Vang Vieng

After a long day, we arrived in Vang Vieng to a beautiful sunset and a cold bottle of Beer Lao but not to the bungalow we wished to find. We spent perhaps an hour crossing and recrossing the Nam Song river to find a bungalow by the river but to no avail. BUT we have found a $3 a night guesthouse - with a bathroom (hot water included) and will move on tomorrow.

We had a wonderful christmas, but perhaps the weirdest one ever. We woke early to have our free breakfast in the hotel, and then returned to bed (a little hungover from xmas eve drinkies) until about 1pm. Hard to move when cable tv has such excellent movies non-stop!

We had booked into the novotel for xmas lunch and arrived at 2pm, only to be told that, at 2.30, they were closing! EAT EAT EAT! Turkey, roast pork, chicken, even steak and duck a la orange for our xmas feast! And yule logs and lots of handmade choccies for dessert. AND we even forked out for a bottle of their cheapest fizzy stuff so that it'd be a bit more special. Was great fun.

But, here's the interesting bit, we decided we hadn't had enough fun so at about 10pm, we found that our hotel had a karoake bar so we of course booked ourselves a private karoake room and sung until they chucked us out at midnight. Weird huh? HA HA HA! We have some great video of us singing all the great tunes... November Rain by GNR, Burning Love by Elvis, and of course The Power of Love by Huey Lewis! Was so much fun!

But here we are now in Vang Vieng by the river Nam Song, in a beautiful location and we're looking forward to getting on an inner tube and floating down the river for a few hours tomorrow.

To those of you who we didn't contact for christmas, hope you had an awesome time and got lots of great presents.

Lots of love from us both.
Kxxx

Wedding news

Well. It's us (Tom the lazy non-blogger as well). We have exciting news. As you all know, we're engaged. And being engaged means at some stage, you get married. We'd always thought it would be 2009, however, the UK government are insisting that we get hitched within 6 months of us landing in England, so that I can become a citizen as Tom's wife.

So. June/July 2008 in England somewhere we will tie the knot, followed by an Aussie wedding soon thereafter (soon as possible depending on our financial situation - weddings are not cheap!)

However, everyone is invited to both weddings and if anyone in Oz wants to come over, start saving!

Bit of a bombshell, we know, but we really hope you can all make it to one or both. Lucky us - we get to have 2 weddings!

Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas. Love to you all.

PS - I'll be wearing more clothes than this.... Tom probably wont!

PHOTOS (finally!)

I've finally got myself together to post some photos... here's some labels for them:

1. A long tail boat in our beach in Hat Khom on the north end of Koh Pha Ngan
2. Tom, Christian (awesome new friend from Germany), Neal & Sian (Londonites), Ryan and Lisa (amazing Canadian couple) - lots of fun times with the crew and Chang beer
3. Coral in the water just outside our hut
4. Tom with python in Bangkok snake farm.... he is still sh!tthing himself
5. Best photo ever of fireworks over our beach
6. Fishies

Hope all our loved ones are gearing up for a safe, merry and boozy christmas. We are missing you all very much...

Love and hugs and mulled wine for you all

Kxxx

Ko Pha Ngan

Hi All

We are currently in Koh Pha Ngan - a small island on the east coast of thailand and, whilst it's amazing, the weather has not been so great for us here. But that has not dampened our spirits!

We've been here since Tuesday and have really not done much at all. We're both nursing small hangovers today after we drank buckets (yes, the stories are true!) of whisky and coke and then passed out at 2 this morning with some lovely English people (Sian and Neal) and Canadian people (Lisa and Ryan). Bloody hell. But we've pulled up well and have hired a scooter to explore this amazing island. We've had a great day and this scooter is way better than the one we had on Ko CHang.

The place we are staying is incredible - we are right on the water over some rocks from which we launch ourselves for the most amazing snorkelling ever - we've seen sting rays, clown fish, massive schools of grey and yellow fish, a huge puffer fish and countless more. The water is so clear and warm and it's literally 10m from our house where we are swinmming amongst coral and tropical fish. Lush! We have pics (as we have an underwater camera) so we'll upload some soon.

Anyway all, hope you're all getting excited for xmas - we'll be in Vientiane in Laos for chrissy - splurging on a more expensive hotel and going to the Novotel for traditional lunch (if I can ever book the damn thing!) It will just be Tom and I but I figure we'll have a lovely time together!

Love to you all.

Kxxxxx

I'm a lazy, no blogging, long haired traveler...

Hi guys!

It's me the silent non-blogger from the Tom and Karen team here!
A few people have recently said "when the hell are you going to do a post yourself, you lazy bastard", so here it is...

Right, so we're now in Bangkok and have just returned from a week of beaching it up on Ko Chang. For those of you who haven't been there GO RIGHT NOW! That is one amazing place. Ko Chang is a small island south-east of Bangkok by about 5.5 hours and lies in the gulf of Thailand. It has water that is a lovely light blue and really clear, with white sand etc. you know freakin' beautiful... There's a picture Karen took out of our window on here that shows how close we were to the beach!

We're going to be in Bangkok till Monday (to collect Karen's visa- very exciting), then heading south to Ko Pan ngan for more beaches and beer. Then after a couple of weeks of that we're heading north through Thailand to Vientiane, Loas (where we'll spend Christmas). From there the current plan is to go north to Luang Prabang, then east towards Vietnam and then south ending up in Ho Chi Minh city (formerly Saigon) and from there we'll fly back to the UK in Feb'.

Phew! All that guff now written, I can tell you that we're a little bit homesick (no damn white Christmas in Asia, at least not where we are), but still loving it! Thailand is absolutely amazing and we're really looking forward to seeing more of it! After India it seems like a country of much money and is a real culture shock, but great!

So there you go, finally a second blog from this half of the wondaring pair. Hope you are all very good and I'll try not to let another 47 years alapse before my next blog. Loads of love,

Tom.

P.s. My hair is now really long (hasn't been cut since before we left Oz!).

Koh Chang

Hey all

We're still in Koh Chang soaking up the sun and working hard on our tans. It's a hard life. But we have done some adventuring around - we hired a scooter and explored the south of the island, and we also hired a kayak for two hours yesterday and paddled out 2km to a small island which we explored like Robinson Crusoe.

Today, we are going to read a book, intermittently disturbed by swims in the turquoise waters and a possible sleep this afternoon.

Bliss!

But, we have a problem. Because we will be on the road for christmas, we are still unsure of where to stay. We want somewhere a bit more fancy (than a hut on the beach with no bathroom!) but it looks like most hotels are booked. Eeek! Any ideas fellow travellers?

Anyway, love to you all.

Kxx

Ko Chang

Well, here we are in the lovely island paradise of Ko Chang. And it's amazing.

We spent two days in Bangkok before realising that we needed to get away to the islands, so we hopped on a bus (buses here are incredibly efficient and confortable) over to the Trat province, where we stayed last night before getting up this morning and heading here, to Ko Chang.

It's bloody LUSH!

We caught a big ol' ferry across and have arrived today to a beautiful clear sky, white sand beaches and a lovely lunch of Tom Yum soup and Pad Thai noodles. In a couple of hours, we plan to have beers on a platform in the coconut palms, overlooking the sun setting over the ocean in front of us. And we plan to enjoy it.

