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18th July 2004!

Right, I'm far too behind in updating this site to give anywhere near a full account of what we've been up to in NZ and Fiji, so I'll give a brief rundown of the highlights.

We managed to pick up a car without too much hassle for a reasonable $420, a rather beat up and old blue Mazda 323XT. It had just passed it's WOF(MOT), so we thought we'd take a gamble and buy it, and I'm pleased to say it paid off verily. The car was named 'Higgy' by the previous owners, apparently after Alex Higgins, it wasn't long before we decided this was a crap name and promptly renamed the car 'Papa Smurf' (as in old and blue) Once we'd aquired two weeks worth of food, some dodgy looking second hand coats, and some camping gear, we left Christchurch and headed off down the East Coast.

We stopped in way too many different places to name, but along the way we saw Seals, Sea Lions, Hawks, plenty of amazing scenery including huge lakes, beaches where it's easy to convince yourself you're the first person to ever step on it, and all kinds of other things which will be better to just show you the pictures when they're developed. We mostly slept in the car which wasn't actually as uncomfortable as it sounds, we cooked our food in the boot which was a skill we perfected by trial and error. Occasionally to break the routine we'd treat ourselves to a night or two in a hostel and get showered and cook some decent meals, and may I say NZ probably has the best hostels in the world. The BBH hostels and always small and far more friendly, they usually come with log fires, kitchens you'd be proud to have in your own home, cheap or free internet, etc.

After the East coast we made our way round the south (stopping off at the most southernly lighthouse in the world), then made our way up the West Coast which is most likely where NZ gets it's reputation for being one of the most stunning countries in the world. The mountains and lakes there were awesome and we coundn't resist doing a trek up one of them. We chose to do the Keplar trek from Te Anau (one of many places where they filmed a lot of Lord of the Rings). On the way we met 'Phil' who turned out to be good company, and the three of us stuck togther for the next few days. I don't think I can describe quite how exhausting I found walking up a mountain with a heavy backpack, and in how much pain Kyle and I were in afterwards. But it was worth it for the incredible views, including being at the top of Mount Luxmore and seeing nothing but a sea of clouds below us stretching out of sight, with the occasional mountain poking through. Again, I'll have to show you the pictures. The hard part of the trek was the cabins we had to stay in overnight, which were rediculously cold and they would only have a small log stove to warm the entire building. This is not a great thing to arrive to when you're exhausted, soaking with sweat, hungry, and in no mood for old vetran trekkers bossing us about. In short we managed to do the four day trek in three, cutting off the last part and opting for the short cut back to the car. It was a real test, but worth it for the things and places we saw and of course the sense of achievement. We treated ourselves to four days in a hostel after that waiting for our limbs to come back to life, luckily Phil took us to the perfect place which had several log fires, TV, en-suite bathrooms, electric heaters, kitchens in our rooms!, pool table, and basically everything a batterd and utterly exhausted trekker could ask for.

Pretty much the rest of our journey was sight seeing of various kinds, which will also be much easier to just show you the photos. But it's worth mentioning that we went Whale watching on a boat, which is something everyone should experience and was definately a highlight of the trip. Also that when we arrived in Aukland we got invited to the biggest and maddest house party imaginable. The results of which were many, but include waking up with a hazy memory, a strange bangle round by arm, and on visiting the bathroom, discovering to my slight shock that I now had blond hair.

There are a hundred other crazy adventures we had on the way, but it would take too long to tell them all here. But there is one other story worth mentioning here. We were offered the opportunity to work for a week in the vineyards that surround Blenhem, which at the time sounded like a good idea at the time to get some extra cash. However what happened next can probably be descibed as the most surreal time either of us have ever had to experience. We were stopping at our sub-contractors house which turned out to be a family of Indians (who were pleasant people even though we could hardly understand each other), in a house with no furniture worth mentioning, with various other workers who were all chinese which we also couldn't understand, and Marcus. Marcus was from NZ and was the one who got us the job, which we thought was very decent of him. However it wasn't long before we begin to realise that Marc had a few problems, mainly that he found it impossible to tell the truth and was in fact a compulsive liar and what I believe the professionals would descibe as 'Mentally Divergent'. He also lived in a fantasy world where he believed he was a clever, charismatic, good-looking, resourceful, rich, highly motivated person with lots of contacts. The reality was, he owed almost everyone he knew money, his lies weren't even slightly cunning or convincing, his general knowledge could be written on the back of a postage stamp, and he would fail to get up for work most days due to being highly drunk the night before. At his drunkest he would continually repeat the same few things over and over and over again, usually things like, "I need money", as well as hurling abuse at the Indians who'd done nothing but be kind to him. It's impossible to descibe in words what an extrodinary character Marc was, it really was a 'had to be there' situation.

