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Final Thoughts of the Asian Adventure
Posted: December 20, 2008, 3:38 pm GMT
I have spent hours, possibly days trying to find a way to describe China, however words fail me. Short of stunning and amazing I lack the words that are suitable.
So rather than trying to describe Shanghai, Xian and Beijing. I am going to roll all of China into my final thoughts of the Asian Adventure.
India
Starting in September we flew to New Delihi, India where we booked a 10 day trip around the central core of India.
New Delhi was a crazy of crazed driving (but set the standard for the trip ahead), where we in a small Tuc Tuc, wizzed about the streets visiting sights, before moving to more remote places in India, such as Pushkar, an exciting camel stay, Jodhpur, Jaipur including the Taj Mahal (The 1st of the four sights of the anchient world we see on this trip)
A previous post described the indian driving as "sitting in a bathtub hurtling down a wet grassy hill with a spoon as your only way to steer" and I still maintain this to be an accurate description.
The high points of India include: The food, The Taj Mahal and the red fort of Jodhpur.
The low points of India include: The greasy crooked tour guides, the hotels that didnt clean anything, the hassle of 'The white man has money we must take it from him'
Singapore
Flying into Singapore, life became such a contrast, clean drinking water, english, a railway system that didnt require you to climb on the roof to get a seat. It was F1 race weekend, Singapore hosted the worlds 1st night race that weekend and the city was alive and buzzing with excitement. What stood out for me was the shear amazingness of the city. Singapore is quite literially a mega city, a country on a small island, housing millions and alive and riding the wave of western and easten fusion in design, technology and of course food!
Singapore's highlights include: a GIGANTIC 8 foot by 6 foot Panasonic LCD TV (that was 3mm thick, and 1080p) costing $38,000 Singapore dollers, Singapore noodles served with duck and the F1 atmosphere.
The low points included the tropical thunderstorm we were hit by, the cost of a F1 ticket and the smell of durian fruit that lingered in the air around fruit shops.
Malayasia
Catching a train overland from Singapore we entered Malayasia, arriving in the city of Kuala Lumpur. Malayasia once a colony of England speaks english, uses english electrical plugs and most importantly sells BLACKCURRENT JUICE! Taking a bus up to the highlands of Malayasia we visted a strawberry & tea plantation before going on a trek to see a tribal village where I bought a 'native present'. In Ipoh we took a white water rafting adventure and ended Malayasia in Pernang.
Highlights of Malayasia include: Drinking water from a bamboo plant, the petronas towers and a tropical thunderstorm that flooded a street in 8 minutes.
The low points of Malayasia included: Siobhan getting sick, the lack of internet in the cameron highlands and BBQ'ed pig intestin on a stick...
Thailand
Catching a train overland from Malayasia into Bangkok, Thailand. The city of Bangkok was busstling with hawer stands selling everything from spring rolls to Thai pancakes with chocolate sauce (truely delicious!) Travelling north to Chang Mai Thailand became a more wondeful and amazing place, visiting a tiger petting zoo, learning how to cook jungle survival style, learning the art of Thai massarge and participating in a Thai cooking class further boosted the positive feelings of Chang Mai and Thailand in general.
Highlights of Thailand include: Thai chocolate pancakes, zip wires around the jungle, visiting an actual biogas project in the sticks of Thailand, learning how to make hot and sour soup and home made spring rolls.
The low points of Thailand included: The sad lack of Thai cultural heritage that has been lost to tourism in Bangkok.
Lao
Flying directly into Luang Prabang, Lao. A few days were spent exploring the town cycling round the more rural areas of town and visiting a waterfall and elephant park. Moving down to the capital of Vientiane where we visited an aid center focused on helping those injured in the Vietnam (/ American) war.
Highlights of Lao include: Eating a waterbuffulo burger, 3am bowling and cycling & kyacking to a waterfall and playing with an elephant.
The low points of Lao included: Looking at the history of the destruction of Lao by American bombs, the 12 hour bus journey and a fake Arc De Triomphe.
Cambodia
Flying into Siem Reap, Cambodia. Visiting the 2nd wonder of the world the Ankor Wat Temples, walking where once a great civilisation had decided to make incredibly complex temples of stone to honar their gods, the sights, the design and the views were all breath taking. Moving down to Phnom Penh to see the genocidal killing fields of the Khmer Rouge including a field where hundreds of innocent people were executed and the S-21 torture prison.
The highlights of Cambodia included: The great temples of Ankor Wat, the interesting kamar food and lovely cycle around the town.
The low points of Lao included: learning about the genocide of a country, getting sunstroke & almost suffering organ failure and the thunderstorm that flooded the hotel...
