Rising early for our flight to Mumbai, we reached the airport at 8am and checked into our flight - although only after being stopped on our way into the airport and having our ticket checked and then again five seconds later just before the check in desk. We waited in the lobby for our flight to be called and after standing in a queue for half an hour we finally boarded the plane only for it to be an hour late taking off. At the other side we were greeted by our pick-up which was the best yet in a huge car and headed to the resort. Interestingly it seemed to be in a largely Catholic area of Mumbai with statues of the Madonna and Child and stone crosses everywhere. However, it took a good hour from the airport and was quite remote - reeking of fish and without any Internet access - horror of horrors! Haha! We'd chosen it because it was cheaper than the other hotels in more central Mumbai and had hoped we could have a few relaxing days by the pool. Unfortunately it seemed to cater largely for locals so we were unsure how well received our plans to sunbathe would be. Furthermore without Internet or international phone access our plans to organise South Africa were scuppered, so we organised a car to take us round Mumbai the next day and spent what was left of the day relaxing in our room.
Another earlyish start saw us leave the resort at about half ten (though we had booked the driver for nine). We had asked for an English-speaking driver so we could discuss where we would go etc. The driver's English was limited but he seemed like he had a pre-planned route. We headed straight for the Gateway of India which was coming on for two hours away - some indication of how far we were away from the centre! The arch was magnificent, however, and the architecture around Mumbai very colonial looking - full of gothic spires and the like, even the High Court a throw-back to the rule of the British Raj. After the Gateway we went to the Mumbai Museum which seemed quite small but had a few interesting exhibits on the different castes and races living in the Mumbai area and on various Hindu deities. As well as being ornately decorated on the inside. We then stopped for lunch - at McDonald's, very cultural of us I know, as the other guys had been having a rough time with the Indian cuisine of late and I was happy enough to tag along (under sufferance of course!). Afterwards we were taken to Juju Beach, but it being filthy and not having brought our swimmers decided not to stay long and looked for an Internet cafe and phone shop to sort out our hop-on hop-off tour of South Africa. Our driver offered to take us to another beach but we declined and after a quick stop off at a supermarket headed back to the resort and settled in for the night.
The second full day in Mumbai saw us spend the whole day in the room sheltering from the fishy smell and in effort to spread those available activities across our time. The third day we went to Water Kingdom which boasts to be Asia's largest water park. In reality it must be Asia's only water theme park as it wasn't huge but was a lot of fun! The weirdest element was that you had to be well covered, Ben and I were ok with just shorts on but the girls were required to don quite a lot more! Alice was unimpressed having to hire some lycra t-shirt and shorts and Charlotte still managed to disgrace herself, her lycra skirt flashing up as she came down a slide too quickly - to the great amusement of Ben and the local Indian men! I ended the day with a huge Thali and pink shoulders but it was a nice antidote to being cooped up in the room, as we were the next day!
The day of our flight we decided to make our way to the airport after check-out, but as our flight wasn't until 2am in the morning they wouldn't let us through to departures until 11pm! It seems like it was a measure to curb the number of well-wishers Indian passengers brought with them, everything being a family-affair in India! We had to sit out 10 hours in the designated waiting room for 60Rs which was only made bearable by the free wifi!
The flight itself was good and I slept really well - completely knocked out even before take-off! The free mini bottle of South African wine was a lovely addition and our hostel owner in Johannesburg even picked us up from the airport! We headed to the hostel and sorted out our pick-up for the next day on the Baz Bus before a quick nap and shower. That afternoon my cousin Craig came to our hostel and picked us up for a braai at his house with copious amounts of beer! It was great to meet my new cousin-in-law Liezl finally and we chatted what felt like was well into the night! In reality by about 9pm we were lagging and Craig very kindly took us back to the hostel. Our first day in South Africa had been amazing - stepping off the plane it was great to breathe fresh air for the first time in weeks and it was great meeting up with family and chiding down on some red-meat washed down with alcohol, quite the contrast with India!
Our next day we woke early to get on the Baz Bus heading for Durban. We passed some absolutely stunning scenery in the Drakensburg Mountians and numerous quaint little farmsteads - sometimes little more than shacks in the scrub. Once we reached Durban another one of my cousins Russell (I took full advantage of my South African connections as you can see!) picked us up from Umhlanga Rocks and we headed for his house in the private game farm he runs, Kube Yini. We arrived late and were greeted by my cousin-in-law-to-be Nats and served a delicious meal of wraps, with a few beers of course and lots of laughs as well as discussion of wedding plans! It had been a long day but it was well worth it as our next two days would prove!
We slept in for the first time in a while and woke up to incredible surroundings right in the middle of the African bush! We chilled until mid-afternoon when Russell took us out for a drive around the reserve where we saw impala, umyala and to top it off just as the sun was setting some giraffes! That evening we enjoyed a braai with Russell and Nats and their friends which was amazing - especially the potato bake!
The next morning we got up and ready for our drive back to Durban, Russell kindly taking us all the way back, but not before the elephant interaction he had organised for us on one of the neighbouring reserves. We were driven over and had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some elephants who though lived wild in the park had been used to human contact since they were young! We fed the elephants and even got to put our arms right on their mouths! The skin was really rough and their hair like telephone wire. The whole experience was incredible being so close to these huge animals who were so friendly! After washing the elephant spit off ourselves we got back into the car and headed for Durban.
That evening we said our goodbyes to Russell after a great couple of days at his place - a wonderful start to our South African trip! We settled into the hostel and then headed out to check out the beach - which was beautiful but windy and searched out a bunnychow! I had looked up this gastronomic treat before flying into South Africa - a curry served in a loaf of bread hollowed out. We had been told we had to try it in 'Natal Durban' (nicknamed New Delhi) while at Craig's as it was the home of South Africa's Indian population. The meal didn't disappoint, all of us choosing a quarter chicken curry, and left very full before checking out the local supermarket for supplies.
The following morning we got on the Baz Bus aiming for Coffee Bay. Driving through more stunning scenery we made it to our connection at Mthatha just after midday. The ride to the hostel took a few hours and as we had already had to wait a little while at Mthatha we made it to Coffee Shack hostel at around 5pm. We checked in and signed up for dinner that night and the 'Hole in the Wall' hike the next day! After a huge meal provided by the hostel we headed to bed absolutely knackered - having not quite caught up with the hours we lost from India!
Up for 10:30am we piled into the mini bus to take us to Hole in the Wall where we would start our hike. After taking in the scenery and the rock erosion which had created a circular break in the cliff, we stated our walk. I think we had underestimated how difficult it would be considering how steep some of the hills were - nit helped by a few mistruthes told by our guides ad to how far we had left to go! In the end the supposedly 3 hour hike took us about 5, thoroughly embracing 'African Time' apparently! Once again the scenery was magnificent rolling hills and steep cliffs bordering the coast. We even saw some dolphins in the distance and all-in-all it was quite a sense of achievement making it all the way back!
That evening we cooked for ourselves, with the meagre supplies we managed to father from the local shop, before heading to bed! The next morning we headed back to Mthatha to rejoin the Baz Bus and headed for Port Elizabeth, our last compulsory stop before Cape Town. That having got in late we made a quick dinner and I booked my train ticket home (can't believe how close it is to the end now!) before heading for bed ready for our connection to Knysna the next morning!
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Running around Rajasthan
So we made it to the station in the evening and boarded our train to Agra. Ben and I were in a separate coach to the girls which wad probably for the best as ours was one class lower and full of cockroaches. By the time we went to sleep we had established something of a cemetery on the floor of the carriage! On the whole the train was ok though and I got a reasonable night's sleep. When we arrived in Agra we signed into our hotel - which took forever as they hadn't invested in a photocopier and so had to write out all our information including our passport and visa numbers twice! After a quick nap we head out to see Agra Fort - a red stone Mughal fort (much like at Delhi) with a great view if the Taj Mahal at sunset! It was very tranquil experience which was great after a hectic day of travel. We went for a quick meal before heading to bed ready for our early start.
Getting up at 5am ready to get to the Taj for opening time at 6 we got to see the monument bathed in the early morning light - and all the more enjoyable for having missed the crowds! The intricacy of the carvings were amazing as was the simple beauty if the architecture in general. It was definitely something of a dream-come-true for me having wanted to visit the sight for years and a major tick checked from my travel wish-list! I also got my 'Diana' picture - another coup haha! - the bench where she sat making up part of someone's tour of the Taj I noticed! The only downside was the security. It's quite tight generally in India but it took a long time (with the guards having limited English) and they wouldn't let Alice take in her soft-toy puffin or another guy his pack of cards which seemed pretty ridiculous! However none if thus detracted from the majesty of the sight and experience as we approached the mausoleum! Afterwards we went for breakfast at a cafe near our hotel and spent the rest of the day relaxing having planned a full day of sight-seeing the next day.
That morning we got up for 9 and headed for a view of the Taj from the back on the river. We then went to visit the tomb of the Taj Mahal's architect and hid brother who was the Mughal Shah's first minister, decorated with a mixture of Chinese, Mongol and Islamic styles and painted with silver paint. We then headed for the 'Baby Taj', built 30 years before it's full-size counterpart it housed the mother of the Taj architect's family tombs. The symmetrical design and north-east-south-west gates mirrored the Taj and was quiet even in the middle of the day. We then visited a few shops specialising on Mughal handicrafts (something you have to go through to get the driver for the day) before going for lunch in a beautiful garden restaurant. That night we experienced a few power cuts - which are perennial in India due to the fact that there isn't enough electricity to go round!
The next day we didn't get up to much. We had planned to sleep in asking the night before if we could have the room until 5pm (which we had agreed to pay for) but were woken up at 10 and told they needed the room for some other quests. After some 'negotiations' we settled on a basement room which we got for free! We left the hotel in the evening to get our train Jaipur, arriving after 11pm and checking in.
Our first day in Jaipur saw us do nothing cultural whatsoever, I uploaded 3 countries worth of photos and did some research on South Africa until the evening where we enjoyed a huge meal at the mall round the corner!
We started our tour of the city via Auto-Rickshaw at 9am heading straight for city palace. The seat of the Maharajas in Rajasthan it was a very beautiful complex brightly decorated and including a museum about Maharajas - who were seemingly compliant with the British, having been inducted into the imperial Order of India. We the made our way to the same Maharaja's mausoleum, built next to a Bilva devotional tree (the same Shiva is said to have sat under) the white marble architecture and carvings were stunning in the late morning sun and even more sombre as the cremation of Bahwani Singh had been held here so recently after his death in April. We then went to visit the Amber Fort (Dilaram Bagh) and though it was too hot to climb all the way up we got to see amazing views of the surrounding mountains and of the majestic fort itself. Afterwards we visited a textile workshop and saw printing of silk and beadwork before visiting the Floating Palace and then heading back to the hotel in an effort to leave a few things until we returned after Pushkar.
As it turned out Ben had a pretty rough night, suffering from what we thought might be street-food induced sickness. We decided to rearrange Pushkar for the next day and Charlotte not feeling great either Alice and I went out to visit the Bapu Bazaar within the Pink City and then to the Albert Museum.
We got up and Ben feeling better we decided to go to Pushkar. Unfortunately Charlotte wasn't feeling up to it so she stayed behind and Alice to keep her company. The drive took about three hours and passing so many trucks - brightly decorated - and roadside motels and hotels the evidence of India's emerging industrial prowess was all about to see. We drove through some of the most dramatic landscapes we have encountered thus far and arrived in Pushkar through arid desert hills late in the afternoon. Our hotel was very nice so we chilled for the evening and I enjoyed an amazing macaroni and cheese - fulfilling a desire born of a falsely advertised dish of the same name in Agra!
