This advert for a pizza restaurant really made us laugh. Could you imagine going there or taking your child after seeing this?!
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Bread and Pizza?
This advert for a pizza restaurant really made us laugh. Could you imagine going there or taking your child after seeing this?!
Imam Square, Esfahan, Iran
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Sunrise in the Himalayas
Dear All,
We made it to the Himalaya! We are currently in Mcleodganj, the residence of the Dalai Lama and many Tibetan refugees. But before we tell you about this place Amritsar deserves a little page space. I can't lie, most of our time was spent lounging around eating food, drinking beer and sleeping. The Grand Hotel wasn't really that grand but it did have a beautiful garden out the back that was tropical and quiet, a must in a city, and Kingfisher on tap. We met two fellow travellers there Pete and Caf, who have a brilliantly named website: www.curryhunt.com. They've been travelling on motorbikes and made it to the Karakorum Highway in Pakistan. Unfortunatley Caf was hit by an arrogant car driver and has an arm fracture to show for it. Anyhow, we all had a good laugh together and hope to see them in Goa.
The main tourist attraction is the Golden Temple - the holy HQ of the Sikh religion. The guide recommends you see it at different times of the day, which we duly did. After removing our shoes and washing our feet we first entered the temple during the day. We managed to go during a large festival that meant the place was packed. Travellers can stay for free for three days at the temple and the communal kitchen dishes out free food all day.
When we returned at night time two days later it was no where near as busy and looked serene sat in the water with the gold shining and the blue lights lighting the base of the temple. We decided to go in to the temple and realised that we had entered during a service, but the Sikhs were welcoming as always and we went in, experiencing a beautiful service and looking over the three floors of the beautiful temple.
We saw a fair amount of Amritsar, the most significant after the temple being Jalinwalia Bagh - Bagh means garden. This is the place where the British opened fire on protesters in 1919 without warning. I can't remember the numbers they killed, but seeing the number of bullet holes in the wall, you realised how many rounds had been indiscriminately fired into the unsuspecting crowd. Some say that this was the beginning of the end of the Raj.
The other purpose in Amritsar was to clean up the van and get the washing done. We managed to do many of these menial tasks as well and were ready to head for the mountains.
Mcleodganj, as you can imagine being the home of the Dalai Lama, attracts many tourists/hippies.. However it doesn't feel overrun and we were attracted by its location and the many courses on offer here. We have both been to our first course this morning in Tibetan food - we made momos - Tibetan dumplings. They were pretty delicious! Tomorrow morning we are returning for our lesson in Tibetan soup.
We are staying in the van here and pay 300rupees a day to park at the highest forest point in the town. The funny thing is we have monkeys for neighbours. They are grey and silver and are great to watch. You can't really make any contact or feed them as they are unpredictable. We are enjoying all the new animals and wildlife around us. This morning I woke up early and went out to see the sunrise over the mountains. It was beautiful. To top it off you see hawks and other birds of prey circling around in front of you. We've seen bright green parrots flying around too.
We've gradually got used to seeing cows just mooching about. This morning as Mark was sat out haiving a coffee he heard a gentle snoring. Realising that i was already up (!) he looked about for whom it was. There was a little calf just snuggled up in the grass near by - still sleeping and snoring away!
We're going to spend another couples of days here - Mark has a cold and a Tibetan Monk has decided that he will treat Mark with a selection of herbs, so we'll stay until he is well. We're going to head from here to Manali. From there, weather permitting, we can go up further into the Himalaya and drive the scenic route to Shimla, an old British Hill Station. We may indulge in a little paragliding and trekking along the way!
Anyway, a cup of hot sweet chai beckons, so I'm away back to my hectic life!!
Lots of love, Jo and Mark xx
PS. We have a new Indian mobile that should be cheap to text and if you're feeling really extravagant, call! We're now five and a half hours ahead if you're in the UK.
Number 0091 (0) 9780647569
Monday, 2 November 2009
INDIA!!!
Dear All,
Any of you worried about our safety in Pakistan can breathe a sigh of relief; we crossed into India two days ago. Driving through Pakistan was a tense experience. When we last wrote we were in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. The day we arrived the education minister had been killed by terrorists in Quetta itself and the security, as you can imagine, was tight. We were not allowed to go out at night as there were concerns for our safety. This was a real shame as Quetta is a buzzing city. However, we went out the next day and had a look around. Most shops were closed. We found out later that there had been an impromptu strike over the killing of the minister.
The hotel owners also informed us that the universities, colleges and schools had been shut for three days as the government was concerned about terrorist attacks. This, however was the official line. The other reason behind the closure was that the government was concerned about an uprising against themselves. Pakistan, we were informed from all areas, was on the edge. When we went to the National Bank of Pakistan to change money the banker asked why we had had come to Pakistan and did we not care for our lives? Hmmm, food for thought.
