London to Australia

London to Australia 2008!!!

2008-11-02T03:17:00.000-08:00

We made it and what a journey it has been with a fantastic group of people. So many lasting friendships have been made, incredible experiences shared, and of course some good food and a couple of drinks as well, plus here and there the odd bit of hardship. Any trans continental journey has these, but with the right bunch of people these only contribute to an amazing journey.

I would like to say a big thanks to everybody who joined the expedition this year as well as to Tim and Cheryl my fellow crew who added so much to this trip. Have tried to find one picture which sums this journey up but is impossible.

So if you are reading this blog and considering joining us, do yourself a favour and go well back through posts as you will then have a true idea of what these expeditions are really about. Then if it sounds like your kind of thing get hold of us or possibly attend an informal talk and presentation on upcoming expeditions. Contact us at info@odysseyoverland.co.uk for venues and dates or with any questions you may have.

Safe travels!!!

Pete Deverson

Darwin here we come!

2008-10-22T03:23:00.000-07:00

We made it, the journey of a lifetime!

Leaving Melaka we headed for the Malaysian Singapore border. We had slowly been arriving at more organised borders as we travelled down towards Australia. This massive construction with air-conditioning and escalators was a world away from the tin shack filled with edgy men and guns we had grown accustomed to, only a few months before. After waiting in orderly lines, and passing your passport to a person who knew exactly what to do with it, we were all soon in Singapore.
We were staying in Little India, right near the heart of things to see and do in Singapore. Our accommodation was a very nicely appointed lodge offering large aircon rooms and a great breakfast.

As it is an expensive city, the cheapest way to eat is in the food halls, similar to the ones we had enjoyed in Malaysia, but indoors, and a lot more organised. Filled with locals it got the stamp of approval from the group, with many eating both lunch and dinner there. After the stiff drink prices of Malaysia, the good value beer and great service provided by the Tiger Beer Lady, proved too hard to refuse for some, with the evening ending in a local jazz bar. Other more wizened travellers headed off early so as not to waste a moment in the city the following day.

Wondering what to see and do in town is a no brainer, simply walk up to the brochure stand and take your pick; a world class zoo, the world’s largest Ferris wheel, a formula one track, free outdoor music and theatre and even the fountain of wealth, where all you need do is poke your hand in it and your financial worries are over. With an extensive underground rail system, whizzing around Singapore is a piece of cake, and a pleasant experience. There is so much on offer it’s hard to know where to make a start.

Raffles is a famous chain of luxury hotels and no visit to Singapore would be complete without the wallet taxing signature drink of the city, a Singapore Sling. Some folks even went so far as to enjoy an afternoon tea at this prestigious venue, gulging themselves on finger food and cakes to die for. After so many months of travel, others found it the perfect excuse to spend the afternoon in the shopping malls of Orchard Street, trying on some insanely high heels and purchasing a small black dress before all meeting up at the Raffles Long Bar, for a cocktail or two. After cracking open peanuts and tossing the shells on the floor, having enjoyed the novelty of the bar, we headed to a world class eatery across the road, set in a sunken courtyard, shadowed by a church lit up under the clear night sky. It was great night only marred by the thought of even more farewell’s in the morning.

The next day there were sad goodbyes to be had. Simon would be staying on in Singapore before flying back to the UK, Ann, who was off on overland adventure part two, a trip across South America, was due to leave from Singapore in a few days too, Mike H and Maura (could there be some something there ?) were flying to Perth to find a job in the sun. C was heading back up to Kuala Lumpur, before heading off to the States to visit her sister; Chris was off home to the UK too. This only left Mike T, Edel, Andrew, Cheryl and me to do the final leg to Darwin. As to the rest they are still exploring exotic Borneo!

Odyssey Overland chooses Darwin as their endpoint, as it provides the perfect staging platform for an Australian adventure. We caught the late flight to Darwin that evening, arriving at Frogs Hollow Backpackers in the wee hours of the morning. Backpackers mostly offer dorm accommodation, but private rooms are available, and the swimming pool and BBQ area made us feel right at home.

Darwin is a great base from which to explore the northern territory. Mike, Edel, Andrew, and another Irish friend they had met along the way, were heading off at the crack of dawn to explore Kakadu National Park. They chose to rent a car to explore the park, but they could just as easily have joined a guided 4x4 tour, offering one to four nights camping under the Ozzy stars.
That is the great thing about Darwin, the amount of information that is readily available makes taking a trip to explore the Aboriginal culture and amazing scenery easy, whether individually or with new found friends. Many excursions are on offer, or if you wish to take it overland alone, car and campervan hire is also abundant, and over more than a few days is very competitively priced. Darwin and Australia offers something for everybody in an easily accessible package.

Three cheers to a great adventure!

Borneo optional 3 weeks, AMAZING!!!

2008-10-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Sarawak Province, Borneo
Borneo, or in our case, Malaysian Borneo always has been one of those mystical destinations with stories of great adventures in tropical jungles, with amazing tribes, cultures and wildlife to experience and explore. I think everybody who decided to head off on this exploratory section of our adventure has been blown away to date. Full details and costs of this add on will be releases on my return in November for people interested in doing this on the 2009 expedition.

The Borneo Crew

Our flight across from mainland Malaysia from Johor Bahru to Kuching, the capital of Sarawak Province, went smoothly with a nice new plane carrying us across to our new adventure. The modern airport when we arrived was also a surprise. We had booked into small B&B for the night and having discussed it, the group had said that due to this being an exploratory trip they would be happy with dorm style accommodation. Borneo B&B is a funky spot but the dorms (with no aircon and very squeaky bunks) instantly converted everyone to the option that our normal style of shared twin rooms is the way to go, so after a night in dorms we all moved into twins with aircon the next day.

Kuching or cat city

With a day to explore everybody soon ventured out to explore the town, walk the river front promenade, explore the Chinese temples and a stroll around the old court house. Having done this we headed out to the Semenggoh Orang-utan Wildlife centre, this is a conservation area where 24 orang-utans have been relocated due to encroachment on their natural area or being formerly kept as pets. They all live wild in the +600 hectare area. We arrived at the daily feeding time where local fruits are put out on two raised platforms and then hopefully some orang-utans will come in for a snack.

We were lucky enough to have 7 show up including a mother with a 3 month old baby, it was great to just stand quietly and watch them interact with each other. There is something very special about the experience. Definitely a must do if you come to this part of the world.
After another night in Kuching we started early as we headed for the first of the national parks we will visit while in Borneo, Bako National Park, the oldest national park in Borneo. To get out to the park involves a bus ride to a river port and then a ride of about 25 minutes in a speed boat to get to the park. Jen our water-phobic is getting quite relaxed now as think she has spent more time boating out to islands and national parks on this holiday than in her entire life.

Bako National Park!

Our boat off-loaded us on a stunning beach boxed in on either side by limestone cliffs covered by palms and lush jungle. As we wandered up towards reception all around us was just amazing scenery. After a warm welcome and a quick lunch in the restaurant we dumped our bags and set off on our first walk through the jungle. I have spent quite a bit of time in the Amazon and was expecting something similar in Borneo. Definitely the plant and animals were here as well, but the great thing was that everything was not trying to bite; this is really friendly jungle to explore. Our first walk took us along a trail where there is a good chance to see the Proboscis monkey one of the must sees while in Bako. On the walk we had no luck with the monkeys but was still a great walk with so much to see. The walk finally brought us out on another almost deserted beach only spoilt by a troop of lesser spotted Dutch folk. After exploring the beach a boat arrived and after a quick chat we had negotiated a boat ride back to the lodge. Jen though said she would rather walk if there was the option so she Michael and Alexa walked back.
On our arrival back we soon got ourselves comfortable only to be told that the Proboscis monkeys where just down the way, so off we dashed to go and see these strange monkeys with their massive red noses. We managed to get really close with a huge male walking right under our feet we stood on the raised walkway above the mangrove swamp. Then it was down to catch the sunset off the beach, possibly the most stunning of the trip to date. On arrival back at the lodge we got everything ready for the night walk which headed off at eight. It’s amazing to see what the jungle has to offer as far as wildlife goes both during the day and at night, and finding an emerald pit viper and getting some great shots was the definite highlight of the night walk.

Night walkersGreen pit viper
The next morning a couple of us headed of early on a 2 hour walk through some stunning jungle and open ground to one of the most stunning beaches I have seen to date. Imagine chilling on a deserted beach something like you would visualise “The Beach”. It’s a tough life and yet again we managed to get a boat to take us back to the lodge, this all via some stunning limestone rock formations. Sadly all too soon we had to hope on our boat back to the real world, Bako National Park was amazing. Just amazing!!! Private beach
On arrival back in Kuching we had the afternoon to prepare ourselves for our next adventure. The next section sees us jump on river boats and head up the Batang Rejang River which is the highway through the jungle to the interior. Our first day took us from Kuching via Sibu to Kapit, a journey of almost 300km along the river all done at some amazing speeds in the river ferries. We departed Kuching at 8.30 am and finally landed in Kapit at about 6.00pm so a long day, but the ferries are comfortable, air-conditioned and even showed DVDs (including WWF wrestling and karaoke music – a useful insight into Malaysian culture!). As we got closer to Kapit all along the river we could see long houses, though these are bit too close to civilization and so we plan to head further up the river to hopefully find a long house not too spoilt by the modern world.
Kapit is just a stop off point for us as we travel further into the interior to hopefully experience some longhouse hospitality about 150km above the Pelagus Rapids.
Early the next morning we headed back down to the ferry landing to head up through the rapids to Belaga from where we would do our longhouse stays and jungle treks. We had read about the rapids that we would be going through and must say had not taken them too seriously, but on arrival at the ferry point the boats all had spare propellers strapped to the top of the coach house and looked a bit more battered and worse for wear. The next 2 hours were fantastic as we headed up the rapids, for those who stayed inside must have seemed a bit bumpy and must have interrupted the DVD from time to time, but sitting up on top of the roof flying up the rapids in a zig zag course was like white water rafting upstream in a power boat. The skill of the skipper and his knowledge of the river were impressive and definitely got the adrenalin glands pumping. Once through the rapids the river narrowed quite a lot with lots of islands and was stunning as we cruised up the river with regular longhouses scattered along the jungle clad river banks.
On our arrival in Belaga it had a real frontier town feel, with friendly locals pointing the way and we soon had moved into the Belaga Hotel which even had aircon. After a quick lunch we headed off to setup a guide and porters for our coming adventures into the jungle. The great thing about Belaga is it still has the feel of the old days where tourism is not that big and a jungle trip is still like arranging an expedition into unchartered territory. After meeting a couple of guides we finally settled on Mr Ham and his merry band to take us on a two day jungle trek and overnight camp.
We set off at 10am the next morning, first in a long boat for a quick ride up to the rapids and then the trek started. Worth mentioning that this is no well cut tourist path through the jungle, this is a track that the local fishermen and hunters use. On our travels we had met up with Marc, an American and personal friend of Brad and Angelina (yep, that’s Pitt/Jolie). Was he in for a surprise for over the next couple of days as we undertook a true jungle trek, with no paved walkways or hand rails in sight! Over the months the group have become accustomed to third world travel and even to us the jungle trek was challenging but when you come to Borneo you expect it to be fairly rough and ready.
A great quote sums up our next two days “An adventure is not an adventure when it is happening. Adventure is physical and emotional discomfort, recollected in tranquillity.” (Tim Cahill)

Our guides soon proved themselves well adapted to the jungle and they immediately dived into the bushes to cut us each our personal traditional walking stick which we soon really appreciated as the path and the slippery clay ground made the sticks essential. We followed the river bank for most of the next 4 hours with stunning jungle vegetation and all sorts of animals rustling in the bushes around us. Our walk finally brought us to a bay in the river with a nice sandy area where the guides had erected a simple shelter for us for the night. We would be sleeping out with just sleeping bag liners and mozzie nets to keep us safe for the night, unthinkable in somewhere like the Amazon but no problem in these jungles. Once we had all settled in some decided to take a quick dip in the river after confirming that there would not be any great chance of crocodiles, and others just relaxed and enjoyed the amazing surroundings. It is really special being deep in the jungle with nothing else but the little we had carried in with us. Heading for the jungle trek Not easy going and one of the big trees
Soon our guides set off to set fishing nets and a couple of lines to try and get some fish for dinner to add to the chicken and other basic supplies that they had brought along. Food proved to be very simple but filled the gap, but definitely for next year we will be doing the food ourselves as good food makes adventures like these.
All too soon it was dark, some gathered around the fires for a bit, but fairly early everybody had turned in for a good night’s sleep, though not before Marc had managed to nick his finger with his pen knife and so the drama began. Jungle beds and ready for day two jungle treks Elaine on Mushrooms

Early the next morning (well not really, it was about nine by the time everyone was up and about) we all got up for a bit to eat before packing up and heading off for our next jungle trek. The day’s trek would take us across the hills to another river for a visit to a longhouse from where we would return to Belaga. Challenging to say the least, but in retrospect everybody thought it was great, though at times as we scrambled along the path it was fairly challenging. Eventually we arrived at the longhouse and were offered green coconuts, and it was great to sip on the refreshing juice before eating the tender inner meat of the coconuts. Traditional Long House
By now everybody was fairly manky (dirty, sweaty and covered in jungle mud), so was decided instead of staying to explore the longhouse we would return to the hotel have a shower and a late lunch and then return to explore the longhouse with suitable gifts.
A short boat ride took us back to the hotel and soon a refreshed group appeared ready to head back to the longhouse. Our presents of balloons and rice wine went down a treat and we had a good chance to wander through and get a feel for longhouse life.
After a night in comfortable beds the next morning we headed for Niah National Park in hired jeeps along the logging tracks. Niah was another great park with fantastic accommodation and “American friendly” jungle trekking, nice paths with handrails. The big attraction here is the caves and I will let the pictures explain (COMING SOON). The other great thing was we were able to barbeque again and a feast was had both nights making everybody think back to many of the nights we had cooked and enjoyed great food while we travelled with Penelope our faithful truck.
Miri was our next stop en-route to Brunei and provided us with the chance to celebrate our 6-month anniversary of being on the road!