We got up early to start a tour of Pushkar first visiting the Brahma Temple and two others which annoyingly we weren't allowed in, according to our guide because tourists had in the past taken concealed cameras into them. They were nevertheless very beautiful and the Brahma one particularly so being one of a few in the world. We were then taken to the holy lake and had a blessing said for us by our guide, who was apparently also a priest, and asked us to repeat a prayer. It was a little awkward in all honesty but a great experience all the same and the second time I've been bindhi'd in India! We returned to our hotel to wait out the heat of the day before getting picked up at half five for the camel safari we had booked earlier in the day! We were confronted with one very placid and one not so placid camel both of which stood up with little warning after we had mounted them! We toured the countryside of Pushkar for a good two hours, with amazing views of the desert at sunset and taken past herb gardens and traditional Indian farming communities. We got some great photos - it was an amazing little excursion but I didn't enjoy cantering (which felt like my internal organs were bashing against one another) or dismounting which saw me almost fall over the camel's head - ever glamourous!
The next day we headed back to Jaipur and reunited with the girls. We checked back into our room and headed to one of the malls in India for dinner and to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - our second film watched in India, really absorbing the culture lol! - which was quite enjoyable and nice to escape the 'real India' for a moment.
The next two days were pretty lazy, sleeping in and waiting out the heat of the day before returning to Bapu Bazaar on the first and the second (the day of writing) seeing us trapped in the room whilst a sandstorm raged outside - turning the midday sky darker than dusk and cutting off our power! It cleared up later and we headed out for a nice meal to celebrate Alice's 22nd - she's old now like the rest of us.
We fly to Mumbai tomorrow and our last destination in India! Looking forward to a new city!
Getting up at 5am ready to get to the Taj for opening time at 6 we got to see the monument bathed in the early morning light - and all the more enjoyable for having missed the crowds! The intricacy of the carvings were amazing as was the simple beauty if the architecture in general. It was definitely something of a dream-come-true for me having wanted to visit the sight for years and a major tick checked from my travel wish-list! I also got my 'Diana' picture - another coup haha! - the bench where she sat making up part of someone's tour of the Taj I noticed! The only downside was the security. It's quite tight generally in India but it took a long time (with the guards having limited English) and they wouldn't let Alice take in her soft-toy puffin or another guy his pack of cards which seemed pretty ridiculous! However none if thus detracted from the majesty of the sight and experience as we approached the mausoleum! Afterwards we went for breakfast at a cafe near our hotel and spent the rest of the day relaxing having planned a full day of sight-seeing the next day.
That morning we got up for 9 and headed for a view of the Taj from the back on the river. We then went to visit the tomb of the Taj Mahal's architect and hid brother who was the Mughal Shah's first minister, decorated with a mixture of Chinese, Mongol and Islamic styles and painted with silver paint. We then headed for the 'Baby Taj', built 30 years before it's full-size counterpart it housed the mother of the Taj architect's family tombs. The symmetrical design and north-east-south-west gates mirrored the Taj and was quiet even in the middle of the day. We then visited a few shops specialising on Mughal handicrafts (something you have to go through to get the driver for the day) before going for lunch in a beautiful garden restaurant. That night we experienced a few power cuts - which are perennial in India due to the fact that there isn't enough electricity to go round!
The next day we didn't get up to much. We had planned to sleep in asking the night before if we could have the room until 5pm (which we had agreed to pay for) but were woken up at 10 and told they needed the room for some other quests. After some 'negotiations' we settled on a basement room which we got for free! We left the hotel in the evening to get our train Jaipur, arriving after 11pm and checking in.
Our first day in Jaipur saw us do nothing cultural whatsoever, I uploaded 3 countries worth of photos and did some research on South Africa until the evening where we enjoyed a huge meal at the mall round the corner!
We started our tour of the city via Auto-Rickshaw at 9am heading straight for city palace. The seat of the Maharajas in Rajasthan it was a very beautiful complex brightly decorated and including a museum about Maharajas - who were seemingly compliant with the British, having been inducted into the imperial Order of India. We the made our way to the same Maharaja's mausoleum, built next to a Bilva devotional tree (the same Shiva is said to have sat under) the white marble architecture and carvings were stunning in the late morning sun and even more sombre as the cremation of Bahwani Singh had been held here so recently after his death in April. We then went to visit the Amber Fort (Dilaram Bagh) and though it was too hot to climb all the way up we got to see amazing views of the surrounding mountains and of the majestic fort itself. Afterwards we visited a textile workshop and saw printing of silk and beadwork before visiting the Floating Palace and then heading back to the hotel in an effort to leave a few things until we returned after Pushkar.
As it turned out Ben had a pretty rough night, suffering from what we thought might be street-food induced sickness. We decided to rearrange Pushkar for the next day and Charlotte not feeling great either Alice and I went out to visit the Bapu Bazaar within the Pink City and then to the Albert Museum.
We got up and Ben feeling better we decided to go to Pushkar. Unfortunately Charlotte wasn't feeling up to it so she stayed behind and Alice to keep her company. The drive took about three hours and passing so many trucks - brightly decorated - and roadside motels and hotels the evidence of India's emerging industrial prowess was all about to see. We drove through some of the most dramatic landscapes we have encountered thus far and arrived in Pushkar through arid desert hills late in the afternoon. Our hotel was very nice so we chilled for the evening and I enjoyed an amazing macaroni and cheese - fulfilling a desire born of a falsely advertised dish of the same name in Agra!
We got up early to start a tour of Pushkar first visiting the Brahma Temple and two others which annoyingly we weren't allowed in, according to our guide because tourists had in the past taken concealed cameras into them. They were nevertheless very beautiful and the Brahma one particularly so being one of a few in the world. We were then taken to the holy lake and had a blessing said for us by our guide, who was apparently also a priest, and asked us to repeat a prayer. It was a little awkward in all honesty but a great experience all the same and the second time I've been bindhi'd in India! We returned to our hotel to wait out the heat of the day before getting picked up at half five for the camel safari we had booked earlier in the day! We were confronted with one very placid and one not so placid camel both of which stood up with little warning after we had mounted them! We toured the countryside of Pushkar for a good two hours, with amazing views of the desert at sunset and taken past herb gardens and traditional Indian farming communities. We got some great photos - it was an amazing little excursion but I didn't enjoy cantering (which felt like my internal organs were bashing against one another) or dismounting which saw me almost fall over the camel's head - ever glamourous!
The next day we headed back to Jaipur and reunited with the girls. We checked back into our room and headed to one of the malls in India for dinner and to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - our second film watched in India, really absorbing the culture lol! - which was quite enjoyable and nice to escape the 'real India' for a moment.
The next two days were pretty lazy, sleeping in and waiting out the heat of the day before returning to Bapu Bazaar on the first and the second (the day of writing) seeing us trapped in the room whilst a sandstorm raged outside - turning the midday sky darker than dusk and cutting off our power! It cleared up later and we headed out for a nice meal to celebrate Alice's 22nd - she's old now like the rest of us.
We fly to Mumbai tomorrow and our last destination in India! Looking forward to a new city!
Sunday, 15 May 2011
There are actually cows on the street ma!
We arrived in Delhi after a very enjoyable flight from Bangkok at about 11pm. A host of demanding flyers near me meant that the flight attendant kept being called over to my part of the plane - which I took full advantage of ordering a fair few drinks and more than my fair share of peanuts! We met up with our airport pick-up and made our way to our hotel. The streets and roads around the airport had the same beige haze as Beijing, noticeable even at midnight and probably reflective of the two emerging industrial powers. Anyway we got to our hotel and everyone went silent. We had booked a room costing the equivalent of £2 a night and the Spartan accommodation reflected this. No A/C and a squat toilet. We decided to grin and bear the first night and see if we could upgrade in the morning. All the A/C rooms being taken we relocated next door - and for only £1 extra a night got air conditioning, a western toilet and a TV with Anerican shows - the latter proved to be a boon as I'll explain.
We spent the greater part of the day sleeping and then sitting out our travel around India. Other than trying to sell us a trip to the mountains in the north to 'relax' (generally code for Kashmir in Delhi) and then a complete tour of Rajasthan we didn't want we managed to settle on the actual connections we had planned in the first place (Amritsar, Agra, Jaipur) and added in Pushkar as we had a lot of spare time. The guys seemed really nice and genuine (I say 'seemed' as at the time of writing I am sitting on a sleeper train to Delhi where we're supposed to change to Agra except one of our seats on the connection is not yet confirmed - a fact they neglected to mention and have since assured us they will organise other transport if the worst comes to the worst) and directed us to a nice restaurant where I had my first 'Thali' (a selection of curried and curd dips with chapatti and in thus case rice) as well as providing us with a driver to take us round Delhi and see the sights the following day.
So rising and getting ready for 9am we joined our driver who took us around Delhi we started with the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid. The former a huge complex of buildings from the Mughal period - where a couple of local teenagers asked for a photo with me (the first of what has proved to be many of such occurrences) and the latter the largest mosque in India, impressively built more like a fortress than a place of worship! It's situated, like a lot of things in India in a less than glorious location amongst a very ramshackle cotton Market and proved to be a money hole - attempting to charge me for using my camera and looking after my shoes when I'd already paid to get in. The architecture for both was beautiful however, and they are in my opinion well worth the entry fees, which work out at about £4 each roughly speaking. We also visited the Lotus Temple, which ministers to the Baha'is in Delhi. It wads great contrast an incredibly modern building and very simple on the inside - quiet, peaceful and mostly without ornament. The only criticism was that we had to take our shoes off and in the heat of the day the stone outside practically scorched my feet. The dance-walk I developed to try to avoid burning amused the Indian visitors! We then went to see India Gate - a memorial to Indian soldiers and got driven around the president's palace complex as you're not permitted to stop and look around. Despite having planned to see more the heat had got the better of us.
I'd expected India to be something of a culture shock but I don't think anything could have prepared me for Delhi. The whole experience is very in your face, it's hot, smelly, crowded and noisy and so we were glad of a retreat to the hotel and some western TV to take the edge off. That evening we set out to battle the other pedestrians, guys in Tuk-Tuks and Rickshaws offering us rides and the odd cow (which though obviously I should have expected still proved a bizarre experience) to get some dinner. There's some terrible poverty in the city and passing so many beggars, even merely on the way to get something to eat - especially the children - really makes you feel guilty for everyone you refuse.
The third day we left late into the afternoon to explore Connaught Place the main and very western shopping complex. We were taken off course twice by Indians who I imagine must have been on commission for a shop well out of our price range as backpackers before we made it to our destination. The problem is they appear to be so nice and helpful even when they're trying to con you - and sometimes they frankly just don't listen to where you're trying to get to - knowing better where to go than some sheepish tourists! Haha! Nevertheless how they make money I don't know as it was clearly not the underground clothing bazaar that we were looking for (which turned out to be in the centre of Connaught Place as we'd initially believed - and was not merely an electric goods Market as two separate men had told us) so we left immediately. After a day of being harassed by rickshaw drivers none of us felt much like buying anything and so headed back to pick up our train tickets ready for our first to Amritsar the following morning.
An early rise saw us board our train with limited trouble. We had been told we might be beset by locals telling us our train had gone already and trying to sell us nee and fake tickets. The event was relatively smooth and we enjoyed our trip in first class including a complimentary breakfast - accompanied by a cup of 'chai' (strong sweet tea which I've been converted too - but probably won't drink at home given the four sugars per cup!). We arrived at our hotel and spent the better part of the day there planning out our four days - which in hindsight was probably an error as there isn't so much to do but allowed us to see all we wanted at a slow pace, which was nice given the heat.
