 14th of December at around 12:30. We got a taxi to Phedi where the Annapurna Sanctuary trek begins. After taking some photo's of the us beginning our trek, we turned around to see the biggest and steepest stair set ever. After ascending half way, we more or less stripped all our gear off as we were sweating like mad. A brief encounter of the route to come our way. We wanted to make it to Tolka, which according to the trekking book I borrowed way back in Jasailmer, it should take around 5-6 hours. So we had to get a move on. At the top of the stairs was the village of Dhampus, a basic himalayan village, selling everry day groceries but at mountain price (we found this price rapidly increases as the altitude does) and guest houses and lodges scattered around also. We were trekking in the low peak season, December being quite cold in Nepal, but there were more trekkers around than we expected. About an hour before reaching our destination, we bumped into Qussami, a fella who owned a lodge in Tolka, and because we met him en route he offered us discount for staying at his lodge. The night went by ok, it got a little chilly, but it was nothing compared to the days ahead.



Day 2. Tolka - Chhomrong. 870m ascent. 450m descent. With Hot Spring Sidequest.

From here the trek really started to get interesting, we were in the middle of a huge valley, with a path that worked its way around the hillside. We crossed a few rope suspension bridges which were really old but quite safe. We saw the main river which runs through the valley, and it looked freezing! I wouldnt fancy trying to do any rafting down that one. Plus there were tonnes of waterfalls that we passed every now and then. Our side quest for the day, involved a trip to the hot springs below the village of Jhinu. I expected them to be natural pools, but they were infact man made pools, with natural hot spring water flowing into them. They were really warm, despite the outside temperature of less than 5 degrees C. We chilled in them for ages, relaxing our already tired legs, and taking a well-needed choc-choc break. The hot springs were at the bottom of the valley, near the river. What we didnt know, was that our camp for the night was at the very top of the valley! This turned out to be, in my opinion, the second hardest part of the entire trek, especially as our legs were nice and relaxed from the hot bathe. Maj, bless his cotton socks, was really struggling with this part, as his legs kept seizing up with cramps. Half way up, we bumped into a recognisable character from yesterday. A chap from Slovakia, who we later found out was called Milo (Meelo). We just called him Slovak for now though. He was resting at Taulung, where a lovely woman was trying to intice all of us into staying at her homestay. Milo stayed, but me and Maj wanted to keep on track and achieve the days target of Chhomrong. We finally made it to the Chhomrong cottage, ate pizza, macaroni and cake (we need energy excuse) and hit the sack.



Day 3. Chhomrong - Himalaya. 1140m ascent. 510m descent.

The view the next morning was incredible! We were right in the mountain range, with snow capped peaks in distance, that looked so intimadating from where we were at. I couldn't wait to get up there. The next part of the trek saw a change of environment, the valleys suddenly dissapeared on us, and we were walking through a kind of forest/jungle. This was an easy going walk compared to the previous day. The same guide mentioned earlier, recommended an overnight stay at a place called Bamboo, but we decided to progress to the following days recommended destination, known as Himalaya. The dining area had a heated table with thick blankets surrounding the open edges so the heat couldn't escape. The idea is to put your knees under the blanket for the warmth, it was pure heaven! At Himalaya we were accompanied by three Frenchies, a Japanese and Korean girl combo, and our friend Slovak! From here we got really good friends with Milo, he was a funny charachter, addicted to the Himalayan delicacy known as Dal Bhat (Rice, lentil soup and veg curry, me and Maj stuck to the pizza's and macaroni still, Dal Bhat tastes blander than school dinners).




Day 4. Himalaya - Annapurna Base Camp. 1290m ascent.

