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November 2016 - April 2017
A 156-day adventure by Phil and Beth Read more
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  • Phil and BethEast to West
    1
    Day 36

    Pidurangala

    December 18, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    After our very wet and not so successful day climbing Sigiriya rock we decided to alter our original plan, which was to walk 1km from Sigiriya to the nearby Pidurangala rock, and decided instead to do this the next day. We'd based ourselves in a hotel just outsidde of Polonnaruwa which is about an hours drive away or an hour and a half by bus, so it certainly wouldn't be hard to do and we hoped for better weather so that we could actually enjoy some of the fine views from the top!

    Before we could set off for our next hike, however, we had to make a visit to a nearby doctor's surgery: After swimming in a hotel pool Beth's ears had gotten water in them that wouldn't clear, leaving her almost entirely deaf. We'd been trying to self-treat but with no luck so we took a recommendation from our hotel and went to a surgery. Thankfully we were accompanied by the driver who took us there as we had no idea where to go, who to speak to or how it all worked there and he just ushered us through the whole process with half a dozen conversations in Sinhalese.The first doctor had a look and recommended Beth see a ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) specialist who was based in the nearby hospital, so off we went.

    Now when I say hospital it probably isn't what you picture, in two ways. It certainly wasn't up to UK standard (fair enough though, right?) but it also wasn't as bad as you might be picturing. After a few conversations we were to the doctor who could help, Beth's head was clamped into a headlock by a burly nurse and a quick and very deft use of some tools completed syringing her ears and meant Beth's hearing returned, much to the fascination of the half dozen nurses who'd gathered to watch him working...!

    The biggest surprise came next however. Two doctor's consultations, examination, treatment, the nurse's time and being taken from place to place by porter's/security cost us.... nothing! Sri Lanka, like the UK, has a national health service that is free at the point of use for all, but despite this we were still expecting to pay especially given that Beth had been rushed through the queues.

    We were stunned and really impressed by the whole situation, not to mention relieved that Beth had her hearing back again although it was unfortunately just in time for our rather loud hour tuk tuk ride to Pidurangala, opting for this over the two bus rides we had done the day before as a way of giving ourselves more time for the climb.

    On arrival we passed the buddhist monastery that owns the area, a remnant of the time that the rock housed a temple that was a pilgrimage site and after paying a small entrance fee (2000LKR, about £11) we began our climb. Similarly to Sigiriya rock there were steps built into the hillside, often wonky and steep, but they made the climb reasonably easy to begin with. We climbed at the same pace as a group of about 20 teenagers who were on a trip from Colombo (supervised by one very hot and bothered looking mother!) - this had one major positive and one negative. The positive is we enjoyed watching their interactions, continual selfie taking and joking around, all very similar to teenagers everywhere it seems. The negative is that the climb was slowed to almost a crawl by the group, meaning it took the best part of an hour to ascend the steps to the half way point.

    At the halfway point is a huge 6m lying buddha, along with the remnants of monk's quarters and other buildings. We enjoyed exploring the small area, also allowing our new friends to climb ahead of us...or so we thought. At this point the steps built into the rock stopped, leaving us to climb and clamber our way to the top. We'd prepared and wore hiking boots, but somehow the group all did this in flip flops although boy were they slow! For 15 minutes we sat waiting for them to climb the final boulders, approximately 15 feet from where we were standing and only up three-four large boulders. To give them credit, though Lonely Planet's guidebook said "fitness levels are majorly tested here" - see the photo of Beth, they were right! She did better than I did, you may be surprised to hear!

    When we made it to the top though, the wait had been worth it. Spread across maybe 1sqkm was the top surface of the rock, with incredible views in every direction and a clear and sunny sky to thank us for our efforts! It was a real wow moment when we scrambled off the boulders and was instantly gratified with that sight. There were only about 25 other people at the top, meaning it was easy to feel like the only people there. As with all places where there are people in Sri Lanka there was also three wild dogs, all relaxing in the shade of the couple of trees growing at the summit, until they were coaxed out by the offer of sharing our homemade coconut cake that we tucked into as a reward!

    As you can tell from the photos the panoramic views in every direction were brilliant and we were so glad to have returned to the area, especially as we could see Sigirya rock that we had climbed the day before. Having rested well and enjoyed time at the top we took the same route back down the rock and it felt quite easy, probably because we were pumped up from the experience...well, that and the help of gravity.

    Phil    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    Day 37

    Ancient Polonnaruwa

    December 19, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Polonnaruwa has been a major religious site, city and, for a few hundred years, the capital of a now long-gone empire. During its approximately 2500 year history it's seen many changes and developments, leaving behind a plethora of remains.

    Polonnaruwa area contains just under 30 different main structures, ranging from small temples to 50 foot high solid brick Stupas, surrounded by innumerable smaller buildings whose only lasting remains are their foundations. Impressively one stupa still has it's original lime plaster intact, unscathed despite centuries of jungle growth on and around it.

    All can be seen in a day, with a lot of tourists opting to cycle around them given their relatively close proximity, however as Beth didn't want to go through a crash course we felt most comfortable walking around them. This wasn't the wisest decision, but I'll come to that later on!

    From our past experiences of ancient temples like Angkor in Cambodia, we had high expectations of what are considered to be the best temples in Sri Lanka. People we've spoken with rate them very highly and some of the photos we'd seen made them look absolutely incredible!