The next day Ben and I headed out into Amritsar with the intention of exploring a little. We found our way to Ram Bagh Company Gardens which houses
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's summer palace. The gardens were very nice but somewhat 'under-construction' (at least I hope they were as the plans seemed to indicate that it would be lovely when it was finished). After seeing Gandhi's monument and the statue of the Maharaja (honoured for uniting the Punjab) we attempted to make our way to one of temples scattered around the city. Unfortunately the heat of the day got the better of us and the roads which made no sense and less than useless map with which we'd been provided didn't help, so we retreated to the hotel to rest before going out to are the Golden Temple that evening. The Temple was beautiful all lit up at night and the atmosphere was amazing as we arrived amongst many pilgrims and locals amidst the services (which I think go on all day but are attended in great numbers in the evening). After a good look round and several conversations and pictures taken with some of the Indian visitors (who were endlessly fascinated by our presence - one boy telling us it made him happy to see us there) we returned to the hotel.
We had a late start the second day and decided to take in the Wagha Border ceremony. Leaving our hotel at half 3 we made it to the Indian-Pakistan border about half 4 and joined the crush to get to the bleachers where the audience sits. After a good half an hour making it through security we were ushered to the foreigner's gallery - the closest set of seats to the gate. The ceremony itself was like a huge party with music playing (including Jai-Ho which the locals found amusing that we new the words to, at least to the Pussycat Dolls' version anyway!) and people racing with Indian flags and dancing for the entertainment of the crowd. The Pakistan side seemed less full and quieter at first but it soon filled up and after a while gave the Indians a run for their money chanting as MCs on burg sides lead calls for 'Hindustan' and 'Pakistan' respectively. The regimented display of the soldiers was also impressive - grown men able to kick their legs to an inhuman height! All in all it was a very enjoyable experience - with a beautiful sunset background.
Our third day in Amritsar saw us take in a couple of the Hindu temples. The first was the Shiwalla Mandir, a very peaceful temple set out in the middle of s lake, we were given a bindhi and some crackers to feed to the fish and then posed for a photo with a whole extended Indian family! The second temple wad much more lively - we arrived on the middle of a sung service with lots of devotees of all ages milling around. We ended the day in the Celebration Mall' where we ate in the food court and watched 'Thor' in 3D. It was a bit of a crap film - but the only one besides the 'Fast and the Furious 5' that was in English and it was quite amusing how funny the locals found it when mistaken for a terrorist Thor was questioned as to whether he trained in Pakistan and when Thor and Natalie Portman's character snogged! The experience itself was a little bizarre as I almost forgot I was in India - so far the India I have experienced has been just like Aravind Adiga chronicled in his novel 'The White Tiger', including the difference between the craziness of the street compared to the quiet privilege of the westernised malls.
Our last day in Amritsar saw us go back to the Golden Temple - which is totally different during the day as for one it's a lot less busy, meaning we were able to go inside the Temple itself and looks different bathed in sunlight. Then we went to see the Jallianwala Bagh - memorial gardens to honour the site of and those Indians shot by the British for attending a meeting on Indian independence in 1919.
We then headed back to our hotel to get our transfer to the railway station and our sleeper to Agra.
P.S. This particular blog bring written over the course of a few days you, happy reader, will be glad to know that we made it to Agra fine and our waiting list sat was confirmed upon arriving at our connecting station in Delhi.
We spent the greater part of the day sleeping and then sitting out our travel around India. Other than trying to sell us a trip to the mountains in the north to 'relax' (generally code for Kashmir in Delhi) and then a complete tour of Rajasthan we didn't want we managed to settle on the actual connections we had planned in the first place (Amritsar, Agra, Jaipur) and added in Pushkar as we had a lot of spare time. The guys seemed really nice and genuine (I say 'seemed' as at the time of writing I am sitting on a sleeper train to Delhi where we're supposed to change to Agra except one of our seats on the connection is not yet confirmed - a fact they neglected to mention and have since assured us they will organise other transport if the worst comes to the worst) and directed us to a nice restaurant where I had my first 'Thali' (a selection of curried and curd dips with chapatti and in thus case rice) as well as providing us with a driver to take us round Delhi and see the sights the following day.
So rising and getting ready for 9am we joined our driver who took us around Delhi we started with the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid. The former a huge complex of buildings from the Mughal period - where a couple of local teenagers asked for a photo with me (the first of what has proved to be many of such occurrences) and the latter the largest mosque in India, impressively built more like a fortress than a place of worship! It's situated, like a lot of things in India in a less than glorious location amongst a very ramshackle cotton Market and proved to be a money hole - attempting to charge me for using my camera and looking after my shoes when I'd already paid to get in. The architecture for both was beautiful however, and they are in my opinion well worth the entry fees, which work out at about £4 each roughly speaking. We also visited the Lotus Temple, which ministers to the Baha'is in Delhi. It wads great contrast an incredibly modern building and very simple on the inside - quiet, peaceful and mostly without ornament. The only criticism was that we had to take our shoes off and in the heat of the day the stone outside practically scorched my feet. The dance-walk I developed to try to avoid burning amused the Indian visitors! We then went to see India Gate - a memorial to Indian soldiers and got driven around the president's palace complex as you're not permitted to stop and look around. Despite having planned to see more the heat had got the better of us.
I'd expected India to be something of a culture shock but I don't think anything could have prepared me for Delhi. The whole experience is very in your face, it's hot, smelly, crowded and noisy and so we were glad of a retreat to the hotel and some western TV to take the edge off. That evening we set out to battle the other pedestrians, guys in Tuk-Tuks and Rickshaws offering us rides and the odd cow (which though obviously I should have expected still proved a bizarre experience) to get some dinner. There's some terrible poverty in the city and passing so many beggars, even merely on the way to get something to eat - especially the children - really makes you feel guilty for everyone you refuse.
The third day we left late into the afternoon to explore Connaught Place the main and very western shopping complex. We were taken off course twice by Indians who I imagine must have been on commission for a shop well out of our price range as backpackers before we made it to our destination. The problem is they appear to be so nice and helpful even when they're trying to con you - and sometimes they frankly just don't listen to where you're trying to get to - knowing better where to go than some sheepish tourists! Haha! Nevertheless how they make money I don't know as it was clearly not the underground clothing bazaar that we were looking for (which turned out to be in the centre of Connaught Place as we'd initially believed - and was not merely an electric goods Market as two separate men had told us) so we left immediately. After a day of being harassed by rickshaw drivers none of us felt much like buying anything and so headed back to pick up our train tickets ready for our first to Amritsar the following morning.
An early rise saw us board our train with limited trouble. We had been told we might be beset by locals telling us our train had gone already and trying to sell us nee and fake tickets. The event was relatively smooth and we enjoyed our trip in first class including a complimentary breakfast - accompanied by a cup of 'chai' (strong sweet tea which I've been converted too - but probably won't drink at home given the four sugars per cup!). We arrived at our hotel and spent the better part of the day there planning out our four days - which in hindsight was probably an error as there isn't so much to do but allowed us to see all we wanted at a slow pace, which was nice given the heat.
The next day Ben and I headed out into Amritsar with the intention of exploring a little. We found our way to Ram Bagh Company Gardens which houses
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's summer palace. The gardens were very nice but somewhat 'under-construction' (at least I hope they were as the plans seemed to indicate that it would be lovely when it was finished). After seeing Gandhi's monument and the statue of the Maharaja (honoured for uniting the Punjab) we attempted to make our way to one of temples scattered around the city. Unfortunately the heat of the day got the better of us and the roads which made no sense and less than useless map with which we'd been provided didn't help, so we retreated to the hotel to rest before going out to are the Golden Temple that evening. The Temple was beautiful all lit up at night and the atmosphere was amazing as we arrived amongst many pilgrims and locals amidst the services (which I think go on all day but are attended in great numbers in the evening). After a good look round and several conversations and pictures taken with some of the Indian visitors (who were endlessly fascinated by our presence - one boy telling us it made him happy to see us there) we returned to the hotel.
We had a late start the second day and decided to take in the Wagha Border ceremony. Leaving our hotel at half 3 we made it to the Indian-Pakistan border about half 4 and joined the crush to get to the bleachers where the audience sits. After a good half an hour making it through security we were ushered to the foreigner's gallery - the closest set of seats to the gate. The ceremony itself was like a huge party with music playing (including Jai-Ho which the locals found amusing that we new the words to, at least to the Pussycat Dolls' version anyway!) and people racing with Indian flags and dancing for the entertainment of the crowd. The Pakistan side seemed less full and quieter at first but it soon filled up and after a while gave the Indians a run for their money chanting as MCs on burg sides lead calls for 'Hindustan' and 'Pakistan' respectively. The regimented display of the soldiers was also impressive - grown men able to kick their legs to an inhuman height! All in all it was a very enjoyable experience - with a beautiful sunset background.
Our third day in Amritsar saw us take in a couple of the Hindu temples. The first was the Shiwalla Mandir, a very peaceful temple set out in the middle of s lake, we were given a bindhi and some crackers to feed to the fish and then posed for a photo with a whole extended Indian family! The second temple wad much more lively - we arrived on the middle of a sung service with lots of devotees of all ages milling around. We ended the day in the Celebration Mall' where we ate in the food court and watched 'Thor' in 3D. It was a bit of a crap film - but the only one besides the 'Fast and the Furious 5' that was in English and it was quite amusing how funny the locals found it when mistaken for a terrorist Thor was questioned as to whether he trained in Pakistan and when Thor and Natalie Portman's character snogged! The experience itself was a little bizarre as I almost forgot I was in India - so far the India I have experienced has been just like Aravind Adiga chronicled in his novel 'The White Tiger', including the difference between the craziness of the street compared to the quiet privilege of the westernised malls.
Our last day in Amritsar saw us go back to the Golden Temple - which is totally different during the day as for one it's a lot less busy, meaning we were able to go inside the Temple itself and looks different bathed in sunlight. Then we went to see the Jallianwala Bagh - memorial gardens to honour the site of and those Indians shot by the British for attending a meeting on Indian independence in 1919.
We then headed back to our hotel to get our transfer to the railway station and our sleeper to Agra.
P.S. This particular blog bring written over the course of a few days you, happy reader, will be glad to know that we made it to Agra fine and our waiting list sat was confirmed upon arriving at our connecting station in Delhi.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Phi Phis and Ping-Pongs, Temples and Tuk-Tuks
After a day relaxing at the hotel, our second day was spent aboard a boat on a day trip to the Phi Phi Islands. I was pretty excited to walk in Leonardo Di Caprio's footsteps (and in a kind of geeky way Tilda Swinton's!) on the islands that featured in the film 'The Beach'! We stopped at a number of beaches with about 30 minutes on each, seeing the one from which the characters began their swim to the island and the straight of water where Leo's character freaked out about a potential shark attack. Our last stop before our buffet lunch was 'The Beach' beach itself Maya Bay. An absolutely beautiful corner of the world only slightly marred by the fact that we were on of about 20 tour trips and thus 4 of about 400 people enjoying the bay. Not that I expected anything less from what is now a major tourist attraction for the country and remains a beautiful group of islands. We also enjoyed several snorkelling opportunities in the crystal clear waters of the Phi Phis. All in all it was an amazing experience and one of the major ticks of my trip checked!
Our last day in Krabi was spent by the pool until we got our connection to Hua Hin in the evening. After something like 8 hours we arrived into the city at about 2am and it must have been another hour before we got to our hotel - a resort a little out if town - that our taxi driver had never heard of! After a few phone calls to the owner he very kindly came to the top of the main road and took us the rest of the way. The next day we spent by the pool and playing mini golf before a meal at the hotel and a film which I missed completely - falling asleep about 2 minutes in! I think the early start for Phi Phi and late night to Hua Hin caught up on this old codger! The next day we hired mopeds to explore the city where the king lives, and although we were unable to see the main, Klongkanwon palace we did get to see the beautiful Marukhathaiyawan 'summer' palace - where my shorts were too short for the second time in Asia and I was dressed like a Thai to explore the palace and its grounds - as well as the apparently famous railway station which was inspired by a European style, a little piece of 'The Railway Children' in Thailand (although it was never actually colonised). After a failed attempt to get the night coach to Chiang Mai we stayed and extra night on Hua Hin and took a look around the Night Market that evening - enjoying some very cheap Pad Thai (cliche but my absolute favourite dish in Thailand and all the better when served at the side of the road I feel!) as well as pork kebabs and banana pancakes with chocolate sauce - in a nod to the fact it was Easter Sunday!
