Thailand and Islands...

One last night in Phuket Town, interesting street festival going on but then I made another bit of a mistake buying a ticket to Phi Phi – the aim was take a few boat rides down towards the Malaysian border.

Few photos here - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.354778859918.187433.771224918&type=3&l=5bed3b8cd7

There is no denying that Phi Phi in its natural state is a very beautiful place but it is classic example of how to ruin a place – plastic bars, too much development, not the greatest swimming beach and it did seem to be full of the young and beautiful – never the greatest for people like me.  I know I do go on a bit about the y&b – it’s not a jealous thing (seriously no desire to 18 again) just they seem quite cliquey which I think if you are travelling it isn’t the best attitude to have, might as well stay at home – once upon a time I was that age and I never had a problem with going out for beer with the older generation – some fun times were to be had!

Had a bit of interesting time finding a room – checked out one dorm room – bit aah (okay I do have standards) full of kiddie bunk beds and there was heavy smell of awesome boy in the air, couple of others were frankly taking the piss with their room rates for shared bathroom so ended up in a hut just up from waste water recycling and wetlands place – wasn’t bad but not advisable to walk past the aforementioned place round about 5pm as it was a bit a la pongo.

I lasted less than 24 hours – I'll admit quite shamefully that it was the 2 baht a minute internet charge that sent me hurtling to the boat pier to buy a ticket to Lanta, now I know you shouldn’t leave a place on the strength of it’s internet connection charges but even the 7-11 had hiked it’s prices to madness proportions (something that did play on my mind as my Polski brother Emilio who I met later on commented “Enough Clare can please shut up about the price of beer on Phi Phi – I know…” - over it now Emilio – big smile).  If you are with family and friends, cool, y&b you’ll love it but if you are like me dress in strange clothing, get constantly asked if you can score a bit of dope for them, a moody mare at times and over 40 then it’s not the best place to be.

Chilled out on the boat to Lanta listening to the “White Album” the next day as it sped along over a beautiful blue sea on a hot sunny day – totally sorted my head out before getting hassled by touts at the port.  I just wanted to get a sangthaew to a beach a little further down the coast but I ended up being shoehorned into one with two Americans and a Brit – not the friendliest of people but then again they could relate to each other (this is what I mean writing after the event – hurtful at the time but a bit of understanding now though still in my mind not what you should go travelling for).

I've never been one for being herded into a place but the lady who showed me round the hut complex we landed at could have benefited from a customer care course - the words “You in there” and point in direction of a corrugated shack was enough for me to say “Thanks for the free taxi ride but I think I’ll investigate other options”.  Ended up down the road at Sea Culture which had a cracking view of the beach from my hut and best of all Creedence Clearwater Revival on the sound system – but still I knew it wasn’t my kind of place.

Being on your own can be hard at times – the thing with India I never felt alone as there was always someone to talk to people on buses/trains/lads in hotels/waiters/shopkeepers/other travellers… – apart from Goa and Gokarna which both had their plus points it was my kind of place.  Tourist Thailand and me will never bond – but I did have some good times playing frisbee with a little girl one day on the beach and bit of a magical mystery tour trying to climb round to the next bay – started off easy and then got a bit daft, bit damp and dishevelled as per usual when I turned up at the posh and pink people places.

Ticket to Trang booked with the Thai guys at t’internet café – thought there was a bit of the “mug punter syndrome” going down with German guy at the other place re prices - just a was vibe thing.  Two ferry rides and a chill in a nice van took me to Trang  - non-tourist and a bit of a crossroads in many ways.  Last sightings of the cool people – interesting listening to this guy in a café (he had a loud voice) saying how India was so dirty but worth the experience and giving his totally warped view to this other young guy – they were into a ticking exercise, leave them to it I thought.  The other side were the guys who had previously owned my guidebook and had wrote some sound notes – the guesthouse they had recommended was full but the German traveller in reception gave me directions to another place that was sorted, the girls in the 7-11 sussed out a bit more credit for my phone despite the language difficulties and even though the guys tried to be a bit naughty with their prices for a bus to Penang I got the correct price eventually – felt at home once more.

This is a bit of a negative post but it was quite interesting people wise – I know even if I had been young it wouldn’t been easy but in one way I’m glad I went, it is lovely but having a great hut on the beach if something is missing for all the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises it doesn’t work for me.  No hassles as this was another turning point and there were some fab and fun times to come …..

 

Welcome to the Stupid Club!

I know I said on an earlier post I wasn’t sure if I’d come back to Bangkok but I had to return as my flight back home was from there, I didn’t really have much choice. To be fair I quite liked Bangkok as it was a great place for a bit of R & R - beauty parlour therapy, clothes shopping and being able to have a beer without being stared at - I know the first two sound a bit weird coming from me but sometimes I can be a bit girly.

It was a bit of a culture shock after all the time spent in India – I’m always the same now I do like a beer but the amount of drinking was thing I noticed straight away. The Siam was full so I ended up at the Green guesthouse, nice room but the woman didn’t exactly endear herself to me – I had enough to pay for the room but not enough for the key deposit and she insisted on payment up front, no hassles “but look I need to go to the ATM”,“ how long will you be?”,“10 mins” – I know why they do it but I just remembered the places I’d stayed for days on end with no hassle about settling the bill till I left, to me an "okay" would have been fine when she knew I needed the bank.

Sorty out time – felt such a scruff bag when I wandered into the Armani/Zara mall looking for jeans that I lasted about 30 seconds before heading off to the MK Centre. It was a needs must shopping expedition as I’ve never had a fascination with malls – I just don’t get the Saturday afternoon trip to the Trafford or Cribbs Causeway – mall equals stress in my world but I’ve got to say the MK is favourite for buying jeans, no hassles if you like the style but they don’t fit – come back in half an hour and tailor will have fixed it. Nightie sorted in Tescos before a celebration ice cream sundae at my fav ice cream parlour – so lush that the staff started given me very strange looks due to the number of wows coming from my table.

