current location: quetta, pakistan.
state of internet connection: poor.
today's special thought: HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
the whole of the crew has been touched by the dedication five individuals have shown in commenting on the last post. most appreciated. the love was felt.
our christmas celebrations were lovely. the posh crushed velvet hotel was quite an experience and even provided turkey and a chocolate-giving father christmas. father christmas had left us all a suprising number of gifts of high quality concidering the circumstances and even left a special message for lewis.
Christmas day was spent on the road to the sound track of silent night with our christmas lights blazing all day. we camped on christmas night.
in the morning, just before the border crossing, we stopped in amritsar to visit the golden temple that everyone in india had told us we must. the people there were friendly and there were people doing actual relgious things. the building itself was impressive. i tell you it's impressive as that is what daddy, tessie and lewis tell me it was. i did not go in as i was wearing tights; i was full prepared to wet my tights (worn now that the temperature is dropping) in teh clensing water but i was not allowed to go in with anything on my feet.
it looked pretty good from the outside though.
better than the taj mahal which was touristy and not as interesting or impressive and rumour would have you believe. we also found the service we recieved at the golden temple to be more efficient.
the india/ pakistan border was empty and crossed with suprising ease (with only 3 other people) on boxing day. we made it to lahore, only 35km from the border, the same day with the intention of staying with the family of lewis' friend from school. after the obligatory getting lost (and one man escorting us 2 miles to show us the way) we knocked on the doors of complete strangers in a new city in the dark. they had absolutely no idea who we were. their cousins from england had not come for christmas and the new year after all and they did not recognise the name lewis.
oh dear.
we were invited in anyway and such was the hospitality of the whole family that, when confronted with a group of strangers in the middle of the night who supposedly knew the english contingent of your family, offered us a room for the night.
they then showed us the sights and sounds of lahore which included bowling in the evening and the big mosque and impressive fort in the morning.
the other day daddy decided to be ill and thus spent the day cowering in the back complaining about the bumpy ride. this was due the rapid deterioation of the road that had been good from the border to lahore. really gearing themselves up to russia standards they are.
what made driving infinately worse was the thick fog that blanketed us from before we woke to 2pm. we had to follow the lorries in order to see where we were going and could not even see the buildings at the side of the road. not only do we have video of the event but also some atmospheric photographs. the few days of aweful fog we have had, have made driving conditions that worst yet.
as we travelled ever closer to the border with afghanistan, that supposedly you are not advised to travel within 100 miles of, we have encountered more and more check points. this began happening as the landscape evolved into dry, rocky, mountainous passes. one check post stop, where we had to fill out our names, passport numbers, visa numbers, fathers' names and destination yet again, involved aquiring a police escort. the man (who gave us tea and sweets as every pakistani seems want to do) told us that the area we were about to enter was extremely dangerous and night and so called a police van (with conspicous flashing blue light acting as a target) to escort us to the other side of the danger zone.
he first took us to the police station where further detail filling out ensued while daddy tried to communicate the need for a guesthouse. after some time they understood and took us to a small student room. this cost us 200 rupees and was a bit of a pit but it was out of the cold and we didn't really notice in the dark. they made sure we had done our security checks before we locked our door for the night.
highly concered for our safety, our full police escort accompanied us to the local eatery where everyone smiled, waved and wanted their photographs taken.
another police chekc and escort in the morning before we were back on the bad road.
they absolutely love and bit of chinese and treat tessie and me as though we are thier best firends. this means the most of our tolls have bee waived.
eveyone is used to the daily power cuts.
all of this took place in the dead of night.
anti-freeze has been safely purchased.
so far we have been intinately impressed by the kindness of pakistani strangers.
we have only seen about 5 women so far in pakistan and they were in a car.
tessie and i are fairly conspicious.
on the way to the border. we are assured the roads are terrible.
expecting good times.
have to go. hello to everyone who left a comment.
a man who will show us the way in now waiting for us.
Monday, 29 December 2008
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!
We have secured ourselves a booking for Christmas dinner tonight at a prestigious hotel, that manages to incorporate copious amounts of crushed velvet as part of its decor, in the centre of New Delhi. Unlimited alcohol- bonus.
When we get back to our guesthouse we will open our presents as Tessie has arranged for us to be first in Father Christmas' rounds this year. This means that we will be on the move tomorrow morning, after breakfast (grace period for Daddy's and Tessie's hangovers) accompanied by a special 13 song Christmas playlist compiled by me.
We will also have a Christmas chocolate allowance.
Yule tide festivities promise to be awesome.
The whole of the Wood Family crew hopes that at suitably Christmassy time is had by all.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR (in case we are unable to locate the internet before the turn of the year).
A special hello to granny as we know she is the only one who loves us enough to actually read this post on Christmas Eve.
When we get back to our guesthouse we will open our presents as Tessie has arranged for us to be first in Father Christmas' rounds this year. This means that we will be on the move tomorrow morning, after breakfast (grace period for Daddy's and Tessie's hangovers) accompanied by a special 13 song Christmas playlist compiled by me.
We will also have a Christmas chocolate allowance.
Yule tide festivities promise to be awesome.
The whole of the Wood Family crew hopes that at suitably Christmassy time is had by all.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR (in case we are unable to locate the internet before the turn of the year).
A special hello to granny as we know she is the only one who loves us enough to actually read this post on Christmas Eve.
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Delhi but no belly (yet)
We have driven up the middle of India along most of the north-south corridor. It is one of the major roads in India but at times there was no sign of this status. At times it was one the the worst roads we have driven on but we soldered through with not a single repair to our names as of yet.