Vietnam
Taking an overland bus into Vietnam we arrived in Siagon and met up with Siobhans dad, discovered the culunarly delights such as Pho, the joys of a vietnamise massarge (Thank you Alistar), how to make rice paper (rice noodles too), met Uncle Ho himself and learned how to make cloth from hemp (and how to dye it aswell).
The highlights of Vietnam included: The food, the custom made clothes and the beach in Howlong Bay.
The low points of Vietnam included: The rain, The cold rain and the cold wet rain.
Hong Kong
Flying in to Hong Kong is a spectular sight, our plane was fortunate enough to have to do a circle around the island before landing so a fantastic view of the island followed by the 'almost water' landing that Hong Kong so proudly boasts with its new airport. The wedding of Riba (Siobhans sister) and Pabalo (the man she married) Stevens was our reason for being here. Exploring the city of HK itself visting the peak and central as well as helping the crossroads project.
The highlights of Hong Kong included: The wedding, the surpurb view of Hong Kong from the peak, Steamed pork BBQ buns and the fact that they sold SQUASH!.
The low points of Hong Kong included: The fact we couldnt find a place to eat duck.
China
Flying in to Shanghai, we visited the 'bund' and the other associated sights, went to a circus show (featuring motorbikes!) and ate Roasted Duck! (including the duck brain) before travelling up to Xian. Where we visited the Terracotta Army and saw the beginning of the silk road, catching a train to the final stop on the trip Beijing. Trekking the great wall for 10KM, visiting the forbidden palace and then tiananmen square our final adventure ends tomorrow where we will try to visit the tomb of Chairman Mao the leader of the communist movement in China.
The highlights of China included: The Terracotta Army, the great wall and the food.
The low points of China included: The cold, the lack of ability to speak chineese to communicate with and the fact that chineese food is different given what part you are in and that steamed pork buns in one part of the country are totally different to another part of the country.
Its been a fantastic 3 months adventure, Never before have i embarked on such an adventure and im sure that the future will hold more treats.
I have christened 2009 the 'year of work' because it officially begins my life working on whatever career I decide to persue...
Hong Kong High Times
Posted: December 10, 2008, 3:53 pm GMT
What an experience Hong Kong is. While we have been here, I have had the privilege of attending the wedding of Paul and Riba Stevens (tho she was once a White). Who is Siobhan's sister. I have traveled to the top of the Hong Kong peak and watched the firing of the 'noon day gun' as well as watching the spectacular Hong Kong light show, where all of the buildings on the waterfront participate in a giant choreographed light and sound show.
Arriving from Vietnam on the 1st of December we were greeted by the soon to be couple who took us to the gathering point known as 'Cross roads'. Cross roads is a massive charity complex where companies and individuals from Hong Kong and neighboring areas can offer used furniture, clothing and goods which are then all sent into areas were local and global schools and charities can use the goods to benefit the community.
Dropping off the bags we ventured off into the city of Hong Kong, which to those of you who have not been is huge and vast. As one, if not the largest shipping port in the world you are greeted by thousands upon thousands of 60 foot steel containers all full to the brim with goods and products that have been manufactured in mainland China and are now due to be exported to the the rest of the world. At the top of the island lies 'The Peak' an open scenic area that allows for great views of the city, the port and of the south China sea:
At night the harbor of Hong Kong is illuminated by the giant skyscrapers, the most noticeable of which include the HSBC building, bank of China and the international monytary authority.
As part of the trip several members of the wedding party took a trip to see 'big budda' who is quite literially a very big budda, built around 1990's big budda houses a mueseum of rare local and chineese art some of which was drawn in blooddddddd, so was quite interesting to see:
As the time drew neerer to the wedding everyone became more and more excited. Hair needed styling and dresses (and suits, thank you Mrs White) needed ironing before the big day, and then before you knew it, the big day was upon us and we the people stood by as witnesses to the wedding of Riba and Paul Stevens. The Bride looked lovely, the reception speech from the father of the bride was spot on (so was his kilt, but we wont go into that) and so was the weather. If ever their is an element of unpredictability in planning an outside activity the weather is always on the top of the list. But for the wedding you could have not picked better weather yourself, vanilla sky with a warm breeze put everyone to rest and allowed the wedding to proceed un-interupted.
But now the wedding is over and the world must return to work, or in my case continue the travels around the world.
Sun Sea & Sand (Finally!)
Posted: November 27, 2008, 8:16 am GMT
Finally for the last few days the rain and storms have left and we have been blessed with GLORIOUS sunshine.
Arriving in Ha Noi at 6am from a 12hour bus trip, it was a pleasant surprise to have to squint and shade my eyes from not the rain but the sun.
