We were told glam but nothing could have prepared us for the wedding we have just been to and a massive thank you to both Patel families and all the guests for inviting us and making us feel so so welcome and part of the family. Olly and Celine - I have taken notes and feel sure we can borrow some of the ideas for Binsey!
First question - The clothes - how did we do on the style challenge. Well I think 6/10! I didn'yt manage a sari - which am sad about - instead 1 blue and 1 silver silk kurta and shawl and pyjamas (really tight trousers at the bottom baggy at the top)... Matty did a kurta and waistcoat - Toto just a kurta! I think we looked a little old fashioned... but smart enough! judge for yourselves on the new photos we've published! I have to say tho we didn't once feel uncomfortable - everyone was lovely!
Now excuse much wedding detail - but it is hard to do justice to such an amazing experience!
After the bumpy arrival we finally emerged at about 11am for Vishal's mmm (here I now wish I had the invite so I could use the proper term - please excuse...) painting ceremony... basically involving him having tumeric thrown on his face and lovely white suit. Then much food and then sweets were handed over... relatively simple and straightforward. A couple of hours rest and time to dress for the next occasion. We all climbed into buses and headed into the Gujarati countryside past villages and fields... before stopping as the road got too narrow to move into cars and jeeps... at this point we found out the family had rebuilt the road for the wedding... we were really in a remote area of gujarat. About 20 or so minutes later along a very bumpy road, negotiating past water buffalo etc we arrived at a ruined palace and wow! Dinner, drinks and music in one of the most romantic locations I have ever seen. A ruined walled palace on a cliff overlooking a wide curving river and desert like plains. (a little similar to the view from the Taj Mahal) The grounds of the palace had been decorated with bright jewel coloured tents, with hanging birds and bells, sofas with jewelled cushions, fairy lights and garlands, a swimming pool (a later addition to the ancient palace!) had been filled with saffron and red flower petals and floating candles and was lit with red lights, around the side different coloured petals had been shaped into kissing love birds..... Around the outside was a buffet and then in the centre a stage with amazing live music.
It was breathtaking!
Toby had a wonderful time running round the palace, taking prisoners, dancing round the petal birds, drinving Ahaan's trusty Mumbai Taxi along the ruins... meeting his first Indian lady - a 6 year old who he danced with on the empty stage, and we then had to seperate to allow Vishal and Payal's first dance some privacy... they then took to the stage to join the musicians. Fireworks, smuggled in beers, lovely cananapes, great company... A kind family with a 2 and 10 year old gave us a lift back earlier than most of the guests.... a good ideas as I think Toto would have flagged and turned menace... but instead we all had the most wonderful time... and really didn't want to leave.
Onto the morning of the wedding - we were told it would be much more sedate with no music - and worried a little that we might need a babysitter! Well - sedate obviously means something different in Gujarat! Again we left at about 4 in coaches and drove for 1 1/2 hrs across the countryside to the next remote venue. Vishal in an amazing wedding car covered entirely with white and saffron garlands. We then got off the coach and the drumming and clarinetting started! Red dressed and turbanned musicians making an amazing noise, everyone started dancing - especially all Vishal's boys - all dressed in amazing gold, and jewelled kurta... we almost missed the fact that Vishal at this point had been removed and placed in a glowing lit us carriage drawn by 4 white horses in finery and accompanied by all his amazingly glamourous sisters/ 1st cousins. This is the groom's entrance! (The bride is no where to be seen at the moment - and has a much quieter arrival later). We processed slowly along a village lane with the most amazing noise (you couldn't speak), dancing, then fireworks (health and safety not a concern here - they were about 200 metres away from us all in a cardboard box - one heading off horizontally at one point!)... the bpys dancing at the front of the horses and carriages, the parents and uncles and aunts dancing at the front of the procession... water and all the guest in the middle with Toto making the occasional mad dash thro the crowd (arghhhh!!) ... The drums were taken over by just clarinets as we entered the main venue... and thougtfully cold towels and water were handed out!
Then into a stunning wedding venue with waterfalls, flowers and a centra stage for the ceremony.... and the biggest buffet we have ever seen. The ceremony everyone agreed is very long and hard to understand. Vishal and Payal - groom and bride have no rehersal and don't know what's happening until it happens... must be very strange. But it included V's feet being washed, then P arrived at the front of a procession of all her family... wearing a gorgeous green and red sari. Then they both had garland put on them then a string of flowers round both their necks... holding them together.... it was beautiful and they are accompanied up on the stage) a little like a huppa - by all their family.
I have to confess that we didn't stay the whole ceremony - apparently this is acceptable as everyone thinks its ratehr long! We were tempted away by the buffet to the scent of freshly cooked roti bread, sizzling vegetable platters, rosti, bbq panner that Matty thought was chicken.... amazing complete with waitresses who kept bring us new dishes to try... including for desert the choice of kulfi (frozen milk) or 'pudding' - we could get no more explanation of what it was other than called 'pudding' - in the end like trifle.
As the cold finally drew in at midnight, so full of delicious food, quite tearful about the end of wedding, slightly creased we hitched a lift back with a lovely solicitor matty knew from london and his wife... who told us that all Patels originate from the area of gujarat that we were in - amazing ... and then tried to convince us to emigrate to Dubai - I was tempeted!
I must stop now! Sorry to go on! We leave tomorrow am for Goa... the plan being 10 days relaxing on the beach.. then inland to the ruins of hampi, mysore, wildlife parks, then onto Dad's Nilgri hills and we hope to stay on a tea and cinnamon plantation... before going coast ward again to Kerala.
So far India is a country of extreme highs and lows for us... we can't maintain this pace with toto so hope Southern india will be a little more gentle on us all!
today the irritation of being told we couldn't go to Champner a nearby 13th century ruin (not sure why - they were worried it was too hot!!) and that they had a much better place to take us - turned out after a 40 min drive to be a rather run down park... no ruins - a bit like walthamstow in gujarat- I was gutted!
Huge christmas love to everyone. Matty and I are really quite emotional not to be with the family... one and all... We know we are really lucky - beyond lucky - but so sad to miss out too! We have no idea what our next home in Goa will be like - suprise suprise most places were booked! But we plan to be toasting our lovely family and friends with cold beer (I am luring Matty onto the dark side of beer) and fresh fish on the day.
The only sign of xmas here is some rather naff decorations and lovely silent night lift music that started yesterday! Feel rather mean that Toto know nothing of it and will have no pressies... but hey... On the plus side - have seen many goat in fantastic costumes on their way to being slaughtered for Eid... (2 days ago) altho according to the Gujarat times this has been a tough eid as goat prices have rocketed - for anyone who's interested (I was facinated) an Eid goat used to cost ~46 pounds, they are now about 70! So goat shares have been happening.... anyhow I digress but how can the average Indian family afford that...??? Much much love again and hope you all have wonderful breaks, delicious food and that father christmas comes.
Kate x
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
From Ahmeda-Bad To Worse
ok .. so just when the travelling side of things felt like it couldn't get any tougher came the journey to the wedding !!!
Ironically this should have been relatively straightforward as we had been nice and organised and it was a straightforward trip ... a 1 hour flight from delhi to Ahmedabad where a car had been arranged to pick us up and drive us the 80km or so to our hotel in Vadodara for the wedding. First of all Delhi airport Domestic terminal itself was a nightmare ... despite having booked our tickets we had to pick up a confirmation from the Airline Counter where two women were being mobbed by about 40 Indians trying to buy tickets with no concept whatsoever of queueing and it seemed the only way to get anything done was to push past people and shout louder ... which with much prompting from Kate I managed. Once through we were astonished at the chaos in the departure gates ... we had a 22:20 flight which was due to board at 21:55 but with every other flight on the board showing as delayed I thought i'd check 5 mins before boarding that we really were on time.
Astonishingly enough I was told that the plane should be landing in 10-15 minutes and that everything was on time ... I immediately sensed a flaw in their planning !! When 22:20 came and the board was still showing 'on time' while we waited in the departure gate my confusion grew ... but we weren'tactually too late and the flight itself was fine.
Once we got to Ahmedabad airport i decided to check if our car was there and leave Kate and Toby with the luggage by the pre-paid taxi counter in case we needed one .. my 6th sense was right as no-one was waiting ... and in the meantime Kate - with Toby asleep on her back - was accused of stealing all the luggage (no idea why !!!)
We hopped in what seemed a reasonable taxi and headed off - phoning the hotel to check that at least our reservation was o.k - and settled back to sleep on the journey. Well that was a nice idea ... until about 55 km from vadodara and at 01:45 in the morning we heard a clunk and our car rolled into the hard shoulder.
The taxi driver spoke no English at all but his sign language to push was pretty clear ! So with toby asleep on Kate and a pitch black indian road the driver and I tried to push-start the car along the hard shoulder !! No Luck !!!
Cue lots of phone calls from the driver ... no communication with us ... and eventually much trying to flag down of other cars. After about 20 minutes one kindly soul stopped ... there was much gesturing and our bags began to be transferred to their car. We were fearing some awful scam at this point but didn't have many options ... but with two of them already in the car and the boot full .. Kate and I clambered into the back seat with Two Large Rucksacks, two small Rucksacks, one holdall and a pram ... all while keeping Toby asleep and seemed just about set - until our original driver motioned that he was getting in with us. !
We had little idea what was going on but the sign Vadodara 5 km cheered us up ... until the car pulled straight into a truck stop at the side of the road !! Our assumption is that these people weren't actually going into vadodara and this was as far as our lift went .. but fortunately within 5 minutes a third car arrived into which we were transferred (in comparative comfort) and driven to the hotel.
Being shunted from car to car with no idea why as people talk all around you is an extremely scary experience and we felt pretty vulnerable ... the only positive was that we kept hearing our hotel name being bandied about in inqusitive manner so we were pretty sure people were talking about how to get there and we were not being taken anywhere else !
We did eventually get there ... and had to laugh as the driver checked with the doorman as to whether we had a reservation or not as if not he was entitled to claim some commission for getting us there. In all the transferring all we lsot was Tobys cup .. a pretty good result !!
Ironically this was one of the first times that we had everything organised in advance and really couldn't balme ourselves (unlike the train) ... but we arrived at the hotel at about 04:30 absolutely shattered and with the joy of travelling beginning to ebb away !!!!
