Senses working overtime...

Wow...it takes a LOT of getting used to India...all the senses are overloaded from the noise, smell, pollution and of course the amazing colours of India. But...press on I did and went onto Hampi in Karnataka. The temples...over 1000 of them...are spread around the massive boulders in Hampi. Truly amazing to see. But after a while you kinda get used to seeing another temple!!! Was also getting fed up of the pushy rickshaw drivers...the worst in India so far. So after a couple of days in Hampi I headed to Bangalore as I was having trouble with the netbook.
 I reckon it's on it's on it's last legs and will buy a "proper" laptop when I get back home. Netbooks are great...but I think I'll stick with laptops from now on.

Anyhoo...got to dirty Bangalore and forced to spend a few days there. Couldn't believe the noise there...you get a headache from just walking around for an hour!! Anyway, got a new power supply for the netbook and this seemed to help the problem...for the moment anyhow.
After Bangalore...head to Mysore. The Dassara festival was on and was a surprise for me as I hadn't planned that :) Mysore is a nice, clean city. Really liked it there and the people are chilled out with very little hassle. Met up with Nadeem there. It was great to meet him at long last after all those conference calls when I was at Dell :) Nadeem and I hd lunch at the summer palace and went to the bird sanctuary.
After Mysore...headed to Kochin in Kerala and met Katharina on the bus. Stayed in Fort Kochin for a few days and was nice to have some company for a change! It's weird travelling around in India...all the locals treat you like a tourist and all the tourists treat you like a local!!! So don't actually get to meet that many people. Guess we all make assumptions about folks before we meet them .
Katarina and I went on a Kerala backwaters trip from Kochin...which was very relaxing....but after a few hours got a bit boring!!! But it was interesting to see the local life...very poor folks around this area of the world and sure does open your eyes to how much we have and how little some folks have in life.
After Kochin it was time to head off to Kumily Hill station, with Katarina, for some cooler weather and bit of wildlife trekking. On the way, met up with Nadeer...Shafi's cousin...who organised his driver to take us to Kumily!! It was such a luxury to travel there by car...amazing what you can miss after a while. I must remember to send Nadeer sonmething for Xmas as a thank you. Took advantage of the car and stopped at a nice hotel for some lunch and a couple of photo opportunities on the way up the mountains. Amazing views.

Kumily was a really nice spot...and clean and....quiet....what a blessing! Day after getting there, organised a trek around Kumily. Trek was really nice for the day...although much of the time looking for the elusive elephants. Never actually got to see any...but heard loads of them.
Met Jo and Kay on the trek...and also met Sophie and Jody over a few drinks at their hotel. Told Jody to head to C2Sky when they get to Vietnam for some kitesurfing. Also met Iris and Sarah. Iris lives...in Chamonix of all places...must try and catch up with her if she is there next season in Le Pub!!
It was a shame to leave Kumily as it was so quiet and peaceful there...ah well the burdens of travelling!! Time to head to Kerala again and see Varkala...and what a really great place Varkala is...again chilled out and peaceful with some very nice (western) food....so great to have a decent lasagne etc after loads of curries since getting here!  Enjoyed a 5 odd days in Kerala and getting into the sea after such a looonggg time...though started to miss kitesurfing loads!! Can't wait to get back to Mui Ne in the new year!
After Varkala I flew to Hyderabad to meet Shafi...would be a shame not to see him after being so near. Spent the day with Shafi looking around Hyderabad and also went to the light and sound show at Fort Golconda. That was nice and different. Shame it was night time...would have been some great photos otherwise. After Hyderabad...it was time to go North.
I flew from Hyderabad to Agra and missing out Delhi....can't stand India's big cities...so trying to avoid them as much as possible!
Agra was suprisingly filthy!! For a such a world famous tourist town it was smelly, dirty and generally a horrible place. Buuuuttttt.....heading into the Taj Mahal is definitely a sight to behold. Even after seeing all the pics in magazines, TV etc...it really is amazing to see it up close. So glad I got up at 6am before the main tourists arrived at 9am form Delhi etc. Got some great photos as well without too many people around. Also went to see the baby Taj at the back of Agra. I was driven there by a 70 year bike rickshaw driver....and felt guilty most of the way around that an old man is ferring me around Agra! Ah well...left a nice tip for his troubles.