Exploring Delhi, when we arrived yesterday, in Wilma with Larry was quite an experience. It was a this point that we discovered just how inaccurate and varied Indian directions can be whilst driving amid the culmination of years of ingrained bad driving. The tourist office (and their map) took us to the heart and soul of Old Delhi, an area only traversed by pedestrians, cows and carts, on the way to a campsite that everyone knew the local of but which no longer exists. It took us ages to drive through amid the 100s of people, all of whom were gawping at us.
After marching into the tourist office again, late that evening, to demand better service, we managed to find a guesthouse at the top of a building with no lift that, after taking our bags in, told us that we could not stay as we did not have our visa numbers with us. We later found a lovely guesthouse in a Tibetan colony just north of the centre. Currently enjoying the spiritual life of the street community and taking advantage of all the facilities here including a young boy who will shine your shoes for 10 rupees whilst changing the colour at no extra cost.
We do not have our visa numbers on us as our passports are currently in the Iranian embassy having visas attached. We should be able to pick them up tomorrow morning. Our visas are extraordinarily expensive.
A couple of nights ago, after seeing the taj mahal (one of the biggest disappointments of the trip), we had to camp at an abandoned petrol station along the main road as it was already very late. When we started cooking we were approached by an ex-military-turned-nightwatchman Indian with a torch and his cronies. He can only be described as an utter nutter. He said we could stay and make sure no harm came to us so we gave him 100 rupees; he then proceeded to stay and interfere with everything we did. He even, what can only be described as, forced his way inside the tent despite my protests to 'help' set out the mats and sleeping bags whilst suggestively muttering about being unmarried. The highlight of this whole performance was when he woke us up at 04:30 because he thought that was what we wanted. Unsuccessful, he came back 45 minutes later with a bugle and some drums and again just after we woke up to check.
He wanted more money from us.
These are just a small taster of some of the exciting new 'vehicles on the way' photographs that I know you are all dying to see. The first one in the second row is a prime example of the result of typical Indian lorry driving. Since leaving Bangalore we have seen at least one overturned/ broken down lorry per hour. They range from fresh to rusted, they may be in the middle of the road or in a ditch at the side and in this photographs they chaps in the lorry have decided to use the opportunity to have a jolly well earned cup of tea.
The last photograph is of some Indian tanks (easy to photograph) because you know we love a bit of military photograph.
A couple of shots of us in motion. The first is Daddy, Tessie and Lewis at our first market stall next to the main road. The second is the father pumping water from a local pump into our only remaining water container. We are back to camping every day.
Some good views in India. The first is of one of the few nice, forest, national parks in India. After daddy insisting that we would find rest houses absolutely everywhere, we found our first in a village in the national park. Lovely and cool with only a minor electricity-cutting-out problem. The last is to prove we are back on the road again and document the existence of at least 500m of good road in India.
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This is cricket. First day of the first test in Chennai. We were there. Ha, ha, ha. 
Exploring Delhi, when we arrived yesterday, in Wilma with Larry was quite an experience. It was a this point that we discovered just how inaccurate and varied Indian directions can be whilst driving amid the culmination of years of ingrained bad driving. The tourist office (and their map) took us to the heart and soul of Old Delhi, an area only traversed by pedestrians, cows and carts, on the way to a campsite that everyone knew the local of but which no longer exists. It took us ages to drive through amid the 100s of people, all of whom were gawping at us.
After marching into the tourist office again, late that evening, to demand better service, we managed to find a guesthouse at the top of a building with no lift that, after taking our bags in, told us that we could not stay as we did not have our visa numbers with us. We later found a lovely guesthouse in a Tibetan colony just north of the centre. Currently enjoying the spiritual life of the street community and taking advantage of all the facilities here including a young boy who will shine your shoes for 10 rupees whilst changing the colour at no extra cost.
We do not have our visa numbers on us as our passports are currently in the Iranian embassy having visas attached. We should be able to pick them up tomorrow morning. Our visas are extraordinarily expensive.
A couple of nights ago, after seeing the taj mahal (one of the biggest disappointments of the trip), we had to camp at an abandoned petrol station along the main road as it was already very late. When we started cooking we were approached by an ex-military-turned-nightwatchman Indian with a torch and his cronies. He can only be described as an utter nutter. He said we could stay and make sure no harm came to us so we gave him 100 rupees; he then proceeded to stay and interfere with everything we did. He even, what can only be described as, forced his way inside the tent despite my protests to 'help' set out the mats and sleeping bags whilst suggestively muttering about being unmarried. The highlight of this whole performance was when he woke us up at 04:30 because he thought that was what we wanted. Unsuccessful, he came back 45 minutes later with a bugle and some drums and again just after we woke up to check.
He wanted more money from us.
These are just a small taster of some of the exciting new 'vehicles on the way' photographs that I know you are all dying to see. The first one in the second row is a prime example of the result of typical Indian lorry driving. Since leaving Bangalore we have seen at least one overturned/ broken down lorry per hour. They range from fresh to rusted, they may be in the middle of the road or in a ditch at the side and in this photographs they chaps in the lorry have decided to use the opportunity to have a jolly well earned cup of tea.
The last photograph is of some Indian tanks (easy to photograph) because you know we love a bit of military photograph.
A couple of shots of us in motion. The first is Daddy, Tessie and Lewis at our first market stall next to the main road. The second is the father pumping water from a local pump into our only remaining water container. We are back to camping every day.
A couple of signs we have seen along the way. Gina and Rob (we stayed with them in Bangalore) have given us a book dedicated to amusing Indian road signs. It is amusing. These are not taken from the book.
Some good views in India. The first is of one of the few nice, forest, national parks in India. After daddy insisting that we would find rest houses absolutely everywhere, we found our first in a village in the national park. Lovely and cool with only a minor electricity-cutting-out problem. The last is to prove we are back on the road again and document the existence of at least 500m of good road in India.
