the bridge house it is then

2-3pm saturday 9th - can't wait (to fall asleep at 5pm) for it

actually, we where all there a similar time two years ago - crikes, two years! thats wierd

what a bloody lovely day

chilled night last night, dinner in cafe amigo's and thn watched gosford park in the guest house - its cool, he has a little mini cinema (er, a 2 seater) in his house and has a load opf arty films to choose from ! very good indeed

so this morn, had a lovely breakfast in the valley, and met a nice guy called nick - and then i set off on a monster walk toward the mountains - i didn't realise how far id gone but i walked about 20k into the hills and they are stunning, it just kept getting better and better - i was well over the snow line too but luckily i had my new eco-ethno friendly tibetan hat on to keep my head warm.

it was then too late to walk back, and would have been dark - so (i think) for the first time in my life i hitched a ride back - it was great in the back of this truck with a tibetan guy and me sat on top of about 40 furry mountian coats!

a bloody great day indeed

Saturday arvo beers - 9th???

was thinking of having some sat arvo beers when i get back - afternoon cos i reckon the jetlag will see me finshed pretty early in the night, so best to go day time

maybe that place in Little venice again, thats nice and cosy - The bridge house i think its called

anyone fancy it?

BRRRRRR!

not a good night - started off ok cos managed to meet eoin and jo, who i was meant to meet the other night. so we had a few pint in a freezin pub before i caught the freezing bus, which dropped my off after no sleep in freezing (but gorge) manali this morn.

Some hotels where shut, but i found a found a beautiful (freezing) room for 160 ruppees, and went and had brekky in a freezing cafe - complete with flubbery eggs - eurrgghhh!

tried to sleep fully clothed in the room again, but couldn't - and then took two hours to get out of bed into a cold shower, back to a cold room and out in the cold air!

why did i not go to Goa!!

but, once out i did a big walk, worked up a sweat - have booked the train in two days, so have all tomorrow to some walks, hopefully to the snowy mountains

and i have to say, it is amazing here - its pretty much all tibetan people (hence the low ceiling which i have hit 5 times already) and the views are stunning, snow capped himalayan mountains surround me - so it worth bearing the cold for

and the guest house has a mini art house cinema below where we can pick films to watch! brilliant

what votes claire??

which votes are you talking about wilkie?? i demand a recount

and i was watching cheers, because the TV in my room gives off 0.0001 watts of heat power, and that prob kept me alive that night!

high five

nothing will ever beat a high five from borat! no way - im never washing ma hands again

hello sidley, hows it going??

last day in shimla

had a mellow night last night, was meant to meet a couple i met, but i was a little late - and either missed them, or they didn't show

forgot my book too, so had to do the 'eat yer meal thing' and look at the walls - the waiter even took the menu away so i had nothing to read!

then spent a night in the coldest room ever, they wanted to rent me a heater , the bloody cheek - so i stubbornly refused. It was so so cold, i had a big thick blanket around me whilst watching TV, and if my arm popped out it instantly got really cold. Mr breath was condensing too. Anyways, i had a few beers and watched goldeneye - theres not much to do here at night, unless u just eat all the time - which is an option :-)

so today went up to jakhu temple which has nice views, and about 200 monkeys - which they encourage you to feed, insane! and then the museum which i must say was pretty tedious as it goes - although it was interesting to read gandhi's letters to Hitler, and Franklin roosevelt

been reading the papers here too, its a good way to learn a little more, aside from the guide book

so, ive been searching for nice pics of the temple, and shimla on google - and they are all rubbish, so here's a picture of bert and ernie!

doo wah doo

u know that royksopp tunes, that has the dooo wah dooo, through it?? well i heard that on a 1980 's Cheers show last night, didn't know that was a sample!

borat v pegg + scwimmer

simon and david win of course claire!- only cos i saw them doing the filming the day i got back and missed borat by a day! sounds v exciting.
still havent seen borat either marc...