Staggering around the city looking for a hotel we bumped into someone just opening for the day who has room for $7 a night. So parking the kit their I proceeded to pass out on the bed for several hours, followed by several hours spent exploring the city.
Taking full advantage of the sun and good weather, we took a trip to Halong Bay which is a bay located in north Vietnam
Boarding a 'junk' we set sail for the more remote parts of the bay, exploring the caves and enjoying a lunch of tofu, fish and rice (which while being a bit basic I feel sad to admit that the taste and texture of tofu is slowly growing on me). After lunch was finished we chugged over to a calm area of the sea where we spent an hour kyacking and enjoying a very early sunset. The rest of the evening was spent counting stars, eating more fish rice and tofu and convincing the captain that the generator needed to be left on for another hour so that we could have a hot shower. We lost and the water was cold.
The following day we set sail for 'Cat Ba Island' where we visited the nation park and climbed to the top of a lookout post before spending the rest of the day at the beach! :)
The final day of the tour was spent travelling back to HoLong bay having some lunch and then travelling back to Ha Noi.
The plans for the following days include a trekking experdition to 'Sapa' leaving tonight we will travel on an overnight train further north into northen Vietnam highlands, meeting and greeting with local hill tribes before returning to Ha Noi for one final day before flying off to Hong Kong.
Latest Image Gallery
More rain than in Spain
Posted: November 21, 2008, 10:05 am GMT
Well... I wont lie to you. Vietnam is wet, in fact Vietnam is soaking wet.
Just to give you an idea of just how wet it actually is. Take a bucket and fill it with water, then tip it over yourself and repeat for well the last 5 days!.
Vietnam is currently experiencing the backlash of a typhoon and so for the last 5 days its been truely wet and windy and generally very unpleasant. but anyway.
Currently Im in the city of Hue, which is smack damn in the middle of Vietnam. The main sites here are the De-materialized Zone (DMZ) which is where most of the fighting between American and Vietnamese took place.
The citys other main attraction is an old place but around the 1820's which is nice, but its really just an old building with a moat.
Working forwards from the Highland town of Dalat. We moved to the city of Nha Trang, which is a beach resort, the plan was for Siobhan to do some diving while I could sit on the beach, catch some sun and maybe a bit of surfing, but sadly no such luck. :(
Due to the typhoon the rivers that feed into the sea in the local area have been flooded and have made visibility almost nothing under the water, so Siobhan decided against diving blind. Also due to the typhoon the weather has been a disaster of flooded roads and generally damp and unpleasant everywhere. So no surfing either.
Moving up from Nha Trang we travelled by overnight bus to the city of Da Nang, which is basically just a town of taylors, the town itself is very pretty and was one of the citys tha was not bombed by the Americans during the Vietnam war, so the buildings are very old style french design which makes a change from concrete shacks and new modern buildings with no character.
The bus itself is a 'sleeper bus' the best way to describe this is, two levels of bunk beds, which are 5 inches to small for a westerner to sleep in and are shapped so that the knees are bent upwards and the back support is just a tad in the wrong place for anyone over 4 feet. But anyway.
The city of Da Nang has three areas of tourism... It has clothes shops, food shops and hotels. Throw in a lot of people on motobikes and the boat taxies and thats about it.
While in Da Nang we went to the holy land of 'My Son' (pronounced Me Son) which is basically like a smaller kind of Ankar Wot and really not all that impressive.
From Da Nang we travelled on a 4 hour bus to Hue (which is where we are now) and from here we will travel on a 12 hour night bus all the way to Ha Noi. :)
The latest published pictures are:
Asian Adventure Photo Album 12
Dreams of Vietnamese Women and Cold Waterfalls
Posted: November 13, 2008, 4:06 pm GMT
Travelling round the Mekong Delta is quite an experience; leaving Ho Chi Min (Saigon, it's the same city really) we boarded a bus for the delta, it took several hours to reach the delta once we arrived we boarded a boat and began the tour seeing the floating markets and how life in the delta is lived. I have to say its almost like being on the inside of a fish bowl, if only for a few days because you are almost peering into someone’s life. I mean how would you like it if a bunch of tourists with big cameras came to your kitchen window while you were making dinner and were like ‘Just act normal and continue with your life while we snap picture after picture’. I mean I don't feel bad about the whole thing but still.