Fortunately I am writing this two days later (after two amazing days of wedding celebrations and a nice hotel - i'll let Kate write about that later) and things are looking up !! We have booked flights to Goa tomorrow for some time on the beach and to regroup and are ready for the next lg of the adventure.
wishing everyone an amazing xmas and loads of love to all
M
Ironically this should have been relatively straightforward as we had been nice and organised and it was a straightforward trip ... a 1 hour flight from delhi to Ahmedabad where a car had been arranged to pick us up and drive us the 80km or so to our hotel in Vadodara for the wedding. First of all Delhi airport Domestic terminal itself was a nightmare ... despite having booked our tickets we had to pick up a confirmation from the Airline Counter where two women were being mobbed by about 40 Indians trying to buy tickets with no concept whatsoever of queueing and it seemed the only way to get anything done was to push past people and shout louder ... which with much prompting from Kate I managed. Once through we were astonished at the chaos in the departure gates ... we had a 22:20 flight which was due to board at 21:55 but with every other flight on the board showing as delayed I thought i'd check 5 mins before boarding that we really were on time.
Astonishingly enough I was told that the plane should be landing in 10-15 minutes and that everything was on time ... I immediately sensed a flaw in their planning !! When 22:20 came and the board was still showing 'on time' while we waited in the departure gate my confusion grew ... but we weren'tactually too late and the flight itself was fine.
Once we got to Ahmedabad airport i decided to check if our car was there and leave Kate and Toby with the luggage by the pre-paid taxi counter in case we needed one .. my 6th sense was right as no-one was waiting ... and in the meantime Kate - with Toby asleep on her back - was accused of stealing all the luggage (no idea why !!!)
We hopped in what seemed a reasonable taxi and headed off - phoning the hotel to check that at least our reservation was o.k - and settled back to sleep on the journey. Well that was a nice idea ... until about 55 km from vadodara and at 01:45 in the morning we heard a clunk and our car rolled into the hard shoulder.
The taxi driver spoke no English at all but his sign language to push was pretty clear ! So with toby asleep on Kate and a pitch black indian road the driver and I tried to push-start the car along the hard shoulder !! No Luck !!!
Cue lots of phone calls from the driver ... no communication with us ... and eventually much trying to flag down of other cars. After about 20 minutes one kindly soul stopped ... there was much gesturing and our bags began to be transferred to their car. We were fearing some awful scam at this point but didn't have many options ... but with two of them already in the car and the boot full .. Kate and I clambered into the back seat with Two Large Rucksacks, two small Rucksacks, one holdall and a pram ... all while keeping Toby asleep and seemed just about set - until our original driver motioned that he was getting in with us. !
We had little idea what was going on but the sign Vadodara 5 km cheered us up ... until the car pulled straight into a truck stop at the side of the road !! Our assumption is that these people weren't actually going into vadodara and this was as far as our lift went .. but fortunately within 5 minutes a third car arrived into which we were transferred (in comparative comfort) and driven to the hotel.
Being shunted from car to car with no idea why as people talk all around you is an extremely scary experience and we felt pretty vulnerable ... the only positive was that we kept hearing our hotel name being bandied about in inqusitive manner so we were pretty sure people were talking about how to get there and we were not being taken anywhere else !
We did eventually get there ... and had to laugh as the driver checked with the doorman as to whether we had a reservation or not as if not he was entitled to claim some commission for getting us there. In all the transferring all we lsot was Tobys cup .. a pretty good result !!
Ironically this was one of the first times that we had everything organised in advance and really couldn't balme ourselves (unlike the train) ... but we arrived at the hotel at about 04:30 absolutely shattered and with the joy of travelling beginning to ebb away !!!!
Fortunately I am writing this two days later (after two amazing days of wedding celebrations and a nice hotel - i'll let Kate write about that later) and things are looking up !! We have booked flights to Goa tomorrow for some time on the beach and to regroup and are ready for the next lg of the adventure.
wishing everyone an amazing xmas and loads of love to all
M
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Delhi belly on a veg diet
So how come I am the one telling matty to be careful, not eat meat, only eat piping hot food... while he studiously ignores me and order chicken at every available moment ... and then I get Delhi Belly. Yes I am now the world's expert on the location of toilets at Agra and Delhi's most beautiful monuments. And for your information Humayun's in Delhi was the best - I didn't even need to pay to use it.
Despite this - and as Matty mentioned - nearly getting frostbite on the train from Varanasi to Delhi ( I seriously feared for my toes and finally resorted to wearing Toby's spare socks - which amazingly just about fitted me) - we are having an amazing time. Matty and I are in love with Mughal architecture. And I have made him promise me that I get a tomb of some similar scale - he is however concerned about land shortages and says that it may only be possible in Africa.
M has asked me to fill in some gaps from his whistlestop tour. so here goes - with extra highlights - please skips to Matt's next one if you don't like detail!!
We have been in serious culture shock! From a motherly point of view I am on hygiene overdrive - I love no-water hand cleaner! - so does Toto - but only the blue one ... Toby is still off his dummy but has taken to chewing his nails - not good when pretty much every surface is dirty. I am over the moon to be staying in luxury for one night - so tired of standing under a drippy shower praying for the promised hot water to materialise - trying to convince Toby that mild cold is hot water.... , tired of not unpacking, and trying to work out which item of clothing is less dirty, travelling with a 3 year old is wonderful but can be vvv. tough.... def harder in India than thailand. Last night's window less box was a low point... I was very sulky.
Not sure how to add highlights!
Kolkata - our first stop and wow. We visit the famous TOllygunge club after some space and a pool for TOby - I am greeted by the Wills Lifestyle shop and Wills Hall - I use my maiden name here - bizarrely they are also holding a Berger reception that evening. M and I take bizarre photos next to the signs... then I am brought back to reality as I am banned from the restuarant due to my flip flops. I love the Maidan Park - its like Regents park moved to India complete with a Big Ben on the sky line (St Pauls church I think), and then with men herding goats across it, the odd cow and bony horse, and of course fleabitten dogs - Toby talks baby to them all. Did you know by the way that head boy at Maudalyn school in oxford is still entitled to roam sheep on christchurch meadow... The Fairlawn look after us but nearly kill us with their food - eukkk - cold milky cream of cucmber soup... Mrs Smith the 84 year old Armenian proprietess sends us up a cake for New year.
Train 1 to Varanasi - we have sheets and a blanket and toto and I share so he doesn't fall out - which means me balancing on the edge of my hipnot to fall out - but he sleeps well and I sleep for maybe 4 hours - so not bad. Men climb on at 6 and start to serve Chai from vast kettles and offer spicy omlettes- Chai is yummy and hot
Varanasi
Wonderful! If you haven't you must read Eric Newby's slowly down the ganges - so wonderfully evocative. I feel tears coming to my eyes when I see it. It is wide and slow and a magical mist sits on its surface so the other bank looks ghostly. Toby sleeps and M and I walk for 2 hours along the ghats. The architecture is breathtaking... a little venetian at times, crumbly, often with trees growing out of the buildings... suddenly you hear a moo and a cow and calf have taken up residence in a room of one of the ghat houses... goats wander by in frilly raggety dresses, monkeys leap from building to building - humping along the way (m has a wonderful picture!!!), puppy after puppy, cows wander lethargically along chewing the cud and looking at us arrogantly!!! Boys play cricket - stopping to let the baby pass! We pay 10 rps to put flowers on the river. Part of me wants to bathe - as I see people doing all around - there is this quick plunge that they do - the other part of me looks fearfully at the contents of the dark water and shudders!! The funeral pyres are beautiful - we are told the hindu death ritual which centres around returning the body to the 5 elements: water, fires, earth, wind and wood ( i think!). But the reality of the inequality of life comes in as we are told how much each bit costs and that the poor can only afford the most basic of pyres and the worst wood. We fall for a con and end up watching the main pyres from teh balcony of a dark house (we are told we aren't allowed anywhere else - not true) and then being blessed by the 'sacred old woman' and then asked for money- we give not enought apparently. I venture out after Toto is asleep - alone - and run back in again - it is pitch dark save a few low lights - I pretty much bump into a cow - very scary!!
After our morning boat ride - so so beautiful - we walk again - Toto running along the ghats - at times chased by photographers!!!! and admirers - him shouting No No GO Away (so embarrasing yet understanding!!)
Train to Delhi
Oh my gxd - getting on a pitch black crammed train with Tobes and 6 bags and thinking we had no beds just seats - was terrifying. Better when lights went on. I think we should have guessed that for 8 pounds for the 3 of us we were not getting luxury! SO SO SO cold - no sheets - I love the Indian man who lent us his 2 spare blankets - I nearly turned them down englishly at first - but we could have frozen without them... the wind whistled thro 2 cm (I had time to study them) the metal sides of the cabin (we were on the outside), M's was by a window that wouldn't close... I slept 40 mins before it got cold - then watched the minutes go by and tried to think walm thoughts and not cry!!!! Toto was cosy and slept!!! If he hadn't I don't know what we would have done. I forgot to say earlier - but being a woman I am often just ignored - a lot of people just speak to M. M was lovely looking up at us regularly and tucking us in - I couldn't move - as was wedged into the n arrow bed by the handing slats holding the top bunk to the ceiling... plus point being I couldn't fall out!
I think that might be all the highlights I can do for 1 night! M asked me to mention the confusion of our tour guides when we checked out of windowless box dirty room into the meridian - after we had haggled ferociously for our 2 day tour of delhi and Agra - they suggested we just take Toby to the theme park instead. I felt v.guilty - but am vvvv. happy - excuse me while I go off to luxuriate in bubbles and read Indian Vogue - which is vv.good
Oooh and I have bought a blue silk salwa kammeez for the wedding - hope it is glam enoutgh - venturing out tomorrow for possibly a Sari (or Matthew Williamson dress if I can find one as I think they are much cheaper here), shoes and make up and some big gold jewellery./.. mum keeps telling me I have to be very glam - this worries me ! may need botox after hygiene worries
love you all lots - Kati hope the baby has arrived and you are both well - can't wait to hear
Kate xxxxx
Despite this - and as Matty mentioned - nearly getting frostbite on the train from Varanasi to Delhi ( I seriously feared for my toes and finally resorted to wearing Toby's spare socks - which amazingly just about fitted me) - we are having an amazing time. Matty and I are in love with Mughal architecture. And I have made him promise me that I get a tomb of some similar scale - he is however concerned about land shortages and says that it may only be possible in Africa.
