Woke up about 11:00 after a bit of a lie in, bearing in mind i wasn't gonna see a bed for quite a while, threw a few last things into my suitcases and set off for mom and dad's house, after parking the car at work. We set off for the airport where i met Andie and her parents and her friend surprised us at the airport as she had come to see Andie off.. She was stoked.. We sat in weatherspoons and had a few drinkies and my parents left. After ordering a baked potato we made our way down in a bit of a panic to the passport control, paniced as the boards were showing check-in at gate 42 we ran like the wind toward the gate, when we handed in our boarding cards we were told we'd been uPgRaDeD to business class. Woop Woop (we'd added 'honeymoon couple' to the booking mwah ha ha haa) so we took off and enjoyed a business class lunch in our business class seat on the business class tray, i even had a business class wee.. We arrived in Amsterdam and began walking to where we had to go to check in for the connecting flight to Beijing. Had a mooch round the shops and bought a coffee, we boarded the next plane to find no business class upgrade.. we were in cattle class, cattle class being the operative word... we were crammed in like battery hens. seats were very close to the seat in front the minimum standard 17" legroom.. on a 13 hour flight... not fun ! My seatback screen was broken and kept falling down somewhat, we both began watchin 'killers' to find absolutely loads had been cut out of it and not only that but there were adverts... wierdly advertising china southern airline... i was already travelling on china southern, what did they expect me to do.. book a china southern flight from onboard the aircraft.. Purrlease! Anyway after the long journey we finally arrived in a very clean and well organised airport, bags were very efficiently distributed to us and we cleared customs, passport/visa control and made our way via taxi to the hotel 'the Day's inn, forbidden city' ( http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=890&bih=368&q=days+inn+forbidden+city%2C+beijing&gbv=2&aq=o&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= ) the ride in the taxi seemed to take 3 years and the motorways were chocka blocked, they drive like complete nutters.. 5 lanes of traffic on 3 lanes of motorway, i kid you not ! i drifted in and out of sleep as i hadn't slept at all on-board the plane, anyway we arrived at the hotel safe and sound and it only cost us £10 so not too bad.. took approx 45 mins. I was bloody knackered so went to sleep, however we were both so excited to be in China my sleep was very short-lived and we soon got up and had a shower to revitalise ourselves (seperately of course hehe) and wandered into town to have our first look at Beijing, we meandered into a shopping mall, almost opposite our hotel as the air temperature was absolutely freeeeezing, it felt colder than the uk.. Seriously.. unbearably cold ! anyway we had a look around some of the shops, but it was very much like the bull-ring so wasn't overly inspired, felt a bit peck-ish and ended up in McDonalds.. haha no place like home eh.. yes yes i know there are dozens of chinese restaurants within a 10ft radius but we just wanted something quick and easy and at least we could point to pictures as language barriers are considerably harder than i'd expected. we bought a few provisions and came back to the hotel after buying one or two pieces of warm clothes and eventually crashed out at around 8pm Beijing time (1pm uk time (50 hours after last sleep)
So after having gone to sleep so early local time, wouldn't you know it, i was wide awake at 4am.. D'oh ! began sorting things out, charging various gadgets and trying to connect to the internet. Anyway about 5ish Andrea awoke and shortly afterwards we showered and went for breakfast. Days Inn cafe (attached to hotel) £6.90 for buffet breakfast and the choices were vast, lots and lots of food was eaten, filling us up for the best part of the morning and thru till the afternoon. We had decided the night before we were going to go to the Great Wall Of China, so after having spotted the tourist information the day before we popped in to enquire, however by the time we got there we had missed all the trips for the day, so we made a reservation to go the next day (tomorrow which is wednesday) so at a bit of a loss as to what to do with ourselves we enquired what what 'must-see' things whilst here in Beijing, a plethora of options became available, some of which we had already discussed prior to visiting the tourist info. We set off on foot heading for tien'anamen square and the forbidden city, the icy cold north westerly wind made the temperatures feel literally baltic. Thank god i thought ahead to the return weather in the uk in january and packed a few jumpers, a scalf and some gloves, however we quickly discovered this was quite insufficient. Anyway, for some reason i continually need to pee, think it's the cold, you didn't really need to know this but i thought i'd share, anyway it leads to the next part of the story.. So i went to the toilet at tien'anamen square and wierdly there was a shop inbetween the gents and ladies loo's selling all kinds of souveniers including, hats, gloves scalfs etc.. all pretty reasonably priced, so i bought a new hat £2.50 and a pair of thick wintery gloves with fur lining.. mmmmm nice also £2.50 so can't grumble, my alpacca scalf (which i bought in peru a few years ago) was doing very well to keep the cold lashing from my face and noses, so, all snuggy we continued to the forbidden city after having first taken a few pics at tien'anamen square (which by the way i shall soon get round to uploading.. dunno if i can be bothered at the moment, cos i'm struggling to stay away presently it's now 21:52) so onto the forbidden city costing us £0.30p to enter. The gardens were extremely peaceful and blissed with tranquility amidst the temples dotted around, we watched as a very elderly lady went about doing her Thai Chi, i desperately wanted to join in alas i watched in awe,, she must've been at least 85 or so, so we walked round to the Emporers palace and enjoyed seeing the changing of the guards and watched the newer recruits being put thru their paces off to the right, however the cold had once again really set in and standing round for too long was no fun.. whilst the sun was nice and warm, not quite warm enough to keep us thawed, we decided after having bought yet another hat, this one however more of a novelty hat (pics to follow) suffice to say we had lots of people laughing at the site of us. Shortly after buying the new hats and me having yet another wee, we needed a bit of a warm, so we began walking back towards what i call 'new street' as it reminds me of new street bham, tho nothing really like it, however as we were walking we called in to a few more shops and i bought a new gorrillapod (google it) for my camcorder and we continued towards where the cafe's were however we stumbled accross, by accident, our own hotel so we decided we'd nip in and make a coffee in the room and plan our next adventure. After a coffee and yet another wee we headed back out to the tourist info, who by the way are extremely helpful and particularly friendly, enquired about going to Beijing Zoo, also enquired about doing some Kung Fu training whilst in Beijing. I was informed there is an elderly man who teaches very early in the mornings down by the 'Temple of Heaven' so after being shown where on the map I decided i'd have a bash as it's been quite an ambition of mine since arrival however as we'd since booked the day tomorrow this will have to wait... The tourist info lady (judy) showed us a leaflet on the 'Legend of Kung Fu' which is a kind of theatre production at the 'Red Theatre' so we then made reservations for that to go later in the day at 19:30 so we continued Zoo-bound via the subway/underground. Very efficient service, if a little crowded, but after a few changes at various stations we departed at Beijing Zoo. One thing just before i go on to the Zoo, the trains over here are so particularly advanced that as you're going in-between stations there must be some kind of laser light emmitting onto the wall of the inside of the tube but outside of the train advertising various different products, but basically as you trundle along your merry way as you look out of the window of the train (if you can see a window thru the sea of heads) to adverts being projected onto the walls of the tunnell... Very Very Cool !!! anyway, back to the Zoo after buying tickets for £1.50 we had a walk around the zoo first port of call as you might imagine were the Giant Panda's, and there were many, lots of pics and a few vids taken, coming soon, we then went onto the monkey house although probably, and quite sensibly i'd say, all the monkeys were actually awol, so we went to the next bit which was the african animals.. Awol, as were the kangaroo's Lions, tigers and bears.. Oh MY !!! oh my what a f'ckin rip-off we saw some birds, including Hawks and Eagles but not really enough to warrant the mission of a journey to get there, but i suppose you can't moan for £1.50 We then boarded the tube once again heading back towards 'new street and the bull-ring' as Andie wanted a thick pair of socks a thicker scalf and a new jumper. anyway time was ticking on and the Kung Fu, Legends of, began soon so after a bit of a warm in the bull-ring and a burger from (dare i say it) McDonalds, we headed back to the hotel to get a cab to the red theatre, to find they weren't able to reserve one as it was rush-hour and unbeknown to us they can't actually make reservations for taxis at this period.. Ooops so we were left standing road-side hailing taxis with the bell-boy who at one point fucked off as he was too cold but quickly came back and found us a taxi and negotiated our trip to the theatre, well by now my eye lids are beginning to feel waay to heavy to consider sitting thru the show albeit something which holds my passion and interest greatly.. anyway we arrive at the hotel battle the traffic and arrive 5 mins late at the show expecting the warmth to hit as we entered the show to be gravely dissappointed suffice to say i managed to stay awake thru shivering... the show was pretty good, quite spectacular although to be honest a little 'show-boaty' for my liking i'd have much preferred some traditional kung fu, this was more choreographed dancing with some kung fu thrown in having said that it was very spectacular, i realise i've repeated myself but i didn't want you to think i didn't enjoy it.. i did, it was just a little show-boaty.. yes i'm repeating myself again, it's the sleep depravation setting in y'know.. we left the show and haggled with a few taxi drivers to return us quickly back to our hotel where i now sit updating my blog (thats an online-journal by the way, mom an dad hehe) The taxi driver home was very chattin and spoke with an american accent tho he assured me he'd never been to the states and learned english at school.. anyway besides the point, he was really informative and told us a few things about Beijing, one of them being the current temperature... -9'c at the moment, and getting colder as mid-night approaches. and January is usually colder still... Bring on the sunshine of Melbourne I say!! can't wait.. Anyway i'm off now as we have to be up for 6:30 for breakkie as we're being picked up from our hotel at 7:20 for the Great Wall Of China, so i'll bid you all a fond fair-well and will most likely blog again tomorrow, if not perhaps when in Melbourne! Enjoy the snow won't you now... hehe it may be cold here but at least there's none of the white stuff you're suffering... I'm glad to say! hehe Night y'all !! xxx
Wow !!! what an action packed, exciting but tiring day.. I awoke at 04:55 had a fag and went back to bed.. I was awoken by my alarm at 06:20, our tour began at 07:20 and we were being picked up from our hotel, so we quickly got showered and dressed and at 07:00 hurried down for brekkie, managed to wolf down a full breakfast and i even had time to spare for another, after brekkie fag, and of course an obligatory wee.. The tour guide, Mike, explained to us that he was going to change the tour slightly, we obliged as it meant we'd recieve a refund of £4 each. New total cost of tour being £20 (inclusive) - extreeeeemly good value for money !! So we drove toward another hotel to pick up 2 more guests, Abigail and Sarah, from Hong kong, they were chinese but spoke very good english. So we began chatting to them and finding out all about them in our usual Danny & Andrea way as we drove to the next hotel..
Their native tongue is Cantonese so i asked them to check my pronunciation of my limited cantonese vocabulary (from my kung fu) they were quite impressed with my 1=ya, 2=yi, 3=sum, 4=sae, 5=mm, 6=lo, 7=ta, 8=ba, 9=gao, 10=sup (counting from 1-10) i then asked them what 11-20 was and they explained that it's sup-ya, sup-yi, sup-sum, sup-sae, sup-mm, sup-lo, etc... so basically 10+1 10+2 10+3 etc.. then 20 became yi-sup, 21= yi-sup-ya, 22= yi-sup-yi - etc.. so very easy counting system.. then 100 = ya-ba 200= yi-ba (would probably be better if i explained this in person tho as i realise that's probably all just a bit non-sensicle to you english types.. hehe)
Anyway that took us to arriving at the next hotel where we picked up Bruno & Sophie (i called bruno boris for some reason so here-on shall be known as such) Boris & Sophie were from Brussels and Boris spoke perfect English, his wife sophie (or so i thought, turned out they were just work colleagues) spoke little english, tho their native tongue was French :D yay for me.. (french is my 2nd language) after speaking to Boris for a little while we established a very common interest in Language and Linguistics, he spoke 7 fluent languages, WOW.. so He, I and Andrea rattled on about languages and eventually ventured on to world politics etc.. We were interupted by mike who elaborated on the tour we would be doing today.
The tour we had booked was; Baddoling Great Wall, Jade carving factory, Lunch, Ming Tombs, then on the way back visit a chinese medicine pharmacy. However he explained that due to heavy rush-hour traffic he was going to adjust the order somewhat, we quickly learned this very much was to our great advantage, the tour now was; Ming tomb, jade factory, Baddoling Great Wall, Lunch, Silk Museum, Tea ceremony & tasting, Visit Olympic Village, then chinese medicine pharmacy.. so the order meant we paid less to get more... BONUS !!
Our first stop was an hour or so drive out of beijing to the Ming tomb.. Very interesting, basically where the emporer and emporesses were burried and their souls kept. All of the workers who he employed were also sacrificed, so when the emporer dies so does everyone he's related to, this forms mainly as a protection so no-one knows exactly where the tomb is, it's also an offering to the gods to provide the next emporer with fortune, wealth and happiness. (again pics will follow shortly) After having seen the tombs and photographed quite a bit we headed back to the minibus.
Next was the Jade carving factory, upon arrival we were met by a 'sales-lady' i'd like to call her a tour guide but the tour lasted about 4 or 5 minutes her interest was basically our money.. however she was sorely dissappointed as none of us on the tour bought a thing, however the carving bit was actually fascinating, I would've liked to ask lots more questions but she didn't really oblige us... in any way.. at all.. hey ho.. perhaps if she had, I might've been inclined to purchase something, but, to be honest their prices were very inflated anyway, compared to what we had seen at the souvenier shops previously. The process is quite interesting tho. basically it all starts from a block of Jade which is gathered from the river beds, they evaluate it's value depending upon colour and colours vary, Green is most common and popular and thought to be the luckiest, but there's also white, purple, yellow, brown, and deep blue.. It is then cut it to size and shaped, using a diamond oscillating saw, and water to protect the jade, they then carve the object as desired, i.e. horse, monkey, rat, pig, dragon and various other chinese luck symbols, it can take upto 3 weeks to make a carving aprox 3cms x 3cms so lots of work goes in to each piece to make it just right, after carving has been completed it then gets polished, fine tuned, re-polished and then buffed to look nice.. after the tour had ended (conveniently in a shop 6 x the size of the factory) she (the sales lady) followed us about trying to sell us various pieces. We then were back in the minibus and on our way to Badoling great wall.
Upon arrival, aprox 15/20 mins later, our tour guide explained that Chairman Mao had once said that to climb any part of the Great Wall of China turns a simple man into that of legendary hero if he reaches the top. So it sounded to me like a bit of a challenge, too bloody right it was a challenge too, as the steps were much larger than i anticipated and the sheer gravity of the climb far more than i expected. It was sensational, especially to think that when the wall was first constructed aprox 2000 years ago it was made by hand with men carrying various materials by hand, upon their backs, 1 million people were said to have constructed the wall of which at least half lost their life in the process, they are now housed in various tombs along the 6,508 km (4,000 miles) stretch which reaches from east to western china, keeping those pesky mongolians at bay. The Chinese Government recently re-built parts of the wall as recently as 22 years ago in doing so the new workers completing the renovations found endless human remains which were carbon dated back to it's original construction. Andrea and I began the journey up to the '3rd top' of course not the real top as apparently there is no real 'top' as wherever you think is the top of the wall as soon as you reach the top you can always see a higher point in the distance. A group of athletes decided to run the entire 4000 miles.. took em 5 years, feeding themselves of the land and sleeping within the watch towers which are located aproximately every 1/2 km (nutters!!!) Anyway I digress, we began climbing the steps upto the 1st top stopping for a rest way more often than i had anticipated, however 'one' doesn't appreciate the sheer resiliance it can take to battle the cold, the winds, the steps, the height, and of course the altitude.. Stopping to take pictures all the way, we finally reached the 1st top, it was very busy with other climbers who continually were stopping in front of you just as you found yourself into a nice climbing pace, I use the word climb rather than walk cos although technically you're walking along paved routes, compared to climbing the mountain it's a doddle, but it is still by no means easy.. so upon reaching the 1st top we sat, took in the views, took some great pics and had a drink of water which by the way had begun to freeze in my bag.. not surprising, what was surprising was that the snot that had dribbled onto my scalf was also freezing, a little too much info but i felt it important to set the scene a little. So onwards an upwards again stopping en-route to drink in as much as possible and take as many pictures as possible we after a little while reached the 2nd and then the 3rd top, however upon reaching the 3rd top, just as our guide had explained, further upwards was another top.. each top is marked by a watch house. What made me really chuckle was the souveneir shop at the 2nd top, it took us at least 40 minutes to reach it and i imagine you'd need to be of pretty good fitness to reach it, let alone every day for work.. I wonder what the workers do for lunch, not as if you can just nip to the shops... so anway 3rd top accomplished we visited the toilet and sheltered from the wind, caught our breath, viewed the scenery and took more pictures, by now the wind was absolutely howling and the coldness of the air temperature made it feel at least 10'c colder suffice to say we quickly began our descent, which by the way wasn't easy either, tho it took only half the time to get down. when we reached the 2nd top on the downward journey, Boris passed us on his way up to the 3rd top.. Andrea and i continued to descend to the foot of the mountain where various souvenier shops, cafe's toilets etc greeted us, we were by now absolutely sweltering so all the warm clothes were quickly stripped away even tho when we arrived i added another 2 layers to both bottoms and tops but once you'd mastered the great wall and survived the severe drops in temperatures the rise in temperature at the foot made the -3'c quite bearable..
After a coffee and mooch at the souveniers we boarded the coach once more heading to the chinese restaurant for lunch, this was most welcome, i can tell you.. lunch was absolutely splendid and would've easily cost £15-20 per head in uk, 8 dishes consisting of pork, beef, 2 types of chicken, fish, and 2 types of vegetables, rice and a cabbage soup, included was a 1/2 bottle of rice-vodka, 58% proof... Well it'd be rude not to really, so we polished the bottle off between the 6 of us very quickly then a desert of freshly cut oranges and a plate of nuts and what i can really only describe as biscotti. Following the meal and in the same place as the restaurant was the Ceramic factory which we browsed thru the window. feeling a little wobbly on my feet after the 2 shot glasses of the rice-vodka we stumbled back on-board the minibus heading back to beijing to the silk factory and tea ceremony..
So first the Silk which was again very interesting to see how this is created from silk worms, way too much to go into but i'll summise, there are 2 types of silk worm, who form cocoons some with 1 worm and some with 2 worms, 1 worm cocoons go to make shirts, sheets, curtains etc, whilst the twin wormed cocoons can be made into the inside of a duvet, alergy free and exceptionally warm. The reason they use twin worms for the duvet is because the silk that comes from a twin cocoon is always at least 2 or 3 strands of silk whereas the single cocoons only have 1 strand of silk. so the double wormed cocoons are then stretched to form a spidersweb-like formation which is then layed upto 150 times on top of one another, bearing in mind that to make one spiders web they use 8 x twin cocoons per layer, suffice to say it would be very snuggly. anyway and again rather conveniently this tour ended up, guess where... yup in a shop selling all kinds of silk garments, anything from a purse, ties, shirts, curtains etc.. right thru to a complete bed set, including mattress protector, sheet, duvet cover, duvet, pillows and pillow cases, headboard.. etc.. again fascinating to see it made, and whilst i considered having a silk suit made the £250 price tag quickly steered me in the direction of away, towards the exit.. not that im tight fisted but more-so that i couldn't afford to buy this out of my holiday spending money.. Ahh who am i kidding it's cos i'm tight fisted.. lol so next stop was the tea ceremony, this was also really interesting but again way too much to go into, suffice to say we tried 6 different types of tea, all complimentary, and each one geared to help a different part of the body for different reasons.
Just for your info it's now nearly midnight here as i sit typing, and i'm beginning to feel very sleepy, so i will continue swiftly on as i'd like to upload pics for you tonight so they will be online asap. so after tea ceremony onto the Olympic village where the chinese medicine pharmacy was housed, after the games there were lots of the arena's empty so they were converted into various types of business.. included within the price of the tour was a 'free' foot massage.. I say 'free' because as we all know there is no such thing as a free lunch, or foot massage in this case, as the chinese doctor went onto explain how it works and how they don't cure just the symptomns like western medicine but also the cause thus preventing the ailment from coming back, it was all very good and extremely informative, and something i shall deffinately be looking into back in the uk because i was informed i have a lot of fat around my liver and kidney, which inevitibly is the route and cause of my psoriasis and also possible cause also of my recent back pains, not my bed as i first thought however £120 for the medicine was not gonna happen, but a small bottle of oil was purchsed for my back pain, which i must admit has made a difference already and i've only used it once cost me £20 so full satisfaction so far.. After the pharmacy we stopped to take some pictures and headed back to our hotel.. the 9 hour tour which had now taken us 11 hours to complete had really tired me out and although the foot massage was very welcome and had helped greatly i was glad to be back a the hotel.
We decided post showering we'd finally go for a chinese meal at the restaurant opposite our hotel, however we were sorely disappointed as we ordered peking duck, language barriers again set in and we received no pancakes, cucumber, spring onions and just half a duck in some random sauce, deffo not hoi sin / plum sauce that i'm used to, the duck was served on the bone and was very fatty, not in the least bit tasty and not aromatic, however only cost £4.50 anyway we won't be eating there ever again, not that we'll be granted such an opportunity, but if ever you go to beijing, i'd avoid the restaurant oppostied the days inn forbidden city, beijing.. pics of the restaurant to follow just to be sure you don't end up there by accident.. not only that but the reception we received was frosty to say the least.. still not far to walk back home where we had a nice coffee and i settled down to update my blog.. where i now sit writing, obviously.. lol Andrea is currently catchin flies and i'm gonna have a fag and go to bed.
Tomorrow we leave Beijing for Melbourne and whilst i absolutely cannot wait to get to melbourne where the sun is (fingers crossed) hopefully shining, i definately will miss beijing and have enjoyed every minute and comes highly reccommended and i will be re-visiting however best times to come is our summer where temperatures can soar to 35-40'c. It feels like i've been here at least 10 days as we've managed to cram so much in, however the cold i had in uk has only since been compounded.. i wonna now sit on a beach and completely thaw out.. bring it on... hehe Tomorrow i shall be up early-ish and hopefully go to the temple of heaven where i hope to do a kung fu class, before flying to melbourne.. to that end the flight is rather long and so i'm not entirely sure when i'll next get online, tho no doubt will have a plethora of stories to tell..
Feel free to write me a message via this site, i read every message and will reply when time allows, also feel free to pass this address ( www.getjealous.com/danglevandangle ) to anyone you think may enjoy reading, also don't forget to check out the map i'm updating too, videos will soon follow too.. Night everybody peeps ! much love :D xxx
p.s. appologies for the poor gramma, i know there's some gramma missing, but i am way to tired to care at this stage.. maybe once i've got a little more time i'll rectify this. also feel free to check out andie's blog as she may have said some things i've forgotten.. www.getjealous.com/andieob and you can message her there too ;o)
p.p.s i will at some point get round to organising pics an labeling
Good Morning everyone. Today is Saturday 16th December and we are now in Melbourne Australia, Unfortunately we have no free wifi access in Melbourne, so i decided rather than pay I shall type up my blog in a word document and then update the website when i can do it for free.. see told u i was tight.. hehe To be honest tho the cost of obtaining wifi here at the hotel isn’t that cheap, so we shall visit at some point a wifi hotspot where we can access the internet for free.
We awoke on Thursday 16th December in Beijing and wouldn’t you know it the one day i wanted to be up early so i could go and train, we didn’t awake till about 9:30.. Bugger, so i didn’t get to do any training in Beijing at the temple of heaven, which is a real shame... i Was a bit gutted to be honest, however part of me was also glad because my legs were absolutely killing me from climbing the Great Wall. I definately plan to come to do some training in china one day anyway at some point.
We went down for breakfast and the restaurant was quite busy, literally only one table left so we sat down and went about getting some food. Now i wanted to elaborate upon what there was available for breakfast but it slipped my mind, so i will elaborate slightly more now. So at the top of the buffet table were a choice of 3 fruit juices, and one vessell of milk, then, although this changed daily the main consistant choices were as follows, moving down the table, hash browns, mushrooms, baked beans, boiled ham, flavoured eggs, noodles, rice, porridge, some kind of rice soup (forgot what it was called) deep fried spring rolls, then round the opposite side, pancakes and waffles, french toast, bacon (which was delicious) breakfast sausage. Then there were 3 or 4 breakfast cereals, there was always salmon, cheese and slices of ham, then 3 or 4 choices of fruit in their own juices. I must tell you, there was one thing at the breakfast table i have never tasted like this before, it was pears in pear juice, but they were THE most delicious pears in the world, so tasty and left a really sweet pear aftertaste, so that was a must everyday, then upon a seperate table there were some pastries, croissants, apple danishes and a choice of bread rolls.. then there was also a man who stood with two hot plates cooking fried eggs and ommelette’s. And then one last thing a bowl of yoghurts, various flavours. So as breakfast choices go i have to say it was pretty awesome, to be fair i’m sure there’s something i’ve missed but unfortunately after a day my brain turns to mush.. lol
After breakfast Andrea and I went towards new street as we’d seen a little back street which looked a bit like china-town, as we were in china, we called it ‘england town’ lol we had a walk down there and it was mainly containing fast (Chinese) food street vendors and a multitude of souvinier shops, mainly all selling the same type of stuff tho, we bought a few nick-nacks and andrea bought a few gifts for her work colleagues and she also bought an additional camera battery so she could charge one and use one, as at the Great wall her batterty died.. D’oh.. She also bought a pair of ear-muffs, ironic as today was the warmest day in beijing so far and we were able to walk down the street in a t-shirt and a jumper, no need for hats scalves coats gloves 42 jumpers 16 t-shirts 49 pairs of trousers 6 pairs of socks and 19 body warmers (im exagurating obviously lol) I bought from one of the gift shops a ciggy case, which was very clever, you load the ciggies in from the side and then once the case is closed, u press a button to dispense a ciggy, then a built-in wind-proof lighter to light them with, i was so dead chuffed, but sadly this was taken off me at customs at the airport :o( booo! We carried on our merry way however time was now pressing on and we both still had yet to pack for our flight to Melbourne, and i was panicing a little so we went back to the hotel and packed our stuff up, as we had been somewhat living out of our cases this took all of 10 mins.. so panic over, we had already booked a car back to the airport for 12:30 so we could relax a little now
We headded back out for a stroll and ended up in the park where we had seen local people dancing the day or two before, as it was so warm, we walked thru said park taking pics although we had already done so, never before in so few clothes. I asked a local chinese person to take a picture of us and after he began talking to us explaining he’s learning english at uniwersity as well as phillosophy and chinese art. Incedentally his english teacher was a scouse, which made me chuckle.. i mimiced the scouse accent for a moment and joked about how learning from a scouser probably wasn’t easy as we english types sometimes struggle to understand them.. Jonny (our new found friend) walked with us and explained that we could get to the forbidden city if we continued up the street behind the back of the hotel. By the way, jonny was his english name his real name was ming jau ( i think, i can’t quite remember) but this translates to english as jonny. Anyway he was explaining how he’s coming next month to England to do a culture exchange with one or two uniwersities, one of them being Bham uni, at which point we ducked into his art gallery and he wrote down his email address and took both mine and andrea’s too. He then began showing us various pieces of art, most of which his proffessor had painted but also showed us some of his own works, he was clearly very very talented, but then came the hard sell.. We wondered when it was gonna come to be honest he explained that they were selling the art works to fund the students travel, so if we could buy a painting to help fund their travells he’d be very obliged.. then his proffessor who had been serving some other people kind of took over the ‘sale’ and began showing us a few other pieces he’d done and he explained how he’d painted them using his fingers, finger nails, ball of his hand and knuckes as well as the ‘knife edge’ of his hand, the point being, no paint brushes. He began bartering with us over a piece of art, not knowing we really weren’t going to buy one, but we were sort of stuck there with no exit route and me being the year of the draggon i bought 1 piece which was a draggon which i very much liked, it cost me £10 so i was actually pretty pleased, albeit i hadn’t really planned to buy any art.. but the piece i bought i really did like and a great deal of work went into making it, apparently taking aproximately 8 days to complete, the painting is done on rice paper and then attached to silk with a bamboo scroll at the bottom, enabling it to be rolled up and put into a box, so we left the shop rather chuffed that i’d bought a piece of china to take back home, and me being pretty good at haggling managed to get him down from £54 to a tenner.. so y’can’t complain really..
