Back to the fishing village

Hello all,
My 2 week holiday with Mum comes to an end tomorrow. It's been great to catch up and we've done very little else as Mum is finding it really hot and I had a cold thing for most of the first week. SO we've sat by the pool, I've sunbathed whilst Mum wilts, played cards, read - all the usual things. Did a couple of day tripes - me bargaining frantically over price to ensure we're not ripped off - they surprised to see i speak any indonesian.

First trip involved a lot of sitting in a very slow moving car, feeding peanuts to some really intelligent wild monkeys, visiting a traditional Sasak (local people) village and walking in the pouring rain to see a waterfall. All we really needed to do was look at the sky! The other trip invloved culture and crafts - pottery/tradtional weaving, another local village but this one has been visited by a lot of tourists so they all have TV's now - the other was very poor and had no water. Due to lack of rain they'd only wash ever few days. Friendly people though. They use dung on their floor to patch the cracks as the floor always dries out, but it doesn't smell at all!

Went to Gili Air for 2 days where I got to catch up with some of the staff whcih was cool - one of them has hd a baby girl and is living in my old house! Also had chance to eat tasty homemade chocoloate cake. Food in Flores is very basic and not so good, so I've been eating a lot of western food and some good local indonesian food since I've been back - I have a thing for tempe. It's made from the soyabean (tofu is from the beancurd) and has a great texture, good flavour and is really good for you! Western food doesn't exist in flores so have had 3 pizzas in last 10 days!

It'll be good to go diving again and see my friends at Golo but I'm really looking forward to leaving and going travelling again. Mum has given me 2 books on the Trans-Siberian railway and am very excited. It's quite cool when you think about it. I'm travelling back to England from Asia overland! What a trip!! Was a bit nervous about being by myself and potentially staying in a compartment with 3 russian males, but having read a few travellers stories, I think everything will be fine.

Last night Mum and I had our christmas dinner, complete with xmas crackers. Mum was really embarrassed cause I ws singing carols in the taxi and we had to wear our hats at dinner but everyone else thought it was sweet.

That's it now for 6 weeks when hopefully I shall be exiting Indonesia. For the very few people who post me things - please DON'T. The post is terrible. I'm still waiting for xmas cards sent at beginning of Decemeber, so anything sent now will probably not reach me at all!

I have updated Blogger, but it's only got the last emails on it - no new photos or anything.

Take care all,
lots of love
kx