.jpg)
This is cricket. First day of the first test in Chennai. We were there. Ha, ha, ha.
A couple of days later we had a very different but equally interesting time at the cricket when Tessie spotted a local match in a small town we were passing through and we thought it a good idea to stop and watch. It was hot and dry and we were standing so we were most jealous of the special people who got to stand in the commentary box. One second later an announcement issued forth from the commentary box of which the only intelligible words were 'British' and 'come to box'; we then had no choice but to walk in front of the packed India crowed, inside the boundary of the pitch with everyone staring, cheering, waving, smiling and touching.
Everyone wanted to shake our hands whilst taking our photos. The men escorting us acted as a proud bodyguard for the royal family. We were mobbed in the box and given flowers, tea and front row seats. They talked to us and were constantly shaking our hands. Shortly after we arrived and daddy had undergone an unsuccessful and forced session and the mic, all play was stopped as the players and umpires lined up on the pitch while we went to shake the whole teams hands.
We had to watch the whole of the match (putting us behind schedule) and as we left the box the whole of the cricket crowed turned into the wood family crowed and swarmed us so we could barely move forward. Wanting to kiss us, photographs us and shake our hands, the mob surged with us towards Wilma and Larry making it difficult for daddy to maneuver our escape for fear of running someone over. Most exciting.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN...
since Saturday.
We managed to get the car just after posting the last post, and were on the way home an hour later- after lunch.
We made it all the way to Bangalore by late evening just in time for the Christmas party but were not in time to see the children singing Christmas carols. A sore disappointment I can tell you.
Stayed in Bangalore with Gina (2nd cousin?) and her fiance, Rob. Both were so welcoming and lived luxury unavailable even in Leytonstone (with a pool and nice sheets and everything) that it felt a little strange to be going once more and it was with difficultly that we left the Marmite and chocolate spread on Monday morning.
Have managed to find camping spots out of the direct line of traffic but we slept on Monday night to the accompaniment of religious chanting and thundering lorries. We have, as yet, been unable to find any of the nice acomodation promised by daddy. Typical.
Last night's camping was marginally better although the random blowing up of the local hills in the middle of the night by quarrymen, had the camp slightly on edge.
Festive preparations well underway with Lewis currently employed making Christmas decorations. Will soon crack out the Christmas lights purchased from the $2 shop in Singapore.
Daddy and Tessie have been enjoying themselves on the Indian roads, where it appears that the only rule of driving is: there are no rules. They are not particularly aggressive but rather they seem to have a lax attitude when it comes to their safety and that of those around them.
However, the drivers have not been our main problem where Wilma and Larry are concerned: our main problem is scraping Wilma on the, seemingly foot high, invisible, rocky speed bumps that exist only to supprise us.
So far have not hit a cow, only a dog. It is daddy's first dog.
Most of his road rage addressed at the traffic that is unable to properly cross level crossings. Daddy repeatedly banged on the window of one driver. Classic.
We are unsure where we will be for Christmas. Somewhere busy and un-Christmasy no doubt. We envy granny and the peace and quiet that she will get on Christmas day, watching the Dr. Who Christmas special, as all good people must, I hope.
We managed to get the car just after posting the last post, and were on the way home an hour later- after lunch.
We made it all the way to Bangalore by late evening just in time for the Christmas party but were not in time to see the children singing Christmas carols. A sore disappointment I can tell you.
Stayed in Bangalore with Gina (2nd cousin?) and her fiance, Rob. Both were so welcoming and lived luxury unavailable even in Leytonstone (with a pool and nice sheets and everything) that it felt a little strange to be going once more and it was with difficultly that we left the Marmite and chocolate spread on Monday morning.
Have managed to find camping spots out of the direct line of traffic but we slept on Monday night to the accompaniment of religious chanting and thundering lorries. We have, as yet, been unable to find any of the nice acomodation promised by daddy. Typical.
Last night's camping was marginally better although the random blowing up of the local hills in the middle of the night by quarrymen, had the camp slightly on edge.
Festive preparations well underway with Lewis currently employed making Christmas decorations. Will soon crack out the Christmas lights purchased from the $2 shop in Singapore.
Daddy and Tessie have been enjoying themselves on the Indian roads, where it appears that the only rule of driving is: there are no rules. They are not particularly aggressive but rather they seem to have a lax attitude when it comes to their safety and that of those around them.
However, the drivers have not been our main problem where Wilma and Larry are concerned: our main problem is scraping Wilma on the, seemingly foot high, invisible, rocky speed bumps that exist only to supprise us.
So far have not hit a cow, only a dog. It is daddy's first dog.
Most of his road rage addressed at the traffic that is unable to properly cross level crossings. Daddy repeatedly banged on the window of one driver. Classic.
We are unsure where we will be for Christmas. Somewhere busy and un-Christmasy no doubt. We envy granny and the peace and quiet that she will get on Christmas day, watching the Dr. Who Christmas special, as all good people must, I hope.
Currently in Adilibad, 600 miles from Chennai; it is around the centre of India as we are pretty much going to drive straight up the middle. Just had a family luch in a working men's club.
Internet connection terribly slow but not as slow as yesterday when we were unable to access the blog at all.
Friday, 12 December 2008
Still in Chennai
We have been enjoying the cricket immensely and on the first day of play we stayed for the whole day. It has made our trip worthwhile.
However, we have been delayed for a few days now, and whilst the cricket is good, if we stay much longer we will not meet even our rough deadline for being back in London. By the time we leave we will have only 4 weeks to complete what was supposed to be a 6 week journey. Oh well, I have full confidence in our making it.
