Borneo

We flew into Kuching in Borneo for a few days. kuching means "cat" in Malaysian and there are reminders of that all around the town. If the multitude of four legged felines roaming the streets aren't enough to remind you where you are then the massive statues adorning roundabouts and junctions won't let you forget!

Sea serpents steal the scene from the cats when it comes to the riverbank, swallowing up passing boats.

No visit to Borneo could be complete without a visit to the Orang-utan sanctuary. I was so busy with the video camera that I didn't get many photos. I'll upload some video of the gorgeous mum and baby when I get back. we only had an hour watching them; the park rangers are reintroducing them to the wild so try and limit their time around humans.

Malaysia

Flying out of Lhasa was a nightmare. We needed to go to Laos to collect the car but there are no direct flights and the car wouldn't be at the border for a couple of weeks anyway. We had to fly from Lhasa via Chengdu, Beijing and Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur!

Kuala Lumpur is knock off central, there are more fake Louis Vuitton bags here than any chav could wish for! Rolex watches. Mont Blanc pens, you name it, you can buy it on the market stalls in KL.
I decided to get away from the fake stuff and head out to see the real Malaysia on a day trip to the Elephant sanctuary.

No, thats not rica on the Elephant with me, she didn't make it out of bed in time, it's aussie girl, Nicky who was also on the tour. We were actually the only to people on the tour which was a bit odd.

The Elephant sanctuary was packed with tourists and it felt more like a circus than a sanctuary. The first elephant we saw was stood in a field swaying from side to side, obviously bored. It looked so unhappy that neither of us felt comfortable taking it's picture. The elephants were lined up to walk around in circles with tourists on their backs, they didn't look happy and I didn't take part. The "swimming with elephants experience was a similar affair with tourists getting on the elephants back, it walking a few feet and then dunking them in the river. Knowing how much elephants love water I didn't feel bad about taking part in this and as we were the last 2 people we got a little more time with the elephant.

We stopped at "Deerland" on the way to the elephant sanctuary. To be honest I was expecting this to be a sad affair with bored animals locked in cages but I was pleasantly surprised. The owner himself took us around the park and you could see the animals were well cared for and had a real love for him. Because the owner was with us we were even invited into the enclosures with the animals and fed deer, parrots and yes, even this bear! This was baby bear, he delighted in rolling on his back while being fed condensed milk from a bottle. The owner even put condensed milk on my hand for the bear to lick off which was an incredibly sticky experience! When we were leaving the bear followed the owner, rubbing against him like a pet cat and they then started play fighting or dancing I'm not sure which, judge for yourself in the photo.

Tibet

My chinese driving license!

China! Where do I start? If you've been looking at the pictures then you probably think we had a wonderful time in China but pictures never tell the full story. Tourists are not permitted into Tibet without a tour guide so we had to pay a hell of a lot of money to a tour company to provide a guide and the permits for our drive through Tibet and Yunnan.

The problems started before we even entered China. When entering China through Tibet it is not possible to apply for your visa in advance. Instead, we had to apply for them in Kathamndu and NAVO, our tour company, had arranged for a small company called Terai Tours who are based in Kathmandu to take care of this. Unfortunately we were a few days behind schedule and NAVO had not ammended the dates on our permit to reflect this. That meant we would only have 10 days to complete our tour which was not enough time. The guys at terai were very helpful and called NAVO to try and fix the problem. The girl we spoke to said it was no problem, that the visa could be extended once I was in china and not to worry about it. So I went ahead and payed $120 for my Chinese visa which Terai had for me the next day.

Then, I received a phone call from the tour guide "Joe". He was wondering when I would be arriving at the border because we didn't have much time on my visa! He said that it could not be extended once I was in china. I called Terai who made some calls and confirmed for us that in fact the visa could NOT be extended once inside China, so NAVO had got it wrong. This meant another couple of days hanging around Kathmandu while NAVO got a new permit with the extended dates and I paid another $120 to re-apply for the Chinese visa with the new dates. We asked NAVO to apply for the permit for 21 days even though we had booked a 14 day tour to allow for unforeseen problems. Instead they made it for 17 days, giving us just 3 extra days should we have problems.

