The World Challenge team arrived back safely at Newcastle airport late last night to a lovely warm reception from their families. It was the best feeling in the world!
Emotions were running high, but what else would you expect after a month away!
What else can I say but VERY WELL DONE EVERYONE, FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SO PROUD OF YOU ALL!
Enjoy the rest of your summer break :)
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Awe & Wonder!
Having arrived in Agra yesterday afternoon we settled into our new hostel pretty quickly.
First impressions; Agra seemed to be like most towns we'd travelled through, lots of poverty, rubbish piled on the road sides, stray dogs and cattle roaming the streets and roads clogged with traffic, tuk tuks, bicycles and buses with people sitting on the tops.Water buffalo's wallowing in the mud and rubbish, barbers on the road side, children playing on mounds of debris and filth! It's quite emotional taking all this in as you travel through in the bus.
We were told by our guide not to go outside on our own, so we stayed in the confines of our hostel for the evening. To be honest we were tired out after all the travelling. Humidity was very high and the temperature was high 30's.Phew pretty sticky!! Cold showers were a godsend.
Today we have been so lucky to have visited one of the Seven Wonders of the World- the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort.
It was everything we expected and more! It looked so serene and beautiful. Needless to say we were snap happy with our cameras and took endless photographs, sitting on the seat 'Lady Diana' had sat on. Our guide took some funny and unusual photographs, which we will show you on our return!
We experienced some of the monsoon weather today too and got wet through at the Red Fort-it was quite refreshing though!
It is our last night in Agra and tomorrow morning we will move on to Delhi; another six hour coach journey. We are going to be staying next to the airport so that on Saturday we don't have too far to travel.
Our month away has flown over, we have experienced so many different situations, coped with new challenges and built new friendships. We are a very fortunate group of people to have travelled this far across the world and we hope everyone back in the UK will look forward to hearing all about our experiences and looking at our many photographs!!
I know we are all looking forward to coming back and to enjoying our home comforts once again.
Till Saturday we'll say 'cheerio' and see you at Newcastle airport about 10.00pm :)
First impressions; Agra seemed to be like most towns we'd travelled through, lots of poverty, rubbish piled on the road sides, stray dogs and cattle roaming the streets and roads clogged with traffic, tuk tuks, bicycles and buses with people sitting on the tops.Water buffalo's wallowing in the mud and rubbish, barbers on the road side, children playing on mounds of debris and filth! It's quite emotional taking all this in as you travel through in the bus.
We were told by our guide not to go outside on our own, so we stayed in the confines of our hostel for the evening. To be honest we were tired out after all the travelling. Humidity was very high and the temperature was high 30's.Phew pretty sticky!! Cold showers were a godsend.
Today we have been so lucky to have visited one of the Seven Wonders of the World- the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort.
It was everything we expected and more! It looked so serene and beautiful. Needless to say we were snap happy with our cameras and took endless photographs, sitting on the seat 'Lady Diana' had sat on. Our guide took some funny and unusual photographs, which we will show you on our return!
We experienced some of the monsoon weather today too and got wet through at the Red Fort-it was quite refreshing though!
It is our last night in Agra and tomorrow morning we will move on to Delhi; another six hour coach journey. We are going to be staying next to the airport so that on Saturday we don't have too far to travel.
Our month away has flown over, we have experienced so many different situations, coped with new challenges and built new friendships. We are a very fortunate group of people to have travelled this far across the world and we hope everyone back in the UK will look forward to hearing all about our experiences and looking at our many photographs!!
I know we are all looking forward to coming back and to enjoying our home comforts once again.
Till Saturday we'll say 'cheerio' and see you at Newcastle airport about 10.00pm :)
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
En route to taj Mahal, Agra
We3 left the hippy town of Manali and travelled overnight by coach reaching Delhi at 6.00am this morning!
At present e are in the reservation centre awaiting our coach to Agra!
At present e are in the reservation centre awaiting our coach to Agra!
Monday, 1 August 2011
Rest & Relaxation-at last!!
R&R is now well underway; no more camping and trekking over high passes, getting washed in the freezing streams of Ladakh and eating rice, noodles and dal morning, noon and night!Don't get me wrong, we loved everything about the trekking phase but after 12 days we were so looking forward to a proper shower and bed!
What can i say about Manali, it's in the foothills of the Himalayas, this side of the range is completely different, lush vegetation, very green, much more moisture and humid. The town is very busy with the main street running just outside our guest house.You can imagine we are quite conspicuous amongst the locals, especially our fair skinned blonde haired Challengers!However everyone is coping well with all the attention and probably loving every moment!
We spent a lovely morning in Old Manali; we all shared a tuk tuk to get there. Haha our driver was avoiding the dogs, cows and old ladies crossing the road, we felt like we were in a car rally- really good fun!
Old Manali is very different from where we are staying, so much quieter, no-one in your face getting you to buy whatever, loads of hippy style shops to improve our bartering skills and what did i see immediately - A DREADED SNAKE CHARMER WITH A YELLOW COBRA! Whaooo ! was away up the hill without another glance back!
The group bought clothing and presents for themselves, families and friends. It was a really relaxing morning, getting the feel for this new part of India.
Tomorrow afternoon we are moving on from Manali on the overnight coach to Delhi, about 14 hours travelling. However this should be a different experience as the group have booked a luxury coach with reclining seats. Let's hope so-fingers crossed! From Delhi we hope to book a 6 hr coach journry to Agra- Taj Mahal.
We couldn't visit Northern India without going to this World Heritage site.
Will keep you all posted!
Thank you for your comments, it's so good to know you are following our progress!
What can i say about Manali, it's in the foothills of the Himalayas, this side of the range is completely different, lush vegetation, very green, much more moisture and humid. The town is very busy with the main street running just outside our guest house.You can imagine we are quite conspicuous amongst the locals, especially our fair skinned blonde haired Challengers!However everyone is coping well with all the attention and probably loving every moment!
We spent a lovely morning in Old Manali; we all shared a tuk tuk to get there. Haha our driver was avoiding the dogs, cows and old ladies crossing the road, we felt like we were in a car rally- really good fun!
Old Manali is very different from where we are staying, so much quieter, no-one in your face getting you to buy whatever, loads of hippy style shops to improve our bartering skills and what did i see immediately - A DREADED SNAKE CHARMER WITH A YELLOW COBRA! Whaooo ! was away up the hill without another glance back!
The group bought clothing and presents for themselves, families and friends. It was a really relaxing morning, getting the feel for this new part of India.
Tomorrow afternoon we are moving on from Manali on the overnight coach to Delhi, about 14 hours travelling. However this should be a different experience as the group have booked a luxury coach with reclining seats. Let's hope so-fingers crossed! From Delhi we hope to book a 6 hr coach journry to Agra- Taj Mahal.
We couldn't visit Northern India without going to this World Heritage site.
Will keep you all posted!
Thank you for your comments, it's so good to know you are following our progress!
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