Thailand has been getting better and better. Whilst it's a bit more expensive than India, it's still very cheap (we stayed in a cool place last night for $4 a night!) And there is one small blip on my happiness... I bunged my back this morning lugging my backpack onto my back. I'm going to throw some stuff out. I will do this! So poor old Tom has been carrying mine and his all morning.... he's a lovely chap!

Anyway, things here are good. I really like Thailand and if you haven't been, I recommend coming for a visit.

Take it easy folks.

Kxx

Bangkok

OK I know it's very sad that we've just arrived in Bangkok and have come straight to an internet cafe to check our emails. There's a good reason though - I have visa issues for the UK and we're finally getting them sorted.

Initial impressions:

1. Organised - our cab was pre-booked and took us straight to our hotel even though there were not that many shared words of English and/or Thai. Nice bloke though.
2. Clean. After India, even the local landfill will look sanitary but this place is CLEAN. Like eat your dinner off the ground. Maybe I'm just still in India mode but I'm sure it's the cleanest place I've ever seen.
3. Happy. Everyone is STOKED to see us. And I mean ecstatic. And when you say thank you in Thai - the word 'beaming' doesn't begin to describe the smiles! Love it!
4. Smells heavenly - outside our hotel is a food stall selling noodles the likes of which occurs everywhere in this wonderful kingdom. Can't wait to have some for breakky!
5. Cheap. Hotel for $12 in the middle of town. Awesome.

So initial impressions are great. I already feel an affinity for this place but I think it's because I was getting a bit sick of india. And the fact that we had leering drunk Indian men on the plane, exactly the type that I'd tried to avoid for 9 weeks, made me even more happy to get here.

Loving it.

Loving you all.

Kxx

Bollywood!

Well. It was only a matter of time until we were 'discovered'. Yes, we are in Mumbai, home of Bollywood, and our hotel manager asks us if we're interested in being in a Bollywood film.

Hell yes!

So tomorrow, at 8am, our driver Ajmed will pick us up and take us to a Bollywood studio where we will hopefully be placed front and centre in a cool Bollywood flick. What to wear???? We are on our last three days in India and getting involved in an Indian film will be just what the doctor ordered.

Last night was hellish on a 14 hour bus ride (which was less than 600km!) on the most crap roads i've ever experienced. Sleep was impossible and comfort was forgotten after the first 20 minutes or so. And during the early hours of this morning, an altercation between our busdriver and some people out on the road ended in our bus getting hit by a rock! Lucky he made like a shepherd and got the flock out of there. Suffice it to say, it was shit. And I'm glad we've been doing trains around the rest of India.

We arrived into Mumbai this morning and the city looks almost like Brussels or Paris - very European buildings. It's quite clean and less crowded than expected also....

Anyway, hope you guys are all well and happy. On Wednesday we leave v early for Thailand and will be there by mid arvo. Can't wait!

Relax

Sorry for not blogging for so long. Tom and I are in mega sloth mode - living in the lovely apartment that the Malhotra's have so kindly allowed us to live in for a week! We are in Panaji, still in Goa, and the place is lovely. The apartment is really modern and i've loved cooking for the first time in a couple of months! YUM!

But some bad news in the Lewis family, my grandfather passed away last week. The funeral is today and I wish I could be there. Not because I want to go to the funeral - I hate funerals - but I really wish I could be there for mum and dad and give them both a big hug. Hope it wasn't too horrible for them.

We are today in Anjuna doing some christmas shopping.... Anjuna has a great market on a Wednesday with stuff from all over India so it's present time!! I might even get some for myself!

Anyway, things are still good here and it's only a week today til we leave for Thailand. More beaches and beer.

Sunny Goa

Hey Guys

Goa is incredible. The best place we've been in India and I haven't disliked any of it so far! Shall I tell you about our day yesterday? It was lush and went a little something like this:

9:15am - woke, to the sound of our rushing fan and the waves in the distance. Rose, showered, and walked to 'town' to get some cash. We have an adventure planned.
10.00am - returned, Tom still asleep (not surprising) and read my book (Anybody Out There by Marian Keys - so funny I laughed out loud several times, shocking the dog called Mummy who sleeps by our door).
11.00am - Tom wakes, opens the door to see me on the balcony reading, a huge smile lights my face and my real day begins.
11.30am - Tom has showered whilst I cut up fresh pineapple and bananas and make a cocktail from mango juice, pineapple juice and freezing cold water. It's a great breakfast.
11.45am - we wander to a local restaurant, Fernandoes, to meet up with Sashoo, who has arranged a fishing trip for us (eat your heart out Foo and Kris!). We get in the boat.
12.00pm - cast off into the blue green water on a small canoe like boat. Cannot see any fishing gear. Oh well. A boat out on the calm water will do me just fine.
12.15pm - arrive in a small cove by big boulders - looks promising for massive fish I plan to catch. The fishing gear comes out.... a few tiny lines wound around a piece of polystyrene - the sinkers look like flattened bullets.
12.20pm - some nibbles. Nothing too exciting.
12.28pm - captain of boat catches small fish - he says it's a cat fish but not like the ones we know with the whiskers - it's lovely - little blue spots and a lovely charcoal colour. Good one!
12.31pm - she's got something - Kaz starts to reel it in - it's... it's... a crab. Yes, Karen has caught crabs. Ha ha.
12.38pm - Tom getting bites, nothing too exciting.
12.43pm - she's got something else - feels like a fish this time - it's fighting against the hook in it's lip. Yes, another "cat" fish - bigger than the captains but still small - 10inches from head to tail. But still.... I've got the biggest - ha ha!
12.55pm - move to another spot - we've seen big fish jumping from the water - they want to be caught.
1.15pm - nope, that didn't work - let's go back.
1.25pm - Tom's hooked something. A very big something. It's fighting and I look into the water to see it. It looks big. It IS big. It's AN EEL! A big eel! Ha ha ha. As he pulls it from the water, the eel winds itself into indescribable contortions... he's not happy. A 5 minute struggle ensues where the stupid damn eel gets very caught up in the line. But our captain frees the eel (with minor injuries) and doesn't have to cut the line. Obviously hooks are expensive here?
1.37pm - Kaz catches another crab. What I don't understand is that you dont hook these guys. They just hold onto the food all the way up through the water and out into the air. Just let go you dill!
1.48pm - nothing more - some bites but nothing special.
2.00pm - back on the beach. The tide has gone out a bit and the boat drags on the sand. The captain and his mate get out to push us. The embarrassment.
2.15pm - lunch - palak paneer (a spinach and cheese dish which is incredible), rice and spring rolls. All that fishing made us hungry!
4pm - have sat on beach for a while, reading, drinking water.
5.15pm - time for a shower. Feel salty and gritty.
5.30pm - mmmm... shower delightful.
6.00pm - have arranged dinner with Tom and Jas from Sydney - lovely couple who we get along with really well. Hours of beer and good Thai food from the Banyan tree restaurant follows.
10.00pm - a bit pissed. Time for bed.
Brush teeth, brush sand from feet, hop in bed. Sleep.

So you see.... life for us is pretty simple. And very good.

Kerala Backwaters

We did a backwaters canoe boat tour yesterday and it was one of the best experiences we've had - 3 hours on a canoe with an Indian guide poling us through the waterways of Munroe Island in Kerala. We stopped at a rope making place (they make rope out of the husks of coconuts by soaking them in water for three months and then breaking them up into individual fibres and spinning them in a rope making machine). We discovered that the daily wage of a rope maker is 50 rupees - about AUD$1.30! Which means that their yearly wage is around $1600 and this is considered an excellent job by Indian standards.