M has asked me to fill in some gaps from his whistlestop tour. so here goes - with extra highlights - please skips to Matt's next one if you don't like detail!!
We have been in serious culture shock! From a motherly point of view I am on hygiene overdrive - I love no-water hand cleaner! - so does Toto - but only the blue one ... Toby is still off his dummy but has taken to chewing his nails - not good when pretty much every surface is dirty. I am over the moon to be staying in luxury for one night - so tired of standing under a drippy shower praying for the promised hot water to materialise - trying to convince Toby that mild cold is hot water.... , tired of not unpacking, and trying to work out which item of clothing is less dirty, travelling with a 3 year old is wonderful but can be vvv. tough.... def harder in India than thailand. Last night's window less box was a low point... I was very sulky.
Not sure how to add highlights!
Kolkata - our first stop and wow. We visit the famous TOllygunge club after some space and a pool for TOby - I am greeted by the Wills Lifestyle shop and Wills Hall - I use my maiden name here - bizarrely they are also holding a Berger reception that evening. M and I take bizarre photos next to the signs... then I am brought back to reality as I am banned from the restuarant due to my flip flops. I love the Maidan Park - its like Regents park moved to India complete with a Big Ben on the sky line (St Pauls church I think), and then with men herding goats across it, the odd cow and bony horse, and of course fleabitten dogs - Toby talks baby to them all. Did you know by the way that head boy at Maudalyn school in oxford is still entitled to roam sheep on christchurch meadow... The Fairlawn look after us but nearly kill us with their food - eukkk - cold milky cream of cucmber soup... Mrs Smith the 84 year old Armenian proprietess sends us up a cake for New year.
Train 1 to Varanasi - we have sheets and a blanket and toto and I share so he doesn't fall out - which means me balancing on the edge of my hipnot to fall out - but he sleeps well and I sleep for maybe 4 hours - so not bad. Men climb on at 6 and start to serve Chai from vast kettles and offer spicy omlettes- Chai is yummy and hot
Varanasi
Wonderful! If you haven't you must read Eric Newby's slowly down the ganges - so wonderfully evocative. I feel tears coming to my eyes when I see it. It is wide and slow and a magical mist sits on its surface so the other bank looks ghostly. Toby sleeps and M and I walk for 2 hours along the ghats. The architecture is breathtaking... a little venetian at times, crumbly, often with trees growing out of the buildings... suddenly you hear a moo and a cow and calf have taken up residence in a room of one of the ghat houses... goats wander by in frilly raggety dresses, monkeys leap from building to building - humping along the way (m has a wonderful picture!!!), puppy after puppy, cows wander lethargically along chewing the cud and looking at us arrogantly!!! Boys play cricket - stopping to let the baby pass! We pay 10 rps to put flowers on the river. Part of me wants to bathe - as I see people doing all around - there is this quick plunge that they do - the other part of me looks fearfully at the contents of the dark water and shudders!! The funeral pyres are beautiful - we are told the hindu death ritual which centres around returning the body to the 5 elements: water, fires, earth, wind and wood ( i think!). But the reality of the inequality of life comes in as we are told how much each bit costs and that the poor can only afford the most basic of pyres and the worst wood. We fall for a con and end up watching the main pyres from teh balcony of a dark house (we are told we aren't allowed anywhere else - not true) and then being blessed by the 'sacred old woman' and then asked for money- we give not enought apparently. I venture out after Toto is asleep - alone - and run back in again - it is pitch dark save a few low lights - I pretty much bump into a cow - very scary!!
After our morning boat ride - so so beautiful - we walk again - Toto running along the ghats - at times chased by photographers!!!! and admirers - him shouting No No GO Away (so embarrasing yet understanding!!)
Train to Delhi
Oh my gxd - getting on a pitch black crammed train with Tobes and 6 bags and thinking we had no beds just seats - was terrifying. Better when lights went on. I think we should have guessed that for 8 pounds for the 3 of us we were not getting luxury! SO SO SO cold - no sheets - I love the Indian man who lent us his 2 spare blankets - I nearly turned them down englishly at first - but we could have frozen without them... the wind whistled thro 2 cm (I had time to study them) the metal sides of the cabin (we were on the outside), M's was by a window that wouldn't close... I slept 40 mins before it got cold - then watched the minutes go by and tried to think walm thoughts and not cry!!!! Toto was cosy and slept!!! If he hadn't I don't know what we would have done. I forgot to say earlier - but being a woman I am often just ignored - a lot of people just speak to M. M was lovely looking up at us regularly and tucking us in - I couldn't move - as was wedged into the n arrow bed by the handing slats holding the top bunk to the ceiling... plus point being I couldn't fall out!
I think that might be all the highlights I can do for 1 night! M asked me to mention the confusion of our tour guides when we checked out of windowless box dirty room into the meridian - after we had haggled ferociously for our 2 day tour of delhi and Agra - they suggested we just take Toby to the theme park instead. I felt v.guilty - but am vvvv. happy - excuse me while I go off to luxuriate in bubbles and read Indian Vogue - which is vv.good
Oooh and I have bought a blue silk salwa kammeez for the wedding - hope it is glam enoutgh - venturing out tomorrow for possibly a Sari (or Matthew Williamson dress if I can find one as I think they are much cheaper here), shoes and make up and some big gold jewellery./.. mum keeps telling me I have to be very glam - this worries me ! may need botox after hygiene worries
love you all lots - Kati hope the baby has arrived and you are both well - can't wait to hear
Kate xxxxx
Down but far from out !!!!
Ok ... this entry finds me typing from the free internet access on the 20th floor of the 5 Star Meridien where we have checked in after being slightly beaten by the last 9 days travel ... but I guess it's hardly surprising when you consider that in that time we have been in 5 different cities and 7 different hotels and managed two flights, two overnight train journeys (13 hrs and 15.5 hrs ) and two 6 hour drives (only 200 km but when your motorways are crammed with cows, camels, half of the traffic going the wrong way to save time and various tractors that's no surprise)
to give a rough idea ... this is our recent itinerary which might be more manageable if not travelling with a three year old (any of you who have tried long journeys with a toddler will definitely be sympathising - with Toby as much as us !!!!)
9/12 - up at 5:30 for early flight from chiang mai to bangkok where we leave all our bags at the airport to save time and head straight out of Bangkok to chatachak market
10/12 - quiet(ish) day in bangkok visting fair trade exhibiton organised by the Salmons who are kindly putting us up in bangkok for the second time in a month !!!!!
11/12 - up at 5:45 for early flight to kolkatta
13/12 - 8pm train from Kolkatta to Varanassi .... 13 hrs on not the most comfortable (or so we thought ... in hindsight it was luxury !!!!) train ever !!!
14/12 - arrive varanassi hotel at around midday
15/12 - up at 5 am (on my bday !!!!!) to see sunrise on the ganges
8:30 pm train to delhi
16/12 - arrive delhi at around midday
17/12 - 6hr evening drive to agra (home of Taj Mahal for the more ignorant among you !!!)
18 / 12 - After sightseeing in Agra 6hrs back to Delhi (different hotel ... we thought the first was bad but this was the worst yet ... no windows in the room, forgotten room service and second order served witn no cutlery etc . give an idea !)
19 / 12 ... admit defeat and check into Le Meredien to regroup before flight tomorrow to Ahmedabad for 3 days of Indian Wedding !
Thats the bones of the last 10 days but in there have been some of the most incredible experiences ... both positive and negative !!!
Ok .. so here are the highlights since the last post .!
The last day in Kolkatta was a bit quieter as we kept away from the main streets and headed to a shopping mall with a play centre for TJ ... although even here the attention he is getting was amazing .. at one point an entire lift full of people had their mobile phones out taking pictures of him ... a theme that is continuing at every place we go. People are now regularly asking to have pictures with him at tourist sites ... Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Humayuns Tomb etc all seem to be better (according to Indians) if you have a photo in front of them holding my son ?? Its like being with a celbrity at times as you are walking and people are walking backwards in front of you taking photos .. or asking him to join in family snaps (I have some I will post shortly !! )
At the train station that night Kate went to buy some food and a whole crowd (maybe thirty people) gathered around Toby and I sitting with our bags to stare at us and snap away ... which was actually a good thing as I found having our whole life in bags on a crowded platform quite scary and the crowd at least felt safe.
The train journey itself went well .. we had bunks not next to each other but there were two aussie guys who happily swapped and were good company (one was a roaming sheep-shearer) so that Kate and Toby could be above me in one bed, and further down the carriage were some young South african Missionaries who loved Toby which meant he could burn som energy running up and down the carriage relatively safely. Fortunately enough he managed to sleep from about 10pm - 6am which meant that even if we didn't sleep much ourselves the journey itself was nowhere near as bad as we had feared.
Our Hotel in Varanassi was great ... about $15gbp and clean, friendly and a good middle eastern restaurant and we felt really comfortable there .. shame it was only for one night !!! The day we arrived we took a walk along the ganges from the bottom ghat - definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever done. As an exercise in people watching there can't be anywhere better in the world ... where to start with the things going on along that river bank ... Laundry, Men having their heads shaved, cricket games, buffalo being washed, cows wandering around, boats being fixed, people washing themselves in the river, goats, monkeys, market stalls, various items being hawked to us at regular intervals, massage, palmistry, fortune telling - the list is endless - and of course bodies being burned by the side of the river. Afterwards we had a walk into the town centre (past elephants, parades etc.) for some food and Kate managed to find Marmite inb a tiny corner shop ... the absolutely perfect birthday present for me !!!
The following morning we got up at 5 to do take a boat ride along the river and see sunrise ... even at this time the activity was just as frenetic as the evening before but the view and the atnosphere was magical. After a quick kip to recuperate we got a rickshaw through the town itself to see some more before one more walk back to the hotel along the river .... gutted to have to leave that nigh but we need o get to ahmedabad for the wedding and plenty to do along the way !!!
Having negotiated the kolkatta - varanassi train quite comfortably a similar journey to delhi held no fears ... but this one was very different !!!
