Back in the UK

Hey A,

Well my 3 week stay in the states quickly turned into 6 fun filled weeks but now i'm back in the UK trying to find a job and somewhere I want to live.

While Liverpool has really nice people, a reputation of awesome nightlife and lots of history with both the Beatles and the Titanic i'm not convinced it's where I want to be.

So for the past few days I have been visiting my good friend from Australia Liz and checking out Bristol where she currently lives.  After a massive feast of the best Chinese food outside of China with very full tummies we slowly strolled back to Liz's along the river and I realised this has to be my next place to call home.

The Bristol job hunt is now on....so stayed tuned!

Loved seeing you and miss you heaps 

E xx

All Good Things Must Come To An End...

Hey A,
I can't believe its over! Our three month adventure ended where it began in Delhi but instead of sightseeing we were shopping and finally getting to see an English movie...Moneyball with Brad Pitt..love him!! India really wore us down and there we were in our prepaid taxi ten minutes from the hotel on the way to the airport and the tyre blows. The driver wouldn't refund our money or get us another taxi so we were stuck on the side of the road watching him change it, along with the usual male crowd. As a result of three months in India this followed by a lot of yelling and crazy driving, we are lucky to be alive.
I had never heard of Saudi Arabian Airlines until I saw their super cheap flight from Delhi to London on cleartrip.com. I was expecting a budget airline with the price of the flight but it was super nice. Lots of leg room and complimentary meals. They even have a prayer room and Muhammads prayer when taking off for those men walking around the plane in white towels and sheets! Besides all of that if you don't mind being stared at I would recommend them to fly with.
We had a seven hour stop over in Jeddah's most basic airport and a food voucher to survive on as the only food outlet wouldn't take credit card or Indian Rupees so I had to work a little magic to get some decent food! Haha. We managed a nap somehow and were again happy we had purchased sleeping bags and travel pillows before leaving Brisbane.
Each with a 20kg backpack and a suitcase we struggled through the London Underground to the Railway station for our two hour train ride to Liverpool.
So Liverpool is my new home. It's a smaller city than I expected but it has a lot of old English charm and some of my favorite stores as well as a Beatles Museum.
I can't wait til you visit so I can show you but first I'll being seeing you in my home away from home Rockford!!
Love E

Never Before Have I....

Hey there,
Since we are leaving India today Lish and I have been playing this game we created called "Never before have I..."
Turns out it's a little more difficult for me after our time in China, I'm sure you understand why!!
So here's a few of our favorites...enjoy!!

Never before have I...
- seen so many women wearing such brightly colored saris and men wearing skirts
- seen traffic jams full of pedestrians, rickshaws, tuk tuks and cars unable to move
- heard so many horns blaring unnecessarily I think my hearing has been permanently effected
- eaten so much dirt in my cornflakes
- seen people eating with their hands then ferociously licking them clean as if it was a delicious dessert
- seen camels overloaded as work vehicles
- been in a tuk tuk which is about to collide head on with a group of cows sitting in the middle of the road
- seen such beauty and such filth combined in the one landscape
- seen people jumping out of the way of cows running through the street
- seen such cruelty to animals
- seen a dead body wrapped in a blanket carried through busy streets
- had the pleasure of viewing a young boy standing on a fence taking a poo
- had so many people putting their hands out for money rather than getting a job or going to school
- seen so many people manipulating others for a free hand out
- been around so many stray dogs laying on roads and roofs
- seen an Indian woman urinate standing up and only holding her sari slightly off the ground then leave without wiping or shaking!!
- dropped the standards of food I am willing to eat to a ridiculous low
- shared a naan with a cow at the train station
- been surrounded by so many men who do nothing but stare and ogle at me
- been viewed frequently as a dollar sign
- seen people bath and wash their clothes and dishes in dirty river water where rubbish and body parts are dumped
- watched a body burn on the side of the Ganges River and feel like I've taken an ash shower
- enjoyed watching movies I couldn't understand a word of

Varanasi and the Ganges River

Hey hey,
I had been super keen to visit Varanasi ever since I saw a documentary about it starring famous Australian Andrew Dado back in his prime.

Varanasi was our last stop on our three month adventure. I think if we had of visited here first we may have been on the first planes out of India. It's a very confronting place to visit with death and the dying really in your face. Varanasi is situated on the Ganges River which is considered by the Indians to be Holy. To me there is nothing holy about a black river where rubbish is dumped and people bath and wash their clothes (hopefully not ours!!) but we all have our beliefs.