We walked back to our hotel as it was nearly time to leave, grabbed our cases and checked we’d not left anything and met the chauffeur of the car outside the atrium of the hotel . he loaded our cases into the boot and we climbed inside and we drove to terminal 2 of the airport, taking pictures of various building en-route. We waited in line and sent our suit-cases off and went thru the check-in gates to the departure lounge of the airport and after milling around as one does looking at various shops and having the obligatory spray of perfume from duty free, we went towards where we had to board the aircraft for our flight. Today we were flying from Beijing to Guangzhou (pronounced kwon-so) then on to melbourne, so after finding where we had to board, andrea had a sit on the sea-saw in the childrens play area watching tom and jerry, there was a table football game so we began playing to pass some time,
After a little while a chinese guy came and was watching as we played and then his friend joined him, they, thru the medium of sign langauge asked if they could join us, so Andrea moved round to my side of the table and they took the other side.. It was Air china Vs British Airways and we were now playing for the honour of our country. But they were goood... really gooood and a few home goals didn’t help either, we were playing first to 10 and we were 9-7 down, but we just couldn’t keep those pesky plastic footballers at bay and they won.. we then had another game.. and another.. and another... and they were winning every single time, we were holding our own for most of it but we just couldn’t score that last goal to win the set.. British airways lost 4 sets to 0 bad times... it was so much fun and as people were on their way to their respective planes would stop and watch and cheer as goals were scored, a right rauchus din we all made too.. i’m sure people were hearing the volume of noise and wanted to know what was going on.. It was like a world cup.. time was now ticking on and we had to board our plane, so we thanked them, shook hands and i asked if they wanted to swap jumpers as one was wearing a porsche jumper and the other lad a vercase, alas in our own jerseys we remained. Lol
So eventually we got on the plane and the plane departed for guangzhou, noting spectacular to report really, we took off and landed as planes do and then walked thru to the departure lounge for our connecting flight to melboune, Guangzhou airport was much bigger than i’d expected it to be again tho nothing particularly exciting.. a coffee here cost £5 tho which was rather expensive, anyway our flight was called and we made our way to the gate where we boarded the next plane to Melbourne.. Ooh incidentally andreas last minute toilet stop made me panic somewhat as whilst she was releivingherself the flight changed from ‘boarding’ to ‘FINAL CALL’ and where was she.. she was taking an eternity, the queue had dissipated and still no sign of Andrea, i explained to the man on the gate i was awaiting the arrival of my friend, and he was rather stressing exclaiming they would have to close the gate soon.. i set off in search of her just as she casually strolled out as if she had all the time in the world.. lol she realising than it was final call had to leg-it right down the airport passing several departure gates till she arrived at our gate, we boarded the aircraft and relaxed onboard the Airbus A330 very nice plane with lots of legroom, very modern and looked pretty new too.. we were very impressed and gladly so, as we had a 9 and a half hour flight to melbourne to endure.. food was good and service on-board this leg was fantastic redeming china southern airways reputation slightly.
We arrived in melbourne and cleared baggage claim and customs literally in about 20 minutes tops, from gettin off the plane to being outside in the sunshine where we were standing looking for Paul as he’d agreed to collect us from the airport. I just have to stress somethinhg the weather... mmmmmm nice, sunny with scattered cloud and WARM !!! This was most welcome after the baltic conditions of Beijing. Sadly my phone had died on-board the plane and so had andreas laptop, updating her blog in guangzhou, so i found a pharmacy at the airport and bought a few adaptor plugs set up the laptop and began charging my phone.. Paul had text me already saying to text when we landed and he’d be on his way, so after a few texts back and forth, they arrived in their new car which is a bit like 7 seater minibus. A korean Kia very nice too ! we said our hello’s and gave Annika and jane a big hug and inside the car were two ickle children, Ethan and Miya, my god they’ve grown, bearing in mind we hadn’t seen them since they were babies, last time a the stourport picnic leaving do back in September, they’re also both rather tanned making me quite jealous really.. their hair longer and much more blonde too..
We set off for our hotel and after one or two navigational discussions and catching up we arrived at the 4**** Best Western Atlantis (300 Spencer street if you wish to google it) Melbourne.. After checking in to the hotel we drove downtown looking for somewhere to park tho melbourne parking isn’t particularly cheap at £6 per hour.. so after a little discussion we all agreed we’d go back to our hotel where we could park for £15 for 24hours, not that we’d need 24 hours but would just mean there was no rush.. so we dropped off the car and began walking to the city on-foot. Paul and I were catching up as Andrea and jane were window shopping perusing melbournes high street style shops. There are areas of melbourne that also look like birminghams new street, and also like londons oxford street, it does very much seem like england, so you can definately understand why there’s so many ex-pats here.. however they seem to have the best of both worlds.. The wether suddenly changed and began raining, tho the temperature remained the same warm feeling and it wasn’t raining heavily at all so no biggiee really..
We stopped off for some food at a vietnamese restaurant chosen by Jane and Andrea (the fussy eaters) we ordered our food and it was delicious, i had cubed beef over rice with a side salad and a rich slightly spicy sauce. Just as i’d finished eating i heard a bit of a row outside and turned round in my seat to hear a street rally going on, i dashed outside to see what it was about and took a few pics.. apparently something to do with freedom of speach.
After dinner we continued walking thru the streets and took in some of the famous sights of melboune like the grand train station, the view of the city was very exceptional from there, as you have to very old syle buildings mixed with modern sky scrapers and then the quirky art gallery. I took a few pics of this Shortly after we had iced cream and walked along the river chatting merrily, we happened upon a street artist, I won’t say any more as there is a video of this which you must watch, suffice to say he was very funny and kept us entertained for quite a while and even involved Annika.. lol along the river there are various attractions to see including the highest building in the Southern Hemisphere, have to say it didn’t look that tall.. but i imagine it most likely is. Apparently Sammi has been to the top, where there’s a glass plynth where you can see the street below.. we might get to do this at some point.. if i had to compare it’s height to a building i’d say it’s probably as tall as the cougette in london, tho it probably is a little higher. Maybe we’ll find out..
We walked back to our hotel where we packed up our stuff for the next part of our journey to Tasmania, as paul and jane have offered to look after our luggage whilst we visit tas. This saved us $404 on our ticket so we were very grateful to paul for doing this. Very exhausted as we’d been up way over 24 hours by now.. i can’t actually work out how long as there was a time difference between beijing and melbourne, but we very quickly went to sleep. It is now 07:41 on satuday 18th December and i’m going for a swim in the hotels pool.. I’ll hopefully update after todays events and perhaps when we reach tas if we get free wifi there, i’ll copy/paste this to update the blog. Catch ya laters aligators... :D xx
post swim, awaiting andrea's awakening i decided to hang the expense and pay the £2.50 per hour wifi fee to cure my boredom.. lol
As I left you yesterday Andrea was still sleeping and I had woken up and updated my blog then I was going for a swim, After my swim in the pool, which by the way is very nice, about 30 ft x 15 ft square, I found a sauna which was really welcome as I had a bit of a stinking cold still from uk, compounded in Beijing, after my sauna I went back up to the room and found Andrea to be still sleeping, I left her to sleep as she obviously needed to catch up somewhat. Eventually she awoke and we worked out what we were going to do for the day, I told Andrea about the sauna and how I felt a bit better having sweated out some in toxins out of my body from the days before, so we decided we’d go and have a sauna and a swim, I didn’t mind having only just had one because I figured the faster I get rid of the nasty germs the better.. we had a very long hot sauna with a few swims in between felt great and my skin was silky smooth, albeit I’m getting quite unshaven because I didn’t think to take my razor out of my suitcase for our tas trip tomorrow (which is now today, as I currently sit at the airport awaiting the embarkation of our flight).
Where our hotel is situated the train station is literally across the road so we popped in there to find the easiest/cheapest way to get to the airport, we had a walk along the concourse and found a few shops to have a little look in and we grabbed some food.. I had a deluxe steak sandwich.. Was absolutely huge and tasted delicious. By the way, the food in Australia is similar to American portions even the cans of coke are bigger at 375ml rather than our standard 330ml and a 500ml bottle over here is 600ml I guess aussies pay more for it though.. Once we’d eaten we went for a stroll along the road back towards the shopping district where we’d been with Paul and Jane the day before, Jane had mentioned to us that there is a free tram which circumnavigates the city and as you travel round, recording points out of things of interest to take in. We meandered around until we found the stop for that particular tram and just as we’d walked out from under the canopies of the hotels, wouldn’t you know it, it began raining.. And when it rains in Melbourne it really means it. It’s not joking with you, so we took cover momentarily and decided that we needed to work out where we were going, and where the nearest tram stop was so we could get in the dry but still see the city.
Melbourne is really well organised, everything in blocks, like the states, so once you work out where you are it’s really easy to find where you need to go to. Eventually and after a little bit of rain we found the correct stop and literally 3 or 4 minutes after we found the stop a tram appeared on the horizon, so we waited in an adjacent bus stop to take cover from the rain until the tram neared, and we boarded, it was, understandably packed, with lots of tourists having the same idea. Andrea an I had discussed what we’d do was to take a full trip around the city and then decide where to get off on the second time around, hopefully by this time the rain might’ve stopped and sure enough it did, the free tram was actually a brilliant idea, and a really good way of seeing the city, especially without getting wet, the recorded message it played at each station pointing out various things, to be honest I can’t remember much of what was said, however I remember it pulling up along-side a very quaint house and the recording telling us that this was the oldest building within not only Melbourne, but the state of Victoria, dating back to 1806 (don’t quote me but I think that was the date) suffice to say it was very twee and bijoux.
We found ourselves eventually at the docklands where we got off the tram as the sun had begun to shine quite brightly, alas as soon as we began walking towards the boats and bars surrounding the harbour, the heavens once again opened and we had to run a bit for cover, nowhere near as heavy as before though, we ended up walking across the promenade where we entered a shopping precinct, we had a little nosey in some shops to shelter from the weather but then Andrea got into ‘shopping mode’ and was walking from shop to shop to shop looking at various garments, after the first few shops I grew very bored so we both agreed that we’d do our own thing for a while and meet up back at the hotel at 5:30 so I walked back towards the tram and boarded where we’d gotten off and I began riding back towards the city once more however after a few stops I realised that the tram was only going in a clockwise direction and the quickest way back to the city would be anti-clockwise I therefore got off the tram at the next stop by the Etihad stadium, which so I’m told by Paul is the biggest stadium in the world, at least I think it was that one.. looked very nice anyway, I continued on foot towards the city however due to the fact I didn’t actually know where I was going exactly i.e. for where in the city I was heading, I took a few left and right turns and ended up finding myself a little bit unsure of where I was in relation to the city, though I continued to just meander until I found myself back at ‘southern cross’ train station, which I call ‘grand central station’, as it’s pretty grand, very central and most definitely a station.
So now knowing where I was, as I knew the train station was across the road from our hotel, I wandered back towards the hotel as it was nearly time to meet Andrea, just time enough to pop to McDonalds and pinch their free wifi so I could get online and check my get jealous, facebook and various other sites.
I returned to find Andréa already in the room and a coffee waiting for me, we discussed what we were going to do for the evening, Andréa began writing her blog and I played on my phone resting my weary feet. We determined we’d have another sauna and swim as we both felt it had done us some good, although I still have a very tickly cough (Dr Tim, any suggestions of remedies greatly received, ones that don’t cost $30 from a pharmacy I mean).
Following our sauna we doll’ed ourselves up and went to find a nice eatery of which there were many, however we aimlessly walked discussing various things which held our attention to discover we’d walked away from most of the nice eateries.. d’oh Andrea was mighty parched so we called in to a pub called the ‘drunken poet’ where a drummer and a guy on keyboards were entertaining the patrons of said pub, I went to the toilet which was a very interesting experience as the toilet had been decorated wall to wall in comics with various witty bits of annotation by Joe public, one reading.. “Coventry city forever – up the sky-blues” made me chuckle somewhat, go to the other side of the world and see graffiti from someone 15 miles from home.
Once we’d finished our drinks we set about finding somewhere to eat as my stomach was beginning to grumble, as was Andreas, we found ourselves a nice little Malaysian restaurant where we ordered our food and sat road-side as we really get the opportunity to eat alfresco , meal was nice, albeit we both ate each other’s dinners without realising, we then walked down the road back towards the main city centre, as we were looking at some motorbikes in a shop window dreamily, and missing Saturn slightly (my bike) we heard a really loud bang.. sounded like a gunshot we turned round with in a flash to see a car spinning out of control, we hurried to rubberneck and find out what had happened, asking another passerby he informed us that a guy had jumped the red light and ‘t-boned’ the other car, and although both sets of airbags had been deployed there seemed to be no damage whatsoever to either vehicle.. Was like a phantom accident..
We then began walking in the direction of home and after getting lost a little and walking round in square circles we eventually made it back to the hotel and into our room, and not before time either as we were both yawning away.
Sadly though because of my tickly cough I didn’t get to sleep very quickly, I gargled with some aspirin and eventually fell asleep.. Must get some kind of remedy (hint hint Timbo) ;o)
Anyway we’re now Tasmania bound, so I’ll give you more info either later or tomorrow.
Hello everybody peeps. Today is now Sunday 19th December and we have arrived safely in Tasmania, We both awoke this morning bright and early, however i was feeling very tired after having only a few hours sleep before vacating the hotel and making our way with our 2 pieces of hand-luggage to the airport.. Incedentally the maximum weight allowance was 10kg, but i’ll come to that more later. We checked out of the hotel and went to grand central station where we caught a shuttle bus to the airport £13 took us about 25 mins to get to the airport. Our flight was due to depart at 10:30 therefore we had to check-in an hour prior to that meaning we had to board the bus at 07:00 ensuring we had plenty of time to get to the airport, however, on the way to the airport upon checking the boarding cards we’d had printed by the hotel the night before, we realised the flight wasn’t actually till 11:30 and therefore the check-in was actually 10:30 not 09:30 long story short we arrived at the airport 2 and a half hours prior to departure, because we had our boarding cards printed we didn’t need to queue up and see the check-in staff, although we didn’t find this out until we got to near enough the front of the queue, oh well, we had time to waste..
Before we went to the departure gate there was a set of scales with the maximum size allowances, Andrea weighed hers and she came in with both of her pieces at just under her allotted 10kgs, i weighed my one piece of luggage and it came in at 8.4kgs i weighed my other piece, the bag tim bought me for xmas, which by the way is why you are seeing random pics of a bag in various places, that bag came in at 8.6kgs... oops.. i was over my allowance by just over 7kgs. There was no-one actually checking the weight, we just weighed it to establish how heavy they each were, so it made no difference whatsoever, we went to the departure gate and handed in our boarding cards and had our bags x-rayed and continued through to the depature lounge where we had a snack and coffee. Andrea caught up with her blog and i perused the shops to see if there was anything i wanted to buy, however being over-weight as it was i figured it best i didn’t bother, eventually our flight was called and we boarded the aircraft, discussing the chaos we’d read about on the news pages as we both uploaded our blogs to the site, feeling rather grateful we were in a warm sunny climate.
The flight was pretty short, literally just over an hour, although mighty turbulant for take-off and landing, it was quite exciting. After we’d landed we went to the car rental place to pick up the car hire we’d previously arranged back in October, It was really cool seeing all of our meticulous plans coming to fruition, the guy at the desk tried to get us to upgrade the insurance package we’d bought but we decided not to, however if we didn’t do this it would mean he’d have to take a security deposit of $750 (about £520) therefore we thought it best to upgrade the insurance, meaning he’d only have to take a $250 deposit, also reduced various excessed on the car, after signing the various pieces of paper the rental agent handed us our keys and told us the car was awaiting collection in bay F10
We arrived at bay F10 to find a nice little Toyota Yaris, in silver.. We named him norman ! after a little familiarisation with the controls i drove out of the airport and down the road towards our destination, the Lufra hotel, Eaglehawk neck, I set the sat nav that Andreas friend Sue had gived us to useand we set off oun our merry way towards eagleneck and the lufra hotel, however we met our first tasmanian town and we just had to pull over.. It was so picturesque and quaint, like we’d just stepped back into te 50’s i nipped into the chemist to get some throat remedies and suncream.
We took a few photos and walked over to the post office as Andrea wanted to buy some stamps but as it was Sunday the post office was closed so after a few more pics we set off again towards the hotel. Funny thing, the indicators and windscreen wipers are the opposite way round to my car at home so everytime i went to turn rather than indicating my intentions i merely wiped the screen.. After about another 5 minutes drive we spotted another really beautiful picturesque scene so we once again jumped out of the car and took some more pics, ever corner you turn is like a postcard, it’s like a dream, everywhere is just so beautiful. It reminds me slightly of being in either wales or cornwall, but on a much grander scale. We set off once again and another ten minutes down the road we were out of the car once again taking pics. This time of the first look at the sea since we went on holiday. A gorgeous bay with mountains in the background and little island with trees on it, so we took a few more pics, and a few more, and a few more.. then as i got back in the car i saw a sign for ‘lions club international’ which is (sad i know but) a club who’s fire extinguishers we service in Kings Heath. Anyway we carried on a little way down the winding roads.. guess what happened next... Yup we had to stop to take some more photos, i just cant get accross just how stunning this place really is..
Did i mention the weather here since we arrived.. No i don’t think i have yet, well upon arrival it was quite overcast and cloudy and a bit dull but as soon as we stopped by the chemist the sun came out and shone brightly ever since, and i’m now sitting on our patio (see pics / vid) typing looking out over the bay of eaglehawk neck and the sun is beating down and i can hear the roll of the waves probably about 400m away. Anyway back to the story, so after the last photo shoot we found we were only about 3km away from the hotel, so we carried on twisting and winding around it’s roads and then we came accross the hotel, however just opposite the hotel was a car park, this was the closest we’d yet been to actually getting something done, alas we had to take yet more pics as the scenery once again was so lovely.
We checked in at reception and enquired about various things. The receptionist Angie, who was so warm and friendly, quite different from the reception we received in Melbourne, which was much more erm proffessional, not that it was bad in any way, but Angie made us feel welcome, as if we were a family member, She gave us our room cards and told us how to get to the room, so we drove the car out of the car park we’d parked in adjacent to the hotel and drove 50 yards down the road, round to the back of the hotel, where the hotels car park is, we were in room 104 so we found the room and had a little look before taking our stuff inside.. I have to say, Andrea and I instantly got very excited as we entered, first of all the bathroom, then into the open-plan louge and kitchen then we saw the patio overlooking the bay where i now sit.. This hotel is absolute perfection. I remember when booking it hot nice it looked on the website.
After we’d unpacked we wanted to explore the surrounding area, so we had a quick change and headed straight for the beach, we were like a couple of kids who’d never seen a beach before.. excitedly dancing our way down to the shore-line and once again.. took lots more pictures. Lol lots and lots more... Loads.. so many it was even a lot for me, and i always take lots of pics.. we carried on down the beach and wrote our name in the sand and drank in the beauty of this wonderful place. We’d been walking about 40 minutes when we discussed food, as we were both pretty starving as we hadn’t eaten very much at all, just a snack at the airport which was at about 8:30 it was now nearer to 6pm so we made our way bac k to the car and then back to our lovely room.
Andrea decided she wanted a shower and to be fair she did stink.. naah not really. Lol however we came back to our room where we both just sat on the internet silently for about an hour, updating various things, reading our messages and checking emails etc.. then after realisation of how much time had passed, largely dictated by our grumbling bellies, it was a mad dash to get showered and changed and quickly out the door en-route for hobart where we planned to have a meal. Since arriving on holiday all we seem to have eaten is Oriental food and McDonalds so we both made a pact that we’d eat something other than Oriental and McDonalds / other fast food joints. As we nearerd Hobart we drove past a Coles supermarket which seem to be very popular over here i’d say as big as hall green tescos but they seem to sell everything you need alas not a great deal of choice regarding brands, this we didn’t mind, as we’d only planned to pick up some aspirin, more throat remedies and a few snacks to eat later and perhaps something for breakfast for the next few days, save us buying stuff, thus saving us money, however $70 later and we’d bought enough to feed ourselves for the entire duration of our stay in Tas.. Oops Still, it does now mean we don’t need to worry about food, we can eat at our own schedule, besides this was sort of the purpose of chosing an accommodation where we can cook stuff. We’d bought so much food that we desided that rather than goin out for a meal, it’d be nice to stay in for one, so we went to the meat section and bought some steak.. When i say steak, what i actually mean is the whole side of an Ox it was literally about as big as a mans size 14 shoe.. and there were 3 of them.. all this for $11 I was astonished, so we’re having Steak for tea.. YAAAY ! Well it’s not oriental or fast food, especially as we’d have to wait will we arrived home to eat it.. lol
After we’d loaded our goodies into the boot of Norman we drove home, on the way home we saw a creature in the road, about hedgehog size, we slowed right down and readied a camera to try and snap the hoggy goodness, alas he scurried off into the undergrowth and we missed him.. we had a look to try and work out what he was, I think it was either a Tasmanian Devil, or a Posum.. Around the next corner was another creature... This was most deffinately a Wallaby, I’d seen these before at long-leat, right size colour and shape and bounced along a the road like a kangaroo, we grew very excited now driving rather slowly in hope that we may see more animals, alas we were disappointed as that was the last one we saw. We arrived home and i began preparing dinner as Andrea washed all the crockery and cutlery as, although they were clean, they weren’t REALLY clean.. we had steak and sausage with mushrooms tomatoes and I had a fried egg too.. It was delicious.. no no it was delectable..
We sat down and watched some tv and i began updating my blog.. however i literally couldn’t keep my eyes open. So i turned in for the night, sleeping very very well awaking at 8:45 this morning to finish me blog.
First thing I wrote and updated my blog Andrea awoke and jumped into the shower, and then she prepared breakfast, whilst I showered, bananas on toast mmmm, then I had some soft cheese & chives on a muffin mm mm mmm after breakfast I jumped in the shower and we readied ourselves for the day ahead, preparing for every eventuality.
It’s so great having Norman (the car) because we can just chuck all manner of things in the boot and just set off without having to carry anything, obviously saves on public transport too and totally unrestricts one's desires.
We set off heading south as every other time we'd headed towards Hobart which is north, well actually its due west but we have to head north to go west. Around 10 minutes later we arrived at a tourist spot called the blow-hole, bemused by what the blow-hole was we parked up and jumped out of the car to find out more and explore, there were signs pointing to 'look-out' and 'jetty', incidentally its the opposite side of the bay from where the hotel sits and on some of the pictures taken the previous day where the boats bob up and down in the water. After walking a couple of minutes down a little path-way we came to the look-out I thought it was a warning rather than an observatory.. Look-out, falling rocks, or look-out your on fire etc.. Lol obviously not though.. So to the blow-hole, basically its where over time the sea has eroded the rocks to form a sort of tunnel from one side of the peninsular, and hundreds of years ago rocks fell to form a roof on the tunnel, we didn’t realize what was so special about it initially though as the 1st look-out only looked over the pool where the water smashes into the rocks at the end of the cul-de-sac, if you will, but as we continued down the path we realised we were previously standing upon the roof of the bridge of the tunnel, so upon seeing it in all its glory we were rather impressed at this spectacle.
We took a few pics we walked down to the jetty and a few more pics later we were on our way back to the car to continue on our voyage of discovery and exploration.
5 minutes down the road was a place called 'devils kitchen' which we had a walk around though to be honest couldn’t see any spectacle here, even though we went to all the look-outs and took loads more pics, we asked a Swiss couple to take a picture of us, and began chatting to them, they remarked how Tasmania reminded them of Scotland or Wales, we agreed with them as we'd already discussed this ourselves. After a little chat about Scotland and various different things we headed back to the car and drove down the road to find we'd driven the wrong way as it was a dead end and took us to where we'd just been taking pics of devils kitchen, by the way whilst we weren’t overly impressed with devils kitchen the views were spectacular. Having said that every corner you turn the views are spectacular, I really can’t emphasise that sufficiently and I don’t think the pictures really do it a great deal of justice although it gives you an idea, however M&D you'd be completely overwhelmed I’m sure. Well anyone would be I reckon, the people here are just so friendly and helpful, and it’s so safe.