The following day we took the bus to another part of the Delta and then a boat to a factory that makes coconut fudge. Basically to make coconut fudge you take a coconut that's a year old, and scoop out the actual coconut flesh where you heat it and stir it continuously for several hours until it changes consistency and becomes fudge like. Credit where credit is due, a year old coconut stirred and heated is actually quite nice and I would recommend to anyone who’s not had coconut fudge that you need to try some. Another exciting cooking related tour we participated in was ‘popped rice’ which is basically raw un-husked rice, which is heated in a wok with sand in side to help dissipate the heat evenly. The result is a product similar to popcorn except its kinda long as you would expect from rice… They then mix this with either sugar or honey and nuts and make a sort of popped rice brittle thing, very tasty and great for tiding you over when your on what seems to be and endless bus journey.
Our final day in the delta was spent touring a rice-milling factory, which I suppose you could say was interesting, basically you just saw a big dusty machine making lots of noise and two bags at the bottom being filled, one with high quality rice and the other one with all the rice ends and lesser quality stuff.
After watching such an interesting machine work, we were dropped off in the local town and went exploring, along the travels we found a very large silver-ish statue of Ho Chi Min himself (a very important man to the Vietnamese).
Travelling back to Ho Chi Min city was fairly uneventful (well what did you expect from a bus journey?) and we arrived mid afternoon. Checking back into the hotel that Siobhan’s dad ever sooooooooo graciously paid for (thank you), we proceeded to spend the afternoon relaxing and went to have a leisurely afternoon of coffee shops and we went to pick up an outfit Siobhan had made which was a beautiful over coat made from silk. I suppose it could be called an overcoat (as I have actually forgotten the proper name of what you call it, we will stick with delectate overcoat). Now this delectate overcoat is made of red and black silk and has very long sides and back.
After our shopping fun Siobhan and I were treated to 90 minutes of heaven in the form of a very beautiful very small Vietnamese girl / woman (dependant on the ID you looked at) who provided us with a very nice and a lot more pleasurable foot and body massage. Client / masseuse confidentiality forbids me from going into details but suffice to say, I would have been happy to sit thought another 90 minutes of that any day of the week.
Leaving Ho Chi Min city we have not travelled north to a town called DaLat, which is in the highlands of South Vietnam. The last few days we spent exploring the ‘very small town’ and today was a very exciting day where we went abseiling (Repelling) down several ravens and even into some waterfalls, which despite being incredibly slippery was great fun. We traversed 20-metre walls, 18-meter walls and a 25-meter waterfall. Pictures will follow in the next few days once I get the camera sorted out.
Barely Live and Kicking
Posted: November 5, 2008, 1:58 pm GMT
After 18 days of deathly silence internet and connection to the world has been restored.
Finally I feel like my limb has been re-attached. Picking up from the last posting, in Chang Mai Thailand. We attended a class on how to give a Thai massage....
Needless to say anyone who enjoys pain and torture is going to love a Thai massage, which are totallyyy different to the traditional 'western' massages which concentrate's on deep tissue and muscle. Thai massages focus on specific points accross the body and work by applying pressure to these points. Needless to say, if you didnt like someone you could really seriousllyyyyyyy do some damage to someone.
Anyway, after our fun in the massage parlor we decided that we were in need of something more manly and went on a high way cable adventure into the Thai jungle
After our fun high wire adventures we needed some food and where better to go eat than in the jungle itself! Joining a jungle survival cooking class we set about cooking a currey in a coconut, chicken on a spit and rice in bamboo - which comes out very very weird, nice but weird, kinda like a rod of rice with a flavor of bamboo just to add to the taste.
After leaving Chang Mai, we caught a plane to Luang Prabang which is in the country of Lao. The first few days were spent exploring the town, seeing the temples and particularly a place of great Budist importance where it is said that Buddha's toes are pressed into a rock.
Travelling south through Lao, we travelled down by 12 HOUR coach to the capital city of Lao 'Vientiane' staying over night, exploring the veryyyyy small city which is suppose to have some very lovely french styled houses and there is even an Arc De Triomphe made from concrete which was given to the country by the American government.... What better way to make use American resources, build something as a tribute to France! HA
Leaving Lao, we flew on down to Siem Reap (in Cambodia) which is home of the Ankor Wat temples (as featured in Tomb Raider!)
A total of 3 days was spent exploring the Ankor Wat temples, day one was spent in the back of a Tuc Tuc which while was fun, was not as exciting as cycling the temples for the following two days. Truely the most exciting way to see ruines of a great 1000 year old civilisation is with a bottom that has gone ten rounds with everyone in the prison shower.
Anyway, the actual city of Siem Reap does not have a lot to offer beyond the temples so once we were finshed being tomb raiders we travelled down to Phnom Penh.
Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and is the home of the killing fields which are the center focial point of the genocide of the Khmer Rouge, where after the American / Vietnam war was finished a group of radicals siezed the country of Cambodia and turned the country into a rural education-less disaster where the people lacked the skills and tools required to grow basic foods and grains.