The next morning we headed into town to get our coach to Chiang Mai. It was an absolute revelation - after some less than comfortable rides we had experienced thus far in Thailand, a coach that included loads of snacks, complimentary (albeit soft) drinks and a canteen meal eased our passage to Thailand's northern capital quite nicely! We arrived in the evening and so had a quick tea and headed for bed ready for a day in the city. It seemed like Chiang Mai was the Thai headquarters for Liverpool FC supporters club as the badge and Liver Bird were plastered on every second car we passed - a fact my mother and a few friends at home will no doubt be happy with (not least as Man U seems to dominate otherwise in Thailand!). After a lie in we headed to the Tha Pae Gate - where the greater part of the city walls 'survive', despite the fact that they are merely reconstructions, but good to see all the same. Then we visited the many temples that fill the 'intramural' city, including the huge Wat Chedi Luang and the ancient (purportedly older than the city itself) Wat Chiang Man. They were all very beautiful and at one of the smaller ones we were told a lot about the city by a helpful Thai lady who recommended some others to visit and informed us that our elephant tour we had booked for the following day was reasonably priced! That evening we went to the Night Bazaar for food and the girls bought a few souvenirs.
The next morning was an early start for our elephant tour. Exactly how I felt about it ethically I'm not sure. During the show the animals did many things such a moving logs etc that seemed close to natural behaviours and others such as football penalties and slam-dunks which were definitely not but on the whole they seemed to enjoy the attention - as far as I could gage emotions from elephants. We enjoyed a ride on the elephant and I got up on one of the larger ones as the mahut had him stand on his hind legs - which I can't say I enjoyed too much but tipped him anyway (everyone is on the make in Thailand haha!) for his efforts! After a really good buffet lunch we went to an orchid farm, where it unfortunately started to rain but we got the jist and then were taken back to our hotel.
Our last day in Chiang Mai saw Ben and I hire another scooter to head up to Wat Doi Suthep. It was lauded as a great climb involving 300 steps but to be honest I barely noticed and refused to believe that it was actually 300 until I counted them on the way down! Disappointment at the stairs aside the temple was beautiful and had good views of the city - even though it was a bit cloudy! After a failed attempt to get to the museum and the cinema we headed back to the hotel and then had dinner before our coach to Bangkok that evening. I a beautiful Thai Phanang curry - the food generally in Thailand had been amazing and pretty cheap at around £2 a day! We were surprised again by the quality of our coach to BKK. Having only paying 500 Baht we expected very little but there was as much leg room as the last one (and more than our flights so far) and including some cake snacks and another midnight canteen meal!
Arriving in Bangkok at about 7am we made our way to the hotel - which was no mean feat as the taxi drivers hadn't heard of it again and I had to show our driver its location on the map Alice had brought with her! That afternoon being the day of the Royal Wedding we headed out to Mulligan's Irish Bar (rather ironically) to enjoy the nuptial extravaganza amongst our fellow Brits and over a couple of beers! We agreed the dress was beautiful and all felt a few pangs for good old Blighty! After eating on Khosan Road - the main backpacker destination in the city - we headed back ready for a day exploring the city.
We got up earlyish and took the boat up the river in two groups. After visiting Wat Po - where the massive golden reclining Buddha is housed (depicting the prophet at the moment of his death and Enlightenment, which towered over the visitors - despite having heard about it I wasn't quite prepared for it's magnitude or indeed the beauty and intricate design on the mother of pearl feet) and the Royal Palace, Ben and I asked a local for directions who promptly designed a tour for us and flagged down a Tuk-Tuk (another big check on the travelling experience list!) and insisted it would only cost 40 Baht for the full trip. Whether it was all a set up I'm not sure as it did genuinely seem like he'd just called on a random driver. As it transpired after taking us to a couple of temples to see a standing and a sitting Buddha our driver asked us to help him out by taking us to first a suit shop, then a souvenir shop and then a jewellery shop - saying we only had to spend 10, 1 and 5 minutes at each respectively - in an effort to get some coupons for him. We didn't do too well - myself leaving Ben to bullshit the suit makers as I had no idea what to say at one point, but I got what I thought was one at the jewellery store after I hadn't realised Ben had already left and the man escorted me into the 'gift shop'! We were called upon one last time to help our driver out after visiting the Giant Swing and the democracy monument before he would take us to out last destination the national museum. As it turned out he got a phone call on the way and dropped us off at the museum speeding away to something at home and not waiting for any payment. It was all pretty weird but we got a free day's transport around the city so it was all good! After a street-food dinner we hit the hay pretty exhausted!
The next morning the girls and I got up early to see the weekend Market just outside Chatuchack Park on the recommendation of Alice's guide book. It was nice to be there early to miss the most of the crowds and the heat of the day (something we may have to get used to doing in India our next destination given its 40• days!). The girls got yet more souvenirs (they have bottomless pockets!) and I got a new shirt. The stalls were all really cool and sort of a Thai version of vintage stores in Manchester's Northern Quarter or Sheffield's Forum and on and around Division Street. We also enjoyed a breakfast there and I got a Thai style ice coffee made with condensed milk to which I've in the last two days become addicted to! After a chilled afternoon spent in the Benjakiti Park and the hotel we headed out to Phat Pong Road for an infamous 'ping pong show'.
It was quite the experience, and I have never been so uncomfortable in my life, in a sleazy bar watching ping pong balls be 'projected' at us! :-S To be honest I started to feel really guilty - worried that I was funding near- sex-slavery especially as we had been told the show was free and the beers only 100 baht each. In hindsight we shouldn't have been so naive as after the show we were accosted by 'Madame' and her 'heavies' (other female pimps) for an amount of money we didn't have. We gave them all we had to placate them and got the hell out of there! Alice and I were terrified and handed over the meagre sums we had straight away - though Ben and Chatlotte negotiated a little! In the end we paid the equivalent of about 500 Baht each which - according to Ben who had made some prior enquirers haha - was about average! The experience actually shook me up a little - which is probably as much as I deserved for being such a foolish and in this case potentially morally suspect tourist - never again, definitely not my scene haha! ;)
Thailand has been a whole lot of fun - despite the fact that it was more inconvenient to travel around than Malaysia it has been such a beautiful country and provided such great food (I feel I'm eating my way round Asia)! Even Bangkok was a beautiful city - although there are such extremes of wealth and poverty within it I was expecting it to be a lot more seedy and sketchy than it was - our final night excluded obviously! Hopefully it will have prepared us for India a little where at least we have more time to move around!
Our last day in Krabi was spent by the pool until we got our connection to Hua Hin in the evening. After something like 8 hours we arrived into the city at about 2am and it must have been another hour before we got to our hotel - a resort a little out if town - that our taxi driver had never heard of! After a few phone calls to the owner he very kindly came to the top of the main road and took us the rest of the way. The next day we spent by the pool and playing mini golf before a meal at the hotel and a film which I missed completely - falling asleep about 2 minutes in! I think the early start for Phi Phi and late night to Hua Hin caught up on this old codger! The next day we hired mopeds to explore the city where the king lives, and although we were unable to see the main, Klongkanwon palace we did get to see the beautiful Marukhathaiyawan 'summer' palace - where my shorts were too short for the second time in Asia and I was dressed like a Thai to explore the palace and its grounds - as well as the apparently famous railway station which was inspired by a European style, a little piece of 'The Railway Children' in Thailand (although it was never actually colonised). After a failed attempt to get the night coach to Chiang Mai we stayed and extra night on Hua Hin and took a look around the Night Market that evening - enjoying some very cheap Pad Thai (cliche but my absolute favourite dish in Thailand and all the better when served at the side of the road I feel!) as well as pork kebabs and banana pancakes with chocolate sauce - in a nod to the fact it was Easter Sunday!
The next morning we headed into town to get our coach to Chiang Mai. It was an absolute revelation - after some less than comfortable rides we had experienced thus far in Thailand, a coach that included loads of snacks, complimentary (albeit soft) drinks and a canteen meal eased our passage to Thailand's northern capital quite nicely! We arrived in the evening and so had a quick tea and headed for bed ready for a day in the city. It seemed like Chiang Mai was the Thai headquarters for Liverpool FC supporters club as the badge and Liver Bird were plastered on every second car we passed - a fact my mother and a few friends at home will no doubt be happy with (not least as Man U seems to dominate otherwise in Thailand!). After a lie in we headed to the Tha Pae Gate - where the greater part of the city walls 'survive', despite the fact that they are merely reconstructions, but good to see all the same. Then we visited the many temples that fill the 'intramural' city, including the huge Wat Chedi Luang and the ancient (purportedly older than the city itself) Wat Chiang Man. They were all very beautiful and at one of the smaller ones we were told a lot about the city by a helpful Thai lady who recommended some others to visit and informed us that our elephant tour we had booked for the following day was reasonably priced! That evening we went to the Night Bazaar for food and the girls bought a few souvenirs.
The next morning was an early start for our elephant tour. Exactly how I felt about it ethically I'm not sure. During the show the animals did many things such a moving logs etc that seemed close to natural behaviours and others such as football penalties and slam-dunks which were definitely not but on the whole they seemed to enjoy the attention - as far as I could gage emotions from elephants. We enjoyed a ride on the elephant and I got up on one of the larger ones as the mahut had him stand on his hind legs - which I can't say I enjoyed too much but tipped him anyway (everyone is on the make in Thailand haha!) for his efforts! After a really good buffet lunch we went to an orchid farm, where it unfortunately started to rain but we got the jist and then were taken back to our hotel.
Our last day in Chiang Mai saw Ben and I hire another scooter to head up to Wat Doi Suthep. It was lauded as a great climb involving 300 steps but to be honest I barely noticed and refused to believe that it was actually 300 until I counted them on the way down! Disappointment at the stairs aside the temple was beautiful and had good views of the city - even though it was a bit cloudy! After a failed attempt to get to the museum and the cinema we headed back to the hotel and then had dinner before our coach to Bangkok that evening. I a beautiful Thai Phanang curry - the food generally in Thailand had been amazing and pretty cheap at around £2 a day! We were surprised again by the quality of our coach to BKK. Having only paying 500 Baht we expected very little but there was as much leg room as the last one (and more than our flights so far) and including some cake snacks and another midnight canteen meal!
Arriving in Bangkok at about 7am we made our way to the hotel - which was no mean feat as the taxi drivers hadn't heard of it again and I had to show our driver its location on the map Alice had brought with her! That afternoon being the day of the Royal Wedding we headed out to Mulligan's Irish Bar (rather ironically) to enjoy the nuptial extravaganza amongst our fellow Brits and over a couple of beers! We agreed the dress was beautiful and all felt a few pangs for good old Blighty! After eating on Khosan Road - the main backpacker destination in the city - we headed back ready for a day exploring the city.