The Hindus believe that if they are cremated here they will go to heaven regardless if they have been good or bad in this life. However there are some exceptions for example children under five, pregnant woman, victims of snake bites and those with diseases are not cremated they have weights tied to their body and are thrown in the Ganges.
Cremations are done around the clock in public at either two Ghats along the river. There is a podium which those of a high caste are burnt and those of a lower caste are burnt along the dirty banks of the river. We watched a body wrapped in white resting on a bamboo stretcher ducked in the river then after about half and hour placed on top of log fire. Only the men attend the cremation while the woman wait at home.
The smell of flesh burning, the intense smoke and the foot painted red poking out from flames are permanently pressed into my memory.
If this all wasn't confronting enough there were dogs poking through the rubbish and chewing on things I can only assume to be body parts from the fire.
We walked away nauseous, stunned by what we had witnessed and covered in ash very eager for a shower.

From a distance Varanasi and the Ganges River look beautiful especially at sunrise but when you look closely it's filthy. The water is disgusting housing hundreds of diseases, the ghats and nearby streets are full of rubbish and poo from cows, dogs and goats. To walk without your eyed glued to the ground would be disastrous! Like many other places we visited there are constantly people putting out their hands for money rather than getting a real job or being lazy in the job they had. We had to yell at a boy to row our boat at sunrise. It seemed more apparent here or perhaps India had finally just taken it's toll on our patience.

So now we are in Delhi eagerly awaiting our flight to the UK...I'm so happy I get to spend some time chilling out with you before I start a new job.

Love E xx

Sikkim

Hey A,
We recently visited the protected area of Sikkim in the north of India. We were required to obtain a permit to enter this particular area. Unfortunately we were visiting at the wrong time of year so we were unable to see the view we had heard was spectacular due to cloud and fog cover, as well as ride the rope way which we were excited to do as this was closed for maintenance.

We decided to visit Tsomgo Lake which was about a two hour drive from Gangtok where we were staying, along the side of a mountain and insanely bumping roads through extreme fog. It had recently snowed so the lake was frozen and covered in gorgeous white snow. I rode a Yak through the snow and Lish and I had a snowball fight with our guide. It was a really fun day and definitely a highlight of India for me.

We spent a couple of days in Gangtok the capital of Sikkim as well. We felt like we had left India as the people look Chinese, Napali and Tibetan but still spoke Hindi. Their city is surrounded around a mall, not the malls you know though but what we call a mall in Australia. It was a street closed to cars with shops on either side and benches, gardens and a fountain down the centre.

Our final stop before our flight in Delhi was Varanasi. To get here we had to catch a shared jeep for nearly six hours followed by an overnight train. Of course our train was delayed!!!

But more on Varanasi next time.

Not long now.....:) E xx

Sri Lanka Part Two

Hey A,
With all the excitement over my birthday I forgot to tell you about some of the places I visited in Sri Lanka.

After about six days of soaking up the sun and eating amazing seafood we headed to the hills of Kandy. We hired a driver for the day and headed to Sirgirya which is about two hours from Kandy. It's also called the Lion Rock and one of the kings built a palace and a swimming pool on top of a massive rock with beautiful gardens and caves surrounding. One of the caves has some pretty raunchy artwork inside!! Haha
The climb up the rock proved to be only a small warm up for our next adventure...Adam's Peak.

Adam's Peak is a mountain Buddists climb as a pilgrimage. We woke at 2am to start climbing at 230am so we could see the sunrise. It was seriously tough work for that hour of the morning. 5200 steps later we reached the top along with thousands of others. It was heartwarming to see the elderly being carries up and down by their children and grandchildren and parents carrying their young. It really is a family ritual for them.

Amongst the masses at the top I managed to loose the girls. I basically ran down that mountain it was that or be pestered by the locals, one in particular kept telling me to look at the sun..very strange!
So I arrived back at our guesthouse an hour before the girls so was lucky they had some super cute puppies to play with.

I think it took my body about four days to recover but it was definitely worth the hard work and the very early morning.

Only 2 weeks til I see you...can't wait!

Love E xx

Birthday Postponed

So the rest of my birthday...
After I slept for a much needed 12 hours we headed to the famous bakery and restaurant Glenary's for breakfast. It's best not to have any expectations when ordering food in India especially when trying a restaurant for the first time. Glenary's stood by it's reputation and I was served a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and butter toast. Usually the bread is really sweet in India but we were greeted with delicious fluffy fresh bread that actually tasted normal.
After breakfast Lish had organized a piece of chocolate cake with two candles and also chocolates as a birthday treat...thanks Lish!!

I was very excited about going to the zoo here in Darjeerling as it is renowned for it's breeding programs so we headed there to check it out. Compared to the Beijing Zoo which is a disgusting and should be shut down for cruelty to animals (i'm sure you remember) this zoo had good enclosures with plenty of space, with lots of food and different levels for the animals to be amused. It was my first time seeing the various Leopords, Snow Wolves, the Black Bear and of course a Bengal Tiger so I really enjoyed it. Although I had seen the Red Pandas before in China I was still captivated by them they are totally cute! I of course sat on a bench and waited while Lish looked at the birds...stupid bird phobia! We even dressed up in local attire and had some photos taken, we look pretty funny.