After Agra, got a bus and train to Ranthambhore Tiger National Park. Booked a wildlife spotting trip the for the following morning....and sooo glad I did...we got to a tiger in the wild!!! A dream come true. As there are only 30 odd tigers here...it was an amazing experience...up there with diving with the dolphins in the Red Sea a few years ago :) Also met Sunil from Gujarat who has a shop there. P:romised him I would buy a t-shirt if I saw a tiger...so bought one that day :)
After Ranthambhore, I headed out to Jaipur. Spent a few days in Jaipur and looked around the palaces, fort and the Juntar Muntar (an old astronomy/astrological laboratory!!). At this point I was getting fed up of the hustle and bustle of India cities...pushed on to Pushkar.
And so glad I went to Pushkar....again really nice, chilled out spot and all that you imagine India to be :) Stayed at the wonderful Hotel Moonlight...and Hotel Panorama. Had a great time there. Bumped into Katarina in Pushkar for a few hours. Got ripped off taking "prasad" from one of the Brahmins there...ah the cost of religion....can't beat it!
I wasn't going to head to Udaipur...as was getting fed up of India...not the place...just the hassle from everyone 2 secs and getting ripped off at every street corner and the noise!!! But I was convinced by Raj and Joshi to go there. And glad I spent a few days there. It was definitely the nicest city in India by far. Reasonably quiet, CLEAN and pretty hassle free. But after having spoken to some folks, decided to head to Nepal for a break. Nepal was not in original....but a while in the quiet mountains would be great.
So headed to Nepal after catching a bus to Delhi. Spent 2 uneventful days in Delhi and got on a plane to Kathmandu.
So glad I came to Nepal. Kathmandu is nice...not sure why people don't like it there! I thought it was nice, chilled and quiet....but then again after India anything is less noisy. After a few days in Kathmandu, I got a bus to peaceful Pokhara. And here I am updating this blog after such a long in a nice little restaurant with some lovely food and watching the world go by....sooooo missed this, it's not even funny.
I walked up with to the World Peace Pagoda, a fare little trek that is from Lakesid, with the help from Santosh...a local "guide" who showed me around the Pagoda and Devi's fall.
I've decided to spend the remaining part of trip in Pokhara....with maybe a few days in Chitwan before heading to Delhi to catch the plane back home. Kind of looking forward to getting back home now to see family and friends...
But folks...a few more weeks to go...and will have to update the blog when I get back home....as I have a trek around the Himalayas to organise and tell you about....
Soooo....until the next and prolly the last time...so long suckers....haha

Vampires, Queenstown and New Zeland

This is sounding like a bad joke...no update again for over a month haha. Just tooooo lazy to keep posting, plus it's not the cheapest thing using internet around the world...got to lurve capitalism :) Well...after the wonders of Cairns and Yorkeys and Queensland...I headed down to Sydney to see Pete, Rach and Dallas for the last time this year!! Spent the weekend with Pete and Rache and had a lovely time...with Bella and Montana laying on a show for us...soooo cute :) After the weekend I headed off to Dallas and Tako's for the last time as well and had to sort a few things out in Sydney and get some photos on a fine, sunny of the Sydney skyline.


Bella and Montana putting on a show

 Then, I headed off to Auckaland, New Zealand (in case ya didn't know). After a few days in Auckland getting used to the cold after over 8 months sunshine...I headed off to Queenstown for some snowboarding. A bit disappointed that prices had shot up in New Zeland as well and so renting a board would have too expensive...so decided to buy instead...more expenses above my budget!! Ah well... had a ball snowboarding Queenstown and met up with Chris and Luke from Sydney. Had a few great nights out the lads in Winnies and the other Queenstown pubs. This has got to get a mention here..whilst having a few drinks in Surreal...met A.J. there (not Indian :))...he was from all places....TRANSLYVANIA...the first person I have ever met from there and all the usual vampires jokes came out...so if see this A J....sorry for the delay in making you famous on this blog lol...maybe catch you sometime in your castle in Transylvania....for dinner of course :))
Queenstown was not what I was expecting from my last 2 trips there unfortunately. The place had grown massively and was full of drunken, mainly Ozzies, lager louts...since I am no longer a lager lout...it's not so much fun hahaha. Ah well...at least I got to snowboard.

