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Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
Istanbul

Istanbul is definitely a city which we will visit again. We had just four days there but, during this time, did manage to visit many of the major sights such as Hagia Sophia, Topkapı palace, Sultan Ahmed mosque and the archaeological museum. We also spent an enjoyable day travelling along the Bosporus to the Black sea.

One of the cheapest hotels we could find in the city was across the Golden Horn, in Beyoğlu. The area turned out to be a great place to stay with wealth of characterful local bars and restaurants.

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Istanbul is a great place for food lovers. We spent a large proportion of our time sampling the local cuisine. We decided to splash out one evening and have a ‘proper meal’ at a meyhane on Nevizade Sokak. Instead of using a menu the mezes were brought around on a large tray. Amongst all the usual suspects of taramasalata and aubergine salad there was the option of whole lambs brain which, of course, we had to opt for.

Wedding anniversary in the axis of evil

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
Esfahan

The beautiful city of Esfahan was where we were to spend our first wedding anniversary. We were truly blown away by the place. The stunning Naqsh-e Jahan square with its beautiful palace and mosques was one of the most impressive places we’d visited so far on our trip.

Our anniversary was spent Naqsh-e Jahan square and taking a walk along the Zayandeh river admiring it’s bridges. Our anniversary meal was at a traditional banquet hall, recommended by the Lonely Planet. Although the interior was impressive the food was a disappointment with the salads served covered in cling film and ayran in plastic beakers. The day beds were attractive but Matthew spent most of the meal crossing and uncrossing his legs trying desperately to get comfortable.

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Trying to save a disappointing night we headed to a teahouse overlooking Naqsh-e Jahan square. When our tea and qalyan arrived the water pipe was placed on the floor next to us after a while we picked it up and put it on the table like everyone else’s. The waiter approached us on seeing this, putting the pipe back on the floor and explaining to Matthew that as he had a woman with him he had to keep the pipe on the floor. The tea and qalyan were expensive but the views over Naqsh-e Jahan square wonderful.

A more pleasant experience was at the Azadegan teahouse the place was packed with both locals and tourists, sipping tea, eating bowls of dizi and puffing on qalyans (including many women!)

Shiraz

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
Shiraz

Our first task after checking into our hotel in Shiraz was to purchase a manteau for me. At Sharjah I had changed into one of Matthew’s shirts in order to adhere to Iran’s laws regarding how women should dress in public. Finding a manteau was no problem. The lady at our hotel pointed us in the direction of a street lined with manteau shops. After much deliberation I opted for a black pin-stripped number which I was to wear every single day for the next three weeks.

We were fortunate enough to meet Isabella and Hazel, two girls from Hong Kong, who were staying at our hotel. Like us they were on a tight budget and were keen to share a taxi to Persepolis with us.

Persepolis

We spent the next day being driven around by the very nice Mr. Farhad visiting the impressive ancient city of Persepolis, the tombs at Naqsh-e Rustam and the bas-reliefs at Naqsh-e Rajab.

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The rest of our time in Shiraz was spent visiting the sights around the city such as the Vakil bazaar, Hamam-e Vakil and numerous shrines and mosques. I had my first experience of wearing a chador when we visited the tomb of brothers Amir Ahmad and Mir Muhammad, Shah Cheragh. I stood out as I struggled to wrap the chador around me then hold it in place whilst trying to carry my bag and remove my shoes. We had read in our guidebook that non-muslims were not officially allowed inside the shrine. Isabella and Hazel had, however, visited two days earlier with no problems so we decided to give it a go. At the women’s entrance I asked a female attendant if I could visit the shrine. I was answered with a big smile and a hand on my shoulder. The woman at the shoe counter on realising I was a foreigner, reached into her handbag and handed me a handful of sweets. The interior of the shrine was absolutely spectacular with every centimetre of the walls and ceiling covered in a mosaic of mirror glass.

Shiraz gave us our first taste of Iranian cuisine (excluding visits to the Persian restaurants in Newcastle). On the whole we ate disappointing kebabs and ’sandwiches’. We were, however, impressed with dizzi, a delicious Iranian stew, and bastani (Iranian ice cream) which the whole of Shiraz seemed to eat in the evenings.

Amritsar

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
Amritsar

Amritsar was definately one of the highlights of our ten week Indian adventure. It was also one of the friendliest cities we have visited. Travelling across town by cycle rickshaw, our drıver was furiously whistled at. We turned around to find a burly Sıkh policeman grinning at us like a Cheshire cat and giving us the thumbs up. On another occasion, as we walked through the streets, a man cycled over to us, hurriedly rummaged in his pockets before fishing out a handful of grapes and thrusting them into our palms.