We don't know how good we've got it in Australia.

We also visited a spice garden where we saw ginger, green pepper (they are dried to make black pepper) and acres of coconuts. And we were lucky enough to have a local man scoot up a coconut palm, break us off some, lop the top off for some coconut milk straight from the husk, and then give us the tender flesh inside. The indian people like the "tender" coconut best - no tough old coconuts like we have in Oz.

The tour was great - gave us a real look at village life in such an amazing place.

Tonight we hop on a train to the South of Goa to a small beach town called Palolem. We can't wait - apparently it's one of the best beaches in India. Yum!

Meanwhile, I've just had a look at some photos of my gorgeous friends partying for Melbourne Cup in Brisbane. You all look so beautiful and clean and groomed. I dream of the day that I will have my hair done again! ha ha. And a pretty dress! And makeup!

Cruel vanity!

Ha ha....

Pics from India

Hopefully in order, here are the labels for these photos:

Sunset last night over the Arabian Sea at Varkala
Tom preparing to drink beer out of a coconut... his one burning ambition for this trip!
Sunset the night before from the balcony of a lovely restaurant where we sat and drank our first beers in 4 days (oh the relief!)
Tom eating a banana in our lovely hut
Tom on the very VERY long train trip - this was day 3. Thank god for the Playstation Portable!
Darjeeling hills - you can see a massive landslide in this pic!
A little Nepali kid hanging to the rails of our restaurant in Darjeeling - what a cutie!

Varkala - the view from the cliff

Varkala magic

Oh lush lush lush. After 3 days on the train, this place was totally worth it.

We arrived in Trivandrum last night about 3 hours late at 2.30am and fortunately had made a booking at quite a nice hotel. Or at least we THOUGHT it was nice til we went to bed and I found a cockroach IN MY DAMN BED!!! YUCK! Needless to say, a night of pretty sleepless tossing and turning followed. But fortunately a TV with my favourite stations (ie. National Geographic and Discovery) was to the rescue.

Today, after getting up late, we decided to head straight to Varkala. It is a cliff top village in the state of Kerala in the very south of India (which means longer days, cheaper beers and an amazing sunset). We've just watched the most incredible sunset of our trip so far - breathtaking. I would upload photos but once again I'm being thwarted.

Ma, I tried to call you today but I figure you're still travelling. Hope you're having a ball.

Had a really really good day today. Staying in a place called Kerala Bamboo House http://www.vmtravels.com/hotel/photos1098.html which is really amazing - for $20 we get a beach hut with an open air bathroom, a lovely fast fan, a mossie net and a lovely ambience for the night. We may stay for a while!~

Anyway, the three day train trip wasn't nearly as bad as expected. Air conditioned and food being sold to us all day long. Lovely!

Photos soon. I swear!

Love Kx

A three day train journey approaches....

On Wednesday, Tom and I are going to hop on a train that takes us 2590km south to Kerala, a lush tropical part of India and the absolute opposite of what we've been living the last two weeks.

Rather than looking out on a steep hillside covered with cloud, we'll be seeing fishermen on vast waterways casting their nets to catch small fish.

Rather than the Himalayas, there will be coconut trees.

Rather than warm jackets, bikinis will be the order of the day. (Tom included - he loves to wear a bikini!) he hee!

The problem is that we'll take three days and three nights to get there. That is one long bugger of a train ride. Therefore we've sat in an internet cafe most of the afternoon trying to upload movies on to Tom's playstation portable (yes, the new age of travel) so that we wont die of boredom.

And thankfully, we have a set of cards, several computer games, and good books to read. It's still gonna be boring though.

I'm looking forward, now, to some warmer weather (yes, I know I was whingeing two weeks ago about the heat)! For a holiday to be complete, I have to have a tan. A good enough tan to visibly see my bikini strap marks. I know.... not very sun safe of me! But after two weeks of solid cloud around my head, some sun, beers, and cocounut trees will be just what the doctor ordered.

And therefore, another 5 days or so til we post again. Hope you're all happy and well. Love you

Kx

Trek.... mate.

Hey Guys

Well, here we are back in Darjeeling after a gruelling 5 day trek in the Himalayas to a height of 3636m above sea level. Oh my god. My thighs may never forgive me! And that's just been from the downhill part!

So we left Darjeeling at 7am Saturday morning, went to Maneybanjang and got ourselves a guide, who doubled as our porter (for an extra $1.20 a day!) and started out - the trek began at 9am Saturday morning. Straight up. For hours. We ascended 900m that first day and it was hard but worth it when we got to the top and found ourselves in a lovely "hotel" with a fire in our room! Woo hoo! (Photo attached). It was freezing though, so glad we had it!

2nd day, started from 3000m and had a relatively easy day, up and down to 3100m. The second night we slept better, to the sounds of really loud Indian, Bengali and Nepali people celebrating DuSera, a Buddhist festival where everyone gets drunk and sings really loudly! Thank god for Ipods....

3rd day.... eating breakfast with a yak staring in the window at us, we greeted the day. Today, regardless of only walking 6km, it was straight up. To 3636m and our destination, Sandakphu. It was hard. Really really hard. I cried. Seems that the height and the strain made me a bit emotional. But we made it. And only in 3 hrs. Which is great considering we were so high! Clouds completely obscuring our view of the mighty himalayas, but surely in the morning, it'll be clear.

NOPE!

So after 3 days of really hard slog, a view that was only just worth it. THe clouds are always hovering and we only got to see a little of Kanchenjunga, the worlds 3rd most high mountain. But it was beautiful. Tom stayed in bed... he'd had a dreadful nights' sleep. (Photo attached)

That day, we walked 14km, all down steps and a gradient of about 30 degrees.... hard hard hard. This is the reason we now have to explain to stangers on the street why we walk like cripples.... we're in a lot of pain! However, after 14km, we found ourselves in an enchanting village perched on the edge of a thundering river, called Sirikhola.... so pretty. And we had the most amazing night, with our guide, Sanjeep, singing Nepali love songs to us, whilst a round faced little Sikkimese cherub sat on my lap. (see photo - pink & blue jumper)

All in all, it was tough, and i didn't wash or brush my hair for 5 days, but totally lovely and totally something we can say, Yes, We Did That. So for that, I'm happy.

And to tell the truth, the worst part of the trek was the perilous jeep ride back to Darjeeling which took 4 hrs yesterday arvo and left us with spinal injuries and a new respect for people who believe in the allmighty.

Last night, we stayed in a place with running hot water (the bliss!) and a soft soft bed (still 100x harder than any bed in Oz) but so welcome after that hard slog!

So we're safe and well and happy in Darjeeling again.

List of things to do before 30 just got smaller....

Darjeeling

Oh yeah! This place is LUSH! Darjeeling is everything we'd hoped it would be and we've just finished the BEST cup of tea we've had since we've been in India - and why not? We're at the very heart of tea production in the world!

But, before I go into that, I have to tell you guys what an absolute nightmare we had getting here. Lucky it's worth it!

