seeya

Today is the 4th death anniversary of my grandfather Reggie Candappa, but it feels like he was here with his sparkly smile just yesterday. I try not to think of the day he died, because that is not what its about though it is a day I believe I still haven't come to terms with. Maybe I never will and thats just how it is. But today is an important day because it reminds us all that he was the most amazing, fascinating and heartwarming person we'd have the pleasure of knowing.

Every time I hear a bellowing booming laugh, I think of him... or when I see a bald head. Or when I see a tree full of different coloured leaves, paintings, hear Mozart, see a homeless person (because he used to always give them money) and a trillion other things. My wonderful Seeya.

the time machine

holy moly. Today is last day of work for a month, and this is because Lee and I fly off to Sri Lanka on Saturday morning for our wedding! Whoooopppeeeee! Honestly I have no way to express how happy, excited, nervous and psyched I am.

the band band land

Saw my mates play a super gig last night - was at Fiddler's Elbow and they put on cool nights where they get up and coming bands on stage. This band has just a sort of come together at the last minute, they play with their own official bands but are friends and have rehearsed a few times but have super lyrics! And good stage presence. Unfortunately Alex, my friend, left to Sweden today and he's the drummer - London loses another!

http://www.myspace.com/bandbandland

and finally...

I couldn't think of a funny caption. the pressure was too much. Soharni and I having a discussion about something crucially important no doubt.

more photos

Roger More couldn't take the tube whipping pressure from Lauren. I was handcuffed to him for most of the night.



Katharine about to sing - and I think the sake was kicking in right about now.

more hen night humiliation

The gorgeous Kayla, Ella and Elsie - some of the stars of the show from the hen weekend!

Japanese Karaoke Bar:


Lots of sake and cheesy videos, this was the second stop of the night of debauchery!

A now fragile hen

My hen night was an absolute blast - Tasha and Aushi went to town with it, it was incredible. Plus the girls who came, they made the night! Starting at 1pm in the afternoon, we had a 2 hour pole dancing and burlesque strip lesson by a very nubile and hot teacher. Well she had a hot body and could grip the pole like none I have seen before!
Couple of bloody mary's later and I was flying around the pole in my high heels and lacey hold ups, but clearly Ella and Lauren were the stars of that show.

Afterwards, we had a delicious and fun 3 hours getting tanked up on champagne, yummy and spicy Lankan curry and some hilarious chat, just hanging out at Aushi's... it was super fun getting dressed up, because I was given my outfit for the evening - a drag queen tranny, complete with electric blue PVC high heels, trashy lingerie dress, heavy make up, blonde wig and well, you get the picture (or see it above). I was horrified at first but figured, one ought to get into it - after all how often does that happen? The rest of my buddies dressed up looking very foxy and we set out to mystery destinations that they had planned out for the rest of the evening - Japanese Karaoke bar (sake! sake!) where we sang to our hearts content, another cocktail bar, my old haunt - The Lux Bar in Hoxton Square, where I ended up on the stage alone with another random dude, and Helena passed me the whip and well the rest is a rather bad yet hilarious Madonna style performance. It was kick ass fun.

Thanks to Tasha - my lovely sister who made such a huge effort to make it such a special weekend, and it was more than I could have imagined! Also thanks to Aushi - you were so generous with your flat. And to the rest: Soharni, Emily, Kayla, Lauren, Helena, Elsie, Ella, Pam and Katharine - you guys are the best.

But not for the fact that you guys made me busk while we were on a packed central line tube platform on a Saturday night, for money. While being handcuffed to a male blow-up doll named Roger More.

Life's goings on

I have been so rubbish about blogging ever since I came back to the real world. Its not due to any particular reason except for the fact that time is flying before my very eyes and things are moving at an incredible speed.

