14 February 2006: South Island New Zealand

Dolphin-swimming, Sky-diving, Ice-climbing, Bouldering, Scrambling, Tramping, Kayaking, Hitch-hiking, fun!
New Photo Gallery: http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c825544.html (Weeks 47-52)

Hello, and farewell, as this will be last travel blog for a while. Sorry for this being a little late, but it’s taken me a while to adjust back to this hemisphere. But I'm now back in the sunny UK, and happily able to catch up with you all very soon (or sooner).

It's been a crazy time on New Zealand’s South Island, and I've ended up hitch-hiking the whole time in order to save money. The lifts have generally been amazingly good, and it's been a great way to meet travellers & locals, and be spontaneous. Arriving on the ferry from Wellington, you see the beautifully convoluted coastline that's home to the Queen Charlotte Track. On arrival I found that the one train had gone, & the buses were full to Kaikoura, so Martin & I had to try out luck with the thumb straight away. And were picked up by a single female in a sporty red car - so the stereotypes are wrong!

Kaikoura is very pretty, jutting out from the mountain range & being a home to seals & dusky dolphins – although it was a bit full of tourists & reminiscent of a small British seaside resort (without the kiss-me-quick hats)! But it was great to meet Jerry & Helen there, and get a real bed again after spending most of 3½ months in a tent. Strange to have New Year there, but it was really great to see friends after so long on the road. We arrived in Christchurch & saw the Anglicised city, Jerry's pretty house, and then Southward to the French town of Akaroa on the Banks Peninsular (which Slartibartfast would have been proud to design). Really worth a visit, and I was lucky enough to get to swim with Hector's dolphins - the world's smallest & cutest. So agile, they play with you to see how fast you can swim, and test how entertaining you are. But I was glad not to see any Great White sharks that day. Since they’re on the endangered list, I wonder why they still play with us after all we've done?

Afterwards, Jerry was going sampling near Arthur's Pass so we hitched with him & arrived at one of the best places in the world to go bouldering, Castle Hill. It's the area they filmed the stone table scene for the Narnia film, and the limestone had been sculpted into arches, caves, mushrooms & submarines. And so I was glad I'd carried my rock-shoes this far. At night, we'd chat with the campers & climbers at the local campsite, play with giant mountain parrots (Kea) & blow up gas canisters. This place is famed for it's freak microclimate that meant when everywhere else had rain, Castle Hill usually still has sunshine. John & Viv from Sheffield joined us & we took them caving at Cave Stream, then we scrambled across the snow fields & peaks to Avalanche Peak via a staircase of roots called the Coral Track. I had a superb time in this part of Southern Alps, until the Keas decided to attack; trying to eat a book on Global Warming, along with my cheese & crackers! They're so agile & curious that they're more like monkeys. But by the time I left the tent had two new Kea-shaped doors.

Bad weather forced us to recover at Monteith's Brewery in Greymouth (try the Radler!), & I left Martin & the tent behind in order to start "tramping" (like hiking in the UK, but with sunshine) on the 83km Heaphy track. A fantastic Kiwi insisted on taking me on a tour of the coastline, the pancake rocks & her hometown as I hitched there, and she couldn't have been nicer. But finally out in the wilderness, I had blazing weather for walk though the beach palm trees, swimming in the Heaphy River and watched the sunset over the sea to the North, East & West from Mount Perry. To relax afterwards I stayed at Shambala in Golden Bay for a few days, an eco-lodge overlooking Farewell Spit with its own meditation/yoga hall & glow-worm walk to the pub. Nice.

But I was still keen to see the mountains and glaciers, so managed to hitch 9hours (including a picnic) Southward with a wonderful German couple down the road to the Franz Joseph Glacier. The weather was fantastic, so I took my chance for a sky-dive over the glaciers - a chance that the weather gods hadn’t given me in Taupo. It was dreamlike, surrending to gravity without fear. Watching the mists disappear from over the Tasman Sea, the glaciers winding down to the plains, & Mounts Tasman & Cook rising out of their vast reservoirs of snow. So much better than bungy-jumping!?! Afterwards, I relaxed by walking to the terminal face of the Franz-Joseph glacier & watched Volkswagen-sized pieces of ice bounce their way downstream before heading to the Fox glacier.

The next day was the main activity I’d come here for, an 8am start to learn ice-climbing on the glacier. With a Kiwi guide, a Bristol girl & two strong Malaysians we started on harder & harder 10-15m walls, climbing as much as we wanted under the blue skies until I finished on a final overhang. This has probably spoilt me for the reality of winter-climbing in Scotland! Of course, getting out of Fox was harder than getting there & I was stranded in the middle of nowhere till a KiwiExperience driver took pity on me, and I was ‘adopted’ by the lovely group of tourists onboard & whisked off. Several photo-stops & stories later, I arrived in the lakeside town of Kanaka (Mt Aspiring & The Misty Mountains) to swim & sail. This place knocks the British Lake District into a cocked hat. I had to move on to start tramping the Routeburn Track which bridges between Mt Aspiring & Fiordland National Parks, so I quickly passed through Queenstown & The Remarkables.