There was a pact made the previous night that all of us would make it to the ABC today. Me and Maj couldnt risk getting altitude sickness so we took a Diamox tab in the morning to help prevent it, we may aswell have used them, cuz I dont reckon Jenkin hill would have brought on any side effects. By this point Maj was really pushing himself to his limit, stating that he felt like he did the morning after his half marathon. At Deurali, which is only two stops (4 hours) from the ABC, I managed to hustle him some walking sticks to help out. At Machapuchhre Base Camp, we met a weird bozz-eyed Nepali called Raam (Gears of war ehh?) He was cracking up for the fact we knew some Nepali swear words, like Chigni (Any guesses?) He started offering us to go find some Nepali girls in Pokhara and 'make gang bang'. We decided against it for the time being. We had a mission to fulfill. The final stretch from MBC to ABC was cold. Just cold. It was the first time that we had been required to fully wrap up, gloves, hat, snude, jacket the whole nine. We were following an army of Korean trekkers who were slow. Just slow. We ended up overtaking everyone of them and hitting the Base Camp again way ahead of schedule. The clouds had rolled in already, so a decent view of our goal was fairly prohibited for now.

That evening our little trekking family added another member, a British lad called Ady. He was trekking alone in Nepal for 3 months, at only 18, so kudos to him. He was very funny, loud, and loved doing southpark and lord of the rings impersonations.... Made me laugh anyway.





Day 5. Annapurna Base Camp - Bamboo. Descent 1500m

When morning came round, the skies had cleared and the Annapurna mountain range was there. Just there. It made the difficulty of the trek such a bargain, for a sight this appealing to the eyes. The Frenchies told us that there was a lake at the top of one of the side ridges surrounding the Base camp (My ears pricked up like a dogs at the sound of this mini excursion, Maj on the other hand..... Stayed in bed for extra hour or so, bee-atch). I gained a new partner for this climb, the Dal Bhat Slovak. Milo was as curious as me about the lake. Just before we headed out a Sherpa also came along, I forget his name though, Wikas, or Sakwis or some shit. It was a lot harder than I thought with it being really snowy and even rockier underneath the white sheet. Although the lake had been frozen over (duh) and snow covered (double duh) the view from the top of the ridge was pure bliss. It just made the whole experience that little bit more amazing for me. I've always wanted to see the Himalayas, and now, Iv'e seen the Himalayas, one more tick off the achievement list of life. The descent was much easier than the ascent, as we slid down a rock face covered with ice and snow, I was a little scepticle about this at first but thought, fuck it. It was good fun. Oh and one thing to point, whilst we were climbing, we heard a roar from the Korean army below, which made us aware of an avalanche that was happening to the right of us. It was like a slow moving waterfall of cloud, and yes, David Attenbrough got it on candid camera, mad skills dawg.


Day 6. Bamboo - Ghandruk. Ascent 1200m, Descent 800m

I thought this was the hardest day of all as we had to ascend all the way up to Chhomrong, to drop all the way back to the river, to climb once again up to a village that I really couldn't give a toss what its name was. Hard. Just Hard. We also left our friend Milo at this stage of the trek, as he was continuing on to meet his lady at Taulung (long story, invloving cheap eggs and Dal Bhat. Plus he missed the hot springs on the way up). He should always remember the Nepal slang, 'tooti fruiti pooti'. Thats one for the boys back home.


Day 7. Ghandruk - Naya Pul. 1000m descent.