When we arrived at the border NAVO's guide, Joe, handed us a letter from the company asking us for more money! This was to cover the cost of the guide waiting at the border while we were delayed. The money was to be paid immediately and the guide would not provide us with the Tibet permit to enter the country or help us with the entry process until we handed over the money! Foreigners are not permitted to enter Tibet without a guide so they were effectively blackmailing us! They eventually agreed with us that we should only pay half the amount they were asking as half of our delay had been caused by their paperwork being wrong!

After all that when we tried to enter china we discovered that the dates on the Tibet permit they had for us were wrong, It gave us only 1 day to cross Tibet! So we were left waiting at the border while the guide went into town and arranged for a permit with the correct dates to be faxed through!
.....and things were set to get worse!

Pedro with Mount Everest in the background.
This viewpoint was a short drive from the village we stopped to have lunch in. Rica and I wanted to eat in a Tibetan restaurant. We went in and sat down, the owner was a lovely lady who immediatley offered us tea but then Joe, our guide walked in. Ignoring the lady he walked into the kitchen declared it dirty and said we couldn't eat there. He later said that all Tibetan's were dirty, that they lie and cheat and that he "couldn't get used to the way they smell!!" Pretty shocking from a tour guide who is supposed to be showing us the highlights of the country!
As none of the restaurants met his approval we wound up buying noodle boxes(like pot noodles) and sitting in a bus stop eating them with stray dogs and children begging around us! When we discovered the viewpoint we wondered why our guide hadn't suggested we eat lunch there instead of in the street!

Prayer flags, at the same viewpoint as above. It was a really beautiful spot.

White teddy enjoying the mountain views in Tibet.

The road to Everest!!

Pedro was feeling the effects of the altitude here. We had been warned in Kathmandu that this would happen and that we should get the mixture adjusted on the carb. Our "guide" said that the road to Everest was very bad and our car wasn't suitable for that road, so I said OK, we'll leave the car with a mechanic in town to make the adjustments and hire a landcruiser to go to base camp.
I can't begin to list every one of our guides f##k up's without writing a book but this is a pretty major one so deserves a mention! I dropped the car off at the garage with him in the morning where he told me that no landcruiser was available but the garage owner's brother would drive us in his car. "and" he said "because it is a small car it is only 400rmb"
"That's great" I said. The night before he had told rica and I that a landcruiser with a driver would be around 1200rmb so that was a really good price....or so I thought.
Rica decided not to go when she saw the little mini-van. She was still pissed off because, in 3 days, our guide had failed to find anywhere she could exchange money.
So I set out with Joe and the driver and eventually we stopped at an office to buy tickets. 120rmb per person plus 400rmb for the car. 400rmb for a ticket for the car...as it turned out the car hire was another 1200rmb on top of that! I had been mis-lead big time!
A little further along the road we reached a police check point, Joe went in with his folder of paperwork. Returning to the car he stated that his paperwork was not valid for that day and the police wouldn't let us pass. He told me because we had already used the permit when we came through the previous day, we couldn't use it to go back again.
He didn't seem to concerned, casually saying to me "Do you really want to go to this place?" I was a little confused as we had passed signs back down the road that said "Everest base camp" So picked up the tickets and asked him where it was he was taking me. I said "Are we going to Everest base camp, or is this just a view point to take this picture?" indicating the photo on the ticket of a mountain range including a very distant Everest. "You just take this picture here" he said. So I told him "I saw Everest from a distance yesterday. I want to go to base camp". "Ok" he said "Thats back the other way".
So we returned the tickets and headed back the way we had come. Almost an hour later I asked him again "Where are we going?" because Everest which could be seen occasionally from the road seemed to be getting further away. "Everest base camp" he said. "Really?" I questioned him further "THE Everest base camp? The campsite at the base of mount Everest where the climbers start out from". "No" he confessed. It turned out he was actually taking me to a campsite with a distant view of Everest which just happened to be named "Everest base camp".
I exploded at him "Why the hell did he think I'd want to go there?, I've been saying for days I wanted to go to Everest. Surely that is where all tourists want to go when they ask for Everest Base Camp? Has he actually worked as a guide before?"
So we went back to the police check point. Again he went inside and returned saying the police would not let us pass. "right!" I said "I'll speak to him". Joe tried to stop me but I was not going to let his incompetence stop me from seeing the worlds most famous mountain which I had driven all this way and paid so much money to see! I don't know how much English the guard understood but after my shouting at Joe in front of him begging him not to punish me for having such a useless guide and finally crying he agreed to let us pass.