I’d changed my ticket back home whilst in Pune so had another four months of wandering to go – no real idea apart from the need to go south and a tentative plan to go to Indonesia. One amazing haircut later I found myself heading south on the overnight bus to Phuket Town. No Leo and his mates this time and the bus was really quiet, the one thing I did find it a bit strange they off loaded the bags off so quick when we landed at Tourist land mark 2, so quick that one girls bag was missing “Go to the port she was told – it will be there” – the guys were not going to come back and I was later to find out why! 

Met up with Richard from Varkala again who had just come back from Pulau Weh (Indonesia) in a rather bed bug ridden hostel in town. My friend Melanie had told me about Yulias and I’d passed the info on – both Melanie and Richard had loved Pulau Weh so I knew it was a place that I should go to.

Escaping from the bed bugs and the lightly dressed Aussie guy in our dorm room the next day we headed north to the village of Bang Tao. There were quite a number of very posh hotels way out of both our budgets but we fell lucky with a village room that I think local workers stayed in. Huge room for only 300B between the two of us and what was nice was that it wasn’t down in tourist central so having to try and use my limited Thai language skills to sort out food and laundry was cool – being English makes you very lazy at times as everyone usually speaks it but I love it when I‘m forced into speaking the local language.

It was whilst here that I realised why the guys had offloaded our bags so quickly in Tourist land. We had wandered over to Surin beach which was the opposite to Bang Tao – just jammed full of sun loungers, pink people and posh bars – no Rasta bar to be found here with a machine gun left on a table and cool sounds on the speakers. Randomly going through my purse I found one bank card missing – not too worried at first but getting back to Bang Tao my 60 USD emergency stash was gone as well and no sign of the bank card…

Nobody is perfect and after a call to the bank found out they had managed to spend over £600 in two transactions at the Carrefour in Bangkok before I’d even got off the bus in Phuket. Take some of responsibility myself as I should have slept on my bag but then everything was seriously well hidden inside three bags and I was always Miss Twitchy of Twitchy Ville when I slept on public transport. I’ve no proof it happened but I had a very good nights sleep on that bus – were we gassed I don’t know but we did all seem to wake up at the same time. Hindsight is very easy as I found out when I posted a warning on a travel forum – the same people came out stating the bleeding obvious – knew they would but as I said quoting Keith Richards it’s the “price of an education”- though I felt they should have updated their warnings on this as I’d read it 5 years previously and not a lot had been added since.

See here -

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1879117

I wouldn’t have felt as bad as I did, if I had thought the person who used my card really needed the stuff but over £450 in one transaction at the supermarket – I’ve never needed to do that but then to go and spend another £200 less than 12 hours later – very naughty. Complete pantomime trying to get a crime number – the guys in the village were great getting a relative to take us up to the police station where much to my amusement they wanted to talk to Richard about it but I would have to back the next day as they would get an interpreter in.

This was the real Thailand that I loved – the nights spent at the restaurant thumbing through the dictionary and having a decent meal and a couple of beers – learning a few new words along the way. And when I left the following day walking along the road with my rucksack, the people offering me lifts on the back of their bikes and wanting no money for it – really restored my faith in human nature. Once you step back from the tourist places – people see you more as a person than a money dispenser and that’s all I ask.

Rich was heading north and it had been nice to see him again - I headed south to the On On Hotel where they filmed “The Beach” – cheap and cheerful and no bed bugs! I did spent a couple of frustrating days there arguing the point of the difference between a crime number and an incident number with the bank – 3 visits to various different police stations and the advice of the consulate Martin (sure he was golfing when I rang) I finally got my money refunded – which then turned out to be as much use as a choco teapot as then they couldn’t send me a replacement card. No courier company will touch them with a barge pole unless you lie and then you are liable – you are okay if you write to the bank by pigeon post and say could you send it to Bob’s Guesthouse in Jakarta where you might possibly be in three weeks time. If I hadn’t had my mum to sub me a grand till I got home, I would been a bit up the creek without a paddle – “price of an education” like I say and in nearly 30 years of being on the road at times I had a daft moment – let my guard down, it happens to the best of us and no ones perfect – got off lightly me thinks….

More to come – I will try and be as honest and blunt at times though writing sometimes so long after the event does colour your view – the passion is in my diary of something that happened that day has now faded – though believe me 3 police stations in one day in Phuket Town I was nearly in tears at one point. Got more time to think now – not banging this out in a café with madness surrounding me – fingers crossed I can keep the spirit of it.

The end of the road in India

Okay back on this again if anybody is still reading - been a bit bad not keeping this up to date but it was quite difficult as I ain't one who travels with a net book - usually I ended up in caf's full of kids playing fighting games, noisy and I couldn't get my head round writing or I was trying to suss out the next part of my trip. That was quite fun as I never planned too far in advance and sometimes I met people who told me about a place and I thought - Why not!! - I deffo ain't Miss Lonely Planet with colour co-ordinated tags in my book - go with the flow and see what happens. Bit of a ramble I know but I am going to try and finish this from my notes may take some time but we'll see how it goes....

Photos from the next part of the trip - I did have some video but unfortunately it didn't make it home - cracked disc the only bit I lost totally.

Puri http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182996&id=771224918&l=b2a38bd1be

Kolkata http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.354514994918.187400.771224918&type=3&l=1152a6e2de

I liked Chennai but then again the whole of the south of India I found really easy as apart from Madurai it was really hassle free but maybe I was just so used to it, it was like home.

Rickshaw down to the station and easily found the train to Puri - slightly put off at first by the bloke opposite me in the carriage who just stared at me as I sorted through my gear, mmh 20 hours of buggerlugs staring at me is really going to be great, I thought. The thing about Indian trains no matter how many carriages - all foreigners seem to be put together so as well as buggerlugs or Sleeping Beauty as I later dubbed him I ended up sharing the carriage with Colin and Sez from Wales and David a paraglider from Italy who was afraid of heights. Colin and Sez had been at Kutle the same time as me and they remembered the guy I called Jimmy Savile who used to float up the beach in his white thong - Sez's words "quite distressing when he bent over!" - luckily I only got the long distance shot.