    We made an early start for the southern group of temples, in fact just one temple and a carved stone Buddha. It was a great introduction to the ruins, however it was a 45 minute walk to get to them, made longer by the monsoon rains we had to keep hiding from and the humidity was getting higher by the minute! Today we'd learnt our lesson though and were prepared for the rain with coats and an umbrella, but it didn't stop us still getting pretty damp by the time we were back at the main entrance and museum.

    At that point we realised it wasn't going to be possible to walk the remaining temples - partly due to the distances involved but the main reason being we couldn't avoid the rains all day unless we had more cover, so we hired a tuk tuk and driver for the rest of the day.

    As we went from structure to structure the rain didn't abate, meaning we were able to get only glimpses of the ruins from under the umbrella. We still made our way around the sites and we saw all of them that we had hoped to by about 3pm. The museum had helped us to imagine what the area would have been like before the jungle reclaimed the land surrounding the sites, with thousands of people living and working in the area. We found ourselves thinking 'if these bricks could talk; the stories they'd tell.'

    Frustratingly the rain had changed from heavy downpours to a constant deluge, leaving us diving in and out of the tuk tuk and overall it did take away from the experience as we weren't able to walk around some of the sites fully, take as many photos as we'd have liked or to simply amble around as we hoped we would. The day was still filled with impressive sights and it was enjoyable all the same, but won't hold a top spot in our minds we don't think, but perhaps with different weather we may have thought differently.

    A further 65 miles north would have taken us to another site of ancient temples at Anuradhapura, however the monsoon rains had a strong hold there and we'd heard that the sites were somewhat underwhelming compared with Polonnaruwa so instead we opted to travel 9 hours south by train.

    With the temperature back above 30C and the sun visible in the sky again, the thought of rain was long gone out of our mind as we arrived in Bentota.

    Phil    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    1
    Day 38

    Sri Lankan food and drink

    December 20, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    As a change from our normal what-we're-up-to I bring to you what-we're-eating-and-drinking!

    If I was to ask you what do you eat when in Sri Lanka for a month you'd assume rice and curry, right? Well that's right! Sorry folks, not a massive surprise!

    I'm only being half serious there. I'll talk you through some of the every day food, snacks and of course the rice and curry.

    Breakfast
    Normally in the guesthouses we're staying in the option of Western or Sri Lankan is available. Western is toast (think warmed bread) and egg, jam and fresh fruit juice. It's normally pretty uninspiring however the Sri Lankan breakfast is the way to go. 'String hoppers' are like noodles made with rice flour and often they're put inside a thin pancake that looks almost like a flower in bloom. With this you can have daal, spiced onion, curry, jams and any number of options! Our favourite was a coconut milk based curry with a whole boiled egg in. A staple of any meal here is sambal which is shredded coconut, chilli and spices and normally packs quite a punch!

    A lot of Sri Lankan's eat curry for breakfast and it's normally a BIG portion!

    Lunch
    Normally a lighter meal but curry and rice is an option. More common though is a roti or kottu - rotis are like pancakes with a filling of veg, spices and meat if you like. Coconut roti is simple and delicious, normally only about 15p each as well! Kottu is the same components as roti but all chopped up! Chefs have a large flat heat plate that they fry the ingredients on then when it's all cooked they take two flat blades (wallpaper scrapers?!) and swiftly run them through the piled food, chopping it up small.

    Another lunch option is dosai, a very thin pancake in which they put practically any filling, but normally it's curried!

    Dinner
    The best time of day for a curry! Almost everywhere we've stayed offers to feed you the 'lumprais', the curry of the day. Mainly we've stayed in guesthouses so the lumprais is what the family are eating too, and this is the best way to try some really great food. It's never just one curry though, normally there's about 4 or 5, poppadoms or roti and rice. We've even been to a restaurant that served us about 15 different types of curry including: runner bean, aubergine (our all time favourite!), dried fish, chicken, beef, mango, pineapple and probably the biggest surprise in durian(jackfruit) curry which is the huge green fruit that absolutely STINKS and normally tastes just as bad, but when cooked in a curry it's absolutely delicious!
    The cost? About 600-900rupees, so about £3.50-£5 each!

    Largely we've eaten vegetarian whilst here, for two reasons. Firstly, food hygiene is ok at best (we've not had any severe upsets by this...yet!) and secondly the quality is often not great with bits of gristle and bone served up regularly.

    Fried rice or fried noodles are easily available too but these are just ok, nothing special.

    Snacks
    On every roadside, in every bus and train station and often ON every bus and train are hawkers who sell fresh fruits like mango, papaya and pineapple. They're also the best place to buy battered roti rolls (healthy!), mini doughnuts, daal biscuits, nuts and Bombay mix. A pretty normal way to buy them is wrapped up in a piece of paper that once was a school kids homework, good recycling Sri Lanka!

    More so for tourists than Sri Lankan's are ice creams, which we've probably had one a day of. It is hot, so it's fair enough we think!

    Drinks
    Iced coconuts are everywhere as Sri Lanka has absolutely no difficulty in growing them. They simply cut a hole in the top and stick a straw in!
    Chilled water and fizzy drinks are common although we prefer the iced or hot teas, with every variety you can imagine available and rightly so given Sri Lanka's booming tea industry!
    Let's not forget the national beer, Lion. It's a pretty standard lager but is very welcome after a hot and sticky day out. £2 or so is the price for a 500ml can.

    Near to the coast the best meal options are the fresh seafood caught that day. From prawns and lobster to red snapper and barracuda, the choice is brilliant. And a whole fish can be yours for less than £5 with salad and rice.