When we finally reached Everest Base Camp it was getting dark. The little min-van Joe had hired for us struggled on the dirt track with it's tiny wheels and I couldn't help thinking that we'd have been better off with Pedro. Landcruisers shot past us! It was really cold at base camp. I was stressed and upset, add to that the effects of the altitude and I soon became ill. My head felt like it was going to explode with the pressure and I felt really sick. We had to turn around and head back almost immediately. I didn't get a chance to look around base camp or soak up the atmosphere. It was even to dark for a photo, this one was taken on the approach road just before it got to dark. The video camera works better in low light so I took a quick video of base camp in the dark and we had to turn back.
I felt so sick, I curled up in the back and tried to sleep. The road was so bumpy it just made me feel worse but I didn't have the energy to sit up. The guide and driver were unconcerned and stopped for dinner, leaving me in the car. I tried to sleep but it was so cold that eventually I went inside to find them. I tried to eat a little food but couldn't, I was still handed the bill though!
Back on the road my head was feeling worse and I started vomiting out of the car window, crying out in pain whenever we hit a big bump which was a lot!
It was 3:30am when we got back to town and instead of taking me to a hospital Joe dropped me off at the hotel and asked me for more money for the driver because we were so late returning. I told him I didn't have anymore money and he should give him the 100rmb's he has asked me for earlier in case he had to bribe a policeman!
It wasn't until the following morning when Rica saw how sick I was that she asked Joe to call a doctor. The doctor gave me oxygen and a pile of tablets. He said I would feel better when we moved to lower altitude and wrote a note recommending that I didn't drive on the high plateau.

Rica drove out of town but struggled to reach the brakes and with the gears on the hills, so when I was feeling a bit better I took over. We thought we were driving to Lhasa which is lower altitude but instead Joe said we would have to stay in Shigatse as we had to do the police process there to get my Chinese driving license and car registration. I thought this would have been done at the border rather than several days into the trip. It was also not allowed for in NAVO's itinerary so put us further behind schedule.
Joe told the police that the doctors note was for Rica, not me and I passed the medical and driving test as required. The police loved the car, as you can see in the above photo at the police station!

Potola Palace, Lhasa

In Lhasa the guide had another surprise for us. He said that the road from Lhasa to Kunming was very bad and we would have to put our car on a truck as far as Kunming. The truck would cost 6500rmb! Of course we said no, this is a car rally, we've already driven 20,000 miles to get there on some very bad roads. The guide said No, that our car wasn't suitable for that road and only 4x4's could pass. We said, if the road was that dangerous then why couldn't we go the same route that the truck would go. He said that they didn't have the permits for us for that road. I asked why? Why if the road was dangerous and only suitable for 4x4's WHY had they arranged a tour for us travelling on that road with no alternative? They knew what car we were bringing, I had e-mailed photos from every angle and all the details they had requested about the car right down to the weight, engine size, chassis number etc. If the car wasn't suitable for the road they had bought us permits for then it was their fault as the tour organiser and if they insisted on us putting the car on a truck then they should pay for it!

This stand off went on for 10 days, not only putting us behind schedule but also meaning our Chinese visa was rapidly expiring. Finally with our visa almost expired we had to submit once again to their blackmail! Of course as our visa would be expired before the car reached Kunming it meant I had to pay for the truck to take the car all the way to the Lao border and Rica and I would have to fly out of the country. The cost; 10,000rmb's which the tour company have refused to take any responsibilty for. They act as if they are doing us a favour when in fact they have taken thousands of pounds from us for a tour which we didn't even get to complete half of! I am so angry at having to put the car on a truck when there is nothing wrong with it. All because our racist guide who has never even owned a car thinks it isn't suitable for a bad road!

The only plus to all of this was that we were able to spend some quality time sight-seeing in Lhasa. We asked the "guide" what there was to see in Lhasa but he said he didn't have time to tell us! So we left him at the hotel and had a much better time on our own.

