Sunday, January 30, 2005
70 for 0 (10 overs) innings closed
and so, another phase of the epic adventure over. kathmandu to madras. nepal to india in 70 days via buses, taxis, planes, trains, boats and our own 2 feet.
in essence, 3 very distinct parts. the mountains of nepal, deserts of rajhastan and the lush tropics of kerala. all fantastic in their own way.
at the time, 4000m above sea level and suffering from the cold, altitude, exhaustion, a cough and 100 other excuses, it seemed inconceivable that we'd have look back fondly on nepal. yet once back in the comfort of the hotel and BBC World, all the pain fades away and only the memory of the best views in the world remain.
and india. the first 12 hours - as an experience - will probably live with us for a long long time (see posting below, written in the style of an entry for Daily Telegraph under-15 essay writing competition). a combination of arriving at the wrong time of day and in Varanasi - all the most challenging parts of India writ large - nearly overwhelmed us and sent us on the first bus back to Nepal.
but India got much, much better. you never really tire of telling people what your good name is. and, 2 months after the first time, i'm still finding it amusing to explain that Courtney's good name is because her parents were big fans of West Indian bowler Courtney Walsh. nor is the food half as bad as people make out - sainsbury's chicken korma has got more spice than most 'tourist' curries.
in the northern parts, fort and paneer fatigue can set in. but once down south even these annoyances disappeared. if ever a place fully deserves the oft used moniker 'gods own country', then it is kerala. a truly beautiful combination of lush tropical forests, hills covered with tea plantations and welcoming fishing communities. a place to keep on coming back and back to. as is the rest of india. coming over all sentimental it is with very heavy hearts that we say goodbye tonight.
and now we turn the corner onto the final homeward straight. we fly to bangkok, to the backpacker mecca that is kho san road. from there laos, vietnam, cambodia and indonesia before thunder bay comes calling.
stay tuned.
in essence, 3 very distinct parts. the mountains of nepal, deserts of rajhastan and the lush tropics of kerala. all fantastic in their own way.
at the time, 4000m above sea level and suffering from the cold, altitude, exhaustion, a cough and 100 other excuses, it seemed inconceivable that we'd have look back fondly on nepal. yet once back in the comfort of the hotel and BBC World, all the pain fades away and only the memory of the best views in the world remain.
and india. the first 12 hours - as an experience - will probably live with us for a long long time (see posting below, written in the style of an entry for Daily Telegraph under-15 essay writing competition). a combination of arriving at the wrong time of day and in Varanasi - all the most challenging parts of India writ large - nearly overwhelmed us and sent us on the first bus back to Nepal.
but India got much, much better. you never really tire of telling people what your good name is. and, 2 months after the first time, i'm still finding it amusing to explain that Courtney's good name is because her parents were big fans of West Indian bowler Courtney Walsh. nor is the food half as bad as people make out - sainsbury's chicken korma has got more spice than most 'tourist' curries.
in the northern parts, fort and paneer fatigue can set in. but once down south even these annoyances disappeared. if ever a place fully deserves the oft used moniker 'gods own country', then it is kerala. a truly beautiful combination of lush tropical forests, hills covered with tea plantations and welcoming fishing communities. a place to keep on coming back and back to. as is the rest of india. coming over all sentimental it is with very heavy hearts that we say goodbye tonight.
and now we turn the corner onto the final homeward straight. we fly to bangkok, to the backpacker mecca that is kho san road. from there laos, vietnam, cambodia and indonesia before thunder bay comes calling.
stay tuned.
// posted by courtney and pete @ 06:09 
Comments:
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Having been to Thunder Bay once or twice, all I can say is that, after all of these exotic places you have been the Bay, in May, wil be "interesting", won't it Court?
Youu might want to get back some of those jumpers you shipped home last week!!
Love,
The Canadian Aunt
Youu might want to get back some of those jumpers you shipped home last week!!
Love,
The Canadian Aunt
# posted by 
: 1:35 pm
: 1:35 pm
Your nostalgia has me teary! What an amazing experience! Cudos to the two of you for sticking out those first few bits. By the way, Courtney apparently means "a place" ... nothing too romantic about that, except that she obviously has now seen more places than most of the rest of us blog-addicts have seen all together!
The person who named her Courtney
P.S. I'm inclined to agree with my sister re Thunder Bay and jumpers!
The person who named her Courtney
P.S. I'm inclined to agree with my sister re Thunder Bay and jumpers!
# posted by : 2:17 pm
: 2:17 pm
OK Mar - you can't take all of the credit - If I recall, I was the one who was reading the "name your baby" book that day!!!!!! I had a hand in this too!
The Aunt That Helped!!!
The Aunt That Helped!!!
# posted by : 2:49 pm
: 2:49 pm 
Finally! Someone had the guts to comment on the lack of upper-case! Welcome back Will!
The Aunt
The Aunt
# posted by : 11:46 am
: 11:46 am
So one of your highlights must have been "find and take some writers' laxative" ...... how else can you remove writers block that violently ... perhaps it was just the prawn madras.
Peter, just to let you know that your venture into cricket terminology was successful ..... its amazing what a few weeks in India can do. Perhaps when you (finally) make it back to England, you'll swap the (B)Eagles for the Surrey Lions - in fact, there's usually more action at the Oval than at Selhurst, even in January.
Good call on Ms.Love changing her name to Ms.Walsh.
Will, I trust your travelling blog site is now up and running???
Keitho
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Peter, just to let you know that your venture into cricket terminology was successful ..... its amazing what a few weeks in India can do. Perhaps when you (finally) make it back to England, you'll swap the (B)Eagles for the Surrey Lions - in fact, there's usually more action at the Oval than at Selhurst, even in January.
Good call on Ms.Love changing her name to Ms.Walsh.
Will, I trust your travelling blog site is now up and running???
Keitho
# posted by : 1:12 pm
: 1:12 pm << Home