    Overall we've enjoyed the foods that Sri Lanka has on offer and the cost is what makes it really great as it has tempted us to try lots of new things. However, by this time we're ready for a change as it has become a bit too samey.

    I'll conclude with a nugget of humour we've picked up here:
    Similarly to lots of other Asian countries Sri Lanka has very strict drug smuggling laws, with the death penalty a possible punishment. If you think that's a very severe punishment consider 30 years in a Sri Lankan prison being served rice and curry 3 times a day...    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    Day 42

    Sri Lanka - our thoughts!

    December 24, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Beth
    Highlight: Seeing Blue whales up close
    Lowlight: Being ill at the end with that rash!

    Best meal: Mali's seafood restaurant, Bentota. The prawn curry was to die for!
    Funniest moment: Phil dancing for those schoolchildren!
    Overall: Sri Lanka is a fascinating place and quite a culture of it's own. The scenery is amazing and there are things here you can't see anywhere else in the world. There are some frustrations we both found with the locals attitudes at times, there is definitely a large element of opportunists when seeing foreigners, as if dollar signs appear in their eyes. It happens everywhere from officials to tuktuk drivers. We were expecting to see it a bit but at times it was relentless and you had to be constantly on guard not to be ripped off all the time, for everything. It was tiresome. Don't get me wrong we've met some truly friendly and lovely locals who became friends and I dare not make sweeping statements. However having been there a month (and travelling locally, eg not a private car and driver) we have seen this side of bad tourism. It does somewhat distract at times and is certainly more like India in development than South East Asia for example. Which makes sense where it is on the map.
    I did honestly enjoy our time there, but would have not enjoyed it so much alone and would maybe approach things differently next time. But I must say it was still a fantastic experience and a very special place to visit! Somewhere very memorable.

    Bucket list ticks: 3!

    Phil
    Highlight: Hiking through tea plantations at Lipton's Seat, Haputale.
    Lowlight: Being pick pocketed!

    Best meal: Freshly caught barbecued barracuda, sat on the beach in Mirissa with the sand under my feet and waves lapping at the table.
    Funniest moment: Holding onto a bar for my life while standing near the open doorway of a bus hurtling down the side of a mountain to loud bangra music.
    Overall: Sri Lanka is an incredibly varied island and in even one or two weeks it would be possible to travel the whole country and experience the vibrant culture, see the big sights like Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa and to immerse yourself in the country. The variety and the people are what I'll remember about Sri Lanka, the good and unfortunately some of the bad too. Having a month there meant we took everything a lot slower but I still didn't get bored, and that says a lot about Sri Lanka.    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    12
    Day 43

    Bentota

    December 25, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    After the wash out of Polonnarura we decided to move back down south for some much needed sun and relaxation, as well as somewhere nice to be for Christmas.
    Having already done a lot of the south we opted for Bentota, which was also only an hour from the airport/Colombo. We booked ourselves for one night into a cheap guesthouse so we could suss out the area before comitting. First impression was that Bentota was quite different to the other coastal areas of Sri Lanka we'd seen. More developed with big fancy resorts on the beach, yet nothing else on the beach and a huge spread of unspoilt sand. No restaurants and few loungers it was a surprising contrast. We realised the next morning (after a rough night in a poor guesthouse) that we wouldn't be able to afford to stay in those 5* resorts, so opted to stay in nearby Althugama, a busy town only a 10 minute walk from the beach. The town is on the Bentota river and we actually found a lovely affordable place to stay with it's on jetty on to the river, garden, swimming pool and balcony with a lovely view over the water. Perfect! After our 1st night here we quickly booked in for over Christmas and the rest of our time in Sri Lanka.

    The first few days were purely relaxing. We were both knackered and I had been feeling quite run down (unknowingly to me starting to be taken down by a stomach bacterial infection, but didn't take properly hold until Singapore). But the few days of rest did wonders. We'd swim in the pool, relax, go to the beach then find a nice restaurant for dinner. Not a bad routine.

    One day while walking to a popular spot to eat we were approached by a tuktuk driver, instantly we assumed he wanted something but then we struck up conversation and hit it off. He invited us over to his house for dinner and we went. A little appreshive to what we'd agreed to, we ended up in a local village sitting in his half build house while his wife cooked. We sat out on a concentrate veranda chatting, while Phil and Dilip (pretty funny they had such similar names) drank a bottle of whiskey between them. We exchanged stories and had a good laugh. We were then treated to a feast of curries and rice, which we ate the local way with our fingers (not an enjoyable process, I'll stick to a knife and fork in future). Much later, half sloshed he drove us back in his tuktuk. It was a bumpy ride and made even weirder with the sounds of Shaggy's 'it wasn't me' blasting out of his speakers as we weaved down the quiet streets. At one point Dilip just let go of the steering waving his arms and singing, I swiftly planted his hands back into the controls. Thankfully we made it in one peace and he didn't want a penny towards the evening. Quite a unique experience!
    Dilip also does day tours and he is helping a teenager set up a river cruise business so he said he could come get us from the hotel jetty. We knew we wanted to explore the wide mangrove filled river so went with him the following morning.