The reason we have been delayed is because we have had so much trouble retrieving Wilma and Larry from customs. The man we hired to sort out the paperwork for us kept telling us that he needed to get one more stamp and that we were unable to pick up the car time and time again.
There was a bit of a palaver with the opening of the container (done yesterday) as they were originally going to have it opened without us being there. It was good that daddy insisted we had to be there as when it was actually opened they were quiet rough and disruptive with out belongings.
We were 5 hours at the customs as they were 2 hours late with our stamped paperwork.
As we were cruising home in the successfully rescued Wilma, with Larry in tow we realised that the man we hired had not given back all of our paperwork. We were supposed to leave this morning but the man decided to hold us ransom until we paid his bill today, a bill that is outrageously high with lots of 'hidden extras'. He would not even tell us were our paperwork is and insists we need another stamp from customs even though the office is closed today. Daddy and Tessie have gone to sort him out but we fear that we may have to stay until Monday which would mean missing a Christmas party in Bangalore with daddy's cousin tonight. most disappointing.
Am currently watching the cricket. England doing very poorly.
However, we have been delayed for a few days now, and whilst the cricket is good, if we stay much longer we will not meet even our rough deadline for being back in London. By the time we leave we will have only 4 weeks to complete what was supposed to be a 6 week journey. Oh well, I have full confidence in our making it.
The reason we have been delayed is because we have had so much trouble retrieving Wilma and Larry from customs. The man we hired to sort out the paperwork for us kept telling us that he needed to get one more stamp and that we were unable to pick up the car time and time again.
There was a bit of a palaver with the opening of the container (done yesterday) as they were originally going to have it opened without us being there. It was good that daddy insisted we had to be there as when it was actually opened they were quiet rough and disruptive with out belongings.
We were 5 hours at the customs as they were 2 hours late with our stamped paperwork.
As we were cruising home in the successfully rescued Wilma, with Larry in tow we realised that the man we hired had not given back all of our paperwork. We were supposed to leave this morning but the man decided to hold us ransom until we paid his bill today, a bill that is outrageously high with lots of 'hidden extras'. He would not even tell us were our paperwork is and insists we need another stamp from customs even though the office is closed today. Daddy and Tessie have gone to sort him out but we fear that we may have to stay until Monday which would mean missing a Christmas party in Bangalore with daddy's cousin tonight. most disappointing.
Am currently watching the cricket. England doing very poorly.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Anyone for Tea or Coffee
Stall holder just outside the bird park. He was selling shots of Indian-style coffee heated in the pot in the left of the photograph.
We are about to become fully fledged members of the BARMY ARMY
Cricket madness will commence tomorrow as we make our trip to India worthwhile by going to see the first test match in Chennai.
We are all most excited but am a little worried that the picking up of Wilma and Larry that is supposed to be taking place tomorrow will disrupt our viewing.
Naturally not worried about terrorists attacks but are worried about the threat of rain especially as we have had showers over the last few days.
We bought 8 tickets at 300 rupees which is bloody cheap for us but are expensive for the locals and so are actually the best seats.
After we had quickly bought our tickets (no queue) we were stopped by a local camera man and asked to make fools of ourselves by giving an impromptu interview. embarrassing, especially daddy talking about fair play and it being the taking part that counts.
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Also, we have not yet been able to see our container but daddy has managed to make sure that they will not open it without us being there and so stopping some potential problems. We are hoping that we can get Wilma and Larry back without having to pay any bribes.
We have also had to stop downloading things from the internet at Darani's house as we have gone over the download limit and, as we are responsible people, do not want them to have to pay for daddy's Cliff Richard collection.
We also understand that some people have been having trouble commenting on our blog. We hope that this does not deter people from commenting although understand that this may be a problem only experienced by the uninitiated few.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Still in Chennai waiting for daddy to give the officials a piece of his mind so we can get Wilma and Larry
We are now staying with Darani and her family in Chennai after meeting them the day after we landed.
We were previously staying in some sort of nunnery in the centre of Chennai. It was all very olde worlde and the whole building and atmosphere was like a page from 'A Passage to India'; there was a lift with two shuttered doors and porters and everything.
.
The whole family has taken us on various trips in and around Chennai including a trip to some caves and a bird park where daddy lamented our lack of a bird watchers book yet again
Hoping to get the car today but we feel it unlikely.
Seeing as we won't be getting Wilma and Larry today we have decided to go have daddy's new beard shaved. Daddy only has a beard because he has left his £200 shaver in Singapore and won't let anyone but a barber shave him.
As we did not buy any of the expensive Lonely Planet guides for the countries on our journey back we visited a good book shop in the city and bought a road atlas of India for 50p.
Also saw Transporter 3 in a packed cinema a couple of nights ago especially for daddy. Is now a firm favourite of his.
We were previously staying in some sort of nunnery in the centre of Chennai. It was all very olde worlde and the whole building and atmosphere was like a page from 'A Passage to India'; there was a lift with two shuttered doors and porters and everything.
.
The whole family has taken us on various trips in and around Chennai including a trip to some caves and a bird park where daddy lamented our lack of a bird watchers book yet againHoping to get the car today but we feel it unlikely.
Seeing as we won't be getting Wilma and Larry today we have decided to go have daddy's new beard shaved. Daddy only has a beard because he has left his £200 shaver in Singapore and won't let anyone but a barber shave him.
As we did not buy any of the expensive Lonely Planet guides for the countries on our journey back we visited a good book shop in the city and bought a road atlas of India for 50p.
Also saw Transporter 3 in a packed cinema a couple of nights ago especially for daddy. Is now a firm favourite of his.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
LONDON CALLING by The Crash (comence manic laughter from the direction of daddy for it was from his wit that such a glorious joke was born)
Have begun the retreat: driving from Singapore to London- one car, one trailer, one flight and four people.