They were both going to Puri like me - though I had to go up to Bhuneswar and buy my ticket - half four in the morning and the ticket office was banging when I eventually found it - 34r lighter jumped back on the train and met back up with Sez and Colin in Khurda Road - though why I didn't get off a Khurda Road and buy my tik there not sure poss thought office would not be open. Arriving in Puri at seven in the morning it was quite funny as all the rickshaw wallahs ignored me and Sez and concentrated their efforts on Colin who was non too happy with their over enthusiasm - bliss for me though!

We did end up going on a bit of a magical mystery tour round the hotels and as you've probably gathered me and looking at hotels don't really mix specially in the early hours of the morning. I ended up at the Trisarti in a 200r room with a bit of an ant problem (no hassles), Colin and Sez as they weren't travelling as long as me went for the nicer option but as I've always said it's just a bed to me - fairly clean, cheap and no vermin is usually the benchmark.

Puri isn't really on the backpacker trail, it's a place for Indian tourists especially for religious reasons because of the Jagannath temple - link back there for anyone interested. Sez wasn't feeling too good so I ended up going to the temple with Colin and a better guide I couldn't have. Jagannath is quite big in Tepee Valley in Wales - so to him it was like coming home (he was a bit annoyed he couldn't go in as we were non Hindus) so eventually after a lot of asking we found the library roof to look over on what was going down. So peaceful sat up there watching the world go by until a French tourist came up with her guidebook mumbling "aah another temple" and then we were invaded by a bunch of Russian Hare Krishnas who starting playing instruments, chanting and dancing around. Each to their own my view so we made our excuses and left as they used to say in the News of World - a bit of a giggle and the word "madness" may have passed our lips - ;).

Another reason for going to Puri is the beach - bit rough and ready but it's the Indian Ocean - though it was a bit of a wake up call. I'd never really given a thought to aggressive dogs - walking down Puri beach one day towards the fishing village, I seriously didn't have a problem with the blokes squatting down to have a poo as the tide came in - needs must I thought but I've got to confess I didn't know which way to look, but then the "hound of hell" starting snarling at me (the problems with the poo boys drifted away). I quickly realised that this dog thought I was strange and I was going into his territory - not going to argue with that but it wouldn't let up - circling me, snarling and trying to bite me - so I put my bear theory into practice (thanks to Bill Bryson) no eye contact just walk backwards and desperately looking for stick - though I wasn't too sure Indian dogs ran for sticks - at the end of the day I didn't blame the dog once I was out of his territory he trotted off.

What I couldn't believe was that were the westerners actually sunbathing on the beach - it was like a rubbish tip in places. My feet and legs by this point were seriously bitten and had open wounds - I never really noticed till someone pointed out to me - though I did realise crossing the muddy river was not necessary a good idea. Bit gutted I didn't take the plunge as I never got to see the fading grandeur of Puri seafront.  Bit of video from  a wedding party on the last night -

I'd finally managed to sort out me ticket to Kolkata and all too soon it was time to head north - it was nice meeting Colin and Sez as they were both on my wavelength and they were looking to head back down south. Got a bit annoyed with the guys at the hotel as they didn't stick to the agreement about the room rate, didn't get into protracted arguments about it but I so wished people were more bit more honest with me at times.

One of sights of India I knew I wouldn't miss greeted me at Puri station - whole row of guys peeing out of the train opposite, the lad next to me then started hoovering out the contents of his nose and then wiped it on his jeans - Lovely! Should have worn more socks, as feet were so cold though thankfully they had calmed down with the itching and we finally chugged into Kolkata a couple of hours late.

You could tell we had arrived at Howrah station as it lies in the shadow of the huge cantilever bridge over the Hooghly - a very impressive site peeping over the roof of the station. No hassles with the prepaid taxi, which I was thankful for, as I do get a bit nervous at times arriving in large cities - yep even me. The city had more of shabby air - amazing buildings that were looking a bit tired and there did seem more beggars than Delhi. Ended up at the Modern Lodge "the ideal place for foreigners" i.e. it's a bit rubbish and it was anything but modern. To be fair it was a big hangout in the 60's and my room wasn't too bad (bit pixey like) it was just the bathroom that was a bit on the dire side - just knew I would never get sorted in there.

Sudder Street, which is the main traveller hangout in Kolkata, was a lot less frenetic than Paharganj in Delhi - not so much hippy tat and a sorted place for buying second hand books. It was a bit strange seeing the guy’s hand pulling the rickshaws and Kolkata is the only place in India that still has a tram system. I ended up moving hotels to the more pleasanter but infinitely noisier Hotel Diplomat the following day - okay it may have had a towel over the hole in the wall pretending to be a window but the toilet flushed, bathroom was tiled in the rough sense of the word and it had Nat Geo on the TV in English.

Now shopping does my head in at the best of times so I usually leave it to last day and then get totally stressed out. Simple enough tiffin tins, new bag and a wall hanging and I easily found the New market, which was just behind the hotel. The only problem was it was a bit of a labyrinth and I was immediately followed "madam what do you want?" "to be left alone would be nice, I'm mooching" - but mooching by foreigners is not allowed so I lasted about 5 minutes in there before heading up to BB Bagh along Chowradhee St. It reminded me of Hanoi as certain places were dedicated to one item - mobiles, bicycles, cheap clothes and dodgy toys were much in abundance but no tiffin tins were to be had.

Needed a bit of a calm down so headed over to the river as water always has a calming effect on me - nice bit of chill in Millennium Park before the food sellers got a bit over excited at my presence before heading down to Eden Gardens to see the cricket stadium and catching a few overs on the Maidan the largest park in Kolkata. Bit upset when I got back to hotel, as all I'd managed to buy was a 5 rupee pen though it was up to my usual standard of forays into the world of shopping.

Deep breath and realised the only option was going back to the market - employing the services this time of a little old man to take me round (they just weren't going to let me go round on my own). Half an hour later I was sorted with tiffin tins, wall hanging, new bag, iffy tea and indecipherable spices - job done - comprehensively ripped off in the tailors getting my parcel stitched, I know I pay more as foreigner but this guy was being a little bit naughty.