Borat

has no one seen the Borat film yet?? i cant believe no one hasn't mentioned it yet

Claire, i'll prob go the pics before comin to yours, gotta get my priorities right yer know :-)

Shimla

so left delhli last night, had a final couple of coffees and a couple of beers in the manic market area, and then headed to the station -sat next to a ccouple from walsall so chatted to them for a bit and went to bed

at 5am, we changed over the narrow guage railway which was cool - it was first class so we got a bit of breakfast and stuff, and the train twisted its way around the hills to we reached Shimla

so obviously the temp has dropped a little, it cant be much more that 8 degrees, if that - its bloody freezing, and my room seems colder inside that out (staying at the dreamland)

but had the best thali lunch ever (i cant not mention food here), it was at Tripti and consited of rice, 4 chapati's, a tofu dish, veg curry, papadam, spinich curry dish, raita, and some super pungent lime pickle - followed by a small syrup pudding! all for 65 rupee's, fantastico!

so think im off to manali tomorrow, where it will be even colder - i might have to get on of those eco hats to keep ma heed warm

claire

whats your address again? ive lost it - i wanna send a record there

tottingham something or other isn't it?

ark at you!!

was simon pegg there too? juz them both (him and schwimmer) on london bridge

and no, no way does it beat high fiving borat!

marc i don't know whether to be really worried, or really jealous! but i think its both...just be careful (please!). and next time you are in a train situation like that, move!
xxx

Dehli

well, just spent a day and a night here, and have seen some nights - good, bad, and awul - there really is some tragic cases here, its quite disturbing

i went on a big hike round the old british area, past parliament, up through old delhi which was nuts, up to the fort - had the best tandoori chicken (apart from mine!) at Moti Mohals - with a chapati, and papad masala - de-lish, mmm-mmm!

then tried to find the gandhi museum, but could only find the car park and toilets! maybe next time

and now im booked on the 10pm train top Kalka tonight, and then i pick up the narrow guage Viceroy toy train all the way to Shimla in the Himalayan foothills, i cant wait - the train journey is meant to be one of the best in the world!

gonna be cold though!

see yer

worst room ever, and a worrying discovery - in Delhi

stayed in the camran (an ex mosque) last night, in a single for 110 ruppees, i think its the worst room ever - bout half of the size of a uk boz room, with a home made bed - at least it had a view though

anyways, just discovered a bomb went off in this street last october killing 16 people - which may explain why the bar i was going to go to, is being re built

and shit, ( have just googled this now) the mumbai bombings where in july of this year, and killed 183 people on the trains! i didn't know that

actually, (this was a touch paranoid of myself) but i was sat next to too muslim guys , who had cutlets on them (is that the curvey knife??) on the train last night, and they had quite a few sportd bags with them - anyways, one of the guys starts praying and wailing, and then when he finished was wiping tears from his eye - then i remembered something about the recent bombings, realised we where coming into Delhi - and obviously hit the panic button. Actually i didn't do anything, but i had my escape route planned if they moved funny!

was quite a hairy moment, but shouldn't have been really

Palm squirrels are verywhere,

they are so cute , but are little scavengers so you have to be a bit careful

Kabootars
..in Agra are basically Pigeon fanciers, who excersise there birds every day for a few hours from the roof tops. At any one point you can look out and see 4 or 5 groups of birds all being directed by different guys, with calls and whistles and sticks. Its pretty cool to watch

Agra (part 2)

went for some nice food at Sheela's (chicken sagwala) and then back for a few beers on the roof terrace of the guest house, with a view of the taj mahal, which was nice!

got talking to the manager, and a guy called Gaurab - the manager went from funny and friendly, to absolutely plattered in about 20 mins, and started droaning on about all sorts of rubbish! still, was a nice night anyway

saw the taj as wel, which is as beautiful as youd expect - so, a few facts on the...

TAJ MAHAL
its not a palace as i thought, but a tomb for Shah Jahan's 'favourite' wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to his (or hers) 14th child

He died in Agra fort some years later - supposedly whilst gazing accross the town, to his dear departed wife's tomb. BUT, turns out this is just a myth, he expired at the age of 74 after a prolongued 'amorous' opium session!

