We are currently 28.5 hours into a 33-hour journey back from Christchurch. I am tired. An excitable infant is screeching somewhere away to my left. I have exhausted the supply of watchable movies and old Top Gear episodes on the in-flight entertainment system so thought I'd take the opportunity to scribble some concluding thoughts. I have decided to do this in the form of a series of not-quite-random memories and accolades jotted down in no particular order. I thought about doing this with the aid of the diaries I have kept but have decided that those memories that spring most easily to mind are probably the most worthwhile anyway, so here goes:
- Turning the corner into Delhi's Main Bazaar an hour after landing on our first day in India to see a seething mass of humanity, motorcycles, dust and rotting vegetables, and wondering if this was such a good idea.
- Best beer - Tui (New Zealand)
- Trying to catch the sleeper train from Agra to Jaipur, squeezing into an approximately coffin-sized berth, realising we were on the wrong train, giving up on our actual train once it was more than five hours late, heading back into the city and finding a hotel room around midnight.
- Best hotel - Hotel Siddartha, Agra, India
- Cycling from Siem Reap (Cambodia) into the ancient city of Angkor and around its remarkable temples in sweltering heat on decrepit but loveable bicycles.
- Distance travelled - 32315 miles
- Days away from England - 129
- Walking along the beach in Arambol, Goa.
- Best beach - Booti Booti, nr Wingham, New South Wales
- Tweedie knocking an old Vietnamese man off his motorcycle almost as soon as we landed in Hanoi, and moments later the smiles on the faces of everyone involved.
- Best country - Vietnam
- Gawping at glaciers, mountains, lakes and the like in New Zealand.
- Best breakfast - bagels at Café Stir, Christchurch
- A longtail boat trip through Bangkok's canal network, lined with riverside shacks and decks.
- Song - a Bangkok busker's interpretation of Radiohead's 'Creep', with enthusiastic "whoop"s inbetween chorus lines
- Album - Is This It? The Strokes
- Escaping the hordes of infant salesmen for the tranquil spleandour of the ancient palace at Fatehpur Sikri
- Best lunch - 'Two-Steak Tuesday' at a forgotten pub on our first day in Sydney
- Climbing a very steep hill in Pushkar and sipping a well-earned mango juice at the summit, only to feel rather less proud on the way down when passing elderly Indian women in barefeet comfortably completing the same ascent.
- Most attractive women - Vietnam
- Most attractive men -New Zealand
- Hopping into a tiny fishing boat in Hoi An where an even tinier old Vietnamese lady had agreed to take us up and down the ruver, only for her to hand me the paddle and roll an enormous reefer.
- Longest bus journey - Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City, 25 hours
- Longest train journey - Kota to Thivim, 25.5 hours
- Going on an irrelevantly unsuccessful fishing trip with our new Australian friends Paul and Gillian on their friends Ross and Helen's boat on an otherwise empty lake near Yamba.
- Best dinner - Tandoori Pomfret on the beach in Anjuna, Goa
- Going tandem kayaking in Ha Long Bay: amazingly clear and still water, a unique landscape and the opportunity to splash Tweedie.
- Best film - Invictus
- Best book - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- Top Ten Places We Visited (in chronological order): Delhi, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Panjim, Arambol (India), Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An (Vietnam), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Yamba (Australia)
The screen says we are ssomewhere over eastern Europe. The end is truly nigh. Thanks to Tweedie for coming with me, and for not yet running away with a dashing Indian, trendy Vietnamese or a burly Kiwi. Thanks to my Aunt Joan, without whom none of it would have happened and to whom I am forever indebted. And thanks to you, whoever you are, for taking time out of your day to read this and other such self-indulgent wafflings. I look forward to seeing you soon.
- Autocomplete option #1 if you type "nap year" into Google - "nap year diaries"
- Number of followers of 'Nap Year Diaries' - 7
For the last time,
Over.
Charlie, it seems you had an A-1 journey. I found your blog very interesting, so much so I've referred to you on our blog site North Coast Voices at http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteBTW, about those Kiwi blokes: surely that comment about them being the most attractive was a tongue-in-cheek remark. Aussie fellas and their sheilas are the world's stunners. C'mon, Charlie, you'd have to agree with me, wouldn't you!
Hi Charlie, ive thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog, its been laugh out loud funny and extremely interesting, so pleased you had such a good time, hopefully see you at your mums sometime, welcome home. x
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