Am writing this from a wonderful Apple Imac, inside one of the many fancy coffee shops in Luang Prabang, one of the more popular tourist destinations in Laos.
Correction: I WAS writing it from there. Now I'm in Vang Vien, following my trend of spending no time at all on my blog (sadly). My journey through northern Thailand was painless: I saw some nice sights, the best of which were provided by Kanchunaburi (home of the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai) and Sukhothai (it sported a national park containing well-preserved ruins of temples and palaces - for some reason, the former tends to be built on top of the latter - dating back many centuries). Thailand, in a nutshell, appears to be mainly all about its beaches. Bangkok provided several nice, immaculately kept temples for sight-seeing, but everything that I've seen since then has been much of the same ("same, same but different"). It's also a mainly flat country, apart from when you reach the real northern parts, close to the Burmese and Laos borders.
Another thing Thailand keeps on proving to me is that it affords next to all the conveniences England does: my stop in Chiang Mai prior to leaving for Laos offered me multiple modern shopping malls, Starbuck cafes with wifi (which is even available in some guest houses, such as the one I stayed in) and multiplex cinemas. Entering Laos a week and a half ago was a bit of a shock - the first down I stayed in, half way down the Mekong River from Huay Xai (border town) and Luang Prabang (a beautiful old French Colonial town and very much styled in that way), was very remote and without roads disconnected from the outside world, its power provided by generators. Laos hasn't turned out to be all like this (sadly?), but actually is a nice blend of old and new: modern convenience without the big brands/shopping malls/sky scrapers.
Will continue this later - am off down south now to the 4,000 Islands, right on the border with Cambodia. I'm not sure what the internet access there is like, but should be in Cambodia by the end of next week, where I'm sure I can fit in another update.
Saturday, 24 November 2007
Thursday, 8 November 2007
Onwards and Upwards
Ko Samui - now a disaster zone!
Yep, it's official, and not just me whining. After 3 days of continuous rain - some of the heaviest I've ever seen - Ko Samui is practically under water. See the latest cuttings from the 'Bangkok Post':-
Samui island is declared disaster zone on Thursday after it was hit by heavy rain the night before. The rain caused flood in several locations. Water level on the main road is at 30 centimetre high. Hundreds of tourists are left stranded as weather condition prevented aircrafts from taking off since late Wednesday. Authorities are trying to pump water into river to alleviate the problem and prevent further flooding if rain comes again. Surat Thani provincial office sent 170 soldiers into the island to assist locals and tourists.
-- Bangkok Post 2007-11-08
It's as impressive as it sounds too. I've been pretty much housebound these last few days (the roads running into the big towns are completely underwater) and have had to make do with using Steve's gym, watching DVDs on a massive television, browsing the information super-highway and raiding the well-stocked parlour. Times are tough...
Truth be told, I've only had me, myself and I for company of late (Steve and family are unable to return from their trip to Bangkok due to the closure of Ko Samui's airport: hard for him to believe when it's currently a glorious thirty degrees in Thailand's capital!), I'm a little bored and yearning to be being able to go outside and actually do/see something. I've really enjoyed my time here (almost two weeks): I've had a great relax, rested, chilled out and other than the above have polished off a few books too (completed Baudolino by Umberto Eco - amusing, great use of language and history, a bit directionless at times - and Herman Hesse's 'Siddhartha', which I found to be a great read - very insightful, thought-provoking and perfect for this trip - and have now started on some hard-fi, Culture novel by Iain M. Banks). I owe a lot to Steve for making all this possible and am just sorry I won't see him now before I leave Samui. Perhaps at Christmas/New Year?
Speaking of leaving, despite the weather situation, the good news is that I've booked a ticket to take me off this island tomorrow (Friday 9th Nov) and onto warmer pastures new. At 1.30PM I'll be catching a boat to Surat Thani on the mainland, followed by a bus to the train station and then, after several hours of waiting, a train to a lesser-known place called Petchaburi. A central Thai province some 130km south of Bangkok, it is supposedly a good representation of the 'real' Thailand - i.e. no 7/11s, no Tescos and, hopefully, next to no tourists. There's meant to be several worthwhile caves to see as well as no end of temples. Unfortunately, I don't have any info. on it in my guidebook (gulp!) so am relying on a few postings that I have read on the 'Thorn Tree' (Lonely Planet's online message board). Am set to arrive some time between 5 and 6am on Saturday morning, all being well. Fingers crossed it turns out to be worth it :) A day or two there and then back up to Bangkok, my intention being ultimately being to head up to Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) then across into Laos.
So, it's away from the life of laziness and luxury and back to roughing it on the road. I'm both excited and full of intrepidation. In fact, it feels a little like the start of my trip again. Just a warning that it may be a little while until this blog is updated again, at least until I get the opportunity to pop into another web cafe. That'll probably be in Bangkok then...
J
Chaweng Lake - Ko Samui
It's not a world apart from Sunny Doncaster ;)
Waiting for the rain to stop, Na Thon.
"Same, same" at Steve's house.
Food for thought: why is it that the Thais INSIST on putting everything in plastic bags?? This seems to happen no matter what I buy or where I buy it from. Even if my purchase consists of a single, lone bottle of water, the seller will thrust it at me in a plastic bag, all by itself, with absolutely no regard for waste at all. As I'm never asked whether I would actually LIKE a bag or not, I daren't object, for fear of causing confusion (how couldn't I want a bag??) as well as looking like a bigger 'farang' than I already am!
To top it all off, if I'm really lucky, they'll throw in a free drinking straw too!
*sigh*
Yep, it's official, and not just me whining. After 3 days of continuous rain - some of the heaviest I've ever seen - Ko Samui is practically under water. See the latest cuttings from the 'Bangkok Post':-
Samui island is declared disaster zone on Thursday after it was hit by heavy rain the night before. The rain caused flood in several locations. Water level on the main road is at 30 centimetre high. Hundreds of tourists are left stranded as weather condition prevented aircrafts from taking off since late Wednesday. Authorities are trying to pump water into river to alleviate the problem and prevent further flooding if rain comes again. Surat Thani provincial office sent 170 soldiers into the island to assist locals and tourists.
-- Bangkok Post 2007-11-08
It's as impressive as it sounds too. I've been pretty much housebound these last few days (the roads running into the big towns are completely underwater) and have had to make do with using Steve's gym, watching DVDs on a massive television, browsing the information super-highway and raiding the well-stocked parlour. Times are tough...
Truth be told, I've only had me, myself and I for company of late (Steve and family are unable to return from their trip to Bangkok due to the closure of Ko Samui's airport: hard for him to believe when it's currently a glorious thirty degrees in Thailand's capital!), I'm a little bored and yearning to be being able to go outside and actually do/see something. I've really enjoyed my time here (almost two weeks): I've had a great relax, rested, chilled out and other than the above have polished off a few books too (completed Baudolino by Umberto Eco - amusing, great use of language and history, a bit directionless at times - and Herman Hesse's 'Siddhartha', which I found to be a great read - very insightful, thought-provoking and perfect for this trip - and have now started on some hard-fi, Culture novel by Iain M. Banks). I owe a lot to Steve for making all this possible and am just sorry I won't see him now before I leave Samui. Perhaps at Christmas/New Year?
Speaking of leaving, despite the weather situation, the good news is that I've booked a ticket to take me off this island tomorrow (Friday 9th Nov) and onto warmer pastures new. At 1.30PM I'll be catching a boat to Surat Thani on the mainland, followed by a bus to the train station and then, after several hours of waiting, a train to a lesser-known place called Petchaburi. A central Thai province some 130km south of Bangkok, it is supposedly a good representation of the 'real' Thailand - i.e. no 7/11s, no Tescos and, hopefully, next to no tourists. There's meant to be several worthwhile caves to see as well as no end of temples. Unfortunately, I don't have any info. on it in my guidebook (gulp!) so am relying on a few postings that I have read on the 'Thorn Tree' (Lonely Planet's online message board). Am set to arrive some time between 5 and 6am on Saturday morning, all being well. Fingers crossed it turns out to be worth it :) A day or two there and then back up to Bangkok, my intention being ultimately being to head up to Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) then across into Laos.
So, it's away from the life of laziness and luxury and back to roughing it on the road. I'm both excited and full of intrepidation. In fact, it feels a little like the start of my trip again. Just a warning that it may be a little while until this blog is updated again, at least until I get the opportunity to pop into another web cafe. That'll probably be in Bangkok then...
J
Chaweng Lake - Ko Samui
It's not a world apart from Sunny Doncaster ;)
Waiting for the rain to stop, Na Thon.
"Same, same" at Steve's house.Food for thought: why is it that the Thais INSIST on putting everything in plastic bags?? This seems to happen no matter what I buy or where I buy it from. Even if my purchase consists of a single, lone bottle of water, the seller will thrust it at me in a plastic bag, all by itself, with absolutely no regard for waste at all. As I'm never asked whether I would actually LIKE a bag or not, I daren't object, for fear of causing confusion (how couldn't I want a bag??) as well as looking like a bigger 'farang' than I already am!
To top it all off, if I'm really lucky, they'll throw in a free drinking straw too!
*sigh*
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Note to all
A pretty good day today, updates wise. Mind you, it did take up THE WHOLE DAY to do this (well, at least most of it). So no-one misses anything, I'm just letting you know that as well as adding Thailand and Nepal pics, there's also some ones of India added to the lower original posts as well. Scrolling will get your everywhere! :)
As I forgot to put it in, here also is a picture (or several) that I forgot to put in of India...
The Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal, close(r) up
Same again!
The third pic is a profile of the Taj, taken from its right side (approached from the gate). It illustrates how the building is perfectly symmetrical, built in such a way that it appears identical from all four sides. Unfortunately, you cannot see the minarets in this pic, which also look identical no matter whether you view them from the north, east, south or west.
As I forgot to put it in, here also is a picture (or several) that I forgot to put in of India...
The Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal, close(r) up
Same again!
The third pic is a profile of the Taj, taken from its right side (approached from the gate). It illustrates how the building is perfectly symmetrical, built in such a way that it appears identical from all four sides. Unfortunately, you cannot see the minarets in this pic, which also look identical no matter whether you view them from the north, east, south or west.
Raining in Paradise
I figured this could do with a whole section to itself. The last week and a half I have spent on the island of Ko Samui - just off the east coast of Thailand (in the gulf), not far from the full-moon partying Ko Phangan and snorkelling Ko Tao - staying at a family friend's place. Despite the warnings of bad weather, I took the time out to come here to visit my cousin Eamonn, who also happened to be staying in Thailand for a couple of weeks, family in tow.
The warnings turned out to be true. Being only a few hundred miles north of the Equator and well within the Tropic of Cancer, Thailand never really gets cold, but it does get wet. I paid 450 baht (around £6.75) for a trip which included an overnight *ahem* VIP bus from Bangkok to the port of Surat Thani (free films, a/c and comfy reclining seats inc, a night's sleep not - just couldn't nod off!) and boat across to the island (took a couple of hours, starting at 8am, also including a few beers from some Brit tourists throw in - cheers guys!). Even before setting off from Surat Thani, the sky looked forboding and the waters choppy.
The last week or so's weather has been much more 'off' than 'on' with regular, heavy tropical thunderstorms and a normally overcast sky. Though the monsoon season was set to start around November for the east coast, this year it appeared to have arrived early. However, I was here to spend time with Eamonn - which was a fantastic relief, after having seen no family or friends for almost 2 months - and Steve was very welcome, letting me have my own room (equipped with plasma TV), full access to his swimming pool, beach, computer, food, drink - just about everything really. I've been pretty blown away, though let down by the weather I've spent my time relaxing and for the most time chilling out.
It doesn't hurt that Steve's pad is a bit of a mansion too. He has tonnes of rooms, loads of big screen plasmas/rear projection TVs, a huge DVD collection, a ping-pong table, a gym (though in my slothfulness, this hasn't had nearly enough use), a kitchen full of food (waking up to a different set of dishes freshly cooked by the maid every day is a luxury I've soon gotten used to - she even does my washing/ironing!!) and a driveway with multiple cars (free access to one of his jeeps is also included). To cut it short, I haven't wanted for much here.
Eamonn proved to be a good laugh too - taking me out on the scene that is Chaweng (which is a bit too full of Irish Murphy bars for mine and his liking) and Lamai (less touristy, includes several bars with great, play for 4-5 hours a night, any song you like bands). I've checked out some excellent amateur Thai boxing (kick boxing to adrenaline-thumping music basically), where the bar men and ladies battle it out in the ring for cash, sometimes for many rounds at a time. This turned out to be a great past time, best enjoyed with several bottles of Chang Beer (local, strong, 6.4% Thai beer, only drunk by 'farrang') or Singh (tastier and more manageable at 5%).
I've also had the opportunity to *cough* sample the ladies here, as well as partake in a special Thai massage. The women on the whole remain absolutely stunning. A good portion of these women work in bars, where they entice white, male tourists in by dancing, serving drinks, coo-ing ("hey, sexy man" or just plain miaowing as you walk by) and just plain looking good. Once you are dragged in - and some of them will man-handle you so that you have no choice - you basically are assigned one girl, normally your choice, who will chat with you if she can speak good English, otherwise she'll more often than not challenge you to a game (Connect 4, Jenga are two popular games: lose to them and you buy them a drink, win and it's swiftly forgotten). Either way, you'll end up a drink or two out of pocket and with a very fiesty girl all over you.
I played around with this, had some great fun but in no way took it seriously. Though many of the girls would have loved for me to pay their bar fines (a set amount you pay the bar to allow her to leave her work for that night), I wasn't really up for that. £££ is really what many/all of these girls see in farrang, as evidenced by the number of old, fat men walking hand in hand (both in the day time and at night) with knock-out, young stunners. It's kind of embarassing to see this at times, but it is accepted as a fact of life here and no-one batters an eyelid at such behaviour!
The best kept secret too was that, after the bars close, the local disco at Lamai was full of beautiful Thai women, all off duty and all keen to have a western boyfriend. So long as nothing was taken too seriously - I've read 'Money Number One' thankfully and am not about to go steady with any of these girls, let alone marry one - there's a lot of fun to be had.
Other than that, several swims in the sea, a trip to a few food/clothes markets and a visit to a waterfall, thanks to the bad weather I don't have much to report. Eamonn has now departed with the kids, Steve is in Bangkok with wife until tomorrow (Wednesday), so I have had the place to myself these last couple of days, in which time I've been planning the next stage of my journey. Though it's a popular route, I figure heading back north to Bangkok then onward to Chiang Mai should be next, followed by nipping across into Laos. The route from therein looks to be as follows:-
Huay Xai -> Luang Nam Tha -> Luang Prabang -> Vang Vieng (home to the tourists, but more importantly the tubes and drinking rivers - more on this later) -> Pakse -> 4000 Islands
That'll leave me in the very south of Laos, from where I'll head south into Cambodia, heading for Angkor Wat.
Ultimately, I plan to be back at Steve's for Christmas and New Year, though we'll have to wait and see how that pans out.
J
Some Ko Samui pics:-
Steve's pad, taken from the back gate (Tom and Jess - Eamonn's kids - in the pool).
View from the rear of Steve's house. Islands in the distance: Ko Tao (centre) and Ko Phangan (right).
The view from Steve's beach: left.
View from Steve's beach: right.
Eamonn and Tom on Halloween. Notice the absence of masks. The Thais don't actually celebrate Halloween officially, but they love any excuse to party.
The warnings turned out to be true. Being only a few hundred miles north of the Equator and well within the Tropic of Cancer, Thailand never really gets cold, but it does get wet. I paid 450 baht (around £6.75) for a trip which included an overnight *ahem* VIP bus from Bangkok to the port of Surat Thani (free films, a/c and comfy reclining seats inc, a night's sleep not - just couldn't nod off!) and boat across to the island (took a couple of hours, starting at 8am, also including a few beers from some Brit tourists throw in - cheers guys!). Even before setting off from Surat Thani, the sky looked forboding and the waters choppy.
The last week or so's weather has been much more 'off' than 'on' with regular, heavy tropical thunderstorms and a normally overcast sky. Though the monsoon season was set to start around November for the east coast, this year it appeared to have arrived early. However, I was here to spend time with Eamonn - which was a fantastic relief, after having seen no family or friends for almost 2 months - and Steve was very welcome, letting me have my own room (equipped with plasma TV), full access to his swimming pool, beach, computer, food, drink - just about everything really. I've been pretty blown away, though let down by the weather I've spent my time relaxing and for the most time chilling out.
It doesn't hurt that Steve's pad is a bit of a mansion too. He has tonnes of rooms, loads of big screen plasmas/rear projection TVs, a huge DVD collection, a ping-pong table, a gym (though in my slothfulness, this hasn't had nearly enough use), a kitchen full of food (waking up to a different set of dishes freshly cooked by the maid every day is a luxury I've soon gotten used to - she even does my washing/ironing!!) and a driveway with multiple cars (free access to one of his jeeps is also included). To cut it short, I haven't wanted for much here.
Eamonn proved to be a good laugh too - taking me out on the scene that is Chaweng (which is a bit too full of Irish Murphy bars for mine and his liking) and Lamai (less touristy, includes several bars with great, play for 4-5 hours a night, any song you like bands). I've checked out some excellent amateur Thai boxing (kick boxing to adrenaline-thumping music basically), where the bar men and ladies battle it out in the ring for cash, sometimes for many rounds at a time. This turned out to be a great past time, best enjoyed with several bottles of Chang Beer (local, strong, 6.4% Thai beer, only drunk by 'farrang') or Singh (tastier and more manageable at 5%).
I've also had the opportunity to *cough* sample the ladies here, as well as partake in a special Thai massage. The women on the whole remain absolutely stunning. A good portion of these women work in bars, where they entice white, male tourists in by dancing, serving drinks, coo-ing ("hey, sexy man" or just plain miaowing as you walk by) and just plain looking good. Once you are dragged in - and some of them will man-handle you so that you have no choice - you basically are assigned one girl, normally your choice, who will chat with you if she can speak good English, otherwise she'll more often than not challenge you to a game (Connect 4, Jenga are two popular games: lose to them and you buy them a drink, win and it's swiftly forgotten). Either way, you'll end up a drink or two out of pocket and with a very fiesty girl all over you.
I played around with this, had some great fun but in no way took it seriously. Though many of the girls would have loved for me to pay their bar fines (a set amount you pay the bar to allow her to leave her work for that night), I wasn't really up for that. £££ is really what many/all of these girls see in farrang, as evidenced by the number of old, fat men walking hand in hand (both in the day time and at night) with knock-out, young stunners. It's kind of embarassing to see this at times, but it is accepted as a fact of life here and no-one batters an eyelid at such behaviour!
