Sabine & Graham

The Value of Money

2008-05-21T20:53:00.009+02:00

With all the changes of countries and currencies confusion set in.

We did realise that a tailor made suit in Hué for £40 (Milan made cloth!!) or a silk dress in Hanoi for £20, and a bespoke leather jacket for Sabine (Argentina), again, at £55 were reasonable - actually excellent value.

By the end of our trip we in fact were seriously loosing track of the value of money - what, was worth, what!

I think from the below you will understand why (and these figures do not take into account the devaluation of the US$ by 10% against most world currency during the 80 days).

Ok: 1 Euro = AED 5.74331 (Dubai) = INR 66.6621 = US$ 1.56413 = VND 25291.58 (Vietnam) = HK$ 12.1988 = AU$ 1.62928 = NZ$ 2.01465 = CLP 744.928 (Chile) = AGS 4.92673 (Argentina) = BRL 2.58087 = 1 Euro

Got it? Well, we spoilt ourselves anyway!!

Back Home

2008-05-20T22:45:00.004+02:00

It is not too bad actually - facing up to the reality of a new life, although we could have easily just gone on travelling - until the money run out - or the kids had to be shipped out to join us - whatever.

Firstly the Wedding.

Please go back to the initial March postings and the Wedding Photos. They have now been completed and comments added. We hope you all realised how happy we were then, and from the tour snaps, are now. 80 days going around together was revealing, testing sometimes, but wonderful - we passed les épreuves and feel very contented and fulfilled.

Over the next weeks we will revise and update the blog so that it really becomes the diary of this shared adventure. If anyone knows how we could down load it onto a Power Point or Word Document this would help us considerably?

It is also our intention to conclude on what we did - let you know what the difficulties were and how we would/will go about it again – in four years time?

So kindly watch this space .........

We found the world that we visited to be wondrous, but this is not always the reflection of a harsher reality.

Rio Animals

2008-05-19T00:59:00.005+02:00

Sorry, didn't make it into the jungle - saw these cute monkeys but no jungle bunnies

Graham heard this snake before he almost trod on it - any ideas whether it was poisonous?

DANGEROUS ANIMAL NOT SHOWN: the tigered mosquito which is the cause of a recent epidemic of dengue fever - Sabine has her fingers crossed, Graham as almost always did not get bitten (not tasty enough)

Rio Beach Life

2008-05-19T00:44:00.006+02:00

Bikinis

Beach chairs

Sun glasses

Pareos

Jewellery and trinkets

Fishing

Ipanema and the Copacabana Beaches

2008-05-19T00:19:00.006+02:00

The COPACABANA or as we call it the "coco banana"

World famous beaches - and they merit this distinction!

Rio - beach bunnies

2008-05-19T00:08:00.004+02:00

The beach bunnies were not in season, weather too cold at 75°F. Apparently they are becoming a rare breed and get fat at somewhere between 21 and 24 – except those of the very ”cocky” male variety !!

May 13 – 17, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro – our last stop

2008-05-18T23:06:00.011+02:00

Having finally arrived in Brazil (hateful BA) and braved the not so freeway, 420 kms from Sao Paulo to the second city, Rio with 9M inhabitants. (From a personal safety viewpoint Graham refused to visit Soa Paulo, time had run out. However, we did therby learn that buses and lorries rule the roads, before we arrived safely but tired in beautiful Rio de Janeiro.
Difficult to really get used to pedestrians crossing the motorways on foot – let alone the joggers!

Tropical South America

Rio as spell binding as we could have imagined – a dream site ecologically protected since the mid 19th century (by Emperor Pedro II) – with re-forestation

Bet its seriously hot and humid in summer – look at the haze from the heat in winter

Wonderful sambas and bossa novas - but not really in the streets (Graham makes a comparison with Cuba here)

Crumbling latish 20th century high-rises right next to .............

Wonderfully preserved 17-19th century buildings and monuments often but not always just squeezed between these sky scrapers

Famous café where Graham found another source of his favorite Argentinan dessert "dolce de leche" again only this time called "doce de leite" but also served as ice cream!

A great unpreserved but operational tram system winding around some of the cities hills

Horrible/ugly modern Rio Cathedral in this very Catholic religious country and then an absolutely gorgeous baroque one

Signs of an Ecological awakening – good!

Artistry in the Graffiti

Brazilian people

Not a low cost destination – especially clothes and even quality clothes – a bit of a surprise

Home grown developed economy from all signs that we could understand for Portuguese only spoken here (the contrary to nearly all the rest of Latin America where ONLY Spanish spoken here – woe-betide that determined English speaker – rejection is inevitable

Poverty was around us again – and Graham’s camera seriously coveted – but brought safely out of the country

May - Argentinean people

2008-05-18T21:51:00.005+02:00

They have the same reputation locally as NY policemen did 20 years ago

Graham customary category, once again – less caustic than usual. In fact, and I don’t know why?? Is he softening under a new influence?

Fearless weekend sailors

She really was deciding whether to take the tango lessons advertised!

Actually had I left Graham there much longer he would have easily overtaken their annual per capita consummation of 130lbs of (healthy) beef per year, despite his experiences in Vietnam (dog meat).

May 11-12 - More of Buenos Aires

2008-05-18T21:11:00.012+02:00

The famous Tortoni cafe and the Tango Academie of the world above it - the mecca of the tango ...

During these last two days we slowed down a bit, relaxed and lowered our security guard. A mistake – there are still many poor in the country and highway robbery seriously exists. We had split up all monies, cash, papers etc. across 5 wallets and pouches fortunately – the damage control worked – but the time wasted and consequences a nuisance. No physical harm and our pocket money for 3 days went.

These are additional but our final comments about the limited sight that we had of this City – our image of Argentina:

1. Poverty and the aftermath of the 2001 bank and economic crisis are still around
2. The new wealth is probably coming from agriculture and mineral wealth with China and India as the major trading partners

3. European South America – Argentina, a great nation and climate – but as its proud nationals know very well – there is tons to do and the space to do it in!

4. Polluted city – especially buses who are the worst offenders – haven’t seen as much road side pollution even in Santiago (whose inhabitants are very aware of their problem)

5. Good cost destination (unlike the rest of SA?).
6. Taxis do not seem to have shock absorbers fitted – a BA cost economy?

May 11-12 - Tango'ing in Buenos Aires

2008-05-12T17:41:00.008+02:00

The tango rules almost everthing - whole streets are full of tango accessory shops, some quartiers seem dedicated to the tango and everything that goes with it - restaurants, bars etc - and only come to life at night.

The culture of the tango (which was originally outlawed) rose from poverty and massively male dominated immigration at the turn of the 20th century only to become acceptable around the 1930s.

Portenos (as the inhabitants of Buenos Aires call themselves) of all ages still start dancing on the streets whenever the music and the mood catches them.

May 10 - Colonia in Urugquay

2008-05-12T17:29:00.005+02:00

We took the ferry across to Colonia in Uruguay for the day. Colonia turned out to be a quaint, sleepy town that allowed us a day’s rest with the little amount of sightseeing. A safe haven?

The local pier, a tourist “must”, unique, built 100 years ago .... like the bullring, , now in ruins and only used for 2 years because bullfighting was banned.

May 8 - Argentine Animals

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There should probably be just tons herds of cattle but we thought we'd try to be a little more original!

May 7-8 Iguazu Falls

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Who’s never heard of these most fabulous waterfalls? Here a few statistics – otherwise let the photos convince you that they are breath-taking ...

The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometres (1.67 miles) of the Iguazu River. Some of the individual falls are up to 82 metres (269 ft) in height, though the majority are about 64 metres (210 ft).

The Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat in English), a U-shaped 150-metre-wide and 700-metre-long (490 by 2300 feet) cliff, is the most impressive of all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil. Two thirds of the falls are within Argentine territory. About 900 metres of the 2.7-kilometre length does not have water flowing over it. The edge of the basalt cap recedes only 3 mm per year.

May 6+9 – Buenos Aires – first stop in Argentina

2008-05-11T05:10:00.010+02:00

• Buenos Aires is a very European capital and we felt that it was a great place to be in too

• Fab. - even though Eva Peron/Peron is still adored

• Classy town – big port

• The wide city boulevards are ten lanes wide in both directions – yes 20 in total

• Great Student life!
• Eating meat, notably the beef, is an incredible taste discovery – even Sabine enjoyed their BBQ’s – within her limitations!

• Football crazy

• Did not really discover why the economy is and remains so screwed up – but it is. Tax and other government corruption is perhaps the root cause – but this seems to be a rich country in every respect
• Even Harrods has closed down!
• Lots of clothes bargains to be had – totally different clothes from Vietnam of course – bad for the Credit Cards!

• The Tango – Graham still cannot dance it - the disappointment of the honeymoon. The male street dancers look very pimp’ish though

• The city of the dead, the Recolta cemetery obscures the Père Lachaise.

• Polluted city – especially buses who are the worst offenders – haven’t seen as much road side pollution even in Santiago (where the inhabitants are very aware of their pollution disaster/problem)
• Good cost destination (unlike the rest of SA?).
• Taxi s do not seem to have chock absorbers fitted – a BA cost economy?
• BA (as in that awful Airline has local offices) no sales staff or customer service persons – just a service desk in Mexico!

May 5 – BA really needs to get their act together

2008-05-11T04:30:00.000+02:00

When we arrived at the airport we were told by LAN – none too kindly - that on one of the tickets the airport tax was not included, i.e. properly coded and that we wouldn’t be allowed on board unless we paid Airport taxes on one of the tickets. When we showed the LAN agent that the prices on both tickets were the same they still told us that the coding was f***d up and that we need to pay them the tax and ask for it back from BA. LAN as a BA partner apparently could either not be bothered or knew that they wouldn’t see a cent from BA so were passing the debt recovery problem down to us the costomer)? Upon arrival in Buenos Aires we wanted to speak with BA – as exceptionally there was a BA counter – only to be told that the BA people showed up for flights only. Of course, there was no getting through on the phone no we were given ... are complaints about Bloody Awful will be the subject of a letter to the UK and French press.

May 5 – Chile Conclusions:

2008-05-11T04:28:00.000+02:00

• Visit Patagonia – visit Chile (what will we say having visited Argentina and Brazil?)
• People are very friendly, pleasant and honest although due to the poverty there is theft around
• Learn and be prepared to have to communicate in Spanish as very little English is spoken. Certainly we have improved our Spanish (accents not so good) out of necessity alone (especially Graham 0 to perhaps 10 words in as many days!).
• Stick to seafood, don’t eat meat – wait till you get to Argentina, not a lot of fresh fruit and veggies around, good coffee rare to find
• Not a bargain destination – European prices. Luckily we visited off peak season
• Stay in hostels/B&Bs as much nicer than hotels and affordable – money just dissappears
• Lots of stray dogs everywhere but usually in good condition, not famished looking although a lot of them had fighting scars (if you are a member of the RSPCA or SPCA stay away – stay away, little to be done)
• 4000 km coast line, beaches, Patagonia with the glaciers, fabulous lakes, skiing, Magellan Strait, Cape Horn
• Didn’t see penguins, whales, geysers, volcanoes, salt lakes or the Atacama desert – week was not long enough – we’ll have to come back. We left with a sense of not being fully satisfied

May 4 – Valparaiso and coast

2008-05-11T03:51:00.005+02:00

Foggy day – not lucky from a weather point of view – also severely chilly (forecast said 22° but in actual fact was 10°-14°). Felt cold as the previous day in Santiago it was a sunny 24°.

Saw a lot of oldtimers in South America - some in mint condition and some less

First impression of Valparaiso: ugly! Only when we got lost in the cobbled side streets did we discover a certain charm in this world heritage site. Houses from the 18th century, others perched on cliffs and again others in all colours of the rainbow.

Big city – have to check on population – spread out over hills and hills. Huge port – biggest in Chile?

We were then “lucky) to discover the Chilean equivalent of the Costa Brava – they are dutifully following the errors of their Spanish ancestors and are ruining their coast with high rises and untreated sewage. Otherwise a beautiful coast line and fabulous waves .....

The Pelicans didn’t like the scenery too much either nor the tourists (looking down their noses at us!) Wonderful birds, had a lot of fun watching them, very clumsy during take off but beautiful gliders

May 3 – back in Santiago

2008-05-10T15:08:00.002+02:00

We fell lucky and stumbled into/across a festival at the Plaza d’Armas in the centre of Santiago. Colourful traditional clothes and dancing – Sabine was told that it was a big festival in the northern part of Chile (which arrived in town for us).

May 2 - Punto Arenas

2008-05-10T14:56:00.003+02:00

PA is of restricted interest, being from a tourist viewpoint the jump off place to arrive by plane (more than 3.5 hours flying time south of Santiago) to go to either Puerto Natales or to Calafate to see the glaciers, and:or to the adjacent “penguin” islands. Big port area (having just come through the perilous Cape Horn) – economic activities seaweed, fishing and petroleum (actually not in that order).

Even the travel agencies are closed down .....

Only things to be done from Punto Arenas are:
• Go to the Isla Magdalena and see Penguins from October to April – they have left the week before we got there to go to warmer climates – smart animals
• Visit the Magellan Strait – if it’s a clear day (which it wasn’t when we were there)
• Take a cruise ship either along the coast or down to Antarctica (mostly in the summer months) and providing you are a millionaire
• Skiing in Andino – close to Punto Arenas – if you want to freeze your butt off. Chileans go skiing there once the summer tourists have disappeared and prices drop considerably.

May 1 - Torres del Paine, Patagonia

2008-05-05T16:47:00.007+02:00

The photos speak for themselves ...

April/May - Chilean animals

2008-05-05T06:37:00.003+02:00

El condor pasa - but penguins and whales had already moved to warmer climates north.

A Chilean speciality - the Guenacas, belong to the lama-family.

May 3 - "Chilenos"

2008-05-05T05:07:00.005+02:00

Some "typical" locals!

The Spanish influence was so domminant that we were reluctant to photo Europeans!

April 30 - Patagonia

2008-04-30T23:44:00.003+02:00

Patagonia – one of the reasons why we choose to come to Chile – proves to be more beautiful than expected. We are drunk with the majesty and beauty of this unspoilt part of the world!!

Very cold – even considering that we are at the beginning of winter – bundled up in layers upon layers of clothes we look like the Michelin man – now we know what “glacial” means because the wind coming off the glaciers is both very strong AND truly glacial!. (Forget it).

We were fairly lucky with the weather though as it was sunny for 3 out of the 4 days we were there – a good average for this time of year.

The countryside seen both from the water (inlets and fjords) and from land (on our tour of the National Park) is magnificent: gleaming blue glaciers, steppe, turquoise lakes due to high mineral content, snow topped mountain ranges, stark cliffs and of course the wild life. This cannot even be put into words adequately – the photos we hope speak for themselves.

Puerto Natales: small town, only seems to be based on the tourism and a bit of fishing, incredible location due to the surrounding spectacular country side

April 28 - Santiago

2008-04-30T03:33:00.013+02:00

Having passed the date line and gone back 12 hours we arrived in Santiago Chile. OK lets go for it – we left New Zealand at 1735 hours and arrived in Chile at 1230 hours the same day April 27! Our bodies took a few days to adjust.

