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Craig and Limbster
Craig and Limbster

Craig and Limbster

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  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Mirissa

    December 30, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Day 59 - 61.

    It was time for Mirissa and to see out 2018 in style! We arrived at Sagopearl home stay just out of the main town to tea and warm coconut sugar pancakes! Ellie has memorized the recipe so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of these.....

    Quickly conned by the classic lovely old lady charm and signed up to an expensive blue whale tour. Realised our mistake, booked a cheaper tour and got to enjoy the painful experience of the subsequent face to face cancellation, but a budget is a budget woman.

    Turns out we might as well have saved the bother, in fact in hindsight we would have paid 3500 rupees to not go through the boat tour again. In summary, 8 hours, no whales, chunder everywhere (not from us thankfully), no we won't be coming on board for a free ride again tomorrow...

    (''I am the captain now'')

    Great beach days here - limbster taught me to Dolphin swim, boy can she move. Lots of peeling sadly - much against our continued efforts which now apparantly stoop as low as stealing valuable moisturiser :/

    Curry pot will be remembered for a while - best food yet, buffet style unlimited Sri Lankan curry all for 400 rupees. Consumed in total one thousand chillis and therefore easily got through the 4 litres of water provided! But it was worth it!

    NYE - Met some Dutch friends, drank a lot of red rum, ran away from Dutch friends, accidently dropped empty rum bottle, woke up new years day spooning my one and only..    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Matara, Talllala and Beach Hopping.

    December 29, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Day 57 & 58.

    With our little green Tuk Tuk the south coast was ours to explore, which meant discovering as many beaches as possible, and rating them accordingly of course..

    After a ropey start, occassionaly driving with handbrake fully on and a little help from the locals we were now much more confident driving our tuktuk, small beach roads, hills, reversing, you name it - no problem!

    Limbster was a top co driver with directions only rarely slipping up albeit nearly causing a pile up with one small turning error when she did ;)

    Beaches were amazing, we headed back toward to Tangalle hopping from cove to cove, swimming and trying to avoid that midday sun! Tried to get more mahi mahi but one hour too early for lunch - darn!

    Matara itself was gorgeous for sunset, but spent most of our time in this town hunting for food, which was far and few between - opted for service station like Kothu (Ellie was hangry here) and another round of Kraft and crackers - becoming a real Sri Lanka fave now.

    Back to Hiriketiya to drop off the tuktuk (very sad but it will not be our last) definitely the best way to get around. One last dip and then a quick escape before I found out I've burnt the clutch out and they need me to pay for a new handbrake.

    Today Ellie had ice cream 21 - given we've only been here two weeks that's a feat worth noting.

    Top 3 Beaches.

    Tangalle
    Goyambokka
    Tallalla    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Hiriketiya

    December 26, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Day 53 - 56.

    Heading to our base for Xmas - we have heard Hiriketiya is a great small surfing bay well away from the roads. After a difficult tuk tuk hunt to find Kingsleys place we were eventually found by a waving Kingsley in the street - we had found it! Great little home stay 50m from the Beach (which was also incred).

    The place had a perfect private outdoor space, with an outdoor shower, lazing beds and our own little dinner table + fire, we would spend all our time not on the Beach right here! All credit here to Limbster on the Airbnb front.

    We dropped our stuff and headed straight to the sea, it was easy 35° and we could have stayed in that water all day watching the surfers!

    It was Xmas eve so we had to celebrate in style, stocked up on Lions from Fooood citaaay as well as plenty of cheese and crackers (a real treat here!). We enjoyed our feast over games and Xmas cracker writing, finished off by watching Love actually in bed - a Xmas eve must wherever we are!

    Sunrise swims on Xmas morning followed by rum, more rum, Lion & then some Craig rum specials to round it off. Evening followed with a family Skype chat, WiFi just about held out to our surprise and we managed to see everyone!

    Note to Craig - do not forget Ellie's Xmas crackers. Some big promises made, looking forward to Jan 1st...

    Trip was ended with a great Sri Lankan curry at the homestay to candlelight prepared by Kingsley. We then fulfilled one of our Sri Lankan must do list, hire a Tuk Tuk - mixture of nerves and excitement followed but we were off! Whether we would make it to day 57 was yet to be seen.....