It was at this point that I really noticed the landscape was all going a bit Tolkien, especially when I had to pass through Lothlorien & Isengard to get there! The alpine passes with views to the sea, and forests so deep you knew that if the Orcs didn’t get you then the Ewoks would! Fortunately, walking with Ori & Joel kept me safe, except from having to do freezing dives into the breathtaking Lake MacKenzie to impress the girls. I’d really recommend this walk to anyone.

At the end of the trial, I caught a lift with Oleg & Olya & managed to join them on their kayaking trip with ‘Tex’ – being dropped at Stirling Falls and catching the wind & tide back. This placed can only be understood from the water, as the scale is truly epic. Mile-high cliffs descending into the dark waters, seals & penguins following our silent kayaks. But do stay overnight to avoid the day-trippers & see bonfires on the beach with the locals, and I can recommend short walks to Bowden Falls and Gertrude’s Saddle. The natural way to get back to Queenstown was to hike the Caples, and the huts, scenery, swimming, wardens & people were so outstanding that I stayed a while.

Back in the bright lights of Queenstown, Roman (killyourtv) and Michelle (stargazer) helped me beat the casino at blackjack, visit some very posh vineyards for wine-tasting & then look for gold at Arrowtown (The Ford of Bruinen) – but still the hills called one last time & I soon hitched to Twizel (The Plennor Fields) & then Mount Cook Village. Unfortunately the weather went a bit Scottish for a few days, but eventually the sun broke through & I could get to the Mueller Hut which overlooks Mt Cook’s South face & the avalanche swept slopes of Mt Sefton. This was important to me, not just because of the views but also because I could follow in Ed Hillary’s footsteps by scrambling onto the ‘Weetbix’ rocks of Mt Ollivier & Mt Kitchener – the first mountaineering route he ever did.

Two & a half months had flown by in New Zealand, and I spent the last days with Jerry & Helen again – before the inevitable return to the homeland. Finally, just before boarding the flight it was cancelled – which meant that rather than return via Dubai I had to circumnavigate the globe business class via Hollywood and their super-sized American airport guards. Which was nice was to end it.

Am I different? Have I discovered anything new? Only you can tell me that. Happy 2006 to everyone! I hope that you're all well where ever you may be. My old mobile number is active again, so get in contact if you get the chance.

Mark-in-Sheffield

“There's a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road is where I'll always be
Every stop I make, I'll make a new friend
Can't stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.”
- The Littlest Hobo


Previous Photo Galleries:
Week1 (1st Week in India),
Weeks2-4 (Kerala & Karnataka),
Weeks5-8 (Karnatarka, Goa & Rajasthan),
Weeks9-15 (Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh & Nepal),
Weeks16-20 (Nepal & Tibet),
Weeks21-23 (Tibet & Shangri La),
Weeks24-28 (Kathmandu, Delhi & NW India),
Weeks29-33 (Jammu&Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab & Delhi),
Weeks34-37 (Taj Mahal & Australia's Queensland),
Weeks38-41 (Australia's Queensland),
Weeks42-46 (North Island New Zealand).

12 January 2006: North Island New Zealand

New Photo Gallery: http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c793701.html (Weeks 42-46)

Happy 2006 to everyone!

I hope that you're all well where ever you may be. Here, the stars are bright with Cygnus flying down the Milky Way & an inverted Orion visible, but I haven't seen the Ship (Argo Navis) of Jason & the Argonauts fame yet. I trust the stars are bright wherever you are. Since arriving in New Zealand I feel like the place is familiar, much more so than in Australia. Not in the cities, but in much of the countryside. Arriving in Auckland itself was fine, but I think I wasn't ready to be back in a big western city just yet. Bruce Farr's Big Boat was proudly on display above the marina, and it's sad that this beautiful boat it lost the 1988 America's Cup to the Americans through two court trials rather than on the water. The coastline around the 'City of Sails' was more complicated than anywhere else I'd seen, a sailor’s dream, which was best appreciated from a volcanic hill in Devonport called Mount Victoria whilst holding fish & chips. Then into the hills to go canyoning which involves silly slides, matrix-style wall running & plain stupid leaps down waterfalls into shallow pools with our funny guide. No Fear! But even more dangerous was attending a One-Day Cricket Match between NZ Blackcaps & Australia, as the louts in the stands hurled abuse & bottles at the players & officials alike as NZ lost heavily. Though the streakers were good entertainment!

The road trip in a hired Nissan Pulsar started by escaping Auckland’s tortuous road network (the Kiwis don’t believe in road signs) and driving up to Goat Island Marine Reserve to toast marshmallows on campfires, and swim with the Red Snappers & Blue Cod (who love frozen peas, I'm not making this up) & watch dolphins go by in the *cold* waters. Further up the coast in Tutukaka, there were great beaches & the chance to dive off Poor Knights Islands where the warmer waters mean there are lots of colourful fish amongst the arches, tunnels & underwater air-pockets. When I went out there with Alison (a Scottish girl who loved the cold & rain of diving in Scotland!) and Bev (a South African girl who hated the cold!) the bad weather had just blown over towards the coast and the conditions were perfect. Pulling on wetsuits, hood & boots we dived down to see rays, sea urchins, moray eels & hundreds of mackerel swaying in the tide through the dark tunnel, looking like mirrors with eyes.

