Nick.Jess.Journey

The Italian Job

The last item on our itinerary was a much anticipated four weeks in Italy. We were a little worried that coming on the back end of five months of travelling, our long awaited sojourn would fall short of the admittedly lofty expectations we had been accruing since birth. Luckily, Bella Italia did not disappoint.
 
Our first stop was Rome which was far more impactful than we had expected.  And exhausting!  We had five days in which to see the city and how anyone even attempts to see any of it in less than that, is beyond us. We were a little daunted by the sheer range and number of incredible sights and experiences. The Colosseum, Roman Forum, and particularly the Pantheon were the highlights of ancient Rome.  The sophistication of the engineering and architecture was far beyond any of the ancient wonders we saw in Asia or South America. 
 
St Peter's Basilica, which we had almost dismissed as something one should really see, rather than a true spectacle, was arguably the highlight of Rome. Although the Vatican museum that we did before St Peter's was somewhat overwhelming for our tired feet.
 
The gallery highlight for us was the Villa Borghese: an opulent mansion bursting with frescoed ceilings and walls and priceless sculptures and paintings, but manageable in scale.  This as also where we both fell in love with Bernini. Jess was most captivated by his Apollo and Daphne where Daphne, chased by Apollo, cries out for help to her father and is transformed into a laurel tree for her protection. Nick meanwhile was astonished by Pluto and Proserpina.  Proserpina is abducted by Pluto and you can see his hands pressing into her writhing marbled form as she struggles to break free. The dynamism and emotion in each was spell-binding.
 
It was in Rome that Andrew, Jess's brother, met us.  Landing in the morning from New York, he was treated to a one day sight-seeing boot camp taking in a Roman highlights package and amazingly made it through to midnight without collapsing in a heap.
 
From  Rome, the three of us headed north to the Piemonte region, home of Italy's finest wine, Barolo. We stayed in a villa just outside the tiny village of La Morra, with a panoramic view out over vineyards and the small ancient village nestled up on the hillside above us. Here we spent a couple of days enjoying the views and visiting two of the local wine producers. We spent our first morning with Francesca, whose husband's family had owned their small farm for centuries.  Despite the small size, their wines are renowned and are shipped all over the world. She spent over two hours telling us about their wine production and the experience completely lacked any of the pomposity and gloss of the more commercial wine areas - a stark contrast to our Californian experience! That afternoon was spent with Julio, owner of another renowned vineyard in the next valley. He jumped down from his tractor in overalls, and led us into his cellar to taste.
 
From La Morra, we headed back south to Florence. Somehow, driver Nick managed to navigate the impossibly confusing maze of streets and delivered us safely to our hotel.  We spent the days and evenings taking in the key sights and continuing in our search for what Nick termed the "culinary epiphany": this being defined as an unexpected perfect culinary experience, which would probably, he thought, occur in an out of the way family run restaurant somewhere in the country, but possibly in the city if we were lucky. Unfortunately, being late August, most of Italy was on holiday and the majority of the small family run places were closed! 
 
From Florence, it was off to Siena, or rather, a small farm about twenty minutes drive outside of Siena. To get there we drove through the heart of Chianti country and stopped at several of the charming towns along the way. Outside Siena we stayed in a sweet little self-catered accommodation on an ancient wine farm called Castello di Selvole, which has been a working farm for over 700 years. This stay gave us a welcome opportunity to relax a bit from the sightseeing, grill some steak on the open wood fire, make some pastas, and drink plenty of local Chianti as well as some of the Nebbiolo we had bought up north. We also saw one of the most beautiful sunsets of our trip.  A description from one of Andrew's emails sums it up quite well:
 
"I'm on a solitary walk up a broken dirt road among the vineyards. The hill I'm climbing is in shadow but the crest ahead of me is a brilliant fire of orange and pink as the sun sets behind it. And if I turn around and look back into the distant valley, the sun is brushing its last strokes on the faraway hills."
 
Next up was Assisi.  A beautiful old town of pink stone, and home of course to Saint Francis of Assisi.  Perched up on a hill looking down over the plains of Umbria, it was well worth a stopover. 
 
Sadly it was then time to say goodbye to Andrew. We took him back to Rome airport then headed on to the Amalfi coast. The drive was spectacular if a little terrifying. On the way, we stopped in Positano for lunch and who should we sit next to at lunch, but Michael Parkinson. Jess was very excited; Jess's mum even more so when she found out!
 
We spent three days on the Amalfi coast staying in Ravello, a spectacular little village perched high above the town of Amalfi. Magnificent old villas with panoramic views crown perilously steep tiers of homes, vineyards, lemon trees and tomato vines, interspersed with very beautiful, but run down ancient churches and the occasional mule. Ancient goat herder paths were our passages down to the beaches far below. We felt like we were back in Nepal at times! Our self catering apartment had a spectacular view from the little private balcony and, although it was a little out of the way, gave us some memorable moments drinking Prosecco with the full moon rising over the sea.
 
Finally, it was north again via Naples for one night.  This was a compulsory stop to taste pizza in the home of pizza and buffalo mozzarella (Nick's did not disappoint).
 
