Thursday, November 25, 2004
All I want for Christmas...
Just to reiterate what Pete has already written a little further down the page...
We have sent Christmas cards to all those we have addresses for. Due to general faffing, penny-pinching, and ineptitude most of you should get them shortly as they were sent airmail. The other half (the family ones unfortunately) will be lucky to see their cards by mid-january (or ever!) - as they went surface mail from China.
Anyone who would like to send us a card in return (no guilt - of course!) can post to Peter Wylie (or Courtney Middleton) c/o poste restante, GPO, MI Road, Jaipur, India.
We plan to be in Jaipur for Christmas, however (depending on how cold it is on the mountain and if we decide to get the expensive helicopter down again... likely based on current form) we may be there sooner than expected - so don't delay send us a nice card soon (once again - no guilt!).
We have sent Christmas cards to all those we have addresses for. Due to general faffing, penny-pinching, and ineptitude most of you should get them shortly as they were sent airmail. The other half (the family ones unfortunately) will be lucky to see their cards by mid-january (or ever!) - as they went surface mail from China.
Anyone who would like to send us a card in return (no guilt - of course!) can post to Peter Wylie (or Courtney Middleton) c/o poste restante, GPO, MI Road, Jaipur, India.
We plan to be in Jaipur for Christmas, however (depending on how cold it is on the mountain and if we decide to get the expensive helicopter down again... likely based on current form) we may be there sooner than expected - so don't delay send us a nice card soon (once again - no guilt!).
Monday, November 22, 2004
russia to china, the long way.
and so phase 3 complete. Overland from one corner of Russia to the other corner of China. From the grey and cold of St Petersburg to the glitz and neon of Hong Kong.
the statistical roll call? well, the entire 9,000km took us 227, give or take a couple, hours. 192 of those hours were spent on trains, 34 hours on buses and finally an hour on a ferry. 16 stages in all. The longest stretch was 75 hours from Moscow to Irkutsk and the shortest, 1 hour from Macau to Hong Kong.
China we loved, Mongolia we went to at the wrong time of year, and Russia.... well, we only wished they'd smiled a bit more.
From here we fly to Kathmandu, via 45 minutes in Thailand, for 3 months in the Indian Sub-Continent.
Voting is still open in the great painting debate, but with all the usual suspects - plus a few new welcome additions - having casted their votes, it seems that we are in a position to declare a draw. 4-4 at the last count.
Belated anniversary wishes to Marsha and Bryan and even more belated to Janet and Graham.
In a vague attempt to make sure we aren't forgotten, everyone (at least all those we have addresses for) should be expecting a Christmas card. Half of you should get yours next week as it is being sent airmail. The other half shouldn't expect anything till at least Easter - as yours went surface mail. Why the difference? - it's a long and boring story but regular devotees of the site wouldn't be wrong if they detected the whiff of budget concerns about it... So either too late or too early - you can't win.
Anyone keen to return the gesture can post to Peter Wylie (or Courtney Middleton) c/o poste restante, GPO, MI Road, Jaipur, India. No items of any value (save all cash gifts and offers of lodging till you see us on our return to the UK), no playing silly monkeys with my name (if the name on the envelope doesn't match the passport then they won't surrender the goods to us), and don't delay, as our schedule may change and we may be there rather sooner than expected.
Till the next time..
the statistical roll call? well, the entire 9,000km took us 227, give or take a couple, hours. 192 of those hours were spent on trains, 34 hours on buses and finally an hour on a ferry. 16 stages in all. The longest stretch was 75 hours from Moscow to Irkutsk and the shortest, 1 hour from Macau to Hong Kong.
China we loved, Mongolia we went to at the wrong time of year, and Russia.... well, we only wished they'd smiled a bit more.
From here we fly to Kathmandu, via 45 minutes in Thailand, for 3 months in the Indian Sub-Continent.
Voting is still open in the great painting debate, but with all the usual suspects - plus a few new welcome additions - having casted their votes, it seems that we are in a position to declare a draw. 4-4 at the last count.
Belated anniversary wishes to Marsha and Bryan and even more belated to Janet and Graham.
In a vague attempt to make sure we aren't forgotten, everyone (at least all those we have addresses for) should be expecting a Christmas card. Half of you should get yours next week as it is being sent airmail. The other half shouldn't expect anything till at least Easter - as yours went surface mail. Why the difference? - it's a long and boring story but regular devotees of the site wouldn't be wrong if they detected the whiff of budget concerns about it... So either too late or too early - you can't win.
Anyone keen to return the gesture can post to Peter Wylie (or Courtney Middleton) c/o poste restante, GPO, MI Road, Jaipur, India. No items of any value (save all cash gifts and offers of lodging till you see us on our return to the UK), no playing silly monkeys with my name (if the name on the envelope doesn't match the passport then they won't surrender the goods to us), and don't delay, as our schedule may change and we may be there rather sooner than expected.
