Travelling more in hope than expectation

Random entry

2012-02-10T07:39:00.001Z

Not travelling, well i am on train but commuting only.

How the world changes!

On train....four passengers in my group of seats......no Sun, no Telegraph, no Metro..... no Millenium Triology, no Dickens, no trash novel...

Cant make out for sure, but i think 2 I-Pads and two other tablets

World Tennis Charity Invitation

2012-01-02T02:51:00.001Z

The papers since i have been in Thailand have trailed this match between:

Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka

who are world #1 and #3 respectively.

Played in Hua Hin, i managed to get a ticket and match started at 5pm to avoid the full force of the sun. The match was fairly relaxed but certainly you could see the competitive instincts firmly kick in at times. Azarenka deservedly won and it might be a cliche but you only really appreciate how hard they hit the ball when you see it live.

ps i know i have mentioned i cant spell check, but believe me the names are correct
pps Ms Wozniacki's other half was also present - Rory Mcilroy

Happy new year from Thailand

2011-12-31T17:16:00.001Z

As you would probably guess they like fireworks, firecrackers and anything else that makes a bang........

and sending lanterns into the sky

Hua Hin

2011-12-30T13:35:00.001Z

So the last part of the trip is the relaxing bit at Hua Hin, which is likely to consist of:

Sun
Shade
Swim
Food
Read
Watch
and other challenging tasks.

And of course, given its Thailand..........massage.

Now the hotel spa treatments were a bit pricey, so i thought i would try the place at the end of the drive. It looked legit, no ladies outside wolf whistling to attract clients, so i gave it go.

One hour later, i felt relaxed but with Thai massage its no pain no gain. The lady then suggested a foot massage.

PLEASE NOTE FEMALE READERS SHOULD SKIP TO VERSION 2

Version one (male readers only).
It was alright, felt a bit girly but it was cheap and i was doing my bit for local economy. THE END

Version two (female readers only)
It soon became clear i had misunderstood what was on offer. No pounding/massaging of feet but some scrubbing/moisturising. Now i might be a bit slow but eventually i worked out i was getting a pedicure and she was going hell for leather on the sole of my feet and heels. At the end i just paid manfully and left but back in my room i had to give them a quick feel - soft as anything. Now the dilemma, i can manfully go and ask to be pummeled half to death with a Thai massage, but can i really ask for "that thing she did with my feet"

Chiang Rai

2011-12-28T12:50:00.001Z

Last day in Chaing Rai, sees a tour to Doi Tung Royal Villa and the Mae Luang Garden next door.

Doi Tung is the range of hills and used to be an Opium producing area (and there is probably a fair amount still going on). The villa was built for the King's mother -now deceased - 22 years ago and was inspired by trips she took to Lausanne, and is therefore an interesting mix of Thai and Swiss.

Quite basic in areas, it is used for a few days a year by the royal family, but otherwise open to public.

The location was partly due to the fact that the hills do have a bit of a Swiss feel to them (minus the snow in winter) but also to bring employment to locals in order to encourage them away from previous trade.

The gardens next door are 18 years old but seem quite mature and very well laid out.

On the way back we stopped at the Chiang Rai flower festival, which is an annual event, over 10 days starting just before Xmas. Photos to follow in due course and will hopefully do it justice.
In the morning i fly to Bangkok and then travel down to Hua Hin, for the more relaxing part of trip.

Golden Triangle

2011-12-27T14:51:00.001Z

Day trip from Chiang Ria taking in:

Local artist complex
Village life
Monkey cave
Trip over border to Burma for a couple of hours
A couple more temples!
Visit to Opium Museum
Trip on Mekong River
Visit to Golden Triangle viewing spot where Laos, Burma and Thailand come together.

You can also see two new Casinos being built in Burma and Laos, who don't have the same gambling restrictions as Thailand.

It sounds quite an itinerary but most places were close together and actually it was quite a relaxed day.

Chiang Mai Temples

2011-12-26T14:30:00.001Z

Today was a temple day.

Firstly travelling around 45mins outside Chiang Mai into the hills to see Wat Suthep, a temple dating back to 1383. Whilst all temples have common themes, a pagoda, an ordination room and a main hall, they do all seem to have an atmosphere of their own, partly i guess down to location/size and how much they continue to grow with often quite new rooms being added.

This one certainly had an important feel to it and i believe is one of the most visited in the region. Apart from spending time taking in the various sights, my guide informed me:

i was born on a Friday (i guess i should know that) which is the blue day (something i share with the current Queen, hence the blue flags that are often seen with national flag and yellow flag - i think Monday - of the current King)

that my birth date makes me a goat in Thai calendar and monkey in Chinese

Afterwards went back to Chiang Mai to see oldest temple in city. Smaller but similarly interesting.

Then a 3 hour drive to Chiang Rai for next step of trip in north.

Chiang Mai part two

2011-12-25T11:59:00.001Z

One full day here, which included tour to:

Orchid Farm
Maesa Elephant Camp
Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden.

Be warned, i might well post a lot of photos shortly, you may well be advised to wait until i have been back a while before looking at them, as they probably need a fair amount of editing (if you have been on an elephant ride, you will appreciate that there is a fair amount of click and hope).

All three venues were very interesting, in their different way, and it made up a good three quarter day tour.

I am never sure what really to think of animal projects such as the camp. Clearly the show the put on, with elephants playing football, painting and entertaining are not an insight into the daily life of an elephant in the wild. That said it was not as cring-worthy as it sounds, and shows the ability for man to train the animal, in the past that would be to work transporting people/goods,now its for "Thailand's got talent". (I will refrain from a very unfair Susan Boyle joke). Overall there were strong testimonies to the preservation work undertaken by the camp, and the animals appeared to be kept in quite good conditions, so its probably overall a good location.

Chiang Mai

2011-12-24T15:24:00.001Z

Flew from Bangkok to Chiang Mai lunchtime and then had relaxing afternoon.

In the evening it was a traditional Northern Thai meal, with traditional Thai dancing show.

Now some people say that its rude to take photos, particularly where flash is required, as it puts people off

some people are nervous that local traditions might be that when someone takes a photo, you take the soul of the person

some people think that you never really enjoy the atmosphere when all you are doing is taking photos so you can enjoy the experience when you get home

me, i just think that before you go these events you should double check the battery on your camera, as you might not be faced with any of these decisions!!!!!!

So there will only be a few photos, but it did mean the camera was not a distraction.

Update

2011-12-24T03:20:00.000Z

Ok, so i have been able to update recent posts, including spellchecking (shocking grammar i know).

Links to photos are also here:

Train
River Kwai
Bangkok

Although i have not yet:

Deleted the fifth picture of a particular view
Edited with any details
Airbrushed

So they are raw, just point and click

Bangkok

2011-12-23T16:53:00.001Z

With only one full day in Bangkok i was not going to see much of it, so i decided to go on half day tour taking in three of the typical temples.

You often encounter a range of different guides,

some are enthusiastic
some know a lot
some shout at their driver
some know everyone at all the sights
some are political
some are mad
some try a few scams
but rarely all of the above.

Until Sonni

mother of three boys aged between 20 and 30
husband of someone high up in "Bangkok Fbi"
flooded effected for about six weeks, but luckily lives on 1st floor
talks quickly
talks constantly
walks quickly
walks constantly
has some interesting views on thai monarchy which she probably does not shout about
keen to provide some additional offerings to the tour, a "quick stop off drink" happened to be in a gem saleshop (commission opportunity), knows a good restaurant after tour is finished (commission opportunity), knows a legit massage place best in town (commission opportunity) and i wont mention her last offering

So an interesting tour if a bit rushed. We took in an additional palace, thrown in free because driver was half hour late, but that did mean we got stuck in traffic for quite some time. The temples were very impressive and certainly Sonni knew and shared a lot of the history and stories.

