remlap

Have you?.....

(x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
( ) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
( ) Been to Florida
( ) Been to Hawaii
(x) Been on a plane
( ) Been on a helicopter
(x) Been lost
(x) Gone to Washington, DC/ Toronto or Vancouver
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
() Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang Karaoke
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch/ Top of CN tower
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) Made prank phone calls
() Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose & elsewhere
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain-naked
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(x) Gone to the movies
(x) Been deep sea fishing
() Driven across the United States& Canada
() Driven across the United States
() Been in a hot air balloon
(x) Been sky diving - Parachute jump
( ) Gone snowmobiling or jet skiing
(x) Lived in more than one country
(x) Laid down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(x) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(x) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle/ Top of CN tower
( ) Been on a cruise
(x) Traveled by train
(x) Traveled by motorcycle
(x) Been horse back riding
() Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
(x) Been to Disneyland or Disneyworld
( ) Truly believe in the power of prayer
(x) Been in a rain forest
(x) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
(x) Ridden on an elephant or camel
(x) Swam with dolphins or pet a dolphin
(x) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier cave
( ) Been spinnaker flying
( ) Been water-skiing
(x) Been snow-skiing... snowboarding counts
(x) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
( ) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game/C.F.L. FOOT BALL/NRL/AFL
( ) Thrown up after riding a roller coaster or other carnival ride
( ) Buried a pet
( ) been parasailing
( ) Lived through temperatures that are -30
( ) Been to Iceland
(x) Climbed a rock wall
(x) Been on TV
( ) Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower
(x) been whitewater rafting
(x) played in a symphony
( ) Conducted a music ensemble
( ) Been to Amsterdam
( ) walked for a cause
( ) walked the underwater tunnels of Atlantis
( ) been on a submarine
(x) Been in love
( ) Shopped at the Mall of America
(x) Been in more than two states of Australia or America in one day
( ) Helped/watched an animal deliver its baby
( ) cut the umbilical cord of a baby
( ) Done a bungee jump
(x) gone skinny dipping
(x) had a perfect day
( ) flown a plane
( ) spent the day at the pere le chaise cemetery
( ) knocked unconscious via static electricity (helicopter)
( ) Sat in the pilot's seat of an international flight
( ) Seen the Aurora Boriallis in person (not on t.v.)
( ) Lived in a school bus
( ) Had your picture in Easy Rider, with your shirt on
( ) Been hang gliding
( ) Trained Astronauts and Cosmonauts
( ) Raced outrigger canoes
( ) Scuba diving to 100+ feet
( ) Trained to be a Red Cross First Aid/CPR instructor
( ) Climbed Ayers Rock in the Australian Outback
( ) Rescued someone from a vehicular accident
( ) Been loved more than anything on earth <3
( ) Loved more than anything on earth:}
( ) Captured armed robbers
( ) Performed / attended a Handfasting.
(x) Seen ACDC live in concert - rock on!
( ) Been to the Maldives
( ) watched a complete season of Friends in one go.
( ) been in an asylum
(x) had feelings for someone you shouldn't have, and regretted not doing anything about it
( ) Tried to pull a tooth out by tying string to it and a door handle
(x) Sang in a choir
(x) played the recorder and actually enjoyed it.
( ) Dined on Escargot (ate snails)
() Seen Victoria Falls in Africa
(x) drank beer before 10:00am
( ) slept with a rockstar
(x) been drunk in vegas
(x) fallen asleep on your wedding night

So tomorrow I leave for Mumbai and I do like London, but I am looking forward to landing in the 31 degrees of Mumbai.

I had an email from the ex boy today - standard happy new year and asking me to send a quick note saying it was ok with me for him to remove me as the beneficiary of his super. Which is fine, but it made me a bit sad. Thinking back on how good things once where, so good that I was his beneficiary... and how do things go from that to well nothing. It sometimes makes me wonder if any relationship will ever work out long term, well any relationship of mine anyway.

But anyway, enough of that, I will see Ashok in a few days! And maybe I can make this one work?

I went to the British museum the other day, it was totally interesting. They have actual real mummies umcovered on display, fascinating. I have quite enjoyed touring around London.

Well still here. NYE last night was nice, my bro and his wife just had a few people over, we where going to go into town, but we all decided it was too cold and stayed in, so not particularly exciting but I enjoyed it and as my main focus at the moment is not to spend any money it was a good option.

