“Into The Valley”

(Mile – 2,079)

After a days drive from San Francisco we made a late arrival into Mariposa Ca, a tiny “wild west cowboy” kinda town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Mariposa consists of what appears to be a single main street and a local sheriff (we think it’s that guy out of the village people) who patrols the town on horseback, complete with a Stetson and a silver sheriffs star pinned to his shirt.

The whole point of this stop was to be in close proximity to Yosemite National Park, and although the Yosemite landscape was as beautiful as we expected, we couldn’t wait to get out of there due to the ridiculous number of fellow visitors. This reminded us of our policy to “Only travel off peak… when possible”.

We lasted for a few more hours before heading off the beaten path to hike to the base of “El Capitan” and then we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in a quiet secluded part of the Merced River.

“El Capitan” on the left and “Half Dome” on the right. I’m talking abut the granite mountains in the background. Not us!

The next day we took a long drive through the less populated parts of the park on our way to Mono Lake with its stunning Tufa towers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufa. This area is a nesting habitat for over two million annual migratory birds and the fading sunlight on the tufa towers made the whole place look like one of Roger Deans tripped out album covers.

♪ Down at the edge, round by the corner,
Close to the edge, down by a river ♬

Ever since I first heard of Death Valley as a kid I have always wanted to go there, so we stocked up with cold water, filled up “Vlad the Impala” with gas and headed off into the heat. The only way to describe it is that it feels like you are standing in front of a giant hairdryer set to its highest setting; the desert is literally breathtaking and certainly unforgettable.

A flower in the desert

At 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in the USA, we hit a temperature high of 113ºf (45ºc). The odometer display does not lie.

Yea, though I drive through the valley of the shadow of death

We were also lucky enough to be there during the insanity that is the “Badwater race”. Recognized globally as “the world’s toughest foot race,” it covers 135 miles (217km) non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, and in some years the temperatures have reached up to 130F (55c).  Accompanying the runners were huge dust devils in the desert basin as well as an ariel acrobatic display laid on by two U.S.A.F. jet fighters

Fighter jets showing off to the dust devils

On route to our next destination we dropped in to Las Vegas to witness the madness, glitter and lights. Twenty two years ago, Lura and I first visited this city for one night only to attempt to make our fortune on the nickel slots. Much has changed since then.

As we were in Vegas we couldn’t resist a show, and as I am vehemently opposed to Celine Dion or any form of musical theatre we decided to splurge on Cirque Du Soleil. We have had the good fortune to catch a number of Cirque shows before and every one is without doubt worth every penny. Although Mystere is the oldest of their running shows it was still absolutely amazing, and if you ever get the chance to see them please take our advice and GO!

Two nights in Sin City were enough for us and the next day we left Vegas and headed out across the Mojave Desert on the remains of Route 66 to Flagstaff, Arizona.

We obviously kept an eye out for alien activity on the way but apart from some tumbleweed, a few trailers and some otherworldly mullet hairdo’s we only got photographic evidence of one grounded U.F.O.

“The truth is out there”

 

 

“California Dreaming”

(Mile – 918)

We have been told by so many people that the drive up the West Coast on route#101 is well worth it, and we finally found out for ourselves when we drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Each turn on the coast road presented a vista more beautiful than the last.

Ah the beauty of route #101. The dramatic cliffs, the pounding surf, the coaches of Asian tourists.

We passed dramatic cliffs that plunged down into beautiful turquoise waters, we saw colonies of HUGE elephant seals basking on the beach during their summer molt (Lela commented that they make the same sound as a blocked drain) and believe it or not, somewhere around Big Sur we even passed a cow pasture that had zebras in!

They are resting here, but when the males start sparring it’s drama on every corner

It has always been a dream of mine to visit San Francisco, and five nights were simply not enough. What a place! We arrived early evening and the legendary mist had already rolled its way inland, and even though we had just come from winter in Australia we were not prepared for such a chilly city especially in late summer.

Having said that our hearts were warmed by the locals. We had heard about how laid back they were but we couldn’t believe how nice and genuinely helpful everyone was.

