No Itinerary

It’s only 2 weeks to go now…..this is not really a post but actually test to try and upload some images. Hopefully you can see below some of the things we hope to experience in South America….

This weekend I spent my days doing the tourist stuff in Mumbai, on Saturday I went to Colaba, at the Southern most point of Mumbai.

The West side is called Marine Drive and is home to some of the most expensive properties in Asia (apparently). Don’t be fooled by the Blue sea, the water absolutely STINKS.

After that I headed to the Gateway to India, it’s kind of an evil version of Marble Arch. There are many reminders of Britains colonial past in Mumbai, which is kind of wierd if you’re British. Still; uncomfortable history aside, the architecture in Mumbai is beautiful.

After wandering around I went to a very famous bar in Mumbai called “Leopolds” I had fish and chips (give me a break; I’ve eaten Indian food all week) and then headed back on the train.

Then on Sunday I headed back to Colaba again, I saw some more incredible architecture.

Once in Colaba, I got the boat to Elephanta Island. Safi the boat driver let me sit up front and drive the boat. How cool is that?

When we got off the boat at Elephanta I overheard a girl say to her mum “They do like to touch you here don’t they”, which amused me. People here are very tactile, which can be a little wierd for Westeners. Anyway I ended up tagging along with them around elephanta which was nice. Speaking to British people made me quite homesick actually. Here are some pictures of the caves, my new friends and me and the attendant monkeys.

Finally back to Colaba where I said goodbye to my companions and headed back via a big park where literally hundreds of people where playing cricket.

Last night on my way home, I got stuck in the most enormous traffic jam ever, it led all the way back to my hotel! Turns out the daughter of an Indian film star was getting married, oddly enough they wouldn’t let me go out the back and mingle in the wedding.

I spent the day wandering around Andheri, there are loads of markets and stalls everywhere selling pretty much anything you can think of. Odd thing is if you walk round in a complete circle around there you end up in a different place to where you started. I got lost in minutes.

I’ve just come to the end of my first Week in Mumbai, it’s a little different in the Dry season. Haven’t managed to look around much yet but there’s plenty of time. Work’s keeping me pretty busy anyway.

First my Hotel, it’s a bit nice actually (read extremely posh), my window looks over the hotel garden which always seems to have some kind of function going on, generally this is fine but it can be a bit of a pain when the brass bands kick off at 8.30am on a Saturday. The restaurant is just incredibly plush.

Mumbai itself is as nuts as ever, to someone used to the relavive calmness and order of London (I will never complain about London being hectic again) it’s a pretty confusing place, luckily everyone is friendly and you never feel under threat.

By the way it was my birthday this weekend, so I celebrated my birthday in the traditional Indian way. I went to an Irish bar and then had a Chinese.

Typical, just as I’m about to leave London, the last few weeks have shown me lots of reasons why I should stay.

Nearly got overbooked on my flight, but luckily they found me a seat. Phew.

In heathrow they put smokers in funny little pens. They look like they’re about to be sheared

I had to go to the Indian embassy today to get my Visa.

Check out the queue:

Worst part is, this was only the pre-queue queue, once I’d got through this, I got a card with a number on it which meant I could really start queueing.

Muh

Wish us well. Jo and I have finally made the big decision to suspend life in London for a while and embark on a 5 month trip around the world with our backpacks. With 35 days left before we leave, this marks the first post of our trip.

So, where are we going? Perhaps contrary to the ethos of this site, we do have an itinerary - a quite detailed one in fact. No doubt this will change, but I can’t help planning. We’ll be making regular posts while we are away so check back here if you’d like to follow our adventures.

Rio (12 Feb) - Salvador de Bahia (23 Feb) - Buenos Aires (4 March) - Costa Rica (8 March) - Nicaragua (22 March) - Guatemala (5 April) - Belize (19 April) - Mexico (5 May) - Los Angeles (8 June) - Sydney (11 June) - Singapore (18 June) - Malaysia (21 June) - Thailand (1 July) - London (16 July)

SantaCon is Coming to town:

It all began when Santa met Santa, Santa and Santa’s mum in the Shakespeare’s Head in Holborn:

Santa Proceeded to the Grand Masonic Lodge of England where, surprisingly, Santa was not permitted entry, the Masons will find their stockings rather empty this year methinks.

After this Santa went to somerset house, and went Ice skating, while also managing to get a nice mulled wine stain on his beard.

Then Santa stopped off for a swift Sherry and a mince pie, before making his way to Trafalgar Square. On his way to the Square, Santa saw the meeting of two robot Santas. A truly beautiful moment.

Santa climbed up Nelson’s Column to sing a few christmas carols for the kids. Upon leaving trafalgar Square Santa was interviewed on Russian television, class!

Without further ado, Santa heads to Picadilly circus:

Then into Leicester Square and Soho:

By now, Santa is very drunk:

Santa hooks up with Mrs Santa and heads from Oxford St to St Pauls.

From there it’s across the millenium bridge to the Tate Modern for some more Carol singing.

Santa became part of a huge live art installation within the Tate Modern, before being swiftly ejected by security.

Then Santa stopped for one more drink before bed.

Santa is now recruiting for Santacon 2006!

I went on the London Eye last night!