    The tour was great fun. It is an impressive river, very wide with islands and huge boulders. One of which we stopped at and climbed on, it was awesome to be out in the middle of the river and would have been quite the isolated sunbathing spot! Dilip cracked his usual jokes and said bye and started to drive the boat away. It was pretty funny but there was a split second when I thought that would be quite the scam, making off with my camera, bag and leaving us stranded... literally. But of course that didn't happen.
    We stopped by some locals who are hand raising some baby crocodiles so they can be released back into the river. The eggs don't normally have a very good survival rate so this helps the population. At a few weeks old they were very small yet big enough they could do some damage. So naturally he put the baby crocodile on Phils head. Phil was so taken aback he just laughed and stayed fixed to the spot. Random! But they were sweet and was cool to hold them.
    We made some others stops including a coconut farm where we learnt how they make items from the coconut shells including utensils and rope. As we moved on to the main event (going through the mangroves) we suddenly saw a huge crocodile sunning itself on a big rock. Dilip said that was a 'small' one which is pretty crazy as it looked so big to us! We got close then it swiftly disappeared into the water. This was not a boat I wanted to fall off...
    And would you believe we saw a lot of locals swimming in the river, madness!
    From here we entered into the mangrove area. Phil has had a desire to see mangroves up close for years, so he was incredibly excited and completely awe struck as we glided through the calm waters. We were surrounded with mangroves so large, maybe 10-12m tall and the roots above our heads. The sunlight dappled through and it is incredibly mystical, like going into a lost world. We stopped at one point and climbed up into the branches as they are incredibly strong and felt like monkies enjoying hanging amongst the trees.
    That was most definitely the highlight of the tour and in fact the whole area. It was also exactly what Phil hoped it would be and we look forward to exploring more mangroves at some our later destinations.
    That afternoon we decided to do with Dilip to the 'brief garden' where an eccentric architect used to live and had some impressive gardens which we enjoyed walking around. There were unusual sculptures and gorgeous landscaping which was nice to see.

    For the rest of our time in Bentota we enjoyed relaxing. On Christmas eve we had a 4 course special dinner at one of the fancy beachfronted hotels, which we throughly enjoyed and was a great Christmas treat to ourselves. On Christmas day we went onto Bentota beach itself and enjoyed swimming in the sea, and making sand turtles. Truthfully it didn't feel very 'Christmassey' but we didn't mind too much. We just enjoyed another relaxed day together. Of course we Skyped home and really enjoyed seeing family open presents from us. It was nice not to miss that as we really enjoy seeing people open their gifts.

    Over the following days we continued to relax, eat great food and meet people until we were due to leave for an airport hotel on the 27th (early flight on the 28th to Singapore). Now the night of the 26th I hadn't slept well, with a bad stomach and feeling bitten to death by mosquitos. I woke up early at 6am and looked down at my body to find I was covered in a thick raised red rash and that explained feeling more itchy than usual. I woke up Phil as minute by minute I was struggling to cope with the itching and it was spreading. We went down to find some hotel staff (well actually a family who run the hotel) and the mama swiftly bundled me into her car and drove us to a doctor. It didn't come a minute too soon as the itching was everywhere including my eyes and throat. She translated and a doctor swiftly gave some injection (admistered like you would a blood test, weird) and within minutes the itching stopped thankfully. I was then given a big bag of medicine and cream to help. We got back to the hotel and the kindness the family showed me was so heartwarming. I gave the mum (Priya) a huge hug and she refused to take any money for all the driving and insisted on dropping us at the train station. Such a lovely family that run the place there.

    Not long after we left for the train back to Colombo. After this we travelled on to our hotel and ended up having an early night ready for our journey onwards to Singapore!

    Beth    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    Day 49

    Singapore (Part One)

    December 31, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Our first glimpses of Singapore were certainly impressive - as the night arrived so did we and as we took a bus from the airport into the city we were both wide-eyed. As we spent more time here we realised that the city really comes to life at night, especially so the cityscape that we were driving past.

    We had chosen to stay in central Chinatown, close to dozens of restaurants and bars as well as great transport options, plus exciting streets that had all been decorated ready for Chinese New Year. Our hotel wasn't the most impressive inside or out, but once we'd settled in our second room (the first stank of cigarettes!) we collapsed from the tiring long journey.

    Our plan was to stay in Singapore for just a few days to take in all of the sights and to welcome the new year in a glitzy party atmosphere, but that didn't work out for us...

    Ever since Beth's early morning visit to the doctor in Bentota, Sri Lanka she'd not been feeling right and the whole journey to Singapore was taken over by excruciating heartburn. This still hadn't passed and the itchy rash returned so we took ourselves to a GP to make sure this wasn't anything more serious.

    One hour later and after some very overpriced gaviscon was ingested the heartburn passed. We also found out some of the tablets the Sri Lankan Doctor had given Beth were causing the heartburn - they promptly ended up in the bin! The rash was still present and after a few hours of relaxing at the hotel the heartburn returned once again. At this point we weren't sure what to do but ultimately decided to go to the nearby Singapore General Hospital (SGH) to see another doctor.

    Firstly, unlike our Sri Lankan hospital experience SGH actually looked, felt and smelt like hospitals as we know them in the UK. The A&E area also had a four hour queue, so we were in our element! When we did finally see a doctor it was decided Beth would be admitted while they tested what was causing these problems for her.

    What happened over the next three days is, again, largely similar to our experience of hospitals in the UK, going from one test to the next while troupes of doctors visit once or twice a day to poke, prod and discuss the latest test results. Initially it all felt like a bit of a waste of time as the conclusion was that it was just a nasty virus but after 2 days they diagnosed a stomach infection (C. Difficile if our Doctor friends are interested!) and began treating it with antibiotics - poor Beth was REALLY ill in the mean time though, and the rash she'd been experiencing was in fact hives caused by the infection, but the three creams and various tablets they gave her should help over the few weeks until it passes.

