Bako wildlife

The pigs are Borneo Bearded Pigs - a mother and four young ones appeared and then Tess found the monster male a little later. The monkey is the Silver Langur which was part of a very large group we watched for some time included a tiny bright orange baby. We also say Proboscus Monkeys - too high in the trees for a photo and also a Long Tailed Macaque hanging around hoping to steal someones food or can of drink. The snake is a Waglers Pit Viper.

Some photos from our visit with William and Becky to Bako Wildlife Reserve near Kuching today - reached via a rather exciting boat ride down the crocodile infested estuary (villager attacked last week William was told). We took a hike of 800 metres to which you say 'What? don't you mean 8km?" and we say you try 800 metres scrabbling up and down steep rises and falls of rocks and tree roots in this kind of heat and humidity! There was at least a nice beach at the end of it.

We will come back to add the correct names of the animals seen once we check back with William. Thanks William and Becky for a great day, three kinds of monkeys seen!

Brian

We swam in the South China Sea and it was very refreshing after our short jungle hike, 800m took us 3/4's of an hour, that included standing quietly fro some time trying to get a good sighting of some monkeys in the tall, tall trees. The trees are amazing with huge, twisted roots that spread around them and creepers hanging down and things like orchids and ferns growing in every crevice and fissure in the bark.

The beach had a rock garden cliff that would have won a gold at the Chelsea Flower Show, no trouble at all and every where you looked huge butterflies and big, red bodied Dragonflies flitting about. We also saw a White Collared Kingfisher, several waders, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Whimbrel, Cattle Egret in breeding plumage a Fish Eagle and the biggest ants I have ever seen.

Tess

The Longhouse visit

There is nightlife in Kuching! We have had a couple of experiences of keeping restaurants open past about 7.30pm but tonight we strolled down to the riverside, stopped at a restaurant beside the river (which advertised itself as open for 24 hours) and were rewarded by the most spectacular sunset behind the distant hills and along the river, followed shortly afterwards by the flocks of egrets returning up river. Later as we strolled back we came across an indigenous musician wearing just a loin cloth and plenty of tatoos and then heard some noise up a street with a Chinese temple to come across a sort of talent night with karoake - we seemd to catch the Cliff Richard soundalike.

Cliff Richard was very much on our minds as we went inland with Ahmad today towards the Indonesian border to a longhouse. He turns out to be a big fan and we were rolling along to the sounds of 'Summer Holiday' and trying to temper Ahmad's admiration of George Galloway who he must see on Al Jazeera I guess, we tried to tell him that even if you agreed with him you had to suspect his motives but its an uphill battle ('but he's so clear, such a good orator!').

The longhouse visit was certainly a highlight of the Sarawak visit, it took about an hour to get there on a very good road into some beautiful hills until we reached Kampong Anna Rais. There we first registered and paid a small donation to the Bidayuh people's co-operative who run the visitor side of things. The village has some separate wooden houses but is mostly composed of raised bamboo platforms with houses on each side. As we entered we were given some rice wine and then left to stroll along the bamboo 'street' where some people sold beads etc or were busy making things, the street often filled with large mats with rice and barley drying in the sun.

At the far end of the third long house we were invited to sit and chat by a couple of guys, one proved to have excellent english and told me I could be a returning British serviceman - in the colonial days they had a camp nearby building communications and some of them used to come to the longhouse in the evenings and talk. He proved to have a strong grasp of world affairs (they all have satelite television) and we discussed everything from the Palestinians to the Premier League (on which subject he knew a great deal more than me since he confessed to having subscribed to 'Shoot' since the 1970s). It was peaceful and I have to say everyone treated us like guests, we really were sorry to leave - they obviously value the traditional way of life enough to keep it going, albeit in modified form.

Tomorrow William and Becky are taking us to the Bako National Park where we hope to see Proboscis monkeys and other wild life (and nothing too dangerous we hope!)

Brian

Steamy Sarawak

one of the very best things in Kuching, an iced Sumatran coffee with ice cream at the Black Bean Coffee Shop, and a view of Fairview and its gardens

It is amazing how different ones outlook is when one is no longer plagued by a sore stomach. I spent a lot of the week in S'pore feeling very much below par, uncomfortable and frankly full of wind. I kept hoping as I woke each morning that I was better or improving and indeed on Thursday, the day I went to the fantastic Botanical Gardens I was feeling better, but on Friday I felt terrible. Thankfully Brian decided when we arrived at Fairveiw in Kutchin that I needed to see a Dr and (I was too woe begon for such assertiveness) and our new friend Ahmed Bin Said, took us off to the hospital and I got antibiotics and other stuff, including charcoal tablets 'to soak up the toxins' as the nice Chinese Dr said and now I feel really quite perky.