I've got a job, its been fantastic and with a company I really like, respect and believe that my ideas have a fighting chance of making themselves heard. Its been super busy, they put their faith in me and that has been inspiring in itself - always makes you work harder knowing someone else is leaving you to do it the way you think best. Work took me to Madrid, Spain for a mind blowing week of heavy work, culture, beautiful weather, new friends (Rodrigo & Santi) and brushing up on my Spanish. It made me long for our days in Argentina just drifting through these sweet little plaza's and wining and dining.

The wedding - is going full steam ahead. The invitations are printed and on their way to us here in London courtesy of my cousin... my parents are being absolute champions running around getting everything done, its been so difficult to make decisions on things that just require you to see it to know and say yes or no. But we're working through it, and a lot of it you just have to let it go and know that in the long run, its going to be a beautiful day with my family and the man I love and that is what is most important. Its so easy to get lost in the detail and lose your mind over it, which just isn't what its about. My parents have been doing so much though and it makes me just want to get on a plane (which i am not so fond of) and go over there. Less than a month though! Yikes!!!!!

I feel really happy and lucky. Its all so very exciting, especially as we have so many wonderful people coming to Sri Lanka (you know who you are!).

ladies night

Its my hen weekend tomorrow - and i am so looking forward to it!

Venezuela, London and now Lanka

So the wedding plans are underway - I flew to Sri Lanka for 2 weeks to attend to the essential stuff that needs to be done - there is so much to do! I have been living, breathing, eating and sleeping the wedding plans and I think it is finally coming together. We are so excited about it and my family will be in charge once I leave this week, so fingers crossed!

Yippeeee.

The fact that I was in Venezuela just a month ago is super surreal - one thing is for sure, the world didnt change much while we were away and for us, that is harder to take in. The real world will never have us!

The amazing proposal!

So that very same day (see post below), Friday the 20th of July, was to become a very special day in my life.

It was the day that Lee asked me to marry him! I never expected it and I think thats the best way for it to happen. I couldnt have asked for a more incredible, emotional or loving proposal - and it happened on a deserted beach, just the two of us, standing on the north side of Francisqui island facing the Caribbean sea. I wont delve into the details because I would rather tell you face to face, but I can say that he got down on both knees!

I dont remember being this happy! We have set the date for the 29th December 2007, not ones for long engagements - we're hoping for a beach wedding in Sri Lanka with parties before and after, plus a celebration in the UK when we get back mid January. Its all pretty exciting especially as we have some really special people flying down from UK to celebrate it all with us.

We spent the next 4 days on Los Roques celebrating with our new Spanish friends, telling everyone we could, snorkeling, wining, dining and seeing a number of the islands in the archipelago. Blissful paradise. Whoooo hoooo!

Los Roques - now this is paradise

So the time came to get on a very small propellor plane and fly to these magical islands off the coast of Venezuela. Destination Los Roques: it is an archipelago of islands, mostly uninhabited - no cars and each island accessible only by boat. It is too expensive for most Venezuelans so the pollution is fairly limited. Anyway, after an incredibly stressful morning at the Mexicana Airlines desk at the Caracas airport (they are thieving bandit bastards) and getting ripped off for an extra USD $1000 just so we could fly to Mexico to catch our flight back to London, we were fairly wound up and upset. Not the way to start what was meant to be a romantic splash out for the last few days of our 6 month South American journey.

So the plane was small. And old. And we could see the cockpit and everything which Lee found very exciting. I on the other hand, thanks to my recent development of fear of flying, wasnt too happy. Anyway a fairly smooth 30mins later - we landed by the most exquisitely blue ocean I have ever seen. White sand, the most turquoise blue ocean and water so clear you can see your feet from chin level!

Gran Roque was the main island - and the only inhabited one with a population of about 800 people. Filled with colourful one storey posadas and boutique styled bars, it was such a haven away from the chaotic Caracas suburbs. Our posada, Dona Carmen, was right on the beach front close to the airport runway and the pier where all the boats would depart to the other islands.