The first shock was getting in to a much dirtier carriage and where the first one had seemed spacious and not full ... evry seat was rammed on this one and best of all ... there were no lights and it was almost pitch black !!!!!!!! This sort of thing has made us realise how utterly trusting our children were as Toby showed absolutely no fear or surprise ... as far as he was concerned Mummy and Daddy had put him on the train so what could be wrong ???
I seriously considered getting off, bolting back to the hotel and flying the next day but we were there and reckoned we could manage ! Fortunately after about ten minutes the lights came on and we chained our bags to every available point and padlocked every pocket ... much to the amusement of the watching locals. Again .. our seats weren't together but a bit of sign language and pidgin english and some really kind people moved around to allow Kate above me again.Aat this point we also realised that where the previous train had sheets, pillows and blankets ... this had none !!! Large holes in the windows and what we later learnt was Delhis coldest night for god knows how long did not help matters. Everything we had went on toby and we are eternally indebted to the Indian man opposite us who produced two spare blankets from his bag ... one for each of us which although neither of us slept, just about staved off the frostbite.
Toby again slept till 6:30 (waking up to kiss Kate with a "Good morning mummy - I love you - you're my best friend") which seemd perfect as the train was due in at 8am so we got our bags together and got ready ... 9am, 10am 11am ... we still weren't there but at about 11:30 the movement all around us told us we had made it ... vowing no more long trains in India overnight (at least for a long time).
The last thing we needed was a horrible, overpriced room in and unfriendly hotel but that is exactly where we were headed !! For the capital city in what is supposed to be a booming country Delhi didn't make a great first impression ! We did find a really cute park which we thought might serve to help Toby release energy on Monday but no ... it is close Mondays !!! (why would you close a park ffs !!!)
Why relax we thought ... so booked a trip to Agra the following afternoon and the agent who arranged it found us a new hotel for our return to delhi as well as a hotel for the night in Delhi plus a guide and driver.
The hotel in Agra was lovely and a 7am start to see the Taj mahal was soooo worth it ... truly unbelievable (not as if I'm stating the obvious or anything). I have to confess huuuuuge ignorance here and admit I had no idea that all that was actually inside the building itself was one tiny room with two Tombs ... I had kind of assumed Palace, Art etc. but the building itself and the grounds were nothing short of breathtaking !
We also visited Agra Fort and a beautiful temple whose grounds were over-run with Monkeys and Deer where Toby got a much deserved chance to stretc his lega sn run around for an hour. The grounds in all of these places were stunning - green, clean and fresh air really helped recharge the batteries.
After a long drive back though the last thing we needed with all of us tired and moody was to find a grotty hotel, no windoe and shit service ... at this point Kate broke down and I booked the meridien for the following night and the next day until our flight in order to pick us up a bit - it is certainly working !!!!!!
Kate is in the bath (a luxury in itself) and I have free snacks in the internet cafe here from which to blog.
I have to confess to being shocked by much of Inida ... i expected so much more from the place and although the sires we have visite our stunning ... so little seems to be done to encourage tourism and there seems so little enterprise. I have hardly been able to find any internet access and where I have it has been in dark, dingy rooms. People here have not been friendlyand it is tiring being constantly aware that everyone - and I mean everyone- is trying to rip you off one way or another. today we visited the Red Fort ... The number one tourist attraction in the Capital city ... and thought we might eat at the restaurant / tea room. We were handed a crumbling torn menu that must have been 15 yrs old and only has 20 items on but amazingly enough when i then went to order i was told that none of the items were even available - all they had was a vegetrian sandwich and mountain dew to drink - surely there is a gap in the market there. I had to ask why I had been given a menu but the waiter just looked blankly ! that just about sums our experience up so far and although we love so much of what we have seen it is really hard work with Toby,
We are reconsidering our plans after the wedding ... distances here are just soooooo huge that we may not manage as much of Rajhastan as we wanted (maybe even none tragically - we will see) but we need to be fair to Toby who can't keep up the sort of punishing schedule of the last week. We are considering just bolting for the south and the beaches of Goa and Kerala although if we feel stronger may try at least Udaipur (and maybe Jodphur)
No idea where we will be for xmas but will definitely miss home and friends at that time so lvoely to har from any of you.
much love
M
to give a rough idea ... this is our recent itinerary which might be more manageable if not travelling with a three year old (any of you who have tried long journeys with a toddler will definitely be sympathising - with Toby as much as us !!!!)
9/12 - up at 5:30 for early flight from chiang mai to bangkok where we leave all our bags at the airport to save time and head straight out of Bangkok to chatachak market
10/12 - quiet(ish) day in bangkok visting fair trade exhibiton organised by the Salmons who are kindly putting us up in bangkok for the second time in a month !!!!!
11/12 - up at 5:45 for early flight to kolkatta
13/12 - 8pm train from Kolkatta to Varanassi .... 13 hrs on not the most comfortable (or so we thought ... in hindsight it was luxury !!!!) train ever !!!
14/12 - arrive varanassi hotel at around midday
15/12 - up at 5 am (on my bday !!!!!) to see sunrise on the ganges
8:30 pm train to delhi
16/12 - arrive delhi at around midday
17/12 - 6hr evening drive to agra (home of Taj Mahal for the more ignorant among you !!!)
18 / 12 - After sightseeing in Agra 6hrs back to Delhi (different hotel ... we thought the first was bad but this was the worst yet ... no windows in the room, forgotten room service and second order served witn no cutlery etc . give an idea !)
19 / 12 ... admit defeat and check into Le Meredien to regroup before flight tomorrow to Ahmedabad for 3 days of Indian Wedding !
Thats the bones of the last 10 days but in there have been some of the most incredible experiences ... both positive and negative !!!
Ok .. so here are the highlights since the last post .!
The last day in Kolkatta was a bit quieter as we kept away from the main streets and headed to a shopping mall with a play centre for TJ ... although even here the attention he is getting was amazing .. at one point an entire lift full of people had their mobile phones out taking pictures of him ... a theme that is continuing at every place we go. People are now regularly asking to have pictures with him at tourist sites ... Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Humayuns Tomb etc all seem to be better (according to Indians) if you have a photo in front of them holding my son ?? Its like being with a celbrity at times as you are walking and people are walking backwards in front of you taking photos .. or asking him to join in family snaps (I have some I will post shortly !! )
At the train station that night Kate went to buy some food and a whole crowd (maybe thirty people) gathered around Toby and I sitting with our bags to stare at us and snap away ... which was actually a good thing as I found having our whole life in bags on a crowded platform quite scary and the crowd at least felt safe.
The train journey itself went well .. we had bunks not next to each other but there were two aussie guys who happily swapped and were good company (one was a roaming sheep-shearer) so that Kate and Toby could be above me in one bed, and further down the carriage were some young South african Missionaries who loved Toby which meant he could burn som energy running up and down the carriage relatively safely. Fortunately enough he managed to sleep from about 10pm - 6am which meant that even if we didn't sleep much ourselves the journey itself was nowhere near as bad as we had feared.
Our Hotel in Varanassi was great ... about $15gbp and clean, friendly and a good middle eastern restaurant and we felt really comfortable there .. shame it was only for one night !!! The day we arrived we took a walk along the ganges from the bottom ghat - definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever done. As an exercise in people watching there can't be anywhere better in the world ... where to start with the things going on along that river bank ... Laundry, Men having their heads shaved, cricket games, buffalo being washed, cows wandering around, boats being fixed, people washing themselves in the river, goats, monkeys, market stalls, various items being hawked to us at regular intervals, massage, palmistry, fortune telling - the list is endless - and of course bodies being burned by the side of the river. Afterwards we had a walk into the town centre (past elephants, parades etc.) for some food and Kate managed to find Marmite inb a tiny corner shop ... the absolutely perfect birthday present for me !!!
The following morning we got up at 5 to do take a boat ride along the river and see sunrise ... even at this time the activity was just as frenetic as the evening before but the view and the atnosphere was magical. After a quick kip to recuperate we got a rickshaw through the town itself to see some more before one more walk back to the hotel along the river .... gutted to have to leave that nigh but we need o get to ahmedabad for the wedding and plenty to do along the way !!!
Having negotiated the kolkatta - varanassi train quite comfortably a similar journey to delhi held no fears ... but this one was very different !!!
The first shock was getting in to a much dirtier carriage and where the first one had seemed spacious and not full ... evry seat was rammed on this one and best of all ... there were no lights and it was almost pitch black !!!!!!!! This sort of thing has made us realise how utterly trusting our children were as Toby showed absolutely no fear or surprise ... as far as he was concerned Mummy and Daddy had put him on the train so what could be wrong ???
I seriously considered getting off, bolting back to the hotel and flying the next day but we were there and reckoned we could manage ! Fortunately after about ten minutes the lights came on and we chained our bags to every available point and padlocked every pocket ... much to the amusement of the watching locals. Again .. our seats weren't together but a bit of sign language and pidgin english and some really kind people moved around to allow Kate above me again.Aat this point we also realised that where the previous train had sheets, pillows and blankets ... this had none !!! Large holes in the windows and what we later learnt was Delhis coldest night for god knows how long did not help matters. Everything we had went on toby and we are eternally indebted to the Indian man opposite us who produced two spare blankets from his bag ... one for each of us which although neither of us slept, just about staved off the frostbite.
Toby again slept till 6:30 (waking up to kiss Kate with a "Good morning mummy - I love you - you're my best friend") which seemd perfect as the train was due in at 8am so we got our bags together and got ready ... 9am, 10am 11am ... we still weren't there but at about 11:30 the movement all around us told us we had made it ... vowing no more long trains in India overnight (at least for a long time).
The last thing we needed was a horrible, overpriced room in and unfriendly hotel but that is exactly where we were headed !! For the capital city in what is supposed to be a booming country Delhi didn't make a great first impression ! We did find a really cute park which we thought might serve to help Toby release energy on Monday but no ... it is close Mondays !!! (why would you close a park ffs !!!)
Why relax we thought ... so booked a trip to Agra the following afternoon and the agent who arranged it found us a new hotel for our return to delhi as well as a hotel for the night in Delhi plus a guide and driver.
The hotel in Agra was lovely and a 7am start to see the Taj mahal was soooo worth it ... truly unbelievable (not as if I'm stating the obvious or anything). I have to confess huuuuuge ignorance here and admit I had no idea that all that was actually inside the building itself was one tiny room with two Tombs ... I had kind of assumed Palace, Art etc. but the building itself and the grounds were nothing short of breathtaking !