Once we had finished in Phnom Penh, we got a 6 hour bus trip over the Vietnamise boarder where we met up with Siobhans Dad, who is currently teaching in a university inside the capital of Vietnam (Ho Chi Min). Tomorrow we are moving to spend a few days in the Mekong River delta going to see a floatttinggggg village, some floating markets and some other things I can no longer remember. But for now. Its late night soup time :)
Image Galleries are located at:
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Bangkok Outtaa Here!
Posted: October 18, 2008, 7:20 pm GMT
Picking up from the last post. We are now in Chang Mai, to anyone that doesnt know where that is, its North Thailand. See the Google Map if you need help.
From leaving the Cameron Highlands we travelled to a town called Ipoh where we embarked on a white water rafting adventure. Fortunately I had my waterproof camera so I was able to take some footage, sadly because of where I was sat in the boat quite a lot of it was of someones back while they were paddling, however there was one point where they fell in and here is the footage:
After Ipoh we transfered to an island just off North Malayasia called 'Pernang' where we stayed for a few days, touring the island in a veryyyyyy small car. We even found the silicon vally of the east, which for a tourist is aparently hard to find.
After exploring Pernang and seeing all the sights we hopped on a over night train to Bangkok Thailand!
Now, Bangkok is quite a city, surrounded by plentyyyy of temples, and yet liberial enough to be the worlds go to point for 'Gender Reassignment' operations not to mention you can buy a handmade suit for a little over 60 Euros or watch a lady play an interesting game of ping pong... Needless to say both I and Siobhan felt very out of place and once we had explored the city and seen the temples we decided that it was better to leave and find a better city to enjoy.
Catching another train up to Chang Mai, we arrived got settled. Where we are staying is located inside the old city of Chang Mai. Already we have done severalll very exciting days! We went and visited TIGERSS! and got to play with baby cubs. Well when I mean got to play, due to the heat of the day they werent very playful and really wanted to be left alone to lick each other which was a tad on the annoying side however they were very calm animals so I could get up close and personal with a few:
Another thing that we did in Chang Mai was attend a Thai cooking class where we learned how to cook some veryyy tastyy Thai dishes, Siobhan learned how to cook Thai spring rolls and I found out the secret to Thai's special dish 'Pad Thai' (its noodles.. but dont tell anyone). After which we were seperated into two teams... One team learned how to make green curry paste (Siobhan's) the other (my team) learned how to make red curry paste.. Needless to say after some pounding with the pestel and morter we were left with two small dishes of red and green curry pasta. From there the teams made a red and a green Thai curry.
Today we went on a jungleee adventure high in the treeesss. Simular to something we did back in england called 'Go-Ape'. The Jungle was very dense and it gave me an opportunity to play with my action camera again. The best footage was Siobhan ziplineing down the track:
Tomorrows plans include going to learn the art of Thai massarge... Should bee funnnnn
The galleries linking to this entry are: Gallery One and Gallery Two
3 foot plants and very cold waterfalls
Posted: October 10, 2008, 9:44 am GMT
So sorry for the lack of updates, we have had a few interesting days. I will wind the clock back a few days and start from where I left off:
We spent our first official day in the Cameron Highlands. we spent the day doing a massive tour of the area. The morning started out with a jungle walk where we were taken into the indigenous jungles surrounding the Cameron highlands and after a ‘short’ trek we had a drink from the bamboo plant, where our guide cut into a bamboo stalk and we were able to drink the stored water – a very useful trick when stuck in the jungle without any water!
Further on our jungle path we discovered the ‘Worlds largest plant’, which is not actually a plant it's a parasite, which feeds off the roots of trees it attaches too. The plant itself is 3foot in diameter and the opening bud itself can fit my hand inside!
After exploring giant plants we trekked to a waterfall and had a swim – in water that was FREEZZINGGGGGG COLDD…
Once we had left the jungle we travelled to a local village where jungle people lived and the chief showed us how to hunt using a blow dart! Which was very interesting.
After leaving the jungle people’s village we travelled on to a tea plantation to see how tea leaves are turned into tea bags. I have to say not being a tea lover at all, that seeing how tealeaves are turned into tea bags is actually very interesting and I was left feeling like I needed a cuppa! Our final trip on our day’s adventures was to a strawberry plantation, where a local ‘mom and pop’ have been growing and producing home made strawberry jam for years. They even had scones on for sale but no clotted cream, and as everybody knows: No clotted cream with scones no deal.