Last full day in India was a bit of a sad one - the dreaded trip to the post office to post my parcel, wasn't as bad as the time in Udaipur a few years back which ended up as a bit of an endurance test. Luckily the bloke who took an interest in me got distracted by a Dutch tourist who wanted her parcel stitched (for a lot less than I paid) and I had a rough idea what to do so it was a pretty painless experience. Not so the usual pantomime down the salwar chemise shop - stuff was piling up on the counter, me getting stressed, them getting stressed before eventually I found something that fitted much to everyone’s relief. Felt so much better once the shopping hassles were over that I headed down to the Victoria Memorial - not so impressed with the museum but the building was really pretty though crossing the roads on the way there was a bit hair-raising - never knew how long the little green man was going to be there for and the cars didn't seem to be too bothered if you were half way across!

It was very strange leaving after over five months in India and Nepal - very melancholy - tried to have brekkie at my favourite cafe which was a very unusual place in that the waiters all wore hairnets and disposable gloves - good food but I wasn't too sure what to put in the visitors book they plonked down in front of me - but it was sadly shut so ended up heading out to the airport by taxi (bit of a treat). Not much to Kolkata airport (just one shop and all prices in dollars) and then I realised I had two items I shouldn't have in my hand luggage (nothing too iffy but rules are rules) - so I did my usual vague waft through customs - just the usual lighter confiscated and once more I was on my way back to Bangkok.

Thats it for now - going to do a separate post on my thoughts on India (it deserves it) need to go back on re read some of my notes - note the bit about Jimmy Savile was written before he died last year.

Tamil Nadu

Photos are here - sorry no videos this time :

India Tamil Nadu - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182990&id=771224918&l=9421d5bb39

Next destination was Madurai - finding a bus ticket was a bit like a treasure hunt as the bus station in Trivandirum was chaotic (as per usual) but it also had the added addition of being half demolished as well - eventually found the office which was run by old guys who were a bit shocked by my marital status "are you a nun?" said one of them - bit of a personal question when all I wanted was a ticket to Madurai. The ticket they sold me was for the 8 o'clock following day so being good I turned up at 7.45 only to be told by the grouchy ticket inspector that they had been waiting for me - "mmh but it leaves at 8" - no it didn't left the moment I got on it. Ended up going within 20k's of Kanyukumari right at the southern tip before heading north through some really nice mountains but unfortunately I was sat on the wrong side of the bus to get any good photos.

Arriving in Madurai the bus station was one of the ones I hate as it was quite far out of town so had a bit of fun with the rickshaw guys who were having a big laugh with the fares - was totally clueless of where I wanted to stay so I ended up wandering round the area where most hotels were situated. This did attract a lot of attention and I ended up having a few guys following me - a couple started scuffling in the street over me - and what was worse they wanted to take me to the hotel I wanted to go to. Their shenanigans nearly cost me the room as then they wanted commission off the hotel owner - me protesting I was coming here anyway finally won the day but how they glared back at me.

The main reason for visiting Madurai was to see the huge Hindu temples - crowds of men dressed in black dhotis swarmed around the streets near my hotel. It always does amaze that they spend so much on these places of worship when there is so much poverty around - even more strange (well I found it strange) was I wasn't allowed to take my cigarettes in (I always forget these rules) but it seemed okay to sell toy guns in there. I liked Madurai - eating was interesting as I usually ended up at places with no menu, the waiter would babble off a list of stuff and I'd say "whatever" - the "whatever" was pretty good dhal, dosa, and some white stuff that I never sussed out what it was all served on a banana leaf. Shopping though was a bit of nightmare - the shopkeeper in the salwar chemise emporium ended up getting more stressed than me over my indecision - got one in the end that didn't look too fancy dressy and fitted which is usually the big issue with me.

Kodaikanal was the next destination - a hill station about 120k's from Madurai. I was the last person to be picked up by the bus from my hotel and I ended up sat next to a bit of space cadet from Delhi who was travelling with his mum. He spent most of the journey talking to me about about magic mushrooms as Kodai was apparently the only place in India where they grew wild - his mum was totally oblivious to what he was talking about and never noticed the powerful smell of marijuana that wafted into the bus when we stopped for photos at the Silver Falls just outside town. Once more I was a bit clueless to where I was dropped off - the taxis drivers seemed a bit obsessed with taking me to the Greenland Youth Hostel but I just prefer to find a place myself - ended up at the Woodville Manor which sounds more posher that it actually was and was about the cheapest place in town without going too cheap.

The one thing you noticed about Kodai was the cold - it was like going from summer to winter in the space of 4 hours - I was so greatful for the hot water and smelly blankets (you became immune after a while) back at the hotel. Just drifted around going for walks which was nice - lots of guys wanted to be my guide but I'm a bit iffy about disappearing off in to the woods with some random that has approached me in the street - one of the downsides of travelling on your own. I did try walking out to some rocks about 7k out of town but gradually the road got more and more deserted - I was okay till this bunch of guys stopped their car and then a policeman started asking me 20 questions of what I was doing - Indians don't really understand the need to go out for a walk.

It was really nice to get back onto the plains and the warmth in Trichy my next stop. Arrived in the dark and it took a while to get my bearings - but it was really nice no one hassled me as I wandered round looking for a room. Strangely a lot of places were full - not sure whether it was my appearance as my hair never travels well but the question "have you rooms?" is usually a yes or no answer not a five minute conversation with your colleague - found one eventually which was well sorted for a good restaurant, beer shop and bus stand - what more could a girl want!! Ended up staying an extra night in Trichy as I didn't fancy another bus ride - tried yet again to sort out my train ticket to Kolkata - the woman told me I could buy a wait listed ticket (can't get on the train with this one) and then get it changed to Foreign quota ticket ( can get on the train) just across the way - wasted a good half hour on this theory before going back and getting a refund - still I had a bit of fun with the old guys who didn't really understand the concept that I was next in the queue - I don't know they must have thought I enjoyed sitting round random Indian train reservation offices.

For once the bus to Pondicherry was a doddle - sign in English which is one thing that makes bus travel quite taxing when all the signs are in Hindi. Pondicherry was formally a french colony and still had a lot of french influence - road were called rues and the policeman wore french style kepi hats - for a place I had always wanted to visit I didn't get the best out of it - mainly as I felt really rough with cold and my room at the Amala Lodge was really claustro and not that clean. Was going to go out to Auroville (kind of big ashram) but the guys down the tourist office were a bit vague and said I just had to turn up and maybe the trip would run tomorrow, I also was a bit uneasy as I'd heard the people were a bit strange and I would have felt like a sightseer which I know I am but I just decided to leave it.