The iconic Golden Gate Bridge – snapped during a rare break in the mist

Eagerly clutching a print out of our friend Gregs “Guide to San Francisco” we hopped on the #37 Corbett bus which took us directly to the Castro District to start the day with an AMAZING “philharmonic” coffee at Philz http://www.philzcoffee.com/

Castro is one of the U.S’s first, best-known and biggest gay neighborhoods and subsequently it is a great place to people watch. The sun finally burnt through the mist and the change of weather bought out some of the less dressed locals. The first completely naked man wearing only a backpack and a pair of flip flops took myself, Lulu and the kids completely by surprise, but it soon became normal operating procedure for this part of town.

Topping up the tans in Castro

We walked The Lands End Trail for a very misty view of the Golden Gate Bridge, climbed Twin Peaks for a 360º view of the entire city and took a few rides downtown on San Francisco’s vintage cable cars.

San Franciscos vintage cable cars. Travelling in a piece of history.

Jule and I did some serious comic shopping at a myriad of brilliant comic shops while our equally geeky girls paid a visit to the knitting paradise of ImagiKnit   www.ImagiKnit.com

The boy who cried wool

And yes, we did the classic tourist trap thing with a visit to Fishermans Wharf for dungeness crab while we watched the evening mist roll bay into the bay once again

 

“Drinking in L.A”

Mile Zero

Our smooth and simple flight from Sydney to Los Angeles introduced us to the joys of time travel into the past by arriving before we departed. We left winter in Sydney at 8.00 p.m on July 5th and thirteen hours later we arrived at our destination in summer time at 2.00 p.m on the same day.

Confused???? Just think how our bodies felt!

This would probably explain why we were all wide awake in our Hollywood hotel at 2 a.m celebrating our arrival in the U.S with an early morning feast of rainbow ‘goldfish’, La Croix seltzers and fresh fruit salad.

After a year on the road it’s good to be back on home soil, even though California is a part of the U.S. that we have never explored before, so it wasn’t too long before we became dedicated American consumers again and went shopping at Target, stocked up on GT Kombucha at Whole Foods and had our first Hollywood hamburger at Mel’s Drive-In.

Ah America. it’s good to be back!

 

Despite the brutal jet lag we did a bit of exploring around L.A. starting with a visit to Santa Monica Beach and followed with an early evening stroll down the “Walk Of Fame”, which gets its name from over 2,500 terrazzo and brass stars which are embedded into the pavement.

Another Hollywood “must do” is a visit to see Grauman’s Chinese Theatre which is home to a forecourt which features handprints, footprints and hoof prints of loads of iconic Hollywood celebrities….(it was Roy Rodgers horse Trigger in case you were wondering about the hoofprints).

 

♫….until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard ♫

 

One of the highlights of our first few days in California was a drive to Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave desert, about 3hrs hours from L.A. It was blisteringly hot but absolutely beautiful as we hiked through the stunning rock formations that surround the piñon pine and joshua tree forests in Hidden Valley. It may have been the mind altering combination of dehydration, jet lag and 39°c (102°f) temperatures but I clearly felt the presence of the spirits of this ancient and magical land join us on our trek. It was nature at its most raw

 

Joshua Tree national park. What an amazing place

 

In keeping with tradition, Sunday morning was spent at our families church (also known as the Los Angeles Farmers Market). It was a very different experience from any farmers market we have seen so far as, all the stalls were permanent shops selling all manner of cool stuff and delicious food

 

Just one of the many gustatory distractions available at the L.A. farmers market

 

And so begins the great American road-trip back to New York

 

“Everywhere you go (you always take the weather with you)”

It’s so easy to let things slip when you are having fun, it’s now early July and over 15,000 miles since our blog was last updated in April! So get ready for some compressed details.

It seems like a lifetime ago that we were in South East Asia and although we had a great time there, by the end of it we were ready to move on to new pastures and cooler weather.

Rather than doing “the overland thing” from Laos we all voted for a quick two hour flight to Cambodia rather than spending a week of bumpy and dusty “overlanding” by bus. Trust me, you would understand our decision if you saw the state of the Laotian roads.

The temples in the Cambodian jungle are magical beyond description in both, beauty, workmanship and location. You really have to see them for yourselves! Given the location and the size of the undertaking it is almost impossible to imagine how the original builders achieved this. It is truly one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Sunrise over the lake next to Angkor Wat

Many people have seen photos of the most famous temple, Angkhor Wat, but our favorite experience was an early morning visit to Angkhor Thom, with it’s hundreds of giant Bhudda faces carved into the walls

Early morning at Angkhor Thom

After sweating it our in Cambodia we travelled back to Thailand to stay with Graeme Orr, an old friend of ours who now lives on the island of Koh Tao.

