Vietnam

Greetings from Hanoi! No time to update now as we're off treking - back Wednesday when we should be able to do a new post. All well with us...lots of love Ann & Iain

Lakshadweep Islands

Firstly we only heard about the troubles in Mumbai yesterday on the plane over to Kochi (various papers available in flight reading) - obviously the main feature together with the unexpected monsoon conditions in Chennai. Thankfully we missed both and as we fly out from Kochi to Hanoi tonight, as we understand the troubles are continuing we hope the flights won't be too disrupted so far south.
We are both very well and thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Bangaram. Formerly known as the Laccadive Islands we took the train very uneventfully to Bangalore and got to the airport to discover Jet had cancelled their flight to Agatti (main island). No problem they organised seats on the earlier flight with Kingfisher only for us to discover when they eventually phoned our agent that he had already done so and was waiting for us to get in touch! 4 seats for us then! Shame he hadn't left a message for us at the airport; anyway from Agatti (one runway with sea either side and an open thatched hut as the transit lounge - lovely!) there was a 90 minute boat ride to Bangaram and we saw dolphins and turtles en route. We are quite laid back these days so didn't worry when the boat conked out halfway! Soon the problem was solved with the longest screwdriver we had ever seen and we arrived on a perfect coral island in the cloud. Thunder and lightening that evening and very humid (90-100%) but food was excellent and wine was good if quite expensive! In the morning we were woken by the sounds of massive winds in the palm trees followed by monsoon type rain and the management came around to our hut with a large umbrella for us to use to get to breakfast! By midday the skies had cleared but it remained cloudyish and humid. We had a good 2 hour snorkel in the bay and saw loads of different fishes. Next day we did more snorkelling - morning and afternoon at different reefs in the lagoon and saw some 3 foot long fishes that scared Ann when one swam right under her, and lazed apart from that. Our third day dawned bright and sunny and much less humid- just like on the pictures - and we took a boatride out to a shipwreck and some further reefs. As Iain said - it was like swimming in an aquarium! We also swam with lots of turtles in the afternoon. Iain says I should be fit now for trekking in Vietnam!
We arrived back in Kochi and are staying at a lovely (but expensive) hotel in Fort Kochi right on the waterfront and with a beautiful garden and pool which we are about to go back to until we go to the airport tonight. We were just in time for our sunset cruise last night - the colours over the water were just unbelievable..... we were only out in the boat for 40 minutes but probably took as many photos!
We remembered that one thing we forgot to mention in our blog about our drive in the hills around Ooty, bearing in mind our previous comments about roads, was that a jeep overtook us too fast, got scared when a bus came in the opposite direction and went into some spectacular skids, teetering on 2 wheels and ending up on its side. We were all shocked but they soon righted the jeep and gradually everyone clambered out - just a few sore heads but no injuries - probably saved because there were so many of them squashed into the jeep and Ann's services weren't required, thank goodness!!
Fort Kochi is quite a picturesque little place with Chinese fishing nets and fish stalls but is dwarfed by the extended city of Kochi itself. Vasco da Gama used Kochi as a base and was buried here for a while, there is obvious French influence in architecture and the British did some major engineering work to make the harbour which is now being extended to take container ships and become one of India's major ports. The round the world yacht race is calling here in a couple of days and they are frantically trying to tidy up the beach and harbour area.
Anyway the pool calls so that's all for now... Loads of love Ann & Iain
PS: Hils, Andrew, Erin & Phoebe: We can't believe Phoebe is standing already - but we're very glad she's sleeping so well for you. Thank Erin for her present but if she eats them before we get back that's alright! What brand of fags does Andrew want? Is Paul okay? Also Iain - he hasn't texted us back yet? Loads of love Mum & Dad