As we are cheep we got the flight from Singapore to Chennai, India that took about twice as long as it should. the flight also stopped over at a town in the middle of nowhere and during that time we were forced to stay on the aeroplane while an angry looking man checked our bags. suspicious times.
tomorrow we are off to look at suitable sites to unload our container and beloved Wilma and Larry so that we may once more cruise the open road. at least until we get to the border with Pakistan.
We are all well. enjoying sights and sounds of India and daddy talking about how he has been here before. loads of times. daddy showed just how at home he is in India and has already had a particularly loud 'disagreement' with a local auto (motorised rickshaw) driver over performance vs pay.
also like new stamp in passport.
We are all fine. We hope you are all well.
As we are cheep we got the flight from Singapore to Chennai, India that took about twice as long as it should. the flight also stopped over at a town in the middle of nowhere and during that time we were forced to stay on the aeroplane while an angry looking man checked our bags. suspicious times.
tomorrow we are off to look at suitable sites to unload our container and beloved Wilma and Larry so that we may once more cruise the open road. at least until we get to the border with Pakistan.
We are all well. enjoying sights and sounds of India and daddy talking about how he has been here before. loads of times. daddy showed just how at home he is in India and has already had a particularly loud 'disagreement' with a local auto (motorised rickshaw) driver over performance vs pay.
also like new stamp in passport.
We are all fine. We hope you are all well.
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Pictures and slide shows
We have taken some yes only some of our pictures and added them as slide shows at the side of the blog. Double click on them and they should become larger. Comments welcome..
if they slow everything down let me know and We will find another way of showing the pictures.
Captions will come in time..
Note;- this post has been added by Dwight so will not be up to the normal high standard we have come to expect.
Loong will be writing an article for a local magazine and we are going to see be interviewed by Asia one on Monday.
Happy Birthaday Lewis his birthday party is tomorrow. Loong has been cake making.. there is another story.
Happy Birthday ling our most loyal follower and commentator.
if they slow everything down let me know and We will find another way of showing the pictures.
Captions will come in time..
Note;- this post has been added by Dwight so will not be up to the normal high standard we have come to expect.
Loong will be writing an article for a local magazine and we are going to see be interviewed by Asia one on Monday.
Happy Birthaday Lewis his birthday party is tomorrow. Loong has been cake making.. there is another story.
Happy Birthday ling our most loyal follower and commentator.
Thursday, 20 November 2008
how we crossed the singaporean border
We crossed the first part of the border and the bridge from Johor to Singapore with no difficulties after being told not to take photographs.
Our problems arose during the second part of the border crossing.
We were told that we were supposed to be in possession of a special paper disk for our car that the RAC had not told us about. They said that we would not be able to cross into Singapore without it and would therefore have to drive Larry and Wilma back to Malaysia and cross on foot to go to the AA office in Singapore.
After we, naturally, refused and asked if we could leave the car in place while a couple of us went to get the disk the fun really started.
They said that we were not allowed to do that, even if someone stayed with the car, and if we did they would tow it away. Daddy replied that that would be fine so long as they told us where they would tow it to so we could pick it up from there. Complications etc... ensued.
In the end they agreed to let us leave the car where it was so long as they could keep daddy as a hostage and confiscate his passport and the keys. They seriously thought that this would bring us back.
Tessie and I had to rush off to get the disk with a police escort in and out of the compound.
We managed to get the disk just in time, preventing daddy having a most amusing night.
The people had actually treated daddy really well and, as we didn't leave him any money and he didn't think to get any from the unlocked car, even bought him food and drink.
We have now been safely in Singapore for a couple of weeks and have spent most of our time traipsing after Tessie when she goes to see her family and friends.
I have also spent a week with her family.
We have also been frequenting the cinemas. The new James Bond is our favourite film.
We would also like to say thank you for all the comments (record number- says daddy)
Most appreciated although it is plain to see that you are all fair weather friends and only wish to associated with us when we are on a high, not when we are stuck in a ditch.
Our problems arose during the second part of the border crossing.
We were told that we were supposed to be in possession of a special paper disk for our car that the RAC had not told us about. They said that we would not be able to cross into Singapore without it and would therefore have to drive Larry and Wilma back to Malaysia and cross on foot to go to the AA office in Singapore.
After we, naturally, refused and asked if we could leave the car in place while a couple of us went to get the disk the fun really started.
They said that we were not allowed to do that, even if someone stayed with the car, and if we did they would tow it away. Daddy replied that that would be fine so long as they told us where they would tow it to so we could pick it up from there. Complications etc... ensued.
In the end they agreed to let us leave the car where it was so long as they could keep daddy as a hostage and confiscate his passport and the keys. They seriously thought that this would bring us back.
Tessie and I had to rush off to get the disk with a police escort in and out of the compound.
We managed to get the disk just in time, preventing daddy having a most amusing night.
The people had actually treated daddy really well and, as we didn't leave him any money and he didn't think to get any from the unlocked car, even bought him food and drink.
We have now been safely in Singapore for a couple of weeks and have spent most of our time traipsing after Tessie when she goes to see her family and friends.
I have also spent a week with her family.
We have also been frequenting the cinemas. The new James Bond is our favourite film.
We would also like to say thank you for all the comments (record number- says daddy)
Most appreciated although it is plain to see that you are all fair weather friends and only wish to associated with us when we are on a high, not when we are stuck in a ditch.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Monday, 3 November 2008
So close
Are nearly in Singapore now although we all feel as though we should not count out chickens before they have hatched.