Sarawak is hot and steamy, sweating is what you do standing still and if you move about much you drip, it really is quite alarming to lose so much liqud so quickly and not difficult to understand why the Dr in S'pore told Brian that 'drink a lot of liquid' meant 2 to 3 litres per day.
The sun is really hot, in the early morning its ok, but by about 9.30 the sun is really quite high and from then till about 5.30 you want a hat, an umberella or to be in the shade. having said all that and though I thought I would never like it I am beginning to enjoy the heat, as long as there is a bit of breeze and its not too overcast.

Fairview guest house in Kutchin is a fun place. Its run by the admirable Eric on behalf of his nephew who is the owner. He was left the property by his adopted father, the first speaker of the Sarwak legislature. This guy sadly lost his wife on his wedding night (why? dont know), never married again and adopted Erics nephew because Erics family were kind to him when he was lonely. Eric said his nephew was born with a wooden spoon in his mouth, but I think he meant silver.

The guest house looks as though it might have been built in the 30's, its nice, big comunal sitting room with tv & computer, dining room and kitchen that all guests can use. There are two big fridges, one for guests to put their stuff and another with beer, water etc in it. You take what you need and put a note in the book. There is a good, inexpensive laundry service and I think all the rooms have a/c and fans and the prices are very reasonable. The rooms are basic, ensuit bathrooms clean, towels fine but the beds are a bit hard and the pillows leave a bit to be desired and there is strange green glass in all the bedroom windows.

The best thing about it is the complete informality, guests gather over tea and chat, watch tv toghether and swap tales. In our five days there we have met 2 Sweedish girls very blond and cheerful, a very nice American woman of our age visiting her daughter, a British guy and a Danish couple and a group of loud but nice young people from an International School in Singapore who were off to do some voluntary work at a school, oh and a large group of very cheery and kind ladies from Singapore who were having a four day holiday in Sarawak.

Our current abode is absolutly wonderful, only two days here, but what a treat. More later.

Tess

A little luxury

We are at a rather lovely place on the Sarawak coast - found by Diana Cook, and William and Becky a few days ago (I am not sure how as its down a little lane and is unmarked except for a notice saying 'Private Property') but it is a small resort of about a dozen or so rooms around a lovely pool and a short step away from the beach. Iced water is brought to your side as you relax on the loungers and the food seems excellent on our first try. All this for about what you pay for a good B&B in the UK. I would tell you its name and location but I rather fear seeing it in a future travel supplement at the usual cost of several hundred dollars per night! Maybe not as Kuching I think is rather off the main tourist trail. We are having this little treat for two nights before returning to Kuching and the alternative attractions of the Fairview Guest House (of which more perhaps later).

Brian

Borneo Wildlife

some pics from the visits, a jumping croc tempted by some hanging meat, a Sumatran Whip Viper seen nearby to one of the orang utang viewing places (dangerous), a couple of the orang utangs (can you spot the small baby clinging to its mother?) and one of Tess and Admad feeding some fish

This morning we were up before 7am, had breakfast by 7.45 (I ate, Brian did not having had a touch of tummy trouble himself) and off we went with Ahmad Bin Said to the Semengoh Nature Reserve. It is about half an hours drive away, in a forested area and they rehabilitate orphaned Orang-utans who have been found after forest fires or have been rescued from captivity. The animals are taught the skill they need to survive as wild creatures and there are about twenty four Orang-outans in the reserve, some of whom have been born there to released mothers, so it is a very successful programme.

Anyway the sky was blue, the sun was out and off we went, hoping that we would be lucky enough to see these wonderful, wild creatures in their natural habitat. By the time we got to Semengoh the morning was beginning to heat up and first of all we had to wait in an area near the animal hospital, while the wardens bustled about with big buckets of fruit and shouted into the Jungle. All the Orang-utangs have names and they know that if they are peckish, breakfast is served at 9am. Anyway as we stood and watched we could see the trees tops in the distance shake a bit, is it more breezy than I thought, no its an Orang-utang swinging from branch to branch to come and get some breakfast!

I can't tell you how exiting it was to get the first glimpse of a big, ginger arm or leg. It really was magic, they look so like humans, but so unlike as well, because they are so relaxed and so limber. To watch them move through the trees is just wonderful and I found myself longing to be an Ourang-utang for just a day, just an hour would do, to be able to hang upside down holding on to a branch with your toe whilst swinging in an arch in order to catch the next branch with the tips of the fingers of one hand. Never faltering for a moment, just flying through the branches, wow!

