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From Hull to Everywhere Else

My trip from Hull heading eastwards. The aim is to reach Turkey overland, then into the 'Stans. Thence to India and further east. . After that who knows? But I'm not overplanning. Just going to see what happens. Meer informatie

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Jaisalmer
16 november 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Overnight sleeper bus to Jaisalmer with Eva, Georgia, and Matilde. Arrive early about 8ish and then get a lift tuk tuk and scooty to the hostel inside the fort. Lovely winding alleyways within the fort and the homestay we are staying it is part of the fort.

After breakfast we all have a bit of a sleep as - despite the sleeper bus - we are all still tired and dirty.

Went out for a meal and was recommended to go to the Milan restaurant if we wanted meat. It was amazing. Best food I've had in India I would say. Had chicken tandoori, aloo gobi and naan. Came back and had an early night.

Also good news… I now have 3 daughters 🙂Meer informatie
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Pushkar
13–15 nov. 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Here for the "famous" camel fair. Not really a camel fair any more - more like a fairground with a total absence of health and safety features. Did see two camels that were doing short rides. Even though it's a fairly small city it is so crowded here.

Bought a guitar for 5000 rupees. Finally. :)Meer informatie
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Jaipur
11–14 nov. 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Three nights in Jaipur. With Eva, Georgia and Matilda (from Agra). The pink city so stayed at the Pink Nest hostel in the middle of the old walled city. Went to the fort, the Monkey Temple. Saw my first snake charmer. Saw some Escheresque architecture. Met new friends Shauna (Irish and Smaili - Indian who out of the blue gave me a lift on the back of his bike)Meer informatie
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Agra
7–10 nov. 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Agra. Taj Mahal. Agra Fort. Stayed at Joey's hostel - the same chain as in Delhi
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Rishikesh
29 okt.–6 nov. 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Staying in Rishikesh. Rented motorbike and did some exploring nearby. Fun to do and not as scary as you might think. Near the city is an adventure centre and it was here I did my first bungee. I felt more scared than o looked. For a skydiver getting out low is scarier than getting out high. No time to put things right if they go wrong. While I did this, Eva, Georgia and Ruby did a go-ape style rope walking challenge.

Here for Diwali so spent an evening by the river Ganges watching various ceremonies.

Did a number of yoga sessions at a local ashram. Hot and sweaty!Meer informatie
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McLeod Ganj, Paragliding
28 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Despite still feeling a little iffy I had booked paragliding for the morning. Headed down there by taxi and got transferred onto the pilot's - Ruhan's - motorbike to head up to the launching point. Nice to be on the back of a bike again. And great to be doing something akin to skydiving which I haven't done for a while. The paragliding trip lasted about 20 minutes and was really enjoyable. Relaxing with great views of the local scenery and city, circling with falcons. Unlike a skydive I was the tandem student and you get to actually sit in a seat while you are flying. Ruhan offered the chance of an extreme ride and I took it. I don't think my stomach was too happy about that but it and I made it through without throwing up again. Heading off to Rishikesh this evening with Ruby, who I initially met on the trip to the border ceremony.Meer informatie
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McLeod Ganj
24–27 okt. 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Moved to Kailwood Guest House today a little bit up the road. Haven't been feeling that great. Did a walk to the waterfall. Explored the town a little. Quick trip to explore Daramkot. Not much else done.Meer informatie
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Mcleod Ganj
23 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Spent more or less the whole day in bed as was feeling pretty rough. Got some electrolytes to boost me.
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Mcleod Ganj
22 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Early (8am) bus from Amritsar to Mcleod Ganj. Six hours or so. very very bumpy. Arrived at the Backpackers Inn and checked into nice room for abut 700R a night. Met up with Maddie who was moving out having been bitten! Met up with Eva and Georgia and had evening meal with them. Didn't manage to finish as was beginning to feel a little rough. No more memories because I spent the night throwing up. I presume due to the chicken the night before.Meer informatie
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Amritsar
21 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Lazy day in Amritsar. Had planned to go to the museums but they were shut. Had had a few days without meat so resolved to go and get a chicken curry (from Chicken Corner). Went to a local dive where I as temporarily adopted by a group of local wrestlers. Yes, wrestlers!Meer informatie
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Amritsar
20 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
So again it's been a few days since my last entry. After the border ceremony at Amritsar a group of us went to the Golden Temple. At 4am!!! The reason being it was a festival celebrating the anniversary of the founder of Amritsar. We were told that it might be quiet then. We were told wrong. There were thousands of people there. After returning to be had a relaxing day in the hostel not doing very much at all.Meer informatie
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Beating the Retreat Border Ceremony
19 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Went to the Beating the Retreat Ceremony at the Wagah Attari Border post - the border between India and Pakistan. One of the most fun and crazy things I’ve seen in a long while - a cross between a military parade and a rock concert with the military MC doing his best Freddie Mercury style call and response from the huge crowd. He even had a moustache.