On arrival in Santiago it was grey, cloudy and raining – for the first time in 6 months. The positive side effect though was that the rain cleared the pollution which is a major problem here, (mainly in the winter months). Santiago is surrounded by mountains. Frequently, it was confirmed, the pollution gets so heavy that schools are closed.

Santiago – and the whole of Chile – is situated on or around the Cordilleras’, the Andes mountain range and is “regularly” subject to earthquakes. Due to the last major earthquake in 1985 a lot of the ancient 17/18th century buildings were destroyed and replaced with not-so-nice blocks, giving a seriously disharmonious impression.

A few facts that we learned: Chile is 4300 km long, a little over 200 km wide at its widest point, has approx 15 million inhabitants of which 6 live in Santiago. Population still growing ... Climate is fairly extreme with the Atacama Desert in the north, Antarctica in the south.

We were delighted to cross the path of Amélie Perrot – one of the kids’ cousins – for “tea”. She is on a student exchange program for 5 months and we were pleased to learn about her experiences of living in Santiago/Chile and of her travel plans in South America. 5Like us she now craves about Buenos Aires especially against lack luster Santiago).

April 27 – Heading off for Chile, (cold) Patagonia, Buenos Aires and Rio

2008-04-30T03:20:00.001+02:00

Graham - Before we leave NZ we have to make a special thank you to Maureen of the Hearn Bay B&B, and give huge hug to Jean and three of her large brood who gave us advice, friendship and dinner twice “en famille”. This was a fresh dose of blood and a life source to us both. Hi all – thanks and see you another day!

End of stay observations on NZ

• You will soon realise the pace of the country – the tone is set when trying to cross the roads as a pedestrian at traffic lights – PATIENCE be patient. Some adore this pace! And the rustic rugged lifestyle, sports opportunities and RUGBY
• You will get lost when leaving the International Airports – sign posting requires you to know the street names in detail (as per Australia). Buy a compass – it is safer!
• Highway practices – just drive constantly at say 90 kph – no faster no slower – then, there will be no surprises
• The New Zealanders don’t seem to like curtains in their homes so you can see in them at all times – different this “desired” lack of privacy
• Not a happy land for dogs – who chase Kiwi (feathered) birds – that are becoming extinct! In fact the islands have been decimated by the arrival of “man” for over 800 years
• Logging – scars everywhere in North Island – we must come back (probably not on a specific trip) – and visit the central and southern parts of North Island and South Island – another HOLIDAY
• Congested Town Auckland – not very attractive architecture – a bit like Brisbane in this unfortunate respect.
• Fragile - economically fragile
• Low salaries – cost of living equal to Continental Europe’s which plus 27 hour flying time to Paris or London makes us have considerable reservations about its temperate climate and global attractiveness as a rugged destination
• Great place to have your hair dyed in specialist shops!! Funky!!
• Sorry guys but NZ is like the UK 25 years ago in many respects.

April - Kiwis

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The perfect Kiwi is missing from our Blog as we weren't able to attend an All Black rugby match!

April 26 – Piha Bay

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We got only 10 minutes in which to take these photos – but what a beach and spot – could have spent days there just listening to the waves and watching the Clouds , Sun, winds changing views colours and landscapes. Magic!!

April 25 – the Coromandel Peninsular

2008-04-29T06:24:00.002+02:00

Not so prolific – we are perhaps becoming blasé, but most of the landscape could be anywhere. Only when we crossed the Coromandel range did we get the super views of the bays, little islands and rolling hills.

Lots of logging going on but in some parts also replanting – not enough though considering the scarring of the country side.

April 24 – Auckland

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Capital made up of/surrounded by more or less quaint “villages” like Parnell, Devonport, Newmarket etc. Beautiful views at night as the harbour is surrounded by lit up buildings. Very deep harbour – we saw a huge cruise ship anchor right in the centre of town, next to the ferry terminal. Shops shut very early, so do restaurants.

Sabine - We were lucky in our choice of B&B as we met Jean who had come down from the North to help her friend Maureen at running the B&B (thank God we brought our own soap!). Wonderful family atmosphere – got to met Jean’s kids as well. Got treated to home cooked dinners which made a wonderful change from the restaurant fare. We are sure we’ll stay in touch .....

April 23 returning towards Auckland across the northern peninsular

2008-04-27T03:12:00.007+02:00

We now realise that the Eastern shoreline facing the Tasmanian Sea is more violently hammered by the waves and a greater risk to Ships. Sensible Captain Cook who landed on the Pacific Coast – the western shores!

Traffic jam????

Dog poo collection bin!

We saw spectacular sand dunes at Omapere, small villages and towns along the coastline but surprisingly little tourism in most places in terms of accommodation, restaurants etc. In general surprising little economic activity in these towns – what do people live on?

April 21 - Bay of Islands Flora + Fauna

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April 21 - Dolphins

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lots of dolphins in the Bay of Islands

Too quick for us to take decent photos - I think they were teasing us by diving every time the camera was ready

Can you see all the dolphins?

April 21 Bay of Islands/Waitangi (as in treaty of)

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We did learn about the seat of modern NZ too, the treaty signed at Waitangi and the Maoris’ choice to run with the English and not with the French!

Here was the traders, sailors and immigrants’ port of call. The Maoris fought very bloodily among themselves!

April 21 - Paihia on the Bay of Islands

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Fabulous autumn day – very sunny – decided to go on a cruise to see Dolphins (see Dolphins photo section).

One of the most sought out resorts on the North Island it lives up to its expectations. A sleepy town of 5000 inhabitants that swells to 30-35000 during the holiday season. A must: dolphin and whale spotting in the summer months and a boat tour of the islands.

April 19-20 First Impressions of New Zealand

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We are getting no less enthusiastic about our trip but tiring no less. This visit, NZ, on the other side of the world is a milestone in so far as it is only one month before we return to Europe on May 18, very early in the morning on what will perhaps be a cold UK spring morning. We will see.

It is only planned to see a part of North Island – time constraints.

At the risk of being repetitive wonderful sunsets, coastlines and beaches, great for surfing with a wetsuit on – but – GREEN, no drought that is.

New Zealanders –friendlier, a bit classier, less well off - haven’t quite worked out the difference in their accents – nor way of life. Perhaps the 2 day visit to Auckland at the end of our stay will throw more light on this nation’s peoples – today integrated Europeans and Maoris’.

Beautiful sunsets!

April - Australia General

2008-04-21T09:40:00.000+02:00

General impressions of Australia:

A wonderful place - we will be coming back to visit Perth, Darwin, Adelaide and more – to revisit too! However and whatever .........

• Wonderful diversity
• Sydney – glamorous somehow, Brisbane dowdy, Melbourne not quite striking and the North side neglected – Cairns ruined by its new coast high rises, its cheap and expensive tourist streets and Saturday night drunks! (tacky).
• Lousy coffee unless you go to a coffee shop – but they are a major (exporting?) producer of coffee?
• Fascinating varied country and countryside – probably to be visited and revisited
• No way a cheap holiday destination,
• Cost of living extremely high (easily comparable to London + some more), restaurants and hotels good – in fact difficult to understand how prices have been allowed to rise to these levels in a country which can feed itself and where there are enormous quantities of natural resources to export?
• Australians extremely helpful and friendly
• We understand my nieces and nephews’ desire to work here – fully. Watch this space – Eléanor, Edward and Victoria.
• A country full of applied laws and sterile zones!
• An all White undertone still, although it was apparent that coloureds and even blacks are now being admitted to work and live.
• Belated very fashionable, trendy and slightly obsessive Green environment with understandable Kangaroo culling and return of the crocodiles (tasty) which like the second class ethnic Aborigine minority were almost hunted to extinction.
• Tourist trade highly developed and well run
• Non resident property purchases – limited and restrictive by law – picturesque sites at a high premium. Money is money after all.
• Where are all the Sheep (finally found some in Victoria!) and on the other end of the scale the renowned unique wild life?