Met up with Owen at Bumbles and after a week or so in Queenstown, we decided on a road trip to Dunedin. The trip to Dunedin was pretty awesome as you would expect of the south island.

Dunedin viewpoint

After heading south from Dunedin to the Catlins...we headed cross country to Milford Sound. We got to Te Anau late and went for a few drinks in the quiestest in the world...but it was nice little place and after a good nights rest we headed off to Milford Sound the following. Milford is just as awesome as I remembered from my trip back in '97...truely an amazing part of the world.


Mirror Lake - Milford Sound

 I got a bit fed of Queestown and decided to head to Wanaka...this was my original plan and I have no idea why on earth I spent so long in Queenstown...ah well...a lesson learnt...stick to plan A :) Stayed in Wanaka for nearly a week and met up with Rich, Beth and Duncan there (met them before when Owen and I stayed for a night...but good to meet them again). After a few days of really nice walks, chilling and generally doing nothing it was time to head to back to Auckland for a few days before my jaunt across to Singapore and India. Luckily my passport with my Indian visa had arrived...so panic on getting a visa for India was over :) Must plan these things better next time :)


Wanaka and Lake

 After a few days in Auckland and having a few drinks with Beth and Rich...time for the long haul flight to Singapore for 2 nights. Not really that much to say about Singapore I must admit...nice, clean city...pretty mujch like KL. Didn't do the Raffles cocktail...but was nice to recover from the jet lag thing. After Singapore, headed to Mumbai. Landed in Mumbai on the 23rd September for a 3 month stint here.....and my god what a culture shock....sooooooo many people and so busy, hot and humid. Biiiiiggggg change from the quiet of New Zealand. Day after I got to Mumbai, I got ill and was pretty much bed ridden for the 3 days I stayed before heading to Goa. Got to Calugute beach and was disappointed to see that the beach was pretty dirty and packed...I was expecting tropical turquoise waters that you would find in Fiji or somewhere. Ah well...all part of the experience I guess. After 3 days in Calungute and having a few drinks with Ajay (from Nepal) in Baga...I headed south to Palolem beach. Palolem is a much nicer, quieter beach and enjoyed a few quiet days here. Met Aimee and Katy and hopefully we can meet up in Kerala and rent a houseboat for a few days cruising in Kerala backwaters in a week or so from now.

Sunset at Palolem Beach

Well thats all for now...I'm waiting to get on a sleeper bus to Hampi tonight...I hear the temples etc are amazing in Hampi...sooooo...until the next rant....so long suckers and have fun :)

Cairns, Yorkey’s Knob and Kiting

Well folks, I know it’s been ages since the last update...but you know what it’s like when you’re busy doing nothing, you get lazy!!! So what has happened since Malaysia...well...I got a cheap flight from KL to Melbourne and headed down to see Mr Jonny Wellman for a few days and basically get drunk with him lol. I had a bit of a sore throat...so no buckets, but a shed load of drinks around the St. Kilda of Melbourne. As a nice coincidence, it was Jonny’s “Citizenship” ceremony when I was at the MCG...so Jonny, Anni (great to meet her at long last) and I headed there for the most ceremony in the world. Anyway, Jonny is now officially an Ozzie...bad luck dude lol.

After the nice few days in Melbourne and back in the modern world (and the cold!!!)...I headed to Sydney on a 10 hour bus trip. Strange, how hopping on the bus for 10 hours is now no problem!! Stayed at Dallas’ for a night or 2 and then headed to see Pete and Rach and the kids for a few days. Great to see them again after nearly 5 months!! Emeliana is looking great and is the spitting image of Rach...a very happy child and loves being talked to J Looking forward to seeing them again for the last time this year after the trip to Cairns.

So...after the Kimbers...it was time for the some kitesurfing in Yorkey’s Knob in Cairns. I decided to stay in the Cairns Sharehouse and glad I did...met a load of great people there including Mike, Kyle, Mel, Flo, Harmony, Julie, Damien, Claire, Stephanie and JB....plus a few others. Looking to forward to catching up the French crew sometime next year....especially a visit to Cap Ferrat  with JB :)

Cairns Sharehouse has been great fun and was nice to have a room to myself without having to stay in Hostels etc for a short while at least.