South India finale

Hi again! I've managed to change settings to allow postings from anyone so it is easier to post comments and keep in touch - thanks Lizzy. We are off to Kochi again today and tomorrow fly out to the Lakshadweep Islands for some down time. Energy levels are not bad considering somewhat disturbed sleep last few nights and slightly upset tum. Not too homesick yet but thinking of you all so do post a comment or text now and again - although reception is somewhat haphazard. We enjoyed a beautiful 7 hours scenic drive up to Ooty (at 2,500m) although towards the end we were driving through cloud forest and it was raining. The drive down to Mysore the next day was also very scenic and through a reserve and a National Park in the sunshine this time! We saw wild boar, deer, elephants and monkeys. Mysore Palace which we saw yesterday is possibly the most magnificent building we have ever seen and the columns and stained glass came from Glasgow! It was built in the early 1900s to replace the original 600 year old palace which had burnt down. The city of Mysore itself is again properous and somewhat quieter, with greater Hindu influence compared with Kerala. That's it for now but we will try to update when we return from the islands in about five days time. Lots of love Ann & Iain

South India update

It rained today - well a few drops anyway! Humidity 90-100% so we are here in a cool internet cafe taking a break.
We had a great stay in Periyar Tiger Reserve - no tigers and precious little wild life but a beautiful hotel and the early morning walk in the reserve was lovely; as was a boat trip on the manmade lake there (48 square Km). This was constructed by the British as a leisure/fishing place and we saw nesting cormorants, otters, turtles, deer and a water snake! Then we drove to the Kerala back waters - a maze of natural and man made waterways with some very large lakes and rivers. We stayed on a luxury houseboat - a converted rice boat with two double cabins and three staff. Food was great and they even went into a nearby village to buy us a bottle of Indian wine! This is excellent but costs more than the meals themselves! For example today's lunch cost 65 rupees (less than a pound) but our wine last night cost 800 R. We had a very relaxing day on the boat away from the sightseeing and the towns but there was no air conditioning in the cabins so we didn't sleep so well. We are now in Kochi and we return here on our way back from Bangaram. Kochi is a large and growing industrial and modern city with a growing port for containers. IT and tourism figure greatly in the local economy; the latter especially in Kerala as a whole. Kerala is very popular both with Indian and international tourists as the landscape is rich and luscious, with many paddy fields on the plains and the backwaters themselves are very scenic. We had an interesting visit to a spice garden and saw many spices growing and Iain got attacked by mozzies! Spice is still a major export with tea, coffee and rubber - the tea plantations especially were extensive on the hillsides as we travelled to Kochi. We go to Ooty tomorrow which is in the major tea growing area and higher so should be less humid! It is obvious that Kerala is more prosperous than most of India and it also boasts the highest literacy rate of 97%. It is even more obvious here that Chistianity is the major religion which is surprising given that the Kerala government is Communist. Apparently they take turns in government every five years so the Communist government is tolerant of different views and faiths. That's all for now but we'll try and post in Mysore before we disappear to Bangaram; if not it will be when we return to Kochi en route for Hanoi. All our love - Ann and Iain

South India

Well we've been in South India for several days now and it is interesting how different it is from the north. Greener and with more palm trees and rice paddy fields and a lot of rural communities. Towns and cities tend to be as mad and dirty as up north but the temple complexes have to be seen to be believed! Roads are under construction everywhere and in a seemingly haphazard fashion with dual carriageways suddenly changing to single carriage ways and then into original dirt track which makes travel somewhat longer and more bouncy! Bamboo and palm are utilised in every conceivable way from thatch, fencing, plates and curtains. Our guide is actually from the north and speaks Hindi so has nearly as many problems with the language as we do. Differences in religion are very apparent with Buddhism and Sikhism less widespread than in the north and with Christianity and Hinduism predominating. We are just about getting to grips with the major Hindu deities now but only with the main ones as there are thousands of them!
We liked Mammalapurum best - lovely hotel by the sea with some amazing temples and monuments. Pondicherry and Thanjavur were interesting and we are now templed out as we have seen 5 temple complexes in 3 days! Today's was the most extensive and took about 2 hours just to wander around the tourist parts! Tomorrow we are off to Kerala to stay on a nature reserve and then on a houseboat so we're looking forward to that. Our coughs appear to be better -touch wood. We hope everyone at home is well and that the weather isn't too bad - it's cloudy here but very warm and humid. The monsoon has not been as severe as usual either here in the south or in the north. We should be able to update again when we reach Kochi in about 4-5 days time so until then lots of love to you all...Ann and Iain