Another storm drove us up to Whangaroa Harbour & the friendly Sunseeker Lodge; or more exactly, in their hot-tub overlooking the harbour with a NZ beer :^) This was above the Bay of Island (it looked too touristy for me) and near where the wreck of the Rainbow Warrior was finally sunk after being towed from Auckland. I visited the moving hill-top memorial overlooking the islands, and that day saw dolphins moving past the bay, but they were too fast for me to swim after! A rainy day walking & sliding down sand-dunes at the storm-lashed Cape Reigna in the far North of the island, finally led us to loop South to the Kauri forests. The oldest of these huge trees is called Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) and was born 2000 years ago. At 13m circumference, it was too wide for me to hug. Kiwis live amongst these giant trees, though I didn’t manage to catch sight of one. Heading down to see some of the uniquely NZ countryside near Rotorua, the Waimangu Volcanic Valley and Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park were full of crazy colours & mists dancing like writhes over the volcanic pools. But I was keen to go over to see New Plymouth in the West. It’s an area created by a volcano called Mount Taranaki (aka Egmont), where the Bridlington lifeboat my grandfather worked & died on had been transported to. Having never met him, it was a truly amazing time taking a trip out on the ‘Tilly Morrison’ round the offshore seal colonies. For me, that was worth the flight out to Aotearoa alone.

Mount Taranaki remained covered in storms & refused to be climbed, so I moved on to the Tongariro Northern Circuit Great Walk – more appropriately called the Mount Doom Round Walk after Ngauruhoe's fame staring in Lord of the Rings! It was a hard walk up to the summit of the cinder cone, but the Xmas day weather was spectacular & the company in the huts was superb (especially the Czech girls). The scenery is so varied with deserts, boulder fields, forests and lakes. Afterwards, there was only time to race down to Wellington to leave the car before crossing the Cook Straights & finally meeting my friend Jerry (after 10 months travelling to get there!). It’s been really great seeing how he’s faring since he emigrated, and I’ve been looked after royally since we met, & he took us to see ‘The Worst Band In The World’ for New Year.

I’ve written more than I should, but I’m glad. I’m really looking forward to meeting all of you again as soon as I can. Have a tremendous 2006.

Mark-in-Christchurch

Previous Photo Galleries:
Week1,
Weeks2-4, Weeks5-8,
Weeks9-15, Weeks16-20, Weeks21-23,
Weeks24-28, Weeks29-33, Weeks34-37, Weeks38-41.

23 December 2005: Christmas on Mount Doom

Happy Christmas folks,

Best wishes over the Xmas period. I'm heading off to the Tongaririo Northern (New Zealand's North Island) Circuit today, and hope to spend Xmas day in a hut on 'Mt Doom' - from Lord of the Rings. I wonder if there will be any (other) Turkeys up there?

Have a great one,
Mark
P.S. Paula: hope you get well soon!
http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/p20889085.html

5 December 2005: The Tropic of Capricorn

New Photo Galleries:
http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c748413.html (Weeks 34-37)
http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c748415.html (Weeks 38-41)


G'day folks,

I hope everyone in the home country (&other warmer places) are doing really well? And another congratulations must go to Emily&David, Kathleen&Dominic, Paula&Dale, Lisa&Phil, Pete&Charlotte, Ralph&Sarah, Andrew&Chantal, and Julie on their new arrivals this year. And also, sorry to everyone for the junk email from the Where Are You Now (WAYN) website. Before I knew what it was doing it had emailed everyone in my address book. How embarrassing!! So I'm not using that site.

Anyway, after much procrastinating, I've finally arrived in New Zealand after taking 9 1/2 months to get here, and going "flat out like a lizard drinking" in Australia. Although most people wizz round Oz (bigger than all of Western Europe) and try to do everything, I wanted tried to see some of Queensland (more than three times bigger than mainland Britain) in the 7 weeks I had. And the culture shock on arrival in Brisbane from the Indian subcontinent was a... shock. After meeting up with Martin again, and his folks who were on holiday, it was time to get out of the city & start scrambling on Tibrogargan in the Glasshouse Mountains and then learning to surf in Noosa. A great place where the national park meets the sea, and the surf is steady. Although when you're trying to catch a wave, it's distracting to have to paddle back to shore to chase the bush turkeys away when they raided out bags - 3 times - and have all the other surfers fall off their boards laughing at us!

Then up the coast onto Rainbow Beach to paint boomerangs & kayak at dawn with dolphins. Not bad! Travelling on the Greyhound bus is a good way to get around, but other people sign up for the "Oz Experience". A coach tour that takes in the doubtful delights of "goat rodeo", pretend goat branding or similar. Afterwards, it's traditional to go on a 3day self-drive 4x4 tour of the world's biggest sand island, Fraser Island. Lake McKenzie perches high above sea level, a freak result of vegetation stabilising the dunes & then the wind piling up the supporting sand dunes. It was the most clear waters I've ever swum in, and it was nice when the wild dingos came & said hello. Phenominal place. Humpback whales can be seen off the coast at this time of year, migrating to Antarctica with their newborns.

Travelling North through the Tropic of Capricorn to Mackay & Eungella National Park, we camped at Finch Hatton Gorge and enjoyed campfires, plunge-pools jumping & curious Bandicoots hopping around. It was also a great place to go to see the preposterous Duck-Billed Platypus, and get off the usual backpacker circuit for a while. Back on the coast at Mackay, I wanted a taste of home so set off for fish&chips on Shelly Beach. And it was so good there I had both barramuni & cod. But the chips were still definitely better in Brid.