The best kept secret too was that, after the bars close, the local disco at Lamai was full of beautiful Thai women, all off duty and all keen to have a western boyfriend. So long as nothing was taken too seriously - I've read 'Money Number One' thankfully and am not about to go steady with any of these girls, let alone marry one - there's a lot of fun to be had.
Other than that, several swims in the sea, a trip to a few food/clothes markets and a visit to a waterfall, thanks to the bad weather I don't have much to report. Eamonn has now departed with the kids, Steve is in Bangkok with wife until tomorrow (Wednesday), so I have had the place to myself these last couple of days, in which time I've been planning the next stage of my journey. Though it's a popular route, I figure heading back north to Bangkok then onward to Chiang Mai should be next, followed by nipping across into Laos. The route from therein looks to be as follows:-
Huay Xai -> Luang Nam Tha -> Luang Prabang -> Vang Vieng (home to the tourists, but more importantly the tubes and drinking rivers - more on this later) -> Pakse -> 4000 Islands
That'll leave me in the very south of Laos, from where I'll head south into Cambodia, heading for Angkor Wat.
Ultimately, I plan to be back at Steve's for Christmas and New Year, though we'll have to wait and see how that pans out.
J
Some Ko Samui pics:-
Steve's pad, taken from the back gate (Tom and Jess - Eamonn's kids - in the pool).
View from the rear of Steve's house. Islands in the distance: Ko Tao (centre) and Ko Phangan (right).
The view from Steve's beach: left.
View from Steve's beach: right.
Eamonn and Tom on Halloween. Notice the absence of masks. The Thais don't actually celebrate Halloween officially, but they love any excuse to party.
Bangkok
Two weeks in the land of the smiles - where'd the time go?
As usual, it's been a while since my last update. I'm going to try and rectify this by updating the blog every couple of days; so long as there's internet availability, I don't see why this shouldn't be possible.
I arrived in Bangkok two weeks ago, after a very smooth flight from Kathmandu. The flight itself was a real shock to the system, especially after spending weeks living out of 3rd world countries: Thai Airways is possibly one of the best/most luxurious airlines I have ever flown. The gangways were wide, seats large, comfy and reclinable (with plenty of foot space), food and drink were thrown at me, whether I wanted it or not - comfort was top of the agenda! At dinner, I was offered a drink, so I opted for some wine to go with my chicken, to which the stewardess asked if I would like a "proper" beverage to go with it! The many inclusive gin and tonics I consumed on the way over to BK may have had more than a little to do with my glowing review of this incredible flight company ;)
Landing in BK proved to be yet another shock. It was 7PM at night and dark, but the humidity was incredibly high, the temperature hot (mid to high 20s) and there was no wind. A complete contrast, no less, to the onset of chilly evening/early morning weather in Kathmandu. Furthermore, the new airport (Suvarnabhumi) was stunning: modern, flash, humongous - thinking of the amount of money thrown at this place scared me at what else to expect of Thailand. If they could afford to build an airport that puts Britain's best to shame, what else could I expect from this clearly wealthy country?
The taxi cab ride into the city did little to steady my concerned mind either, from the air-conditioned, modern saloon that was my transport, to the brightly illuminated, fresh painted, 4-laned motorways (either side) and top of the range vehicles that zipped up and down it.
It took about an hour to get to my destination - Khao San road, home of the backpacker - thanks in no small part to the immense traffic jams that led into the city centre. I assumed perhaps we'd hit the rush hour, but dense, Manhatten (NY) style hold ups are par for the course in Bangkok. The Khao San road area is ever so trashy; stepping out of my cab, I was greeted to the sights and sounds of drunken western tourists milling about, fancy bars/restaurants blaring out western music and showing the latest footy games or films on large LCD TVs, shops selling t-shirts and both real and fake Billabong shorts, sporting the usual touts trying to entice buyers in. Compared to Kathmandu, the noise was definitely new, as was the water-tight organisation and cleanliness of the whole operation: everything the "typical" tourist could want was catered for here, putting Nepal's attempts at tourism to shame.
I'm sorry to say but I could have been at one of many islands in the Med, were it not for the cheaper prices and more tropical climate. Fortunately, the sights and distinctive Eastern feel that Bangkok retained - despite the obvious Western influences outlined - saved it in my eyes. These included temples (amazing, towering structures, very clean and well looked after), sky train (a monorail), parks, river (with ferrying traffic, including fantastic express bus boat), markets (stalls packed onto the streets, one after another, some selling on the pavement right outside major shops and banks), China Town - stood out as completely alien, especially against the backdrop of tall skyscrapers.
Bangkok's Mae Nam Chao Prayha river, temples in foreground and skyscrapers in the distance. This was taken from atop the Wat Arun (a strikingly tall temple, named after the Indian god of dawn, Aruna).
Said temple (Wat Arun).
Mid-town traffic.
The hell that can be Khao San Road. Taken in the day time, when it's fairly peaceful. And yes, that IS a Burger King (they have 7/11s - open 24hrs, oddly enough - Tescos, McDonalds the lot here). Why you'd want to pay a quid or more for a burger there when you can fill up at one of the nearby delicious Thai restaurants or stalls for 30p is beyond me though.
River jam!!!!
And behind it is the Wat Pho Temple (home to the 46m long, 15m high 'reclining Buddha': a giant, gold-painted statue that resides inside it).
Two things I love about Thailand so far: the food (AGAIN!!) and the Thais themselves. I'm eating just as much if not more than I did in Nepal - good food here is everywhere to be seen, no more worries about the chance of catching dyssentry, here you can just get stuck right in. Plus, every type of food is available here, from fried Pad Thai noodles (with every type of meat, fish and/or veg imaginable) down to decently made western favourites (burgers, lasagnas, chips etc). The Thai food is fantastically tasty - best fried with hot spices, especially good when topped with the local favourite that is oyster sauce. It's actually considered a popular pasttime in Thailand to eat: many of the locals will chow down up to 8 times a day, though in relatively small portions. None of the Thai dishes are that filling either, making it possible to order a selection of different dishes in one sitting.
The Thais also seem to be always in good spirits and are on the whole generally friendly. Unlike back home, I can wonder into a branch of Boots (YES, they have those too - I would normally avoid but I was in dire need of a decent toothbrush, ok??) and the (good-looking) shop workers there engage me in conversation, genuinely wanting to know where I'm from and what I plan to do next. The dialects are completely different to what I'm used to too: the language is heavily tonal, like Chinese. It makes pronunctiation very difficult for us 'farrang' (Thai for foreigner, which is pronounced as "fahrang" or "fahlang", thanks to the Thais difficulty with the letter 'r') due to the large number of variations in intonation, relating to context.
Finally, the Thai ladies are all very beautiful, modelled on the western style, as in Nepal (and I don't mean the 'lady boys', who are quite easy to spot, at least so far) . Generally, women attain to be thin here - unlike in India, where bigger appears to be better/healthier - and on the whole they are more successful at than back home. Thanks to this, I've seen some absolute stunners. Many of them are attracted to white skinned folk too: catching a gorgeous Thai girl staring at you isn't unusual and can do plenty to boost your ego :)
As usual, it's been a while since my last update. I'm going to try and rectify this by updating the blog every couple of days; so long as there's internet availability, I don't see why this shouldn't be possible.
I arrived in Bangkok two weeks ago, after a very smooth flight from Kathmandu. The flight itself was a real shock to the system, especially after spending weeks living out of 3rd world countries: Thai Airways is possibly one of the best/most luxurious airlines I have ever flown. The gangways were wide, seats large, comfy and reclinable (with plenty of foot space), food and drink were thrown at me, whether I wanted it or not - comfort was top of the agenda! At dinner, I was offered a drink, so I opted for some wine to go with my chicken, to which the stewardess asked if I would like a "proper" beverage to go with it! The many inclusive gin and tonics I consumed on the way over to BK may have had more than a little to do with my glowing review of this incredible flight company ;)
Landing in BK proved to be yet another shock. It was 7PM at night and dark, but the humidity was incredibly high, the temperature hot (mid to high 20s) and there was no wind. A complete contrast, no less, to the onset of chilly evening/early morning weather in Kathmandu. Furthermore, the new airport (Suvarnabhumi) was stunning: modern, flash, humongous - thinking of the amount of money thrown at this place scared me at what else to expect of Thailand. If they could afford to build an airport that puts Britain's best to shame, what else could I expect from this clearly wealthy country?
The taxi cab ride into the city did little to steady my concerned mind either, from the air-conditioned, modern saloon that was my transport, to the brightly illuminated, fresh painted, 4-laned motorways (either side) and top of the range vehicles that zipped up and down it.
It took about an hour to get to my destination - Khao San road, home of the backpacker - thanks in no small part to the immense traffic jams that led into the city centre. I assumed perhaps we'd hit the rush hour, but dense, Manhatten (NY) style hold ups are par for the course in Bangkok. The Khao San road area is ever so trashy; stepping out of my cab, I was greeted to the sights and sounds of drunken western tourists milling about, fancy bars/restaurants blaring out western music and showing the latest footy games or films on large LCD TVs, shops selling t-shirts and both real and fake Billabong shorts, sporting the usual touts trying to entice buyers in. Compared to Kathmandu, the noise was definitely new, as was the water-tight organisation and cleanliness of the whole operation: everything the "typical" tourist could want was catered for here, putting Nepal's attempts at tourism to shame.
