rough guides, jumpers and outer mongolia

the end

2005-07-25T23:42:00.000+01:00

Okay, that's it.

Tales of unemployment, Crystal Palace and home decorating coming your way soon on www.whodowethinkweare.blogspot.com, but from all at Rough Guides, Jumpers and Outer Mongolia, it's time to say goodnight and goodbye.

Thanks so much for tuning in (you're such a lovely audience, we'd like to take you home with us).

So it's goodbye from him. And it's goodbye from her.

Cheers, god bless and goodnight. See you the same time next week.

2005-07-25T23:40:00.000+01:00

rough guides, jumpers and outer-mongolia

the credits

2005-07-25T23:20:00.000+01:00

RGJOM wouldn't have been possible without the help of the following. Thanks to all..

Our family and friends, all of whom had to go a year without seeing us (to some no doubt a blessing in disguise).

All the other travellers we met along the way - Serkut from Istanbul; Bo, Xenia, Artur, Trudi, Stefan, Stefan's mum, Dave from the Trans Siberian; the 2 'old farts', Daley, Minima, Ian and Heather from the Annapurna circuit; Mike, Mike's wife and the Economist couple from Jaisalmer; Aasha from Streatham (the only person to fly out to see us!); Jon and Ruth at the Pimenta; Claire and Stuart in Bangkok, Kuta and Gili Air; Jess and Steve in Vietnam and Laos; the Tesco couple from Don Khone; the Japanese girl we had dinner with in Phom Penh; the smelly German thief and the nice Australian girl in Kuching; the original 'happy couple' - Fred and Lenie from the Netherlands; Matthew and Fran from Makuzi Beach; the Dutch family on the South Luanga safari; Sadie at Jungle Junction and probably many more..

We had many impromptu guides but specifically the following deserve a mention - Karma from Nepal, Phu and the other guy from Hanoi, Eddy from Flores, Martin from South Luanga, Boldo the driver from Mongolia (bumpy bumpy bumpy!), Tiger and his sidekick on the camel trek in India, Mr Bean at the Chu Chi tunnels...

With the exception of the Bangkok dragon, every hotel provided a smiling face for the night but specifically we'd like to thank the staff at Gunes Hotel in Turkey, Ali's Pension in Egridir, White Lion in Yangshuo, Snowtail Hotel in Pokhara, Ranesh in Nawalgargth, Joseph at Sona House in Alleppy, Jacob at the Pimenta, everyone at Bee Saigon, the kids running SalaPhae in Laos, the Scottish lady at Coconut Cottages, Marsha and Bryan at Blaincroft, Dmitry in St Petersburg (cherry ravioli breakfast!), Brett at Jungle Junction and Frennus and Sybille at the Alternative Space in Namibia.

Thanks to Crystal Palace. As ever, the perfect backdrop to the year. Ultimately a sad, though expected ending. It kept us amused and gave us something to talk to everyone we met about.

And of course to the unsung millions - all those that tried to sell us things, take us on their rickshaws, give us a boat ride, invited us into their house or just simply smiled and chatted to us. The world really isn't full of terrorists and suicide bombers, it's full of lovely, lovely people.......we are the world, we are the children, we are the ones to make a brighter day.......

And finally, to Courtney, a kiss is still a kiss in Casablanca. Thanks.

the favourite places

2005-07-25T23:00:00.000+01:00

The first 10.
Istanbul, Turkey
Pokhara, Nepal
Jaisalmer, India
Alleppey, India
Hoi An, Vietnam
Luang Prabang, Laos
Don Khone, Laos
Gili Air, Lombok, Indonesia
Vancouver, Canada
Swakopmund, Namibia

The next 10;
Cappadocia, Turkey;, Zhaoxing, China; Hong Kong; Bangkok; Hanoi; Ubud, Bali; Makuzi Beach, Malawi; Livingstone, Zambia and Cape Town, South Africa.

The worst 5 places:
Yogyakarta, Dieng Plateau, Bandung, Bogor and Jakarta - all on Java, Indonesia. What a wonderful 8 days it was visiting them in quick succession.

the favourite photos

2005-07-25T18:45:00.000+01:00

Again, the awards committee has sat in judgement, and the following photos, added between other posts, are the best 10 from the last year.