I could feel us slowly unwinding from the days stresses as we whiled away time at the pier waiting for our boat to arrive to take us to the island of Francisqui, about 10 mins away so that we could relax and snorkel. And thats exactly what we did - the water was so clear and the marine life we saw was incredible. Puffer fish, pink and green eels, squid, brightly coloured fish of all shapes and sizes, rainbow coloured barracuda... absolute paradise.

Little did I know what was about to happen.

Sign here for toilet paper

I just wanted to mention that though we have been on holiday for the past 6 months, its not to say that I havent been reading up on the world or following certain stories and conflicts with great interest. There has been a great deal of thinking going on. And this story I just found on the BBC News website is exactly the kind of thing I believe is happening all too often.

Fear mongering, manipulating scare tactics and red neck crazy talk is starting to be marketed by governments to their people, in the name of national security. Soon we wont be able to shit without getting prior clearance from the Defence Department. What the hell is wrong with people? Are we that gullible? The residents of Sydney, Australia have been told to ¨pack a survival kit to prepare for a terrorist attack or a natural disaster¨.

What a load of bollocks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6902143.stm

Back west!

So our time in Rio Caribe has ended though it filled us with really happy memories. What a lovely place and I would highly recommend Posada Villa Antillana as the most wonderful place to stay, not to mention the incredibly warm hospitality we were lucky enough to experience. Thanks Emilio!

While we were out there, we managed to find our way to another beautiful and completely deserted beach called Playa Loero - spent the day in the sun, playing frisbee and swimming in the clear ocean.

We also managed to get to another town called San Juan de los Galdonas a few days later to visit a turtle hatchery, the tour was a bit of a joke/farce though as the guy who ran it was more interested in showing off how known he was in the town. He ran a posada called Tres Calabresas and it seems he wanted us there more for the stay and the money than the actual tour. So we saw nothing as far as turtles were concerned, though we got to talk to the cool biologist there who said the turtles who lay the eggs from the wild measure over 1.7 metres in length!!!

On our way back the next day, we visited the Hacienda Bukare which is a cacao farm a.k.a. organic chocolate hacienda. Drool. It is very old, having been started in 1908, but currently owned by the same people who ran Villa Antillana where we were staying in Rio Caribe. It was an pretty yet old cottage, in the middle of a cacao farm and they gave us a really fascinating tour of how they make chocolate. Complete with tastings... yum yum yummmee. They make pure dark chocolate, ranging from 50% to 100% pure! We tasted so much, Lee and I got headaches later, but it was worth it. Mmm chocolate headaches.

Now we are back in Cumanà, doing day trips to the lovely Parque Nacional Mochima with its´secluded beaches only accessible by boat and hopefully going to visit some other beaches and a famous cave, before we hop on a flight to Los Roques this weekend - a paradise of islands off the coast of Venezuela!

Fever, mud baths and boat trips

We are in Rio Caribe, so far my most favourite place in Venezuela as its a small town, really friendly with loads of character and with so much to do around this region. Its also where I had my first illness of the trip, not bad for getting by 5 months and no scars. It was a bad fever with aches and a nasty cold, reminded me of the dreaded chikunguniya of our trip to Lanka in Dec. But the lovely people at the posada were are staying in (absolutely gorgeous place) took me to a doctor and she got me to test for malaria. Yikes! I was so out of it, but we were so worried, anyway luckily we had bought our own sterile needle kit courtesy of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London. If you´re going to travel, dont scoff - buy one, you just might need it!

Test results a nail biting 1 hour later, negative for malaria - phew. But I was out for a good couple of days and sweet Lee was running around being an awesome (and good looking) nurse. Also talk about picking the perfect place to fall ill... Villa Antillana has a garden courtyard, hammocks, airy living room with cable tv, delicious breakfast each morning and two happy dogs. Not to mention a friendly and helpful guy called Emilio who runs it for his architect/artist aunt from Caracas.