The bus to Mamalalapuram was one of the craziest I took as it was the express to Chennai - there was so much pushing and shoving that a policeman had to be called over to do crowd control. No seat for me so I ended having to stand with a drunken man at my feet who just about managed to stay on the bus and some guy behind me who started telling me to move down the bus me protesting that I couldn't as we were rammed in and where did he expect me to go "on the bleeding roof". Not the comfiest of rides and arriving in Mamalapuram all the taxi drivers were lined across the street waiting for me (felt like I was in a Clint Eastwood movie) - but they were pussycats really only one bothered me saying it was 2k into town (okay we'll halve that then). Had a real nice time in Mamalalapuram as the guesthouse was great run by a lovely woman called Yvette from Switzerland - it does make a difference if you are staying somewhere nice and she really cared about the place.

The beach wasn't really a sunbathing beach but I liked it - rough and ready with all the fishing boats lined up on the sand - nearly accidently climbed over the fence one day into the Shore temple when I thought I saw a gap. Foreigners had to pay 10 times the Indian rate - maybe I was templed out, it was pretty enough but I wasn't convinced that it was worth the money I paid. More interesting were the caves and big rocks in the village which were similar to Hampi - so had a good old scramble round there. Was sad to leave Mamalapuram - there wasn't a lot to do but it was a nice place to relax for a few days.

It was only a short hop to Chennai and I ended up sat next to a rather strange bloke who I believe proposed marriage at one point in the journey (I couldn't understand much of what he was babbling on about but stuff about marriage tends transcend language difficulties) - all I can say it's a good job I'm not into guys with wobbly eyes and a few teeth - he was quite heartbroken when I got off at Guindy station in the suburbs. For once my guidebook had something useful in it as the bus station was miles out of town it said to get off at Guindy and take the train into the city. Guindy was probably the poorest place I stopped off at - the beggars were the kind of people who really needed the money (not like some of the pros you see at the tourist resorts), luckily for me it was Sunday and quiet as the train was one of the ones you see in pictures with people hanging off the sides so it was quite an easy ride into town.

Tried yet again to sort out my ticket to Kolkata and failed for the third time - ticket office closed as it was Sunday - but it was a nice walk out to the station past this lovely church that wouldn't have looked out of place in England. For a city Chennai was quite easy and not that scary - I'm always a bit edgy going into cities that I don't know - think Delhi has got to be the worst of Indian cities its okay for me now but I can understand how so many people have what they call the "Delhi Experience".

Okay thats all for now - I am finding it hard to keep this up to date (will try to do better) - too much other nice stuff to do and sometimes this all seems so long ago.

Kerala

Photos are here - realised now how useful a netbook would be as for the last 3 weeks internet has either been really expensive or non existant...

India Ooty - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=174039&id=771224918&l=9838f957e1

India Kerala - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=174050&id=771224918&l=82374a9259

I did waver a bit about staying in Mysore as I did like the place but in the end I dragged my carcus down to the bus station - naturally the Ooty bus didn't leave from the stand it was supposed to and I did feel sorry for the driver as he was trying to park up people were trying to clamber on and throwing stuff through the windows - totally crazy as I usually managed to get a seat by just waiting till everyone had finished fighting it out. The bus did struggle a bit as it climbed up into the Nilgiri or Blue Mountains - it was a strange countryside full of tea plantations and in parts the countryside looked very English with rolling hills and trees but with Indian shacky houses.

My arrival in Ooty (real name Udhagamandalam - I prefer Ooty much simpler) was quite calm - no touts which was great but I did struggle to find a nice cheap hotel. The first one was really nice but I could only stay one night as they were doing it up - the TTDC guesthouse looked grim and was 600 rupees, when my mouth dropped at that they practically threw me out shouting "go the youth hostel" so I ended up back at the first one which was so lovely with fluffy pillows and a soft mattress. Ooty was strange place a former British hill station which was now full of shops selling home made chocolate (Yes!!!) and tea - apparently there was still a bit of British influence right up until the 1970's but not so much nowadays.

Spent the following morning looking at hotels - some were dire, some were expensive and some I couldn't be arsed to hoof my bag across town - the rickshaw drivers wouldn't haggle which is never a good sign - so I ended up in a dire one which I'm sure looked very nice when some bigwig opened it in 1964 unfortunately they didn't seem to have done much work on the room since then. Spent the afternoon looking round St Stephens church which was a bit like the one at Shimla but smaller and I thought much cuter. I always find the wall plaques so interesting - one guy died of jungle fever and another was for a lady who died aged thirty leaving a husband and seven children "to deplore their irreparable loss". It did feel like being back in England walking through the graveyard and it was nice in a weird way to see that people were still being buried there - though they no longer had such English sounding names. The Botanical Gardens were another bit of England - originally designed by the people from Kew - they were still well maintained with lots of varieties of trees and glasshouses and amazingly for India not a lot of litter about.

I had originally come to Ooty to ride on the Blue Mountain Railway and then completely forgot that a landslide a couple of months previously had knocked out most of the line - part of it was back up running but it looked really complicated and I don't really do complicated if I can help it so it was a case of going down to the bus station to try and find a bus to Coimbatoire. Looked simple enough but nothing is straightforward in India - you stand at the Coimbatoire stand which says bus every 20 minutes - 45 minutes passes and no bus shows so you ask someone at 10 to 5 "how often are the buses?" - "Every half hour", "What time's the next one then?" "Half past five" - mmh that makes a lot of sense!! I sussed it had arrived when everybody hurtled across the concourse and started throwing stuff through the windows - anyway here's a bit of video from the rollercoaster ride down through the plantations:

Bus conductor was ever so nice even moving one lad as I was getting blowback from his spit and vomit through the open door and once in Coimbatoire he offered to take me and the hockey lads from Trichur down to the railway station for 5 rupees which saved me a lot of arguments over what would have been a rip off fare.