Potola palace and man with prayer wheel

Prayer wheels around the walls of Potola

Our hotel seemed quite respectable, it even had this sign on the back of our room door. But when Rica suggested a massage in the hotel "spa" we were in for a surprise!
The "Spa" was a thinnly disguised knocking shop, I'm just glad I only asked for the foot massage! The girl who massaged my feet was wearing lingerie and when Rica asked what one of the more expensive items on the "menu" was she was taken to see a full on sex room complete with vibrating, swinging bed! The staff all found it hilarious and always had a smile and a wave for us when we passed on the way to our room.

The rent boy who worked in the brothel in out hotel.

Yep, it was an equal opportunities brothel, there were boys working there too...NO, I wasn't tempted! Rica thought he was cute but with her limited mandarin she was unable to discover whether he went both ways or not.

The main square in Lhasa

White Teddy in front of Potola Palace, Lhasa

Jihong(?-I'll check the spelling later) Temple.

Prayer flags outside the temple.

White teddy soaking up the sun in Lhasa, Tibet.
The "blind massage centre" is in this square. After our last massage experience I should have known better when Rica suggested we go in! The massage was actually very good, if a little to firm at times, we both ached for days. The boy who massaged us was very talkative but slipped up a couple of times. Firstly after telling me his girlfriend had hair longer than mine he then told Rica he was single. Then he span us a sob story about how he had been hit by a car and his white stick got broken so he was having trouble getting around........a new one would cost 800rmb and he couldn't afford it. Hmm, what's that white stick leaning against the wall then?

Kathmandu, Nepal

After a thorough battering on Pakistan's roads, India's pot holed dirt track to the Nepal border proved too much for Pedro. He limped into Kathmandu leaving a trail of oil behind him. The oil leak had got so bad we were pouring in almost as much oil as petrol and even had to stop and buy more on our way into town.
Our plan was to find a hotel before it got dark and then track down a garage but Pedro had other ideas. One particularly steep and busy hill was too much for him, he died and refused to restart, causing a major traffic jam! Enter Sonam, who enlisted the help of some 20 or 30 people to push us up the hill to a safe stopping point. Then he helped us track down a garage. Much to our surprise we found there is a thriving VW scene in Nepal. Most of them were driven here by hippies in the 60's.

The garage crew were like a well oiled pit crew. They had Pedro jacked up, wheels off and checking everything in seconds. A compression test on the engine showed, err, none. So out it came for further investigation. I'd been driving for 5 days with virtually no brakes so I was delighted when they found a new master cylinder to fit, along with a new handbrake cable...it had become rather stretched from overuse when the footbrake wasn't enough.
Pedro's back end has been grounding out on every bump for the last few days. I suspected new shock absorbers were in order but hey just needed adjusting. He also had new rubber bushes, a new wheel bearing, new ball joints, a new clutch.

The mechanics father still works with his son in the garage despite his 70 years and did an expert job stripping the engine. Oil was leaking from around the "push rods" (forgive my lack of mechanical knowledge). They also replaced the piston rings while the engine was apart and cleaned everything.

Various members from the Nepal Beetle Users Group kept dropping by. They said they had heard from people at the border that a foreign Beetle had entered the country and had been looking out for us. One of the guys also told us they have been trying to plan a drive to Everest base camp for a long time because no Beetle has ever been driven there - Pedro will be the first!

Pedro was in the garage for 3 days but now drives like new! We were so lucky to make it as far as Kathmandu and we found Shantu Maharjhan and his father. True enthusiasts who went over Pedro with a fine tooth comb finding and fixing every little problem. The other Baja on the rally broke down in Kazahkstan where there was no help available and had to call it a day. I really feel for them, it could so easily have been the same story for us. I'm very grateful for the flower power generation driving their bugs here in the 60's and creating such a cool VW community here!

So after spending 3 days hanging around the garage and sorting paperwork for Tibet that left us just a few short hours for sight-seeing! We've been staying in the Thamel area which is a really cool area to hang out in. Loads of cheap shops selling hippie clothes, prayer flags, Tibetan singing bowls, Thanka's, rugs, tea and brand name trekking gear of dubious origin.

We only had time to visit one other area of the town so we chose Durbar square which is full of temples, shrines and touts trying to sell flutes, bags, necklaces, anything you want, or don't want really.