Last night in KL was most enjoyable as Alison, Gahni and Adrian (a Malaysian couple with son who are driving all around the world) took us to a friend's house just outside KL. We didn't realise before hand but we were actually being invited to a religious family and friend feast. Alison, Gahni, Adrian and our hosts couldn't have been nicer nor more hospitable; we left the friend's house completely stuffed but only left Alison and Gahni's home at 02:15. They had a pretty good Internet and coffee but kept trying to make us buy one of their tour t-shirts that apparently all their friends are buying. we were not falling for that one.
We also like to think we inspired many of their friends- at least when they saw larry and wilma they started talking and smiling a lot.
Now in the town of Malacca and looked into many of the antiques shops that are here.
We will cross the border either tonight or tomorrow.
When we get to Singapore we will really get in there with the photographs.
Just hang on in there- we would never, as some people might think (greg), abandon the blog.
At least I couldn't even if I tried.
Last night in KL was most enjoyable as Alison, Gahni and Adrian (a Malaysian couple with son who are driving all around the world) took us to a friend's house just outside KL. We didn't realise before hand but we were actually being invited to a religious family and friend feast. Alison, Gahni, Adrian and our hosts couldn't have been nicer nor more hospitable; we left the friend's house completely stuffed but only left Alison and Gahni's home at 02:15. They had a pretty good Internet and coffee but kept trying to make us buy one of their tour t-shirts that apparently all their friends are buying. we were not falling for that one.
We also like to think we inspired many of their friends- at least when they saw larry and wilma they started talking and smiling a lot.
Now in the town of Malacca and looked into many of the antiques shops that are here.
We will cross the border either tonight or tomorrow.
When we get to Singapore we will really get in there with the photographs.
Just hang on in there- we would never, as some people might think (greg), abandon the blog.
At least I couldn't even if I tried.
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Big lights of the big city- have been eating coconut rice and everything
All getting very excited as we have made it to KL and this means we are only 200 miles from Singapore.
We have been lax in the posting on the blog stakes recently as the internet cafes that we have found have been highly unsatisfactory. The internet cafes have either have really slow connections or have logged us off for seemingly no apparent reason. We are ok now though so don't worry.
We have managed, in the last couple of blogless days, to meet even more interesting people on the road- a photograph will follow in the 'people we meet on route' album where appropriate.
The two most noteworthy people are a couple of Sony engineers that traipsed all around Butterworth (mainland side of Penang) to find a pulley for Wilma's engine. We discovered that the pulley for the alternator belt had jammed and that was why the belt kept wearing out and eventually broke when in George Town.
The Sony engineers also helped us to discover that it is neigh impossible to get a car part for a diesel part for a Citroen ZX in Malaysia; they ran around for 4 hours helping daddy and Tessie get the 100 pound part (1/3 of what we paid for car).
After daddy worked very hard at fixing the pulley- a job that, according to the Haynes manual only has a difficulty rating of 2 spanners out of 5- we set off for the Cameron Highlands in search of a respite from the heat. We managed to camp twice in the Highlands and worked our way through all of the free attractions: a honey bee farm, a cactus centre, a tea plantation and a rose garden that we paid for as we had not yet got into the swing of things.
The BOH tea plantation taught us the wonder and global influence of BOH tea and was one of our favourite activities of the day, especially as they had a tea shop with tea.
Drove up the highest road in peninsular Malaysia (2000 meters) and very nearly didn't make it. Even with Tessie and me walking, Wilma was coughing smoke.
In the Highlands, as we were going though the tourist guide, we decided to go to the ye olde englishe Smokehouse Hotel for the recommended cream tea. We decided to splash out and order one Devonshire Cream Tea for 25 ringets and one Smokehouse Cream Tea for 33 ringets because it included a slice of fruit cake. Suffice to say that there was an incident where daddy was forced to write an angry letter, due to the absence of a manager, bemoaning the size of the 2cm x 2cm x 2cm slice of fruit cake. The scones and tea were most satisfactory.
During the evening of our second day in the Cameron Highlands we accidental walked into a jungle adventure. We got a little lost in a park-like area -having just spoken to the park manager who told us that is was impossible to get lost- and decided to take what we thought was a path. I thought the path was most definitely there but it was covered over with the vegetation of the rainforest and as the torrential rain fell Tessie began to doubt my judgement.
There were scratches, scrabbling muddy hills, logs, bogs and a river.
When we were safely camped once more we all decided it had been a wonderful adventure.
We have just come back from watching High School Musical 3 (quite possibly the best film ever made) in the Patronus Towers where we tried to get a taxi from the official taxi stand. By the taxi stand was a sign telling us not accept taxi touts when none of them would let us use the meter. Instead we walked back in the rain. For the record daddy talks about 'jobsworths' with alarming frequency and not a day goes by without him mumbling something or other under him breath.
Dinner with a husband and wife we know through Graham who are going to drive through Africa. Off to see a factory for work on Monday before we make our way down to Singapore, perhaps via Malacca.
We have been lax in the posting on the blog stakes recently as the internet cafes that we have found have been highly unsatisfactory. The internet cafes have either have really slow connections or have logged us off for seemingly no apparent reason. We are ok now though so don't worry.
We have managed, in the last couple of blogless days, to meet even more interesting people on the road- a photograph will follow in the 'people we meet on route' album where appropriate.
The two most noteworthy people are a couple of Sony engineers that traipsed all around Butterworth (mainland side of Penang) to find a pulley for Wilma's engine. We discovered that the pulley for the alternator belt had jammed and that was why the belt kept wearing out and eventually broke when in George Town.
The Sony engineers also helped us to discover that it is neigh impossible to get a car part for a diesel part for a Citroen ZX in Malaysia; they ran around for 4 hours helping daddy and Tessie get the 100 pound part (1/3 of what we paid for car).
