Souvlaki and partying till 6.30am

The locals know how to relax...

After Malta we flew to Athens in Greece. From there we got a boat out to Mykonos, one of the most famous Greek Islands.

We started off with a day at Paradise Beach. At around 4.30pm, the music starts getting louder and louder and by 6pm its pumping. By 7 we decided to walk up the beach for a look. I (Adam) was quite excited to see a couple of girls in bikinis dancing on a stage, but I was soon confused when dancing next to them was a well tanned bloke with absolutely no hair (anywhere) wearing nothing but a couple of bits of string and a few beads!

Paradise Beach, Mykonos
On our Hotel balcony in Mykonos


Mykonos harbour

Melinda decided we should stop in for a drink at the bar, but there were way too many excited Italians with no concept of waiting their turn pushing in at the bar! With my patience getting less and less we decided it would be a good idea to head back in to town.

Professional complete with Greek Island Motorcross Boots

We met up with some friends Marco (Italian) and Tina (Greek) who I know from work in London. In true Mykonos style, we met for dinner at 10.15pm. Dinner finished around 1am so we went for a couple of cocktails, followed by coffee, followed by Zambuca and clubbing! Time flies when you are having fun and after a while it was 6.30am when we stumbled back in to our hotel room. Tina and Marco reckoned that this is what they did everyday and that sleep has no place on Mykonos!

Sofia, Christo, Marco, Tina and Melinda

Melinda, Tina and Marco clubbing

Marco, Adam and Melinda sometime in the AM!!

We spent about 4 days on Mykonos cruising around on a quad bike out to different beaches, eating souvlaki and having some Mythos (Greek beer). On our last night there we met up with a French couple staying at our hotel who were also about to head to Santorini. We got the ferry the next day and went to a town called Oia which is famous for its sunset views.

Oia, Santorini

Santorini sunset

Oia

The next few days were a bit more relaxed with plenty of eating, drinking, swimming and as our new French friend Laure put it - 'contemplation'. We did have one good night out with Iaco and Laure to a little Greek tavern just out of town where they had some local friends. A couple of Greek blokes playing guitars, food, wine and dancing made for a top night out.

Santorini, Santorini, San-to-rini mu I love you!!

Iaco and Laure

A week in London and then a week in Malta

After I got back from India, a few days later Melinda finally arrived back in London. It was good to have her back after 4 months away. A couple of days later we set off for Malta for 7 days!

Gun salute in Valletta

View of Valletta from our hotel roof pool

Valletta by night

Adam and Melinda doing a bit of tasting at the wine festival

Our mate Bryce met us at the airport and took us to our hotel. We had a full week with tours of the island of Gozo, wine festivals, swimming, snorkeling, festas, a day out on a boat and even a charter flight (4 seater Cessna) to Taormina in Sicily! Ever had an international charter flight? Well we have!!

In the words of our tour guide 'On the right, there is a church'

Our friend Emma has family in Malta and as it turns out, her cousin is a pilot! So we met at the airport nice and early, walked past the que in security and pushed in at the front and then took a bus that could normally carry about 100 people (with only 4 of us in it!!) out to a tiny little plane. We flew over to Catania in Sicily and then caught a bus to Toarmina for the day. When we landed back in Malta that evening, we rolled over to a small fuel tanker and stopped then engine. Then we got out and filled up the plane!! Finally we got picked up by a massive empty bus and taken back to the terminal!

Bryce, Charlie, Emma and Melinda at a family owned bar

Adam, Bryce and Emma at a Festa for Santa Maria

It was a top week and I think we might go back to Malta again soon...

Lunchtime again!

One long last wistfull look at Malta...

2 more weeks in Gujarat

The highlight of my last two weeks in India was a trip to Ahmadabad, a city about 6 hours bus ride away from where I have been working. I went with 3 Indian friends from work - Krupa, Gaurav and Nirav. We went in to town after work on a Saturday night and got on a bus to Ahmedabad. Once we arrived, Nirav's sister appeared out of the darkness on a scooter with a big bag of food for us! Nirav had decided that we would be hungry when we arrived and as such his sister had prepared enough food to feed about 8 people!! The next morning we hired a car and driver and went touring. We went to Gandhi's ashram (his residences/offices during his independence struggle) and a massive temple (Akshardham temple) which was very impressive however no cameras are allowed inside since a terrorist attack there in 2002.

Family transport on the bike!

We spent the afternoon doing a bit of shopping and then went out to a water fountain and light show to music which was surprisingly good. It was back to Krupa's place for some dinner before we got on a sleeper bus back to Jamnagar. My friends presented me with a beautiful gift that they had sneakily bought while we were out shopping and it was a great end to a fantastic weekend. We arrived back at 6am to the place where we live and about an hour later I was at work, bleary eyed but soon fixed that up with some sweet Indian coffee!

Good mates on tour in Ahmedabad

A quick look at Malaysia on the way back to India

Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

On my way back from Australia to India, I had about 12 hours to wait in Malaysia. So I left the airport and had a bit of a look around town. I managed to get up to the skybridge on the Petronas Twin Towers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronas_Twin_Towers) which was cool and to the National Mosque which is quite large.

View of K.L. from the skybridge between the twin towers

I did a bit of genuine fake shopping in China Town where I was assured that I needed more watches than just one on my wrist and that their genuine fake North Face back packs where indeed better than the pack I have and that I should get one. It was good to know that they were all trying to help me out!!

Malaysia National Mosque