In my summing up, I can see why NZ has earned the reputation for many people as the most beautiful country in the world. I disagree, but think it's definately a very close second to Nepal. The people on the whole are friendly, and the hostels are amazing, I'd say the only thing it loses points on are Kiwi drivers which are possibly the worst in the Western World.

Fast traking to now, we've been in Fiji for nearly two weeks, and have already become well accustomed the the concept of 'Fiji Time'. Meaning that if dinner is due to be served at 6:00, we'll probably see it around 7:00. We've already visted Mana Island which was just like you imagine tropical islands with white sand, coral reefs to snorkle round, palm trees, hot sun, etc. to be like, in short, amazing! I'll try my best to write more about it soon, but I don't expect you to count on that.

- Will

13th May 2004!

Not quite what I promised, which was a far more detailed version of the last entry. But I hope this is compensation enough, I've got a few more pictures of some of my adventures up the coast. In all honesty I don't know when I'm next going to make a decent entry, as Kyle and I have just bought a car to drive round New Zealand in. Cool. Anyway, hope you enjoy these few additions, just go to the pictures page.

- Will

9th May 2004!

Right then, where to start? Christmas I suppose, which seems almost a lifetime away already. We spent Christmas day on Bondi beach, which started slowly with us just sun bathing, drinking beers, swimming in the sea, all the usual beach stuff. Then about four o'clock we changed gears and managed to demolish a bottle of vodka, after which things get a little hazy. Main highlights were talking to a group of Irish Girls, swimming in the sea while it's dark, Oli and myself drinking a further free bottle of wine on the way home, an American guy trying to wee out the back door of the bus when the doors opened, Kyle having to walk home barefooted after breaking his sandles, while being wrestled to the ground by Lee and Graham. Most people claim not to remember getting home in any event.

New years eve, was basically Christmas day take two. Accept instead of a beach we had a park in Kings Cross, instead of one bottle of Vodka, we had three. There was also a live radio broadcast going on there, and some random Mexican dancers. After all the hype about Sydney's new years fireworks display, I walked (well stumbled) away impressed but not necessarily blown away, which seemed to be the general conscensus. Highlights included, Lee falling over into a group of people sat on the floor minding their own business, claiming to be able to get up and not managing it, the 9:00pm fireworks which everyone actually remembers clearly, us along with our Scottish friends cheering in the new year considerably louder then anyone else around us. From there we moved on to the 'World Bar', Lee mysteriously dissapearing along the way and not resurfacing for two days. Details of the actual bar are very thin, the only real evidence we have of actually going there is a photo of Kyle looking rather lost and surrounded by people he doesn't know, and some hazy recollections. Early the next morning I phoned Dale who was in Adelade, who claimed have no idea where he was, all he knew was that his was in some rich persons house and in no fit state to do anything.

After all the holiday festivities, we all moved to a house in Ashfield, which is about 15 minutes train journey from Sydney central. Here we would spend the next two and a half months, the idea being that it was such a boring town we would in no way be tempted to get smashed on a regular basis, as had been the routine all the way up to Christmas. Well, it's not like we haven't lied to ourselves before.

The house itself wasn't bad, after sleeping in dorms for so long it was almost blissful, and having a kitchen that wasn't in constant use was a bonus. The new year resolution was for us all to get jobs, however a great deal of time was spent doing exactly not that. Paul the land lord was a chirpy young Egyptian, who to be frank was a pain in the butt most of the time. He would be in the house almost every day, checking up on the state of the house. Although he was generous and we could often get away with not paying any rent for weeks at a time.