April 18 Melbourne

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South side and the beaches wonderful, (does the photo sum up Melbourne?) parks and green spaces everywhere, no historical city centre that we could discover although some nice mixture of old and new architecture, city seriously spreading out – hardly any spacing between different towns in the surrounding spread out suburbs, they all seem to be one continuous “strip mall” – traffic probably the worst we have seen in Australia.

It was wonderful to see and spend an evening with Guy and Lisa – emigrants to OZ from the UK, and John and Liz Sanderson’s elder daughter and her husband. They live in Mt Evelyn which as its name betrays is in a mountainous (and wine growing) area a bit more than one hour from down town Melbourne.

April 15 – 17 Great Ocean Road Coast and Sea

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April 15 – 17 Great Ocean Road

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Stunning views at every turn of the road – 2 days by far not enough – we were certainly lucky as there were no school holidays nor were we in the high tourist season otherwise “crowding” could have become unbearable – need to return for at least a week – some very quaint little towns or rather villages along the coast which seem to live off the tourism and nothing much else. Apart from the coast line the countryside is beautiful too, although due to deforestation extremely dry, all farmland now, hardly any replanting of trees anywhere – isolation from “civilization”

April 13 – 14 Happy Holidays at Ayers Rock

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Yes we were happy to be there as we are delighted to discover Australia. These photos will allow you to share some of our joy

April 14 Around Ayers Rock - Mt Connor

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On our search to see the salt lakes we had seen from the plane we stumbled across Mt Connor. 120 kms there and 120 kms back – a second major rock which needs to be investigated on Google, and a virtually straight road. We were not allowed on to see the sizable salt lakes (private property) but did see an outback “community” at Curtin Spring. I think the Emu found us as strange as we did him/her. Interesting!

April 13-14 Ayers Rock

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Yes – impressive (a visit of a lifetime) but no Aborigines to be seen working in the artificial, but well run, resort, or as guides – even as part of the local scenery! Where have they gone (apart from the ethnic cleaning of bygone eras)? It was a highly commercialised destination at high cost. Worth it though without any hesitation.

the biggest monolith in the world!

the road leading up to Ayers Rock
and the moon in the Red Center as this part of Australia is called

April 13 – Flight from Cairns to Ayers Rock

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Qantas who have always got us into the air and landed on time were both understanding and efficient when we arrived for a non-existent flight. BloodyAwful could perhaps learn something here about efficiency and punctuality . Once in the air – less than an hour later than the “scheduled” flight – we discovered from the air the beaches of Queensland, the hinterland mountain range and desert and semi-desert areas which sometimes looked more like landscapes out of a science-fiction movie.

April 12 - Northern Queensland

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Hinterland of Nothern Queensland has it all: mountains, wetlands, rainforest, tablelands. Here is where we saw our first real-life wild kangaroo - 1 out of 60 million! (Australia's people population is 40 million)

April 11 - Daintree

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Wonderful day spent in the Daintree National Park – difficult to describe tropical rainforest (see photos instead) – could easily have stayed another day or 2.

Anybody who can guess what this third photo shows will get a prize!!

April 11-12 - Port Douglas

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Drive along the coast to Port Douglas fabulous, wonderful views, windy roads, deserted beaches, palm trees – in short everything you’d expect from a tropical paradise with the exception of jelly fish and crocodile infested seas and rivers. When we were told no swimming in the sea except in cordoned off areas we didn’t believe it – till we saw the cute 5 m crocs.

Port Douglas very spread out with one main street for restaurants, shops etc, not developed fully to date but has everything: sea, coral reef, rainforests, horse riding, hinterlands and not to forget the crocodile beaches. You could still in this area buy the land and construct a 3 bed, 3 bathroom house for € 200k including the swimming pool. Very tempting but it is very long way from Europe and Cairns’ economic activities seem to be limited to sugarcane and tourism. This area does not seem to be a hub of international business.

April 10 - Cairns

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Cairns very nice, relaxed town, bit tacky, seems small though – have to check on the population – town in plain development, prices still so much more reasonable – did some shopping for the first time since we arrived in Australia.

"Aussies"

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Graham has taken photos of people in India, Vietnam and Hong Kong and now of what we saw as “typical Aussies”. I have censored some of his crueller cameos!

this is how Aussies see themselves (advertising billboard)

April 9 Brisbane

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Brisbane: perhaps our judgement is unfair and premature but at first glance it did not hold any attraction for us. A lot of the skyscrapers should not be “for sale” but pulled down – architectural beauty completely lacking. No buzz, population seemed very introspective and certainly much poorer from what we have seen so far.

April 7-8 Noosa Flora + Fauna

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April 7-8 Noosa

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Headed to Noosa, well known resort town about 1.5 hrs north of Brisbane, via the scenic route – see photos of glasshouse mountains – coast road really isn’t that close to the sea that you would get the views.

Noosa purports to be the Saint Tropez of the sunshine coast and perhaps of Australia. Its “charms” are not dissimilar – it’s a wealthy people’s resort with nice restaurants and the unusual comparison between the rivers lined by phantastic properties next door to the ocean itself. We probably would not go back but would certainly return to the next part of our trip: Northern Queensland with Port Douglas and especially the hinterland.

April 7 Glasshouse Mountains

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April 3-6 Blue Mountains

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The famous blue mountains outside of Sydney - blue due to the Eucalyptus trees and their oil. Mountains is overrating things a bit as they are really hills.

April 3 - 6 Sydney Harbour

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April 3 – 6 Sydney

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Qantas got us there ON TIME – despite ridiculous company/additional security controls – WELL DONE.

Truly another world – we had arrived in a place where we would probably like to live but could not afford!

All our first impressions were very positive – apart from the outrageous cost of everything – prohibitive actually. Relaxed life style – except if you are a lawyer or trader – good work-life balance.

The locals – see photos to come – were very friendly and warm.

ESPECIALLY the MIKIOLIATIS’s to whom we give a big THANK YOU (they set us up for the stay in Australia with both a warm welcome and so much help and good advice).

Sydney was impressive and bustling, but not a traffic jammed (the locals would not agree with us) harbour city – what beauty!

The locals are proud and should be - from pulling themselves up and out of being the dumped rejects/the convicts of British and Irish society in the 19th century to a city capable of making profits from the 2000 Olympics. What a success story!

The city spreads across 120 Kms. I guess if you are really rich it is simply great. Actually as a place to be in it is wonderful.

April 1 - Macau

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One hour on a high speed Jet Foil ferry and you were in another world of Casinos, gambling prostitution, and little Portugual/Lisboa. A charm, once away from the Las Vegas waterfront and rest, which we both adored, despite the drizzle and mist! Winding streets, well kept beautiful Portuguese buildings and some fabulous Chinese merchant houses, although most of Macau seems to be taken over by crumbling high rises or the casinos.

Interesting mix of Portuguese and Chinese cultures which could be clearly seen on the facial features of the inhabitants.

The Portuguese have left their mark very clearly on the locals and the general atmosphere of the place. One would get bored probably quickly but we would not have missed this brief 6 hour visit – “TICK”.

See photos.

Mar 31/Apr 2 - Hong Kong

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Cathy Pacific were not on time getting us there – still not normal and still pissing us off! The arrival in the new International Airport is a bit confusing and awesome. Not that easy to find your way around and into town. Immigration process very slow.