    Oh I forgot to mention (like we could forget) but Limbster got a little sun burnt here, just a little though...    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Tangalle

    December 23, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Day 52 & 53.

    THE BEACH! It's been nearly 8 weeks of seeing no coastline and we've been super excited for this day since day 1. After a rather gruelling 3 hour standing bus ride and evading some sneaky tricks from some local taxi scammers we arrived at tangalle to meet Bandulla at his home stay (nicest man in Sri Lanka hands down).

    Quick welcome drink and straight off to swim, home stay was within 100m of a gorgeous beach so we wasted no time.

    Plenty of koala 'ing, wave surfing and sunburn followed but it was welcomed as we were so excited to be here! Beaches are super quiet and chilled, tons of local fresh fish (even roped me into help catch it one day) and plenty of coconuts!

    Don't want to leave the warm hospitality of Bandulla and this great place. In fact the only real downside of this stay was the loss of limbsters sunglasses after she was unmercyfully thrown around by the crashing sea waves... sad times.

    New favourite fish which we had two nights in a row - the Mahi Mahi, other locals seem unfamiliar but it was fantastic!

    Great beard trim here also by Sri Lanakn MJ lookalike , certianly now feeling fresh for Xmas at Hiriketeyia.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Ella

    December 20, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Day 49 - 51.

    The sun was shining today, much against the forecast prediction from myself. As a result we rushed to get to Ella to enjoy the weather before the oncoming rain arrived (as again predicted by me).
    Sadly our train was cancelled but transport was quickly resolved by a few helpful tuk tuk drivers.

    Arrived in Ella to Escapde hostel - outside Ella but alongside the famous train tracks, which you had to walk down to get there (avoiding the odd train or two!)

    We quickly set out down the track for the famous 9 arch bridge and it was SWEATY. By far the hottest day in Sri Lanka to date and we were out baking in the sun for a good 12km round trip. Was well worth it however, bridge was spectacular, even if it did result in a mini domestic to get limbster down that hill for a photo....

    Up onwards to Adams little peak, our much preferred of the two and then into Ella for some great food at Mateys hut - first Kotthu and best Sri Lankan curry to date, all the mango! :)

    After this we rested in Ella during a spell of rain, meeting some great people at the hostel and catching up on some much needed life admin over a few tins of Lion before we headed to the sunny coast!!

    Top tips from Limbster:

    1. Uploading photos to Facebook is not worth the stress it causes.

    2. Dont choose the 10 bed dorm for 3 nights when a group of English lads join on a 2 week piss up - earplugs to the rescue again.

    3. Walking with a coconut on a train track whilst trying to pose is not safe in any circumstance. Insta life vs reality.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Haputale

    December 18, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Day 47 & 48.

    Boarded the short train today to Haputale, small less visited hill town. Yet again managed to buy 2nd class tickets but end up very much amongst the crowds in 3rd - but all part of the experience and views remain amazing! Note to self always buy 3rd class, morons.

    Checked into the not so grand view, this town felt like real Sri Lanka, less tourists and more of a bazaar feel. We set out at 5am via tuk tuk to visit Liptons seat (no more walking we deserve it), views of sunrise were amazing but very much overshadowed by the breakfast stealing monkeys, so, so much sugar in the face...

    Strolled back for 8km through countless tea fields and observing local tea pickers at work (whilst slyly trying to get a free picture of the odd one or two..) to arrive back at the Liptons original Tea factory.

    After a quick tour of the original building which was super interesting it was a rather speedy bus back through the hills to town. Buses are crazy here and by far the fastest transport on the road, a real experience.

    Limbster is yet to improve her poker face and the disappointment from the announcement that there would be no free Tea tasting certainly could be seen a long way off, give that girl a refund!

    Built a card pyramid whilst waiting for Ellie to continue to solve the ongoing sandal crisis - great personal achievement, added to the wunderlist. Sandal crisis however not solved, no end in sight.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

    December 15, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Day 44 - 46

    Experienced our first Sri Lankan train ride today - not fully anticipating the resourcefulness of the locals & mad sprinting to the doors meant we were firmly left stood up for the first 3 hours of this ride. But got to meet some great locals as a result, Gamini Jayathunga - very generous with his snacks & great contacts as well as a local medical student.

