On the Road with Ru and Bob

Gone fishing

2008-09-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Fishing is well up there with croc wrestling and kangaroo baiting for most Aussies, so we felt it only right to get involved. My good friend Muni provided the rods and after a slap up BBQ we had a go and caught nothing.

At home with the Parrots

2008-09-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

more Palm Beach

2008-07-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

Palm Beach

2008-07-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

West Head

2008-07-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Winter.bbrrr. We have been visiting Sydneys northern beaches just up the road from where we live. Top picture, showing the beautiful wife, also shows Palm Beach, home to 'Summer Bay'

Myall Lakes N. P.

2008-04-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Myall Lakes N. P.

2008-04-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: This was a bank holiday weekend....look how busy it is. These sand dunes were amazing. When we were in Vietnam we visited a place just to see the sand dunes, but these were far more spectacular, and far more deserted. The other people in the picture were the only people on the whole of this stretch of beach.

Myall Lakes N. P.

2008-04-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: This gorgeous national park is just a couple of hours North of Sydney. We watched dolphins surfing just off the shore on this beach which was amazing. We saw sea eagles and wedge tailed eagles and dingoes and black cockatoos.

This was our first camping trip in Oz with all of our camping gear. We had a proper bed again which was wonderful, and even got to use our shelter cos it rained on the first night. The bit of land we were on had the ocean on one side and lakes on the other, and since there had just been a period of two weeks where it had rained at least once every day the lake was rather high and was about two feet away from our tent when we woke up after the first night of rain.

The two top photos are the views from the headland at the tip of one of the beaches.

More birthday pictures

2008-03-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: it was a beautiful day finished off with a gorgeous meal.

Ruth's Birthday

2008-03-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: Bob took me out for my 30th for a surprise action packed day.

A few more pics near our flat

2008-03-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: The top two pictures are of our local beaches; ones within walking distance. The second picture is where hopefully(fingers crossed) I will be working three mornings a week. Not bad eh? The bottom pictures are taken on walks round the two little peninsulars where we live, and you can just see the ferry that takes us to and from the city behind a tree in the 3rd picture.

Round Our Way

2008-03-16T17:47:00.001-07:00

Ruth says: This is the beautiful Mosman Bay, a couple of minutes from our house. This is where we catch the ferry to the city and go on little strolls or jogs or whatever. Our appartment block is the one just to the right of the tallest one on the left of the picture. Obviously we don't have quite as an impressive view as this as there is a big tree in the way, but the leaves are starting to turn, it being autumn, so by winter time we may have one of the best views in Sydney...if not i think Bob has got a bottle of tree poison stashed somewhere.

Hat Head National Park

2008-03-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: Hat Head was the most gorgeous place with huge sand dunes, dramatic cliffs and deserted beaches.

More Mount Kaputar National Park

2008-03-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

Ruth Says: the sunset was truly spectacular . Standing on the top of the mountain we had 360 degree views of a beautiful orange sky.

Mount Kaputar National Park

2008-03-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: This was our favourite spot on our roadtrip. From the top of Mount Kaputar you could see a 800km radius. Stunning views. We were looking down on a 10th Of New South Wales.

Colo and the Warumbungles National Park

2008-03-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: We decided that while we were waiting for visas to be processed and all of our stuff to arrive from the UK we would take a little road trip. We set off for a couple of weeks into the wild countryside of New South Wales to do some camping and walking. We made a few little animal friends on the way.

More Blue Mountains

2008-03-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: These are just some photos from our little camping trips up to the beautiful blue mountains.

Blue Mountains

2008-03-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

Sydney

2008-01-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Bob says: We have made it! After such a long trip I could do with a holiday!! We are currently shacked up with Ruth's lovely Auntie and Uncle, Vanessa and Leon, with one or two things to sort out, jobs, home etc. Fingers crossed please!

Jervis Bay

2008-01-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Bob says: We were on this beach December 30th. You've got to ask yourself, why the hell did we come here!

The Kosciuszko National Park

2007-12-30T21:29:00.000-08:00

Bob says: Now you maybe thinking that now we are in OZ we would be buckling down and getting some work done, well you'd be wrong. Here we are camping and walking in the beautiful mountains during our trip back from Melbourne to Sydney. Again, thanks to Andrew and Sue for lending us the camping gear and the car!

Xmas in Melbourne

2007-12-30T21:11:00.000-08:00

Bob says: We spent a superb xmas with a difference, i.e. hot and sunny, with my Uncle Andrew and Auntie Sue. A highlight for the wife was a day at the boxing day test match, I have never seen her so excited! We also toured up to the temperate rainforest north of melbourne where this parrot kindly posed for a picture. Thank you to Andrew and Sue, plus extended family for putting up with us and treating us to a fine xmas.

Kuala Lumpur

2007-12-30T20:52:00.000-08:00

Bob says: Kuala Lumpur, the end of our trip! very sad! Out of interest the buildings above are the Patronas Towers, 2nd highest in the world, although 2nd, as any Aussie will tell you, is only 1st of the losers. Be prepared OZ, Bob and Ru are on our way!!

Koh Tarutao National Park

2007-12-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

Bob says: After Phi Phi, the island of Tarutao was a true Thailand paradise we had been looking for. It is a national park so tourist development is currently restricted, this allied to the fact that it is difficult to get to, meant that we had the island virtually to ourselves. Top picture shows the tent that we hired from the park office. We spent 3 days like Robinson Crusoe, Ruth being man friday but with a nicer ass!