I am trying hard not to complain, but I am just not coping so well with the cold and seem to be pretty much complaining about it every 5 minutes or so.

To be honest I am really looking forward to getting back to India and Nepal. I emailed my Mum and she is really not so happy about the new plan... And I have to speak to her tomorrow, so thats something to look forward too.. I just hope that if things do end up working out with me and Ashok they will accept him. I'm sure they will.

I am having a lovely xmas at the moment. My brother has rented a quaint little cottage down by the sea in Cornwall and we are staying here for 5 days with his wife and some friends of theres. I have just popped the turkey in the oven (it is so nice to cook again after 6 months..).

So I have pretty much decided I will be going back to Nepal for the rest of my time off. I just need to speak to Ashok and make sure its all ok with, him, which I'm sure it will be... It has been such a tough decision, especially as my folks arent that supportive. But I have decided after all the messing around of the last 6 months that I am really serious about him. If I dont take this opportunity to spend the time with him now I may not get the chance to have such an extended break again, and I really just need to see whether its the real thing or not, I need to find out... So I'm going back. I can't exactly afford it, but I am just going to make it work somehow. And hopefully my folks come round in time. My sister in law here has been super positive and supportive about the whole thing, which has been awesome.

And for xmas my bro is taking me to a west end musical, which I'm really excited about because I really wanted to go but was thinking I wouldnt be able to afford it.

So Merry Xmas and a Happy NY to everyone!!

Well maybe a little. But I am quite sad now after reading my friends entries and reading that a good friends pet has died and other peoples relationships have ended. My problems about where Im going to travel and when I'm going to see my boy again seem superficial.

I got to London last night, and am up and a bit jet lagged at the moment - 7am is very early for me and I feel both tired and completely unable to sleep.

I spent the last week of my trip at a jungle camp with my Nepali boy who I worked things out with and finally feel really committed too and totally in love with, but all this comes just as I am leaving.

So now what to do... I am supposed to go onto Canada, but I really dont want to. I want to go back and spend the last 6 months of my break entirely with him, so I can be sure I want to bring him out to Aus. But it seems a little impractical, and I have been doing alot of things very reactively lately which led to all the problems with us in the first place and I want to really think about it and make the right decision.

But as much as I want to be back there, it IS exciting to be here in the UK with my bro!

I hope everyone out there has a very happy xmas!

Well I did end up having a better time in Goa. I met four fabulous gay english men and a swedish couple and we formed a lovely little social group for the week.

But as bastardang</lj>  commented, Australians dont need to travel to other beaches and as Goa wasnt the super partying destination I was hoping for, I have moved onto Gorkana, which is much more backpackery and culturally interesting.

Also in another twist of boy events, I have been kinda missing the Nepali boy and not sure whether I'd done the right thing there, but anyway, he is coming to India to work pretty near to where I am now, so I am going to go see him and spend the last 5 days of my trip with him..  I'm not sure what I'm trying to achieve there..

I think I may be the only person in the world not to like Goa... It is strange, everybody raves about this place, but I really dont think it's that great. The beaches are nice enough, but maybe being from Aus I am bit spoilt because I dont think there anything fantastic.

It is also quite expensive compared to the rest of India, and there is only so much lieing around and doing nothing I can do.. I get a bit bored after a while. Also everything is targeted at the English/Russians that come here on there 2 week trips, which makes the prices high and...

Man, I know I am such a whinger, whinging about being stuck on a beach.. but I really dont know how I'm going to entertain myself for the next 18 days which is all the time I have left in India.

Meh.

Well I have had to check out of my guest house @ 10, but my train to Goa isn't till 4... and its rainy and I have a bit of a cold so I don't really feel like walking around anyway, but then there is nothing much really to do, apart from mess around on the web.

My family i all very worried about me being in India at the moment and want me to leave, but in all honesty, I dont feel unsafe here and I dont want to run away because of idiot terrorists and I am leaving in just over 3 weeks anyway.. So I am going to go to Goa! I am quite upset though for all the people that have been caught up in Mumbai at the moment, it is the most brazen attack on Western targets yet.

Man my head is just all a wash with fluy spaciness right now..