We also visited Agra Fort and a beautiful temple whose grounds were over-run with Monkeys and Deer where Toby got a much deserved chance to stretc his lega sn run around for an hour. The grounds in all of these places were stunning - green, clean and fresh air really helped recharge the batteries.
After a long drive back though the last thing we needed with all of us tired and moody was to find a grotty hotel, no windoe and shit service ... at this point Kate broke down and I booked the meridien for the following night and the next day until our flight in order to pick us up a bit - it is certainly working !!!!!!
Kate is in the bath (a luxury in itself) and I have free snacks in the internet cafe here from which to blog.
I have to confess to being shocked by much of Inida ... i expected so much more from the place and although the sires we have visite our stunning ... so little seems to be done to encourage tourism and there seems so little enterprise. I have hardly been able to find any internet access and where I have it has been in dark, dingy rooms. People here have not been friendlyand it is tiring being constantly aware that everyone - and I mean everyone- is trying to rip you off one way or another. today we visited the Red Fort ... The number one tourist attraction in the Capital city ... and thought we might eat at the restaurant / tea room. We were handed a crumbling torn menu that must have been 15 yrs old and only has 20 items on but amazingly enough when i then went to order i was told that none of the items were even available - all they had was a vegetrian sandwich and mountain dew to drink - surely there is a gap in the market there. I had to ask why I had been given a menu but the waiter just looked blankly ! that just about sums our experience up so far and although we love so much of what we have seen it is really hard work with Toby,
We are reconsidering our plans after the wedding ... distances here are just soooooo huge that we may not manage as much of Rajhastan as we wanted (maybe even none tragically - we will see) but we need to be fair to Toby who can't keep up the sort of punishing schedule of the last week. We are considering just bolting for the south and the beaches of Goa and Kerala although if we feel stronger may try at least Udaipur (and maybe Jodphur)
No idea where we will be for xmas but will definitely miss home and friends at that time so lvoely to har from any of you.
much love
M
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Kolkata
The word culture shock doesn't come close to describing what I felt when we arrived here yesterday ... and ironically it started so calmly.
Despite reading stories of mosquito swarms at the airport and touts, crooks and con artists hanging off every limb .. arriving at the airport was a pleasure. no car came from our hotel but we got a taxi straight there with no problems ... we are staying at The Fairlawn which is a very famous / trendy arty types hang out .. chintz and memorabilia everywhere and an eccentric armenian proprietress widow of an englishman. The place is like a throwback to colonial times ... waiters in white regency suits and turbans, set menu meals served at tables with your eating companions dictated to etc and walls covered with actors / artists to have stayed there. All very pleasant !! (OMG the food is too awful to describe though .. 50's english food cooked horrendously and set menus every meal)
But then we stepped out !!! The drive from the airport had passed slums and plenty of street children but when we left the hotel with Toby on our back we were immediately accosted by women and children ... and when you have a three year old with you , you feel so much more defensive !! We walked to Park street described as the 'buzzy eating centre of the town' but that is not how we would describe it . Dusty, squalid and decaying works better for me ... the old architectue is stunning but crumbling like I have never seen.
On the way home ..having managed to find a lovely patisserie and fill Toby with sugar we had to deal with questions that are not easy from a three year old ..."why is that woman holding onto daddys leg" "why is that boy asking for money" and hardest of all "why are those babies sleeping on the street" are not lessons we were prepared for ... but I guess they were eye-openers !! We had been told that kaklota is the least tourist friendly town in India and the most poverty stricken but until you are there and see family after family (7 in a row all with babies) sleeping at the side of the road in a sewer directly outside your hotel you can't comprehend !
Today we ventured to the park for a walk (ripped off for a horse ride and then someone asked to have their photo taken with toby before standing next to kate ... another scam where they later pretend it is their family to win the confidence of westerners) and the victoria monument before heading for the sanctuary of the Tollygunge Club ... an exclusive members club with swimming pool ... although our sandals were deemed to poor to allow us in the main restaurant !!
Also worthy of comment is the traffic ... although nothing in volume compared to Bangkok the sheer disregard for other cars, bikes , pedestrians etc. is unbelievable ... the highglight being the scrums to cross the road which neccesitate police holding us back with ropes like horses at the start of a race while people jump under and over the ropes to dodge the cars !! quite scary with toby on our back !!
Lastly ... I was amazed to see human pulled rickshaws ... Kaklota is the last place to still allow them (they are best for avoiding flooded roads during monsoons apparently) but the thought of sitting up high in a carriage while someone pulls you through the streets is so distasteful ... would be worse if they weren't desperate for you to do it to support their livelihood !
We are only here becuase we couldn't get flights to Delhi ... another lesson in preparation !! but hesd to varanasi tomorrow night by train (12 hrs overnight) before Agra (another 12 hrs), Delhi and a flight to ahmedabad for the wedding .
p.s. Much props to Oli and The Epstein on getting 4 stars in Rolling Stone Magazine (Germany) for their new album ... as well as a great review in Q magazine !!
(Rolling Stone (xxxx) Germany: "The Epstein have recorded this beguiling debut with an overwheing sense of ingeniousness and enthusiasm... There has not been a better band to come out of England this year, the epstein play in another league - in a vast, desert like land of the soul." )
read the reviews ... joiunt the facebook group here ... http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5946829493&topic=3906
Despite reading stories of mosquito swarms at the airport and touts, crooks and con artists hanging off every limb .. arriving at the airport was a pleasure. no car came from our hotel but we got a taxi straight there with no problems ... we are staying at The Fairlawn which is a very famous / trendy arty types hang out .. chintz and memorabilia everywhere and an eccentric armenian proprietress widow of an englishman. The place is like a throwback to colonial times ... waiters in white regency suits and turbans, set menu meals served at tables with your eating companions dictated to etc and walls covered with actors / artists to have stayed there. All very pleasant !! (OMG the food is too awful to describe though .. 50's english food cooked horrendously and set menus every meal)
But then we stepped out !!! The drive from the airport had passed slums and plenty of street children but when we left the hotel with Toby on our back we were immediately accosted by women and children ... and when you have a three year old with you , you feel so much more defensive !! We walked to Park street described as the 'buzzy eating centre of the town' but that is not how we would describe it . Dusty, squalid and decaying works better for me ... the old architectue is stunning but crumbling like I have never seen.
On the way home ..having managed to find a lovely patisserie and fill Toby with sugar we had to deal with questions that are not easy from a three year old ..."why is that woman holding onto daddys leg" "why is that boy asking for money" and hardest of all "why are those babies sleeping on the street" are not lessons we were prepared for ... but I guess they were eye-openers !! We had been told that kaklota is the least tourist friendly town in India and the most poverty stricken but until you are there and see family after family (7 in a row all with babies) sleeping at the side of the road in a sewer directly outside your hotel you can't comprehend !
Today we ventured to the park for a walk (ripped off for a horse ride and then someone asked to have their photo taken with toby before standing next to kate ... another scam where they later pretend it is their family to win the confidence of westerners) and the victoria monument before heading for the sanctuary of the Tollygunge Club ... an exclusive members club with swimming pool ... although our sandals were deemed to poor to allow us in the main restaurant !!
Also worthy of comment is the traffic ... although nothing in volume compared to Bangkok the sheer disregard for other cars, bikes , pedestrians etc. is unbelievable ... the highglight being the scrums to cross the road which neccesitate police holding us back with ropes like horses at the start of a race while people jump under and over the ropes to dodge the cars !! quite scary with toby on our back !!
Lastly ... I was amazed to see human pulled rickshaws ... Kaklota is the last place to still allow them (they are best for avoiding flooded roads during monsoons apparently) but the thought of sitting up high in a carriage while someone pulls you through the streets is so distasteful ... would be worse if they weren't desperate for you to do it to support their livelihood !
We are only here becuase we couldn't get flights to Delhi ... another lesson in preparation !! but hesd to varanasi tomorrow night by train (12 hrs overnight) before Agra (another 12 hrs), Delhi and a flight to ahmedabad for the wedding .
p.s. Much props to Oli and The Epstein on getting 4 stars in Rolling Stone Magazine (Germany) for their new album ... as well as a great review in Q magazine !!
(Rolling Stone (xxxx) Germany: "The Epstein have recorded this beguiling debut with an overwheing sense of ingeniousness and enthusiasm... There has not been a better band to come out of England this year, the epstein play in another league - in a vast, desert like land of the soul." )
read the reviews ... joiunt the facebook group here ... http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5946829493&topic=3906
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Chiang Mai
we are now in chiang mai in the north .... and have a longer stay than planned as our Indian Visa application is taking longer than expectd ... obviously 'ready in 5 days' means that if you drop it in early on the 3rd you can pick it up on the 12th.
in the meantime though the last week has been great ! our last day in railay was great fun - although on the walk over from one beach to the other (actually quite a climb) kate spotted a monkey in the trees and in her desperation to let Toby see it .. threw it a banana ! unfortunately it was our only banana ... and as none of us speak 'monkey' we couldn't communicate this to the other monkeys who joined it ... blocking our path to try to get into our bags and baring their teeth at Toby. At this point kates maternal protection instincts kicked in and she grabbed a stick to hit them with (very brave) and as they retreated began throwing rocks .. well she says she was aiming at the monkeys but managed to only hit me !
once down the other side we booked a nightime snorkel trip which was truly amazing ... after visiting a few dive sites (lots of nemos again! ) we stopped for dinner in the dark on small empty island and just a single torch / flame thing ... stunnin!! and on the way back the boat stopped in the middle of the sea and turned off all its lights for night swimming !!!!!!!!!!! incredibly scary ... but after you jumped in all of the little phosphorescent algae light up around your body as you disturb them and the effect is an incredible shimmering around your limbs as you swim !! much to kates shock .(she had stayed on the board with TJ) .... toby announced at this point that he wanted to jump on with me and promptly did with absolutely no fear despite the dark and th huge open sea ... as i couldn't actually see him if i let him go more than 5 feet i clung onto him for dear life as he was totally oblivious to any danger !!
