Spent a couple more days in Dharmsala, mostly eating pizza at the same restaurant each night as my stomach doesn't seem to agree with the curry round here. Lucklily the hotel has film channels so spent a day watching those whilst recovering from another mistake of a curry...
Didn't do much else there, dodged downpours and wandered around, just chilled out and then moved onto Rishikesh which happened to have a religious festival on where a few million people dressed in bright orange wander through the town, over a big bridge and on to a temple in the mountains over the course of 10 days or so. Watched them over a pizza and then went over the bridge too. Couldn't really see what the fuss was about but they seemed to be enjoying it...
Had a go at yoga at a class one morning, not quite sure I got what all the ummmmmmm..ing was about but felt suitably stretched afterwards and really enjoyed the 10 minute lie down at the end to recover from the most strenuous excersise I had done in a long long time! To get over that I went for a massage, I think "comprehensive" is the word to use, nothing escaped the treatment!
Headed back to Chandigarh for a night on the way to Corbett National Park where we stayed in a fantastic luxury lodge and got up one morning to go tiger spotting in the park. Didn't see one unfortunately, not helped by the drivers deciding that half an hour spent in the car park would be a good plan. Saw an elephant in someones yard, didn't get a ride on one as it's the wrong season and nobody was doing tours on them. Oh well, I went and had another shower and enjoyed the air conditioning a bit more instead.
After that headed towards Nepal, where we waited for 3 hours in the sun for the border bridge to open, then were told to stay in the next town as the passport office was closed for the night. Hopes were raised when the pizza hut sign was seen on the hotel wall, but it turns out they just nick all the western logos to drag tourists in.
Early start in the monsoon rain saw us back at the passport office and allowed into the country properly, then we headed for a little village in the mountains for a day where we found a nice restaurant that served buffalo burgers amongst other things. Did big tubs of ice cream there too, brilliant!
Then moved on to Pokhara where I'm sitting now. It's a touristy activity town (and has a place that serves beef burgers and steaks!) so we went out last night and had the first night on vodka in nearly 3 weeks! My head still hurts now, and in some ways I'm glad that we can't go parascending as it's the wrong season and they've all gone on holiday, as I think my vision would probably be more spinny than it should... So a few of us hired a boat and paddled around a lake for a while in the sunshine, before we head out to try and arrange white water rafting for tomorrow.
Overall impressions are that Nepal is much more pleasant than India. It's cleaner, people don't just chuck all their rubbish in the road or wherever they fancy, it's not so humid, the people aren't all trying to get your money off you (although there are obviously a few exceptions) and we've been left to our own business rather than drawing a crowd everywhere. And the views when the clouds clear are spectacular, sat on the roof seats yesterday was just incredible. Only thing to watch out for are the protests against the new government who've screwed up slightly and there's no fuel anywhere (we have big fuel tanks so filled up in India so we won't need more), but they're not aimed at us so we just stay clear and let it blow over. Should be fun once we get into more of the adventure sports that are on offer here...
Tuesday 29 July 2008
Wednesday 16 July 2008
I fancy chicken (in) Dharamsala
Made it back to Delhi on the train, someone grabbed my back pocket as I got on, not sure if they were trying to grab my wallet (which wasn't in there) or just fancied a quick grope - either way I was glad that we were going back to find our new truck!
Archie is a truck borrowed from Dragoman and doesn't quite compare with the luxury and quantity of toys we had on Penelope, but with only 15 of us now it's spacious enough and seems a bit quicker up the hills too, useful when the quickest things on the roads are buses and they'll overtake anything, anywhere to get past you!
Went to Chandrigah for a night and had a fantastic selection of curries at a restaurant with a wild west bar downstairs. Went to the Rock Gardens which were absolutely incredible - I thought they were almost better than the Taj Mahal (main reason being it cost 12p to get in, rather than the ridiculous 10 quid the Taj cost!). A guy just started making little sculptures one day and it's grown from that to an amazing place with huge waterfalls, temples, sculptures, models, swings and all sorts. Really wasn't expecting it which I think is why I liked it so much... if you find yourself there you have to go!