Beef is on the menu here but the cows still lounge around in the streets unmolested.

This ugly chap had people pushing things into his mouth, I'll refer back to the guide book later and find out what that was about.

One of the many bag sellers. I said I'd buy some if I could take her photo, so look out for one under the christmas tree this year!

The Thanka shop. Thanka's are beautiful, intricate paintings made by buddhist monks. I bought a couple of small ones so will post photos when I can take one that does justice to them!

Terai tours here have been very helpful in sorting out our paperwork for China. We are now all set to enter Tibet tomorrow morning. Our first stop will be Everest base camp. I'm guessing there won't be any internet access or mobile signal there so don't worry if you don't hear from us for a while.

India

India had a lot to live up to after Pakistan but Lahore to Delhi in one day is a long drive. We arrived in Delhi late and got very lost in the slums. This is the part of India the tourist board doesn't want you to see and is pretty shocking. After seeing how the rickshaw owners sleep in squallid condiations, near naked on their rickshaws at the roadside, you can forgive the constant hustling for business.

Agra was more enjoyable, although we were beseiged by small children selling everything from water to Taj Mahal snow globes! We stayed in the Maya Guest house which was really lovely, relaxed and had an ecellent restaurant. As you can imagine we were both pretty road weary after the long drive so we decided to put on our glad rags and pose for pictures in front of the Taj as all the Indian families do. I wanted to take a photo of white teddy at the Taj too but security wouldn't let him in! He had to wait for us in the locker room, sorry James but he is safe and well and I will upload another photo soon.

We put in a lot of long driving days in India to try and get back on schedule for our pre-arranged China tour guide and we thought we were ging to manage it. Our only other stop in India was Varanasi where we took an early morning cruise along the Ganges. Actually "cruise" gives the wrong impression.....we were rowed along the Ganges in a leaky wooden boat in the early morning drizzle and mist. It was still fascinating to see the "ghats", the stepped areas along the river where the locals were out in force washing themselves and their clothes, praying and even burning their dead. We were told that when a person is burnt the ashes are then scattered in the river. If the person has died of leprosy or small pox it is considered a curse for bad karma in a previous life and they cannot receive the blessing of being burnt. Instead rocks are tied to the body and it is dropped in the centre of the river - except sometimes the rocks come loose and the body floats up! Oddly, and I didn't quite understand this one, a snake bite victim is tied to a log and floated downstream.

Burning Ghat on the Ganges

The traffic has been a complete nightmare in India! The streets are filled with Tuk Tuks, rickshaws, bikes, motorbikes, cars and lorries and they all go where they want. There don't seem to be any rules of the road. It's not uncommon to be driving down a nice bit of dual carriageway and find traffic coming at you from the opposite direction! Sometimes this is because the traffic on the opposite carriageway has been diverted without any warning to those on the other side. Sometimes it seems they must be drunk or on drugs. You certainly have to keep your wits about you, especially in the cities. At railway crossings the traffic doesn't queue but pushes forward as much as possible on both sides of the road with bikes and rickshaws filling every available space. Then; when the barriers open you're facing the same situation on the opposite side of the crossing and have to fight your way through the traffic. It was at one of these crossings that Pedro's sump guard bent again and was dragging the ground so we had to stop, and block this free for all of traffic! I got out and started taking the sump guard off which was pretty difficult with a 5 deep crowd pressing around trying to see what I was doing. I found that the hardest thin in India, when ever we stopped the car would be mobbed with people pressing in from all sides, for the most part just blankly staring. There was never any malice, it was just a little difficult to cope with at times. Some of the guys did offer to help with the sump guard when they saw what I was doing though and it was soon bent back into shape and back on the car. The problem is that Pedro's rear suspension has suffered first on the rough roads in Pakistan and then on the bumpy Indian roads. He really needs new shock absorbers which we will find in Kathmandu.

Pakistan - biggest surprise of the trip so far!

The main road out of Loralai, a truck had gone off the "road" blocking traffic in both directions till the digger pulled it out!