    Now much wiser to these train tricks and with the help of some locals we were able to commadere 2 actual seats at Kandy - and later upgrade to door view seats for the final 4 hours of the journey. This meant amazing views & was defintely worth the occasional risk of losing both our legs to an overhanging wall or station platform!

    Top top - Utilising the toilet window allows for a great door hanging GoPro snap!

    Later arrived to the Laughing Leopard Hostel - great new place with perfect vibe even if the owner is 24 years old and a total G! We quickly & rather impulsively enlisted on a 12.30am departure to Adams Peak (a 2500m sacred climb) to watch sunrise with Max & Lilly, had intended to avoid more trekking so not sure how this happened!

    Trek was hard, after a bad start (driver hit a horse on route) we made a series of catastrophic wrong turns resulting in a frantic dash for sunrise up 5500 steps!!! We struggled. Hard. And now in danger of missing sunrise we scurried through the trees to the mountain edge and caught a great view - finishing the climb after about 6.30 - tough day. No more trekking - ever. That or I'm worried Limbster might leave me.

    Last day was a rest day, some great local Dosas and one too many Lion beers around the fire. Will long remember the pure crazy that are solo Finnish trekkers, totally nuts.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    SRI LANKA - Colombo

    December 14, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Day 43.

    Arrived in Sri Lanka after cracking flight courtesy of Sri Lankan airlines - remember to always choose vs Air India.

    Short visit here to extend our 1 month Visa to 3, after 4 hours waiting to do so we got out to see Colombo. First tuk tuk ride, stroll along the sea front & plenty of ice lollies to cool us down meant for a productive day!

    Serious increase in temperature here vs Nepal.
    Sweat. Shower. Sleep. Repeat.

    Bought a cracking shirt here mind, note to self to treat Ellie to even out the scales asap.

    Top tip - avoid tour groups of 18 year old Australians, jeeez.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Kathmandu Part 2

    December 13, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Day 42 - 43

    Arrived back in Kathmandu ahead of our flight out to Sri Lanka. Totally different to experience the city post Dilwali and after 6 weeks of acclimatising to Nepal life!

    Managed to tick off all last remaining to do's including navigating the interesting Nepalese postal service (very traditional indeed including sewing the old box with material and wax sealing each corner using a small fire in the post office) I think we can only dream that those prayer flags make it back to Bri ....

    Last night was also our official anniversary so we went out in search of happy hour to celebrate in style, plenty of San Miguel (oddly the cheapest beer here) and Masala papad. One of the two didn't sit well with Ellie the next day however and the Imodium has now made its first appearance pre flight..... (Would have bet on Limbster breaking open the first aid kit)

    Finished an amazing night watching over the whole city from the Hostel rooftop net which is our fave city view spot, I think we even drifted off to sleep in no time, same could not be said sadly for our hostel room, does every fucking guy snore or what - plenty more of this to come I'm sure.

    Super sad to be leaving Nepal but we will never forget our time here, what an adventure!    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Chitwan - The Jungle

    December 7, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Day 38 - 41

    A short journey from Tara's Place (3 shorter than usual buses) and we arrived at Hotel Rhino Land at £2.50 per night - whether the hotel would live up to the name was yet to be seen at this point.

    Welcomed by our v friendly host but missed the welcome activities due to our desire for fried rice and a veggie burger, need to get better at this time management thing.

    Later that night we had our first encounter, a sleeping Rhino around the back field of the hotel. Amazing start - this threw us slightly (mainly Ellie) into doubting participating in the jungle trek, this and our money conscious side had begun to come out, I mean we just saw a Rhino (albeit semi wild) chilling around the back of the Hotel!

    To our surprise and after much sunset Rhino hunting we were also able to see an amazing wild Rhino (horn and all) coming to bathe on our final night at the parks edge (we even enjoyed a beer for the moment). Plenty of wild crocodiles throughout our time here too without venturing into the official park whatsoever!

    Chitwan itself was relaxed & had some great food, we found our favourite Dal Bhat here and proceeded to visit 3 nights in a row! Also discovered chips chilly - my god this late discovery will remain one of our few Nepal regrets!