We walked back up the hill to the centre of town taking in the views and hoping for clearer skies tomorrow and ran some errands before we headed back to Glenary's for dinner (the restaurant we wanted to try out was closed after we took an hour to find it.) My American favorite of Mac and Cheese was on the menu so I was pretty pleased. We then headed back to our room and toasty fireplace to chill out.

My postponed birthday was alot less drama and stress free than my actual birthday...thankfully!! Isn't it great to be able to postpone your birthday?!!!?
I miss you and hopefully I will be celebrating with you next year xx

Life begins at 30....really??

Hey there,

Well my 30th birthday is one I will definitely never forget. The original plan was to spend it on the luscious beaches of the Andaman Islands snorkeling, tanning and having a few cocktails however flight cancellations and lack of available accommodation had made it impossible so we took on plan B..head to the mountains of Darjeerling.

 

Two hours out from Kolkata our train stopped and all the passengers from our carriage were told to move into the next carriage. There were quite a few police with torches the size of watermelons and others with large guns searching just our carriage however at this stage we were unsure of for what. We watched on concerned and confused for sometime until I overheard a conversation with two guys in Hindi the only word I recognized was "bomb". I took a few minutes to process this then asked him to clarify. He told me it was dangerous and we shouldn't be on the train at all as someone had phoned the police and told them there was a bomb in our carriage...WTF!!!

Turns out the guy was traveling with his band and two of the guys could speak English. We stood on the platform in the cold (I was only wearing a t-shirt and obviously couldn't go back for a sweater) with spots of rain for nearly 4 hours until 2am. During this time the police brought in dogs from the bomb squad and searched the entire train while we made friends with the band. The situation would have been a lot worse if we didn't have anyone to translate for us so we were lucky in that respect. Although the Indian police did their job as I am still alive to tell the tale, their work was seriously sloppy. They didn't evacuate the train or close down the station and other trains continued to pass and even stop. We were not told to keep a distance from the train (we did though as we actually have common sense!) and other passengers gathered around the train watching the dogs in action while others returned to sleep in the suspected carriage. No one was searched when the green light was given for the train to continue to it's destination although the dogs had been walked through the crowds of people (this provided me with some comfort) but if someone was carrying a bomb on them they could have easily avoided the police. Before I would reenter the train I made the police inspector promise the train was safe and I wouldn't be dying on this train...All the Indians were pretty amused by this!!

After a few hours sleep (somehow) we were confronted with another interesting situation. A transvestite boarded the train and was threatening men in our cabin to expose themselves (which is extremely embarrassing to the Indians) if they didn't give 'it' money. Of course the men obliged rather than facing the embarrassment but I was shocked at the lengths people in this country go to to scab money from others. This was then followed by another incident later while we were in a taxi when a crazy lady stood in the middle of the road holding a large piece of wood threatening to smash in the car unless the driver gave her 2 rupees. She made some signals with her hands indicating she was crazy but I was again disgusted at the lengths people go to for money rather than getting out there and finding a proper job.

So I turned 30 while standing on a train platform while my carriage was searched for a bomb!! Who would of ever thought...

So after all the excitement and drama of the day and massive delays we reached Darjeerling six hours late hungry and tired. No thanks to our driver who stopped three times during the three hour journey up the mountain. On the third stop I actually got out and yelled at him that I wasn't paying him to eat I was paying him to drive. Harsh I know but it had been a seriously long 24 hours. Yelling proved to help the situation and we didn't stop again. 

Lish shouted me pizza and fries for dinner (which was breakfast and lunch as well) and then we built a fire in our room (so grateful for a room with a fireplace in this weather) and I fell asleep soon after. We decided to celebrate my birthday properly the next day....TO BE CONTINUED!!!

From your happy to be alive however over the hill best friend xx

Sri Lanka

Hi there,
Do you recall the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that hit Sri Lanka after a massive earthquake in Indonesia?
When arriving in the south coast area of Sri Lanka it's really apparent life here has seriously been altered from this natural disaster. Graves border the coast road with signs along the streets recalling the number of lives and houses lost.
Today we went to the Dutch Fort in Galle and walked along the shore to the lighthouse and back through the old buildings and churches. Our tuk tuk driver from Galle back to our hotel in Anawatuna spoke like it was just a few months ago how the area we were driving through had been devastated by the tsunami with the entire waterfront going under water. All the buildings we were seeing were brand new. The tragic result was the loss of 4000 lives just in Galle with tens of thousand in Sri Lanka as a whole. Our driver had been lucky and been on higher ground at the time.
Life along the coast here survives on it's fishing and tourist industry so it's amazing to see how it has bounced back even though after chatting with the locals it seems like yesterday to them.
Sadly the beaches aren't what they used to be and now a narrow shoreline remains. None the less it's still a beautiful area with some very lovely locals.
Miss you
E xx

Going Bananas over Seafood!!