Till the next time..
oh empire, oh wonderful empire
tally ho chaps..
what a terrible day it was, back in 1997, when the empire was finally at an end. amiable education expert Prince Charles and that dreadful euro chappie, Chris Patten, sailed out of the Hong Kong Bay aboard HMS Britannia and that was that. dreadful..
but not for a moment more. oh no. this saturday we stormed the barricades once more. sailed ashore with our union jacks and tried to hoist them again. empire lives on once more. cripes. noone even spotted us. never understood why the great Mrs T agreed to give it back in the first place.
yes, after cavorting round those dreadful oriental places we finally arrived at a slice of home. marks and spencers and all. super, and not a moment to soon. not, however, till we'd spent a delightful few days in Macau. apparently part of Portugal once - who'd have believed it? very clever of those Portugese chappies to get that far from home. of course, not a patch on what the grand old British created across the water, but still a jolly fine effort.
spent a very agreeable day watching the Grand Prix. just a wee small affair, Formula 3 and some touring bikes. jolly fine english chap doing the commentary as well. gambled as well, though couldn't work out what all those Chinese games were. mighty confusing indeed. could have almost been back home at our summer villa on the Algarve.
and so a quick ferry ride over the water and we were back to claim for the Queen what, of course, should still be hers. strode straight through passport control - 'i'm British, let me through'. jolly pleased to see they all still drive on the right. and all the payphones are just like the UK. and none of them work as well. even Prince William all over the tv telling us how you should just live life as you want to. jolly well said indeed young chap.
spent a day at the races. not Ascot of course - but still, escorted straight through to the members enclosure. no riff raff around for us. jolly fine form. even won on a few races. just enough to compensate for the missus and all her wasted bets. one of the locals even thought i was michael owen. fancy that, they try so hard.
good to see that Patten chap left them with some things though. still got the doubledecker buses everywhere. no sign of his rather lovely daughters anywhere - he must have packed them off home on the Britannia. and of course Marks and Spencers. the missus bought herself a nice new bra and i told the shop assistant, 'we have these in England you know'. bras and M&S.
not sure about the food though. all this sim dum stuff. couldn't get ourselves a sunday roast anywhere. still, when in rome, do as the romans and all that.
took the Peak tram to the top. built by us British of course. jolly clever chaps even back them. good to see the locals still working it now we've gone. mighty steep hills though.
cheerio.
what a terrible day it was, back in 1997, when the empire was finally at an end. amiable education expert Prince Charles and that dreadful euro chappie, Chris Patten, sailed out of the Hong Kong Bay aboard HMS Britannia and that was that. dreadful..
but not for a moment more. oh no. this saturday we stormed the barricades once more. sailed ashore with our union jacks and tried to hoist them again. empire lives on once more. cripes. noone even spotted us. never understood why the great Mrs T agreed to give it back in the first place.
yes, after cavorting round those dreadful oriental places we finally arrived at a slice of home. marks and spencers and all. super, and not a moment to soon. not, however, till we'd spent a delightful few days in Macau. apparently part of Portugal once - who'd have believed it? very clever of those Portugese chappies to get that far from home. of course, not a patch on what the grand old British created across the water, but still a jolly fine effort.
spent a very agreeable day watching the Grand Prix. just a wee small affair, Formula 3 and some touring bikes. jolly fine english chap doing the commentary as well. gambled as well, though couldn't work out what all those Chinese games were. mighty confusing indeed. could have almost been back home at our summer villa on the Algarve.
and so a quick ferry ride over the water and we were back to claim for the Queen what, of course, should still be hers. strode straight through passport control - 'i'm British, let me through'. jolly pleased to see they all still drive on the right. and all the payphones are just like the UK. and none of them work as well. even Prince William all over the tv telling us how you should just live life as you want to. jolly well said indeed young chap.
spent a day at the races. not Ascot of course - but still, escorted straight through to the members enclosure. no riff raff around for us. jolly fine form. even won on a few races. just enough to compensate for the missus and all her wasted bets. one of the locals even thought i was michael owen. fancy that, they try so hard.
good to see that Patten chap left them with some things though. still got the doubledecker buses everywhere. no sign of his rather lovely daughters anywhere - he must have packed them off home on the Britannia. and of course Marks and Spencers. the missus bought herself a nice new bra and i told the shop assistant, 'we have these in England you know'. bras and M&S.
not sure about the food though. all this sim dum stuff. couldn't get ourselves a sunday roast anywhere. still, when in rome, do as the romans and all that.
took the Peak tram to the top. built by us British of course. jolly clever chaps even back them. good to see the locals still working it now we've gone. mighty steep hills though.
cheerio.