The job hunting had various degrees of success, my personal short-list of jobs while in Oz is currently thus: Furniture removals, promotion work for a nightclub, barwork, door to door sales for a charity, demolition, construction, painting, warehouse work, emtying a shop and demolishing parts of it (our Chinese employer could only speak one word, which was 'deh', apparenlty this translates to one of the following, "Yes, No, smash it harder, don't smash it, pick that up, put that down, use this screwdriver, thank you, hello, goodbye" and so on). I'll give more details of them all another time.

Moving on swiftly due to me feeling a little delicate today, which no doubt has something to do with Kyle and I saying Goodbye to Australia in the only way we know how. After Ashfield, Kyle went up the coast with his new found bird (Claudia), I stayed in Newtown for a bit with Oli and also met a very nice girl who happened to be an Aussie (Melissa). Anyway, moving very very swiftyly on due to an increasingly severe hang-over. From there I went up the east coast and met Kyle again in Cairns (Minus new bird). We made it back down to Brisbane and will be flying out in twelve hours time for sunny New Zealand.

OK, I was hoping to get more down then that today, but I think I could use a lie down. Anyway, I'll fill in the many details another time, hopefully soon. Also this is an exciting opportunity to finally hand the keyboard over to Kyle for a bit, only took eight months!

- Will

A new sensation flows around my body and through my finger tips, directly onto the keyboard! Yeah - you got it guys - im typing...

Well...this is an enlightening moment, but unfortunately im far too mashed and can't even cope with thinking straight - yet alone typing in an appropriate manner...Wills closing words were diplomatic and soothing - but they're lies damn it - do you here me people - hes been lying to you...mashed, he is, but the reason he hasn't bothered to fill you in over the last 4 months, is that, he is a lazy bum! I must promptly check out, Will's got that look in his eye - you know the one, he appears that he might get up and do something! Sorry, my mistake - it was just a yawn... See you all soon - it's been great...

- Kyle

I very touching piece which Kyle tells me he's spent considerable time thinking about, cheers mate you're all heart! I'll just finish for now by summing up my thoughts on Australia. One of the things I didn't realise before coming here, was the huge problems the white Aussies and the Aboriginals have in getting along, and how much the government doesn't help. I learnt a few things like boomerangs weren't actually meant for throwing but killing geese on the ground. I've seem amazing sights, everything from beaches to mountains. It's amazing to see that it's still a developing country, I stopped in a town called 1770 (which I'll mention more about another time, which didn't even have any roads two years ago, let alone police or doctors. In general, when you look around, you feel like Australia is still very much trying to find it's feet, as well as it's place in the world. Although not as much an adventure as India and Nepal were, we still had some amazing times I look forward to meeting up with all the gang from over here back home. That's all for now, I promise to write more as soon as reasonable.

- Will

4th May 2004!

Where the hell have I been!? Yes I know it's been a rediculous amount of time since I've put anything at all on here, and many of you who haven't been in contact via e-mail are probably wondering if we're still alive! Anyway, my excuse is that we've been moving around alot and the net is very expencive to use up the coast. However, I do promise I'm going to write a very large report on the last four months very soon. So much has happened that it's going to take a while to organise it all into some kind of rashional entry. Anyway, watch this space, and hopefully we'll have something to put up here real soon.

- Will

8th Febuary 2004!

Yes, I know it's been ages since I've put anything in the way of diary entries up here, and I had fully intended to make a large account of the past few months today. However, I've spent such a rediculous amount of time trying to sort out some pictures that I truely can't be botherd now. But yes, you did read it right, there is now a pretty respectable collection of pictures to look at. I'll probably do it all over again soon and include some pictures of Kyle's, Dale's, Jonny's, James's, etc. Enjoy!

- Will

24th December

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'm still not convinced it is Christmas, but anyhow as a special Christmas treat I've actually managed to forefill my promise and get a few pictures up. Be them not the ones I promised and possibly the most unflattering pictures imaginable. Still it's a start, a big thank you to Werner for sending them! I'm now going to send a snotty note to Jonny. Enjoy!

In other news, Oli and James arrived last week and I immediately set to work insisting they come out for a "few drinks". Thus they have fallen into the same trap that seems to snare us all in Kings Cross, staying out to rediculous times every night and drinking like fish. Lee, Dale and Kyle have also resurfaced and glad to be out of Tully (the bananna picking town), which is apprently full of your typical red-neck Ozzys, who hate the "fk'in pommes". I'm going to drag kyle by the neck down the internet cafe and he can fill in the details himself, he also owes me a report on trekking in Pokhara.