Spent the next few days in Varkala where I met up with Richard again who had travelled down there via the backwaters and a really dodgy hotel in Allepney - found a lovely place to stay Sherin Cottage which was run by a great guy Deepak from Nepal. Was a real chill out few days spent mostly on the beach - the body boarding was great - nearly went to see to the Hugging Mama Amma but then she went on her travels and I had heard the westerners there were a bit on the weird side - trying to do outdo each other spiritually and crying a lot. It was a really friendly place - I always think that just having one table where everyone has sit round is better - one of the funniest moments was when Dave from Vermont turned up one morning bleary eyed and T-shirt inside out with tales of skinny dipping on Black Beach with 6 Aussie girls "awesome" he said. Sad day when I had to leave - Richard had already headed back up north to Rajastan it had been really nice to see him again - and I was heading south to see a solar eclipse.

Kerala was the best place in India to see the eclipse - was hoping to go back to Kanyukumari but it was just too complicated with the buses and trains to get there for time when the eclipse was at his height. Ended up staying in Trivandirum at one of strangest hotels I've ever stayed at regarding rules - two pages of them primarily concerned with bed wetting, vomiting and sheet staining - maybe its a hotbed for such goings on in this part of India. I did have the bright idea to try and sort my rail ticket from Chennai to Puri by going down to the station early to avoid the crowds - ha ha you can never do that in India according to the cheese counter ticket system there were 360 people in front of me in the queue - and this was at 8 in the morning - bit of a wait then!!! Finally got to the front of the queue and promptly lost my ticket - you can't put anything down as I found out when some bloke barged past me with said ticket "think that's mine matey" he didn't argue...

Spent the day of the eclipse at Kovalum Beach which you see in all the travel brochures - it was worse than I expected just too many hotels rammed into a small area - in my 1990 edition of the Lonely Planet it sounds like paradise but now has just been ruined. Got scammed for a bit of eclipse glass - bit dissappointed it didn't get totally dark as it was only an annular eclipse but the birds did get confused and I said a lot of wow's when looking through my glass - the next one in this part of the world to be this long will be in 3043 long after I'm gone. Had one of the crappest meals ever of pakoras - I seriously think the guy had just swept the kitchen floor and dumped the scraps on my plate and beer in a mug just doesn't taste the same. Anyway here's a bit of video I did my best with my camera but don't get your hopes up.

Okay that's all for the minute - got good internet connection here in Lake Toba so maybe some more before the weekend - I am just so behind with this.

Coasting down to Mysore

Bit of an overlap with the writing and photos but can't be helped!!

Pune -Mysore - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173495&id=771224918&l=7ea4ff6d14

Only stayed in Palolem a couple of days as after 11 days on buses and trains I was heading towards a knicker crisis so just needed to get some washing done and have a bit of a chill. It's always a bit weird for me going back there as I first went in 1999 and as they say at Glastonbury "I remember when all this was fields" - every available space on the beach front now has huts. Still it's okay for a couple of days and having a beer without being stared at was a nice change though Goa and me don't always mix too well as it usually full of couples, families and the young and the beautiful.

For some strange reason I decided not to take the bus down to Gokarna - sweet talked by the guy at the guesthouse who said he would give me a lift up the train station on his motorbike and I can never turn down a lift on a motorbike - love 'em!! I ended up in second class unreserved which was okay for short journeys and really cheap (18P) - bit snug seat wise and the guys I was sat with just gorped at me as I tried to hoof my rucksack on to the overhead rack despite my ramblings that if they moved their legs a bit I might find it a bit easier and be less of a cabaret performance for the whole carriage. It was whilst on the train I realised why I had originally discounted the train - Gokarna train station is 9k's from the town - guaranteed potential for taking the mick re fares from the rickshaw drivers and I wasn't far wrong. I usually used the bench mark of 10 rupees per kilometre so I did quite well getting the driver down to 100r for the ride into town but I still think he was having a bit of a laugh!

Decided to stay in Gokarna town for one night and then head over to Kutle beach in the morning as I wasn't keen on walking the couple of k's on the cliffs and then finding no room at the inn as it was getting close to Christmas. Couldn't remember the name of the place I stayed at last time I was in town - not that it was a place you would especially search out (damp and a dodgy toilet I did remember) so I ended up at a place by the bus station which wasn't the cleanest and really noisy - woken at 6 in the morning by screaming kids and shouting adults - no appreciation that there were others staying at the hotel who maybe didn't want an early morning call.

It wasn't actually too hard to find a room on Kutle - 150 rupees (2 pound) for a bamboo hut with bed and electric - and it hadn't changed that much in the three years since my last visit. Few more huts and after walking over with my bag in the midday sun (the word crazy was mentioned by the workman I passed on the way) I found there was a road - maybe it was there last time and I never noticed. Still the place hadn't turned into a mini Goa though there was an alarming number of stoner Israeli's there and at times round my hut it felt like downtown Tel Aviv - first night I was kept awake by some really cool music (the plus side) and this really irritating New Zealander (the downside) who thought she was so cool (the word was mentioned quite a lot in conversation). Apparently she believed that in 2012 some great disaster would befall the world and just the "cool" people would survive - I found it a bit like those sandwich board people back home who all predict the end is nigh and that if you repent and you'll be saved, I think I'd rather be wiped out with the herd if the worlds going to be full of people like that - we're all different be a bit bloody boring if we weren't.

It was the problem I had with Kutle - being cool - now I know I've never been cool just done my own thing and sometimes things that I have done have become cool (generally then they are ruined a bit by the cool people - Glastonbury - a classic example). Christmas Day tried to talking to a few people but to be honest I think dog poo on the end of their shoe would have had a better reception - so much for the season of goodwill and I'm not a vindictive person but I hope one day those people end up on their own. The only person I did end up having a beer with was this Austrian guy who in the end only really wanted me to check out his mattress - which did get to me a bit as why do guys automatically assume that when you're on your own that you must be desperate for a shag (bit blunt I know but can't think of a better way of expressing the sentiments!!)

