Best food day in China
Raise your hand if you got out of bed on the wrong side today…
The show we wanted
Apparently when I'm on not a tour I am lazy. I don't get out of bed until 11am when I need to shower and get ready for Hamish and Becs to come meet me for lunch at my hostel, which actually does a very good selection of beige English food. As soon as Hamish and Becs leave I go back to watching films...
Bye tour
No more Dragoman tour group. Annlee wakes up and goes downstairs for her last breakfast. I open the curtains and realise I should probably read up on some to do stuff in Beijing. I've only just opened the book when Annlee returns holding toast butter and jam for me. She flicks on the kettle, checks...
The creepiest square
According to Annlee, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and ten minutes later, Hamish came to the room with a Chinese hamburger for me. So I obviously had it for breakfast. The city tour left the hotel at 8:30am. The whole group set off, minus Dunn and Zach who are going to do the tour...
Crazy Chinese taxi drivers
Those last fews beers while we sung our lungs out at karaoke felt like a terrible idea when the truck departed at 8:00am, but nothing a nap couldn't solve. We arrived at 12:30pm and had lunch in the café across the walkway from the hotel. Michelle demolished 25 dumplings and I had Kung po chicken…ag...
Jason, you dark horse.
As the city was used as a retreat for the Royal Palace, the major sight to visit is the Royal Palace. I think I'm reaching the point where I know exactly what to expect from a grand Chinese palace. Single story building, with large rooms consisting of one wall entirely made from windows to open up o...
Military Access only
We had the morning free to see more of the wall. So we got up early, it was a beautiful, sunny day, grabbed an overpriced coffee from one of the stalls (I know Dad, I had sachets but there was no kettle in the room), got a little distracted by four adorable fluffy puppies who were playing in the wal...
Humble pie
Alongside my overpriced pineapple beer I had bought Nescafé 3-in-1 coffee sachets, so I definitely didn't need to go downstairs for breakfast today! I also woke up to a message from Tobes that he had passed his fourth exam. Four for four Toby-Woby! The day is starting well and today is the Great Wal...
If Disney did Buddha statues...
This hotel took the traditional breakfast and added a buffet twist….with curry? I had no problem with the curry breakfast because I had gotten used to it in India, some of the others weren't so sure. But yeah, Chinese traditional breakfast with curry. Weird start to the day. The truck left the hotel...
Safety barriers my arse
The hotel probably had the smelliest hotel toilet we had encountered so far, so we were quite happy to be checking out first thing and bypassing the delicious traditional breakfast. First port of call today was the hanging monastery. Unfortunately, because I had been blown away by the sky bridge at...
Helen! Helen!
When we made our way downstairs for breakfast, the rain still hadn't stopped. It had rained since we had arrived and on the road sides water trickled towards overflowing drains. Breakfast was traditional again, so Annlee and I filled ourselves up on tea and coffee. Helen and Duncan had decided since...
Kung Fu Panda temple
Today was a long driving day. After a fruit salad and green tea breakfast, we headed off to Wutai Shan. Pulling out of Pingyao at 8:30am, stopping twice for toilet breaks and lunch, we arrived to a cold and rainy Wutai Shan at 2:30pm. My first thought driving in was that the main temple looked like...
Less carbs, more green tea
In our sorry state shuffling home, Annlee and I decide that less carbs and beer. More green tea. So for breakfast, much as I love a traditional Chinese breakfast, we both get fruit and green tea. (Every little helps?) 8:30am we’re all back in the truck and heading for Mian Shan. Mian Shan is mountai...
Funny hats and karaoke
Twelve hours of well needed beauty sleep and we’re up and heading out to get our taxi to go to the castle. The drive take 45 minutes and, for the first time I see the industrial side of China that I had expected. Rows and rows of fields with large factories, tall machinery and loaded trucks driving...
People with a worse hangover than me!
The cave flooded with light, I wake up to the girls getting ready all around me. My mouth is dryer than Ghandi’s flip flop and the unappealing taste of rice wine mixed with Tsingtao lingers in my mouth. 3am? 3am? With a 7:30am departure? I lie there watching people busy around. Apparently someone ha...