Security was funny too, very tight indeed - they emptied alsorts of stuff out of bac after the metal detector - sent me back to the locker to put it in (which is round the corner and out of sight) and then i get ushered to the front of the q, and straight in - no hassles! i could have put all that stuff, and a bomb in my bag then! worst security ever! so funny

so after that, went for a vegetable jalfrezi (no, im not sick of curry yet!) in the shanti lodge, another cafe with a view of the Taj, finished up and then headed to the station for my train to delhi

more current affairs (current ish)

apparently, i read last night, chris de burgh reckons he has healing powers in his hands - he doesn't know why but reckons it may be because of the music he plays with them!

i think thats straight in at number one, in the top ten tossers - surely?

bit of current affairs for ya marc

It never changes in N. Ireland. On the day that the "parliament" were meeting to discuss whether or not they are going to ever do anything other than moan at each other, Micahel Stone runs into the Stormont with a gun and a bomb. God. And its still raining. arghhhhhh!!!!!!!

agra

this connection is dreadful here so i'll keep it brief....

hopped on the bus to agra today, not sure where to head to in the town - and heard loads of stories about the rickshaw drivers being quite dodgy here, the worst in india

half way through the journey these 5 students surrounded me and started talking away to me, it was a bit uncomfortable but they where just interested, and evn though they where laughing (at me as well!) it was all just harmless

so got this rickshaw, and shock of all shocks - he takes me straight to the right street, and outside the hotel - no hassles whatsoever!

check in for 250 ruppes, walk up one flight of stairs to the roof, and there it is, the bloody Taj Mahal!! the sun is still on it now, but can't wait for sunset

think i may take a picture juz, what do you reckon :-)

juz will be proud!!

ive been off a twitchin today!

the reason i was in bharatpur was to see the keoladeo national park which normally plays host to a massive selection of migratory birds - however due to the lack of rains this year, it was pretty barren - still saw some nice ones though

i was up at 5:45 to gert ready, hired a bike, and set off for th park just after sunrise which was prob the highlight of the day really

so saw a few birds, but also some deer, some wild dogs (not sure what), a few eagles, some wild boar, and some small grey thing which i have yet to identify

but the other highlight was a deer who walked right up to my camera, then charged me from behind, and then from infront (like a game of chicken, which i won!) but then he just followed me round the whole park for about 3 miles, everytime i turned a corner he would gallop around, and when i stopped he came over to me and let me stroke him - so so so sweet!!!

anyway, i got a bit lost (its massive) and had to cycle the whole perimiter just to find the way out - i was cycling for about 6-7 hours solid the whole way - im buggered now

oh yeah, the 'nice guy' at the guest house gave me his binocs for 50 rupees, when in the park they are 15 ruppees!

bharatpur

arrived here after a bit of a ntty bus journey, but it wasn't too bad - the guest house picked me up which was nice, and then offered me beer, and asked what i wanted for dinner - all very nice but it was obvious they just wanted my money - which got my back up a bit after a while - still it was a nice room (place was called kirrin) and met a few nice german guys

hi marc!
sorry to use your blog as a message board, but this is for claire!
sorry my mum deleted your message before i wrote your number down. so would be great if you called again or just mailed me your number and i can call you...

all sounds great marc. you should enter the tash competition.
we got gales tonight here. ooh its great to be home ; ) (brrrr)

xxxx

one more foodie note

just so i remember, i tried the kashmiri rice the other day, and it was quite nice but mild - its with sultana's, pineapple, and banana's - strange, but tasty!

one more foodie note

just so i remember, i tried the kashmiri rice the other day, and it was quite nice but mild - its with sultana's, pineapple, and banana's - strange, but tasty!

true story

reading the paper this morning, the police are encouraging all recruits to grow mustache's as they reckon they command more respect from civillians when they have one - and they are even having a 'best mustache' competetion too!

the funny thing was, the cheif was talking about it, and said ' we are very pleased witht the competition, we have at least 11 entrants already!'

Jaipur

the bus here was prety cool, its was a governent bus, anbd i expect ed the worst, but it was fine , loads of room and comfy seats - great!

got here about 8pm, and after a bit of hassle managed to find the guest house - its called devi news, and has a lovely big spacious courtyar, and serves lovely food (matar spicy, pea curry)

so anyways, jaipur is quite nice, but a bit big and messy - and ive had my first mozzie bite too! woo hoo.

today i hired a push bike, and braved the roads, and once you get used to the traffic its actually quite cool - you dont ever stop really, just edge this way, that way, and try and swerve around all the bikes, pigs, cows, the odd camel - and even a monkey on the road on the way here too!