We left Varanasi on Sunday, heading to the Mughal Sarai train station, 12km from Varanasi city, in a autorickshaw. As the city of Varanasi fell behind us, we thought for sure that we were going to be taken out to the middle of nowhere and robbed, but he delivered us to the station no problems. Although by that time, we were sweaty, covered in dust and car fumes, and felt dreadful to start a 17 hour train trip to New Jaipalguri, the station closest to Darjeeling. The train was 2 hrs and 15 minutes late (we're getting used to that) so didn't leave til after 11pm at night. And when it DID arrive, we found a carriage full to the brim of Indian people, obviously without tickets, and several of them laying in our berths. After much confusion, shouting, and general rowdiness, a kind Indian man spoke to us in English, and told the offending members to get off our damn beds. The trip that followed didn't get much better. It was roasting hot, the windows were open wide to all sorts of insects and dust and grime, and the lights stayed on all night.

I slept. Tom didn't.

Waking at 7am, after not the best sleep ever, but at least some, I stayed in bed, pretending to sleep for another hour or so before nature called (i was so hoping it wouldn't - if you can imagine a carriage with over 200 people in it all using the same loo, you can imagine what the filth!)

Tom finally dropped off at about 6am and slept til 11am, so i read my book, looked out the window at the amazing wetlands for hours on end, and spoke to a lovely Nepalese man returning to his family after 9 mths having not seen him.

Tom woke when the train had emptied quite a lot, so we were both a lot more calm.

Anyway, we made it to NJP station, 4 hours late, and had to find a jeep going to Darjeeling. A local man helped us and we heaved our backpacks on to the roof and we got in. Opposite, a drunk man with a massive knife handle sticking out of his backpack, tried to converse with us in Hindi, and regardless of the fact that we repeatedly told him Australian/English, he continued babbling. The jeep, a normal sized jeep mind you, had 11 people in it. We were jammed in like sardines. Uncomfortable to say the least.

It was dark by the time we started climbing the hill to Darjeeling, and a massive thunderstorm broke, during which our driver pulled the car over at a tea stall, we all piled out, and had a cup of tea. TOm and I were smirking to each other over the weirdness of the situation, and we tried to avoid drunken knife man at all costs.

The storm subsided, we all piled back in, and further up the mountain we went. By this time I was glad it was dark, because, although I glimpsed the danger of the jeep driving over what seemed to be landslides, I pretended I couldn't see anything.

We made it, at 9.30pm we finally got here, and found everything shut. The rest of India doesn't even eat dinner til 10pm, and here we were, starving, exhausted, and so keen to find our hotel, and we couldn't find a soul to tell us where the hell it was. Finally a kindly soul was found, pointed the way, and we made it!

HOTEL FULL.

No f%#$ing way. I made a BOOKING for this one!

So I knocked, a room was found and it was lovely and exactly what we needed after 24 hours of travelling.

And now we're here. We love Darjeeling. It's our favourite place so far.

And in two days, we're heading on a trek to the Himalayan foothills to see some snow capped mountains. SHould be fun.... No updates for a while - maybe mid next week.

The Holy City of Varanasi

Twice I have written this post and twice have been foiled so quick one. Here in Varanasi now and tomorrow heading to Darjeeling. Will be great to get to the cooler hills in the Himalayan foothills so we're both looking forward to it.

Varanasi, for such a holy city, is a pig sty. But it's an interesting pigsty. They burn people on the platforms by the river to ensure that their souls go straight to heaven, and people bath in the Holy Ganges River morning and night to cleanse themselves. Personally I think they may leave dirtier than they entered.

Photos still eluding me - this computer has no CD Drive so soon - soon. I've got some really cracking photos too, so realy want to upload some but it's just not happening. Sorry guys.

Anyway, hope you're all well and happy. We're still loving travel and loving life and enjoying this eye-opening and enriching experience. Which is what it was all about really....

The Holy City of Varanasi

Post by "the other half"...

Ok, so I'm a proper lazy shirker of blogging duties lay about and I know it. So tonight is my first ever post on our blog. Thanks soooo much to my darling Karen for all the updates over the past few months and here goes.

So here we are in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Having been around Rajasthan for the past week and a halfish we're just about to head back to Delhi and then onwards to Varanassi, Darjeeling etc. Our travels so far have been as I'm sure you are all aware, amazing. From the madness of Delhi, to the nuclear heat of Jaisalmer and now the ennormity of the Taj Mahal. I am looking forward to some cooler weather in the Himalayan foot hills, not to mention the tea!

Right now I am very full of gorgeous, cheap curry (again) and will shortly have to retire to our room to no doubt play more games of cards with Karen and drink more Bagpiper (India's national whiskey).

Life here, wherever that is as "here" changes about every 2/3 days is great. Loving the travel scene and exploring India has so far been a brilliant experience.

Onward! Ok folks, that's about it for my first post, hope I didn't bore you all too much and if I did, tough shite as I can't exactly undo you reading it now can I?!

Loads of love to you all,

Tom x

Agra & The Taj Mahal

Hey all

Well, we're here in Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal and a wonderful city. After being in Jaipur, a hectic and dirty place, it's nice to see a city where they are so proud of their monument.

We are staying in a hotel with an INCREDIBLE view of the Taj. From the rooftop, you can see it in all its splendour. It's really an amazing building.

Things are good with us travelling together too. Having travelled with a boyfriend before and not having had similar travel styles, it's nice to be able to relax and take it easy with Tom. The most stressful thing we've done together is trying to locate our nearest Beer and Wine Shop (this is what the Bottle-O's or Off-Licences are called here!)

Tonight, feeling sleepy and not up to doing anything, we had a quick dinner on the roof terrace and then slipped into our room for a game of Pontoon (or 21) on our bed, a hipflask of whisky to share between us. The only reason I'm on the internet again is because Tom is talking to his mama in England. THere's been some big news from his family - their childhood home has been sold and Tom and his sister Jess are very sad about it (and his mum and step dad), understandably. I don't know whether all of you readers have a childhood home, but I'm sure when it comes to my ma and pa selling our house, I'm going to be very sad indeed. It is a good move, though, I'm sure, for TOm's folks, who are embarking on a whole new phase of life and will no doubt lead to wonderful things for them. I'm sure you've done the right thing.

Things here are good. We leave Agra on Tuesday to go back to Anil and Renu's place in Delhi for some relaxation before heading to Varanasi on Thursday. We are looking forward to some cooler weather in Darjeeling early next week.

The things i find most weird about India are:

1. The men all chew tobacco and therefore spend most of their time hacking up big globules of phlem which they spit indescriminately into the street. You spend a lot of time avoiding slipping in these small puddles.

2. The women all walk behind the men, at least 2 metres, I assume because women are still considered the lesser sex. Fortunately, Tom walks behind me on busy streets so that he can keep an eye on me.

3. Standards of cleanliness are just not even close to those in the West. Rubbish bins are impossible to find and it's hard to reconcile that holding on to your rubbish for the half hour it takes to find one will make any difference at all in this mess.

4. "Nature" is a different term here. Nature here means any patch of grass.

5. I've seen countless men taking a piss on the streets against a wall but have never seen a woman trying to find a loo. WHere do they go??? (I just hold on....)

6. The first question any person will ask you in INdia is "What is your country?" to which i reply, Australia, then they all say "Ricky Ponting"! he he! They LOVE cricket here.

Anyway, that all sounds a bit like I'm rubbishing India, and that's by no means what I'm tryng to do. People are happy - most sing as they work or ride their bikes, and they all want to know how much we like their country. And we do, very much.

Hoping you're all well, happy and safe.

Kaz xxx

PS - Tom promised to post soon. Keep an eye out!

OH MY GOD!