Another long bus journey away, it was time to go sailing in the Whitsunday Islands. To begin with, 3 days of cruising aboard "British Defender" - an ex-Whitbread round-the-world boat - which was more of a booze-cruise with stunning snorkeling & beaches thrown in. The snorkeling was so amazing, looking down on the reef & life below, weightless like you're flying, or powerfully diving in amongst them. Afterwards, back on shore, I was lucky enough to borrow some brand new RS200 & RS400 dingies and put them through their paces, as well as to take Martin on a HobieCat dingy, threading between the extremely expensive moored yachts in the bay at high speed.

The bay is stunning there, with all the Islands in view, and so it seemed a good idea to do my Open Water Scuba Certificate on the Great Barrier Reef, with Pro-Dive from the boat Oceania out of Airlie. Sharks, rays, huge wrasse & batfish, as well as cuttlefish were waiting there. Even the seasoned divers thought it had been a superb place to dive :^)) After three days living on the boat and a day recovering after the final party, it was time to get back to nature & go island-camping on Henning Island. 5 days of being completely self-sufficient with just the beach, forest, reef & Martin. The most relaxing 5 days I've ever had, whilst the November full moon meant that offshore the whole Great Barrier Reef was spawning at the same moment! Nice. Afterwards, back to civilisation - or at least the YHA Mission Beach Treehouse in the forest for company & boardgames, and then up to the city of Cairns where a crazy Irishman teaches you all you need to know about life on the reef.

The final part of the trip was taking a hire car up to the fashionable Port Douglas, and then to Cape Tribulation (named when Captain Cook hit the reef here) for camping, hiking (Mount Sorrow), good snorkeling & amazing table tennis in the tropical rainforest.

In short, Australia is exactly what you see from the postcards even on the popular Queensland coast. Quite stunning & mostly empty! That being said, I'm looking forward to finally seeing New Zealand, on the edge of the world. Once again I hope I haven't rambling on for too long, and very best wishes to you all wherever you may be as Christmas approaches. And look for the song at the message end :^))

Mark-In-Auckland

Previous Photo Galleries:
Week1 (1st Week in India),
Weeks2-4 (Kerala & Karnataka),
Weeks5-8 (Karnatarka, Goa & Rajasthan),
Weeks9-15 (Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh & Nepal),
Weeks16-20 (Nepal & Tibet),
Weeks21-23 (Tibet & Shangri La),
Weeks24-28 (Kathmandu, Delhi & NW India),
Weeks29-33 (Jammu&Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab & Delhi).



"Traveling in a fried-out combie
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said,

Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.

Buying bread from a man in brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, do you speak-a my language?
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich
And he said,

I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.

Lying in a den in bombay
With a slack jaw, and not much to say
I said to the man, are you trying to tempt me
Because I come from the land of plenty? And he said,

Oh! do you come from a land down under? (oh yeah yeah)
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover".

Men At Work - Down Under

7 October 2005: The Motorcycle Diaries

http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c647485.html (Weeks 24-28)
http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c709106.html (Weeks 29-33)

Hi people,

I trust everyone is well, and enjoying the afterglow of the English victory over the Aussies in the Ashes match this summer. I've finally managed to escape from India, and ready to finally head onto Australia. I came for 4months & stayed for 7!

After getting back from Tibet, there was time to visit the largest stupa in the world at Bodhnath (surrounded by candlelight) , and fit in a bungee jump at The Last Resort in Kodari. A beautiful place, with a narrow suspension bridge across the Seti Khola river. But it was one of the stupidest, thrilling & insane things I've ever done. Now I know the answer to "Why do people jump off a perfectly good bridge?" It's because they're stupid! Never again. [Video available on request :^]

The 8000m+ peaks were all visible on the flight to Delhi, but rather than stay in India's heart of chaos I took the train to Shimla though the mountains, following in Michael Palin's footsteps(?) A very pretty place, as long as you don't get mugged by the monkeys. I'd describe it as half-way between India & Scarborough, with Indians promenading & eating candyfloss, and celebrating Independence Day.

Travelling North, I arrived at Dharamsala where the Dalai Lama resides. However the monsoon weather meant it rained most afternoons, and the Dalai had high-tailed it to Leh in Ladakh further North. So I stayed around for week to help with English lessons for refugees, and then decided to chase after the Dalai on borrowed 350cc Royal Enfield motorbike, lent me by a very generous Israeli called Mottie. Indian roads are great, as long as you avoid the cows, dogs, goats, people, potholes, streams, mad bus drivers & no road rules. When you stop, kids appear out of nowhere & everyone wants to know (a) where you're from, (b) if you're married & (c) why not?

So I went on a loop through the Himalaya from Dharamsala-Jammu-Srinagar-Leh-Manali-Dharamsala, motoring out of the foothills & into the forests of Jammu, then the fertile valley of Kashmir where the population seems to be outnumbered by the army 2:1 staying in the serene Srinagar on a houseboat an Indian family watching the wonderful 4th Ashes test match. After that, past the alpine towns & hanging glaciers of Sonamarg & though Drass (2nd coldest inhabited lace in the world)... running out of petrol & being rescued by the Indian Gurkhas so that I could make it to the high desert of Leh.