Then after Cameron highlands we travelled to Ipoh where we went white water rafting. I took my action camera with us and was able to get some veryy cool footage when everyone wasnt in the way of the camera. One point to note was when one of the girls fell out and the guys panicked anyway its all here on tape very funny, however i presently cant upload big files to the internet as it seems all internet in Malaysia is veryy slow...
Lastest images can be found at: Cameron Highlands
Modes of Transport:
Posted: October 6, 2008, 2:44 pm GMT
Here is a running total of modes of transport we have used so far... Airplane CNG taxi CNG tuc tuc Diesel Car Camel Elephant Metro Diesel Taxi Electric tram Monorail Cable Car Luge Public Bus Coach
What has...
Posted: October 6, 2008, 2:44 pm GMT
Three movie complexes, 200+ shops, over 40 places to eat, several bars AND a theme park?
No, its not Windsor (Legoland) or the town of Chessington... It is in fact an Asian shopping centre! Spanning 8 floors and what I can only imagine are at least 2 square miles per floor the complex is a maze of escalators, lifts, roller coasters and shops. Feel like watching a movie? Not a problem choose from one of the THREE cinema companies, including IMAX which boasts a screen so large you have to turn your head to see the whole screen.
But enough about a shopping centre, yesterday we went to the Batu Caves which features the worlds largest Hindu statue, ate some lunch in Kuala Lumpur's China town and then went to the Kuala Lumpur Tower where we stood at a height of 272 meters above the city and watched the rain clouds draw closer.
The evening was spent lounging around playin Uno with some people while Siobhan and another person from the hostel went to the IMAX to see Batman.
Now, from Kuala Lumpur we have now travelled north to 'Cameron Highlands'. The Cameron Highlands are in a mountainous region of Malaysia situated about 4500feet above sea level, so its fairly nippy and the clouds are very close to us now. As I type this I can see the steam coming from my breath... No need for Air con tonight!
Tomorrow's plans include we are going jungle trekking to see the largest flower in the world.
Photo Gallery for Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur Onwards.
Posted: October 2, 2008, 5:03 pm GMT
Well we have arrived in Malaysia now, following a very abrupt train stop this morning at a little after 6, we were kicked out of our bunks and shuffled off the train and into Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur is pretty much like any other city to be honest. Esp after walking round it has a shopping district and some touristy bits but maybe its just me but I dont really see all the fuss. The twin towers are nice, but we cant go up them until saturday because of some religious festival this weekend.
I have no clue what the plans for tomorrow are. Siobhan does have quite a list of things to do here... So I guess ill find out tomorrow where the next adventure will be :).
Total distance travelled so far:
Posted: October 1, 2008, 5:13 am GMT
From doing some quick maths on google maps. I estimate we have travelled approximatelyyyyyy:
12,072 Kilometers so far.
Listing as:
London To Delhi
Delhi to Pushkar
Pushkar to Jodhpur
Jodhpur to Jaipur
Jaipur to Agra
Agra to Dehli
Dehli to Singapore
From here we go on the over night train into Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
Singapore Down... Onwards to Kuala Lumpur
Posted: September 30, 2008, 5:34 pm GMT
Well, we have now explored Singapore I feel...
Visiting the Zoo, Raffles Long bar (the home of the Singapore Sling), Sarosata Island where we went on a street luge (sadly i forgot my action camera tho!)
Attached are is a sample of some of the pictures taken:
More images can be locaed at: Singapore Gallery
Our plans for the next few days involve travelling up to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the overnight train, so Internet tomorrow will be a miracle! More updates coming soon people.
Singapore Formula One and a Dark Zoo
Posted: September 28, 2008, 5:59 pm GMT
Well today has been a much better day.
After a very well rested sleep we decided to do a bit of sightseeing, including going for a very long walk to try to find the beach and Singapore city itself. After what was several hours walking in the hot sun we couldn't seem to find the beach or the city... So we got a a cab instead. Fortunately our cab driver couldn't speak very good english and some how managed to blag us into the restricted part of the city reserved for F1 people only. :) Score. However the downside was that we couldn't get any food anywhere so had to leave to find a food court.
I am happy to announce that the food here as predicted is very tasty :) and I only hope that in the next 8 days it doesn't go the way of India.
After our little walk about we headed back to the hostel and met up with two irish girls and a german girl (Natisha, Ashling and Laura) where we all went too the zoo :) As Singapore has a 'Night Safari' which is basically a tour around lots of paddocks where you cant actually see anything apart from the occasional sleeping animal.
So now Im back in the hostel, and its past midnight and im back to normal and cant sleep :)
I dont know what the plans are for tomorrow but I dare say I will update you all soon.
India down, Singapore onwards...