In all we saw seven Orang-outangs, two mothers, one with a big baby and one with a very small baby (the latest birth, born in early February), one teenager and two other young adults, it was so fantastic that I run the risk of repeating myself. We watched them for about an hour, interestingly they can hold a piece of fruit in each foot and in each hand and still peel a banana with their teeth and eat it. They really do love fruit.

Just to give you an idea of the temperature and humidity, glasses steam up while you stand about and clothes become soaked without any exertion and you drip (I am not kidding) as soon as you start moving around, only the locals don't seem to notice the heat though they do move slowly.

After the Ourang-utangs we went on to see the Crocodiles at Jongs Crocodile farm. The crocs have no charm, many more sharp teeth and are not vegetarian. There was also a huge lake full of very large fish and loads of lotus plants in flower, so that was good and we saw the most extra ordinary, huge flightless bird. It was from Java, I think and sadly I cant remember its name, but it had a tuquoise and red head and a black body and looked a bit like an Emu

Tess

Farewell to Spore

a couple of photos from Tessa's visit to the Botanic Gardens in Singapore - free entry to the gardens and 1 dollar instead of 5 dollars for seniors to view the Orchids (one of which was named after Margaret Thatcher) - now that is what I call a reduction!

I will admit to having a large lump in my throat and more than one tear in my eye as we bade farewell to Chun See at Changi's budget terminal for our flight to Kuching in Sarawak. It has taken me 46 years to get back to Singapore and who knows if there will be another opportunity to visit. There we were, two ageing management consultants, joined together through the internet with a common interest in Singapore of the 60s when of course culture and class would have meant we would never have met, but now feeling like the oldest of friends - Chun See called me 'My Kampong Friend' which I take as a great honour. You can see some more pictures of our visit to Singapore on Chun Sees' blog - there is a link to 'Good Morning Yesterday' to the right of this blog so please visit.

For both of us Singapore has been a very special experience, the chance to see family related places from the past and the chance to meet some present day Singaporeans. There were probably many places we did not get to but we felt we saw all the places we really wanted to visit. And seeing how Singapore has been transformed has been an extraordinary experience for me, it was hard to look at places and remember how they used to look. The Garden City approach largely works well, some of the expressways with dense planting of large trees beside and between the carriageways are also rather attractive - I would never have thought I would say that of a road!

From the air Kuching can be seen lying alongside a river that seems to wind endlessly back on itself and although what is a large modern city lies on the flat there are sharp hills rising nearby. We are staying in a large rambling house very near the centre which was the home of the Speaker of the Assembly until a few years ago. The owner and his wife are both currently away which adds further to the 'make yourself at home' and 'do it yourself' approach to staying here.

Unfortunately Tessa has still not recovered from her Kolkata illness and seemed worse as we arrived here so with the willing help of Amad who is looking after the place and a phone consultation with the absent house owner we got her to a local health centre and she now has the anti-nausea and anti-biotics which hopefully will see her on the mend. This morning I found six ladies from Singapore at the breakfast table and they soon had me making some toast and peanut butter for Tessa plus a tea which she has drunk, then together with Ann a pensioner from Australia I was invited to 'join the seven old ladies' for breakfast. And I have just had a call from our good friend Diana Cook from Cambridge who unexpectedly is still in Kuching with William her son and will be taking me off to get some food and fruit to get Tess eating again!

Brian

With the bloggers

photos from the trip to Pulau Ubin, the the bumboat and on the bikes (do you notice me getting seriously dehydrated? Well I did! Yes another trip to a hospital for a check up this morning - amazing efficiency, check up including xray of my Indian insertion etc all done in two hours)

One of the great delights of our trip to Singapore has been meeting Chun See and his friends - including those friends who contribute to his blog. Our second trip with Chun See included his friend Peter who takes a great interest in old buildings (of which of course there are very few left here) and our first exploration was to the Opera Estate where I lived for a few months. Unlike the Changi house however there was no sign of it, there were a few old style houses but none anywhere near where I thought I lived. It was a day of torrential rain showers but in between we visited the two former barrack blocks which formed Changi Grammar School in my day and then south to the harbour area where we found that a new park, Labrado Park, has been created with a viewing platform providing an excellent view of Cliff House - the large prominent house (I would think occupying one of the prime sites on the island) in which Tessa's grandfather lived and for a while also her father and uncle who was born there. It was a great thrill to see it in the flesh.