Onto chiang mai and on the first day we met up with one of Abis friends ... Guy ... who kindly agreed to give us some tips as he lives here - which was really useful. The next day we hired a Jeep to explore the surrounding area and had a mixed day ... started at hot springs (I may be slightly miserable but just dont get excited about hot water anymore ... whether it's coming from a tap in my bathroom or the ground so we didnt stay too long) and then went to the weirdest tourist attraction i've ever seen. The Horizon about 20 mins outside the city may actually have been quite nice ... especially as it boasted a swimming pool, maze, botanical gardens and museum, small zoo, boating lake and toy train ... but the fact that we were the only people in the car park and then proceeded to see not a single other visitor in the enitre place really freaked us out !! the atmosphere was so eerie - heightened by the fact there were hundreds of staff everywhere that we actually left because it was to spooky (and kate lost her temper with Toby ... more of that later). Ironic really because when we go to these places and they are really busy we wish we could go when they are empty. Classic moment here when Toby's imagination reached new levels and he announced that his slice of lemon in his drink was an ipod!
We then drove round further to the Four Seasons Hotel for a drink ... OMG ... quite simply the nicest hotel I have ever been to ... they have designed their restaurant to overlook working paddy fields (which they created obviously with extra beautiful flowers, trees and waterfall) with buffalo roaming etc. and I sooo wished we could blow the budged there but unfortunately at nearly 3000 quid for one night in the triple suite with live-in housekeeper Kate just wouldn't let me :( - anyhow ... after that on to a really nice National park with waterfall for sunset .. and back home.
That evening we put toby to sleep (minus his dummy which he out the blue announced he was too big for and has not mentioned since) and took him in his pram to the Night Bazaar. The indoor section is definitely the smartest market of its kind I have ever been to ... with really amazing clothes and furniture sooo cheap ... as we only have rucksacks we may well be shipping home soon !!
Yesterday we booked a great day out ... began with a 45 minute climb through the jungle to visit a Hmong tribe which was great ... Toby was happy to walk the whole way himself ... including rickety rope bridge !! -his temparament is really allowing us a better trip than we could have hoped for. The village was lovely with the dustiest one room museum I have ever seen ... they cant have cleaned the exibits for 10 years !! we walked back down again and then went for an elephant ride which Toby loved .. he even got to get out of the chair on the back and sit on the neck patting his trunk which was lovely. after that we visited another tribal village which was sooo different ... totally contrived and out to cash in on tourism. we 'stumbled' across a woman at her loom selling cloths which when we quizzed (kate said the finish was too good) she admitted she hand't actually made. It was a really different dynamic ... the first tribe had made it clear they were welcoming tourists ... i.e. they had laid on a museum and had two stands selling their local wares .. whereas the second acted like an exhibit themselves as if you had walked in on them and they had not prepared or made any effort but still wanted to sell you stuff.
We then visited the most amazing cascading waterfall ... obviously brave toby stripped off and headed straight in ... slipping repeatedly on the rocks and exhorting me to be careful as I followed him ...'cmon daddy - we can do it - Toby and Daddy - you just must be careful', before finishing with a ride down river on a bamboo raft (fortunately a calm ride except for 1 or two fast bits). Overall it was such a nice day and it also meant we got a really good nights sleep out of Toby (although he still woke up far too early this morning necessitating us sticking him in front of Lion King on the portable dvd player with headphones on for an extra 90 mins peace)
Today I'm off for the second fitting on my new suits I'm having made :) and a few more days sightseing before down to bangkok and off to delhi !!! On planning our Indian Itinerary we were so daunted by the scale and sheer amount we wanted to see that we are going to skip Angkor Watt and do ten days in India before the wedding to get more done ... otherwise places I really wanted to go like varansi and the desert in jaisalmer just weren't possible. .... Plus I'm happy to have an excuse to come back !!!
For those of you concerned about Tobys Diarrhea ... you will be pleased to know it has cleared up after 5 days (temporarily??) but I am still not sure which moment was worse .... all over the floor in Boots pharmacy in the centre of Chiang Mai or dead centre of the Labyrinth at the Horizon Village when he could have told us but chose to hide thus entailaing Kate grabbing him and despertely trying to run out of the labyrinth with him ... only to continually meet dead ends. ... why she couldn't see the funny side of this I'll never know.
M
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Extra bits
Matty keeps trying to censor me - he kreeps up on you like that.. you think he's being nice and helpful then you realise he's editing... so I've sent him away - ha ha. He is the better blog writter - no doubt - mine would be too motherly. he stopped me writing a blog full of tips for travelling with children which I keep feeling brewing up in me.
Anyhow... we are here in Railay in a lovely backpackers jungle resort with limited electricity - and lots of climbers with amazing bodies - sorry matty. Never before have I looked at sheer limestone rock formations and wanted to scale them so badly... same with Toby.... still time. A rather keith jones type climber told me - 'teach em young and they never forget' so tomorrow tobes and I will scale 200 metres up the ropes... no will still - nothing to leave! Pete - I finally get climbing... Olly - you would be proud of your nephew - I told him you were a climber altho I have to say M and I discussed this and I had to concede that mountains were easier than sheer rock faces - sorry to let you down.
matty by the way... as a side note to those of you who were suprised he came... is really settling in. he came back from a night scooter drive and declared he could live here!!! When pressed it seemed to come down to the fact he could park where ever - whenever - a little bizarre... but my evil plan may yet come to pass and I may make an expat of him!!
Toby has the inevitable squits... the precursor is a sad face and him anouncing his tummy hurts - i then run frantically to nearest loo - praying for a western loo and that I remembered wipes... or I have to make do with a bush and the sea and hope the other swimmers don't notice what I am cleaning..... sorry all
his diet is limited - i have not convinced him to eat noodles - which saddens me. matty and I take small comfort from the belief that banana pancakes contain protein (eggs), carbs (sugar) and fat ... and vitamins in the bananas.. and that ovaltine milkshakes are full pof vitamins (they drank them in the olden days at night - no??) . We supplement with plain rice, cucumber, occasional frankfurter, pineapple.... mmmm Matty tried to convince him that V8 (tomato and other veg) juice was like sprite today - as it was in a silver can - did not suceed. Still he's perky ... I will feed him diorelite tomorrow.
The fact we will be away for so long is sinking in now... esp as we are no longer holidaying so much. it is a funny feeling having a day stretch in front of you... bizarrely tiring at time - I know - no sympathy! How can one fill a day on a beach in a beautiful country. I am also possibly tiring of the beach. But letting experiences happen seems to really work - just suddenly deciding to cayak through limestone caves, coming across a long boat making pat thai for 60p... these are real highlights.
Matty declared today that he misses marmite most!!!! I declared I missed Toby having his friends & nursery - not so selfless as one might think - both these = me time!! It is tiring having toby all day ... especially as he has taken to mauling me regularly - why does he like eating my hair??? why does he think it;s funny to pull my pants down in public or open the loo door when I'm not yet finished. So yes I miss all Toby's friends because he misses them and I love them/ you all - but also you do save me some of this mobbing.
But he is amazing travelling. It is currently 10.36/9.36 pm ( we are not sure - we think the clocks have changed - must ask - I did point out to M it could be useful) . Toto is sitting in a lazy chair- feet on a tool box - curled up in blanket - asleep having fallen asleep in pram - then the lovely internet guy gave me the chair for him - he's just switched the music from David Gray to Motzart (says it's better to help him sleep - tool box to lift the legs up - better for circulation according to internet man) . People are so lovely with him. He is maturing so quickly - he understands about mosquitos (pretends to be one - much to my annoyance) and animals - but is so so calm. Rather oddly tonight he announced he had 4 babies - 2 in his tummy, one round the neck and one on top of his head - he offered me one to look after in my stomach - I asked if daddy could have one too and he said no - No pressure then!
The censor has returned - i must publish now for fear of the black pen - I will endeavour to creep another message past him soon. Love you all so much - happy birthday Olly and Abi M - please print this off for Granny - Hel love to the bump
Kate xxxx/ alias the mothertongue!
Anyhow... we are here in Railay in a lovely backpackers jungle resort with limited electricity - and lots of climbers with amazing bodies - sorry matty. Never before have I looked at sheer limestone rock formations and wanted to scale them so badly... same with Toby.... still time. A rather keith jones type climber told me - 'teach em young and they never forget' so tomorrow tobes and I will scale 200 metres up the ropes... no will still - nothing to leave! Pete - I finally get climbing... Olly - you would be proud of your nephew - I told him you were a climber altho I have to say M and I discussed this and I had to concede that mountains were easier than sheer rock faces - sorry to let you down.
matty by the way... as a side note to those of you who were suprised he came... is really settling in. he came back from a night scooter drive and declared he could live here!!! When pressed it seemed to come down to the fact he could park where ever - whenever - a little bizarre... but my evil plan may yet come to pass and I may make an expat of him!!
Toby has the inevitable squits... the precursor is a sad face and him anouncing his tummy hurts - i then run frantically to nearest loo - praying for a western loo and that I remembered wipes... or I have to make do with a bush and the sea and hope the other swimmers don't notice what I am cleaning..... sorry all
his diet is limited - i have not convinced him to eat noodles - which saddens me. matty and I take small comfort from the belief that banana pancakes contain protein (eggs), carbs (sugar) and fat ... and vitamins in the bananas.. and that ovaltine milkshakes are full pof vitamins (they drank them in the olden days at night - no??) . We supplement with plain rice, cucumber, occasional frankfurter, pineapple.... mmmm Matty tried to convince him that V8 (tomato and other veg) juice was like sprite today - as it was in a silver can - did not suceed. Still he's perky ... I will feed him diorelite tomorrow.
The fact we will be away for so long is sinking in now... esp as we are no longer holidaying so much. it is a funny feeling having a day stretch in front of you... bizarrely tiring at time - I know - no sympathy! How can one fill a day on a beach in a beautiful country. I am also possibly tiring of the beach. But letting experiences happen seems to really work - just suddenly deciding to cayak through limestone caves, coming across a long boat making pat thai for 60p... these are real highlights.
Matty declared today that he misses marmite most!!!! I declared I missed Toby having his friends & nursery - not so selfless as one might think - both these = me time!! It is tiring having toby all day ... especially as he has taken to mauling me regularly - why does he like eating my hair??? why does he think it;s funny to pull my pants down in public or open the loo door when I'm not yet finished. So yes I miss all Toby's friends because he misses them and I love them/ you all - but also you do save me some of this mobbing.