I leave tomorrow for trip to Chang Mai and Chang Rai. Since booking trailfinders have taken this tour off their website so i cant remember whats actually involved but i am sure guide will.

Bangkok - and i have two nights to cope with..........

2011-12-23T04:54:00.001Z

- One Night in Bangkok lyrics

Singapore

2011-12-22T14:39:00.001Z

Flights were fine.

Leaving UK at 10pm, flying 11 hours to Kulua Lumpa and then one hour to Singapore, arriving 8pm, does lead to some interesting decisions on when to eat.
Airline assumes you want to eat an hour or so into flight - which is either 11pm at night or 7am in morning depending on what time zone you want to adopt mid flight.

I have one night only in Singapore which was thrown in "free" as part of train trip.

Now, i soon worked out:

when i saw plasma (ok a small one) above the bath, in the bathroom that is about as big as my house, that there is no such thing as a free night;

when butler rang door asking if there was anything she could do, that there is no such thing as a free night;

when i got lost in the dressing room, that there is no such thing........

Ok maybe not free, but nothing extra to pay.

So join train Tuesday lunchtime. I did read instructions beforehand and notice that i needed a tie for dinner. So i said to myself that the last thing i wanted to do when packing was to forget a tie, and sure enough when i got to Heathrow i noticed that the last thing i forgot to pack was indeed a tie (i can never remember who came up with that joke, i think it was Rowan Atkinson when he made a career out of actually telling jokes rather than just making strange faces). So the first three shops had ties reduced, tax free, to just over fifty quid, so you can not believe my joy when i saw Tie Rack (i never thought i would actually ever say that phrase)

Train Singapore to Bangkok

2011-12-22T14:38:00.003Z

After being picked up from hotel, checked in for train at another hotel and then boarded at station around 20mins outside the city centre - Woodlands, just on border with Malaysia.

This train is a bit more up market than the trip i took from Perth to Adelaide, but actualy atmosphere was quite relaxed and journey very interesting. You spend two nights in a cabin that is functional but not large, although shower was actually very good.

The train winds its way up through Malaysia for the first day and a half and then crosses into Thailand.

There is one stop on the second day at Penang, and another on following day at River Kwai. Penang was quite interesting, includer a rickshaw ride, but lacked a bit of focus. The local guide was well intentioned but lost his audience toward the end as his jokes lost a bit in translation - ask me when i am back and i will tell you his viagra joke!

River Kwai was more interesting, actually it would have been worth a longer stop at musuem and memorial.

Meals were excellant, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner - i have not been on a cruise but it seems like the same endless supply of food, other than no midnight buffet.

So all goes according to plan until lunch on last day, heading from River Kwai to Bangkok. Sudden braking sends water glass, some of the soup, thankfuly clear, into my lap and chair. A truck had apparently decided to play chicken with the train at a level crossing and train driver hit the brakes. A few broken glasses (well actually according to Claims Are Us "no win no fee" i should say there was utter carnage and i wont be able to sleep, or eat noodle soup, for years) but nobody injured other than the locomtive which packed up. So replacement sent and original arrival at Bangkok of 2-30pm, which changed to 4-30pm due to general delays, is now 8-30pm.

Train passengers

2011-12-22T14:38:00.001Z

You meet a range of different people on train trips, and this has been no exception:

Peter +Antonia - American, Father and daughter, well travelled, whole range of business ventures, she is studying international relations at Edinburgh University, he is based n San Francisco

Vicky - Canadian, but seems to have spent last twenty or so years teaching in various parts of Asia

Lynne - a retired Australian croupier/surveillance manager, who spent 12 years in South Africa after going there for 6 months

Daniel - a 50ish New York language teacher who had just finished teaching in a monastery in Tibet

Toni and Pam cousins from New York and Washington state, both well travelled and both understand and have watched rugby matches in US (neither typical American traits)

Dave, personal trainer and ex Olympic weightlifter and accountant wife Rosalind
And of course they had a 43 year old banker to talk to!

Off again

2011-12-16T19:00:00.001Z

This time to far east for a couple of weeks over xmas and new year.

Fly to Singapore via Kuala Lumpa
Train to Bangkok
Few days in Bangkok
Trip to Chang Mai and Chang Rai
Beach in Hua Hin

Swapping the curent severe weather warnings for the heat overseas.

Not sure how much i will blog, or what photos i may be able to post.

plus ca change........

2011-09-17T17:59:00.002+01:00

you arrive at car hire desk.....

plus ca change - You spent half hour filling out details required when you booked it on internet but at desk they know nothing but your name

plus ca change - They dont have the car you ordered (for me thats quite good, i order the most basic car and this instance get upgraded to bmw one series automatic)

plus ca change - You get the hard sell on optional insurance

plus ca change - There is something in the car you dont understand. this time the sat nav. within two minutes i have changed to english, entered destination and off i go. first major junction its suggests a different route to the one i normally take. but this has been designed by the finesr german brains, i have to go with its suggestion. well, an extra half hour on the drive, having seen parts of marseilles that i have never seen before, i eventually work it out. the previous skinflint had set it to avoid toll roads

back for a while

2011-09-17T17:46:00.003+01:00

its about 12 months since i took 3 months off, so in south of france for a week i thought i might add a few entries - well at least one. they will be short, gramatically incorrect in most instances and probably make little sense as i am entering on tablet which is new experience.

i am in six four les plages in apartment i bought a couple of years under leaseback scheme. these are popular in france and encouraged by french govt. i get to spend two weeks here and get rent from the operator - lagrange- for the rest of the time. lease is for 10 years after that i can renew, sell or let myself. of course after 10 years of hefty bonuses.......now i did say some of this might not make sense

Hoover Dam

2010-12-29T06:25:00.002Z

Whilst i had been to Las Vegas a couple of times before, and had been on the fairly standard trip to Grand Canyon, I had not ventured to Hoover Dam.

Therefore decided to drive out and was slightly surprised how close it was to Las Vegas, as despite the traffic being quite busy it only took me about 45 mins. Took the extended one hour tour, which includes the power plant and some less known areas (such as the 750 off stairway to heaven - look at rather than go up!). Weather, as it has been for my time in Vegas, was bright sunshine with temperature in high 50s.

Photos here

Las Vegas

2010-12-26T07:16:00.004Z

The drive to Las Vegas was about 3 1/2 hours through mountain/desert on Interstate 15. Slight problem when i arrived when receptionist at my accomodation (Signature suites which are part of MGM complex) could not find my reservation and when she rang through was told it had been cancelled by Get A Room (the website i booked through). This was a bit of a surprise to me (and Get A Room when i spoke to them) but eventually they resolved between themselves.

So managed to see the big NBA match of the day on TV (Miami v LA) and also spend some time in MGM Casino (mixed results). I have booked to see both Jerry Seinfeld and Penn/Teller which will keep me out of the casinos for some of the evenings.

Took some photos of Vegas at night - here.

ps good to see normal service resumed in cricket.

Rancho Cucamonga

2010-12-25T03:33:00.005Z

Flight left an hour late but managed to pick up most of this during flight, so landed around 15-20 mins late. Immigration was the normal fun US event and then took bus to pick up hire car (which was probably around 15-20 mins away, a bit of a surprise but given the size of LAX perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise).

Slight misunderstanding at the car hire place, you book in and you then choose a car from the class you have selected and it gets registered against you when you drive out. Rental of GPS soon showed itself to be a sensible approach, as whilst i had fairly good directions to the hotel i am not sure they would have helped a great deal in a dark evening in LA. Eventually arrived at around 7pm local time, 5am London time.

Tomorrow i do sightseeing here (which is prob 5 mins) and then drive to Las Vegas.

ps sightseeing photos here.