Poshest caves I ever seen
My alarm pierces through my sleep at 8am. Those three buckets of beers regretted, I pack while watching Michelle bounce around the room and then head down for breakfast. I struggle to get up for breakfast at the best of times, so slightly hungover and with a Chinese breakfast waiting for me (a whole...
Karaoke
So the breakfast yesterday was definitely worth getting up for, we have a six hour drive today and we need to leave at 8am. In the restaurant are loads of military men. All from different nationalities; Nigerian, Canadian, Japanese. I have no idea what they're meeting for but there's a lady barking...
oh hello Chinese hamburgers!
Breakfast in the hotel in included so we both make it downstairs for breakfast before I finishes at 9am. While we're eating Hamish and Becs walk in. They have the same idea as us; eat the included food and go back to sleep. 11am and Annlee and I wake up. Annlee makes tea and we flick to see whether...
The Dragoman characters of my year
Dragoman tour starts today! The train pulls into Xi-an on time. Moving parallel to the impressive Xi-an walls. I have to meet at our joining hotel at 10am. Problem- my Intrepid notes say one hotel and Dragoman say another. Al is a life saver and confirms the hotel for me. After much to-ing and fro-i...
Pandas...and free beer
Today is all about what I came to Chengdu for: PANDAS! I wake up at 6:30am to meet in the lobby for 7am departure. There are two others in the lobby, as I discover in the taxi, a couple from Finland who have been studying computing at university here for the past year. The taxi stops at another host...
A day of mooching
I slept until 11am! Everyone in the room must have been so quiet in the morning! I have the ‘Western Breakfast’- French toast, bacon and a fruit salad and work on my blog a bit. With the VPN I can actually try to get things online now too. I spend the morning walking around Chengdu. The roads remin...
4 local buses in 1 day. Pro
The headache, that mad me feel like I was being punched in the head, has gone. (Thanks for nursing me through it, Wilko). I shower, pack and head back to the transport centre to get the bus to Leshan. Unlike the bus to the mountain top, seats are allocated on this bus and I sit in the wrong seat, bu...
Try miming ATM
I wake up to see the lady infront of me wolfing down a back of cherries and a bag of nuts. She alternates between the two bags, spitting out seeds and shells into a silver tray that every now and then she disappears to empty. My cabin is close to the toilets and basins so I hear people spit into the...
Clean streets with lanes...and hawking
I wake late again, but this time I don't feel good for it. I think I've overslept now. I go to the bar and get a coffee, which turns out to be free because I had booked through Hostel World! I walk around the city. It's not what I had imagined, but I like it. There are ancient style gate ways amidst...
Nihāo!
Hello China! I'm excited about China. India I was nervous about, I might have even had (definitely did have) a little blub to Toby about how nervous I was about my trip and India in the taxi to Tobe when I left him at Yalumba brunch, but China has a mystical history and an interesting present. I la...
So long India
I slept badly last night, waking to check that my alarm had definitely been set. I woke up at 7:00am and noticed that my phone only had 6% battery. A fuse had gone overnight and it hadn't been charging. Stupid hotel. I showered, packed and got downstairs ASAP to charge my phone in the lobby. As I ca...
Fate and omens
The tour was agreed for an 8:00am collection. 8:00 came and went, then 8:15, 8:30. I emailed to chase and the tour guide hadn't noticed my reply to him confirming location and had assumed the tour wasn't going ahead. I had gained a free day in Kolkata. I walked to the museum. One of the first things...
Hotel International VIP
An hour behind schedule, we land at 6:30am. I don't know whether I'm hungover or tired or both. I watch the luggage belt rotate and pray that both of my bags have made it to Kolkata. I'm also massively regretting my decision to have not booked my accommodation. But, I had been told by a few locals i...
