Hikkaduwa - 1st to 4th of December 2011

For a relaxing holiday, it didn't really start off that way. A 3am flight, pitching us into Colombo at 9am, only to face a 4.5 hour trip through the heart of the city and south to the beaches of Sri Lanka.

But by the time we got there, we felt a million miles away from anything (especially work), perfect for a snooze and some aimless wandering along the desolated beach. We were staying in an awesome little place, right on the water, that made it very hard to leave the hotel other than for a quick dip!

Dinner listening to the waves. Up the next day at a leisurely hour for lots of sun time and beach time. Managed to fit in a very leisurely stroll too.

Few beers as the sun was setting watching some beach cricket Sri Lankan style.

Third and final day of chilling out, again not bothering to make it much further than a few hundred metres down the beach.

Made our way into "town" to find a restaurant for dinner - mainly because we'd already tried everything on our hotel restaurant menu. Survived the tuk tuk easily enough.
A completely amazing holiday, very relaxing, and exactly what we wanted of our Sri Lankan weekend. We were however up at a ridiculous hour for the drive back to Colombo airport and the flight back to Dubai.

Pokhara - 5th to 8th of November 2011

So how long would you think it would take to drive the 200km to Pokhara from Kathmandu? Surely not 6 hours right? Wrong. Six very long hours stuck in the back of a small car, dodging trucks, potholes and cows. The roads were two lanes, but very busy, and parts were definitely limited to one-way traffic.

We were supposed to have arrived in Pokhara late morning after our flight. In the end we didn't make it until after 10pm - what a waste of a day!

We'd given ourselves lots of time in Pohkara with the plan to do an overnight trek. Given the weather and one or two other issues we flagged it, so had a relaxing first day sleeping in and walking around the little town.
Pokhara is on the side of a lake, and usually very pretty. Unfortunately we were still having weather issues so couldn't even make out the far side of the very small lake!

With plenty of time, we made it around the lake to the site of a pretty impressive waterfall. The river leading from the lake twists its way along a little gorge before disappearing into the earth.

...and then across the round, and down into the cave to see it from underneath.

Back into town for a pre dinner drink, drinks over dinner, and then a few more drinks. Loving the two for one cocktails!

With one of us keen to stretch our legs, and one of us keen for a sleep in, we parted ways in the morning. Warren made it down to the lake to get a local to drop him on the other side for the hour or so trek up to the world peace pagoda.

Normally it would have spectacular views, but it was another misty cloudy day in Pokhara, and at the top you could barely make out the town below.

A very nice green walk back via an alternative route to town. As I cam back into town, I crossed the river upstream from where we had seen it the previous day. Turns out the river plays a key role in Pokhara's laundromat industry.
More greenery.
Back to the hotel to pick up the wife and make our way back down to the lake for lunch and a short paddle in an old canoe. Out on the lake and finally, in the distance, the snow covered mountains started emerging from the wall of cloud.
Guess who did all the paddling?
More shopping back on the main strip overlooked by the fishtail.
We finally work up to a blue sky, on the final day in Nepal and with an early flight back to Kathmandu. So we got up even earlier for a nice little stroll along the lakeside, which only made us realise how pretty the place is!
We made our way to the airport thinking surely with such blue skies our flight back to Kathmandu would be ok. But it wasnt - weather in Kathmandu had delayed all flights out, and so once again we were stranded at the airport.
After stressing for a few hours that the flight would be cancelled and we wouldnt be able to make our flight later that night back to Dubai, we finally heard the drone of an incoming aircraft. More spctacular views the entire (30 minute) flight - if only the weather was like this all week!!
Back in Kathmandu with 3 or 4 hours to kill and facing the prospect of at least a 30 minute trip into the centre, we decided to take a learning from our time in Dubai and hit a nearby hotel for lunch. We went to Dwarikas, which is one of the nicest hotels in Nepal, and had a great meal in the courtyard.
A quick trip back to the airport for the 4 hour flight back to Dubai.

Kathmandu - 3rd to 5th of November 2011

Three public holidays in a row, plus a weekend, meant 5 consecutive days off. We took a days leave as well and made the 4 hour flight over to Nepal for a nice long 6 day break. It was supposed to be 4 hours anyway, but got stuck circling Kathmandu for an extra half hour or so - lucky the views of the Himilayas sticking out above the clouds were so impressive!

We treated ourselves to stay at a forest (and golf) resort on the outskirts of Kathmandu, so we spent our first afternoon chilling at the hotel, and watching the monkeys roam the fairways.

Into Kathmandu proper the following day for our tourist session. Lesson number one: its poor. Some of the worst roads we've been on in terms of potholes, smoky old trucks, stray dogs, and cows, and all strewn with rubbish.

We got dropped off at Durbar Square, the religious heart of Kathmandu. Its actually 3 interconnecting squares, surrounded by ancient little temples, lots of intricate wooden windows and doorways, pigeons, would-be tourist guides, and of course, a cow.

Together with every other western-looking person in Kathmandu, we did the lonely planet walking guide from Durbar Square to the main tourist hangout of Thamel. It took us past more temples and down some tiny little alleyways that were absolutely overflowing with people, motorbikes, and colour.

Time for a quick stop off for a local brewed beer at one of the many bars in Thamel.

A good afternoon in Kathmandu central, but we were beat, so made our way back to our hotel for a very romatic evening of cards and red wine by the fireplace.

A morning flight meant we were saying goodbye to Kathmandu nice and early for the 25 minute flight to Pokhara.

Or were we... Actually, thanks to more bad weather, our flight was cancelled after spending 3 hours waiting in the airport terminal.

We made the executive decision to head back to the hotel so that they could organise a car to drive us to Pokhara instead. While we waited for the car, the rain came down...

Beirut - 6th to 8th of October 2011

Ange's birthday weekend away was chosen to be Beirut, "Paris of the Middle East", and supposedly the clubbing capital also. We arrived late thursday night and did our best to try and find some cool bars, but were largely unsuccessful and had to make do with a few quiet ones in an almost deserted sports bar.

Usually on weekends away when we are only there for a short time, Warren is cracking the whip and making sure we see all the sights and make a good go of it. But it was Ange's weekend, so we slept in till late, made it to a nearby cafe for brunch, and had an afternoon snooze before we finally got involved with a walk around town mid-afternoon.

Beirut is a crazy place, still very much recovering from years of war. You are just as likely to come across a bullet ridden deserted building as a shiny new skyscraper:The central hub of Beirut seems to be its corniche waterfront. So we wandered down there and found a great spot for a quick drink and some quality Lebanese snacks of hummus and bread. Just in time too, for a nice romantic stroll along the waterfront, dodging roller bladers and joggers.
Back to our hotel to get dolled up before having more Lebanese food for dinner. Ok no we didnt, wood-fired pizzas it was!
Again we tried to find some good clubbing action. We managed to find some very cool bars for some very cool cocktails, but were unsuccessful on the clubbing front, probably due to the fact we were heading to bed at a sensible hour. We're too old for this!

With not too much else to see in Beirut itself, we hired a driver for the day on Saturday to take us over the hill to the wine region (it was Ange's birthday weekend after all). It took just over an hour to wind up and over the mountain, past the Army checkpoints, towards the Syrian border. But another complete world away. We had a quick buffet lunch, a few tastings of the local wines and a very quick tour of the working vineyard. A very enjoyable afternoon in the sun! By the time we made it back into Beirut we had a few hours to kill before our late night flight back to Dubai. Only available option was to find a bar and have a few drinks!