PATNEM, PANAJI, OLD GOA / INDIA:
Buona Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo. Noi abbiamo fatto il cenone di Natale sulla spiaggia di Patnem nei bamboo huts Parvati. Io e Olivia abbiamo messo insieme una decina di persone e obbligato il gestore a passare ai fornelli. Ci siamo fatti fare una aragosta a testa (vedi foto) con patatine alla belga (non male). Per innaffiare il tutto e dare un po' il feeling natalizio ci siamo inventati un vino caldo a base di Rhum e succo d'uva (non c'era il vino) fantastico. Dopo cena fuochi di artificio, musica indiana (mantra per chi conosce) e con Kingfisher (birra locale). Per il giorno di Santo Stefano da bravi ragazzi siamo andati a visitare le tante chiese di Old Goa, fatte dai portoghesi. C'era pure esposto il corpo di un santo, Francesco Xavier, con una fila di pelligrini che a colpo d'occhio andava per 1,5 Km. Io sono passato alla larga e il santo l'ho visto in foto, faceva troppo caldo. Tanti AUGURI.

Il mio ragalo di natale e' arrivato da Zurigo con Andre.

Una decina di queste hanno passato la serata con noi.

Il gruppone del cenone di Natale.

I bambini della spiaggia alla caccia di regali di natale.

La lunga fila per vedere il miracolato San Fr. Xavier.

La imponente cattedrale dalla carina Panaji, citta' portoghese.

THANK YOU NOTE, GRAZIE MILLE /INDIA:
Just a quick note to thank you all for your emails and sms. We are still alive and have not been affected by the tsunami. The quake was not felt in Patnem, although the beach got covered by a big wave just as we left to go to Panaji. The water only go to the tree level, so no damage over this side thankfully.

Si siamo sani e salvi, che fortuna. Ci siamo ritrovati nella costa giusta al momento giusto. Nella nostra spiaggia si e' verificata solo una marea anomala che ha coperto tutta la spiaggia, quasi 300 metri, ma non ci sono stati danni a cose e persone. Qui le notizie sono arrivate molto in ritardo e la gente che guarda la TV non prestava veramente attenzione, mi hanno detto che era coinvolta solo l'Indonesia e il Bangladesh, ma si sbagliavano. Poveretti.

PALOLEM, GOA/INDIA:
Our corner of Paradise in India. Maybe you have to start with Bangalore and take over a week to come to Goa to fully appreciate it. Palolem, our stretch of palm-fringed, moon-shaped beach, feels like lightyears away. We are not being hassled or stared at, the spitting has reduced considerably, the climate is great and food tasty. What more to ask for??? Less toursits? No problem, Agonda, the next beach along is so quiet even the cows come over in herds to rest.

This is what happens early in the morning b4 the Westerners wake up.

Fisherman in action, Palolem.

The huts in Palolem are right on the beach in the middle of the palms tree.

The beach is huge and full of many things, like stars ...

... cows ...

...tummies and tea cups.

HASSAN, BADAMI, HAMPI, (KARNATAKA)/INDIA:
Hurray, found a place to upload the pictures. So here is a quick illustration of what we have been up to:
From Hassan we visited the Jain temples of Halebid and Belur, wow, superbe stone carvings, lovely. From there we caught a night train to Hubli in superdooper top class and found the cleanest toilets of all India, yes, in the train... says it all?? We arrived in Hubli at 4.30 am, just in time to feel the temptation to use the pepper spray again. We got the worst tuck tuck driver on the surface of the earth. He drove like an idiot, did not take us where we wanted him to and then demanded twice the fare we had agreed. He then started to get all stroppy and pushy - all this in a dark corner - so we coughed up (not because of the pepper spray, but it could have been if we had not had our packs on). Safely inside the bus station we boarded the bus to Badami. We were already shaken by the autorickshaw experience so having a guy pick my pocket, feeling it, and subsequently having to go ballistic did not help. You may have heard me yelling from Europe. My vocal cords are still vibrating and the whales of the oceans have not recovered. The bus driver and assistant however found it amusing that someone would try to steal from us... ohhh we love India.
In Badami, we visited its fine caves and ruined fort, and were again confronted to lots of staring unfriendly men. Even the kids only approached us because they wanted money or something. We are now calling each other Chocolate and Schoolpen.
Hampi: beautifully set amongst lots of temples, hills and boulders. Food? to faint for, literally. Cristian knows, he passed out in the locked bathroom - did you hear me shout then??

Hassan parking lot.

Ape Piaggio, the local taxi, an Italo-Indian technology miracle.

This is where the old Vespa are: Badami.

Two little goats at the Hindu temple, Badami.

Two little girls at the mosque, Badami.

Schoolpen with her new Indian family (interesting addition to their picture).

One of the cave temples in Badami.

The Indian equivalent of Migros.

Two Jain monks wafting incense.

Schoolpen at the Lotus Majhal temple, Hampi.

The swimming pool of the Maharajas.

Gipsy selling peanuts on the train to Hospet.

Calling the President.