Bye Betho
Today is my last India day with Beth. I wake at 8am and head downstairs for breakfast. I have plates full of cinnamon French toast and bacon. Washed down with grapefruit juice, orange juice and coffee. I shower and pack in the room and wait for Beth to arrive, her flight lands at 9:50am. 10:30am I g...
Taj Mahal Palace Hotel
It's Taj Mahal palace hotel day!! I can check in from 2pm. I wake, pack and say goodbye to Nina. I jump in a taxi at midday hoping for an early check in and ask for ‘Taj Palace Hotel’, triple checking that he understood me after the debacle I'd had before, we head off. As we get closer to the hotel,...
Brunch and Piku
I wake up early from routine and for the first time in a while, I turn over and go back to sleep until 10:30am. Nina had given me specific instructions to wake her up at 10:30am because we had to get to Salt Water Café for brunch, which finished at midday. I don't know anyone who can sleep as well o...
China: yes or no?
Considering the advise of the tout at the gateway the day before I get up at 8am and jump into a taxi at 8:30am straight to the gateway to get an early boat to Elephanta. Unfortunately my driver, despite me using the map and showing him a picture of the massive arch, took me to ‘India bull’. In his...
A tourist in Mumbai
I run into the taxi at 7:55am, the driver tells me that he has been waiting outside since 7:30am just in case I was early. He gets me to Starbucks at 8:40am and the barristers at Starbucks recognise me. The westerner who had tried every frappucino in the four hours that she had spent there the day b...
Time to try to get into China
As the day before, I woke quietly and snuck out whilst Nina slept. I took a tuc tuc to Bandra train station. Spotting the ticket office I got the in the queue, I look around and notice considerably more people are watching me than normal. A man infront of me turns around and points to a queue on the...
My India fall
Nina has a really nocturnal sleeping pattern. She's a tutor so generally starts work around 3pm/4pm, leaving at 1pm/2pm. I wake up at 10am, quietly get dressed and go find the post office. When I sent post from Varanasi I had to provide copies of my VISA and passport so I head down the hill towards...
Awkward. Crying in the departure lounge
My flight is at 11:50am, and it should take about an hour to get to the airport. With the issues at the airport I give myself an extra half an hour and book my taxi for 8:30am. Bags packed, Beth accompanies me downstairs and we have a slightly teary goodbye, we already know that we'll be seeing each...
Goodbye JohnMiller
There's a knocking on the door that wakes us. We look at each other both willing one another to answer the door. I get up. There's more knocking. I open the door and James is standing there. James has received a call from Chandra. Goa airport has suspended afternoon flights due to maintenance and Ja...
Bye India tours
I think there must have been a 4:50am/5am stop on the train because I woke at 5am and could not get back to sleep. Right on queue, the chaichaichai men started walking up the train at 6am and slowly the passengers came to life and chit chat came back to the carriages. The train arrived at 7:15am and...
Tuc tuc champions
Slightly a little worse for wear after our 3am bedtime, a large number of extra strength Kingfishers, some dodgy brandy and the leftovers of the Bacardi apple, we follow Chandra quietly yawning to get the ferry at 8:15am across the water to the Hampi ruins. At the ferry port is this bizarre pirate l...
A movie set
As we stepped of the train at 7:30am in Hospet, a familiar Indian train station aroma hit us, but for some reason the smell in Hospet really lingered. Everywhere. When the taxi stopped at the ATM a mile up the road from the station it was still there. As soon we had left the town, the smell had gone...
Saris, dotis, palaces and temples
Chandra, JohnMiller, James and I went for breakfast at a local café and I ate my body weight in idly and coconut chutney. Chandra had planned for us to hire saris from a local man and by the time we were back from breakfast he and his wife were waiting in the hotel lobby. Chandra eats chicken biriya...
Cat Facts
That little boy did not deserve two new toy cars last night. He grumbled all through the night, with a few big paddies thrown in for good measure. He woke us up for good around 7am. James is sat next to me giggling while texting someone so I glance at his phone and see that he is texting Chandra ‘Ca...