I CANNOT UPLOAD PHOTOS AND ITS ANNOYING ME!!!

I'm really really trying blog readers but the holy grail is eluding me. Will keep trying whilst i write.

Things here couldn't be better. Tom and I have just had a wonderful day exploring the buzzing metropolis of Jodhpur in Rajasthan and have had a marvellous day. I don't know what's come over me but since we've been in india, i can't seem to wake up early, so when we woke (at 11am) after a beautiful, cool nights sleep, we ventured out into the midday sun (scorching) to catch a breakky of samosas in a local street cart before exploring the old city and seeing the sights around there. Cashless, we decided to find an ATM to get some rupees, but found that, after visiting 5 and finding no money in ANY of them, that Jodhpur seems to be running on smiles rather than dollars. We finally found one and visited the fort soaring 175m above the city, where we were baked in the sun whilst trying to get a perfect pic of the Blue City, which Jodhpur is famous for. It really is enchanting.

We then walked down the mountain (along a steep, slippery path) and were invited into a fellows house, and cajoled into gettnig our hands hennaed (that lovely orange stain that Indian women get put on their hands before getting married). We were promised that, once completed and our hands put together palm to palm, that our lives together would be blessed with happiness, a good home, a wonderful career, many babies, and a long life. Not bad for less than $10!

We ventured back to the old city and tried (in vain) to get another couple of indian tops for me, as i feel fairly exposed in my western gear. No luck, unfortunately. And they probably don't deserve my trade actually, because when they see me, they immediately cry "Big size for you madam!". F-ers.

One bad experience today, whilst surrounded by loevly, squealing indian children, wanting a piece of the westerner with blond hair, a man in their midst groped my bum. I certainly put him in his place by shouting at the TOP of my voice, "DO NOT TOUCH ME, DO NOT EVER TOUCH ME". He claimed he didn't but I saw his hand leaving my buttocks so have fairly good evidence. He skulked away quick smart. Not too bad though. Ready for the next bad man who thinks he can have a piece of me.

Have had a lovely veg curry tonight (have only eaten meat once or twice the entire trip) and sat on the rooftop watching the fort fade in the sunset. The lights aren't working to illuminate it, but it was amazing nonetheless.

A big happy birthday to Aunty Pam also. Hope she had a lovely day.

Tomorrow, Jaipur, the Rajasthani capital. 2.3 million indians and some lovely sights to see. Can't wait.

Kisses and hugs to everyone. Kris, what's happening?

Love you
kx

PS - I think I've got some photos working - in no order here they are:

Me with a bindi blessing after attending a Hindu temple with MC in Bikaner
Tom and MC in Bikaner
Tom on the roof of our hotel in Jaisalmer
TOm with Renu and Anil at the very fancy golf club in Delhi
The rat temple, Kani Mata

Photos

Had an incredible day yesterday. We met an old man on the train from Delh to Bikaner called MC Mohta, who is a retired doctor and was a lovely warm man. Invited us to his house, so we called him up and then went over. He has three houses in Bikaner - two very new ones and one built in the 70s. All very lovely and big and mod-cons etc. His whole family was there to meet us, and we were treated to a tour around bikaner, to his other two houses (very grand) and to his temple. They took us to their son's house (Also a doctor) and his lovely wife, a physician, gave me some hairclips and a sari!!! It's lovely and very colourful! We went with them into the temple and they blessed us and we tied some saffron and red string around a column to ensure our wishes come true. We then went back to MC's house and he fed us before asking his son, Anil, to take us to the train station. Such warm welcoming people. We've invited MC to our wedding and hope that he'll come. A truly incredible and inclusive experience - felt like royalty!

Speaking of which, we almost are.... when we got to the train station, a man with a small daughter came up to us and offered us a Namaste (peace be with you) and held his daughters hand out to us to shake! Perhaps she'd never seen white people before!

We are now in Jaisalmer - a beautiful sandstone city in the middle of the thar desert. We're staying in a lovely hotel with views over to the fort which was built in the 10th century. It's really an amazing place.

By the way, I noticed a typo in the former blog entry - 250 rs is less that $10 (NOT $100 - we can't afford those types of hotels!)

Sorry no phtoos again guys. Just can't get a fast enough computer. Soon soon....

don't worry chicken curry no hurry

One of our new indian friends, Bilal, coined the quote above. It's a good one.

On arriving to our destination last night 1.5 hrs late, we were met by a fellow from the hotel we called and they took us to a pretty bad hotel, but at only 250rs (less than $100) it's not really surprising. We moved hotels today (ahhhh, much better) and spent the day going to the rat temple, where people worship and feed thousands of holy rats, (Kanimata.com). God forbid we step on one of them! And to the Bikaner fort, Junagarh. Had a lovely day.

Bikaner is in the middle of the Thar desert in Rajasthan. It's quite incredible. Looking out of the window on the train from Delhi to Bikaner yesterday, the environment changed so amazingly. From the very populated outskirts of Delhi to the open fields with camels dragging heavily laden carts, to Marble Mines and people doing shits on the train tracks next to us, the desert surrounding bikaner seems to be the most different to anything I've ever seen before. It's not like a sand dune sea, but a shifting dune/low scrub desert. I certainly wouldnt like to be stuck out there by myself though!

The train trip yestrerday proved to be quite incredible. We were in 3aC class, the third best air conditioned class. It was good! The air conditioning proved quite cold and the berths that Tom and I were in were very comfy. I recommend this class if you're ever in india. Meanwhile, i wonder what the first class looks like!!!

We are currently sitting waiting for a man to download our photos to CD and it looks ike it's gonna take forever! But that hopefully means we're gonna have some photos soon to upload.

Anyway, love to you all. Take it easy!

The best times....

On recommendation from Renu, tonight Tom and I visited the Habitat Centre, a centre for Culture and the Arts in Delhi, to see a Katak dance performance. It was incredible. The 2 hour show was amazingly choreographed (with up to 5 dancers on stage at a time all in perfect unison) and the musical accompaniment was astounding. I've never seen anything like it but it was truly incredible.

The themes, earth, wind, fire, water and space, were well matched with the dancing and costumes and, whilst I know nothing about dancing, it seemed to me one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen!

Thank you Renu, for your recommendation.

Tomorrow, we board a train for Bikaner, in the state of Rajasthan, to see the sights. Rajasthan, for those who don't recognise the name, is the region where they do a lot of camel treks and you can see the Blue and Pink cities. I can't wait. A rough itinerary (for mum to keep track of us) is: 27th Bikaner, 29th Jaisalmer, 2nd Jodphur, 4th Jaipur, 6th Agra (don't worry Nat, I'll get that picture!) and 9th back to Delhi to stay with the Malhotras for another couple of days.

Sorry for the lack of photos - these guys have a Mac and I'm finding it difficult to download. I'll pop some on CD soon and start uploading some asap.

Love hearing from you guys, so if anyone wants to send an email, karen_lewis79@yahoo.com.au or tomthepom@hotmail.co.uk

Love to you all

Karen & Tom

Luxury!

Hi all

You won't believe this but I'm sitting here in a beautiful home working on a very large desk with a huge Apple computer on it after the most amazing couple of days....

Tom's mum Sandy is a teacher at a school called Malvern College in the UK. It's a very exclusive school and therefore she gets to know her students very well. Two of her very good students are from India, and their parents most graciously offered for us to stay in their beautiful home. So we are now staying with a very welcoming and warm couple (Anil and Renu) who live in an exclusive suburb in India. And it is incredible.