One of the beautiful beaches in Koh Tao

We spent a lovely week diving, swimming and relaxing at his palatal home in a location which strangely reminded me of Jeff Tracey’s paradise island, home of the Thunderbirds.

The view from our deckchair on Tracey Island while waiting for Thunderbird Three to launch from under the pool

From there we took a bus followed by an overnight boat with “scum class” accommodation to the west coast island of Koh Lanta for a final week of island life before we returned to Bangkok and flew to New Zealand.

What can I say about New Zealand except that it exceeded our expectations by hundred times.

Over the two months that we were there we travelled from Auckland to tiny Stewart Island in the far south and back again http://goo.gl/maps/Vrd5 

We bathed in hot pools that we dug in the sand on unspoiled beaches, we hiked across glaciers, we mountain biked through temperate rain forests, we sailed down fjords, we learned to fish (and had many successful catches I might add) and thanks to the amazing New Zealand wines I finally got a taste for alcohol.

Digging our own private hot pool at the world renowned Hot Water Beach

All I can say is don’t let the distance put you off visiting, you won’t be disappointed as it’s one of the most beautiful and unspoiled places on earth (and they make great fish ‘n chips).

The amazingly beautiful beaches of Wharaki

Finally we did a quick hop over the Tasman Sea to Australia to spend six weeks “chillaxing” with our extended family in Australia. The Cooper family were instrumental in the process of my wife and I meeting, so we couldn’t turn down a rare chance to visit them at their home in Brisbane.

Stevie and Jule fishing at Byron bay

It was more a chance to regroup and catch up with years and years of news, then it was to explore the vast continent of Oz. We got to discover Brisbane, spend a week at the beach in beautiful Byron Bay, visit my cousins in Noosa and celebrate two birthdays. After almost year on the road it was fantastic to see old friends, put the slippers on and relax in a home from home.

Byron Beach with a milky way star display that stretches from horizon to horizon

Almost a year to the day since we left New York, we finished our Australia leg with a few days in the wonderful city of Sydney, and to celebrate our time there we spent our last night at the Sydney Opera House watching a performance of “The Pearl Fishers”

Sydney Opera House (in case you couldn’t tell)

 

ORANGE SKY

After spending a hot, busy, but thoroughly enjoyable time exploring Bangkok, we hopped on the night bus and headed north to Chiang Mai, where we immediately felt better – the air was cooler, and the pace was slower and everything was within walking distance from our lodgings.  We visited some fantastic temples, enjoyed lots of delicious food, and explored the wonders that the local markets had to offer.  Yak took part in a great two day workshop which tied in with his breathwork training, while the kids and I visited the Royal Winter Palace up in the mountains along with the revered Wat Doi Suthep http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Phrathat_Doi_Suthep, where our visit was rewarded with a holy water blessing from one of the resident monks

Many people that we had met on out travels had recommended the we should visit Laos,so we felt called to keep migrating north toward the Laotian border.  For Valentine’s Day we found ourselves in Chiang Rai, where we had a crazy night taking in what seemed to be the only tourist attraction in town, the interestingly bizarre clock tower “son et lumiere” show, with loud classical music and constantly changing colored lights (go figure?!). The evening promptly improved when we joined the locals for some live valentines music and dancing at the night bazaar, it was here that Yak and the kids sampled a local delicacy of deep fried grasshoppers, spritzed with MSG for added flavor!

The sign says "KFG"...Kentucky Fried Grasshoppers maybe?

Apart from the great night market and the wide selection of “edible” insects on offer we were otherwise suitably unimpressed with Ching Rai as a town. So instead of spending four nights like we had planned ,the next day we continued north to the Mekong River to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary at the Golden Triangle, right on the Mekong river where Thailand, Burma, and Laos meet.

In the past this area was notorious for opium growing and smuggling, so hats off to the late Princess Mother for building the Hall of Opium, a fantastic museum devoted to the history of opium and the devastating effects of its use.  The entrance fee to the museum goes directly into supporting rural development initiatives to offer communities alternatives to poppy growing.

"The Golden Triangle" - Myanmar (on the left), Laos (on the right), Thailand (right under our feet)

Our last night in Thailand was spent at one of the best places we have had the pleasure to stay in. The Rai Saeng Arun Resort http://www.raisaengarun.com/index.php?raifile=introduction.php offered a wonderful bungalow, a great outdoor shower, and some excellent organic food direct from their garden which was served in a beautiful outdoor dining area that overlooked the Mekong river!