I touched an elephant
We arrive at the temple entrance at 9:30am. We buy jasmine from the ladies selling it from big woven basket at the left of the entrance and ask them to put it in our hair. The smell is lovely. While chatting and selling, the lady is vivacious and born to sell with a massive grin. I ask to take her p...
The loudest cinema ever
I walk into the lobby at 7am for breakfast and JohnMiller is sat in the lobby with all of his bags. True to form, he's got the time wrong and had been in the lobby since 6:15am because he thought we were leaving at 6:30am. Nope, Chandra had said that the hotel would start doing breakfast for us from...
Leeches and monkeys
This morning was the Jungle Trek. In my naivety I imagined a scene from The Jungle Book, minus Mowgli. Bears, monkeys, snakes, elephants and tigers…oh silly Rachel. A 7am trek start, resulting in a 6:30am alarm. ‘Wear long trousers and closed toe shoes’ was Chandra’s advice. Sat in the sanctuary off...
Washing and reading
It was gone 9am before I woke up. Beth was already awake, reading in bed. I told Beth I'd had a nightmare during the night and dreamt that someone was in the room and I was trying to scream to tell Beth but no sound would come out. Beth said that when I had been drifting off to sleep I'd made this w...
12 hours in Kochi
Chandra wakes us at 7:15am, Beth and I have slept for 10 hours. I'm not sure how, after the naps we had the day before. Breakfast was served on deck. Eggs, toast, butter, jam, chai and milky coffee. The captain picks up the mangos in the fruit bowl on the table and peels it with a machete, big chops...
Booze cruise
We wake to locals shouting to one another. One near our bedroom window, the other rowing down the waters. It's probably my favourite alarm so far. 15minutes we later boarding our pole boat for a morning trip up and back to the house. Turns out the pole boats work in the same way the boats in Venice,...
7p onion bhajis
The shrill alarm wakes us at 5:15am. We both lie there. Beth sighs- Beth sighs a lot. She has different sighs for different moods. I'm getting good at deciphering them. This sigh was ‘no. It's too early…but I do need to get up’. We’d both been lazy the night before and decided to leave packing to th...
There was a young woman who swallowed a fly
Beth wakes me up at 7:30am to ask if I want to accompany her on a walk along the beach. I don't. It's 7:30am, I want a lie in. But since I'm up, I say yes, chuck on my cleanest clothes and we are out of the door by 7:45am. Most of the shops and bars that line the cliff edge have closed for the down...
And then there were four in the group...
Beth and I woke at 7:00am but we didn't need to be downstairs until 9:00am, so we turned on the tv expecting some poorly dubbed rubbish but no. GREY’S ANATOMY! Wait. A Grey’s marathon?! Season 3. 9:00am came around very quickly after that. The shower had a door. An actual area in the bathroom solely...
Goodbye North, Hello South
Mads and I woke up at 8:00am and I started to pack. Beth and JohnMiller had left early in the morning to get to the South so I would be meeting them later. Mads was staying on for a couple more days in Delhi, as were Sue and Bryan. Dom had one more night in Delhi before going to see a friend in Mumb...
Second chance for Delhi
Raj woke me up at 7:30am. I had slept for 12 hours. The train was due to pull into Delhi in 10-15 minutes. Full of snot I packed up my sleeping bag liner and waited to disembark. Waiting white, air conditioned taxis took us to the hotel and we confirmed at 11:00am pick up time for our Urban Adven...
My first head wiggle!
Fireworks exploded outside and woke Beth and I with a start…it was only 9:30pm. Living on the edge, I know. There was a marriage procession for the groom. The daughter of the owner of the hotel we were staying was getting married that weekend. A music van with speakers blasting out music, men march...
Dodgy Cops
Alarms ringing at 4:45am , Beth and I get dressed in silence and make our way downstairs to meet the group for the Ganges sunrise boat ride. Similarly to yesterday, the boys revved the engine and we chugged to the middle of the river, only for the engine to be turned off a few moments later and we...