The kiting has improved no end now :) After a few days in the Sharehouse and renting a beat up old car for $25AUD a day, I headed to Yorkey’s Knob and was a bit apprehensive going kiting on my own...but to my pleasant surprise, Scotty from Mui Ne, was actually with Chris’ Kite Rite Surf School!! So I headed out with him most days for some kiting in Yorkey’s or Port Douglas.

I’ve had a great few weeks of kiting fun etc with Scott and soooo happy that I bumped into him...it certainly wouldn’t have been as fun if I had not met up with him. Also, great that I can leave my board with him and so don’t have to lug it back to Sydney...another excuse to go to Mui Ne and pick up my gear :)

Alice came up from Sydney a couple of time and was great to see her again...kind of weird how everyone from Mui Ne keep bumping into each other. Kiteworld sure is a small world at the moment. Went to Cape TribTrib...but managed to be the only kiter in Cape Trib when I headed back there with Mel and Kyle a week or so late...so that was cool J

So basically, objective in Cairns/Yorkeys achieved...I can now kite and stay upwind/do turns/self launch/self land and a bit of toeside action too....woo...hoo. Nice to have the confidence to go out wherever now and on my own if need be.  Jumping next hahaha . Can’t wait to get back to Mui Ne and the challenges of the waves...hope I don’t forget anything by January next year and get smashed by the Mui Ne waves, as there’ll be no more kiting between now and the end of year L

Just found out yesterday that Siobhan O’Neill has booked a trip to India at the beginning of the October!! Which is perfect timing as I will be in Mumbai on the  23^rd September and so will get a change to head to Goa to meet her. Would be great to meet up with someone from back home, so really forward to that in 2 months time.

I leave Cairns on this Saturday morning and so only 2 more potential days of kiting...unlikely though as the forecast is not great and there has been no wind the last 2 days boo...hoo. Ah well, looking forward to heading to Queenstown for some snowboarding and to try snowkiting for the first time. No idea how much the 4 weeks in Queenstown will cost...oh well...still some redundancy money left...so what the heck and India should be pretty cheap as well.

Anyway folks, will sign off now...so  until the next rant...sooooo long suckerssssss...

Sanjay

Bed Bugs, Unbearable heat and Buckets :)))

Well folks, sorry it's been a while since my last update...but you know how life is when you are busy, busy doing nothing lol. Made to Thailand after a short hop from Hanoi...seems like a lifetime ago now...but only 5 odd weeks ago!! Strange how that works...seems like everything was sooo long ago when you move and meet new people!! After the mad night out with Malle in Bangkok and buying a 18mm to 200mm zoom for the camera...it was time to head to Hua Hin for more Kite surfing. Malle and I got a bus to HH for the princely sum of 3 yoyos!!! Stayed at the Bird Guest house for 2 nights for 500Baht...but it was a dump to say the least. But Ben met a guy living in HH and he told about a bling apartment for only 350baht a night...so we moved there after the first 2 nights. As we were about 2 miles from the kite surf we rented a scooter with a home-made side car for the kite gear. First day went well...and as I didn't have a 12m kite but Malle lent me her Cabrinha and I had a go for a while. However, on the second day on the way to the beach I overshot a corner and, with the shite brakes on the bike, hit a poor girl sitting on her bike at the side of the road with the side car of my scooter!!! She wasn't too hurt...but I damaged my left foot and thought it was just a sprain....but as it's still not 100% 5 weeks on, I must have fractured a bone. Ah well, it's nearly better now and it was a good excuse to go travelling the rest of the Thailand with Malle and her ship captain friend - Thomas! So after a few days taking shots of Ben and Malle riding the waves in Hua Hin, Thomas, Malle and me took a long 15 hour bus trip to Koh Phi Phi.
Koh Phi Phi is amazingly beautiful and did the usual tourist trap trips to "James Bond" Island and Maya Bay (location of "The Beach" movie). However, Koh Phi Phi is one big, fat tourist rip off trap...we paid 900baht for an aircon room (no-one can stand fan rooms only...way to humid!!). We spent 2 nights on Phi Phi and on the first night, as usual, the bed bugs found me and took  around 120 nibbles out of me in one night....didn't get a wink of sleep as you can imagine. I changed rooms the following night and had a good sleep at last but looked like an extra from a Doctor Who for a few days!! So after the Phi Phi islands and room full of bedbugs and beautiful beaches, sunsets, lager louts and sex tourist, we three muskeeters headed to Railey beach.