2005-07-25T18:41:00.000+01:00

wicked, simonga, zambia

2005-07-25T18:39:00.000+01:00

defeat fatigue, georgetown, malaysia

the favourite hotels

2005-07-25T18:32:00.000+01:00

The first 5:
Sona House, Alleppey, India. Coconut pancakes, the manically talkative Joseph and a fantastic tropical garden.
Gunes Hotel, Nemrot Dagi, Turkey. Grassy green carpet lawn in the middle of a desert.
Samode Palace, India. Blowing the budget in the Hall of Mirrors.
Sala Phae, Don Khone, Laos. Stunning rooms floating on the Mekong. The best place.
Coconut Cottages, Gili Air, Indonesia. Another day, another gorgeous tropical garden.

The next lot:
Snowhill Hotel, Pokhara: Bee Saigon, Saigon, Vietnam; Blaincroft, Gravenhurst, Canada; White Lion, Yangshuo, China; Jungle Junction, Livingstone, Zambia; WestEnd GuestHouse, Vancouver; The Alternative Space, Swakopmund, Namibia.

And the worst:
Bob Marley Hotel, Muktinath, Nepal. Anywhere at 3800m is going to be cold but this place adds carpet to make it damp as well. Add in the same 4 Bob Marley songs on repeat all night, a seemingly mute transvesite owner and chronic food poisoning (for Pete in 2001, Ms Love in 2004). Next time stay next door.

2005-07-25T18:31:00.000+01:00

the fly, gili air, lombok, indonesia

2005-07-25T18:30:00.000+01:00

summer nights, don khone, laos

2005-07-25T18:23:00.000+01:00

vietnam smiles, sa pa, vietnam

the favourite meals

2005-07-25T18:15:00.000+01:00

The first 10:
The place on the 3rd night in Corsica. Perefect French homecooking.
Kings Lodge, Hong Kong. Dim Sum, Wagammama style.
The Third Eye, Kathmandu. Curries, floor cushions and lanterns.
Kream Korner, Alleppey. Indian spicy finally - we went 5 nights running.
Mango Rooms, Hoi An, Vietnam. Local food, western presentation. The best meal.
Blue Elephant, Luang Prabang. French colonial food in a beautiful setting.
The restaurant by the bridge, Don Khone, Laos. Sticky rice, papaya salad and fried fish.
The place behind the temple, Bangkok. The best Thai food outside of Clapham.
Raincity Grill, Vancouver. Post engagement nosebag.
The place up the side street in Ubud, Bali. Avocado chocolate milkshakes.
Le Quartier Francais, Franschoek, South Africa. Soho food at African prices.

The next 10:
Hotel Kempinsky, Moscow; the street vendor next to May Mae street in Hanoi; Cafe Pakone in Luang Prabang; Makuzi Beach, Malawi; Cloud 9, Yangshuo, China; Ali's Pension, Egridir, Turkey; the roast chicken place up the alley in Naxos, Greece; Doy Doy, Istanbul.

And the worst;
Hotel Tramp, Moscow. Pipping the Russian buffet car on the Trans Siberian. to this coveted title is quite an achievement... hot dogs, month old bread, ketchup, stale jam wafers. That was just breakfast on day one, and it got worse on days 2 and 3.

2005-07-25T18:14:00.000+01:00

watch out for jesus, kerala, india

2005-07-25T18:13:00.000+01:00

cows on the promenade, varanasi, india

2005-07-25T18:08:00.000+01:00

flying home (clouds below the mountains), nepal

the favourite sights

2005-07-25T18:05:00.000+01:00

The first 10:
The limestone chimneys of Cappodocia, Turkey
The communist squares - Red, Tiananmen and the one in Ulan Bator
Backwater rivers and canals of Kerala, India
Taj Mahal
African safari parks - Etosha, Namibia and South Luanga in Zambia
Hoi An morning market, Vietnam
Sand dunes of Namibia, Swakopmund and Sossousvlei
Jaisalmer and the forts of Rajhastan, India
Tea plantations of Munnar, India.
Thorong La pass, Nepal

The next 10:
Rice fields of Ubud, Bali; Angkor Wat, Cambodia; Luang Prabang, Laos; Bako National Park, Malaysia; Hong Kong skyline; Ha Long Bay, Vietnam; Victoria Falls, Zambia; Table Mountain, Cape Town; Nemrot Dagi, Turkey; Shetlwaki murals of northern India; coral reefs of Indonesia.