    We were so relieved to have gone to the hospital and, as it turned out, one that is better in many ways than back home. One such thing was when Beth was served a meal of lamb stew with rice and veg, followed by fresh sliced and garnished fruit, that all tasted like real food. The best part though? The man who turned up afterwards to ask for her feedback on how the food was so far during her stay! Not only the food but the staff, systems (like a wheeled PC they used to record all the tablets given and what the doctor had determined/prescribed) and even the cleaning all were great.

    For me it could have been worse as well. Our hotel was only 10 minutes walk away, making my morning to and nighttime journey back from the hospital a bit easier. In the complex there were a number of cafes, takeaways and even a food court that all served cheap and tasty food to keep me going through the long days. The staff were very friendly too and dutifully laughed at my repeating the joke that 'Our sightseeing so far had been two pharmacies, one doctor and the hospital!'

    Anyway, a few hours before midnight on New Year's Eve Beth was moved to a private room (the infection is pretty contagious...) but despite being 6 floors high we, unfortunately, still had a limited view of the city. This meant we did miss the main fireworks display but there were others appearing over the city that we watched as 2017 arrived. Although not where we thought we'd welcome the new year in, it was still how we thought we'd do it - together.

    The next morning - New Year's Day - at the time we thought we'd be flying to our next destination in Indonesia, Beth was discharged from hospital with a full carrier bag of medicine to take for the next two weeks. Thankfully she was feeling better overall, just weak and in need of more rest.

    We changed our travel plans to stay in Singapore for a few more days so Beth could continue to recover and then we hoped to see some of the sights!

    From Singapore to all our family and friends we wish you a happy new year.

    Phil    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    Day 54

    Singapore (Part Two)

    January 5, 2017 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Now that Beth was out of hospital we wanted to achieve two things in Singapore:
    1 - Get Beth well, ready to continue our travels.
    2 - See some of Singapore!

    We took it pretty easy for the next 5 days, booking a flight for 6th January, keeping a couple of days to go slowly and then to get out into the city. After a couple of days doing little beyond finding a fun place to eat and catching up on some 2016 blockbusters (finally some good internet!) we decided we'd start our sightseeing by going to Gardens by the Bay.

    The gardens swing a few hefty facts about, like that it cost $1billion and that they're built on reclaimed land. Pretty impressive but we found that walking around them was even more so. They've a number of themed gardens you can stroll around but their main attraction is two large glass and steel domes, both air conditioned to provide the thousands of plants inside an environment that easily makes you forget you're in a sweltering Asian city.

    The first of the domes we visited was the Flower Dome. You guessed correctly, it's full of flowers! Beyond that though there's also an incredible variety of themed areas like the Mediterranean garden, shaded by a giant olive tree, and the Madagascar area with iconic Baobab trees. This would be enjoyable to walk around but they've also included a number of fun wood, metal and stone sculptures including some very impressive dragons! As we were visiting just after Christmas they still had their 'Winter Wonderland' decorations out which finally made us feel a little festive...just a little too late for Christmas 2016, but they were still great to see.

    The second dome is called Cloud Forest and is named so as it centres around a 30m high artificial mountain, covered in lush plants and topped by a gorgeous garden and water fountain that flows down the side of the mountain in a huge waterfall. It's quite a sight and has a very mysterious and magical feel to it, made more so by the countless carved dragons hidden amongst the flora. Impressively Beth made it to the top and down again, despite the way down being a series of see-through suspended walkways.

    The other main attraction at the gardens is The Supertrees. Named so because of their design intended to look like towering trees, they have a huge number of colourful plants growing up them but the real highlight comes at night when they dance with light in time to music. It's hard to describe the fun and enjoyment you get from experiencing this show, which lasts for about fifteen well-choreographed minutes. This was a real highlight for us and as most of it was Christmas themed we couldn't help but sing along!

    A short walk past the gardens takes you to another part of Singapore's recent development, the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel and it's paired mall The Shoppes. The hotel itself is HUGE and walking under one of the arches was more than enough of it, although you can go up to a viewpoint 55 stories high! At that point we nearly went back to the hotel as we were exhausted from walking around the gardens but decided to have a quick walk through the mall while we were there and we were so glad we did - each evening they have their own light and laser show, where images are projected onto a water mist in the middle of the marina while music helps tells the story, with lasers, smoke and bubbles all joining in - it's a very impressive sight and we so nearly missed it, but are so glad we didn't!

    The next day we went to the Chinatown Heritage Museum to learn more about the migrants who arrived in the late 19th century to settle in what is now Chinatown and how they lived and worked. The museum was very interactive and showed an example of a typical house with a number of businesses and well over 50 people living within; it was definitely not big enough, with some rooms sleeping a family of 8! We really enjoyed learning the history of the area and as this was our only museum out of dozens in Singapore we were happy with our choice...until we can visit again and see more!

    All over Singapore there are countless options of where to eat, with TripAdvisor counting over 10,000! We mainly ate at food courts, found in shopping centres and in cow-shed like buildings dotted around the city. Some of the best food we had was a few quid, served in a plastic bowl and eaten at simple picnic style benches. Singapore is a foodie delight and even at 3am you won't struggle to find your dim sum fix. It also caters to a different palate entirely with - I'll put it plainly - some VERY gross options like fried fish head or leavened pork intestines. Even I wasn't brave enough to taste them!

    For our final day in Singapore we went to the zoo, arriving about 1pm. The site is outside of the main part of the city and as we arrived we realised why - it's huge and has a lake as a part of it! We spent 5 hours in the main zoo walking between the different areas and we were amazed at the variety of animals they had, including some we'd never seen or even heard of before like the babirusa and hamadryas baboon (which takes the title of grossest looking bum of all primates).