Pakistan is hot, it's touched 50 degrees here which is absolutely draining!
It's dusty, the roads are non-existent.
I got food poisoning and found myself in Quetta hospital for 2 days.
Pedro suffered on the "roads" too, we had to drive through a river where the bridge was being constructed which bent the sump guard and damaged the car. It's been so hot that the brake pipes have actually melted.
Even if you can find an air-conditioned hotel you won't enjoy the cool air for long because of the regular power cuts!
Pakistan is a seriously harsh place to live! So why do I love it so much?

Melon sellers

There is such colour and diversity of life here. In Quetta brand new 4x4's share the streets with donkey carts, camel carts, tuk tuks, lorries and even the odd herd of sheep or goats can be seen being driven round the roundabouts.
The lorries are works of art, elaborately decorated like gypsy caravans.
They crawl along at a snails pace but who can mind being stuck behind something so beautiful.

Pedro with some of the colourful trucks.

Then there are the people. I almost didn't come to Pakistan because so many people gave me dire warnings about kidnappings, terrorists, bandits, tribal feuds and how much westerners are hated.
I think this is why Pakistan has been the biggest surprise. The people have been so unbelievably friendly and welcoming.

When I crossed the border from Iran I was immediately offered tea, the paperwork could wait, tea came first.
That's another thing, the little bits of Britishness that make you smile when you're away from home. In Pakistan they drive on the left and everything stops for tea and cricket.
Despite my reservations when I said I was English I always received a warm response. The British may have ruled over Pakistan but they also built all of the railways, bridges, schools and hospitals and this hasn't been forgotten.

The prettiest little girls in Pakistan.

Little did I know I was soon to experience one of these hospitals first hand as I went down with a bad case of food poisoning!
Becoming violently ill in the night, I was admitted to Quetta Christian Hospital for 2 days. The ward was hot with just ceiling fans for cooling and flies buzzing around.
As far as cleanliness goes it was probably on a level with Southampton General Hospital. I noted that all needles did come out of sealed, sterile packs.
The nurses were a lot nicer than the ones I met in Southampton general though and I was seen a lot quicker! IV fluids were given to me via a canula in the back of my hand along with antibiotics and pain killing injections.
One of the nurses, Sheenez, spoke excellent english. She's marrying her boyfriend in london and moving there next year!
The ladies in the ward were curious about me and Shenez translated, mostly they were saying I had beautiful skin and wanted to know what face cream I used!
And of course the first question all Pakistani women ask me "are you married?"

A lovely family I met.

Saying goodbye to my friends in the hospital I took one of the colourful tuk tuks to the hotel and was reunited with Pedro. I had been given police escorts since the Pakistan border, although kidnappings are rare, they take tourist safety very seriously.
They didn't seem concerned about my security in the hospital but insisted on escorting me out of the city. One of the guards sat in the car with me and kept touching my leg - so I slapped him and shouted at him if he touched me again he could get out of the car!
He didn't touch me again and the escort left me at the city limits declaring the road ahead safe.

I had originally planned to take a southerly route through Pakistan as I'd been advised that was the safest route but when the police asked me did I want to go south to Sukor or north through Loralai, I chose Loralai, partly beacause it looked a quicker, more direct route and partly just because I liked the name.

Every village I drove through on the way greeted me with smiles and waves. The final stretch of the road to Loralai took me through some stunning mountains, then I rounded a bend in the road and was flagged down at another police check point. My heart sank, I didn't really want another escort after the leg feeler!
All of the men were uniformed except one. Nasir approached my car window wearing light brown salwar kameez and aviator sunglasses - Pakistan Miami Vice!
He told me he was anxious because they expected me 2 hours earlier. I explained that Pedro is not a fast car and I also missed the first turning because he road signs weren't in English.
He asked if he could travel in the car with me, I was a little hesitant given my previous experience but agreed. Nasir was very considerate and respectful. He treated me like I was a princess and he was my bodyguard. Yes, I was quite taken with him and have been missing him since leaving Loralai but, as luck or fate would have it, he is coming to London in March to train with the Met Police for at least 6 months. . .

Lahore Mosque

Rica rejoined me in Lahore and we headed to the border where there is a nightly flag lowering ceremony involving much pomp and ceremony. Pakistan are on one side and India on the other both shouting support for their countries while the guards stamp, march and shout. It's great fun but of course Rica and I were supporting Pakistan.

Rica and I with one of the border guards at the flag ceremony

Oh yeah, I made the paper too!!