It's nearly time to head down to Surat Thani, near the south islands, to meet Tim from his course. I've been pretty manically busy since he headed down there, and a lot of ground has been covered.
The first few days, in Pattaya (beach resort near Bangkok) I ended up doing 3 days' diving and snorkelling. The best bit was a wreck dive which I haven't done before - really amazing. Saw rays, camouflaged scorpion fish and a massive turtle. I'm hoping to be able to do some more diving in the south, I've heard about some great spots.
Katt got a lift to Pattaya with two friends of hers in Bangkok, Neil & Kwan. We all drove up to Ubon, in north west Thailand, where Kwan's family live. We helped cut some rice, which was a cool experience (& pretty back breaking work!) For them, it was a matter of some prestige to have farang, foreigners, helping with such lowly work. Even if we did make a pigs' ear of it!
Neil then dropped Katt and I at the Cambodia border and we've been here for a few days. In tourist style, we're at Siem Reap, checking out Angkor Wat. Massive temples, in the abbreviated form! & truly awesome. Because of the timing, we haven't been able to do much else in Cambodia, which is a real shame because Cambodians seem like laid back, nice people. It's horrible to ponder what happened here almost within my life time..
Tomorrow we get the bus back to Bangkok, and then travel on south. I'm hoping to be back on a beach within a few days.. sorry, that's pretty insensitive isn't it?! xx
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Tim has left me for a load of monks
What more is there to say?! I'm temporarily going it alone whilst Tim gets stuck into 10 days of silent meditation. I'm mildly terrified for his sanity, but he has promised to call me if it gets too bad.. Any spare positive vibes, please send his way!
Katt's in Bangkok on a massage course, and I'm nearby but sensibly back by the sea. I'm going to get back under water tomorrow and do some diving. It's been too long - I hope it comes back to me OK! I met a nice American guy called Eric at the hostel I'm staying at who was conveniently also needed a dive buddy, so that's come together nicely!
Katt's in Bangkok on a massage course, and I'm nearby but sensibly back by the sea. I'm going to get back under water tomorrow and do some diving. It's been too long - I hope it comes back to me OK! I met a nice American guy called Eric at the hostel I'm staying at who was conveniently also needed a dive buddy, so that's come together nicely!
Monday, 22 November 2010
Thailand, fireworks & lady boys
Hey! I return with added energy after hearing that loads of people are logging in :) Leave me some comments, otherwise I feel a bit like I'm talking to myself! (& you obviously, Mum!!)
Anyway, so been in Thailand for just over a week now. I'm sure I missed off the end of Goa, but it was a bit more of the same - chilling on and around beaches. Can't knock it! Thailand is a different kettle of fish, almost literally. Saying that, I think the mad frustrations of long distance travel in India, and getting a bit accustomed to a different pace of life and, unfortunately, quite a lot of poverty, has helped adjust to here pretty quickly. The fact that Bangkok is a truly amazing place to shop though came as a surprise, and the budget has suffered a bit of a kick!
It was great to meet up with Katt at Bangkok airport, even though I felt pretty much like death after an insanely long journey from Goa to Mumbai, a mad day in Mumbai and a sleepless night flight. Bless her, she'd also got up at the crack of dawn to meet us. Lots of catch up on, but we've covered quite a lot of ground since then!
Katt knows a couple who live in Bangkok, and they were amazing hosts - giving us a quick tour of some local food, sights & rude entertainment options! (Sorry Mum, I've seen some interesting things that, shall we say, were not necessarily as nature intended. When you come to Bangkok I'll give you the tour!!)
Bangkok is fun, energetic and crazy. Food being sold on the street everywhere, which really adds to that. I was determined to try loads of crazy looking stuff, but so much is truly beyond recognition. It's quite a stretch for anyone which vaguely vegetarian tendencies! Still, plenty of time for lapsing.