Wow, I was going to post some stuff - which I still will, and I was reading my facebook messages at the same time and just read one from the new boy, in which he told me he loved me. And fuck, I just don't know what to reply to that now, I mean I like him and all, but we hardly know each other, and I know lots of shitty things about me that he doesnt know yet... and fuck, he's freakin me out now!

Because, before I read it I was going to post well, how awesome my rafting/kayaking trip was. I actually reckon I must have been Nepali in a past life I am so comfortable there and always so sad when I leave the place and get really anxious about when I', going to be able to go back there again. Anyway, I knew if I decided to go back to the cricket I would wish I was staying in Nepal, which I do now, but if I had stayed in Nepal I wish I would have been back at the cricket probly... you can't have everything..

Anyways, I just have all these crazy plans and no real idea what exactly I want to do, or when I am coming home and all soughts of shit that was making me question if I really want to be in a relationship right now, and now he is like... I mean I don't want to change any of my plans for him, cos it is basically what I have done all my life, and I don't want him to chase me all the way round the world or anything like that, cos I'm not sure I'm committed enough for that.

Anyway, my kayaking has come along heaps, although still alot of work to do, the scenery was amazing, camping out on the river for a week was beautiful - there WILL be photos soon.

Wow, I am just totally thrown and I can't pretend I didnt read it yet, cos I updated my status before I read my messages so it is obvious I have logged on to facebook... too fast, too scary...

So I am back in Nepal, up at a kayak clinic on the beautiful bhote khosi river. Man I love it up here, i am so tempted to talk them into giving me a job and just staying here... maybe next season i can come stay up here for a a season..
my kayaking is heaps improved and even though i swam today i am really happy with it.
it is bizarre than i am in a remote village in nepal and they have internet up here.
anyway i have to go, cos i am getting eaten alive my mossies.
I LOVE THE RIVER!

I don't really know, the last week or so is a bit of a drunken blur of Indian Beer, Cricket, Picking up, auto rickshaws and cocktails with '6 different liquors' - trust me on this, it doesn't taste good.

So I have just been in Bangalore for a week at the cricket with about 40 other Aussies.  I started my journey by missing my train from Mumbai, so I had a madhouse 3 train trip trying to catch up with my original train, not succeeding and ending up on a totally different train, coming from a different place than I was suppposed to, all of this train hopping also happened in the middle of the night with me having very little idea where I actually was. 

Anyways, I got to Bangalore only 2 hours later (at a different stations - so I missed my pickup) at about 10.30 pm the next night.  I then proceeded to go a little crazy... I met a guy, we drank till breakfast, at which point, we decided that sobering up would be way to painful, so we continued drinking till midnight that night.  At some point in the afternoon we hooked up..  Anyway I really like him and we had an awesome, awesome week together! Which involved alot of drinking and varioius drunken incidents including me attempting to steal an auto rickshaw, yep - crazy aussies.. oh and also there was cricket everyday..

I am now detoxing.  It may take a while.

Well I made it to Jodhpur.  The camel ride (4 days) from Pushkar was interesting.  I ended up going alone, as I couldn't find anyone else interested with the right timing, so it was me and 2 Indian camel one, one of whom didn't speak any english and the other a sex obssessed 22 year old.  It became quite amusing to me how he could turn absolutely any conversation to sex, for example - this over breakfast one morning:

Him: Have some more
Me: No I've had enough thanks
Him: No eat more (all Indians are obsessed with making you eat more)
Me: Really, I'm full, I don't want anymore
Him: You don't want to get fat?
Me: I've just had enough
Him: Have you ever had sex with a fat person?

He did give me a straight answer to the question I'd asked alot of Indian men and never got a proper answer to though.  All the guys that work with the tourists really want to marry a westerner rather than an Indian girl, I can understand them wanting to sleep with westerners, but every time I asked why they would prefer to marry a westerner over an Indian they never really answered me properly.  Anyway, he told me it was because Indian girls (village girls anyway) will never get fully naked during sex and won't do any of the other things a western girl might too... so once they know about and experience 'western sex' it seems they don't want to marry into a life of sex with there clothes on. 

Jodhpur is very hot and I am not really in the mood for sight seeing, but I am only here for 2 days, so I really should go and see something.  I really feel like just curling up in my room and reading... 

Wow, I had to get up at 6 am for it, but I just had te best massage ever, ever in the world..