This was a really nice easy going day for us. Having done the trek 3 days quicker than we thought it would take us. We were suprised at how close to the finish line we were. A finish line which held one more, piss taking obstacle for us to conquer, and if you have been dedicated to reading this lengthly piece, you're in for a story to last the Mellor's and Hussain's for generations. So, we finally reach Naya Pul, sign out at the mountaneering checkpost and head for the road to get ripped off by a taxi driver. As we walked through the village with all our gear (which really hurt my damn shoulders at this point) we were collecting some really awkward looks? We got to the road when a man pulled over in what we thought was a cab, and told us of how there is a road strike throughout Nepal, not just Pokhara, but Nepal. He said no taxi's or bus's are allowed on the road. The reason for this which we found out from a well spoken shopkeeper was because of the Nepali Maoists. Its basically a religious terrorist activity, where any vehichles driving during the ban, would be stoned, barricaded and even torched! After 7 days of hauling ass, we get this shit to deal with. Our only way back to Pokhara (an hours drive by the way) is to either walk (sod that) or pay 4 g's for a rescue helicopter (no way!). The shopkeeper had an absolutely outrageous plan which involved telephoning an ambulance and one of us having to pretend to be really ill, so they would transport us back to town.........why not? The hospitals refused to send any help, but luckily the red cross had an ambulance in the vacinity and within 30 mins along came our ride. I was volunteered for the acting role of the patient, and when the ambulance arrived he didnt ask any questions, check me out or anything. He just opened the rear doors and threw us in. I laid in the back to help the case. On the way to Pokhara Maj spotted Ade and told the ambulance to pull over real quick, he climbed in, and told us of how he had walked nearly 20 miles or so, he was going to do the walking option to Pokhara! We passed so many other tourists walking back to town, among all the locals also. There were plenty of people stood at the roadside looking intimidating with stones and sticks, waiting for a driver who disobeyed the road strike. Luckily, they were thoughtfull enough to let three westeners mosey-on by in an ambulance. We got to Pokhara, the ambulance fled, and we cherished the moment of being back in one piece.

Pokhara & Annapurna Photo Link:
http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2247890011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Bye Bye India - Hello Nepal

We saw Uncle Daz off at the train station as he was heading to Agra and we were on our way to Nepal. The journey from Ramnagar (India) to Pokhara (Nepal) was about 24 hours in total so we decided to split the journey and stay at the border on the first night and cross the follwoing morning. We had to get a bus from Ramnagar to Haldwani, where we had to hang off the side of the bus true indian style to get there, which took about an hour. Then we had to get another bus to Banbassa, which took about 4 hours and was suprisingly non eventful. Banbassa was a true transit village with only a handful of guesthouses and a few restaurants, which didn't have any english menu's so we ordered our food on what it looked like, which turned out to be ok! We asked a few people about what time the buses leave to Pokhara from Mahedranagar (Nepal border village) but every answer was different so we decided to stick with the travel agents answer, which was around 3pm.

We had a good lie in and set off at 12 pm. The distance from Banbassa to Mahedranagar was about 10 km and the only way to get there was by walking, cycle rickshaw or horse and cart. We opted for the cycle rickshaw, which cost us a 100 rupees each and then sat back while they did all the work. As we already got our Nepalese visa from Delhi, crossing the border was very easy. We had to fill a form on the Indian side and fill another form on the Nepali side, which took about 1 hour in total and had no security checks. That would never happen in England!!! The next bus was from the border to Mahedranagr bus station, which was about 5km away and this time we had to sit on the roof of the bus, with the rest of the locals. Yet again, we are travelling in style!! We just got there in time for the last bus to Pokhara (2.25pm- 800 Nepali rupees), which was quite lucky otherwise we would have been stranded.


The bus journey took 18 hours in total, with so many stops for the nepali army/police to check our bus. The longest we drove without stopping would be about an hour so if he didn't stop, we would have got there a lot earlier. One of the stops was at a local vilage to pick up about 15 huge bags of rice, which took up the back seats and the whole aisle of the bus so we had to crawl to get on/off the bus. We stopped off for food at 8pm, which the Nepali people told us it was breakfast, We had 3 plates of chicken chowmein each, which was probably the best and spiciest breakfast I've ever had. I dont think it was meant for a food stop because they were fixing the puncture of the back tyre as we were eating but we were too hungry to care. This is where we met our main man Jonny from Chinese customs. He quickly introduced himself and started promising us Nepali, Tibetan and Chinese girls if we come to visit him at Chinese customs. Obviously he was pissed so I decided to video him, while he taught us naughty words in Nepali. Our next food stop was at 1am, which i think was lunch and we had to eat the local Nepali food. Luckily we had a few guys helping us choose and order the food so it turned out to be ok! We never got to change our Indian rupees to Nepali rupees but they happily accept Indian rupees by using the conversion rate.