Brunei
The trip from Miri in Borneo to Brunei is fairly convoluted, and so after 6 buses, 2 taxis and a ferry, we arrived into Bandar Seri Begawan (or BSB as the locals refer to it), the capital of Brunei. Exploring the floating villages a major contrast to the rest of town
Fuelled by oil and petro dollars, the ruling monarchy is the longest hereditary monarchy still ruling in the world and the oil money has been spent well with great roads, nice housing and apparently a fairly high standard of living. The present Sultan was the richest man in the world before Mr Gates and company made fortunes out of the computer generation. A couple of hours wandering the Royal Regalia Museum gave a small idea of the wealth of this country (and also a useful insight into how imaginative or otherwise world leaders are when they visit bearing gifts). The sultan is said to have more than 2,000 luxury cars stored in one of his palaces, together with a couple of Black Hawk helicopters and some planes and boats – must be a tough life!
From here we head off on a ferry heading back to Malaysian Borneo, this time the Sabah Province, for more jungle adventure.

Sabah of the two provinces is the more developed for tourism, but offers some amazing attractions. The highlight was the expedition into a jungle camp down one of the many rivers. Uncle Tans Jungle camp is by no means a luxury option but the wildlife and great guides make it a really special experience. Due to conditions a camera just does not do justice to what we saw. We even found a massive python on one of the night boat trips. Have left the picturs to tell the story bellow Chilling jungle style

Early morning boat cruise heads out looking for wildlife, baots proved the best way to find animals on the many waterways.

Night boat cruise
Wild urangatans just outside the camp.

Jungle bugs come bigHeading for turtle island to watch nesting on the beach and the release of the hatchlings

Amazing sunset Borneo has given us some amazing ones
A good time was had by all!!!

Singpore slings when we got to Sinapore in Raffles Bar

Malaysia - Penang, Perhentian Islands, Kuala Lumpar, Melaka

2008-10-17T00:38:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Penang, Malaysia, at around eight in the evening. Once everybody had checked in we headed down to China Town. It was the first true Chinese market we had found. A ball dancing floor was cordend off in the centre, with a good couple of oldies strutting their stuff, to what we decided must have been last week’s Karaoke winner, wailing at a microphone. The stage and dance floor were surrounded by a hundred tables and all this engulfed by a hundred food kiosks. Night market food

Each kiosk sold its own speciality from a Balti curry to Chicken foot Wontons. Tables all had a number and minutes after ordering from your chosen chef, a plate of steaming food was placed in front of you, easily washed down by the endless supply of cold drinks and beer.

It was a great evening, with only a couple of dishes deemed too ethnically interesting to eat.

The next morning those ready for a bit more culture headed off on a self guided walking tour, enjoying the sights and history of this mixing pot that is Penang. Others milled around the hotel taking advantage of the free wi fi and aircon.

Next morning we headed for Kuala Besut, literally a stop off point, before we found our way to more island time on the beautiful Perhentian Islands. When we arrived, it appeared that the town had been closed down due to lack of interest, and our hungry tummies were all a bit distraught. Eventually though, we found a lonely merchant who was selling some fine grub, and the entire group took over his tiny premises. With not much to do but wait for the ferry out to the islands the next morning, folks went for strolls down the beaches or wondered around the harbour, until we all met up for dinner, which proved to be excellent for such a sleepy little hollow.

Those who had thought the thumping heart of adventure had begun to flutter with all these quite towns, were soon to have a re awakening. ” Fast Ferry to Island” was what the resort promised and they definitely did not disappoint. Two massive 200 horse power outboards, pushing along 10 people per boat, soon saw manic smiles and shrieking cries trying to pierce the sound of the roaring engines, even the less nautically enthused had to admit it was a great way to travel.

Upon arrival at the island, being low tide, we had to transfer to smaller boats to run up the beach. This did not please the lesser boaty types, but with life jackets and all, we were soon safe and sound on a beautiful tropical island.

Picture palm trees hanging low, swaying in a gentle breeze, their shadows dancing on the beach .We were all staying in small bungalows, hidden in shade, a stone’s throw from the crystalline water.

The beach front restraurant served up all kinds of local and western tasty treats. Being in a Malay area, the change in flavours was welcome, with some amazing curries on offer. The BBQ seafood was also incredible. A couple of hours watching the fishing boats drop off their catch for the day, soon tipped you off to what would be the tastiest option that evening. A popular favourite for breakfast was a roti canai, a thick pancake served with sweet curry sauce, followed by a platter of assorted fresh fruits.

It's tuff on the islands, but someone's gotta do it.

Sunset from the resort restaurant

Tim and Cher Odyssey crew beach time

But enough of the food, the main reason for coming to the Perhentian islands is the sea life. Whether you are an avid diver or not, there is something for everyone here.

A lot of people had a taste of diving when we were in Nha Trang, and decided to do their open water diving course on the islands. The lodge we stay at has a PADI dive school attached, run by Pete and Anke, who do an excellent job. Karcher and Rich chose to enrol, turning their island break into a serious studying affair, but they did not complain. With a few hours a day spent in the class room and the afternoons spent diving amongst the coral reefs, this sounded to be a truly amazing experience.

The next best option to get up close and personal with the marine life is snorkelling. For 6 dollars a day you can hire fins and snorkel. Many folks had done a fair bit of snorkelling before, and at first there were only a few takers, but by the following day, anyone who could swim, and there was only one who couldn’t, was out, ass in the air, paddling amongst the coral. The island is really geared for this type of activity and large snorkelling areas are marked off on the surface, to keep any nasty boating accidents at bay. In terms of what you get to see, the stunning bright colours of the tropical fish are only the start, giant turtles grazing on grass only a few meters away, and black tipped reef sharks zooming around, add a little bit of racing pulse to the days swim. The coral is incredible, with huge sea urchins and giant clams. Memos hiding in sea anemone‘s and sea slugs squelching along the bottom. Somebody should have been keeping score cards, as the lists of have and have not seen were shouted out over dinner.

If it’s not diving or snorkelling you are after, the island is dotted with resorts along the coast, and the interior a great jungle for exploring.

This is unchartered territory, walking paths have been made, but the maps aren’t great. With most the light blocked out by the jungle canopy, one can easily lose your bearings, as Shinnik soon figured out. Luckily with the whole island only being a few kilometres coast to coast he soon found his way out.

But all go, go, go is not what we are about. Five minutes’ walk away finds you on a beautiful beach, sandy and perfect in every way, the water lapping at the soft white sand.

Four days disappeared too soon, and only the thought of blasting our way back to the mainland on the speed boats, bought a few cheers from a rather happy, if not worn out group.

Waiting on the beach for our return fast ferry

Kuala Lumpur
Causing chaos on the railways was becoming quite a regular affair for the Odyssey Group; catching an aircon overnight train is a great way to travel. The trains are spacious and clean, each person gets their own bunk, which becomes a little cocoon once the curtain is drawn. As there are twenty of us we easily book out most the carriage. So from the islands we hopped onto an overnight train to Kuala Lumpur (KL). Arriving early the next morning gave everybody an extra day to explore.

The monorail - transport from the train station into the city

The City

People soon said that KL was one of the first big cities they would like to live in, the atmosphere and good natured people almost contradicts a city stuffed with sky scrapers and honking taxis.
KL is also home to the Petronas Towers, these were the tallest buildings in the world till 2004, a truly spectacular sight, best viewed from the amazing vantage point more than two hundred meters up, from the fourth largest broadcasting tower in the world.

A reflection

The Tower

The View

The Petronas Towers

A fantastic wall, a recycling effort made from old fizzy drinks cans

Jo had been looking forward to KL for quite some time, as she would be reuniting with an old friend from the UK. They had agreed to meet up when she arrived and, he, being well connected, was to take her out on the razz ma tazz. The complication was that it was also Carolyn’s last night with the group, and in Odyssey style everybody is expected to attend sad goodbyes. So Jo phoned her unsuspecting chum, and asked if she could bring a few friends, he intern said no problem, would they all fit in his car. Well, with all twenty of us heading out, the answer was a very firm NO, and Odysseys’ new local guide for KL was born.

He didn’t disappoint either, first we strolled down to a Chinese market, dodging all the tourist stalls, we ducked and dived down a couple of alleys. Right at the end of the road was a small place under a tin roof. A couple of instructions from our new guide and tables were being rammed together to seat the lot of us. It was decided that, rather than each person ordering their own food, we would order a mix of platters to keep the waiting time down to the minimum. Soon there was food fit for a king scattered all over the table, and the silence of the group was testament to the quality.

So tummy’s full, we were not letting Carolyn get away without the customary Odyssey Blue. Our guide said he had heard that a Japanese Reggae Infusion Band was playing at one of his local haunts, and so off we went. A great night was had by all.

The next morning was set aside for exploring, some folks explored the amazing shopping centres, and others the incredible architecture. Rich managed to lose himself for hours, after finding an entire shopping arcade dedicated to computers and technology, with some incredible deals to be had.

That evening a bunch of folks headed for the local cinema they had found, movies, popcorn and all, while others decided on an easy night in, with takeaways delivered to the front door from all your usual fast food suspects.

Kuala Lumpur was a great city.

Melaka

Arriving in Melaka, after a short journey in a couple of mini vans, gave us the afternoon to explore the town. Originally a Portuguese trading port, the mixture of architecture and food is interesting to say the least. The local specialty is a curry based on both Portuguese and Malay cooking, and although fiery hot, is very tasty.

The town has plenty of charms too, with its old churches, something we hadn’t seen for quite a while, and mosques, adorning the town square.

The Square

The Square at night

The local Cyclo-drivers take great pride in their bikes, decorating them with flowers, lights and sound systems that churn out the local love song of the week.
Once over the bridge and into the small cobbled streets, you enter the shopping area. Melaka is one of the top holiday destinations for Malay people, and so the streets are jammed with restaurants and shops selling all kinds of clothes and tat. It’s also always nice to know all the market stores aren’t aimed at western tourists, and the locals get touted too. It was a great place to wonder for the afternoon.

The happy riders

That evening was a big affair. It was the “Fungi”, Mike H’s Birthday, and also the last night before the Borneo separatists were heading off in their own direction.

(For those folks who are not aware, as an extra add on, another three weeks of travel is available into Borneo. This is a mixture of cheap short flights, private mini vans, and public transport. It is the first time any body at Odyssey is doing the trip, and so is completely exploratory. It sounds like they are having a blast and a blog will be posted shortly.)

We headed down to a local restaurant called the Geographer, a great place with a good mix of western and local food; taking over the entire top floor we soon had the establishment in chaos, as twenty orders for food and drink were asked of the already busy staff.

Great Festivities

A happy party goer

The Birthday Boy

The Band

Once the customary happy birthday had been sung, and the live band from downstairs had joined in, it was time for our last round of Odyssey blue as a Group. The mood was high and everybody was excited, the tears would come later.

Our famous Odyssey Blue

The party went on till the small hours of the morning with Mike T. wowing the crowd with the old Irish Favourite ” My lovely truck, driving through the hills”, which after several encores may well be on its way to number one in Japan.

The following morning we met up for a lot of sad goodbyes, Pete (Tour Guide), Richard, Karcher, Jen, Elaine, Mike S., Alexa and Jo were off to Borneo. The rest of us were heading to Singapore the following day. After six months of travelling together, goodbyes don’t come easy. Everybody on the trip had had their highs and lows, and the rest of the group were always there to help where they could, that’s what group travel is all about.

The last of us: Chris, Maura, Simon, Ann, Mike H., C, Mike T., Andrew, Edel, Cheryl and I, had another day to wonder the streets of Melaka. We all met up at about three in the afternoon and headed off to a Korean bar that was advertising Doctor Fish. All feeling a bit sad that the group had split, and the holiday that was so long it would never end was starting to wind down, we all agreed we could do with some kind of treatment.