Keeping it short for now, as we have to make preperations for Christmas day, mainly stocking up on Vodka and deciding which beach to sit on all day. Ta ta as Dale says a lot.

- Will

10th December

Yes I know, still no pictures! I promise I will put some up within the next few days, hopefully. Anyway I read a Brilliant joke in 'British Balls' magazine today which I thought I'd share with you all. For those of you who don't know, British Balls is a free backpacker magazine for British folks. It's nice to know we're being looked after, anyway......

Three famous rugby players go to heaven. God looks at them and says: "Before I grant you a place at my side, I must first ask what you believe in." Addressing Barry John firstm he asks: "what do you believe?"

Anyway, I'd like to tell you what a productive and sober time we're having in Oz, but I can't as we all know it would be a lie. It's mainly consisted of partying and not getting jobs, well that's not strictly true as I've worked behind the bar at a club called 'Silva' and done a days work for a guy called 'Thomas'(he had serious issues about being simply called Tom) doing furniture removal. I was rather counting on getting a full job at Silva, annoyingly however they've chosen to take back one of their old staff, still they've said there may be some promotions work I can do for them. As for working for Thomas, he's just too damn weird. I've also applied for a job at a nearby post-production TV company, I doubt I'll get it though as I'm not here long enough.

So, lots of job applications in various bars, and not a lot to show for it. Still the money situation is far from desperate just yet, and I may just hold off until after Christman and New Years no. Kyle on the other hand is getting a little worried, he, Lee (don't think I've mentioned him yet), and Dale went up to Darwin to look for work on the chance of working on a fishing boat. The plan was for me to catch up a week later, however advanced reports from the others were far from encouraging and I elected to stay in Sydney. They are now all in some random place near Caines, picking banannas no less. Lee should be back next week with Kyle not too far behind, meanwhile Dale is continuing south for Christmas and will be back with us next year.

Christmas? I keep on having to remind myself that it's only a couple of weeks away, even though the weather has done it's best to accomodate us by raining and generally being cold. It basically doesn't feel like Christmas at all, especially now with the hotter weather and the general lack of decorations. Still, that's not going to stop us from trying our damnedest to celebrate it.

In other news, we have two mystery guests joining us here in Oz. James and Oli are on their way as I write, and as far as I know James will be joining us for the long haul while no one is quite yet sure what Oli is doing. With Mikey still looking set to join us, it would seem Stratford is going to be well represented in Sydney this Chistmas and New Year, marvellous.

After new year, the earnest job hunt will be on again and hopefully afterwards see some of sunny Australia. Warrumbungle national park sounds very nice and off the beaten backpacker track, pleny of Kanagroos, emus, snakes and wallabies (not the type that lose vital rugby matches). Yes we're still enjoying baiting the Ozzys about the rugby. It was fantastic to be here to experience the atmosphere of the Rugby World cup, we saw the final in the official England supporters bar at Darling Harbour. From what we can piece together between us and supported by Dale's photos, we're certain we had a great night.

I will definately be posting some pictures on the site soon, and I'm still pestering the others to write little bits for the site too. That's all for now!

30th November

I'm feeling a little delicate today after last nights festivities, so luckey for me that Johnny G has taken up my request to write something for the website. The photos he mentions should be arriving pretty soon, along with some long overdue pictures from Kyle and myself. Dale is likely to make a contribution also. Anyway heeeeeeeereeee's JOHNNY!

- Will

Australia the Great Outback or is that the Great Blackout!!! Did I ever go there, what actually happened?

Seriously I had a brilliant time over there. I couldn’t have gone at a better time, good weather (for the first week), my Birthday, and the Rugby World Cup.

I was based in Sydney for my stay while Kyle and Will tried to find a place to live and some jobs to earn some well needed cash. All credit to them they have sorted themselves out now but when I first arrived it was 24-hour party time.