The final trip of my sabattical

2010-12-23T14:49:00.003Z

Returning to general travel chaos, the likelihood of being able to get to the US for Xmas appeared quite thin. But the weather has generally been ok and Heathrow is now back to around 90% service.

So I have booked in on-line for flight to Los Angeles (which encouragingly was on time today) and checked in to a hotel near Heathrow to avoid the hassle of going around M25 for mid-morning flight. I would normally just make an early start, but the fear of a burst of snow either making roads near home tricky, or affecting M25 seem to make an overnight stay seem sensible.

Fingers crossed for the morning.........

ps of course just to add to the excitement, California has been hit by floods so it might be an interesting drive when i get there!

The return journey (the end)

2010-12-20T22:27:00.002Z

So plane took off 24 hours late and flight was uneventful.

Landed about 20 mins late (7-15pm) but then took a while to taxi and baggage reclaim was not surprisingly chaotic (lots of bags without passengers, passengers without bags, full flights and no luggage being checked through so everyone collected). So got into car just before 9 and arrived home about an hour later.

Temperature in house is currently 7 degrees, so heating is now on overdrive and just checking where all my jumpers are...................

The return journey (part 4)

2010-12-20T03:52:00.002Z

The earlier (11-05) London flight has now been postponed until 14-00, so i am currently booked on the earliest flight to London.....................
Gate has opened for my flight so they obviously think it might take off....................
Whether its boards, how far it gets, and what airport it lands at, are of course questions that no-one can answer...........

The return journey (part 3)

2010-12-20T01:40:00.003Z

11-00 flight canceled
Now seem to be booked on 11-05 flight................
Of course whether/what time it takes off......................
10 mins later i am told that this flight is full, and i have been moved to the same flight time as yesterday (12.55)......................

The return journey (part 2)

2010-12-20T01:05:00.003Z

8-00 arrived at Airport and checked in for 11-00 flight................
9-00 now showing as canceled......................

Finally the title of this blog has some meaning.............

2010-12-19T10:13:00.004Z

Arrived Singapore airport.........
Checked in on time...........
"No problems, earlier flight got away ok".............
Departed on time....................
2 hours into flight, Captain announced that we had started journey back to Singapore because Heathrow (and most of Europe) closed ........................
Starts again tomorrow (Monday) with flight provisionally booked for 11am. In meantime to be fair i am locked up in a decent 5 star hotel with meals paid for, so things could be worse.

And of course England lost the cricket!!!

LangKawi

2010-12-16T04:52:00.006Z

So after a day and a half in Melbourne, i started my journey back via Langkawi. Flight from Melbourne to Singapore was followed by an hour or so flight to Langkawi, arriving around 8pm. A 40 odd minute taxi journey took me to my resort (home until Saturday).

Langkawi seems to be one of those places that forces you to slow down. Warm weather, blue skies, a host of islands in the distance........... However knowing that this was the start of my re-acclimatisation to the work environment (back Jan) i decided that i needed to get back into the swing of things, so the days have been spent broadly following the same pattern:

Breakfast
Read paper including business pages
Check internet for articles about RBS and banking in general
Lunch
Gym
Writing draft strategy paper for presentation when back at work
Dinner
Check FT on-line, read book on management theory

And if you believe that you are more of a fool than i think you are................

So my days have actually been spent:

Breakfast
Pool - swim, listen to ipod, read (just finishing Ian Rankin novel)
Lunch
More pool, massage
Dinner
Relax (you need to be able to unwind after a hard day you know)

Some photos here.

Great Ocean Road (part 2)

2010-12-12T09:37:00.002Z

Leaving Apollo Bay, i took the Great Ocean Road again on my way to Melbourne. This part of the road is slightly different, you are driving closer to the sea and the road runs past a number of smaller bays/creeks with a number of beaches that attract surfers. There are a few small towns (such a Lorne) which i imagine attract the Melbourne crowd at the weekend.

Photos here.

I now have a day and a half in Melbourne, before leaving Australia and returning home via Singapore/Malaysia. I can only hope that Heathrow will have warmed up by the time i return in a weeks time.

Great Otway National Park

2010-12-11T06:20:00.004Z

Ever since arriving in Australia, i have listened to news reports about the terrible weather being experienced. There has been significant flooding, people being forced out of homes and some fatalities. It was therefore certain that at some stage i would run into some poor weather and the last 48 hours have seen heavy intermittent rain.

Staying in Apollo Bay for two nights, i spent some time travelling around the Great Otway National Park. As well as having a number of interesting stops, the drive is scenic and the winding roads force you to slow down and enjoy the views. Main highlights being the Otway Fly which enables you to get great views from tree level and Triplet Falls.

Photos here.

Great Ocean Road

2010-12-10T07:55:00.001Z

Stunning.

The pictures tell the story.........

Port Fairy

2010-12-09T08:05:00.004Z

Left Robe fairly early and started the drive to Port Fairy (around 300km). Once again it was a combination of rural farmland, forestry and coastal routes. Mainly along the A1, with occasional detours to see a variety of sights. These included Tantanoola caves and the Blue Lake at Mount Gambier. The lake changes colour in November to a pure blue which it keeps throughout the summer, apparently this is due to Limestone crystals that come to the water surface during the winter months and therefore create a darker colour. The lake is in a volcanic crater. The short 45 min tour was an interesting way to understand the history of the site (which includes a former land world speed holder driving into Lake - managing to jump out along the way, and an intrepid horseman (and poet*) jumping the permiter fence and was lucky that a ledge broke his fall).

Arrived Port Fairy late afternoon. Similar to Robe its a fairly small town but seems to have a bit more too it and appears slightly more prosperous. The best way to spend an hour or so (as recommended by hotel receptionist) is a walk around Griffiths Island which is a few minutes from the town centre. As well as a range of bird life, there are a number of wallabies on the island.

Photos of journey and Port Fairy - here.

*Adam Lindsay Gordon, who not surprisingly lived a short and eventful life, committing suicide at the age of 37. He is the only Australian poet buried in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Robe

2010-12-08T07:34:00.002Z

Picked up car in Adelaide and commenced drive to Melbourne including Great Ocean Road. First stop Robe which is about a 4 hour drive across scenic South Australia farm land, along and then across (by Ferry at Wellington) the Murray river and then alongside lakes until getting to the coast. Photos of the journey here.

Robe itself is a small but historical seaside location which is apparently a summer retreat for Adelaide town folk. A one road town its not the liveliest of places but has a relaxed feel. Photos here.

Adelaide

2010-12-07T04:36:00.003Z

With the early finish in test match, i thought i might get an afternoon to look around Adelaide but the poor weather (which has been prevalent in east of Australia for some time) came in and storms appear to have settled in for the rest of the day.

So i have been in Adelaide for 5 days and only really got an overview of the city. That view has been favourable (other than a rather ungenerous Casino!) with the centre quite compact but with a fair amount of open space. People quite friendly (despite result!)

Couple of photos here.

Adelaide Test - Day Five

2010-12-07T04:13:00.004Z

Well, a third of day five actually!

As soon as Hussey got out (poor shot) then it all seemed very inevitable but the speed of Australia's collapse was a surprise. To be honest they played like an England team of old, little confidence and too many players apparently in poor form. Given rain set in from around 1pm, it would only have required Australia to survive until lunchtime and they would have got away with a draw.

So England deservedly go one up in the series. A real change from day two in Brisbane where Hussey/Haddin seemed to put that match in Australia's hands. Since then......

Cook has looked like he could bat forever............
He has found a good partner in Trott................
Pietersen has come to the fore...............
Swann has bowled like the number two bowler in the world (his current rating) and Australia have been unable to dominate him the way they looked to early in Brisbane..........
Anderson (apart from start of second innings) has looked more likely to take wickets than the Australian quicks............
Finn, despite looking ordinary at times, has taken a number of wickets.