Once we got back on the right track we continued south towards 'port Arthur' which used to be a prison for convicts, I think sent there from England, though don’t quote me on that, en-route we passed a Tasmanian Devil sanctuary and rehabilitation centre, we enquired how much it would cost to go in and it was $30 (about £18) we decided not to at that moment but perhaps we'd go back, so we carried on down the coast to P.Arthur we arrived about half an hour later, had a look around the visitor centre however it was $120 to go in.. We didn’t bother, it looked like you'd need at least a whole day there to see/do it properly anyway besides we were enjoying driving around and seeing the different sides of Tas, we had almost reached the bottom of the peninsular so turned back to head west and we took a road which lead us to some beautiful beaches and a little town where Andrea found a post office and finally posted her cards she'd been carrying around for aaaaaages lol it then began to rain slightly nothing major just a light drizzle then it turned slightly heavier, then it went back to drizzle again. Once more making us appreciate Norman. We discussed what we'd have for tea and obviously steak was the main part but what to have with it.. A potato of some kind was the decision but we had no potatoes. So we put potatoes on our list of things to do, after driving a little longer we found ourselves back at eagle hawk-neck. As we hadn’t packed a lunch it seemed a bit silly paying when we could just prepare our own food. We had sausage eggs beans tomatoes fried bread, so pretty much full English.
I began chatting to a lad via an 'App' on my phone who lives near Hobart and I was asking him what to do etc, he made a few recommendations one being to visit a place called 'wineglass bay' up the east coast although I got a bit confused as I thought he meant just the road from Hobart so we headed for Hobart, Upon reaching Hobart we realised we hadn’t been to Hobart before and where we thought Hobart was, was actually a place called sorrell, so we had a little drive round Hobart and once again it began slightly raining, it’s a really nice little city, grid-like formation making navigation a doddle, we tried to find wineglass bay on the sat nav but it was way too far, so we selected what we thought was a mountain on the sat nav but it began navigating us in the direction of home, we saw signs for 'seven mile beach' so we ignored the sat nav and followed the signs for seven mile beach.. We were driving for about 40 minutes and we came to the seven mile beach, and they weren’t kidding either it stretched on and on and on, presumably for 7 miles, it was a very long way, we had a little play in the sand and, yep, you guessed it took yet more photos. We then drove a bit further and found a shop from where we bought some potatoes, and Andrea bought some fruit, we must’ve been in the shop for a good 20 minutes chatting to the shop-keeper about various things, as she'd detected our English accents as her hubby was English. Our bellies were now dictating the direction and the thought of the juicy steak was making my mouth water (it is now too actually) we were making one steak into two steaks as they were just soo big, we drove back home which took a good hour stopping off once or twice for photos.
I cooked a steak and I had mashed potatoes and Andrea had boiled potatoes with mushroom, beans and tomatoes. By the time we got home we were almost exhausted but we both wanted to watch the apprentice (episode 11 - the interviews) please don’t tell us who wins because we shall watch the final at some point. We then fell asleep.
Today I woke up early but I was still quite exhausted I went back to bed, we don’t seem to have stopped since arriving in the southern hemisphere, I heard Andrea get up and she was pottering around however I fell back to sleep, I must’ve needed it because I didn’t awake till about 12 it was a shame though because I felt we'd wasted part of the morning, however Andrea said she went to go out for a meander but the weather quickly put a stop to that as it began pee-ing it down, as I awoke I found her updating her blog which she'd almost completed, so I allowed her to finish off as I came round to the idea of getting up. Andrea made me a cup of tea and began making toast for the bananas on toast, I also had three wheatabix setting me up for the day ahead.
Andrea was already dressed and ready for the day so feeling like I was delaying us both somewhat I jumped in the shower, ooh while I’m on the subject something I’ve meant to mention for a while and kept forgetting, the bathroom; there is no shower cubicle per-say it’s just a tiled floor with a drainage hole, there is a shower screen keeping the rest of the bathroom dry. But also the shower control, rather than being behind u as you'd expect, it’s to the side of you, meaning that if the water is too hot or too cold you don’t scald or freeze yourself to turn the shower on / off I’ll take a picture of this later to demonstrate what I mean, very clever idea though really. Also the light isn’t only a light, it’s a heater too so as you get out of the shower u keep warm as your getting dried.
After my shower we packed our things for the day and set off, today we're heading for wineglass bay, I'd now (with the help of my friend from my app and a little look at Google maps) found exactly where it is, I’d even managed to find it on the sat nav, so nothing was going to stop us today, although a little late to be setting off, set off none the less we did, I didn’t realise just how far it was though in all honesty, I think it was 140km or there abouts, but this was not going to deter us, as it is, apparently in the top 5 beauty spots worldwide.
Just after we reached a place called orford the sat nav needed to be charged and although I have a connector for it, unfortunately it’s not the right one as the one that it came supplied with I left at home thinking the one I have would be sufficient, sadly not. Alas I took the sat nav off and began to charge it, the adaptor I have does charge it but you can’t do it whilst u drive as it thinks it’s a computer for some strange reason..
We stopped at orford and popped in to tourist information to get a map and some info on wineglass bay. Both now a little peck-ish, as we'd been driving about an hour and a half maybe, bearing in mind we had stopped once or twice to appreciate the beauty and take pics. Andrea’s camera battery had died and last night forgot to charge it, so we were using only one camera today. Not that it matters much as we can both use both sets of pics anyway but Andie was annoyed at herself for not charging her own battery.
We stopped off just after the tourist info as I’d spotted the most wonderful view, we took a few pics, and I even set up the tripod to do a self-timer pic. The sand was so soft and almost pure white, it was also really warm. The sun shone on us for a few minutes before returning behind the cloud, didn’t matter too much because it was still t-shirt weather, we felt very lucky to be here especially seeing photos and news reports of the chaos the snow is causing back home. I made a sand angel and we set off on our merry way once more, after we'd been driving for a further 10-15 minutes there was a river that appeared to our left it was so pretty and again changing the landscape at each turn.
The countryside up on the east coast is so much more different to what we'd been used to, quite mountainous and hilly and big open pastures of land with various farm animals, mainly cows sheep and horses. We crossed a little bridge and crossed the river and we began climbing once again into the mountains. We were getting closer and closer to 'Coles bay' where wineglass bay sits, inside the 'Freycinet National park'.
About 20 or so minutes later we turned right heading for Coles bay although it was still 30km away, a lot of twisty windy roads later and we arrived, bearing in mind we have no sat nav so don’t really have a clue as to where we're going now, we headed for the town centre and upon finding it Andrea hopped out as she needed the loo, not that you needed to know that but hey, we pulled along-side a resident who'd just left his house. We asked him, well Andrea did, how to get to wineglass bay, we were determined to find it, he directed us but warned it may be too late to get to see it now, well we weren’t going to give up that easy.. We followed his directions and quickly found ourselves at the visitor centre for the 'Freycinet National park'. Andie went inside to enquire about prices etc, this was $24 for both, so about £8 each and that granted us entry to the national park with about 8 spectacles worth seeing.
We set off towards our first destination wineglass bay.. You can’t actually get to wineglass bay by road, you can only get so far and then you must walk the rest of the way. We parked up and began our trek, when I say trek I do quite literally mean trek too.. All uphill basically climbing the side of a mountain albeit the lowest part between two mountains side by side though it reminded me of climbing the Great Wall of China. Very hard going, after a few rest-stops and sips of water we made it to the look-out for wineglass bay, it took about 40 / 50 minutes to get to the look-out alone so when we discovered that the bay itself was a further hour each way, as we'd seen the bay from the look-out and realised it had no sunshine the thought of walking down there didn’t appeal
In any case we still had yet lots more to do within the park, it took us a further 40 minutes to get back to the car park. I haven’t yet mentioned that within the grounds of the national park there are camping facilities available which I most envied, I think it would definitely be the most amazing experience.
On our way back to the car and literally about 10m from the end of the path we saw our first live (i.e. Not road-kill) animals. Two wallabies, a mother and her baby. We were so chuffed and excited and humbled by these magnificent creatures, we approached slowly, quickly readying my camera taking as many pics as possible, also took a quick little video, less than a minute so I can upload it to this site.
We then set off for our next adventure which was the light-house (tims ears just pricked up) hehe this was a further 5km drive up the mountain fortunately you are able to drive almost to the top as an additional mountain climb I think would’ve probably finished me off. Lol so we got to the top of the hill side where sits the light-house. Taking pictures en-route.. Ooh on the way to the light house we also took in 'Sleepy-bay' but wasn’t anything special. We also spotted a few more wallabies, 4 I think in total. So after taking pics of the light-house and surrounding areas we began our descent back to the other places one of which was 'honeymoon bay' and a few other bays which were on the west coast of this particular peninsular. It felt so much warmer on that side having still having some sunshine available, though not for much longer. Once we'd visited all of the beaches and it now being just past 6pm we began driving home, Andrea drove so I could catch up on my blogging.. I had a brainwave that I could use my phone to type and then copy/paste so I made good use of the time it took to travel home, but just to put you in perspective we arrived back about 15 minutes ago its now 22:24 and I’ve only just finished.. Well I have now, well I’m still typing so I can’t have but you get the point!
Keep the messages coming, I relished reading about the peninsular of eagle hawk as I had no idea about what u said M&D so that was rather useful and insightful. Thanks! Will catch you up tomorrow eve as to what we decide to do tomorrow, we have 2 more nights in Tasmania before flying back to Melbourne for xmas with Paul and Jane and their family.
Day 11 last full day in Tas
Today we woke up almost simultaneously, i made breakfast, beans and scrambled eggs on toast, then we both got showered (seperately) and go out pretty quickly, although it was still pretty late as it was midday.
Yesterday we'd decided we were going to go up cradle mountain so i scoured google maps on my phone to try and find the nearest point to park the car to walk climb the mountain. It wasnt easy cos you cant really see altitude on google maps. I found 'great lake' which was listed as being in the highlands so figured this wasnt far from the foot of the mountain, we set off on our journey although we'd forgotten to charge the sat nav overnight again. Ooops.. The battery quickly died so as we got to the end of the road to where we usually turn right we filled up with petrol as we were running low and then headed in the opposite direction as we hadnt turned left from that point before.
As we rounded a few corners the tarmac'd road quickly turned to gravel and i was thinking it would soon turn back to tarmac, i was very wrong, the gravel road just went on and on as trucks and pick-up's thundered past, i began to get the feeling we were going to end up at a dead end, however the road lead us back to the main road to Hobart.
Having charged the sat nav a bit i switched it back on to see which road we'd have to take before the battery died once again i just about worked out thr directions when i had a low battery warning, so i took it from the screen again and put it back on charge, after a wrong turn we were on our way to great lake.
The scenery was again very different, this time rolling hills again with lots of farmlands but very hilly, the road carving its way thru the landscape. After a few obligatory pic stops we journeyed on and on and on, passing various towns with english names which made us laugh, first was colebrook, then came melton mowbray, buxton, we had a change of driver and i began taking pics of the scenery.
The road just seemed to go on and on and on, never ending, for what seems such a small country on the map it certainly isn't so.. I first thought about the size of Wales, now i'm leaning more towards the size of Ireland or possible England. It definitely is big thats for sure. We came to a road whereby you could see it dissappearing off into the distance about 5 or 6 miles away, the road seemed to weave and turn in all directions before arriving at the top of the road the other end of the valley we now sat upon, the expanse of land that lay before us was vast and very hilly in all directions, it looked like someone had drawn a straight line between where we sat and where the road vanishes beyond the trees.. then distorded the line as much as possible following the contours of the land (there are a few pics) when we got to where we'd just photographed, we stopped again and photographed looking backwards to where we'd just come from.
Andrea needed a wee so we stopped on the side of the road so she could find a suitable place to go, I snook up and took a pic.. as she was helpless to stop me, don't worry it's quite a dignified pic hehe, no zoom was used.. lol Shortly after this we arrived at what can only be described as a wooden cemetry, dead trees in all directions. It was a phenomenon, i figured the farmers burn the trees to irrigate the land to get a better crop for next year, tho this seemed to be in the middle of the woods, it would definitely be quite eerie if you were travelling at night and saw this.
Just over the horizon we got our first glimpse of the Great Lake, it seemed to encompass the whole horizon from left to right, but as we neared i realised that there were in fact two lakes which had formed an optical illusion making it look impassable, We finally arrived at the Great Lake, and it was a formidable sight too.. very scenic and peaceful, just the sounds of the birds crowing and various bits of wildlife scurrying around, tho almost invisible.. all of a sudden you'd hear something behind you, to turn around to find nothing there, we parked the car and read the information board, telling of what there is to be found at this great spectacle, and how the lake came to be etc (i took a pic so you can have a read too)
we went down to the waters edge and had a paddle, but the water was absolutely freeezing, i paddled in to just above my calves, and told andrea it was like bath-water, just so she'd follow me so i could take a pic of her reaction.. I am a deivl aren't i ?! hehe we did consider going for a swim in the lake but realising just how bloody cold it was, we both chickened out, the thought of fresh-water crocs also didn't help much, not to mention snakes, too.. after a little sit and relax, a Volvo pulled in, it was the first one i've seen since i've been in Tasmania, i know very sad eh, but i took a pic..
we continued on our journey, once again trying to find cradle mountain on the sat nav, trying various methods, the closest i came was 'cradle point' which i thought must surely have something to do with the mountain, so i set this as our next point on the sat nav and drove in the direction it was insturcting us to drive, which was in the same direction we'd been travelling, i was pretty glad of this as i didn't want to head back towards where we'd come from.
We drove for a good hour or so following the directions provided by the sat nav, but then wouldn't you know it, it died on us, once again.. just at the bottom of a valley where there seemed to be a power station, which was a bizarre thing to see at the bottom of a beautiful valley.. alas we followed the road round and began climbing up the other side of the valley, after a stop at the toilet, where the Tasmanians had built 4 barbeque's for the use by the general public, with tables and chairs etc, on a piece of greenland.. it was really nice, i felt sorry we didn't have any food to cook to take advantage of this offering,
As we got to the top of the next valley we began descending down the opposite side, once more, but i saw a sign for 'lookout 2km <- ' so i took a sharp-ish left and drove down a long drive and to my right i saw 3 huge tubular pipes, at least 10-15 foot in diameter, we followed them along to the 'look-out' and we were met with what can only be described as a feat of engineering and design. Basically the pipes carry water from various rivers from around the area, the water is used, presumably in the same way a water mill works, to provide electricity for the area, upon reading the various plaques we discovered not only the local area but the whole of southern Tasmania, they use man-made canals to channel water down to the pipes where it's then passed from three different directions to the one power station. One of the placs read
" About 60% of every cup of tea enjoyed by the residents of southern Tasmania is made with water that has been used eight times to generate electricity in Hydro Tasmania's Central Highlands and Lower Derwent Porwer Developments. The remaining 40% of the water supplied to Hobart Water's eight muicipal council customers comes from the pristine catchments of Mt. Field National Park and Mt. Wellington. Next time you enjoy a cuppa, think how hard the water has worked! Because as this award-winning press advertisement from the 1960's explains the fuel that drives the generators to create the power that boils your kettle is clean renewable mountain water - the same precious resourse that runs from the kitchen tap at home. "
It was fascinating to see.. be sure to check the pics out as it gives a scale as to the amount of work that goes into making it work.
Shortly after setting off again, i saw another sign for a 'renewable pine forrest' so another sharp turn to the right lead us into acres upon acres upon acres of christmas trees, trees as far as the eye could see.. I thought this very appropriate being only a few days before the big day! obviously i took lots of pics, lol
We carried on, on our journey hoping to see a glimpse of Tasmania's grandest and most visited sites, Cradle Mountain, Unfortunately, guess what... Yup, the sat nav died we were about 15 mins away apparently, but without a sat nav it would've been almost impossible to find where it wanted us to go, however it said we needed to make a right turn, so i did, but it was a dead end.
We returned to the main road and began heading back to Hobart as we knew the way from there. As we were driving down yet more gravel paths, a wallaby ran out and darted across the road in front of us, nearly getting hit, i performed an emergency stop to avoid hitting him, gladly there was no traffic on the road.. in fact on that not there rarely is any traffic on the road, you can drive sometimes for an hour or so without seeing another car in any direction..
We changed drivers again as i was beginning to feel a little tired and, i soon fell asleep, i woke up when we were just entering a place called sorrell, which is about an hour from eagle hawk neck. Andrea decided she wanted to stop at the supermarket to pick up some orange juice for breakfast tomorrow, so we did that and then drove home.
Dad was telling me on the message board about the 30m wide stretch of the peninsular whereby they used to tie a line of dogs with bells on to warn of any escaped convicts, well this particular stretch of the peninsular is literally a 2 min drive from our accommodation, so we drove the extra distance to get some good pics of it. We were both rather famished, not stopping for lunch today, we arrived back at the apartment at about 7pm where i cooked our final supper, steak, sausauge, mushroom, chopped tomatoes and an egg, we sat down to eat and watched a film on the tv
Tomorrow is our last day in Tasmania and although we don't fly till 9pm tomorrow evening i'm already feeling sad that we'll be leaving at all.. i really really love this place and whole heartedly reccomend anyone and everyone come here in their life-time. Bugger the time it takes and bugger the time difference, it's so 100% worth every side effect to see this amazing, beautiful, gorgeous, spectacular, sensational and truly breath-taking place and we've bearly scratched the surface.
After dinner I sat outside to be met by a lovely sunset to send us on our way, I was very humbled and almost shed a tear.. I suspect as the plane takes off tomorrow i will definately feel a little sad.. I know we still have so much more to see, tho i doubt anything will surpass Tasmania.
Today is our last day in Tasmania :-( however we dont fly till 21:25 so we still have most of the day :-) we both awoke almost simultaneously again at 9:50 we had to check out of the hotel at 10:00 so panic stations, however we phoned thru to reception and they said anytime before 11:00 so we were ok for a bit, we both quickly arose from bed and began sorting our stuff out, we both packed last night so there wasnt a great deal to do, gladly. By the way the bed we had at the lufra hotel was sooo comfy, such a soft mattress, it was like sleeping on air.
After i visited the toilet i jumped straight into the shower awakening me fully (mornings arent my strong point) after showering i began cooking breakfast time being of the essence, so i cooked the rest of the food we had consisting of sausage bacon beams toasted muffins and had one fried muffin.
I then had a fag and took some pics whilst andrea showered. Continued tidying up the room as there was a charge if we didnt leave it in a tidy condition, as you can see by the photos they wont be charging us lol i cant beleive this is our last day in Tas, the time has gone just so quickly although we have done so so much although not checked everything off the to-do list.
As soon as andrea was ready we had a last check of the room ensuring we had everything and we packed the car.
Directly opposite the hotel is a site called the trezeled pavements which we have been meaning to do every day but as its so close to the hotel we delayed it day by day, so today was the day. It was literally a 2 minute walk from the car park opposite and the views down were sensational, encompassing the entire bay of eaglehawk neck. The terraced pavemets were really interesting too, basically its where the water and salt has erroded the rocks over time to form a pavement looking flat rock which literally looks like someone had paved it. From the waters edge the views over the bay were spot on so lots of pics later and we walked back up the path towards the car
We had seen signs everyday driving between our hotel and hobart or sorell for horse riding and just before check-out i found a place where you can take a horse ride along the beach for 2 and a half hours cost of $99 (about £62) so we drove up past the place we had driven past so many times called pinnin however today we couldnt spot it so we went into the garage to enquire whether they knew where it might be, alas to no avail, however the helpful friendliness of the local people directed us to a museum who showed us which way to go, about 10 minutes later we came accros the place which was advertised as horse rides, we opened the gate, closing it behind us driving up the graveled dirt drive. At the top there seemed to be a distinct lack of people but a multitude of horses, suddenly i spotted someone out of the corner of my eye in the next paddock up so we walked over and a lady was speaking on her phone using a headset, i waited her to finish her call and enquired whethet it was possible, just behind where she stood was a fold who was clearly having difficulty in standing, the lady who'd approached us rather abruptly said there was no horse riding today due to the opperation which has just been performed. We stroked a few horses on our way out and had a look at the leaflet for the tasmanian devil sanctuary and discovered the feeding times for both kangaroos and tassie devils were imminent, however we had about An hour and a half to kill so after fueling up with a bit of petrol to keep us going we drove towards our beach, however this presented us with a dilema as if we used our own towels to relax on the beach with, they'd be wet for our return to melbourne, we didnt want this, so we drove back to our hotel and asked if we could borrow a few towels, they were most obliging, have i mentioned just how fabulously friendly everyone is here, no!? Well everyone, from shop workers to cleaners to hotel receptionists are probably some of the happies friendliest people we've come accros the world over, to be fair im sure if i lived in Tas i'd be the same.
The receptionist Rob asked us what we were upto and we told him we were going to visit the tas devil sanctuary, he told us of a story which happened not so long back. Apparently a tree had fallen in a storm and fell on one of his neighbours cows, Rob being somewhat concerned about this phoned his neighbour to tell him of the situation, his neighbour said he'd get his tractor out tomorrow and sort it out then, next day he went to find the tree laden cow alas all that was left of it was the cows pelvis. Tasmanian Devils had eaten every morsell, skull, bones, udders, meat the whole 9 yards except the pelvis. We were pretty shocked at this, gladly he also told us they would only eat dead things so if u fell asleep outside you'd be okay as the smell of rotting flesh is what attracts them, however if you were camping its quite common for a possom to rip the side of your tent if they get a whif of food.
Excited by the anticipation of seeing these wild predators close up we drove to the sanctuary however we still had a good hour before the Kangaroo feeding time, so we drove a further 5 mins down the road where we found a very sexy little beach, which we had all to ourselves.
We bathed in the sun for quite a while tho the sun was very hot and strong, we had spf30 cream on but was still feeling like we were beginning to burn, i had a paddle, the tasman sea was bitterly cold. I now understand why aussies all wear wet suits. Almost as cold as the english channel.. In winter... When its snowing, suffice to say i didnt get much past my knees, we soon had to head off to the devils anyway so after a few piccies of the beautiful little private bay and set off for the tassie devil sanctuary.
Upon arrival we bought two tickets and the nice lady told us where to be at what times for animal feeding so we entered the enclosures and immedtiately were met with a devil (see pics) he was soo cute there were 6 or 7 cubs in the den just behind where he stood, all cuteness went out the window tho when he yawned however and his teeth came on show.
We hurried down to the Kangaroo enclosure as it was almost feeding time. I was a little wary of the kangaroos as the were all nursing and i thought perhaps they maybe quite protective of their young, when i saw some fearless kids petting them however i decided it was ok. Lol so i stroked ones ears and then head and back, he seemed to like it but i think he was actually thinking i had food as he quickly bounced away when he realised i had none, at which point the man with the food entered the enclosure carrying a bucket. He stopped in the centre of the field and explained how to feed them and particularly not to drop any pellets on the floor because they can get sick if they eat them off the floor. We quickly began feeding the various members of the family units, they seemed to congregate in units of 3 or 4 kangaroos however there were also a few kangaroos who were alone also, perhaps outcasts, or perhaps just prefered their own company. There were also some geese looking birds amidst the kangaroos as well as some other marsupials called pademelon which were like minature wallabies, these however were very very timid, the ranger explained that you have to crouch down and offer ther food and if your patient they'll come to you and feed from your hand, i found one and crouched down, as instructed, patiently waiting for him to trust me, alas a little girl excitedly ran over and the pademelon bounced off quickly, she almost chased it till it was quite a distance away, clearly not listening to the advice of the ranger. Once she got bored and ran off in search of kangaroos and most of the other people had left, i once again crouched down, then sat on the floor, hoping he would feed from my hand. He was getting closer and closer until he was literally about 6 ft from me at which point a second pademelon came behind me and, i guess in the same way rabbits do, banged on the floor, perhaps warning of danger, the little marsupual once again scarpered away waiting by the fence. I still sat waiting patiently in the shade, with my cupped hands full of food. I was beginning to feel the cold as whilst it was bright and sunny i was sat in the shade, patiently waIting for this little creature to eat from my hand. Once again the little marsupial edged closer and closer back to the 6ft away mark and i felt he was about to eat from my hand.. Just then a branch fell from the tree above and hit me square on the head, it scared the crap out of me and i think i yelped thinking it was an amimal attacking me, i looked back and the pademelon had vanished into the distance 10m away, by this time i had given up realising i wasnt patient enough for this little animal. I ran back to where the kangaroos, and Andrea was and fed the pellets i had left to the kangaroos and thought sod the pademelons theyre way too timid and i was on a schedule as next was the feeding of the tasmanian devils.
We walked over to the enclosure where they were being fed and already a large group of people had formed and the ranger was in the middle of the talk about how the devils survive and what they eat etc,, he also mentioned that the Devils are becommig extinct due to a cancer which is incurable and is affecting 95% of their population, and within 30 years they may well be extinct. which is a shame,. they're such cute little animals, although they're very viscious. He then went on to feed them, with dead rats and you saw these cute cuddly creatures turn into carniverous meat eating gremlins.. they don't like to share either.. they were attacking each other as they tried to pinch each others meal, you could definitely imagine them being very teritorial in the wild.