I went to this guy here in Pushkar yesterday for reflexology, and he was really good, and we got talking about my back problems and my bruised tailbone and stuff, and agreed I would come every morning for 3 days for ayurvedic treatments and every afternoon for 3 days for prescriptive yoga.  So I went for my first session this morning, first I had a mud pack on my stomach and face, then it was a bit scary - he wanted to give me a cafeta, which I refused, so we moved onto the massage which was just amazing, full body oil masssage, he had me doing some yoga poses and stuff while he massaged my back and it feels better than it has in ages.  The bad news is, that apparently the cafeta is necessary to the whole cleansing treatment thing he is giving me and he insists I have it tomorrow... hmmm... I will really have to syke myself up for that one.

I arrived in Rajasthan at 2am this morning, the train was 2 hours late, luckily for me the guy from the hotel I arraned waited - otherwise I would have had to spend the night in the station, instead of in this lovely guest house which actually has a pool - a real rarity in budget accomodation, so I am happy!

The golden temple in Amritsar was intense, you couldn't smoke anywhere within like 1km radius or something from it, which meant I had to hide in the hallways - but did then end up having a smoke and a chat with the hotel manager, which is always a good way to ensure good service.

It is hot, here hot, hot, hot, and I am a bit tired from the train, but I am forcing myslef to go out and explore as, well - whats the point in coming here otherwise.  I am on my own for the first time in a long time again as well, it is kinda nice to have the room to myslef for a bit, I am sure I will meet some mopre peoples soon.  I am really looking forward to a dip in the pool this evening.

I am kinda tired right now.  I don't know why, but I woke up as the sun was rising this morning, I didn't get up, I just watched it through the hotel window.  But I may go and have a little nap now - ah, the luxury of not having to be anywhere or do anything specific at any certain time... In fact the entire schedule of my day today involves meeting a friend at 6 for dinner and doing whatever the hell I like until then...

Mcleod Ganj - home of the Dalai Lama is a lovely place, and I have also met alot of great people here, so has been good.  The bad news is I am smoking and I haven't smoked for like 6 years... but I had a feeling it would catch up with me again here... I was smoking a little, but it really started in Leh, when I sat around every evening chatting with my amorous hotel manager over cigarettes and coffee, it has now progressed to the point of buying my own as I found myself bludging too much off others...

I have been sharing a room with an Israeli guy here, he checked out this morning and paid the entire bill for the room - I swear, so many nice things are happening it's just unbelievable.  I must endeavour to also do such nice things for people whenever I can..

Anyway, I think I will head off for my nap now..

Hope your all well!

and kicking, in Manali - north India.  I Have been in India a little over a week now ( I think.. it's all quite a blur really).  I have a travel blog entry with details, but it's on my usb and this cafe doesn't have usb... so that will have to wait.

The highlight so far would have to be Varanasi, all those people worshipping and dieing and burning and being thrown in the river where everyone else is washing in the holy water of the ganga, the place is just out of this world.  They also serve bhang lassi there, which left me stoned and out of this world for like 6 hours or more.

Mostly I have been meeting peoples to hang out with, which has been good, I just spent a few days in Shimla and didn't meet anyone there, so that was a bit lonely.. but have hooked up with some people to travel to Leh with here, so all happy again now.

I just really don't know what to say... there is so much to say, but where to start??  I have had really positive experiences with the Indian people, an old man on the bus yesterday bought me a bag of vegetable pakora (deep fried veges) when we stopped for lunch, because I was his guest in his country.  Many people have been nice like that...

I am going to try to blog more often so I don't lose all the details in a blur of so many things happening.  Manali is a nice town, in the lower himalaya.  The trip to Leh - right at the top of India will be a 2 day bus journey - going over the highest roads in the world - over 5000m in some places. 

and I guess that is that for now...

I have just had the most fantastic week in Leh, Ladakh.  Amazing.  Anyway, I am writing travbelly stuff in my travel blog - if your interested...

But anway, want to know how to get 2 1200 ruppee rooms (for you and your 2 travelling buds) for only 200 ruppees each??  Apparently, all you need to do is poke your head in the door and have the owner fall in love you at first sight and he will basically give his rooms away.  Anyway, he gave us the rooms for 5 nights, but we had to move, because he had pre arranged bookings - so he arranged another hotel for us - which was even nicer than his and got them to give it to us at the same price too.