The nightlife in Sydney is amazing it never stops. You can probably tell from the picture of me on a slide that we all had a bonza time. I just wish we could remember some of it. The night in question sore myself and Will go to meet his Dad in Darling Harbour, to have a bite to eat and a couple of drinks. The New Zealand match was on so we went to the Sports Bar on Darling Harbour to watch it. The Sports Bar just so happened to be the New Zealand bar. Now I don’t think of myself of being a short person being around 6 feet tall but in that bar I felt like Bilbo Baggins. The atmosphere was amazing New Zealand stuffed South Africa and the party began.

Now an awful lot of what went on in Sydney cannot be printed on a family web site such as this so you will have to get some of the more sordid tales from the horses mouth. There are many more tales I have to tell but I haven’t the time right now so if the editor will allow I shall write more articles in the future as and when I have the correct flashbacks.

All that remains to be said is a big thank you to Kyle, Will and Dale (especially Dale for bringing some sanity to the proceedings) for making my holiday one of the best I’ve ever taken. I truly didn’t want to come home.

Peace out 50 dolla

aka - Johnny G

11th November

Once again I've left it far too long to write anything, and as usual far too many things have happened that I don't have time to write about here. Kyle and Sean returned from their trek suprisngly on the exact day they said they would, looking a little worse for wear, but pleased they'd done it. I'm going to talk Kyle into writing about it for himself.

The rest of our time passed quickly in Pokhara, we bumped into Werner again, he was there with the idea of doing a trek also, so we spent the evening catching up. He had also just spent the week in some Buddist retreat doing a bit of meditating and generally breaking the rules about being quiet, which sounds fun. We then headed back to Katmando, and who should be bumb into the day before we were set to leave, but our friend Alex Ridgway. Alex has been in Katmando for a while filming his documentory, which from what I made out is about the people of Nepal and what kind of life they lead. We wasted no words and agreed to go out that same evening for a few drinks, which turned out to be an excellent move. Alex took us to a place called 'The Jazz Upstairs', which had one of the best jazz bands I've ever heard playing there, and I don't even like jazz usually. If we'd arrived a few months earlier, we'd have also been graced with the pleasure of watching Sting play with the same band we had seen. Eck, a friend who worked with Alex and I at Cromwell was also in town for a while, Annie also turned up out of the blue as well with some more friends. So we had a brilliant night catching up, drinking too much and talking rubbish. In short we couldn't have asked for a better way to finish our time in Nepal.

Saying goodbye to Annie and Sean, we parted ways and Kyle and I caught our plane back to Varanasi. Now the reason we decided to get a plane was to avoid the dangers of travelling by road again, but this proved to be just as death defying. Flying on a batterd looking old pile of rust, we took off and landed with the grace and control of a meteor shower. We managed to stop in a guest house right next to the Ganga river which Annie had recommened and it was a reasonably pleasant stay. However we asked them to arrange our train tickets to Agra, which they did but failed to mention that they hadn't confirmed our seats. So you can imagine how delighted we were when we found out, even more so when we found out that we could only get 75% of out ticket refunded. Then we were absolutely delighted to find out that the only way we could now get to Agra was to be driven there, and that it would cost us a small fortune. Clearly we were on a roll by this point, instead of taking the ten hours it should have to get to Agra it was estimated it would take by car, it took a slightly longer time of eighteen and a half hours. We have to take into account the fact that we got a puncture halfway through, which took time to fix. It's entirely reasonable to suspect that it may also have something to do with the fact that our driver didn't know the way to Agra.

Finally arriving in Agra, I took refuge in the most expencive hotel we could find while Kyle went off to view the Taj Mahal. I had a pricey but well deserved lunch, and took full advantage of the free drinks being served in the lobby. Even though it was obvious by my very dirty and scruffy appearence that I didn't have any money, the hundreds of servents were still happy to serve me glasses of water, stick the Rugby on for me and guard all my posessions, which I thought was most charitable of them.

Not even bothering to stop in Agra for the night we caught a train straight to Delhi, which being inconsistant with our last few days, was rediculously easy and cheap to sort out. So after several days of turmoil we were glad to find ourselves with two days to relax and prepare to leave India. I don't know the name of the area we stopped in, but the amount that people stared at us there was far greater then anywhere else we'd been. We were rather uneasy at this, and felt about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit.