2005-07-25T18:04:00.000+01:00

tyranosaurus rex for dinner, outer mongolia

2005-07-25T17:58:00.000+01:00

paying respect to lenin, red square, moscow

2005-07-25T17:51:00.000+01:00

more turkish tea? nemrot dagi, turkey

the favourite journeys

2005-07-25T14:30:00.000+01:00

The first 10:
Ikaria to Mykonos ferry. High seas and late nights.
Trans-Siberian Railway. 6 days, the ultimate journey.
Annapurna circuit walk, Nepal. The worldest greatest trek.
Jomson to Pokhara flight, Nepal. 20 minutes of flying above the clouds but below the mountains.
Kowloon to HK Island ferry. The Star shuttle ferry.
Chitwan, Nepal to Varanasi, India. Buses, jeeps, trains, rickshaws all in 24 hours of madness.
Kumily to Munnar, Kerala, India. Rockin' to U2 in an Ambassador taxi.
Luang Prabang to Munong Noi boat, Laos. 8 hours riding the rapids.
Don Khone, Laos to Phon Penh. Speedboat thrill ride.
Swakopmund to Sesseriem. Desert, gravel roads and the Tropic of Capricorn.

The worst:
Well, most of them seemed the worst at the time but you can't help but look back fondly at them. Except maybe 5 hours stuck in the back of a pickup truck in Namibia.

the statistics

2005-07-25T14:28:00.000+01:00

20 countries (22 if you count Macau and Hong Kong, 26 if you count transit stopovers in Germany, Holland, Korea and Kenya).
335 days.
129 places visited.
179 different beds slept in.
2 cameras.
4 continents.
6 pairs of mens jeans.
923 games of back gammon (approx).
17 nights spent sleeping on trains.
3 nights spent sleeping on buses.
8 hours spent apart in one year (while Courtney shopped for wedding dresses).
35 flights, umpteen train rides, countless bus rides and an awful lot of sneaky luxury taxis.

the website

2005-07-25T14:19:00.000+01:00

Well, if you listen to both of us talking to each other, then you'd think we'd practically invented the world of personal websites. Clearly this is rather wide of the mark, but nonetheless we can certainly claim a whole host of copycat sites!

It might look as if we spent the whole year in internet cafes (and at time it certainly felt that way) but in reality the website was a fantastic release from the day to day rigours of travel.

Obviously we were alarmed when it turned into a transatlantic chatroom - every teenagers ultimate nightmare come true when your parents (both sets!) start chatting not only with each other, but with your mates. Unsupervised and all!

Nevertheless, thanks to all those that looked but never commented - the silent majority. But the biggest thanks must go to those that commented - Canadian Mom, Graham and Janet, Nick and Liz, Melissa, Sam, Will, Keith, Bridget, Supertheo, Jim W and many more.

The Oscar for best poster came down to a 2 horse race. After much deliberation (and knowing that the Landlord can take solace in the fact that he was writing to a far greater audience than in his dayjob - plus he never wrote nothin' nice), the award goes to Auntie Woodstock. Everyone needs a greatest fan. The yellow tshirt is in the post...

5 minutes to midnight...

2005-07-18T23:55:00.000+01:00

Okay folks, I don't really want to stop the show, but the singer says it's time to go.

The bags are packed, the airport taxi booked. Viva London.

Tune in next week for a special summer holiday bumper edition of RGJOM, including news from our final day awards ceremony, the all-important backgammon result, and details of our fun packed new successor website.