The Golden Temple was every bit as majestic as we’d imagined. We loved the place so much that we spent the best part of two days there wandering around, watching people bathe in the sacred pool, appreciatıng the live devotional music and absorbing the atmosphere. Sikhs from all over India and the rest of the world make the pilgrimage to their holiest sıte. We a bit taken aback by how many Sıkh families with Midlands accents we came accross.

Golden Temple

The pilgrims and volunteers at the temple were incredibly friendly. Similar to our time spent at the Hındu Meenakshi temple in Madurai, many an hour was spent sat near the pool chatting to groups of Indians, posing for photos and recieving numerous invites to visit homes and villages.  One of the people we met was Mr. Singh, a retired engineer who now volunteers at the temple helping wıth the provision of free drinking water for the visitors. We ended up taking tea with him and his friends on both days of our visit.

An important aspect of the Sikh faith is that all people, regardless of religion gender and caste, are equal. One way this is demonstrated is by encouraging people from all walks of life to take meals together.  Many Sikh temples, therefore, provıde meals free of charge for visitors. The volunteers at the Golden Temple churn out an astonishing number of meals every day. We joined the queue and were soon seated on the floor of the huge hall being served up some tasty dal, chapati and pickle.

Aside from the Golden Temple, we also visıted Jallıanwala Bagh – the scene of the 1919 massacre when hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed Indians were murdered by British infantry. We were rather embarrassed by the usual ‘Where are you from’ questıon by the numerous Indian tourists but there didn’t appear to be any hard feelings. As usual they seemed more interested in havıng their photographs wıth us.

Wagah border ceremony

We had seen footage of the bizarre Pakistan-India border closing ceremony on Michael Palin’s Himalaya programme. It seemed so ridiclous that we had to go and check it out for ourseleves. We took a minibus to the border at Wagah. We joined the crowds who flock there every night to watch the spectacle. The warm up to the show involved loud Punjabi music wıth children and female members of the crowd dancing bollywood-style. The ceremony itself was every bıt as ridiclous as we had hoped with loud cheerıng, silly hats and Pythonesque marchıng.

The rıch Punjabi cuisine was familiar to us from the Indian restaurants in the UK. It was easy to see why so many of the Punjabi men were overweıght and dıabetıc when we were served dishes topped wıth a large knob of butter and bread dripping in ghee. Our favourite Punjabi dish was the brain curry which we sampled on our final night in Amritsar.

Helambu trek

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
Helambu trek

For our second Nepali trekking expedition we decided to undertake a trek in the Helambu region, just north of Kathmandu. We took a taxi to Sundarijal where we were to begin our trip. After walking for an hour or so we entered the Shivapuri National Park, getting our prepaid permits checked.

The first day was hard work with almost exclusively steep uphills. This, combined with the strong sunshine, made me begin to wonder what I had let myself in for but just about managed to resist the urge to turn back.

We reached the village of Chisopani at around 4pm. In contrast to the villages which we had visited on our trek in the Annapurna region, Chisopani did not appear to have any restrictions on building work completed there. As a result there were a number of tall ugly concrete hotels. We spent a relaxing night at one of these places chattering to a British couple and a Belgian man and enjoying our first of many daal bhats of the trek.

After a very early night we were packed and ready to get going soon after seven the next morning. Day two took us from Chisopani to Khutumsang, stopping at Golphu Bhanjyang for our lunch. The walking was relatively straightforward until a wrong turn after lunch which cost us an extra hour or so. The final ascent of the day was exhausting. With a fair way still to go I “hit the wall” with my legs refusing to move any further. I was rescued with the aid of several handfuls of dried sugared plums.

We found a nice lodge in Khutumsang where we followed our usual shower-dress in warm clothes-daal bhat-bed regimen. Matthew was gutted when he realised that he had left his new woolly hat in Chisopani but, despite feeling cold, there was no way we were going back for it!

Day three brought the steepest climb so far. By 10:30am we were in the village of Mangengoth which is 1000 metres higher than where we started out that morning. After a leisurely cup of chiya we set off again. The climb to Tharepani was hard work. As we continued to climb we really started to notice the effects of the altitude on our breathing. We reached the village of Tharepani (3490m) at around 1:30pm and headed straight for a lodge which had been recommended to us by the owners sister in Mangengoth. We enjoyed a late lunch followed by a lazy afternoon spent relaxing and taking ‘bucket showers.’ We were initially surprised to learn we would be charged for the buckets of water. However when we discovered that the walk to get water was a hour-long trip, 60 rupees per bucket seemed very reasonable. As the sun began to set the temperature plummeted. We joined the other guests huddled around the fire in the dining room sipping hot tea before getting tucked up in our sleeping bags soon after 7pm!