The next day we made our way on the excellent MRT to Clementi near where Chun See lives. This is one of what they call 'the heartlands' - the areas of new housing in huge highrise blocks in which over 80% of Singapore's population live. It is typical of the positive spin on everything here that these are not called Suburbs but heartlands - and of course they like everything else look well maintained and sit amongst a lot of greenery. Singapore styles itself as a Garden City and that is what it looks like - everything well manicured and maintained.

Chun See had organised a get together with some of the bloggers, Victor and YG plus another old friend who joined us for lunch. Lunch was of course in one of the ubiquitous food courts - there is a problem for us with our vegetarian bent of course, this is not something the predominantly Chinese cuisine understands. They have also developed the (no doubt entirely admirable) tendency to value eating the entire animal -so stall boasts of offering head and feet, entrails etc. As you can imagine this has me scouring the stalls, all of which helpfully offer photos of the meals, making sure there are none of these 'bits' included! This is quite hard work and nerve wracking because all the names are unknown to us. But we had a great meal together and then took off to the north of the island to view the causeway across to Malaysia. As those of you who have checked Tessa's entry on Chun See's blog will know this was built practically single-handed by her grandfather! Not only did we view it from alongside the waterfront (alongwith a group of scrap metal merchants dealing with old ac units) but they took us one of the high rise blocks so we could view it from the 25th floor!

After that we went back to Chun See's house, met his wife who is from Malaya and his son who is just about to start his two years of National Service. They have a wonderful front garden full of pitcher plants, staghorn ferns, orchids and flycatching plants, and had a passion fruit picked from their vine for us to eat. It was a lovely day and both of us are very grateful to Chun See and friends for helping make this visit so enjoyable - and I should say the weather has changed now to blue sky and hot hot sun!

Brian

Today we have been out to Changi village again and over the sea to Pulau Ubin. It was about a 10 minute trip on a very old boat, called a bum boat, costing $5.00 for the two of us, 12 passengers only and no messing about with tying the boat up, just keep the engine reving and in reverse and the boat more or less stays against the dock. It's the nearest to dangerous that you are likely to get to in Singapore which is a very safety aware place.

Pulau Ubin (Granite Island) is the place Brian used to canoe to in his Singapore days and it is also the place that all the stone fro the Causeway was quarried. We hire bikes and cycled very slowly for an hour or two, through tropical rain forest. We heard chickens, I saw a small, unidentified rodent run across the road, we saw lots of colourful butterflys and a thing that was either an extreemly large bee or a very small bird buzzing about on wings that beat so fast they were a blur. The very best thing we saw was a very elegant, green snake, it made its way down a small tree slowly and carefully and then slithered away across the leaf litter below the tree. It was bright green, very slender and about two feet long.

After we sat and looked back at Singapore and the Officers Club, the place where Brian and Carol spent most of their afternoons at the swiming pool. It is now Changi Beach club and looks quite smart.

After a very hot journey back to the hotel (actually the buses and tube are wonderfully cool but any walking along pavements makes you realise that it is really, really hot and humid here) we had a little rest and then a walk down the road to Mr Wan, the dentist, to check out a problem tooth. His advice, 'its root canal treated, have it dealt with when you get home' and we happened across an internet cafe, not so common here as in India.

Tess

Culture Shock

Photos are of Tessa in front of her grandfather's house Cliff House, myself with Chun See and Peter at the Opera Estate and the amazingly largely unchanged Mitchell house in Toh Drive Changi.

Arriving in Singapore on Saturday morning at 6am provided the greatest culture shock of our trip. We made our way through the cathedral like terminal at Changi in the hushed efficiency that is Singapore, all is air conditioned comfort and the cleanliness of the Mass Rapid Transit trains we took to our hotel has to be seen to be believed. Only when we changed trains did we finally experience the open air and the humidity that I recall so well.

After six weeks in India we wondered what had happened to the chaotic streets and pavements and the constant honking and shouting. I would not advise any of you to start a trip to India in Kolkata, and certainly not the Sudder Road area where the cheap hotels are centered. The broken pavements, crowded streets, mutilated beggars, people living out their lives on the street are likely to confirm all your worst impressions of India. We had seen so may different sides already that we were able to put this in perspective. Kolkata has a lot to offer but also a lot of disappointments - for example we visited the Indian Museum to find a decaying grand building with water on the stairs (presumably from the rain before we arrived) and forty year old poorly lit exhibits with no environmental control against the Kolkata heat and humidy other than some mothballs - that had us leaving in disgust. In fact that day the City Council had agreed to close another major museum as the building was rotting. This one is surely not long for the chop.