One day further north, we found ourselves with friends James and Jo and Jo's sister and her friend, outside San Gimignano near Florence. San Gimignano is dubbed the "Manhattan of the Renaissance" with numerous ancient towers creating an impressive medieval skyline visible from the villa. We cooked fantastic food, constantly praising the superiority of Italian ingredients, drank plenty of Prosecco and Chianti, and engaged in some serious table tennis challenges.
 
Finally, we continued on for the last leg of our entire trip, on Lake Como where Nick had found a delightful little flat for the week right on the North-western shores in a charming town called Gravedona: the Alps rising up around the Northern shores, and the delights of Bellagio, Mennagio and the southern lake a short ferry ride away. This place has a special atmosphere and is not only magnificent but has a refined tranquil quality to it. We don't think there was a more perfect place to finish our trip.
 
But then, just when it couldn't get any better, it got better: Nick hired a speedboat and we took a champagne brunch picnic out onto the lake. We cruised around feeling like James Bond and his Bond girl for a while, and finally stopped in a small cove off the side of the main lake. Surrounded by alpine views, completely still water, and under a cloudless blue sky, Nick proposed!
 
Excited, happy and very grateful for all we have had an opportunity to see and do, we rose early on Sunday morning and made our way to Milan to drop off the rented car and fly back to London. Of course it was grey and cold, but nothing could diminish the happiness we felt climbing into our very own bed that night.
 
Home at last!

(Full photo album here: (sorry haven't edited it yet so there are about 500 pics) http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/npentreath/Italy?authkey=Gv1sRgCMOpkfW83Y_qGQ&feat=directlink)

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Malaysia: Perhentian Islands, Cameron Highlands and Penang

The Perhentian islands were our first stop in Malaysia. We secured some super cheap flights from Singapore on air Asia and flew first to Kuala Lumpur and then on to the east coast where it was an easy boat ride from the mainland to the two islands: Besar and Kecil - literally meaning big and small. With no vehicles, the islands have a series of coves and beaches which are accessed on foot or by boat. It is almost impossible to book ahead, but as we arrived late, the accommodation pickings were slim and mostly overpriced nastiness greeted our enquiries.  Finally we settled on a hotel, slightly more expensive than we'd planned, at the end of the beach, and the four of us cosied up in a family room for a few days. True island paradise is the best description of this place where we entertained ourselves by swimming, walking, kayaking between the idyllic beaches and of course eating our fair share of the super cheap local island food.  The diving is also amazingly cheap costing around $25/dive and we managed to squeeze in one great dive as well, circling around a coral covered pinnacle of rock sticking out of the sea. A place to go back to for sure.

Next we went west to the Cameron Highlands at around 5000ft above sea level. Our bus driver, of course, did his level best to kill us on the way there, and we were relieved when we had to change to another bus service 3hrs into the journey. The Cameron Highlands, formerly part of the British colonies, is bizarrely reminiscent of England with gently undulating hills covered with tea plantations, strawberry farms and magnificently genteel gardens. The towns are incongruously dotted with Tudor style buildings. But the rest is all Malaysian, and Mike was delighted with the array of spicy, cheap food on offer - one step closer on his quest to find the cheapest, spiciest food in the world! The cooler climate was welcome, and we enjoyed a great tour round one of the local tea plantations from impromptu guide/taxi driver/son of former plantation worker from India, Sami. He was incredibly knowledgeable.  We also impressed ourselves by hiking through the jungle and braving the tricky path up the modestly high 800m local peak. We found the fact that we were all staying in a large room for four for the princely sum of $10 per couple, and could indulge in scones with cream and local strawberry jam every morning for breakfast added to our enjoyment immensely.

Last but not least we took a bus to Penang. We educated ourselves at the local museum on day two and learned that this colonial city, first officially claimed by Sir Francis Light of the Dutch East India trading company, is an impressive mix of ethnic backgrounds: Indian, English, Siamese, Burmese (and several others we had never heard of before). The architecture is English colonial, but the city is dotted with a charming array of temples, markets, and an air conditioned mall! It was here that, on the last day, Jess and Margaret broke free of masculine shopping bondage and wandered happily ogling shoes and pretty things, and buying more than a few of them too. The day before we spent wandering through the streets, and Mike's aforementioned quest took us to a fantastic Indian hole in the wall where we mentioned to the proprietor that we'd like some chicken Biryani and were soon inundated with a flood of delicious dishes, and sooo cheap!  Our sightseeing was somewhat misadventurous: first there was our trip up the peak at night when we discovered that the temple we intended to see was already closed for the night.  We took the tram up the peak, but there is little to see in the dark, and so we soon took the tram down again. Mike managed to engage a group if birka clad ladies from Saudi Arabia in a lively conversation, during which one of the ladies husbands showed us a picture of his racing camel, and Mike got an invitation to visit them in Saudi Arabia anytime. The following night, we set off a little earlier for the temple we had intended to see the night before, with a view to watching the allegedly impressive lights come on in the early evening. Sitting waiting in the temple grounds, we were lucky Margaret went to look for a bathroom, at which point the gate attendant told her he was about to lock us all in! Not a pleasant way to spend the night. Thus defeated, we headed home for our last supper together.

We had a great time with Mike and Margaret and were sad to say goodbye on our final day.  They left long before we were awake headed for Thailand, and Nick and I trundled off, alone together again, to the airport and our flight back to Singapore to pick up some bags and then to Hong Kong again for a few days before the final long haul flight to Italy.