Koh Phi Phi

2007-12-30T16:13:00.000-08:00

Bob says: The top beach picture was where we stayed and the other pics are some islands off phi phi were that movie 'the beach' was filmed. Exactly where I am standing complete with a squirrels tail around me chin, Leo de Crap was stung by a mozzie!

All is not as it seems in paradise. Post Tsunami, Thailand has been re developing this coastline at an incredible rate. Unfortunately, all inclusive resorts, 7 elevens and macdonalds have been given free reign. Ruth visited Phi Phi before the Tsumami and says that the island has lost much of its original beauty, accommodation on the island was pretty much restricted to wooden hut bungalows set amongst palm trees, now there are a multitude of concrete eyesores. And Phi Phi is supposed to be a National Park! This unfortunatly is the tip of the iceberg. Whilst in Krabi our Thai climbing instructor told us that following the Tsunami many people not only lost their houses, friends and relatives; Apparently in Thailand there are few laws relating to land ownership if you do not own a building on that land, so following the destruction the developers moved in and the people had to leave! I kid you not!! Along this coast nearly 9000 people lost their lives. I can't imagine how many homes were destroyed. It is the saddest thing I have ever heard!!

A bit more Krabi

2007-12-06T05:48:00.000-08:00

Bob says: I think its pretty clear we liked this place, if you judge places on the number of photos posted. Saying that, we were not allowed to take photos in the ping pong show!

More Krabi

2007-12-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

Climbing in Krabi

2007-12-06T05:15:00.001-08:00

Ruth says: We had an incredible week in Krabi. It is not really a place where you can away with sitting still for very long. There is so much to do, and all the bodies on the beach are carved muscle. Along with kayaking and jungle trekking we decided to do a rock climbing course, Krabi being one of the top spots in the world for climbing. It was the most exhausting and terrifying and fantastic and painful experience ever. Bob and I are both completely covered in bruises and scratches from the rocks, the ends of our fingers no longer have any feeling in them, and we now know why the bodies on the beach were so fit. The views from the top of all the climbs were stunning and every day we got better and better; by the end of the course we were doing 35 metre climbs (see the pin prick photo, 3rd down, of Bob 35 metres up). The bottom photo was taken after we climbed up into a cave, came through to the other side and then abseiled down. Scary stuff, but so worth it.

Bob says: If you are still trying to find me on the picture, I'm the one climbing....In the grey! At this point a few monkeys were looking up taking notes on how to do it.

Ruth says: the fourth photo is closer up of the 3rd one but a bit higher up the rock. In the third photo Bob is above the tree to the left a bit, and to the right of a shelf in the rock face.

Krabi

2007-12-06T05:02:00.000-08:00

Bob says: Koh Tao simply was not pretty enough for the wife, some say she's hard to please, not me though! So we moved on quickly and struck gold with Krabi.

More Koh Tao

2007-12-05T05:09:00.001-08:00

Bob says: There is nothing the wife likes better than a good rock formation, how she gazed at the one pictured above!
Ruth says: we went to Koh Tao with the intention of getting Bob to do his scuba diving course. We decided it wasn't as nice as some other places in Thailand so decided to move on.....I know it's not bad, but there are nicer places.

Koh Tao

2007-12-05T05:00:00.001-08:00

Bob says: Firstly, for viewers in England these photos maybe hard to take given the present climate, for that we appologise profusely. If its any consulation, its just too hot here!

Khao Yai National Park

2007-12-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

Bob says: A jungle paradise, home of the fabled waterfall from 'the beach' that movie with pretty boy Leo de Crap of Shitetanic fame. Also home to a few Tigers, supposedly, although you've more chance seeing a giant panda in greenhead park(the hyde park of happy hudders). However, there are monkeys all over the place, look closely a the bottom pic, if you can spot all five there's a special prize.

Bangkok

2007-11-30T19:32:00.000-08:00

Bob says: 'Backpackers mecca', 'Sex trade central', 'a large city in Southeast Asia', whatever you want to call Bangkok it lives upto it. A steaming mix of, cocktails, hookers, street vendors, lady boys and sex shows. And if you fancy buying a crocodile, just pop down the market. One little known attraction in Bangkok is the 'Cats playing Table Tennis' unfortunately we always seemed to miss these shows, on entering the estabishment advertising pussy ping pong we were faced with a whole different ball game!

Boat trip to Battambang

2007-11-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: To get from Siem Reap to Battambang we took a fantastic boat trip along the river past floating villages and river side fishing communities. There were hundreds of children all along the river bank swimming and playing and messing about in boats. They looked like they were having a fantastic time, a bit of a contrast to some of the incredibly poor children we saw in the cities.

Ta Prohm

2007-11-18T21:56:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: Now this temple is the coolest temple in the world. Right in the middle of the jungle with the most amazing trees ever completely taking over the temple, growing in and amongst the stones . It looks like something out of Indianna Jones, and has been used in Tomb Raider ( hence Angelina's love affair with Cambodia). The bottom photos is with our tuk tuk driver for the day.

Bob says: The scale of Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples is unbelievable. The Khmer Empire was one of the most impressive in history, at its peak it covered most of south east asia and supported over a million people living where the temples are now, when at the same time london had a population of about 50,000. When the empire collapsed around 800 years ago following an invasion by the Thais (which to this day Cambodians seem to hold a grudge about) the area was abandoned, and the jungle took hold with amazing results. The temples were discovered by the French at the end of the 19th century. This will be my last temple visit ever, as every one following this will be a dissapointment, and lets face it, in the main things like this can be intensely boring.

A variety of different temples

2007-11-18T21:31:00.000-08:00

Bob says: The top photo was built for one of the Khmer emperors many wives, there were 12 houses similar to this one. So not really up there with the chinese, with hundreds of wives, probably why the empire collapsed, no balls!