Yesterday, after we checked out of the hotel in Central Delhi, we caught a cab to their home. Driving up to the gate, we weren't sure what to expect but the gentleman at the gate allowed us in, and up the drive we went. We paid the driver, got our bags and went into the lovely sitting room (complete with pics of Don Bradman - they love their cricket and have just seen India win the 20-20 match against Pakistan - we are hearing lots of fireworks outside presently!)

Meeting Anil and Renu was lovely and they took us almost immediately out to the Golf Club, which they are members of, and which had a dress code that we didn't meet by any means.... Tom had to borrow a shirt and a pair of trousers and i had to borrow shoes! AT the golf club, we had some food and a beer and met some of Anil and Renu's friends, who are all so friendly and interesting. On our way out, we saw Kapil Dev, a retired Indian cricket player! Famous!

Then off to the Gymkhana Club, where Anil is a Director, and it is incredible. This club was one that was built by the English in the Raj Era, and has lovely marble floors, crystal chandeliers and massive fans to cool the patrons. Anil is currently involved in an election to become a Director for the 4th year running and was chatting to a lot of people. Tom and I went across the road to the Indira Gandhi museum (and her former house) and then the driver took us home for a shower before we went back to the Gymkhana Club for dinner. And, if you please, we had dinner with the former Foreign Secretary. There are some very important people associated with the club and a more different experience we are not likely to ever have again.

Today, after a sleep in, we again utilised the driver, Vijay, to take us into town to visit the Train Station to see if we could book some tickets onwards to Rajasthan later in the week. And then we went to a market/bazaar called Chandni Chowk where we wandered for two hours in the labrinthyne streets, watching colours, sarees, buttons, pyjamas, and all other amzing things being made and sold. One wonderful experience was walking down one of these alleyways, against a tide of little indian children, who all shouted Hello to us after we replied to the first boy who was brave enough to say Hello to the white people! The indians are so warm and lovely.

On our way back, Vijay stopped in at the Lodi Gardens where we watched scores of Indian eagles soaring overhead and took in the sights of two amazing tombs in the middle of an immense lawn. Screeching indian parrots (bright green with a band of black around their necks) toasted the dusk with us as we watched the sun turn the sky pink.

Tonight, dinner made by Bibiani, the chef, which was a lovely mutton (goat) and potato dish, a lovely soup, potato and paneer (indian cheese a bit like greek haloumi) curry and indian bread made fresh. We are living like kings and can only thank Tom's mum Sandy for being a good teacher and getting to know her students. Anil and Renu keep insisting we stay for as long as we can, and given the lovely atmosphere, I can only hope that we can come back again.

Love to you all.

INDIA!!

First impressions:

HOT
And more humid than expected - we're a long way from the coast here in delhi
Traffic - horns and lots of horns
Mind blowing change of culture
Evrything that you think about India is the India we're seeing
Brahmin cows in the street
Friendly faces
Good curry!!!
Bright colours
Dirty but not as bad as expected.

Gotta go - times up on our computer. Love you all

Party

Last evening there were in excess of 20 people in the house (family and friends) who were there to celebrate Tom's birthday. Was a lovely evening of lots of food, lots of booze, happy times with the friends and family of Tom and his folks. A surprise visit from Francis's nephew George and his girlfriend, Alice, who are in the process of riding bikes from Lands End (the far south of the UK) to John O Groats (the far north)! Amazing! They've done 500 miles so far!

The party was excellent and even more excellent was that Foo and his mate Nathan (and his mate Michelle) were there to share it with Tom. Unfortunately, Foo and Nathan were mega jet lagged and i had a migraine. BUGGER! But these things happen and today i'm fighting fit and happy to be rid of this headache. I don't know whether any of you ever get them, but migraines are horrible - the only thing to do is to take pills and get out of the light into a darkened quiet room. This was difficult to find last night and i REALLY didn't want to have this damn headache. I wanted to be able to party with all of Tom's buddies. It really stinks to have to go to bed when you don't want to!

So it's Sunday night now and only 4 days til we get on the plane for Delhi. I'm not sure whether I'll post here again before we arrive in India so I'm hoping you guys are all well and happy in Oz (or in the UK or Hong Kong!). I'm excited. I'm holding my breath. I'm so ready to get on the road with Tom.

And I'm going to be really sad to say goodbye to my engagement ring for the next 6 months. Boo hoo! Jeez, i'm so shallow. But seriously, this is the nicest thing I've ever owned, so wouldn't YOU be upset????

Love to you all.

What a great evening

Just had a lovely evening looking through hundreds of photos of Tom's family. It's so wonderful - Sandy has a HUGE box of photos - all scrambled and "i don't know what we're going to get next!" so it's been a lovely evening.

I've hopefuly uploaded some photos of the photos here (hard to check til posted)... there's probably not too much clarity but you can see pics of Tom when he was a baby. Apparently he was bald until he was 5 years old!

A great story of Tom when he was small is that he lived on a farm with his parents and hardly ever wore any clothes (Ambie, i think you can identify...) Once, in winter, a group of wealthy people came to the farm to buy some free range eggs and noticed that Tom (that poor child!) was naked but for his boots. An hour later or so they came back to the farm with some clothes to give to his parents, assuming they were too poor to clothe the little boy. Johnny, Tom's dad, spoke to the people and apparently said "If you can get the little bugger to wear them, be my guest!"

Poor little naked Tom.

He's got another good story from when he was tiny. When he was about 2 years old (and running around naked again), his uncle and his father were having a drink and chilling out. TOm ran up to his dad and took his finger (tiny baby hands barely reaching around Johnny's finger) and proceded to scratch his bum with it. Dad noticed what he was doing and said "Ergh, use your own finger". ha ha. Naughty Tom!

What a lovely day.

Pic for Dad

Hi all

My dad asked me to send a photo of what Greenacres looks like - the house that Tom grew up in. Here it is. This is the veiw into the kitchen area - it looks like a really small cottage but it's a three bed house with attic space and a kitchen, dining room and tv room below with a bathroom also. The bit on the left of the pic is the "new" bit - Tom's mum built onto it as soon as they bought it (12 years ago) - you can see the different material that it's made from. The older bit is made from granite stone which has been rendered - the walls are 2 feet thick!

Went for a walk by myself up to the Malvern Hills today and had a great walk imagining all the wonderful things coming in the next few months. The wind was blowing my hair around my face, the buzzards were riding the thermals and the view was magnificent. This land is not too different from the area i grew up in, at Newrybar. Rather that bandicoots though, they have badgers. Rather than magpies, it's buzzards. Rather than cane fields, it's corn. But it looks similar. It made me think of my upbringing and how much i enjoyed it. And how wonderfully blessed i've been to have no sadness or tragedy in my life. I must have done something right in my last life.

I've spent a lovely afternoon learning a new skill - i am now a silversmith. Tom's mum makes jewellery, and helped Tom and I make some rings to wear whilst we are in India and SE Asia. Unfortunately given the expense, time, effort and heart and soul Tom poured into making my engagement ring, we have to leave it here so that it doesn't get pilfered by some starving Indian child (god forbid!) So we've spent a lovely afternoon making rings for each other (I decided tom needs one too - the poor fella's always miss out on the engagement ring part!) It's lovely.... will attempt to upload a pic but can't promise anything.

Hope you're all loving life....