HUA HIN (THAILAND) - BANGALORE, MYSORE (KARNATAKA, INDIA):
Hurricane, 5000 evacuated, no more beach holidays for us... or at least not at Kho Phang Nga, the reason why we chose to stay in Thailand after our stunt using our brains. Mistake. Hua Hin: horses galore with blubbery pink tourists on them + ladies in very short skirts clinging onto men at least three times older and a million times uglier.
Thai Airways unfortunately refused to let us stay on board when we landed in Bangalore. So we were forced to enter India. Ok, its supposed to get better with time, but so far we have encountered record levels of filth, fleas bouncing on pillows and people spitting wads of saliva at a rate approaching the world champion Indonesian woman. On the other hand, we have seen gorgeous temples and are stunned by colours, smells and tastes (buds still on fire).
Photos? you must be joking, we cannot even find a place that has more than explorer 3... who said this was the world of technology and that Bangalore was Silicone Valley???
Grinning breathlessly, we pray that fun will come, eventually, hopefully, please, and that harassment levels will subside.

Very sweet and juicy, huge Thai jackfruits are lovely.

Hummm.

WELCOME to Bangalore the ultra-modern IT town, Karnataka, India.

This picture and the next one are from 2 different countries ...

... tell me which coffee we had in India.

Colorful markets and colorful ladies are everywhere in India ...

but they don't outnumber the sacred cows.

This is why you come down here, the Marahaja Palace, Mysore.

On the way back, after using our bare feet to keep the Palace clean.

Intricate details of Somnathpur temple near Mysore.

More to make our eyes pop out.

LYNDA'S BIRTHDAY:
She giggled and jiggled, sang and squiggled, it is her birthday and it’s this Saturday. If you catch her between a party or a dog-walking expedition, give her the mightiest squeeze from us.
Happy Birthday mate! Have the best day of the year, the tastiest G&T of the evening and the fattest cake ever. We will celebrate with you from here.

Birthday Girl

BANGKOK, THAILAND:
Wondering why you have not heard from us recently? Asking yourself if the pepper spray was used again? Check out www.iucn.org/congress... Photos of us looking frazzled will be posted soon, as will other shots and several videos depicting life before the congress. We will be back on track by the 27th.

Water lillies in the park of Quenn Sikirit convetion centre.

Thai dancer at the host country party, WCC, Bangkok.

The IMG, Fayez, Jerome, Dan, Cecile, Vladimir, Prasarn and me.

The registration's team in a stressing moment at the WCC in Bangkok.

First time in Kao San road wearing a tai.

Vladimir, Prasarn, Fayez and me in the tuk tuk, Bangkok.

VIENTIANE, PAKSE, TADLO, DON DET, UBON RACHATHANI, LAO/THAILAND:
Flying over the mountains from Phonsavan to Vientiane, then across the planes to Tadlo - in a bus - was fun. The peaks are round and the road is lined with villages, pigs and children. Tadlo was supposed to be on a plateau with lots of plantations. All the coffee and banana trees were covered in other vegetation and there was no elevation, but the area itself was charming. We spend a couple of days living like a proper Lao, ie no electricity, no email, no phone; rambled around finding the 3 waterfalls and drove Moon, the elephant, up and down the hills. After risking intoxication in Tadlo, we pushed it to Don Det - far more challenging little islands on the Mekong where ALL the population of the village was determined to poison the tourist, through cooking, drinking and washing... We just had enough time to see the very very very endangered Irraddawwy (clearly some problem with the name here) dolphin (a small population of 10), eat some water lilies and tubers, stop Cristian from gobbling up some skewered cockroaches, then left for Pakse. Ahh, Pakse, the very uncharacteristic city where the pepper spray was first used. A night to remember, more for the stalker than for us as he is probably still crying and spluttering as we speak. Anyhow, nothing serious, just another chapter of the adventure.

Cucaracias spiedini as lunch during the bus journey.

Elefant ride in Tadlo.

The elefant driver.

Anyone wants cat fish for dinner?

On the Mekong looking for dolphins.

PHONSAVAN, LAOS, Day 283:
Siamo stati nella zona piu' bombardata dagli americani in Laos. E' anche la piu' pericolosa per gli attacchi degli hmong (tribu delle montagne) contro lo stato comunista centrale. Tutto bene, ne siamo esplosi ne ci hanno attaccato. Certo che non e' grazie al bus di giorno che abbiamo preso, il quale si e' rotto e ha fatto 4 ore di ritardo facendoci arrivare di notte, un po' di fifa. Io avrei scommesso che non saremmo ripartiti, le marce del bus non entravano. L'autista con la moglie al volante, l'assistente sotto il bus e lui dentro con il motore aperto, ha fatto il miracolo. Ah dimenticavo, avevamo pure un bodyguard vestito da rambo con fucile automatico. Rassicurante? Bo. Abbiamo visto queste distese di giare enormi datate di 2000 anni fa. Purtroppo ce ne sarebbero molte altre ma sono per adesso inaccessibili. MAG l'organizzazione inglese che togli le mine ha bisogno di un po' piu' di tempo per finire di bonificare. Ci hanno detto che di questo passo hanno bisogno di 750 anni, peggio che in italia, ma mancano i soldi. Una archeologa che abitava nel nostro ostello ci ha raccontato che ogni settimana esplode qualcuno, 2 persone la settimana scorsa. Tutti gli ostelli e le case hanno bombe in esposizione o le usano per costruire, guardare per credere.

Casa tradizionale rafforsata da bombe nelle colonne.

Le donne sono a trebbiare, io approfitto per farmi un tessuto da cucina.

Ananas per tutti a colazione, con riso.

Se tisei stufato del cane puoi lasciarlo passeggiare qui.

Una coppia di amici di S. Gallo, lei e' nella giara lui la cerca.

Ora siamo noi a fare i cretini, presto che se ci vedono sono guai.