(Full photo album here (including Singapore pics): http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/nick.pentreath/SingaporeAndMalaysia?authkey=Gv1...)

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Down the Rabbit Hole in Singapore

Hitting Singapore felt good: drinkable water, first world facilities, and even babies with nappies on them!  Amazing. Nick's friend Lorna and her boyfriend Louis kindly provided us with a temporary home, and of course showed us a little of the town. We met Nick's friends Mike and Margaret that night, who have taken a month off to try on nomadic life and the Asian cuisine. Singapore is a neatly manufactured spread with zoned expat bar areas, designated China town, Indian town etc. All impressively organised, not to mention policed. For example, as a dozy Londoner, I am very used to walking on the wild side and straying inside the yellow line on the train platform while waiting for a train. In Singapore there is a 500 Singapore dollar fine for this! Fortunately, Nick was on his toes and saved both me and our wallets before I was spotted.  Meanwhile, Lorna impressed us by energetically doing a triathlon in the 33 degree heat, and (must have been) 100% humidity, before whisking us off to a great party "down the rabbit hole", at the White Rabbit bar and restaurant. We tucked into the free beer, while Margaret tucked into the mysterious red bottles labeled "Drink me".  No one escaped unscathed. Thanks to Lorna and Louis for having us! It was a great interlude before we headed off with Mike and Margaret to Malaysia.

(Full photo album here (includes Malaysia pics also): http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/nick.pentreath/SingaporeAndMalaysia?authkey=Gv1sRgCMvu5pranKGnBw&feat=directlink)


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China

BEIJING
 
Beijing is a blast.  The city is new and expensive looking, having been pretty much razed and rebuilt since the cultural revolution, with few of the traditional buildings and city structure left behind.  We managed to find a hostel in one of the last remaining hutongs in the city. A hutong is a small street bustling with markets, and Chinese houses built around courtyards which traditionally would have housed several families at a time. Our hostel was in one of these courtyard buildings, and it was definitely the best accommodation we've had on this trip. Joe, one of the hostel employees, took us on walking tours of the hutongs and there were all you can eat dumpling parties and barbecues almost every night. Best of all, it came complete with a bunch of gorgeous kittens - the cutest (and there was considerable debate among the guests about this) was the appropriately named Hutong.
 
The ancient sights are incomparable in scale.  Tianamen square was worth seeing, if only because of the length of the queue to see Chairman Mao laid out in his memorial display case. The Forbidden city, whilst expensive, and packed with Chinese tourists straining to get a better look into the great halls, extends from the top of Tianamen square and is far more impressive! The home of the emperors gone by is a seemingly never ending collection of courtyards and great halls, the detail on which is astounding. Unfortunately, the heat and the crowds were also astounding and we moved through more quickly than we probably should have. We also took in a walk through the Temple of Heaven following the route of the emperors at harvest time. On the day he went to the temple to pray for good harvests, traffic into the city would be stopped and no one was allowed from their house into the streets lest the catch a glimpse of the emperor. We also took a trip out to Simatai and hiked  10km along the Great Wall of China to Jinshanling. Having just come from our Nepal trek, we were somewhat arrogant about this easy little jaunt, but in the sweltering heat, we were sorely humbled by the hundreds of steep staircases. What an experience though, looking across dramatic mountain scenery with the stone wall impossibly perched on the peak tops, stretching for thousands of kilometres beyond our view.
 
And as for the food, we were grateful to our hostel for providing us with some great local suggestions where for the grand total of $4 we were treated to amazing meals, including traditional Beijing duck, and of course some of the notoriously spicy Sichuan dishes, a key ingredient of which is Sichuan pepper, which tastes a little like soap and leaves your mouth feeling like you have just had a particularly nasty local anesthetic from your friendly dentist. To be honest, Jess is still trying to figure out why one would eat this on a regular basis. And no, we weren't brave enough to try the snakes, scorpions, or silk worm kebabs on offer at the night food markets.
 
XI'AN AND THE TERRACOTTA ARMY
 
From Beijing we took an overnight train to Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Army. Unfortunately, the two Chinese men we shared a four-sleeper cabin with smoked continually throughout the night and sat talking with the lights on until 2am, which meant we were a little short on sleep the next day. It was very interesting to see the warrior lined up in the pits but in truth we learned far more about the Terracotta Warriors and the scale of the complex Emperor Qin built as his final resting place from the exhibition we went to in London!
 
YANGSHUO
 
After a one night stopover, we flew to Guilin and then took a bus to Yangshuo in Southern China. This mystical place is the stuff of Chinese scroll paintings, with thousands of craggy limestone karst peaks wreathed in lush jungle rising up from a flat plain, cut through by the snaking Li river. The best way to get the full impact is to take a boat trip down the river which we did, although getting to the boat was an interesting experience requiring a great deal of faith in our hotel who had booked it, and as usual, some animated pointing and standing around looking confused. We also appreciated once more the great Chinese tourist machine, which assured that the river was littered with small bamboo boats and that the banks were lined with stalls selling souvenirs, food and refreshments. The overwhelming majority of the tourists in China are Chinese, and a favourite pastime on the river seemed to be some good humoured water spraying between passing boats. After our first shower, Nick grabbed a bucket and managed to drench the offenders who laughed heartily. In between a little bit of relaxing, eating and souvenir shopping - Nick was awarded the high honour of being "like Chinese" in his bargaining - we also went on a bike ride through the verdant green countryside.
 