But he is amazing travelling. It is currently 10.36/9.36 pm ( we are not sure - we think the clocks have changed - must ask - I did point out to M it could be useful) . Toto is sitting in a lazy chair- feet on a tool box - curled up in blanket - asleep having fallen asleep in pram - then the lovely internet guy gave me the chair for him - he's just switched the music from David Gray to Motzart (says it's better to help him sleep - tool box to lift the legs up - better for circulation according to internet man) . People are so lovely with him. He is maturing so quickly - he understands about mosquitos (pretends to be one - much to my annoyance) and animals - but is so so calm. Rather oddly tonight he announced he had 4 babies - 2 in his tummy, one round the neck and one on top of his head - he offered me one to look after in my stomach - I asked if daddy could have one too and he said no - No pressure then!
The censor has returned - i must publish now for fear of the black pen - I will endeavour to creep another message past him soon. Love you all so much - happy birthday Olly and Abi M - please print this off for Granny - Hel love to the bump
Kate xxxx/ alias the mothertongue!
Railay
Ok .... backtrack on the bit about me keeping Kate sensible ... our penultimate day in lanta we hired a scooter and explored the Island some more ...... but in my defence - it was a Tiny Scooter and an even smaller Island with next to no traffic !! We did get to see some amazng places with stunning scenery and by the end of the day were feeling so confident that we headed for the dirt track up to the waterfall marked ' experienced bikers only ' !!! How much more experienced can you be than four hours?? Toby sat in between us singing to me the whole way but we didn't quite make it all the way as the 45min walk in baking heat got the better of us - the only time we have bottled it so far and quite a shame in hindsight. On the plus side ... we did see some more elephants and some stunning scenery. It also gave us a cghance to see some other deserted beaches where we stopped for a swim.
The next morning we packed up and headed for the ferry to Railay beach with High expectations and no accommodation !! Everyone had told us that railayt was the best beach in this part of Thailand so we were really looking forward to it ... and the 2 hour ferry crossing came with stunning views .. particularly approaching the shore. - Actually 'approached' is a loose term as a few hunbdred meters out we were unceremoniously dumped onto a longtail boat for the journey in ... fortunately Toby was game as ever jumping down. On arriving Toby and I hung out with our bags on the beach while Kate went in search of accommodation. 5 minutes later I had met a young couple travelling for a year who told me of a great cheap resort with space and we were sorted ... if only Kate knew !!!! Two hours later she returned full of despair that there was nowhere decent around and the place was a bulding site. A short hop on another longboat round the rocks to the next beach - Tonsai - and we found a great resort of backp[ackers bungalows. No frills and little luxury but picturesque, clean and most of all a bed for the night !!
Heading down to the beach in the morning we decided to walk back to Railay accross the rocks ... but were stopped in our tracks awestruck at the climbers hundreds of feet overhead dangling on ropes !!! (lesley ... you and Pete would love it here ... climbers everywhere !!)
Inspired we headed for the trickiest route across with daredevil Toby leading the way (surprise surprise) pulling himself up by rope and skidding away.
Down the other side we decided that the young adrenaline junkie hadn't had enough ... so headed off in a kayak trhough caves to the other side of the bay ... how he is going to keep this up I have no idea !
Railay Bay itself though has been quite disappointing .... compoarted to the other places we've been it's quite crowded, touristy and loads of building work .... even if the natural scenery is stunning ! We may have come here too late but from all we'd heard we couldn't wait to get here and felt a bit let down.
2 more days here and up to chiang mai is the plan so far.
p.s. Kate is finally admitting that she isn't quite as game as she thought ... turning up with no accommiodation really stressed her out and the lack of cupboard in her room is driving her mad - it's quite fun to see !!
Much love to all
K, M and T
xx
The next morning we packed up and headed for the ferry to Railay beach with High expectations and no accommodation !! Everyone had told us that railayt was the best beach in this part of Thailand so we were really looking forward to it ... and the 2 hour ferry crossing came with stunning views .. particularly approaching the shore. - Actually 'approached' is a loose term as a few hunbdred meters out we were unceremoniously dumped onto a longtail boat for the journey in ... fortunately Toby was game as ever jumping down. On arriving Toby and I hung out with our bags on the beach while Kate went in search of accommodation. 5 minutes later I had met a young couple travelling for a year who told me of a great cheap resort with space and we were sorted ... if only Kate knew !!!! Two hours later she returned full of despair that there was nowhere decent around and the place was a bulding site. A short hop on another longboat round the rocks to the next beach - Tonsai - and we found a great resort of backp[ackers bungalows. No frills and little luxury but picturesque, clean and most of all a bed for the night !!
Heading down to the beach in the morning we decided to walk back to Railay accross the rocks ... but were stopped in our tracks awestruck at the climbers hundreds of feet overhead dangling on ropes !!! (lesley ... you and Pete would love it here ... climbers everywhere !!)
Inspired we headed for the trickiest route across with daredevil Toby leading the way (surprise surprise) pulling himself up by rope and skidding away.
Down the other side we decided that the young adrenaline junkie hadn't had enough ... so headed off in a kayak trhough caves to the other side of the bay ... how he is going to keep this up I have no idea !
Railay Bay itself though has been quite disappointing .... compoarted to the other places we've been it's quite crowded, touristy and loads of building work .... even if the natural scenery is stunning ! We may have come here too late but from all we'd heard we couldn't wait to get here and felt a bit let down.
2 more days here and up to chiang mai is the plan so far.
p.s. Kate is finally admitting that she isn't quite as game as she thought ... turning up with no accommiodation really stressed her out and the lack of cupboard in her room is driving her mad - it's quite fun to see !!
Much love to all
K, M and T
xx
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Jungle Home
I think that like drugs and tatoos (i speak from experience) and murder (i don't but I have heard) ... ordering your first cheeseburger and chips in a really nice Thai restaurant is one of those things that takes loads of building up to first time ... but just seems so easy and natural after that ..... I feel slightly ashamed !!!
Ok well it feels like ages since we've updated this and seems like so much has happened but when I go to write it down my mind goes slightly blank and I just wish I could upload some photos ... but all those of you who said that would be easy in all the Internet cafes were 100% wrong !!! So far despite having sophisticated memory card readers not 1 cafe has been able to both read my photos from it and also upload to the internet .... and best of all the last 1 I went to wiped three weeks of photos and destroyed both memory cards i was carrying !! Fortunately I found a small photo workshop where the guy was able to recover the photos to disk ... and amazingly .... for we are now on one of the smaller Islands (Ko lanta ... but i'll get to that !!!) ... told me that he didn't like chelsea anymore cos we sacked Mourinho ... wtf ??? don't you have better things to worry about ... you can't even understand the man !!!!! Haters everywhere !!!
On to the travels ... well to be honest we have still been lame and not really started any sort of 'travelling' as such and have just moved from one amazing resort to the next ... although the 6 hour bus and 2 ferry journey here with Toby showed us how good he is getting at this whole think ... he behaved brilliantly except for announcing he 'really needs a wee' at the back of a cramped minibus in the middle of a traffic jam in torrential rain which necessitated kate clambering over people with him and getting passengers to get out into the downpoor to let her out with him (an ever popular move !!)
We are now on a beautiful island ... Lanta ... staying in a resort cut into jungle/forest like scenery overlooking a beach which makes for the most stunning landscape but also an unbelievable array of insects and animals ... monkeys roam the grounds in the morning (although having never seen any I am prone to suspect a conspiracy and that everyone else in the resort is lying)
We have however explored the Island and come across a lovely elephant whose owner let Toby have a 10 minute ride in the Jungle just so we could check he was ok to go on a larger trek in Chiang mai ... and he had the best time ... just wish I could send some pics of his face !
We also hired a jeep for the day (please note all those of you who thought we would be ok here cos at least kate was sensible ... the jeep was my idea ... Kate wanted a single motorbike for the three of us !!! ) and in true Berger fashion set off around the Island with no map ! Stunning views from up in the mountains and a beautiful old village on the sea were the highlights.
We were also lucky enough to be here for the Islands annual 'Choa Ley' boat festival where small floats are made from palm leaves and filled with a lock of hair and some fingernails together with incense and money and sent to see as an offering to the water gods and wishes made. We went to the beach on the November full moon with Toby asleep and made him up a small bed while we made our wishes and it was really beautiful. We have just started putting him to bed ... waiting and then going out with him asleep next to us wherever we go ... so far hasn't been too bad except for the night we drove with him on the back seat of the Jeep to the most romantic spot on the island ... drove up onto the beach and got out to enjoy the view ... only to turn around to check him and find he had fallen off in the two minutes we were out of the car and was now screaming wildly.
Tomorrow we return to a different part of Krabi for a few days before on to Chiang Mai and then the temples at Angkor Watt in Siem Reap which did originally get cut from our itinerary but the more I hear about them the more determined I am to make the journey ... however circuitous it makes our route.
It's currently looking like Christmas and New Year in Nepal .. well if i get my way (unlikely I know)
Hope all is good with everyone and it's always so nice to hear from you all back home
M
x
Ok well it feels like ages since we've updated this and seems like so much has happened but when I go to write it down my mind goes slightly blank and I just wish I could upload some photos ... but all those of you who said that would be easy in all the Internet cafes were 100% wrong !!! So far despite having sophisticated memory card readers not 1 cafe has been able to both read my photos from it and also upload to the internet .... and best of all the last 1 I went to wiped three weeks of photos and destroyed both memory cards i was carrying !! Fortunately I found a small photo workshop where the guy was able to recover the photos to disk ... and amazingly .... for we are now on one of the smaller Islands (Ko lanta ... but i'll get to that !!!) ... told me that he didn't like chelsea anymore cos we sacked Mourinho ... wtf ??? don't you have better things to worry about ... you can't even understand the man !!!!! Haters everywhere !!!
On to the travels ... well to be honest we have still been lame and not really started any sort of 'travelling' as such and have just moved from one amazing resort to the next ... although the 6 hour bus and 2 ferry journey here with Toby showed us how good he is getting at this whole think ... he behaved brilliantly except for announcing he 'really needs a wee' at the back of a cramped minibus in the middle of a traffic jam in torrential rain which necessitated kate clambering over people with him and getting passengers to get out into the downpoor to let her out with him (an ever popular move !!)