Leh was stunning, azure skies, polo matches, dances, huge mountains all around, and finally after 600km the chance to catch up with the Dalai Lama! A very peaceful lace, and quite different to hectic India further South. It's definitely a good place to start if you ever want to come to India.

Sand-dunes, snow-fields, highest motorable road in the world, landslides, crashes, washed-away-bridge, snow-storms, army everywhere, punctures, new friends, sleeping in tents, sharing my Bourbon biscuits with nomads... it took me 5days to do Leh-Manali, and I was pretty glad just to be alive. Fantastic scenery, but it was hard work to do it on a touring bike when a trails bike would have been better... and Winter was just around the corner. I met a fantastic Aussie girl who'd never ridden a bike before, & we travelled together on two bikes for the last few weeks.

All that remained was to visit Amritsar & drink the holy water at the Golden Temple (it had fish swimming in it, and my stomach was not happy either) & Jallianwala Bagh (site of the 1919 Amritsar Massacre), before popping to the Gandhi Museum on his birthday. Happy 136th Birthday Gandhi. And of course a trip to the Taj Mahal. And still there's more of India that I want to see, especially the mountains!

What's the weather like in UK now? Sorry for rambling on for so long, but I hope you're enjoying the stories. As ever, best wishes to you all,

Mark

Previous Galleries:
Week1 (1st Week in India),
Weeks2-4 (Kerala & Karnataka),
Weeks5-8 (Karnatarka, Goa & Rajasthan),
Weeks9-15 (Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh & Nepal),
Weeks16-20 (Nepal & Tibet),
Weeks21-23 (Tibet & Shangri La).

3 August 2005: 0.125 Years In Tibet

http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c599365.html
(Weeks 21-23)

Hi folks,

I'm fresh back from Chinese controlled Tibet and am settling back into life in Kathmandu, but I wanted to give you an update before I head back into India again. Crossing into Tibet on the 'Friendship Highway' in a 4wheel drive jeep (in England this would have been called off-roading) it took 5 days to climb from Kathmandu at 1300m up to the capitol Lhasa at 4000m, with two sarcastic Australian lads.

I also took a 'banned' book across the border - "Tears of Blood - a Cry for Tibet by Mary Craig. The main reason it's banned in Tibet is because it contains pictures of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual & political leader of the former Tibet. Tibetans are banned from having his picture. The 11th Panchen Lama is 2nd in spiritual command of Tibet. He is currently 16 & has been in jail in Beijing since he was 6 (the world's youngest political prisoner). So the Tibetans are only allowed to display a picture of the 10th Panchen Lama - who himself spent 15 years in solitary confinement. Whenever a Tibetan asked if I had a picture, they became very excited when I showed them one - although apparently undercover Chinese pose as monks to 'stop' (i.e. expel from the country) visitors trying this. Last month China celebrated 50 years of "peaceful liberation of Tibet". 1.2 million dead Tibetans are being written out of history! Pretty shocking! All bigger monasteries now got attached Chinese police stations, which control all activities inside, using video cameras and spy-monks.

However, on the other side, I met so many very strong Tibetans, deeply rooted into their beliefs and tradition, laughing and smiling all the day about this circumstances. It seems they use all the Chinese perverse performance around them for their meditations, which strengthens their belief even more.

Along the journey into Tibet I've visited Tashilumpo monastery (seat of the Panchen Lama) to see a beautiful giant 'thanka' (tapestry), Gyantse Kumbum (more statues of deities than you can shake a stick at), Yamdrok Tso (Lake - very Scottish looking...) and had a snowball fight at 5000m with the Aussies (I think we did Great Britain proud) on the way to the incredible Nam Tso (a *huge* lake ringed by white mountains).

I've even seen the old Sera monastery (once one of the 3 largest in the world), but it doesn't compare to the new Sera founded in India by the exiles. The monks in India were genuinely happier, the artwork was more beautiful, & the religion appeared more authentic [in the old Tibetan Sera monastery, there were 20 monks debating whilst 50 camera photographed them!] Lhasa itself is a Chinese city now, with the Tibetan areas hidden away behind Chinese restaurants & 24h computer centers. But when you find the Tibetan area, you can eat street food, and play monks at pool. I also met many travellers there & seemed to play most of them at cards!

I rounded up a group (a 'monk', a Dutch nurse, an Israeli girl & Martin) who wanted to go with me & walk round ('kora') the holy of Mt Kailash (6700m) during the full moon, and negotiating the Chinese red-tape [they won't let people go without a guide/minder] to set off on an Odyssey across Western Tibet, which looked a bit like the Wild West. But first, it was to Everest Base Camp (5200m) to hang prayer flags & fly a kite. An amazing place, especially because of the wildlife (lots of bird and marmosets - rodents of unusual size), and the glacier. You can stay in a tent there, though on the last night one burnt down & it was lucky it didn't ignite a large gas cylinder! No one was badly hurt & we had a collection for the distraught owner. Then we drove off to views of Cho Oyu (8201m) & Shisha Pangma (8012m) on the way to the most holy mountain in Asia; Kailash.