The last couple of days we've spent in Chang Mai, north Thailand. There's a crazy festival going on which requires (terrifyingly) constant fireworks, thousands of lanterns being lauched into the sky and candles floated out into the river. What's kind of ironic about it is that the festival exists to apologize to the river for polluting it during the year. I'm not sure how much this helps, but maybe that's my English cynicism!
We've all been suffering a lot with mozzy bites, & in some pretty indecent spots, but other than that all is pretty well. Tim seems to be quite a hit with the boys here, but I'm not too worried! We're heading off again tomorrow I think, up to the Myanmar border to get out of cities for a few days and maybe see some tribes folk.
Big love going back to England, xxx
Anyway, so been in Thailand for just over a week now. I'm sure I missed off the end of Goa, but it was a bit more of the same - chilling on and around beaches. Can't knock it! Thailand is a different kettle of fish, almost literally. Saying that, I think the mad frustrations of long distance travel in India, and getting a bit accustomed to a different pace of life and, unfortunately, quite a lot of poverty, has helped adjust to here pretty quickly. The fact that Bangkok is a truly amazing place to shop though came as a surprise, and the budget has suffered a bit of a kick!
It was great to meet up with Katt at Bangkok airport, even though I felt pretty much like death after an insanely long journey from Goa to Mumbai, a mad day in Mumbai and a sleepless night flight. Bless her, she'd also got up at the crack of dawn to meet us. Lots of catch up on, but we've covered quite a lot of ground since then!
Katt knows a couple who live in Bangkok, and they were amazing hosts - giving us a quick tour of some local food, sights & rude entertainment options! (Sorry Mum, I've seen some interesting things that, shall we say, were not necessarily as nature intended. When you come to Bangkok I'll give you the tour!!)
Bangkok is fun, energetic and crazy. Food being sold on the street everywhere, which really adds to that. I was determined to try loads of crazy looking stuff, but so much is truly beyond recognition. It's quite a stretch for anyone which vaguely vegetarian tendencies! Still, plenty of time for lapsing.
The last couple of days we've spent in Chang Mai, north Thailand. There's a crazy festival going on which requires (terrifyingly) constant fireworks, thousands of lanterns being lauched into the sky and candles floated out into the river. What's kind of ironic about it is that the festival exists to apologize to the river for polluting it during the year. I'm not sure how much this helps, but maybe that's my English cynicism!
We've all been suffering a lot with mozzy bites, & in some pretty indecent spots, but other than that all is pretty well. Tim seems to be quite a hit with the boys here, but I'm not too worried! We're heading off again tomorrow I think, up to the Myanmar border to get out of cities for a few days and maybe see some tribes folk.
Big love going back to England, xxx
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Hampi: ruins, boulders & stuff
I gather it's now Wed, & our last day at Hampi (overnight bus from Goa inland - crazy missions!) It transpires you can get to anywhere in India for practically no money if you can handle long distance buses/trains, and have plenty of time on your side. Having figured this out, I feel like I could happily spend months here, travelling about and eating local grub. However, Thailand beckons in a couple of weeks. We've done pretty well and managed to do most of Goa, and Hampi has been a good tip (thanks, Lilly!) A couple more weeks to check out a bit more of India before we head on!
This place is massive ruins, monuments and big red bouldery landscape everywhere. Also, heaps of palm trees and paddy fields where we're staying, so it's very beautiful. Tim and I have fallen into a massive chill out here - I got a great 75min massage yesterday for about 9 pounds which was amazing! Tempted to get one every few days!! Still, the money goes much further on food (thalis, veggie curry (of course) and dosas, my new favourite thing, big savoury pancakes with coconut/potatoe curry dips).
Tomorrow we're going to mission a couple of buses and head back to the coast, Gokarna, which is a hindu pilgrimage spot. The festival of light, Diwali, is on 5th Nov, and apparently that will be a good thing to see. hopefully we've picked a good spot for it!