Sitting in a cool courtyard with our feet in the water, calming fountains trickling nature’s tune, while tiny little fish nibble at your feet, may not have been everybody’s first choice, but after you learn to control the fits of giggles between the tickles, as a little doctor fish nibbles the gaps between your toes, it’s a great way to spend an hour or so.

Preparing feet for the fish

Nibble nibble!

That evening we met up for another local delight at a satay house. Basically it works the same as a French fondue, but instead of having cheese or oil, you have a bubbling pot of peanut satay sauce in the centre of the table. You then select a fist full of skewers and pop them in to cook. It makes for a really nice social evening, as you snack on this and that, while having a chat.

The skewers

The tasty satay sauce

Island Fever

2008-10-15T01:26:00.000-07:00

We left Cambodia in a couple of private mini vans and headed for the border. It would prove to be an eventful drive, as most of it was amidst chaotic road works, the road surface a mud bath with the relentless afternoon monsoon rains. Skidding in every direction, our highly skilled driver manoeuvred us closer and closer to the Thai border.

As soon as we crossed no man’s land and entered Thai territory, the change was remarkable, big four lane highways, street signs and traffic signals that worked, we were back into civilisation.
We headed for Bangkok and Banglampu, the centre of the backpackers’ area.

On our first night it was Richards Birthday; a surprise party had been set up at his most favourite restaurant in the whole wide world, Mc Donald’s. No he was not turning six, but rather twenty four. Twenty four years of loving Ronald Mc Donald?

Rich was all smiles as the special party treats arrived, lucky packets all round, and everybody wolfed down their food.
Rich in heaven!!

Next we headed off to watch a Ping Pong Show and then to Khao San Road, the backpacker’s party district of Bangkok. A good night was had by all, though some of the faces the next day didn’t look quite as perky.

After two nights in Bangkok we headed down to the Islands off the east coast. Because everybody has such a different idea of what beach time is all about, we chose to give folks the option of heading off and doing their own thing. Some were really keen on going down to the full moon party, a festival on the beach with tens of thousands in attendance. Others were more about some “ME” time and booked themselves into an expensive beach lodge for the week. Transport on and between the islands is easy and fairly cheap, and this makes for a great time to explore.

Ferry trip to the islands

Odyssey Blue

We, Odyssey, based ourselves at a small lodge on the south east coast of Koh Pan Nang. Quite a few people decided to join us at this rustic set of bungalows, perched on the slopes of a small bay, offering breath taking views through the palm trees. The days were spent relaxing at the pool or strolling from one beach to another, exploring the coast. In the evenings, the stretch of the white sandy beach was dotted with restaurants, offering fresh fish as the speciality.

YMCA....... Isn't this great..

View from a bungalow

The beach

View from a restaurant
A tasty meal - squid fried rice - excellent

A very happy customer

More beach
An inland waterfall, its not all about the beach

Scenery

Fishing boat
Kiting

The best way to see and experience the islands is to hire a vehicle. A simple 100cc scooter can be hired for a couple of dollars a day, a 4x4 for a little bit more, and for those with very good travel insurance, high powered quad bikes can be taken into the central tropical island canopy.
After seven fun filled days, everybody regrouped to catch the ferry back to the mainland, with tales of beautiful white sandy beaches, rum cocktails, and sunburn. What more could you ask for from a beach holiday?

Full moon party madness!!!!

2008-09-28T01:34:00.000-07:00

Almost instantly as we crossed the border from Vietnam into Cambodia we could see and feel the change. A little, grubbier, smellier, wilder, whether these were the result of pre conceived ideas with Cambodia’s very recent grisly history, I could not tell you. But we had definitely arrived in another country well worth exploring.

Phnom Penh, the Capital, is where we checked into a very friendly guest house in the centre of the tourist district. Everybody settled into their rooms and we headed down to the FCC or Foreign Correspondent Club, originally a bar, now a chain of restaurants, to house foreign journalists in times gone by , with its great food and breathtaking views we wined and dined the evening away while watching the shipping on the Tonle Sap River.

The next morning was set aside for a serious reality check. Anybody who has not read about Pol Pot and his merry men would struggle to believe that atrocities like this have happened within the last 30 years. A visit to the killing fields and Genocide museum, guided by a professional local guide, saw the entire group in shocked silence. It is such an important part of Cambodian history insofar as it is so real, that people fully involved in the carnage, are sharing the street, shop and bus with you. All subject to one man’s crazy ideals.

After lunch the group divided into two factions those wanting some quite time to reflect and those wanting to do a bit of venting.

The Reflectors headed off to see the Royal Palace and Central Pagoda. Its’ beautiful gardens all surrounded by a high wall, hides the milling city and provides a few moments of calm to reflect on the day’s events.

The venter's headed to the shooting range. Cambodia has had its fair number of wars in the past and given its recent history, everybody has decided living a peaceful democratic life is the way forward. But what does one do with all the armourments left from the strife, well give it to this guy.....

Or this guy

But I would have kept it away from this guy

For a dollar a bullet you can shoot almost any kind of weapon you choose. I know it may seem wrong, but it’s better than leaving it all lying around until somebody gets the crazy notion of starting a war.

Off to Siem Reap, another Unesco World Heritage site, and another 45 seater luxury, private bus. We had tried hiring smaller coaches but the 26 seaters which were the next size down just didn’t have the luggage space. So we all piled into our private couch, two to a seat and headed off to some of the greatest ruins in the world.
On route we stopped for lunch, this happens most days and we have all become hardened to the fried rat and frog on a stick that is for sale at the road side stops. It took a few seconds to grasp what lovely morsels were on offer here, but the little girl with a giant spider slowly crawling up her shirt should have been a hint. Deep fried Tarantula, not a couple on a stick, but bowl after bowl of the fat hairy monsters. The shrieks were soul piercing, and that was from the men in the group. After a very diplomatic decision we all pilled back on the bus.

Siem Reap is not too much to shout about, as a small town surviving on tourism, it is well geared for the traveller, with all kinds of restaurants and bars punctuated with guest houses and hotels. The true magic of Siem Reap lies a few kilometres distant and we would be dedicating the whole of the next day to just scraping the surface.

Angkor Wat is definitely down on the list of things to see before you die, built in the 12thcentury, it is the largest of a cluster of Wats (Temples), that surround the Siem Reap area.

We booked onto a full day tour leaving our hotel on the river at silly o clock (05:00), in a swarm of buzzing Tuk-Tuks, to catch the first light of dawn splash colour over the magnificent Angkor Wat ruins.

Unfortunately we weren’t the only people who had this idea and the place was flooded with tourists.

We spent the rest of that day zooming from Wat to Wat in our Tuk-Tuks, breaking only for a light lunch next to a lake. The size of the site is remarkable.

Good Morning Vietnam

2008-09-15T02:29:00.000-07:00

We rolled into our first Vietnamese town, after a non eventful border crossing, apart from mike having lost his passport or C having stolen it, depends which end of the story you hear. Heading for Hue, pronounced Wey by the locals, it’s a large city screaming with Moped and Cyclo drivers, touting for your business. A typical site, the pointed vietnamese hat

The hotel proved to be a winner with nice big aircon room’s right in the middle of it all. The next day folks decided to go and explore the DMZ (demilitarised zone) on one of the many tours on offer. Though it was a long haul tour (8 till 5, sounds too much like a working day for me), they all came back that evening, happy for the experience. Others decided to run around the Citadel, much of it has been bombed by the Americans, but with a bit of imagination you can really get a feel for the magnificent buildings that once stood here....

That night we all met up at the DMZ bar for a bit of western style food and drink, the infamous Odyssey blue (normally saved as a departure tax) reared its head, but with some refinement, I’m happy to add. The party went on till the early hours of the morning, with the grand finale being the whole group, and I do mean everybody, writing their names on the bar ceiling. We had another day to recover and explore and then we would be off to Hoi An.

Odyssey 2008 make their mark

The spectacular and legendary Odyssey Blue Cocktail

Cheers! to a great night out

To the beach I say!

We would not actually be staying on the beach front in Hoi An, but rather in the centre of town on the edge of the Tho Bon River amongst some truly great architecture, influenced by many different western and eastern cultures. The Hotel we were staying at was a bit of a letdown, as they seemed to have knocked down the main attraction, which was the bar restaurant area over hanging the river. But life goes on and soon everybody had spread out to explore the town.

Tailors line the streets, hug the corners and cram the alleys. You can choose how much or not you would like to spend and have a custom made suit or dress stitched up in no time. Most people chose to buy and then post there goody’s home which has proved amazingly reliable.

Tailors aside, Hoi An offers something for everybody, history with The My Son Temple ruins, or the beautiful beach only a quick taxi ride out of town. Great restaurants litter the streets with all budgets caterd for. We were glad to be spending three nights in this funky little town. Apart from the tours to temples or Wats, a group went off jet skiing, which proved a hit as we flew up the massive delta of the Tho Bon river amongst fishing nets, boats and people .Truly a memorable day on the water. Others chose to expand on their Asian cooking skills with another cooking course. For between five and ten dollars you can spend an afternoon cooking up a storm with a local chef and then in the evening enjoy all the foodies you have prepared.

My Son ruins

Jet skiers outon the ocean

Local fishing boats moored up a river canal

Fishermen bringing in their catch for day

Tasty local cuisine

Most evenings were spent on the white beach that seems to stretch for miles in either direction. Small beach umbrellas and lounges dotting one section of the beach gave you the comfort without the crowds and was a great way to see the evening light fade as we got ready for another great meal out in a local restaurant.

From the quiet lanes of Hoi An to the full on hustle bustle of Nha Trang. This is a big beach city with busy roads and honking horns, framed with crystal blue waters, white sandy beaches and swaying palms. We had booked into a hotel one road back from the beach and the accommodation did not disappoint. We had three nights here, with one of the big attractions being the diving.

Nha Trang beachfront boulevard

Sunrise over Nha Trang ocean, for the brave few who got up early for a refreshing morning run on the beach

Over the duration of the trip various people often choose to write their own blog so folks back home can keep in touch, and to avoid those nasty group emails. This works as a plus for Odyssey Overland as it gives potential travellers the chance to have a little window on the odyssey world. As such, every year we offer a prize to the best blogger. The original idea was to give the winner an open water diving course but it was agreed that with so many good blogs running there was no clear choice. The next stage down from the open water is what they call the resort divers. This means you get to have a morning diving in a pool and then that afternoon go out for two open water dives with and instructor one on one.
So Rich, Karcher, C, and Ann were awarded their prizes, with many other folks choosing to join in. The diving was booked for the last day in Nha Trang.
Ann, who wasn’t quite as keen on the diving idea, was suitably catered for and swapped her day of water and sun, for an incense and massage treat at a local Spa.

The only thing that stood between diving heaven and us was a short cruise to celebrate a birthday party.
We had hired a small motor boat to chug us out one of the island lying not far off shore. We didn’t quite get what we bargained for but, we did have a great party and BBQ, with enough langoustines to feed a small army. The party carried on once we returned to port with many choosing to celebrate well into the night.

Setting out to the islands

Docked at the islands

The next morning everybody jumped up to go diving, there were a few folks running on low batteries after the night before, but the promise of blue water and brightly coloured fish seemed to work very well as a tonic. The double decked boat ferried everybody out to another island not far off the coast. The folks who were doing the resort divers started their training on route with the snorkelling fraternity relaxing on the top deck, enjoying the view and fresh sea air. Once the diving started everybody was truly ecstatic, Rich, repeatedly nearly drowning himself before he realised that smiling, while under water, was a bad idea. I’ll let the photos do the talking.

The dive boat

Plunging in

Some of the divers

Amazing sealife

So from Nha Trang we headed off to Dalat. Dalat is a city nestled in amongst rolling hills in the centre of Vietnam. Famous for it the cultivation of flowers and vegetables, it truly was a sight to behold. Row after row of green houses scarred the landscape, sprouting carnations, beans, cabbage, roses and every other thing that would grow in this fertile area.
Once we arrived and checked into our hotel, very flash this time as they hadn’t kept our original booking, people headed to explore the town. Many activities are available up in the mountains and some people took the cable car to see a Wat and lake, while other chose to have a romantic Swan around the lake....., or to see the crazy house.

Heading for Dalat

The Crazy house

Saigon was everything we expected and more. We were staying very central to the heart of the city and as such could walk almost every were. Thousands of bikes, a continual werrrrrr of two stroke engines only sectioned by the honking horns surrounds you day and night. Crossing the road is a testament to the constant vigil the drivers keep, in order not to taste the tar as they weave in and out of pedestrians just walking. In one local travel advice leaflet, when suggesting how to cross a road, it read: “find a small gap in the oncoming traffic. Walk slowly and steadily across the road. Don’t stop, and definatly don’t turn and try going back, as that is the last thing a scooter driver will expect. “, and it works very, very well.