Bayon

2007-11-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: This is the second temple of the day when it was just too hot for words. Have a look at the huge faces which are looking pretty good after a thousand years of wear.

Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor-Angkor Wat

2007-11-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: Now then, we're not really temple people, and especially after China we felt completely templed out, but we thought we really ought to go and visit the most famous temple in the world. My history here is not as good as Bob's but basically Angkor, which was the capital of Cambodia's Ancient Khmer empire has all of these amazing temples which were built between the 9th and 13th centuries. Angkor Wat is the biggest and supposedly most spectacular ( although we both beg to differ). We took literally hundreds of photos, but here are just a few to keep you interested. All of the above are of Angkor Wat. The girls at the top are in typical Cambodian dress all ready for a wedding.

Phnom Penh "tourist spots"

2007-11-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: We did the usual tourist stuff in Phnom Penh including visiting the Royal Palace which are on the top photos ( including the one with the sun shading co-ordinating monks). But we also went to the Killing Fields which is the bottom photo. We have refrained from putting some of the more gruesome pictures on the blog, but what you ca see on the bottom photo is some of the mass graves of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, which cover the field. It was a really traumatic place to visit, not least because in places where the paths have worn away you can see remnanats of the victims clothes and bits of bone. It is difficult to know what is the right way to commemorate all those people who suffered, but the Cambodian people feel very strongly that this is a place that people should go and visit so that they are not forgotten.

Phnom Penh

2007-11-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

Ruth says: We made two trips to Phnom Penh; when we first arrived in Cambodia and then after our trip down to the coast. As with all the other South East Asian capitols there is chaos all around, manic traffic, crazy markets and a million different sights and smells. However in amongst this manic hustle and bustle there are a few spots of peace and tranquility. The bottom photo shows the guest house where we stayed on our second visit. It was on the lake front, and the pwerfect place to sit and chill out.
The three top photos are of the market. There are lot of very interesting food choices in Cambodia including crickets and cockroaches and chicken embryos. Unfortunately we didn't have the camera on us when Bob sampled a deep fried spider (tarantula sized). He really ate it though...quite disgusting, but he said it just tasted of soya sauce.
The fourth photo shows the commonest form of public transport in both Vietnam and Cambodia, the motorbike taxi. There are usually two of us perched on the back behind the driver, but we've seen four or five people sometimes squeezed onto one bike. That photo was taken at a moment when the traffic was quite tame. It can get a lot worse than that.

Bamboo Island

2007-11-12T02:19:00.001-08:00

Bob says: Another day trip, another deserted beach to laze on, all in all I think you'll agree, we needed and deserved this beach holiday!

Ream National Park

2007-11-12T02:09:00.001-08:00

Bob says: A day trip from Sihanoukville took us on a boat trip through the Mangrove forests and houses on stilts to a beautiful deserted beach.

Sihanoukville

2007-11-12T01:49:00.000-08:00

Bob says: We stayed here about 6 days, ate my body weight in sea food and since every bar boasted serving the coldest beer in Sihanoukville, made it my mission to find out the truth (purely public service). Above, I am taking a well earned break from the beer quest, relaxing with a cocktail.

Cambodia - Sihanoukville

2007-11-12T01:27:00.000-08:00

Bob says: We arrived in Sihanoukvilla via a short stop over in Phnom Penh (we shall return). Our first accommodation was in the town costing around 3 quid for an ensuite room, after seeing what else was available we splashed out and upgraded to our sea view shack, 5 quid. Bottom picture is the sun rise view from our shack, 10 years ago this would have followed a wild night out, now however we set our alarm to catch it after being tucked up in bed before 10.
Ruth says: When some cool looking guy on the beach came up to us inviting us to a beach party, Bob just turned to me after he had turned him down and said, "I'm 30". There was no more need for explanation.

Haggling in Nam

2007-11-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Haggling is part and parcel of travelling in Asia, pretty much everything will require the pre requisit haggle, in fact if you accept the first price without a haggle the seller always looks slightly confused, probably thinking that they have started too low! So to avoid this dissapointment to the seller, I always haggle.
So far the kings of the hard sell have been the veitnamese, the women in particular, their haggle involves acting of the highest order and the full use of the femine wiles, it can be difficult to defeat. Here's a step by step guide:
1) Seller sets the price, you offer 10%
2) Seller responds as though you have just suggested a night of illicit love with an animal (stand firm, many give in straight away)
3) Seller changes tack, touches your arm, smiles and compliments your good looks (a dangerous time for in the haggle, you my fold at this, be strong)
4) Seller now offers 50%, more smiling and batting of eyelids.
(Don't be fooled stick to the 10 %)
5) Instant mood change, seller looking very sad almost crest fallen as if you have just informed her of the collapse of her home (you have come so far, don't fall at the final hurdle)
6) Its time for the No.1 tactic in your haggling armory 'The walk away' (remember do not hesitate the seller can spot your weakness for the haggle like a poker player reading your tells)
7) Seller cries 'why no buy' as if anguished by the death of a loved one, before quickly going down to 20%
8) A quick barter down to 15% if your a real pro, seller makes sale, smiles all around.
9) Walk away happy in the knowledge that you have just saved 50p and prepare to be surrounded by other sellers of street crap that can see you are a soft touch!

Dalat

2007-11-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Up in the central highlands is the town of Dalat, one of the premier tourist centres in vietnam, although I am still not sure why. Saying that we had a pleasent walk through the rainforest up the Lain Biang mountains, punctuated by the wife screaming every few minutes at imaginary snakes spiders and other creatures of the forest.
Ruth says: They weren't imaginary. Bob saw a live snake and I saw a dead snake and a rat!