It also wins the award for the most steps ever to reach our huts…165 steps with heavy bags to be exact!  However, it was completely worth it – tucked away up on a hillside, our huts provided us with a peaceful retreat from the outside world , sadly one night here was not enough.

Our cozy hut in the woods

It was an early start the next morning to cross the border into Laos, and catch the slow boat to Luang Prabang.  Two days down the Mekong is a most recommended way to travel!  The scenery was truly spectacular, a pristine Mekong with only a few remote villages dotting the riverside.

A misty Mekong morning

A couple of days later we arrived in Luang Prabang at sunset, to find a very pleasant small city perched on the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which helps it retain a certain level of charm and history by mixing ancient culture with beautiful vintage french influenced architecture.  Within Luang Prabang there are 32 temples with a very devoted Buddhist population and because of this,  the city has become particularly famous for its morning alms procession, where the monks silently walk the streets every morning collecting food and offerings from the lay Buddhist townspeople.

Experiencing the daily alms ceremony is meditative and truly moving to witness. But despite a genuine effort within the city to educate tourists on the meaning and sanctity of this ritual and the respectful protocol involved, we sadly witnessed a number of Westerners who were blatantly disrespectful (for example, one women wearing spaghetti straps and skin tight capri’s walking right up to the monks and snapping photographs in their face).

Lela Mae and I were thrilled to find Ock PopTok http://www.ockpoptok.com/ (translation literally means East Meets West), a weaving center that provides work for local artisans by promoting traditional arts from the many of the different ethnic groups populating the area.  The level of craftsmanship here in Laos is the best I have seen so far in SE Asia.  They predominantly use natural dyes and each ethnic group has its own unique style.

Best of all, Ock Pop Tok offers courses!  So, Lela and I delved into a two day weaving course. We harvested and prepared the natural dyes of the area, dyed our silk, and wove ourselves a pair of Laos style scarf on looms overlooking the Mekong River.  Needless to say, we were in heaven, and quite pleased with our efforts at the end!

Lela's scarf. The silk was hand dyed on day one and the scarf was woven on day two

We also spent a most memorable morning at The Living Land http://livinglandlao.com/, which believe it or not is the place to learn about the arduous process of growing and harvesting rice. After eating rice daily for the last few months we realized we knew almost nothing about the actual production process of this staple grain, and this was the place where we could finally get those questions answered.

The Living Land was a project initiated by a group of locals, who work towards educating tourists and Laotians alike about traditional farming methods – hence, Susan, the water buffalo, who kindly allowed us to try our hand at plowing a muddy pit behind her!  I don’t think we will ever be nonchalant about rice again, it just takes too much hard work to get each grain to the table.

Lela Mae and Susan. Girl and water buffalo working together in complete (muddy) harmony

Luang Prabang turned out to be a place where we felt we could refuel our energies, and we loved it so much that we ended up staying two weeks!  I kayaked the Nam Khan River with Jule one day (Lela was ill, and Yak looked after her) and we had good fun navigating the rapids and cooling off in the calm areas where we could hop in for a swim (our guide even taught Jule how to do back flips off the kayak).  We also took a long dusty roadtrip out of Luang Prabang to visit Kouang Si Waterfalls – featuring gorgeous cascading pools of turquoise blue water – swimming here was bliss!

On our last night in town we attended a fashion show at a hip and trendy local venue which showcased traditional clothing from various Laotian tribes, the evening culminated with the models wearing some amazingly beautiful tribal wedding attire.

The beautiful Kouang Si waterfalls

We met some fabulous people during our stay in Luang Prabang, Laotians and fellow travelers alike from various points around the globe.  The Laotians here seemed to really want to interact with foreigners and were always starting up conversations so they could practice their English skills. They were warm and friendly with an ever-ready smile.  They retain a real sense of pride in their culture and heritage, which I pray, gives them strength in the coming years as, no doubt, more tourists arrive.

We had hoped to travel overland down through Laos, but time was not on our side.  We knew we wanted to make the effort to see a little bit of Cambodia in the form of Angkor Wat, so to get all the way down there, we would have to fly.

One day, “Buddha willing”, we will return to Laos.