Cultural Insensitivity
The train pulls into Varanasi at 9:30am. I woke up a few times until 3:30am when the men to the left got off at 3:30am , they made such a racket and turned every light on. Dom didn't sleep well at all. He said that the men had talked about me (even though one of their wives was on the bunk below...
I'd put my Dad in that prison
Agra fort is the other must see for Agra. It had a wide, deep, moat which was home to crocodiles, if you made it past the crocodiles you had a forest full of tigers and leopards to conquer. If you managed to get past that there were fortress walls with turrets, arrow holes and holes for pouring burn...
Who's building me a Taj Mahal?
The mosquitos ate me alive during my DMC with Dom. I wake up to eight new bites on one ankle and six on another. I've scratched them in my sleep too so they're red and sore. Lovely. We have a private minibus driving us to Agra today, departing at 10:00am. Also, it's Heritage day which means free ent...
Swimming pool!
We caught the 7:50am bus from Jaipur to Baratpur. As we pulled into a service station ice cream adverts shone out to us like beacons…they actually had no ice cream at all, just a load of adverts! I got back on the bus to dream about soleros, magnums, twisters and rockets. The bus arrived in Baratpur...
All I did was eat on April 16
Beth and I dined on mango juice and biscuits in bed for breakfast watching ‘Pay Check’. One of those films that has big names in but we'd never actually heard off…I didn't enjoy it enough to watch the end- that's my review for you right there. 10:00am we followed Raj out of the hotel for an orientat...
Jaipur
At 2:30am our fan went berserk! It had been slowly rotating on a low setting throughout the night but at 2:30am turned itself up to full speed and rattled and whirred waking us both violently. Pushkar wasn't the place for nice ‘wake ups’ for me and Mads! Mads got up, accidentally turns all the light...
Eat a bounty, you're a real diva when you're hungy
There was a loud knock on the door. Mads and I wake up and stare at each other, confused. It knocks again, I roll over unbolt the door and a spritely Raj is stood there. ‘Oh I waited until 9am. I thought you would be awake!”. Well, we are now! Raj throws some bus types, times and prices at us and we...
Pushkar
Since I've been away, every time I set an alarm I’ve slept badly and check my phone worried that I've overslept, only to wake up at 90 minute/ two hour intervals. 5am arrives and we meet downstairs, all sat in silence and Raj gives an itinerary. It's too early for detail, Raj. Way too early. I hear...
Shopping for art
April 12. We went to bed at 9.30am and I didn't wake up until 8.30am, best sleep of the trip so far, pillow creases on my face and everything. Whatever Jess had, Dylan now has. I will not be going into that bedroom ever! So the doctor is called out and they're both prescribed antibiotics and recomm...
A week with JohnMiller
I have serious concerns for JohnMiller getting through life in one piece, unaided. When I arrived in Delhi on April 3rd he was complaining to Raj about his bank credit card not working. He said he had an issue with his PIN number. JohnMiller only had a little money left because he had spent it all o...
An exhausting cultural show
We congregate downstairs at 9.30am, Dylan lets us know that Jess is feeling a little better, but still pretty sick. JohnMiller finally has his money through from Western Union. We walk to the temple, take our shoes off, and get there in time for 10am prayer. Ladies are sat on the floor playing instr...
Acclimatising?
The alarm went off at 7am, Beth and l lay there reluctant to move but we get dressed and make our way to breakfast. JohnMiller doesn't join us, Raj keeps knocking for him but gets no response and ends up paying his tab. Dylan was suffering from a little sun stroke the day before but has made a recov...
Jodhpur...just like the trousers
Raj said Jodhpur is its warmest in the afternoon so we are up and out by 8.45am, I help JohnMiller get onto the wifi first thing and we leave for the Meherangarh Fort. We stop at the marble palace on the way with walls so fine that you can see the sun shine through, and arrive at the imposing fort....
Bishnoi Village
As I laid trying to get to sleep the night before thinking about all of the food gurgling around my full stomach, dogs fought and horns beeped. When the alarm went off at 4.30am, Maddie and I were up and out within 20 minutes. Sat like zombies in the hotel foyer, Raj briefed us on the plan for the d...