After the feeding there was a 'wing of the wind' show where we sat on auditprium style seating, and we noticed three platforms; One directly to my left, another half way up on the right hand side and the last one on the top row of seats in the middle. The (same) ranger welcomed everyone as a song played in the background introducing the start of the king of the wind show, the ranger who was saying we all need to give a big round of applause to get the first star of the show out, at which point we all began clapping and a cockatoo type bird flew into view and landed on the rangers arm. His name was Boss (the bird i mean) the ranger explained how he came to live with them as his owners were travellers first travelling around Australia and Tasmania, where Boss sat on a perch of their winnabago, but they then went into Europe and obviously couldn't take their beloved bird with them, so they gave him to the sanctuary who now looks after him, his owners often pop back to see him when they're back at him. The ranger asked if members of the audience had a $1 or $2 coins, and if so to hold their arms out to the side with the coin inbetween their index finger and thumb with the coin facing upwards. Boss then flew to each member of the audience collecting their coins and dropping the coins into the top pocket of the ranger, this was his party trick. Once all of the coins were collected and dropped into the rangers pocket, the ranger took the coins out and gave them back to Boss and Boss flew each coin back to their owner depositing the coins in their palms, first landing on their out-stretched arm, once more. Next he brought out a Periguin Falcon and he gave us some information about how they can reach speeds of upto 300km per hour when they're hunting. These birds fly very very high in the sky and when they see a smaller bird lower in the sky, they go into a dive (called a swoop) and at such speeds can stun or even kill a bird dead, they then catch their prey mid-air and eat it. The falcons name was Taco. He was an injured bird as during his life at some point he flew into some electrical cables, tearing his left wing off, some boys who found him brought him to the sanctuary so he could be better looked after. Next was another type of bird but i've forgotten what he was, he too had a damaged wing and couldn't fly. but the real star of the show was a brown falcon called 'tika' the ranger had a jessie which he swung around and then the elegant falcon flew in from round the side of the building swooping down and then flying way over head and then swooping back down once more, he did this several times as the ranger explained about this type of bird and how they hunt their prey, and how they can spot a worm or an insect and a small animal, mouse/rat size and swoop down and kill it. He then asked for members of the audience to come out, so one or two people came and stood in the front, he asked for several more and slowly more people joined them, including Andrea. Bemused as to what was about to happen he stood them all in a long line and asked them to open their legs, the Brown falcon then swooped down and flew through all the peoples legs.. I took a video for you, it's quite impressive. The last bird he brought out had been sat to the side, the whole show and is called a 'Tawny frog-mouth' and did a very good job of camouflaging itself against the trees and building where the birds were housed, he too was injured so couldn't fly, he preys on mice and small rodents and apparently these birds are very imortant to the ecology of the country as they kill lots of vermin without these birds Australia and Tasmania would become over-run with rodent-type creatures. as he was telling us about these birds three rats ran accors the beam to the side of where the bird was sitting, He took the bird out into the audience for them to hold the branch upon which he was perched, to take photos.
The show ended and we headed back towards the entrance as we had to make our way towards the airport for our flight back to melbourne. As the airport is close to the city of Hobard I suggested we tried to find a charger for the sat nav as without a sat nav it would be stressful to find our hotel in Melbourne, however it was now after 5pm and most of the places in Hobart was closed, although I spotted a hi-fi shop and went in for a look around, sure enough they sold 'portables' and to the side were various types of chargers for sat navs, i asked about some help and a very helpful lady came over and showed me various sat navs chargers for garmin although they were starting at $70 we decided we would leave it and buy one in Melbourne when we had more time to do this, we left the store and next door was a 'Dick-Smith' which is a curry's / comet type of place, so i wandered in and enquired within there and the found a charger there for $40 so we bought that, with a receipt that we could get an exchange at any Dick smith shops within Australia. We went back to the car and plugged the charger in and connected it to the sat nav and HOOOORAAAH we now had a working charging sat nav which we can now use wherever we go in Australia. The thought of driving to Brisbane and Cairns un-aided didn't appeal to be honest 6000km.. it's a long way as it was, we didn't want to make it longer doing various detours.
We set off for the airport, filling the tank with fuel as we had to return Norman full of fuel else we'd be charged, way more than the going rate for petrol. By the way the cost to completely fill the tank was $39 (£25). We parked Norman back at his alloted parking space said a teary eyed goodbye to him as he had been our loyal and trusty friend whilst in Tas and we packed the rest of the things we had laden around the car, and posted the car keys through the letterbox provided. We then made our way to the departure terminal within the airport and went thru check-in and baggage security.. who we stood chatting to for a good 10-15 mins about english weather, which way to go to Brisbane and Cairns and various other things, the people here are just soo friendly.
After about 40 minutes we saw our plane come in to land and a further 15 minutes our departure was announced and the queue formed to board the aircraft. We were travelling back with 'Virgin Blue' a very posh low-cost airline, all leather seats, with seat-back tv's and free headphones etc.. after an hour and five minutes we landed in the night sky back in to melbourne where we made our way to the Hertz desk to pick up the next car. this time we had a 'compact' it was a Toyota Carolla, Andrea named her Sophia.
We drove the short distance from the airport to the hotel with the aide of the sat nav, we found this easily despite one or two wrong turns, due to me mis-reading the sat nav. Andrea went and checked in and i waited outside whilst this was done.. Eventually after returning to the car to get passports and cash to leave a $100 refundable deposit, we got our stuff out the car and went to the 6th floor. To say this was a come-down from our previous hotel, is an understatement, to say this was a come-down from our previous melbournian hotel was an understatement.. to say the least this hotel is cheap.. which i suppose is something, upon entering the room we were very disappointed. alas it is home for the next 5 days :( bad times.. the room itself is very compact though one redeming feature is the floor to ceiling windows providing a nice view of the city of melbourne. We're 8km outside of the city. fist thing we did was have a look around the room, checking all the gadgets we had, in the bathroom was a hair-dryer, which i picked up and tried to make work. there was a loud bang and a puff of smoke.. Ooops it seems the hair-dryer wasn't the best, so next thing we did was put the kettle on to make a cuppa however it wasn't working, andrea wanted to charge her battery for her camera so she plugged it into the wall.. to find we had no electricity, Andrea went to reception taking the kettle with her to get an exchange, we tried to phone down to reception but there was no obvious way of doing this and the usual pressing Zero wasn't working either. quite quickly a man came up to our room with a replacemment kettle and said he would exhcange the hair-dryer tomorrow, but not to use it for now. He reset our fuse so we could have a cuppa tea.. I then went to bed.. not overly comfy bed, 2 x single beds and they dip in the middle of the bed not so comfy... I MISS TASMANIA ALREADY :( ho hum.. Xmas eve tomorrow and i'm sure it'll be fine, it is after all only for 5 nights.
On xmas eve we woke up and saw melbourne in all its glory, the hotel had a really good city view albeit way off in the distance, in fact we were 8km away, which is 5 miles. We asked at reception where the nearest shopping mall was as we wanted to buy a few pressies for jane, paul and the kids. We were told that the shopping precinct was only 2 blocks away so off we trundled to the shops, Northland shopping centre which was pretty huge to be honest, it was a big square, all under cover but at each corner went off on a bit of a tangent. Loads and loads of shops, andreas pin entry fingers were twitching like a rabbits nose. We entered the first store where we managed to very quickly get all the kids sorted so we put their pressies back in the car and headed back to the mall. Andrea found a chain which she visited when we were in melbourne the first time, from where she bought a nice wrap around cardigan, she disappeared into the shop and was never seen again, even now i think shes still in there, i literally havent seen her since.. I sent out a search party but they only found a tissue and a shoe... They advised me to call off the search and continue shopping and perhaps she'd just come home when she's out of money, i considered this a good idea, although i had picked up a dodgy belly and i think i visited every toilet in there at some point, to say i could shit thru the eye of a needle is probably a bit too much information but you know me and being slighly over-graphic. Unless i make u squirm my job isnt done, lol anyway i cant tell u much more about the shops but i could describe every loo in detail. Not that im going to. I was walking past a mobile phone shop when i heard andreas dulcit tones calling me. Yaay! How on earth she got to the 'factorie' shop to the mobile phone shop without me seeing her i dont know because that was where i based my search party (consisting of me, myself and my eye(s)).We arranged to meet a specific shop in 2 hours so she could continue with her expedition. I had to visit a few more toilets in between popping into one or two gadgety shops tho their prices were way more expensive than in the uk. 2:30 came along and like clockwork andie turned up and excitedly (and somewhat embarrasingly) showed me her pyjamas she'd bought with tigga's all over em. We then went towards the food court which rather conveniently was really close to the car park in which we'd stowed our vehicle, a toyota carolla by the way, in white, 6 forward gears, somewhat of an upgrade from the Yaris, anyway i digress, again, as per usual.. Lol we drove. Back towards the hotel with our goodies and i dropped Andrea off at a beauty salon where she FINALLY got her bloody legs waxed, not sure if id mentioned it but she'd been wanting to do this since bham airport, and at each place we stayed tried to find somewhere to get this done, so although it was a rather boring time for me while she got this done at least it was done, i went to a park and just sat in the sunshine however got a little too warm so had to head for shade, then my phone was dying so i headed back to where id dropped her off ready to pick her up again, about 15 mins later she popped out as if by magic her legs looking all shiny, like a freshly varnished table. She jumped in the car and we headed for Jane and Pauls in hoppers crossing as they had looked after our suitcases whilst we went to Tas. Yaay we finally had some fresh clothes, even tho we had done one or two washloads in tas it was good to have a variety now. Jane had cooked us some chicken and rice which was really nice of her. We ate and told affectionately, all about out time in tas which i was still rather missing, Melbourne is nice but by comparison is like birmingham vs wales, a bit chalk and cheese. Probably not very fair really but i dont care i just like Tas! LolAfter much merriment and chatter and drinks we headed for our dog-hole stooodent accomm [ahem] sorry, our lovely hotel.. Hehe Where we welcomed in the christmas day with a lovely bottle of vino bianco (white wine) and andrea proceeded to suck all the air out of the room and not only make the room shake with the vibrations of her sleeping, but Also the tower you can see from our room. I put me head phones in and a few lemon-jelly songs later and i was too snoring creating earthquakes in thr states, im sure.
Due to the alcohol consumed last night we somewhat overslept, we were meant to go to pauls for about 10-ish although we only awoke at 11:30 oops.. We texted our apologies thru to paul and jane and they said not to worry but to head directy to janes sisters house, so after showering and ironing a shirt we dolled ourselves up both looking very swish.
We set off having first put the new address into the sat nav, we arrived at janes sisters house at 1pm we were introduced to her family and sat down to eat the plethora of meat which had been cooked.. Although cooked on a Bbq not reqlly Bbq'd was more using the Bbq as an oven which basically made the meat just taste like it was oven baked. The choice however was good consisting of, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, gammon & pork with a mix of veg too. It was really nice, tho there was definitely something missing and i dont just mean cranberry sauce, which was non existant by the way. It just wasnt moms coooing and when they began opening pressies i started to feel a little home-sick, nostalgic and emotional. Thinking what i wouldve been doing back home if i were there, distributing pressies, maybe making speciality (irish) coffee's etc. Anyway shortly after they'd finished opening their gifts creating one helluva mess in the middle of the lounge.
The babies were crying quite a lot because they were somewhat overtired so Paul, jane andrea, me and the twins went for a little walk to the local park which was about 10 mins walk away, andrea and i had a play on the park which was designed like a castle and compared to uk parks was huuge, we began walking back and Miya wouldnt settle, continuiously crying, we arrived back at Janes sisters house and still miya wouldnt settle so she lay down with her as we sat round the dinner table eating desert and exchanging stories and having general chit chat.
Andrea and I wanted to go to the beach on Xmas day which none of the melbournians could understand, but to us this was a great novelty. we said our goodbye's and left heading for Altona beach (which i named alcatraz beach) So we put altona in the sat nav and drove towards the ocean, the sat nav took us to the town of altona rather than the beach so we hooked a right and ended up on a residental estate adjacent to the sea, however there was no beach, just a rocky coastline and some beautiful flora and fauna, so we had a little walk deciding we'd walk to the beach, however by now time was against us as the sun was a bit intermittent today, we saw a sign which said beach 8km -> so we thought it best to drive to the beach so we could make the most of the sunshine, this was actually the first time we'd been to the beach since reaching Australia and only the 3rd time since we'd been away really. We arrived alongside the beach which stretched on for quite a way in either direction, we had a walk down the beach to the main beach front area, walking along the hot sand felt really nice, the sun was beating down, tho wasn't too hot as it was a bit late in the day, we finally arrived at the main promenade along the beach, and wouldn't you know it i went to take some pics but my camera batteries died, so leaving andrea on the beach i walked back to the car to get the batteries, i moved the car down a bit save me walking back, and after changing the batteries we set our towels down on the sand, put some sun-cream on and lay in the sun soaking up the rays. We both got a bit excited at the novelty of being on the beach on xmas day. However about 15 mins later the sun disappeared behind a grey cloud, which sort of scuppered our plans somewhat.. :(
We jumped back in the car as with no sun and an ocean wind it felt very cold, didn't really know where to go or what to do but as we were still fairly close to Paul and Jane's house we both agreed to go to theirs and have a coffee etc, we checked it was ok to go and they said yeah it's fine to come over, so over we went. When we got there the twins had just been bathed and Annika was gettin in the bath after them, so all was a little bit busy, however Paul had said he'd got 140 films that we could take our pick of and transfer em over to Andreas laptop, he also wanted to have a look at our pics as he struggles to get online where he is having no wifi / internet available, so after a bit of swapping pics and films between the two computers, we sat drinking our coffee's and chatted, Jane was a bit exhausted from the days eventys and also from the lack of sleep the twins had allowed, so she toddled off to bed, leaving andrea, paul and I chattin about various travelling stories, Paul was telling of his round the world trips and things to do in Australia etc.. we got kind of engrossed in stories and didn't realise the time, so we felt we had to dash off and get back home.
Boxing day we had been invited to a (propper) bbq at Paul and Janes so we left for our hotel. Also we'd agreed to Skype My mom and dad at midnight which would be 1pm for them, and when we got online we found them waiting.. We had a chat but we couldn't see any video of them, so they went off to do a bit of fiddling around, Andrea in the mean time chatted to her friend in Italy who she hadn't spoken to for ages and they managed to see each other and have a good old natter, and she wished their family a happy christmas, they were just sitting down to eat so she could only chat for about 5-10 mins, after which time we re-skpyed my mom and dad and hey presto we managed to get video too, I spoke to all of the family and even saw Jess (my neice) in her santa's outfit, she looked soooo cute. Ollie was telling me what he had for christmas, and my dad showed me some video of the snow outside the window, which was ace to see, especially as it was such nice weather in melbourne, albeit not much sunshine yet. Andrea and I opened a bottle of bubbly we'd bought and we all toasted a happy christmas.. when we finished we closed the laptop down and fell asleep.
Today we got up slightly earlier, we managed to get to Pauls for around 12ish and upon arrival there were already many guests there, we were introduced to them and the food was hot off the barbie, lovely kebabs, an array of salad items and various dips, Jane's two uncles were on the bbq cooking up lots of different varieties of meat dishes and burgers sausages etc.. including the two steaks we bought for the bbq the day before which didn't end up getting cooked.. The food was absolutely spot on, exactly what we'd hoped an aussie bbq would be like really.. we got to know all their family, some of the family from the day before was also at this party too, however there were about another 12 new people to become acquainted with, they were all really really nice and exceptionally welcoming, almost felt like part of their family. After we'd all eaten we went out onto the front doorstep where we had a bit of a photoshoot andrea was the main photographer asking us all to shout all manner of things as she took the pics, shortly after we all had a shuffle around and i took some pics so we all had a variety of pics with both Andrea and myself in both sets.We all went back in to Iris's house (jane's mom) and whilst desert was being served in the main room, Andrea Annika and I began having a game of twister, this began to take over the whole party all the youngies began to play, taking it in turns to compete against each other to decide an ultimate winner, I think Sian was the ultimate winner (janes cousin's (adam's) girlfriend) as she never faultered once and everyone else did at least once, Albeit there was a smidge of cheating going on with regards to nudging and pushing
So after we finished our game of twister and declared sian the overall winner we all settled down and annika began distributing more pressies for those who werent there the day before and a few pressies thier family hadnt yet opened. They all opened their pressies and said their thank-you's a few people left as they had other parties to go to. Jane her mum and paul began tidying, we discussed going to the beach once again as today the sun was hot hot hot, vert few clouds in the sky. We'd been told by several people to go to St. Kilda beach, we began readying ourselves to leave and annika asked could she come with us, i saw no problem with this but thought it best she asked paul and jane. So paul decided he'd come too, we all drove there in one car down to st. Kilda and we parked up. As it was a bank holiday there was no charge for parking, so we parked up and walked down a bridge over the grass-lands to the white sandy beach. There were kite surfers all along the beach, the wind was quite strong and some of them were really motoring along the beach, picking up speeds clearly in excess of 30mph id say.
We found a little place to rest which was set back slightly from the main through-fare of the beach. Annika had bought buckets and spade's and various animal shaped plastic sand toys. Paul and i began making sand castles. As annika collected shells and brought us an accutriment of decorations for our castles, by time she got back we'd managed to build quite a fortress, fortifying paul in where he sat, making him the king of the castle. The fortress grew and grew and grew as time went on, it had a moat, bridges, barricades, turretts ans its soon became apparent that we didnt really need a child to be children. Annika was bringing us more and more deccorations and buckets of water for the moat around our kingdom. I found a great big stick which became our flag pole with my towel forming the flag.
Time was ticking on and on and soon the time came to leave, the kids had fun at the beach!
We drove back to paul and janes and after a coffee we made our way back to the hotel as tomorrow we were heading for the 'Great Ocean Road'.
Upon arrival at our hotel we had to pack our stuff and we had ourselves a little drink and we then began watchin a film paul had given us, 'the book of Eli' andrea was soon zzzzing away i watched the end of the film and went to bed.
We left the hotel at 11(ish) we discussed which way we were going, the options were to drive directly to the top of the great ocean road via freeways, which by the way are so much better than our motorways, more like american freeways with the average being 4 lanes of traffic they all flow smoothly everyone driving at 100kmph, or the alternative was to drive to the beginning of the great ocean road and drive up to the top and come back via motorway.
We had no accommodation booked for the night of 27th so we thought itd be a great opportunity to spend a night on the great ocean road so as we awoke we could have a walk on the beach, maybe a swim in the sea and then return to melbourne for our next flight.
We both opted for the first option to drive to the top and return down so when we got our accomm we'd be nearer to melbournr for our onward flight to Sydney. We bombed down the motorway as fast as our little carolla would go (within the speed limit of course) and we found ourselves right at the beginning after an hours driving. I hadnt set up the sat nav accordingly and it took us to the great ocean road, so we doubled back and headed back for the motorway, re-calculating our journey so we would arrive at the right place.
We headed for 'Portland' and the road was long. It stretched out for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles ahead. This was our first real look at Australia outside of the city. To say it was vast doesnt really give you a true idea, imagine being able to see for 600 miles in every direction and just seeing land. This obviously isnt how it was because you cant actually see for 600 miles but we'd driven very far, and we werent even out of melbourne, although out of the city. i cant really explain it in sufficient detail but suffice to say it is on an exceptionally grand scale. So much so we began to get low on fuel. Oh no!! The fuel light came on and the road just wound around the vast landscape having left the motorway some time ago and now on 'A' roads although still more like a dual carriage way but with a single track in either direction. We ate up more and more miles and the gague dropped more and more, i began to contemplate what we would do if we exhausted sophia of fuel before reaching a garage as the last one we saw was at least 100 miles ago, i hadnt even thought about checking as we passed, the orange light began to flash and i resigned myself to the fact we were going to run out before reaching the next fuel stop, in my head planning what i would wear so as not to be burned to a cynder and still remain cool. We had no water left tho we did have a bottle of sunkist orange. The next town was 22 miles away i noticed on the sat nav. So a 44 round trip. Sophia trundeled on like a work horse in the hot sun, we turned everything off, radio, air con, took the camera batteries and my phone off charge, wound the windows up, even disconnected the sat nav as it was now fully charged. Still sophia trundeled on.. 15 miles, 10 miles 4 miles the distance i was going to have to walk lessened and lessened. We arrived in the town hoorah.. But where was the petrol station, all of a sudden, sweatting from the heat with no a/c and having the windows up for such a long time i thought i spotted the green shining emblem of a bp sun off in the distance, i drove towards where i thought id seen it alas it was a hotel.. Oh no!! I thought about asking someone but i was scared if i stopped we may not go again, so we continued thr way the sat nav showed us, then all of a sudden and out of sheer delight, there stood a Bp garage next to that an 'altex' and next to that a mobil garage, i wont mention the addage of waiting for a bus, then three turn up, but sort of already have. we would our windows down in sheer elation and joy and put everything back on charge. We filled up and it cost $60 (about £40) and we changed drivers and carried on.. And on and on.. And on.. And on and on, scenery changing frequently from baron nothingness to the odd mountain range to farmland to townships and occasionally lakes and rivers. We began nearing the town of portland driving thru one or two towns en-route, which had a more holiday-like feel to them with caravan parks and holiday cottages off to either side. We carried on heading for portland, off to the left was a wind farm with gigantic wind turbines. As we continued down the road a policeman zoomed towards us with his lights and sirens blaring, made a u-turn and drove towards the rear of our car, so Andrea pulled over, the officer came to the window and presented andrea with a breathalizer, asked her to blow continiously into the tube until he said stop. She did as instructed and he asked for her licence and took it and walked back to his vehicle, he'd been gone about five minutes, he returned with her licence and advised her that it was a post-xmas spot check, the reading was negative and he wished us an enjoyable stay in portland.
We carried on towards portland and shortly down the road was a look-out so we stopped and took a few pics and i looked at the info board and saw on the map we were almost in Adelade, literally about 50 miles, also that we'd over-shot the end of the great ocean road by a good 150miles oops. I also saw that there was a light-house (tims ears pricked up again) Andrea was a little shaken from her police ordeal so i took over the driving and i entered the address of the light-house and we drove directly towards it.
When we arrived we saw the light-house it has to be the twee-ist light-house i'd ever seen probably only about 17 ft in total, maybe 20 with the aerials on top, it was really cute and pretty, surrounded by flowers and landscaped gardens, again we took some more pics and spotted a beautiful beach. So we took a cew more pics and we doubled back to continue along our journey towards the great ocean road, we back past where we'd been stopped, past the wind farm and even past our re-fueling station. Finally we arrived at a town called 'warraanboool' the beginning (or rather the end th g.o.r.) by now time had passed quite a lot as it was now about 5:30pm we drove down for at least another thirty or forty mimutes till we got to the first look-out we had a little look but wasnt overly impressed. Tho one thing, even though it was 6:00 by now it was still daylight for another good three hours or so, and it was still really really HOT not s snow flake in sight hehe or even a raindrop any longer. We got to the 2nd point and i think at this point we realised we'd definitely done it the wrong way round as we'd seen two look-outs but the road was 150 miles long and there was allegedly so much to see on the GOR the 12 apostles, london bridge, the sea horse, the arch the list goes on, all just names to us at this stage and didnt really know what any of it was about, we arrived at a point which we thought was the 12 apostles however we had no real way of telling there was an info board but it didnt mention the 12 apostles. At each point we took some snaps and even some video too. We carried on along the road where we came accros a '12 apostles viewing site' ooh so we hadnt seen the 12 apostles yet, however this was on the opposite side of the road, bemused we entered the car-park and headed for the visitors site office, we quickly realised and soon discovered that this was in fact helicopter rides to see the great ocean road by air.. Wow we thought, but i bet the prices will be astronomical. We went to the office to enquire and on the notice board above the attendant was a sort of map with 5 or 6 different routes you could do varying in price from $95 to $495. Andrea and I had a bit of a conflab about whether we could afford and justify it, we both quickly agreed we could both afford and justify the expense. As we'd both never been in a helicopter before. We opted for a flight of $145 (about £100) plus $20 (£12) for a low level flight to give us more of detailed view.
We paid the $165 and signed on the dotted line. [Dad if ur wondering how much of a gold-mine it is, i calculated how many flights they do and how many passengers on which particular tours. Asking thr daugher of the owner the above questions they take approx $600k EVERY DAY :-O OH MY GOLLY GOSH] we were kitted up with life jackets and told where to wait for our returning helicopter, our choppa was 'red alfa' the flight takes aproximately 15 minutes to do the tour we had opted for and in that fifteen minutes you get to see all of the famous landmarks.
We patiently waited for 15 minutes as various choppers took off and landed (there are 6 in total) and soon it was our turn. The daughter of the owner instructed us to follow her and then wait at the end of the concourse. As i was filming the whole thing i went in the front seat and andrea sat directly behind me. We were all belted up and were handed headsets by the pilot, immediately he began talking to us instructing us about emergency evacuation procedures etc. Then as quick as a flash we were airborne at an almighty speed. We quickly soared above the ground beneath us, seeing cars and people going about their journeys looking all of a sudden very distant. We travelled inland up the coast and our Pilot adrian was pointing out the salt and pepper shakers out of the left window. He began speaking in phoenetic code talking to other pilots and he was watching out the windown for a plane coming in accros the ocean who shortly flew overhead, once he was out the way he continued with the instruction of what all the different sculptures are called, all carved by the sea which errodes the lime and sand-stone at a rate of 2-5cms per year. We reached the town of port campbell very quickly, which we drove through about 40 minutes previously, incedentally the town where adrian (the pilot) lived, its was named after a man called thomas campbell who was a whaler and years ago there used to be another road down to the sea but over time it has fallen into the sea. We began to bank to the left and we came back to the london bridge and down towards the 12 apostles. The feeling of being in a helicopter was exhillerating being able to see almost all the way around and the way the aircraft moved so effortlessly, tho obviously because of the skill of the pilot. So much different than that of a plane tho. As we approached each statue-like sight from the air, Adrian explained it's significance and the reason they were so called. Apparently there was never actually 12 apostles and there was some controversy over their name in the 60's. Theres only 8 now anyway because of errosion, althought you could see where no's 9 & 10 were. Theres another island called the sea-horse appropriately named but you can only really see why from the ocean side (not so much from the shore) when sea-gulls land here it is called Mantra tho i forgot why. We continued down the coast seeing all the different formations and soon we were coming back into land. When we were on the ground the pilot switched off the engine telling us we were the last customers f the day. I enquired what happened to the choppers at night, apparently they have a set of wheels and they tilt the chopper backwards and wheel it in, one man can apparently wheel each chopper alone, i was astonished. Imagining it to be a bit like wheeling in a crate of beer or heavy boxes rather than a helicopter. We thanked Adrian and after the girl had taken a few pics for us standing in front of the chopper we made our way back to the car and drove down to a place id spotted where you can get down onto the beach.
So we made our way down to the beach just as the sun was beginning to set. We took some awesome pics and after the sunset we got back on the road heading for apollo bay, where we had been reccommended by numerous people to stay, it was a good 77kms away which felt more like 177 as the roads were similar to that in Tas, very twisty windey but as we drove on we began to drive thru rain-forrest like scenery, so we had to do a few photo stops en-route.