 

“A Passage to Bangkok”

Our love affair with Vietnam was so passionate, and generated so many cool experiences and great memories that it is all too emotional to even talk about on this blog, so instead you will just have to clench your teeth and sit through the slideshow when we return home.  During our month’s stay we travelled over 4,600 km by train, plane and boat from the very south to the very north and back again to the very south (and then just a little bit to the very west)!  We left for Thailand with heavy hearts and we promised to return one day.

We arrived in Bangkok after a mercifully short and simple late night flight. Luck was on our side as the Thai immigration officers apparently felt it was far too late in the night for them to care about our nonexistent exit tickets, they thankfully stamped out passports let us through without a hitch.

Lulu gets some directions from one of the locals

Our impression of Bangkok is that it doesn’t have anywhere near the character, charm and magic of Saigon. There now seems to be a 7 Eleven on every corner and the ubiquitous unholy trio of Starbucks/Burger King and McDonalds has raised its ugly head everywhere. Bangkok also has the ability to sap every last ounce of strength from you, leaving you in a dehydrated, ragged and rather useless state after only a few hours exposure to the pollution, heat and humidity.

On the plus side, we loved Bangkok’s entrepreneurial business sense and their super cool eye for design, which was reflected in graphic art and small boutiques everywhere.

Tasty street snacks - grubs anyone?

Also, Bangkok’s transport system is fantastic! Oh New York, if only you would follow suit with a high tech public transport upgrade. For a handful of baht you can catch a public water taxi that will zoom you up the Chao Phraya River cheaply and quickly, or you can choose a clean and efficient metro system which is kept deliciously cold with powerful a/c blasts. But top of the list has to be the Skytrain monorail (imagine a MORE extensive and LESS expensive Las Vegas monorail). Even though the Skytrain can get crowded sometimes, you still get the luxury of escaping the heat while watching the city from above as you fly over the choked up traffic jams below.

A stay over the weekend also meant a visit to Chatuchak Market on Saturday, which has to be noted for its sheer size and diverse collections of merchandise. If the heat doesn’t get to you first, then the number of stalls is guaranteed to bring any seasoned shopper to their knees. I am sure that this is where the saying ‘shop till you drop’ originated.

The 35-acre area of Chatuchak is home to more than 8,000 market stalls. On a typical weekend, more than 200,000 visitors come here to attempt to navigate the alleyways and sift through the goods on offer. If you can dream it up, Chatuchak probably has it.

Just in case we missed something at Chatachuck, we also paid a visit to Talad Rot Fai (the “Train Market”) which was tucked away at the far end of nowhere. As the name would suggest this market takes place in an abandoned train yard, and after a bit of searching for the location we spent a few hours hanging out with the Thai hipsters and browsing the ‘stalls’ (tarps spread on the ground) for antiques, collectibles and generally worthless but utterly charming old second-hand retro stuff.

While in Bangkok, we did manage to explore Wat Pho, with its famous reclining Buddha covered in gold leaf.  There was also a visit to Wat Traimit, which houses the world’s largest solid gold statue. It wasn’t until about 1930 that anyone realized that this 3 meter tall, 5.5 ton Buddha statue was actually made of solid gold. It has an amazing story which you can read about in the short “History” section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Buddha_(statue)  Another memorable visit was to the Jim Thompson house, a beautifully restored traditional Thai home and garden, a refuge found smack dab in the middle of the madness of Bangkok.

The Reclining Buddah at Wat Pho

Come Sunday we were exhausted, but we still had to plot our escape from Bangkok. The islands in the south were too numerous and overwhelming to plan at short notice, so a coin was tossed and we chose to head north to Chang Mai by overnight “VIP” bus instead. Under the guidance of our fearless map reader Lulubelle, we headed through an incredibly hot and busy Chinatown in search of tickets, and following the dining advice of our Nancy Chandler map http://www.nancychandler.net/product.asp?cId=11&case=b we stood out like sore thumbs as the only “farang” diners in the wonderful Jim Jim Chinese restaurant.

One of the locals outside Jim Jims

We caught the bus on time and were shown to our seats by a scowling, uniform wearing middle aged “lady-boy” bus steward/stewardess. At first glance the front row upstairs seats offer the most room and the best view, but it also put us right in the firing line of a monitor that kept us awake with an unintelligible Thai “shoot em up” movie. We quickly took refuge by using our laptops and headphones to watch “Super 8” and a few episodes of “Pushing Daisies” before arriving bright and early but bleary eyed in cooler and cleaner Chaing Mai.