This place is massive ruins, monuments and big red bouldery landscape everywhere. Also, heaps of palm trees and paddy fields where we're staying, so it's very beautiful. Tim and I have fallen into a massive chill out here - I got a great 75min massage yesterday for about 9 pounds which was amazing! Tempted to get one every few days!! Still, the money goes much further on food (thalis, veggie curry (of course) and dosas, my new favourite thing, big savoury pancakes with coconut/potatoe curry dips).
Tomorrow we're going to mission a couple of buses and head back to the coast, Gokarna, which is a hindu pilgrimage spot. The festival of light, Diwali, is on 5th Nov, and apparently that will be a good thing to see. hopefully we've picked a good spot for it!
Monday, 25 October 2010
North Goa, a mission from down South
We've been in Arumbol, North Goa for over a week now and it's been a funny one - a mix between really loving the little apartment we're in, enjoying being able to do some cooking (we had a crazy mission buying a little kerosene stove last week; surprisingly user friendly!), and being frustrated by sudden downpours of rain. It always seems to happen just as we're going out, bit uncanny! So the tans we were looking forward to working on have faded a bit, and the cute little beach we're right next to has not seen as much sunbathing action as it might! (Today was an improvement though!!)
Saturday before last we had a bit of a shock getting an autorickshaw at 5:30am, to get our train up here. But we were very chuffed with the breakfast we had packed (banana bread and samosas!). We'd just put away a samosa when a train turned up earlier than expected. We were a bit confused generally, and when we'd got it together enough to ask if it was the train we wanted it had started moving and we needed to be several coaches down. So I ran, jumped at a door and hoped for the best. Unfortunately though, my bag wasn't over both shoulders so I just flailed whilst two very kind men pulled me on! Tim made it look much easier! (I felt even more of an arse when I found out the train was half hourly!)
When we reached Arumbol, I went on a mission and found the place we're staying. Amazing view over the rocky coastline, and really cheep. Also, hardly any mosquitos, loads of geckos and a bakery nearby that does the most intense chocolate brownies and croissants!! It's taking great restraint not to eat them all! All up the main street are shops/stalls selling generic hippy fare, it's a bit weary being constantly asked to 'look, buy something'. We're planning to check out some markets on Wed, so any shopping will be attempted then! We've had a scooter a couple of days and checked out the surrounding areas, but nowhere's appealing massively. The loose plan is to head inland in a few days. Hampi, I understand, is a good spot on the tourist route..
Saturday before last we had a bit of a shock getting an autorickshaw at 5:30am, to get our train up here. But we were very chuffed with the breakfast we had packed (banana bread and samosas!). We'd just put away a samosa when a train turned up earlier than expected. We were a bit confused generally, and when we'd got it together enough to ask if it was the train we wanted it had started moving and we needed to be several coaches down. So I ran, jumped at a door and hoped for the best. Unfortunately though, my bag wasn't over both shoulders so I just flailed whilst two very kind men pulled me on! Tim made it look much easier! (I felt even more of an arse when I found out the train was half hourly!)
When we reached Arumbol, I went on a mission and found the place we're staying. Amazing view over the rocky coastline, and really cheep. Also, hardly any mosquitos, loads of geckos and a bakery nearby that does the most intense chocolate brownies and croissants!! It's taking great restraint not to eat them all! All up the main street are shops/stalls selling generic hippy fare, it's a bit weary being constantly asked to 'look, buy something'. We're planning to check out some markets on Wed, so any shopping will be attempted then! We've had a scooter a couple of days and checked out the surrounding areas, but nowhere's appealing massively. The loose plan is to head inland in a few days. Hampi, I understand, is a good spot on the tourist route..
Friday, 15 October 2010
South Goa in two weeks
We've now spent a week in Agonda, followed by a week in Patnem - both quiet little places either side of Palolem. Tomorrow we're planning to head up north, although we're mildly sceptical as we've heard it's quite busy up there. Still, we're up for checking out the region, and if Arumbol is too busy, we'll explore! I'm feeling a bit rough today as somehow I have a cold(!), but I'll throw done a bit of detail as it comes to mind.