Kolkata and Friday the 13th had its revenge on poor Tessa who after six weeks of no problems finally succumbed to a poor choice of drink, she saw it being brought into the cafe from the street, had no idea where the water came from, drank it anyway and had the most awful time on the way to the airport - a metro ride followed by a search for a taxi and the usual chaotic and dangerous ride to the airport. She was in no state to appreciate the excellent service of our Singapore Airways flight and had to decline the opportunity of a free Singapore Sling - she is bitter about this!

So what about Singapore? It is 46 years since I left and on our first day, whilst Tessa rested, I walked and walked - never seeing anything that was 40 years old, I concluded that I would find nothing here I knew and felt like a very old fella indeed!

The next morning we took the MRT downtown, tall buildings, a completly sanitised river (I remember it muddy and full of bumboats), the continuing hush of people and well ordered traffic, yes the British colonial heritage buildings were there, but the prices, 15 dollars for a couple of coffees! We were eating near our hotel at hawker centres for a couple of dollars each!

But in the afternoon our friend Chun See arrived and after a drink and discussion of what we wanted to see and do he took us for a little drive - just as the rain finally broke - and inevitably we headed to Changi, found Toh Drive where I used to live, found it completely rebuilt - almost. For there at the end of the road stood three of the original bungalows and I instantly recognised the third one from the end as the house I lived in for most of the time in Singapore. AC had been added, they had tiled the driveway and built a fancy front fence and gates but otherwise its virtually unchanged.

Today (inbetween the heaviest tropical rain storms you can imagine) Chun See and his friend Peter took us back to Changi, this time to visit the old buildings that were my school, also still there and very recognisable, and we drove around what used to be the RAF camp and then into Changi Village, the old single storey buildings and dirt replaced with paving and multi storey buildings - completely unrecognisable. We looked across at Pulau Ubin which we hope to visit by bumboat and at the waters I used to canoe in across to the nearby islands.

And then to the far south of the island, near the harbour where we found a wonderful new park from which we could view Cliff House - the house that Tessa's grandfather and father and uncle lived in so long ago. Quite astounding to actually see it so close to. If you have not already done so please check out Tessa's blog on Chun See's blogsite on her family connections to Singapore - there is a link to the right of this blog. And you will also find my recollections of being a teenager here, I can promise you ladies a picture of me in my short shorts!

I will try to add some photos tomorrow when we visit Chun See's house and hope to meet some of the contributors to his blog.

Brian

Billy Prance, Master Mariner

I have visited the grave of an Uncle who died in Calcuta two years before I was born!
Uncle Billy was the husband of my Great Aunt Marion Prance, her eldest sister was the mother of my Father, so Marion and my Dad were more like cousins in their relationship. When they were young they sometimes went to dances together and Dad would annoy Marion by calling her Aunty.
Anyway, not long before the second World War, Marion married a jolly marchant seaman, William or Gwuillam (sorry if I havent got the Welsh spelling righ) Prance. Billy was from Solva in West Wales and judging by the photos I have of him he was really good looking and very jolly, hes always smiling and looks like he really enjoyed life.

During the war he was on convoy duty and spent a lot of time in convoys to Russia, in fact he was shipwrecked twice and ended up with a DSC and a medal from the Rusians with a citation signed by Molotov.

How unlucky then to be in Calcutta in Feruary 1946 and to get caught up in a riot and killed. I was always told he was thrown out of a window. we went to visit his gave todayin the Bhowanipore Cemetary, plot O, row F, in the beautifully kept Comonwealth war Graves part of the cemetary. It is a lovely, peaceful spot and the beautiful flowers attract the most wonderfully coloured, huge butterflies.

Before visiting Billy we went to get some flowers in the amazing flower market. It is down by the river at the base of the Howrah Bridge and just heaving with people, crows, lorries, bikes and evrything else you can think of.
Tess

Don't get me started on Kolkata taxi drivers. I had thought that the driver yesterday who did not know what or where the Victoria Memorial was an aberation - not so. Our first trip was to the flower market (there's only one, its very big and where everone buys their celebratory or devotional flowers) but asking for it drew a blank look from the taxi driver. fortuanately a local guy saw what was going on and told him where it was so we got there. After that we needed to travel right across town to the cemetary. This was always going to be more tricky but we gathered I guess about 15 people around us this time and between them they explained to the driver how to get there - and he got us right there. Coming back however we asked for St Pauls Cathedral and tried to explain what it was, next to the Victoria Memorial etc etc - and off he went missing the road, getting us stuck in traffic, and even resisting our efforts to point out the very large building up the road. He got us there eventually - about three minutes before it closed! I had told him he was a complete disgrace and that on the strength of ten minutes looking at the map I knew his city better than him and refused to pay more than a small fare. I would guess these drivers are all from outside town, know nothing of the heritage sites and can just about get you to the stations etc. We are takin the metro out towards the airport - I just dont trust them even to know where that is1