So I decided to leave head inland and visit Jog Falls - wasn't too easy to find info on the buses as the controller down the bus station was one of the rudest men I met in India - seemed like I had a cloak of invisibility on when I was talking to him. Ended up getting the nice guy in the bookshop to ring the bus station in Kumta for me to get the times as all the controller could say to me "there are many buses to Jog" which wasn't really the info I was after. That night how I giggled (okay I am a vindictive person) when the heavens opened and all the cool Israelis came hurtling off the beach at a rapid pace - I happened to be sat in the only dry place in the cafe for a while till even that succumbed to the torrential downpour so ended up in the kitchen and met two nice guys - Richard and Douglas who had just arrived that day. Douglas was from Edinburgh and Richard it turned out was from just up the road from me in Huddersfield and stranger still was 5 days older than me (don't met many people my age travelling). Found out it wasn't personal with the Israeli's - now I knew there was a pack mentality but apparently they elect a leader who then makes all the decisions and once in the pack they don't talk to anybody else - vary strange way to be!! It was a really nice night despite the storm and kinda of made up for the few crap days I'd had beforehand.

I was supposed to leave the next morning but unfortunately I'd left my washing out so not wanting to head off with wet clothes - my towel was borderline at the best of times decided to stay another day. Richard had got the worst of it as he was down in the new corral - it had been round his ankles when he got back - clothes and laptop ruined - the guys in the cafe thought it was funny but as I've found on occasions Indians do seem to laugh at the most inappropriate times - they once did it to me when I fell off my bike - hysterical they seem think it was. So I spent the day chilling and faffing which I am pretty good at before heading off the following day.

I had a bit of hassle getting money as all the ATM's were down so ended up changing 40USD at a silversmiths shop before finding the bus to Kumta. It was in Kumta that my problems started - all the signs were in Hindi so it was a case of asking the drivers where they were going - then the rain started - the controller then kept changing the time the bus to Jog came in, by this point a lot of the people in the station were giggling at me (another example of inappropriate laughter - but hey I suppose I was the cabaret). Some people though did try to help me - one guy kept telling me about this god "well can you say a prayer to him to help my find this bus then?" - didn't help much - another random kept telling me times when the bus would arrive and then these two sweet schoolgirls who tried to talk to the controller on my behalf were told to take me down the chemists shop to buy a ticket - that was the straw that broke the camels back - so I gave up and headed off to find a hotel to have a rethink. All buses to Bangalore were booked for days to come, train station all the trains left at stupid o'clock and I'd have to go unreserved eventually it dawned on me the only option was back to the bus station in the morning once more to do battle.

In the end I just decided to take any bus heading south whether it be Mangalore or Bangalore and luckily the bus pixies were smiling down on me so I ended up going to Mangalore. Wasn't too crowded as well though there was a heavy smell of fish in the air as we headed south - it was a great journey as the sun was just rising above the mountains in the distance as we passed by lush green paddy fields and over wide rivers. Liked Mangalore as it was totally non tourist so no hassle at the bus station and easily found a room at a posh gaffe - it's not often I can afford places where the door is opened for me by a bloke in a turban - but I ended up with a nice room on the fourth floor at the Pooja International for just over a tenner.

Next stop was Mysore - didn't get down the bus station as early as I should have the next day as the bed was so comfy after 10 days of sleeping on crap mattresses - still Mangalore bus station was a piece of cake compared to Kumta. In fact two Mysore buses turned up at the same time so I went for the local one as there wasn't much difference allegedly in the times they arrived. It was once more a lovely ride through the Coorg region (Dervla Murphy wrote about spending some time there in the early 70's with her daughter) - though it was a really slow journey, the bus just crawled up the hills past rubber plantations really disappointed that I didn't see any Coorgi's along the way - they are supposed to be another remnant of Alexander the Greats army very fair skinned and quite different to other people in Southern India.

The roads seemed to get better the nearer we got to Mysore (poss cos it's close to Bangalore) so much so that the driver who I don't think could see too well managed to do a few Dukes of Hazards over speed bumps much to annoyance of the people at the back of the bus - was a bit terrifying at times as by this time it had started to rain. Strange New Years as I spent most of it wandering round Mysore looking for a room - ended up at Mannars Lodge (re my book "decidedly popular with backpackers" which translated means they'll take any old shit) the bloke was a bit stroppy with me when I asked why I had to pay more for the room than it was and then have my photo taken "Do you want to stay here or not?" was his reply. Quick shufty over to beer shop which I was removed from for my own safety by the security guard - ended up shouting through a hole in the wall not realising (or caring) that Mannars had a no alcohol policy. The problem with Indian cities at night is they are just full of drunken Indian men - so ended up watching the New Years festivities on TV - interestingly all the woman reporters were tucked up in night clubs whilst the men were out on the streets surrounded by drunken Indian men saying "hello mum".

Changed hotels in the morning - another photo and paying more for the room (is Mysore a hot bed of Al Qaeda action I wondered?) but it was a far nicer place and just across the road from Manners. The main attraction of Mysore is the market and the Maharajas palace - both of which I managed to get round to seeing. The Maharajas palace looks really impressive from the outside but was a bit of a pantomime re the shoes and camera rules - managed to bribe the ticket man to let me take my camera in for 10r but what about the guys with ones on their phones I thought. It was really well preserved inside with paintings and the most amazing stained glass - the only downside was it was heaving with Indian tourist groups. Bumped into Daniel from the rafting trip in Nepal - he was doing a yoga course in Mysore and I was a bit green when he told me that his room had a cooker and a fridge - it's the not being able to cook your own food that I miss. Found a great dhaba next to the hotel but I was by this time a bit on my craving for Western food once again - there is only so much channa dhal you can take!!

That's it for the mo - more hopefully next week - can't believe I've done that in one session off now for a beer and some noodles ( not alot of choice for me here in Penang - alternate nights veg noodles/veg rice - would kill for a plate of egg and chip at this moment in time!!)