so went to monkey palace which has an old spring where the monekys swim in, they are a bit nuts though - quite scary

then on to the palace where some of the roayl family stil live, which was ok - nothing special really

but then i dodgede to the Jantur mantur, which is an old observetory made up of loads of complex sun dials, that tell the time, and track the postion of all the planets, it covers an acre or so, and the biggest sund dial is 27 meters high - i loved it there, but i was too much of skinflint to hire a guide, so i didn;t have a clue how any of them worked!

sealed alive

just checked my notes, and forgot to write about the guy sealed alive in the fort in Jodphur. A hermit was evicted so they could build it, and he cursed them with drout - so this guy allowed himself to be sacrificed by being sealed ALIVE in on of the stone walls!

check out Jims bother dishING the dirt.....

not really :-)

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_headline=we-re-mates-of-bond--james-bond&method=full&objectid=18087332&siteid=50061-name_page.html

actually, its all quite complimentry, on both sides (it was free interview) - actually, i get this feeling we are all moving into the A-listers list folks, our time has come!!!

(that was a joke, just in case anyone was wondering!)

so im in jodpur, and not a horse to bee seen - plenty of cows on the road though. Got the overnight train which was cool, met a guy from the army here who was very friendly, and then got a few hours sleep - apart from some dudes (non a pilgramage i guess) waking at 3-4 AM and having shouted debates next to me - i had to say something to them rather than toss and turn, and grrrmpphh to myself! they still didn't shut up though

and then i arrived here, couldn'd see the driver so got a rickshaw to one of the nicest little guest houses ive ever been too, its got a mosaic roof right and is right underneath the fort with a vier of all the lilac blue houses - so had a coffee and a parattha whilst waiting for my room to be ready.

then off to the fort, which is brilliant - its about 500 years old, but on the tour (you wear headphones) you see holes that where made by cannonballs in battle,

and the final handprints of the 30 women of the princes harem who killed themselves on his death (had to!!)

.. and visious daggers that sisscor outwards once stabbed in the victim, horrible!

and to top it all off, all the 'authentic' old guards there with handlebar mustachios, white garbs, and turbans where all trying to sell opium to everyone!

so finished up with a trek donw the mountain, and a trek back up to get my passport again, and then a kingfisher beer, and thali with some mango pickle, niiice!

also i did have visions of getting everyone lovely xmas presents from india, but unless anyone wants some tea, some fake duracell batteries, or some spices - im afraid it may have to come from birkenhead market again this year!

(note to self, must stop using exclamation marks!)

bugger

this is where im off to next...... Jodphur

its called the blue city, and the key attraction is the massive fort overlooking it - also have booked what looks like a lovely room there too

errr, James Bond was quality last night, i loved it - very different, and Daniel Craig was brilliant too

oh, and food again - Last night was a tandorri wrap thing from a street vendor called Bademiya (been around for years), and brekky this morn was a Alu Methi Paratha (spicy filled pancake) which where both totally delicious!

Jim

hows about 'Reno' ?? i like that one, although a sounds a bit like a new yoik cap!!

just found out i missed John Digweed, he was out here a few weeks ago

jeez its hot here..

ive been to macdonalds twice already (and they dont serve beef bizarrely!) for large cokes, and aircon! its so hot, and im in trousers and tee shirt, dont think the shorts and vest thing goes here. Maybe i should just do it anyway

Just had a yummy lunch in a place called Selkes - Massala Dosa, and a chapti korma - mmmmmmmm, and im also booked for Bond tonight, top seats for a quid! brilliant

and............ they where filming around the corner this morn, i thought it may have been our Ange, but dont think it was

and turns out she was staying around the corner in the Taj Mahal hotel (pic above) which looks very grand indeed

claire!

hi!

no i m not innoring you ; )
...i don't have a mobile anymore, but my home number i 02891 4673741!

cold? , its been snowing here to day. it is so so so cold. .arghhh!! i'm, just not made for this weather. marc, enjoy the sun while you can!
congraluations on the baby jim and jo! fanstastic news!

jus xx

forgot to mention....

the guys for some reason, selling massive 'light bulb' shape baloons - and they are about 5 foot long, ive no idea why, and i didn't ask - but there you go. Anyone want one for xmas?