Settling down for a night of "quality" film entertainment

 

“Yellow Star”

Fifty Reasons to come to Vietnam

We have only been here for eleven days and we already know that we want to return to this wonderful country. Here are (almost) fifty reasons why you should come here too:

1. Random people saving your life by just grabbing your hand and leading you across busy rush hour Saigon roads
2. Brutally strong and deliciously sweet 45 cent coffee served with condensed milk that drip brews in front of you
3.  Big steaming bowls of hot Pho – that says it all…
4. Tours around the country in old US Army Jeeps
5. Hundreds of perfect spiral shells littering the beach 
6.  Deluxe suite hotel rooms for $14
7.  Smiles everywhere you look 
8.  Custom fitted and hand made dresses to your wishes for a fraction of the US price  
9. Delicious food you can eat without contracting some deadly disease
10. Handmade leather shoes – be the coolest dude in the office with your snake leather brogues (are you listening Phil Sexton?)
11. Strangers that come up to you in the street, pat your belly and say “Happy Buddha”
12. Toilets on the boat 
13. Cows with lumpy backs
14. Fruit sellers wearing woven pointy hats
15. Beautiful old houses
16. Boat rides with Captain Mien
17. Amazing markets full of just about everything
18. Fishermen
19. Foreigners wearing pointy woven hats 
20. Proper motorbikes for hire everywhere
21. A human powered Cyclo (psycho?) ride across town 
22. Street vendors with fake East London and Australian accents ……..“Ello darlin’/It’s a bonza deal mate”
23. Very questionable public electricity 
24. Everything you buy on the street is on “Happy Hour buy two get one free” sale
25. Affordable and efficient overnight train rides all over the country 
26. Stir fried morning glory greens with garlic
27. Hand tailored jacket with silk lining made in two days 
28. Getting your shoes shined on the street corner
29. Getting an old school haircut, razor shave and beard/eyebrow trim and rather scary ear cleaning for about $5 
30. Decent roads that don’t shake your body to bits
31. Millions and millions of motorbikes EVERYWHERE! (none of which “Uncle” Phil or any self respecting motorcyclist would consider powerful enough) 
32. Trash vans that play a little 8 bit Nintendo style tune to let you know they are coming down the street
33. Tracking down “Miss Forget-Me-Not” and getting her to make you and your friend a custom hand made silk kimono 
34. Stunning scenery
35. Beautiful temples decorated with broken beer bottles and cracked crockery 
36. Dried sweetened coconut shavings that taste divine
37. Lanterns in the streets at night 
38. People that are as cute as “Hello Kitty”
39. Workers in the rice paddies wearing woven pointy hats 
40. Fresh and fried spring rolls
41. Pineapple pancakes and hot banana fritters on the street 
42. Vietnam propaganda posters for sale
43. Overloaded motorbikes 
44. $4 manicure/pedicure
45. Photo oportunities on every street corner 

 

“I don’t like spiders and snakes”

After the luxury of the house on the lake, the next act was always going to be hard to follow, but we managed to find “Samakanda”, an old tea plantation that had been converted to a permaculture garden .

Our lodgings were in a traditional and simple  planters bungalow which now offers shelter to foreign visitors, huge spiders and menacing scorpions which lurk in the shower drains. Once again we lucked out by finding accommodation that came complete with a cook who churned out excellent curries three times a day. The food was delicious (with the exception of one low point –  breakfast that consisted of plain rice, salty fish curry served with salty fish sambal).

Planters Hut - a magical place full of surprises!

Early mornings would be spent hanging out in our leaf roofed pavilion accompanied by “Scrat”, our noisy local chipmunk/squirrel, sipping hot coffee and watching the unbelievably beautiful birdlife in the valley below. This included scores of iridescent turquoise kingfishers, dark purple sun birds, bright yellow orioles and multitudes of noisy lime green parakeets.

The morning view from the "pavilion of delight"

With a few cautious treks into the lush jungle and the surrounding paddy fields we soon learnt how to efficiently remove leeches before they could properly latch on to our ankles. Interesting fact of the day: leeches are “motion activated”, so the first person to walk the path avoids attack but everyone that follows the leader is fair game.