    What we were really impressed with was the enclosures, or lack of, that we saw around the complex. The orang-utan's area was an island with a large climbing frame type structure on it, surrounded by a little water but with a number of tall and large trees around it that meant they could choose whether they wanted to stay there or go swing in the trees - enjoyably, most did this when we were there! We also saw Inuka the polar bear being fed (yes this was the best thing to happen in 2017 so far!!!!) and a squad of playful otters, which were our highlights.

    After a light dinner we then went back into the zoo complex but this time to their night safari, aptly named given that you climb aboard a silent tram type cart that takes you on a trip around another part of the zoo where the focus is on nocturnal animals. Some of the enclosures were very safari-esque, with wild deer, banteng and tapir amongst some of those we were within feet of. Thankfully the more dangerous animals were separate, but we still got to see moon bear, hyena and tigers all enjoying the cool darkness. They also have a few walking trails laid out that weave through the remainder of the park, giving even more opportunity to see some incredible animals up close. Beth was flagging by this point (it was 9pm and we were still going!) so limited how much she saw but I did the full walk before we met up again to see a pangolin (never heard of it before? It's the world's most trafficked animal and is used extensively in Chinese medicine) and another group of otters who all screamed at us, presumably hoping for food!

    The zoo was the best we've been to and although it was a very full on day it was an incredibly exciting way to spend our final day in the country before our journey on to Indonesia.

    Phil    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    Day 58

    Bali

    January 9, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Unlike the original plan of travelling across land from Yogyakarta, because of me being ill we flew directly into Bali with a new flight.
    We had only 4 days here so knew we wouldn't be up to pushing ourselves so planned a leisurely few days and one day of sightseeing.
    We were very lucky in that my dad has a Marriott timeshare and let us use some of his points so we could have a free stay in a very nice hotel. Oh how it was appreciated. Genuinely the bathroom was the size of our entire room and bathroom in the last dump of a hotel we stayed at! It was amazing to have some western comforts too, including a bed long enough for Phil and sun loungers by the pool.

    We arrived around dinner time and explored the nearby streets which were absolutely full of restaurants, spas, supermarkets and more. Its was not going to be hard to find food options, although maybe too much choice!? Anyway we settled on a cute cafe and each had some Indonesian classics like nasi goreng and chicken satay, pretty delicious. And of course a stop at an obligatory ice cream parlour afterwards. Then we went back and had an amazing nights sleep in that dreamy bed, not waking til 10am.
    The following day we decided to go to the nearby beach (double six beach). The hotel had loungers we could use so we were looking forward to a day relaxing there. Sadly the beach was not what we were expecting. I won't sugarcoat it- the beach was filthy! The sand was grey and as you got closer to the water there was rubbish everywhere washed in from the water, it was shocking. We walked along and rubbish would wash in over your feet along with the waves. It's unbelievable.

    We then saw a digger rising along the sand collecting all the plastic and litter. The scooper was full and we saw it go back and forth. Phil explored going into the water but it was dirty (no white froth, literally brown) we decided it was not hygienic enough. How disappointing and more to the point, harrowing. How sad to see mankind destroying the beauty of our planet with our waste.

    We left the beach for the afternoon and returned to our hotel pool to cool off. Another relaxing evening ahead with finding a lovely restaurant with a very talented live band and that concluded another day. The time just flew here!

    The next day we had a full day tour planned to see some of the sights. It was going to be a long day starting at 8:30am and not getting back til 7pm however we would see a lot.
    Our first stop was the elephant cave, that had an elaborate carved cave entrance and some lovely temples and grounds. We really enjoyed this first stop, a very beautiful place surrounded with jungle.

    Our next stop was the famous holy water temple, Tirta Embul. People travel from all over to bless themselves in the pools and flowing fountains. We happened to go on a Sunday and being a holy day it was packed with people! So we didn't get in ourselves but I did have a little refresh with some water on my face and neck, it was very cooling on such a hot day.
    We drove on to the base of a volcano for lunch. We went to a very good restaurant that has a cracking view of the volcano and the lava stained lands. It's still active but hasn't gone off since 2004. We ate a fabulous indonesian buffet with some of the best local food we've tasted, even the fried rice was delicious. After stuffing our faces and enjoying the view we got caught in an almighty downpour and had to wait it out for awhile before returning to the car, I guess that is what happens when up high.

    Onwards we went to a stop we were really looking forward to, Tengallang terraces and rice paddys. The view is amazing, stretching out in front of you for miles are highly defined rice paddys, layered up in terrace formations so water can flow to all of them.
    We went for a wander round, climbing through the terraces and enjoying the views. At this point the sun was really beating down and we were flagging so could have spent hours there, however on this occasion we just explored some areas.

    Now our driver said we still had time to go to the most famous temple in Bali so we took this chance and drove to the coast to see Tanah Lot. A temple perched on its on island that gets cut off by the tide in the evening. Also a very holy temple to the local people, so much so only Balinese people are allowed to actually go on to the island.

    We wandered down through the crowds a few hours before sunset and got as close as you can the other side of the tide. It did keep its air of mystery being isolated like that so we enjoyed seeing it.

    We arrived back at our hotel pretty knackered at 7pm so had a leisurely dinner and went back to the hotel. Unfortunately Phil had caught too much sun and wasn't feeling too well with some mild sunstroke. This lead to an early night and some more relaxing days by the pool, nice meals and even a massage. It was like a mini holiday within this trip!