2005-07-18T23:48:00.000+01:00

see ya

cape apples

2005-07-18T21:56:00.000+01:00

First guys, it looks like we may be doing some sort of diplomatic joint finish on the backgammon... nevermind... afterall, I can console myself that the last time Mr. Wylie was in the lead was somewhere in Indonesia, as was apparent by the fuss he made when he finally equalised (reminiscent of the end to the football season...'we might have lasted another 8 minutes!', 'yes, but you are still relegated').

Anyway, there are other things to entertain ourselves with in and around Cape Town and on to those...

First, Table Mountain. There is an historic cable car up the 1086 metre mountain or there is a steep 3hr uphill hike. One guess which option Pete wanted (and one guess which one I was wishing for!). So off we hiked... The last time either of us hiked anywhere was possibly right around the last time Pete was in the lead in backgammon, so you can imagine how tough it was... I am not ashamed to say that I cried 3/4 of the way up.

There are also 2 possible ways down the mountain - and I felt sure that I had earned the cable car by that point... Pete had other ideas. Down was murder, this time there were tears, curses, and collapses.

Pete marched sternly downwards and I stumbled behind, joined by about 18 middle-aged chain-smoking Egyptian men in their nighties (lost, their tour guide had instructed them to follow us). Everytime I shouted "I'm resting" and sat down I could hear their collective sigh of gratitude behind me. By the bottom we were best friends (albeit with no shared language). I appreciated their cheer (at least more that Pete's "stop making a fuss") when my legs buckled beneath me as I reached level ground. 4 days later my legs have still not stopped aching.

The next 2 days were something much more my style. The Wine Route. Wine tasting, eating lovely food, wandering around old Cape Dutch style buildings. As Pete was driving I had to take on the lion's share of the tasting (and I think I handled the responsibility well... we only bought 12 bottles). We managed to squeeze in lunch at 'The best restaurant in Africa' (Restaurant Magazine 2004 - who?) - excellent and very resonable (we still came in on budget!).

The last stop on our drive around the environs of Cape Town was Hermanus, a town on the coast, to try to spot some whales. They refused to show - but we did see some small rabbit-like creatures called dassies crawling about the rocky shore... not quite Southern Right Whales, but I tried to console myself with the thought that they are related to elephants (according to the LP anyway). Unfortunately Hermanus ened up being more noteworthy for the rather roudy Afrikaner teens that kept our entire hostel awake singing in the bar downstairs until 3am. Pete was first pissed off - then overjoyed when he asked for, and actually got our money back (plus and extra 10 rand thanks to the flustered lady at reception).

Finally back in Cape Town yesterday, we met up with some old friends of Pete's, Grant and Marnie. They had completed a similar round the world trip 18 months ago so we found lots of stories to compare over lunch. We had planned another hike after lunch(Lion's Head - the 'other' mountain in Cape Town, 672m). I was gamely keeping my mouth shut about the stiff legs and planning to at least give it a go when, joy of joys, a baby Southern Right Whale started leaping around in the water of the bay! It put on a show for us for about 30 minutes, by which time it was getting a little late... Perfect excuse NOT to climb another moutain! And I got to see my whale afterall.

2005-07-18T16:01:00.001+01:00

wet

2005-07-18T16:01:00.000+01:00

mr luff

2005-07-18T16:00:00.003+01:00

penguin watching

2005-07-18T16:00:00.002+01:00

grant and marnie

2005-07-18T16:00:00.001+01:00

boxes

2005-07-18T16:00:00.000+01:00

reading

2005-07-18T15:59:00.001+01:00

whalewatching

2005-07-18T15:59:00.000+01:00

only girls drink rose

2005-07-18T15:58:00.002+01:00

bottles

2005-07-18T15:58:00.001+01:00

10am tasting

2005-07-18T15:58:00.000+01:00

glasses

2005-07-18T15:57:00.002+01:00

white buildings

2005-07-18T15:57:00.001+01:00

swivel eyes

2005-07-18T15:57:00.000+01:00

winelands

2005-07-18T15:56:00.002+01:00

signal hill sunset

2005-07-18T15:56:00.001+01:00

big hill

2005-07-18T15:56:00.000+01:00

cape town

2005-07-18T15:55:00.002+01:00

keeping watch

2005-07-18T15:55:00.001+01:00

smiles at the top

2005-07-18T15:55:00.000+01:00

table mountain torture

canada v england

2005-07-15T07:56:00.000+01:00

Stop the press, hold the back page... Last night in Stellenbosch, Ms Love suffered a calamitous back gammon reverse. 2 sets played, 2 sets lost. 1-3 and then a whitewash, 3-0.

