2016 So Far!

Where are we now?

We started our Indian Ocean crossing from Johor Bahru at the bottom of Malaysia just across the straits from Singapore. After clearing out we sailed/motored for 7 days through Indonesia. We didn't stop except for a few overnights and to take advantage of the currents. The route we and the weather chose for us involved going through channels with strong currents so we would anchor when the current was against us and then take advantage of it when it was going in the right direction. The currents gave us a huge assist and minimised our diesel usage. We had purchased extra diesel containers before we left to ensure we did not run short of fuel. We managed to fill our tank with them before we left Indonesia.

We had a 2 day rest at a lovely spot on the western tip of Java and then left for the 600 mile crossing to Cocos Keeling which is where we are now. After squalls and rough seas on the first day we had a great sail and did the trip in 4 days, a record for us! Unfortunately, both of us are feeling very out of practice at doing the long sails. It has been 2 years since we have sailed a significant distance in open seas.

Cocos is an atoll owned by the Australians. The anchorage is on the north east side of the atoll of Direction Island. The island is typical of the tropical islands of the Pacific with blue transparent water, soft sand and lots of coconut palms. We were escorted into the anchorage by a pod of Dolphins and had 5 black tip reef sharks around the boat before we had anchored. It was a lovely sight after the murky water of Malaysia.

There are 2 other islands here, Home Islands which has a Malaysian population and is a 2 mile wet dinghy ride and West Island which is 5 miles away across the lagoon and too far for our dinghy. We visited Home Island for provisions a few days ago and are still getting over the shock. We purchased 2 loaves of bread, a packet of rolls, a small bunch of bananas and a dozen eggs and the cost was $AUS46 (£30). Probably the most expensive shopping we have ever done.

There are 9 boats here at the moment including one which we have not seen since Samoa in 2012! We all met on the beach yesterday for a BBQ. Sounds idyllic but we were eaten alive by mosquitoes despite the deet! We are not allowed to remove anything from the boat here so all our rubbish must leave with us which is a good incentive not to stay too long. We will probably leave in a few days to do the 2000 mile trip to Rodrigues. With good winds this should take about 15 days.

Our exit from Malaysia was later than we anticipated. This was partly due to the wind as the trade winds were very late establishing themselves but mainly due to the boat. We had a lot of checks to do before we left as there are lots of things we have not used in the last year which inevitably led to us uncovering issues. Our main problem, once again, was the generator. It is only 2 years old but has a major problem with water in the oil. We could not get it tested properly in Malaysia so finally decided to leave with it broken. This means we cannot run our watermaker (which is also not working properly, but cannot be fixed until we have a generator!) so are being very careful with water. We can get water for doing washing on Direction Island and drinking water on Home Island so we should not run short.

We did have a good time in Pangkor, where we left the boat while we were travelling, meeting up with Sue and Stefan from Charlotte who are doing lots of work on their boat at the moment. We also said farewell to our Australian friends, Sharon and Lindsay on Songlines. Mike had a good birthday celebration with them and Sharon got him a lovely birthday cake.

Before leaving Malaysia we left the boat in Pangkor marina for 2 months and flew to India and Nepal.



Trekking In Nepal

We flew from Delhi to Kathmandu on 3 March. We flew with Indigo airlines and it is probably one of the the scariest flights we have had. The pilot seemed to drop really low to the mountains and then had to accelerate and climb to reach the runway. We touched down at the very start of the runway with a jolt as the plane was still accelerating! An exciting start to our trip!

Kathmandu was fairly quiet and unpolluted due to the fuel shortage and we had a pleasant stroll around the area near our hotel which was full of shops selling trekking gear. The following morning we had an early start to catch the coach to Pokhara. It was a long day as the traffic was very bad and the roads very narrow. The roads are single track with lots of hills and tight turns and only just wide enough for the trucks and coaches to pass. Pokhara is the town where many of the treks start so the town is fairly touristy in a low key way. It is pretty with a big lake and stunning mountain views.

We spent 5 days in Pokhara. We did a few hikes there to get into training and also purchased the gear we needed. We took most things we needed but had to buy a sleeping bag, walking poles and thick padded body warmers. The gear is supposedly North Face but is very cheap. We had decided to carry our own gear for the trek so spent time reducing the weight by leaving behind as much as we could at the hotel.

We were going to walk the Annapurna Circuit. A trek of about 220km with an altitude gain from 800m to 5416m down to 1200m and back up to 3200m before descending back to 800m. Probably totally mad given that we were both very unfit, we have never walked that distance before and certainly never done any trekking carrying 10/12kg on our back. Plus we are used to living at sea level and had never walked to that altitude before.

We had a 3 hour bus trip to the start of the trail at Besisahar. From here there was a choice of getting a bus or walking to Bulbhule. Being determined to walk the whole trail we walked. It was a very hot afternoon walk and certainly showed up how unfit we were. We stayed in Tea houses which is basic accommodation providing a room with a bed and blanket. The accommodation is either free or a few pounds as long as you eat there. The standard varied from outside toilets and maybe a tap somewhere with water to our own bathroom and in a few instances we even had a hot shower. We would get up at 6am and start walking around 7am. The views of the mountains are better in the morning plus some days we were walking for 9 hours so an early start was necessary.