We suffered in Hong Kong from tiredness (another 3 days stopover during which there was so much to see) and poor misty drizzly weather (Typical for Hong Kong for many months of the year we have now been left to understand).

The change from Vietnam was total.

Firstly, the much higher cost of living. (We had not yet been blown out of the water by the Zurich type prices in Australia (even Manhattan and London look cheap when compared to Sydney).

Secondly, the International Financial and Trading atmosphere – Chinese free economy, not a totalitarian state, but unflappable state of mind, (they do seem to perceive the palefaces as barbarians), and unflappably logically Chinese. Not easy for either of us to understand and get on with.

Thirdly, the vestiges of another (British rather than French) Colonial past with the current one from China - strong and omnipresent. Surprisingly little English spoken, a few colonial buildings and traditions remain (Sabine enjoyed her very first Cream Tea in one of the hotels in Hong Kong that is comparable to the Raffles in Singapore) but otherwise there is very little felt of the British influence.

We had selected a rather pricy hotel for its harbour view, which was shrouded in mist throughout our stay. We were rather disappointed but feel we should pop back and look at this Island sub state again under the warm glow of clear sunny days.

We did realise that we could neither live nor work here (even if they would want us –as we are neither Chinese nor Bankers!).

The expatriate locals were very helpful, hassled and friendly.

I loved the trams as the photos go to show.

AND there was Macau.

March 28-29 Can Tho - People

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Hat fashions!

Still life!

March 28-29 Mekong Delta - more river photos

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Delousing the dog!

The kid is already selling soft drinks to tourists!

March 28 -29 Mekong Delta - a busy river

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March 28 - 29 Can Tho

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Flowers always please Sabine - especially on her honeymoon

March 28-29 Mekong Delta

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Fascinating, secluded/protected from the war, this was a quaint two days staying in another Vietnam. Perhaps we were shell shocked (so to speak) too positively by the roughly north of the 17th parallel part of the country.

Our photos of the markets and the visual “colour” show much more than we can really explain on the BLOG (especially as I am finishing writing up Vietnam with a two-cultures-later time lag.

Floating markets – not quite what we expected after both of us had before seen floating markets in other parts of the world. The ones in the Mekong delta all seemed to be more a wholesale-retail affair than trying to sell their wares to the end consumer, which from a macroeconomics point was quite interesting. Mekong River very wide and river banks getting more and more eroded every year despite mangroves everywhere. Again what struck us was the miniscule amount of animals – you’d expect a myriad of birds, sea rats and other such animals – we hardly saw any.

Lots of people living in houses along the river banks, we didn’t get the impression that that many people were actually living on boats – boats more a means of doing business but we might be wrong. One thing is certain: we could never live like this – bathing in the river, than getting water from the same river for making tea!

Was interesting to see some traditional cottage industries like rice paper and candy-making – see photos.

March 25 and 26 – Hoi An Sites

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Thien - our very patient guide through Hue and Hoi An.

March 25-26 Hoi An

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Holiday’ish and vibrant! A tourist based 17th century trading post/port with Japanese, Dutch, Chinese as well as Vietnamese influences. Marvellous Vietnamese food – Graham went back to meat as well as profiting from a wide range of sea-food choices. Actually eating out over here been has been very good and cheap – usually no more than a little over 10 euro’s for a complete meal for two.

On the way to Hoi An we asked our guide if we could visit one of the fabulous Vietnamese houses. Well, we did but what we didn’t count on was that he stopped in front of any house, asked if we liked it and then went off to find the inhabitants. They were surprised but actually quite pleased to show their new house. It was a young couple with a small baby and the grandmother who had recently moved in – the rooms were very open-plan, spacious, painted in all colours of the rainbow (sometimes in one room) and sparsely furnished. Most rooms were still empty as they had spent all money on the purchase of the house. Funnily enough their motorbikes were parked in the living room – although the front garden had a gate.

Another canal side market – rich in colours and “bargains” – we had already seen enough of them (sorry) but I (Graham) did manage to have a Jacket and 5 Trousers, a white Tuxedo etc tailored in 24 hours for a very low price which was only slightly reflected in the quality. (Cloth from Milano)!!

March 23 and 24 – Hué general

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March 23 and 24 – Hué Sites

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March 23 and 24 – Hué

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Former Capital and Imperial City – serious forbidden Chinese copy overtures – Eunuchs, N° 2 Wives, Mandarins and all the works. Surprisingly small town for a former capital, only 300.000 inhabitants.

A bit shabby but impressive – like the rest of the country – Vietnam seriously suffered from the 67 – 75 war and the consequent VC victory – and Communism. Inestimable historic sites, deforestation – to name what we saw! People much poorer in Hue though – as was confirmed later by various people who told us that the centre of the country is the poorest mostly due to sandy soil.

We bought some tailored clothes though from a small row of shops just by the wonderfully restored San Saigon Morin Hotel. A lot of average things some really special ones – as always.

The architectural monstrosities reflect the post American war period. Even our 4 star hotel was classified as having BLOCKS. It would have been a very upgrade and conformable prison/detention centre though even if I did not try out the massage/beauty parlour! We however had fresh flowers not only in the room but also in the bathroom/loo – the ultimate luxury!!

To date - SEA, SUN and SITES – a perfect Honeymoon!!

2008-03-29T17:24:00.001+01:00

Here a word about shopping in Vietnam – Sabine is now dressed for any weddings, board meetings, just looking good as always – and – sea sun and sites holidays that she might want to attend over the next 3 years – some dresses made to measure, some very original designer outfits, most in silk or cotton – all at one half or two-thirds off European prices. A selected clothes market to rival most!

I have spoilt myself to a bit with a few odds and silk ends – but to make a change, much more reasonably.

We must slow down – tiredness is beginning to show. Actually we were unlucky in Hué because there was a decent pool at the hotel but the weather was exceptionally cool, although dry. Well this Laptop playing serious tricks, which the young Vietnam boys finally sorted, took care of our spare rest time. Sod’s law – recovery seems to be for another day.

So back to the Sites (the other S’s seem to have got lost just now as we are inland a bit and the weather is grey.

One last comment – seriously small people – for those who consider themselves in Europe as tiny – take heart - Victoria and Sophie!

March 21-22 - Sa Pa Scenery

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Equally spectacular the scenery and mountain terracing

March 21-22 - Sa Pa Tribes

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2 half days trekking in the hills was well worth the effort (Graham's knee held out) although all of the 5 tribes could be found selling their wares in Sa Pa's high street.

March 21-22 Sa Pa Market

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One of the many colourful markets we have seen in towns north of the 17th parallel; the colours, smells, the dirt and variety of products was stunning to the eyes and senses. We were strangers here!

March 21-22 Sa Pa

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True to this Tropical Alpine indigenous tribal Resort we had the four weather seasons each and every day of our stay, and

Actually despite the milling tourists under foot and too touristy shops this visit was worth two nights on an overnight train (there and back).

One downpour was so impressive that we believed that all the other backpackers had been washed away! – NO SUCH LUCK despite the water level rising by over 20 centimetres, from road flooding pavement in 10 minutes!

Graham got seriously picked up by the local tribes women and apparent not just for money. THEY thought him charming and under 50 – well they got him all wrong and I got him back – only after considerable thought and haggling

One good thing that did happen in Sa Pa: after wandering around the local market and seeing all the delicacies on display – especially in the butcher’s section - Graham, usually a total carnivore, started ordering vegetarian dishes for dinner. I finally dragged out him what he had seen that put him off – it was the dog’s head!

March 20 - On the Road in Vietnam

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March 20 - Country Life

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March 20 - Sea Life in Halong Bay and our junk

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March 19 - 20 - Halong Bay

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Halong Bay - probably the most well-known place in Vietnam as in every advertisement for Vietnam.