In the evening back at the hotel we cooked our own dinner and were told that we should not be sat in the front courtyard as we could be a target. The police also turned up and said the same thing. We should not be visible to the road.
The next day we were headed to Sukkur which is through the Bolan Pass, an ancient route for trade. We had to wait for our escort out of Quetta in the morning, but then we were on our way. The Bolan Pass was a real picturesque mountain and valley pass. We travelled alongside a beautifully coloured river - turquoise and deep and light blues. It was so nice to see water and greenery after the desert landscape of Balochistan. We noticed the legacy of the British empire in many places in Pakistan, especially the railway along the Bolan Pass whose tunnels had names like Windy Corner and Cascade all built in 1894.
Pakistan is beautifully green and fertile in the Eastern most part of Balolchistan and coming into the Sindh and the Punjab. We had no idea of the crops Pakistan grew; rice, corn, cotton, sugar cane, bananas etc. We drove through endless rice fields that looked beautiful as the rice plants moved with the wind in the sun - green and golden. The cotton fields were a surprise - so many of them. The lily pads and flowers growing in ponds at the ends of fields - results of the irrigation system - and in the middle of all these crops bright bursts of colour from the women's sari's. I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to describe all their different colours.
We emerged out of this picturesque drive into a town called Sukkur and then to a police station. We had to stay there the night. We were all starting to get tired as the days were just relentless driving, so we decided the next day to only do a half day driving. We arrived with our escort into Rahin Yar Khan and were taken to - surprise, surprise - another police station. We needed to go out and get food, but were told we weren't allowed to go out. A young man was sent to get our food and on his return we started cooking. At was at this point that we realised we were in a police station that had cells and prisoners. We had managed to avoid this in Dalbandin, but here we were fairly powerless.
There was a young man being questioned the night we were there whom we saw being walked across the yard by a police officer with a wooden bat and pole in his hand. We knew at that point that he was likely to be beaten. We all fell rather quiet and our stomachs turned at the thought of what was going to happen. We heard it later that night and all of us found sleeping very difficult. The worse thing was not being able to do anything about it. We felt quite sick.
The next morning we saw the young man in the cells and gave him biscuits and cigarettes. He looked ok, but that night deepened our growing feelings that Pakistan was not the place to be at this moment in time.
We drove through to Multan the next day phoning as many hotels as possible to try and get somewhere to stay. The story was the same everywhere - no-one wanted us sleeping in the van on their patch. The security situation was too bad and unstable, so after trying in the city we were once again driven to a police station - we stressed this time - no prisoners. We slept better that night, but the next day after realising that more and more bombings were taking place in the North and that to get to the Karakoram Highway we were going to be driving 45km East of the Swat Valley, we decided that the writing was on the wall: time to go to India.
We went through Lahore that day and then to Wagah, the border town. We were in time to watch the border crossing ceremony - pictures to follow - a theatrical set piece if ever I saw one!
We were disappointed that we weren't able to see more of Pakistan, but the difference between the two sides of the Punjab is remarkable and telling in itself. After we had dealt with all the customs and passport stuff, we managed to buy some beer in duty free. We were still with Mark and Brigitta and had been travelling with them for over two weeks now. We decided that to just go our separate ways without a beer together in our new found freedom would be wrong, so we drove 200 metres up the Attari Road, pulled into a disused field opposite a lovely view of trees and rice fields and cracked open a beer. It was great to be able to relax again and camp without four walls and lots of police around us.
We didn't make it to Amristar that day, but the next! We said our goodbyes to Mark and Brigitta. We had all appreciated each others company through Pakistan and never thought at the beginning that we would be together so long. When we write up Iran, which will be soon, we'll be able to show you some of the pics of our time in the desert, it was such good fun.
We drove the 30km to Amritsar and got ourselves a hotel. It isn't just the relaxation we need but to do laundry, clean out the van and just get ourselves ready for the next stage of our trip. The Grand Hotel has a lovely jungle garden out the back and is cool and peaceful. It's pretty cheap, hey, this is India, has a restaurant attached and we've met fellow travellers from the UK already!!
We'll keep in touch with our movements but plans so far are to head towards the Himalaya at Manali. Manali is in the state of Himchal Pradesh and is the gateway to Leh, in Ladakh. We're here too late to cross that mountain pass, unless we want to get stuck there for Winter! After Manali we'll head to Agra to see the Taj and then back West through Rajasthan.
Any of you worried about our safety in Pakistan can breathe a sigh of relief; we crossed into India two days ago. Driving through Pakistan was a tense experience. When we last wrote we were in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. The day we arrived the education minister had been killed by terrorists in Quetta itself and the security, as you can imagine, was tight. We were not allowed to go out at night as there were concerns for our safety. This was a real shame as Quetta is a buzzing city. However, we went out the next day and had a look around. Most shops were closed. We found out later that there had been an impromptu strike over the killing of the minister.