    P.s Ellie would argue that the 3 hours spent hunting for a size 40 grey rhino T shirt rather than actual Rhinos was actually time well spent..    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Chitwan - Taras Place

    November 30, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Day 28 - Day 37.

    This was our first Workaway of Nepal and the first one together and what an awesome experience!
    Tara and Anjana where such great hosts and the nicest people. Less so the Kid I have to say but 3 out of 4 is a decent result.

    From Rice harvesting to Potato planting and cement mixing it was certainly one of our highlights so far.

    Was nice to get used to a daily routine of spicy ginger tea at 8.30 as the mist was still settling followed by a 10am lunch - Dhal Bhat every day! (Except crepe days... Sweet Jesus so many crepe days)

    Even managed to get 3 runs in across our time here, hopefully the start of something more consistent...

    Usually relaxing until 1pm then getting stuck into some work out in the sun, rice farming being a favourite for sure and a real learning experience! I think Limbster really bonded with the goats here two, like two peas in a pod I tell you.

    Getting involved with the school was definitely a highlight too, took 3 classes of crazy kids and a lot of scattergries made for a very fun day! Certainly out of my comfort zone too and Ellie very much carried the day, what a natural.

    Best part of the day was always 3 - 5pm, sunset on the roof with limbster, reading, yoga and just taking in the views! Great group too - roughly 10 of us there and met some good friends, shared many a beer / meal and I'm sure we'll see most again in the small backpacking world!

    Sadly it had to come to an end but we left stocked for the bus with our new favourite sweet snack (So so much sugar, but we deserve it after this hard farmwork right) and a new advent calendar album so there's plenty more to come!    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Bandipur,

    November 27, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Day 26 - Day 28.

    4 Days 3 nights relaxing in Bandipur on route to Chitwan.

    Nowhere else like it in Nepal, relaxing European like streets with amazing 360 mountain views. Not the best agoda booking given on arrival our hotel was still very much in construction, they will forever have Craig Fishers odd shaped footprint well and truly cemented in their hallway however, lucky bastards.

    Everything happens for a reason though and quickly stumbled upon a room with the best balcony in all of bandipur for a bargain price (apart from it nearly killing someone on day 3 with a balcony railing), note to self stop fiddling!

    Enjoyed a great sunset at the mountain viewpoint, temporarily surrounded by 50 Nepalese children intently observing our card game was a highlight if not a tad off putting! Sure I still won mind.

    Found a bargain bottle of red wine here, balcony, snacks, red wine and reading whilst the sun came down was a real highlight of the trip so far. Best times with my Limbster.

    Trekked down to the Siddha caves on our last day, totally unspoilt caves, we got shown around the dark by a local nepalese guide. Some big questionable ladders down into the cave with some ropes for the way up that caused just a few minor injuries..    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Pokhara, Nepal

    November 21, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Day 21 - Day 26.

    We spent a total of 6 days in Pokhara, a surreal place vs real Nepal life down by Lakeside but a great place to relax post Trek for a few home comforts.

    Checked into Teeka resort (a lovely 3 star hotel) to celebrate the news of our baby girl (or anniversary nor us or the hotel staff were quite sure). Looked after well here and took serious advantage of that buffet breakfast. After living in our hotel bubble it was back to a hostel, the budget can only afford so many treats after all.

    Had a night out with the dutch couple here, drunk beer, wine and alll the whiskey for the first real time, no need to worry about altidtude any more, or money it seems...

    On the upside we had robbed a lovely store owner of £50 today, so you could say it was a subsidized evening. I swear he took that bloody driving licence, note - not something to mention to anyone else, ever.

    Little hike to the peace pagoda followed by a tough trip down, not distance wise mind just due to the fact Limbster brought a grand total of 0 pairs of suitable footwear on a 2 year trip. It was painfully slow and required teamwork, it was hard to resist lecturing but I did my best.

    Spent many a meal at OR2K, cracking Dhal. We will miss the food here but time to see more of the real Nepal.

    Don't be fooled by the cat in the picture, we still hate all animals, if there weren't people around that cat might not be so comfortable.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Mck - Jomsom

    November 20, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    Day 20.

    Trekking day (short jeep) to Jomsom, checked into a fine looking hotel, only when we sought to investigate the slightly annoying banging did we discover the rooftop yak butchery, that smell will stay with us for some time to come, safe to say Yak meet is certainly off the menu if it wasn't already, can't say the same for everyone we share the story with as they seem to instantly proceed with ordering more Yak!