We arrived in Pokhara around 9am and had very limited sleep, with the rice bags cramping us up. When we got our bags out of the boot, we realised that they had goats in the same boot as where Danny's bag was and it was blessed with goat piss, which he weren't too happy about. But wiped it down with one of the headrest covers from the bus. Once we checked into our hotel, the rest of the day was spent buying some trekking gear for our trek up into the Annapurna region (Himalayas). Pokhara itself was very different to India. It was very clean, colder and had better quality restaurants for us to eat in.

India Summary

Days Travelled - 71 days (10 weeks and 1 day).

Distance Travelled - Approx. 11, 284 km (7052 miles).

Hours Travelled - 239 hours (9 days 23 hours)

Destinations - 34.

Top 5

After much debate we finally decided on our top 5 places we visited in India.

5 - Corbett Tiger Reserve. The last destination on our Indian itinerary, but even if it was fresh on the mind. The spotting of a Bengal Tiger really made it special for us.

4 - Alleypey. The Kerala backwaters was a unique and new experience for the both of us, thats why we had to make sure it made its way into the top 5.

3 - Jasailmer. I think our friend Manu has a lot to do with this place being ranked higher than Alleypey. He was our number one host throughout our time in India, and the combination of his beautiful hotel and the camel safari definately made Jaisalmer a top spot.

2 - Hampi. It seems so long ago that we were clambering around on the prehistoric looking boulders of Hampi, admiring the temples and taking endless photos of monkeys that were up to no good. After realising that this place is quite unknown from other travellers in India, we have to boost its tourism. Hampi was a very close second.

1 - Rishikesh. Its possible the luxury of the decent hotel we were booked into gave this place extra points over the others, but there's no denying how peacefull, clean and stunning Rishikesh really is.The white water rafting was so much fun, as was the day hike to find the waterfalls and having a polar swim there. Watching Uncle Daz trying to find his Beatles ashram was also quite entertaining. One thing that stands out about Rishikesh is that it doesn't feel like "India", a good thing in our opinion, but if your looking for true Indian lifestyle, its not found in Rishikesh.

Final Advice

India is a very busy and crazy country with a lot of things testing your patience-Ask Danny!! People will stare at you like you're an alien but lets face it, the white guys kind of are around here-not me! They don't mean to be intimidating but they are just curious of how a white guys hold their own but after a while you get used to it. I'm sure if an Indian with a rickshaw was driving down carlisle street, you would give him the stares too you racist bastards. Indian people are impatient but you have to be patient to live in India if that makes sense. The first thing you would notice is that there is an unofficial local and tourist price so you've got to know what prices are too steep. Never accept the first price they give you and always barter. For rickshaw transport, we worked out how far it was to a place and get a price for 10 rupees per km. It would be cheaper if you were a local but that was the general rule that we went by. Also it's a good idea to ask a trusted local, usually a hotel owner of what the price is of something so you know how much extra they are charging. Remember the rule of you can always go up but never go down, so generally cut the price by half and work it from there. It also helps to keep a daily budget of what you spend so it helps you keep on top of the finances.

India poverty is really bad and it can get to you quite easily but there are also a lot of people who beg to scam e.g hiring a baby for the day to earn money, so you gotta watch out for it. If we gave money to every beggar we saw, we would be skint so we decided to be tight and not to give any-this was definitely the best policy. Travel in India is very long winded but after the first couple of journeys, you're trained up! We found traveling on train a lot easier and more comfortable than the buses. They generally take the same time but bus drivers are on crack around here with the way they overtake traffic so trains proved to be a lot safer. Food is cheap over here but you have to be careful where you eat. We generally ate at recommended restaurants by the lonely planet book but look for places that are busy. This is a good sign that people enjoy their food without shitting through needle eyes. The biggest tip that Danny gives to the rest of you is to try and find a good looking Asian guy who can pick up the lingo. It makes it so much easier finding out if they're trying to skank you and hold conversations with people with limited English. Also the asian guy (me) gets in for local price at tourist sights if i keep my mouth shut (thought I'd rub it in one last time-don't think it will be the same in china for some reason). If all else fails, call them Gandus and run away!!

