After 17 nights in Hong Kong, it was time to say good bye to Yo, who had managed to stick out the 2 and a bit weeks without going killing one of us. THANKS YO! Our intended destination is Lima, but we have to get there via Sydney, Auckland, Santiago, Arica and then Arequipa (both by bus,) which in total is going to take about 9-10 days. Woo. The flight out of Hong Kong was at 9.30pm local time, with 9 hours flight and 2 hours time difference from Sydney where we were off to next, where we thought we had a 27 hour wait at the airport before then going on to New Zealand, turns out we read our itinerary completley wrong and only had to wait for three. Magic! However, after being told we'd have transit accommodation for New Zealand, there was none, so we are currently in the 20th hour of a 24 hour stretch of kicking our heels around Auckland airport. We found a nice sofa to sleep on, the only thing that turned out to be 24 hour was a vending machine, and also the cleaners, who managed to keep their hoovers and floor polishers going right the way through the night. We met a French girl travelling to Hong Kong, so showing off our knowledge made us feel very important. She also had a guitar, and as I havn't managed to pick one up since I've been home, I was entertained for at least an hour.
We're about to start a 12 and a bit hour flight over the Pacific, where, due to time differences, we actually arrive in Santiago a good 4 and a bit hours before we leave Auckland. So that should be entertaining. All is well, and we are near the check in for our flight.
I'm not entirely sure when I'll get a chance to do the next blog, it may not be for a little while as there is lots of moving about to be done in the next week or so, but I'll try.
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Football and Feasting
Coming to the end of our stay in Hong Kong, as i'm typing, one of the biggest thunder storms I have probably ever seen is well established outside, putting a dent in our plans to go to the horse races today, and probably the theme park tomorrow, which is a bit of a downer!
On thursday we went to the Hong Kong Stadium to watch Man City get beaten by an invitation team, it was 3-1 in the end, and after that, South China FC played Juventus and won 2-1. Not through lack of trying on the Italians part as they were going all out by the end, nearly getting a couple sent off. The stadium wasn't exactly full, I think I heard it has about 40,000 capacity and it was around about half way there, so there was plenty of chanting and the like.
Yesterdat we went to a feast in a small village where some of Yo's family live. There were about 9 tables dotted around outside the village hall each with a massive bowl, more like a vat, of cooked meats which everyone just piled into and helped them selves. I'd like to think I was quite adventurous when trying out the local cuisine, but whole chicken heads (beaks, eyeballs and the little flappy bits on top of their heads still intact) is where I tend to draw the line.
We're leaving Hong Kong on tuesday to get on an 8 hour flight to Sydney, where we stay for 24 hours, then fly to Auckland to do the same for a whole day, then eventually after two days of kicking our heels we're going to be heading to South America where the majority of our trip will be taking place.
On thursday we went to the Hong Kong Stadium to watch Man City get beaten by an invitation team, it was 3-1 in the end, and after that, South China FC played Juventus and won 2-1. Not through lack of trying on the Italians part as they were going all out by the end, nearly getting a couple sent off. The stadium wasn't exactly full, I think I heard it has about 40,000 capacity and it was around about half way there, so there was plenty of chanting and the like.
Yesterdat we went to a feast in a small village where some of Yo's family live. There were about 9 tables dotted around outside the village hall each with a massive bowl, more like a vat, of cooked meats which everyone just piled into and helped them selves. I'd like to think I was quite adventurous when trying out the local cuisine, but whole chicken heads (beaks, eyeballs and the little flappy bits on top of their heads still intact) is where I tend to draw the line.
We're leaving Hong Kong on tuesday to get on an 8 hour flight to Sydney, where we stay for 24 hours, then fly to Auckland to do the same for a whole day, then eventually after two days of kicking our heels we're going to be heading to South America where the majority of our trip will be taking place.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Hong Kong
After our 30 odd ours of traveling and waiting and transiting and sitting to get from Goa to Hong Kong, we finally touched down at about 5pm local time. First point of call was that we needed to find Yo, my friend in Hong Kong, who was at work the other side of the city. Got on the airport shuttle train and managed to get the underground, which is so much cheaper, cleaner, faster and more modern than the london underground, to meet up with Yo in the centre. We went for a Korean meal, compete with tentacles and other various insides, which surprisingly, was very nice.
Our first few days here Yo had work, so we entertained ourselves by roaming the city, doing the odd touristy thing. We went up the 'Peak Tram' which takes you up one of the many mountains dotted all about the city to a viewing gallery from which you can see the bay, the IFC Tower (Chinas 2nd tallest building, the worlds 7th,) and all of the most impressive skyscrapers. The following day we went to a little village called Ngong Ping, which happens to host one of the worlds largest statues of Buddha. We've managed to locate, with Yo's help, some nice drinking spots, where you can pay anything from about 80p for a pint to about 4pounds for a bottle if you stumble into a yuppy bar in the business district. We found out the other day that both Manchester City and Juventus are coming to Hong Kong to play the Chinese treble winners South China FC. They're both playing South China on the same day in the same stadium, both matches back to back, all for about 12pounds. So we got tickets for that and just need to find something to entertain ourselves with for the next few weeks. If we were millionaires it would be easy. Every other shop is a major designer label. I've seen four different Chanel shops just in the central area, and there's a shopping mall under the IFC Tower which every single shop has some sort of label on it, so if you're minted, this is the place to be right now. There's also a theme park we want to go to, a Disneyland we want to avoid and Sam wants to stay up until 4am to watch the Champions League final, so all in all, lots to do.