Jaisalmer
Maddie and I woke up naturally just before 7 and had a battle with ourselves. We had lost sight seeing time in Jaisalmer because of the sand storm so there was a lot to see today. We could get up and get stuff done or… Turn over and go back to sleep. It was hard but we got up and were having breakfa...
Highs and lows
The group woke up at 6.45am just in time for the sun to rise. It rose the same way it set, no streams of oranges and reds crossing over the land, just an orange ball rising through smog. Behind me Beth points to the stick wind breaker there are big black birds stood on each post. It's so creepy. It...
Chai, chai, chai
The train starts to wake at 7am and groggily chai is passed around. We all lie in our bunks until 9ish reluctant to move. Three cups of chai later and Raj is back to bouncing off the wall. He absolutely loves chai- this was discovered while watching him chase and hound the chai man up and down the 2...
New tour, new characters
We needed to be packed and ready to leave the hotel at 8.30am, which, with the time difference, was 7am for me. We’re planning to be out of the hotel until 3pm and check out is at midday so we need to leave our bags in luggage storage. I feebly fumbled for my alarm at 7.30am and realised that I woul...
Dubai to Delhi
Day 15. April 3. Dubai you are bad for my health. I don't know if it's been around Toby, or just that holiday booze thing, or perhaps it's just Dubai, but Dubai is no good for my health. I always drink and eat way too much. Looking around my spacious room, I lazily swing my legs over the edge of the...
Dubai is bad for my health
Day 14. April 2. We decided the night before that we would attempt the water park again today. Mother Nature had another idea. I woke up to an orange fog outside the hotel window and could only see as far as across the road. Toby called, he lives on the 32nd floor and couldn't see anything at all be...
So grateful for a hotel room today
I woke up bright and early feeling fresh as a daisy and made my way to the pool and had a really productive day… No. No. That's a lie. I woke up with a start at 1.30pm, Toby was calling my room. “How are you feeling?” Gross. So so gross. He laughs as he reminds me how drunk I was. He's smug, and rig...
Some people just don't know their limits...
I turn on the TV and watch MBC2. It's just too easy to watch films all day every day. Tobe gets to me for 1.30pm and we head off to the waterpark, stopping to grab lunch from the deli opposite the hotel. As we turn onto the palm I remind Tobe that it’s Easter so the park is going to be full of kids…...
Hello Dubai TV!
Dubai TV is great. I'm not meeting Toby until 1pm so sit in bed all morning. At the supermarket I bought strawberry yogurts, tinned fruit, Moroccan mint tea bags and vanilla latte Starbucks drinks and got some free polystyrene trays to eat off so I have a little picnic on my bed. I watch The River W...
Dubai
I woke up in the same position I fell asleep. My left arm numb. I slept like a log. I was meant to meet Tobes at 10am, but I woke up at 9.45am- wasn't happening. This bed is lush. I jump in the shower and turn on the tv for some background noise and end up watching some random Freddie Prince Junior...
Bye Jordan
Day 9. March 28. From getting up so early throughout the week I was up at 6.30am today. Hazel still sound asleep, I make my way up to breakfast. Anthea and John are there so I join them. We discuss the trip, Jordan, Ahmed, our group. Anthea retires in a couple of weeks and they're in the process of...
Jerash
Day 8. 27 March. THIS HOTEL HAS PANCAKES!!! Hello breakfast! No one else seemed to share my excitement, until Peter walked into breakfast. However, he then made a funny face with his egg, bean and falafel second helpings and I felt my excitement was childish. Hazel just shook her head at us and I t...
A day of must sees
Day 7. March 26. We were up at 6.30am today for a 7.30am departure. I sleepily walk into the bathroom, look in the mirror and see that I've slept on my hand. I have an orangey brown print of my henna on my right cheek. I scrub and scrub and reduce the colour to a coffee stain. Fanfuckingstastic. We...