These two weeks have mainly been spent checking out lots of local places to eat, avoiding rain spells, getting some sun on the beach and zipping around on scooters, avoiding cows. We've made it to a local wildlife reserve, where we saw some monkeys and lots of crabs in the forest! (Fortunately we didn't spot any bears, deer or wild cats as the sign claimed - on foot doesn't seen the best method for that kind of exploration!)
The place we've been staying this past week is set in a grove of palm trees next to the beach in Patnem - really chilled out. You get used to the frequent power cuts, cats climbing trees like monkeys, dogs, chicken and cows everywhere, although maybe not the mosquitos! They've been busily building a bar/restaurant where we're staying, as well as loads of beach huts, which all looks amazing. It's surprising to see how most of the tourist accommodation, shops and food & drink venues are literally built at the start of the season.
Tim and I have been liking the cheap local places to eat and hang out, such as tiny thali places (big plate of rice with fish/veg, curry, salsa etc, usually 40R/60p), the local chai shop and a recent discovery, fast food vans that do a spicy omelette roll for 20R! Just about to raid more of their menu for lunch! Catch you later
These two weeks have mainly been spent checking out lots of local places to eat, avoiding rain spells, getting some sun on the beach and zipping around on scooters, avoiding cows. We've made it to a local wildlife reserve, where we saw some monkeys and lots of crabs in the forest! (Fortunately we didn't spot any bears, deer or wild cats as the sign claimed - on foot doesn't seen the best method for that kind of exploration!)
The place we've been staying this past week is set in a grove of palm trees next to the beach in Patnem - really chilled out. You get used to the frequent power cuts, cats climbing trees like monkeys, dogs, chicken and cows everywhere, although maybe not the mosquitos! They've been busily building a bar/restaurant where we're staying, as well as loads of beach huts, which all looks amazing. It's surprising to see how most of the tourist accommodation, shops and food & drink venues are literally built at the start of the season.
Tim and I have been liking the cheap local places to eat and hang out, such as tiny thali places (big plate of rice with fish/veg, curry, salsa etc, usually 40R/60p), the local chai shop and a recent discovery, fast food vans that do a spicy omelette roll for 20R! Just about to raid more of their menu for lunch! Catch you later
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Goa, by plane, train and taxi
Wow, what a crazy week. Tues to Fri was pretty much spent travelling, and since Fri we've been having a well needed chill in a lovely quiet little place called Agonda, South Goa. I'm feeling quite reluctant to do much, although today we've got round to getting a scooter and started checking out the surrounding area, Thus, finding an internet cafe (with a surprisingly fast connection!) We also got an ice cream and watched some monkeys! :)
So the flight to Mumbai was fairly non eventful, slightly delayed as someone poured fuel all over the engine of the plane we were meant to get! Mumbai was quite a shock, especially the hour and a half taxi from the airport to the train station. Talk about diving into the deep end of India - slums everywhere; children, animals, people walking along the sides of the road, chilling in any area of shade. Traffic following no rules apart from the need to beep at and overtake as many other vehicles as possible. We had expected rain, but it didn't rain for the first couple of days, so hot hot hot!
The train station was intense - we felt conspicuous as the only white travellers. We also had about 7 hours to kill after finally managing to get tickets for the sleeper train to Goa. We spent much of it sitting on the floor with everyone else, and played some cribbage (Dad, thanks for the refresher course!!) When 11pm & the train finally came, we had to overcome being told they'd double booked our bunks, but we ended up getting upgraded (with the help of a small bribe!) Things work very differently out here!