We got up earlyish and took the boat up the river in two groups. After visiting Wat Po - where the massive golden reclining Buddha is housed (depicting the prophet at the moment of his death and Enlightenment, which towered over the visitors - despite having heard about it I wasn't quite prepared for it's magnitude or indeed the beauty and intricate design on the mother of pearl feet) and the Royal Palace, Ben and I asked a local for directions who promptly designed a tour for us and flagged down a Tuk-Tuk (another big check on the travelling experience list!) and insisted it would only cost 40 Baht for the full trip. Whether it was all a set up I'm not sure as it did genuinely seem like he'd just called on a random driver. As it transpired after taking us to a couple of temples to see a standing and a sitting Buddha our driver asked us to help him out by taking us to first a suit shop, then a souvenir shop and then a jewellery shop - saying we only had to spend 10, 1 and 5 minutes at each respectively - in an effort to get some coupons for him. We didn't do too well - myself leaving Ben to bullshit the suit makers as I had no idea what to say at one point, but I got what I thought was one at the jewellery store after I hadn't realised Ben had already left and the man escorted me into the 'gift shop'! We were called upon one last time to help our driver out after visiting the Giant Swing and the democracy monument before he would take us to out last destination the national museum. As it turned out he got a phone call on the way and dropped us off at the museum speeding away to something at home and not waiting for any payment. It was all pretty weird but we got a free day's transport around the city so it was all good! After a street-food dinner we hit the hay pretty exhausted!
The next morning the girls and I got up early to see the weekend Market just outside Chatuchack Park on the recommendation of Alice's guide book. It was nice to be there early to miss the most of the crowds and the heat of the day (something we may have to get used to doing in India our next destination given its 40• days!). The girls got yet more souvenirs (they have bottomless pockets!) and I got a new shirt. The stalls were all really cool and sort of a Thai version of vintage stores in Manchester's Northern Quarter or Sheffield's Forum and on and around Division Street. We also enjoyed a breakfast there and I got a Thai style ice coffee made with condensed milk to which I've in the last two days become addicted to! After a chilled afternoon spent in the Benjakiti Park and the hotel we headed out to Phat Pong Road for an infamous 'ping pong show'.
It was quite the experience, and I have never been so uncomfortable in my life, in a sleazy bar watching ping pong balls be 'projected' at us! :-S To be honest I started to feel really guilty - worried that I was funding near- sex-slavery especially as we had been told the show was free and the beers only 100 baht each. In hindsight we shouldn't have been so naive as after the show we were accosted by 'Madame' and her 'heavies' (other female pimps) for an amount of money we didn't have. We gave them all we had to placate them and got the hell out of there! Alice and I were terrified and handed over the meagre sums we had straight away - though Ben and Chatlotte negotiated a little! In the end we paid the equivalent of about 500 Baht each which - according to Ben who had made some prior enquirers haha - was about average! The experience actually shook me up a little - which is probably as much as I deserved for being such a foolish and in this case potentially morally suspect tourist - never again, definitely not my scene haha! ;)
Thailand has been a whole lot of fun - despite the fact that it was more inconvenient to travel around than Malaysia it has been such a beautiful country and provided such great food (I feel I'm eating my way round Asia)! Even Bangkok was a beautiful city - although there are such extremes of wealth and poverty within it I was expecting it to be a lot more seedy and sketchy than it was - our final night excluded obviously! Hopefully it will have prepared us for India a little where at least we have more time to move around!
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Malaysian movements and Thai full moons
After two pretty hectic days of travel in Thailand (more on which later) we finally stopped in one place for long enough for me to update my blog finally! So here it goes...
After a much more manageable 4 hour flight (SO much shorter than our other international connections) we made it to Kuala Lumpur and jumped into a taxi to our hostel. We had booked into a place in Bukit Bintang and were dropped right in the middle of backpacker-central once more! In China as foreign backpackers we were in the minority but KL saw travellers and holiday makers from all over the world. I was struck instantly by the blend of cultures in Malaysia - Ethnic Malays, Chinese Malays and Indian Malays living amongst one another and in KL particularly a number of western and other immigrants. We took advantage of the mix and enjoyed some northern Indian cuisine - Alice and I opting for a chicken korma at the restaurant just up from our hostel! We pretty much just went to bed after an exhausting day travelling. The next day after a lie-in we headed out for a full day sight-seeing. We found the Petronas Twin Towers and the TV Tower with little problem but our less than effective map, torn from a magazine and missing its centre, meant that finding the rest of out quarry was more difficult! Having apparently walked right past the Central Market and Chinatown we made it to the National Mosque - a beautiful modern building of azure blues, pure whites and shimmering silvers we donned the necessary robes to cover our insufficiently modest tourist clothes and got some amazing photos! We then moved on to the National Museum where I got a feel for Malaysian history (Islam arriving in the 14th century, the Portuguese in the 16th and independence from Britain achieved in the later 20th century followed by a number of years of peaceful reorganisation and formation of the country we know today) and then headed back to the hostel for dinner. Afterwards we headed back to the Petronas Towers for a free concert 'Twin Towers @ Live' where we watched Colby O'Donis and the Malaysian Prime Minister launch Petronas' new petrol product. The latter was rather bizarre as he and the 'first lady' were greeted by rapturous applause - I doubt whether any British PM, even when they have achieved a level of public enthusiasm, such as Blair in the early years, receiving such a welcome at a gig, particularly if they were pushing a new product fur some company - but clearly the Malaysians quite like their political leaders!
The next day we headed out in the afternoon, after Ben and I had our hair cut (myself by some Algerians for 25RM about £5) to Chinatown and the Central Market that we had missed the previous day - thus time opting for a taxi to take us straight there! The girls got some new hand luggage (which they have since filled with more buys!) and Ben some new shorts but I was unable to find the aladdin pants I had been searching for bur enjoyed a nice hazelnut frappaccino at the indoor Market!
We got up early the next day and headed to the bus station to get on one to Penang. 5 hours later we arrived at the island and took a taxi to our hostel - they insisted we had two with all our bags which was a bit annoying as the driver in KL who took us to the bus station had a much older car which still got us there fine - but we had little choice and so headed off. Penang gad a strong Chinese influence with lots of Chinese script and communities around - and indeed our hostel, the Red Inn was run by Chinese Malays. We had dinner at the Malaysian food court not far from the hostel, my Laksa was a bit disappointing but I finished off the girls' biryanis (apparently I'm turning into my grandfather as the group's human dustbin lol!) and then bought a waffle with ice cream, peanut butter and chocolate sauce which was delicious!
The following morning we took a look around Georgetown taking in all the sights including the Town and City halls, Fort Cornwallis, the beautiful First Anglican Church, the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption, Little India and a Chinese Ancestor Temple! The girls and I opted to rest in the hostel in the afternoon as Ben went out to take in more of the area - we still hadn't quite adjusted to the heat! That night we headed to little India for a curry and then to bed ready for Thai New Year the following day.
We got up in the morning - took advantage of the free breakfast the hostel provided again (toast, noodles, pancakes, banana cake!) and then headed to the port to book our ferry to Langkawi. We then took a taxi to the Burmese Temple with a funny driver who thought at first we were mad to be going to the Temples but then laughed as we explained that we wanted to experience the madness - which ensued quickly! Barely out of the taxi and we were drenched as the local Buddhists took great delight in chucking water on us, plastering us with flour and talc, getting us dancing, shaking out hands and taking photos with us! We were celebrities fir the day as group after group came up to us and asked for photos with us - even when we had sat down on the curb to relax with a beer for a minute - creating something of a photo-spot! It was all so much fun and frankly I have never been as drenched before in my life or had more different colognes and deodorants sprayed on me! I smelt like a $2 rent boy lol! that afternoon after a quick change of clothes we headed out to the Chowrasta bazaar - which was a bit of a busy except for the books that Alice bought and that I found me some aladdin pants for 25RM - using my excellent bartering powers ;) (in reality I said I wanted to spend about 15RM ideally and the guy wanted 35 so we instantly met in the middle - but I'm still chalking it up as a win!). Enjoyed some Malaysian street food in the form of a 'Prawn Mee' for tea.
We decided to hire some scooters from outside the hostel the next day, which proved a great move. Ben and Alice as the only licence holders took on the driving as Charlotte and I rode on the back respectively. It was amazing way to take in the island seeing the Toy Museum, the Floating Mosque, a tropical fruit farm where Charlotte and I shared an amazing plate of fresh fruit with the most flavoursome watermelon I have ever eaten and visited the Snake Temple! Navigation was difficult with the maps we got from the hostels but we made it round the island just about - well including an unplanned diversion over to the mainland via the Butterworth bridge as Alice took something of a wrong-turn! We made it back in one piece in the end and after a go driving the scooter up to the fruit farm I want one when I get hone now! That evening we headed back to Little India for the best curry I have ever had - a delicious lamb Rogan Josh!
An early start the next morning (6am!) saw us head off to the island of Langkawi, a beautiful piece of paradise off the west coast of Malaysia and not far from the Thai mainland. We arrived about midday-ish and checked in before getting some lunch. The girls and I spent the early afternoon shopping - myself for some swim shorts that wouldn't fall down every five seconds (plumping for some super-cool Snoopy ones for only 15RM and a beach towel for only 12RM - before I headed to the beach to join Ben! That evening we enjoyed some take away burgers and watched Glee, Fashion Police and some awful reality TV on E! in our hotel room! The following morning I headed out to the beach early to get some sun before the heat of the day and the other guys joined me later. We broke for lunch at 2pm and I spent the rest of the afternoon watching pop-star bios on E! deciding to make the most of the luxury of satellite TV and unable to take the heat any longer haha!
We had to get up early to make our connections over to Koh Phangan - on the opposite side of Thailand from the mainland reached from Langkawi - in what was supposed to be upwards if 12hours of travelling to make it to the island the night before the Full Moon party. When we arrived into the port at Satun in Thailand we were assured our mini-bus would be along in an hour. Nearly 2 hours later we were packed onto a bus with a driver who was unsure where he was going - or so it seemed as he was constantly on his mobile. We were transferred onto another van in Satun town only to have to change onto another one just outside of Hat Yai! It seems they merely chucked us on the first bus to Surat Thani as after hours on the bus dropping off locals at their doors on the way we finally made it to Surat Thani port. However, we were an hour late for the last ferry straight to Koh Phangan and at the wrong port (the day port being about 90 minutes away at Donsak) and so didn't even have to option of getting a speed boat to the island to make our booking! We ended up getting the night ferry - which meant a night sleeping on a crammed ferry right next to each other and some complete strangers on a bed about half the size of a single laid on the floor! We decided to embrace it as 'all part of the experience' but not after a much needed bottle of Tiger beer! I slept a lot better than I had expected and arrived at Koh Phangan at about 5am. After about a hellish hour or so looking for our hostel - with little help from the locals who merely pointed in unspecific directions, we made it to our hostel and slept til midday ready for the party in the evening! After lunch, dinner and a power cut we finally managed to get ready and donned some fluorescent paint before meeting up with some friends from Australia and heading to the beach! The Full Moon Party was so much fun dancing all night on the beach and enjoying some incredibly alcoholic buckets we made it til about 5am before heading to bed!
We paid for our revelry the next day as we got up for our transit back down south to Krabi which took about 10 hours. Happily, except for an hour without a seat from Donsak to Surat Thani all things went a lot more smoothly and we made it to our B&B in Ao Nang, Krabi in the late evening! After a well needed lie-in I headed out to do some laundry and then set about writing this blog post (which I've done on my iPod Touch so I apologise for any randomly incorrect words and typos) deciding I needed a chilled day to sort myself out! The next few days promise the Phi Phi islands and a trip to Hua Hin to see the Thai King's Palace - more on Thailand soon - here's hoping my impressions improve! Lol!