The hotel owners also informed us that the universities, colleges and schools had been shut for three days as the government was concerned about terrorist attacks. This, however was the official line. The other reason behind the closure was that the government was concerned about an uprising against themselves. Pakistan, we were informed from all areas, was on the edge. When we went to the National Bank of Pakistan to change money the banker asked why we had had come to Pakistan and did we not care for our lives? Hmmm, food for thought.
In the evening back at the hotel we cooked our own dinner and were told that we should not be sat in the front courtyard as we could be a target. The police also turned up and said the same thing. We should not be visible to the road.
The next day we were headed to Sukkur which is through the Bolan Pass, an ancient route for trade. We had to wait for our escort out of Quetta in the morning, but then we were on our way. The Bolan Pass was a real picturesque mountain and valley pass. We travelled alongside a beautifully coloured river - turquoise and deep and light blues. It was so nice to see water and greenery after the desert landscape of Balochistan. We noticed the legacy of the British empire in many places in Pakistan, especially the railway along the Bolan Pass whose tunnels had names like Windy Corner and Cascade all built in 1894.
Pakistan is beautifully green and fertile in the Eastern most part of Balolchistan and coming into the Sindh and the Punjab. We had no idea of the crops Pakistan grew; rice, corn, cotton, sugar cane, bananas etc. We drove through endless rice fields that looked beautiful as the rice plants moved with the wind in the sun - green and golden. The cotton fields were a surprise - so many of them. The lily pads and flowers growing in ponds at the ends of fields - results of the irrigation system - and in the middle of all these crops bright bursts of colour from the women's sari's. I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to describe all their different colours.
We emerged out of this picturesque drive into a town called Sukkur and then to a police station. We had to stay there the night. We were all starting to get tired as the days were just relentless driving, so we decided the next day to only do a half day driving. We arrived with our escort into Rahin Yar Khan and were taken to - surprise, surprise - another police station. We needed to go out and get food, but were told we weren't allowed to go out. A young man was sent to get our food and on his return we started cooking. At was at this point that we realised we were in a police station that had cells and prisoners. We had managed to avoid this in Dalbandin, but here we were fairly powerless.
There was a young man being questioned the night we were there whom we saw being walked across the yard by a police officer with a wooden bat and pole in his hand. We knew at that point that he was likely to be beaten. We all fell rather quiet and our stomachs turned at the thought of what was going to happen. We heard it later that night and all of us found sleeping very difficult. The worse thing was not being able to do anything about it. We felt quite sick.
The next morning we saw the young man in the cells and gave him biscuits and cigarettes. He looked ok, but that night deepened our growing feelings that Pakistan was not the place to be at this moment in time.
We drove through to Multan the next day phoning as many hotels as possible to try and get somewhere to stay. The story was the same everywhere - no-one wanted us sleeping in the van on their patch. The security situation was too bad and unstable, so after trying in the city we were once again driven to a police station - we stressed this time - no prisoners. We slept better that night, but the next day after realising that more and more bombings were taking place in the North and that to get to the Karakoram Highway we were going to be driving 45km East of the Swat Valley, we decided that the writing was on the wall: time to go to India.
We went through Lahore that day and then to Wagah, the border town. We were in time to watch the border crossing ceremony - pictures to follow - a theatrical set piece if ever I saw one!
We were disappointed that we weren't able to see more of Pakistan, but the difference between the two sides of the Punjab is remarkable and telling in itself. After we had dealt with all the customs and passport stuff, we managed to buy some beer in duty free. We were still with Mark and Brigitta and had been travelling with them for over two weeks now. We decided that to just go our separate ways without a beer together in our new found freedom would be wrong, so we drove 200 metres up the Attari Road, pulled into a disused field opposite a lovely view of trees and rice fields and cracked open a beer. It was great to be able to relax again and camp without four walls and lots of police around us.
We didn't make it to Amristar that day, but the next! We said our goodbyes to Mark and Brigitta. We had all appreciated each others company through Pakistan and never thought at the beginning that we would be together so long. When we write up Iran, which will be soon, we'll be able to show you some of the pics of our time in the desert, it was such good fun.
We drove the 30km to Amritsar and got ourselves a hotel. It isn't just the relaxation we need but to do laundry, clean out the van and just get ourselves ready for the next stage of our trip. The Grand Hotel has a lovely jungle garden out the back and is cool and peaceful. It's pretty cheap, hey, this is India, has a restaurant attached and we've met fellow travellers from the UK already!!
We'll keep in touch with our movements but plans so far are to head towards the Himalaya at Manali. Manali is in the state of Himchal Pradesh and is the gateway to Leh, in Ladakh. We're here too late to cross that mountain pass, unless we want to get stuck there for Winter! After Manali we'll head to Agra to see the Taj and then back West through Rajasthan.
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