There were thousands of people watching in stands built especially for the ceremony. This is the case every day apparently. The ceremony consists of the MC getting the crowds going with shouts and claps. Drums timed to coincide with the marching steps of the soldiers are played over the loudspeakers. And the marching ceremony is undertaken by soldiers wearing silly hats. It is also known as the silly walks ceremony. No doubt Monty Python take their cut (although the ceremony predates them - going back to 1959). Across the border the Pakistani troops perform a mirror image ceremony which culminates in a mutual lowering of their respective national flags right at the border line. A symbol of the friendship and rivalry between the two countries. Quite moving really.

Our guide was Vicky (a guy not a girl I think maybe his full name was Vikram but he was called Vicky) who drove 7 of us to the border and back in a tuk tuk. He was hilarious. This blog site only allows me to put one minute videos up but I’ll put a link to the whole ceremony on YouTube when I can.Meer informatie
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ReizigerAmazing! But bizarre....
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Amritsar
19 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We (Kay and I) arrived into Amristar at 9am and got a tuk tuk to the Madpackers hostel. Had couple of hours sleep then headed off to explore the town with Kay and new friend Matt. Spent hours exploring the town. Met a very persistent girl who as trying to sell us fridge magnets. Went to the Golden Temple but didn't go inside as saving that for another day.

Evening was a BBQ at the hostel and a very relaxing evening that ended around midnight!Meer informatie
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Delhi
17 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C
After the craziness of Old Delhi, the plan was to do a little bit more "proper" sightseeing. Had a list of sights to see. So Kay and I started with the Red Fort, which apparently is the no.1 tourist attraction in Delhi. Like the Topkapi Palace it is very spread out so there is no one single building to stop and stare at - just a number of smaller ones surrounded by the high red fort walls. Very hot. Hotter than yesterday. After wandering round for an hour or two, we'd done enough. Kay was feeling a little under the weather so headed back to the hostel. I walked a little back into the old city and had some brunch - lamb korma I think. Not the best but okay and I did give a video endorsement. After that a tuk tuk to India Gate. Much quieter. But seeing "the sights" was much less fun than just getting lost in Old Delhi. After that I was quite exhausted too so headed back to the hostel. Overnight sleeper bus booked for Amritsar, leaving at 11.00pm. Never done a sleeper bus before. The bus has bunk beds, single on the left, doubles on the right and also rows of seats under the double bunks. The beds themselves were quite comfy, but some of the other passengers didn't;t seem to apprectiate that it might be nicer to be quiet at 4am.Meer informatie
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Delhi, exploring the Old Town
16 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
Spent the day exploring the old with Sebastian and Kay. Got a tub tuk over and got dropped off by the mosque. short walk. got breakfast at street food place. then a desperate search for a toilet - got one at the atm/bank. wandered trough the rice area. then stopped for an impromptu game of cricket at a park. started looking fora sit down restaurant. harder than you might think. crossed the bridge over the railway and found - a McDonald's! stopped there to rest, then restarted on tour. crossed the bridge during rush hour when scooters and some bikes decide to invade the pedestrian pavement bit. then spent the evening exploring more of old delhi - the tap and bathroom fittings area. got completely lost. found the road back to the mosque where we had got dropped off. seb wanted a haircut so we all stopped. in the end all three of us had head and back massages too. crazy tuk tuk ride back to the hostel. full day!Meer informatie
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India!!! Delhi
15 oktober 2024, Indië ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
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Karakol
29 september 2024, Kirgizië ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C
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Karakol
28 september 2024, Kirgizië ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C
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Karakol to Bishkek via Barskool
27 sep.–11 okt. 2024, Kirgizië ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Wow. I'm behind with my blog entries. This is 13 October. It's been two weeks since my last entry. That's a bit rubbish. I came down with flu/covid in Karakol, so while Lisa went hiking in the montagnes I spent the days hanging round the hostel sneezing and coughing. Didn't even mange any blog entries. At the end of the month L+ me heading to Barskoon to meet up with her friend Emy. From there we did a little bit of hiking - firstly in Skazka Canyon and subsequently at Barskoon waterfall. Evenings were spent playing Ligretto (a game by the makers of Uno). Emy won way too many games. I am suspicious. After three nights there we all caught a mashrutka to Apple Hostel Bishkek. I have been here ever since. James (from the Pamir) turned up just after we arrived having cycled and taxi'd from Osh. He stayed for a few days then headed off to Almaty from where he is flying home. I'm heading there tomorrow to fly to India. While here we headed to Chicken star where I had phall temperature korean chicken. Gotta get in the practice for India!Meer informatie
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Karakol
27 september 2024, Kirgizië ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
Spent the day travelling from Bishkek to Karakol. Plan to do a little hiking with Lisa. Staying at something calle the Urban Monkey Tent hostel. What a crazy name. But the this is the only hostel I've come across that has tents where beds usually are.Meer informatie
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Bishkek
26 september 2024, Kirgizië ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Spent the morning at the Chinese visa centre in Almaty only to discover that it is not possible to get a visa for china from here unless you have residence in Kazakhstan. I had heard this might be the case via the WhatsApp group but not from any official sources and it seemed that the rules may have changed in August. So having filled out the forms last night, before I submitted them I went to the to check and also to enquire as to what might be the correct answer for some of the questions - as it wasn't always clear and I thought better do what I can to get it right first time. Also the express service was about $200 and I didn't want to pay that and then get rejected. So off to the office I went. Got to ask my questions with the help of a nice lady behind me in the queue that spoke english. But from the off I was told of the residence requirement so all of my subsequent questions were moot. So Almaty was now off. Back to Bishkek.