Moped madness

The night life in Saigon is remarkable with electronic stores blaring music into the street to attract customers and neon signs lighting up the darkness. The whole town feels like it just wants to have a good time. There’s Tai Chi in the park, alongside groups of guys playing shuttle cock. The food is diverse, street markets have tanks with live fish, crabs and prawns for you to choose from, and in the same street you’ll find a restaurant way beyond the budget of the average traveller. Big city or not, the people are friendly and welcoming.

The first evening we had a group meal with everybody heading down to the Black Cat, rated as one of the ten places you have to eat in the world, we could all soon see why. Though only a humble burger joint, the food is great.

Various tours are on offer from Saigon and half the group had decided to go explore ......................... tunnels which had been dug during the Vietnamese war. With a network covering more than 260km, it is truly an amazing feet of engineering. That said, it was agreed that the designer did not have westerners in mind when making the access points, as the tunnels were tiny. This was a half day activity including a river cruise, bus ride and snack stop.

The tunnel explorers

Another lot had chosen to spend the first day shopping and then explore the Mekong Delta the following day. The Mekong spreads its water far and wide before it enters the sea, washing down tons and tons of prime top soil every year, making the islands that are the bread basket of Asia. A tour consisted of a full day, starting at seven thirty in the morning, jumping onto a bus and barging our way through the on flood of bikes and driving down into the delta itself. A couple of hours later you board a small boat and tour the island. Stopping for fruit and snacks along the way, the local guide explains all the bits and bobs one sees around.
Some of the highlights include being rowed down a narrow channel in amongst the palms and visiting the coconut sweat factory. At the end of the day we jumped on board a high powered speed boat and flew up the river past huge barges carrying all manner of produce and then finally right into Saigon centre, past all the riverside shanty towns. It was a great day out.

Paddling in a river boat down one of the canals

An overloaded cargo barge

Water coconut palms

An epic sunset over the Mekong

Back into suberbia, shanty town versus city life

Bright lights of a night market

Thailand and Laos

2008-09-11T02:49:00.000-07:00

BANGKOK, TEMPLES, RIVERS, SHOPPING, FOOD AND PING PONG!

The Crew checking to ensure the cocktails are good enough for the group!

Yep they seem to be of a high quality!!

Exploring Bangkok by river ferry

Some of the group have a talent of finding the best in a place!!

Adventure Chang Mai style - the group takes to the jungle canopy on the zip lines, instant cure if you have a problem with heights!!

And this is how we slow down!

Its a flying Jo, she be an Aussie!!

Great fresh food, group do a cooking course!

Eat what you cook, so much better than a Tesco instant meal!!

Thats Laos on the other side, looking over the Mekong River in flood from Chang Khong

Local style BBQ in Chang Khong!!

Long tail boats across the Mekong to enter Laos, life jackets supplied!!

Actually quite a nice ride!

The departure point of our private Mekong ferry which we spent two days on heading for Luang Prabang, with a touch of class!!Its a tough life going down the Mekong, comfy seats, dining area, bar and even karaoke to keep people busy.

Out for a bit of paddle in Luang Prabang followed by a bit of a play session with the elephants!

More coming your way soon, may even get a chance to type up a couple of pages!!

Crazy India and wonderful Nepal

2008-09-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

There is something special about India, though after the 2007 expedition from the southern most point of India back to London, Pete had decided that as great a place as it is he would give it a long break. He never thought he would be heading for India this year, definitely not in the middle of the monsoon. But after the Tibet/China closure it was the logical but still crazy destination, so below are the group’s adventures in India and Nepal.

So while Tim and Cher headed off with Penelope back to the UK, Pete headed off in front of the group to go and pickup Archie our new truck for the India section. The group headed to Delhi where Pete would meet them after collecting the truck in Kathmandu and driving it as fast as possible across India. An adventure they say is best relived after the time but we will not bore you with the transit of the truck.

The group on the other hand flew from Almaty in Kazakhstan to Delhi. What you must remember is that although over the last months we have travelled some amazing, crazy places and seen and experienced so many great things, this still does not prepare you for India.

It’s the heat, humidity, smell and total closeness of it all, personal space does not exist in India then on top of that you have the colours and the noise. There were a couple of shocked people as they left the terminal building and headed for Hotel Good Times, a safe haven from the craziness outside. The shock slowly wears off and you begin to see why India is so special – no matter where you look something is happening, most of which is just totally crazy.

Delhi is the pulsing heart of India and is great to explore and soon the group were off and all started to quite enjoy the craziness of it all though the heat and humidity where real killers. Everybody spent the first day exploring and Sam having volunteered headed to the train station to get a couple of tickets so that everybody could head off to Agra the following day to see the Taj Mahal. This is a site not to be missed when visiting India. To see the true adventures of buying a couple of train tickets click the link at the bottom of the Odyssey website to Northern Monkey Diaries, it makes great reading though these northerners do tend to gone a bit!
And so the adventure carried on, the train from Delhi to Agra is one of the better trips you can do in India as the train is fairly smart and organised and the journey takes only about 3 hours, a long 3 hours of shock for many, but hey, when in India!! After finding the hotel and going out for a good curry evening in Agra it was an early start the next morning to try and beat the hordes all trying to see this ultimate symbol of love. The Taj affects everybody differently but is a very special place, the cloudy sky when the group visited was a pity but everybody still enjoyed it as well as the many other attractions in the surrounding town, then everybody jumped on the train and headed back to Delhi to meet Pete and the new truck Archie, definitely no Penelope but still a functional overland truck with all the kit.

The plan from there was to head for the hills and get away from the oppressive heat just like the Raj had done when they had ruled and as many Indian businesspeople do today. The foot hills of the Himalayas are dotted with hill stations which all served as retreats during the monsoon.

The first stop-off was Chandigarh, a city in India which is basically described as not India. With its wide tree lined avenues, orderly traffic a clean sidewalks it was easy to see why. The highlight of the group’s stay was a visit to the local museum showing the work of an artist who has built an amazing garden from various recycled scrap. Think there were a couple of sceptical people when they headed off, but considering it is the second most visited site after the Taj Mahal it had to be something special and everybody was not disappointed the scale and design is amazing and it was a great 2-3 hours walks with entrance costing just US$0.20

The next morning early the group wandered their way up into the foot hills and their final destination would be Dharamasala/McLeod Ganj, home to the Dalai Lama the Spiritual Leader of the people of Tibet who lives in exile. It seemed like a fitting place to visit as we and all other tourists had been denied entry into Tibet this year. It took two days drive to get there with some interesting roads and some crazy fellow drivers on the road, it seems the norm to overtake on a blind corner in India and just park your truck any where you feel like, creating massive traffic build-ups and total chaos, but this is just standard for India. After deciding that it was a bit too wet to camp, the first hotel Pete found next to a massive temple refused us entry as the group was not Hindi, which I guess makes sense, but a couple of folks in the back looked rather nervous at the prospect of trying to find a camp up in the hills with rain bucketing down around us, but it worked out as always and they drove for another hour and found a nice clean hotel with great views down the valley and a restaurant serving up some spicy fare.
On through the foot hills they ventured with stunning views down to the plains below. As they drove the road got more and more windy and the drop off bigger and bigger with great rivers appearing rather small in the gorge bellow. Another great thing in India is the lunch stops, well most of us thought so. At most major villages the locals cook up a storm with fantastic samosas and other fried goodies allowing you to get lunch for about £0.10, though I think Simon was a bit samosaed out by the time they reached Nepal.

On the truck’s arrival in McLeod Ganj we created quite a stir with overland trucks not visiting very often and road designed for rickshaws it all got rather interesting. After a quick chat to the local police to assure them we did plan to take to the narrow roads they waved us on in typical Indian style and then took up a good spot to watch. As Archie crept through he barely cleared the buildings on either side, but after a couple of tense moments we arrived at their hotel.
The concept “cliff-hanging hotel” came to mind – at road level only a single storey was visible, but dropping down the cliff was another 4 floors with amazing views down into the gorge. With a typical hippie town feel with the smell of incense wafting on the air and robed monks all over the show it had a special feel. Everybody was soon off exploring with most heading for the main temple complex and home of the Dalai Lama. The building itself is fairly modern but with its many Buddha images chanting monks and holy feel many people took time to just chill out and watch monk life happen.

Unfortunately his holiness the Dalai Lama was on a tour around the world pleading with other nations to support the plight of the Tibetan people so there was no chance of bumping into him but it was still a special place to visit and enjoy. Even better it was cool after the plains of India. McLeod Ganj is the wettest place in India and over the 3 days it lived up to its reputation with many people investing in an umbrella.

Next the group headed back towards Chandigarh and from there towards the yoga and spiritual town of Rishikesh. Over the past days the roads had been full of people all dressed in orange cycling and walking making their way for hundreds of kilometres to pay homage in Rishikesh. Just the volumes are impressive. On arrival in the town several of the group headed to a view the main bridge across the river where it was calculated that on average more than 3,000 pilgrims crossed over every hour and they had been walking in for more than two weeks, some of them from as many as 500 km away. To see the spiritual commitment in this part of the world is humbling. With time to chill and watch it all going on many folks found time for a couple of massages and for some the chance to try their hand at yoga.

Next towards the western most frontier of Nepal, en route the group stopped off at the Corbett Tiger Reserve. Famous as the first national park created in India and with a hugely diverse range of animals, including elephants and tigers as the big attraction. Accommodation for the night was a five star lodge who gave a great price due to it being low season. The rooms boasted fantastic beds with crisp white linen and every imaginable luxury with huge bathrooms all out of marble. Dinner was also a feast with a buffet laid on for everybody to enjoy, some of the lads stunned the staff with the amount of food they could put away. As for the game viewing it was all rather disappointing with the highlight being Sam scaring the most of his game viewing mates to death with a mighty tiger roar.

On leaving Corbett it was time to head for the Nepal Border, this section called the Teria has been closed to tourists for ages due to the Maoists fraction of Nepal attacking tourists and government buildings. The great thing was that due to the new government which has now included the Maoists this entire region is open to tourists again. But first the truck had to get there, as a crossing into Nepal from India it is seldom used and so the roads going there are rather interesting with the question often been asked of the locals “is this right road” to which there is normally a nod of the head. This can mean anything in India as any conversation involves nodding the head to a blank look to being pointed hopefully in the right direction. After many stops and questions they finally arrived at a big bridge across a river only to be told that they could only cross at 5pm and since it was only 2pm this seemed rather strange but having checked the sign it all seemed to be true so in the cooking heat the books and backgammon boards were brought out and so the wait was on.

At 5pm after a bit of bribing and discussion the officials finally agreed to allow the truck across the very narrow bridge causing much confusion with the multitude of people trying to cross on foot, bike and cow. On arriving on the other side the group had the pleasure of the Indian immigration officers who seemed in no hurry to stamp them through. After about an hour they were finally able to head for Nepal. The difference was immediately obvious – the craziness of India had gone, the road side was fairly clear of rubbish, but the ability to drive though had not returned fully, although it was made slightly better due to a fuel shortage which meant the roads were fairly empty.
On arriving at the Nepal immigration office it was rather worrying that it all appeared locked up but off the roof appeared a friendly face who informed Pete that he was the man in charge of immigration and that they had closed for the day. Everyone started peering around and imagined setting up camp in no man’s land. But this is Nepal, a friendly country, so after being told about the best hotel in the nearby town he suggested returning the next day to get visas and stuff sorted. The same was true for customs and so the group rolled into Nepal all thinking what a great change from the craziness of India.

The hotel was great with a touch of luxury, as we often enjoy on an Odyssey trip. The amount of money set aside for accommodation, food and activities is almost double what the competition budget. Worth remembering if you are reading this and comparing tours. Dinner was an amusing affair with a menu boasting the Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonalds and other fast food chains many people envisaged a western food feast. Many others looked closely and decided the logos on the menu looked deftly scanned and so settled for simple Nepali fair. To say the least this was no Pizza Hut or KFC as couple of dreams went up in smoke when the food arrived, tasty but not your normal fast food joint!!

The next morning was an early start as they headed back to one of the friendliest if not efficient borders they have dealt with to date. Took a while to get all the visas sorted but soon enough Archie was rolling along thorough the Western Terai. The looks from the locals told the story that they had not seen too many tourists over the last years and everybody was super friendly. The sad thing about this province is that the government in Nepal has neglected it badly and basic services like schools and hospitals are few and far between and fuel was all but unobtainable. Pete had topped up the bulk tanks in India and so luckily did not have to worry. The Teria is a stunning part of Nepal with great rivers, mosaics of rice paddies and rural life all around. The road on the other hand was quite interesting, for the first bit it was fantastic but as we drove along we could see the signs of past protest road blocks and burnt out tyres, but as Archie rolled through the locals waved, happy to have travellers back in their part of Nepal.
In order to make more time in places further along, the decision had been made to make a big day of it and get all the way to Butwal which meant a long day on the road. Many of the rivers were in flood and in a couple of places Archie was forced to drive through the river as the bridge was either gone or impassable. At one river, a truck had broken its front steering and so had its front wheels pointing in opposite directions – needless to say this caused a major traffic jam spreading in both directions. A huge tractor had been brought in to tow him out, but the cable they had was too small and kept snapping. After having a bit of a look, Pete drove our truck right to the front of the queue creating a small riot with all the other drivers. But Archie had a big cable which would easily pull the truck out, the condition being that once the way was clear our group would be first to go through. After some muttering it was agreed and soon Archie had bounced his way through the river.