Hey Anna Banana,
I'm in banana country!! It's so tropical in Sri Lanka and there are bananas everywhere so I'm reminded of your nickname.
Also so much seafood, which Im loving. I've been indulging myself with a few of my favorites including golden fried calamari, prawns and of course fish and chips.

We had heard some great reviews on a restaurant called Hot Rock which is located on the rocky edge of Unawatuna Beach. The Old Fashioned Prawn Curry is their most popular dish and I was not disappointed. A bed of fluffy rice with a sea of yellow curry with delicious prawns. YUM!!!

The seafood here definitely beats what I tried in both Nepal and India. I had grilled King Fish in Goa which was very average and the fried fish I had from the lake in Pokhara, Nepal was terrible...looking back I should have really taken a look at the lake first!!

Your pizza looks delicious, I'm excited to try when I get there (minus the olives please!!)
Love E xx

I Found Paradise in India

Hey,
I never thought I would find paradise in India, then I arrived in Goa. It's a lot bigger than I imagined with the north and south being two and a half hours apart by car.

We started in the north and had our first Indian beach experience here. You will remember what it was like in both Thailand and Cambodia where you are constantly hassled to purchase food, clothes and jewelry on the beach, well the north of Goa is exactly the same but you have the added nuisance of large groups of men just hanging around. They show way too much affection towards one another while starring at us which is a huge deterrent for us to go swimming. Plus there's only so many photos I want of me in a bikini floating around India and the Internet!! Haha (Indian men are known to take photos of foreign girls and pretending they are their "easy" western girlfriend.)

The south of Goa is a world apart, with less crowded beaches and no sellers allowed on the beach...woohoo!! Palolem Beach is lined with palm trees hanging over huts and with restaurants flowing out onto the sand. I had always wanted to stay in a beach hut so we rented one while we were here. It's so great walking out the door and being able to see the beach and hear the waves at night. I love never needing to wear shoes as everything you need here you can get with the sand between your toes...plus I finally got to swim!
Tomorrow we leave this paradise for the chaos of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It's a little sad leaving this place as it was leaving our 3 tiny now flea free kittens in the north.


Hopefully I will return soon...with my favorite American travel companion!! (Hint hint!!)
Miss you,
E xx

Fish Spa and Kittens

Hey A,
Today I had my first fish spa. This is where you put your feet into fish tanks and the little fish eat the dry skin off your feet. I had seen this before in Thailand but never really wanted to try it before seeing it here in Goa.
We first had our feet washed then as soon as you put your feet into the tank your feet are mobbed by hundreds of fish. It's the strangest feeling at first feeling the dry skin being pulled from your feet and seriously ticklish!!
Once I started to relax it was a really good experience and my feet feel much smoother.
While we were at the fish spa a guy pulled 3 teeny tiny kittens out of a box he had rescued and started feeding them cow milk from a babies bottle. This horrified me as cats are lactose intolerant so this really upsets their stomachs and is generally bad for their health. I got talking to the guy and offered him some advice on taking care of them. They are so adorable just fitting in the palm of my hand, but constantly meowing as they are riddled with flees. My heart really went out to these poor little creatures so I'm heading back there tomorrow to help bath and get rid of some of the fleas. This trip has really made me realize how much of an animal lover I really am, even though you had been telling me this years ago!
Missing you,
E xx

Just like America...in Mumbai

Hey Ann,
I have arrived in Mumbai and it is definitely on my list of favorite cities. The shopping malls here are packed with all my favorite stores and restaurants. I was lucky enough to have McDonalds, Dominos Pizza and TGI Fridays all in one day!! I am yet to find the Chilis but I'm working on it.
The other day my friend ordered a Mozzarella salad and to my surprise it came with mozzarella sticks. Of course this reminded me of you so I took a photo to show you and so I can make my own interpretation when I get to the UK.
Wish you were here.
Love Em xx

The Rat Temple

Hi there,


Nice snow hat...looks like a few I saw in Nepal!


I recently visited the Rat Temple while in Bikaner, which is in the north of Rajasthan. The rats here are treated as sacred and protected. If you step on one you have to put a coin down in its place. While this is really a unique experience, I don't think you would be able to experience anywhere else in the world, this place is definitely not for the squeamish.
Shoes are not allowed to be worn and covers are provided for your feet (thankfully!!) but this was still a little too close to those dirty not so little rodents for my liking. After seeing the Indian people let the rats crawl all over them and one mistaking me for an Indian and trying his luck up the leg of my pants, I was ready to get out of there quick smart!!
Being a once in a lifetime experience I'm glad I've been able to visit but positive I will not be returning!!


I much prefer squirrels, which remind me of being in America.


Happy snow shoveling!
Love E xx