James bond, looks like its going nuts here, there is posters everywhere, and the paper tonight had a suppliment with all sorts of stuff in it, including where the origins of 'shaken not stirred' came from, think i may have to go see it here - could be a good larf!

and finally, Angelina jolie is here, filming, and apparently the body guards called the locals 'bloody indians' as they where getting a lot of attention, and they may be kicked out - but reading through the paper its obviousley not what what they want to do cos its good to have them here.

Torn between the devil and the deep blue sea i guess!

few india snippets

first off, the cabs - can anyone identif this car?? i think they are old austins or something, or maybe an old morris! gotta a feeling mum and dad used to have one. An onion bhaji for the first coorrect answer

other wierd stuff - India has no welfare system, but hospitals are free - BUT, only if you have a relative who agrees to wash and bathe you

Nicobar (of DJ bob fame) is part of an island group, the Andamans, of which some islands have never benn contacted. One island had gifts left on the beach for them (by volunteer workers) once a month for a few years to try and meet them, but now all they get is arrows fired at them, so they have still never had any contact with the outside world.

CRICKET - is everywhere, and its quite relaxing to watch it at one of the parks or something, its on every day and theres loads of matches

so thats it then, will try get on in a few days from somewhere else

its a no goa

first impressions are not everything....... im pretty chilled at the mo and enjoying it, but when i got here yesterday i was almost on the next plane to London, serious - i kept a few notes, and the day pretty much went like this

16th Nov
after 3 quite bumpy flights, an being put on a totally different operator for one of them (kingfisher instead of Indian) i arrived after 24 hours, and with maybe 2 hours sleep, tops

out of the airport im bloody scammed , twice, within 5 mins. Im ushered to a taxi where we agree a price on a pre pay taxi (which do exist, and are a safe way of doing it) only i dont get a voucher from this guy - then when i pay, through slight of hand, he gets another hundread of me, i saw it, but what can you do? it was only a quid and how do i prove it, and he may have a knife! no need for bravery, Anyway, i set off, pretty dissapointed that ive been ripped, but glad to be on my way, and then suddenly the @%#^@#% of a driver turns to me and changes the price. Again im screwed, cos ive already paid most of it. So i was only ripped for 3 quid, but i cant believe after a year travelling i still fall for it. Oh well!

oh yeah, seconds later we drive past a motor cycle accident which turns into a bit of a gang fight - this place is bloody mental, its like central hanoi, but worse, and the size of london! i think this is when i was ready to jump on a plane back home!

so got myself to the apollo guest house, which is a bit grotty, but its big and i felt quite at home in it, so collapsed in bed and poured a nice big glass of the tyrells wine chris and becks got me - wine never tasted so good! (watched a bit of Mr Brown too, with billy connely, quite good)

managed to venture out to ask about trains too, goa trains booked up for a bit, so will try the bus the next day.

Found a mellow bar called Alps, had a beer then, and then some oh so lovely chicken curry with rice and an egg burji (scrambled with chilli and herbs and tomato i think) - it was gorge

had a few more beers and then headed back about 9 oclock, and chanced upon a mini carnival with loads of drummers - only 3 floats but the drumming was excellent

so finished the wine, and a strong bottle of kingfisher whilst watching Being John Malcovich - id forgotton how strange that film was

17th Nov
woke up quite early, and instantly started trying to work out what to do , and i just couldn't bloody decide, wait a few days and train south to goa, bus to goa? or go north

so i went on a almost 20k round trip walk past chowpatty beach, and all the cricket pitches, to the bus station - to be told there are no buses there! bugger

decided to let thomas cook do the work , but they only do flights now

so back to the train station, i could go to goa on the 21st, or head north on 19th - so im heading north, so its a shame to miss goa, but now i can relaxe and take more time on the northern towns which sound quite nice

its an overnight sleeper trip with a bed, and it cost 4 quid! brilliant, and i head to jodphur with its magnificent fort, then jaipur, and then somewhere else

afte that, i went for a late lunch at Katems, i went for the special , the thali, which i think is like set lunch , and i got chapati, rice, and 7 dips and pickles, it was amazing! all for 40 pence!

feel like ive been here a week, but its only 24 hours - its totally f***** mental, but i quite like it now

oh yeah, you can tell theres not many bars here, cos i wouldn;t normally go into that much detail!

