It was lovely to meet up with Josh and Kieron, and after spending a couple more days in Cochin sunbathing on the beach and exploring antique shops we decided to continue our journey north. We had been recommended by many people a stay in Hampi, and when we were booking transport it had seemed a great idea to break up the journey by stopping in Bangalore on the way. We took a non air conditioned second class sleeper train which wasn't the most pleasant experience but travelling overnight meant we didn't lose a day exploring. Bangalore however was a bit of a disappointment. There was not a lot to do and the city was spread quite far apart. We also happened to stay in the most disgusting hotel I have ever seen with suspicious dark stains on the walls. We entertained ourselves with museums and aquariums but I definitely would not recommend visiting the city unless for business purposes. We were happy to leave the next day on a night bus to Hampi.
Hampi was gorgeous. The scenery is magical with huge rocks littered across the landscape. On our first day we rented bicycles to explore one of The nearby temples. The roads were so clear that by the following day we felt confident enough to rent scooters (I hopped on the back of Jonny's). We did this for a couple of days travelling down the country roads passing small villages and workers in fields and rice paddies. Every night the hotels and restaurants show different movies where we could recline on cushions on the floor eating and drinking beer. It is impossible to be stressed in Hampi!
We had been sleeping in some serious budget accommodation however me and Jonny moved to a much more comfortable hotel when we discovered squirrels were invading our room gnawing on closed packets of biscuits and rubbish out the bin. The price difference was definitely worth it as we had hot showers and woke up every morning overlooking some rice paddies. The only things wrong there were the frogs living in our toilet and the time a big poisonous spider came in our room.. Luckily we were saved by our friend Vishal who was not frightened to gra the spider with his bare hands!
After a few days we took another night bus to Goa. Our first stop was Anjuna which was great for lounging around on the beach in the day and partying at night. Unfortunately we chose a bad time to visit as it is election season and there is meant to be a curfew of 10pm. There was always still somewhere open until the early hours of the morning though. Walking home was always a mission after a few drinks on a night out. We inevitably got lost every night. The stray dogs take ownership of the town at night which was quite scary. I would walk in between the boys as they held rocks just incase we had to defend ourselves.
When we had enough of touristy Anjuna where we could not spend half an hour on the beach without being hassled to buy things, we travelled South to Palolem for a more chilled out beach experience. The beach was gorgeous and there were campfires every night. We were staying in beach houses right on the shore which were painted in bright colours making them look like doll houses. It would have been more fun living like barbie and ken if they had hot water!
We rented out kayaks on one day and went out on the sea to explore a nearby island but just made it around a big rock. Still a good effort though...
We took scooters out on another day and went to see a big fort nearby. When walking around there were loads of monkeys. They were fascinating to see in such a wild area, but I was scared if getting too close incase they felt threatened by us and attacked.
Me and Jonny then left Josh and Kieran to travel north to Mumbai. I had a great time with them and am looking forward to a reunion at an Indian restaurant when we get back to the midlands.
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Sunday 12 February 2012
Kerala!
I was so excited to meet Becki and Tom in Cochin. We all get along so well I knew we were definitely going to have an amazing time. We met up in Fort Cochin which is a quiet, touristy area. We even found a really nice (and cheap) hotel called Tom's mansion! Perfect! This was a good place to visit first as we could catch up on the past few months apart whilst eating good food, and drinking alcohol from the government shop. The shop is a surreal place; as alcohol is (meant to be) illegal for sale in restaurants and cafes in the state of Kerala, the only place it is available is at the state shop. People visiting cover their faces, change their clothes and hide the alcohol in their trousers once they have bought it because it is seen as so shameful to be seen buying.
Poor Becki's luggage gad got lost on her flight over and sent to Melbourne!! But once we had it back we took a trip up the mountains to a town called Munnar. The bus ride there was so scary! The driver seemed to have forgotten he had other people's lives in his hands and was racing other buses up windey thin mountain roads. Even the locals were gripping the edges of their seats and gasping with terror. When we got there the views were worth the bus ride from hell. We had a couple of much needed beers before a meal and an early night ready to go on a 'reliable tour' the next day. Our tour guide was hilarious, and quite obviously making a lot of stuff up on the way but we didn't mind and had a wonderful time. We went on an elephant ride up a hill and saw scenery which I thought looked like something from 'the sound of music'. Afterwards we walked through some (snake infested... According to Becki hehe) tea plantations. We saw some kathakali traditional Indian dance performance which was quite odd and seemed to be based mainly around strange facial expressions.
The next day we decided to travel south to Allepey where we were going to see the Keralan backwaters. After our traumatic drive up the mountain we gave the bus a miss instead getting a taxi. The difference in cost was extreme (300 rupees for all of us on the bus or 3000 in a taxi) but we felt our safety was worth the money and it turns out we definitely spent our money wisely as we saw a bus crash on the way down. However, after seeing another crash on the roads it seems our luck was running out and we had a collision of our own. A drunk man was walking along a dual carriageway drunk and facing the wrong direction whilst on his mobile phone and despite all our drivers efforts our car hit him. He got straight back up without any serious injuries, and the most damage was done to the car behind us which hit our behind as our car braked. We were a bit shaken up but just glad to be safe and sound when we reached our hotel.