Finally felt well enough to leave the posada, though heavily armed with enough tissue to wrap a mummy with. We spent the day with Emilio and his girlfriend visiting natural hot springs called Aguasana where you can dip yourself in wonderful hot water pools, fresh from the earths core - plus cover yourself in some slightly sulphur smelling mud, wait for it to dry and then let it do its´wonders! The thing is, I was still feeling fairly achey and off, and after our day at the springs, I felt so much better. The locals believe that there are so many minerals and good elements in the water and mud that its possible it healed me extra! Hurray.

Today, we took a wonderful boat trip out on the Carribbean sea. The ocean colour is like nothing I have seen before, emerald sea green but also kind of blue. So clear and stunning against the backdrop of jagged mountains filled to the edges with lush green tropical forestry plus an immense number of pelicans! We took a hairy ride over some large waves which made our wooden fishing boat drop a couple of stomach cringing feet - only to arrive at a deserted beach called Pui Pui. The lovely thing is the complete lack of tourists - sure there are locals, but not many and it is just overwhelmingly clear and beautiful. After a couple of hours, our "boat captain" and his "second in command" who were two young chaps, returned to pick us up and seemed to have been indulging in some Sunday afternoon boozing. And they had brought a their girlfriend with them. So we carried on and on to another beach called Medina which is pretty popularbut with more people which made it a bit less enjoyable but all the same, it was beautiful. Plus it was amusing to witness our chaps getting pretty pissed on wine they shared with us and even one falling off the boat smack into the water when trying to get a lighter from one of our friends.

All in all, it was a super day and so wonderful to think we are by the Carribbean coast. Ah, life is sweet.

Cumanà

We have made our way to the Carribbean coast - hurray! Yet another Ocean for me to dip my feet into. We havent yet, but we will tomorrow. The town is called Cumaná and it is the oldest town or settlement on the South American mainland, dating back to roughly 1500! And founded by the Spanish.

It has really colourful buildings, music blaring from every little corner and is fantastic for people watching. Which is what Lee and I did this afternoon. We sat in the sunshine, on a bench in yet another Plaza Bolivár - each town in Venezuela seems to have one, named after their freedom fighter Simón Bolivár, will explain later - with some sandwiches and watched all the people hang out, drink coffee, play music on their portable bombastic speakers and my favourite - watch the badass Chevy´s, Corvettes, Mustangs, Ford´s and other Duke´s of Hazard stunt double cars cruise by rumbling along. Man, these cars are cool. Plus, you get the most mis-shapen buses and trucks going by too, obvious results of welding torch crazed lunatics set free in a junkyard.

The other phenomenon about this country is the obvious presence of very, very cheap oil. Petrol is cheaper than water, and you get the smell of it everywhere - my theory is, its so cheap, people are bathing in it, cooking with it and even drinking it - definitely explains the fiesty stuff we get as coffee in the morning. Makes my head go off bang.

Money is an issue here. Only because there is the official rate of Bolivars that Chavez has pegged against the US dollar to 2150 Bolivars. But the black market rate is nearly double, so by bringing lots of US dollars you can make your time in Venezuela much cheaper. The issue is, you need to find someone who will exchange your TC´s and cash for you, and as we head to more remote towns along the coast, the chances get less.

And finally - the amusing live gameshow that I have recently become. Whenever I am out and about walking through cities or towns, I quite often get a call out by a random stranger on the street - shouting names of countries that they think I am from... for example - ´Good morning India!´is one such line. Or ´Colombia!´or ´Brasil!´or ´Mexicana!´and I have checked, there was no one else near me at the time. Except for Lee. Um. I wonder how many points I´m worth.

Venezuela - first impressions

With possibly the most amount of anticipation on our part for Venezuela, it is a fascinating country. The changes between Brasil and here were noticeable almost immediately - from the people who look mostly indigenous Indian, the different food to the wonderful Spanish language we are hearing! Plus the badass Cadillac`s and Fords growling along the roads, the music blaring out of cafes, shops and cars, the underlying passion for politics with Chavez`s face on walls and posters.... the list just goes on. It makes such a difference to be understood here too, in Brasil Lee and I were beginning to lose our patience with the constant blank looks and low levels of effort on trying to understand our limited Portugese.