Nepal

As the travelogue says"Nepal is a land of snow clad peaks, lush green valleys, jungles and forests" to which I would add dusty towns, temples and many small abodes of mud brick, stone and wood scattered throughout the countryside.
It is quite different to Rajasthan and Kathmandu is a quieter (relatively), cleaner (relatively) and with less obvious poverty than Delhi. We travelled on roads for most journeys where ancient buses and trucks ruled rather than cows; their exhausts contributing to the pollution especially in Kathmandu itself. Progress is slow especially on the hills where landslides and flash floods have damaged the roads (road signs with pictures of trucks falling over the edge are frequent!) In rural areas overloaded carts, animals and people provide further hazards as do school children who seem to be on their way to or from school at all times of the day. The fact that they are wearing new uniforms suggests that the country is placing more importance on education. Although the President is a Maoist some sort of coalition seems to exist and there is a general attitude of 'wait and see' politically. Hedges and walls are less evident than in India but where walls exist they are unsurprisingly made of river-boulders. These general impressions of Nepal have been dictated by Iain..I am now going to briefly tell you what we've actually been doing.
We were only forty minutes late with the train from Varanasi so we were in plenty of time to catch the Kathmandu flight. We met our guide Arjun at the airport and he took us under his wing and was extremely helpful throughout, as was our main driver. We stayed at the Yak and Yeti - very plush and expensive by Nepalese standards but comparable to an ordinary hotel price wise in the UK. We visited the main Durbar square of Kathmandu which contains many temples with wonderful wooden carvings around doors, windows and roofs. We collapsed back at the hotel and after a bowl of soup (too tired to eat!) we were asleep before 9pm.
We then visited a couple of famous sites around Kathmandu - one Buddhist temple site and monastery on the top of a hill and one Hindu with many stupas and temples which also had burning ghats on the river banks where they were cremating their dead. We also visited a lived in mediaeval town where many of the original buildings and temples remain or have been restored - very atmospheric and interesting.
The following day we had an amazing drive through spectacular scenery to Pokara where we stayed at the Fishtail Lodge on the edge of the lake. Very beautiful and great views of mountains when it's clear. Unfortunately we hit a cloudy day when we got up at 4.30am to go and climb for half an hour to a viewpoint where we should have seen the sun rise over the mountains so we didn't! It even rained a few drops in the afternoon!
Our next drive was equally fascinating (the last 7 Km by landrover through 3 rivers!) - to Chitwan National Park where we stayed in a jungle lodge - rooms okay but no electricity, although we did have showers which sometimes ran warm. It was a friendly place in a beautiful situation.
We did 2 elephant safaris but didn't see any rhinos although others had seen two the day before. Surprising lack of animal life (and insects, thankfully). The canoe ride down the river was great but not long enough! Walks with the Rangers were good but again we didn't see anything apart from birds, deer, wild boar and a crocodile.
We flew back to Kathmandu yesterday on a 20 seater plane and had another early start this morning to fly to Everest and back at 6.30am. We didn't get as close as I thought we were going to but Iain took some good pictures of the really spectacular mountain range as we flew past.
Apart from a 24 hour bout of the runs we've been reasonably lucky so far but Iain has now got a cold and a cough (which he thinks he caught from me) and is irritating him somewhat (he says a lot!). We hope you are all well and we'll update you all when we next get access to Broadband!
Lots of love Ann & Iain