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.
~~~~Elbert Hubbard

Forecast

The weather in Delhi where we will be in two weeks from today is a low of 28 degrees, a high of 37 degrees. Will be interesting to see how Tom does in that kind of weather. The lonely planet guidebook said, however, that most things are done either in early morning (no chance with Thomas's keenness for sleeping late) and late arvo and evening. Dinner is not eaten til after 10pm and there is a period during the day where everyone buggers off home to sleep in the blistering heat. We'll have to book airconditioned rooms.

Today we went shopping for the final items for our trip into india - buscopan for stomach upsets, imodeum for diarreah (spelling?), antihistamines for bites, ibuprofen for headache, elecrolytes for rehydrating, sunscreen and DEET mossie repellant. Man - this travelling lark is an expensive game.

I feel poised on the edge of something amazing,,,, waiting for the push towards the abyss below.... waiting for the experience of something totally new and fresh and incredible. I'm ready.

I'll leave you with a lovely travellling poem i found online today....

Delight

From Delight we came into existence.
In Delight we grow.
At the end of our journey’s close,
Into Delight we retire.

Drunken post

Hey - it's hard to type when pissed. Will attempt to fix all mistgakes before posting. ~Not doing too well so far.

Had a lovely couple of days in malvern where tom's folks live. I was really happy to receive card and a lovely letter from my wonderful nanny who has the most lovely writing and said some wonderful things about tom now being part of the family. I'd like to include an extract here:

"Dear karen and tom

i was so thrilled when your mum told me you were engaged, I was so hoping you two would eventually get married as you are so suited to each other. You do everything together and seem to like the same things, have ambition in life and love each other. I very much welcome you Tom."

How lovely is that? All this while she is sick in hospital! However, she is now out of hospital and getting better again - thanks all for your good vibes in getting her well again! Thanks so much Nan, for your wonderful words of welcome for Tom into the family - he's certainly the man for me!

Things here really good at present. Have been really relaxing after our hectic time for the last few weeks - the most strenuos thing we've done is to go for an hours walk up to a roman fort on the malvern hills with Tara the dog and stretch our legs. Tom's sis Jess and her bloke James have just arrived and we are enjoying a couple of beers etc. We also visited a cidery today in preparation for Tom's birthday party next week (for all that don't know - his bday is 13th Sept). Foo is arriving next week too before heading off around europe on a contiki tour with his mate nathan, so we're mega excited to see him.... Foo's always the one i miss most. That damn brother of mine is truly a great and wonderful friend, and therefore i can't wait to see him and take him to the pub for a pint.

We are seriously preparing for india now - made a list today of all the things we still need to purchase.... mostof them are healthcare items - imodeum, ibuprofen, DEET mossie repellant! Will cost us a fortune.

Anyway, all, missing you and loving you from across the oceans.

Karen and Tom xxoo

More pics

Tom and i on my birthday - windy walk on the moors




This is one for mum - a lovely foxglove on display in the moors

Some pics

River O when flood went through - one day of rain and check this out!



Cream tea at Brimpts Farm (www.brimptsfarm.co.uk) which was AMAZING - clotted cream and the whole lot. Note that a Devonshire tea here is just called a Cream Tea!




Sunset on Yar Tor - red wine, my fiance, Rosie and Giles to share it with - the word wonderful does not begin to describe the pure feeling of that moment. Hmmm - if there was a word for F-ing Incredibly Amazingly Wonderfully Mind Bogglingly Beautiful, I'd probably use it here.

Sorry sorry sorry!

HI ALL

I'm dreadfully sorry that i haven't posted for a while - it may seem that being on holiday should be relaxing and lovely but we've been really really busy. Here's what we've done since last posting:

1. Bluey, Tom's parents dog, had an accident while out on a walk and was very lame so off to the vet for xrays
2. Vet said cruiciate ligament damage - operation required
3. Off to bristol from dartmoor so that he could have the operation
4. Operation goes well - Bluey requiring quite a lot of care - 4 x 10min walk each day
(Note: to a non-dog person, the fact that i've had to put a tablet down Bluey's throat each morning and night has proven difficult - found dogs like pills crushed into mayonnaise or Devon clotted cream, then they eat it up easily!)
5. Had Russell, Giles and Rosie to greenacres in devon for a weekend of good laughs and many beers.
6. Cleaned up Greenacres ~(Tom's parent's house in Devon) before heading to rosie and giles's place in Wiltshire (they have a beautiful new house in Warminster)
7. Went to Longleat house and safari park near warminster where we saw lions, tigers, giraffes and funny little monkeys who broke our car. (Only a little bit - just the tire cover on the back!)
8. Giles and Rosie took us out for a lovely dinner at the Cross Key's Inn where we all had a great time.
9. 4.45am last friday got up to drive to heathrow to collect Sandy and Francis (Tom's parents) who we were really excited to see and it was really lovely
10. Checked into a B&B in Dorking south london with Sandy and Francis, Jess and James and us before the wedding for cousin James and Claire the following day.
11. Helped prepare for wedding on the 1st - ribbons, food, chairs etc.
12. Wedding took place at the Mansions in Leatherhead before heading to a primary school for the reception
13. BEST WEDDING EVER! ~Barn dances, lotsa booze, great family to meet and get to know, wonderful food, happy times. Just the type of wedding i like - nice and simple and easy. The bride even changed into a relaxing dress rather than being uncomfortable! Wonderful time. Thanks for the good times James and Claire.
14. Slept in a van that night - uncomfortable but drunk so easy.... If i can sleep there i can sleep anywhere. Woken by church bells in the morning outside our door.
15. Caught a lift with David (Tom's cousin and brother of the groom) and Ruth (his wonderful lady) who took us to Didcott to catch a train to Malvern where Sandy and Francis live. Was a wonderful ride with those two - David was sad to be saying goodbye to a particular phase of his life and to his brother leaving for overseas so i hope it eased his sorrow to be distracted by us goons. David and Ruth are about to leap into a new life also so i wish them all the very best. I enjoyed so much talking with them on the way - what a vibrant happy and interesting couple they are.
16. Headed back to Devon to collect the dogs from Claire and Ben - thanks a million! - and also had to fix the spring water to Greenacres. A backbreaking day of labour yesterday digging trenches to find the pipe. Finally gave up and hired a digger knowing that we'd probably find it within minutes of getting the bloody thing and YES we were right - 20 minutes in we found the t-junction we'd been looking for.
17. Rush to the hardware store to buy the parts for the pipes before closing time.
18. Fixed pipe - water back on - problem solved. Parents-in-law very happy with Tom and I.
19. Back to Malvern today. Dogs happy to be home.
20. Updated blog

So there you have it all. Along with the fact that i've scarcely had enough time to scratch myself, there's been little exposure to a computer.

Best things... continued

Hi all

Another list of good things about the UK:

• Beers by the side of the River Dart and freezing cold water on my feet


• Greenacres - Tom's childhood home


• The smell of burning wood - doesn't smell like eucalypt like in Australia


• Blackberries that grow at the side of the road by the thousands!


• Tom and I making a blackberry pie with butter flour sugar and milk and blackberries - simplicity itself


• The smell of hedgerow after being cut with the slasher


• Badgers (for a laugh go to http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/)


• Stella artois beer in PINT cans


• The fact that tourists around these parts are referred to as Grockles


