SMS Update

Seen a man carrying a fridge up a hill by a strap on his head! Also a bloke with a washing machine! Been unable to get permits for lake visit, and can't get trains at all from darjeeling or NJP to kolkatta! Plan to get to siliguri monday and catch a 14hour coach down! Such a mix of cultures here with a step away from hinduism towards buddhism. So many tourists here, but all from indian states, very very few europeans or americans here

SMS Update

Gangtok done! We rolled in second behind the flight of the conchords aka tuktuk boom and we are chuffed to bits! Sikkim is great, some serious hills but the people are amazingly friendly! Mexican b'day party planned for matts b'day wednesday and then off to darjeeling for a few days! Back in time for sundays party and then a couple of days on the trains back to calcutta. The kiwis are treating us to a few beers...could be a long week...

SMS Update

Limped into western edge of kolkata with a gammy clutch, managed to find a decent hotel though and have a mechanic looking at her now! Aiming to hit the city around 4am to beat the traffic and then bomb up the highway to Raiganj. Orissa was full of poverty, the change as we crossed into west bengal was instant. Irrigated water was the biggest thing we noticed, along with the amount of english people speak. The roads were also awful in Orissa. Hoping our money will do some good here

SMS Update

Just short of cuttak in bhubaneshwar. Father naan (tony) blogging tonight. Another wonderful day, Orissa is breathtaking. We've had another day living and breathing india. No tourist guide could recommend you this experience, this is the only way to see this crazy country. Every twist and turn throws up another spectacle, every few kms and the people and landscape change. My utter awe and respect for these versatile people doesn't change. Learnt so much about this wonderful country and surprisingly so much about my self (can survive on just 1 shower a day). Side note, to my beautiful wife Adrienne, I'll be coming home a changed man. Nip down to TK Maxx and get me some hippy gear@

SMS Update

Vishakhapatnam not on the map so we're about 30k past this point. Ollie is the first to vomit from a moving rickshaw, malaria tablets to blame! Finding somewhere to sleep is the biggest prob, trying to plan a route that hits the bigger cities. Bessie is a dream, no probs whatsoever today! Today seemed to be wash day for the whole of india. Running out of clean clothes now. Tony's gear changing improving. Aiming for Bhubaneshwar tomorrow

SMS Update

Six AM this morning and Bessie needed a push to wake her up. But the rest of the day she has been a little sweetheart! A couple of near misses with buffalo to add to our growing list of firsts. Tony has the honours for first poo by the road and matt has them for first night time driving. Over 500k done today, mammoth effort boys! @

SMS Update

Rolled into Vellore at sunset, been a long one! Wrong way up a 1 way street in salem was fun, as was tony's gear changing! Time for beer and food and another beer and then back to the room to look at maps for tomorrow. Minor issue caused by crap in reserve tank but otherwise bessie is a dream

SMS Update

Awesome first day! Finally got our keys at 9am and took her for a quick spin. Left Kochi about 12 and got 180km down in 4 and a bit hours! Now we're thinking ambitiously and hoping to hit the east coast north of chennai by tuesday. The lorry drivers are mad but the bus drivers are insane! Overtaking on blind corners is positively encouraged. We are literally at the bottom of the road food chain. Aiming to be in vellore for tomorrow night

SMS Update

This is it, tomorrow morning it starts. No test drive yet as they've lost our keys! Nearly died on the first night when the air conditioning cable caught fire at 2.30am in calcutta, lucky I was awake, things are looking promising! Rumours that one of the spaniards is the king of spain's son@

Move over Wogan, here comes Tony...

Ipswich Community Radio invited us in for a little talk this morning! Tony did his best to cover his Suffolk accent, and managed the impossible, speaking AFTER thinking

 Both the Evening Star and ICR have invited us back after we (hopefully) return...does that mean we're famous now?