Around the mountain, there were many Tibetans & Indians walking around it, prostrating themselves, squeezing trough sin-testing rocks, and passing over 5630m passes... and all with a story of the battle between Bon (pre 7th Century religion) and Buddism illustrated by a magical battle that raged round the mountain between Naro Bonchung & Milerepa (Buddist poet-saint). We took 5 days over the kora (circumambulation) so that I had time to stay at monasteries & walk along the glacier to the North Face ("Gold") of Kailash. At the pass, there was no snow, and in fact a pick-nick atmosphere; it marks the 'rebirth' of Buddist pilgrims so there was lots of singing! A few days later, I managed to find the time to walk the 52km in 12 hours - just as Tibetans do. On the flat I was overtaking everyone, but on the hills 70 year old grannies were powering past me on their 100th kora as I gasped in the thin air!

Afterwards, I had a very peaceful meditation at the Ghost Lake (Rakshas Tal) & bathed some of my sins away at Manasarovar Lake. Then visited the cave-capitol of the Guge Kingdom in Western Tibet (the rain-carved mesas & dry landscape were incredible) and bounced our way back past many breakdowns & floods to arrive in Nepal a few days ago. It's been an amazing journey, one I've wanted to make for more years than I can remember. But now I'm relaxing again in Kathmandu (visiting ancient temples & watching StarWars3 - it's a land of contrasts!) before going to say hello to the Dalai Lama in India.

Hope you're enjoying the updates, and let me know how things are going at your end (although it seems that 50% of you are having babies at the moment). Best wishes,

Mark-in-the-abode-of-snows

Previous Galleries:
Week1 (1st Week in India),
Weeks2-4 (Kerala & Karnataka),
Weeks5-8 (Karnatarka, Goa & Rajasthan),
Weeks9-15 (Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh & Nepal),
Weeks16-20 (Nepal & Tibet).

17 June 2005: Kathmandu Calling

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is enjoying cream teas in the English summer, and doesn't mind having another one of my incresingly irregular emails from Asia. I'm relaxing in Kathmandu after doing some mountain biking in the Himalaya, and since I can't use my legs anymore I thought I'd do some typing instead.

http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c516233.html (Weeks 9-15)

It's been a while since India, but after leaving the sand-castle city called Jaisalmer we headed to other forts in Jaipur (the pink city) & Jodhpur (the blue city). In Jaipur that was an amazing astonomical park called Jantar Mantar (trans: calculation & measurement) that was bulit by the Maharaja out of marble. These measure the position of the celestial bodies - telling the time & your horoscope. Each time one instument was built, the Maharaja thought "if I was only bigger, it'd be more accurate" till he had the biggest sundial in the world constructed (27m). But the whole park is speactacular & looks more like a modern art instalation.

In Jodhpur there's the Majestic (Mehrangarh) Fort, the most imposing and impossibly fairytale fort you'll ever see. Which, unsuprisingly, was never taken. We also tried getting tickets for the 6th one-day internation cricket match between India & Pakistan in Delhi (the two most cricket-mad nations in the world). But it was pharcical! We had to give up in the end. Wrong information from newspapers, tourist offices & the TV meant we gave up & left - when really we should have just relied on good old-fashioned Indian corruption to procure a ticket!

Varanasi on the Ganges, was the most hassled & maziest city I've ever been trhough in my life. But sunrise on the cremation ghats & candles floating down the river at night, as well as fghting kites overhead probably made it all worthwhile. But I was relieved to escape India & get to Nepal, especially with the Monsoon arriving around the corner! 6h on the train & 4h+8h by bus later, we were in Pokhara - the city by the Lake.

Lovely place, but we quickly started on the Annapurna Circuit - a walk up the Marsyandi Khola through stunning hill-top villages, terraces of vibrant green rice & windswept Tibetan settlements. With the troubles in Nepal, the trail was very quiet & we only saw a handful of other trekkers each day (though it appears every Israeli between 20-30 is now in India & Nepal) when it's usually much busier. We both adapted to 7h hiking with rucksacks (& the rigours of multipel stops at teahouses) till we were at Manang (3420m). We could see Annapurna II, III & IV (include an avalanche) but the valley is pretty warm.

A side-trip to Tilicho Lake (highest in the world - 4900m) was gruelling, dangerously laid with scree-slopes, but spectacular. Quiet & frozen, except for occasional rockfall & avalanches. Then we were at Throung Phedi ("foot") & joined up with some others for the 5am push over Throung Phedi (5416m - highest pass in the world). We'd been lucky with the weather & this day was no except. You could see infinity.

Then downhill into the deepest gorge in the world, following the Kali Ghandaki river. Sacred water, ethernal flames, etherial mountains, Forbidden Kingdoms (Mustang - forbidden because $700/week is out of my budget!), apple pie & great people all the way to Tatopani (trans: Hot Water) for beer in a natural hot spring pool during a lightening storm. Could you ask for better?

How about views of the Annapurnas, Nilgiri, Dhaulagiri & Machhapuchhare (Trans: Fishtail mountain - closed to mountaineers) at Ghorepani - and then an extra few days into the heart of the whole circuit, the Annapurna Sanctuary. What can I say? GO THERE YOURSELF. If you like mountains, it's the place to be. Read Herzog's "Annapurna" about the 1st ascent of an 8000m for a taste of the area. We didn't see any Maoists though.