Railey beach is truly an amazing spot...and very much the Thailand I remembered from my previous visits there. Railey is a mecca for rock climbers from around the world and Malle had a go at the rock climbing...and turned out she's not only good at climbing, but may well take up the sport (more fit blokes climbing than kite surfing apparently lol). After a couple of great nights drinking at the Small World Bar (great drinking spot :)), we headed out to Kho Phanghan to meet up with Erik, Ben, Yve and Ohad for some serious partying and buckets.

Koh Phanghan, like Koh Samui, is one party place after another now...so what else were to do except drink loads of vodka buckets by the bucketloads at the half moon, pool party and every othere named party we could find :)) We stayed at the Morning Star Resort, Ban Kai beach and had a great time there...especially the Acid pool party lol. Acid...not because of any substance abuse...but because the pool had so many chemicals it stung your eyes if you dared open them in the pool!!!!
Anyway, we went around the island on our little scooters...but was not impressed with KP at all...I guess you get so used to seeing amazing places that some beaches just don't look good anymore. Ah well, it was great to catch with the lads one last time before meeting up in January in Vietnam again :)

After KP it was time to say bye to the lads...I will definitely miss them...a great crew and they have all made my holiday brilliant so far...will be great to catch up with them again in January. After KP, I headed back to Hua Hin to collect my kite surf gear and then caught a taxi directly from there to the airportas  there was curfew-shit going in Bangkok. I decided to miss Cambodia and Laos for now as I wasn't comfortable leaving my kite stuff in Bangkok. So decided to go to Kuala Lumpur for a few nights and then head to Borneo for some diving :)) I love it when you can change plans last minute :))

So after a few nights in Kuala Lumpur and catching up with Roberto and Daniel (met them in Halong Bay, Vietnam), I headed to Borneo Malaysia. Stayed Kota Kinabalu for 2 nights and after visiting the pretty crap Monsopiad Headhunter village, I headed headed to the Nature Lodge in the middle of the Borneo jungle!

Met up with Chris and Wade there. Wade (half Malaysia and half Cypriot) lives in Dublin of all places!! So will catch up him next year some time!!! Borneo jungle/rainforest was pretty awesome and nice relaxing time there and enjoyed something different as opposed to beaches. Saw the infamous Proboscis monkeys and various very rare birds of the feathered kind :)

After the nature reserve it was time to go-a-diving.
Got to Semporna and stayed at the lovely Sigamata Dive resort for 2 nights and met up/dived with Dominique from Switzerland. She had been staying at Sigamata for 2 weeks and had I not already booked 2 days diving with Scuba Junkie...I would have prolonged my stay in Sigamata (pic below :)). Ah well, will be meeting with Dominque tomorrow for 3 dives at Sipadan Island...so will be nice to see her again there. Also met up with the coolest traveller EVER...Jung from Korea. The last time she went travelling she told here parents she was going on a 2 week holiday and then promptly went to France to live there for 7 years!!! Very Funny. And now she's doing the same thing...told here parents she's off on a holiday for 2 weeks and is intending to travel for the next 3 to 6 years!!! Including meditating with some monks in Myanmar...how random is that.

Anyway, I'm gonna try and extend my trip a few more days in Borneo, otherwise it'll be a 5 night stay in KL again...and would rather be in Borneo!!! But really depends on if there are any TV's around as the world cup is looming and no way am I gonna miss any of the matches :))

Anyhoo ladies and gentlemen...till the next rant...so long suckers :))

Goodbye Vietnam...hello Thailand

Well folks, it's been a while since the last update...but after leaving Mui Ne I headed to Dalat for a bit of Canyonning in the Dalat mountains and a general lookaround. Canyonning was great fun and very tiring!! We basically followed the river down into the mountaisns and abseilled our way next to the river and IN the river!! Met Heather and Kenny (from California) on the Canyonning trip and bumped into them again in Hanoi...so of course had to go for a few beers with them :))
After Dalat it was a 15 hour sleeper bus journey to Hoi An. Hoi An was really nice and had a great Mui Ne style beach (China Beach). Visited the Marble Mountains with some great of the surrouding area and Danang. Also did a trip up to My Son to see the old Cham Burial relics...around 2500 years old and so competed with Angkor Wat!!
Caught a plane up to Hanoi for around $40 :)) Couldn't stand the thought of a long bus journey again!! Hanoi is a crazy mad place and definitely scooter capital of the world. Spent a few nights in Hanoi and then headed to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island. Halong Bay is super amazing and loved the scenery there. Met Daniel, Roberto and Sheila on this trip. We stayed on the boat for a night and then a hotel on Cat Ba island. I loved the cycle trip around the island.