Day four started with a steep descent on a rough path with loose stones. Needless to say I spent nearly as much time pulling myself up off the floor as walking. We reached Malemchi Gaun by 10.30am and had a very early, and very extended, lunch. The other groups who had been with us most of the way so far reached the village just as we were leaving and appeared to be staying there the night. Feeling smug that we were able to continue on, we walked right down to the valley bed and crossed the river. Finding the path up at the other end was tricky but, thanks to a number of friendly locals, we found our way eventually. The path to Tarke Ghyang took us past a number of nice villages and picturesque stupas. We spent the night at the lovely Mount View guest house. The friendly owner was very accommodating. After a hot bucket shower we spent a very enjoyable evening sat on the floor of the family’s living room eating very tasty daal bhat and chatting to some of the villagers.

Our penultimate day from Tarke Ghyang to Kakani was very easy by recent standards. The fairly flat path took us past attractive villages and Buddhist monasteries. Kakani had three or four lodges but only one appeared to be open for business – the Everest Lodge. On arrival we appeared to gatecrash some village meeting which was being held in the garden of the lodge. There were lots of men sitting down drinking cups of tea and, no doubt, discussing something very important. Our evening meal (daal bhat of course) was accompanied by an impressive electrical storm and Nepal’s first rain for over six months.

The last day of walking was an easy downhill stretch from Kakani to Malemchi Pul which we managed to do in two and a half hours (with no stops.) Arriving in Malemchi Pul so early allowed us to catch the 10am bus to Kathmandu. The bumpy ride back to the capital city took approximately four and a half hours. We were grateful to be back but slightly concerned about the student demonstrations that surrounded us on our walk back to our hotel.

Return to Pokhara

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

Following a short taxi ride from our treks end point at Phedi we arrived back to some luxury at Hotel Nirvana. We enjoyed a few celebratory beers before attempting to cleanse ourselves of the previous five days worth of grime. That night we treated ourselves to steak at the Everest Steak House, washed down, of course with a few more bottles of Nepal Ice.

The next day was Pam’s last full day with us. Pam and I decided to relieve some of our post-trek aches and pains by indulging in a massage. We saw a sign for ‘massage’ on the street and followed it. It lead to an appartment block where we were ushered into a bedroom and told to strip off. The mother and daughter team were very excited by our custom and even invited us to dinner with their family that evening. The whole experience, although slightly bizarre, was enjoyable and we left feeling relaxed and refreshed.The rest of the day was spent being rowed across Phewa lake before walking up to the World Peace Pagoda to take in the views of Pokhara.

Pam left for Kathmandu the following day. We were able to watch her board the tiny Buddha Air plane and watch it take off into the distance. Matthew and I hung around in Pokhara for a few more days generally being lazy.

Pokhara

Friday, February 27th, 2009

We boarded the Golden Travel coach for the long journey to Pokhara. After a predictably slow start we made good progress until an accident brought the traffic to a complete standstill for over an hour.

We finally reached the relaxed town of Pokhara soon after 16:00. The touts were nowhere near as aggressive as we had feared. Without any difficulties we took a taxi to our pre-booked accommodation, Hotel Nirvana.

We headed out to explore Pokhara’s lakeside which was every bit as touristy as Thamel but with a more pleasant, relaxed vibe and the added bonus of a beautiful backdrop.

After finally deciding we should undertake the Ghorepani – Ghandruk trek we spent the next day trying to get ourselves organised. The task of obtaining our ACAP (Annapurna Conservation Area Project) and TIMS (Trekkers Informations Management System) passes was far time consuming that anticipated mostly due to the lack of electrical power and the incompetence of the man at the TIMS desk. The rest of the day was spent buying and hiring the necessary equipment for our expedition.

We became slightly concerned when Pam began to look unwell and develop symptoms of the inevitable stomach trouble which plagues most visitors to Nepal. By the next morning, the proposed start day of our trek, it was clear that we were going nowhere for the time being. Matthew and I spent the day doing a bit more shopping and walking up to the World Peace Pagoda. Pam spent the day recovering in bed and reading on the balcony.

By the next day she was looking much better. We met our friendly taxi driver who drove us to the village of Nayapul where we were to begin our trek.

Kathmandu

Thursday, February 26th, 2009
Kathmandu

The International Guest house was a peaceful haven, just outside the chaos of the main Thamel tourist area, where we were to base ourselves for a couple of days. We had a day and a half in Nepal’s capital before Pam arrived. Wanting to save the sightseeing until she arrived, we spent this time relaxing in the immaculate gardens of our hotel and getting frustrated by the frequent power cuts with which we have since become well accustomed.

We managed to persuade the hotel staff to allow us to accompany their driver to the airport for Pam’s complimentary pick up. Her flight was delayed by half an hour or so but we soon spotted her walking through the arrivals gate looking a little bewildered but pleased to see us. We witnessed her experiencing the inevitable culture shock on the forty-five minute drive back to our hotel, staring in amazement at things which we had gradually become accustomed to over the previous few months.