Anyway, the thing is, I found myself by the end of the week becoming really attracted to him.. I will post a pic soon, haven't uploaded it yet, and this was somewhat of a problem seeing as I have a bf waiting for me in Nepal.  But on the other hand, I really felt something for him.  I have still been feeling alot for my ex, and had that feeling like I would never feel anything intense for anyone again, like I would never be able to love properly again or something (if that makes any sense?).  And I really like my Nepali guy, but I have never felt really strongly about him, not like I did about my ex.  But I started to feel really a bit like this for this hotel manager, anyway, I know nothing more will come of it but a few emails, but I have to say it was really nice to feel some of those feelings again, maybe there is hope for me yet!

Although, now I have realised I really have to think about what I am doing with my Nepali boy...  Who I really like and care about, but I am not sure I see a future with...  Ahhh, the confusions.

But anyway, I had the most AMAZING time in Ladakh, it was like no place on this earth, and definitely somewhere I want to go back too. 

I met a chinese girl and spanish guy and was travelling up there with them, the spanish guy has gone home, but I am still with Dada, my chinese friend.  It is wierd the things you get used to when your travelling.  Like the other night, in the light of a 1000 year old temple, a yak wandered down the street in front of me while I was waiting to meet people for dinner, and this seemed normal.  I have shared a double bed for the last 8 or so nights, with a chinese girl I met about 8-9 days ago... and this seems perfectly normal.  Hmmm...

I can't believe I have been here a month already!  But I'm feeling much better about stuff.  I am back in Kathmandu, was really sad to leave Pokhara, it is such a relaxing place and I now know so many people there, it would have been easy just to stay there for the whole 6 months, but alas, there are other places to be travelled too.

I got my hands henna tattooed today, that looks pretty cool.  Also visited the father of some friends from Pokhara in hospital here, which was pretty sad, he is very sick, and the hospital, while better than I expected is still not that nice a place.  Tomorrow Ashok has a list of things he needs to go and buy, to make an offering to the  Brahmin priest for him.

So everything is really pretty interesting, in one month I have mastered rolling my  kayak (yay), got lost in the jungle and had an authentic village experience, been monsoon rafting, oh -and had chillum with a baba - that was very cool.

We went to Gorkha for a night to visit an old kings palace there, and there is a big shiva (one of the hindu gods) temple on top of a big hill.  Now alot of the time they won't let you into there temples, so it was very great in the first place that they let me in, I got my first tikka (where they put the red paste on your forehead) from a holy man and then we smoked chillum with him, which was quite strong, the work back to the village was about 1km down a very steep hill and my legs where completely shaking and out of control the whole way.

Anway, I am back in Kathmandu till Friday, so I will try and update a bit more here, where the internet is cheaper and faster than Pokhara.

I really do love my family, but sometimes I wonder how two people bought up in the same household, by the same people can be so different. My brother can just be such a dick, and I haven't even told him about Ashok, in fact I'm not going to, it's just not worth the hassle. I'll tell him after xmas. He has just totally given me the shits today.

Anyway, other than that. Coffs is good, and it's always good to be out of Syndey, will just be trying to stay out of my brothers way all weekend...

Hmmm... I posted an entry the other day, the nepali interweb must have ate it!

Well I have made it here and all is good. I walked all around Kathmandu yesterday - and not just the touristy areas but the suburbs and stuff to where I was the only foreigner there. It is actually much better there, in the toursit district you are constantly harassed and have to reaklly rude to get rid of people, in the normal areas I didn't get harassed once.

It is an extremely poor country, I already new this, but the reality of it is different to just knowing it. In way u can't blame there all for harassing u. I am sure I have been ripped off a few times... But it is so hard to argue with someone who wants the equivalant of $2 for a cab ride... I just bought some local clothes though and did try my hand atit for the first time, I still think i paid to much but I got them down a feqw hundred ruppees, so maybe I'll get the hang of it soon.

I am leaving tomorrow to Kayak down the Sun Khosi, I think I am goingt o like this trip, the tour agent told me to bring a bottle of the local rum to put into a communal pool so they can make rum punch every night, I wouldn't want to be left out of the rum punch group!

So so far have just seen Durbar Square and the local tourist area, was going to go to the Monkey temple today but it is raining, so will have to do it some other time. I am now going to have tea with the guy who owns the jewellery shop next to my hotel.. He promises he doesn't want to sell me anything, we shall see, nothing much else to do with the rain anyway..