Eventually we arrived at appollo bay, by which time it was now 9pm and rather dark. We had seen tons of cabins and cottages for rent en-route so we thought we wouldnt really have any problems finding somewhere to stay.. How wrong could we be ?! Every where we tried there were no vacancies, place after place after place. We even tried driving to some B&B's off the beaten track but alas to no avail at all.. It reminded me of driving around holiday places on bank holiday as a kid with my parents looking for somewhere last minute, and we always seemed to find somewhere, however we were very late, it was now nearing 10pm and still had no where to stay, and not only that we were once again beginning to run out of fuel..Not only that we were also begining to become very hungry. We found somewhere to fill up, with fuel so that we didn't have a fuel problem this we managed to do rather quickly. so next was to find somewhere to stay, then we could maybe get some food.
We deicded and on the advice of several people we'd spoken to within the places we were trying, to try the next town along Lorne, so we drove to Lorne but once again to no avail, several people were telling us it was cos it was xmas and new years, people tend to book way in advance, some regulars upto 1 year in advance after their stay last year. We began to resign ourselves to the fact we may have to sleep in the car, bearing in mind we had all our cases and bags in the car, this wouldn't give us much room at all.. After trying what seemed like every place in Lorne, we drove to Anglesea the next town, but alas was finding the same problem here too..
We were both very very tired and so we decided to sleep over night in the car, so i found somewhere suitable to sleep and we made ourselves as comfortable as possible and turned in for the night!
So when i left u last we were sleeping in the car i use the term sleeping very loosely. We werent able to sleep very much, the traffic kept waking me up. I was also a little concious of the fact we were still rather a long way from the airport. I awoke at 3am because where we'd parked up there were several other campers there too, the car behind us constantly were getting in and out, Andrea was kind of asleep, drifing in and out of sleep anyway, then she began snoring and at that i was wide awake, she was in the passenger seat with the seats wound back, i was in the back and although this was my choice i wasnt bestowed with a great deal of room, and i soon began to feel somewhat claustraphobic, i got out for a fag and decided i might as well make the most of the time we had and drive closer to melbourne to be sure we would back in time for the connecting flight to Sydney which was at 14:40 the next day. As i began driving towards Torquay which was the first (or the last) stop on the Great ocean road the only thought that was running through my head was that soon we'd be on board a flight to Sydney where we would once more have a bed.
The car was so uncomfortable to sleep in, bearing in mind we also had all of our belongings in the car too. I drove to Torquay and found a quiet place to park however the quiet place i found wasnt so quiet. I soon found myself driving once more back towards Anglesea where i found a very very quiet spot where only two other campervans were parked and already asleep, the new place was well away from the road. I finally managed to get some sleep. It was 3:20 when i fell asleep and as i awoke a few hours later i was elated that it was finaly daylight and we could make our way back having had very little sleep i drove back to torquay and just a bit past it however i had to pull over and andrea drove back towards sydney. We had no accommodation and we were due to skype home as my parents were having a party and andreas parents were also attending, which would mean we could skype both sets of parents in one go. We pulled into McDonalds to use their wifi and as we hadnt eaten anything the night before we bought some breakfast. As we were eating we tried several times to make contact with the party goers but alas to no avail it was now 9am and some food did us both the world of good. Andrea needed to exchange some travellers cheques and buy some padlocks as she'd lost the ones she bought over here somewhere and as we were checking all our luggage and taking it to sydney she wanted to ensure it was secure. Sadly she didnt manage to exchange her cheques although we did get some padlocks. We still had a few hours before our flight so we agreed the beach was the best option, both Alcatraz and St.kilda beach were equidistant from where we were but we preferred st.kilda as it was somewhat closer to the airport, not by much but a little. We got to st.kilda about 10:30 and we wanted to be at the airport by 12:00 to give us plenty of time to drop off the car and check-in especially as we had suitcases to check. We walked to the place where Paul and I had our sand kingdom.. It was still standing, however it had definitely been under attack. We relaxed in the sunshine for a little while then it was time to get to the airport so we jumped in the car and drove to Tullmarine airport, we began to stress somewhat as the time was tickin on and we were fast approaching latest check-in time, we took a wrong turn and ended up near a shopping centre, im sure Andie had her shopping radar on and it overpowered the sat nav. Lol we eventually found the right way to travel and began heading back to the airport, my stomach was churning although we still had sufficient time we were cutting it tight. On approach to the airport the signs were confusing and i ended up in the wrong lanes more than once, but with a bit of last minute changing and the Ozzies behind me being very patient and expressing their patience by sounding their horns, i found the right place and we parked up in the correct bay, we then had a mad panic to try and re-pack all of our stuff, we were all-but packed but with the overnight in the car we'd pulled lots of things out trying to find comfort. We were walking in the direction of Terminal 4.. It would be T4 wouldnt it.. T's 1,2&3 were right by the rental desk and T4 was a good 1/4mile sprint away, so on our toes we walked briskly to the terminal, upon arrival at the terminal a queue snaked its way arous the centre, we were being faced with every delay possible it seemed. We patiently waited in the queue and i began to get concerned as we had literally 10 minutes before check-in closed and we still had yet to check in our baggage. I skipped the queue and went to the desk appologising perfusely to the person next in queue and explained i just had a quick question. I asked the lady behind the desk if we would make check-in if we queued. She explained that check-in didnt close for a further 45 minutes for the flight to sydney, phew i sighed a breath of releif. But hang on.. The flight left in 50 minutes. Confused i walked back appologising once more to the person next in line, they didnt look impressed, ah well, i double checked and handed her the itinerary, she looked at me and said "this flight departs from Avalon sir, not tullmarine". OH BOLLOCKS !!! Thought I.
I walked back to andie with the sinking churning stomach feeling i previously had and relayed the information to Andie. We exited the queue, and stood for a moment trying to work out if we could get to Avalon in time, we formulated a plan and whilst Andie went to check A) how long and B) how much a taxi to Avalon would be i went back to the front desk, pushing in once more, i didnt care this time tho, i explained to a new lady the situation and she looked at the reference and surveyed the options, they were thus; A) amend the booking to the sydney flight that was leaving at 15:30 from Tullmarine or B) take the same flight the next day for free. The admin fee to change would be the difference in fare which was $90 plus an admin fee of $39 this option was quickly withdrawn as the flight was fully booked. I said to the kind helpful lady i needed to confer with my friend and she said she'd need us both to be here to re-book in any case but to come back to her at the front desk.. Dont worry i was going to anyway lol.
I met Andie outside and she was panic stricken and i could see stress written over her face so we had a bit of a hug and i explained the situation as it stood. Long story short, we werent going to Sydney today. We were both a little bit gutted but dealt with our fate and rebooked the flight from AVALON tomorrow. AVALON the lady stressed with a giggle.
Leaving T4 we sat outside in the hot sun with all of our baggage and worked on our next move, after enquiring the cost of a taxi back to the city ($45) Andie phoned the hotel in sydney we had pr arranged and paid for, for that night to see if we could receive a refund, sadly to no avail. Next step was car hire, i enquired with all of the rental companies at the airport and the cheapest price for a Hyundai Getz was $93 which was still relativly cheaper than a taxi each way, we snapped it up as there was limited availibility.
After meeting our next car 'Sandy' we thought it best to drive back to the hotel in Preston where we'd previously stayed, absolutely knackered bearing in mind we'd had only about 3 hours sleep the night before, and running on adrenline alone, we headed back to the sleep & go hotel as we knew this was pretty much the cheapest hotel in Melbourne. Upon arrival andie set up the laptop which had no power and so pinched their electricity to charge it, i approached a friendly receptionist at the front desk what the very best price for a room would be, he quoted $160 at the Rydges hotel, the attached 4* that was way too much as we'd already lost a nights accommodation @£90 i asked if there was anything he could do to bring the price down somewhat, he then offered as a 1bed studio for $95 this was way more affordable but the apprentice in me began bartering explaining that we'd missed our flight and lost our accommodation fee and had to re-book our flights, re-rent a car all costing in excess of $400 is there anything at all that could be done to squeeze the price down, i said nothing more awaiting his response, he tapped away on his computer and re-quoted $91 hmmm, i reckon i can get more yet, i thought so i pulled a face did some pretend calculations in my head and asked could you do $85 ?? he replied that $91 was the very best price he could do but if i was willing to wait for the manager who was due in, in 10 mins she may be able to get it down slightly more. I decided id do this and asked if he could hold the room on the basis that we'd take $91 if she couldnt do any more.
I went over to andrea who was frantically searching the net trying to get a better price than $91 she'd found a few places but mainly youth hostels. Where we had no wifi n'or parking, we had previously bought a wifi pass for $33 for the entire month which we were still utilising so the prices we were getting as we also had free parking here was not really comparitive, alas we still awaited the return or Laura the manager to see if we could get it still cheaper yet. Shortly she arrived and i explained the situation once more to her and with a friendly glint in her eye she offered a price of $85. I was elated and paid cash there and then.
We moved our things into the room, on the 2nd floor which overlooked the pool. Both very hungary we showered dressed and i just lay on the bed for a minute or two appreciating its delightful comfort, knowing id accomplished a mission. Once we were settled in and clean again we considered what to do for food. We hadnt eaten in a while and hunger pains were making my stomach ache. We went down to the restaurant within the two hotels, Jd's and Chill Jd's served only snack food and chill was very over-priced, capializing on their monopoly. We decided to go for a drive where we found the most fantastic greek restaurant, friendly service and great food, i even practiced some of my Greek lol. Afterwards we drove back to the sleep & go before we'd gone out for a meal i had opened the window to take some pics of the view, when we came back i couldnt seem to close the window. I had reported this to reception prior to going out for a meal alas it hadnt been adhered to, i popped down to see Laura and i asked her if she could get maintenance up to the room, as i arrived she was checking two others in who had been upgraded to the Rydges hotel (4*). When she became free i mentioned to her that i couldnt close the window and could she send maintenance up, she said that maintenance had gone home and that we'd have to switch rooms, i jokingly said "to the Rydges (wink)" she did a bit of tapping on her computer at one point using two screens, silently tapping away, the next thing she said was music to my ears and brought such excitement to me, she said "Bring your luggage down and i'll get you in the Rydges" she nearly bought a tear to my eye, i said, "i could kiss ya" i ran off excitedly to tell Andie of the news, as i arrived at the room, i was dancing with glee, so much so i could hardly get the key-card in the door, when i burst thru the door Andie had got her (tigger) pj's on and was reading in bed, i bounced thru the door like tigger and said "pack ur stuff babes, we've been upgraded to the Rydges" within 4 minutes flat she'd packed, changed and we were both ready to go.
We arrived down at the reception and Laura said, "go straight over, they're expecting you, you're in room 215, any problems and ask them to give me a call" we danced accross the car park transporting all of our luggage as we went, we arrived at the Rydges and visited reception and explained we'd been sent over from Sleep & go he cut us a key-card and directed us to the lift.
We got off on the 2nd floor to the cushioning of the plush carpets, we began walking down the hall way, but were walking down the wrong wing of the hotel, we went back to the lift area and discovered where we had to go, as we got to the mahogony door of our new room i inserted the card, and paused briefly before allowing our eyes to see the treats that stood the other side of the door, at once i flung the door open. WOW didnt do it justice however it was all i could think, all the way down the hall way (yes we had a hall-way) was mirrored on one side and a bijoux kitchenette facing it, the work surfaces a speckled granite with cupboard doors made of opaque smoked blue glass, we entered the bedroom area an it was plush, a huge queen-size bed with bedside tables with lamps atop, the frosted blue glass continued down the left hand side of the room where just in front of the window stood an office desk with lamp, next to that infront of the other window was a glasd table and four chairs, adjacent to that was a leather sofa with lovely soft cushions, but where was the en-suite we wondered, behind the workdesk was an opaque smoked glass blue omnidirectional door, floor to celing, beyond this was a heaven of marble, a very neat 'Y' shaped sink, next to that a toilet and the other side the shower room, yes a room, there was a shower curtain, not that you needed one as the marble wall divided the toilet and sink from the shower room.
As we jumped on the bed with glee i noticed the 32" plasma and ipod docking station to not only play my music but which would charge my ipod and wake us up to whatever souds my ipod allowed.
I was so tired and the beds were so so comfy yet i didnt want to sleep, that would be a waste of such a room, however after connecting the wifi and skyping tim (well i had to show someone our room and mom and dad were unavailable) my eyes could no longer withstand the downward pressure of my eyelids forcing them shut, i lay on the bed and drifted off comfortably into a world of undisturbed sleep.
As i awoke Andrea was showering, the water being forced so fiercly thru the shower head i wondered if the smoky glass would contain it, (it did).
Andrea had said last night that she wanted to get some travellers cheques exchanged as she still hadnt managed this feat as yet, so she took the car to, no no, guess?! Yup Northland shopping precinct. Her beloved shopping precinct where she seemed to have spent 96.8% of her time in Melbourne (im kidding of course) so whilst she shopped i caught up on some much needed and highly deserved sleep, oh and what a nice sleep it was in such a plush bed, i awoke about 10:30 and thought about re-packing my case as today FINALLY we were going to Sydney. What a beautiful end to our stay in melbourne tho, so peaceful and relaxing, it was the silver lining, to a very grey cloud, that had descended, sertting us back for a while, we absolutely needed.
Rather than pack tho i went online typing up my blog, i love to write my journal and i was quite far behind, as i am now (its now 1st jan as i type and ive much to fill you in on).
As i typed away re-living the days that had gone by trying to remember my every detail, andrea returned home with two pastries for me, i realised i'd sat for well over an hour just tapper tapper tapping away, as she arrived she began making coffee, telling of the ardious controversy she'd encountered trying to exchange the cheques, i jumped into the shower and quickly freshened up, when i exited the salloon style floor to ceiling door, i had breakfast prepared.. Mmm what a way to start the day i thought.
It took a little while to arrange where i wanted all my clothing etc as i wanted to personally carry as little and check as much luggage into the hold.
We left the room and took the lift down to the reception where we dumped all of our cases in sandy taking our day bags containing our towels etc so we could catch the last few rays of the Melbournian sunshine round by the pool.
Soon the time came for us to leave Andrea drove leaving me to continue my blogging. Some 45 minutes later and we arrived at AVALON airport, incedentally just a few junctions past Paul & Jane's junction. Once we'd dropped the car keys off at the rental desk we went to the check-in desk to find we'd been so efficent that we had in fact arrived about 35 minutes early and couldnt yet check-in but this was fine, in fact, it was way better than fine because as we checked our luggage into the hold, we were asked if we would mind taking emergency exit seats, like this was a liberty, we heartily accepted as we knew emergency exit seats meant extra legroom, not that either of us needed extra legroom but it also meant we board the aircraft first, once again making us feel a bit VIP, lol
Once on the aircraft the pilot announced that there was a slight delay due to some head-winds so the 1h 05m flight would probably take 1h 10m as the flight took off we almost simultaneously fell asleep, God knows why because we had slept really well, however we soon came in to land aproximately 35 minutes later.
Andrea has a cousin in Sydney, James who she had been in contact with since arriving in Australia and as he lived in Sydney explained how we'd get to our next hotel. In fact he kindly met us at the train station, but i'll come to that.
We disembarked the aircraft and after a long walk we found where our baggage was being dispensed, as i came down the escalator i spotted my suitcase popping out of the shute and Andrea, taking the stairs (for the extra excercise) ran ahead and claimed my suitcase for me, as i arrived where she was stood, her bag arrived too so we quickly exited the Airport.
We had no transport in Sydney so would have to catch a train to the city, we went outside so i could have a fag and whilst talking amomgst ourselves a stranger approached and asked andrea are you from Birmingham, we quickly began chatting to the guy, Dave who was from Wednesbury, turns out he's been travelling around the world and had settled in Brisbane but was visiting Sydney to welcome in the new year.
I began asking him what the cost of living is like in Australia comapared to the Uk, he told us that he was quids in by comparison, tho not due to the rates of exchange but merely what the minimum wage is in Oz $24 per hour (equivalent to £10 an hour) yet no-one really pays minimum wage, and if you are experienced you can quickly double, tripple and even quadruple it. He divulged that he is earning the equivalent to £600 a week after tax and if he were to have a skill or indeed a drivers licence it is possible to earn upto $240k pa
It was really interesting to speak to him and his two irish (female) friends who also concurred with his figures. I was quite astonished.
We found where we had to get the train and James, andreas cousin had instructed us to go to Wynyates station as its closest to our hotel. We bought tickets at a cost of $15 and true to his word when we arrived at the station there was James to meet us, he even pulled my suitcase which was really nice of him, he opted for the heaviest case too, which i was glad about but felt guilty for but alas he insisted. The Hotel we had booked into was literally 30 seconds down the road from the station although when we got to the door there was no lift and in fact 4 flights of stairs to our room, by time we got in the room we were pretty tired but James went over to the hotel opposite as we said we'd come over and buy him a drink for helping us, although as he works at a swanky hotel in sydney he got the round of drinks in as he gets discounted rates as a worker in Oz.
Once we'd had one or two drinks we went for a stroll as Sydney harbour and Opera house were literally about 5 minutes walk down the road.
We took loads of pics, it was strange to think that buildings i'd only ever seen pictures of or on telly, were right in front of me, just there, within walking distance, it was a little over-whelming.
Andrea, James and I were all a little hungry so after we'd walked around circular quay and seen the bridge and the opera house, we were looking for somewhere to eat, we had a look at some of the prices down at the quay, tho as you'd probably expect they weren't cheap, james had said he'd take us to his restaurant, The Establishm@nt (the @ sign is intentional, it was actually an 'E' but in the same guise as an @ symbol). upon entry to the establishment we were met with a warm swanky reception, very chic an elegant, we visitied the toilets and ordered our food, which was complimentary as James worked there, and i have to say it was the nicest rump steak i'd eaten in a long time, should've cost $18 but as james was staff he gets so many meals a week free which he had had some banked up, After dinner James headed off as he was yawning quite a lot as he had been up since 5 am and it was now 10pm i wasn't far behind him to be honest either. We shortly went back to the 4th floor of our hotel, by the way the room, was a bit small and pokey, again a bit of a come-down from the luxury of the 4* accommodation we had stayed in the previous night, however the location was simply perfect. and the bed was very comfy.. i quickly slumped down into a good nights sleep.
This morning we awoke nice and early ready to check out for the day ahead, im being sarcastic of course. We were due to check out at 11:00am and awoke at 10:52 ooops, we rang down to reception and asked if it was ok as we'd only just awoke she said it was fine. I'd arranged to skype my parents this morning at 9am (our time) and they wrte awaiting my call. I called upon awaking and had a quick chat explaining the situation. We had a bit of a catch-up and then we packed our stuff and went down to reception. We aksed if it was ok to leave our stuff with them for the day whilst we enjoyed the Hot Sydney sunshine, this was fine, we said about 17:00 tho in my head i knew this probably wouldnt be the case, we set off for our days adventure heading for Circular Quay, we wanted to take a few pics of the harbour bridge and opera house by day, which we did, then after making one or two enquiries we hopped on a ferry to 'Manly' beach. The queue to get on the ferry was emense and the amount of people in such an enclosed area made one feel a little claustrophobic. However once they'd disembarked the return travellers to Sydney their efficiency soon had us on board, although all of the best seats were taken. We headed for the front of the boat commanding the best views but the amount of people crammed into the nose of the ship meant we had to hussle for a good photography spot. We got one and the sea breeze was more than welcome, as the boat left port it was 'click click click flash flash flash' all round as all the tourists (us included) tried to capture the sights on the way to the beach, once we were out of port and the the sights had vanished from view and we were well on our way to the beach, we went for a walk around the ship. Noticing they had a cafe on board i bought a laaarge cappucino and a steak pie. We then went to the port side and basked in the sun taking pictures of the lush scenery that surrounds the harbour.
The boat docked into port and the hoards of people (the ferry holds 1000 in total) left the vessel and poured onto manleys quayside, as we wandered down the quay to the pavement, ahh terra firma, the boat was quite rocky as the sea just outside of port was somewhat choppy created by bigger boats setting about their day. Didnt bother us too much as we neither suffer from travel-sickness.
We headed for the nearest beach where we found our little spot to plonk our stuff. Job 1 re-apply sun creme as i could already feel myself beginning to burn. We then set our towels down and as i ate my pie, Andrea basqued in the sun. The pie was goood and filled a gap, for a while anyway, i then lay back and relaxed.
It wasnt long before i had to have a dip in the sea as the hot sun was beating down. This i realised was actually the first time i'd fully emersed myself in the ocean, how lame is that i thought, still at least i had accomplished more than cooling myself. Go me!! Lol the water wasnt freezing and bitingly cold like in tas and melbourne but it was still a little cold upon first entry, tho not in a taking your breath away kind of way, it was nice! I had a little swim around trying to look for Jelly fish, certainly didnt want to have to pee on myslef, neither did i want to get stung come to that, tho i noticed there were nets around the beach to the right of the wharf, not so to the left as there were boats a-plenty coming and going. Some with very young kids piloting their own boats with their, i assumed, school friends onboard.. The lucky blighters. Then a group of teenagers pulled in on what i think (at least i'd hoped) was 'Daddy's boat' surely they cant own such a boat themselves, maybe they could who knows suffice to say either way they were clearly affluent. I think most people in the country are tho in all honesty. Ooh time for another dip as the sun was once more making me feel like it was once more, that time. After my dip i re-applied once more my spf30 sun creme, i definitely didnt want to burn. The day continued pretty much as above for a little while with the dipping the re-applying and the basquing. I felt a bit of a migraine coming on so walked back to the wharf where id noticed an Aldi on our way in, that would most definitely beat the cost of a chemist for sure, medication in Australia is verrry expensive. Aldi was definitely cheaper at $2.99 for 24 500mg headanol. I was satisfied so i walked back to the waters edge and also to where i'd left my bottle of water. I took two tablets and went back to the important duty of sunbathing. I noticed a plane up in the sky beginning to sky-write what i thought was a letter D it turned out to be an F and as the whole beach seemed to turn his attention to the sky we eagerly looked to see what what being written first F then U i began to think it wad going to be sky graffiti but then the next letter was a T then another U it was like playing the letters game on countdown, as he continued the beginning of the word started to dissipate with the wind so then we had to remember what leters were already sky-written to work out what to word spelled, next came an R then an I, i was trying to guess what the word was going to be, then came an S then a T ahhhhhh 'Futuristic' bit of a random word to write in the sky, mind you it was nearly new years eve so perhaps a message regarding the future, it was pretty cool anyway, there was not a cloud in the sky so it stood out boldly against the blue sky albeit the beginnig of the word had pretty much vanished. Ah but wait, there at once was more, an 'N' then an 'E' hmm ok so it was now futuristicne this once again stopped making sense, oh.. Hang on the N was a capital letter so a beginning of a new word 'N E R D', the new word became. So the whole Sentence is now Futuristic Nerd. Im guessing its either a club or event of some sort, or a rather affluent geek. Still pretty cool by all accounts.
The day meandered on in its sydney fashion hot and sunny, wr spared a thought to all of you English types back home freezing yer butts off whilst we were on the beach enjoying the Australian Sunshine, throughout the holiday we have to continuiously keep pinching ourselves as it all seems a bit like a dream it sure is probably the best trip i've ever had, most action packed and visiting the most amount of places in one go im sure. It is truly sensational even now as i sit here writing, on the train to carringbah, i cant beleive im here. Its a wierd feeling, but good wierd, definitely what i wanted for Christmas. Actually i'm going to take this opportunity to Thank my parents (yes i know im not receiving a grammie) but without them i wouldnt be able to be here whilst they slog their guts out covering for me running the business. So Thanks Mom & Dad!
Anyway i meandered off track slighty, so the day was beginning to draw to a close plus time was marching on never ending and keeping its own time, as we whiled away the hours. To be honest it was so nice to just take some time to relax and do very little as we'd been not only doing rather a lot but also we'd had a bit of stress over the past day or two. We continued relaxing and letting the stress just drift away before it was time to get back on the ferry and make our way back to the hotel to get our stuff and head on to the next hotel. The Rydges.. We were quite excited about this as the Rydges we'd previously stayed in was soo nice. We dragged our cases down the two flights of stairs from reception and stood on the road side just sorting ourselves out once more. A bank of taxis stood outside an one looked at me and asked if we wanted a taxi, naah we wanted to go by train as so far we'd only travelled by train once so far and that was only from the airport.. However it would be pretty handy to arrive by taxi as we had so much luggage, so i enquired how much it would be, we knew the fare wouldnt be much more than $15 by train each so if he came out more than $30 we'd leave it. He quoted us $60 so we decided we'd take the train. Just as we were about to leave he changed his price to $40, quite a drop in price i thought, maybe if we can get him to $30 it'd save so much hasstle with the transportation of us and all our belongings, i began negotiations but he wouldnt budge from $40 we decided to hang the $10 as it would save us much hasstle so we loaded our luggage into his estate cab and off we went, i showed him the address of where we were heading and the air con cooled us as we drove, it was nice, we realised as we drove it was our first Ozzie taxi so far so we enjoyed the novelty of an additional mode of transport.
As we got on our way he asked to see the address once more so i showed him my phone, then we had a slight problem because the "Rydges Bankstown" is actuall in "Bass Hill" some 25 kms further on, he told us it would be more than originally agreed. We werent happy at all about this especially as id shown him the address, he was adamant that he would either take us as far as bankstown or charge us additional fees according to the meter reading for the additional journey, not wanting to be ripped off we decided to get out at bankstown train station and take a train the extra distance, this was about 6 or 7 stations further, oh dear!! We realised at this point we were some distance out of the city, we sorta knew this already but didnt anticipate quite how far out. We called the hotel when we go to Bankstown to ask if there was any kind of free shuttle to the hotel, there wasnt but the receptionist advised us to get of the train at Chester Hill train station, we got on the train in the direction of chester hill, additional cost of $4.60 each, we struggled with our luggage down three flights of stairs to the station platform and awaited the train, 18 minutes later and the train arrived and about half an hour on we departed at Chester Hill, by time we got there it was dusk and there wasnt a being in sight, tumbleweeds blew down the road in this ghostly town. We called the hotel as there were no taxis as we were advised a taxi should cost about $7.50 and we didnt know where we were heading or even how far the walk wouls be. The hotel arranged a taxi for us so we began waiting for the taxi to arrive, a good 15 minutes passed and no sign of any taxi. So we walked down a little way to where there were some bus stops and noticed a taxi waiting for us, we approached and askes if that was our taxi, it wasnt it seemed. He hadnt been booked but we took it anyway, he zoomed down a few streets and several minutes later we arrived at the Rydges, it didnt look as swanky as the previous one tho at least he had a pool. We checked in and went to the room.. The very bog-standard room almost no-frills, i was severely disappointed, we both were, but this hotel was my choice in the Uk, tho due to a lack of availibility we had very limited choices anyway.