    It was not quite the Indonesian experience we had been looking for, but it'll just have to happen next time!

    Beth    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    Day 61

    Adelaide and Kangaroo Island

    January 12, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Our first stop in the world's sixth largest country, Australia, is the city of Adelaide.

    We arrived early morning and after dropping our bags at our hotel we took to the streets to explore the area. We were 5 minutes walk down the road from the Central Market (more on that later) and a main road into the centre. It immediately felt strange being in a developed country as we walked along a proper pavement and watched drivers drive well (ie stay in lane, stop at pedestrian crossings etc), and before we knew it we'd walked all the way into the main shopping strip were we found a cafe for breakfast - they had bacon!!

    After a little retail 'therapy' we had a look around the Museum of South Australia which houses hundreds of excellent taxidermy creatures and our first experience of some aboriginal history. The whole place was really well laid and thought out and we really enjoyed a few hours there.

    The lack of sleep from our overnight flight caught us up at this point so we relaxed by the river opposite the Oval cricket ground. Despite being a clear-skied hot day we already felt the difference with the lower humidity here so didn't feel that hot, a strange yet pleasant feeling for us!

    Next up we took the free city tram back to the Central Market, home to dozens of food stalls, delis and cafes that all create a foodie paradise. We settled on a loaf of artisan sourdough olive bread, a slab of goats cheese, spicy humous and cheesy tart which was a real feast! We devoured it all, then slept. I can't say whether it was the late night or if we fell into a cheese induced slumber, but either way it was very needed and got us ready for the evening ahead of us.

    Another short tram ride to nearby Glenelg took us to a beautiful beach where we ate ice creams and watched the sun set after our first day in Australia - and what a sunset it was!

    6am came around way too fast, when we were awake and picked up for our tour to Kangaroo Island. The early morning was hard but made easier by our excitement at the day ahead and after a drive around the city picking up our coach load we headed into the countryside (but not before driving right past our hotel, an hour after we'd been originally picked up - we could've slept in after all!)

    Nearly two hours journey went fast as we snoozed and spotted kangaroos doing the same in the shade just off the side of the road and we arrived into the port where we would take the ferry to Kangaroo Island, where we were told that ironically it was unlikely we'd see any more kangaroos! Thankfully the sea was still for the hour crossing so we caught some rays on the top deck, then we were ushered back into a coach to begin the tour properly!

    Our first stop was a further hour drive to Seal Bay where we were guided to a sandy crescent by a ranger to find dozens of seals and their pups lounging around in the sand. We stood about 5 metres from them with an entirely uninterrupted view of them as they played with each other, a mother fed her calf and they milled about as if we weren't there - it was an incredible experience and we were both buzzing from it and could've happily spent much more time there if we didn't have to carry on.

    After a delicious lunch of chicken and beef with a spread of salads we carried on to our next sight - a Koala sanctuary. It didn't take long at all to spot one in the trees and as we walked through a boulevard of eucalyptus trees we kept on finding more and more. The highlights were a mother and baby and a larger bear sat in a very low branch, almost asking for us to take selfies with him! They're surprisingly big but every bit as gorgeous as we thought they would be. Again we had to carry on before we were really ready to leave, and we started to realise that coach tours are great for seeing lots but at too fast a pace for us (as it turns out it is also the only way we could have afforded to do it though).

    We travelled on to the far West coast where we visited two viewpoints, the first named Remarkable Rock and the second Admiral's Arch. Both were fun to take photos around and to enjoy the scenery but the latter was our favourite as there were more seals lying in the shelter of the arch-covered cove.

    At this stage it was time for us to begin the now-epic journey back to the ferry port, crossing the entire island with enough time to quickly stop for a pizza in the town around the port. We really enjoyed the beautiful Kangaroo Island but could have happily spent another day or two exploring it at a more leisurely pace.

    The drive back on the mainland went quick enough and it was dark as we arrived back into Adelaide at nearly 11pm.

    The next day we woke up to torrential rain and headed to the airport in the hope that we'd leave the poor weather behind as we flew an hour to Melbourne.

    Phil    Read more

  • Phil and BethEast to West
    Day 63

    Melbourne & Philip Island

    January 14, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    After an hour flight we arrived at the tiny Avalon airport just outside of Melbourne city. We'd hired a rental car in advance, as we planned to also drive the Great Ocean road while we were here and loop back round to the airport before leaving. We had a bit of an issue when we came to collect which was that they'd changed the car from a manual to automatic and had no manual cars available. I have never driven an automatic before and didn't really want to try in a new country, in a rental and certainly not on the Great ocean road which I really wanted to enjoy driving. The lady said we could drive to Melbourne's other international airport to pick up a manual, which wasn't a massive detour so we thought we'd do that. I did have a little go with the automatic but just felt I wanted to be comfortable for this part of our trip so we drove on.

    On arrival we experienced a pretty horrible guy at this office who not only was incredibly rude about the whole situation, but we discovered later he had forgotten (couldn't be bothered) to add me as a driver! Which obviously was the entire reason for the extra effort. We wanted to share the driving, share the experience, clearly! Later we saw him finishing for the day as we left so obviously he couldn't wait to get rid of us so he could go home. Safe to say we were frustrated by now. But we got it sorted and got to our airbnb and collapsed. Later we popped out to a supermarket and got some pasta, sauce and a huge tub of ice cream which we ate back at the house later. It was quite nice to have a simple cooked meal and to have some comfort food after all the stress. FYI it was a 1 litre tub of chocolate ice cream, I'm not even ashamed.