Posted: September 27, 2008, 3:26 pm GMT
Well, I am delighted to tell you all we have departed from India. I would say the trip was a delight all the way through but I would be lying.... You see when I last updated the site, we were in: Jodhpur which was a beautiful city. Lovely hotel good food yada yada yadaaaaa... However since then we have not had so many positive things to say. The city of Jaipur was very dirty, the hotel was a state and quite literially every 10 seconds someone was bothering us to buy something or take us somewhere on the back of a bike... Now i understand the culture in India is different to Englands or the US or most western places. But seriously, if im not going to buy some plastic cr*p from the guy who was just pushed aside as I said No quite loudly why on Earth do you think Im going to buy from you? But I digress... Our guide in Jaipur took us to a old palace of somekind, I would say what its called but he really wasnt a very good guide and I switched off quite quickly. So that was productive... and informative... NOT. We also had an elephant ride, now when I say Elephant ride what image is conjoured in your mind? Images of happy elephants in a nature reserve who let you ride around on there back? Have access to a big pond where they can frollock and spray water and have fun? Well, allow me to shatter your dreams people... Elephants in chains with what is almost a basket strapped to their backs, you climb some steps and sit down and off you go on your magical 5 minute walk up a hill, where the elephant stops lets you off and trundles back down to pick up some other people, not good. The city of Jaipur contains several marvals, including the Wind Palace, Water Palace and the big fort I mentioned earlier. On a special note, to anyone who is planning on going to Jaipur you have to visit a very small veryyyyy local restaurant called "World Fried Chicken" - While the place doesnt actually do fried chicken and thus I suspect that they have just heard the name somewhere and gone with it, the food was not only cheap but gorgeous. For a half butter chicken, another chicken dish 4 garlic naan's came to like 500RS which is about... £6 so very good meal! Departing from Jaipur, we traveled to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. Now this was a site of beauty. I can truely understand why it is one of the great wonders of the world. Its stunning. For those of you who dont know, the Taj Mahal was buit by Shah Jahan in honor of his wife, which is quite a feat really. Most people go with flowers and a nice diary milk bar.. Having now seen all of the sights of northan India, experienced a proper curry and Naan bread, Im more than happy to move on... This morning I would have killed for beef or pork! Reading back it almost looks like a rant more than blog showing my adventure in India, but to be honest its part of it. Pictures located at: Asian 3 Images
Welcome to Suncity
Posted: September 22, 2008, 7:47 pm GMT
Today's visit was to the city of Jodhpur, located in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It features a gigantic fort started in 1459AD, which contains a museum and for once, all the people associated with the tourist industry speak perfect English - which is a plus!
Fort:
We did the touristy thing of wondering round the fort with our audio guides playing and my camera round my neck for a few hours, which was very good. Interesting facts about the fort include:
When the king dies and is cremated his wife is sentenced to be cremated with him and it is her duty to sit in silence while the flames consume them.
All the 'women' only sections of the fort were guarded by eunuchs. So sorry ladies but I'm not prepared to give up the boys just to keep you safe.
The fort comes with its own astrologer who can upon booking an appointment supposedly read your palm and future. However numbnuts here forgot to book an appointment so I guess I will have to wait for my future to unfold itself.
After visiting the fort we went to the royal crematorium, which is made of the same material as the Taj Mahal - so its nicknamed the mini Taj.
After all of adventures we went to the market of the town where we went spice shopping Stopping in a shop either the guy saw us coming or was a really good sales person because we have bought about £40 of spices each... Fortunately I don't think I will ever need any Indian spice ever again given the size of the packets.
After our shopping expedition we decided it was time for lunch and went to this very nice (but expensive) place for lunch. Then back to the hotel where I fell asleep for a few hours, but now I'm awake so I’ve decided to write about to day's adventures.
Tomorrow's plans include a VERYYYYYY long drive back from Jodhpur to Jaipur and then I don't know...
Todays photos located at: http://images.mathewjenkinson.co.uk/gallerys/Asian_two/
Smelling like Camel butt...
Posted: September 21, 2008, 6:09 pm GMT
Well ladies and gentlemen..
What an interesting last few days we have had.
Leaving off from Delhi, we headed South West to a place called "Pushkar". The drive was a very longggg 6 hours! and i was most definitely bored of my ipod about 10 mins in... Ha.
Pushkar was supposedly made when a lotus flower fell to the Earth from the gods. It is one of the main pilgrim points for the Hindu religion who believe that bathing in the water clenses the soul and grants access to heaven.
Personally me and Siobhan dipped our toes in water as it was very greeen and didnt trust it much.. but hay.
Picture:
We spent the afternoon lounging around after expoloring Pushkar - which i might add is very small area. Chatting to other people in our hotel about where they have come from, going too etc.