Yangshuo is also the home of a spectacular light and music show created by the man responsible for the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. 600 local cormorant fishermen and women perform the show every night, their stage a lake-like part of the river surrounded by dramatic towers of rock and greenery. But man, can it rain! Imagine the heaviest downpour you can, then imagine that this continues all day or for several hours EVERY day all through monsoon season. The moment you step into it, it is as if someone has poured a bucket of water over your head.
 
After three days in this hot, soggy but spectacular place, we looked forward to a final overnight Chinese train journey (complete with smoking of course), to the Hong Kong border, and then on to much drier, but no less hot Singapore and Malaysia.

Full photo albums here:
Beijing: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/nick.pentreath/Beijing?authkey=Gv1sRgCKzp0Yz74Ydg&feat=directlink
Xi'an: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/nick.pentreath/XiAn?authkey=Gv1sRgCNHwmMWZ9Jz4Ag&feat=directlink
Yangshuo: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/nick.pentreath/Yangshuo?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6tg7G8yaDc5gE&feat=directlink)

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Tibet: Lhasa

We spent 2 days in Lhasa, taking in the various sights in and around the ancient Tibetan capital. Little remains of the original city after more than 50 years of Chinese control - the Potala remains, perched atop a 200m hill overlooking the city, as does the Jokhgang Temple and some of the buildings surrounding it. The rest of the original city has been literally bulldozed and replaced by glass and concrete Chinese buildings, so that, save for the Potala, Lhasa looks like any other Chinese city. That said, the city doesn't lack for first class infrastructure, with wide roads and huge new airport and train station. The Chinese certainly provided progress in this regard.
 
Our first tourist site visited was the Potala Palace, the historic seat of government and later also religious leadership in Tibet. The current Dalai Lama lived here until he fled to India in the 1950s. The palace is vast and imposing, and beautiful in a very different way to European palaces. Much of the inside of the palace is accessible to the public, however many rooms including the Dalai Lama's old chambers, are not. Unfortunately photography is only allowed in the outside areas of the palace. We found it particularly interesting to see the palace in real life, having just completed the Dalai Lama's autobiography in Nepal (well, Jess did but Nick only made a little progress before we had to ditch it prior to leaving for the Tibetan border).
 
We also visited the Jokhang Temple, the holiest in Tibet and one of the very oldest. Another highlight of Lhasa was the Rombuk Monastery, where visitors can watch the monks engaged in their debating practice. The debates cover topics such as religion, philosophy and history, and are accompanied by various theatrical gestures: when a monk asks a question, he steps forward in an exaggeratedly aggressive manner and claps his hands together in front of his opponent. If the opponent cannot answer well enough, the other monk, as well as the observing monks surrounding the debating pair, laugh and jeer and rub the poor monk's head, and tell him he is stupid and a fool. Incentive enough to ensure they practise hard to avoid such public embarrassment!
 
We were very glad we got the opportunity to visit Tibet, particularly as it is very obvious that the Tibetan way of life and religion has been irrevocably changed by the Chinese influence and policies and, while there are still many ethnic Tibetans throughout the region, it is clear that over time they will become more and more assimilated into the Chinese people. The monasterys are shadows of their former glory, with only a fraction of the original numbers of monks still resident. Existing monks and new recruits are screened and chosen by the Chinese government, and fewer and fewer new monks join as a result.  In addition, those in place are prohibited from many of their former tasks and ways of life - in the case of the Jokhang, many of the caretaker monks are prohibited from wearing their traditional clothes. We also saw a great deal of evidence as we travelled through the country of countless monasteries and nunneries having been destroyed and it gave some context to the stories of Chinese brutality we had read prior to our visit.
 
Apart from the political and sociological aspects, the history, spirituality and geography of Tibet were all enthralling. And of course we had a fantastic group to share it all with. Thanks to Jane, Emmet, Jules, Selena, Lai-Fun, Kerri, Miriam, Ilona and Alena and of course the Catalan Contingent: Marcel, Judit, Alfonso and Eva (Free Catalonia!).
 
After our 2 days of frenetic sight-seeing, we boarded our plane for Beijing, excited to dive headlong into China proper.

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Tibet: The Road to Lhasa

Fears of imminent bus-related horrors receding, we set out in the cold morning darkness the next day for Shigatse. Crossing the first high pass (Lorung La at 5050m) as the sun rose, we were treated to breathtaking views (both figuratively and literally, due to the altitude) across the Tibetan plateau, taking in the Shisha Pangma (8013m) mountain.
 
The contrast with Nepal and the immediate border region could not have been more jarring. In a matter of a couple of hours we had gone from verdant green monsoonal mountain forest to the starkly beautiful, arid high plateau that lies in the rainshadow of the Himalaya. The change in the buildings, farmland and people was also very apparent: traditional whitewashed Tibetan houses decorated with black and red roofs and window frames dotted the landscape, fields of barley and buckwheat (pretty much all that can grow at that high altitude) clustered around the settlements and herds of gaily decorated yaks roamed the scrubby brown hillsides.
 