According to Australian radio commentators, North, Bollinger, Doherty are all in danger of being dropped and Katich is out for the rest of the season.

Momentum all with England

Adelaide Test - Day Four

2010-12-06T08:11:00.003Z

Day four finished and still all to play for.

After some early hitting by England and then a declaration, Australia survived with all of the main batsmen (excluding Ponting who left the field to the slightly unfair chant of "Your getting sacked in the morning*") played sensibly, had a bit of luck and got some support from the weather (although not as much as feared at one stage).

A final over wicket from KP, leaves a new ball and new batsmen in the morning. And more rain expected............

* a slight variation on the My Fair Lady song!

Adelaide Test - Day Three

2010-12-05T05:55:00.003Z

After a while its gets a bit boring!! Having to endlessly stand up and applaud another Englishman can become a bit tiring.

150 partnership.......
Cook's innings (has he really been dismissed after all that time?!?).......
Pietersen's hundred............
100 partnership...........
200 ahead...........
Pietersen's 150...............
Another majestic four from Bell................
Pietersen's 200
300 ahead..............

Not necessarily in that order and some other's missing.

And then the rain came. Can that save Australia?

Adelaide Test - Day Two

2010-12-05T05:45:00.002Z

Day one was a good day for England, day two would confirm how good a day.

With Strauss going after three balls, the normal English conservatism (ok well pessimism) kicked in again amongst English supporters, would we repeat Australia's performance? Then Cook and Trott just continued where they left off at Brisbane and just batted, batted some more and continued batting. Trott gave a couple of chances but overall it was very easy with both batsmen dealing with a fairly ordinary attack. The biggest surprise was Trott getting himself out and apart from a not unusual chaotic start from Pietersen it was all England.

Already ahead, its now a question of how many England score and ..................the weather. Showers are forecast from Sunday/Monday, with potential for heavier rain on Tuesday.

Adelaide Test - Day one

2010-12-03T12:16:00.002Z

Good seat, right by the boundary in East Stand. Thankfully in shade until early afternoon and then the sun screen comes into full use as temperature gets to about 32 degrees.

Weird start to the day. Australia started in self destruct mode which Anderson took full advantage off (well not quite i guess as he dropped a hard return catch from Hussey which would have made it 12-4) but 2-3 (or 3 for 2 as the Australians say) was their worse start ever in test cricket.

On what everyone was saying was a perfect wicket (we will see tomorrow) Australia then got some momentum at various stages but continued to lose wickets - England bowled well but to be honest the batting was quite ordinary from Australia.

Advantage very much with England day one.

Indian Pacific

2010-12-03T09:06:00.002Z

Back from Broome for a night in Perth and then the train journey to Adelaide. Over 2500km, this departs Perth Wednesday lunchtime and arrives (having made a couple of stops), first thing Friday in Adelaide. For those intrepid enough, you can continue on to Sydney arriving Saturday AM (making the whole journey 4,352km and 65 hours!).

The route has looked to move upmarket following competition from low price airlines that now provide an easy and cheap alternative for getting to/from Western Australia. As such it plays on the train experience rather than pure travel, with different classes (Red, Gold, Platinum) catering for different pockets. Food is surprisingly good and whilst its not the Orient Express (not that I have actually travelled on that) its a relaxed and comfortable journey.

Stops include:
Kalgoorlie which was the centre on the gold rush in the 1890's and is now the largest single open cut mining operation, including the Superpit Gold Mine which is more than 400m deep and over 3.3km long. Took a quick coach tour of this small but prosperous community, which still retains its mining charm (bar room brawls, brothels etc...).

Cook, once a thriving railway settlement, it now only has a handful of residents and is one of the most isolated outposts. Situated in the middle of the vast Nullarbor Plain, which is much of the backdrop for the journey during Thursday (including over 470kms of straight track).

Overall a very leisurely and enjoyable way to spend a couple of days. Photos here.

Broome

2010-12-03T09:00:00.002Z

A couple of hours flight north from Perth, takes you to Broome. You notice the change in temperature and humidity getting up to mid/high 30s. To the west of Darwin, it has a similar feel although appears a lot smaller. It almost has a “wild west” feel to it and apparently the evening pub entertainment has got a lot more civilised over years, now advancing to a Wet T Shirt competition and vicars/tarts disco.

End November is around the beginning of the wet season and the town has a bit of a deserted feel to it. I knew before I came that I might be lucky to get on some of the day trips as the roads could be effected by bad weather and many of the tour companies close down around now. I managed to get on one trip to Cape Leveque – which was a full day (around three hours drive both ways - 50:50 on sealed rounds/tracks) and time to discover a few aboriginal setllements, Pearl Farm and Hatchery. The tour operator had given up banking around 6 years ago and gone for a complete change of pace/lifestyle – albeit was returning to his country roots.
(note to self : investigate North Kent tourist opportunities when I get back). Photos here.

Broome sees a mixed community of Aboriginal people and white european population. Most of the land around Broome is subject to various Native Rights claims which sees land being transferred back to Aboriginal ownership (although structure seems quite complicated). Relationship between the two ethnic groups seems fairly relaxed (albeit the fairly racist taxi driver that took me back to the airport had different views) which given the history of abuse of aboriginal people is quite an accomplishment. There are however still a number of issues. Around 80-90% of aboriginal working age population lives off welfare payments from the state and there appears limited employment opportunities (tourism but mainly in Summer, some mining activity but this involves significant travel) or much incentive to work. There also seems to be a signficant amount of general support services that look to combat some of the integration issues (alchohol having been a major problem for aboriginal communities). Overall the area appears to be making quite a bit of progress but until some more balance can be achieved in working population then the imbalance will continue.

Other photos of Broome here.

Ps managed to catch some of the first test which saw England recover from a first innings deficit and end the test with the greater momentum. On to Adelaide and its clear that the series is going to be a challenging and interesting one.

Perth

2010-11-27T02:46:00.002Z

Arrived in Perth, via Singapore, around 1am. Thankfully, a quick trip through immigration, bag quickly provided and a short taxi ride to the hotel, meant that i was there around 45mins later.

Perth is famous for being the most remote city in the world and has a fairly relaxed but impressive feel to it. The centre appears quite busy but most of the activity seems to take place on/around the waterfront (apparently one in three families own a boat here).

Based on advice before i came out, i left Perth and took an hour boat ride down to Freemantle. Freemantle is smaller than Perth and a good place to slowly spend a day/half day. Took some time to go around the Western Australia Maritime Museum which was fairly low key but included a fair amount on Australia 2, the boat that won the Americas Cup in the 1980's.

Photos here

Hanoi

2010-11-23T12:28:00.003Z

My final location in Vietnam was Hanoi. The furthest north of my three stops, its the capital and has a different feel to both Hue and Ho Chi Minh. Hue is quite small and relaxed, HCM is like most bustling far eastern capitals (but is not capitol), Hanoi is somewhere in between. Obviously its busy and the streets demonstrate the same chaos seen in HCM, but it seems to have more history, more space (probably down to a number of parks and lakes) and a bit more to it.

I spent my first afternoon just getting a general feel for the place, and then took a full day tour on the second day. Whilst i had been slightly surprised with how modern some of the historical Hue sights had been, this was different - the oldest unversity formed in 1076 and other sites that went back further. Tour also combined the modern side, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum which was built in the 1970's. Now i have seen a few tombs on this trip, which have all had the body enclosed and not open to anyone immediately after completed. So slightly surpised to see the old man lying there, body preserved in a cool room and appearing just to be in a deep sleep. Given you are ushered around quite quickly (there are no shortage of national guard in the place) did not get a great look but seemed slightly unusual.