Spent 2 days on the truck braving tiny twisty mountain roads which seem packed with cargo trucks heading up to Dharamsala, the exiled home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government. Really cool little place, very different feel to the other places we've been so far in India, but quite touristy (in some ways a good thing, lots of italian restaurants and cake shops!). We've got 3 days here, our hotel looks over the Dalai Lamas home and temple and down the mountain, when it's clear you can see for miles into the valley below.
Went to see the temple today and managed to get there at prayer time which was quite nice as I could wander round and take photos without getting in anyones way. Monks seem very friendly, was almost tempted to get a "Free Tibet" shirt until I saw someone wearing one and how touristy they looked whilst wandering round here. Might just stick some money in a donation box instead...
Got a few days to explore here and chill out, a few people are doing a cookery course tomorrow, think I'll just go for a wander as there's a few routes around here to do, or find a cafe and a book and make myself at home...
Archie is a truck borrowed from Dragoman and doesn't quite compare with the luxury and quantity of toys we had on Penelope, but with only 15 of us now it's spacious enough and seems a bit quicker up the hills too, useful when the quickest things on the roads are buses and they'll overtake anything, anywhere to get past you!
Went to Chandrigah for a night and had a fantastic selection of curries at a restaurant with a wild west bar downstairs. Went to the Rock Gardens which were absolutely incredible - I thought they were almost better than the Taj Mahal (main reason being it cost 12p to get in, rather than the ridiculous 10 quid the Taj cost!). A guy just started making little sculptures one day and it's grown from that to an amazing place with huge waterfalls, temples, sculptures, models, swings and all sorts. Really wasn't expecting it which I think is why I liked it so much... if you find yourself there you have to go!
Spent 2 days on the truck braving tiny twisty mountain roads which seem packed with cargo trucks heading up to Dharamsala, the exiled home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government. Really cool little place, very different feel to the other places we've been so far in India, but quite touristy (in some ways a good thing, lots of italian restaurants and cake shops!). We've got 3 days here, our hotel looks over the Dalai Lamas home and temple and down the mountain, when it's clear you can see for miles into the valley below.
Went to see the temple today and managed to get there at prayer time which was quite nice as I could wander round and take photos without getting in anyones way. Monks seem very friendly, was almost tempted to get a "Free Tibet" shirt until I saw someone wearing one and how touristy they looked whilst wandering round here. Might just stick some money in a donation box instead...
Got a few days to explore here and chill out, a few people are doing a cookery course tomorrow, think I'll just go for a wander as there's a few routes around here to do, or find a cafe and a book and make myself at home...
Saturday 12 July 2008
Notes from a sweaty country...
Woke excitedly at 5 this morning to go see the sunrise. It didn't. Seems that during monsoon season you get quite a lot of cloud... Should have known after the sunset was obscured by cloud and thunder but oh well, we were one of the first into the grounds this morning. Well, would have been had I realised that you aren't allowed to take tripods in, so I had to go out and put that in a locker, and also that you need shoe covers, so I went and got one of those too, and again when I remembered I needed to get two of them. So after being searched by the same guy 3 times I made it in, behind a couple of hundred other people who had been queueing behind me. I don't think I'm all that awake in the mornings...
Didn't get any amazing photos of the place going a lovely orange colour in the sun, it was mostly grey but it is an impressive building. Shame they were cleaning the fountains too so there was no water. On the plus side a couple of us spent about an hour and a half taking silly cheesy photos all around the place (to follow when we next find internet...) which amused me no end!