Actually very beautiful and to be visited again. Thinking about coming back for a week and hiring a junk. Any candidates?

March 18 - Hanoi

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Traffic in Hanoi. Seems to be quite a quaint city but haven't seen too much yet. Population of 6 million people but doesn't seem that crowded. State has built "ghost" town to get people to move but since infrastructure not there nobody was willing to move to these actually quite big houses. Anybody interested in moving in - can probably get a good deal.

Marc h 18 – Vietnam

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The (Democratic) Socialist/Communist People’s Republic of Vietnam.

Sabine was not to be unfazed by the rather officious flat-capped passport and immigration officer who not only couldn’t read her handwriting (let alone mine) on the visa form and in spite of handing over $50 – the standard fee – did give us a visa (set up electronically from Europe –so why write it all down again?) and a decidedly cold welcome. Maybe we were just feeling sour knowing our luggage was lost.

We must be objective again,

turn over the page - despite losing nearly all the sightseeing time in Hanoi we flew up from Saigon and filing in further baggage related forms (another costly BA booking cock-up, Cathay Pacific do fly from Hong Kong to Hanoi where our tour started!) and going to buy bare necessities – due to lost luggage .................

our first impressions of Vietnam were actually charmingly positive and we were struck how different this part of Asia was from the subcontinent of India in fact in every aspect imaginable.

• People were warm and gave us a sincere welcome (our travel agent for example gave us a beautiful flower bouquet and a bottle of wine as congratulations to our marriage)
• Guides were extremely punctual
• Journey from Hanoi to Halong Bay was through the industrial north – our joy dampened a bit by the haze, cloud, mist and coal dust
• Houses – very narrow for tax reasons, multi-coloured, quaint balconies, beautiful
• Apart from one instance no hassle for tips or trying to sell any old stuff to tourists
• Shoppers’ paradise in terms of silk, cotton, original designs for women’s clothes, disregard of international branding (copies of Ralph Lauren, Lacoste polo’s etc made to fit Vietnamese men – Graham had to get XXXL sizes and Sabine one new hand down!) but we realized that living costs were not cheap
• When in shops salespeople polite but not pushy, when they see that you are interested they are bending over backwards to help. (To date I have convinced Graham not to buy a Vietcong pith helmet but will have to see how long my powers of persuasion last – he wants to check the Aussie reaction to a British colonial! – dangerous)?
• Food – much lighter than in India as very little oil used. Heavy on the garlic
• 70% of the population Buddhist – eating meals – dog, rat and cat among other more traditional meats
• Prices more often than not quoted in USD
• Most tourists visiting Vietnam are from China, followed by Americans, then the French – although we had impression that there were a lot of Australians around on cheap holidays – not good low cost tourists (Goa again!)
• Internet – after the problems we had in India and Dubai finding a remotely decent connection we were over the moon to find that you can pick up Wi-Fi almost anywhere – even on trains! – and that without having to pay. Considering that you can’t even get a decent mobile phone connection when travelling on a UK train this is very impressive.

Marc h 17 – travel to Vietnam

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Another airline experience with Cathay Pacific:

We now know that BA/Cathay Pacific
1. Cannot ensure that any international flight is on time
2. In flight crew are not given adequate information about connecting flights which is logical as they don’t care
3. Cannot guarantee that luggage follows passengers

The consequence of this was a disastrous start to our holiday in Vietnam as the logistics of transferring passengers and baggage in Hong Kong was completely beyond them. Because of our determination we made the flight but our luggage turned up 24 hours later in the wrong destination. BA is simply Bloody Awful.

March 17 - Flying to Vietnam

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Off to Vietnam - 3rd country on our tour

JOURNEY’ing in India and Conclusions

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It was a good time to visit this subcontinent at the end of winter and before the monsoons. Temperatures around 25°C

It is the wedding season here too!

We used rickshaws, tuk-tuks, taxis, local buses, hire cars – not self-driven, train and planes.

Not only were there suspension-breaking potholes everywhere but also the highways stopped and started, construction of roadways ended abruptly, but once off the main arterial roads there were virtual no signposts in any language.

Conclusion: 40-60 km/h is the maximum average speed unless you fly. 200 km does take 4- 5 hours (including on motorways).

The Indian country side and rural small city life are not only fascinating but a photographer’s wonderland. The impression is that people who live here do not seem to go hungry. But their desire to move to the city, low-paid jobs, slums and townships is undoubtedly driven by “la societe consumatrice” and the need to send earnings back to the families to educate their siblings and pay for their sisters’ marriages.

The Indian city life: we would like to visit Calcutta but New Delhi looked provincial when compared to Mumbai. I do not believe we have scratched the surface of live in India or India as a whole.

These are our initial conclusions:
1. mutilation, begging, dust, visual poverty surrounds you as do smiles, service, courtesy and being ripped off (albeit small amounts in Euro terms not in Rupies)
2. prices are lower than in Europe so it is a cheap trip hence the ability to stay longer and spend twice the time on the Indian subcontinent as you would stay in more traditional European destinations. So spend 2 months in India if you can and travel around to Rajastan, Kerela, Goa, Karnataka – with a local person if possible.

3. There is a slightly annoying 2-tier price/cost structure for locals versus tourists

4. Hygiene – see photo

5. Food: vegetarian is safest – even for Graham
6. A fascinating continent, so many wonderfully preserved historic sites, mainly mosques and related palaces, and spectacular landscapes. I will still come back to see Mt Everest from Darjeeling – on a very clear day!
7. The richness of bright colours that women outside Mumbai are like butterflies in their saris.

I must come again very soon before the country accelerates even further its driving force into the 21st century.

March 15-16 - Mumbai

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A bustling modern city which we weren’t really able to get to grips with in the short time frame, especially its historic routes. By the coast, sea breezes which blew away most of the pollution. Massive traffic congestion, vibrant, business like, full of yuppies. High rises, construction everywhere but definitely not at the same pace as in Dubai. Took 1 ½ hours to get from train station to our hotel at Juhu beach – and that at 10:30 pm.

March 14 – Train from Goa to Mumbai

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As the scenery is supposed to be beautiful we decided to take a train from Goa to Mumbai. Distance between the 2 cities is 720 km and the train journey took 11 ½ hours. Journey relatively uneventful as we were in 2nd class AC which was not full by any means. And the scenery escaped us for the most part as we couldn’t see through the very dusty carriage windows.

March 11 – 13 – Goa

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Goa – to relax and wind down after the whirlwind of activities before the trip and since we arrived in India. After arriving in a charming guesthouse (former Portuguese mansion that has been converted into a guesthouse with about 30 rooms – we ended up with a four-poster bed) we set off to get our train tickets to Mumbai organized which provided quite a challenge as the tickets are sold in a bus station where you have to queue (an Indian lady had spend 4 hours) in a boiling hot room – it felt as steamy as the black hole of Calcutta. We decided that that would not be on and set off to find an alternative way of getting our train tickets. We were immediately accosted by a ticket tout who managed to get us the tickets within 20 minutes – for a commission of course.

The next day we took a taxi to one of the most beautiful beaches in Goa – beach was really beautiful with white sand, wide, the water incredibly warm, just perfect. What we hadn’t realized that this was also one of the mass tourism beaches for “all-inclusives” that don’t do anything but sit in the sun, burn to a crisp, eat and drink. Makes for interesting people watching but not really our cup of tea as people were noisy and we were really looking for a quite relaxing spot. Evening spent wandering about the old town of Panaji which is a quaint mix of Portuguese and Indian culture. People are extremely friendly, very relaxed and charming. Nobody seems to be from Goa but from every other part of India.