The next couple of days were spent visiting some of Kathmandu’s sights and organising the next two weeks. After finally deciding that we would travel to Pokhara in the Annapurna region, we visited the KEEP office where we picked up some useful advice and brought a map in preparation for our trip.

We spent the best part of a day visiting the impressive Durbar square housing the old royal palace, Kumari Chowk (home of Kathmandu’s living goddess) and a number of other temples and monuments. Although visually appealing, spending any time in the square was exhausting with constant harassment from beggars, vendors and would-be guides.

The other highlights of our brief sightseeing tour of Kathmandu were Swayambhu (“Monkey temple”) and Pashupatinath, Nepal’s holiest pilgrimage site. We visited Pashupatinath a day after the Shivaratri festival. There were still a number of Indian sadhus wandering around smoking marijuana. Whilst there, we witnessed a very moving public cremation. The body of the deceased was that of a young man who appeared to have been in the army. A group of soldiers, lined up the opposite side of the river, saluted him as the pyre was lit. As well as the cremation ghats, the complex also housed a number of interesting Hindu temples.

Matthew had feared that the Nepali food would be a disappointment after our two months in India. Indeed, Kathmandu in particular, appears to specialise in bizarre pseudo-western dishes which are not particularly appetizing and not particularly cheap. We did, however, enjoy two decent meals at the Everest Steak House and New Orleans restaurant thanks to a recommendation from Glenn and Erika.

Delhi

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
Delhi

I had been really looking forward to arriving in Delhi for several weeks. Aside from the excitement of visiting India’s capital city, I couldn’t wait to see some of my friends for the the first time in nine months (some longer.) They had come for a friend’s wedding in Faridabad, near Delhi.

We stayed at the Woodland hotel in the Ram Nagar area near New Delhi railway station. The hotel was pleasant with a small but clean room. Unfortunately the paper thin walls and incomplete door meant that I had very little sleep. I could hear the man in the next room snoring so loudly that it felt as though he was in the same bed as me.

We had a few days in the city before my friends arrived so we started seeing a few of Delhi’s sights. Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, Delhi’s biggest Sikh temple and the first Sikh temple we had visited, was well worth the visit. It was necessary for all visitors to cover their heads inside the complex. A box of head scarves was provided for the purpose. Not happy with Matthew’s adoption of the bandanna-style head covering sported by all the other visitors, one of the temples wardens took it upon himself to make Matthew look as conspicuous as possible by adorning him with an authentic turban.

We wandered along the wide, calm Rajpath built by the British when the moved the capital back to Delhi from Calcutta. The road lead from the Rashtrapati Bhavan (‘President House’) at one end to the India Gate at the other.

I had already brought a salwar kameez in Mumbai to wear to Nav’s mehandiraat. The top needed to be taken in so I took it to one of the many tailor shops at Shankar market. Tailors in India appear to have no where for you to get changed thereby checking that the work done is suitable. The cocky man in the shop assured me that his tailor would make my top fit perfectly after just one measurement. Predictably, when I got back to the hotel, the top was far too tight. I furiously waited outside the tailors shop for almost three hours the next morning, waiting for it to finally open so they could readjust my clothes.

That evening we took a very crowded suburban train from New Delhi to Faridabad. From here an auto drove us to the Ekant hotel where Nav’s mehandiraat was held. It was surreal but lovely meeting up with the gang. We had a very enjoyable evening of delicious food, drinks and henna tattoos to our hands.

We met up with everyone again the following day for more sightseeing. Surprisingly the logistics of exploring Delhi in a group of fifteen people wasn’t as difficult as I had feared. We had an enjoyable day visiting the Red Fort and Jama Masjid before going for a few drinks and a delicious meal. After waving goodbye to everyone leaving the restaurant in their Ambassador taxis we head back to our noisy hotel room – alone again!

The next day was spent looking around the interesting, if slightly disorganised, national museum and browsing for souvenirs before catch a night train to Varanassi.

We were delighted to find we had been allocated the best compartment on the entire train. We settled down and enjoyed a peaceful night’s sleep.

Agra

Friday, February 13th, 2009
Agra

As with most tourist destinations in the north of India, Agra had been badly affected by the fall in tourist numbers following the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. This clearly had a devastating effect on small businesses struggling to survive. The less serious, yet extremely annoying, effect on us was an intensification in the hassle factor. It was, however, very sad to see shop owners desperately trying to sell us pairs of quality-made leather shoes for less than one pound.

Everybody visits Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Although visually spectacular, particularly when viewed from afar, we were equally as impressed by Agra’s many other sights, such as Agra Fort, Akbar’s mausoleum and the Itmad-Ud-Daulah.