Upon finally arriving in Butwal it was dark and since no accommodation was booked, Pete went in search of one. On any journey at times you must make do with what you can find and Butwal was to stretch this point, the hotel if you could call it that was clean but far from the standard that the group was used to, but hey everyone survived and headed towards the mountain village of Tansen the next morning.

Tansen is a spectacular mountain hamlet up in the hills of the Teria, once a major stop for tourists it has been closed for years and as the group arrived they were welcomed and all asked if they were the first of many tourists to come. This is a traditional Nepal town which has not been spoilt by mass tourism and the streets were great to wander, the locals were friendly and all wanting to chat. Many of the local temples are hundreds of years old and great to explore. The group has a way of finding the best spots in town, and promptly discovered a great restaurant in a restored old house which provided the venue for a bit of a party all I think celebrating the fact that Nepal is a great destination, many saying it should be added to the list of many highlights.

After spending two days exploring it was time to hit the road again, this time heading for Pokhara the chilled out tourist Mecca at the beginning of the Annapurna circuit. This would be big chill time with the chance to go walking, rafting shopping and so the list could go on. Most the group opted for the rafting and all had a great day out, many deciding that more rafting was definitely on the cards. The other major culinary moment was steak, huge juicy steaks. Anybody who has been through India where cows are holy understands why steak is so important. Not only is there no beef but cows rule the streets and if they are not in the way you are trying to avoid the landmines they leave all over the place. Steak is good and Pokhara was the place for it so on the first night the group missioned off and it was huge tasty steaks all round. Followed by a good bar with live music and a great setting on the edge of the lake life was rather good. All too soon it was time to move on and due to the possibility of protests closing the road it was decided to leave at 6am to try to get out of town before the roads were blocked. Normally as a tourist vehicle you are allowed through but rather safe than sorry so it was an early start. Even at 6am the barricades where in place but most groups waved the truck through as it headed up the valley towards Kathmandu. This is a stunning drive, gradually climbing towards Kathmandu.
Kathmandu is a great city and probably rates as a city highlight for most. The group headed for Thamel, the heart of the old city, to enjoy the craziness of it all. Whether it be temples and old windy streets with small stupas every where to all night parties with live bands, or quite well appointed cafes and restaurants with great food, Kathmandu has it all. This was also the point where many of the group hopped on a plane and flew up to see the mighty Mt Everest and curse the Chinese for not letting us into Tibet. Seeing Everest is an amazing site, to see how it towers above all the other snow capped peaks around it, I think everybody who flew came back saying it was worth every cent.

After three day stay in Kathmandu it was time to jump back aboard Archie and head towards the Tibetan border (unfortunately still closed to tourists) but the destination was 16 km before the border. The Last Resort is the adventure centre for Nepal, most famous for its bungy jump and its bridge swing said to be the highest in the world. Just the walk into the funky luxury camp is a challenge for those with a fear of heights as the wire suspension bridge is the only way in. This takes you across the 170m deep gorge and is the same bridge the brave folks would jump off in the coming days.

Set in the thick vegetation of the gorge wall is a stunning tented camp where the group spent 3 days in comfort – if bridge jumping, canyoning or rafting was not your thing there was plenty of opportunity to chill out in real comfort. For the jumpers a couple of visits to the bridge were required before everybody finally signed up for the following day’s jumping session. Out of the group only 4 folks decided not to jump, some mentioned age, others said been there done that and others just said total terror, no way, and that they struggled to walk across the bridge let alone jump off it.

Early the next morning the group slowly emerged – the term “ready to jump” can be used loosely; some looked totally terrified with a couple deciding to change their mind and chicken out (although a bit of peer group pressure took effect and they decided to jump a couple of days later). After all getting weighed, up the jumpers headed for the bridge which had been setup for jumping. One word – AMAZING! Everybody jumped, a couple of the lads even did two jumps on the one day and then jumped before they left again, then on top of this some in the group went abseiling down waterfalls the highest at 48m being quite a long way down, and the on the last day many went rafting down the river back to Kathmandu. This is such a special place to visit and even the non adventure driven loved every minute.

It was then back to Kathmandu for two days before heading to Bangkok to continue the Odyssey adventure in South East Asia. More coming soon!!

Al Archer

2008-09-03T03:02:00.000-07:00

Next we were off to Al Archer.

We left at nine in the morning on a short drive to the mountains that dwarf Bishkek, slow going as the roads weren’t great we wound ourselves higher and higher into the hills, then the gorge that is Al Archer, rated as some of the best trekking in the world, most of the group were talking of the treks they had planned.
Al Archer offers several routes of varying difficulty, from a seven hour return trek up a gorge to a vantage point where you can view the glaciers, to a three day trek across the glaciers themselves. As we had three nights up in the gorge the group had split up, some wanting to do the biggy, others just wanting to enjoy the scenery.
The first group of trekkers were up before sunrise readying themselves with trekking tents and rations to last out the one night trek up to the glacier, they would be following the river, up the gorge for about 16km, zig zagging across the river
Once the rest of the group were up and fed they set off on the lighter walk up a different gorge, a bit further down the mountain. This trekking is not quite as wild as some we had done, providing detailed maps and well demarcated paths. .......

Our camp

Others had decided not to over exert themselves at the altitude (2200mts) and chose to spend the day catching up on journals or reading books in the shade of the trucks tarpaulin.

Chilling with a book

A game of backgammon

Sun tanning

But one chose to go walk about all alone and found trouble in bucket loads, I ask you, have you ever gotten drunk with an Olympic team? I certainly can’t say I have, but I know somebody who has. Young Mike T, with his lady friend away walking in the mountains, happened across the altitude training camp for the Mongolian woman’s and Kyrgyzstan men’s weight lifting teams. Obviously the contestants couldn’t drink as the Olympics’ were only weeks away, but the coaches, well that was a whole different story. It sounds like it was a crazy night with the end result, Mike, Gold for Ireland, and the rest not even seeing the podium.

Mike and the olympic contestant

The folks from the lighter trek returned that evening all smiles even though their walk was basically strait up a gorge, scrabbling over scree faces and beating their way through bush, we began to wonder what excitement the folks on the overnight hike might find themselves.
The fire was started, cold drinks and beers opened, as we lazed around the odyssey camp, getting ready for another meal fit for kings.

Worth the walk?

Ah the serenity

Bridge crossing

The following morning the trekkers arrived back at around eleven, red faced but smiling and a little disappointed as they had not reached their intended goal, as the last bridge they had needed to cross had been washed away by the icy torrent that streamed from the glaciers. They had met a few people who had tried to wade across and nearly lost their footing, so wisely chose to set camp next to the river .The photos they brought back were amazing .

The destination

Some of the team

Navigating the course

The trekkers alpine camp

That night we had one of the Odyssey favourites, Mousaka , as everybody started to realize this would be the last night of cook group and wanted to muck in and help with the cooking.
The next morning we had a proper fry with Bacon (not a common luxury in the Muslim world), fried eggs and hash browns, before packing up and heading down the mountain. In a rather moving seen everybody gave Penelope a group hug and had their last few photos of what has been our trusty truck and home away from home for so long.

The Fry

Group Hug !

Returning to Bishkek for the last time everybody felt more than at home having routed out all the best internet cafes and restaurants.
We had booked into a soviet style hotel with massive rooms, more suited to a family than a couple of overlanders, and soon the luggage was stroon around everywhere, as people sorted their clothes for their next adventure in India and Nepal.

Cher and I would be taking Penelope back to the UK over the next month, while the group travelled around India with Pete in the rented truck. It was a sad goodbye on the last morning in Bishkek, as the Odyssey group clambered into transport to take them to the airport, and Cher and I jumped into Penelope to head in the opposite direction.

Welcome to Bishkek

2008-09-02T04:52:00.000-07:00

So given the drama, I’ll now return to the day to day goings on of the group, and to dare to use the above text as an excuse to the lateness of the odyssey blog.
Going back to the needs, musts and wants of the post before, we were all focused on getting these great travellers to their final destination.

Independance monument Bishkek

Welcome to Bishkek
Bishkek, a thriving metropolis of western and eastern influences. A trip down to Metro bar would get you a beef burger that could rival any in the world, just as easily you could nip over to the Chinese and have world class cuisine from the Orient. Obviously there was tasty Shashlik (Kebabs) and piles of Laghman (noodles), but needless to say a few different flavours made a welcome change.We booked into a little place called Nomads house, just a short taxi ride or sweaty walk from the town centre. Bishkek has the biggest soviet style shopping mall in Central Asia, floors and floors of Tech, fashion and culture divided up into different levels, with cranky old elevators linking the lot. Local markets sprout up everywhere and it proved a great place to explore with some folks even weeding out a bowling alley for the afternoon.

So from Bishkek we headed off to Lake Issy kol, the second highest alpine lake in the world. Driving down a small track and pounding Penelope through some thick brush we landed on a secluded beach along the sandy lake shores. We set up camp and had another great BBQ as we watched the light change on the snowy peaks and crystal waters surrounding us.

Our camp on the shore of Lake Issy Kol

Early the next morning we headed off. Pete would be leaving us from the next little town , catching a taxi back to Bishkek where he could carry on sorting all our visas while we all enjoyed the amazing destinations we had planned. It was an emotional farewell, as Pete struggled into the back of a rather aged Lada(small local car), and we all headed off to Karakol, a small sleepy village nestled at the base of massive mountain which we would be exploring in the coming days.

During the winter months Karakol is a top, off piest skiing destination, as such the accommodation in town feels holey out of place but works to the traveller’s advantage. Our homestay had large bedrooms with sauna’s!
We had a good few nights of bush camping coming up and soon there was washing strewn everywhere. We then all headed out for a meal in a local cafe as apprehension built over the upcoming fancy dress.

The next morning we stocked up the fridge and cooler to bursting with fresh supplies and headed off to Diety Orgus.

Heading up the valley towards Diety Orgus

The seven red hill in the distance

Diety Orgus in some ways is very similar to lake Song kol. It also has large areas of succulent green grass in the summer months where herders take their flocks and horses to fatten up after the long cold winter. Nomads in their yurts dot the landscape, but instead of vast open plains, you are nestled in amongst massive mountains on either side. Year round snow covered peaks catch the sun and add to the drama of the alpine forest and lush green grass. A glacial river tears through the middle of the ravine, the roar of which fills your ears from morning to night.
We would be spending three days at this incredible spectacle, but first we had to get there.
Bridge crossing The road was short but tretchurase, as we would be criss-crossing the river the whole way up. It was less than one hundred and fifty kilometres and would take us most the day. Some folks choose to walk up through the lush vegetation beside the thundering river and
meet us at the top.

Walkers heading off

Peneloping braving the narrow bridges

There were several bridges that we had to cross, which proved a bit of good sport. With everybody waiting on one side, Penelope would hitch up her skirt and tip toe gingerly across wooden bridges aimed more at light vehicles than beefy overland trucks. Everything was all good, and we arrived at our camp just after four in the afternoon.

Pitching camp and enjoying the vastness of the nature that surrounded us, numbers were tallied for walking, ridding and trekking.

Red Hills

Lunch stop

The bridges

Our spectacular camp

Early the next morning some hikers set off, and around lunch a herd of horses were sourced from the locals, everybody was having a great day, but still there was an underlying tension.

Happy riders

Horses grazing at our camp

The summit is reached

Exhausted
What a fantastic view from the top

At around four that afternoon the preparations began for the Odyssey Overland fancy dress party. As I have explained before, the twist in the tail is that you don’t get to choose your own costume, so nervous glances were the order of the day. First a big pot was found to make up the punch , then the kitchen tent was renamed” disco” with everybody’s head torches being commandeered to provide the strobe lights , the fire was lit, balloons inflated, and the festivities began.
I’m going to let the pictures do the talking but it was a really good night with everybody having a great time and also goes some way to explain why my earlier posting featured me in a pink dress.

The troops know how to party in style

The following day, everybody, a bit worse for wear, started with a late (11ish) breakfast, eggs, beans and all the good stuff to try and recover from a wild night of party. But there was more fun to come as the Irish had organised “Odyssey Olympics”, well, there was no chance of any team being dismissed for taking performance enhancing drugs, rather the contrary, as most folks hangover’s were not helping in the slightest. But all were keen for a laugh and soon the egg and spoon relay was off, with teams shrieking in support and any hard feeling being solved with the “beat the opponent with the inflatable toy while balanced on a log game”, which I’m sure I saw being played in Beijing this year along with old favourites like toss the welly and kick the ball.