see yer

yes, its me!

in the borat pics, massive close up shots - too close really

has anyone seen the film yet then?? can't wait

which coca cola add is that then??

manic last few days

didn't have to be, but it was - went to the power house science museum on monday which was great, spent about 4-5 hours there playin on all the gadgets and stuff

tuesday was a pretty heavy, or maybe just a solid night, but i paid the price cos the following day, i had to walk the bridge (cos u have to i guess), pick up my indian visa, and then somehow track down a girl called esther where i was supposed to be leaving the car

anyways, she was awol, so after a few phone calls i managed to get her boyfriends nunber, get the address and then me and chris high tailed it to Manley. This actually worked out a treat cos the Manley-Sydney harbour ferry is one of the nicest things you can do here, so that was a lovely end to the trip! sailing past the opera house and the bridge again

so, have left the wilson-clarkes now (sounds posh heh!) they loaded me up with some nice wine, starburst sours, and roo poo choc sweets! i gave the guy next to me a sour as well, quite funny to watch!

and now im in singapore, had about 1 hour sleep, and have 4 hours to wait for flight

ooh, saw me, you and dupree on the plane - slapstick comedy, so-so. But also saw the ballad of Ricky Bobby (i think) WITH SACHA BARON COHEN AS THE CAMP (sorry, caps off now) austrian racing driver. Its quite funny actually, and he has a few good parts

congrats

to jo and jim brierley who have had a (as yet nameless) baby boy, hows about cliffton , jim?? or maybe cliffton-jim, a double barreled name??

ok, im sure you'll do better than that

brilliant news though!

me and chris, and maybe becky's forehead at the borat premier...

u can just about see me and chris, on pics 6 and 9 of these shots - we are at the back,

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,20753162-7485,00.html

fame at last !

can't believe it!

this is totally true - i high fived borat! me, chris, and becky went down to the sydney premier of the borat movie (only in the crowd, not the audience) and he was greeting everyone along the crowd, so i stuck up my hand and got a high five from the man himself. not much i suppose, but truly a funny moment :-)

last few days in oz

well juz has gone back to uk now, which was very sad - we all went to the airport and waved her and the plane off - i'll be back in a few weeks, so will be wierd to deal with things on my own, i'll prob get totally lost in india ! still, at least i can have a few lie ins :-) only kidding

so today we went to maruba beach, a lovely day - but then chris discovered he had lost his wedding ring, so after a quick search in the sand he talked to the life guard who put him on this guy http://www.foundit.com.au/

he was amaizing, he turned up on a scooter in a wetsuit and with a metal detector - he was a kind of steve irin character, full of life and very friendly - he operated on a no find, no charge basis - and spent the next 3 hours being battered by the waves trying to find chris's ring

unfortunatly he couldn't find it, but Chris gave him a healthy tip anyway - and we got an insight into the wierd world of 'foundit'


the whole thing was a bit surreal but fun

booked to go home !

yikes, booked to go home (i think) - had the confirmation mail, but you never know

am leaving sydney next wednesday, and going home via india - i fly to mumbai first, and will prob stay in goa for a bit - and then train it up to delhi via agra (taj mahal) and fly out of delhi on wednesday december the 6th - to london heathrow in the evening

back to freezing cold of an english winter! have to see a guy about a job, but will prob be around for a few days so will prob try and hook up with a few people over the weekend

aaaaaaaaaand....... Chris won......

270 dollars - what a result, becky got 13 dollars i think, and me and juzzy scored - le zero!

good fun though, very exciting in the pub

yeah, xmas at the wilkies is coming!

yup, a lego set will keep me quiet for hours! as will a box of quality street

also can't wait to veg out and watch some crazy old filmson the TV -

melbourne cup today, which is as big as the national here so we are off for a little flutter

frankie D is riding, as is dodgy irish jocky Keiron fallon

fingers crossed !

see u at xmas - (ps , claire not sure i should tell you which airport im arriving at)

see ya

marc

a long trip...

that is now coming to an end - not sure if already mentioned this, but we checked the speedo the other day and we have dont at least 14,000 kilometers in the big red station wagon

i think thats almost as much as london to sydney - crazy!

and now we are selling it, a very sad moment :-(