The music here, is just divine. Already we are hearing so many different ranges, varieties and tastes... and so much Spanish music.

Another very noticeable comparison is that Brasil was very insulated. You very rarely bumped into other South American nationalities who lived in Brasil, whereas just 5 days in Venezuela and we can feel and see the Colombian influences (people to restaurants), we have met a guy from Trinidad and also oddly enough there are alot of Germans here. Eh?

The Copa America 2007 is on at the moment and is being held here too, it is the equivalent of the European Football Championship, though I have no idea what it is called. Anyway, it is for all the South American countries and with each series they invite two outside countries, this time it is Mexico and amusingly enough, the US. The fervour here is intense because the locals are really into it and very excited, plus it has created a big sense of coming together with all the South American countries.

The Gran Sabana

This part of Venezuela is often not heard about and sometimes overlooked. It is south of the country near the border with Brasil and has some of the most unique landscapes on the continent. It is called the Gran Sabana and is only inhabited by indigenous Venezuelan Indians, who mainly originate from neighbouring Guyana. We went on a 2 day tour of this region with a guy who owned his own expedition company and was a perfect English speaking Colombian wildman! He was incredibly knowledgable on these parts and had arranged for us to stay in an Indian village called San Francisco de Uarien. Unfortunately we were hindered by rain so alot of the adventure stuff Ricardo had planned involved waterfalls and so had to be put aside as it would have been too risky considering the amount of rainfall. We were in a group with a lovely couple from Colombia, they were young but really fun and the guy Cristiano was on strike with his university in protest against his government. Right on.



Instead we took a fairly leisurely approach to the Gran Sabana, visited some rivers and had loads of fun sliding down the rapids, though our bums were numb after. Plus we drove around and got to see some beautiful scenery and walks along some natural pools. Afterwards we went back to our rather rustic guesthouse whose bathrooms had a number of wasp nests, though these wasps were length across my four fingers and were massive! Plus they were very dangerous. Which made nature calls rather petrifying. So we drank copious amounts of rum instead and talked, ate and played guitar through the night.

The next day we went in search of the famous tepuis. These are large rock formations that are a result of the earths layers being eroded away over millions of years thanks to wind and rain, leaving odd looking flat topped mountains with massive valleys surrounding them. What makes these tepui´s so fascinating is that on the top of each one, there is an entire eco system that exists all the way up there and it is completely endemic to that particular tepui. So you will find plant life, animals, birds and insects all completely unique to that tepui thanks to the particular weather and environmental system it experiences. The great thing is you cannot access these tepuis unless you are rich and can rent a plane, even then it is hard to find a place to land. However there is one that humans have had access to and it is called Roraima. It takes a good 6 day hike to get up there and back and we were thinking of going but lacked the gear and it was raining heavily which would have made it much harder. It is also off one of these tepuis that the worlds tallest waterfall, Angel Falls, originates.

Tepuis in the distance.

Waterfalls in Gran Sabana, the red rock is unique to that area and is naturally that colour.

We´re moving on...

We are back from the jungle - 4 unbelievable, mind blowing, fascinating days deep in the Amazon rainforest. I am still letting it all sink in and therefore have not been able to pen it on the blog as yet. Lee has done a super one on his blog, so click here to check out some of the stuff we got up to.

But I wanted to quickly mark this very important day - 5 months of travelling in South America, and also the end of our time in Brasil. Tonight we take a 16 hour bus journey to Venezuela - on the only road that connects the two countries and its through the Amazon jungle.

I cant believe we have been here 3 months, and it has been an immensely wonderful experience though I am really excited about our upcoming adventure in Venezuela - they speak Spanish too - hurray! Its certainly time to move on.

Hot Sao Luis dancers