After a brief breakfast stop, during which we caught a glimpse of the great Mt Everest poking her head above the distant clouds, and after meeting our first of the ubiquitous Tibetan beggar children, we crossed two more high passes before arriving in Shigatse. By now it was apparent that some of the group were feeling the effects of the high altitude, with shortness of breath, headaches and fatigue setting in. A few cannisters of oxygen were broken out to aid the suffering. We think this unfortunately resulted in some oxygen addiction by at least one member of the group, Lai, who singlehandedly supported the Chinese oxygen cannister manufacturing industry during the tour and was never very far from her next oxygen fix!
 
Speaking of beggar children, we ran into one in particular who was wearing a cap that said "We f*** the fake s***!" The whole group thought this was outrageously funny, and the phrase promptly became the rallying cry of our resident Irishman, Emmet. He trotted it out for just about every group photo that was taken - it worked brilliantly to get everyone smiling.
 
The next day we visited the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in the morning - the historic seat of the Panchen Lamas. There is a great deal of controversy over the current Panchen Lama and the manner in which he was put in place by the Chinese government while the lama chosen by the Dalai Lama was taken into "protective custody", along with his whole family, and has not been seen since (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchen_Lama).
 
That afternoon we browsed the souvenir stalls, learning quickly to avoid the old Tibetan women, who proved highly tough and experienced hagglers and rip-off artists! That evening we went out for dinner and plenty of drinks with Selina (a cool school teacher from England), Jane (also from England) and Emmet. Afterwards we crawled into bed, but Selina and Emmet pushed on at the karaoke bar next door. The next morning we heard that Emmet had wowed the locals with an energetic rendition of Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and had a constant stream of inebriated Tibetans coming up to the stage to drape white prayer scarves around his shoulders as a blessing - he ended up with about 8! There is a youtube video on the way - or so Selina promises!
 
Next up on the itinerary was Gyantse, sight of another monastery and a large stupa, with thousands of chambers containing various Buddhas, with great views from the top. The next day we had another early start to Lhasa. We skirted the Yamdrok Tso holy lake, and a few more high altitude passes, all of which were, as always, populated by hordes of souvenir sellers and begging children. Some even offered pictures riding yaks, or together with "bearded nice dog", a large friendly-looking dog wearing a red ruffle collars around its necks.
 
After crossing our last 5000m pass, we headed down about 1500m along a sharply winding road that would make Chapman's Peak look like a Sunday drive, and finally arrived in Lhasa, capital of Tibet.

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Tibet: The Border Crossing

After our experiences with Nepali buses and the monsoon season, and thanks to some not too encouraging reports from our tour organiser regarding the roughness of Tibetan roads, we woke in the rain-sodden morning darkness of the first day of our Tibet tour filled with anxiety (ok, perhaps downright fear). 

This was only exacerbated by the last minute change in the mode of transport from 4WD Land Cruisers to a standard bus, about which we were only informed late the night before departure. We trudged through the downpour to the bus and met the first half of our tour group. At that hour nobody was up to intelligible speech, so we all boarded the bus and set off for the border.

After a brief stop for breakfast, during which we slowly became acquainted both with the characters making up our tour group (more on that later!) and the Nepali tour guide's side business offering pre-border money changing services, we started the climb along the winding, narrow mountain roads to the border town of Kodari. Driving through Kodari to the border complex we passed a young woman engaged in some sort of heated argument with a crowd of other woman. Then the crowd of women began beating and kicking the young woman. As we drove on, we heard that she was a man's new, second wife and was being attacked by the older wife and her friends!

Nepali border proceedings were fairly straightforward. However at the Chinese border into Tibet, we encountered our first snag: someone at the tour operator had apparently neglected to get the third official stamp on our group visa from the Chinese military. We only found this out some time later, since our Nepali tour guide was worse than useless when it came to communicating what was happening. So we sat around on our bags for about 3 hours while the visa was stamped in Lhasa and faxed back to our Tibetan tour guide on the other side of the border. At last, having received the stamp, we filed through the tedious health, immigration and customs procedures. This included Jess being singled out for a quick health check after the infrared cameras alerted the nurses to a high temperature; the cursory searching of our bags for contraband such as anti-Chinese literature, Buddhist books or religious texts and anything related to the Dalai Lama. Luckily both our guidebook and our fairly expensive Buddhist thangka that we bought in Nepal made it through un-confiscated. After many hot and boring hours, we passed through into mystical Tibet!

Of course, monsoon season in the Himalaya would not be complete without a landslide to hold us up - so next we had to pile into a few taxis that would take us up through the Tibetan border town of Zhangmu to the landslide, on the other side of which waited our tour bus for the rest of the trip to Lhasa. Just after leaving town, we stopped before a military checkpoint. As we waited, we saw a Chinese man being grabbed by soldiers. His video camera was wrenched from his hands and he was then forcibly herded into the checkpoint building for interrogation. It was at this point that our Tibetan guide, Shodar, stuck his head through the taxi window and said, completely redundantly, "No photo!".


After this came the landslide crossing. Our guide and the taxi drivers appeared certain the entire mountain was about to come down on us at any moment, and made us climb down and around under the supporting wire as it was apparently too dangerous to walk quickly along the road. This resulted in a 30 second walk becoming a scramble along the muddy mountain track, over metal poles and concrete slabs, and finally through a hole in the wire netting, fully laden with backpacks, bags, cameras etc etc, with the drivers shouting and gesticulating madly for us to hurry the entire way. Finally, as the rain began to fall and the mist closed in, we made it to the bus and started off to our first night's guesthouse, where we had some well-deserved Lhasa beer and momos (Tibetan steamed dumplings) to calm our frayed nerves.