    Stay in Jomsom followed by a cheeky 13 Hour Jeep ride back to Pokhara, certainly an experience. Met a lovely British couple working for the Nepal embassy who also confirmed this was the worst journey ever. Insane to see the landslides quickly be cleared and a new road built within the afternoon albeit slightly scary!!

    Our first try of unboiled instant noodles too, it was that or starve on the mountain side, our driver certainly wasn't stopping for a lunch break. This was however a local delicacy of Nepal so about time we got involved, a local entrepreneur was quick in taking advantage of the landslide situation but we were starving and therefore grateful!

    Interesting visit all in all, certainly put off Yak meat if we weren't already and will begin to appreciate those rocky roads slightly more, at least it's a road!    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Thorong La Pass

    November 18, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    Day 17.

    We finally made it! The pass was a killer 5 hour ascent and we got hit with freezing cold winds at the top, but we pushed through together and made it! All took shelter in a tiny tea shack after some windy snaps.

    For the first time I needed my fingers rubbing for circulation (how the tables have turned) and was willing to pay any price for a mug of burning hot tea to help the issue. Amazing a local was camped up this high selling tea - even kept the tea money he made in a bucket made purely from ice!

    We preceded to devour our remaining snacks for all possible energy, we would need it to get down.

    And that was that the pass was over in a flash! Time to descend, finally! A 1600m descent across 2 hours indicates just how keen we were to get down!

    Limbster especially took off in an almost sprint like fashion, anything to get out of that ice cold wind.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Thorong Pedi

    November 17, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C

    Day 16.

    The night before the pass. Amazing Tea house considering we're at 4600 metres. Chilled all day with plenty of games and reading. Scary to see the number of people turning back at this point (or giving up and opting for the $110 horse ride over the pass). Early night as 4.45am start for the climb.

    It's much colder now so when the sun dipped the -10° trips to the outside squat toilet during the night in the black ice was certainly interesting...

    Highlight today was teaching everyone perudo (best game) and proceeding to dominate as the winner as expected..

    Vouter arguably saved Crocidle Dundees life at this stage by keeping him at Thorong Pedi with us, we would have a 5 companion for the final ascent tomorrow.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Yak Karga

    November 16, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C

    Day 15.

    It's the penultimate day before the pass - shorter walk today but lots of games with Dieke and Woulter passed the afternoon at Yak Karga! It is starting to get super cold now so lots of layers are coming into the sleeping bags 2 - 5pm is now regular sleeping bag time until the fires get lit at 5.

    We're also now using Yak dung for fire - No more inhabitable villages at this height, certainly different.

    Games learnt today to remember:
    Hunting Hearts
    Whole 9
    51

    And obviously some good games of Irish snap which we already comprehensively know the rules of.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Manang

    November 15, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    Day 14.

    One rest day at Manang. Exhausted after Ice Lake and we are both super cold.

    Enjoyed the makeshift cinema tonight (even if the movie didn't live up to the hype (Into the Wild was not our first choice). Nights like this strongly reaffirm Limbster is my soulmate by the fact we hate with meticulous detail the same things and people, bodes well for two years together 24/7.

    The placement of a rare electric fire right at our feet however quickly got us over our dismay at the movie choice - we will go on without seeing 7 years in Tibet if we can stay this warm for 200 rupees.

    Veg burgers were fantastic at our Tea House but the fire less so therefore it was an early cold night to get some rest in! Legs feel like jelly going to bed - note to self stretch next time!

    Back on the Trail Tomorrow!    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Ice Lake!

    November 14, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ -4 °C

    Day 13.

    HOLY SHIT. Certainly the hardest trek so far (and an optional one at that!) - A 1100m ascent in 4 hours at highest altitude yet hitting 4600m, I'm now genuinely worried Ellie is going to turn back and charter a helicopter out of here!

    I'm beginning to pant heavily due to altitude, much to Limbsters annoyance apparently who obviously prefers peace and quiet over hearing the alarming sounds of me slowly dying. Views however the best so far and good to know we can handle the altitude okay ...ish, great walking as a 4 too and really kept each other going (we chased Vouter and Dieke up the hill and they chased us down).