After a much more manageable 4 hour flight (SO much shorter than our other international connections) we made it to Kuala Lumpur and jumped into a taxi to our hostel. We had booked into a place in Bukit Bintang and were dropped right in the middle of backpacker-central once more! In China as foreign backpackers we were in the minority but KL saw travellers and holiday makers from all over the world. I was struck instantly by the blend of cultures in Malaysia - Ethnic Malays, Chinese Malays and Indian Malays living amongst one another and in KL particularly a number of western and other immigrants. We took advantage of the mix and enjoyed some northern Indian cuisine - Alice and I opting for a chicken korma at the restaurant just up from our hostel! We pretty much just went to bed after an exhausting day travelling. The next day after a lie-in we headed out for a full day sight-seeing. We found the Petronas Twin Towers and the TV Tower with little problem but our less than effective map, torn from a magazine and missing its centre, meant that finding the rest of out quarry was more difficult! Having apparently walked right past the Central Market and Chinatown we made it to the National Mosque - a beautiful modern building of azure blues, pure whites and shimmering silvers we donned the necessary robes to cover our insufficiently modest tourist clothes and got some amazing photos! We then moved on to the National Museum where I got a feel for Malaysian history (Islam arriving in the 14th century, the Portuguese in the 16th and independence from Britain achieved in the later 20th century followed by a number of years of peaceful reorganisation and formation of the country we know today) and then headed back to the hostel for dinner. Afterwards we headed back to the Petronas Towers for a free concert 'Twin Towers @ Live' where we watched Colby O'Donis and the Malaysian Prime Minister launch Petronas' new petrol product. The latter was rather bizarre as he and the 'first lady' were greeted by rapturous applause - I doubt whether any British PM, even when they have achieved a level of public enthusiasm, such as Blair in the early years, receiving such a welcome at a gig, particularly if they were pushing a new product fur some company - but clearly the Malaysians quite like their political leaders!
The next day we headed out in the afternoon, after Ben and I had our hair cut (myself by some Algerians for 25RM about £5) to Chinatown and the Central Market that we had missed the previous day - thus time opting for a taxi to take us straight there! The girls got some new hand luggage (which they have since filled with more buys!) and Ben some new shorts but I was unable to find the aladdin pants I had been searching for bur enjoyed a nice hazelnut frappaccino at the indoor Market!
We got up early the next day and headed to the bus station to get on one to Penang. 5 hours later we arrived at the island and took a taxi to our hostel - they insisted we had two with all our bags which was a bit annoying as the driver in KL who took us to the bus station had a much older car which still got us there fine - but we had little choice and so headed off. Penang gad a strong Chinese influence with lots of Chinese script and communities around - and indeed our hostel, the Red Inn was run by Chinese Malays. We had dinner at the Malaysian food court not far from the hostel, my Laksa was a bit disappointing but I finished off the girls' biryanis (apparently I'm turning into my grandfather as the group's human dustbin lol!) and then bought a waffle with ice cream, peanut butter and chocolate sauce which was delicious!
The following morning we took a look around Georgetown taking in all the sights including the Town and City halls, Fort Cornwallis, the beautiful First Anglican Church, the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption, Little India and a Chinese Ancestor Temple! The girls and I opted to rest in the hostel in the afternoon as Ben went out to take in more of the area - we still hadn't quite adjusted to the heat! That night we headed to little India for a curry and then to bed ready for Thai New Year the following day.
We got up in the morning - took advantage of the free breakfast the hostel provided again (toast, noodles, pancakes, banana cake!) and then headed to the port to book our ferry to Langkawi. We then took a taxi to the Burmese Temple with a funny driver who thought at first we were mad to be going to the Temples but then laughed as we explained that we wanted to experience the madness - which ensued quickly! Barely out of the taxi and we were drenched as the local Buddhists took great delight in chucking water on us, plastering us with flour and talc, getting us dancing, shaking out hands and taking photos with us! We were celebrities fir the day as group after group came up to us and asked for photos with us - even when we had sat down on the curb to relax with a beer for a minute - creating something of a photo-spot! It was all so much fun and frankly I have never been as drenched before in my life or had more different colognes and deodorants sprayed on me! I smelt like a $2 rent boy lol! that afternoon after a quick change of clothes we headed out to the Chowrasta bazaar - which was a bit of a busy except for the books that Alice bought and that I found me some aladdin pants for 25RM - using my excellent bartering powers ;) (in reality I said I wanted to spend about 15RM ideally and the guy wanted 35 so we instantly met in the middle - but I'm still chalking it up as a win!). Enjoyed some Malaysian street food in the form of a 'Prawn Mee' for tea.
We decided to hire some scooters from outside the hostel the next day, which proved a great move. Ben and Alice as the only licence holders took on the driving as Charlotte and I rode on the back respectively. It was amazing way to take in the island seeing the Toy Museum, the Floating Mosque, a tropical fruit farm where Charlotte and I shared an amazing plate of fresh fruit with the most flavoursome watermelon I have ever eaten and visited the Snake Temple! Navigation was difficult with the maps we got from the hostels but we made it round the island just about - well including an unplanned diversion over to the mainland via the Butterworth bridge as Alice took something of a wrong-turn! We made it back in one piece in the end and after a go driving the scooter up to the fruit farm I want one when I get hone now! That evening we headed back to Little India for the best curry I have ever had - a delicious lamb Rogan Josh!
An early start the next morning (6am!) saw us head off to the island of Langkawi, a beautiful piece of paradise off the west coast of Malaysia and not far from the Thai mainland. We arrived about midday-ish and checked in before getting some lunch. The girls and I spent the early afternoon shopping - myself for some swim shorts that wouldn't fall down every five seconds (plumping for some super-cool Snoopy ones for only 15RM and a beach towel for only 12RM - before I headed to the beach to join Ben! That evening we enjoyed some take away burgers and watched Glee, Fashion Police and some awful reality TV on E! in our hotel room! The following morning I headed out to the beach early to get some sun before the heat of the day and the other guys joined me later. We broke for lunch at 2pm and I spent the rest of the afternoon watching pop-star bios on E! deciding to make the most of the luxury of satellite TV and unable to take the heat any longer haha!
We had to get up early to make our connections over to Koh Phangan - on the opposite side of Thailand from the mainland reached from Langkawi - in what was supposed to be upwards if 12hours of travelling to make it to the island the night before the Full Moon party. When we arrived into the port at Satun in Thailand we were assured our mini-bus would be along in an hour. Nearly 2 hours later we were packed onto a bus with a driver who was unsure where he was going - or so it seemed as he was constantly on his mobile. We were transferred onto another van in Satun town only to have to change onto another one just outside of Hat Yai! It seems they merely chucked us on the first bus to Surat Thani as after hours on the bus dropping off locals at their doors on the way we finally made it to Surat Thani port. However, we were an hour late for the last ferry straight to Koh Phangan and at the wrong port (the day port being about 90 minutes away at Donsak) and so didn't even have to option of getting a speed boat to the island to make our booking! We ended up getting the night ferry - which meant a night sleeping on a crammed ferry right next to each other and some complete strangers on a bed about half the size of a single laid on the floor! We decided to embrace it as 'all part of the experience' but not after a much needed bottle of Tiger beer! I slept a lot better than I had expected and arrived at Koh Phangan at about 5am. After about a hellish hour or so looking for our hostel - with little help from the locals who merely pointed in unspecific directions, we made it to our hostel and slept til midday ready for the party in the evening! After lunch, dinner and a power cut we finally managed to get ready and donned some fluorescent paint before meeting up with some friends from Australia and heading to the beach! The Full Moon Party was so much fun dancing all night on the beach and enjoying some incredibly alcoholic buckets we made it til about 5am before heading to bed!
We paid for our revelry the next day as we got up for our transit back down south to Krabi which took about 10 hours. Happily, except for an hour without a seat from Donsak to Surat Thani all things went a lot more smoothly and we made it to our B&B in Ao Nang, Krabi in the late evening! After a well needed lie-in I headed out to do some laundry and then set about writing this blog post (which I've done on my iPod Touch so I apologise for any randomly incorrect words and typos) deciding I needed a chilled day to sort myself out! The next few days promise the Phi Phi islands and a trip to Hua Hin to see the Thai King's Palace - more on Thailand soon - here's hoping my impressions improve! Lol!
Saturday, 9 April 2011
China, the second...
Waking up early we headed to Xi'an airport ready for our flight to Hangzhou - all included within our trip and accompanied by a complementary on-board breakfast of either rise or noodles! I chose noodles but as Charlotte deemed rice an unsuitable food for breakfast I also ate hers. Finishing off the girls' meals became a near daily practice in China and I feel that weight I may have lost in Australia has creeped back on =( We arrived mid-morning in Hangzhou noted as an earthly paradise second only to the heavenly one and indeed it was a very beautiful city. Our tour-guide Andy took us across the city to the lake where a number of our group took a boat ride. Because we knew we had to return to Hangzhou to fly out we opted to walk a little round the lake and take in its beautiful views, as well as watching some of the locals dancing outdoors and performing some traditional Chinese folk music. It was a popular visiting spot for couples as legend has it a boy sailed across the lake and fell in love with a fairy! Unfortunately it wasn't my day to meet any fairies but we did have a nice coffee break at one of the cafes - even though we almost forgot to pay and sent Ben running back with the money! The lake was exceptionally beautiful and even the habitual spitting of the locals and a few dodgy singers didn't ruin the ambiance of the place.
That night the girls weren't feeling too well but Ben and I headed out with the group to experience some authentic Chinese dumplings. The place looked like a bit of a dive at first and everyone seemed a little apprehensive, not least as it was merely the front of someones house and we essentially walked through the kitchen; which probably wouldn't have passed UK health and safety regulations! When the food arrived we were pleasantly surprised however. It was delicious - the pork and leek dumplings in particular! The family were also really sweet - and at something like 40Yuan each we thought £4 a bit of a bargain for the meal. Such little bistros and family-run restaurants, Andy assured us, were common in China and we tried a few others ourselves later in our travels.
The next day was Ben's 22nd birthday and the girls had been clever enough to get him some chocolates to celebrate the night before when we had been scoffing down dumplings and a bizarre birthday card of sorts! It seems China doesn't celebrate them in quite the same way! We then headed out in the morning to the traditional water-town of Wu-Zhen. The setting for a popular Chinese soap it drew a lot of local bus-groups. Despite being essentially a show town and tourist attraction run by the government, it remains home to a number of residents who refused the offer to move and accepted the many tourists who pound the pavements everyday. We strolled around with our group, trying to avoid the irritating Chinese tour leaders with their mega-phones as Andy pointed out a few notable sights, including the brewery where we sampled some traditional Chinese wine - which is more like a spirit and something like 40%+ to boot - as well as taking a boat ride down the river and being welcomed to China by some school kids! Afterwards we jumped back on the bus and headed to Shanghai.
The built up metropolis a head of me was the first sign that we were getting into Shanghai and was followed by some familiar sights - including weirdly enough a Carrefour supermarket - and then a great view of the sport's stadium. We decided as a bus that the best way to celebrate Ben's birthday was to first take a trip on a boat down the Bund and then head into town to find a nightclub. So once we checked into the hotel we grabbed a quick bite to eat - roadside pancakes with egg, 'tenderloin' and bacon (delish!) and then grabbed a bottle of Chinese liquor for pre-drinks whilst we showered and got our glad rags on. The liquor went straight to our heads and gave us the giggles all the way to the Bund, but the views from the boat were amazing. it was a little chilly in just a shirt but well worth money as we saw Shanghai lit up in the night's sky and got plenty of photographs - Charlotte evening buying an professionally taken one of the four of us! After getting off the boat we jumped back into the mini-bus we had hired and headed out to the former French Concession. The bars, we decided were ridiculously over-priced, and so after a failed attempt to get into the nearest club early (it turned out it was being renovated!) we scoured Shangahai for a good nightclub! We took a recommendation to us (via our ever helpful guide Andy) by a local and headed to a club called Richbaby, which offered a 100Yuan 'Free Flow' for foreign passport holders! We all secured wrist bands and tucked into our Vodka orange juices/Whiskey cokes/Gin and tonics respectively and set about a game of 'I Have Never' #groan# - revealing a number of our fellow travellors to be sexual perverts haha, as well as the birthday boy's desire to 'motorboat' a particularly large-breasted Swede who was on our tour group... Apparently it was her 'party piece' and she enthusiastically allowed him to abuse her to the bemusement of a number of Chinese people! Needless to say mixing vodka, whiskey and gin was not a good idea and I remember little else of the night, except a lot of dancing and excitable Shanghai locals! A good night was had by all as the hangovers the enxt day attested...