I'm sorry to say but I could have been at one of many islands in the Med, were it not for the cheaper prices and more tropical climate. Fortunately, the sights and distinctive Eastern feel that Bangkok retained - despite the obvious Western influences outlined - saved it in my eyes. These included temples (amazing, towering structures, very clean and well looked after), sky train (a monorail), parks, river (with ferrying traffic, including fantastic express bus boat), markets (stalls packed onto the streets, one after another, some selling on the pavement right outside major shops and banks), China Town - stood out as completely alien, especially against the backdrop of tall skyscrapers.
Bangkok's Mae Nam Chao Prayha river, temples in foreground and skyscrapers in the distance. This was taken from atop the Wat Arun (a strikingly tall temple, named after the Indian god of dawn, Aruna).
Said temple (Wat Arun).
Mid-town traffic.
The hell that can be Khao San Road. Taken in the day time, when it's fairly peaceful. And yes, that IS a Burger King (they have 7/11s - open 24hrs, oddly enough - Tescos, McDonalds the lot here). Why you'd want to pay a quid or more for a burger there when you can fill up at one of the nearby delicious Thai restaurants or stalls for 30p is beyond me though.
River jam!!!!And behind it is the Wat Pho Temple (home to the 46m long, 15m high 'reclining Buddha': a giant, gold-painted statue that resides inside it).
Two things I love about Thailand so far: the food (AGAIN!!) and the Thais themselves. I'm eating just as much if not more than I did in Nepal - good food here is everywhere to be seen, no more worries about the chance of catching dyssentry, here you can just get stuck right in. Plus, every type of food is available here, from fried Pad Thai noodles (with every type of meat, fish and/or veg imaginable) down to decently made western favourites (burgers, lasagnas, chips etc). The Thai food is fantastically tasty - best fried with hot spices, especially good when topped with the local favourite that is oyster sauce. It's actually considered a popular pasttime in Thailand to eat: many of the locals will chow down up to 8 times a day, though in relatively small portions. None of the Thai dishes are that filling either, making it possible to order a selection of different dishes in one sitting.
The Thais also seem to be always in good spirits and are on the whole generally friendly. Unlike back home, I can wonder into a branch of Boots (YES, they have those too - I would normally avoid but I was in dire need of a decent toothbrush, ok??) and the (good-looking) shop workers there engage me in conversation, genuinely wanting to know where I'm from and what I plan to do next. The dialects are completely different to what I'm used to too: the language is heavily tonal, like Chinese. It makes pronunctiation very difficult for us 'farrang' (Thai for foreigner, which is pronounced as "fahrang" or "fahlang", thanks to the Thais difficulty with the letter 'r') due to the large number of variations in intonation, relating to context.
Finally, the Thai ladies are all very beautiful, modelled on the western style, as in Nepal (and I don't mean the 'lady boys', who are quite easy to spot, at least so far) . Generally, women attain to be thin here - unlike in India, where bigger appears to be better/healthier - and on the whole they are more successful at than back home. Thanks to this, I've seen some absolute stunners. Many of them are attracted to white skinned folk too: catching a gorgeous Thai girl staring at you isn't unusual and can do plenty to boost your ego :)
Monday, 5 November 2007
Photos of Nepal
Thought I'd kickstart a new post, dedicated to Annapurna pics. Keep in mind I have around 500 of these knocking about, so these are some of the select few:-
Start of the trek. This is me, in not too flattering a pose, alongside one of my Scottish compadres. Check out the luscious rice fields to the left - everything was very green at this point. I'm equipped with rucksack, "da norf face" (!!!) compulsory t-shirt, a walking stick in one hand and chlorine filtered water bottle in the other. This was basically my setup from start to finish.
Up, up, up and away. The hills start to grow more rocks.
Snowy peaks.
Fir trees. Was alone this day so took lots of pics. This was the day of the landslides. On several occasions I could hear what I took to be the sound of thunder echoing through the valley. When I hit a truckload of tourists - very surprising, as I'd seen no foreigners at all that day, from 6am right up to midday - it turned out that due to an obstruction on the road, the army were detonating the rocks up ahead. This occurred several times: everyone was held up whilst the army very efficiently moved in, in a matter of minutes destroyed the rockslide, then rolled out, leaving us trekkers to trek on. Amazing scenes.
Rain!!
Fortunately, I didn't see much of this on my journey. When it did rain, however, the heavens opened and really let rip. Around this time, I found out the difference between a genuine North Face poncho (costing £30+) and mine (costing 50p). Needless to say, I got my money's worth.
One of the hill villages I stayed at. Electricity followed the trail nearly all the way up, though it was absent right at the top (where most electronic devices wouldn't work anyway!).
Check out the Tibetan prayer flags and prayer wheels on the left, the former used to bless the surrounding countryside, the latter inscribed with holy mantras/prayers. Spinning such a wheel will have much the same effect as reciting the prayers.
Annapurna II (I think) and small glacier.
Epic.
Stopped for a mint tea in a little town, just off to the left of this pic. Boy was it needed! Myself and my new friends (two Israelis, one English, one Mexican, one Canadian) hit 3500m that day - it was steep going and the altitude got to me a bit (felt dizzy and tired). We descended back to 3000m to sleep that same night.
A well earned rest.
Getting very cold and very dry. Jumper and lip balm weather.
Chris (from Boston, Lincs!!) and girlfriend.
My hoes.
Life on Mars.
Dan the Israeli, juggling near the summit.
THE TOP!!!! :-) Roughly about 9 days in, we'd set off at 4AM that morning, hitting the peak at around 9.30. It was SUCH a relief. Breathing was tres dificile, my head hurt, chest was on the point of collapsing and my lips were chapped to hell. But DAMN it was worth it.
From left: Dan, Alberto, Chris , Ryan, Shahah, some ugly mug.
Start of the trek. This is me, in not too flattering a pose, alongside one of my Scottish compadres. Check out the luscious rice fields to the left - everything was very green at this point. I'm equipped with rucksack, "da norf face" (!!!) compulsory t-shirt, a walking stick in one hand and chlorine filtered water bottle in the other. This was basically my setup from start to finish.
Up, up, up and away. The hills start to grow more rocks.
Snowy peaks.
Fir trees. Was alone this day so took lots of pics. This was the day of the landslides. On several occasions I could hear what I took to be the sound of thunder echoing through the valley. When I hit a truckload of tourists - very surprising, as I'd seen no foreigners at all that day, from 6am right up to midday - it turned out that due to an obstruction on the road, the army were detonating the rocks up ahead. This occurred several times: everyone was held up whilst the army very efficiently moved in, in a matter of minutes destroyed the rockslide, then rolled out, leaving us trekkers to trek on. Amazing scenes.
Rain!!Fortunately, I didn't see much of this on my journey. When it did rain, however, the heavens opened and really let rip. Around this time, I found out the difference between a genuine North Face poncho (costing £30+) and mine (costing 50p). Needless to say, I got my money's worth.
One of the hill villages I stayed at. Electricity followed the trail nearly all the way up, though it was absent right at the top (where most electronic devices wouldn't work anyway!).Check out the Tibetan prayer flags and prayer wheels on the left, the former used to bless the surrounding countryside, the latter inscribed with holy mantras/prayers. Spinning such a wheel will have much the same effect as reciting the prayers.
Annapurna II (I think) and small glacier.
Epic.
Stopped for a mint tea in a little town, just off to the left of this pic. Boy was it needed! Myself and my new friends (two Israelis, one English, one Mexican, one Canadian) hit 3500m that day - it was steep going and the altitude got to me a bit (felt dizzy and tired). We descended back to 3000m to sleep that same night.
A well earned rest.
Getting very cold and very dry. Jumper and lip balm weather.
Chris (from Boston, Lincs!!) and girlfriend.
My hoes.
Life on Mars.
Dan the Israeli, juggling near the summit.
THE TOP!!!! :-) Roughly about 9 days in, we'd set off at 4AM that morning, hitting the peak at around 9.30. It was SUCH a relief. Breathing was tres dificile, my head hurt, chest was on the point of collapsing and my lips were chapped to hell. But DAMN it was worth it.From left: Dan, Alberto, Chris , Ryan, Shahah, some ugly mug.
Monday, 22 October 2007
Kicking Back in Kathmandu
The last week (or two/three) - yeah I realise it's been THAT long - should be nicknamed Indulgence Week, as thanks to the crazily cheap pricing and amazing, freshly baked goodness that is the food in Nepal, I've been stuffing my now fat face with food and drink.
Nepal has turned out to be completely different to India: full of friendly, welcoming people (the majority speak good English and most are extremely polite and humble, verging on awkward at times), nice Buddhist related shrines and stupas (pyramid shaped shrines basically - enough so that you feel like you are getting your sight-seeing fill) and a very well developed, untacky tourist area. The latter includes nice and cheap guesthouses - one of the those that I stayed at even included a bathtub (this is a BIG deal!) - as well as steak houses that serve 16oz steaks for 2 pounds a pop, bakeries that don't stop churning out the tastiest of danish pastries, croissants and cakes plus bars that serve local and imported beer (why Carlsberg though, why??).