Mui Ne - Other stuff

2007-10-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

Bob says: The main attractions around Mui Ne, top - surfing the red sand dunes, centre - red canyon, bottom - the beautiful white sand dunes, like being in the middle of the sahara. No camels though.

We also took part in the most dangerous tourist activity, we hired a motorbike to get to all these places. Mums, you'll be glad to know we survived and it will be the last time......maybe. All Ruth's idea anyway!

Mui Ne

2007-10-30T05:28:00.001-07:00

Bob says: Life is hard in Mui Ne, in fact its pretty unbearable. In addition to the sun, sand and sea, we've had to put up with cold beer, cocktails, beautiful food and afternoon napping. A bloody nightmare start to finish!

Mui Ne - Fishing Village

2007-10-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Just outside the resort of Mui Ne is this fishing village where there are hundreds of fishing boats moored up during the day, by night they light up the horizon fishing before dropping their catch at the morning fish market and providing me and the wife with some of the finest freshest seafood. A worthy cause!

Ruth says: Mui Ne is also the home of Nam Pla ( the stinky fish sauce that you get in most Thai and Vietnamese cooking). The trays of little fish drying are used for that purpose, and you can imagine what the village smells like....lovely.

Hoi An

2007-10-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: Hoi An was a totally cool little place. If it hadn't rained so incessantly (apart from the half day that we were on the beach) it could have got very expensive. In Hoi An there are over 400 tailor's shops. You basically go in there and choose a design from a catalogue or stuff they have in the shop and then choose the fabric, and they make it for you super cheap. They even make shoes. It is great. I beat Bob at pool ( obviously he was only playing one pocket) which meant that I could have, in addition to the two skirts I had already had made , a dress and some shoes. Sadly however the rain made us leave before the purchases could be made, but I think we will definately be going back one day.

Bob says: rain dancing payed off. First decent game of pool ever with the wife. Surprising how good she can be with an incentive.

Ruth says: the town was also really pretty as you can kind of see.

Hue

2007-10-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Don't panic. We have not had accidents that have rendered our legs useless, needing the aid of wheelchairs. These are the tuk tuk carriages. One of our cyclists took the photo. Hue did have an interesting historic walled citadel, sadly it was not interesting enough to justify the extortionate entrance fee.

More Halong Bay

2007-10-28T04:20:00.000-07:00

Bob says: spot the knob!

Halong Bay

2007-10-28T04:08:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: After our travels through China and Kyrgyzstan I was dying for a beach, so after a day in Hanoi we booked a boat trip out to Halong bay. It was a bit like Yangshou in China, but at sea, and the added advantage of fruit sellers coming right up to our big boat.

Hanoi

2007-10-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Hanoi is one of the best cities we have been to. Not least, because it has some of the finest 'creative driving' I have ever seen. Bikes out number cars about 100-1, making for some of the most hair-raising driving ever, and the bars are pretty good too!

Into Vietnam

2007-10-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Bob says: A mammoth overland trip from china to vietnam, 5hrs on a bus from dali back to kunming, overnight sleeper bus to the border with beds made for midgets, walk over the border and get a motorbike taxi(the only way to travel) to the train station then 12 hrs to Hanoi. Cold beer and great views on the train so not all bad.

On China

2007-10-21T02:05:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Chinese is such an indecipherable language that even ye chinese struggle. Certainly the beautiful yorkshire lilt does not lend itself to to the rather abrasive chinese pronunciations. Almost as difficult to work out is Chinglish, some of the best courtesey of our guide book are, 'Question Authority' 'Safety needing attention' 'Pay attention to civilisation' and the beautifully cryptic 'Please don't take the odds and ends put into the nightstool' meaning, obviously, don't stuff things down the toilet. My personal favourite(see above) was displayed all over Hua Shan mountain. Actually, whether this is chinglish or not could be debated, the views were exceptional up there and some sort of relief could be tempting to the most avid rambler?

Food, eating in china is a gastronomic experience not to be missed. A few beautiful peking ducks put paid to the Kyrgyz weight loss programme in a matter of days. Imagine the number of dishes available on ye average chinese takeaway menu and times by a thousand, throw in a few surprises, dog, frog, turtle and you have pretty much got it. What adds to the experience is the way the chinese eat, burp, slurp, drink soup, lick plates, smoke constantly, play drinking games and pretty much forget all the table manners yer mam taught yer. Brilliant! And if yer fancy hawking a globule, don't worry there's a bin next to the table to expend it (an old chinese proverb states 'Better out than in'). If yer table does not resemble a chimps tea party at the end then you've not done it right.

Ruth says: Just in case that wasn't all disgusting enough, and it it really is disgusting (we looked like the slowest, neatest eaters in China), there are a few other habits which are just gross. It took us a while to work out quite how the children were potty trained, as none of the babies wear nappies and they have trousers with huge splits in them from front to back. We soon witnessed exactly what was done, when a child on the bus needed the loo, their parents just held them out over the floor of the bus to wee. Lovely. This is also done on restaurant floors! When the child needs a poo, the parents very consideratley put newspaper down on the floor first. Nice!

The spitting is also at a level that i have never before witnessed. It really is hard to imagine how much people hawk and spit in China unless you have been there. It happens at least every 5 seconds, and everyone does it.

The last thing on my disgusting register is the toilets. They stink all over china,and the public toilets are just squatters with either no walls or just waist high walls between them, and definately no doors. All the better for chatting to your neighbour. They certainly take getting used to.