    The following morning we wanted to go into Melbourne itself, and via another car rental office we got me listed as a driver and thankfully were able to get on with our day quickly. We parked by some cute gardens and proceeded to wander around the city. When we pulled up we did try to use a ticket machine but some locals told us it was free... being a Saturday that was somewhat surprising but with barely any signs and a machine not working, we figured that must be correct. I'll come back to that later...but no prizes if you're anticipating what is coming...

    Anyway, we wondered down the river and through the parks, the tennis open was starting over the next few days so the place was a buzz with setting everything up for it. We got to Federation square (similar to Trafalgar square) and wandered around this area, also popping into one of their museums and enjoying some very interactive exhibits about the history of film and TV. Phil even got to try out his inner Matrix with recreating the classic slow moves in this special machine. What a big kid, he loved it!

    After wandering around we started looking for affordable food places and discovered a crammed street full of small shop fronts and tiny cafes. It was packed, but we got a little table and enjoyed some freshly made crepes, and an ice cream after of course! We then hopped on their free tram service to head back to the car. We had some big plans for the afternoon.

    Imagine our horror as we arrive at the car, yes a parking ticket! With some cryptic message of what rule we'd broken. We were so annoyed because we had tried to pay and felt tricked some how. Plus is was $78 dollars, over a half days budget. Gutted! We think we'll appeal it as there was little to no signage but if not I guess it's just something you have to learn from. But seriously talk about car issues over a 24 hour period!

    Anyway trying to not let that dampen our day, we hit the road for a 2 hour drive to Philip Island, where a very special natural phenomenon happens. This island has the largest colony of 'Little penguins' that breed and nest on one of the beaches there. Every night there is a 'penguin parade' at sunset where all the adult penguins come home to the shore. This colony has thousands of penguins so can you imagine this sight? We knew we wanted to see it. The area is very protected but you can buy tickets to sit and watch their arrival and walk over wooden boardwalks which are raised over the land where they nest. We purposely got there early to land good seats, you could pay extra for better viewing areas but being quite pricey (and largely fully booked) we just went for general admission. We were several hours early so went down the road to another nature reserve called the Nobbies where there are also penguins, and seals. It was a bright sunny day but down there the wind was unbelievable and we were genuinely pushed around, which is probably why we saw no wildlife here at that time, I couldn't blame them with wind like that! The scenery was pretty stunning though and seeing waves like that was pretty jaw dropping.

    We went back to the penguin parade area and looked around their information exhibits until the doors opened at 7pm. As soon as they opened I flew down the boardwalk and knew exactly where I wanted to sit, and would you know we got right down on the front row, right on the edge, which usually has the best view of the tickets we'd selected. It was still 2 hours til the penguins were due to arrive but the beach itself was stunning. We ate our picnic dinner and chatted to an Australian couple next to us, so it was hardly a chore. The viewing lasts 50 minutes from when the first penguin hits the beach but they recommend you also walk around the boardwalks to see them greet their babies at their nesting boxes.

    Suddenly we saw some small shapes in the water and there they were, a group of about 15 tiny penguins nervously running in with a wave. The first thing I noticed was they really were tiny, the size of a 30cm ruler! It was quite dark now and there was only low lighting so we had to carefully watch them to see. We'd already learnt that this is their most vulnerable time and they are very scared running back home because of predators like eagles, so they would keeping running onto the sand, then would get spooked and run back into the water, sometimes 3 or 4 times. Oh my god it was adorable. They'd also hide amongst the rocks halfway across and try to gang up together in bigger groups ranging from 3 to 30 of them together. Honestly it was magical!

    At first we were seeing them from quite a distance, but then they'd come closer and closer. You could see them hop across the rocks as they made their way up the dunes into the bushland where their nests were. You also started to hear their babies high pitched calls and when they'd commit and run the last bit it was lovely, you were really rooting for them. Groups of them kept coming and coming from all directions, you didn't always know where to look.

    Surprisingly lots of people left really early on into the viewing so at one point I went down onto the sand and 3 penguins came running towards me and around me to safety, amazing.
    After this we went up to the board walks to see them up close. They were everywhere, and would you believe there was probably only 30 people walking around now (it can hold 3000 visitors!) Crazy that so many people left so early; too early. Their loss! We'd kneel down on the path and they would be right there in your face, but completely oblivious as they wandered around and fed their young. In fact one mummy fed her fluffy tiny baby right by me. So sweet... even if she is throwing up fish into it's mouth from her belly! Even as we slowly made our way up back to the visitor centre with the rangers they were running along side us. The ranger confirmed that we'd seen 727 that evening. There were even some viewing holes where we saw nearly hatched penguins with their mothers, they were only the size of my palm.
    Truly it was an absolutely magical sight and the only place in the world you can see so many. I think I've found my new favourite animal...

    There was strictly no photography or video to be taken but you can see a professional pic below to get an idea of what it was like.
    After this, as walked back to the car ready for a late and long drive back something moved in the tree behind the fence. We walked over and suddenly this massive possum appears on the fence right in my face, after the initial jump it kept staring at me and I was in such close promixity I was a bit worried it was about to jump on me, but I was frozen to the spot. They are very cute but have massive claws and teeth so dared not touch, but how great to see them wild and so close too.

    As we pulled away Phil spotted a snake on the side of the road, what a wildlife haven (although I did hit the gas with that final discovery!)
    We arrived back at 1am and crashed out, ready for a morning flight onto Sydney!

    Beth    Read more

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