We had a look around are room, no smoky blue opaque glass here, tea coffee making facilities and a fridge, two single beds, rather un-impressive.
After a long-ish day we were both hungary but with a severe lack of choice our only option seemed either a McDonalds next door or a bp station... Or the hotel. We opted for a hotel meal, it wasnt cheap too $50 for a fish salad and a steak, the food was nice but no where near as nice as the previous nights steak at the establishm@nt.
We ate our meal and after i had a fag we went to bed
So i left you last night just before going out for our evening meal, the restaurant the whole group went to was an itallian, tho it was very average to be honest, nothing very special, n'or cheap for that matter, following the meal we came home we were all exhausted having had very little sleep since we left england so we all went into our own rooms and went to bed. The rooms by the way are very nice, each person has their own twin room with en-suite facilities, i will take some photos later. On that subject i'm struggling to upload any pics at the moment possibly due to the poor upload speed of the internet which is provided for free all over the hotel, so i imagine as there are so many using it, it slows right down. I will upload as often as i can and hopefully i will eventually manage to get them all done.
So today i awoke at 7:30 am but i decided to go back to bed for an hour or so, when i awoke at 8:35 i had just over an hour to get ready for the day and then go down for breakfast before leaving for the days excursion. The breakfast was very good, continental buffet style with many different options, some of which i sneaked into my bag for lunch hehe.. So after breakfast we all congregated at the hotel foyer where we were escorted to the minibus, we first of all went thru the city to the '9th july avenue' which is the 2nd longest road in Argentina, stretching to 'Tigre' which is where we were headed to pick up the river-cruise of the parana delta, but before arriving at tigre we had a quick stop off at the top of san isidro where we took a few photos, our guide vanessa explained that the museum we were about to visit was once the summer house of mariquita sachez de thompson, who when the national anthem was introduced in Argentina, this was the first place it was broadcast from her summerhouse, was very resplendant and tranquil with jacaranda trees in full bloom in her garden, we then went to visit the neo-gothic cathederal which was only completed 8 years ago. We then took a short walk down a few steps to the train station. Vanessa was telling us that the trains in argentina are very unreliable and so most people use busses rather than trains as the trains run according to the schedule of the driver, not to a fixed schedule as we would expect and therefore the railway is rarely used by locals however upon arrival there was a train alighting the station to begin its journey to wherever it went this apparently is a very rare sight. At the train station there were some sports and souvenir and leather shops along with, as you would expect the usual ice-cream shops bars and a café. Their local delicacy is an ice cream called dulce de leché (sweet cream) which was very nice.
We then made our way thru the city of Tigre (tiger) where we joined our boat cruise. The city is so-called because when it was first discovered some pumas and jaguars were sighted in the area but a husband and wife team went in seach of these animals to make the city safe for people to live. Some of the animals were skinned for their exotic furs, some were sold to zoo's tho most of them were re-homed back into the wild of the jungle where they were originally from, they apparently travelled down from the jungle with the sedements which now make up the islands within the parana delta, there are no bridges crossing from one side to the other so therefore EVERYTHING has to be transported by boat, there are water-busses, water-ambulances, water-churches, water-supermarkets and even back in the day there was a school which used to collect the children from their homes and they would learn aboard this purpose built boat, however nowadays there are schools built on these isalnds where all the local children visit daily. Bear in mind that to construct their homes they have to have everything deliverered also by boat, which was probably no mean feat. The stilted houses at the beginning of the trip were quite small and bijou however the further we went the greater the plots of land and the grander the houses became, with rowing clubs sports clubs and swanky hotels with pools with idylic settings. As we approached the dock where the tour began there was a (basic) theme park with roller-coasters and pirate ships, and even a bungee rocket type thing. Following the boat trip vanessa asked if any of us would like to stop off at the japanese gardens in the area where there's an homage to galileo galillae and a few art galleries and museums. So i decided i wanted to get off the bus and have a walk, sue one of the other group members said she'd like to also but then changed her mind so i got off and had a lovely walk all around the japenese gardens and then began walking thru the city towards my hotel, i decided to take a bit of inspiration and stuck the evita sound-track on after seeing a monument dedicated to eva peron, so as i was walking thru the city of buenos aires listening to 'i want to be a part of be a buenos aires, big apple' made it all seem real, especially as some of the references she makes i was walking past, i had already been down the rio de la plata earlier on the boat cruise and my hotel is just around the corner from 'florida' a pedestrianised shopping area which those of you who've seen evita or know the sound track well enough, will know it features in the before-mentioned song, so i happily walked catching the rays of sunshine back towards buenos aires. After at least an hour and a half walking i came into the city centre and was confident i knew roughly where i was going, all of the streets are in a block formation a-la manhattan island and various other parts of america, so i figured eventually i would arrive back around my hotel, incedentally there are definite american influences within Argentina, moreso than in Peru for example which had a much more definite spanish influence, anyway i digress, my feet began to ache and whilst i recognised some of the places i was walking past from the city tour yesterday i had no idea how they related to where my hotel was tho undeterred i continued on foot taking in the sites and smells of the city still whilst enjoying the sounds of evita, i was getting a few wry looks from people, i imagine cos i stuck out like a sore thumb as a tourist wearing my green 'holiday' shorts, taking photos of what to the argentinians probably are very mundane things, as many of you who know me, will know just how trigger happy i can be when it comes to photos. Alas i continued on foot, at one point completely circumnavigating one block as i thought i recognised the plaza that was adjacent however it turned out i was actually still the wrong side of the affore-mentioned '9th july avenue' however i only discovered this after deciding my aching feet needed a rest and jumped in a taxi, but much to my dismay the taxi driver didnt know where my hotel was (i guess i expected every taxi driver to know every hotel is) however i suddenly remembered i had a map provided by our tour guide, fortunately i remembered my hotel was off avenida esmarelda but no idea where but i decided that he could drop me off at plaza st. Martin which turned out to be only 2 blocks away from my hotel, so upon arrival i came back to my hotel room and had a really nice shower which totally relaxed my poor aching feet, still listening to evita whilst in the shower (courtesey of my (bose) bluetooth speaker) so i'm now lieing on my bed relaxing before tonights adventures, the rest of the group are taking an excursion of a 'dinner-tango show' which if i'm honest i'm a bit ambivilent about so myself and sue (the only other person not going) are going to have an evening at leisure and with my new found knowledge of the city of buenos aires i'm sure we'll have a blast! Maybe even take in a show at some of the theatres of buenos aire's theatre distict, famed to be their 'west-end' and ironically where it's situated does look very similar to Londons 'leicester square' which granted isnt actually the west end but close enough. Anyway i will update and continue tomorrow...... Ciao mi amigos
Happy new years eve was the fisrt thing i said as i woke up, id had a very comfy nights sleep, so much so i fell back to sleep, i heard andrea get up and go down by the pool, when i re-awoke it was nearly 11:00 so i quickly arose from my stouper, jumped out of bed with a sense of urgency, opened the curtains and seeing a clear blue sky. I went down to the pool area, as it was new years eve andie and I agreed, as we were quite a distance out of town we'd stay round by the hotel pool chillaxing and we'd travel in later that evening. I went back up grabbed my towel and applied my spf30 which by the way was still lasting from Tasmania, that was quite a good $14 worth of cream.
We had a play in the pool and sunbathed for a while, the sun was moving round the pool and it began to hide behind the hotel, we chased the sun until it was no longer shining on us, at which point we decided to make our way into town it was 4pm it was just as well as it took us nearly an hour and a half to ready ourselves, and for once it wasnt andie taking the time, it was me.. I changed my outfits numerous times. Eventually i went back to my first option lol we then made our way to the train station as we went to the bus stop to catch a bus to the station, we got to the station and bought our train tickets to the city at a cost of $4.60 each there were two people behind us debating as to whether to get a return or a one way, andrea piped up and informed them that if you get a return you can use it up till midday the next day which we'd enquired about previously, we thought as to whether would actually make it for midday the next day but as we didnt actually know what we'd be upto and what time exactly we'd be heading home we decided to buy a single. The two guys we'd just begun chatting to were really friendly and had rather a good sense if humour, we ended up chatting to them all the way into the city.
Our new found friends Paul & Sue were telling of a gay club that rocked up near oxford street, paul was gay and was saying that this was the most awesome club in town over new years $55 entry tho totally worth it.
Eventually the train arrived at circular quay in the heart of the city and OH MY GOD it was busy, everywhere you looked it was just a sea of heads, we managed to fight our way thru the busy padestrian traffic till we were outside if the station, so job 1 was the toilet, then a drink. Public toilets were located at the stations main exit so that was half the battle, we all paid a visit then we looked for a bar where we could get a drink, the queues, as you might expect were hurrendous, we noticed a bar that was inside and so the queues werent too bad, still with Paul & Sue our new friends, we headed for the inside bar and asked if we could take drinks outside alas we couldnt due to licencing laws preventing drinking on the street. The bar staff directed us to an outside bar on the pavement so we popped into there and walked to the bar, it took only a few minutes to get served. We bought 2 cans of smirnoff ice $8 each. We were expecting the prices of drinks to be somewhat hoiked up due to new years however they seemed to be roughly the same as previously albeit still slightly over-priced compared to the uk.
We were getting used to this tho to be honest, i wanted to talk about this for a minute cos i know you've all been wondering what the costs are like now the rate has dropped, well much like in the states, when the rates were a lot higher things used to be a quater of the price they were in the U.k now tho the rates werent so good and although their costs havn't much increased due to the 1.51:£1 rate we were getting it was making things dead expensive by comparison, usually 25% more pricey than in England, for example i just bought a pack of fags, in England 20 costs around £6 (give or take) these cost me $25 for 40 (a 40 box) which is about £17 so really quite an increase in price by almost a quater. And a pack of M&M's the big cinema size bag in uk about £1.20 over in Oz $5.99 meals too for a steak and chips (literally all you get is meat and french fries) starts around $18-28 depending upon where you're eating which i think compared to the uk where most pubs to a steak at around £10 and restaurants about £12.50 - £20 ok not a great example but a McDonalds over here is $18 where it would be around £5 back home. Anyway enough of that..
We got served in the bar pretty quickly and by an English worker too, yay! We 'hi fived' being english and i asked if it granted us a discount, sadly not, tho she commended me on my britishness asking for discounts and bartering skills.. Lol
We took our drinks out to the cordened off area we were allowed to drink in and the music was playing in the back ground, we took a few pics and chatted more and began chatting about what to do at new years, Sue & Paul were adament they were going to 'ARQ' (pronounced like ark) and andrea and i were deciding whether to join them or not, as we had heard of several clubs aroud the area, but most people watch the fireworks and attend various parties and Paul & Sue made it sound so so good we agreed that we'd tag along with them, so long ad they didnt mind, which they didnt, besides we were enjoying their company. Also it did sound like our scene to be honest, so we all agreed after we'd watched the 9pm fireworks that we'd take a walk to oxford street, which is a bit like hurst street in brum or canal street in manchester, lined with gay bars, hotels clubs etc.. $55 didnt seem too bad as the other clubs we' heard about were averaging around the same costs, if not more, it was new years after all and as yet we havent actually been to a night-club gay or otherwise since leaving brum.
The area began filling up rather quickly as the 9pm bell approached. I must explain they celebrate new years twice in Sydney, first at 9pm for the small children and again at midnight. We walked to a point where we could just see the fireworks above the bridge tho the view was very restricted, definitiey not how we wanted to see the new years in, the fireworks all set off at 9pm and with the view we had, i wasnt impressed but we all said we'd get a much better spot for the midnight celebrations. After the fireworks we began walking to oxford street some 40 minute walk. Now Andrea who had alredy picked out her outfit had made a rather foolish decision to wear high-heels and the 40 minute walk was slightly uphill by time we got to the club her feet were killing her and the pain was written accross her face, the plan was to go to the club and pay the $55 get a stamp to leave the club so we could re-enter post midnight. We purchased our entry fee and left heading back to towards the city, at this point sue wanted to leave us to go and pick up a friend who was needing convincing to come out, so Andrea and i decided we'd hot-foot it back to the city as time was ticking on and we wanted to try and find a good spot to welcome in the new year. We were also hungry so we left the guys arranging to meet with them later and wandered back down oxford street heading for the city. With every step we were taking Andreas feet pained her more, she regretted not going for the flat shoe option, my feet too were aching yet i was wearing trainers.
We stopped at pie face an eatery where they sell, yep you guessed it, pies.. We each bought a pie and Andrea received a text from her cousin James asking where we were, and whether we wanted to meet up for the midnight toll-bell. We text back asking where to meet etc but with the new years rush of texts began slowing the signal down things became a little difficult as the messages werent being sent or received, we headed back into town and right by St. Mary's cathederal we bumped into Paul & Sue again, we explained that we were off to meet Andreas cousin and we exchanged phone numbers so we could stay in contact, something we'd ommitted to do at the club. Before long we were back on albert street and then alfred street where we'd first watched the 9pm fireworks the crowd had dissipated somewhat but was once again beginning to refill as hoards of people were pouring out of the trains from the sration. a few texts had finally been exchanged between andrea and her cousin, trying to arrange where to meet, our old hotel was a good plan as we knew how to get there, as did James. En-route i'd enquired with a new years information stand where the best free place to watch the fireworks would be, i was told 'Observation Park'. I began asking directions to there as i was so keen to get a good spot, we seemed to be walking back and forth as each policeman we asked for directions were conflicting with the last. Texts once again had become difficult to get thru and a phonecall was received from James to decide where we'd meet him, following the phonecall, with andreas feet now throbbing in agony, i made a suggestion that i'd go off and find observation park whilst she met James, the too-ing and Fro-ing of the annoying conflicting directions were slowing us down and paining Andrea so i think the suggestion came most welcomed as it meant she could chill a little rather than power-march to this unkown location. At once i dashed off into the crowd leaving Andrea to meet James at their arranged and specified location, alone i was much quicker although it quickly dawned on me that i would be alone for bringing in of the new year, i hadnt considered this previously and my impatience had steered me in this lonely direction. To be honest tho, so long as i found a good spot to watch them i wouldnt at all mind. Im sure i can make friends wherever i am. Also having two vantage points to try and catch the fireworks sounded like providence to me. I darted left and right asking people which way observation park was, midnight was looming closer and closer and i realised i had only about 50 minutes to find my spot. I carried on following the nooks and crannies that sydney harbour endows and i eventually came to observation park. It was crammed full of people and what is normally a thru-fare for a multitude of traffic was now completely full of people, all kinds, all races and nationalities all sitting, lying and standing among one another patiently waiting for that midnight chime. I had to cross the road, or rather the crowd as the pavement in front of me was packed to the rafters with obsolutely no way of gettin passed, i carefully plotted a way accross trying not to stand on anyone or upset anyone. I knocked someones can of beer over, oh no.. The liquid poured out wetting the lady in front, i heard her say, oh no my arse is all wet, i bent down and picked up the can saving further spillage and appologised to the girl whos beer id spilled and i thought, ooops, time to get out of here, i was already three quaters of the way accross the riverbed of people so i quickly skipped accross the rest and vanished quickly into the crowd before anyone realised and got a bit upset, as i neared the next corner the traffic came to a bit of a standstill, i patiently waited, not much else i could do really, the people seemed to be going upwards, i wanted to go upwards.. I followed and sure enough there seemed to be steps leading up to a grassy knoll, i say a grassy knoll, that would be true if not for the hoards of people covering its every inch, people who had clearly been there a very long time, equipped with hampers and blankets, almost like the proms, but not. i continued to follow the snaking queue seeing where it might take me, to my sheer delight i happened upon Sydney harbour bridge, the foot of the bridge no less than 100yds in front of me, in between two sets of blankets there was a piece of unclaimed grass, i headed directly for it and sat. Aaah it was so nice to sit, this was my place that i'd claimed stake to and no one would be moving me, an Indian couple were sat in front of me two couples with a child each just behind me and a mother and two sons to the right of me. This was where i would be seeing in the new year. One of the couples with children was about 4 people behind me so we arrived at our viewing spot almost simultaneously however from different directions, the guy said to me "this is mayhem, i only went for a leak and there were only a few people here then" i predicted it may get busier yet, and i wasnt wrong, still they came and there was practically no space left to speak of, yet still they came and came and came, and came and came, the guys flip flop (or thong as the Ozzies call it) had somewhat walked with people treading on it and carrying it without realising, i enquired if it was his and gratefully he claimed the thong, he offered me some 'chips and dip' (crisps) i politely declined but thanked him, up till that point i was feeling a little bit like a trespasser on their land, but now i felt welcomed, the indian couple were beginning to feel uncomfortable and i could sense that Mrs Indian wanted to leave, however Mr Indian was not keen to lose his spot he'd tustled for and i cant blame him either as i had begun to grow roots to my patch of grass.
Time was ticking on and on and at fifteen minute intervals a round of fireworks were being set off a bit like a grandfather clock chiming, at each 15 minute interval the crowd erupted with excitement, whooping and cheering in antcipation.
The last 'chime' went off letting everyone know they had only 15 minutes to prepare for the big 00:00
It was about 7 minutes before midnight and a big fight kicked off literally 3ft in front of me, two gangs of lebanese boys showing off their bravado it was all over very very quickly as each group pulled their respective members away and guided them out of danger, it was a very very hairy moment which seemed to last half an hour as everything went into slow motion, the little girl began crying echoing my sentiments and the mother calmly asked the one side to back away as they were scaring her child, i thought to myself, dont make it worse, i guess she was just concerned for her baby, it worked to our advantage as the two thugs on our side of the conflict appologised profusely explaining he was feeling claustrophobic and had accidentally stepped on the other members toes, the indian couple in front of me very nearly got caught up in it too and i could see the panic on everyones faces, everyone was now upstanding trying to calm everything down. It all blew over and the two groups went in opposing directions. I asked Mrs Indian if she was ok and she said she was a little shaken by the ordeal but was unharmed, as was Mr Indian, i then turned my caring attentions to the family behind me, the mother, the hero, who was the only person who had the balls to speak out, more balls than i did thats for sure, i enquired if she was hurt, she assured me she wasnt but also shaken and a little angry for upsetting her daughter, rightly so too! A few minutes later it had all settled down and there was now much more space as a few people had deserted the area which felt nice, a little more room was good, a guy appeared who was quite obviously pretty drunk, tho in very good spirits, saying "fair d'inkum" to everyone, i laughed and asked where he was from, "England mate" was his reply in a cockney accent, no way, im from Birmingham, i replied, "fair d'inkum mate" he said with a cheery grin, he was having difficulty in standing up-right and i was worried he was gonna piss the people off round by where we were stood so i grabbed his arm in a brotherly fashion and put it round my neck supporting my comrade so he could focus we engaged in conversation and he introduced himself to me, his name was Rosco and he was from daggenham in essex, he'd been travelling for 3 years and this was his second Sydney new years, he was with a friend also and he introduced his friend "wishi" (stuart) i didnt get around to finding out why he was called wishi as an almighty thunder rained luminous light down from the sky as the crowd road an almighty excited cheer then 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 sydney harbour bridge lit up like a christmas tree and then it began, what 1.5million people had been waiting for, the anticiation had been electrifying, too much for some, but now the spectacle began.
There are no words than i can find to describe the sensation and the feeling as 1.5million people went ballistic whooping cheering popping champagne corks screaming shouting along with the noise of the deafening fireworks which sincerly sounded like we were under attack from the germans.. Oooooh! No seriously tho it sounded emense! They went on and on and on for hours.. It was stupifyingly amazing! Your best bet is to watch my video on my facebook profile. It wont do it any justice whatsoever to be honest but it will give you a taster from the perspective i was stood. Go.. Do it now.. Then come back! Have you gone ?? No?! Well GO!
After the event finished it was a mad rush to get away from the crowds. I tried to get back to central quay but the route i took was blocked, i walked back to where i stood with Rosco and Wishi, they had since departed and my little v-shaped tree looked lonely with no-one around... Oooh i forgot to mention, as the fireworks began bats that looked like mini pterodactyls flew out of all of the trees, their wingspan huge about 2.5m tip to tip.
I thought it best i returned the same route to avoid getting too lost.
I had arranged to meet andrea by our 1st hotel in Sydney (if you remember) which normally would be a 10-15 min walk (tops) it took me nearly an hour, negotiating my way through the crowds or people, i had to stop to take some pictures and videos, i dont think ive seen so many people in one place ever before.
I got a bit lost on the way back to the hotel even tho id walked that route 8 times it all just looked so very differently from how it was before, masses of people, singing dancing, walkin home, random people wishing you happy new year, i saw one girl crying, i was about to as if she was ok but she seemed to be walking up stream and then she was gone.
I asked a policeman on horseback where Hunter street was, he directed me to my destination and i bid him a happy new year and walked as he'd directed, a few minutes later i was back at the City lodge. I felt a strange sense of irony being there at that moment having stayed there and compared our hotel although more basic, better all round, the location is perfect.
Out of the blue i saw andrea walking over to meet me.. i say walk i mean Hobbled. Her feet were clearly giving her jip and james suggested the souvinir shop might sell "Thongs". I nipped to the occross the road but it was more like a convenience shop really.
I ran back down, against the flow of traffic took me about 4 minutes to get back to circular quay where id spotted earlier a souvinir shop, popped in and picked up some "thongs" Ozzie size 8.
I took them back to Andrea and handed them in the carrier bag and she switched to those and imediately she perked up, they were like walking on carpet, as apposed to a pebbly beach, to her.
James left us as he was very tired and had to get a train back home which takes about 30 mins, so me and andrea began walking back to "Arq" on Oxford Street. When we got there we showed the doorman our stamps and we went to enter, however he informed us that Andrea cant enter in flip flops, so she had to change back into here high-heels. She wasnt happy about this much, but he allowed us to store the flip flops in a little cupboard to prevent having to throw them away.
We went into the club and walked down the stairs and thru an automatic revoling door.
The music was pumpin' hard and the people all seemed happy and enjoying themselves.
We went for a wander round the club and found there were a few different levels, there was an upstairs also accessable via an automatic revolving door, then there was a balcony surrounding the main dance floor. The music upstairs was loads better, mainly pop-crap remixes downstairs but upstairs was more my kind of music.
Paul and Sue appeared as if by magic and we all four went for a tour as Andie and I kept getting lost as it all looked similar.
The night progressed and we all had a giggle as we danced the night away. The club didnt close till 12 midday next day but by 5am i was just dead on my feet, Andrea was worse. Sue left slightly earlier as her kids were at her mums house. So Paul Andrea and I got a cab from outside the club to central station. We had about a 45 min wait for our train, we said our good-bye's to paul as he was heading off in a different direction and we sat patiently waiting for our train to arrive, it seemed to take forever, we had 18 stops to go too so even when the train arrived we had a very long commute, then there was the taxi journey the other end.
As we sat at the station waiting for our train the night started to become day as the morning broke, the train finally arrived and we were both very sleepy, im sure we both dozed off more than once on the way.
About an hour later we arrived at our stop 'chester hill' we jumped off the train and walked to the top of the stairs to get a cab. There wasnt any available.. Damm! We began walking, walking in the direction, we thought of our hotel, in the direction the taxi took us when we first arrived, an hour later and we realised we'd definitely come the wrong way, the sun was now shining brightly and the birds were chirping, i spotted two cockatoo's which fly freely over here so i took a pic and we carried on, a little further and we asked a man if we were walking in the right direction, he said we were and told us where to turn right, by now it was about 7am and we were completely exhausted, we turned right where the man had said and we spotted the golden arches of the McDonalds next door, with more of a spring in our step we headed for home, and the Rydges hotel. We flopped into bed where we slept soundly for a lonnnng time.
We awoke the next day rather late, as you might expect really considering we didnt get to sleep till 7:30ish. We had arranged to see Andrea's cousin James today and we were heading to Coogee beach (pronounced kuji).
We got ready and headed to central quay where we meet the bus for coogee, upon arrival we were both starving so we sat at a quayside cafe by time we got there it was now 3pm and it felt wierd being where we were last night for the 9pm fire works yet it was desolate, just an ordinary day, all signs of new years, completely gone, streets cleaned, barriers gone, people gone. Very efficiently done too! No messing about.
We ordered our food and my belly was a-rumbling (again) our food came (steak sandwich, greek salad and chicken sarnie for andie) we paid the bill $55 and found the bus stop for coogee beach.
The bus came and we sat at the back (like naughty school kids) the ride took about 40 minutes and by time we got to the beach the sun had gone in completely, however i reckoned it would pop back for a nice sunset.
James and his Girlfriend, Kat were having lumcch themselves when we arrived so andie and i went up to the lookout on the left side of the beach, where there were baths carved into the rocks, we sat and watched the beach, people coming and going, frolicking in the waves, playing various ball games, we were awaiting James and Kat's call/text to say they were ready to meet us, we began to walk down to the beach when we heard an air-raid type warning siren.. Oh no its ze germans again.. A loud voice boomed over a microphone, With a stern voice, "can everyone get out of the water immediately, i repeat, EVERYONE out of the water imediately"!!!
Everyone cleared out of the sea and i ran back to find out what was occuring, in the background people were muttering, shark, shark, blah blah shark, the word Shark was a definite common denominator, ooh sharks, thought I, time for some dentistry (private joke).
There was an area of the bay which had a very light green coloured water, which i assumed was the shark in question, however i soon learned that was actually shark-repellant.
Next think a helicopter came into view circling the bay for some time, obviously looking for signs of Mr Sharkie, then he flew really close to the shark repellant, i think he was trying to disperse it more as it was all clumped together in one patch.
After the excitement had passed and the chopper dissapeared and mr sharkie obviously swam away hungry with no chinese people to eat (we figured there are more chinese populating the earth, thus they wouldnt miss a few), we were about to walk back towards the beach when James and Kat appeared behind us.
James introducted his girlfriend to us and we all began walking into the town.