    Enjoyed some fresh citrus fruits at the top courtesy of some generous Koreans then began the steep climb back to Manang after the cold really kicked in, literally a sprint to get back into our sleeping bags!

    Ellie smashed her downhill fears today given we basically ran the whole way down 1100m.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Bhraka

    November 13, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Day 12.

    Ellie's worst day to date. This was a big 7 hour walking day in the freezing cold, but we made it! Solid 1 hour vertical climb only made worse by an optimistic porter getting our hopes up early on. Tougher than anticipated today for sure, carrying the bag is certainly starting to take its toll.

    However reunited with Dieke and Woulter today plus new companions including Crocidle Dundee and Spanish couple Max and Annie, walked as a group with big plans to utilise our new found bargaining power at the next Tea house..

    Few photos today as we focused on the cold - the gloves rarely came off! May have been a bit turtle and hare about the whole thing yesterday, it's starting to get tough!

    Much needed hot meal tonight whilst tutting the fellow travellers drinking beer over dinner.

    Many, many prayers were said over these wheels today ->    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Upper Pissang

    November 12, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Day 11.

    Our first day trekking, a solid 4-5 hour trek which was an absolute killer after months of no exercise but the high of being in the mountains for the first time kept us going, trekking poles were a life saver also!

    Crossed epic foot bridges (albeit somewhat shakily on my part) over the huge valleys today, I think it'll take me a while to get used to these after seeing how most Nepalese structures are built but whilst it's the only way up the mountain I have no choice!

    Arrived at Mandela lodge in great time with awesome mountain views and fantastic lemon tea with no plans to move for a good few hours! Genuinely appear to have been the fastest people on the Annapurna circuit today, this can't be all that hard right?

    Amazingly no blisters from our shoes today, which is a real achievement, we might be seeing more of these boots yet.

    Note - Don't leave limbster alone in a store to hire a trekking gear, it appears we have rented a sharp peice of steel with a pocket attached designed purely with the purpose of causing a great deal of pain. Not much we can do now. On we go.

    Now at 3000m.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Kathmandu - Pokhara - Chame

    November 11, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    Day 9 & 10.

    Quick overnight in Pokhara after a bumpy 7 hour bus from Kathmandu - roads are minimal here so reading during journeys has quickly been ruled out, but the scenery is fantastic!

    Spent an hour haggling for the best bargain sleeping bags in town, apparently we have down sleeping bags but I'm fairly confident if I'd asked for a sleeping bag lined with gold the lovely Indian gentlemen would have told me it was stuffed with that too. Anyway still fairly confident I won't need one but let's pray to god it keeps Ellie alive, losing at least one of those lanky limbs to frostbite is still a real risk.

    Back to the hostel for some rest, Limbster awkwardly hid behind the door tonight whilst I chatted up the receptionist. Not something we want to repeat too often..

    To get to Chame, our starting point, it was a 6 hour bus plus a 6 hour jeep climbing 2500m. It needs to be a jeep as there are virtually no roads, at no point in 6 hours did we exceed 5mph, we met Dieke and Wouter today from the Netherlands after clubbing together to haggle the very aggressive young jeep drivers, if only they where nice Nepalese ladies they might get their asking price! Shared lots of laughs during the jeep ride together and also met Susan today (awesome Nepalese local who hitched a ride) - "too much dust..!"

    Super scary edges followed by warm apple pie and tea to finish the day around a much needed fire.

    Quickly dodged a bullet here and avoided sleeping at what could only be compared to a scene out of the movie 'Hostel'. Don't trust young Jeep drivers or cold dark cabins.

    The trekking fear has begun to settle in now coupled with a little excitement! Tomorrow it begins!    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Boudnahath

    November 9, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Day 8.

    Today was a monumental one as it was the first Tour by Limby Adventures Ltd, which meant three things; 1. At least half a day off from map navigation for Craig 2. The first time in 8 days Ellie has seen a map and finally 3. That we where bound to get lost / argue / cancel the tour.

    In fact the tour was an overwhelming success in terms of history and sights, less can be said about the ever rotating map, but there is always room for improvement. Result - 4.5 out of 5.