Pictures are here and here

East v West ........different cultures

2010-11-23T12:14:00.003Z

One of the things that surprised me when i was travelling around Europe, was the obdience that pedestrians showed to traffic lights. There seemed to be an amercian approach to "jaywalking", ie you only cross the road when the green man says you can. I was often amazed when all age groups would stand at the lights waiting to cross, when you had a clear view for miles of the lack of oncoming traffic. Maybe there is a new EU directive which has yet to reach the UK, but i adopted my usual approach - ie dont walk on red when there are old people or kids about, but at other times just be sensible.

Now i recognise that i actually have more in common with far eastern culture. To be fair its the motorbikes which take the view that green/red lights are purely advisory (and therefore discretionary), and if there is a gap, or a half gap, or a quarter gap, or there might be a gap...... they just move forward. As a pedestrian i have decided that waiting for the green man in the far east is probably a fairly sensible approach, but when he turns up you just walk........dont look,,,,,,,,try to ignore the hooting...........remember you have right of way............... and just walk (ideally at an even pace) and remarkably they will MISS YOU.

Of course when i get to Australia then i will probably need to be a bit more careful. Now i am not saying that Australian drivers are dangerous (although some states do have strange rules about being able to turn right even if its a red light) but they can spot a Pom a mile off and if they are not going to win the cricket then they might get their retaliation in early.

The Ashes are coming - can you make out what they are singing (part 2)

2010-11-21T10:12:00.003Z

Expect the Barmy Army to start off fairly early with this one:

Convict Colony

(To the tune of Yellow Submarine)

In the town where I was born, there lived a man who was a thief
And he told me of his life, stealing bread and shagging sheep.
So they put him in the nick, and then a magistrate he went to see
He said "put him on a ship, to the convict colony"
You all live in a convict colony, a convict colony, a convict colony
You all live in a convict colony, a convict colony, a convict colony

Hue

2010-11-21T09:48:00.002Z

Hue is in the central belt of Vietnam, and was for a period in the 19th /20th century the capital. A lot smaller than Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, it has a relaxed and cultured feel to it. Badly effected by war, it is going through a significant and long term ("50 year") restoration process for many of the historical areas. This was boosted by Unesco "World Heritage Site" listing in 1993 and much of the renovation is being sponsored by overseas support.

The city is dominated by the Perfume River and the Citadel that sits on its banks. This is one of the areas that is receiving greatest attention and as i walked round there were a number of workman in action. It seems to be undertaken in a unrushed and considered way. The Citadel is a vast area and consisted of living , religious and administrative areas for the Emperor- started at the beginning of 19th century. Pictures are here.

Outside of Hue are a number of historical sites - pagodas, temples and mausoleums. I spent a day on a guided tour which covered the four most popular sites. All are impressive in their individual way and certainly a peaceful change to the noise of Ho Chi Minh City. What slightly surprised me was the age of some of the buildings, i had not expected to be walking around sites constructed in the early 20th century - they all had a much more historical feel to them. If you think that the war with America was 40 years or so later, it just seems slightly strange. Pictures here.

Sometimes there is a downside in staying in nice hotels......

2010-11-20T09:48:00.004Z

The Intercontinental Ashiana in Ho Chi Minh City was very impressive. Good size room, decent wireless connection, spa/pool/gym, pleasant and attentive staff, varied TV channels (as demonstrated by previous post), good restaurant and of course...........bar.

The bar was called Purple Jade and was announcing the "musical talents of famous Canadian singer Karen Manion. Now I have nothing personally against Karen. Her style is cabaret/lounge/X Factor which appeals to some people (but i am in Simon Cowell's camp on this one) and she stuck to that style regardless of song.

Her rendition of James Blunt "Beautiful" was "interesting" (you are right it was the radio 2 version excluding the one F word)....................

her rendition of Wonderwall was a bit bizarre (although there are not many who could get anywhere close to the British Lions live 1997 version)..............

but when she went onto Amy Winehouse "Rehab" not only was i the one saying "no, no, no" but i had to check 1) whether i was the only one laughing and 2) whether she could see me (thankfully the bar had lots of dark cubicles).

And then at the end i heard the applause!!

Ho Chi Minh City

2010-11-19T10:56:00.003Z

A long flight to Singapore, scheduled 5 hour wait for connecting flight and 1 1/2 hour flight to HCM left me feeling slightly tired on arrival. That said large Asian towns dont do quiet/relaxed so the drive from the airport did the job of waking me up.

Motorbikes are the vehicle of choice and the driving technique common for Asia (go forward, hoot, go forward hoot, hopefully miss, go forward). But it somehow seems to work as whilst there is a lot of traffic it seems to move (eventually).

I only had one full day here, so decided on the standard half day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and then to walk around the centre (given hotel is right in heart) PM. The tunnels are interesting and whilst the Vietnamese frame is smaller than its European equivalent, it must still have been a claustrophobic environment. That said they only stayed there when the French and then the US were searching in the area so this was probably days rather than weeks at a time. Still, will not have been the most pleasant area to spend much time in.

Slightly effected by torrential rain in the afternoon but managed to get round the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. The Museum is the sort of place that you have to visit and whilst shocking and painful in some areas, very worthwhile.

Pictures here.

p.s. - writing this whilst watching recording of Ebbsfleet Town v Wimbledon on Star Sports. Must make a note to add this to my Sky Sports and ESPN subscriptions.

Updated tour dates announced...................

2010-11-15T12:03:00.003Z

24th Dec - Fly to Los Angeles then drive to Las Vegas

Staying at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay for 5 nights

Arrive back in UK 30th Dec.

Back to work..............................getting too close when i get back.

Slight change (19/11):

Decided a full drive to Vegas after the flight was probably not a good idea, so staying in Rancho Cucamonga (now don't tell me its not on your list of must visit towns) on the 24th and then driving to Las Vegas.

Final day Paris

2010-11-11T21:26:00.003Z

Happened to be armistice day

Pictures here.

The Ashes are coming - can you make out what they are singing (part 1)

2010-11-11T07:31:00.002Z

Ok, so to start off with an easy one:

Singer : Everywhere we go
Crowd : Everywhere we go
The people want to know
The people want to know
Who we are
Who we are
Where we come from
Where we come from
Shall we tell them
Shall we tell them
Who we are
Who we are
Where we come from
Where we come from
We are the England
We are the England
The Mighty Mighty England
The Mighty Mighty England
We are the Army
We are the Army
The Barmy Barmy Army
The Barmy Barmy Army
Andrew Strauss's Barmy Army
Etc Etc

Paris

2010-11-10T15:44:00.003Z

Paris is the one city that i was visiting that i know fairly well. Given its so easy to get to and the regular rugby opportunities (RWC 2007 - how did we get to the final with such a poor team?!?* and Six Nation thrashings) i have been there quite a bit. As such these couple of days have been more about:

- seeing some familiar sites (Lourve, Jardin du Luxembourg - my favourite park in Paris);
- just walking around taking in the Parisien way of life;
- and seeing some new sites - i had not been for example to the Jardin des Plantes which is part of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle.

Pictures here.

*That tournament cost me a packet. I had been lucky enough to get to the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Given England's form going into that event, i was confident enough just to book the quarter finals onwards - with some confidence that i would see England in more than one match (ok half time against the Welsh in the quarter final was a bit touch and go but we got through didn't we!) Going into the 2007 event, i had managed to book a "Follow England" package which got me tickets basicaly for as long as England played in the event. But to be honest i thought they would struggle and only booked travel and hotel options for the pool games. As things progressed i ended up trying to book trains/hotel at the last minute (the day after each time England won to get through to the next stage ) which was a bit expensive. It ended up costing me more than my three week trip to Australia in 2003. And we ended up losing the final in 2007!