Gladiator style

Wheel barrow races

Oh well, somebody won and everybody was happy as we tucked into a big dish of Spaghetti Bolognaise with garlic bread and salad for dinner.
Not to early the next morning we headed back down the gorge to Bishkek where we would be submitting our Kazak Visas once we had collected our Indian ones. We spent another two nights in the now familiar Bishkek, everybody catching up on laundry, blogs and emails, while the crew submitted applications for Kazak visas.

Where is the what is and what is and why

2008-09-02T04:33:00.000-07:00

Where is the what is and what is and why

Now for those of you who have been following the blog and checking our route plan I think you may need a bit of an explanation.
Odyssey Overland pre-books most visas and accommodation from the UK before the trip departs. We use local agents to organise all of this and though it costs a few pennies more, it allows our tours to run like clock-work.
But even with more than a year of preparation, there are certain factors we can’t control, and the next three weeks proved this to the tee. I’ll briefly explain the goings on and then we can get back to the blog per say.

China, Tibet and the Olympic games

As anybody who watches the news would know, the Tibetans saw China having the Olympic games as a great time to make their voice heard. Tibet was annexed by China in 1950. The Tibetans at the time had no real army to speak of, and don’t believe in violence, so when China walked across the border some 80 000 strong, there was not much to be done. For further reading on this, the Dalai Lama’s book “Freedom in Exile” makes a really interesting read. The Dalai Lama now lives in exile in India, trying to find a peaceful means to regain his country’s independence.
So the Tibetans kicked off with protests and started to make a bit of a noise and the Chinese simply closed the whole country down. Borders, press, the lot, was squashed and closed. There was no way we were entering Tibet.
So back to the books and maps, and an alternative route was found, running north through China, visiting highlights like the Terracotta Worriers and the Giant Panda sanctuary. This was put forward to our agent in China, who at the time said he was sure it would be no problem.

Chinese Earthquake

A few days after hearing about Tibet, we received another mail from our Chinese agent. He would not be available for correspondence over the next week, as he would be assisting with the clean up and rescue operations in his town, until the army could clear the roads to offer assistance.
China had been hit by a massive earthquake. This made it very clear to us, now in the lovely city of Khiva, that there could be a chance we would not even get into China. Some of the roads we were planning on driving had simply vanished off the map over night.
The following week when our Chinese agent was back in comms, and happy to report none of his family had been hurt in the quake, he started to express doubts as to whether or not we would be able to run the northern route. In the aftermath of the quake massive, mud slides had caused huge rivers to dam, and massive flash floods were expected. Inter-city infrastructure was down along the routes we had planned. China was amidst a crisis.

Pakistan

Looking at a map of the world and our intended route, we sat down and had a good head scratch. The only way to get to South East Asia was via China. If we could not run north around Tibet, then running south was our only real option.
There is a small section of highway which links China to Pakistan called the Karakorum highway. This we were told by our local guide, we could definitely get permission to drive. So an email was sent to the Pakistani border requesting permission to grant us visas from their embassy in Bishkek. We were told via email that this would be no problem and tourist visas would take from one to four days.
Job’s a gooden.
We called a meeting in our hotel in Bukhara, everybody tensely waiting to hear the outcome of Chinese whispers.
We explained the situation to the group, discussing the new itinerary for Pakistan, that would take us over the highest paved road in the world, then down to the plains of India, and up into the mountains of Nepal, including as many highlights as we could, that we would otherwise be missing out on, due to China and Tibet.
The change to the route was met with mixed emotions. But after a good half an hour of Q&A, everybody was happy that we had made a plan to continue on our journey to Australia, and not just can the whole show.

Bishkek

So the new route was set.
Having applied for all visas in the UK for our intended route, we now needed to head to Bishkek for the new Indian and Pakistan visas. Once we arrived, Pete groomed himself to perfection, even borrowing a button up shirt from Simon, and donning long trousers for the first time since Europe. He collected all the passports and necessary paper work, and headed off for the Pakistanian embassy.

Pete was gone for a good three hours and when he returned the news shocked us all.
The Pakistan embassy had changed its tune and now wanted one month for an application. Pete argued with them all, from the man at the front desk to the high commissioner in his air-conditioned office. Trying every angle he could think of, but nothing, we were literally up against a brick wall. A landmass stood in our path, there was no road we could take to south east Asia.

Back to the drawing board again! The feeling we would soon run out of paper was growing, and for quite some time the three of us just sat. The show must go on, but how?

To the air

The only option left was to fly. Fly away from the earthquakes and riots. Fly away from the Pakistani's and burocracy . But worst of all, fly away from Penelope.
As there was no road to drive, and despite the comments from friends and family, Penelope can’t fly or float, we would have to leave what had become our home, behind, in order to carry on our adventure into the known and unknown.

The show must go on

Pete organised another overland truck by the name of Archie, to meet us in Delhi, but after living with the comfort of Penelope for so long, no change would be easy. We found a travel agent and booked flights to Delhi in India as planned. Almatey in Kazakhstan was proving far more reasonably priced than Tashkent in Uzbekistan, so we set about organising Kazak visas from Bishkek, giving everybody the chance to tick another country from their list. A few changes were made to the itinerary to allow for visits back to Bishkek, and our tour of Kyrgyzstan was back on.

2008-07-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Hello, it’s the return of the BLOG.

To say the blog has been a bit rubbish lately would be an understatement, but in terms of must, needs and wants the blog has been on the want list for quite some time.

Pete, now very grey on the head from all the stress, has flown to India, We, Tim and Cher, are currently in Ashgabat ...Again.

But what of the intrepid bunch of travellers that have made all this adventure possible? Well, they have soldiered on to India to book themselves into hotel Good Times in Delhi. Flying from Almaty, the new capital of Kazakhstan and the home to everybody’s favourite comedian, Borat (well maybe the Kazaks don’t hold him quite so close to their hearts, but some I hear are still looking for his sister).

We left off in the Fergana valley in Uzbekistan and the next morning we were heading for Kyrgyzstan and the border town of Osh. A non eventful border crossing introduced us to our new Local guide Aselle. Mad as a box of frogs. That was generally the most approved statement when it came to describing our lovely friendly local guide for Kyrgyzstan. Daughter of two dentists, with a smile to boot, she would prove to be a great help and entertainment for us all over the next 23 days.

Aselle on the left

So off to Osh and a local home stay, nice little house with good clean rooms and a good dinner out in a local café, with Assele to translate the endless menu of which they only stocked about 5 options. But, the beer was cold, the few options were tasty and the mood was high, so all good.

Early the next morning after a breakfast of eggs pancakes and compote, we headed down to Osh’s sizeable local market to stock up for the coming days of bush camping. As we were pushed for time the whole group joined in haggling prices and carrying bags of fresh produce.
The meat market got a few laughs from the locals and us, as the touts slapped their prime cuts of beef and lamb to gain our attention. Meat is a pleasure to buy in this part of the world as it is always fresh and they don’t differentiate between T-bone and brisket, needless to say we left with two huge bags of meat and there was definately no brisket between them.

Stocked up, we were back on our beloved Penelope, heading for one of the trip highlights, Lake Song Kol. As it was a good 900 km drive over some terrible roads, we had to break the journey up with two bush camps.

The first spot was up on the shores of Lake Toktogul, a man made dam built for a massive hydro electric plant. Being fed mostly by glacial water it has a stunning turquoise blue glow and crystal clear water. We BBQ’ed some of the fresh meat we had bought and conversations of treks, hikes and horses filled the air around the camp fire as everybody got ready for bed.

A big day’s drive covering many a bumpy mountain track revealed even more incredible scenery as we drove past massive gorges and towering snowy peaks. Stopping at around five o’clock at another spot Pete had found on his previous travels, we pitched camp a short walk from the river, spectacularly at the foot of a massive bright orange slip face. Nothing lets you know how small you are on the planet than the magnitude of nature and this slip face dwarfed us with ease.

Camped at the bottom of the slip face

Mike got out his fishing hat and rod and we all had Lamb stew for dinner, and toast and corn flakes for breakfast, and no fish for lunch. Take from that what you may.

Mike casting his rod

The next day we headed for Song Kol , referred to by the locals a as a holly lake , and at the centre of a massive plain of green grass, fattening up the herders live stock which they take up to graze every spring. This would also be the first time we would get to see traditional nomads, living in their yurts and the first time we would experience altitude at just over 3000 meters.

The perfect end to a storm and beginnings of a beautiful day

Horses grazing on the plains

We arrived at around four o’clock and the search for the perfect spot was on. When you have a lake shore stretching for miles in both directions, and the biggest, grassiest camp site you have ever seen, finding the right spot can be quite a challenge. Not that any spot would be bad, but there must be a right spot... surely.

Eventually we stopped about half way down the lake, with the crystal clear water a good couple of hundred meters distant, and the hills, then massive mountains, reaching to the sky, towering behind us. We set up camp, most making use of the space and soon the Odyssey village was built.

Ablutions were set off a respectful distance away, with tarp being rigged and a vacant, in use sign, being decided on (a small flag flying from a pole meant the loo was free).

More of the lovely meat was prepared and the fire started, roast was the order of the evening with baked potatoes done on the fire and veggies and salad and for those with a bit more space in their tummy’s, loaves of hot garlic bread. Once more, a happy bunch of travellers, in a truly unspoilt piece of the world.

Setting up camp

Tasty BBQ roast

Our Odyssey camp amidst majestic hills, plains and a great lake

We packed a breakfast and lunch box that night with fruit, chocolate, bread, meat, tomatoes and cucumber for the hikers, as they had planned a truly ambitious walk the next day, to the tallest peak in the distance. NEVER! I heard the less hiker types say. It cannot be done! They all shouted. The look of determination in the hikers eyes flared and their walking boots quaked in terror. Early the next morning we could all hear them saddle their rucksacks and crunch the morning dew under foot, as they left on what would prove to be a hike and a half.
The lesser hiker types eventually arose a few hours later and took up station with several pairs of the truck’s binoculars, sitting in a line of chairs peering at the group soldiering their way up the ridge in the distance. All experts I would say, as the free advice was flowing as easier routes were spotted from the comfort of the Odyssey camp chairs.

In the mean time, a group headed off to a local yurt camp about 150 meters away. We were invited in, and in the traditional manner, were treated to a morning snack of fresh bread, delightful jam and fermented mare’s milk. Now I like to try everything once, but horsey milk is not my cup of tea.

The local yurt camp

A few of the folks were quite keen on ridding and 5 horses were arranged. Soon riders and non riders alike were trotting about on their steeds, heading of in all directions. Some folks seemed to lack the necessary control, but most the horses were fairly relaxed and fitted in with the group well.

The panel of experts were still deciding if the hikers had chosen the best route while lunch was served around midday.

Next the mission to full up the solar showers was on. We have five solar showers on board the truck and each one takes twenty litres of water. As the lake was some distance off, we roped a horse in and demoted it to donkey. Half an hour later we were leading our trusty mule back up from the lake with showers strapped over its saddle, I’m sure I saw it looking from side to side to see if any of its friends had noticed. Once back in the camp, the kitchen tent was quickly reincarnated as a shower block with a make shift divide and the showers put out in the sun to heat.

At around four that afternoon the hikers returned with their tales of woe and photos to back it all up. They had indeed reached their summit, only to find an even bigger valley stretching off in the distance with higher snowy peaks. But their main prize was the truck GPS they had taken along as a navigation aid. It was paraded around the camp with a max altitude reading of 3800 meters. Quite some feet for a day’s walk.

Once more the kitchen group clammed into action and a beef goulash was set into motion. Some folks headed off for the showers as they had warmed nicely in the sun and many a clean smiling face appeared from the tents.
Dinner was served and the fire stoked as we sat around and discussed the plan for the next day.

The happy riders

In Kyrgyzstan they have a national sport of which they are particularly fond. I don’t expect we will see it at the Olympics any time soon, even though the level of sportsmanship is something to wonder. It’s called Goat Polo. No, not Polo played on goats but rather Polo played with a goat. Some folks will find it rather squeamish, but there is no “nice” way to explain it.
A goat is chosen from the flock and bound accordingly, it is then slaughtered in the traditional manner , its throat cut, decapitated, and then its legs amputated at the Knees. This becomes the “ball”. The horsemen are divided up into teams of two and four, and a small carpet is placed some distance off on the massive plains.

Aselle pointing out the goal

The playing field stretches as far as the eye can see and included the tents of our camp, the crowd of onlookers’ and any other place the riders may choose to use to their advantage. A good rule of thumb is, if you ever find yourself watching a game of goat Polo, stand near the locals, if they start to run, try and run a little faster.

The riders invade the camp, while folks take refuge on the roof of the truck

The goat is then taken off some distance from the rug and placed on the ground. The two teams of either four or two stay near the rug and await the signal from a village elder, who is adjudicator.