Drama aside, the border crossing was not actually too bad, and as it turned out, the Chinese have built an amazing road from the Nepal border all the way to Lhasa, resulting in a remarkably smooth and un-Nepali bus journey! Next up was the four day journey to Lhasa.

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Nepal and the "Abode of Snow"

Nepal was quite an experience. Initial impressions in Kathmandu were a city of chaos.  We arrived late, and ventured out early the next morning. Being aware that our hotel was an oasis of calm hardly prepared us for the streets. Bicycles with carts, mopeds, taxis, streets sellers and pedestrians weave a dynamic web of colourful confusion in the narrow streets. Above us electrical and telephone wires are haphazardly patched into overloaded boxes and poles. Multiple hands grab at you to buy their wares as you try to avoid being run over. Everywhere: the smell of incense, food, and warm acrid human filth and wet earth. After an hour and a trip to the trekking organisers we had to fight our way back to the hotel where we cowered in our room exhausted.

In our first two days in Kathmandu, we took in a cultural show and dinner of traditional Dhal Bhat as well as a guided tour of some local sights. The dancing in the show included a human peacock, yeti and yak. The last of these approached a small two year old Nepali boy who had strayed perilously far from his mother. The enormous cavorting yak was too much for this little one who promptly started to cry and wet his pants. The next day we had a full day taking in the local Buddhist and Hindu temples and learning a decent amount about the customs and, especially interesting, the mythology surrounding both religions and the community from our character of a guide. Finally it was time to eat a final dose of meat, and finish packing before leaving at 5am the next morning for our great trek. Being Monsoon season, we were fully aware that we might not see any views and may trudge through rain and encounter leeches, but we hoped for the best.

The following morning, we met our guide, Narendra, and porter, Gokul. Both seemed very nice which was a good thing since we had the next fourteen days together! We piled into a small minibus, with bags tied to the roof and headed off. Leaving Kathmandu you descend several hundred metres, and then carve your way along the edges of dramatic green hills tiered with rice, spinach, potatoes and corn. The single lane roads offer few overtaking opportunities, and thus the status quo is to overtake regardless of blind corners and hoot, hoping whoever is coming the other way will slow down and accommodate you. On arrival in the village of Dumre, we changed buses, but not before we were introduced to our sole form of sustenance for much of the hike: vegetable curry. The bus was packed, and we squeezed in at the very front on some mats and a small seat tied to the side of the front of the bus with some rope. Our guide and porter went on the roof.  We then bumped and rolled our way along the broken roads, perilously close to a sheer drop into the river, with Nick's hairy legs drawing comments and laughs from the locals. From Kudi, we disembarked and set off on foot along the river, intense green all around us, with local people washing and bathing along the river edges, and cows ambling along our path. A short walk later we stopped at our first lodge or teahouse in Ngadi.  A modest room with walls that did not meet the roof. we used our bedbug sheet that night - it was the only night we bothered. Thus began our 12 days of walking.

Day two - the walking was not tough but the humidity and heat were impressive. Wandering along the river we encountered the first of many impressive suspension bridges. We also passed where a donkey had moments before been bumped off the cliff path by its buddy and lay in an unnaturally twisted heap on the riverside rocks far below. Lunchtime held its fair share of excitement when a two year old boy who had been tottering along the wall we were sitting on proceeded to make his way on to the bridge above us. He smiled, climbed up onto the railing, and proceeded (as we in slow motion could see he was going to) to somersault over the railing and plummet the three or so metres onto the rocks below.  He was extremely lucky to escape with a bleeding bump on his head and a bruised ego; we escaped with mild heart palpitations. That night in Chyamje (1430m), we met a 73yr old French school teacher, who carried his own pack and was walking alone after visiting his Nepali friends high up in the mountains. It was his 12th visit to Nepal, and his first since hip replacement surgery! We felt rather inadequate with our porter and guide!

Day three we walked to Bagracchap (2160m) arriving early in the afternoon. The accommodation was cleaner than the previous two nights, and in the early evening we were treated to the sight of Annapurna II (7937m) appearing in the distance. The following morning, we woke at 5am and were greeted again by the sight of Annapurna II, this time bathed in a golden glow long before the sun had managed to touch any of the surrounding valleys.  As we walked that morning, she appeared sporadically to our left, but was mostly mantled in cloud which we were slightly disappointed about, but grateful for the views we had seen. We were climbing ever higher from our starting altitude of 440m on day one and were relieved that some of the humidity and heat were beginning to subside. When we reached Chame, Annapurna II should have been towering above us, but there was only cloud. By now, Jess, who had been developing an infection in her wisdom tooth was feeling pretty bad, and had a temperature. After much discussion about the effects of antibiotics at altitude, we decided it would be advisable to start the course of Amoxicillan we had brought along.