Pokhara was a great place tore-energize & try white-water rafting on the Kali Ghandaki for 3 days (mad fun), and then having a go at kyaking the Seti Khola. The latter getting a bit too wet & wild (grades 2 to 4-) for us. You go into the rapid, paddle like mad to stay in a straight line, get flipped over, bounce off the submerged rocks with your helmet, get sucked upside-down into a whirlpool, & eventually have the chance to save yourself with eskimo roll. The cheaper option of course, is just to climb inside a washing machine in the safety of your home.

The Seti river took us down to the Royal Chitwan National Park & some safari walks. Now this seemed like a good idea at the time, but in this season the heat is overpowering so many ofthe animals are sleeping. We were guided by two Nepalese armed with sticks.

Rule1: If it's a tiger, keep calm, look them in the eye & back away slowly.
Rule2: If it's a Rhino, run away in a zig-zag & climb a tree.
Rule3: If it's a sloth bear, run away very fast & don't climb a tree. They like climbing trees.
Rule4: If it's a snake, run away.
Rule5: If it's an elephant, run away very *very* fast (they can hit 40kph) & don't climb a tree. They like to pull trees down! If you're lucky they can't pull it down, but they may get their mates to guard the tree while they get a trunk full of water, use it to soften the roots, and then pull it down. Lovely creatures.

And we're armed with sticks. Great!
As it was, we heard a royal bengal tiger in the grass, but we stayed out of the grass; heard an elephant pulling down trees but stayed away; and saw croc, rhino &many birds. The biggest danger turned out to be the Maoists. We walked out of the jungle to catch the next morning's bus, but discovered the Maoists had blown up our bus that morning killing 32 & injuring 50 - just to kill 3 soldiers on the bus. *gulp*

After that, mountain biking round the Kathmandu valley & through the city's traffic seemed like a relaxing thing to do. Such friendly & inquistive people, great forests, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe at Nargarkot & crazy-long uphills & downhills. I think I crashed twice, and Martin 3 times - as well as scoring a goal for England in a local village game. Afterwards, since Kathmandu valley has 6 World Heritage Sites to visit there was plenty to see. Tomorrow I'm on the 5:30am bus to Tibet so won't email for quite a while. Why does being on holiday involve getting up even easrlier than I used to for work?

Well, hope I haven't written for too long & that you're all fantastically interested + entertained.
Take care all, and live long & prosper

Mark

22 April 2005: North Indian Summer

Hi folks,

Hope you're getting ready for the English summer, whilst it's 40 degrees out here on the edge of the desert in Western Rajasthan.

It's been a while since I posted the last photos of me & Martin enjoying a meal in Mysore, but what the photo doesn't show was that the very next day we had "Mysore" belly for the next 48hours. Probably inevitable that it would happen at some point, but no fun at all. We found Mysore to be a vibrant city with a wide range of temples, palaces & conmen - and we took in all of these whilst we were there. The main palace was apparently designed by a Glaswegian, and a lot of the stained glass & steel was imported from there (shipped & then carried inland by elephant). The royal family also liked all their portraits to have "eyes that follow you around the room". Slightly spooky.

After Mysore we went up to Hampi, the ancient capitol of a 15th century civilisation that ruled most of Southern India. The capitol was sited in a huge boulder field, which is why it's a mecca for people like us who go bouldering (low-level climbing). However one day their enemies combined & destroyed their empire, leaving hundred (thousands) of temples, bazaars & buildings. It's a truly astonishing place. And Happy Holy (a "color" festival where the locals run around & plaster everyone with paints) was a great time to be there - although Martin had to leave his underwear behind after it was taken over by chipmunks!

From there we took a "sleeper" bus (no-one could possibly have slept on those roads) to Gokarna & Om Beach in Northern Karnataka to take in the beach for a few days, before going to Arambol Beach in Goa to take in another beach. Sometimes life's a beach, and you've got to go with the flow. We've tended to head to the places that other travellers have recommended along the way.

Then it's been time to do some serious traveling North, first arriving at Bombay (Mumbai) & the Gateway to India. This was a great city to visit on a Sunday, as everybody was either in the park playing cricket or sitting on Chowpatty Beach watching the world go by. A really friendly city to visit. We traveled overnight to Pushkar in Rajasthan (the trains tend take a long time but cover much less distance than in the UK) where I studied Yoga with Yogis the Yoga master, and Martin suffered with Flu. I liked many things about Pushkar, but as with many places in India it assaults the senses & there were many things I didn't like. But eventually you adapt, & seeing motorbikes on the footpath swerving to avoid the dogs, boars & cattle started to seem normal.