Once the signal is given, they charge off into the distance to grab the goat, throwing themselves nearly out of the saddle so as to reach down and grab the carcass. Once one of the players has the goat firmly tucked behind his leg, he tries to charge off towards the carpet. His other team mate runs interference, trying to block the impending attack from the opposition.

Going back to the adjudicator, apart from starting the game and deciding when to end it, he plays little part as there are no rules. Grabbing your opponent’s reigns, wiping his horse, pulling of ears, etc. is all quite acceptable. The horse’s melee around and around each other, barging, pushing, kicking and biting. The squabble goes on and on until either the other team manages to grab the goat or somebody breaks away and drops the goat on the carpet, normally at full tilt with three other horses galloping beside them.

The first goal is scored

A game lasts about fifteen minutes as it is very tiring for players and horses. Every time a point is scored a bit off money is placed in a hat for the teams to divvy up afterwards. Though it is a ruff game and the horses ridden hard, they take great care of the steeds as they are prized possessions. I was introduced to the champion pony that has since retired from the demanding game and now exists solely as prize stallion, being pimped out buy its owners for a sizeable fee to pass on the winning genes.
Even though the game is harsh, respect plays a major role. Just before the goat is slaughtered a small prayer of thanks is offered. Once the game was over, we were offered the goat as a gift but declined, and as such it was given to a family that the locals think is deserving, maybe a newlywed couple or somebody who has fallen on hard times. Nothing goes to waste in the harsh lands.

The game was all over by four in the afternoon and most folks retired to bury their nose in a book or sit around in groups and chat. The showers had been refilled and proving popular as everybody got ready for another excellent camp meal.

The next day we would be heading off to Bishkek, a large city where we would be applying for visas for Pakistan and Kazakhstan, to carry on our journey of the amazing Silk Road.

Players in action

Reaching down to pick up the goat

2008-07-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

Turkmenistan is a bit of a crazy place in so many ways, the locals are friendly people, always happy to help where they can, though due to past rule they are always a bit nervous around foreigners. The customs and immigration procedure is long and involved and took us about 4 hours. When we finally got through it was about 5pm and we planned to run all the way to Ashgabat, the capital, that night so as to catch the famous Sunday market. A must for everybody visiting Central Asia, possibly be the best market around. It was an interesting drive, due to government policy most people are banned from driving at night, mainly due to a police force that are too lazy to run all the control points at night. At every check point we had to negotiate our way on. Ata our local guide excelled himself and negotiated our smooth passage allowing us to arrive in Ashgabat at about 2 in the morning, enough time for everybody to get enough sleep and head for the market the next morning. Our discovery the next morning that the local currency had strengthened by 50 % was a bit of a shock, and so Turkmenistan is now officially the most expensive place en route for a bottle of water or beer. Ashgabat is also special for it’s the crazy design, all by local and French architects and built by the French. It’s amazing in so many ways, though an amazing waste of the people’s money. Amazing that one man can build so many monuments to himself!!

Camels at the market

After two nights in a fancy hotel with a great pool, heaps to see and explore and a chance to get all the laundry done, we headed almost directly north for one of Turkmenistan’s really special sights, the burning gas crater of Davassa. Arriving early evening we set up camp in the desert, while Ata the local guide, hiked off to find a monster desert truck to bounce us over the sand dunes to the gas crater. It’s an amazing drive to an even better spectical. Arriving just before dark there is a slight glow from the massive crater and it gets more spectacular as the skies get darker.

Camping just outside the crator

Ata our local guide

The Gas Crator

Our group

The following day was an early starts as we continued to head north for Uzbekistan. Most of the day was spent driving through Karakorum Desert dust storms with temperatures hitting 42 degrees, lucky a dry heat so liveable. Arriving in Uzbekistan and it seems our border luck is back, with hardly any hassles and only a brief search of some of the truck and luggage. Then a short drive to Khiva, our first fantastic silk road city and the home of our local guide Jalol.
We stayed in a great family run guest house which proved the idea venue to celebrate Terry and Lesley’s wedding anniversary. The family lay on an Uzbek feast even with the local port wine and a group of wedding dancers to entertain us for the evening. A fairly early start the next morning to try and see as much of Khiva in the cool and with Jalol as a guide everybody had an amusing look at the history of the town.

City tour with Jalol, speaking with intense passion for his country

Wedding Anniversary celebration dinner at our homestay in Khiva

Khiva

Bukhara was next on the list, with two full days to enjoy it, was a nice relaxed time and the girls decided it was time for a girl’s night out. A big session of pampering and talking rubbish I am sure, followed by dinner out and then off clubbing. Though, the club they got sent to was having a kiddie night and closed at twelve, and no the lads had nothing to do with it. Surprisingly though, the lads seemed a bit lost without the girls, and the Irish definitely lost the ability to drink.

Bukhara

Wood carving

Uzbek Monies

Girls night out - beautiful toes

Next we headed for the Kisikylm Desert for two nights camping on the shores of the desert lake. En route we stopped off in Nurata to view the holy fish before rolling on to the lake. We ended up not rolling, as we searched out a good spot really close to the shore, the truck broke through the hard crust into the muddy layer bellow, with only a small amount of the back wheels showing. We were forced to set camp and start digging and jacking up the truck to get it out of the mud. Jalol disappeared of over the hill to find a truck to pull us out, Cheryl and most of the rest started setting up camp, while Pete and Tim, helped out by a couple of the lads, started getting the truck up on an almost level plane. It was a great sight when a big Soviet build dump truck roared over the hill to give us a pull which would save us hours of jacking and sand matting. We paid the local driver for the pull and soon we were all in the lake having a bit of a cool down. As it got dark the wildlife emerged and decided to put on a bit of a show. All bush camps have some wildlife and it is very seldom we have any hassles, but there did seem to be a fair number of scorpions in this camp and even a small snake.

Holy fish

Poor Penelope stuck

Next stop was Samarkand and its fantastic Registan Square and our hotel was just 2 minutes away. This was our last silk road city for a while and we headed off to explore it with Jalol.

Registan square

Tashkent our next stop is seen as the hub of Central Asia. This modern wide streeted capital is so different from what we have seen over the last weeks, big shops and restaurants with western influences. I think everybody enjoyed a bit of a break from the history and a chance to relax and kick back around the pool.
Approaching the end of our stay in Uzbekistan, a jump across the mountain barrier to the Fergana valley, the bread basket of Central Asia, was required. Due to politics and some crazy rules, no passenger carrying vehicle is allowed over the pass if it has more than 5 seats so the truck was forced to transit through Tajikistan, while the group hopped over the hill with taxis. First stop was Kokand and the Khans palace before heading to Fergana city to stay in a luxury hotel for the night. Owned by the presidents family for some crazy reason we get really good rates and so can afford to stay in this crazy place, there was a full on pool party going when we arrived with the locals putting on quite the show.

The Caspian Cruise

2008-07-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

Everyone was quite excited and there was no problem getting piled into taxis and screeming off towards port, in a mix of mercedes benz's and a couple of local Lada taxis.

We soon cleared customs and immigration and the wait to board the ferry began. After a long delay that should have worned us of things to come everybody was shown to their cabins. We met up on deck to watch the lights of Baku and the lights of the oil rigs dance in the sea around us. I think it can be said, the first night was fairly festive with a birthday boy on board, well, actually no, it had ended at 12am while we were waiting for the ferry, but this was a good excuse to party the night away and for some to see the sunrise the following morning.

A normal Caspian crossing with all associated port entries and departures usually takes about 20 hours with an actual sailing time of about 12 to 16 hours, depending on the weather. The next day by mid afternoon we sighted the port of Turkmenbashi and all thought we would be back on terra firma that evening. It was slightly alarming when we dropped anchor about 3 miles off shore, and so the wait began, 2 and a bit days. But this is a group up for every challenge and in the end I actually think everybody will look back fondly at our cruise, though stationary on the Caspian.
Deck games were the order of the day with the hammocks coming out and the main lounge area turned into a snoozing area. Food soon became an issue, as when you are only expecting a day and then work out you may be there a bit longer, 20 hungry people can go through a lot of food. The trucks emergency stocks came out and made sure everbody ate well. I think we will be remembered fondly by the Caspian crewe who radioed the other ferries that were waiting, to say, cheer up, its not all bad, our passengers are having a blast.

Fishing from the ferry deck

Pictures from Azerbaijan

2008-07-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

Cliff edge going to Lahic

Bush camp by the river

Mud Volcanoes
Mud Volcanoes
Mud Volcanoes

Roof seats on route to Lahic

Azerbaijan

2008-07-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I could sit and type up the blog, to say the least, it has been interesting times, and I take my hat off to an amazing group who are a pleasure to travel with and are determined to help us make this the trip of a lifetime.

The sad news is that despite all efforts, entry to Tibet has proved impossible, and so an alternative route has had to be added. It's sad that we will not see Tibet, but considering the situation there at the moment, it may be a good thing, as all would have been rather depressing.

The show must go on! Yep, we have had to skip over a special part of the journet, but the new itiniary will take us to some amazing places and these are going to be great to explore and experience. Odyssey Overland will make it to Australia, there is no turning back.

Many expeditions have turned back this season and it has been a terrible year for all overlanders, but with the Olympics, Tibetan riots, a major earthquake and the closure of Tibet, there was not too much that we could do about it. But, everything points to next year being back to normal.

We are all sad to say goodbye to Penelope our faithful truck, the sweetest truck around, with Tim and Cheryl about to head off and drive back to the UK over the next 25 days or so, before flying out to meet us when we arrive in Bangkok. This said, another truck has been arranged and soon the group will be aboard Archie, heading off to explore Northern India and Nepal, and then on to Thailand where we will get back to the original plan. It seems very fitting that we will be visiting the home of the Dali Lhama in exile, but more to come on our routing as we go through.

Some time has passed since we left Georgia to head off into Azerbaijan and a lot has happened since then, we even found time to do an extended cruise of the Caspian Sea, our thanks goes to the crazy twisted people in the port of Turkmenbashi, who decided to let us float outside the port for three days while they awaited a train. Yep, Turkmenistan is a rather strange place, but first Azerbaijan.

Folks were sorry say goodbye to Georgia's amazing scenery and friendly people, not to mention the food and wine. The border crossing was fairly uneventful with the strangest part being that we all had to pay for a medical check at the Azerbaijan frontier, then once the money was paid no doctor showed up to do the check, so we rolled on into Azerbaijan. At first it seemed a lot like Georgia, but as we ran along things slowly changed and soon everyone was well aware that we had entered another strange country with loads of new experiences awaiting us.

We had camped the night before and now headed for another bush camp, so everybody was fairly keen to find a spot where the promise of a river to have a swim was high on the agenda. Temperatures had started to rise and cool refreshing water would go down a treat. After lots of slowing down and speeding up I finally found the right turning to take us to the camp we had used the year before. With a big popular tree for shade and great views to the surrounding hills, it was not long till most people had jumped in for a refreshing swim, and were now ready for a good night enjoying the many gallons of wine we had brought from georgia.

It was an early start the next morning as we made a bee line for Sheki and its famous slik road caravanassari, now a hotel, its still great to wonder and get a feel of what it must have been like in the old days, when caravans plied this route with their spices, silk and other goodies. A visit to the Khan's summer palace was also one of the big attractions with some great woodwork and painting. The entire building was built without the use of nails and relies on elaborate wooden joints to keep it together.

We then headed for the mountain village of lahic, another hidden gem, well off the beaten tourist track. Will another mountain pass road, we soon had a good number of people up on the roof seats as we wound our way up into the hills. Mind blowing scenery and a great hamlet of narrow streets yielded the local copper smiths hammering out amazing designs. We canped for the evening in a local tea garden with our first game of volley frisbee played by a number of very competative people emerging from the group.

The next days plan was to get as close to Baku as possible and then go into bush camp for the night and head for Baku early the next day to get as much time as possible in the crazy oil funded town. At about 4pm a small dirt track was seen meandering up into the hills and so it was decided to check it out as a possible bush camp. Narrow, winding and getting a couple of people a bit on edge it was worth every bit of the adventure for when we crested the hill, we drove onto a high plain dotted with active mud volcanoes. Sort of like a star wars theme gone wrong, but a fantastic setting for another amazing bush camp with poeple just blown away, sure to come a regular stop in future years, a hidden Odyssey exclusive!!

Baku never disappoints with its crazy oil fueled viabrance, though it does empty your pockets rather quickly. This was expected to be our most expensive stop on the trip outside Europe, little did we know what lay ahead for us in Turkmenistan.

The crew headed straight for the docs to find out about trans Caspian ferries, as there is no regular service and it is a matter of going down to the port and begging and bribing your was onto a ferry. As soon as we arrived they informed us that there was a ferry leaving that evening and there was no guarentee when the next one would leave. We declined, as we had only just arrived, and returned to the hotel before heading out to a cool restaurant in the centre for a good meal, and then for the adventurous, out clubbing.