The 'free day' we had the follwoing day was well needed and I headed out to the local Maccy's like the stereotypical western tourist I am to grab me a hangover cure! 20Yuan (about £2) for a meal and a sundae seemed reasonable enough for me and was an excelelnt accompaniement to festering in the hotel room wathching Shanghai International Channel! That evening we headed out for our last group meal #sob# and had an amazing Chinese banquet in a swanky hotel down the road from our own. Sfter stuffing ym face for the second time we headed out to see a acrobatics performance which was excellently done - including a terrifying 'Cage of Death' where five motorcyclisits risked their lives performing jumps and formation drivinig in a relatively small round metal cage! Alice was more pretrified than they were! It was a fun evening not least as each act was preceeded by a less than auspicious introduction, either in terribly constructed English to which end the meaning was totally lost on us, or by giving the acts rather mundane sounding names such as 'Playing Straw Hats' and 'The Boy with the Pot' for feats of balance and coordination that were incredible. In our semi-delirious hungover state we found this pretty amusing, and laughed a whole lot, including once again at the horified look on Alice's face whenever someone in the audience hocked up a greenie in their seat! Returning to the lobby we said our goodbyes to our fellow travellers as we were all leaving at different times and headed for bed for some much needed sleep!
We got up the next day at a reasonable hour and headed to the supermarket for some lunch supplies as we were cheking out of the hotel at 1pm and into the hostel at 2pm so thought we'd take it with us for a speedy meal. The hostel was an easy ride on the metro and was really nice. A new build the Rock and Wood International Youth Hostel was very tranquil and very clean and offered free use of the washing machine and dryer as well as a good selection of breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. That night we headed back into Shangahai to indulge Alice's desire for some western food. Not huge fan of Chinese food even t home we thought it only fair to have one meal she would actually enjoy fully and so headed to Pizza Hut before picking up our tickets from the hotel we had been staying at for our train back to Hangzhou in a few days time. The next morning we treated ourselves to an English Breakfast in the hostel and then headed out to see Shanghai, visiting People's Sqaure gardens where some young Chinese people asked us a load of questions about where we had come from and where we had visited in China so far, as well as telling me that my blue eyes were 'magic' and that English men looked like 'gentlemen' -quite the ego boost! Haha! We all went on to Shanghai museum and then Ben and I checked out the Bazzar whilst the girls got a manicure. We returned the next day to visit the Yuyan Gardens, beautiful traditional Chinese gardens situated in the heart of the city.
The next day we got up early and headed to the railay station to grab our train back to Hangzhou where we were flying out of. I almost made us late for the train waiting on my breakfast dumplings but we got there in the end and spent the next three days chilling out in Hangzhou - in more ways than one as the weather turned pretty nippy. We visited the bazaar and then lake again and the girls visited the zoo one of the days, which except for the panda exhibition was a bit of a sorry affair. We felt we needed a few days to recuperate after running around China and waited out our time discussing our plans for south east Asia. On the morning of the 8th we woke and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Kuala Lumpur - featuring in my next post!
That night the girls weren't feeling too well but Ben and I headed out with the group to experience some authentic Chinese dumplings. The place looked like a bit of a dive at first and everyone seemed a little apprehensive, not least as it was merely the front of someones house and we essentially walked through the kitchen; which probably wouldn't have passed UK health and safety regulations! When the food arrived we were pleasantly surprised however. It was delicious - the pork and leek dumplings in particular! The family were also really sweet - and at something like 40Yuan each we thought £4 a bit of a bargain for the meal. Such little bistros and family-run restaurants, Andy assured us, were common in China and we tried a few others ourselves later in our travels.
The next day was Ben's 22nd birthday and the girls had been clever enough to get him some chocolates to celebrate the night before when we had been scoffing down dumplings and a bizarre birthday card of sorts! It seems China doesn't celebrate them in quite the same way! We then headed out in the morning to the traditional water-town of Wu-Zhen. The setting for a popular Chinese soap it drew a lot of local bus-groups. Despite being essentially a show town and tourist attraction run by the government, it remains home to a number of residents who refused the offer to move and accepted the many tourists who pound the pavements everyday. We strolled around with our group, trying to avoid the irritating Chinese tour leaders with their mega-phones as Andy pointed out a few notable sights, including the brewery where we sampled some traditional Chinese wine - which is more like a spirit and something like 40%+ to boot - as well as taking a boat ride down the river and being welcomed to China by some school kids! Afterwards we jumped back on the bus and headed to Shanghai.
The built up metropolis a head of me was the first sign that we were getting into Shanghai and was followed by some familiar sights - including weirdly enough a Carrefour supermarket - and then a great view of the sport's stadium. We decided as a bus that the best way to celebrate Ben's birthday was to first take a trip on a boat down the Bund and then head into town to find a nightclub. So once we checked into the hotel we grabbed a quick bite to eat - roadside pancakes with egg, 'tenderloin' and bacon (delish!) and then grabbed a bottle of Chinese liquor for pre-drinks whilst we showered and got our glad rags on. The liquor went straight to our heads and gave us the giggles all the way to the Bund, but the views from the boat were amazing. it was a little chilly in just a shirt but well worth money as we saw Shanghai lit up in the night's sky and got plenty of photographs - Charlotte evening buying an professionally taken one of the four of us! After getting off the boat we jumped back into the mini-bus we had hired and headed out to the former French Concession. The bars, we decided were ridiculously over-priced, and so after a failed attempt to get into the nearest club early (it turned out it was being renovated!) we scoured Shangahai for a good nightclub! We took a recommendation to us (via our ever helpful guide Andy) by a local and headed to a club called Richbaby, which offered a 100Yuan 'Free Flow' for foreign passport holders! We all secured wrist bands and tucked into our Vodka orange juices/Whiskey cokes/Gin and tonics respectively and set about a game of 'I Have Never' #groan# - revealing a number of our fellow travellors to be sexual perverts haha, as well as the birthday boy's desire to 'motorboat' a particularly large-breasted Swede who was on our tour group... Apparently it was her 'party piece' and she enthusiastically allowed him to abuse her to the bemusement of a number of Chinese people! Needless to say mixing vodka, whiskey and gin was not a good idea and I remember little else of the night, except a lot of dancing and excitable Shanghai locals! A good night was had by all as the hangovers the enxt day attested...
The 'free day' we had the follwoing day was well needed and I headed out to the local Maccy's like the stereotypical western tourist I am to grab me a hangover cure! 20Yuan (about £2) for a meal and a sundae seemed reasonable enough for me and was an excelelnt accompaniement to festering in the hotel room wathching Shanghai International Channel! That evening we headed out for our last group meal #sob# and had an amazing Chinese banquet in a swanky hotel down the road from our own. Sfter stuffing ym face for the second time we headed out to see a acrobatics performance which was excellently done - including a terrifying 'Cage of Death' where five motorcyclisits risked their lives performing jumps and formation drivinig in a relatively small round metal cage! Alice was more pretrified than they were! It was a fun evening not least as each act was preceeded by a less than auspicious introduction, either in terribly constructed English to which end the meaning was totally lost on us, or by giving the acts rather mundane sounding names such as 'Playing Straw Hats' and 'The Boy with the Pot' for feats of balance and coordination that were incredible. In our semi-delirious hungover state we found this pretty amusing, and laughed a whole lot, including once again at the horified look on Alice's face whenever someone in the audience hocked up a greenie in their seat! Returning to the lobby we said our goodbyes to our fellow travellers as we were all leaving at different times and headed for bed for some much needed sleep!
We got up the next day at a reasonable hour and headed to the supermarket for some lunch supplies as we were cheking out of the hotel at 1pm and into the hostel at 2pm so thought we'd take it with us for a speedy meal. The hostel was an easy ride on the metro and was really nice. A new build the Rock and Wood International Youth Hostel was very tranquil and very clean and offered free use of the washing machine and dryer as well as a good selection of breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. That night we headed back into Shangahai to indulge Alice's desire for some western food. Not huge fan of Chinese food even t home we thought it only fair to have one meal she would actually enjoy fully and so headed to Pizza Hut before picking up our tickets from the hotel we had been staying at for our train back to Hangzhou in a few days time. The next morning we treated ourselves to an English Breakfast in the hostel and then headed out to see Shanghai, visiting People's Sqaure gardens where some young Chinese people asked us a load of questions about where we had come from and where we had visited in China so far, as well as telling me that my blue eyes were 'magic' and that English men looked like 'gentlemen' -quite the ego boost! Haha! We all went on to Shanghai museum and then Ben and I checked out the Bazzar whilst the girls got a manicure. We returned the next day to visit the Yuyan Gardens, beautiful traditional Chinese gardens situated in the heart of the city.
The next day we got up early and headed to the railay station to grab our train back to Hangzhou where we were flying out of. I almost made us late for the train waiting on my breakfast dumplings but we got there in the end and spent the next three days chilling out in Hangzhou - in more ways than one as the weather turned pretty nippy. We visited the bazaar and then lake again and the girls visited the zoo one of the days, which except for the panda exhibition was a bit of a sorry affair. We felt we needed a few days to recuperate after running around China and waited out our time discussing our plans for south east Asia. On the morning of the 8th we woke and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Kuala Lumpur - featuring in my next post!
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Goodbye Australia Ni-Hao China!
So it's been far too long since I've posted once again and have loads to catch you all up on! Luckily enough Cairns was a rather uneventful few days, taking a few days out to relax before our big flight to Beijing and the start of our Asian leg of the trip. The first two nights were pretty similar; the first saw us arrive in Cairns at about 7pm so we ate our free meal and enjoyed a night's sleep in the air-conditioned bliss that was Gilligan's hostel and resort. The second day we moved over to Coronas, explored Cairns a little bit and then enjoyed at free meal at the Woolshed (which in classic stupid-Michael fashion I repeatedly referred to as the Woolpack until Ben corrected me haha!) and then hit the hay pretty early again. Unfortunately Coronas didn't have air-con but we struggled through, made all the easier in the knowledge that we were only paying $10AUS a night - our cheapest nights to date I think...
The next day I took a wlak up to the Botanical Gardens in Cairns and a climb up Mount Whitfield with one of the guys from our hostel room who was a pilot up in Queensland doing some training to renew his license. Another meal in the Woolshed was followed by an evening out in Gilligan's bar, preceeded by pre-drinking in a couple of our friends' room where being the bad influences they are, they convinced us to drink goon spiked with vodka - it ended up being something of a messy night, including a certain travel companion getting thrown out of the bar for disobeying a barman's order not to drink anymore! As it turned out it was near closing time anyway and everyone was leaving so it didn't mar an otherwise amazing night and a good catch up with loads of friends we had made whilst travelling up the coast! The pictures speak for themselves. The next day I prepared to leave Australia, buying afew essentials and sending some postcards home before an early night ready for the bus in the morning.
We had a bit of a nightmare with the airport shuttle in the morning, having been missed off the list all together! Luckily they are habitually late and one that was scheduled to pick up a half hour after our own came to pick us up and we made it to the airport just in time to check in for our horrendous 24 hours plus in transit! As it turned out the actualy flights were rather short, varying from about 4 to 8 hoursm but we had big lay overs in Sydney and then Kuala Lumpur airports before our connecting flights. Unable to sleep particularly well on the flight to Kuala Lumpur, I caught around 6 hours shut-eye at the airport, despite falling asleep in one lounge only to wake up a few hours to find a whole extended family had moved in around me! When we finally arried in Beijing we jumped into a taxi and headed to the Happy Dragon Hostel to meet the girls. The roads in China were an interesting experience, there seem to be few rules and the driver seemed comfortbale taking our lives into his hands as he avoided crashing into traffic tuning into the road by only a hair's bredth a fair few times! That night we headed to the Hou Hai region of Beijing for our dinner. Our first experience was memorable, sampling 'hot pot' - which saw a number of meats and vegatables cooked in a large metal container filled with hot water and flavoured with herbs and spices. We made an incredible amount of mess but all left full,and determined never to try it again as it was far too much effort. Jet-lagged and ready for bed we returned to the hostel ready to start the tour we had booked for China the next day.
