Sometimes you leave things so long that the thought of coming back to it seems a little overwhelming and it becomes tempting to abandon altogether rather than face the backlog, which for the reader would also most likely be onerous.
So you`re going to get highlights -
Late April, Andaman Islands - Pure paradise. White sandy beaches. Lush green bush. Thatched beach huts. Whole red snapper for NZ2. Daily scooter hire to explore island, new beaches, snorkel spots. Laxed out backpakers with nightly beach party, bonfire, sunrise. Laxed out friendly locals who didn´t try to sell you anything.
Early May, Darjeeling - another little gem. Funky town of 60 000 sprawling down a steep hill. Crisp mountain air welcome change from late 20s early 30s. Himalayan people so friendly, and price things... Tasted tea harvested exclusively for Harrods. Wished we were there for longer, but had to get to Kathmandu to meet mum and dad.
May-early June, Nepal - Month with mum and dad Silvester. Sister Annie, John and I joined mum and dad on a pilgrimage trek through the Kumbu-Everest region for the 50th Jubilee celebrations of the school that mum volunteered at in the 70s while assisting dad at the nearby hospital. Spectacular, breathtaking, awe-inspiring scenery. Lots of laughs, music (although John`s guitar is much worse off for joining us for the trek) and of course, walking. Special to see mum and dad as honoured guests, and makes you proud to be a New Zealander because of the work of Sir Ed and how appreciative locals were. Last three days were spent white water rafting with some neat cats we`d crossed the border from Darjeeling to Kathmandu with. Awesome.
Mid June, Turkey - Istanbul is vibrant, livable, tactile. Layers of history showing Christianity overlaid with Islam, overlaid with a sort of religious tolerance that allows a fluid intermingling of cultural expression, despite the obvious dominance of Islam.
Cappadocia-Goreme, a natural theme park with valleys of `fairy chimneys`, rock formations that early christians carved into for housing. Surreal, beautiful. breathtaking. Splashed out on dawn hot air balloon ride, ascending with hundreds of other multicoloured spheres. Magic.
Stayed in a `treehut` (wooden hut on stilts) in Olympia and took a 4 day boat cruise to fethiae(sp). Indulgent, relaxed, super cool pirate looking boats.
Late June, Greek Islands - Beautiful and amazing for reasons other than the beaches (New Zealand`s are better). Blue blue sea, blue blue sky, white houses, large cliffs. Rhodes fortified old city and cute narrow cobbled streets, Santorini beautiful typical architecture, Naxos with white sandy beaches. First time our daily budget has meant we have to self cater, but bread, cheese, tomatoes, olives and stuffed vine leaves are fortunately very cheap. Delicious, but by the time we leave we were done with it. Missed Athens because the strikes limited transport options. Taxied to the airport. Ouch.
Early July, Munich - Met a local at the hostel who showed us `Peter`s Munich`. Awesome. Bikes for the day, which is a bit of a challenge for me, but no better city for it. The best beer gardens, the best sausage, and the best surf. Munich has a river that creates a natural constant wave. It`s awesome. Check out John`s post on facebook.
Mid July, England - the visiting leg. met from the plane by friend Malcolm, and stayed with him and his partner Charlotte for four days, where, to be honest, we didn`t really do much except visit the world`s longest pleasure pier, and enjoy good company and hospitality. Then onto London for the usual sights, staying with friend Anthony and wife Rhi and failing to connect with various other friends. Then Reading for a wonderful one night wonder with cousin Emica, shooting through to the Cotswolds for a night in quaint English countryside with John`s uncle James and onto the Midlands to stay with a fabulous couple we met in the Andaman Islands. Had 3 fabulous days in the Lakes district - Windemere - one of the prettiest places on earth, and then visited friends Anna and Max in Cambridge. About halfway through this, we were beginning to decide that staying in England was beyond our budget for the whole of July, and we heard that Ireland, which was our original plan was worse, so we booked some flights and here we are in Eastern Europe.
Late July to early August, Budapest to Frankfurt via Bratislava, Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam - Budapest is a cool cool city, tragically beautiful, crumbling buildings, avant gard, artistic, musical, dynamic. Stayed in the most magical hostel run by an artist. Could live here.
Is raining hard in Bratislava. Braved it yesterday, staying indoors and catching up on emails etc today. Cute city, better preserved than Budapest, but not as lived in so lacks a little life in comparison. Compact, which has served us well in this weather.
Rest to come, hopefully in more frequent bursts.
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