General observations so far are:
1) Most people are very very friendly, even when doing no. 2
2) Everyone here is trying to rip you off - noticed this mainly when a woman rode past with a little child on the back who gave us a lovely smile and shouted "Hello money!" to us. Not hard to see why everyone's trying to get at your money when they appear to be taught that tourists are walking cash machines. One insistant kid this morning realised that he wasn't going to get any money out of me so moved onto asking for chewing gum and then shampoo (I did note that he needed some, but unfortunately I left that at the hotel...). Everyone is trying to sell postcards (I DON'T WANT A POSTCARD!) and tat round here, who buys this crap to keep everyone in business? (Oh wait, Americans?). Tuktuk drivers say one price and then make up a new one when you get to the destination (just say no and carry plenty of change as they won't give you the right money back)
3) Everything happens very slowly in a hugely rushed manner. To buy a loaf of bread yesterday I had to ask for it, get a receipt, pay for it, get another receipt, go back to the man with the bread and show him the receipt to actually end up with it in my hand. It took nearly 2 hours for someone to send a parcel, and 6 hours (including numerous tuktuk journeys and a free lunch) for Sam to arrange train tickets, and then the computer crashed and the power went out so the last 2 weren't booked until the evening! Then you should see the roads - everyone going fast, but getting places very very slowly with plenty of horn - my ears were ringing from being stuck in front of a bus this morning!
Despite this there's something I really like about it here, the next few weeks should be really fun once we get on the truck tomorrow... just got to endure a 3 hour train journey tonight on an overcrowded train again first, at least I know the air conditioning at the hotel works though!
Didn't get any amazing photos of the place going a lovely orange colour in the sun, it was mostly grey but it is an impressive building. Shame they were cleaning the fountains too so there was no water. On the plus side a couple of us spent about an hour and a half taking silly cheesy photos all around the place (to follow when we next find internet...) which amused me no end!
General observations so far are:
1) Most people are very very friendly, even when doing no. 2
2) Everyone here is trying to rip you off - noticed this mainly when a woman rode past with a little child on the back who gave us a lovely smile and shouted "Hello money!" to us. Not hard to see why everyone's trying to get at your money when they appear to be taught that tourists are walking cash machines. One insistant kid this morning realised that he wasn't going to get any money out of me so moved onto asking for chewing gum and then shampoo (I did note that he needed some, but unfortunately I left that at the hotel...). Everyone is trying to sell postcards (I DON'T WANT A POSTCARD!) and tat round here, who buys this crap to keep everyone in business? (Oh wait, Americans?). Tuktuk drivers say one price and then make up a new one when you get to the destination (just say no and carry plenty of change as they won't give you the right money back)
3) Everything happens very slowly in a hugely rushed manner. To buy a loaf of bread yesterday I had to ask for it, get a receipt, pay for it, get another receipt, go back to the man with the bread and show him the receipt to actually end up with it in my hand. It took nearly 2 hours for someone to send a parcel, and 6 hours (including numerous tuktuk journeys and a free lunch) for Sam to arrange train tickets, and then the computer crashed and the power went out so the last 2 weren't booked until the evening! Then you should see the roads - everyone going fast, but getting places very very slowly with plenty of horn - my ears were ringing from being stuck in front of a bus this morning!
Despite this there's something I really like about it here, the next few weeks should be really fun once we get on the truck tomorrow... just got to endure a 3 hour train journey tonight on an overcrowded train again first, at least I know the air conditioning at the hotel works though!
Friday 11 July 2008
Welcome to India!
After an early start leaving Bishkek we headed across the border to Kazakhstan, being careful not to mention Borat or mankinis to the guards! Slept most of the way to Almaty, apparently it's quite flat with some hilly bits if you were wondering. Had an interesting conversation with a guy at a fuel station, he started by asking how much his Merc would cost in London, then continued to tell us we didn't want to go to India as there's just elephants there - we should go to Moscow and go on the Metro as it's far better than the London Underground (he's been on that too, great traveller that he is...). Then he started asking about Osama Bin Laden (maybe he was related?). He liked it when I said George Bush was terrorist no. 2 though so I think we ended up on good terms!