Next day a bit of luxury – spend lazy day at the pool of the Marriott hotel – very quiet and relaxing although we could have been anywhere in the world – apart from the excellent service. And we finally got an internet connection that worked reasonably fast.

Goa – not a bad idea to invest in an old rambling Portuguese mansion and fix it up but the state government has just forbidden all property sales to foreigners as quite a few shady deals involving the drug mafia were uncovered.

The Happy Holiday Makers

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March 10 – Delhi - Qutub Minar

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Qutub Minar – the world’s highest brick minaret. Beautiful sight, intricate carvings but what is most remarkable is that the second you wander into the sight you are struck by the calm and serene atmosphere after the hustle, bustle and ear-splitting noise of Delhi.

On the road

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March 9 – Ranthambore National Park / Wild Animals

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Tigers, here we come! As tigers can best be seen at sunrise or dusk we – yes, you unbelievers! – were up and ready to go shortly before 6 am – fatigue forgotten over the excitement of seeing these cute, cuddly wild cats in their natural environment. We and about 20 others climbed onto a “canter”, a sort of bus without a roof or side windows and started a very bumpy, dusty ride – that’s what safaris are all about - into the national park. As soon as we got to a small lake the excitement mounted – another driver/guide had spotted a tiger on the other side of the lake. Our driver got the canter into gear and raced, jumbled and bumped us over to the spot where the tiger had been seen. The tiger – no doubt due to all the jeeps racing to that area with a hell of a lot of diesel engine noise – by then had disappeared.

No problem, we were bound to see a tiger – there are lots around just waiting for tourists to show up. In the meantime we saw peacocks (India’s national bird), antelopes, gazelles, white spotted deers, sambars (another sort of deer) and monkeys. Then again suspense: a tiger paw was spotted proving we were on the right track and the tiger was just around the corner waiting for us.
However, all we saw was more deer and another small herd of deers – considering that they are the tigers favourite snack their presence was telling us something especially that they were calmly grazing: no tiger nearby. Got back to the hotel after 4 hours safari and booked another one for the afternoon – especially as we met an English couple who had just seen 3 tigers in the park. Who has ever said life was fair?

March 8 – Agra (Taj Mahal, Agra Fort) and Fatempur Sikri

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Got up early (an increasingly painful experience after two sleepless nights in one week), all psyched to go and see the site of all sites – the Taj Mahal. As cars are not allowed close to the Taj anymore to decrease the pollution we had to get out of the car about 2 km’s from the entrance. That of course is a perfect set up for rickshaw drivers to hassle tourists – we were surrounded in an instant by about 5 rickshaw drivers and dozens of others trying to sell their wares (ranging from awful jewellery to carvings, to tacky replicas of the Taj, not to forget the obligatory postcards). The hassle continued at the entrance:
• tickets for foreigners Rps 750 while only Rps 20 for locals (understandable)
• so-called guides almost ripping the tickets out of your hands and trying to tell you that you can’t go in without a guide
• security - at the security check you are told that you are only allowed to take in cameras, bottles of water and tiny bags. Fair enough but when checking in the bag you are then told to take all valuables out so you end up carrying your passports, tickets, money etc... which of course doesn’t work. Needless to say that there are lots of signs “Beware of pickpockets”. All very incomprehensible and frustrating!!

Actually Graham lost it at this stage – the combination of hassle, stupidity and a pile of papers passports money sun cream in our hands, but no bag to carry anything in, blow it!
This explosion was what scared off the “guide” certainly afraid of being verbally harassed again!

But finally there it was in all its splendour: the Taj Mahal. You all have seen photos of it but in reality it is even more breathtaking than you can imagine ... White marble, carvings, all perfectly equilibré, an elegance and despite its size a lightness to it, that is astounding. Despite the hassle of getting in, definitely worth a visit – although Sabine had been to the Taj Mahal before she was as impressed as I was a first time visitor. Unfortunately we were on a tight schedule and couldn’t stay any longer.

Next stop was the Agra Fort – originally constructed as a fort which over time was turned into something resembling an imperial palace with individual palaces – mostly in white marble – dotted all over the grounds. And in the background a view of the majestic Taj Mahal ....

We later discovered that we had paid the entrance fee twice as it had been included in the entrance ticket to the Taj Mahal. The day had started badly so it was probably doomed thereafter ........... but sans importance!

Our next stop was the Fatempur Sikri, a royal city founded by Akbar the Great as his capital city. Before even getting near the car park we were accosted by a guy throwing himself at our car and across the windscreen, sticking his head through the car window and aggressively shouting at us. He was a certified guide and his services would only cost us Rps 250, then Rps 200, then ........... In short he was completely hysterical and didn’t listen to anything we were saying. Despite his “starving wife and famille nombreuse” his behaviour didn’t endear him to us. We got rid of him, got a tuk-tuk and a “guide” who served his purpose by keeping the hassle, vendors etc. off our backs so that we could visit the site without having to fend off people. Graham told him that his wife didn’t like guides talking too much which is true and actually shut the guide up too.

Anyway, the site was fabulous, whichever way you turned there was a view, an intricate carving, breathtaking architecture and more.

March 7 - Delhi to Agra

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We continued the Delhi sightseeing tour with the presidential palace and palatial gothic government buildings, then frustrated our driver (and one of the bell boys from the hotel who we were giving a lift to his hometown) by spending hours wandering around the Hamuyan tombs which were absolutely amazing. We then made up for it by visiting the lotus palace – a very modern structure – for only about 10 mins. Which Baffuled our indian co-passengers, then finally set off to Agra.

Street side Markets bordered the road, 210 Km’s in 6 hours by car! Traffic horrendous, absolutely crazy – who has ever heard of bicycles on the highway, let alone camels and oxen pulling heavy loads on rickety carts and pedestrians?? – amid tuk-tuks, trucks, motorbikes with up to 4 passengers and cars weaving in and out of traffic, turning a 2 lane highway into 3 or even 4 lanes. Parking on the highway is also nothing unusual ...

Finally we arrived at Sikandra, close to Agra, to visit Akbar the Great’s tomb (which in fact is a palace with ramparts and a deer park). As our driver suspected already that he could be in for a long wait he told us the he already visited the inside and found it very un-interesting. We later told him that he had got it quite wrong ....

Sometime during the journey we changed travel plans slightly and rang Mr. Rashid Fix-it in Delhi to reserve us a hotel room for another night near the National Tiger Park. It worked again - although the room later turned out to be a bit of a dump.
In Agra, however we stayed at a small guest house a bit outside of town –to be recommended as the city is very noisy and lots of hassle about due to the high level of tourism – which is family run, provides dinner and breakfast (a must as there isn’t anything else around). The Guesthouse was very clean, the owners friendly and helpful.

March 6 - First Impressions of India/New Delhi

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Poverty, dust and garbage everywhere – but nothing worse than either of us had seen previously in Africa, South America, Europe and Asia.

A wonderfully warm friendly welcome, and yes, we were perceived as being potential suckers to give ”large” tips to all hangers-on and more justified recipients and were charged high tourist prices if we gave in, BUT, costs remained 5 to 10 times lower than those in Dubai!

Great place to take “character” photos.

We were met upon our arrival at our hotel by a hard headed salesman who turned out to be a wonderful “Mr. Fix-it” – Good news as we had set ourselves an ambitious programme for the first 5 days in India, which was finally be a good deal less painful.

Sabine will tell you about the sights that we visited, once we had negotiated to hire a car WITH driver to take us around Delhi, then to Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and finally to the Rathambore National Park where we hoped to see some tigers before they become completely extinct. We figured that with so little time on our hands we’d rather do the sight-seeing itself instead of spending our precious time with the logistics of organizing buses and trains. So we were off in the none too safe hands of our erratic driver Chandan.