Nepal also is a country which seems to have it all, minus the beaches. It took me roughly 12 days to storm the Annapurna Circuit - though I'm sorry I rushed it at times, without trying to sound too cheesy I feel privileged to have undertaken the most exciting journey of my life. The circuit covered just about every kind of climate and scenery one can imagine. I started the journey at around 50m above sea-level, taking in rich, green rice paddy fields, that gradually began to appear on shelves cut into the sides of hills as the landscape began to undulate more. Passing through forests, walking along muddy, thin walking tracks (sometimes no more than a few inches of anything that provided grip below your feet), I carried on up and up, always walking parallel to an amazing powerful river, verging at times on white water rapids. The whole beginning of the trek verged on tropical: plants and trees were dripping wet and lushious, waterfalls were aplenty and everything was just so green.
Over the days as I inclined, this turned more mountainous: the temperature slowly began to drop, the height of the hills turned to that of mountains, snow capped peaks could be seen in the distance. I staying in valleys full of volcanic sand (think the setting of Cold Mountain) with only fir trees for vegetation. I walked through desolate, remote and dry stone places, with only rocks and craggy cliff faces to be seen from miles around. As I got even higher, I took in steep, finger like crags and glaciers. Getting nearer the top, walking and even breathing became harder. I slowed it down from 6-8 hours of walking a day to about 2-3 max. At night it was freezing - thank god for the thermal sleeping bag and Nepalese style (like a tea cosy) hat that I bought. By the day we climbed up to the top of the pass, we hit 5500m (19000 feet or so) and snow was everywhere. I must have walked through 3-feet of it at one point.
Coming down was just as dramatic: in 4 days I went from snow to desert (think Arizona style, Marlboro country) to pine tree forests to tropical jungle again (with a wonderful set of bakeries - best of the circuit - and hot springs at 20p for a whole day's session). Bliss!
I'm setting off to Bangkok from Kathmandu now, in about 10 minutes actually. Need to run. I'm staying with a friend in Ko Samui - hopefully will be there by the weekend - so will use the opportunity to upload some photos. Then finally you guys will get to see what the hell I'm raving about.
J :)
Nepal has turned out to be completely different to India: full of friendly, welcoming people (the majority speak good English and most are extremely polite and humble, verging on awkward at times), nice Buddhist related shrines and stupas (pyramid shaped shrines basically - enough so that you feel like you are getting your sight-seeing fill) and a very well developed, untacky tourist area. The latter includes nice and cheap guesthouses - one of the those that I stayed at even included a bathtub (this is a BIG deal!) - as well as steak houses that serve 16oz steaks for 2 pounds a pop, bakeries that don't stop churning out the tastiest of danish pastries, croissants and cakes plus bars that serve local and imported beer (why Carlsberg though, why??).
Nepal also is a country which seems to have it all, minus the beaches. It took me roughly 12 days to storm the Annapurna Circuit - though I'm sorry I rushed it at times, without trying to sound too cheesy I feel privileged to have undertaken the most exciting journey of my life. The circuit covered just about every kind of climate and scenery one can imagine. I started the journey at around 50m above sea-level, taking in rich, green rice paddy fields, that gradually began to appear on shelves cut into the sides of hills as the landscape began to undulate more. Passing through forests, walking along muddy, thin walking tracks (sometimes no more than a few inches of anything that provided grip below your feet), I carried on up and up, always walking parallel to an amazing powerful river, verging at times on white water rapids. The whole beginning of the trek verged on tropical: plants and trees were dripping wet and lushious, waterfalls were aplenty and everything was just so green.
Over the days as I inclined, this turned more mountainous: the temperature slowly began to drop, the height of the hills turned to that of mountains, snow capped peaks could be seen in the distance. I staying in valleys full of volcanic sand (think the setting of Cold Mountain) with only fir trees for vegetation. I walked through desolate, remote and dry stone places, with only rocks and craggy cliff faces to be seen from miles around. As I got even higher, I took in steep, finger like crags and glaciers. Getting nearer the top, walking and even breathing became harder. I slowed it down from 6-8 hours of walking a day to about 2-3 max. At night it was freezing - thank god for the thermal sleeping bag and Nepalese style (like a tea cosy) hat that I bought. By the day we climbed up to the top of the pass, we hit 5500m (19000 feet or so) and snow was everywhere. I must have walked through 3-feet of it at one point.
Coming down was just as dramatic: in 4 days I went from snow to desert (think Arizona style, Marlboro country) to pine tree forests to tropical jungle again (with a wonderful set of bakeries - best of the circuit - and hot springs at 20p for a whole day's session). Bliss!
I'm setting off to Bangkok from Kathmandu now, in about 10 minutes actually. Need to run. I'm staying with a friend in Ko Samui - hopefully will be there by the weekend - so will use the opportunity to upload some photos. Then finally you guys will get to see what the hell I'm raving about.
J :)
Thursday, 4 October 2007
Nepalese, If You Please
Am in Pokhara, about to set out on my trip around the Annapurna Mountains (the Annapurna Circuit). Nepal is completely different to India - still cheap, but quiet, peaceful, beautiful, has decent food and beer, plus no cow shit!
Up at 6am so it's a short post. Will be cut off from the real world for the next two weeks, so next installment should come from Kathmandu or Bangkok.
J
Up at 6am so it's a short post. Will be cut off from the real world for the next two weeks, so next installment should come from Kathmandu or Bangkok.
J
The Ganga
Am sat on the best computer I've found in India yet, but unfortunately in a room infested with giant cockroaches, sand flies, mosquitoes, green flies, grasshoppers..... you get the picture. There's a big desk fan next to my head that, whilst keeping me cool, likes to send all the creepy crawlies flying my way. Oooops, spoke to soon - a power cut, the power is restored but no fan. GASP!!
It's 9.27PM yet despite this I'm roasting (thanks to no fan). I'm currently staying in Varanasi, a town on the edge of the great Ganges river, famous for it's ghats. One in particular is used for cremating people upon, before scattering what's left of their ashes/carcass into the river. Hindus believe the river has all sorts of mystical powers - those that are cast into it after death are rewarding with a trip straight to Nirvana, those that wash in it are cleansed of bad karma and those that drink it are just plain mad (and lots do).
I left Bikaner a few days back, having seen the rat temple. It wasn't so much a temple but a room, but it WAS full to the brim with rats! The rodents are supposed to represent reincarnated storytellers and visitors go there to worship them: men, women and children alike (I saw one child even pick up a really skanky rat and put it in his mouth). Thinking this to be as far as rationale as you can get, I had to smile when on dropping my book and sending multiple rats scattering, a few Hindu ladies jumped and screamed. They were human after all! I was also auspicious enough to bump into the holy white rat, which wasn't that impressive at all. I've got a picture though, so that should be good to trade in for some karma.
From Bikaner I jumped onto a sleeper, night train back to Delhi. The carraiges are pretty basic: rows of bunk beds, in sets of three, the lower two changing to seats for the day time. The journey was pretty smooth, apart from on one memorable occasion when I agreed to swap beds with another man (an Indian who spoke particularly good English, who wanted to be near his family). It was about midnight, and with the help of the man's family I moved my stuff further down the carraige to my new bed, leaving the light off so as not to disturb anyone sleeping around me. I got down on my knees under my bed to find something to thread my security chain to in order to lock my bag down. Feeling a bit groggy, this took me some time. After a couple of minutes, I heard the sound of someone swinging around on the bed behind me, followed by a women shouting loud Hindi, presumably directed at me. I withdrew from under my bed and turned around to see movement from several bunks. One girl sat up from a higher bunk, caught my eye, and with a look of absolute terror on her face began to scream.
At this point, several people had got up and a man from the bed above mine - presumably the father of these girls - grabbed me by the lapels, pulled me up to his height and started jabbering god knows what in my face. In the meantime, all I could do was look innocent, flail around a bit and try to point at my bag!
Fortunately, the man who I'd swapped places with turned up, just in the nick of time. He quickly defused the situation, though the 'father' was far from impressed. What was most amusing was how quickly everyone turned over and went back to sleep. Within moments it was like nothing had happened. Very dramatic. Very Bollywood!
That wasn't even the end of my train mishaps. After wasting a few hours in Delhi - seeing the Red Fort but forgetting my camera, then taking a trip on the back of a scooter with a policeman to swap some dodgy money notes for new, mint ones - I caught a train to Agra. There were no westerners on the train - I hadn't seen any really since saying goodbye to Matt and Martin, last week - so I got some friendly Sikhs to look after my bags. They were REALLY friendly, shaking my hand and not letting it go, directing all sorts of Hindi at me, smiling and laughing lots. I hadn't a clue what was going on. However, they all meant well and so I thought nothing of it when everyone directed me to get off at what I believed to be my stop ("Agra?" I shouted to lots of vigorous head nodding and friendly prods in the direction of the exit).
Turns out I got off 60km from my intended destination! :(
Long story short, I made it eventually to Agra - at one point playing the hopeless tourist in order to skip an increasingly long, irrational queueing system - taking general ("sardines in a tin can") class. It was only an hour so I survived it. The Taj Mahal turned out to be nothing short of what I expected it to be. The building is a real marvel: perfectly symmetrical on all four of its sides, set against a backdrop of nothing but a perfect, simple blue sky. It, the surrounding gardens, the enormous red gate which leads to it and the complimenting red temples (set either side with similar proportions, to uphold the symmetry) were stunning. Took lots of pics, which along with the rest will eventually find there way onto the web eventually (promise).
Had a bit more monkeying around on trains, after arriving at my destination of Varanasi a whopping eight hours late!! Met a huge group of young Poles in my carraige - about twenty of them in all - who helped to keep me entertained with card games and listening to music by Dave Matthews (seems the Polish really love Dave Matthews band).