We are now on a beautiful island ... Lanta ... staying in a resort cut into jungle/forest like scenery overlooking a beach which makes for the most stunning landscape but also an unbelievable array of insects and animals ... monkeys roam the grounds in the morning (although having never seen any I am prone to suspect a conspiracy and that everyone else in the resort is lying)
We have however explored the Island and come across a lovely elephant whose owner let Toby have a 10 minute ride in the Jungle just so we could check he was ok to go on a larger trek in Chiang mai ... and he had the best time ... just wish I could send some pics of his face !
We also hired a jeep for the day (please note all those of you who thought we would be ok here cos at least kate was sensible ... the jeep was my idea ... Kate wanted a single motorbike for the three of us !!! ) and in true Berger fashion set off around the Island with no map ! Stunning views from up in the mountains and a beautiful old village on the sea were the highlights.
We were also lucky enough to be here for the Islands annual 'Choa Ley' boat festival where small floats are made from palm leaves and filled with a lock of hair and some fingernails together with incense and money and sent to see as an offering to the water gods and wishes made. We went to the beach on the November full moon with Toby asleep and made him up a small bed while we made our wishes and it was really beautiful. We have just started putting him to bed ... waiting and then going out with him asleep next to us wherever we go ... so far hasn't been too bad except for the night we drove with him on the back seat of the Jeep to the most romantic spot on the island ... drove up onto the beach and got out to enjoy the view ... only to turn around to check him and find he had fallen off in the two minutes we were out of the car and was now screaming wildly.
Tomorrow we return to a different part of Krabi for a few days before on to Chiang Mai and then the temples at Angkor Watt in Siem Reap which did originally get cut from our itinerary but the more I hear about them the more determined I am to make the journey ... however circuitous it makes our route.
It's currently looking like Christmas and New Year in Nepal .. well if i get my way (unlikely I know)
Hope all is good with everyone and it's always so nice to hear from you all back home
M
x
Monday, November 19, 2007
Finding Nemo
ok ... last of four days in Krabi today and i'm starting to worry about having nothing planned past next week. !
It seemed like such a great way to travel .. planless that is ... but now people are worrying me with stories of fully booked hotels from now till xmas for high season and I have an urge to book the next three months worth of rooms - so as a happy compromise I'm trying to find cheap and easy ways to get from krabi to chiang mai and on to siem reap and then once I know I can get there I'll worry about accommodation.
In the meantime the last few days have been great ... Toby has already seen so much that I can just tell how amazing this experience is going to be for him. On our first morning here we went for a walk on the beach and he discovered a dead starfish and a dead puffer fish (huge!) both of which we let him poke / turn over with a big stick. He was fascinated and really enjoyed exporing them .... and the view from the beach itself was amazing. That may have been entirely natural but I have my suspicions that the elephant that proudly marched into the water in front of us on day two was staged for tourists ... although 1) no-one wanted any money and 2) there weren't that many of us around. Even so Toby absolutely loved stroking it although his initial reaction of 'Wow - an elephant ... Now can I see a giraffe daddy?' made me wonder if he realises how special this all is !!!
And as if all this wasn't good enough at broadening Tobys horizons .... even I may be mellowing to it all. When the friendly German couple with a child mentioned that they were also thinking about hiring a private longboat to Island hop and why didn't we share with them .. to my amazement I didnt recoil with horror and scream 'of course not ... get away bloody foreigners' but actually found myself agreeing that it might be a nice idea.
So today we went to some of the most beautiful, deserted Islands I have ever seen and swam with incredible fish ... we even saw a 100% replic Nemo standing outside his sea anemone guarding it ... although it was too deep for Toto to see. He did however feed some fish from the beach as they swam in shoals arond his ankles.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Krabi
enough stuff for four months with a three year old (considering one of the big rucksacks contains his large pop-up travel bed) ... hmmmmmm? remains to be seen !!
Excuse me if the writing seems a bit distracted but the old guy on my left is looking at pictures of grannies performing lewd acts and the one on my right has a screenful of 'Thai Girls looking for sex in your area now' in various states of undress and I'm finding it hard not to stare !!!
Well 2 good changes ... 1) anyone can leave comments on here now you dont need to be registered and 2) I have photos !!
...ok ive just discovered how long photos take in thai internet cafes so that may be the only ones today.
The last few days have been good ... visited the Grand Palace in Bangkok, took loads of riverboats up and down to keep Toby amused and went to chinatown ... as bustly a place as I have ever been. Toby has coped well considering the fact that almost everyone here thinks it's normal to pinch him and grab his hand ... i think him shouting no loudly and covering his face with his hands may be considered rude but i dont blame him at all.
Having said that I'm glad to be out of Bangkok which is such a hectic place to start a holiday like this ... and down at a beach. We have a great room with everything we need plus a huge kids pool for Toby to play in ... hopefully he will enjoy some downtime this week before the next city. So excuse me if blog updates aren't too forthcoming this week but I rekkon 'lounged by the beach and had a massage in my hut' may be 1) a bit dull and 2) extremely annoying !!
please continue to leave comments / emails as it's great to hear from you all
Mx
(wow am i feeling self-conscious after seeing the size of the guy 'Mika 54kkk Asian Legend' is fellating on the screen next to me in her boldly titled 'comeback video' - get googling !!!)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
comfort and luxury in Bangkok
Hello!
Well we are here and I am currently writing this from the Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok. A massive luxury complex whose air conditioning and lighting apparently uses as much electricity as a whole district/ country ...! So starting our eco holiday well!! But it's big bonus for a family with a 3 year old is that it has an indoor air conditioned soft play area - next to the computers ... and a children's karaoke area - we are being entertained by minipops singing 'Winter wonderland'.
The flight out was fine. Quite something to say of a 18 hour journey with a 3 year old. We booked a night flight hoping Toby wouldn't be able to fail to sleep - but of course he did! However he was amazing considering. He watched a lot of TV which helped keep us sane. I ended up dozing on the floor at one point trying to get him to sleep across the seats. A weird stopover in Dubai which reminded me of vegas. Emirates supplied a push chair to use in the airport - Toby finally slept and Matty and I camped on the floor eating noodles bought on credit card - with no idea of the exchange rate!! Luckily we later found out only $8.
We arrived in Bangkok and promptly got ripped off by a taxi tout - failing to listen to my mum's final waringin. But bonus - he did know the way to our friend's the salmon's house which is rather remote.
We arrived at their amazing thai mansion into the luxury of aircon and food cooked by their lovely housekeepers!!
The last 3 days have really been aclimatising in comfort. Highlight - me jumping in a tuktuk with no idea where to go so picking the first place i recognised on the map - a snake farm. A bit bizarre but it turned out to be amazing and we watched a demo of venom being squeezed out of a vipers fangs, and Toby had a python draped around him - very responsible mother trying to show Toby the dangers in life!
Yesterday we cooled off in a pool and Toby spent 2 hours playing with Ahaan and Freddy - I even had to shower and clean his two imaginary best friends (the real ones back in London) ... it was so so sweet - made me a little tearful. But on the positive A and F spared me and matty having to be cats for a while.
Also spent a few hours haggling at the Night Bazaar .. amazing how you get into the bargaining and realise you are arguing about whether to pay $1.90 or $2.20 for the fake watch but won't concede anyway.
Must go now as we are hungry and off to find noodles! (mattys highlight ... noodles and pork about 50p and really delicious !!)
Excuse this blog being a bit random to start with - we will get into the swing of it soon and once we have better internet access from friday Matty will add photos ! Plan so far is Krabi tomorrow, Ko Lanta Next Friday and then maybe Chang Mai followed by Cambodia and across to India for Vishals wedding (a client of Matty who is having a 5 day wedding in Gujarat!) but all is subject to change !!
tonnes of love and sunshine to you all and please post replies comments on here cos it will be lovely to hear from you all.
xx
Well we are here and I am currently writing this from the Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok. A massive luxury complex whose air conditioning and lighting apparently uses as much electricity as a whole district/ country ...! So starting our eco holiday well!! But it's big bonus for a family with a 3 year old is that it has an indoor air conditioned soft play area - next to the computers ... and a children's karaoke area - we are being entertained by minipops singing 'Winter wonderland'.
The flight out was fine. Quite something to say of a 18 hour journey with a 3 year old. We booked a night flight hoping Toby wouldn't be able to fail to sleep - but of course he did! However he was amazing considering. He watched a lot of TV which helped keep us sane. I ended up dozing on the floor at one point trying to get him to sleep across the seats. A weird stopover in Dubai which reminded me of vegas. Emirates supplied a push chair to use in the airport - Toby finally slept and Matty and I camped on the floor eating noodles bought on credit card - with no idea of the exchange rate!! Luckily we later found out only $8.
We arrived in Bangkok and promptly got ripped off by a taxi tout - failing to listen to my mum's final waringin. But bonus - he did know the way to our friend's the salmon's house which is rather remote.
We arrived at their amazing thai mansion into the luxury of aircon and food cooked by their lovely housekeepers!!
The last 3 days have really been aclimatising in comfort. Highlight - me jumping in a tuktuk with no idea where to go so picking the first place i recognised on the map - a snake farm. A bit bizarre but it turned out to be amazing and we watched a demo of venom being squeezed out of a vipers fangs, and Toby had a python draped around him - very responsible mother trying to show Toby the dangers in life!
Yesterday we cooled off in a pool and Toby spent 2 hours playing with Ahaan and Freddy - I even had to shower and clean his two imaginary best friends (the real ones back in London) ... it was so so sweet - made me a little tearful. But on the positive A and F spared me and matty having to be cats for a while.
Also spent a few hours haggling at the Night Bazaar .. amazing how you get into the bargaining and realise you are arguing about whether to pay $1.90 or $2.20 for the fake watch but won't concede anyway.
Must go now as we are hungry and off to find noodles! (mattys highlight ... noodles and pork about 50p and really delicious !!)
Excuse this blog being a bit random to start with - we will get into the swing of it soon and once we have better internet access from friday Matty will add photos ! Plan so far is Krabi tomorrow, Ko Lanta Next Friday and then maybe Chang Mai followed by Cambodia and across to India for Vishals wedding (a client of Matty who is having a 5 day wedding in Gujarat!) but all is subject to change !!
tonnes of love and sunshine to you all and please post replies comments on here cos it will be lovely to hear from you all.
xx
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
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