Played Uno at the airport, then jumped on a plane (the first of the trip so far!) and landed in Delhi at about 11. Stepped out of the air conditioned airport and was covered in a layer of sweat within seconds - it seems monsoon season is probably not the best time to turn up here...
Apart from the incredible sweating from places I didn't know sweated, Delhi was great in a crazy way - went on TukTuks and Rickshaws and cheated death on many occasions, nearly got ripped off by just about anyone who talked to us, then collapsed at the hotel after about 3 hours outside. Had 2 curries, then got up at 5 this morning to get a taxi to the train station to train it to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal! I now hate trains even more than ever, having had a very fidgety guy's arse wedged on my shoulder for 3 hours. At least it was cheap.
Spent the rest of the day resting in our prison cell-like room (at least it has a fan), then wandered to the Taj Mahal for sunset. Shame it's cloudy and we missed it, fingers crossed for tomorrow mornings sunrise...
First impressions are that it's quite big and that's about it, but our vantage point had a big wall and a tree in the way, hopefully it'll look more impressive tomorrow when we battle our way in there to have a look around...
Played Uno at the airport, then jumped on a plane (the first of the trip so far!) and landed in Delhi at about 11. Stepped out of the air conditioned airport and was covered in a layer of sweat within seconds - it seems monsoon season is probably not the best time to turn up here...
Apart from the incredible sweating from places I didn't know sweated, Delhi was great in a crazy way - went on TukTuks and Rickshaws and cheated death on many occasions, nearly got ripped off by just about anyone who talked to us, then collapsed at the hotel after about 3 hours outside. Had 2 curries, then got up at 5 this morning to get a taxi to the train station to train it to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal! I now hate trains even more than ever, having had a very fidgety guy's arse wedged on my shoulder for 3 hours. At least it was cheap.
Spent the rest of the day resting in our prison cell-like room (at least it has a fan), then wandered to the Taj Mahal for sunset. Shame it's cloudy and we missed it, fingers crossed for tomorrow mornings sunrise...
First impressions are that it's quite big and that's about it, but our vantage point had a big wall and a tree in the way, hopefully it'll look more impressive tomorrow when we battle our way in there to have a look around...
Tuesday 8 July 2008
Back in Bishkek, again...
Spent a few days in the mountains, stayed at a very busy campsite as they wouldn't let us camp where we wanted, but managed to get away and do a hike up towards a glacier, camping in a fantastic spot with nobody for miles around. Didn't get to the glacier as the bridge across the river had washed away but got upto about 3000m which was pretty hard work.
If we get our visas this afternoon then we'll be taxi-ing to Almaty in Kazakhstan and then flying to Delhi tomorrow...
If we get our visas this afternoon then we'll be taxi-ing to Almaty in Kazakhstan and then flying to Delhi tomorrow...
Thursday 3 July 2008
Finally some photos!
First, some self indulgent shots of me in various places (caution recommended, some dancing photos)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123458&l=58810&id=223300361
Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, small camera, Part 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123471&l=98ce2&id=223300361
Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, small camera, Part 2
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123618&l=2c7fc&id=223300361
Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, big camera, Part 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123620&l=6ed8c&id=223300361
Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, big camera, Part 2 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123622&l=f2900&id=223300361
Enjoy!
Nothing much else to add, still in Bishkek, heading to the mountains for the weekend tomorrow lunchtime after handing in more visa applications, then back here to hopefully collect them next monday/tuesday and then onto Kazakhstan and India...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123458&l=58810&id=223300361
Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, small camera, Part 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123471&l=98ce2&id=223300361
Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, small camera, Part 2
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123618&l=2c7fc&id=223300361
Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, big camera, Part 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123620&l=6ed8c&id=223300361
Turkey to Kyrgyzstan, big camera, Part 2 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123622&l=f2900&id=223300361
Enjoy!
Nothing much else to add, still in Bishkek, heading to the mountains for the weekend tomorrow lunchtime after handing in more visa applications, then back here to hopefully collect them next monday/tuesday and then onto Kazakhstan and India...
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