Bob says: The wife exagerates a bit. And as for the toilets, there are no cubicles to facilitate easy conversation, obvious!

Dali

2007-10-21T01:26:00.001-07:00

Bob says; We travelled up to Dali, a backpacker hangout in the foothills of the tibetan plateau, for a bit of trekking. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and it rained most of the time, so trekking was off and bar hopping around the town was on. Dali is full of hippy bars mostly playing Bob Marley and Pink Floyd, this mainly due to the easy availability of 'student concentration tabacco' that grows freely , in the no payment sense, around the town.

In case you're wondering, there was certainly no veg picking for this blog dog!

Ric, here's a dragon/lion, not sure, for ye. I feel we are pandering to your statue needs but there ye go!

Kunming - Hair styling

2007-10-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

Bob says: The hair salon was yet another example of my fame in China. Where ever I go people want pictures, they stare, they point at this yorkshire superstar! Quite what I am famous for is another question, maybe my Salendine Nook High School Javalin record is regarded highly throughout China? Anyway, they insisited on the side parting which I feel is a good look for a superstar. During the washing and cutting surrounded by an expectant crowd, including the girl at the front of the picture who's first question after staring at me for a good 10 minutes was 'Are you married ' Ruth was asked whether her hair was 'made in america' astonished looks all round when she informed them it was all her's.
If your wondering what the V signs are for, apparently its for victory and it seems to be complusory when the chinese are in a photo.

Moon Hill, Yangshou

2007-10-20T02:07:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: We climbed this funny looking hill on our last morning in Yangshou. The views were pretty spectacular ,though as you can see, as is usually the case in China everything was shrouded in a hazy mist. What with the water buffalo, and pretty surroundings and nice food, and lovely people we were pretty sad to leave this place.

Kayaking in Yangshou

2007-10-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

Dragon Bridge on the River Li

2007-10-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: Yangshou was a gorgeous little place with amazing scenery. We spent a few days there with friends we had made on the yangze cruise, cycling and kayaking. The day spent cycling was pretty eventful with numerous falls into the mud in the paddy fields and getting lost close to night fall. We had a great time though and swam in the river, and Bob showed how brave he was with an unbelievablyhigh jump.
Bob says: Considered a back dive with reverse pike, but did not want to appear too flash.
Ruth says: There were a million backpackers in yangshou too so it was as great place to get all sorts of western food delights. Bob stuck to the dog though.

Yangshou

2007-10-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

Down the market in Wuhan

2007-10-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: The market in Wuhan was quite astounding. There were bowls of frogs and snakes ( both of which you can see in the picture), and a million other different kinds of live animals including turtles to be used in cooking. It was really interesting to see but some of the methods of the Chinese for preparing the animals were really gruesome. We watched a fish being scaled before it was even killed!
We inadvertaently managed to order some of these rarer creatures when we were in a restaurant in Kunming. We ordered 2 dishes that we thought were squid and beef, but they turned out to be baby turtles and dog's tail. I just ate vegetables that night.
Oh and Helen, you are very right about the chicken's feet for snacks. They are everywhere.

More Yankze

2007-10-19T20:26:00.001-07:00

Bob says: China is currently undertaking one of the most ambitious engineering projects ever in their quest to dam the yankze. A few facts:

The dam is 2 km wide

The lake it will create will stretch back over 500km

Over 1.5 million people will be re housed

In addition to this much of the impressive yankze gorges (the very things we went to see) will be submerged along with thousands historic sites. This highly controversial project has many practical advantages, not least much needed power and a reduction of flooding further down the river, but the loss in my opinion far outways the gains.

A classic bit of chinese propaganda was to take us on a free(very uncommon) tour of a new town development that will be on the shores of the lake. Sadly, although the town was only 2 years old it already seemed to be falling apart and all the buildings looked exactly the same, it did not inspire the confidence that I think the chinese are hoping for. Alongside this was a Ming dynasty historic town that had supposedly been rebuilt brick by brick to save it from flooding. This town was still under construction and was surrounded by stone masons fashioning new stone to look old, so quite how much of the original buildings were retrieved is questionable.

Another bit of food for thought, in the 70s china constructed 2 dams in different areas of the country, one was never completed and the other burst, with catastrophic results. 230,000 people were killed. The international community only got wind of this in the late 90s when the Yankze dam construction was already underway. Should the yankze dam burst it would wipe out the city of Yichang where millions of people live........extremely worrying!!

Above is a picture of the kids from the new town with their goods to sell.

The Yankze

2007-10-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

The Yankze Cruise

2007-10-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Sounds posh, and for us it was. Not 1st class though. In 2nd we shared a room with a chinese Mother and Daughter. For very tiny ladies they seemed to take up alot of room. Within an hour of departure they had washed all their smalls and hung them around the room, holidays appear to be the ideal time for the chinese to do their washing because clothes were hung all around the decks.

More Hua Shan

2007-10-16T02:38:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: More misty mountains. Just how you picture China to be.

Hua Shan

2007-10-16T02:24:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: Yet another mountain, but this one as you can see was a bit different. We so nearly gave up half way up as we just couldn't see a thing. It was so cloudy and we thought that there was no point getting to the top, but some over enthusiatic Chinese teenagers wouldn't leave us alone until we carried on, and thankfully we did. I have never seen anything like this, the clouds sitting like rock pools amongst the mountains. Just amazing. You can also see some of the steps that we had to climb. This particular section was known as the Heavenly Ladder.