After heading back to Hanoi for a couple more nights, I booked a trip up to Sapa. Sapa is also amazing scenery. This is how I imagined Vietnam to be :) Getting to Sapa meant a sleeper train ride to Lao Cai and then a bus journey to Sapa. We started our 12km retk through the moutains and "paddy" fields and luckily it wasn't raining...so a fairly easy trek. Stayed in Ta Van village at a homestay and the "mother" of the house brought out the "happy water" i.e. rice wine. That stuff is lethal!!! Got seriously sozzled and danced the night away with the locals and a few other backpackers!! So the 7km trek the following morning was not fun and it rained pretty heavily...so a very muddy trek as well. Not sure what was more embarrassing...getting help to go down the slippery mountain by a 51 year old or by a 14 year old carrying a baby!!! Still had a great day through the valleys and May Linh was a great guide.
After Sapa...it was time to leave Vietnam and head to Thailand!! Arrived in Bangkok early afternoon and met up with Stefan again for a few beers in mad Bangkok. Malle arrive the day and I'd forgotten what a mad, fun girl she is :)) Still suffering from the buckets of Rum and Coke from last night. Ah well...got have a drink now and then lol. Malle and I head down to Hua Hin for a spot of kiting...I hope there is wind...can't wait to get into the water again.
Anyway, until the next rant...so long suckers :))

You have to go to a Communist country to find freedom....

...that has to be the quote of the decade :)  Vietnam is a great country and the people are very easy to get along with...you can pretty much do whatever you like here...from carrying 3 people with a sackload of shit on one tiny scooter whilst talking on your mobile phone to drinkng til 9am from buckets with no politician telling you that is wrong!! No nanny state here I tell ya! Hence the quote of the decade :)
Haven't updated the blog for a while but loads of things done over the last few weeks!!! Following a couple of dives in Nha Trang and a visit to the water park with Win, Vinny, Son, Twee, Nunu, Liz, Johan and Jeff...we went to the Monkey Island for a bit of go-karting and see the Monkeys!!! Enjoyed Nha Trang for the 4 days of no wind including a Karaoke night out there!!! Had to wait another week for the wind to pick up and try and get on that board!!

Met Malle the mad Estonian female ship's pilot...had a great couple of weeks of general drunkedness with her and the rest of the Mui Ne/C2Sky crew. No more buckets of rum and coke for a while methinks...well until at least I see Malle at the end of the month in Hua Hin :)) Also had a great night out on Liz's birthday before the wind picked up again.
Tried in vain for a week or so to get on that damn board but had very little success with the big waves. Toby and Ben - the rad german fellas - decided they would go to Phu Qui Island to check out the kiting there. Eventually 14 of us trekked to Phu Qui on a cargo boat. Little did we know that Phu is an Island with 21,000 fishermen and 7 ,000 retired hookers hahahahahaha...
We had a great laugh on the Island and met with a very nice family at the kite spot on the north of the Island. We nicknamed the kite spot Lagoon "Ben Ben Lagoon"...
After a few days of not losing the board and no waves...finally I'm able to stand and go on the board...both directions with ease...just need to keep improving now and start learning the turns now :) Progress should be quicker now..or so I've been told.
So I'm back in Mui Ne and I never thought I would miss decent food as I did...a week of fried rice and eggs is just about my limit I think. Happy to be back in Mui Ne...we're due wind for the next few days...so will make plans to become a backpacker soon and head north to Hanoi and Sapa.
Until the next rant....so long suckers :)

This is no longer funny...