The next day we took a small boat out for the day and saw some beautiful sights. We saw lots of wildlife as well as people from smaller towns washing their clothes and dishes in the river whilst listening to fat freds. It was gorgeous.
After Allepey we took a train down to Varkalar to spend a few days by the beach. We met some lovely people who ran a restaurant on the cliffs overlooking the ocean on the first night where we shared many cocktails and stories. The next morning Jonny woke me up early and we went for a morning stroll on the beach before breakfast. When we met up with Becki and Tom we all saw wild dolphins swimming in the sea from a cafe on the beach. They were beautiful!
We sunbathed all day before going back to the restaurant we had been to the night before for a snapper which they had caught for us that morning. They had kept it alive in a pond and sacraficed it along with a crab for our dinner whilst we were there; the freshest fish I have ever eaten! It was delicious.
The next morning whilst enjoying our morning stroll, me and Jonny saw some ceremonies going on at the far left side of the beach. It turns out the ocean is holy and many people have their funerals there, with their ashes being thrown into the sea. Afterwards the children of the family all danced in the waves. It looked like a lovely way to be celebrated. After another chilled out day on the beach, we all watched the sunset together before an open mic night. We had an amazing night. Jonny played guitar with some other musicians and we all drank cocktails and sang along until the early hours.
We spent another couple of days chilling on the beach enjoying each others company and swimming in the ocean before the sad day came when we had to travel back to Cochin for Becki and Tom to get their flight home. We went back to Tom's mansion and spent the evening listening to a sitar and tablar show. It was so relaxing!
The next day Josh and Kieron arrived and we went to a festival at a local temple where they dressed up elephants and put on a but of a performance. They then set off fireworks on the street which actually just happened to be pots of gunpowder. It was surreal!
I was very sad to see Becki and Tom leave, as we had such a fantastic time. Kerala has to be one of the most beautiful areas of the world I have been lucky enough to see.
Poor Becki's luggage gad got lost on her flight over and sent to Melbourne!! But once we had it back we took a trip up the mountains to a town called Munnar. The bus ride there was so scary! The driver seemed to have forgotten he had other people's lives in his hands and was racing other buses up windey thin mountain roads. Even the locals were gripping the edges of their seats and gasping with terror. When we got there the views were worth the bus ride from hell. We had a couple of much needed beers before a meal and an early night ready to go on a 'reliable tour' the next day. Our tour guide was hilarious, and quite obviously making a lot of stuff up on the way but we didn't mind and had a wonderful time. We went on an elephant ride up a hill and saw scenery which I thought looked like something from 'the sound of music'. Afterwards we walked through some (snake infested... According to Becki hehe) tea plantations. We saw some kathakali traditional Indian dance performance which was quite odd and seemed to be based mainly around strange facial expressions.
The next day we decided to travel south to Allepey where we were going to see the Keralan backwaters. After our traumatic drive up the mountain we gave the bus a miss instead getting a taxi. The difference in cost was extreme (300 rupees for all of us on the bus or 3000 in a taxi) but we felt our safety was worth the money and it turns out we definitely spent our money wisely as we saw a bus crash on the way down. However, after seeing another crash on the roads it seems our luck was running out and we had a collision of our own. A drunk man was walking along a dual carriageway drunk and facing the wrong direction whilst on his mobile phone and despite all our drivers efforts our car hit him. He got straight back up without any serious injuries, and the most damage was done to the car behind us which hit our behind as our car braked. We were a bit shaken up but just glad to be safe and sound when we reached our hotel.
The next day we took a small boat out for the day and saw some beautiful sights. We saw lots of wildlife as well as people from smaller towns washing their clothes and dishes in the river whilst listening to fat freds. It was gorgeous.
After Allepey we took a train down to Varkalar to spend a few days by the beach. We met some lovely people who ran a restaurant on the cliffs overlooking the ocean on the first night where we shared many cocktails and stories. The next morning Jonny woke me up early and we went for a morning stroll on the beach before breakfast. When we met up with Becki and Tom we all saw wild dolphins swimming in the sea from a cafe on the beach. They were beautiful!
We sunbathed all day before going back to the restaurant we had been to the night before for a snapper which they had caught for us that morning. They had kept it alive in a pond and sacraficed it along with a crab for our dinner whilst we were there; the freshest fish I have ever eaten! It was delicious.