To try and sum up India and Nepal in any short way is impossible but I'll try anyway. We seen some of the most beautiful and jaw-dropping sights and some of the most poverty stricken and poluted sights in the world, that I personally know I'll never forget. We've met many Indian and Nepalese people from all walks of life, many of which we hope to stay in contact with. Nothing I feel can be written or said that can possibly compare with going and seeing for yourself, as no words or pictures could ever do it justice. I highly reccomend going, and Kyle and both know that one day we'll be venturing back that way again.

With mixed emotions we arrive in Oz on the 5th, and have been staying at the 'Original backpackers Lodge' in Kings Cross. I seemed to be the only person who was unaware that the backpacker's area of Sydney, is also the red light district, which makes walking down the street at night so much more entertaining. Jonny arrived two days ago, and will be with us for the next three weeks, it will also be his birthday too so it's entirely possible that we're going to go on pretty wild nights.

Jonny and I met up with my Dad the other night as well (kyle unfortunately had succomed to one too many nights out), we watched the rugby and were then treated to a fantastic meal and a few drinks, which we were most grateful for. Dad and Jonny have both confirmed my suspicions that I've lost a lot of weight, chubbby faced Will is now history and so is the beer belly that was just starting to make itself apparent. I think the new me is a definate improvement.

We've also met up with Dale, an old friend of Kyle, and we have decided that we're going to rent a flat while we work here. Hopefully we have a flat near the beach sorted out, and Dale and I intend to get some bar jobs, Kyle is still not sure what he wants to do work wise. So the stage is now nearly set for four months of mayhem in Oz, I'm going to force Kyle, Jonny and Dale to put something on the website, so it's not just me boring you all to death for a change. With it looking increasingly likely that Mikey will be joining us for new years eve, we're in for some good nights ahead.

That turned out to be quite a long entry, and I still feel I've only mentioned a fraction of the experiences we've had. Still, we need to have some stories to bore you with when we arrive back home. We've also got some picures developed so hopefully we can finally get some pictures put up for you to see.

- Will

PS - Yes the weather is also fantastic here as well.

23rd October

Excessive partying and travelling around in highly dangerous modes of transport, has left me with a bad cold for the last 2 weeks. So I've been taking it easy and doing as little as possible, while getting a good tan in the process. In Katmando, we hired a couple of motor bikes for the day (don't worry Mum, they weren't capable of going much faster then 20km per hour) along with our companion Sean, and rode up to the top of the highest hill in area. We both got our first sight of the Himalayas, and were both equally stunned at the sheer size of them. I didn't immediately spot them, until Kyle pointed out I should try looking above the clouds rather then underneath them. You really can't appreciate just how dominating and surreal they appear in the sky, unless you actually see them yourself.

A week ago, we moved to Pokhara. In addition to my cold, I also managed to aquire Delhi Belly, which made the seven hour bus journey much more of an adventure. Luckely I had my Imodium pills with me, who's 'mild' side effects involved feeling ill, dizzy, drousey, bad skin rashes, swolen skin, and a mild fever. So I was rather unsociable for most of that journey. Since being here, the belly problem failed to clear up (unlike my cold which has finally gone), so I've got some medicine from the doctors which is working miracles. However, I was too ill to risk going on the small trek we'd planned round the Annapurna range. So I've sent Kyle and Sean on ahead, while I've stayed in town and worked on my tan and read my new book 'The Dice Man by Luke Rhineheart'.

I've also been filling my time becomming a local legend. The bar I've been frequently attending has a free pool table, in which out of 30 odd games, I've yet to be beaten. The manager takes great delight in finding new adversaries for me, and small crowds often gather to watch me play. I haven't got the heart to tell them that it's sheer luck that prevents me from receiving a sound thrashing almost every game. I've also made several good friends with the locals in this way, and often get invited back to their houses for a cup of Tea (or Chai as they call it).

So that has more then made up for not seeing Annapurna up close, and of course Nepal isn't going anywhere soon. We start our return to Delhi in a few days time, I can't believe how quickly this first month has gone. Occasionally feel homesick, remembering how easy everything is back home. But being here is just such a blast, that it's worth the hassel through and through. I have already decided, I will be coming back to India and Nepal some day.

There's loads of other things that have happened, and plenty of interesting characters we've met to talk about. But there just isn't time, as Pokhara has a rather unusual phone system which means that calls are more expencive then everywhere else.