Walked the 3/4 miles back to the hostel. Had coffee at a coffee shop on the way. Served by a crazy Russian lady who had no English but communicated very effectively by crazy sign language!.

Got the afternoon bus and arrived at Bishkek in the early evening in the pouring rain. Summer is definitely over.Meer informatie
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Almaty
25 september 2024, Kazachstan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
So 12.00 bus to Almaty from Bishkek to hopefully get a visa for China. Spent a little time getting an acceptable photo to upload to their online form (which is designed terribly) - it took many goes to load. Then left the hostel to the bus. As the bus was departing i realised I'd left my fancy Bose headphones behind. Phone call to the hostel. They couldn't find them. Then an email an hour or so later saying they had. Phew! Uneventful trip to Almaty including an unmemorable border crossing. Don't even recall it! Got to the backpackers hostel in Almaty - dorm was a huge room with 7 bunk beds - mostly russians I think. Spent the evening trying to fill in the chinese visa application form. Not an easy task as it asks some questions that don't make sense or are strictly speaking unanswerable. For example it asks you entry destination into China. My plan was into Kashgar, but that wasn't one of the options - I'm guessing it only shows cities with airports? Anyway, not possible to answer honestly and yet you don't want to lie on these forms - especially not where China is concerned. So I left a few questions unanswered in the hope that I could get advice at the visa centre tomorrow when I hope to compete the application.

Went for a nice meal at the Mendal Restaurant as advised by Alex the Russian I met in the hostel.Meer informatie
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Ala Archa
22 september 2024, Kirgizië ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
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Ala Archa - again
22 september 2024, Kirgizië ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
So with a couple of days to kill in Bishkek before I try to apply for a Chinese visa we decided to go to Ala Archa again. I'd been here a month ago with a cold and had struggled. Didn't quite make it to the waterfall. This time there was a group of four of us - Me, Lisa, Noah (Australian/Japanese) and Lucia (Chinese/Hong Kong). We set off a quite a lick and made it to the waterfall (and back) with 3/4 of an hour to spare before the taxi arrived. The rivers were much lower than they had been previously and the scenery was much more autumnal. Given that it is now autumn I guess that's not too surprising. On the way back we took a much steeper descent route and my legs were killing me for a couple of days afterwards.Meer informatie
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Chinese visa shenanigans
21–26 sep. 2024, Kirgizië ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Spent 3 nights in Bishkek back at the Apple Hostel. First day didn't do very much at all. Second day headed to the Chinese consulate only to discover that arriving at 2pm meant that they were shut. Third day arrived at the right time between 9-12 only to be told that they could not process an application for me there. I'm not a citizen and don't have a residence stamp so no. Don't understand why that's necessary when EU citizens have a 15 day visa free option. Wish we had that. But Brexit. Oh dear. But it looks like I might be able to apply from Kazakhstan as the online form through which you apply for a Chinese visa gives Kazakhstan (Astana and Almaty) as two cities where you can submit documents. Since it's only a six hour / six dollar trip by bus, I might as well give it a go. All I lose is a little time. So that's the plan for the 25th.

Managed to meet up with Fintan and Sophia who Lisa and I picked up on the way to Osh. It's crazy the way you keep meeting people again.Meer informatie
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