The next morning whilst enjoying our morning stroll, me and Jonny saw some ceremonies going on at the far left side of the beach. It turns out the ocean is holy and many people have their funerals there, with their ashes being thrown into the sea. Afterwards the children of the family all danced in the waves. It looked like a lovely way to be celebrated. After another chilled out day on the beach, we all watched the sunset together before an open mic night. We had an amazing night. Jonny played guitar with some other musicians and we all drank cocktails and sang along until the early hours.
We spent another couple of days chilling on the beach enjoying each others company and swimming in the ocean before the sad day came when we had to travel back to Cochin for Becki and Tom to get their flight home. We went back to Tom's mansion and spent the evening listening to a sitar and tablar show. It was so relaxing!
The next day Josh and Kieron arrived and we went to a festival at a local temple where they dressed up elephants and put on a but of a performance. They then set off fireworks on the street which actually just happened to be pots of gunpowder. It was surreal!
I was very sad to see Becki and Tom leave, as we had such a fantastic time. Kerala has to be one of the most beautiful areas of the world I have been lucky enough to see.
Monday 6 February 2012
Chennai & Pondicherry!
It was amazing to see Jonny again after four long months apart. Our first stop in India was Chennai; an enormous city where you can see such contrasts between the rich and the poor.
On our first day we met an auto rickshaw driver who agreed to give us a tour of the city, however whilst being driven around (for a lot more money than we should have really paid) it soon became apparent that he not only didn't know much about the city but didn't speak very much English either. It was still nice to be driven around and get a feel of the city and we saw some very interesting sights. We drove down by the coast where we saw fishermen and their families living in tents made out of posted ripped off Walls because their accommodation was ruined in the recent tsunami and has not yet been fixed. It was shocking, and such an eye opener to how some people have to live, when we had a nice comfortable hotel to go back to.
We visited the beach the next day again. It was huge, with hundreds of stalls run by people trying to scrape a living. We even saw people with tattoo needles giving out tattoos on the beach. They didn't look very hygienic.. Me and Jonny decided it was definitely best to turn them down..
We spent a couple of days exploring the bazaar district. It was ginormous and sold everything you could ever imagine. It was probably the size of Kidderminster!
We went to an international music festival which although was very different to the festivals me and Jonny visit in the UK was still very fun (and as usual we snuck in a cheeky vodka in pepsi!) Jonny recorded some if the music on his new mic and we met some performers afterwards.
The next day we had our first taste of Indian public transport and got a cramped, non air conditioned bus to Mahabalipuram, a town around 45 minutes outside Chennai where there are some stone carvings done thousands of years ago using ancient stone masonry techniques. It was beautiful.
We then visited Pondicherry where we stayed for a few days. Unfortunately it had been torn apart by a huge cyclone just ten days before our arrival and we saw huge tree trunks strewn across the streets. Pondicherry is built in a French style and in some areas you feel as if you really could be in the south of France. We got some bikes and rode to the beach to watch the sunset which was lovely, but quite scary as the roads were very busy, but I just kept ringing my bell and we got there and back safe.
We spent a couple of days exploring, and eating good food before our journey to Cochin to meet Becki and Tom who had flown out from England to meet us!
On our first day we met an auto rickshaw driver who agreed to give us a tour of the city, however whilst being driven around (for a lot more money than we should have really paid) it soon became apparent that he not only didn't know much about the city but didn't speak very much English either. It was still nice to be driven around and get a feel of the city and we saw some very interesting sights. We drove down by the coast where we saw fishermen and their families living in tents made out of posted ripped off Walls because their accommodation was ruined in the recent tsunami and has not yet been fixed. It was shocking, and such an eye opener to how some people have to live, when we had a nice comfortable hotel to go back to.
We visited the beach the next day again. It was huge, with hundreds of stalls run by people trying to scrape a living. We even saw people with tattoo needles giving out tattoos on the beach. They didn't look very hygienic.. Me and Jonny decided it was definitely best to turn them down..
We spent a couple of days exploring the bazaar district. It was ginormous and sold everything you could ever imagine. It was probably the size of Kidderminster!
We went to an international music festival which although was very different to the festivals me and Jonny visit in the UK was still very fun (and as usual we snuck in a cheeky vodka in pepsi!) Jonny recorded some if the music on his new mic and we met some performers afterwards.
The next day we had our first taste of Indian public transport and got a cramped, non air conditioned bus to Mahabalipuram, a town around 45 minutes outside Chennai where there are some stone carvings done thousands of years ago using ancient stone masonry techniques. It was beautiful.
We then visited Pondicherry where we stayed for a few days. Unfortunately it had been torn apart by a huge cyclone just ten days before our arrival and we saw huge tree trunks strewn across the streets. Pondicherry is built in a French style and in some areas you feel as if you really could be in the south of France. We got some bikes and rode to the beach to watch the sunset which was lovely, but quite scary as the roads were very busy, but I just kept ringing my bell and we got there and back safe.
We spent a couple of days exploring, and eating good food before our journey to Cochin to meet Becki and Tom who had flown out from England to meet us!
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