Lulubelle - Intrepid jungle leader and leech remover

The jungles of Samakanda and the beaches of Galle are separated by a rather harrowing, rough and dusty forty minute drive, so as long we got up early enough we found that we could slowly crawl to the coast in a rickety van and squeeze in a few hours of swimming before the early afternoon rains hit.  Once the effectiveness of the sunscreen had started to wear off we would retire to the local bar for cold mojitos and a plate of penne carbonara (to break the endless variations on the Sri Lankan curry theme).

The beach near Galle....I think the photo says it all!

As our stay at Samakanda came to a close, we noticed more and more European faces arriving in town everyday. This signaled the start of the Christmas season, so we found ourselves a driver and headed inland to the cool mountains of Kandy, the old capitol of Sri Lanka.

The ancient city of Kandy is busy, vibrant and incredibly polluted, so we thanked our lucky stars to be staying in a home with a panoramic view, that was perched high above the valley where the air was cooler and cleaner but no less noisy.

One afternoon we paid a visit to the exquisite botanical gardens where we explored the grounds with their breathtaking trees and flowers and delighted in watching Sri Lankan families taking their Sunday afternoon picnics. Lela was asked by one local family to pose with them to have her photo taken, then a few minutes later a Buddhist monk dressed in saffron robes snapped a picture of her as she was walking by (shouldn’t it be the other way around?).

Our other tourist activities included an evening of traditional Kandyan dancing followed by a fire walk (they did they fire walk, not us). We also made a nighttime pilgrimage to “The Temple of Tooth”, a very sacred Buddhist temple which houses the relic of one of the Buddha’s teeth. Other than that our only reason to venture into Kandy was to post some parcels, pick up some essentials and visit The Bake House for pots of tea, tea buns, plum buns or “super” plum buns (basically the same bread product containing greater or lesser amounts of sultanas).

Tea anyone?

One of the highlights of our stay in Kandy was being invited to a traditional rural village a few miles out of Kandy to visit the parents of our friend Nimal. We were warmly welcomed into their home and after some refreshment of tea and freshly grated coconut meat served with kethul tree honey (imagine Sri Lankan maple syrup!), we took a hike up to a serene and magical village temple, with its exquisite decorations.

Nimal’s father is an astrologer by profession, so following a delicious Sri Lankan lunch, the kids had their fortune told. Maybe we got the birth times wrong as Jule is apparently going to be a journalist (we struggle on a daily basis to get him to write a fifteen minute book report), where as Lela is going to be a successful and popular lawyer……!!

The reclining Buddah - A serene and beautiful experience

Christmas in Kandy felt like it was a million miles away from England or America. Every now and then we would be reminded of the holiday season by seeing some scraggly fir tree branches or tinsel for sale in the markets or by passing a plastic animatronic Father Christmas singing unrecognizable Christmas carols in a low demonic voice.

We spent much of the time talking about all the wonderful things we miss about Christmas back home, especially our beloved family and friends…and when we really started feeling a bit sorry for ourselves, we just had to look outside at the beauty that surrounded us and count our many blessings!

Pezzies from Santa - complete with Sri Lankan newspaper wrapping

On Christmas Eve and it has become a Jacobs family tradition to read the famous poem :

“Twas the night before Christmas and wherever you’d go, 

You’d hear sounds of dogs barking in the valley below”, (accompanied by the occasional nerve jangling volley of firework explosions). 

Not wanting to be left out of the local gunpowder revelries we asked our tuk uk driver to stop at Nihals supermarket so we could stock up on bargain priced firecrackers and rockets. The firecrackers were loud, dangerous and AWESOME! Lela captured and edited the highlights on video below

Happy New Year everyone!

 

“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”

Yes, it was a long trip from Brighton to Sri Lanka, but we made it one piece. Yes, it is hot and dusty here (when it’s not, it’s hot and rainy).  Yes, there are cows in the street.  Yes, there is the constant free jazz cacophony of traffic horns but this all adds up to the experience that is Sri Lanka and we are very happy to be here.

Minutes after leaving Colombo airport we were inundated with our first experience of the suicidal interplay between mopeds  (often holding three adults plus a baby….no helmets), cars, tuk tuks (pimped up two stroke three wheeler taxis), and dangerously overcrowded and garishly painted Leyland public buses. Throw into this mix a multitude of mangy stray dogs staring at you indifferently, before they lazily wander out of harms way and you have what would look like a recipe for disaster. Despite the sickening combination of excitement and fear as loaded busses overtake you on blind corners, the drivers/cows/dogs seem to know what they are doing and appear to follow some unspoken law of the road!