Tiger Hunting in the Corbett Tiger Reserve

The arrangements for entering the Tiger Reserve were pretty complicated. We needed an entry permit, a jeep permit, and a jeep with driver, accomodation arrangements, safari permits, and a guide. In total it cost us around 80 quid for all 3 of us for an overnight stay in the park and two safari's. If you look at the park on a map, you can se how enormous this place is, easily comparable to the size of Yorkshire! It holds all sorts of wildlife, including over 600 kinds of birds, elephants, crocodiles, boars, 4 species of deer, monkeys and of course Bengal Tigers. There are only 164 Tigers within the park so our chances didn't seem that great for seeing one. We teamed up with an American couple, Erik and Joanne, for our visit to the park to save on the spondoolies. On our drive towards the accommodation within the park, our driver, Sammi, noticed some claw marks in a tree bark, and also some fairly fresh tiger paw marks on the sandy roadside. We all got real excited and were looking hard for the tiger that was hopefully nearby, but after a few minutes it looked like it wasn't going to be. We began to drive onwards, when the Sammi (God only knows how) spotted the orange and black markings less than 10 meters away from the jeep, but through very thick trees and bushes. We moved for a better view, and had clear vision of a great bengal tiger. It looked proper powerfull in comparison to those you see in the zoo, definately the biggest I've seen. We got a few picks (none clear enough for the blog, but heres a few dear for ya) and moved on still underestimating how lucky we had just been.

The accomodation area was surrounded by an electric fence (think Jurrassic Park) because there had been known tiger attacks in the night (It would be a good photo opportunity at least). We had a meal of dhal and rice and spinach and potatoes at the reserve. We also struck up a conversation with some Indian fellas's who have been coming to the park for the last 4 years at this time and they told us how they have not yet seen a Tiger. They were amazed that we had seen one on our first day (I say amazed, I think it was more on the lines of jealous to be honest though, haha). We woke at 6am for our first Safari and saw a great deal of wildlife including the majority mentioned earlier.

On our second safari we were lucky again, as there was a herd of elephants marching through the grasslands, this was my favourite part of the safari as they got really close to us. Nothing to fear from these guys at least (just like the elephant parade in the Jungle Book). We drove around the Savannah area, and through the forest like jungles still trying to spot another Tiger, but to no avail. This increased the fact that we were just incredibly lucky to have seen one the previous day, and I'm sure its a moment in our life that none of us will ever forget.

Corbett Tiger Reserve Photo Link:
http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2248023011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Rafting in Rishikesh

We got the bus from Shimla to Haridwar (10 hours) down the windy mountain roads always drifting close to the edge. The last 2 hours were the worst when the driver was driving like a crack head over the bumpiest road ever in India and we were sat at the back so our bums were heavily battered. When we got to Haridwar, me and Danny were in the negotiation process with the rickshaw drivers to get us to Rishikesh (25km away) but Uncle Daz couldn't hang around. With the stress of the bus journey getting to him, he got us a taxi to Rishikesh. We arrived around 10pm and checked into a fancy hotel (the Great Ganga), which Uncle Daz sorted out but it was definitely out of our budget range.

The next morning, after feasting on the breakfast buffet, we went on a trek to see 2 waterfalls that took up the whole day. From the entrance of the waterfall trek, it was a steep climb to the top, which involved plenty of stops to admire the view and take our pics, but also give Uncle Daz a chance to catch up. The first waterfall we got to was the small one, where Danny climbed in, Smeagol like, and got his head under that freezing water. After seeing this bravery from Daniel, this inspired me and Uncle Daz to swim under the big waterfall, which was freezing. I mean my kahunas were the size of skittles when i got out, which surely aint good for the body lol! We did want to go and see the Beatles Ashram that day but it was late when we got back so we saved it for the next day.