Oh yes one last thing, I've been informed that the cold winter days are fast approaching in England, which is very hard to imagine when it's averaging 35 here every day. Thought you'd be pleased to hear that, I'll leave you with that thought.

7th October

Was hoping to update this page a little more often, but most of my net time is used waiting for AOL to work, so by the time I've sorted out the e-mails I don't have time to come here. Today is an exception however!

I'm lost track of all time so I won't bother with putting the dates of what's happened. Last Saturday, Kyle and I finally met up in Varanasi, so we celebrated in the only way we know how, which involved large quantities of a lager. We're both agreed that Varanasi is less dirty and polluted then everywhere else we've been in India. Before meeting Kyle, a few days before I was in Agra and went to see the Taj Mahal and the Agra Red Fort. Both are difficult to describe, the Taj is very peaceful and the gardens around it as well as the river make for exellent site seeing.

Anyway, we're both done with doing the tourist thing for now, as we've arrive in Nepal and things couldn't be more different. The people here and extremely friendly and relaxed, and they seem to love the British. We've already been offerd a job working three weeks in Australia, selling Jewels, which will make us the tidy sum of two and half grand, which is nice. However we've both kept and air of Skepticism about that, seeing as how it's impossibly too good to be true. We shall see.

A few things worth mentioning about Nepal. Nepal is what Glastonbury would be like if you were allowed to keep it going the whole year. It's full of the same kind of stores, selling the same kind of things you find at Glasto. There's live music everywhere at night, the toilets are disgusting and the whole place if full of hippies. It's a complete contrast to India which is very hectic, perhaps too much so, it takes an average of half an hour to sort out something as simple as a cheese toastie. We were taken aback by how Westernised the whole place is too.

The bus journey was not so pleasant however. The first leg of the journey was great until it got to night-time, then the headlights on the bus went. The dirving didn't seem to regard this with any great concern, right up to the point where we ran over a cow, then they decided it was worth fixing them. After a stay on the border, the second leg involved a death defying ramage round the edge of several very high mountains. It would have taken much more then hitting one of the many giant pot-holes too fast, to send us rolling merrily down into the valley below. It was actually better as night, because you couldn't see how many brushes with death we were experiencing, ignorence is quite often bliss in these situations.

Loads of other things have happened but I'm going to have to keep this brief once again. We've met a lot of cool people while being in Nepal, and think we will most likely stay here until the last minute before heading back to the far more chaotic India.

Kyle was going to write something today, but I've hogged the computer for far too long now. Keep sending e-mails, it's good to hear what's going on back home.

29th September

Phew, where to start?

On Friday I was given the grand tour of Delhi at a very reasonable price, I've visited several palaces, who's name escapes me without my map to hand. I saw the red fort of Delhi, Delhi's parliment buildings and the India Gate, as well as a few temples who's name's also escape me. My guide was very good until he took me a to a shop at the end of the tour, what is clear to me now, is that he was obviously under comission to get me to buy something. I was mainly harrassed by a carpet salesman who looked eerily similer to Christopher Lee. He sat me down, gave me some water and some very nice Kashmir Tea, and then tried every trick in the book to make me buy one of his rugs. My insistance in not wanting to buy it, meant that I inadvertantly haggled a two hundred and fifty pound rug, down to a very reasonable ninety pounds.

On the way he'd tried everything from saying I reminded him of his son, emotional blackmail ("I've only made two sales today"), saying that this was a special price because it was friday, I was the last customer of the day, he doesn't usually do this but he could see I wasn't the normal naive tourist, etc. His last words to me were, "I would never force anyone to buy from me son", which was interesting since he'd just put me though the verbal equivilant of G.B.H.

After that I used saturday to chill out and watch some trashy films, let's here it for HBO! I also managed to phone home and speak to Mom, which was enjoyable if short. Then I spoke to kyle, and he has said that he should know around tuesday mid-day if he is well enough to come. I really hope he is.

Sunday, I have got out of Delhi and away from all the noise and pollution and into Jaipur (the Pink City) and into all the noise and pollution. They have a famous hill fort here which was breathtaking to see, but as it was a five hour drive down here, that's all I got to see that day. On a side note, I found out how to use the light meter on my camera, so at least half the film I've used will turn out, huzzah!