Petra town is not for wandering
Day 6. 25 March. I forgot to mention that Hazel’s single supplement could only be honoured in the camp, so we’re back to sharing. I've mastered ear plugs. Hazel was up and out by 7.30am, she said that had made it to the treasury just before 8am! I woke up about 9am and sauntered down to the restaur...
The Treasury
I woke up this morning at 4.45. I slept so badly, I don't know if it was the couple of drinks or the wildlife…or Hazel’s snoring. I was already awake when I heard her choke herself awake midst snore, but her alarm actually went off a few minutes later. But nevertheless, I made it up for the sunrise....
Hamsa!
Hamsa! The plan this morning was to get up at 5.45am to watch the sunrise and have breakfast at 7am…I woke up at 8am and realised that bright light was trying to get through the larger gaps in the thread of the cover of my tent. The sun was already proudly up and shining bright. Zayid came to check...
My Bedouin name is Wadha
So if anyone should have had an issue about Hazel’s single supplement not working out, it should have been me. She snores worse than Aunty Priscilla. I think I woke up three times in all. We aimed to be downstairs for breakfast at 7am, for an 8am departure. That didn't quite work for me. I was so ti...
Amman
I can't quite say I slept like a baby. They are massive fans of beeping their car horns here, at all hours. Nevertheless, my bed was so comfortable and the air conditioning was effective, yet quiet. So you can't blame Art Hotel for the traffic outside. Baher had said last night that I should see the...
So, I made it... - Day one of many
Leaving work on Wednesday was surreal. Knowing that I wasn't going back there but I was going on a one year holiday and not going to a new job. Not going to lie, it made me feel a bit sick. But a netball win later with the girls (I definitely think a pre game drink is the way forward), followed by a...
I am vaccinated....and officially unemployed
So I am vaccinated. Hep A&B. Typhoid. Diphtheria. Tetanus. Polio. Yellow fever. Rabies. I also have 230 doxycycline tablets. I swear if a common cold floors me I'll be annoyed. The nurse at Cedars, Jane, was so so lovely. She was really helpful as well because her daughters had also been travelling...
Boots and pieces
I bought my boots this weekend. They've ended up being my most expensive travel item purchase so far. I decided on the Meindl 'Softline Lady Light GTX' ( http://www.meindl.co.uk/products/softline-lady-light-gtx ). Initially i was pretty reluctant to even buy boots, but it's just not worth the risk t...
Busy week
This week has been productive and it's all coming together. Monday I booked my accommodation in Shanghai, Seoul and Japan. I flicked between hostel bookers ( http://www.hostelbookers.com/ ) and trip adviser to help me decide. I have contemplated couch surfing ( https://www.couchsurfing.com/ ), but I...
India- I can visit!
Indian VISA approved! The process was actually surprisingly easy. VFS Global ( http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/ ) were really efficient and the SMS service they provided was reassuring apart from the text "A decision has been made". What decision?? Next day "Your passport has been dispatched for return"....
Indian VISA submitted
I submitted my VISA for India today. Fingers crossed I filled it out correctly. My photo is charming. For some stupid reason I decided to get my photos taken after netball, in the cold and rain. I also arranged an appointment for my vaccinations. 70 days to go!
100 DAYS
100 days until I go!!! I've had to make some slight adjustments to Indochina because of Holliday's wedding! I have an appointment with STA at the weekend to look at the Bangkok to LA portion of flights. I also need to get all my details together for my India VISA. It's starting to feel very real.
BAG BAG BAG
My bag arrived. Obvs I wore it around the house empty, with the tags hanging off, lunging across the living room. It's love. I reckon it's gonna work out, we just fit so well together. I got a Farpoint 55, Osprey. I say I got it, I chose it, Mum bought it for me as a very early Christmas present. I...
Premature, I know
So, I go traveling on Friday 20th March 2015 which is in 189 days. I'm already counting down the days left of work (125 working days). Was at Al's on Sunday having a BBQ (which took nearly 3 hours to light I should add!) and Duncan said I should do a travel blog, specifically a video blog because it...