The first stop was the Red Fort, a former palace that was impressive in size but badly dilapidated, then by rickshaw through the market streets to the spice market with its dazzling colours and smells. After that we visited the Jama Masjid mosque complex – where, yes, women are allowed as long as decently dressed – and then as a last stop of the day to the India gate which by that time was beautifully lit up.

Delhi would be a perfect place for Edward, my son, to have a “stage” with Fromagerie Bel as it is probably the only major vibrant city with a population of 16 million inhabitants and cows on the main boulevards. Francis and Edward please note! Your comments would be most welcome.

Hotel: Ajanta hotel which with a superior room was large with king size bed but very noisy (common throughout our stay in India), also roof terrace restaurant – and last but not least a really good Mr. Fixit. Excellent view from hotel room - photo to follow!

Back on the road - Flights again

2008-03-13T12:51:00.001+01:00

Cathy Pacific were apologetically 1.5 hours late but upgraded us to business which was more than a compensation, but this delay resulted in a 12 kms dash from the international to domestic terminals at Mumbai Airport and a clash with freelance porters come conmen. On the positive side, Jet Airways’ staff was helpful, co-operative and efficient – otherwise we would have missed the flight by miles (so to speak).

Plus guess what – at last a flight which was on time (despite Graham leaving the plane on the runway to recover his/my mobile phone and i-pod left with security) with guess who – domestic Indian Jet Airways at 500 Rupees + taxes of course. Bravo!

DUBAI – an overview/snapshot

2008-03-13T12:29:00.003+01:00

Dans le désordre:-
• hordes of immigrant workers
• permanent never-ending building sites and property development (but what would spring up in front of you, if you bought? – affordable prices?)
• contradictions all over the place
• showcase boutiques in and around every corner’s Shopping Malls – some bargains but not at your doorstep
• sun 365 days a year but hazy until the sun clears it away around 2pm
• high rises in the middle of the dessert
• a frustrating and discouraging transport system
• large distances within the poles of the city which
• sort of, never sleeps
• although going back to distances little is within walking distance in fact – when you ask it’s just 10 minutes away, one hour later when you ask again – straight ahead just a 10 minute walk!
• absence of local culture – everything imported except the Muslim religion and life style, broadcast calls to prayers, but we had no contact with the locals
• many Iranian and Russian tourists (could have been our hotel which was all right and central old town)
• all sort of dress codes to be seen streching from very traditional to Jeans and T-Shirts, and of course
• all the “S’s” plus beach (my bunny looked the best)and sparkling clear water.

Went to the Gold and Spice Souks – very commercial and touristy - cruised down the Creek – saw indoor ski slope in the Emirates Mall – went off to the Souk of Medinat (another shopping centre for rich tourists) which is in a fabulous artificial Venice canals setting right next to the 7-star hotel Burj al Arab.

Desperately seeking Wi-Fi connection

2008-03-09T14:58:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone,

the daily diary has been written up, we have learnt how to compress photos so as soon as we find a Wi-Fi connection or a fast Internet line we'll upload.

please be patient. we want to share our fun and experiences with you

Love
Graham & Sabine

British Airways - we hate them already!

2008-03-05T16:37:00.002+01:00

British Airways were as bad as ever – late arrival in Heathrow then a further 3 hour delay was the conclusion – see below.

Their gems of the day included
- The pilot has fainted and you are lucky we have found another pilot(e) who has exceptionally reported in early for a later flight to Dubai, BUT (we were told), the paper work to re-set the flight up will only take at least another 2.5 hours

- Upon arrival in Dubai - So good that you stuck it with us – BUT, they would not let us off the plane.

- Upon arrival again – this time from the new captain – wonderful back patting, thanks and congratulations for the crew who put on such a brave face confronted with these delays – NO APOLOGY AND THANKS TO SUPER PATIENT PASSENGERS WHO DID NOT MUTINY.

We also discovered that the seat reservation site of the BA site is serious crap – it has now been confirmed that it is neither possible to book seats on line together – as in sitting together, nor, on March 5, 24 hours before departure to Mumbai the next step, reserving seats at all on BA’s One World Alliance partners’ flights. I have already shared my thoughts with those Flying/Grounded Gods.

The Wedding Photos

2008-03-05T16:26:00.050+01:00

The Radiant Bride, so extremely happy on this special day

The Groom laughing and enjoying the occasion

The ceremony and below the Witnesses

The Guests - the Clover's - the Langley's and the Bosgiraud's to be spotted elswhere

The Signature

The rings

The very contented couple - newly married

The key Players

Patrick (the Chauffeur for the day) and François

Sabine's Brother, Chris and wife Séverine

Eléanor and Victoria

Sabine and Chris

The Peek's

Bride and Groom with the Jaguar and Patrick of course

Off to The Ritz

Our carriage of one hundred Horse Power, plus

The Suite

Drouant's and Dinner - BUT what is Graham checking that he still has?

You Know !! - this place is really very goooood (French accent)

Time for the Wedding night - the Bride back in her palace !!

The Wedding Day

2008-03-05T16:04:00.004+01:00

After all the recent contrariétés (some self induced by trying to do so much) we finally were ready for the big day. After some last minute packing our cases (2 huge ones for travelling, a small on-board case and an overnight bag for the hotel) we changed headquarters and moved from the Paris flat to the Ritz Hotel on Place Vendome. There we were told that as they wanted to upgrade us to a suite – (part of) the Imperial Suite no less. As always there was a price to pay, being that “our room was not yet ready”, so we changed into our wedding clothes in excellent spirits in the respective fitness club locker rooms! It was actually well worth it.

Patrick a very close friend of Graham’s then picked us up in his fabulously decorated Jaguar (flowers on the hood, streamers – the whole works) to take us to the Mairie where the witnesses were already waiting. The ceremony was a bit short and sweet but held in a wonderful 18th century Salle. Everything went without a hitch; the rings were there, bride and groom said a vigorous and convincing “yes” at the appropriate moment.

After the ceremony it was back to the Ritz for drinks. When our suite was ready quite a few of our guests (mostly the female ones) did want to have a look at our room. The challenge was made to Graham by several of those present to “make sure” that the wedding night came up to the standards of the setting.

Dinner was held at Drouant’s on the Place Gailland 75002, where delicious wines and a menu de dégustation (Antoine Westermann) were sipped and downed by all. A high standard has now been set, to be shared on September 20.

We never thought we'd get there !!

2008-02-24T23:57:00.006+01:00

With 5 days to go before Departure - we are on the organisational home straight with more than 80% of the plans "done and dusted".

We are getting married on the day of our choice, February 29, despite the German Civil Service, although it was very much touch and go until ten days ago. Apparently brinkmanship with other peoples' lives is what Karlsruhe likes? Actually Germany does not like to make it easy for people to get married, even has a marriage tax - a strange choice and policy. In time we will write up the whole farce story for the Press. To give you a taste of things the German Administration even decided that they needed to homogogate Graham's 1981 divorce which they felt had not been correctly pronounced by the French courts. Uggggggg!!

Itinerary

2008-02-19T20:25:00.002+01:00

March 1: start from Paris

March 2-5: Dubai
March 5 - 17: India (Delhi, Agra, Goa, Mumbai)
March 18 - 30: Vietnam
March 31 - April 2: Hong Kong
April 3 - 19: Australia (Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Ayers Rock, Melbourne)
April 20 - 27: New Zealand
April 28 - May 5: Chile (Santiago de Chile and Patagonia)
May 6 - 13: Argentina (Buenos Aires and the Iguazu Falls)
May 14 - 17: Brazil (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro)
May 18: return to London