During the last few days our blog has hit 10000 views so now would be a good time to crunch the numbers and see what trends we have seen on our trip so far.

So far we have been travelling for over 2 months or to be precise 66 days and 19 hours and 52 minutes at the time of writing.

In this time we have travelled 12928.7 miles or 192 miles per day!! This is equivalent to flying from London to New Zealand.

We have passed through 4 countries. India, Nepal, Thailand and Cambodia and stayed in or visited 29 different places ranging from huge cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangkok to tiny villages such as Kunchittany (Kerala), Ulleri (Nepal) and Bandipur (Nepal).

TukTuk: Poetry in Motion

The biggest mode of transport for us has been the TukTuk (remork-Moto in Cambodia, Auto-Rickshaw in India) with over 30 journeys ranging from a few minutes to the hairy hour long journey we took under the cover of darkness between Hampi and Hospet.

Buses have played a prominent part also with over 20 journeys in buses that range in size from big tourist 50+ seaters to tiny Suzuki Maruti Vans that squashed 50+ people into them.

Boats is in third place with all types included. Rickety old boats to big ferries, rafts to our House Boat in Kerala.

To add some variance we have also been on an Elephant!!

Lots apparently.

103 Temples so far, covering religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and a few more -isms for good measure.

The majority of these were seen in Nepal, nearly 45 alone in Kathmandu!

We have spent hours in temples such as Ranakpur Temple and it’s wondrous marble columns to the absolutely stunning ruins of Hampi and just recently the majestic offerings at Angkor Wat.

Hampi Days

And then we have spent minutes at smaller temples to Ganesh and Shiva that are dotted about Nepal and Northern India.

The Taj Mahal is not a temple but we went there as well.

Not a temple!

We have also snuck in some churches such as the one in Fort Cochin where Vasco Da Gama was originally buried and 1 Synagogue in Mattancherry ( this was the setting for Salman Rushdie’s book The Moor’s Last Sigh).

Added to that we have visited 15 Palaces / Forts and have gazed at over 17 Big Buddhas.

We have also had some chill time at 5 beaches. Palolem Beach was our favourite for obvious reasons.

The trip started off with mid range guest houses before we found ourselves in a hut made of cow dung and straw in Jodhpur. Then it was back to guesthouses again before we diversified our accommodation with wooden beach huts, a boat, overnight sleeper bus and finally some home stays.

Nepal added Tea Houses in the Himalayas.

India was mainly rice and curries and chapatis and naan bread with a sprinkling of western food in between.

Further south in Kerala we added fish, lake prawns and banana fritters.

In India, Thali is King!!

Thali Thali in my belly!

Nepal was interesting. Some more Indian type foods and lots of Tibetan MoMos (Steamed Dumplings)

Thailand, as always, had some of the best food. Tasty Pad Thai and lush Green Curries.

Pad Thai

Cambodia is quite different with lots of Chinese influenced dishes and Beef LokLak (Casserole) being the tastiest.

Quite close but with St. Patrick’s Day around the corner John is hoping for a boost. The score is currently

Scotland 26
Ireland 23

Most of the Irish references and quips have been generic. “U2”, “Titanic from Belfast” and the “Troubles”

Scotland, however, has had more in-depth exposure. We have debated Scottish Independence with an Indian in Delhi, chatted to another who studied Engineering in Glasgow University and our tour guide in Patan studied at Ayr College for 2 years!

Also Nepal’s ATMs have provided employment to a host of Scottish Voice Actors ( mostly East Coast Scots).

If you believe the respective mothers, the populations of Ayr and Midleton.

Looking at the Stats on the blog we have followers concentrated in:

UK
Ireland
Belgium
USA
India

As well as most Asian, European and South American countries.

If you are following the blog let us know where from as the above map is intriguing for us!

For all these stats and much more head to:

Fun Stats

With a few days on the beach at Kep we will be adding to the blog.

More details of where we have been including a travel map.

Cambodia experiences so far..

And more hints and tips for anyone attempting the same journey.