It had to happen eventually............

2010-11-09T13:48:00.002Z

2-46pm on train sitting somewhere between Brussels and Paris......

Should have arrived in Paris at 1-56pm......

To be fair this is the first serious delay on my travels, apparently a TGV hit something ahead of us.

At least the train has decent Wi-fi.

Now just need to hope they sort out the problems with the A380's before my flight next week with Singapore Airlines. A few hours delay on a train on a wet afternoon on my way to Paris is fine, delay on flight to Vietnam via Singapore would be less fun.

Cologne

2010-11-08T15:17:00.003Z

Assuming that nobody from the Cologne Tourist Board is tracking my blog, i am fairly safe in admitting that Cologne was not on my original list of places to visit. I had my journey to Prague planned and then was looking to return via Vienna and Paris. However i could not see a way to do this comfortably within the two week period, hence the need to find an alternative route back (yes i guess i could have changed the early part of my trip and perhaps reversed the trip but it was getting too confusing!). So eventually the overnight train from Prague to Cologne seemed like a fairly efficient way back.

So its probably unfair to compare Cologne to the other (all capital) cities that i have visited. It was however a good way to spend a lazy Sunday (and indeed Monday as a lot of places were closed) despite the weather turning cold and wet for the early part of the stay.

Highlights included a visit to the Sculpture Park and also Cologne Zoo. I always have mixed thoughts about Zoos, taking animals out of there natural habitat etc.. but this one seemed well laid out and animal friendly. Strange however to be right in the centre of town (you can see some of the apartment blocks in the photos).

Pictures here.

Why Train?

2010-11-07T08:40:00.001Z

I am not a railway buff or a trainspotter, although i was excited to see three S450 locomotives on my trip from Berlin to Prague. So why travel around by train rather than plane or car?

Well to be honest i am not sure, other than it seemed like a good idea - and generally speaking it has been. The journeys have actually gone quite quickly - i was slightly worried that i would get bored on a 3-4 hour train journey but a combination of book,laptop,ipod and interesting scenery has meant that has not happened. It has been remarkably easy, everywhere has instructions in English including details of which carriage is at each end of the train (and the fact that on most journeys you need seat reservations actually makes things easier). Its certainly been a lot easier and probably quicker than flying which would have been an option on each of the journeys.

Thoroughly recommended.

*Only joking about the S450 locomotives by the way, could not find anything on wikipedia to make out i knew about trains so just made it up.

Prague

2010-11-07T08:22:00.003Z

This was my first time in Prague and i was not sure what to expect. Many have said that its one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but it has become stag party capital of Europe - how does that comfortably sit side by side?

To be honest i am not sure it does. Yes the old town is quite stunning and the views from the castle are very impressive. There is character all around the place and generally speaking the architecture has been well matched over the years. But in other places it struggles to combine old and new and has characteristics that reflect it is still trying to catch up with the rest if Western Europe economically. Wherever you go in the world there are people trying to entice you into one restaurant rather than another but here it seemed less charming than other places. And the variety of people encouraging you from early evening into the local "cabaret" don't add to the atmosphere.

Most European cities are now trying to encourage the upper end traveller and Prague will need to decide whether it wants to remain a party city or takes steps such as those adopted by Dublin to try and move up market. I enjoyed my couple of days here but i suspect in a few years time it will either be a lot better or lot worse place to go.

Picture here

Stats:

Books read - one yes i have finished The Millennium Trilogy. I have now decided to attempt a much more challenging and controversial read - Peter Kay : "Saturday Night Peter"

Weather - good, dry and warm for most of the time. It did rain from around midday on Saturday, but i somehow managed to cope by finding a sports bar that showed both the Bolton v Spurs match and then the England v New Zealand rugby. Shame about the result.

I guess i am actually travelling quite a distance.........

2010-11-03T14:40:00.004Z

View Train around Europe in a larger map

(ok, so i have only now worked out how to play with Google Maps - and you have to open larger map to see all locations. Be warned, more may follow)

Berlin

2010-11-03T13:33:00.005Z

Berlin is the only city where i am spending three nights. Thats partly because its quite a distance from Amsterdam so i spend more time travelling and arrive late PM, and secondly because its a city i have not been to before. Staying at Novotel and whilst when i arrived i thought it was at bit out of the way, once i had undertaken the standard city bus tour i realised that actually Berlin is quite compact and i was close to a lot of the main areas.

Its probably a city that would have been fascinating before the fall of the Wall (or shortly thereafter) but the city has a more historic feel that means that actually the period between WW2 and fall of Wall is but a small part of its heritage. Much of the city was of course devastated during WW2 but the historical buildings that have survived are quite stunning and give a glimpse to what must have been one of the most impressive European Cities in the 18th and 19th century. Work post unification has been significant (scary to think thats 20 years ago).

Overall quite impressed. Pictures here.

Amsterdam

2010-11-02T08:19:00.003Z

I guess Amsterdam never changes.......

Canals...

Strange smells coming out of Strabucks....

Friendly young (and old) ladies waving from their front room...

More canals.....

Pictures here

Brussels

2010-10-31T09:17:00.006Z

One and a half days spent in Brussels, following arrival by Eurostar Thursday lunchtime. I had not been to Brussels since i was a child, but to be honest i dont think it will have changed a great deal. Fairly compact it was easy to walk around helped by bright but chilly autumn weather.

Photos can be seen at picasa site. Now i am off to Amsterdam, another place that i have not visited since childhood. Last time i remember at some stage being told by my parents to "just look forward or look at the ground - don't look at the windows!" i wonder what the view will be like now.

Stats:
Hotel - NH du Grand Sablon, comfortable but lacked a bit of character. Well located in Sablon area which seemed to be the antiques area.

Food - found a good french restuarant "L'Estrille"and a Thai "Lotus Bar"

Books - finished "The girl who played with fire" on train to Amsterdam, so that leaves me with one part of the trilogy to go.

Not long until the Ashes

2010-10-20T11:18:00.006+01:00

Just wondering whether Marston's are going to launch a new set of adverts for the Ashes or whether Fosters are going to try and hit back. When Australia toured in 2009 they were greeted with the images above.

Europe Tour Dates

2010-10-18T16:36:00.004+01:00

Perhaps not as widely anticipated as U2's latest world tours but the final rail journey plans are:

28th Oct - London to Brussels
30th Oct - Brussels to Amsterdam
1st Nov - Amsterdam to Berlin
4th Nov - Berlin to Prague
6th Nov - Prague to Cologne
9th Nov - Cologne to Paris
11th Nov - Paris to London

Final thoughts on Philidelphia

2010-10-18T16:08:00.008+01:00

So arrived back in London 6am Monday morning.

The bridge finished for us on Saturday evening. After the main event we played a long Imp Pairs competition (two days qualifier/two and a half day final) ending up 30th in 72 pair final. But for one poor session in final we would have ended up a more reasonable top ten finish and with more momentum might have had a chance. We then endured the closing ceremony that was not the greatest advert for a game looking to widen its appeal to the young and the poker fraternity

Brief thoughts on Phili:

Good vibe helped by the fact that the home team was in the baseball play-offs which created exciting atmosphere.

Well laid out. Traditional numbers by names (mostly trees) road layout. The city had been influenced by planners that had spent time in Paris and so the large museum/cultural area had large boulevards and lots of open space.

Friendly people. Most of the time in the states that you hear "you guys have such a great accent" you smile politely and walk away but for some reason it did not seem so cheesy there.

Good weather - mids 70's in October seems a lot more acceptable than the cold that greeted me at Heathrow

Stats :
Books read : 1 "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"(ok i know its been out for a long time but i only really get to read novels on holiday)
I Pod Tunes of Choice : mainly on shuffle
Quality of Flights: BA might be the "World's favourite airline" but it would not be in my top ten. Nothing in particular to complain about but the general atmosphere is wrong and they still seem to struggle with the concept that the customer is more important than the crew.
Blackberry: still untouched

Philadelphia

2010-10-09T19:32:00.007+01:00

So Saturday brings the first day off from Bridge since arrival last weekend.