The scores are thus level, 103 sets each, going into the last 3 days. Will there be a winner? Or will the happy couple decide to go over the finishing line hand in hand? Stay tuned..

photos

2005-07-12T21:44:00.000+01:00

Catch up again on the photos beneath. The whole of Namibia, at least our shots of it that is.

2005-07-12T18:50:00.000+01:00

welcome to south africa

2005-07-12T18:49:00.003+01:00

molly!

2005-07-12T18:49:00.002+01:00

where the streets have no name

2005-07-12T18:49:00.001+01:00

dry

2005-07-12T18:49:00.000+01:00

oh ah cantona

2005-07-12T18:47:00.001+01:00

pensive

2005-07-12T18:47:00.000+01:00

morning!

2005-07-12T18:46:00.004+01:00

sandprints

2005-07-12T18:46:00.003+01:00

the lion king shot

2005-07-12T18:46:00.002+01:00

in the distance

2005-07-12T18:46:00.001+01:00

too much apple pie

2005-07-12T18:46:00.000+01:00

on the road again

2005-07-12T18:45:00.000+01:00

shadows

2005-07-12T18:43:00.002+01:00

running

2005-07-12T18:43:00.001+01:00

sand dune splits

2005-07-12T18:43:00.000+01:00

eyes left

2005-07-12T18:42:00.004+01:00

swako

2005-07-12T18:42:00.003+01:00

blue

2005-07-12T18:42:00.002+01:00

looking for sea lions

2005-07-12T18:42:00.001+01:00

alternative space

2005-07-12T18:42:00.000+01:00

luxury travel

2005-07-12T18:41:00.002+01:00

end of day

2005-07-12T18:41:00.001+01:00

namibia

2005-07-12T18:41:00.000+01:00

sunset grin

2005-07-12T18:37:00.002+01:00

salt pan splits

2005-07-12T18:37:00.001+01:00

wildebeast

2005-07-12T18:37:00.000+01:00

drinkin'

2005-07-12T18:36:00.003+01:00

portrait

2005-07-12T18:36:00.002+01:00

starin'

2005-07-12T18:36:00.001+01:00

lots of giraffes

2005-07-12T18:36:00.000+01:00

lots of animals together

2005-07-12T18:35:00.002+01:00

jumpin jack flash

2005-07-12T18:35:00.001+01:00

springbok

2005-07-12T18:35:00.000+01:00

zebras

2005-07-12T18:34:00.004+01:00

cool eh?

2005-07-12T18:34:00.003+01:00

hi de hi campers

2005-07-12T18:34:00.002+01:00

budget time

2005-07-12T18:34:00.001+01:00

giraffe sunset

2005-07-12T18:34:00.000+01:00

lots of elephants

frankie fredericks

2005-07-11T09:44:00.000+01:00

Okay, so post Windhoek we arrived in windy but sunny Swakopmund - the seaside town of Namibia, apparently 'more German' than Germany. Nevertheless it wasn't a bad place.

Accomodation for 4 nights was at The Alternative Space B&B. Aimed at yuppie upmarket professional backpackers, finally we'd found our niche in life. Owned by Frennus and Sybille (Sybil!) and decorated throughout by junk art, it was definitely, cue obvious line, an oasis in the desert.

Frennus kindly turned off the kids cartoons, let us watch CNN, and humoured us in our excitement for the annoucement that London had won the Olympics. Unfortunately he'd didn't totally complete the picture by making snide remarks about the French and Paris. Amazing how something that 24 hours previously you thought you weren't bothered about can cause such excitement and pride.