After daddy worked very hard at fixing the pulley- a job that, according to the Haynes manual only has a difficulty rating of 2 spanners out of 5- we set off for the Cameron Highlands in search of a respite from the heat. We managed to camp twice in the Highlands and worked our way through all of the free attractions: a honey bee farm, a cactus centre, a tea plantation and a rose garden that we paid for as we had not yet got into the swing of things.
The BOH tea plantation taught us the wonder and global influence of BOH tea and was one of our favourite activities of the day, especially as they had a tea shop with tea.
Drove up the highest road in peninsular Malaysia (2000 meters) and very nearly didn't make it. Even with Tessie and me walking, Wilma was coughing smoke.
In the Highlands, as we were going though the tourist guide, we decided to go to the ye olde englishe Smokehouse Hotel for the recommended cream tea. We decided to splash out and order one Devonshire Cream Tea for 25 ringets and one Smokehouse Cream Tea for 33 ringets because it included a slice of fruit cake. Suffice to say that there was an incident where daddy was forced to write an angry letter, due to the absence of a manager, bemoaning the size of the 2cm x 2cm x 2cm slice of fruit cake. The scones and tea were most satisfactory.
During the evening of our second day in the Cameron Highlands we accidental walked into a jungle adventure. We got a little lost in a park-like area -having just spoken to the park manager who told us that is was impossible to get lost- and decided to take what we thought was a path. I thought the path was most definitely there but it was covered over with the vegetation of the rainforest and as the torrential rain fell Tessie began to doubt my judgement.
There were scratches, scrabbling muddy hills, logs, bogs and a river.
When we were safely camped once more we all decided it had been a wonderful adventure.
We have just come back from watching High School Musical 3 (quite possibly the best film ever made) in the Patronus Towers where we tried to get a taxi from the official taxi stand. By the taxi stand was a sign telling us not accept taxi touts when none of them would let us use the meter. Instead we walked back in the rain. For the record daddy talks about 'jobsworths' with alarming frequency and not a day goes by without him mumbling something or other under him breath.
Dinner with a husband and wife we know through Graham who are going to drive through Africa. Off to see a factory for work on Monday before we make our way down to Singapore, perhaps via Malacca.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
OUR LAST FEW POSTS HAVE BEEN REVISED- PLEASE VIEW AGAIN
Welcome to our blog (am really clutching at straws when looking for new way to open posts)
We are now in penang staying in an newly refurbished hotel with wifi that does not work. We are pleased with our lot this night as it is our first reasonably priced accommodation at 55 ringets for a family room. It is at this point we realised we have been completely ripped off everywhere else.
The view from the middle station of the funicular railway was pretty good but we are well aware that it could have been a lot better if we had been able to get to the upper station which was closed today because of the broken train.
We were lucky to make it to the railway, at penang hill, anyway as several of the people we asked for directions tried to put us off the scent and one taxi driver even told us that the railway was not longer in use. other than that we have found the malaysian popluation very helpful.
They are also just as friendly and laid back here as they are in thailand.
The whole wood camp is now most excited about going to the cameron highlands tomorrow as the average temperature is 16- 21 degrees C. This will be a lovely cool respite for us. We hear the weather in England is lovely. We are also hoping to be able to find a scenic camping spot where we can stay for a couple of nights whilst exploring the strawberry and tea fields and generally soaking up the English-village-in-malaysia feel.
Have been taking some pretty scenic routes already and see many rice fields that are mechanised, unlike in china.
A View from Our Side of the Bridge- the tale of a man, his car, his trailer and a bridge:
The longest bridge in asia runs from the mainland to penang and is 13 km.
We thought it would be nice to go on it to say we had done it.
The sign said it would be 7 ringets.
We got to the counter.
The man asked for 45 ringets.
Chaos ensued.
Upon principle we refused to pay, that and the fact they were trying to charge us the price for a car with a boat on the back.
Much manovering took place as daddy turned wilma and larry around.
The queue had to be backed up and people had to wait ages for us to get off the major section of the road.
Daddy continued to argue with the bridge manager (that he had called for) and even lifted up larry muscle-man style to show that he should not be charged 45 ringets.
We got the ferry for 7 ringets.
Congratulations to daddy, who gets upset that I don't compliment him enough on a public forum. Does he even know that he's my hero?
We are now in penang staying in an newly refurbished hotel with wifi that does not work. We are pleased with our lot this night as it is our first reasonably priced accommodation at 55 ringets for a family room. It is at this point we realised we have been completely ripped off everywhere else.
The view from the middle station of the funicular railway was pretty good but we are well aware that it could have been a lot better if we had been able to get to the upper station which was closed today because of the broken train.
We were lucky to make it to the railway, at penang hill, anyway as several of the people we asked for directions tried to put us off the scent and one taxi driver even told us that the railway was not longer in use. other than that we have found the malaysian popluation very helpful.
They are also just as friendly and laid back here as they are in thailand.
The whole wood camp is now most excited about going to the cameron highlands tomorrow as the average temperature is 16- 21 degrees C. This will be a lovely cool respite for us. We hear the weather in England is lovely. We are also hoping to be able to find a scenic camping spot where we can stay for a couple of nights whilst exploring the strawberry and tea fields and generally soaking up the English-village-in-malaysia feel.
Have been taking some pretty scenic routes already and see many rice fields that are mechanised, unlike in china.
A View from Our Side of the Bridge- the tale of a man, his car, his trailer and a bridge:
The longest bridge in asia runs from the mainland to penang and is 13 km.
We thought it would be nice to go on it to say we had done it.
The sign said it would be 7 ringets.
We got to the counter.
The man asked for 45 ringets.
Chaos ensued.
Upon principle we refused to pay, that and the fact they were trying to charge us the price for a car with a boat on the back.