Our first stop in Sri Lanka was “South Point Villa”, a beautiful house located on the southwest coast right on the edge of Kogalla Lake.    On arrival we found out that it came complete with a full-time staff, including a cook and “house boy”, which was equally uncomfortable (hints of the Raj) and delightful (tea and cake without fail at three on the dot).

The house on the lake had a beautiful long dock where most of our evenings were spent fishing with bamboo poles and prawns for bait. As the light faded, flocks of pure white egrets flew gracefully by, soon to be followed by clouds of giant bats, silhouetted against the sunset, flying from their roosts to spend the night feeding.

Fifteen minutes away, through the village and past the local Buddhist temple, was the beach where we could see the local stilt fisherman in action.  This is the only place in the world where this type of fishing still takes place and these prime fishing locations are jealously guarded inheritances which are handed down from generation to generation.

With absolutely no effort at all we managed to quickly attract the attention of the local fisherman who offered us “gifts” of coconut drinks, fresh pink coral plucked from the sea (eeks!), and dodgy gemstones. Before long, two of these new self appointed Sri Lankan additions to our family had taken it upon themselves to become our best friends and tour guides, buying us bananas, and meticulously planning our itinerary with various excursions around their beautiful island via tuk tuk!!   We were reminded of the advice that every parent gives to their child at some point, “Never get into a tuk tuk with a stranger”, and although they were persistent we uncomfortably but politely managed to prize ourselves free from them.

Highlights of the trip so far:

• Quality time “acclimatizing” in the pool,
• Jule’s 13th birthday complete with beautiful handmade breakfast table decorations made by Dayapala.
• A visit to the elephant orphanage to see the little ones at feeding time
• Being witness to a thirty-nine meter tall Buddha on a full moon Poya (holiday) day.
• A brilliant safari at Uduwalawe National Park, incredible bird life, LOADS of elephants,  and even a cobra;

One experience that merits a special mention was our chance to have the privilege of releasing three baby sea turtles into the sea.  Sri Lanka is home to five out of the seven different types of sea turtles in the world and volunteers in Galle buy the turtle eggs from the fishermen (turtle eggs are considered a delicacy here), then bring them back to the hatchery for safe hatching.  About three weeks after they hatch, these tiny creatures are released into the big wide ocean.  It was an unforgettable experience placing these small beings on the sand to watch them instinctively head for the waves.

 

“Brighton Rock”

Our last stint in mainland Europe was topped off with a visit to see the Pace-Derome family, old friends of ours who now live just outside of Paris. Although we were only a matter of minutes away from the center of Paris, a couple of half-hearted visits to the capitol failed to take in the Louvre, but succeeded in visiting the Eiffel Tower, the Arc De Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral and the gardens of the Versailles Palace.

One of the highlights of our visit was that Lela got to spend a day in the city with Olenka, a friend from school in New York, who just happened to be on student exchange in Paris at the same time as we were visiting. While Lela and Olenka got lost in the city, the rest of the family got a unusual guided tour by Axel Pace. Just like his dad Niels, Axel has a soft spot for high end sports cars and so we were taken on a detailed exploration of some of his favorite car parks in Paris, on the search for Porsches, Lambos and Fezzas

Fun in Paris with Lela and Olenka, Jule and Axel

After spending a suitably forgettable last night in a rather dull, grey and basic hotel in Calais it was blissful to be back in Claygate even though it was only for a week. It gave us a chance to post Christmas prezzies, repack, regroup, and renew the kids British passports. Most importantly, Ollie got a thorough wash, passed her MOT and was sold for cash to a charming Somerset retiree. We wish him the best of luck on his travels…..and that’s all we are going to say about that.

Kids trying to look sad as we loose Ollie

Asia beckoned but we had a few days left before leaving so as we were “vehicle free” we hopped on the train to Brighton to spend time with the Katsourides family. As always a brilliant time was had by all. We squeezed in a football game with Jasper in midfield; Nik, Jan and myself went on a “boys night out” to see the brilliant Dweezil Zappa, and the kids got creative with a skateboarding video – a huge improvement on the one that my friends and I made as kids using my Dad’s Super 8.

December 5th, the day finally came to fly to Sri Lanka! We left Brighton with a mixture of sadness (leaving our friends once again to step out into the unknown) and happiness (leaving 3°C for 30°C), though all of us feel a bit anxious about what is before us….here we go…wish us luck!