Our first few days here Yo had work, so we entertained ourselves by roaming the city, doing the odd touristy thing. We went up the 'Peak Tram' which takes you up one of the many mountains dotted all about the city to a viewing gallery from which you can see the bay, the IFC Tower (Chinas 2nd tallest building, the worlds 7th,) and all of the most impressive skyscrapers. The following day we went to a little village called Ngong Ping, which happens to host one of the worlds largest statues of Buddha. We've managed to locate, with Yo's help, some nice drinking spots, where you can pay anything from about 80p for a pint to about 4pounds for a bottle if you stumble into a yuppy bar in the business district. We found out the other day that both Manchester City and Juventus are coming to Hong Kong to play the Chinese treble winners South China FC. They're both playing South China on the same day in the same stadium, both matches back to back, all for about 12pounds. So we got tickets for that and just need to find something to entertain ourselves with for the next few weeks. If we were millionaires it would be easy. Every other shop is a major designer label. I've seen four different Chanel shops just in the central area, and there's a shopping mall under the IFC Tower which every single shop has some sort of label on it, so if you're minted, this is the place to be right now. There's also a theme park we want to go to, a Disneyland we want to avoid and Sam wants to stay up until 4am to watch the Champions League final, so all in all, lots to do.
Friday, 9 May 2008
Leaving India
If I'm perfectly honest, the last week in India has not really been very news-worthy from a people-at-home point of view. Eating alot, spending entire days bumming around beaches, roaming around on mopeds that do about 5metres to the gallon. Its fun to do, but not really too entertaining to read about. You have better things to read i'm sure.
One very eventful day today however.
Sam and I thought we'd be 'smart' and save on a nights accommodation by heading to the airport nice and early. We arrived about 8 hours before our 8.30 am transit to Sri Lanka. Never having seen Dabolim, the airport in Goa, we didn't know what to expect, we didn't expect it to be shut however. The guard on duty said that we would have to wait for it to open...at 5am. So our grand plan of saving on a night of accommodation resulted in slumming it, finding a nice patch of grass to sleep amongst the locals, who happened to be a friendly gang of stray dogs, and put our bags to use as pillows.
Eventually on getting to Sri Lanka, and thinking we now had to wait 21 hours in the airport for our next flight, we get directed into a queue, get a FREE taxi to a FREE luxury hotel with FREE meals. And if that wasn't enough, it had a comfy bed, tele and air conditioning! things that have been well above our price range for the duration of this trip. So that's all a bit of a surprise. Downside is our taxi back to the airport is at 4am tomorrow, then a 7 hour flight to Hong Kong, but still, can't complain.
One very eventful day today however.
Sam and I thought we'd be 'smart' and save on a nights accommodation by heading to the airport nice and early. We arrived about 8 hours before our 8.30 am transit to Sri Lanka. Never having seen Dabolim, the airport in Goa, we didn't know what to expect, we didn't expect it to be shut however. The guard on duty said that we would have to wait for it to open...at 5am. So our grand plan of saving on a night of accommodation resulted in slumming it, finding a nice patch of grass to sleep amongst the locals, who happened to be a friendly gang of stray dogs, and put our bags to use as pillows.
Eventually on getting to Sri Lanka, and thinking we now had to wait 21 hours in the airport for our next flight, we get directed into a queue, get a FREE taxi to a FREE luxury hotel with FREE meals. And if that wasn't enough, it had a comfy bed, tele and air conditioning! things that have been well above our price range for the duration of this trip. So that's all a bit of a surprise. Downside is our taxi back to the airport is at 4am tomorrow, then a 7 hour flight to Hong Kong, but still, can't complain.
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Candolim
After the relaxing week in Benaulim, which invloved nothing more strenuous than kicking a football about on the beach or helping a couple of fishermen stand their boat upright, we decided on another move. We've moved about 10 miles north of Benaulim, to a town called Candolim, slightly busier than where we were before and right next to an old early 17th Century Portuguese fort called 'Fort Aguada' (I think that's the spelling.) We went up and gave it a little visit today. Rented some more mopeds, for 5 days this time, and only 100 rupees a day, so we're probably going to head a few towns up and meet a friend from Benaulim tomorrow, he ran the beach-shack we went to most frequently, but has since packed up and moved to where the most fun is at the end of the Indian tourist season, which is why we are following!
Just off the shore in Candolim is an old wreckage, an oil tanker called River Princess, which has been there for about 9 years, right on the shoreline, and only now are they towing it away to break up for scrap, but a little to late to salvage the engines, boilers, generators etc. that were on board as the local people had it stripped of anything useable in about 2 months.
Now I have finally recovered from 10 days of dysentery and now I'm off the antibiotics, we're just taking advantage of the cheap food, cheap beer, cheap everything. We both had a Vindaloo last night, which is a dish from Goa. Vind-aloo is from the Portuguese words for wine and garlic, which is what the curry sauce is made out of. Now don't say this trip isn't educational.
Just off the shore in Candolim is an old wreckage, an oil tanker called River Princess, which has been there for about 9 years, right on the shoreline, and only now are they towing it away to break up for scrap, but a little to late to salvage the engines, boilers, generators etc. that were on board as the local people had it stripped of anything useable in about 2 months.
Now I have finally recovered from 10 days of dysentery and now I'm off the antibiotics, we're just taking advantage of the cheap food, cheap beer, cheap everything. We both had a Vindaloo last night, which is a dish from Goa. Vind-aloo is from the Portuguese words for wine and garlic, which is what the curry sauce is made out of. Now don't say this trip isn't educational.
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