Thus far the hiking had not been too tough, and we were averaging barely 6hrs per day. At this point though we were heading above 3000m and were very slightly beginning to feel the altitude.  The terrain was starting to become more barren and the dramatic hills were giving way to dramatic mountains on all sides. As always, the grey water of the river we were following churned and roared, sometimes far below us, sometimes right beside us. The people were also becoming increasingly Tibetan as several Tibetan refugees have made their home in this region. The light was becoming blindingly bright and often, the wind swirled dust around us. By now we were accustomed to making way for the groups of donkeys (the trucks of the mountains, as our guide called them) who trudge up and down - a vital lifeline for the communities living impossibly high up in this difficult terrain. We passed through village after tiny village with their lines of prayer wheels, often spotting small settlements high on the steep slopes above us. Red, green, blue, and white prayer flags flapped in the wind having been strung from every significant hill top and roof. We were also by now in awe of the locals carrying heavy loads of rock, food, and in one case three enormous pipes twice as long as their body up the steep paths. We in our fancy hiking boots with porter, they in second hand flip flops, their heavy loads secured by a strap strung around their foreheads.

So far the only trekkers we had seen were two Australian bohemians, reminding us this was hardly the best time to attempt the circuit. We were also frequently the only people staying in the lodges.

We reached Humde (3,800m) on day 5. This was probably our grubbiest accommodation on the trek. The communal shower had flooded from the squat toilet next to it, not that we would have braved the cold water shower as it was by now very chilly at night. Being off-season, the cook was on holiday so we ate Dhal bhat with the family in their stone kitchen. The women in their Tibetan dress sat on the floor around a small wood stove preparing the meal of lentil soup with rice and some fried curried vegetables - which in this case were spinach freshly picked, and some old potatoes.

From there we climbed quickly to Manang at 3600m where we had a hot shower and the luxury of a pizza (was it yak cheese??) before the tough couple of days up to and over the Thorung La Pass (5416m).  In the afternoon we climbed up to the glacier below Gangapurna to a height of about 4000m to held with acclimatisation.  Except for a headache and sore tooth for Jess, we were both fine. Fortunately the antibiotics had begun to do their work, although we suspect the altitude had something to do with their slower than expected action. That evening, we stood in awe of Annapurna IV (7525m) and Gangapurna (7454m) which appeared next to each other and towering above us. The impossibility of their elevated place in the sky, even from our position at 3,600m, impressed on us once again the power of the forces that created them, and surrounded us. In the distance was Makhali (over 8000m).

From Manang to base camp, Thorung Pedi (4450m), was a short three hour walk. By now, we breathlessly puffed our way up any steep inclines, and plodded fairly slowly stopping often for lots of water, frequent "pees" in the bushes (a side effect of the altitude), and sometimes for ginger tea at the teahouses we passed. Thorung Pedi was a barren outpost where dinner consisted of some mouldy fried potatoes and the same ancient potatoes and some carrots in the curry. As always, there was ginger tea. We went to bed early ahead of a 3am start and our assault on the pass. 

The following morning, we forced down our usual porridge and some tea/coffee, and began our long day at 4am. The first 40mins were the toughest as you climb steeply up the scree slope to high camp at 4,600m, and then continue to climb ever upwards. We made good progress and towards 7am were breathlessly nearing the top.  As the sun came up, we were delighted that some of the clouds began to clear and the Chulu west series appeared behind us whilst Thorung Peak appeared up to our left.  We reached the pass (5,416m) shortly after 7am, and in so doing became the fastest trekkers our guide had ever taken over the pass (woo-hoo!).  Apparently we walk like Nepalis, not tourists. We were very pleased with this distinction.  The views from the pass were spectacular as you look to the Tibetan border and over a multitude of 6 and 7 thousand metre peaks and a couple of 8 thousand metre peaks as well. The clouds cleared enough for us to see some of the view, and take some passable photos - we were aware we were extremely lucky as it's unlikely to have views like this in early July. After plenty of photos, it was a few hours of rapid downhill descent, trying not to slip on the steep paths, and being passed by local travellers coming in the opposite direction - a much more arduous route. We reached Muktinath on the other side (3,800m) tired, but in record time, and relished our wonderfully hot shower, and the comparative luxury of our accommodation. This side of the pass is much more developed as there are small roads that can be travelled by jeep all the way up as far as Muktinath. In the afternoon, we enjoyed a visit to the local temple, and were lucky enough to see the veneration of a lama visiting from India.  There was much pomp and ceremony and all the local people in their best traditional dress, as well as some truly terrible trumpet playing.

Then the reality that we still had several days ahead of us began to weigh in. In addition, we discovered that a local village was "on strike" and had blocked the road from our final trekking destination, Beni, to Pokhara from where we would catch a bus to Kathmandu. The story goes that two people were killed in an accident, and their families and village barricaded the road seeking some form of compensation. This would mean we would have to walk to close to Pokhara, 3 days more walking than our initial itinerary, and including a tough climb from 1,800m to close to 4,000m in a single day.

The next three days were spent walking as fast and as far as we could everyday. Our guide tried to ease the pain with some stretches by local bus, but after 20mins on the first bus, we (actually Jess, but Nick was not sorry either) decided walking was much, MUCH better. The local buses seating around 20 people with more standing travelled along rough dirt tracks cut into the side of the valley, sometimes high above the raging torrent of a river below. They were only just wide enough for jeeps and the wheels of the buses, and at times, where the elements had torn away the sides of the road, the back wheel would pass partially over the edge. In addition, the vehicles and rain (which poured down as we drove) had carved great ditches and holes and at times the bus would simultaneously pitch 30 degrees to the side while climbing at an angle of a similar magnitude. An old Nepali woman who was also in panic convinced Jess she was not irrational, and we disembarked the bus!