Until we got to about 3000m the temperatures were pleasant though we got very hot on the climbs. There was very little flat terrain, we were always going up and down, usually up! Thankfully there were very few steps and it was mainly trails that wound their way up hill. The day we got to 3000m we had snow plus we had a 3 hour climb up a steep mountain with numerous switchbacks. The lodge at the top was a welcome sight. Unfortunately, the owner was very mean and would not light the fire. We were given a small brazier which 4 of us sat huddled around wearing thermals, hat, gloves etc. After that it was a very rare occasion when our thermals came off, it was way too cold. We had a hot shower at one lodge but the room was so cold that your whole body was steaming! We would sleep in clothes, our sleeping bag which was good to -5C plus a thick rug or blanket over us. None of the rooms were heated, most were wood or brick with lots of gaps around the windows. Most mornings the water in the pipes was frozen. It was definitely back to pre central heating days.

Due to the altitude we had a few acclimatisation days, one at 3500m and 2 at 4500m. The 2 at 4500m was mainly due to Mike spending one day in bed ill. Not with altitude sickness but with a terrible cold and hacking cough. At one stage we though we may have to descend without crossing the pass but he rallied and on day 13 we crossed Thorong La pass. This was a climb from 4500m to 5416m and then an endless descent to 3800m at Muktinath. It was very hard work walking at altitude, you have to walk incredibly slowly and your heart is just pounding in your ears. Still it was an amazing sense of achievement.

The walk down the western range was mainly across a moraine field. The weather at the top of the valley was very windy which was a bit disconcerting when you are walking on a track that is only a few feet wide with a vertical drop of about 1000m!

The latter part of the trek was around the Poon Hill area and involved climbing to 3200m again. Very hard work as most of the trail was steps. It was a lot more crowded than the rest of the trail which was incredibly quiet. The Poon hill trek goes through Rhododendron forests which were in full bloom though we had no view of the mountains from here due to the low cloud. Still, we had had some amazing views of the Annapurna mountain range earlier in our walk.

The whole trek took us 23 days and we think we walked about 250km. We both lost lots of weight despite eating like horses and were incredibly fit by the end. We were also feeling very virtuous as we did not drink any alcohol for the whole trek. Hopefully our livers appreciated it! We are really glad we did it but don't want to do it again!

Nepal was a lovely place, we can totally understand why people keep going back there. After India it was such a breath of fresh air and the people are lovely.



A Month In India

Originally we wanted to go to India for 2 months but due to visa restrictions had to cut our trip down to 1 month. This meant making decisions on which parts to visit and which to cut out. In hindsight we probably made the wrong decision as to where to spend our time. We did not particularly enjoy India and are glad that we were restricted to a month. By the end we were counting the days down to when we could leave.

We were travelling on a budget so were using trains and coaches plus tuk tuks to get around. To enjoy it you probably need to cut yourself off from the reality of the place and have your own private car and driver! In summary we found India to be over crowded, dirty and smelly. The smell of urine everywhere including on people was difficult to get out of your nostrils and the scale of the poverty was shocking. It was also a shock to see the caste system in operation and to see just how middle class Indians treat the lower classes.

If you ignore the surroundings there are some amazing sights to see and the food was wonderful. We started in Delhi. We landed late at night and the temperature was 9C which was quite a shock after leaving 35C in Malaysia. We had a few days in Delhi visiting the Red Fort and sorting out all our train tickets for the month. Then we flew to Khajuraho to see the erotic Hindu temples. The carvings are amazing and very well preserved but you definitely wouldn't want to try many of the positions at home!

Our next stop was Orccha and there was supposedly a local train that ran daily between the 2 cities. There were no classes on the train so it was a major free for all with people sitting everywhere including on our feet and on the roof. The journey should have been 5 hours but it took 9 and the train went somewhere else. We couldn't move the whole time and the smell was dreadful. Trying the toilet was not an option! We then had to get a taxi to our hotel which ended up being very basic but was one of the friendliest we stayed in. We recovered and had a pleasant day walking around the sights.

Next was Agra which despite being full of tourists was a very nice city to be in. We went to the Taj Mahal for sunrise and also visited the baby Taj and a number of tombs. The other sights in Agra are just as impressive as the Taj.

After Agra we went to Fatephur Sikri to see a fort and a mosque, stopping at Akbars tomb on the way. We then had a break from buildings and visited Kaledeo bird park. It was OK but without a good telescope you could not see anything. Continuing on the wildlife trail we next went to Ranthambhore to see Tigers. We did see a Tiger but the whole experience was not enjoyable. You get driven around very bumpy roads at high speed hardly stopping to see the wildlife until a tiger is spotted. Once you have seen the tiger they take the truck to a rest area and sit there until they can take you back to the hotel. We were with a lot of Indian tourists and they seem to treat it like a visit to the cinema. They never stop talking or eating crisps etc!

We then went to see a series of forts and palaces at Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur and Jaisalmer. The fort at Jodhpur was very well done, this probably had the most in it to see and had an excellent audio guide. The places are all spread out across Rajasthan and we spent many hours on trains travelling between them.

We ended up back in Delhi with a short stop at Alwar. This is not a popular tourist spot and we understand why after going there!

The train to Delhi arrived in the north of the city and we then got the metro to our hotel in the south. The metro was very busy but I was practically the only woman in our carriage. India is very male dominated and you do not see women unless they are the upper middle class on holiday. Cleaning in hotels, laundries, ironing shops are all male jobs. It would not have been comfortable travelling as a single female.

We had one day back in Delhi and then flew to Nepal.

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