Finally we headed into the Desert of West Rajasthan to see the Golden City of Jaisalmer & go for a 4-day camel-trek in the desert. The terrain was very varied & surprisingly full of life. It's a desert but not a wilderness. But sleeping on sand-dunes, being cooked for on open fires & watching the stars in a warm climate was a big change from damp nights camping in the British climate! The camels were huge, ungainly & very friendly... but I'm not sure I want one as a pet yet.

http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c474486.html (Weeks 5-8)

I'd better go & stop talking your ears off, but I hope everyone is doing really well out there & I'll try & email again in a month or so as we'll be heading into Nepal to go trekking. Let me know how you are when you can. Live long & prosper,

Mark

15 March 2005: Indian Update

Hi all,

Hope you're all really well, and managing to cope in my absence :^)
It's been a few weeks in India & the learning curve is still pretty steep, but we're still having a great time & trying not to stay too cynical despite all the touts/scam merchants.

http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c450282.html
(Weeks 2-4)

After flying in to Cochin, we headed South using India's manic bus service to Alleppey, where we had lunch with the locals in the Indian Coffee House (35 rupees or 40 pence for two main meals) & then headed off to hire a Kettuvallam (houseboat, comlete with captain, cook & mechanic) for an 2 day trip along the backwaters. Very relaxing, and it felt really special to be taken to the cook's home & village. Afterwards, we caught the fast ferry South to Amritapuri to help out (seva - selfless service) at the Ashram where we were lucky enough to meet (Saint) Amma who had cancelled her tour of India due to the Tsunami. Stayed for a week to help out as wll as try meditation+yoga, and it was a very strange experience. Far too much to relate here. But the tame eagles walking about the dining hall were thriling. And many of the varied people there were fantastically interesting to talk to. But atmosphere at the ashram promotes personal spiritual devolopment rather than conversation.

So afterwards we need something a bit more conventional & headed for the beach at Varkala. The rip tide was pretty powerful, stealing my sunglasses & Martin's goggles too. But if you life body-surfing onto the beach, staying in bamboo huts, watching sunsets, beach-cricket & films, and having fresh fish then its a great way to spend a week.

We quickly visited the "undeveloped" coastline of Bekal, an overnight train-ride away and then headed to Madikeri for trekking amongst the lush tea, coffee, pepper, pineapple, cardamon and "jack" fruit plantations + huge ants & bees. It's spring here so the Robusta coffee plants are in blossom. However it's also barbarously hot here, so only mad dogs & Englishmen go trekking in the midday sun up Tadiyendamol (1750m).

After 5 days in Madikeri, recovering from the rigours of trekking by watching Wales trounce Scotland at rugby in the 6 Nations, we headed off or Sera near Bylakuppe. It's home to 2 Tibetean Monasteries (one of 12 in India) and was a compleet change of culture from India. Rather than worrying what the "real" cost of food & richshaws was (& as an Indian put it to me, worrying about being cheated), the monks were very straightforward & very friendly. And these guys know how to debate! The artwork they've produced here (saving their hertitage from the migrations from Tibet) is awesoem. But we had to move on & head to to big city of Mysore - where we were seen as a walking dollar sign again.

Anyway, I have to go as it's late & we're o a sightseeing tour of the palaces/temples etc.. tomorrow. I hope you're all tremendously well & bearing up to the cold snap in the UK. Keep in touch & I'l try to email again in another 3-4 weeks,

Mark

22 February 2005: First Week In India

Hi everyone,

Just a not-so-quick email to let you know that I'm well & actually have made it India. It did take me having to go to London to deal with the Indian embassy directly (&learn about the Indians & queues!), and but I managed to my visa & passport back. Martin was less lucky, and had to beg & plead the day before the flight for someone to post it back to him. It arrive at the post office 7am, and our train was at 9am - so he just made it, madly running along the platform to join me as the train arrived. From that point it was great - inflight movies & good food. Martin still hasn't recovered & there is a huge time-lag when it comes to any decisions. Experienced Indian autorickshaws (it's like being in SuperMarioKart), and stayed in a fantastic room in Fort Cochi. Apart from helping the local fishermen, watching Katharkali dancing and heading to the palm-lined Cherai beach to swimming in the warm Indian & flying a kite - we're being lazy. The natives are all pretty friendly, I'm doing plenty of enjoyable reading & loving the heat. We headed South to Alleppey, to stay for 2 nights & go on a backwaters tour. Incredible that we could afford to hire a boat, chef, mechanic & captain for a day to see the waterways & local villages in style. A fabulous experience, travelling along the palm-lined backwaters (stopping for a swim along the way) until we reached a local village - were taken to the chef's home+family, and then to a local festival. By the way, is it really snowing in Sheffield?
The next day we took the fast ferry to Kollom, but have stopped at the Ashram just before it. It's a very, verystange place. Twin 15 story pink tower blocks rising from the jungle. On one side the Arabian Sea, on the other seemingly unending palm trees.
I've queued for a meal from the Saint of Kerela, Ama (- meaning Mother) & for dascha (a hug). A strange experience. It took about 2.5h for everyone to get one. And then she gave me a sweet.

http://www.amritapuri.org/Mother-page.php

Very strange. However the westerner here as well as the Indias are a very zeaous bunch & put a whole lot of meaning into this dascha. Its best just to nod & say that's interesting... I may be in the Ashram for a week (it's very cheap), and have done some seva (selfless service) in the form of making sweets, and will be up at 7am peeling veg tomorrow. This all contributes to feeding the 2000 refuges made homeless in the region by the Tsunami.

And here are a few photos, if you fancy seeing what it's been like.
http://www.whereismark.fotopic.net/c436983.html (1st Week in Kerela)

It'll be a while before I can write again, but I hope you're all having an excellent time.
All the best guys,

Mark