Ajanta and Ellora Caves

Photos are here:

India Ajanta Caves - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4360222&l=e81d5b35a6&id=771224918

India Ellora Caves - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173489&id=771224918&l=741ed6b40f

It was back on the trains the next day for the journey down to Ajanta - the first bit of the journey was quite busy with foreigners heading for Agra and the Taj Mahal - some very strange girls sat opposite me cuddling teddy bears (they were in their 20's - each to their own I suppose) and I ended up chatting to a Dutch guy Roy who was gave me some really cool places to visit in Tamil Nadu. Spent the rest of the day drifting after Agra even though I was in the really uncomfy side aisle seat - it's not great for your back - just after tea time this great big domestic started with this family group about the lack of seats - it was quite funny as is India more and more people got involved - not sure how it was resolved but eventually they shut up. The guy next to me then invited me home to meet his wife in remote Mahdra Pradesh and then wanted my phone number - managed to extricate myself from the situation by saying that I'd only known him 20 minutes, it was a bit early in the relationship to be swapping phone numbers - thankfully he left it at that - sometimes you don't know whether to be friendly as men especially can take it the wrong way!!

As it was with an early morning train (they're never late!!) the train pulled into Jalgaon at six in the morning - easily found the hotel I wanted to stay at the Plaza but from the outside it looked like it would be way outside my budget. However I've got to say it was one of the cleanest and cheapest places I stayed in in the whole of India - rooms from 250 rupees (!!) up to 900 which was a bit surprise. I went for the 300 rupee room - the owner was just so helpful (a bit too much) as he insisted on drawing me various maps of the town whilst I just wanted to get to my room as my stomach was making ominous gurgling noises.

Finding the bus to Ajanta wasn't too hard though I never understand why when I say something like "Ajanta" to the bus driver 20 people have to get involved and have an in depth discussion about it - it's a simple yes or no answer! It was a bit of a rickety ride there and instead of dropping me at the entrance to the caves - the bus stopped in the village before and I had no idea which was the way. Got a lot of stares as I headed off down the highway looking for them - mind you I think sometimes I think it's the way I dress straw hat, fancy top and Indian ali baba pants. I was quite lucky as I got to the caves early so avoided the crowds - it was a really amazing place set on a bend in the river - the British discovered the place by chance in 1819 all overgrown having been abandoned by the Buddhists around about the fourth century. The paintings in the first couple of caves were quite jaw dropping and really well preserved and I wasn't hassled too much until I climbed up to the viewpoint overlooking the river where this guy was pretty insistant that I buy an ornamental elephant from him. Bus back to Jalgoan wasn't too good as I had to stand for about 20k's - definately no gentlemen on Indian buses!








The next day was another early start to catch the bus to Aurangabad - pretty uncomfortable ride as some kind soul loaded a hoofing great trunk on to the floor in front of me and then dissappeared off to sit in a comfy seat with leg room at the back - thanks a lot mate!! Had a bit of performance finding a cheap hotel in Aurangabad as they either wouldn't haggle, no longer existed or I just didn't feel safe staying there with the dodgy dudes on reception so eventually ended up at a nameless place near the train station that once I'd paid for the room found out that alcohol was forbidden - not happy with that especially as there was a beer shop opposite - usually its hunt the slipper finding a beer shop.


The trip to Ellora the next day was great and it was just easier to go through the tourist office than to organise it myself. The only down side to this was they packed a lot into a one day trip - the first stop was at Daulatabad Fort which I was really impressed with as it was carved out out of a hill and surrounded by a huge moat and booby traps. The one thing I didn't like was the dark passages we had to walk through which were full of bats - I was very Scooby Doo about that bit of the trip as although I've had the rabies vaccine I couldn't get a booster before I left - Heath Hospital in Cardiff the only place in South Wales where they had some vaccine wouldn't let me have any as they didn't want to release it to people going on "holiday" - I ask you when was the last time there was a mass rabies outbreak in the UK!!

Next stop was Ellora - it is similar to Ajanta and the caves are split into three distinctive periods Buddhist, Hindu and Jain - the Kailash temple in the centre of the complex took over a 100 years to construct and I think is the biggest Hindu temple in India - it really is an amazing place to look at - though we only looked at about four of the caves it was enough. One shrine and shopping emporium later we ended up at the Bibi-ka-Maqbara - it's strange place built as a mini Taj Mahal but not quite getting it right - another 100 rupees for foreigners to get in - personally I would have just stuck my camera over the fence to save time and money. It was a really tiring day (I know there are other things more tiring than being on holiday) but I did meet some nice people on the trip including Anou and Elanka from Israel and Germany who I went out for a meal with in the evening - they were travelling for two months, heading down to Goa and hadn't had the best start to their trip with a rip off hotel in Mumbai and scammed ticketwise on the bus to Auranagabad.

I think the bus pixies were smiling on me the next day as rickshaw up to the station and straight on the bus to Pune - 200 rupees and a nice front seat next to the conductor. Arriving in Pune round about tea time I managed to get the driver to drop me just behind the train station and picked up a rickshaw to the cheapest hotel in my book. Had quite a shock when I got there over 10 pounds for a room and not a great one at that - managed to get the manager who was a real sergeant major down on the price but I don't think the Grand Hotel really lived up to its name - though the cats were cool that hung round in the garden!!

Only stayed a day before heading out on the overnight bus down to Goa - I was on the 8.30 bus (this is India) - twenty to nine pick up showed up at travel agents, we then spent a mad hour driving round Pune picking up people and finally got on the real bus at 10.00 in some random car park on the outskirts of the city. Not a bad nights sleep as the person in front didn't recline their seat though as usual bit of a fitful sleep waking up at one point as we careered down a mountain road - that was a bit on the scarey side!! Only had a tiny reception commitee when the bus pulled up in Margoa - they all thought a taxi was best me - me disagreeing that I thought bus was best. Decided to head for Palolem as it was only a couple of hours down the coast - journey there slightly marred by the little fat man who sat so close to me on the ladies seat it was really uncomfortable (few elbows in his direction and he still wasn't getting the hint). Palolem was quieter than I expected and I had to get a bit Israeli with my haggling for a 200 rupee hut as the tout took me to a 300r one with heavy emphasis on the 400r one with ensuite - got there in the end and ended up at Tony's huts next to some nice overexcitable Israeli's - the only downside being the trog down to the toilet in the middle of the night as it was a bit of a beer heaven....