We continued to descend rapidly, passing through the deepest gorge in the world. We were treated to a sighting of Nilgiri South, and we should have been able to see Annapurna I (8091m) rising up as well, but she sadly remained hidden. We were further reminded of our own mortality the next day when we passed a poor Nepali man lying face down, and stone dead in the middle of the road.  He had been hit by a falling stone from the cliff above.  Apparently he came from the East of Nepal to work, and no one was quite sure how his family were going to be notified.

As we reached Tatopani, the day before we were due to deviate from the intended path, news arrived that the road was open. Extremely relieved, this meant the following day was our final day on the trail.  By now at least the food has improved again, and the going was much easier at comfortably below 3000m.

From Beni, we caught a morning bus to Pokhara where our guide and the porter treated us to superb Dhal Bhat with Chicken - the first meat we'd had in two weeks. That night, we treated them to Pizza and beer. Pokhara was luxury in the extreme with European toilets and a soft bed complete with duvet. The view from the lake was fantastic with a spectacular view of Machhapuchhre (6997m) and Annapurna South (7273m). The next day we caught the bus back to Kathmandu, where we spent two days recuperating ahead of our departure for Tibet. During these two days we had an opportunity to meet our guide's family and learn something of the Nepali education system and the challenges they faced.

All in all, the scenery was unlike any we have encountered before. The sheer scale of even the valleys leading up into the mountains are awe inspiring. That and the consistency, not necessarily the depth, of the poverty, and the smells and bustle of the villages and cities, the prayer flags, temples, monasteries and the constant struggle, and of course, the bus journeys, will be our enduring memories of this extreme place...until the next visit that is.
Full photo albums here:

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One night in...Hong Kong

A quick note on a quick visit: we had one night in Hong Kong before boarding our plane to Kathmandu.  We arrived late (around 1am) exhausted and jet lagged, so got straight into bed. We started the next day with a hearty breakfast in the financial district at a local dim sum restaurant. The place was a buzzing, hot, brightly lit room, where we were seated at a large round table with several Chinese residents. The food is served from trolleys which are wheeled past. As our Cantonese is non-existent, the old lady wheeling a trolley took pity on us (no doubt she is experienced with pasty-faced, blue-eyed westerners) and she doled out four wooden boxes containing various dumplings and some tea. We accepted them gratefully - and they and the large pot of tea were delicious. Fed and happy, we took a wander through the towering buildings of the financial district on our way to the tram which takes you up Victoria Peak.  The tram ride itself is impressive and akin to the ascent of a roller coaster for several hundred metres.  From there, you get a beautiful view of the city and the bay, and across to Kowloon. With not much time left, we headed back for our hotel and the shuttle to the airport.

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We are going to San Francisco...

At least that was what we were trying to do when a tornado disrupted all traffic through the American Airlines hub, Dallas Texas.  We were stranded for the night as thousands of irate passengers struggled with unhelpful American Airlines staff. This wouldn't have been such a problem if Jess's brother Andrew and his girlfriend, Merrilee, had not been flying all the way from New York to meet us for a long weekend. Sneakily (and exceptionally luckily, we were early the next morning and managed to convince one helpful AA staff member (possibly the only nice one) to bump Jess higher ion the standby queue from 115th!  Four or five passengers were making it onto every flight and somehow she kept getting bumped down the ever growing list, so at this rate it would take weeks to get on a flight. She keyed in the wrong code and suddenly Ross, Jessica was number one!  With Nick's BA silvercard holder status, he was already higher priority and sat at number five.  Relief...and just a little guilt were the overwhelming emotions! Jess made it onto the first flight leaving Nick reluctantly, but terrified that they would figure out their mistake if she waited around. Nick meanwhile was bumped down the list again, and as a result, he opted to fly via Denver to San Francisco and arrived fortunately, that afternoon. Andrew and Merrilee arrived safely in the morning, and against all odds we were all enjoying drinks and dinner together in San Fran by Friday night.
 
Ah to be back in the first world! And San Francisco was a great place to stop. We stayed at the Fairmont hotel, a beautiful old hotel close to Union Square. They also had the most comfortable beds which we dubbed, the marshmellow bed. We relished the market where fresh fruit could be eaten, and the marvelled at the sheer variety on offer. In the morning, we rented a car and headed for the Russian river valley in Sonoma - Napa, but with (apparently) less pretension and Cabernet. We took a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge on our way. We stayed in beautiful little cottages where the English owner took great pride in her gardens, picniced in the sun, and tasted wine to our hearts content. In the evening we had a fantastic dinner, before heading back towards San Fran the following day. Our final stop was In and Out burger, the best fast food burger in California, according to Merrilee, something we did not disagree with.
 
We said goodbye to Andrew and Merrilee sadly that evening and downgraded our digs to a local hostel. Again we found ourselves enjoying the City's fare with a great Italian dinner.  San Francisco is renowned for it's restaurants, and we felt it important to be able to test this for ourselves!!  A day of admin, washing etc, before we departed for Asia...

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