Which bring me to today (I think). I have been shown round the rest of Jaipur, including the Mahiraja's Palace, which has several displays of weapons, textiles, and art. It also has a very very large silver bowl, which is apparently the biggest single piece of silver in the world, which is confusing because right next to it it has an indentical twin.

I have been shown around by my driver who also knows some good places to eat (I had a pizza yesterday, the first western food since getting here, it was heavenly). He also talks a lot, the fact that I can't understand much of what he is saying doesn't put him off. He is also trying to make me buy another tour instead of going to Nepal, which is getting annoying but there's not much I can do about it. He is also taking me to several shops which it is clear he is also getting comission for. I'm getting better at finding ways to avoid getting into a haggling session though, saying things like, "I don't like it, you couldn't pay me to have it", seems to be effective.

I'm off to Agra tomorrow, and should arrive just in time to see the sun set on the Taj Mahal, which is the best time to see apparently. Then the day after that I will be going to Vanasee (no idea on spelling of that one)by train, and hopefully meeting Kyle. This is all assuming the many arrangements I've made with the tourist company to look after him, actually work. Well it's not quite as bad as that, but you know, artistic licence and everything.

OK, that's everything for now. I'm not even going to bother checking this entry for grammer or spelling, it doesn't make that much difference when I do anyway.

- Will

26th September

For those of you who don't already know, unfortunately kyle developed a kidney infection a few days before our flight. The result being that I've come to India on my own, but it's not a huge problem. All being well, Kyle should be joining me on the 1st October, and as he's said, better it's happened now then when he was already out here.

India is a mad place, and when on the roads pretty much anything goes, and they use their horns like other people use oxygen. I've been staying in a hotel called the Ivory palace, which is a bit of a slum but the owners seem nice enough, even if they are trying to sell me something every time I speak to them. I've met up with a really nice couple (Manjit and Kylie from London) who've been showing me the ropes, I would probably still be stuck at the airport without their help.

Keeping it brief for now as I have to go and check out of the hotel. Don't forget to e-mail me folks, so we can stay in contact.

- Will

17th September

One week to go! I'm now buying and sorting out everything that I should have done weeks ago. Had my final injection yesterday, and have started my Malaria course today, I thought I'd quote a little extract from the leaflet inside. "These pills can sometimes cause side-effects such as headaches, mouth ulcers and inflammatation of the mouth, stomach upset, skin rashes, itching, hair discolouration, hair loss, blurring of vision, difficulty focusing, eye changes, convulusions or fits, effects of behaviour or mood and allergic reactions". I guess it's going to be hard to tell if I'm suffering any side effects or not.

Pretty much in a state of Limbo now, waiting for the big off, tentatively packing my backpack and contemplating what the hell we're going to do, when we find ourselves stepping of the plane into a foreign country, with near no idea of what we're doing. But as Kyle quite rightly keeps reminding me, half the fun is going to be not having a clue what we're doing.

- Will

5th August 2003

It is now 3 weeks since we've booked out tickets. Slight anxiety has started to set in, mainly fuled by the numerous scare stories about traveling, that people feel is now the most approproate time to tell us. Our departure date is set for September 24th and all our flights are confirmed bar the one which actually get's us home, which we'll worry about later. Injections are in hand, money, passports found and renewed, visas applied for, international driving licenences applied for, insurence being worked out, travel books being studied religiously, and other bits of beurocratic nonsense being sorted out.

I had my first insight last Friday of the world we were stepping into, I had to personally go to the Indian Consulate and sort out our visas. I had no idea what to expect, but it definately didn't involve walking into building with a metal detector that was apparently only there for show, being told I had to use a Birmingham form in the Birmingham consulate, rather then the London one, and having to wait 5 hours longer then predicted. Thinking this would be a quick proceedure, I was unprepared for the general chaotic atmosphere created by the other 300 other people impatiently waiting for Indian Visas or Passports. The humidiy, heat and the fact that I was the only white person in the entire buiding, allowed me to imagine for a while that I was already in India. While I experienced no particular revelations to suddenly being in the racial minority, it was interesting experience all the same, seeing things from a different perspective. It was eventually sorted without further problems, and now nothing stands between us and our first destination.

Still a lot to do, but the conversation about travelling which seemed like a fanatasy over two years ago, is fast becomming a reality!

- Will