Brian

ps as you will see we have finally managed to get the technology working again to add some photos to this entry and to a few previous ones - so scroll down to check

International Womens Day

Last Sunday when we were traveling from Delhi to Bagdogra it was International Womens' day and the Indian papers were full of stuff about women and at the baggage check in every woman was given a single red rose, not the easiest thing to manage when boarding a plane, though a nice gesture.

We had arrived very early so that we could get a seat on the left hand side of the plane and have a chance to see the snowy tops of the Himalayas from the plane. Inevitably I needed the loo before we got on the plane, in my search I found two mens loo blocks and then finally the one block for womwn. Three loos, two with doors on and working and a line of about twenty women waiting patiently to go.

By the time I got out of there about half an hour later I was incandecent so I marched up to the customer service desk and told them what I though of their service to women. Oh I was cross.

Brian went to the Gents a while later and reported that one of the gents loos now had a hand written sign out side saying Ladies. Result!!

Oh! Kolkata!

We left Siliguru on the day of Holi - where a large proportion of the population throw coloured powder over each other and go around looking like purple/green/blue/yellow ghosts. Even as we did some emails during the day the guy running the internet place was out in the street with some loud music and powder throwing with his mates. As we don't have many clothes we did not encourage any joining in!

We left overnight on the Darjeeling Mail and arrived in Kolkata around 8am - a couple of hours late which suited us fine as we did not fancy turning up at hotels soon after 6am and finding a room so early. As we arrived we saw that roads and platforms were wet - the first sign of rain we have seen since we left England and the overnight rain has had the effect of reducing the humidity quite a bit.

We worried about Kolkata's reputation for grubbiness, poverty etc but in fact our first impressions have been very positive, its a good place to walk about, there are tree lined roads, some fine buildings. Of course the pavements are host to every sort of cooking and eating and quite a lot of simple living. We have visited the Victoria Memorial (the taxi driver had not heard of it and I had to point it out in the book and on the map - this is equivalent to finding a London cabbie who did not know where Buckingham Palace is, its just about the most famout building here!) and we have walked the streets quite a bit, eaten some wonderful cakes and had our meals in the Sudder Street area with all the other travellers. We noted a group of mature French travellers in the restaurant tonight - noting down their expenses just like we do. Well we pensioners need to watch every Rupee!

Brian

Cursing Kurseong

No More Hills! No More Hills!!! We both staggered out of our overheating and undersuspended Suziki taxi at Kerseong in the West Bengal Hills promising each other we would never ever submit ourselves to such a journey again. It was a nightmare of broken road surface (like dry river beds), half the narrow road fallen away and drops to nowhere that left us both shaking. To cap it all Kurseong was not bathing in mountain light but was enveloped in a damp mountain mist, everything seemed damp and grubby. The hotel we hoped to stay in was full and in desperation to just stop moving we took a decidedly third rate place - which would have had a great view but for the mist.

There was one saving grace, incredibly the place is on the railway - well the Toy Train to Darjeeling so as Tess had said she would die in the place rather than go back down the road we at least had one of the world's great railway journeys as a means of escape. So we agreed - back down the hill by train the next day.

Next day dawned a lot brighter but strangely quiet. We got up and found the street full of people but every shop shut, so we walked through the town - one main street with the railway line on one side of it - to the tourist lodge place in the hope of breakfast, but it was also all closed up and eventually a guy told us they were on strike! We returned to the hotel to find that the whole town was on strike! Nothing would open, nothing would move, including the train. More to the immediate point - what were we going to eat. Well a word to the hotel guy and he promised us fried eggs, toast and tea and then led us to the shuttered cafe beneath the hotel where a door was quickly opened and shut behind us - and we ate a very good breakfast. It turned out that the government had banned the opposition parties from holding meetings so the whole place went on strike for the day - putting a complete end to our hopes of escape! The roads were full of people playing shuttlecock and cricket and wandering around, the police had nothing to do as everyone was treating it like a holiday, in place of the police traffic post stood the Gourkaland flag in a sack of sand. Any vehicle that did move had a sign on it announcing what it was doing 'Exam Duty' 'Water Supply' etc.