Come the next day and the opposite emotions. Driving back from town in a taxi, the other passenger (that we'd slightly unaccountably had to stop and pick up) turned and asked if we were from the UK. Yup, from London. Have you heard the news? Yup, cause we have, great isn't it, though we're worried it means higher taxes....

Sadly that wasn't the news. There's not much more that either of us can add. It was always going to be 'our' turn someday. At these times it is awful to be so far away. Namibian nightly news didn't exactly add much to our understanding (finally covering the story after news of a local buffalo epidemic and a hippo attack on an unfortunate woman).

We're obviously going to have to live with these idiots for the rest of our lives, but it's heartening to realise that the whole world out there thinks the same of them. Countless people have asked us where we are from and expressed their anger and sympathy to London.

Anyway, back in backpacker land, most of the time has been spent cavorting on sand dunes, first in Swakopmund, and then 450km away, in Sossousvlei. The latter are supposed to be the biggest sand dunes in the world, but frankly the former were more fun. There can be few better ways to end the day than watching the sunset, with a bottle of wine, totally alone on the sand.

As mentioned, not content with the sand dunes of Swakopmund, we hired a car and set off for the big ones. This involved 850km of gravel roads - not easy and made even more difficult by repeated dickheads driving past at about 400kph in their fancy 4 wheel drives spluttering up all manner of dust and rock. Still, it was the most incredible landscape and feeling of isolation.

We did our bit to make poverty history at Sossousvlei by paying $40 to sleep in our car in the car park outside the campsite ffs (that's US$ not Namibian). Clearly by the time we reached the car park where 2 wheel drives could go no further, and found out it was another $15 each (again US$ not Namibian) to get the shuttle bus the final 4km... it was time for Courtney to walk. And don't get me started on the 300% price increase in national park entry that came into effect 2 days before we showed up. Bob Geldof would be proud of us..

Which brings us back to Swakopmund and the prospect of 25 hours on a coach till we get to Cape Town. In between tea with Nelson, visiting Tabletop Mountain, and buying wine, the grand finale of the back gammon contest will be held. At one point this last few days, Ms Love had a seemingly unassiable 5 set lead. She was planning her victory parade and all this claptrap about how I had to make her a scroll. Thankfully as the score suggests, last night I was able to claw my way back to just a 2 set deficit, leaving the final denoument wide open. How she ever wins is frankly beyond me, she merely copies all my tactics and best moves.

Almost there guys, hang on in there, 328 days down, 8 days left before the triumphant 10 day homecoming tour of the UK.

And congratulations on the arrival of Molly Elizabeth Sharp. The budget was even relaxed to the extent that we could raise a glass in celebration..

animals

2005-07-06T10:38:00.000+01:00

So, Namibia. A land with just blue skies and no clouds. Never.

First up was the Etosha National Park. Unlike the wildlife park we visited in Zambia, at this one you were allowed to drive yourself around. So, upon arrival in Tsuemb we duly hired a car. Possibly the smallest car in the world, it was more like a lawnmower on stilts. Maxium speed of 90kmph. Which isn't fast when all the roads are totally straight for miles ahead and there are about 2 other cars operating in the whole country. Any faster and the thing wobbled from side to side.

Nevertheless we made it to the wildlife park. No run-ins with elephants this time. We stayed safely in our car and kept quiet in their vicinity the whole time. The wildife spotting was much the same as South Luanaga, just more plentiful. We now have 2546 photos of zebras as opposed to 1323 that we did before. Another sighting of lions but once again the bloody things refused to stand up and let us take a proper photo (or even see them). Still, they looked fairly big and, well, lionlike anyway.

Rather inconveniently, our arrival in Namibia has coincided with the start of the South African school holidays. Contrary to both my confident prediction that they (the school holidays) would start at the same time as in the UK, plus even the Lonely Planet which said they began in 'late' July, all of a sudden everywhere is filled with hundreds of families. All with the biggest tents and 4x4s ever invented.