Finally in Varanasi and I'm off to Nepal tomorrow (8am), but not before taking a river boat trip up the Ganges (around 5am-ish). Am hoping to spot a dead body or two if I'm lucky (they unceremoniously dead lepers and children straight into the river, as they are unfit for the burning ceremony). Also, may get some pics of the burning pyres on the Ghats if I'm lucky too. Spent a day in some very cool company today. One was an Indian ambassador for South Africa (Raj Govender, head of Arts Culture and Tourism), who is here finishing an Anthropology PhD, a part of which involved his taking part in a "Puja" (meditation with a babba - some sort of Hindu priest - having his head and facial hair all shaved off, bathing himself in the Ganges, dedicating flower/spice/rice mixture balls to dead ancestors before offering them up to the river, then praying in the nearby Golden Temple). I got lots of this on film for him and have been promised a mention in his book!
The other member of our group was a bit of a nutty Russian girl who a year earlier had 'rediscovered' herself, submitting her life to Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. She's taken to dressing like an Indian, likes to speak Hindi mixed with broken English and Russian (when she's not giggling inanely), and takes regular Pujas as well as drinks Ganges ("Ganga") water. Clearly nutty, but she's incredibly good looking, so I don't mind.
Going to call it a day now as much to do tomorrow.
J
P.S. This has been uploaded at a later date than written, thanks to the internet going offline halfway through writing it. Blame the "bugs".
Bathing in the Ganges, the filthiest river in the world
The nutty Russian, kitted out true Indian style. Hubba.
A "babba" (a Hindu holy man, centre) being tipped by Raj (left), on the way back from his Puja.
The burning ghat (centre). This was the closest I dared take a photo, as it is supposed to be disrespectful to do so (what with the ceremony being the Indian equivalent of a funeral). Supposedly, the 'eternal flame' at the top of the ghat has been burning for thousands of years. If it ever goes out, the world will be sent into chaos.
It's 9.27PM yet despite this I'm roasting (thanks to no fan). I'm currently staying in Varanasi, a town on the edge of the great Ganges river, famous for it's ghats. One in particular is used for cremating people upon, before scattering what's left of their ashes/carcass into the river. Hindus believe the river has all sorts of mystical powers - those that are cast into it after death are rewarding with a trip straight to Nirvana, those that wash in it are cleansed of bad karma and those that drink it are just plain mad (and lots do).
I left Bikaner a few days back, having seen the rat temple. It wasn't so much a temple but a room, but it WAS full to the brim with rats! The rodents are supposed to represent reincarnated storytellers and visitors go there to worship them: men, women and children alike (I saw one child even pick up a really skanky rat and put it in his mouth). Thinking this to be as far as rationale as you can get, I had to smile when on dropping my book and sending multiple rats scattering, a few Hindu ladies jumped and screamed. They were human after all! I was also auspicious enough to bump into the holy white rat, which wasn't that impressive at all. I've got a picture though, so that should be good to trade in for some karma.
From Bikaner I jumped onto a sleeper, night train back to Delhi. The carraiges are pretty basic: rows of bunk beds, in sets of three, the lower two changing to seats for the day time. The journey was pretty smooth, apart from on one memorable occasion when I agreed to swap beds with another man (an Indian who spoke particularly good English, who wanted to be near his family). It was about midnight, and with the help of the man's family I moved my stuff further down the carraige to my new bed, leaving the light off so as not to disturb anyone sleeping around me. I got down on my knees under my bed to find something to thread my security chain to in order to lock my bag down. Feeling a bit groggy, this took me some time. After a couple of minutes, I heard the sound of someone swinging around on the bed behind me, followed by a women shouting loud Hindi, presumably directed at me. I withdrew from under my bed and turned around to see movement from several bunks. One girl sat up from a higher bunk, caught my eye, and with a look of absolute terror on her face began to scream.
At this point, several people had got up and a man from the bed above mine - presumably the father of these girls - grabbed me by the lapels, pulled me up to his height and started jabbering god knows what in my face. In the meantime, all I could do was look innocent, flail around a bit and try to point at my bag!
Fortunately, the man who I'd swapped places with turned up, just in the nick of time. He quickly defused the situation, though the 'father' was far from impressed. What was most amusing was how quickly everyone turned over and went back to sleep. Within moments it was like nothing had happened. Very dramatic. Very Bollywood!
That wasn't even the end of my train mishaps. After wasting a few hours in Delhi - seeing the Red Fort but forgetting my camera, then taking a trip on the back of a scooter with a policeman to swap some dodgy money notes for new, mint ones - I caught a train to Agra. There were no westerners on the train - I hadn't seen any really since saying goodbye to Matt and Martin, last week - so I got some friendly Sikhs to look after my bags. They were REALLY friendly, shaking my hand and not letting it go, directing all sorts of Hindi at me, smiling and laughing lots. I hadn't a clue what was going on. However, they all meant well and so I thought nothing of it when everyone directed me to get off at what I believed to be my stop ("Agra?" I shouted to lots of vigorous head nodding and friendly prods in the direction of the exit).
Turns out I got off 60km from my intended destination! :(
Long story short, I made it eventually to Agra - at one point playing the hopeless tourist in order to skip an increasingly long, irrational queueing system - taking general ("sardines in a tin can") class. It was only an hour so I survived it. The Taj Mahal turned out to be nothing short of what I expected it to be. The building is a real marvel: perfectly symmetrical on all four of its sides, set against a backdrop of nothing but a perfect, simple blue sky. It, the surrounding gardens, the enormous red gate which leads to it and the complimenting red temples (set either side with similar proportions, to uphold the symmetry) were stunning. Took lots of pics, which along with the rest will eventually find there way onto the web eventually (promise).
Had a bit more monkeying around on trains, after arriving at my destination of Varanasi a whopping eight hours late!! Met a huge group of young Poles in my carraige - about twenty of them in all - who helped to keep me entertained with card games and listening to music by Dave Matthews (seems the Polish really love Dave Matthews band).
Finally in Varanasi and I'm off to Nepal tomorrow (8am), but not before taking a river boat trip up the Ganges (around 5am-ish). Am hoping to spot a dead body or two if I'm lucky (they unceremoniously dead lepers and children straight into the river, as they are unfit for the burning ceremony). Also, may get some pics of the burning pyres on the Ghats if I'm lucky too. Spent a day in some very cool company today. One was an Indian ambassador for South Africa (Raj Govender, head of Arts Culture and Tourism), who is here finishing an Anthropology PhD, a part of which involved his taking part in a "Puja" (meditation with a babba - some sort of Hindu priest - having his head and facial hair all shaved off, bathing himself in the Ganges, dedicating flower/spice/rice mixture balls to dead ancestors before offering them up to the river, then praying in the nearby Golden Temple). I got lots of this on film for him and have been promised a mention in his book!
The other member of our group was a bit of a nutty Russian girl who a year earlier had 'rediscovered' herself, submitting her life to Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. She's taken to dressing like an Indian, likes to speak Hindi mixed with broken English and Russian (when she's not giggling inanely), and takes regular Pujas as well as drinks Ganges ("Ganga") water. Clearly nutty, but she's incredibly good looking, so I don't mind.
Going to call it a day now as much to do tomorrow.
J
P.S. This has been uploaded at a later date than written, thanks to the internet going offline halfway through writing it. Blame the "bugs".
Bathing in the Ganges, the filthiest river in the world
The nutty Russian, kitted out true Indian style. Hubba.
A "babba" (a Hindu holy man, centre) being tipped by Raj (left), on the way back from his Puja.
The burning ghat (centre). This was the closest I dared take a photo, as it is supposed to be disrespectful to do so (what with the ceremony being the Indian equivalent of a funeral). Supposedly, the 'eternal flame' at the top of the ghat has been burning for thousands of years. If it ever goes out, the world will be sent into chaos.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Greetings from the Rat Temple
I found me some monkeys (so many am sick of them now!). And rode some camels. Now I've got a sore bum (because of riding on the camels, thanks to Guy for any sick comments :) ).
Haven't meant to leave the 2nd posting till so late, but there aren't any internet cafes in the middle of the desert (nor any mobile network signals, bar one called 'Oasis' - clever of them!). I've just arrived in a town called Bikaner. It's only really famous for one thing - the 'Karni Mata Temple', where thousands of rats reside, bringing luck to those whose feet they scamper over. Am looking forward to taking a visit there this afternoon, take lots of closeup pics, maybe catch Dengue Fever and hopefully spot the rare white rat: regarded as most auspicious if you find him. To top it all off, on the menu there is the delightful holy food of 'prasad' - a dish said to bring good fortune, thanks to the holy rat saliva drizzled on it. Must send some back home.
So, a recap of the last week and a half. Pushkar was the first quiet, peaceful ('shanti' as it's called here) place I'd visited in India. The place is basically a tourist trap: a long, winding, dusty street full of tourist shops and cafes, set back from a big lake by multiple 'ghats' (holy steps leading down to the water - on the Ganges, these are used to burn the dead on in full sight of everyone, before their ashes are committed to the water). It's also a town containing the most number of temples concentrated in one place, considered to be one of the holiest towns in India. I bought my first fresh bananas from a stall here, costing me about 10p for a bunch. They were the most tasty bananas I think I've ever had, undoubtably picked that morning. This was another step towards risk taking in this country - I've now managed to eat just about every type of street food from the stalls, drink local water with other Indians and even try the local spitting tobacco (which is ace and the locals find hilarious!).