So we went for walks around the place - to the outskirts to view the hills in the morning and keeping awary eye on a tribe of monkeys that came our way and clambered over a block of flats, and in the afternoon up the hill behind the hotel (all the buildings cling to the steep sides of the hills by their fingernails!) and we even found a cottage where the poet Tagore lived in 1924. Everyone was very friendly, lots of hellos etc - this has to be the least touristy place we have landed in however.

So back to the cafe under the hotel, once more admitted through the shutters for a strike breaking cup of tea and a good chat with the hotel owner and cafe owner and back there for dinner, cooked to order in what looked like a very dirty kitchen but we were then joined by a businessman who poured his whiskey (three pegs in a small bottle and then a further peg) and got slightly less coherent as the evening went on!

In the end we at least liked Kurseong for the people we met - and we finally today got on that train and what a ride it proved to be, 4 hours down to Siliguri where we are now at a snails pace round sharp bend, loops and z bends (where the train backs down), incredible views of the landscape but also we passed shacks and houses where we could have reached in and shaken hands with the residents so close (and slowly) did we pass them.

Brian

Brian has kindly not said that once we had found a hotel room and I had put my bag down, I burst into tears, so terrifying was that drive. After our leisurly decent today I think we must have driven up the steeper, but shorter rout to Kurseong, the road that followed the railway didn't seem half so bad (but that could have been becuse I was in a nice, safe train).

I am glad we had the enforced day in Kurseong, because though it will never feature in my 10 favourite towns in India, but it did redeam its self by having really friendly people and a large number of English speakers with stunningly good acents and vocab. There are lots of schoos in the area, it has a long relationship with the Brits, summer reteat from the plains, tea and of course the Army, lots of Gurkas come from the area.

Tess

Back on the road

We are back on the road, actually in a place we don't particularly want to be - near Delhi airport in transit en route to West Bengal. It has been a rough week and our trip to the far south of India has been much disrupted of course and several of those sorely won train bookings lost and replaced with internal flights.

I posed a challenge to the urology guys at Lakeshore, how to solve my immediate problem and get me back on the road without an extended stay in Kochi. So far they seemed to have found a solution but obviously we will be keeping a close eye on health issues. It was a hospital that most of us in the UK would recognise, I would guess not far below the standards of Addenbrooks and I certainly had no worries as I went into theatre, the whole team had visited from big boss down and they had bags of confidence. Unlike in the UK we had a private ac room with tv etc which cost us (or rather the insurance company all of 20 pounds per night), my whole treatment cost just over 500 pounds. We had the usual stream of visits each day from nurses, from dieticians, for laundry and for food delivery. These rose to a crescendo the evening prior to going into theatre and we were particularly puzzled by the guy with the large wash bag - he had no English so got a nurse who explained he had come to shave me. He hussled Tess and the nurse out, carefully locked the door, got me stripped and lay a sheet of newspaper under my trunk. He marked out with water the area to be shaved - just below my nipples to my upper thighs with nothing missed out inbetween!

And then out came the cut-throat razor. I immediately thought of the slogan we saw on a barber shop in Jordan 'Show your wife how brave you are' encouraging men to come in and have their beard shaved - nothing compared to the bravery I was about to demonstrate! As the scraping began and he got to delicate tissues I needed some distraction so peered around him at the tv - which was showing the Coen Brothers' film 'Fargo' and had just got to the woodchipper scene!

The hospital at Kumily could hardly have been in greater contrast, a very simple country hospital with a smiling Nun as Matron, the day began with a small bell rung for prayers, then the dawn chorus of birds started up and as daylight came the hospital was shrouded in mountain mists. Gradually these drew back to reveal the jack fruit trees and coffee bushes on the hillside opposite. Not quite Shangri La but a better view than anything Addenbrookes has to offer! But the beds were hard - you had to be ill to want to lie on them and poor Tessa had an even harder one.

Brian

I just want to tell you all about the Hospital Canteen at Kumily. When I returned to the hospital with night things after Brian had been admitted I suddenly though 'oh, here we are miles from anywhere, what are we going to eat' but was reassured by the Matron, who said 'We have a canteen, its over there' (pointing to a single story building to the right of the hospital building) . I didnt get a chance to check it out till after dark (remember there was a power cut) and was amazed when I went in to find first a counter and cash desk and small shop area, sweets and stuff like soap called 'Dr Wash', then a small room with tables and on the right of this the kitchen. The kitchen was lit with a lamp and the light of the open fire over which the fierce looking male cooks had their cooking pots hung. For 18 rupees I was given more rice than I could eat, a portion of potato curry in a plastic bag and four small portions of sambals (sort of accompanyments) and no cutlery. When I got back to our room I had to eat out on the balcony, sort of hanging over my food, so that I could get at least some of it into my mouth and not all down my front!