We woke up and checked out of the hostel (at about midday - a much more civilised time than Australia's 9 and 10am check-outs) and headed to the Chongwenmen Hotel, the first hotel on our 6 day tour. We had a free day until the evening where we'd meet the other guys on our tour so headed off to see the Yonghe Lama Temple, a working Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the city and one of the largest temples of its type in the world. We wandered around the complex amongst tourists and devotees, visiting the exhibtions of Tibetan sculptures and the 18 metre stature of the Buddha carved from a single sandlewood tree that even extended beneath the floor of the building which housed it. We also experienced our first culture shocks; the first being people staring at us without even the slightest mark of self-awareness, and the second the habitual hocking up of phlegm and spittle by the locals, again without even the slightest note of embarassment and in fact frequently with as much zeal as they could muster. That night we had an introduction meeting with our guide Andy and then got to know our fellow travellors over some Peking duck and at the karoke bar at our hotel, where I excelled performing Madonna's Vogue.
The next morning we woke up early to head to the Great Wall. Access to the wall is pretty tourist-friendly nowadays and we took a gondola up to the wall itself, avoiding the stallholders cries for us to take a look at their marchandise as we passed. The gondola ride was one of the most terrifying experiences to date, on some rickety old ski-lift God only knows how far above the ground, but I made it to the top eventually and loved the views from the wall. We took a short walk across the wall and I have never taken so many photos in one place in my life! The views were spectacular and we were blessed with good weather. After about an hour or so on the wall we joined the queue for the toboggans and slid our way down the hill to the coach-park and got back onto bus and headed for Hong Qiau market. We were harrassed to buy cothes for a good hour, assured that we would be offered a good price and that to look was free, but Ben came out with a new belt and Charlotte a new scarf so it was a successful trip. That evening we headed back to the hotel and then out for something to eat before we attended a Kung-Fu show, The Legend of Chung Yi. It was a funny show with kung-fu moves strung together with a narrative, but an ionteresting insight into the spiritual culture invovled with the martial art, even though it left us humming the tune for the next few days.
Our last day in Beijing saw us take in Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The first a huge outdoor expanse now something of a monument to the Communist Revolution with a number of sculptures and statues to the People's Revolution, Mao's tomb and a monolith dedicated to the martyrs of the revolution. It is also the home of the Chinese parliament buildings, which were interesting to see albeit from the outside. The Forbidden City was amazing and one if my favourite sites on the tour. I wasn't expecting it to be quite as large as it was but well deserves its name, being a seemingly endless complex of buldings and padogas with intricate architecture dedicated to the emperor's private and public life. The dragon, a spirtual creature in Chinese mythology, dominated buildings as the emperors were considered the human embodiment of the beast. It was a great introduction into Chinese imperial culutre and we also learnt that Chinese lions are usually found in pairs to represent the male and the female, the former holding a ball as a symbol of imperial power and the latter a cub as a symbol of fertility.
That night we returned to the hotel to collect our bags and headed to the railway station to get the night train to Xi'an city. A 14 hour train we stocked up on instant noddles and got on board spending the night chatting to the others on our trip and then braving the three-story bunk beds,`punctuated with the occasional jolt as another train passed or we stopped. The girls weren't too impressed at having to travel several carriages to find a western toilet and avoid the squat toilets that are the norm in China but everyone took the trip in good humour.
When we arrived at our hotel we dropped off our bags and headed out to see the famous Terracotta Warriors. A working archeolgoical site we visited each of the pits,the first probably the most famous with the foot soldiers discovered by some farmers in 1974 after almost 2000 years of entombment and obscurity after their commissioner the First Qin Emperor died and the people rose up. Designed to follow him the the afterlife, the greater part of the warriors including footmen, horses and cavalrymen are still buried beneath the pits. There were a number of exhibits which were very intersting including a few which showed the warriors complete with original paint before the light faded that which was left.
On the way back to the city I stopped and took a bicycle tour of the city walls, 40Yuan got me access to the wall and 20Yuan hired me a bike for the afternoon which allowed me incredible views of the city both intra- and extra-mural. The former preserving something of its ancient character with buildings in the tradtional style and the latter contrasting with 20th and 21st century sky-scrapers. Despite a few problems with the bikes two fellow travellors and I made our way round in about an hour and returned in time to meet the rest of the group for some traditional noodles in a local restaurant. That evening I took a look around the Muslim Quarter, after quick visits to the Bell and Drum towers (the first traditionally sounded to indicate the start of the working day and the latter its end) beautifully lit in the night, where I bought a postcard and took a look at some of the souvenirs on offer.
In the interests of not making this the longest blog post in history I'll stop there and update on Hangzhou and Shanghai real soon - it also gives me an opportunity to remember exactly what I have been doing!
The next day I took a wlak up to the Botanical Gardens in Cairns and a climb up Mount Whitfield with one of the guys from our hostel room who was a pilot up in Queensland doing some training to renew his license. Another meal in the Woolshed was followed by an evening out in Gilligan's bar, preceeded by pre-drinking in a couple of our friends' room where being the bad influences they are, they convinced us to drink goon spiked with vodka - it ended up being something of a messy night, including a certain travel companion getting thrown out of the bar for disobeying a barman's order not to drink anymore! As it turned out it was near closing time anyway and everyone was leaving so it didn't mar an otherwise amazing night and a good catch up with loads of friends we had made whilst travelling up the coast! The pictures speak for themselves. The next day I prepared to leave Australia, buying afew essentials and sending some postcards home before an early night ready for the bus in the morning.
We had a bit of a nightmare with the airport shuttle in the morning, having been missed off the list all together! Luckily they are habitually late and one that was scheduled to pick up a half hour after our own came to pick us up and we made it to the airport just in time to check in for our horrendous 24 hours plus in transit! As it turned out the actualy flights were rather short, varying from about 4 to 8 hoursm but we had big lay overs in Sydney and then Kuala Lumpur airports before our connecting flights. Unable to sleep particularly well on the flight to Kuala Lumpur, I caught around 6 hours shut-eye at the airport, despite falling asleep in one lounge only to wake up a few hours to find a whole extended family had moved in around me! When we finally arried in Beijing we jumped into a taxi and headed to the Happy Dragon Hostel to meet the girls. The roads in China were an interesting experience, there seem to be few rules and the driver seemed comfortbale taking our lives into his hands as he avoided crashing into traffic tuning into the road by only a hair's bredth a fair few times! That night we headed to the Hou Hai region of Beijing for our dinner. Our first experience was memorable, sampling 'hot pot' - which saw a number of meats and vegatables cooked in a large metal container filled with hot water and flavoured with herbs and spices. We made an incredible amount of mess but all left full,and determined never to try it again as it was far too much effort. Jet-lagged and ready for bed we returned to the hostel ready to start the tour we had booked for China the next day.
We woke up and checked out of the hostel (at about midday - a much more civilised time than Australia's 9 and 10am check-outs) and headed to the Chongwenmen Hotel, the first hotel on our 6 day tour. We had a free day until the evening where we'd meet the other guys on our tour so headed off to see the Yonghe Lama Temple, a working Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the city and one of the largest temples of its type in the world. We wandered around the complex amongst tourists and devotees, visiting the exhibtions of Tibetan sculptures and the 18 metre stature of the Buddha carved from a single sandlewood tree that even extended beneath the floor of the building which housed it. We also experienced our first culture shocks; the first being people staring at us without even the slightest mark of self-awareness, and the second the habitual hocking up of phlegm and spittle by the locals, again without even the slightest note of embarassment and in fact frequently with as much zeal as they could muster. That night we had an introduction meeting with our guide Andy and then got to know our fellow travellors over some Peking duck and at the karoke bar at our hotel, where I excelled performing Madonna's Vogue.
The next morning we woke up early to head to the Great Wall. Access to the wall is pretty tourist-friendly nowadays and we took a gondola up to the wall itself, avoiding the stallholders cries for us to take a look at their marchandise as we passed. The gondola ride was one of the most terrifying experiences to date, on some rickety old ski-lift God only knows how far above the ground, but I made it to the top eventually and loved the views from the wall. We took a short walk across the wall and I have never taken so many photos in one place in my life! The views were spectacular and we were blessed with good weather. After about an hour or so on the wall we joined the queue for the toboggans and slid our way down the hill to the coach-park and got back onto bus and headed for Hong Qiau market. We were harrassed to buy cothes for a good hour, assured that we would be offered a good price and that to look was free, but Ben came out with a new belt and Charlotte a new scarf so it was a successful trip. That evening we headed back to the hotel and then out for something to eat before we attended a Kung-Fu show, The Legend of Chung Yi. It was a funny show with kung-fu moves strung together with a narrative, but an ionteresting insight into the spiritual culture invovled with the martial art, even though it left us humming the tune for the next few days.
Our last day in Beijing saw us take in Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The first a huge outdoor expanse now something of a monument to the Communist Revolution with a number of sculptures and statues to the People's Revolution, Mao's tomb and a monolith dedicated to the martyrs of the revolution. It is also the home of the Chinese parliament buildings, which were interesting to see albeit from the outside. The Forbidden City was amazing and one if my favourite sites on the tour. I wasn't expecting it to be quite as large as it was but well deserves its name, being a seemingly endless complex of buldings and padogas with intricate architecture dedicated to the emperor's private and public life. The dragon, a spirtual creature in Chinese mythology, dominated buildings as the emperors were considered the human embodiment of the beast. It was a great introduction into Chinese imperial culutre and we also learnt that Chinese lions are usually found in pairs to represent the male and the female, the former holding a ball as a symbol of imperial power and the latter a cub as a symbol of fertility.
That night we returned to the hotel to collect our bags and headed to the railway station to get the night train to Xi'an city. A 14 hour train we stocked up on instant noddles and got on board spending the night chatting to the others on our trip and then braving the three-story bunk beds,`punctuated with the occasional jolt as another train passed or we stopped. The girls weren't too impressed at having to travel several carriages to find a western toilet and avoid the squat toilets that are the norm in China but everyone took the trip in good humour.
When we arrived at our hotel we dropped off our bags and headed out to see the famous Terracotta Warriors. A working archeolgoical site we visited each of the pits,the first probably the most famous with the foot soldiers discovered by some farmers in 1974 after almost 2000 years of entombment and obscurity after their commissioner the First Qin Emperor died and the people rose up. Designed to follow him the the afterlife, the greater part of the warriors including footmen, horses and cavalrymen are still buried beneath the pits. There were a number of exhibits which were very intersting including a few which showed the warriors complete with original paint before the light faded that which was left.
On the way back to the city I stopped and took a bicycle tour of the city walls, 40Yuan got me access to the wall and 20Yuan hired me a bike for the afternoon which allowed me incredible views of the city both intra- and extra-mural. The former preserving something of its ancient character with buildings in the tradtional style and the latter contrasting with 20th and 21st century sky-scrapers. Despite a few problems with the bikes two fellow travellors and I made our way round in about an hour and returned in time to meet the rest of the group for some traditional noodles in a local restaurant. That evening I took a look around the Muslim Quarter, after quick visits to the Bell and Drum towers (the first traditionally sounded to indicate the start of the working day and the latter its end) beautifully lit in the night, where I bought a postcard and took a look at some of the souvenirs on offer.
In the interests of not making this the longest blog post in history I'll stop there and update on Hangzhou and Shanghai real soon - it also gives me an opportunity to remember exactly what I have been doing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)