Coming into Goa on Thurs morning on the train was lovely: beautiful green views. We'd got some sleep which was well needed, and had a near miss with some super-sweet chai tea! 12:30, we arrived at Malgao, where we opted for a pre-paid taxi down to Palolem. We'd liked the sound of Palolem in the travel guide book, but although the journey there was stunning, the place wasn't quite what we had expected. Clearly very geared up for the tourist season, with lots of hippy shops, bars and restaurants. The guest house we were dropped at was grim, although we were desperate to stop so we said yes and regretted it later. The evening we spent in Palolem was actually surprisingly lovely, with a spotting of two monkeys, an incredible storm and a wonderful meal on the beach (shark masala, mmmm!). We ate whilst watching strobe-like lightning, which I've never imagined could last so long. Going back to our room was a bit depressing - we had to play a game of 'things I hate about this room' to cheer ourselves up! Water leaked out of the AC unit on the bed during the night.. We got the hell out of there in the morning!
So on Friday we came a bit along the coast to Agonda, where we're now staying, on a recommendation from a guy we met called Seth. It's dead quiet, the guest house we're at has a little restaurant, and the beach is 2 mins away. We're enjoying having some time to read, draw, sew and generally chill. We also met a nice couple, Eve and Jay, who we've had a couple of meals with and got some good tips on, for example, how to haggle!
At the moment, we're back in Palolem making the most of the facilities (cash, post card for Nanny!) Tim is off getting a bit more used to the scooter whilst I do internet stuff. I suspect we'll do a bit more exploring this afternoon and find somewhere to have a meal later. I think we'll be doing much of the same for a while yet!!
So the flight to Mumbai was fairly non eventful, slightly delayed as someone poured fuel all over the engine of the plane we were meant to get! Mumbai was quite a shock, especially the hour and a half taxi from the airport to the train station. Talk about diving into the deep end of India - slums everywhere; children, animals, people walking along the sides of the road, chilling in any area of shade. Traffic following no rules apart from the need to beep at and overtake as many other vehicles as possible. We had expected rain, but it didn't rain for the first couple of days, so hot hot hot!
The train station was intense - we felt conspicuous as the only white travellers. We also had about 7 hours to kill after finally managing to get tickets for the sleeper train to Goa. We spent much of it sitting on the floor with everyone else, and played some cribbage (Dad, thanks for the refresher course!!) When 11pm & the train finally came, we had to overcome being told they'd double booked our bunks, but we ended up getting upgraded (with the help of a small bribe!) Things work very differently out here!
Coming into Goa on Thurs morning on the train was lovely: beautiful green views. We'd got some sleep which was well needed, and had a near miss with some super-sweet chai tea! 12:30, we arrived at Malgao, where we opted for a pre-paid taxi down to Palolem. We'd liked the sound of Palolem in the travel guide book, but although the journey there was stunning, the place wasn't quite what we had expected. Clearly very geared up for the tourist season, with lots of hippy shops, bars and restaurants. The guest house we were dropped at was grim, although we were desperate to stop so we said yes and regretted it later. The evening we spent in Palolem was actually surprisingly lovely, with a spotting of two monkeys, an incredible storm and a wonderful meal on the beach (shark masala, mmmm!). We ate whilst watching strobe-like lightning, which I've never imagined could last so long. Going back to our room was a bit depressing - we had to play a game of 'things I hate about this room' to cheer ourselves up! Water leaked out of the AC unit on the bed during the night.. We got the hell out of there in the morning!
So on Friday we came a bit along the coast to Agonda, where we're now staying, on a recommendation from a guy we met called Seth. It's dead quiet, the guest house we're at has a little restaurant, and the beach is 2 mins away. We're enjoying having some time to read, draw, sew and generally chill. We also met a nice couple, Eve and Jay, who we've had a couple of meals with and got some good tips on, for example, how to haggle!
At the moment, we're back in Palolem making the most of the facilities (cash, post card for Nanny!) Tim is off getting a bit more used to the scooter whilst I do internet stuff. I suspect we'll do a bit more exploring this afternoon and find somewhere to have a meal later. I think we'll be doing much of the same for a while yet!!
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