...there has been no wind since Monday and I'm going crazy here just sitting on the beach staring at the hot russian girlies lol. Wind forecast for the next week is not good...so gonna head to Nha Trang - about 250km North of Mui Ne in Vietnam - for some diving instead.
Til the next rant...so long suckers haha :)

Not to bore you

....but gonna add a bit more blog today. I bought a North Rebel 9m kite and bar/line today and I finally managed to "body drag" myself downwind and back upwind successfully to the same spot for the first time...a major learning milestone. So Jorma will get me onto the water starts from tomorrow onwards...woo hoo.
Until the next rant...so long suckers haha...

Good Morning Vietnam

Couldn't resist the title :) Well here I am in 'Nam and really enjoying the kite surfing....well at least learning anyhow :) Landed in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh) and spent a couple nights having a look around. Not into cities...but will go back there to see the tunnels etc...but wanted to head east to Mui Ne Beach for the kiting!!
Mui Ne Beach
Got here on Wednesday and got a feel for my home for the next 3 odd months. Booked to do some refresher kite surfing lessons on the Thursday and Friday. Wind flows very consistently here and in the morning it's great for beginners...the experts head for the wind in the afternoon as the wind speed gets up to 30 knots sometimes!!

Padraic, Richie, Ivan and Joe - get yer asses over here! It's really cheap - about $12USD for a private room across the road from the kite surf centre...food costs all of 5 euros MAX PER DAY...and best of all the beer is about $1USD a bottle...how bad. If it wasn't for the lessons and buying equipment...you can live here a looooonggggg time for a few squid.

I didn't realise it until earlier in the week...but it's the Chinese New Year from today! Or as they say in Vietnam "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!".  Vietnamese know how to put on a good show and had the Dragons acrobats parading up and down the street and in the night clubs til the early hours whilst we were slowly getting drunk...was a great sight to see. The Vietnamese celebrate the New Year all week...maybe can take a lesson or 2 from them here :)

Met some great folks in Mui Ne - especially Jorma and Siim - the 2 Estonian instructors. They're both great instructors and about as chilled out as you want to learn this sport :) 

 

Anyway, will sign off now as have to get some serious snoozing in, before heeading out for a bite to eat and 1 or 2 beers :)
Til the next rant....so long suckers haha....

Story so far...

Well folks, the long awaited blog has now been set up!!! Sorry if I haven't been replying with long messages...doing nothing takes up a lot of time lol

I'll post a few pics here...but all the originals will be on Facebook...remember I'm only just learning the new camera...so no sarky comments :))

New York, New York
Started off in New York the day after that idiot tried to blow up a US airplane, still wasn't too bad...only 2 hours delayed.

Met up with some long lost cousins in New Jersey and went on an impromptu snowboarding day with Sney and some of the other extended relatives in Jack Frost in Pennsylvania!! That was unexpected and pretty random..but a great day out. Thanks to Sney and the rest for taking me up the mountains...enjoyed it very much :)

Nessa, Nicki and Caroline arrived a few days later and thanks to Nicki, the best New York guide EVER, saw a load of New York (and shops :)). The Met Museum was fantastic...def the highlight for me...except for getting very drunk on New York's Eve with the girls and sipping sparkly apple juice at 3am on a street corner and thinking it was more alchohol lol

After buying an Ipod touch and my first SLR camera (Canon Rebel XS) and then losing my 2Gb nano and USB stick AND leaving my new camera battery in the hotel (these things DO happen in threes!!)...I headed out for Vancouver!!

Vancouver
Met with Audrey and Brendan and was promptly introduced to a Caesar cocktail...how the hell did I ever by without tasting these beauties :) Being in Vancouver was too good an opportunity not to head to Whistler for a couple of days...REALLY expensive for us lowly backpackers...but what the heck. Had a great 2 days snowboarding there and can totally understand why the Olympics are gonna be held there and why everyone raves on about Whistler. Def gonna have a "proper" holiday in Whistler sometime when I get a chance.
Trip to Whistler through the mountians and lakes is amazing and well worth the drive up there. Way back in the dark though, with crazy Canadian drivers, was not too much fun in the sleet/snow/rain...but made it back alive and in one piece for more Caesar cocktails with Brend and Audrey :))
Went to see 3D Avatar with Brendan and Audrey...amazing film in 3D...but a predicatable storyline. Would love to catch the 3D IMAX version sometime.