Terracotta warriors

2007-10-16T02:16:00.001-07:00

Ruth says:This was really pretty amazing. Unfortunately our camera being what it is means that the photos didn't really capture the size and scale and detail of this place. Basically the brief history of this was a young emperor who decided that he needed an army of warriors to protect his soul after he died so had all of these built. The place is just vast with thousands and thousands of these warriors with more and more being discovered and reassembled every day. It is pretty nutty that he actually managed to convince people that this was necessary in the first place.

Xi'an

2007-10-16T02:09:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: From Shoalin we travelled on to the walled city of Xi'an home of the terracotta warriors. It was a really beautiful place with an amazing muslim quarter and two of these fantastic towers. It also had in addition to the usual clean toilet venues of Mcdonalds and KFC ( which we frequent solely for the use of the loos) a starbucks with the cleanest toilet in town. We actually made purchases there, and though our drinks were more expensive than the cost of the lunch we had just had it was worth it just for the toilets.

Taishi Shan

2007-10-16T01:59:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: The mountains in China are all very Spiritual Places, with most of them having temples built on the way up and on the tops. Also there tend to be steps all the way to the top. This is very helpful in that you don't lose your way but it is a killer on the knees especially on the way down. This mountain (taishi shan) was nearby Shaolin too.

Song Shan

2007-10-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: After seeing the amazing little students doing their kung fu master thing we climbed up this mountain. So not only was the school the coolest in the world, but it was in a pretty beautiful setting too.

Shoalin Temple

2007-10-16T01:28:00.001-07:00

Bob says: Spiritual home of Shoalin Boxing and the location of the coolest kick ass school in the world. Thousands of kids are enrolled at the kung fu school where they are taught to kick somedys ass, fights in the play ground are encouraged and weapons are compulsory.
Ruth says: It was really amazing to see. The kids were so in time with each other and had unbeleivable amounts of skill. We saw them doing stuff with swords and spears, and some of them were as young as five. They also put on demonstrations for us, where one guy broke metal over his head, another pierced a pane of glass with a needle and another guy leant his whole body weight against two spears at his throat. Really scary stuff.

Taiyuan - Street Food

2007-10-16T01:19:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Where ever you are in China food is available! There's an old chinese proverb 'If it moves, eat it' preferably quickly and on a grill.

Pingyao

2007-10-16T00:45:00.000-07:00

Bob says: We took an overnight sleeper train from Beijing to Pingyao. The trains are divided into 5 classes, standing, hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper and soft sleeper. For budget and comfort hard sleeper is the ideal class, unfortunatly they are hard to get. The only ticket available to us was hard seat on a 12 hour trip, to remedy this we cracked open the duty free booze we got on the flight from Kyrgyz suplimented with some chinese fire water. Hey presto, I can barely remember the trip!

Pingyao is a perfectly preserved Ming Dynasty walled town about the size of Halifax, it is like this mainly due to neglect, like Halifax. When the government realised people would actually like to visit this place they undertook some major renovation. It is now one of the main tourist attractions in China.

Out door pool was very popular. I would like to tell you that I did England proud and gave the chinese shark I was playing a pool lesson. So I will, he took one hell of a pasting.

The Great Wall

2007-10-16T00:32:00.001-07:00

Bob says: Beyond the mist that you see are apparently some of the finest views in China. This is the first time that the weather has not coopperated on this trip, unfortunately this highlighted the bad things about tourism in China. Not content with the attraction of the wall, they had constructed a 'Bear Garden' where the animals were keep in appaulling conditions. To compound the misery of this I mistook to sign and thought it said 'Beer Garden', how disappointing.

Beijing - The Forbidden City

2007-10-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Home to Chinas Emperors of the Qing and Ming a ding ding dynasties. Some Emperors would have hundreds of wifes classified in to sections according to how useful and beautiful and they were, to get to top bitch took more than just knocking up a decent noodle soup.

China - Beijing

2007-10-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

Bob says: We will start the China section in the best possible way, a picture of the lovely Ruth in a Hutong area of Beijing. Hutong areas are said to be the real Beijing, old style one storey houses shops and restaurants that are unfortunately, in the name of progress, being demolished in much of the city. The rest of beijing is pretty much like any modern city, apart from being populated by very small people. Should you be short of stature a visit to China is highly recommended, your Napolean complex will diminish instantly.

A year of love!

2007-09-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: For our aniversary we managed to find a restaurant in Bishkek that didn't have dill on everything, and imported food and wine from Italy! After weeks of mutton it was heaven!

Just for you Ric

2007-09-09T02:45:00.000-07:00

Another Soviet statue. This time in Bishkek.

Kyrgyz Life

2007-09-09T02:09:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Our gastronomic tour of Kyrgyzstan is near an end. To help understand the Kyrgyz psyche it's important to delve into the national obsessions. Apart from the culinary delights (why not put dill on everything!), sport plays a big part in Kyrgyz life, from goat carcass polo (I kid you not), to wrestling and weightlifting yer Kyrgyz are keen sportsmen. Perhaps the most dynamic of these sports is the motor slalam. Practice for this high risk sport is carried out by almost all drivers at all times, and the kyrgyz government has kindly left most of the roads littered with potholes to facilitate high achievement. In addition to the potholes, farm animals and people also provide the drivers with sufficient slalam obstacles.

The object of the sport is to navigate through potholes/farm animals/people/slow moving traffic with minmal use of the brake. Techniques for this includes use of the whole road regardless of oncoming traffic, indeed, should there be an oncoming vehicle the real skill of the driver is shown by how close they can get to it before moving slalam style to the other side. Farm animals are treated to the horn repeatedly and it is assumed they will recognise that a fast moving vehicle is approaching and take avertive action (this has proved to be the case so far). This technique is also relevant to people.