Paul's blog provides details of our performance to date but in summary:

- Random stuff warming up in the Regional;

- Did well to qualify from tough group in the main qualifying for Rosenblum. No mega stars but a solid group which was close from the outset. I think most of the team did travel with hope rather than expectation that we would qualify but i only found out later that my 33% chance of qualifying was possibly at the upper end of expectations!

- Drawn against Irish in round of 64. Certainly had chances, leading after first quarter, close going into last set but lost a few more on the way out.

- The rest of the team now move to the Open Pairs, with Paul and I having a few days off before the start of the Imp Pairs.

To try and get my bearings i took one of those city centre tourist bus trips. These can vary from extremely poor to being a great way of seeing the city. This was certainly at the better end and had the advantage of being able to jump off/on at different places, with another bus coming 20 mins later. As well as being able to spend some time at different places of interest (trip was more of a chance to decide where to visit later in the week) it enabled you to change your tour host when their "wit" / "enthusiasm" became too much to bear. To see the photos of the tour go to my Picasa site . Main point of interest was the Eastern State Penitentiary which was the first of its kind in the world and was replicated in many places.

Day one

2010-10-01T16:27:00.003+01:00

So finished work Thursday for three months. With flight to Phili tomorrow lunchtime day one consisted of last part of packing - ok so that means moving from the planning (" i know the suitcase is somewhere") to action/panic stage.

Blackberry has gone into the drawer to hibernate for three months and so far i have not really felt the desire to just double check whats going on in the real world of work.

With Ryder Cup badly effected by rain, day one has also consisted of stopping myself from sampling the delights of daytime TV. Jeremy Kyle, Loose Women etc... are likely to prompt me to come back to work early.

ps the dna test proved the baby was his, and she has agreed to have him back. Oh what a wonderful world we live in

pps if i make another reference to Jeremy Kyle on this blog over the next three months, then everyone has the official excuse to shoot me on sight.

Itinerary down under

2010-09-21T21:41:00.004+01:00

WED 17 NOV LONDON (HEATHROW) to SINGAPORE

THU 18 NOV SINGAPORE to HO CHI MINH CITY (SAIGON)

SAT 20 NOV HO CHI MINH CITY (SAIGON) to HUE

MON 22 NOV HUE to HANOI

WED 24 NOV HANOI to SINGAPORE

WED 24 NOV SINGAPORE to PERTH

FRI 26 NOV PERTH to BROOME,W.A

TUE 30 NOV BROOME,W.A. to PERTH

WED 01 DEC RAIL from Perth arriving in Adelaide at 07:20 2 days later

WED 08 DEC ROBE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

THU 09 DEC PORT FAIRY, VICTORIA

FRI 10 DEC APOLLO BAY, VICTORIA

SUN 12 DEC MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

TUE 14 DEC MELBOURNE to SINGAPORE

TUE 14 DEC SINGAPORE to LANGKAWI

SAT 18 DEC LANGKAWI to SINGAPORE

SUN 19 DEC SINGAPORE to LONDON (HEATHROW)

Time off

2010-09-21T21:30:00.003+01:00

I know this is supposed to be about sporting adventures abroad, but indulge me by letting me expand things a bit. From 1st October i am taking 3 months off work and intend to travel including getting to Adelaide for the Ashes test (so it is about sport really). Will post itinerary as it gets finalised but basically it breaks downs into:

Philadelphia for 2 weeks for the World Bridge Series;
Week up to Scotland and back;
Two weeks travelling around Europe by train;
A month travelling to Vietnam/Australia and Malaysia.

A few days at home in between to catch up with normal life, washing, ironing (well supervising ironing) etc...

Test - Day Five

2008-12-24T14:09:00.000Z

India win series with Mohali draw

With fog delaying the start again, India decided that a draw was the only result and tried to get both Gambhir and Yuvrav to a century, both falling short.

The Indian press have been divided on whether the team should have pressed for a win. They lost momentum on the 4th day when slow batting stopped them from being in a position to declare overnight. With time likely to be lost on the last day this appeared like a very conservative approach

So whats the right approach? To make sure of the series victory and avoid defeat at all cost, or to look to win every match??

ps the weather was the victor the following day, with fog shutting the airport until around 2pm. Despite the best efforts of our local agent, there was no way that we could get to Goa and have ended up in Delhi tonight. Still an early morning flight will get us to Goa in time for the Queen's speech.

Test - Day Four

2008-12-22T12:28:00.000Z

Batsmen restore India's control

Any chance of an England run chase on the last day fell away with the batting performance before lunch which saw a paltry amount added for the last 4 wickets. After that India seemed more interested in getting into a position where they could not lose match and batted slowly all afternoon, until a small cameo from Yuvraj (which given his is a local lad went down well with the crowd).

India will declare sometime in the morning and whilst it is always difficult to bat only to avoid defeat, it is important that England manage to hold on.

Test - Day Three

2008-12-21T13:12:00.000Z

India rally after Pietersen ton

Well apart from two wickets first thing, and two wickets at the close of play it was a good day. Some comments were made about both Strauss and Pietersen's decision but to be fair they were both close and could go either way. Pietersen was his typical belligerent best and after his failure in the first test, and the pressure of going in after two quick dismissals this was one of those situations where he has often shown his temperament.

"Four more for the England"

Test - Day Two

2008-12-20T16:12:00.000Z

Indian duo leave England trailing

After Indian dominance day one, England needed to take wickets early to stand any chance of a victory. The pitch continues to hold up well and we were to see the continued dominance of Gambhir and Dravid take India out of contention.

To be fair England held on well and had the better of the last two sessions, dismissing India just before close of play (bad light stopping England from having to deal with a few overs). All England bowlers contributed and in Swann we may be seeing a contender for the spinning all-rounder that the team needs.

Security remains tight and its difficult to get round the ground. We did manage to sneak into the Students stand (which to locals cost 20 rupees - about 30p) to get some of the local atmosphere.

Test- Day One

2008-12-19T11:34:00.000Z

Gambhir century puts India on top

After two days of perfect weather since we arrived, the morning brought cloud and the scene when arriving at the ground had more of an Old Trafford in April feel than sub-continent.

Security not surprisingly was high when entering the ground, but this has been a feature of the tour to date. For the first time we have come across the double frisk, one person does the top half with a seated guard doing the bottom half!

Moving around the ground is not simple, the best marketing mind has managed to partition off the souvenirs shop, so that it took some negotiation with the guards (having only a pass to gate 1a with shop at 1b), another scan, another search before being able to reach the shop (having eventually worked out you needed to go through the ladies search area.

The cricket started well, with Broad opening with a good spell rewarded by the wicket of Sehwag. That brought in the out of form Dravid who looked uncertain early. England bowled ok, but the wicket seemed fairly innocuous and gradually Dravid became more confident with Gambhir showing the fine form he has been in during 2008. A delay for bad light at the outset and also before close (not unexpected) meant that only 70 odd overs were bowled but India ended in a strong position.

Chandigarh

2008-12-17T08:34:00.000Z

As it had been described by a client as the Milton Keynes of India, my expectations of Chandigarh were not great. The second test had been moved from Mumbai to initially Chennai and finally to Mohali which is effectively a suburb of the capital Chandigarh. So after arriving on Tuesday, I have full week to spend including the 5 (?) days of the test match.

So today was the usual city tour – beforehand it had not received a great billing and it was to cover the three main attractions of the city – the rose garden, rock garden and lake.