San Francisco
A 2 day stopover in San Fran and managed to pick up a cheap battery for the new camera...so can start using the camera at last...a bit different from "point and shoots"...but should be fun learning!! Al so, went to see my Uncle in Santa Clara...nice to catch up after a loooongtime.

Fiji
Wow...the longest flight ever...13 hours to Auckland and then a 6 hour stopover in Auckland and then a 2.5 hour flight to Fiji...but well worth it....Fiji is an amazing country. Shame I didn't stay longer than 2.5 weeks, there were so many things I had to miss out on...especially some of the dives! May well go back again in June if finances go well in Vietnam.
Started the Fiji trip in a nice, quiet resort called Tubakula on the Coral coast for 3 nights...no one in the pool except me and had the whole beach to myself...helped to get rid of the jet lag doing absolutely except eat and sleep :) Dived with Aqua Safari..an outfit run by 2 nice Canadians. Enjoyed the diving...loads of soft coral and macro life, but nothing special.

Then headed to North Yasawa Islands (Tavewa Island) for a bit more lazing at the Coralview Resort. The resort is owned by a Fijian village and run by the folks that live on the neighbouring Island...so good to support the local economy etc. Had some great dives with Nikko and Rob...thanks guys...had a great 5 days with you :) Shame we didn't have too many Fiji Golds :))
Met Ryan and Gemma from Hinckley (Leicester) and have promised to take them to Bobby's Veggie Indian restaurant when I get back :) Headed out to Volivoli beach resort after a night a Nadi. Some more diving there with Louise as the occasional buddy. Diving was good...better than the Coral coast. Saw 2 Brunswailer sharks, a grey reef and white tip on a feeding frenzy on the early morning dive...that was cool and never saw that before underwater except for organised feeds.
Volivoli was a great hostel/hotel...good, clean facilities and VERY safe dive procedures. There was a lot more underwater life than the Yasawa's, but I reckon the Cyclone a few weeks before didn't do the Yasawa's any favours.
Had to take an expensive taxi ride from Volivoli beach to Pacific Harbour though. But the journey via Suva through the rainforest was brilliant!! The Fijian people have to be friendliest nation on the planet...everyone we passed were happy, waving at us and smiling. They must be the most generous race as well...we stopped in the taxi at a spring waterfall and a kid gave a bottle of water for the journey...I offered some money...but they laughed at me and wouldn't take it!!

The diving highlight though was the bull shark dives from the Uprising resort at Pacific Harbour.
Saw at least 15 Bull sharks on both dives, a Lemon shark and a very unusally aggressive Silver tip!!! I see why they call this one of the best shark dives in the world!! I'm waiting on Sam to send the pics on and will post them here and on Facebook as soon as I have them. If any of you divers get a chance to go to Fiji....DO THIS DIVE (and do the dives with Aqua Trek...NOT the other outfit there...just trust me on this).
Met up with the divemasters/instrutors and Sam on the Saturday night for a few beers and vodka of course and got very drunk til 4AM for the first time since New Year's Eve!! Was a great night though even if the morning hangover wasn't!
Headed back to Nadi on the Sunday to catch a flight on Monday 1st Feb to Sydney :(( Will miss Fiji for sure.

Sydney

Met up with Dallas and headed back to his place. Didn't go to Pete and Rach's place in Wyoming as Arabella started school this week. But managed to catch up with them on Wednesday. Rachel was nearly 9 months pregnant and I joked that she would have the baby when Pete had to go to his meeting on the Thursday...and a word of warning...NEVER EVER JOKE about anything like that...cos as soon Pete was in the car...Rachel started to have her contractions!!!

It wasn't quite a TV type drama and Pete got back early enough before Rachel heading to the Hospital aound 5AM on Friday 5th Feb. Rach had the quickest delivery ever from water breaking to Emeliana being born was 15 minutes!!! Emeliana was born at 7.55AM. I had a great day looking after Hamish..though bloody hard work minding kids! I have a new found respect for primary school teachers!
Managed to see Rach and Emeliana before heading back to Sydney to stay at Dallas'place.
Had a great night out with Steph and her friend Denice...hadn't seen Steph since Oxted days...so nice to catch up :)
Heading out to Vietnam tomorrow afternoon...so will update post when I get a chance! Can't wait to start the kite surfing in a few days :)))))

So long suckers...til the next rant :)