Back to normal life in the UK

We've been in Southport for the last two weeks enjoying all the delights of normal home life - some good sleeping, eating, drinking and catching up with family and friends. The time seems to have flied - I can't believe we've been here two weeks already!

Some of the things we have been up to include:

• Dinner party cooked by Beck and Jenny (got to love a friend who is a chef!)
• walking in the Lake District at Loughrigg Fell
• walking in Yorkshire at Wuthering Heights from Haworth
• Touring the Cadbury factory in Birmingham...mmmm
• A few nights round at Andy and Nickys
• Haircut evening with Bex and Mike
• Lost night with Rich and Nicky
• Shopping in Liverpool at the new Liverpool 1 complex

We seem to be gearing up to return home on the 17 Feb which is not far away. Before we go though we are squeezing in one more week of skiing in Austria. It's a mystery surprise week (get on the plane and get told where we are going and staying at the other end!). Let's hope it's a good surprise!

Skiing in Bulgaria

I am sitting inside the Hotel Aneli in Bansko watching it snow heavily outside. We've just had four days of great skiing with blue skies, but today I don't think we will be venturing too far outside...maybe just a little tobogganing this afternoon if the snow eases a little.

We ended up spending two great days in Istanbul - what an amazing city! And, if anyone I know goes there again I would strongly advise to bring an excellent credit card as there is so much that I could have bought! Well, I did end up having a shopping extravaganza in Zara and came out with 4 bags of new clothes! After 5 months of skanky bush clothes it was so nice to put on some proper clothes! I threw some of the offending items of clothes away to make room in the pack!

From Istanbul we caught an overnight bus to Sofia in Bulgaria which was reasonably ok. Two passengers on the bus got left at the border post at 1am for overstaying their visas which was interesting. We arrived in at about 6am and then jumped straight on a bus to Bansko where we have been ever since.

It's a great little town and beers cost as little as $1.50 in a restaurant which is an excellent start to a good holiday! Our little hotel has turned out to be great and we get private transfers to the gondola station and they let us use the internet behind the reception desk...although it is incredibly slow.

Might have to just spend the day drinking mulled wine and watching the snow.

xxx

Istanbul and my hıghlıghts

After close to a week of playing in the snow at Goreme, the truck remained broken so we made a call to catch a bus to Istanbul. After 20 weeks together ıt was sad to say bye to the gang! We have been reminiscing on our highlights and lowlights over the journey and it made us appreciate how much we have seen in the last few months.

If I had to pin it down, some of my highlights are (and these are by no means the most spectacular places...just extra good memories for me that are coming to mind...)

1. Arriving at the pyramids in Sudan to be greeted by the camel owners and then rolling down the sand dunes next to the pyramids the next mornıng.



2. Finishing our gruelling Simien Mountains hike in Ethiopia and stopping in at a remote local cafe to savour a can of coke and be offered Prince Charles Biscuits from Harrods by a very articulate English man. They have never tasted so good!



3. My day at the market ın Addıs Ababa where I successfully reclaimed some money that an ATM machine refused to give me - but mainly for the hospitality shown by some local people who bought me food, helped me on the right bus and generally helped me.



4. The first tıme we saw the animals ın the Okavango Delta ın Botswana...and watching Summer cruise along ın a mokoro and dip her silver wine goblet directly into the swamp water and drink ıt straight from the source. Oh that swampy filtration.



5. The Lake Malawi hike to Livingstonia...with much amusement provided by Gav farting and requirement for some Vaseline lubrication at the top. Yes you know where...



6. The lion incident in South Luanga national park in Zambia.



7. The starry nights spent in the various deserts we have passed through...definitley the best nights in the tent.



8. The day Steve and I spent exploring Petra together...it is one of my fav historical places on the trip



9. Patting the cheetahs and giraffes in Nairobi...I bet in a few years they will stop that....



10. Reflecting on the changing landscapes we have seen ın the truck - from desert to mountains to rainforests and snow we have seen ıt all. It has certainly been an impressive ride!

Ok, enough reminiscing for now...we are still on the road and have plenty more to explore! Looks like we are going to hit some ski fields ın Bulgarıa next. Woo hoo!!