When approaching slow moving traffic it is of the highest importance to get round them ASAP, remember, never brake, it's a sign of weakness. Waiting for the so-called "safe" opportunity to pass is simply not in the spirit of the sport. One of the most skillfull manoeuvres is the blind corner overtake with oncoming traffic. The skill involved in this has to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately my eyes were closed at the time so I simply have to believe that we made it round the corner.

One last point, should all options on the road be exhausted and you may be thinking of using the brake, don't. It is perfectly acceptable to manoeuver off the road!

Should motor slalam make it to the London Olympics, I guarantee a Kyrgyz gold medal. Their only serious competiton would come from the Albanians.

Other sports increasing in popularity include the Toilet Relay and Squat Shot. The toilet relay is facilitated largely by the aforementioned culinary delights, and the distance between yurt/guesthouse to outside toilet/target. The squat shot is a highly skilled sport involving hitting a rather small target or hole whilst remaining conscious. Holding one's breath can be a mistake as it may not give you enough time to position, fire the shot and get out: a large intake of breath could be fatal!

Practising the above sport has led to dramatic weight loss. I am currently down to belt loop No. 5. For scale, post Dando Christmas is usually belt loop No. 2. I am considering publishing the Kyrgyz weight loss programme.

Lake Song Kol in the morning of day 3

2007-09-09T02:06:00.000-07:00

At Lake Son Kol- evening

2007-09-09T01:56:00.001-07:00

Ruth says: it was pretty beauiful as you can see. The little tiny shed thing in front of the mountains was the toilet which was best to be avoided at all costs, and the yurts were our home for the night.

Horse trek to Song Kol Lake- Day 2

2007-09-09T01:43:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: The lake is above 3000 metres so it got pretty cold. After our tough trek to Ala Kol we were grateful for the horses even if Bob did have to lead his horse part way up one hill because it looked like it would collapse. Here you can see cowboy Bob, when he had swapped horses after one of his renditions of "Home On The Range".

1st night in a Yurt

2007-09-09T00:09:00.001-07:00

Ruth says: this is where we stayed the first night. The insides as you can see are really lavishly decorated with loads of carpets and rugs and it's really quite cosy. We got to sample more traiditional Kyrgyz food, namely the gorgeous fresh cream and jam with bread- just like a devonshire tea, and the perfect antidote to too much mutton stew. We also tasted kymys- fermented mare's milk. It tastes just as you would imagine. A sip was all we could manage.
After dinner the little table was cleared away and bed made up of piles and piles of the rugs and blankets. It snowed all night, but was really cosy and warm. The two Israeli girls in the picture were doing the trek with us.

Horse trek - Day 1

2007-09-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

Bob says: We based ourselves in the town of Kochkor and set out from near there towards lake Song-kol. 1st day we were 6 hours on horseback, not natural if you ask me. Following this trek I firmly believe that horses should be wild and not ridden, it is torture for the ass!

Ruth says: He loved it really. By the second day he was cantering like the rest of us and we were even having races.

Trek day 4- Down the Arashan Valley

2007-09-02T00:16:00.003-07:00

Ruth says: We had an unexpected night spent in Altyn Arashan when we arrived at 6 in the evening and were told that it was another three hours walk to the end. Fortunately we were offered a bed and dinner in a guest house (we had run out of food by lunchtime) and there just so happened to be some hot springs there where we could take a gorgeous bath followed by a dip in the freezing river.

Bob says: This walk presented some of the most spectacular and picturesque views that we have ever seen. It was certainly worth dragging the bag around. For clafication I mean the rucksack. One bad point was the soviet petrol stove that we hired, having two settings: flame thrower and candle. All very well if you want to torch a village or light a lantern but if you want to boil river water, highly frustrating. The hairs on my arms are just starting to grow back.

Trek Day 3- Ala Kol Lake- Altyn Arashan

2007-09-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Day 3 took us to the summit of the walk at about 3900 metres.

Trek Day 2- Ala Kol Lake Ascent

2007-09-01T23:41:00.001-07:00

Bob says: The hardest day of the trek when we climbed from around 2000 metres to 3500 metres at the lake edge.

Ruth says: The horses at the top are wild horses. We heard them arrive in the night and then woke up to find our tent surrounded in the morning.

Trek Day 1- The Karakol Valley

2007-09-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: After our dodgy tummy episode we decided to make thing nice and easy for ourselves and do a trek which was initially meant to take three days but thanks to numerous factors including hailstorms and a very dodgy stove it took us four days. We hired a tent and all the necessary camping equipment and set off into absolutely stunning mountains with backpacks weighing about 17kg each. It was very very hard, but so worth it. I have never seen anywhere like it.

Bob says:As the wife says we encountered bad weather on the way up the valley. When we finally camped the weather had completely cleared up but the earlier bad weather had forced some very disgruntled French from the summit. They decided not to camp at the lake because of the weather, only to find it that it cleared when they got down near our first camp. After one Frenchman told us of his woes, he left declaring that he was going to Bishkek to find a woman with big jugs. Presumably he meant the Kyrgyz pottery sold by the local women. Very cultured yer French!

Jeti-Oghuz

2007-09-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Bob says: Following two or three days halled up in our guest house in Karakol doing the toilet relay we finally acheived bowel confidence and took a picnic up to the beautiful Jeti-Oghuz. The rock formation at the bottom is known as the Broken Heart. Given the name it was strange to see a Kyrgyz wedding party having photos next to it later in the day. The third picture shows the traditional yurts which are usually used as kitchens for cafes at tourist spots.