Its worth noting to anyone reading this that the ENTIRE hotel runns of solar hotwater using a bank of solar water heaters to heat the water to beyond scalding temperatures at very powerful pressure... So one for the knowledge books on how to develop and design a solar hot water heating system - while im sure it wont be as poweful as the one here. Its a start.
At 16.00 we were picked up by 2 men, 3 camels, a young boy and a caravan of sticks, heavy blankets and whatever food that camels eat. So younder we set off into the desert. Now I dont know how much people know about riding camels as they are not exactly the most graceful of animals. While I cant speak for Siobhan I can officially say that for men, its not the most comfortable ride in the world.
After a few hours trekking into the Indian desert we stopped and had a rest where we met a father and son on holiday from Israel. The son who recently graduated from uni too instantly picked up my solar bag and was 'Inspired' to build his own when he got home. So that was good :) Again onwards we trekked further into the desert until we reached what looked like a farm where we made camp for the night.
Our Accommodation was well....:
So as you can tell we slept well that night... Next to the camels who have worse gas than a mexican after a chile eating contest...
The next morning we had breakfast packed up and begin back to the town. The trek back to town was uneventful and we parted company with the tour guides.
Getting back to our guide we drove from Pushkar to a place called Jodhpur where we are spending the next two nights... So I dare say you will be updated with tomorrows activities tomorrow night...
Delhi Down... Onwards into India.
Posted: September 18, 2008, 1:35 pm GMT
Wow what a day.
Taking you back almost 24 hours to the previous day, we left for heathrow driven by my brother, with me Siobhan and my mum in the car.
Saying our goodbyes and almost waltzing in to passport control - not a sausage in site at the checkin desk or at x-ray control.
We traipsed round the airport for an hour and a bit until heading out to our gate - following what i might add is a woman in very 'questionable' trousers.
Fast forward:
We get on the plane it takes off bad food, bad movies that repeat 3 times, bad breakfast get off plane, get taxi to hotel.
Coming out the lift at reception we are intercepted by what I can only hope is the hotel co-ordinator who helped plan our next few days.
Which read as follows:
- Pushkar
- Camel Safari, Brahma Temple & Savitri Temple.
- Jodhpur
- Mehrang Fort, Umaid Bhawan and Blue City.
- Jaipur
- Birla Temple, Elephant Ride, a city palace & a mueseum
- Agra
- Taj Mahal and Fategoyr Sikri
But back on to today... We decided to travel on a 'auto-rickshaw' or TucTuc HA the feeling can be described to sitting in a bathtub hurtling down a wet grassy hill with a spoon as your only way to steer the craft, while also avoiding the hundreds / thousands also trying to occupy the same space as you at the same point you want to. Picture if you will, no road rules to speak of, a horn permanently going off every time you accelerate or do anything from what we could tell, undertaking at will and 4 lanes of traffic easily when there are only two lanes marked on the road... they are obviously just there for decoration!!! We visited:
- Red Fort
- Ghandi's Grave
- India Gate
- Lakshmi Narayon Mandir
- Lodi Gardens
- Humayun Tomb
Less than 5 hours to go :)
Posted: September 17, 2008, 1:25 pm GMT
Our bags are packed now, Everything that needed to be done is now done or being done. Its not hit me yet to be honest, but Im sure when we land or some-point between leaving the house and getting on the plane I will get my mind into gear on just how big an adventure this will be. Our first stop will be Delhi - i think, I dont remember and would ask Siobhan but she's somewhere else at this moment in time. I think it would be a good idea to keep a running total of how many miles / km's have been travelled totally. - but im not sure how I can do that bit yet, but Im sure ill bodge something together. Stay tuned people, we are going in.. :)
24 Hours To Go!
Posted: September 16, 2008, 5:32 pm GMT
Right People... This is it. We are officially checked in on the BA Flight to Delhi :) Things to do: Pack.....! Oh and maybe we err both need some new travel insurance... (Due to us not being able to read our travel insurance documents), but not to worry people we have like 24 hours to fix it... - 10 hours for sleeping and a few hours in the pub that leaves like 15 mins to sort the insurance.. :) i think its most definitely do-able. Just incase anyone wishes to come see us off we will be at terminal 4 tomorrow at 3PM! if not see you at CHRISTMAS!
6 Days to GO!
Posted: September 8, 2008, 7:21 pm GMT
Woo :) The count down timer is now officially in its last few days now. In less than a week we will be in some part of india... From the top of my head Im thinking Delhi but Im not sure at this stage - so I'll have to get back to you. HA. I'll be posting more pictures as I take them. The dining room looks like im about to go on Safari. lol