• Getting cards in the mail from Tom's grandmother welcoming me to the family (how nice is that!?)


• Reading my India lonely planet on the lawn in the sun and dreaming dreaming.....


• Long evenings

It's 4.36pm on Thursday afternoon and i'm just about to head to Becky's pool near Spitchwick (pictured) in Dartmoor for beers and swimming. I'm going to stay in for more than a millisecond today! Brave old me!

To all of you reading, send out a good wishes vibe for my lovely beautiful and affectionate nan, Doris May Barnes, who is in hospital ill at the moment. I love her very very much and want only for her to be well and happy in her life.

28 years old!

Thanks for all of your happy birthday wishes! Was a great celebration with lots of booze and food. Just as i like it. Life is happy and good and loving being here.

Love to you all.

Karen and Tom.

Rain & Happiness

Hi all

Inspired by a blog post that Kris's friend from HK put together, I thought I'd write a list of things that I like about the UK:

• Mayonnaise (it's much worse for you but so much tastier)
• Standing on top of a hill when the rain beats against my face and stings my eyes and look about the moor - amazing
• Pasties - yummers
• Driving the Jeep - cool car!
• Having dogs - they are definitely keeping me fit
• Cups of tea
• The rayburn (it's like a big hot oven where everyone gathers to make cups of tea)
• McVities chocolate digestive biscuits
• The smell of the moor - smells kind of like sh!t but somehow it's just right
• Cold wet days
• Warm sunny days
• Hanging out with Tom's family - what a nice bunch of people!
• Meals like chicken, stilton and leek pie with chips and peas - you can't get stuff like that in Oz.

Things are good. I'm very happy. Happiest ever in fact.... I love being on holiday. Did i tell you all to start saving and do what we're doing? It's awesome.

Love and kisses and hugs and snuggles and little sniffy sniffs in your necks (this is especially for you and Mum, Foo!)

More information on the engagement!

Okay Natalie - here's a picture of us right after we got engaged last Thursday wearing your shirts! Our first photo opportunity and what a great time to put them to the test!

To all of you who don't know - Nat made us two shirts with pics of Tom and I on it - mine says 'I'm travelling with this hunk of spunk' and Tom's says 'I'm travelling with this sexy babe'! Hope you're proud of us Nat.

So the story of the day we got engaged goes like this:

We got up earlyish in the morning and got prepared for a big ramble across Dartmoor and a picnic awaiting us at the end. We got the dogs in the car and went to a spot where we could park near Sharp Tor (a tor is a big outcrop of rocks at the top of a hill in the moor) and we started walking. At the first tor there were lots of people around and Tom and I started looking for letterboxes (a hobby that people around these parts do - where they put a stamp in a box and hide them around the rocks etc). I found the first one and was very excited!

We walked onto the second tor, Yar Tor, and again, a family there at the top so we stayed for a little while looking for letterboxes before walking on to the final tor, Corndon Tor. We sat there for a while in the cool air and then i suggested to Tom that we look for some more letterboxes. Tom said 'okay, I'll go over here to look' and went around the edge of the rocks on the hill and I looked closer to where we'd been sitting. Only 10 seconds had passed and tom called out 'found one babe' and i raced over to see him. When i turned the corner around the edge of the rocks I was looking at the rocks that he was facing and couldnt see any holes to hide a box, so i looked at him, he was on one knee holding a small red box and it took me a second to realise that he was actually proposing. He says he really wishes he had a camera at the ready because my face was classic when i realised! I went onto my knees in front of him and he said 'i've loved you since the first second we met, will you marry me?' I said yes of course! Then i realised i hadn't looked at the ring so i pulled back and held out my hand and he placed my ring on my ring finger and it was an absolutely perfect moment and i felt such love and emotion. I hugged him so tightly and started to cry, really really sob, and he was crying too and we were engaged to be married.

How's that for romance?

We stayed there for a while, him telling me what lengths he'd been going to to hide the ring (and his meetings with the diamond dealer and goldsmith in his lunchbreaks - going to Indooroopuilly no less in his lunch hour!) and who he'd told (Foo you sneaky bugger - thanks for keeping this wonderful secret!) After a while a woman came walking along and we asked her to take our photo - was lovely to tell her. I loved telling her that we were engaged. No idea who she was but she was the first person to see tom and i engaged!

The rest of the day was lovely. We were driving through the moor and happened upon an old couple who had a flat tyre and tom changed it for them so they invited us to the pub for a pint. It was lovely to spend some time with them - Joan and John Hester - married 54 years and full of enthusiasm at our engagement. Here's a pic of them and us outside the pub:

So we're engaged and I've never been so happy in my life. Tom is definitely the man i can't wait to spend the rest of my life with and don't worry to all of you back home - we'll be getting married in Oz but not sure when - maybe April or May 2009! A while off yet but a lot of travelling and adventuring to be done between now and then. I won't be taking the ring with me, which is disappointing but i can't imagine how sad it would be to have it stolen!

Love to you all. Hope this answers some questions about the proposal. Best moment of my life.

Breaking news.......

At 2.05pm Thursday 9th August on Corndon Tor on Dartmoor, one Thomas James Sanders (27) got down on one knee and proposed to Karen Maree Lewis, also 27. After much preparation and deliberation, Tom's hard work finally paid off with a resounding 'Yes' from Karen. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the world spun on it's axis as per usual, however, their worlds just took on a wonderful new hue.

So there you have it. They are both off the market. Many will mourn.

Ha ha ha hah ha! Unbelievable! What an incredible day. Sorry it's taken a while to post this on the blog but you'd be surprised how difficult it is to get in touch with my family when we're overseas! But when i did speak to them, they were all very happy to hear our wonderful news.

To those of you who have called... thanks for your good wishes. For those of you that might want to get in touch, our mobile over here is 07985 491 226 (to call from Oz, 0011 44 7985 491 226). Sorry that i haven't called everyone individually but we've already spent a fortune on phone calls.

Love to you all. Hope all is as well in your lives as it is in ours.

To Do Whilst Travelling

This is a list of stuff that Tom and I wrote down so that we could get excited about our trip. Just wanted to capture it somewhere so that we can see if we achieve them:

1. Drink beer out of a coconut
2. See a 3 legged dog
3. Put part of a limb in the Ganges (this one is Tom's - I'm not doing this!)
4. Stay in a local's home
5. Cook with the locals
6. Ride a bike in India
7. Watch the sun rise or set over the himalayas
8. Tom to drink snake blood (not me!)
9. Tom has promised not to decline anything anyone offers him to drink. I think he's crazy
10. Learn at least a new word everyday in the local language
11. Sit in a pub and talk to the locals
12. Be in a bollywood film
13. Stay on an island only accessible by boat
14. Update online blog at least weekly
15. Tom to firewalk
16. Karen - learn to juggle (*actually i've already learned this so I want to get better!)
17. Make one child smile everyday!
18. Ride an elephant
19. Tom says he's going to eat dog or cat - yuck
20. Do a thai cooking course
21. Learn about different indigenous religions
22. Go to a full moon party
23. Have a "special" pizza
24. Go snorkelling off a thai island
25. Watch the sun set over the ganges
26. Wear indian clothes
27. Fall asleep in a hammock
28. Buy indian bangles
29. Sit and observe in an indian temple
30. Have xmas with James and Claire somewhere exotic
31. Watch the burning ghats
32. Drink tea in darjeeling
33. See everest
34. Climb to over 3500m
35. Get a massage in asia
36. Get henna tattoos