    With Limbster relieved of duty we arrived safely at Boudnahath for the evening - The Biggest Buddhist stupha in Nepal.

    Atmosphere here was totally different to that of Kathmandu - peaceful! We followed the many monks and visitors in walking in a clockwise direction (after some prompting) around the great Stupa, spinning the prayer wheels as we went constantly amazed by the number of prayer flags in sight!

    Spotted a great vegan rooftop restaurant with amazing views over the Stupa and surrounding area so enjoyed a feast as we watched the sunset over the Stupa. As ever we had to find the BEST combination of quality / value food we could.. but I think we nailed it this time!

    Met a lovely Indian Buddhist student on route home who shared a taxi with us, safe to say however he hated 99% of all other Indians which is why we can only assume he has fled the country. Will try not to let this tarnish our excitement just yet.

    Favourite day in Kathmandu so far.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    Nargakot

    November 7, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Day 6 & 7

    Two night trip to watch the sun rise over Mt. Everest in the quiet hill town of Nargakot.

    First local bus experience was certainly memorable, intrigued to see if this is the standard we should come to expect going forward - me cradling a locals new born baby in one arm, with a second child asleep on my right shoulder all whilst a lady leant across us to chunder violently out of the moving bus as we climbed the cliff. I'm still grateful she made it to the door and that we had a seat for the ride mind, most didn't!

    Nargarkot was well worth the bus ride however, great comfy bed with sunrise views and the best sunset so far, alone on the roof with a warm mug of ginger tea & 360° mountain peak views, plenty of 7000m + peaks in sight here! Note to us, we need to haggle better and improve our poker face.

    Will remember for a long time the feeling of sheer fear as we leapt half dazed to our feet, fully tangled in our brightly coloured duvets when a large baboon like monkey landed right on our balcony during sunrise. A real shock and I've never seen us run so fast, except maybe from dogs - we seem to run from them a lot lately also, bloody love animals.

    Top stay all in all, now back down that hill. Note it's best to ride on the roof of the bus for amazing views and an unforgettable experience. I wouldn't know of course because it's dangerous but for whoever is reading this.    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    NEPAL Kathmandu - Sparkling Turtle!

    November 2, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Day 1 - 5.

    Our base for exploring Kathmandu was the Sparkling Turtle slightly out of town. Great people - questionable Buffalo burgers and showers (see below) but a great hostel to start exploring the chaos that is Kathmandu!

    Potentially not to be noted as the hostel for successful mountainerers however as we quickly learned a number of guests had either been airlifted to rescue or come down violently sick in the mountains. I did my best to diffuse Limbsters concerns but I feel this is sadly not the end...

    Lucky enough to have experienced Diwali festival in this city in all its glory - Xmas lights and party celebrations on every corner, crazy atmosphere! Certainly a way to readjust to the backpacking lifestyle, senses overload all day long!

    Diwali Thoughts.

    All for celebrating the crows but wouldn't mind if they dropped the dogs next year.

    The coloured paint on sale in the street is not for a paint party (sadly) but merely for decorative pictures outside your home.

    As expected we instantly fell for the bright colours in this city and therefore quickly found our bags (Craig's bags) overflowing with excess clothing, we will be looking at sending some boxes home in no time to unload I'm sure!

    Positives - Diwali, First Momos, Durbar Square, Bargain trekking gear and lots and lots of people!

    Negatives - Cash machine robbed £172 off us today, bastards. Don't trust Green buses, they don't exist, literally take any other bus!    Read more

  • Craig and LimbsterLa Vida ColoridaTraveler

    London, United Kingdom

    November 1, 2018 in England ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Day 0.

    And so the Adventure begins...

    Looking as fresh as we likely will for the foreseeable future! Coming up for a 8 hour flight to Dehli followed by an overnight in Dehli airport for 13 hours then a swift onward flight to Kathmandu!

    Worth noting we spent £42 on a Heathrow Breakfast with bloody Mary's here, the best we will likely eat for a very, very long time! And it was worth it!

    Ellie very much enjoyed the announcement that Chicken Korma would be on the in flight Menu.

    Note: Experience from sleeping at Dehli airport so far is that the Indian people are super polite, in fact regardless of the hour they are more than willing to stream music outloud on their phone for you to hear, even if you don't ask..    Read more

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