We were chatting away and we arrived at a hotel bar, we tried to enter but were told we couldnt as Andrea and I were wearing "thongs" (flip flops) so a bit disappointed we headed back up towards the beach, intending to buy some drinks from the bottle shop and sit on the beach, alas there were alcohol restrictions all over the beach so we ended up in another pub anf casino, a lot of the pubs have casinos attached or upstairs, all with "pokie" machines (i think we call em fruit machines, or one-arm-bandits as me and my dad say).
We had a couple of drinks there and sat there chatting and getting to know Kat. Then kat and james asked if we'd like to go clubbing, erm we were still a bit 'lean' from last night, but yeah why not.
We got into town, near circular quay, heading for a 'k-mart' as i needed to buy some shoes so i could enter the clubs. We drove to the multi-storey k-mart but it was closed, being 1st of Jan it was a public holiday. We then had a little escapade trying to find the car as the place where we parked the car wasnt, we ended up going to 3 different levels until we found the car.
We drove to ze German district where we could sit outside, we ordered our drinks and i ordered a cheese platter. The food and drinks came along with the bill, the german waiter explained that thet closed at 11:45 sharp then she left with a grumpy look. She came back a few minutes later and checked if the bill had been paid, it hadnt and she exclaimed once again that they had to close at 23:45 sharp, it was now 23:00 so we still had plenty of time. A further 5 minutes later she came back again, checked if we'd paid and told us again they closed at 23:45 (same miserable woman) i was getting annoyed at this as we were all still eating and drinking. I asked her sarcastically if it was ok if we finished our food.. She went away once more with a miserable look, i opened up the leather-bound wallet holding the bill so she could see that it still was unpaid. The cheeseboard was ok, not the best, it had English chedar, a danish blue and a french cammenbert.. Some water biscuits and a bit of dried fruit and lettuce, not very german at all. I made a call from Andreas mobile to mom and dad and after wishing them a happy new year, and happy new decade, which by the way we realised at 4am that it was a new decade as well as a new year.
After we paid the bill, we went back to where Kat had parked her car and she drove us to central station where we got the train from the previous night to go home, so we knew already we needed platform 22. The train was about 10 minutes away, so we chatted until the train came, then we got on the (double decker) train and sat upstairs. Andrea had a little sleep, the train only went as far as birong station, then it was a bus transfer to Yagoona station, where we got on.
We got off the bus and hailed a taxi to the hotel and went to bed, a little excited as tomorrow we were picking up the campervan to drive to Brisbane and Cairns.
We awoke pretty early as i had to get a train to sydenham junction where i changed trains to get to Carringbah where the Campervan rental location was.
It was a really hot sunny day and after id completed the 2 hour train journey i began to look for the name of the road where the campervan was, Erksine road.
I considered getting a taxi but on the sat nav it said it was only 1.3km, i thought, i'll walk it. By the way i left andrea in bed, when she awoke she began packing our stuff to check-out of the hotel.
I walked to where i thought Erksine road was but i realised i had walked about a mile in the wrong direction, perhaps a taxi mightve been a better idea, i walked back to Carringbah station to try and get one, but there were no taxis available, i found where i was meant to be walking to and began hot-footing it to the rental location, the right way this time. After 35 minutes of walking and my legs aching slightly i arrived at the rental place, and i saw a campervan sitting outside, wooo there was our van i thought.
Although when i got there everything was shut.. Padlocked gates and front door, someone must be inside for sure, i thought i began waving and shouting hoping someone would come outside, no-one did. There was a free phone number on the campervan so i called Andrea, on my english mobile and explained the situation and asked her to call the free-phone number and call me back. I waited a while and a campervan arrived with two people in it, Yay ! i thought the cavalry has arrived, although much to my dissappointment and dismay it was two Germans who were trying to drop off a campervan.
Just after this Andrea phoned me and said she'd spoken to the rental agents and they basically said, tuff! The office is now closed and they suggested we sought accommodation for the night and arrive before 12:00 midday next day to collect, it was now 13:15 - i was very unhappy! Very very unhappy! The german guys explained that they were trying to return their vehicle, i called Andrea again to get her to ask the agents if we could take over the rental of the germans campervan. The answer came back very quickly with a 'No'. By now i was fuming, no-one had informed us of the opening hours, n'or to say we had to be there at 12:00 on the dot, else no rental would be available. The German couple were trying to contact the rental company too, so i asked him to ask them if i could take their campervan and perhaps come into the city to change the paperwork etc, still they said 'No'! I was mortified!
I placed another call to andrea advising her to begin checking availibility for one nights accommodation for that evening and i was thinking about walking back to the train station. I remembered a friend i had made on an app on my phone lived nearby, i went online and he happened to be online, i explained the situation to him and how i was really frustrated having done a 2 hour train journey for nothing, he offered to come and pick me up, but i said it's ok, ill get the train, however he insisted, so he drove to where i was which was only a few km from his house and he drove me all the way back to the Rydges in Bass Hill. I said to him to come in and i'd buy him a drink or a meal, the least i could do really, but he politely declined and said it was his pleasure, he had to go to his sisters anyhow which was near to where we were staying, to babysit. I said that if he was around later to come back an id buy him a drink. He said he would.
As i arrived back at the 'god-forsaken' hotel that we hated i discovered Andrea chatting to a lady who had serious scars, clearly from a fire. Her son Zac who was 13 welcomed me back to the hotel and asked if i wanted to swim in the pool, as it happened i did. I had had quite a hard and disappointing day. I stripped off my t-shirt and trainers, and removed all the stuff out of my pockets and dived in the pool, i swam a whole length under water and hopped out the other end. Instantly i felt refreshed, i felt a little bit burned on my face from all the walking, and id forgotted to take any suncreme with me. D'oh!
I went to chat to andrea for a moment to find out what we were doing that evening. She informed me that the only place with availibility was the Rydges. Ie where we were.. Well at least that mean i could just play now, so i dived back in the pool and carried on swimming, i did at least 5 or 6 lenghts. Then Zac and i began having diving competitions to see who could dive the best, furthest and longest. Yay! I had a friend to play with, i felt like i was 12 once again hehe we spent the entire night with Zac and Carol chatting about various things. We got a bit drunk with them also, chattin the night away. 1am came and my bedtime. I had a very early start the next day, i was getting up at 6:30 to get our campervan.. I wasnt going to be turned away again
I first heard the alarm go off at 6:30 and thought, just another 10 mins sleep so i hit the snooze button and awoke 10 minutes or so later, this time when the alarm went off i got out of bed, i was anxious to get to carringbah to pick up the campervan. I put my shorts and t-shirt on and went down stairs, i enquired at the reception what time the bus was due to take me to yagoona station, it was still a bank holiday and is missed a bus by 8 minutes, not wanting to hang around i decided id get a cab to the station, as i left i noticed it was trying to rain, how dare it try to rain on me!! I got a cab from the petrol station next door, he took me to the train station for $7.50 i bought a one-way ticket to carringbah and awaited the train for sydenham interchange. The train came about 15 minutes later as per the information screen, i then began the two hour journey to carringbah.
Eventually i arrived at the station and as i departed the station i took a cab to the address on the confirmation, where i'd been yesterday. I wasnt taking any chances today as i was determined i was driving out of the rental place, in a campervan. I was not going to walk it out of there thats for sure.
I arrived at the rental place and i went into the office and gave my name to the lady on the front desk, explaining i was due to rent a van yesterday but due to timing issues i didnt make it, she took me into a side-office and went thru the details of the rental. I asked about receiving a refund for the unused days campervan and she instructed me to contact camperman the rental agent as they were just an agency who rented them out on their behalf. I used their phone to call but as it was still a public holiday only skeleton staff were on duty and he told me he'd get someone to call me next day. I paid the remainder of the balance of the rental and she told me to wait for paul outside who would show me around the van. We also rented two camping chairs.
I walked outside and waited for paul to appear, a few minutes later he appeared and showed me how everything works, there was a lot to take in.. I text andrea to say i had the van and was on the way, she replied saying she'd taken the excess luggage we werent taking to James in the city, who had kindly agreed to look after them, and to await her arrival at the hotel, i suggested she called me when she was at the train station to save on Taxi fares.
I went to the rydges and about 40 minutes later i received a text to go and pick her up.
i drove like the wind blows all full of enthusiasm and gusto. I pulled over by the station and picked Andie up, we then had to head back to the hotel as we had to fax a copy of her driving licence and a signed copy of the rental agreement to the handling agent so Andrea would be insured. We both had a wee and set the sat nav up for coffs harbour.
We set off, the beginning of our journey north. The sat nav estimated our time of arrival at coffs harbour around 6pm, this was ideal.
As we drove out of the city of sydney the traffic lessened and lessened we'd been on the roaf about 4 and a half hours where the countryside had changed dramatically, very green lush fields and hilly landscapes, i likened it to that of Tasmania.
We pulled off the main highway as i'd spotted a bridge which i thought would make a fantastic photo, we didnt find the bridge but we found a bikers cafe, there were all kinds of bikes, mainly sports type bikes, like mine, R1's ducatti's and even a GSXR (mines a Gsxf) very similar to my own, we went inside and ordered some food, i had a full breakfast, two eggs, mushroom, bacon, tomatoes, hash browns and 2 rounds of toast. We had coffee's and andrea had bacon and beans on toast, it was yummy! We had a great view of all the bikes and 'percy' our campervan. (official name Priscilla, queen of the highway, but percy for short). We ate our breakfast which cost us $37 in total, not too bad and very tasty.
After breakkie and having spoken to a local guy on the next table who asked us about our trip, who then went on to provide us with some tips, we got back on the freeway heading for coffs harbour.
It was so absolutely magnificanly fantanstic to have Percy. Especially after what had occurred in Sydney, right at the end, it seems we cant leave a place unless theres some hicup right at the end lol. Its all good tho it adds to the adventure.
Anyway, Percy; He's a Toyota Hiace 2.4 v6 side and rear opening door. As you open the side door theres a sink with a double lockable cupboard, lockable in that they dont fall open when in transit, then directly in front of that and behind the drivers seat is a wardrobe cupboard above that is a hinged door cupboard that falls open and forms a work surface between that upper cupboard and the sink. I use the term "falls open work surface" cos thats exactly what it does, fall open, while yer driving, the hinge that holds it isnt in the best shape tho to be fair and has come away from the wood considerably.
I digress, on top of that cupboard is another hinged flat top which can be lifted to reveal the top of that cupboard with a mirror inside, i dont know why im telling you all this or even if your interested, i dont care, im telling the story, not you! on top of the microwave next to the afforementioned cupboard, is a grill and double gas hob and below the microwave is a fridge and very small freezer. Above the drivers cab is a deep big storage space. Then as you turn to face the back door are two bench style seats facing one another, underneath are pretty deep cupboards and underneath the lids are pieces of wood to form a flat bed using the backs of the bench seats to form a double mattress. Then above that and to the back is another deep storage compartment with a canvas cover. Once you have unhooked the clips to open the compartment, you slide out two more larger pieces of wood which form the base of the 2nd double bed. I have to say, as im currently lieing in that very space as i type, its rather cosy, a netted window either side of me which basically if i look out of i can see but not be seen. (By the way, the windows do have curtains in case you're wondering) Its ace, hehe i feel like a kid when im up in this bed, especially knowing that tomorrow begins the start of another adventurous day. The sleeping compartment is very nice, cosy and compact but really all you'd need. And during the day its both functional, practical and fun.
On the way we were swapping over the driving as i began to feel a bit tired, so we pulled in to a rest stop, which are usually about every 15-25 kms depending upon whether your on a motorway, freeway or highway, before you ask i dont know the difference between a motorway a highway and a freeway, as i've driven on all three i cant see any difference, tho they are different English but only moderatly, as they also drive on the left, cant remember whether ive said that or not yet, but thought i'd better mention it in case i havent.
So we pulled over in the rest stop, god this is taking ages, we havent really even left Sydney and i'm gonna have so much to write. We switched driver and having already set the back up to show Andie the bottom bit being a bed, i jumped in the back and stretched out, i was too excited to sleep, i was playing with everything and changing it round and opening the windows and moo-ing at the cows, I bought some milk and apple juice from the cafe we stopped at and we had countless sachets of coffee, tea and sugar we'd been accumulating since Beijing, so i decided i'd make a coffee, yes mom as we drove along! I know it's dangerous, and i didnt care.. Hehe although my plans were scuppered as i'd not yet connected the gas, so we had apple juice instead.
I jumped back in the front and got my camera out and started taking pics, the countryside was absolutely stunning everywhere you looked. It took me back to being in Africa last year, up in the mountains, as we drove up there the dramatic scenery everywhere you looked, embracing your gaze with beauty in any direction. Rivers off to the left and endless green pastures, a bit like staffordshire except biiig! It also reminded me of wales in parts and so also like Tas too, the tassie feeling was back and i was dancin on air all day.
When we first arrived at coogee beach it was about 9pm we stopped at a Woolworths, (i'll remind myself to tell you about woolworths in a moment) and got some food and much needed provisions, costing around $70 in total :-0 we only had a few things, i cant list them all because its now about 6 days later as im so far behind with my bloggifying, but we didnt seem to have much for the money. Andrea didnt feel too well for a little while when we arrived at our first stop, but i was quite amazed at what i found, bear in mind now we're at a rest-stop in the middle of the night, in the middle of no idea and havent got a clue-ville and there are public toilets, unlocked and available to use, With toilet paper, working lights and everything, but thats not it.. Right next door is a little food preperation area with stainless steel table and chairs and 2 electric hotplate style Bbq's. BONZA!! it was completely bonkers, yet totally genius. Free for anyone to use, and there everywhere in Oz, (i may have mentioned this before actually, in Tas, i cant remember ill have to check, but you'llve forgotten all the way back then, that was over 14 days ago). So we made some toast and i had a bowl of cereal. We both had coffee, although not on the hob as we couldnt get the damn thing to work. We definitely had gas and it was definitely connected correctly but there was no gas coming thru. Anyway we boiled a kettle on the bbq in the end so no problem, we packed up and got back on our way we still had a littlw way to go to coffs harbour, bout another 35km we were determined to wake up near the beach. We were nicely fed and slightly more upbeat as we'd previously grown a bit tired with all the travelling, bearing in mind we set off around 12 midday and it was now about 10pm we switched a few times to give the other a rest, but it was beginning to drain us both. We pulled into coffs harbour town centre around 23:07 and it was quiet, peaceful, not much traffic and hardly any people, they all had work in the morning most likely, we didnt, just fun to have. I headed for the beach looking for a cheeky place to park up for the night, i stumbled upon just such a place. Toilets were closeby for the morning, as was the beach, so we parked up for our first nights sleep. It was really exciting and putting my bed out for the first time, and realsing netted windows could be left open to allow a thru breeze was very welcome in the heat of the evening, it mustve been about 26•c i dont know for sure but i know it was definitely hot that evening, there were all kinds of cars coming and going in the car park, some bedding down for the night, others dropping off friends, some even going to the beach. All comings and goings, i was peeping out behind the curtains like a nosey neighbour, it was ace, cos no one could see me. I fell asleep around 01:30 i think, i was just too excited !! Hehe
4th jan
Excitedly i woke the next morning and hit my head on the roof! I fell back down and laughed at myself, i think it woke andrea up cos she said "mind yer head" i replied, "could you not have said that a few seconds before" we laughed, oh we laughed. Then i got up for a wee, i got back and Andrea was just changing into her cossie for the beach and i asked are we going for a morning swim, Yep! She said, wicked!!!! I jumped in the drivers seat and drove round the corner to the other car park, we'd been there and seen they're also equiped with and one indoor and two outdoor showers, Hence we drove, so we didnt have to take our toilertries to the beach.
The sea was quite rough, playfully so, guys were trying to catch waves and ride them in, some even had body-boards. It was stupendous fun! Andrea wasnt so keen on the roughness and so she went for a sunbathe, the water wad warm and although it was a little bit overcast it felt lovely and warm, not a bit cold, even when i got out, breifly to check andrea was ok, i met a lad who was on holiday too, called Sam, who was trying to catch waves. We began chatting and he was telling me how he played Ozzie rules football. He was asking if id played a game, i said no, he went on to tell me they put some sort of odometer onto a few average players to see how far they run, the average per game was 25kms. I was astonished. We continued surfing and catching waves, the water was so powerful that at one point i did a full sommersault scraping my forrid on the sea bed. It hurt, it was like having someone sandpaper my head, and elbow! Didnt stop me tho, i carried on surfing.
A little while later and i thought it time we made our way up north, Sam had to go too so we said goodbye and he told me to ensure we do the gold coast, it was on our list anyway.. But he said specidlfically miami / surfers paradise beaches, both really rough seas. Ace i thought.. Onwards!!
Andrea and I showered using the public showers and whilst they werent hot they werent cold either, only problem was the door didnt lock and so kept swinging open, but i put my bag by the door to stop it, after we'd both showered we made our way to Nimbin and then onto Byrons Bay, somewhere Andrea's friend Sheryl had blobbed in highlighter pen on our map, of must-see places. It was saying we would make byron bay by 2pm.. Ace! But first we had a bit of a mission to undertake, we either had to refill a gas bottle or ensure the system was working correctly. I was convinved the bottle had gas in and also that it was connected, we stopped at a fuel station which was advertising gas bottle refills. We enquired within there but apparently the only person qualified to refill the bottles was the cook in the kitchen so we would have to wait a bit but there was free tea and coffee available so we had a little look around the shop waiting for the cook to become free. I apprached the counter to order our free coffees and the cook said "are you the gentleman whos waiting for a gas refill" i replied in the affirmative, she went on to say that she was way too busy and it'd be at least an hour before she could adhere to our request, but she told me ab alternative place to try, we drove to the new place which was a shell garage, we went around the back because i couldnt see a refill station, and cos Andrea was driving and not fully au-fait with reversing, anyway we ended up getting blocked in for about 15 minutes whilst a guy with a trailer awaited his turn with the pump, i checked the bottle and ensured it was all connected correctly. I spotted a sign above the passenger door saying "Trouble shooting" "Gas stove not working: check gas bottle is full and turned on. Check auxilliary gas valve is in on position (in line with pipe)" this gave me food for thought, especially as i was mega hungry by now. We were ready to move so i jumped back in and we exited the petrol station, adjacent to the fuel station was a camping shop.. With gas refills.. What luck! I imagine thats where the cook was sending us initially. I went in and asked the guy for some help and explained the situation. He checked out the system and agreed that the bottle we had was indeed full. He checked the pipes and too was dumbfounded why there was no gas coming thru, he checked the bottle against something else to ensure it wasnt faulty but it worked perfectly. In the mean time andrea went over the road to the shop whilst we carried on trying to establish why it wasnt working. After about 20 or 30 minutes, he recommended trying a gas fitter in the next street, but i couldnt get this Auxillary valve out of my head, it was niggling away at my brain, i went back into the back of the van and was checking all around the cooker for an additional unseen valve but there was simply nothing obvious, annoyed i opened the cupboard where the clothes were kept and BINGO!! there wad the hidden valve, i changed the position from horizonal to vertical and turned the gas tap on the cooker and hey presto we had gas flowing i lit the gas and yelled out 'Eureka.. Now we're cooking with Gas'.
We drove from the camping shop and turned back onto the freeway andrea had turned off.
I was driving again, as i had in mind to grab something to eat, we carried on our way to Nimbin, we arrived there a short while later, it was a very strange town but rather cool, and particularly liberal almost like being in Amsterdam, very old (60 yo) hippies as well as young guys, all
mingling together in this highly decorated town, it was at the foot of some of the mountains but we were almost in Byrons bay we had a little glass of wine and lemomade, A little further on our way and we changed drivers once more before lunch. I asked andrea whether she was going to drink her wine as she had hardly touched it, i was holding it for her as if to hand it to her and we went over a big bump in the road, anyway i ended up wearing it ! I had to jump in the back and change my shorts as they stank now of wine and i was almost wet thru. We laughed lots !
Shortly after we puled off to have some lunch, as for about the last 15 or 20 minutes we'd been travelling paralell with a river.
For the first time we were going to cook some food on our cooker! Yaay! We surveyed the choices we had to eat and went for scrambled eggs on toast. Mmmm! We sat and ate our lunch and just for the first time we'd
had the campervan relaxed properly by the side of the road, at a little rest-stop.
There was a sign on the side of the road just in front of where we'd parked, advertising a camping site by the beach, i pointed it out to Andrea as we sat relaxing, enjoying our coffee and tea. We thought we may have a look at it and see if we wanted to stay there, so after we had lunch and washed everything up and stowed it so it wouldnt fall and break. A few seconds down the road we had to stop as Andrea had forgotten to stow the grill, we found out alarmingly as it crashed out, on a right hand bed, and onto the floor with one almighty clang. We re-stowed it and carried on. Soon after we were getting close to Byron bay.
The campervan had to be conneted to some electricity every other night and as last night we had 'slept rough' in a car park, so to speak, we had to hook-up tonight. Among the info provided by the campervan company was a huge book of camping sites and their facilites with little key symbols to work out which one was the right one etc.. Whilst i drove Andrea found one in a place just north of byron bay at a place called "Mullumbimby" (good luck with the pronunciation took me several attempts to get it right in the Gps). Once we found the place where we were staying having to ask a few people as the specific address couldnt be found. It was a football field with flood-lights surrounding it, where the electricity was plugged into. We found our spot and the lady Andrea spoke to on the phone said that if we wanted we could pay in the morning, to save hasstle. We thought this was a good idea and after we'd set up for the night, after a bit of manouvering of the car due to the electricity lead being shorter than originally anticipated, we went for a drive to byrons bay, now by this time it was about 9pm, so i began driving to 'shirley street' byrons bay as i did so Andrea happened to fall asleep, unbeknown to me as she was in the back, so i followed the sat nav in the direction of Shirley street and as i began to drive in the direction of byrons bay, i saw a huge beam of light which seemed to be circling the night sky, like a search-light, my initial thought waa that it was kids doing do-nuts in their 6 litre Holden commodores, which by the way are way more common in Australia than a ford focus is in the Uk, and so totally awesome too, as i grew nearer and nearer to the tractor beam the more curious i became, maybe it was a search-light on the entrance to some swanky club, maybe it was a light-house.. I just couldt tell, it didnt seem regular enough to be a light-house, i started to drive towards the light and as i got a few miles away i began seeing signs saying 'lighthouse -> 4km" ahh so it was a light-house then, i followed the signs all the way to the foot of the light-house which stood at quite some height over byrons bay. The beam of light was so bright that as the light travelled around in 360• the parts of land it touched seemed to turn to daylight for a short time, then instantly back to night as the light vanished, the beam went in two opposing directions (ie one pointing north and one south).
Andrea was literally dead to the world, she simply mustve been because the road up to the light-house was particularly turbulant, very rough and windey, so if she was still sleeping there was just no way she was gonna wake up.
I jumped out of the campervan and began to walk up the spiral driveway to the foot of the shining beacon, suddenly i heard a noise and it freaked me out, all i could think of was spiders, crocs and snakes.. Oh my! I quickly turned back and got back in the car and drove back to mullumbimby where our site was, when i got back there i set my bed up and went to sleep
5th Jan
This morning we both woke almost simoultaneously we wanted to get out as quickly as possible so i jumped out the van and disconected the electricity cable and drove percy down to the shower block, we had our showers and headed once more for Byrons bay, on the way there i asked andrea if she remembered any of the journey as we had done the same journey last night, she didnt beleive me, and thought i was lying, it took a lot of convincing too.. We drove back up to the light-house i saw last night and this made her even more sceptical about the journey as she saw first hand (as she was driving) how dodgy the road in fact was, when we got to the light-house the parking was hurrendous, they were charging $7 to park, sod that we thought so i ran up ro the light-house and took lots of snaps and andrea went to park percy. I took lots of pics and i was walking back to her but she was walking up to meet me as she'd found a free place to park. Well done Andie, however i'd taken some great pics an even taken a panoramic pic of the two bays either side of the lighthouse. We wanted to go to the beach, there was also market stalls all along the beach, it seemed, too, so we headed towards the beach, but again we couldnt find any suitable parking spaces on byron bay but from the light-house i had already seen another beach in the opposite direction, so i looked on the sat nav for that beach and so we drove there instead, when we got to that beach it was really quiet and the parking plentiful so we had our morning swim there on suffolk beach instead. It was really nice the sun was beating down and the sea was really rough we had some fun surfing in the waves and watching the doggies at play, i miss having my doggy! Life just isnt the same without him. We sunbathed for a bit longer then we went back to the van to have breakfast, or rather lunch? Today we had omelettes with bacon. Just as i was eating my omelette and andrea was doing the washing up a man pulled up on his way to the beach with a beautiful dog called buddy, he went on to tell us that he had lost his dog last year, it was a mysterious death and one day he just found him underneath the house all cold and stiff. He had buddy from a rescue centre, buddy was gorgeous, only about 2 years old, full of vigour and play and i think he was waging for a bit of my omelette too, i gave him a bit just before i'd finished. Buddy and his owner went off for their walkies.
Andrea and i both needed the toilet so Andie drove around whilst i paid a visit then we swapped, although in the mean time she managed to find a parking place. So took a bit of time to have a bit of a look around, went to the cashpoint and used the payphone to check my remaining balance on my travellers cheque card using the freephone number. By the way if ever your travelling abroad i'd highly reccomend getting one!
We then began travelling north once more heading for the reccommended gold coast, surfers paradise and Miami beach. We needed to keep on moving to try and stick to our schedule otherwise we may not make Cairns in time to see it properly before i take my flight back to sydney on the 12th Jan.
A few hours driving and we were getting signs for Gold coast we knew roughly how long it would take as the sat nav was guiding our every move. We arrived at about 4pm and found a spot to park in Burleigh Heads which is on the gold coast. We clambered down the rocks to the right of the beach and began sifting through the rock-pools finding interesting things to see in the pools, i took some photos of some of the surfers and a few vids too.
I began recording Andrea for a moment and she was concentrating so hard she fell over, i laughed my head off until i realised that she had her phone in her bag which was now dripping wet.. Oops she had to disconnect the battery, sim card and left it all disassembled on the dash board hoping it would dry out.. It didnt and the phone would no longer work. She was a bit upset by this as she'd had the phone specifically unblocked for the purpose of using it abroad. We carried on playing in the sea hoping that the sun might eventually dry the phone out.. In time.. Sadly it didnt however she tried her Ozzie sim in her normal phone and hey presto it worked, meaning that she couldve used her own phone all along.