By this point, Matt and I met another fellow traveller: a German called Martin. He's from the Black Forest region of Germany and has been travelling in India ever since January. He's a really funny, laid back bloke and very useful to have along as he seems to know just about everything there is to know about India. Plus, he's a got real knack for saving money - since tagging along my expenses have reduced from about ten to fifteen pounds a day down to THREE!!! (including food, accom, drink etc)
One of the most famous temples in Pushkar - dedicated to Brahma's wife, who he cheated on - is atop a large mountain overlooking the lake. We took a long walk up the treachorous mountain steps to the top, joining many people (from the very young to the very, VERY old) on their pilgramages. From the top we saw an incredible sunset, plus we were treated to a massive powercut (every light in every direction as far as we could see flickering off at once, then even more impressive, coming back on again with a daisy-chain like effect).
The one other notable thing that happened in Pushkar was the night we watched India beat England in the 20-20 cup with the brother owners of our guesthouse (Singh was godlike, scoring seven 6s in a row and earning the a record for the fastest half century). The guesthouse itself was a wonderful, serene-like place, with a cool blue courtyard countaining a huge tree sprouting from the centre of it with branches touching the sky. That night, our hosts prepared us some 'special' lassi (Bhang Lassi for those who want to look it up), which sent me on a bit of a far-out journey (flying on a rainbow from the comfort of my bed). Martin saw a chair move, while Matt mistook the blue courtyard from above for a swimming pool. Being tourists in India, doing this, we were walking cliches.
Since Pushkar, the cities I've visited are Jodhpur - a beautiful blue painted city containing a huge fort and palace, centrally located on top of a dominating mountain (tasted India's best Masala Omelette, went on a v. impressive multi-lingual audio tour of the fort) - and Jaisalmer - like a giant sand castle in the middle of the desert (v. touristic with little to no actual locals or non-tourism related businesses, but wonderful to actually stay INSIDE the fort, at a ridiculously cheap 55p a night shared between 3 people). The latter accomodation had a wonderfully hippy, chilled out feel to it, with a drinking/bhang smoking (the former VERY rare for Hindus) old bloke, who was very laid back about us staying. Our room was like that of a dorm, and Matt, Martin and I joined up with a couple of friendly Spaniards who we'd met in Jaipur and also bumped into in Pushkar (Pol and Pau). I really enjoyed the communal feel of staying with this group - lounging around, eating Thalis (all you can eat India Dhal curry, chippatis and rice on a tray), listening to music on Pau's laptop and talking. On the first night, I experienced my first sandstorm. From the rooftop of the guesthouse, I could see from miles around (being located inside the sand castle fort). In one direction, I could see what looked like a wall of haze/mist approaching. This came towards me at a stunning speed, gobbling up the landscape and the view. On arrival, I couldn't see more than 10m in front of me, sand was swirling everywhere, soon joined by rain and thunder/lightning.
Fortunately, this brought the temp down over the subsequent couple of days. Matt, Martin and I left for the small village of Khuri. Here, we rented a mud hut each, staying in an incredibly quiet location with no other westerners around. I slept under the stars on the first night, then at 8am the 2nd day we set off on a camel safari. Mine was called Disco and at only 3 years old was very young for a working camel (the rest were around 8). We spent a couple of days travelling the dusty, sandy desert that was very reminiscent of those deserts in America's Wild West (lots of shrubs, cactii etc.). I felt a bit like John Wayne and looked a bit like Lawrence of Arabia (in my all white shirt, long white thread pants and scarf round my neck), but the likelihood is probably far from that. Riding a camel is nowhere near as elegant as a horse - they don't want to do what you ask them for one thing, they bump up and down constantly, plus they're really slow. However, it was a fantastic experience, thanks to highlights such as passing through the sand dunes, a real nod to the Sahara Desert, plus spending a night in the desert, watching the stars (which was brilliantly lit up, thanks to the near full moon).
Now I've left my group entirely behind, as with 3 and a half weeks until my flight out of Kathmandu, I'm running short of time. Am going to the rat temple today, then off to Agra on a sleeper-class train tonight. Hopefully will be in Varanasi (India's holiest city, at the foot of the Ganges) by the end of the weekend, from where I'll border hop to Nepal ($30 and passport photos at the ready). Will try and get onto the blog sometime around then, or at least by the time I reach Pokhara in Nepal (at the foot of the Annapurna Circuit).
Namaste.
J
Monkey and baby, just outside my hotel in Pushkar
There was a whole family of these, but this was the closest I dared to get (pats rabies immunity).
Pushkar, from above
Taken on the mountain on the way up to Brahma's wife's temple, just before sunset. The women in the picture had come all the way from Calcutta, as part of a pilgrimage.
Jodhpur Fort
From up there on his throne, the ruler sees everything!
Dirt Cheap Accomodation - Jaisalmer
One of the best places I stayed in India, incredible at 50 rupees/night (for all three of us). From left: Matt, Martin.
Moo
Holy cow!
Feeding the Fish - Jaisalmer
Wish you could see these guys move. Scary. Plus, there were kids swimming in this lake.
Camel Toe - Khuri Desert
My camel, Humphrey.
Sunset in the Desert
Desert Sand Dunes
There weren't all that many sand dunes, but when there were, you could have been in the Sahara. This photo gives some indication of how overpowering the sun felt, thanks to my over-exposing camera.
Rat Temple
This is one for the ladies, this. The cheeky chappy on the right had a go for my - thankfully padlocked - bag on several occasions. He made out that he was poor, though his jeans, taking the piss attitude and smirk led me to think otherwise. He didn't mind playing with the rats, from cupping them in his hands to putting one in his mouth. I guess that's one way to show your respect.
Haven't meant to leave the 2nd posting till so late, but there aren't any internet cafes in the middle of the desert (nor any mobile network signals, bar one called 'Oasis' - clever of them!). I've just arrived in a town called Bikaner. It's only really famous for one thing - the 'Karni Mata Temple', where thousands of rats reside, bringing luck to those whose feet they scamper over. Am looking forward to taking a visit there this afternoon, take lots of closeup pics, maybe catch Dengue Fever and hopefully spot the rare white rat: regarded as most auspicious if you find him. To top it all off, on the menu there is the delightful holy food of 'prasad' - a dish said to bring good fortune, thanks to the holy rat saliva drizzled on it. Must send some back home.
So, a recap of the last week and a half. Pushkar was the first quiet, peaceful ('shanti' as it's called here) place I'd visited in India. The place is basically a tourist trap: a long, winding, dusty street full of tourist shops and cafes, set back from a big lake by multiple 'ghats' (holy steps leading down to the water - on the Ganges, these are used to burn the dead on in full sight of everyone, before their ashes are committed to the water). It's also a town containing the most number of temples concentrated in one place, considered to be one of the holiest towns in India. I bought my first fresh bananas from a stall here, costing me about 10p for a bunch. They were the most tasty bananas I think I've ever had, undoubtably picked that morning. This was another step towards risk taking in this country - I've now managed to eat just about every type of street food from the stalls, drink local water with other Indians and even try the local spitting tobacco (which is ace and the locals find hilarious!).
By this point, Matt and I met another fellow traveller: a German called Martin. He's from the Black Forest region of Germany and has been travelling in India ever since January. He's a really funny, laid back bloke and very useful to have along as he seems to know just about everything there is to know about India. Plus, he's a got real knack for saving money - since tagging along my expenses have reduced from about ten to fifteen pounds a day down to THREE!!! (including food, accom, drink etc)
One of the most famous temples in Pushkar - dedicated to Brahma's wife, who he cheated on - is atop a large mountain overlooking the lake. We took a long walk up the treachorous mountain steps to the top, joining many people (from the very young to the very, VERY old) on their pilgramages. From the top we saw an incredible sunset, plus we were treated to a massive powercut (every light in every direction as far as we could see flickering off at once, then even more impressive, coming back on again with a daisy-chain like effect).
The one other notable thing that happened in Pushkar was the night we watched India beat England in the 20-20 cup with the brother owners of our guesthouse (Singh was godlike, scoring seven 6s in a row and earning the a record for the fastest half century). The guesthouse itself was a wonderful, serene-like place, with a cool blue courtyard countaining a huge tree sprouting from the centre of it with branches touching the sky. That night, our hosts prepared us some 'special' lassi (Bhang Lassi for those who want to look it up), which sent me on a bit of a far-out journey (flying on a rainbow from the comfort of my bed). Martin saw a chair move, while Matt mistook the blue courtyard from above for a swimming pool. Being tourists in India, doing this, we were walking cliches.
Since Pushkar, the cities I've visited are Jodhpur - a beautiful blue painted city containing a huge fort and palace, centrally located on top of a dominating mountain (tasted India's best Masala Omelette, went on a v. impressive multi-lingual audio tour of the fort) - and Jaisalmer - like a giant sand castle in the middle of the desert (v. touristic with little to no actual locals or non-tourism related businesses, but wonderful to actually stay INSIDE the fort, at a ridiculously cheap 55p a night shared between 3 people). The latter accomodation had a wonderfully hippy, chilled out feel to it, with a drinking/bhang smoking (the former VERY rare for Hindus) old bloke, who was very laid back about us staying. Our room was like that of a dorm, and Matt, Martin and I joined up with a couple of friendly Spaniards who we'd met in Jaipur and also bumped into in Pushkar (Pol and Pau). I really enjoyed the communal feel of staying with this group - lounging around, eating Thalis (all you can eat India Dhal curry, chippatis and rice on a tray), listening to music on Pau's laptop and talking. On the first night, I experienced my first sandstorm. From the rooftop of the guesthouse, I could see from miles around (being located inside the sand castle fort). In one direction, I could see what looked like a wall of haze/mist approaching. This came towards me at a stunning speed, gobbling up the landscape and the view. On arrival, I couldn't see more than 10m in front of me, sand was swirling everywhere, soon joined by rain and thunder/lightning.