I must admit to never having spent any time in Milton Keynes. I have got many trains through it, have changed trains there and have probably driven through the outskirts on a few occassions. Its reputation is mixed, those that live there enjoy it, those from outside who spend time there or like me who barely know it, generally regard it as souless. But it is an example of urban planning, you start with a fairly blank sheet of paper and design a town to accommodate the needs (everchanging) of a new population.

So the same is true of Chandigarh, it was created after the partition of India/Pakistan as the capital of the Punjab state, which had been divided between India and Pakistan. A number of archtiects were used but the most famous is Le Corbusier, who included wide boulevards, parks running down the whole of the town (the lungs of the town) and plenty of open space. Design of new buildings need to provide mix of living and green space, this will never be high density, and is controlled.

So this meant the traffic was less chaotic, and also it seemed generally less crowdy than the India we had seen todate. The highlight of the tour is the rock garden.

Built over many years it is effectively a rubbish tip – ie the most environmentally friendly garden in the world made up of rubbish collected and displayed in highly thoughtful manner. It is difficult todescribe but was featured in Monty Don's best 80 gardens in the world and rightly so

Jaipur

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After the Taj Mahal, we had travelled to Jaipur via road, stopping off at a palace along the way and then taking in the sites/sounds that the road journey provided.

Along the way we stopped off at a Haveli in a village. It is a very tranquil location and would be perfect for a few days stop. The locals were obviously used to tourists stopping by, but we were still something of a curiosity.

The following day we spent some time seeing the sights of Jaipur. I will post some photos shortly but in the meantime......

The cricket

England crushed by Tendulkar ton

At the end of the day it was an excellent performance by India. It showed the class they have in their batting line up and to be honest at the start of the match, a close defeat was probably as much as England could have expected. That said defeats such as this, after being in a strong position are difficult to take and it will be interesting how England react.

England arrive in Chandigarh

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Short flight from Jaipur to Delhi, couple of hours wait and then another 45 mins flight to Chandighar.

We are staying at the same hotel as both teams and therefore had a welcome from the press (the teams were to arrive a couple of hours later). It took the press a few minutes to work out that the tour contained a group of supporters and not players but they were happy to snap away in any event. So next time your are in a dentist in Delhi, pick up a two month old Indian version of Hello and see me waiving, you will know that this was the source.

Now to decide, how much to charge for an autograph......

Taj Mahal

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Sometimes it is better to let the pictures talk:

The cricket

Sehwag blitz sets up tense finale

England dominate for most of the day - ok so a few good strikes at the end of the day give India some entertainment, but surely........

Flashback - are the aussies coming?

2008-12-15T12:28:00.000Z

Brisbane

Lions tour 2001.

First Test

Walking to stadium.

Hundreds of lions supporters, all in colours (the red used by the combined nations - well the welsh would complain if it was any colour other than red). A sea of red, presumably the aussies must get to the ground early to sample the atmosphere??

But no. Not only was the ground full of lions supporters but the aussies were camouflaged (in later matches they would be given gold flags and tops to try and match the invaders - but never got close).

With Jason Robinson scoring a try in the corner in front of us, and the Lions winning with some ease, you could see why they stayed away. Later we were told that Brisbane was a rugby league area, not union. Probably true but a good excuse after the result.

Travel to Agra

2008-12-15T12:09:00.000Z

Leave Delhi early morning and the journey (c 4 hours) by road to Agra begins. The roads are still novel and entertaining to us and so the journey itself does not feel too long. Our driver is obviously a man in control. Whilst he appears a calm gentleman, he knows when to use the horn, that in doubt you put the foot even harder to the pedal (either accelerator or break) and manages to get us there in one piece.

On arrival lunch, and then a journey to Itmad-ud- daulah (known as the Baby Taj) and to Agra Fort. Both are extremely interesting and we are beginning to understand a bit more about the history - Britain obviously had a significant effect but realistically played a part in a very small (albeit important) part of India's history

The cricket

Strauss stars as England dominate

A strong combined bowling effort, a lead of 75, three fairly cheap wickets and then the match appears to turn.

Strauss (yes him again) and Collingwood (lucky in many peoples eyes to get the nod ahead of Shah) putting in a fourth wicket stand that puts England in a very strong position.

Delhi Tour

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New guide for the day Punma, who took us around the sights, noises and smells of Delhi. Delhi is a complicated place, seven old cities, a new city, lots of people and chaos on the streets. We managed to see a lot of history, take our lives in our hands with a rickshaw ride and get to understand the sales techniques of the locals (don't give up, don't ever give up).

The Cricket -

Swann on song as England prosper

Indifferent batting sees England short of the aspirational 400, but a strong bowling performance sees England edging day 2. Swann, yes the slow bowler (it would be wrong when in India to call him a spinner) becomes one of only two bowlers to take two wickets in his first over in test cricket. The other was Richard Johnson against Zimbabwe and we all know what happened to him (the amount of people who will say “Richard who “ reflects the impact he made on test cricket.

Arriving in Delhi

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Day one – arrive Delhi

I am travelling to watch the second test and taking in some of the sights beforehand and then relaxing in Goa afterwards. The tour has been organised by The Cricket Tour Company.

I went with the same company to New Zealand and they had a good balance between efficiency and friendly approach, small groups and reasonable value for money (i use the word reasonable just in case they read this and look to increase their prices!). They had managed very well with the chaos after the Mumbai attack and i always had confidence that they would organise something provided it was safe to travel.

So flight direct to Delhi and my trip to India started. Local guide Amit met us at the airport and we had our first sight of driving in India between Airport and Hotel.

Now this is probably a good time to try (and to be honest its impossible) and describe the roads in India.

At first glance it appears like chaos on the streets with cars beeping vans, vans beeping three wheelers, three wheelers tooting rickshaws/people on the street. But after a while it makes sense. Use of the horn is not an aggressive approach but just a polite “hello I'm here – would you mind getting out of thew way”. Well not quite but despite the apparent mayhem the traffic moves (well something akin to M25 on a Friday evening) and I have yet to see an accident. Over the next few days, travelling outside Delhi, you get used to Cows, Water Buffalo or other animals on side, in middle and all over the road and also cars coming towards you in the fast lane of your side of the road. Just to repeat no accidents seen to date but the cars do appear to have a few scratches here or there.

The Cricket – Plenty of time to watch the highlights on TV (repeated all evening).

England falter after Strauss Ton

England start well with Strauss/Cook having their first partnership of any note for some while. Not much from the middle order and the position ends nicely poised. Given the recent one day performances and the turmoil, overall better than expectations.

Flashback - my first test match memory

2008-12-15T11:04:00.000Z

1981.

The Oval.

Botham's ashes.

As a schoolboy i had watched the test series on TV. Botham's hitting, the bollowing of Willis, all inspired by Graham Dilley taking the initiative with the bat.

I went to the oval test match. Memories of uncomfortable seating (benches), Lamb going down the wicket to the Aussie fast bowlers and Dirk Wellham. In the second innings Wellham scored a century but seemed to take an age in the nervous nineties. The home crowd soon got on his back and suddenly he could not get the ball off the square. Memories play tricks on you but it seemed like it took him ages to get to three figures but eventually he did.

First real memories of test cricket - an England Test Series victory - what a cruel world, to set such expectation in a young man, was it to contunue this way.............

Welcome

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So whats this all about? For years i have combined two passions of sport and travel by watching a number of major sporting events abroad. This is mostly cricket and rugby and being English has included a number of high and very low moments. This blog starts in India 2008 which whilst typing has seen England succeed in losing a test match that most people thought they had done enough to win.

Its an appropriate start.

So going forward as well as providing a diary of a sporting tour (which would always include getting to know the country as well as watching sport) i thought i would share a few flashbacks from previous sporting events i have attended.