Much manovering took place as daddy turned wilma and larry around.
The queue had to be backed up and people had to wait ages for us to get off the major section of the road.
Daddy continued to argue with the bridge manager (that he had called for) and even lifted up larry muscle-man style to show that he should not be charged 45 ringets.
We got the ferry for 7 ringets.
Congratulations to daddy, who gets upset that I don't compliment him enough on a public forum. Does he even know that he's my hero?
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
the internet cafe closed an hour ago so this is not very detailed/ good- outstaying our welcome
Hai! (we have been assured that this is how to say hi in malay by a malaysian man)
The first thing we would like to do today is say thank you to graham and family, tim and family and our new spam fan- goooooood girl.
We would like to say thank you to these people as they have heeded our vague threats and posted a comment on the blog thus making as feel as though this exercise is bring a little bit of light into some people's lives.
At lunch time we got back from the island of Lankawi where we stayed in an over priced hotel as the ferry we took to the island left an hour late and we only arrived in the main town at 21:30.
however, we did stay in a full sized family room and rent a sick-green air-coned car for 50 bahts- oooooo, ahhhhhh.
did manage to swim a little bit but the beach was average although there was an amusing man who prevented us from parking under a coconut tree for fear of concusion.
tonight we 'landed on our feet' (as daddy loves to say) yet again as, although we did not managed to find an non-silted up beach we are staying in an entire house for 100 ringets (20 pounds). actually above our budget but really rather cheap for a whole, massive three bedroom house all to ourselves.
We are currently been unable to properly arange the photographs that have been displayed recently as the computers in malaysia only show the photographs on blogger when you have actually loaded them. At all other times the the photographs merely take the form of a series of words, dots, dashes and slashes that are only intelligible to computer geeks or other like-minded people.
The first thing we would like to do today is say thank you to graham and family, tim and family and our new spam fan- goooooood girl.
We would like to say thank you to these people as they have heeded our vague threats and posted a comment on the blog thus making as feel as though this exercise is bring a little bit of light into some people's lives.
At lunch time we got back from the island of Lankawi where we stayed in an over priced hotel as the ferry we took to the island left an hour late and we only arrived in the main town at 21:30.
however, we did stay in a full sized family room and rent a sick-green air-coned car for 50 bahts- oooooo, ahhhhhh.
did manage to swim a little bit but the beach was average although there was an amusing man who prevented us from parking under a coconut tree for fear of concusion.
tonight we 'landed on our feet' (as daddy loves to say) yet again as, although we did not managed to find an non-silted up beach we are staying in an entire house for 100 ringets (20 pounds). actually above our budget but really rather cheap for a whole, massive three bedroom house all to ourselves.
We are currently been unable to properly arange the photographs that have been displayed recently as the computers in malaysia only show the photographs on blogger when you have actually loaded them. At all other times the the photographs merely take the form of a series of words, dots, dashes and slashes that are only intelligible to computer geeks or other like-minded people.
Sunday, 26 October 2008
tessie has been sent home in a cab- not drunk but attacked by mosquitos
in trang for the night,which is a little way inland and not too far from the border with malaysia.
we are hoping to cross the border tomorrow and tessie is really gearing herself up for the imminent singapore-fest.
have had lots of trouble with the internet today and am getting a tad frustrated to say the least.
when writing the blog the photographs only come up as the script that is only intelligible to computer geeks. next time this happens we will need to see our new best friend graham and his family (driving from croydon to cairns)- self-styled 'king of the computer'.
this is the graham and family from the previous post- still stuck in malaysia. had a lovely time with them but little did we know that they would sell us the most useless guidebook known to man. also- our car has never been the same after graham was in it- the very same day we had to change two tyres (one burst,one bulging). have now discovered that the pulley for tensioning the auxillary belt has probably been siezed up and causes various suspicious smells (usually attributed to team tessie tay and lewis wood). thanks graham.
a little message to janice wilson,
as being sober at work must be a new a distressing state of affairs for you we suggest that you might numb the pain by writing a comment on the blog. we know that you now have plenty of time a work.
to those who read janice's special message- it was a subtle hint at writing more comments on the blog. take the hint lest ye be similarly named and shamed.
please.
time to go back to the station inn. well past daddy's bed time. he has to drive in the morning.
we are hoping to cross the border tomorrow and tessie is really gearing herself up for the imminent singapore-fest.
have had lots of trouble with the internet today and am getting a tad frustrated to say the least.
when writing the blog the photographs only come up as the script that is only intelligible to computer geeks. next time this happens we will need to see our new best friend graham and his family (driving from croydon to cairns)- self-styled 'king of the computer'.
this is the graham and family from the previous post- still stuck in malaysia. had a lovely time with them but little did we know that they would sell us the most useless guidebook known to man. also- our car has never been the same after graham was in it- the very same day we had to change two tyres (one burst,one bulging). have now discovered that the pulley for tensioning the auxillary belt has probably been siezed up and causes various suspicious smells (usually attributed to team tessie tay and lewis wood). thanks graham.
a little message to janice wilson,
as being sober at work must be a new a distressing state of affairs for you we suggest that you might numb the pain by writing a comment on the blog. we know that you now have plenty of time a work.
to those who read janice's special message- it was a subtle hint at writing more comments on the blog. take the hint lest ye be similarly named and shamed.
please.
time to go back to the station inn. well past daddy's bed time. he has to drive in the morning.
Vehicles
we love the new vehicles we see.
none of them live up to the infamy of the wilma and larry duo though.
none of them live up to the infamy of the wilma and larry duo though.
Impressive Buildings
we are getting well in there with our impressive building photographs but we have so many to sort through that we have only be able to put up a few at first.
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