The next morning we got up early to do white water rafting in the river Ganges. We got picked up from our fancy hotel and drove to the starting point. We got briefed really quickly about standard safety, technique etc. before we jumped in. The formation was me and Danny at the front and Uncle Daz ad a weird Australian dude in the middle, with the Chief (guide) at the back. There were 6 rapids on this 18km ride and with me and Danny at the front, we took all the cold water when it came to the rapids. The guide let us jump out of the raft and drift in the River Ganges, which was too cold for comfort. Anyway getting back in was a big problem so they pulled me back up and when they finally did, Danny, my so called compandre pushed me back in. This is when the camera came out and the second attempt of pulling me back was underway. Once i finally got up and with Uncle Daz laughing as Danny filmed me., He stood in front of me contemplating whether to go in but the was little time to choose as Big Maj got this own back by pushing him in, about 10 m from the raft into the river and we had the pleasure of hearing him squeal like a little girl. This is all on video so watch out for it!!

After the white water rafting, we went and visited the Beatles Ashram, which is in ruins but with Uncle Daz being a huge beatles fan and this the main reason for him coming, we offered our support by coming with him. The Ashram is closed down because it is owned by the government but after giving 50 rupees to the guard, he let us in. The Beatles came here in 1968, where they tried out Yoga and George Harrison was a big fan. This is where they wrote most of the songs for the White Album and a few more songs so it had a big connection with their history. Uncle Daz was the one who saw the video with them being there so he should have known what it looked like but it wasn't as simple as that. Every guest house in the grounds looked the same but he was adamant that the last one was the one, until we went the next one and the next one. We heard him saying, " Hey I think this is the one" so many times. So to be on the safe side, he took the same pics at 3 different guest houses just in case, which ended up taking 3 hours. Lets just hope he's got the right one, otherwise we'll be pissing ourselves if he hasn't. No pressure Uncle Daz!!

Rishikesh Photo Link:

http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2098745011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Shimla - India's Finest Himalayan Hill Station

We had a lot of travelling to do from Chandigargh to get to Shimla. With a terrible nights sleep because of the noise the night before, the trip seemed to really drag on. It was an hour bus ride to Kalka first of all, where we hopped on the Himalayan Queen - A train that travels up through the Himalayan mountains in order to reach the town of Shimla, about 80 km away. The train took 5 hours, because of the winding mountain route, and passed through 103 tunnels in total. Shimla is located at an altitude of just over 2,000 meters. The train journey was so picturesque. Great views of the mountains covered in pine trees and small multicoloured homes, with a rickety train zig-zagging between them. We were blessed with one of the most incredible sunsets imaginable on our arrival at Shimla station. It looked like there was a great fire in the distance with smokey patches blurring all around it. You have to check out the photographs for this one.

Shimla was unlike any place we have visited in India. It was spotlessly clean, imensely cold and overtaken with an army of mischievious monkeys. The lonely planet guide recommended us to walk around with a decent stick to beat em with, just in case they got fresh. It also told us to avoid eye contact with them, as this was basically saying 'Bring it on!' I outstared a few of em though, little bitches dont scare me. As the last Dominoes pizza we had was restricted to vegetarian toppings only, it was only right that we had another with the meat toppings :) And it was delicious. I polished off my large pizza, and even had room to help out my uncle Daz with his last piece, hero status, I know.

The next morning I woke up at about 6am because of the cold air, and I was wide awake. I decided to go out and buy a bottle of water (think the dominoes dehydrated me a lil) which ended up in me trying to find a nice view point for a picture of the sunrise over the mountains. Which in turn, ended up in me sacking both the previous goals off, and just going for a run through the winding mountain road. I havent done hardly any cardio training on the trek, and jogging at this altitude proved to be so difficult. I can see why athletes decide to train this way, with the limited oxygen supply reaching your muscles. I arrived back at the hotel at around 8am, after getting a little lost during the jog. We all went for breakfast and decided on doing a 5km walk to Chadwick falls.