Anyway, having posed for nude photos on the Etosha salt pans, we headed south, to the captial, Windhoek. Having dropped the lawnmower off in Tusemb, we were once again on the local transport - a pickup truck which 3 of us, plus umpteen suitcases were squeezed into the back of. Still, it's all part of the experience la la la.

Till the next time..

final straight

2005-06-30T22:02:00.000+01:00

Right then, congratulations to whoever was the 10,000th visitor to the site. If you'd like to identify yourself then we'll arrange for you to receive a special RGJOM t-shirt as a prize. Or something like that. At any rate, 10,000 visitors is more than your average BBC Sport golf article gets..

Rounding the bend, we approach the final straight. From here it's off to sunny Namibia for 2 weeks tomorrow, then a few days in Cape Town, Bude, BotolphClaydon, before the triumphant homecoming in London on July 30th at the PBS boat party.

down at the junction

2005-06-30T20:17:00.000+01:00

Travelling in Africa seems to involve less mixing with the locals than in Asia - the backpacker lodges we've been staying in, in Zambia, seem to be mostly filled with Prince Harries as Pete charmingly calls them. So, being the worthy, non-bungee jumping types that we are, we were looking for an opportunity to get into a local village and see some 'real life'. Visiting Simonga (a community based tourism initiative in the pilot phase) for a day and night seemed perfect. Our lovely guide Astone (Villa) did a fantastic job showing us around the school, blacksmith and carpenter - we even squeezed in a football game; and the Head Lady treated us to some very satisfying local meals (corn meal 3 times a day! No wonder the backpacker lodges all serve burgers!).

After Simonga we knew we wanted some serious relaxation and the posters for Jungle Junction promised a uniquely laid-back experience in the middle of nowhere on the banks of the Zambezi River. We booked in for 5 nights.

Brett, the owner, picked us up in Livingstone - and first impressions that he was some sort of alcoholic hippy bushman didn't end up being far from wrong (and he had a penchant for wearing strangely likeable novelty hats)! Nevertheless his 'island paradise' delivered the goods. Our chalet turned out to have only 3 (of a potential 4) walls and looked out over a lovely stretch of the island's shore (although paranoia of a nighttime crocodile invasion did trouble us slightly, we were never visited). The bar was a serve yourself job where popcorn was on offer around sunset every night (free nosebag is definitely a plus for us in any lodging!).

We managed to do absolutely nothing for 3 days - reading (me), making lists and DJing on the ipod over the bar stereo (Pete), getting drunk with Brett and playing backgammon kept us happy. To break the lethargy we opted for a fishing trip in a local style dugout canoe on our 4th day - all the other guests had caught fish and our self-catering cupboard was looking a little empty.

Obviously fate was against me for teasing Pete thoroughly about his episode in the loo with the elephant. We were only in the canoe for 10 minutes before MissSlightlySmugCanadianOutdoorswoman (that's me) managed to fall head first into the river... 3 people standing up in a canoe, I ask you - it was bound to happen right? Anyway, I didn't get eaten by the crocs or washed away by the rapids on that occasion, but 20 minutes later we were seriously surprised by a second attempted dunking - this time by a hippo swimming beneath us. All that, and not a single fish to show for it. Apparently 2 firsts in the history of the island (no fish and falling in!).

(You'll be impressed to hear that, upon Courtney falling in the Zambezi, I managed to stop myself asking if she had the camera in her pocket... for all of 2 seconds until she had both hands on the side of the boat that is..)

We spent the rest of our time on dry land drinking Mosi, dancing around the empty bar and stuffing our faces with popcorn. Paradise.

2005-06-30T14:01:00.000+01:00

beer

2005-06-30T14:00:00.001+01:00

local dice

2005-06-30T14:00:00.000+01:00

sunset hair

2005-06-30T13:59:00.001+01:00

dancing on the tree

2005-06-30T13:59:00.000+01:00

dice

2005-06-30T13:58:00.002+01:00

shower

2005-06-30T13:58:00.001+01:00

an accountant at work

2005-06-30T13:58:00.000+01:00

ready for action

2005-06-30T13:57:00.000+01:00

wet

2005-06-30T13:54:00.000+01:00

mosi candles