Fortunately, this brought the temp down over the subsequent couple of days. Matt, Martin and I left for the small village of Khuri. Here, we rented a mud hut each, staying in an incredibly quiet location with no other westerners around. I slept under the stars on the first night, then at 8am the 2nd day we set off on a camel safari. Mine was called Disco and at only 3 years old was very young for a working camel (the rest were around 8). We spent a couple of days travelling the dusty, sandy desert that was very reminiscent of those deserts in America's Wild West (lots of shrubs, cactii etc.). I felt a bit like John Wayne and looked a bit like Lawrence of Arabia (in my all white shirt, long white thread pants and scarf round my neck), but the likelihood is probably far from that. Riding a camel is nowhere near as elegant as a horse - they don't want to do what you ask them for one thing, they bump up and down constantly, plus they're really slow. However, it was a fantastic experience, thanks to highlights such as passing through the sand dunes, a real nod to the Sahara Desert, plus spending a night in the desert, watching the stars (which was brilliantly lit up, thanks to the near full moon).
Now I've left my group entirely behind, as with 3 and a half weeks until my flight out of Kathmandu, I'm running short of time. Am going to the rat temple today, then off to Agra on a sleeper-class train tonight. Hopefully will be in Varanasi (India's holiest city, at the foot of the Ganges) by the end of the weekend, from where I'll border hop to Nepal ($30 and passport photos at the ready). Will try and get onto the blog sometime around then, or at least by the time I reach Pokhara in Nepal (at the foot of the Annapurna Circuit).
Namaste.
J
Monkey and baby, just outside my hotel in Pushkar
There was a whole family of these, but this was the closest I dared to get (pats rabies immunity).Pushkar, from above
Taken on the mountain on the way up to Brahma's wife's temple, just before sunset. The women in the picture had come all the way from Calcutta, as part of a pilgrimage.Jodhpur Fort
From up there on his throne, the ruler sees everything!Dirt Cheap Accomodation - Jaisalmer
One of the best places I stayed in India, incredible at 50 rupees/night (for all three of us). From left: Matt, Martin.Moo
Holy cow!Feeding the Fish - Jaisalmer
Wish you could see these guys move. Scary. Plus, there were kids swimming in this lake.Camel Toe - Khuri Desert
My camel, Humphrey.
Sunset in the Desert
Desert Sand Dunes
There weren't all that many sand dunes, but when there were, you could have been in the Sahara. This photo gives some indication of how overpowering the sun felt, thanks to my over-exposing camera.Rat Temple
This is one for the ladies, this. The cheeky chappy on the right had a go for my - thankfully padlocked - bag on several occasions. He made out that he was poor, though his jeans, taking the piss attitude and smirk led me to think otherwise. He didn't mind playing with the rats, from cupping them in his hands to putting one in his mouth. I guess that's one way to show your respect.
Saturday, 15 September 2007
First post from the desert, India
Woo, so I made it. Flight(s) over were pretty good - got my first taste of Bollywood on the inflight TV, but soon switched over to Pirates of the Carribean 3 (don't watch it, it's crap). Met a nice Indian dentist lady on the flight who recommended a load of places to me to visit, some of which are completely over budget. This is a quick first post as I'm sat in a tiny internet 'cafe' (10ft x 4ft) with 3 Belgian girls, an English guy and an American, with our 300 rupees a day (around 3 pounds 30) rickshaw driver, Moin, outside.
Weather is very hot and dusty, plus unrelenting (doesn't get much below the high twenties at night, thanks to the humidity). It's rained a couple of times here for short periods, which has been most welcome (one was an incredible downpour). Delhi was completely mental - streets crammed to boiling point with people/cars/auto-rickshaws/bike-rickshaws/herds of cows/elephants/camels etc. The tourist areas are great for meeting fellow travellers, but really let down by the number of touts and scam artists who hang around trying to take you to their brother's uncle's shop ("cheapest in India!"). It's the out of the way, non-tourist places which are best though, where people stare at you in bewilderment, some of them having never seen a white person in the flesh. I've had my photo requested several times with families just because of this, and they go mental over the fact my eyes aren't brown.
I'm travelling around with an English guy from London called Matt. He's about as well prepared (clueless) as me, we have similar itineries and it hs really helped get me off the ground confidence wise. We're gone so far as sitting with and chatting to locals by the side of the road, drinking chai (hot,spicy tea) and spending hours without seeing another tourist in sight.
Today we're off to see a few temples (including a monkey temple, I hope). Will post pics up soon. Travelling via bus to Pushkar tomorrow, which is a very holy place settled by a lake. Will see more monkeys I hope.
J
Pictures of Delhi, India, as promised:-
My room at the expensive, prebooked Hotel Anoop. Nice, non?
Here's where I stayed the first few nights. It was more than a little depressing and a complete ripoff at around £6/night. Still, it had much needed A/C, though it took me a whole day to work out how to switch it on.
A family's home, in the streets
Took this whilst walking the backstreets of Old Delhi, many kms away from any tourists. This is a regular sight in India, though I liked this picture as they're smiling. However, the mother's gesture is a typical begging one.
Call to Prayer
Hopefully this illustrates just how mad the streets can get in India. This was within moments of the Jammu Mosque's (the biggest mosque in India, behind me in this picture) 'Call to Prayer' - a loud, bellowing mantra that reminds Muslims it's time to make good with God.
A butcher, living up to his name
This sort of thing happens right in the middle of the street in Delhi. Hygiene - what's that??
Matt with a family from Bangladesh
These guys were just so enamoured by seeing somebody with white skin, they insisted on having their photo taken with us. At times you can feel like a real celebrity here, when you're not being chased by dogs/ravaged by mosquitoes/cheated by touts/ripped off by tut-tut drivers etc. The mother practically fainted when she saw I had BLUE eyes!!! :)
An 'olliphunt'
Taken in Jaipur - the first elephant I saw. These proved to be commonplace after a short while.
The Water Palace, Jaipur
The maharaja's palace on the lake, literally floating in it, with no sign of the foundations. They probably make the servants live on the ground floor.
Amber Fort, Jaipur
The Amber Palace. And now you can see why I need a widescreen camera!! What you can't see in this pic is the scale, nor the walls of the fort, that stretch to the horizon and then some.
Weather is very hot and dusty, plus unrelenting (doesn't get much below the high twenties at night, thanks to the humidity). It's rained a couple of times here for short periods, which has been most welcome (one was an incredible downpour). Delhi was completely mental - streets crammed to boiling point with people/cars/auto-rickshaws/bike-rickshaws/herds of cows/elephants/camels etc. The tourist areas are great for meeting fellow travellers, but really let down by the number of touts and scam artists who hang around trying to take you to their brother's uncle's shop ("cheapest in India!"). It's the out of the way, non-tourist places which are best though, where people stare at you in bewilderment, some of them having never seen a white person in the flesh. I've had my photo requested several times with families just because of this, and they go mental over the fact my eyes aren't brown.
I'm travelling around with an English guy from London called Matt. He's about as well prepared (clueless) as me, we have similar itineries and it hs really helped get me off the ground confidence wise. We're gone so far as sitting with and chatting to locals by the side of the road, drinking chai (hot,spicy tea) and spending hours without seeing another tourist in sight.
Today we're off to see a few temples (including a monkey temple, I hope). Will post pics up soon. Travelling via bus to Pushkar tomorrow, which is a very holy place settled by a lake. Will see more monkeys I hope.
J
Pictures of Delhi, India, as promised:-
My room at the expensive, prebooked Hotel Anoop. Nice, non?
Here's where I stayed the first few nights. It was more than a little depressing and a complete ripoff at around £6/night. Still, it had much needed A/C, though it took me a whole day to work out how to switch it on.
A family's home, in the streets
Took this whilst walking the backstreets of Old Delhi, many kms away from any tourists. This is a regular sight in India, though I liked this picture as they're smiling. However, the mother's gesture is a typical begging one.
Call to Prayer
Hopefully this illustrates just how mad the streets can get in India. This was within moments of the Jammu Mosque's (the biggest mosque in India, behind me in this picture) 'Call to Prayer' - a loud, bellowing mantra that reminds Muslims it's time to make good with God.
A butcher, living up to his name
This sort of thing happens right in the middle of the street in Delhi. Hygiene - what's that??
Matt with a family from Bangladesh
These guys were just so enamoured by seeing somebody with white skin, they insisted on having their photo taken with us. At times you can feel like a real celebrity here, when you're not being chased by dogs/ravaged by mosquitoes/cheated by touts/ripped off by tut-tut drivers etc. The mother practically fainted when she saw I had BLUE eyes!!! :)
An 'olliphunt'
Taken in Jaipur - the first elephant I saw. These proved to be commonplace after a short while.
The Water Palace, Jaipur
The maharaja's palace on the lake, literally floating in it, with no sign of the foundations. They probably make the servants live on the ground floor.
Amber Fort, Jaipur
The Amber Palace. And now you can see why I need a widescreen camera!! What you can't see in this pic is the scale, nor the walls of the fort, that stretch to the horizon and then some.
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