It was a nice being able to walk through the streets of India without getting harrassed by an auto-rickshaw driver, a beggar or a shopkeeper for once. The walk started along the main road, which turned off onto a really dusty and rocky pathway which lead to the bottom of the canyon. The final stretch lead us through a pine forest and at the end was Chadwick falls. It wasn't the most enthralling waterfall I've seen, but it was worth the walk. We took a few silly pictures here before making our way back before the sun had set (It could be real easy to get lost out here). We got to the end of the forest trail when a bus drove past us, and the old man couldnt resist but to persuade us to get on board. The bus ride was an experience in itself, and at moments we thought that the back wheels had left the edge of the cliff! We got back to Shimla safely though.

After finishing the blog write up, we headed for a bite to eat (Im sure I saw a Subway down the road, mmmm) then probably hitting the sack. We travel to Rishikesh tomorrow. India's yoga capital. I might attempt levitation or something as equally simple while were there. Peace.

Shimla Photo Link:

http://www3.snapfish.in/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2060383011/a=2264773011_2264773011/

Golden Amritsar

Before I tell you about Amritsar, I'd just like to congratulate Uncle Daz for adopting his first asian nephew. I'm sure he is happy about it as I'm openly calling him Uncle Daz because that's all i know him as through Danny.

We got on the train early morning and arrived at Amritsar in the afternoon. It was a seven hour journey and didn't give our Uncle enough time to acclimatize to India's hustle and bustle. We stayed at Lucky Guest House (300 rupees for 1 night), dropped our bags off and headed towards the golden temple. The Golden Temple is the main worship place for the Sikhs, where the first guru establish Sikhism and the book in which Sikhs live there life by. The best thing about going to the temple was that everything was free, the entry, no camera fees and they even gave free food and accommodation if needed. We had to cover our heads and so we did, but uncle Daz looked like Robin Hood in his orange bandanna. The Golden Temple is surrounded by water with a passage leading to it where all the pilgrims line up to visit and donate generously if they wanted. Every evening at 9.30 pm, there is a ceremony where they take the book back from the golden temple to it's resting place and they return it back to the golden temple at 2am. We didn't actually go to these ceremonies but i just thought I'd sound knowledgeable on the matter. After all this hard work walking around sightseeing, we treated ourselves to a Domino's pizza just to change things around.

The next day we had arranged to see the border ceremony that takes place every night at 4.45pm so we decided to see everything else before this. We visited the Sri Durgiana Temple, which is the famous hindu temple and we couldn't believe that it was a complete replica of the Sikh Golden Temple. The hindu temple is nicknamed as the silver temple but the only thing silver about it was the front doors but the temple itself was golden just like the original golden temple. We didn't hang about too long and decided to visit the Mata Temple , which women visit if they wish to get pregnant. I think Danny wanted to have a baby girl or something like that so we visited it for him. It was a cave temple and the route set out was something out of fun house with stairs leading to different rooms, getting on our hands and knees to get through a tunnel and walking through shin high water.

Getting to Attari (the Pak/Indian border) was fun with the driver trying to squeeze loads of people in a small suzuki but due to us foreigners being big lads compared to the skinny arsed indians, we protested and got the car for just foreigners, which was just about ok. The border ceremony is when they close the border gates on either side every night. It was like a small stadium, where loads of people were sat cheering for their respective countries, mostly slagging each other off. The guards stamp towards each other, toying and teasing each other in angry styled marching, which got the crowd going. The tourists got the best seats so we had a good view of what was happening. It was important that I kept quiet because I was on the wrong side of the border and if they knew, they probably would jump me so i retained myself.

We have about another week left in India and because we are up in the north, near the Himalayas, train journeys are either non existent or restricted so most of our journeys will consist of crazy bus rides. We had to get the bus to Chandigarh at 8pm so the following morning we could get to Shimla. We've experienced the crazy bus rides before so the facial expressions on Uncle Daz when the driver were overtaking in blind spots and tucking in at the last minute were hilarious. We arrived at 1.30 am and found a hotel to stay at for the night but we had to get up at 8am to get onto our next bus so Happy Travels ey!!

Amritsar photo link:
http://www3.snapfish.in/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2059668011/a=2264773011_2264773011/