Safely home to Sunny England!!
I arrived home safely yesterday, very surreal to be home strangely enough everything seems a lot smaller but nothing has changed!! We spent our last day in Bangkok on Khao San Rd which was good fun. lot of last minute purchases!! Flight was ok, although i always seem to manage to sit near all the screaming babies! but i knocked myself out with some sleeping pills and a glass of red wine and before I knew it we were landing.So the time has come for you to all get your lives back, and stop reading my travel blog! What will you do with yourselves?!!!wanted to thank you all for your support, prayers, encouragement and all the emails and texts. sounds so cheesy but i couldn’t have done it without you. so thank you. before I end this blog i thought i’d answer some of the questions you’ve been asking me since home so that when i’m asked “whats your best bit”!! etc i can say “look on my blog!!!!!” so…….Best bit? Playing with the children in the nursery in Uganda and watching their faces light up when I put them in new, clean clothes which had been donated.Hardest time? I found australia hard, felt so far away from home (i realise i was!) and was still getting use to leaving Africa- i still had a wicked time in Sydney with the legend that is Hannah Bell!!Funniest Memory? probably when we were in the indonesian Jungle in Sumatra and one night had a little bit too much to drink and made a recording on my camera of us attempting to various things including getting into bed and tucking in mossy nets in the dark. the funniest part was listening to it in the morning.scariest moment? deffinately sitting on that blasted elephant!!! going up a practically vertical incline! you know how when u sit in a bath too long you get wrinkly fingers?i had them from holding on so tight with sweaty hands!!!happiest times? i think my happiest time was in uganda, mainly because i was most happiest in my self when i was settled and i felt so at home there.Best memory of Uganda? I have so many!!!! the kids obviously, also all the fun we had at the weekends and after work. I night out in Gabalagala was such a laugh. but probably the best was standing in church on a Sunday and been surrounded by passionate worship by thousands of Ugandans and feeling so at home. Best memory of South Africa? Unfortunately South Africa was so brief, too brief! but i had a fab week with David Edwards and was a perfect break after being in Uganda and of course he was a lovely subsitute to my Dad. Best memory was probably going to hidden Valley with Tony and claire and Dave. Having a very extravagant meal in hidden Valley, and looking at the most amazing mountains and rememberingBest memory of Australia? Best memory of my time on the gold coast was probably going to Byron Bay, and having a good laugh with Dani and her friends. Also I had a lovely day just sitting on the beach and watchng the ocean. Sydney was great, best memory was with hannah Bell, going into the city and doing touristy things, had a good few laughs including attempting to get a bus but ended up walking and then wilst walking watched a good few buses fly past. not funny at the time but slightly more now!!!!Best memory of Vietnam? Jo and I got into the habit of going to bed very early as we so hot and tired by the evening. One particular evening i was reading in bed and started falling asleep. i said to Jo: is it too early to go to sleep? We both looked at the clock and realised it was 6.30pm !!!!! we laughed and decided we had to do something so we ended up playing the funniest game and actually didn’t go to sleep until after midnight!!! Another very funny memory of vietnam was in our hotel in Hanoi. We’d gone to bed in this giant double bed, and i (jokingly) kicked Josie and it turned into a full scale pillow fight. Josie’s a strong gal and managed to hit me so hard that i fell out of the bed. But the gap between the wall wasn’t quite big enough and i actually got stuck!!!!! i told Jo to turn the light on and help me up but instead she stood there laughing and getting her camera. Of course I hit her very hard with my pillow once i had got unstuck!!!!Best memory of Indonesia? Apart from the night i’ve already mentioned, my other best memory has got to be in Tankahan where we stayed for one night in the jungle. After a meal we sat around in the jungle lodge drinking and the locals played the guitar singing indonesian jungle songs!!! one day i’ll upload the video.Best memory of Malaysia? When we landed in Penang we meet this French man who had been in Sumatra. We shared a taxi up to Georgetown and he was the funniest man. was asking the taxi the funniest questions about his wife and some other rather embarrassing things. Jo and I got out and just howled with laughter and the strangeness of our experience.Best memory of Thailand? Probably our Prison Break extravaganza!! In kho Lanta when the rain was constant we started watching prison Break and got so hooked we had three very early nights as in 5am!!! We had such a laugh with the guys that we watched it with.Most memorable Day? I don’t think our ever forget some of the journeys we did. most memorable was probably from Langkawi in Malaysia to Lanta in Thailand. at times we didn’t know where we were, where we were going, who we with and worst of all how long it was going to take! i remember turning to Jo as we were in this car which can only be discribed as a tin van which was held together by rope. and said if my Dad could see me now he would have a fit!!!!Food never want to see again? RICE!Most unusual food? i’d love to say that i ate something crazy like dog! but i didn’t. Shark and frog are the best i can do!Most embarrassing moment? conviently i can’t think of anything that was embarrassing!Person I meet away who I miss the most? Immaculate who I meet in Uganda I love to pieces and miss incredible. everyone I meet in Uganda always will mean a lot because of the experiences we shared!Person I missed the most while away? such tough one! Probably Chloe. but obviously all my friends and family!!! Funniest news from home that i recieved? Dad would always add a paragraph in his emails about where Portsmouth are in the table thinking that i actually wanted regualar updates! but the funniest text was from mum while i was in Uganda. it took a long time to work out what it said because of her text abbreviations!!! it read: “busy day here, elec here (electrician), van dem later (car demonstration!), attic clear (cleared out attic) nw keep safe 1234 (turned out to be nationwide bank, with my pin number!) It made me laugh all day and obviously mum is still suffering!Best Purchase!? I didn’t buy anything! lol just kidding! probably one of the pairs of shoes I had made!Most regretable purchase? I had this evenig dress made in Hoi An which is disgusting and i hate!!!! send it home in sea mail with coat etc but it will be made into something else!!!worst place?! airport without a doubt. particularly australian ones because i was there for so flipping long!!!If I could change one thing about my trip? I would probably would have had longer in Uganda or gone back for a month after Asia.If I could have gone to one other country it would have been? Probably New Zealand, because it would be so expesive to get all that way again and i’d love to go there.One thing I would bring with me in hindsight? A washing machine or my laptopItem i most missed? Probably my laptop or my GHD, or a big fluffy towel!!!Drink i missed? for a long time i craved a mac donalds milkshake!!!Food i missed? english meals, like bangers and mash and mayo and of course Galaxy!Things i learnt while away? Where to begin!!! God’s faithfulness and provision overwhelmed me. on a lighter note, i learnt that i am extremely inpatient and airports don’t bring out the best in me!!!Grateful for? Most grateful for the money my parents lent me so i could go into the jungle! Regrets? I don’t really have any huge regrets because all the things were a lesson. I regret not taking my laptop cause it would have been save everywhere and very useful in Uganda.Next on my travelling agenda? Who knows whats next but i’d love to do some more of africa!!! So there you go!!! thank you everyone once again for everything. lots of love Sal xxx
