Sunday 25 August 2013

Space Odyssey - Ground Control to Major Tom


It’s time to say Namaste and introduce ourselves, your crew for what will no doubt be another epic Odyssey expedition.  We are Helen and Rogan, also known as Hels and Rogs. We’ll be lucky enough or brave enough (some say) to be joining you guys on a 20,000km blast through some amazing parts of the world from high mountain passes, snowy vistas to sea crossings, bring it on!



Preparations should be nearing their crescendo as bags are trial packed, hands thrown up in despair, agony at having to ditch that extra pair of jeans or shoes.  Or maybe joy on realising you have a little extra space and can squeeze that jar of Vegemite or Marmite, depending which side of the world you come from. Just remember if you unpack half the contents of you bag now you’ll probably still have brought too much.


It’s not such a bad idea, if there is something that makes you happy, edible or non-edible, and it doesn’t tip the scales then pop it in.  Not forgetting a bottle of something Duty Free on the way to break the ice getting to know your fellow travellers.  Kathmandu is a good place to pick up a lot of items, especially warm clothing, so it’s not the end of the world if you arrive and discover you’ve forgotten your toothbrush, all you really need is your passport.

We’ve been doing a bit of shopping ourselves, new knives and peelers to make cook group even more fun, as well as Googling “Can you buy cheese in Kathmandu” (the answer is yes!).  Attempting to get back into the spirit of overlanding and camping we’ve attended a few festivals and cooked up some of the local food we’ll find along the way, particularly successful was the Georgian style grilled aubergine with walnut topping, delicious.

Camping in England... fortunately a bit more space where we're going!




We’ll be boarding a plane bound for Kolkata on Monday to reunite with Calypso, our home for the next few months, and then wending our way, dodging holy cows on our week long drive up to Kathmandu.  The hotel in Kolkata emailed to say they are expecting us and ended with “Welcome you to city of joy!!”.  Welcome us, thank you very much!

Bon Voyage and safe travels wherever you might be travelling from.  The earth moved for us last year, in the form of an earthquake in China.  Who knows what this expedition will bring.   We look forward to seeing you in Nepal, the start of our adventure, and sharing all (well maybe not all) the stories here along the way with those that aren’t so fortunate to be with us in person for the ride.  See you soon!