Sometimes they took pity on me and delivered my meal, it would arrive wrapped up in a sheet of news paper to protect it from the elements. Tea was dispensed in glsses and carried over in a metal glass holder with a 1/2 sheet of news paper over the top of the glasses. The food was really good and because the kitchen was so dark it was impossible to judge the hygiene standards, but it was a hospital so presumably they didnt finish off too many people (Heston Blumenthal please note). Also no concessions to bland food for invalids, it was hot, like it or not.

Tess

The Patient Speaks

Finally about to be discharged after our week in the two hospitals, this was a good choice, only six years old and aiming at world class treatment and with what certainly seems like a competent urology department. I have an extra bit in me and providing I can start peeing soon will be out the door very shortly. We have booked flights for Saturday and Sunday to take us all the way to the other end of the country - up in the West Bengal Hills. I hope to have time there to reflect a little on my time in hospital but for now will just say a lot of thanks to bystander Tessa (its a formal title here - she has a pass), Suresh at Green View who helped so much in Kumily and then got us to Lakeshore which proved to be just the place I needed to be and to all the others who have sent best wishes.

Brian

The English Patient

Hes doing OK, at the moment he should be having a stent put in to relieve the pressure on the kidney and stop the pain. The stent needs to be taken out and the stones dealt with in the next few months, so hopfully the journey will continue after discharge and a few days recovery.

The Drs here are very nice and seem to be very thorough. I will let Brian give you the patients point of view as soon as he can, as his 'by stander' (thats what i am known as here) it seems good to me.

Tess

Well stone me!

As family know, but most friends dont yet know, Brian is road testing the Indian hospital service.

On Saturday morning we set off from our lovely hotel Green View (owned by the charming, kind and very helpful Mr Suresh) for a "Spice Tour". It was in a tuc tuc and on very bumpy roads and Brian soon felt sick, he perked up after that and we carried on, only for him to start feeling really unwell as we were going round a tea factory. I decided that we needed to take him to hospital so a car came out from Kumily and took us off to a tiny hospital, St Augustine's.

The staff at Hospital were so kind and helpful. We saw a Dr Babu Pullicken, who quickly diagnosed Kidney stones. The pain had gone away and so he sent us back to the hotel, telling Brian to rest and come back if the pain returned. Well, we were back at the hospital by about 5pm, with a very sorry for himself Brian, the pain was coming and going, so it was decided to admit him.

I went back to the hotel to get assorted necessary stuff and returned to the hospital to stay over night with the patient. I found him in a single room, he had the bed and I had a much norrower bed, his was hard and mine was indescribably hard. The place was basic but spotless and the staff, some of whom were Nuns were so kind and helpful, some people could speak English, the Dr, a couple of the nurses and the Nun/ Head nurse (she may have been Matron), any one who couldnt speak English smiled a lot and tried to find someone who could.

I arrived at about 7pm, in the middle of the daily 1/2 hour power cut, sadly this power cut lasted till about 2 pm the next day. The Hospital had a small generator, but that was kept for emergencies, so the whole of Saturday night any nurse who appeared was carrying a large lamp torch and we were given a candle for the room. Thank goodness we had the windup torch with us.

Poor Brian had a very uncomfortable night, lots of pain, groaning and throwing up, he was on a drip and I had to keep trying to get him to drink water. Eventually a male nurse gave him some thing for the sickness and some knock out injection, so he did get some rest. The next day he felt very bruised, but improved as Sunday went on. We had a scan done on Sunday afternoon ( a taxi ride away at a scanning and diagnostics place. A bit of pain Sunday night and then very much better Monday morning. At this point it was decided that the stone must have come out and he was discharged.

Well, it hadnt come out and about 2 hours after we got back to the hotel, just I had come into our room with some lunch, Brian said ' I hate to say this, but the pain has come back'. We consulted with our fantastic landlord and the upshot was that about an hour later we set off on the tortuous 5 hour journey back to Kochi, heading for the large, modern Lakeshore hospital, where Suresh's brother in law had had the same problem treated. Here we are, an overnight stay in a reasonably comfortable A/C room and Brian is at this moment having xrays and discussing treatement. I have been emailing relatives and letting anyone else know via this blog. More news later.

Tess