All was good to go by day three of our stay in Baku, with a ferry due to leave at about 1 o'clock in the morning.

Finally an update!!

2008-05-20T07:06:00.000-07:00

Just seems to be so much happening, just been a constant flow of amazing things to see and do and everybody seems to be having a total blast. Sorry if you been waiting for this update, must admit I have been having too much fun. I am sitting up in the mountains in small mountain hamlet called Mestia in Georgia, been the first chance that I have had as all the group have headed out some to a trek up into the mountain and some in jeeps to drive even further up into the hills to another village famous for its Christian relics and setting as it is surrounded by 5000m plus peaks. But more about this later.
We have made it into Central Asia, after an interesting border crossing which took about 4 hours longer than expected due to some new crazy permit required for the truck we rolled into Turkey rather late. We headed straight for Istanbul and based ourselves right in the middle of the historical heart with the Tokapi Palace, Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia all about 3 minutes walk away. From the roof top terrace of the hostel there were stunning views of the Bosporus Straits and with Asia on the other side is it so close and exotic, many folks jumped on one of the many boats and head off for a cruise on the Bosporus and landed somewhere along the Asian shore to put their foot into Asia. Think everybody felt the change as soon as we drove into Turkey. Romania and Bulgaria are the wilder countries we passed through as we came through Europe but still have a Europe feel to them, but Turkey our first Muslim country is so different and as we rolled along through the hills every town had its mosques and minarets and everybody will soon become familiar with the regular call to prayer.
As we headed for Turkey we spent some great time in Romania with its stunning landscapes and friendly people. Sighasora, famous for being the birth place of Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler and said to be part of the influence which inspired the novel Dracula is a great place to wander and explore the old citadel. We decided to upgrade to for 2 nights to a nice hotel as camping through Europe has taken it out of a couple of people with the weather not being too great, strange in many ways, but I think when we look in months to come Europe will be seen as some our most hard camping. The weather has been the worst I have ever had while coming through Europe. We have done two free camps to date, one in the hills near Rosnov Castle in Romania close to a river with snow capped peaks hanging over us and the other as we entered Bulgaria on the shores of a stunning lake. I think everybody is getting a feel for overland style free camping and all are looking forward to some of the great camps we have coming up. We also spent some time in Brasov and Bucharest, though due to the Easter holidays in this part of the world, a lot of the attractions were closed while we were in Brasov, but by hanging in Brasov for a day we were able to arrive in Bucharest with everything open on the Tuesday. The next highlight and in some cases horror was the Palace of the People, said to be only beaten in size by the Pentagon, this crazy waste of the people’s money tells a sad story of Romania’s past. For dinner the one night we ended up in a stunning restaurant, made you feel as if you were dining in a museum, but was a great start to get the first truck birthday celebrations going, Elaine got the full works with a birthday cake, Terry and Lesley came out of retirement and even did Elaine’s hair as a birthday present and then we found “Revenge” a really cool basement bar which we soon had managed to turn into our own birthday party venue, needless to say a lot of people got well into the celebration and some video evidence the following morning of the pole dancing on the bar left a couple of people a touch uncomfortable , negotiations are ongoing as to whether I should make the video available on YouTube.

View from the hotel boat we stayed on in Batumi

Goreme and getting ready to go ballooning

Istanbul is such a great city to explore, with so many great sights to see, Sam and Maura soon headed for the grand bazaar to search out a truck guitar and all going well we will have some great tunes around the camp fire in nights to come. From stunning mosques to churches build in 540AD which was converted to a mosque in 1456 and now works as a museum there is so much to see and do. We then wandered our way up onto the Black Sea Coast and spent a full day just chilling, the weather seemed to find us again and we had a bit more rain, but overall everybody enjoyed the day to update dairies and catch their breath. Next up was Cappadocia with its crazy landscape and underground cities and the chance to go ballooning. A Turkish cultural night, in many ways exactly what we try and avoid as all seems a bit touristy, but Cappadocia is a special place and you soon forget the other tourists and just enjoy it for what it is. The Cultural night always seem to be a winner with everybody having a blast with Kirsten and Terry giving us a great show as they were dragged onto the floor by the belly dancer, well actually Terry could not wait!! With three full days in Cappadocia everybody had heaps of time to see the sights.
From Goreme Cappadocia the next section we spent wandering the Turkish country side for two drive days, taking the back roads we drove some amazing roads and found two epic camps one a free camp and the other a river side restaurant we took over for the evening. Our end destination was Trabzon and the nearby Sumela Monastery. Trabzon is always a great town to explore and the group soon had all had a good wander. From camping shops filled with crazy guns, amazing little restaurants and sitting in the main square drinking tea with all the village old men was good to be back in town for a while.
Into Georgia and we spent the first night in the old Russian resort town of Batumi and headed out for our first Georgian style feast, think it can be said that everybody had enough food and wine. The next morning it was an early start as we headed up into the Caucasus Mountains. Took us 7 hours to do 132km to Mestai and managed to break a main suspension spring as we wound our way up the mountain some rather bumpy nerve racking roads. Climbing more than 1000m we had our first chance to use the roof seats, these allow 4 people at a time to basically sit with their head out of the sunroof as we roll along. The grinning faces after each group finished their session getting the wind in their hair and flies in their teeth said it all. The first bunch up even got a free shower, some of the tunnels with the roof leaky roofs helped a couple of people got a touch wet, Tim also chose this moment to drive nice and slowly and seemed to drive a bit of a erratic course which took us from waterfall to waterfall.
Having broken the spring we were forced to go into camp a bit early and having had a chat to the local farmers we setup in the field with snow capped mountains on all sides and soon had drawn a good crowd of locals all rather interested in Penelope and the crazy foreigners who emerged. Soon though the kids where having the time of their life as a hill side football game commenced, while the crew split themselves between making a tasty dinner and changing the broken spring. We also had the local police arrive and after having been suitably introduced they informed us they would be staying the night to ensure that we were safe and well cared for. Bit strange having two machine gun toting men looking after you, but this region after troubled times in 2004 are determined to get tourism back and all stops are pulled out to look after any visitors. Strangely the rain found us at about 2am and really poured down with enough water that by the next morning the truck had started to settle and so we had our first truck bogging, but with the aid of sand mats and everybody giving us a good push it took us about an hour to get out.
Have now arrived in Tbilisi the capital of Georgia and a really funky city. From Mestia we had to wind back down the mountain the same way we had come in, on the drive in it had been spectacular, but with no clouds on the surrounding peaks the drive out was mind blowing. Once down we headed for Kutaisi a local town with a great market and the ruined Bagrati Cathedral and Palace after a short visit here we headed out of town and managed to find another great bush camp on the banks of a river. Yet again the local police showed up and insisted on looking after us for the night, once the local police chief had been down to see the these crazy tourists. He worked out that in the interest of safety all machine guns should go home with him as there was a fair chance that our guards for the night would be welcomed by the group and offered a couple of beers, guns and alcohol just don’t mix well. With an early start the next morning we headed to Gori to visit the Stalin Museum for at times rather comical and one sided view of his life. From Gori it was a short drive to Tbilisi the funky Georgian capital, but more about this in my next update from Baku, Azerbaijan.

Bush camp on the way into Mestia in Georgia

Cheryl one of the crew

Last of Europe and into Asia

2008-05-09T06:12:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I last got either a good connection or had the time, all my good intentions of updating the blog in Istanbul got pushed back as Istanbul as it can kept everybody flat out from taking a boat across the Bosforus to Asia, eating fish sandwiches with the locals on the edge of the Golden horn. As soon as the folks spell check my blog script a more detailed account will be uploaded.

Our bushcamp in Bulgaria just before entering Turkey

Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Spice bazaar, Grand Bazaar

Driving across the Bosforus as we enter Asia

New toll system on bridge holds us and it seemed

like most of Istanbul up for more than 1 hour

Street near the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

What a stunning bunch!!

2008-04-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

Having had a heap of requests for photos of the group add the following shots of the group, still to get some of the more elusive folks who either have just not performed for the camera or have decided that the shots we have are not suitable.

A great part of our travel is free camping, finding special places and just setting up and really enjoying the amazing country side as we go. Transylvania offers some geat spots, below our first bush camp near Rosnov and Bran castle

The Odyssey begins

2008-04-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

We are on the road and Australia here we come. Over the next 26 weeks and 23 countries the 23 of us are in for some real adventures. Our new camera let us down on day one so all group shots came out blurred, but a group photo will be coming to the blog soon. Most people met us in London and headed to Dover to meet the rest of the group. Once in Dover we all loaded into Penelope our expedition vehicle, drove onto the ferry and we headed to France, it was a great experience to watch the white cliffs slowly grow distant as we headed off on our epic journey. Once in France it was a quick drive and we soon entered Belgium and headed for the small town of Tournai, this our first night out was a chance to get everybody familiar with all the gadgets on the truck and quickly we had a cool camp setup with most of the folks starting to lose the dazed and confused expression as they worked out that we do things with a certain amount of style. Soon everybody was gathered around getting to know the each other over a couple of pre dinner drinks.

It’s always interesting to watch everybody as they all wonder what will be laid up for dinner the first night. I am sure a couple of people imagined bowls of slop served with rice.
We started with a freshly made cream of mushroom soup and then moved onto a main of spaghetti bolognese with all the toppings served with a nice fresh salad, there was a general look of relief and in some cases exclamations that this was better than the food at home.
It was great to be able to say that the food would be of a similar standard for the duration of the trip, which bought further smiles around the camp. Everybody mucks in to help with the cooking, but the crew do all the planning and make sure it all works, a great way to do things and not the norm.

The next big point of discussion was the dropping of temperatures, for the folks who arrived with good sleeping bags and roll mats this was no worry, but there were a couple who regretted not spending a couple of pounds on a better bag. The temperature dropped about 2 degrees below freezing and the next morning everything was covered in frost, Sam and his two season sleeping bag had eventually relocated to the toilets and was found hugging the warm radiators in the early hours of the morning, luckily one of the spare sleeping bags on board solved all his problems.

As we wandered along our next stop was Cologne. We all had a good stroll around the Dom Cathedral and explored the many museums, the chocolate museum was said to put people off the tasty treat for a couple of days but they soon recovered.
Cologne is a great place to try a German beer hall but not only to sample some of the local brews, but also a to try the local wurst (sausage) ordered by the metre.
Everybody was now getting the camping setup and pack down nicely and most had got their sleeping arrangements sorted and where nice and warm.
Always up for something new our next stop was Bamberg, a Unesco World Heritage site and famous for its 17th and 18th century buildings, great to lose yourself in for a couple of hours.
Bamburg's other strange but true claim to fame is the smoked beers, with a bacon taste, everybody was up for a pint, but was decided that it was an acquired taste and one pint was more than enough.

Bamberg will definitely become a regular stop many people saying that it would be worth a full day to explore the town.

As we roll along we are constantly moving south and the tempretures are increasing nicely with no more below zero nights. We have also had a great run as far as the weather goes with limited rain, and nice sunny days.

Next to Prague, City of a Thousand Spires with so much to see and explore, we slow everything down here and spend three nights which gives us two and a bit days to explore. The first night we decided to do a dinner in camp and then head into the old town early the next morning, with the promise of a sunny day most people were off at about 9 and spent the day exploring and the city and it was decided to sample some of the local dishes for dinner and then checkout the night life, as expected everybody had a great night out with the last folks only getting back to camp in the early hours of the morning. Still with a day in hand everybody headed out after a laid back breakfast for another day of exploring.

From here we headed for Budapest, in Hungary, a big day's drive, but the social scene in the back of the truck made the time fly, the Connect 4 championships are in full swing and a number of crafty players have emerged.

Hope to upload a heap more photos soon as everybody gets back this evening from a full day in Budapest and hopefully can get a good group picture. Next update is due from Istanbul in 7 days unless the conection speed has improved in Romania and then may possibly get some new stuff up sooner.

8 Weeks to go!!

2008-02-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks, just a quick note to say this blog will be up and running on 15 April 2008, which is the date we set off on our epic journey. So far its all been a gradual build up, some people joined the expedition 14 months ago and so the build up has been a long one. Last weekend we had a group gathering, so everybody got to meet the crew and fellow travellers. Over lunch and a couple of drinks we ran through the plan and answered any questions people had, as well as a quick slide show of some of the highlights of the route from past tours to get everybody really excited. Then it was on to visas, as Odyssey will run all the applications for everybody to make sure it all runs to schedule.

As per normal this style of trip has drawn a great group of people ready to really explore and appreciate this great journey. So if you are thinking of joining us for the 2009 trip, keep an eye on this blog to get an idea, but remember to book early, as 7 seats are already taken for the 2009 trip and we expect the trip to full up early. Cannot wait to hit the road, and Penelope, our trusty expedition vehicle, is ready to role. Picures coming to the website soon. http://www.odysseyoverland.co.uk/