Ruth says: Yurts are the traditional homes of the nomadic shepherds. They are still used for that purpose as well as cafe kitchens.

Karakol - The Animal Market

2007-09-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: This was at about 7 in the morning. It was just a crazy mass of people and animals with no visible order anywhere. It was really good fun to go and see. See if how many traditional Kyrgyz hats you can spot. The old men wear them with suits, it looks rather odd.

Tamchy

2007-08-28T04:40:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: This is Bob enjoying one of the fruits of the lake. The food here is far better than in Kazakh. The terrified little boy is holding the snake that was around Father Christmas' neck.

Bob says: Other interesting facts about Lake Issyk-Kul: Length 170 km; width 70 km; depth 650m. The lake also never freezes despite winter temperatures averageing minus 24 degrees c. Issyk Kul literally means "warm lake".

Tamchy- Lake issyk-kul

2007-08-28T04:23:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: the top photo is of our guest house on the shores of Lake Issyk Kul surroundeed by mountains. As you can see it had a cow and chickens outside and we had the luxury of hole in the ground squat toilets which were a pleasure and a half. The guest house was actually really lovely, and where else in the world can you find a camel, a horse and father Christmas with a snake round his neck all on the beach at the same time.

Bob says: Lake Issyk-Kul is the second largest Alpine lake in the world and sits at 1800 metres above sea level. Everything in Kyrgyzstan is high. Apparantly the average elevation of the country is over 3000 metres.

Bishkek and onwards

2007-08-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: The top picture is the view from our Soviet style hotel balcony. Very wierd place that has been left to decay since its 60's heyday. We must have the only guests in this 100 plus room hotel. Most of the floors were in darkness.

Bob says: Bishkek the capital of Kyrgyzstan was a 2 night stopover on our way to Lake Issyk-kul. Nice town. Not much to write home about so I won't. Got a very reasonable price for the four hour taxi trip to the lake. Turned out to be not so reasonable when the 20 year old audi broke down half way. Fortunately we were travelling with two very helpful Kyrgyz lads that negotiated another taxi with the original taxi driver paying the fare to the next town where we caught the bus for the rest of the journey. To give you an idea of costs, the taxi was 9 pounds and the bus one pound twenty. There was plenty of demand for our custom at the taxi rank in Bishkek. This is how the price scale seems to work:

Very cheap - 30 year old Lada that will definately not make it

Cheap - 30 year old audi that has a 10 % chance

Reasonable - 15 year old audi that may make it

Expensive - 10 year old passat that will make it

V expensive- 5 year old merc that will get there in comfort

Ruth says: The bottom photo is one of the road stops on the way. Oh and Bob forgot to mention that the taxi driver hit the car in front within the first five minutes of the journey.

Travel to Kyrgyzstan

2007-08-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

Ruth says: This was certainly an experience and a half. We had a 6 hour journey from Almaty to Bishkek involving taxis and buses and taxis again. We picked up a taxi in Almaty sharing it with the two boys on the right. The taxi driver is sitting next to Bob. After some very hair-raising driving through the city and then a long drive through desert steppes we stopped at this little road side cafe for meat dumplings and tea. The occupants of the taxi spoke maximum of about 5 words of English but we managed to find out that one of the guys was a chef and the other was connected to houses in some way.

Just before we reached the border one of the guys in the taxi got out his passport and slipped some money inside it, before folding some more up really small to fit into the palm of his hand. Bribes at the ready he showed us what he had done, which didn't really settle my nerves for what was to come. It turns out that he needed the bribes because for some reason he didn't go through customs, and it turned out we didn't need any, thankfully. It was still a pretty scary experience waiting whilst the border guards scrutinised your papers, and the hoards of people trying to get both ways was just unbelievable. On top of all this, the car with the driver and the bribe holding boy, and our backpacks had passed through to the other side and had completely dissapeared in the crowd.

We did finally make it through only to discover that the taxi driver wanted to go in another direction to go shopping with the boys, so put us on a bus instead. Not quite what we had planned but we made it.

More Alatau

2007-08-22T04:08:00.000-07:00

Bob says: From the Alatau range to the South of Almaty you can see the great expanse of the Kazakh plains the next serious mountains are the Urals some 2000 miles north west, it certainly gives you an idea of how vast this area is. Further South and where we are heading are some very serious mountain ranges starting with the Tian Shan in Kyrgyzstan with peaks at 7000 metres plus connecting with the Pamirs and then the Himalayas, together they form the roof of the world. For scale castle hill is about 400 metres above sea level.
The stadium you see is the massive olympic ice rink situated in the foot hills of the Alatau. It is about the 4000 m2. For scale Bradford ice rink is rubbish!

Ruth says: This trip was slightly closer to Almaty. About 50p on a bus. We had a ride on a cable car too which was pretty cool although when we got to the penultimate lift they wouldn't let anymore people on, so we couldn't get right to the top- very disappointing (we'd already done a two hour climb and had another two hours back to the bus). The views over almaty were pretty spectacular as you an see.

Alatau Mountains

2007-08-22T03:59:00.001-07:00

Even more Charyn Canyon

2007-08-22T03:47:00.001-07:00

Ruth says: the river was in the bottom of the canyon, where we had our picnic. One of the trees had loads of little scraps of cloth and plastic tied all over it. We are not quite sure what they are for, but have seen them since up in the mountains above Almaty, and people adding their own little strips of fabric. Think it is like carving your name on a rock or whatever.

More Charyn Canyon

2007-08-22T03:38:00.000-07:00