As the day drew to a close we made our way back to percy and began the search to find somewhere to spend the night, we sourced a few spots which wouldve been good but they all stated "no camping - fines apply", not wanting to recrive a fine we continued our search, alas to not much avail. Eventually i ran out of steam and at around 23:30 we found a layby on the side of quite a busy road, it wasnt at all ideal but it sufficed.. It was only for 1 night.
6th jan
We were awoken quite early as lorrys and vans were passing us at pretty high speeds shaking the van quite badly, i woke up at 8am and thought hmm perhaps id better move just to be on the safe side, i promptly fell back to sleep!
When i awoke again i heard a 'mornin' from Andie we both got the van ready to roll, beds stowed. We drove just a little way down the road till we came to a rest spot. We both popped to the toilet and we made some
Coffee. I suggested we made a reservation for the evening and we had a chat about where to go, the best option available we thought was to go inland up over the mountains to avoid the flood that was devostating north of Brisbane, Richmond and Rockhampton in order to do this we would have to drive via brisbane again, we passed through it on the way to the gold coast, tho since looking at a map im not sure we were supposed to. We made a reservation at a camp site up in charlville and the sat nav said we should arrive there by around 23:00
We had one or two problems with the campervan, only very minor problems regarding the cuttlery drawer catch not locking properly, thus whenever we pulled off the lid would fall down and the cuttlery and anything else unsecured would come crashing down. There was also some roof carpet at the rear of the van come astray from the roof which constantly blocked the rear view mirror and occasionally the passenger window wouldnt do up properly.
Brad, the guy from the campervan rental place had called us early in the morning, so we called him back to see what he wanted and it upon speaking to him it seems he just wanted to check we were ok with regards the floods and that we were unaffected by it, i explained that we were heading for Charleville then townsville to avoid the floods, he agreed this was a good idea and that us doing tha shouldnt cause any problems. I went on to tell him of the three issues and he asked where we were, i told him we were very close to Brisbane, so he gave me the address of where their brisbane office was and asked if we could go there en-route. We said it was fine and re-plotted the sat nav to head for this address slightly north of Brisbane. About an hour and a half later we arrived at the campervan place and they started work on fixing the problems, we asked if we could take a different one away and leave them with the damaged van but they said all the vans they had were booked out, so we waited it took about an hour and a half to get everything repaired and all the time we were in Brisbane it rained, all kinds of rain, from gentle rain to terrential hardcore rain that if you stood outside for more than literally 2 or 3 seconds you were wet through to the skin, as in you might as well jump in a pool fully clothed wet.
Andrea went to the toilet which involved her running accross a forecourt for about 2 seconds (probably no more than 8ft) when she came back in she looked like a drowned rat, i had to laugh, she looked as if someone had chucked 3 buckets of water over her, she asked for a towel to dry herself off.
Shortly after this we were ready to go once again, it was great cos as we pulled out i went slightly over the kerb, something which before wouldve rained down an array of kitchen utensils however not any more, our newly fixed door worked a treat and i could also once again see out the back window.. Hoorah!
We set off on our way to charleville again, i was a little tired as id been doing lots of driving, we popped into an Aldi to buy a few things theb we switched over and i had a little nap in the back of the caravan, in between my slumber i could hear the rain forcing its way downwards coming down like stair rods, when i awoke we had arrived at a little town called Toowoomba, was a really pretty place, we had a drive through the town and followed a sign for 'picnic site', it lead us a little way off the beaten track and up a little hill to a public park, we were now about 700m above sea level so we felt a lot safer, Andrea said when i first awoke that she had seen a bit of evidence of flooding. I myself had not at this point.
We went for a short walk around the park to stretch our legs and found the loo, there was a lookout at the park dedicated to a man who apparently did a lot of work for the 'lions club international' at the entrance to the lookout was a plaque in his honour, the lookout was about 15-20ft long and rose above the steep drop of the hill side about 20ft. The views were sensational. I took some videos not that they'll do any justice i dont think but they hopefully will give you an idea of the stunning views we had.
I went back to the caravan and began cooking, another omelette, by now i'd got it down to an art form.. Exactly balanced ingredients and this one raised like a soufleé not as easy as you might think as the heat provided wasnt superb and it took a while, obviously because of andreas intollerance to lactose i made two seperate omelettes, hers first with just eggs bacon and mushroom then mine with eggs bacon milk cheese & mushrooms. It tasted 'pucker' as Jamie oliver would say. As i ate my omelette andrea washed up and i relaxed a litle, munching away, cars were driving by and each of them looked over with an envy in their eyes of my omletty goodness, i imagined them goin home and making an omlette beginning a chain of chinese whispers with food (a bit like the cathederal city cheese ad).
We had a cup of coffee and we sat there for a while longer than was necessary just to ensure we both felt comfortable before setting off again, i sensed andrea was a little tired so i took over the driving once again, tho she stayed up in the front cabin with me, despite my suggestions to have a lie down. Lol
We continued west until we came to a town called Dalby where we had to re-fuel, we pulled out of the fueling station and the road was blocked off by police, we drove to the road block and asked a paramedic standing at the side of the road whether he thought we would get to Charleville, the news wasnt good, basically even if we managed to pass Dalby, he told us Emerald was flooded juat after Dalby then also there was a town between Dalby and Emerald which was valleys and hills and is notorious for flooding so even if we waited and managed to get through we may then get stuck on the other side and that would be worse as it may prevent us from going either backwards or forwards. He offerred a suggestion to check the RTA website which is regularly up to date with flood reports, alternatively try a police station. He said he was in a place called Chinchilla the week before and whilst he managed to get there initially he got stuck there for 4 nights due to flooding. He told us to go to Oakey were we could perhaps spend a night at a camp site and find out what the chances were the next day.
We took his suggestion however we couldnt find anywhere to stay in Oakey. We looked on our big book of campsites map and found one in Kingaroy, we began our journey there intending to find out whether we could get any further the following day.
We found a camp site and phoned up and the lady said just turn up and make arrangements to pay the next day, we turned up and after a few wrong turns we managed to find the showground, although initially we couldnt find anywhere to connect to the electricity, and we needed to charge else the fridge would run out of power and our food would all go off, we'd arrived quite late and couldnt get hold of the lady but i had a walk around the site and realised there were electric points all over the place, we hooked-up. Next dilema was Lloyds Tsb had blocked my account for unusual activity overseas (eg in Australia) the night before i skyped my dad and a man from tsb called me to verify who i was and ensure my card wasnt being fraudelently used, of course, it wasnt, it was me, however i had checked my travellers cheque card that day and i had $5.49 despite sending over an additional £250 the night before, so i called my dad again and askes if he'd call them for me, he did but unfortunately, despite the previous night they were able to call me on my mobile, this evening they would not, so after an 18 mimute call to england i finally managed to get my account unblocked and push a transfer through, i had plenty of money in my tsb account just nothing on my travellers cheque card. Once id done this i had a shower and went to bed.
7th jan
next morning, job 1 was to try and find out more information about how to get to get up to cairns. We paid for the nights camping and asked the lady whether she thought we'd get to Cairns; "its not very likely" came her reply; "we haven't had rain like this since the floods of 1974 however we had warning back in 74 and we could take preventitive measures to ensure we were catered for", she said, "this has just come out of no-where and knocked the whole state for 6". We thanked her and took a free paper with a 6 page spread of the floods, we then drove to a McDonalds to use their wifi however the laptop was dead as we forgot to charge it the previous night even though we had connected to electricity we had forgotten to charge the laptop. Next bet was the police station for which we had already seen signs, we followed the signs to the police station and parked up outside and went in to enquire, we explained the situation to the lady on the front desk who said she would get someone to help us as she wasnt the best person to ask, a bulbous man came to the reception and again we explained what we wanted to do, he told us point blank there was simply no way we were going to make it to Cairns by road, no matter which route we took.. We would get stuck somewhere along the line.. Oh Bollocks, we werent expecting that!!
This called for an emergency meeting. But first we'd need more information to establish what our plan was so we headed for the Tourist info office and spoke to a really lovely lady called sarah, again we said we were trying to get to cairns in our campervan and at this point in time we had 6 days in which to do it. She re-itterated what the policeman had said that no way were we going to get to cairns by road, she went on to say that friends of hers in emerald had been evacuated, she got out a rather large map of queensland and circled all the places which she knew to be flooded, she also said she'd been having folks in from all over the state who'd been relocated to Kingaroy temporarily as their homes were devostated ("Devo") our hearts sank a little but armed with more info we could make a better decision. Sarah's advice was to head back to Brisbane.
We heeded her advice and put Brisbane (back) in the sat nav and began driving in that direction, next thing we needed to do was to speak to Brad, from Camperman (rental co.) so we rang through to him and asked if he would call us back as we were running out of credit, it seems we started to run out of everything but at least my money had now come thru! I could now buy stuff once more as we drove towards brisbane we stopped off at an aldi and re-stocked our fridge, i bought heaps of chocolate in celebration that i now could. Lol
Once we got back on the road again Brad called us back although we got disconnected so i pulled over on the roadside at a phonebox and dialed the 'toll-free' number (1800216223 if you're interested, ive now dialed it that much i know it off by heart)
I got through to Brad and explained to him what everyone had said about the liklihood, or lack thereof, of us getting to cairns by road, he offered us a few options tho none were particularly appealing we could either deliver the van back to the sydney dropp-off, from where it was collected, drop off in brisbane and pay $750 for someone to drive it back as they didnt need any campervans at that location. Naturally the best option was to head for Sydney. We advised brad of our decision and he said that was perfect and also because we were returning to Sydney it wouldnt matter what time on the 12th so technically we sort-of had another days rental.
We decided to head back to the gold coast as we really enjoyed this area and then perhaps we could re-visit some of the places we'd rushed through before and get a chance to see them properly.
We made our way back to the gold coast. Specifically Miami beach, we arrived there around 2pm so we had near enough the whole day to chill and enjoy the sunshine, although it was slightly overcast the sun was peeping through the clouds warming us nicely. There was an Iron man competition happening on the beach, a bit like a Triathalon, but different, they had to swim round a cone out to sea way past the surf, then get on their kyaks and do the same distance rowing with their hands and then run almost the same distance to the finish-line. It looked pretty hardcore!! Not sure i couldve done it.
At about 6:30 we came off the beach to cook our evening meal, using the provided municipal Bbq's i cooked the steak, sausage mushrooms & bacon and andrea made the drinks and heated some beans and chopped tomatoes, i then cooked an egg each for us.
We then began looking for somewhere to stay, we didnt need a site as we'd already charged but we couldnt stay near the beach either as 'no camping' signs were All over the place. Andrea and I had a bit of a falling out at this point because i wanted to find somewhere local to the beach that was not illegal but she wanted the creature comforts of a site, andrea took over the driving and i just said i was happy to go along with what she decided, she called a site and booked us in, it was only $12 But with no hook-up but that was fine. We had been driving for over an hour and we seemed to be in the middle of nowhere the air became a bit tense between us as there were places we couldve stayed near the beach, we ended up at a golf course, andrea had entered the co-ordinates and i double checked we were at the right place.. We were! So where was the site?!
Hmm, there was quite a rickerty bridge with a steep hill the other side i took over the driving because andrea was refusing to drive over it, which wouldve been a complete waste of fuel, so i drove over, to be fair the bridge was only just wide enough to get all 4 wheels on as i crossed the water and climbed the steep hill we arrived at a padlocked fence.. Ohh bugger! So now i've got to reverse down a steep hill and over the bridge, this was not looking good all of a sudden, but then i noticed a small turning point big enough to do a 3 point turn?! Well i dont know it seemed the only option, however the other side of the turning bay was a ditch then the fiercly flowing creek, i very gingerly reversed into the bay and managed to safely do a 3 point turn and drive us back accross the bridge and out of danger, andrea and i hadnt been working together and it was counter productive so we made our peace and began working towards the same end, we were both tired, dis-heartened from not being able to get to Cairns and both a little frustrated that we'd driven so far for nothing, i checked the book and found another site very close by, no phone number but with electricity and showers etc.. By this point i really didnt much care. I entered the co-ordinates and began driving the new route, quite quickly we'd arrived at the co-ordinates but again at another very steep hill, paved just enough for a set of wheels but not much room either side, i crossed the creek once again and powered up the hill in 2nd gear, the v6 engine whirred like a whizzygog and we ploughed up the steep incline, but it got steeper yet and 2nd gear was beginning to run out of power, riding the clutch i engaged 1st to maintain momentum and turned up the tight right hand incline, then horror of horrors, i came off the paved bit and the rear wheels (rear wheel drive) began spinning.. Uh ohhhh!
I pulled the hand break up sharply and tried to get grip but the wheels continued to spin, i figured my only option was to go back, i had virtually no light whatsoever but slowly i let percy roll back down the hill.. Or so i thought, actually what had happened is i'd let him into a turning point.. I gunned the accellerator hoping to get some grip, any grip.. Anything.. It was futile. I was getting nowhere, were we even at the campsite ? It looked like someones house, the van was now STUCK!! what ever we going to do!? Our only option was to walk up to the house and knock on the door, would someone even answer at this time, i wouldnt! I sent andrea up to the house thinking they may be a bit more sympathetic towards a lady, but she couldnt find the front door to get to the house, i secured the car ensuring there was no way for it to move, and i ran up the steep drive from where i was, i was a little overjoyed to see a 4x4 on the driveway, we found the stairs which lead to the back door and i climbed them there was just one oldish man sitting wathin the cricket, oh no, i thought, i hope he's not bitter that Oz lost the ashes.. I knocked on the sliding door and i think he was somewhat startled, he sheepishly came to the door and i calmly explained what had happened and asked very politely for his help, he immediately jumped into action looking for his mountain boots, his collie dog (or is it caullie i dunno) followed in protection, giving both andrea and I the once over, nasally, he warmed to us both very quickly tho, the helpful stranger who was also slightly disabled down his left side began explaining how, once we were out, we get to the showground where the campsite lay, in the meantime he took his powerful torch and walked down to where percy lay.. In waiting..
He jumped into his toyota pick-up truck and began manouvering into position once he was facing his own house he went to the back of the car and pulled out some tow ropes and metal hooks to attach between both vehicles, handed me one, it looked brand new, i attached it to the towing point to the right of percy and he attached his hook, he explained what he was going to do and how he would get us up to the top of his drive, i was sat in percy thinking, i just hope his car doesnt begin to skid cos we could both end up in the creek.
His engine roared into action and his powerful pick-up dragged us forward, i let out a sigh of releif as i now knew we would be ok and on the road once again. We made a 3 point turn at the top of his driveway and parked up with the handbrake on. I was so grateful for his assistance but had nothing i could offer / give as a gesture of thanks.
He carried on in his knightly say explaining how we get to the show ground now, but warned DO NOT cross the creek ie dont drive thru it, apparently it had already washed several cars away the previous 2 days. I shook his hand and thanked him perfusely, he said it's fine, not to worry, he'd only moved to that property 3 days ago and so far he's had to tow 3 people up his drive, one of them was the delivery driver of all their belongings, i was astonished at this number but really not so much his drive must be like 1:17 or something.
We said our thank-you's and went on our way, taking extra care not to get stuck again, i followed the mans directions as to how to get to the showground and soon enough we were there despite driving past it twice. As soon as we pulled up we began setting the beds out, i was knackered and we'd both had a long and tiring day, we had a hug and went to bed, after a wee, wash and freshen up etc..
I woke up at about 3am im not sure exactly what time because my phones battery was dead, but i went to the toilet. I heard the message from my mom and dad ringing in my ears, "watch out for crocs, snakes and spiders", well, after id finished urinating at the urinals, i noticed a footprint on the floor, initially i thought it was mine as the ground was very muddy, however i put my foot on the floor but not a mark did it leave, i then followed the trail with my eye to the door and noticed that these footprints were not human, they were a webbed footprint with a strike straight through the middle like a crocodile foot which has dragged his feet in the way that they walk, all of a sudden my senses were heightened my hairs stood on end and all i wanted to do was get back in the campervan, fortunately we'd parked right by the toilets so i didnt have too far to scarper. I never did find out if it was a croc but i cannot imagine it being anythig else, there were two sets of 4 foot prints and they were about 15ft apart so my guess was a croc.
As i lay back down to sleep the only sound that filled the air was the rather loud croaking of frogs, they sounded so close id say at least 4 in the near vicinity. Behind that was the sound of crickets chirping and behind that birds and bats flapping, looking out of my netted window i could see clearly almost as if i was viewing out of an open window. With my little torch i could see everything, i definitely saw a wombat / a possum, not sure which as i cant tell the difference.
I then fell asleep to a wonderful natural soundtrack.
8th Jan
I was very aware that we were moving as i awoke this morning, at first i wasnt entirely sure wehether we were rolling down the hill or being driven, i looked out of the window and sure enough we were moving, i looked down to check we werent in heaps of water, gladly we werent, andrea had woken early with the intention of driving to the beach before i awoke, only flaw in that plan was the ride wasnt what you'd call comfortable, especially as we hadnt actually even left the campsite yet. Very bumpy, i then heard Andrea's dulcit tones laughing away in the near distance with some random stranger. I was busting for a pee, so i jumped out, ran to the toilet which was now all the way up the hill that we'd just driven down.
I had a sudden thought whilst i was having a wee, what if Andrea didnt see / hear me get out and thinks im still sleeping and drives off without me, i was only wearing my shorts too, no shoes or top.. However my fears were quickly put to rest as when i left the loo she was still Yackin away to the campsite owner.
She jumped in the van and said "go back to sleep now so you can wake up on the beach" i really couldnt as i was wide awake now. I joined her in the front seat as we made our way back to the Gold coast. Today everything was back to normal again. I told her of my crocodile exploits during the night and how i ran back to the campervan.
We both agreed we wanted to go back to the gold coast as for the past few times we had been there it had been lovely weather and a really enjoyable day. The iron man trails were still ongoing today so the beach was very busy, we stayed further down the beach tho to avoid the crowds. We spent a lovely morning relaxing and playing on the beach i kept trying to get andrea out to the bigger waves but i think it scared her somewhat and she preferred the shallower waters. We went back and sunbathed for a while.
Before i came on holiday i bought an underwater videocamera, intending to use it up at the great barrier reef, but as we werent going to make it up that far i decided i wanted to test it out so i went and had a play in the surf with my camera, some guys were out in the surf too who were intreagued about my camera, they had a body board and asked if i wanted to borrow it to do some filming on, i was delighted at this prospect so thanked them gratefully and off i went on their board. It was great fun! (I think the video may be too long to upload but if i can when i get to the uk i will upload it, maybe to facebook if not getjealous) i returned their board to them and andrea and I had a little walk along the sea fron and then made our way back to the campervan, i had to wash my video-camera because everytime you take it in the sea you must wash it to ensure its longevity. I went to the showers and rinsed the camera out, i was a bit disappointed with how little i'd used it actually, i took it everywhere with me but always forgot about it which is a shame really.
Anyway we got back to the van and had some lunch, i had melted chese on toast and andrea had spaghetti on toast. We were going to go back to mullumbimby as we both enjoyed the site there as it was close to byrons bay so after lunch we began driving in that general direction
To be continued..
Well i've finally arrived in buenos aires, the flights were from birmingham to paris then from paris directly to Buenos aires, the bham-paris flight was very nice, albeit upon arrival at birmingham i wasnt showing on the flight, which gave me heart palpatations momentarily whilst they sorted then mix-up out. included within my package was an airport lounge which was very good, free wifi (and we all know how much i love free wifi) with food and drinks aplenty as well as news papers and the news24 channel gently playing in the back ground. i wandered thru duty free and made my way to the gate for departure on the flybe aircraft (air france code share) i was pleasantly surprised, very nice comfy spacious leather seats and the flight was just over an hour, i arrived at 20:00 local time and had to take an airport train to K terminal, where i met the other passengers on the tour, we then had a 4 hour wait for the next flight, i sat at the area for check-in for the flight to buenos aires where slowly people congregated to reveal themselves as fellow 'just you' passengers, i began chatting to a man called tom who seemed nice and friendly. A few more passengeres with 'just you' tags on their luggage arrived and then came the tour guide, Filomena who duly took our names and crossed us off the list; by the time we actually boarded the plane i was already quite sleepy. However when we boarded the plane i was (despite requesting a window seat) in the middle of the window and the aisle. There was a nice lady from Cardiff in the window seat and rather a large slovakian man in the aisle seat, myself and 'gwynn' began chatting and exchanging holiday stories before she proceded to tell me her every ailment. Which lasted a good few hours. I felt like 'bullseye' out of the film dare-devil who flicked a peanut down the throat of the chatty passenger next to him.. Tho i just chatted away before politely excusing myself to watch a few films. Men in black 3 and Wrath of the titans, both reeeeally good films. I felt very cramped in the middle with very very little legroom, despite my small stature i began to feel rather claustrophobic and a bit agetated by the lack of room. Anyway after the hurrendous flight we all waited (aaages) for passport control then again for baggage claim, we then proceded to the carpark where our coach awaited our arrival which we boarded to be taken to our hotel. The lady who met us at charles de gaule airport filomena came with us all the way and when we got to Buenos aires airport she introduced us to her co-tour guide vanessa, she gave us one or two tips en-route to the hotel where we arrived about 11am local time, so we had a quick (continental) breakfast and by time we'd done and sorted our room numbers out our luggage had been delivered, then came the ardious task of obtaining plugs for electricity, which was an ardious task indeed as the hotel had very few plugs and none that would work with the english types. My laptop had died and so had my phone, i felt so cut off, wanting to finish my blog and get things charging so that i could come back in the knowledge that i would have my technology once more, i discovered i could charge my phone via the usb socket at the back of the tv so i set it to charge and i skype'd mum n dad, after first having a shower to refresh, to let them know id arrived safely. I then had just over an hour to go before the free city tour began. I relaxed a little before going down stairs to get better acquainted with the group.
We walked a short distance to where the coach was waiting to collect us to begin the city tour and the first stop was at a remmorial park bult by a french guy (4got his name) to celebrate Argentina's liberation (see pics) then after a drive around the embassies of argentina, greece, italy, france and spain we went to a cemetary.. A cemetary i hear you cry (as i did) tho this was no ordinary cemetary, why because it just wasnt, the reasons were two-fold; A) because the 'gravestones' were moseleums dedicated to entire families who would all be burried together forever entombing their sanctity and 2) because it IS the final resting place of Eva Duarte.. Who's she? Eva Peron aka evita (not rivita as i just typed accidentally) the pics will explain better than my words so have a look. The tour ended at a very touristy market/souvenir/flea-market, not really at all exciting but y'know. We then drove back to the hotel via the main docks after first driving via the old docks where on the left hand side you have big ships and all manner of boats and on the other side fivellas (not sure i've spelt that correctly) where the shanti-town has been created for those who are basically squatters and trade on predominantly on the black market. Well dodgy.. Lol sadly my camera ran out of battery and i didnt have my spare with me so lacking pics of this. anyway i'm back in my hotel room now relaxing before i have to go out for an evening meal in half hour and ive gotta shower etc first so to get this blog up online i shall post now and then contine tomorrow where i've booked to go on a boat cruise upto the tigre and parana delta. Will keep you posted!
'Well no-one expected a spanish inquision'!
Oh wow.. What a fantastic day i've had but before i get to that i must follow up from last night, the rest of the group went to the tango and dinner show but myself and sue decided against it so we went out together, we waved the rest of the group off on their coach and we walked up the road a little way and turned onto 'Florida' which is a bit like new street in bham, full of designer shops and restaurants and street artists, we even walked past captain jack sparrow at one point as we journeyed along florida we saw a group of people all gathered round in a circle clapping so we went to see and it was street artists performing the tango, so we got our tango show afterall, we continued to the end of florida and turned right onto 9th july ave which is a bit like Oxford street in london again with lots of hustle and bustle and designer shops a few theatres and restaurants. Vanessa had told us of a great pizzeria called Genova so we decided to stop and have a pizza there, well we sat down on the restaurants street table and watched the people going by as the waiter brought us the menus which were all in spanish, my spanish not being excellent we then asked for an english menu so we could translate all the different pizzas. He then came back to take our orders as we had the translation i ordered in spanish for both of us what we wanted to order and he went away and we carried on chatting, then a few minutes later the waiter came back to check our order, that he'd got it down correctly. So we went thru it again and again he went away, then shortly after he came back again, and went over the order once more, he then gave us lots of different options for us in case we had got the wrong thing, so once again i explained to him with the use of the spanish menu what we wanted, a hawaiian, a pepperoni, a glass of coke for me and a glass of red wine for sue, he questioned whether we actually wanted a glass a half bottle or a full bottle of red, and again we confirmed, no just 1 glass - again he checked the pizzas were correct and asked us whether we just wanted a single slice, a 'chica' or a 'grande' bear in mind all this conversation was happening in spanish and i was doing my best with my broken spanish to make myself understood, we wanted a 'chica' which he explained was 6 slices rather than a grande which was 8. So again he went away having confirmed once more our order - talk about a spanish inquisition.. Lol the order came (correctly as we had ordered, much to my amazement and sheer delight) and we tucked into our pizzas, sue then asked me, are we eating at pizza hut.. We both fell about laughing. (I suppose you had to be there really). After the meal and we'd paid our bill we began walking back to our hotel and ended up back on the 9th of july ave (where we'd just left) i'm not entirely sure how that had happened alas there we were so once more we turned around and headed back in the direction of our hotel however shortly after we decided we were a bit lost and so we jumped in a taxi, fortunately following my debarcle from the japanese gardens i decided to take a business card of the hotel so we could just hand it to the taxi driver. He took us back home and we went up into the 'sky bar' on the 13th floor where there were some fabulous views of the city. We had a few drinks then went to bed!
So this morning up at 9:05 for a 10:00 am departure, today was an excursion to Santa susanna and to the 'Gauchos' (Argentinian Cowboys) ranch. Bit of history first; Mr francisco kelly an argentinian citizen of irish decentance named his land Santa susana after his wife susana caffrey, the ranch occupies 1200 hectares (2965 acres) dedicated to agriculture tho now is only for tourism.
Upon arrival we were offered a cornish pastie style patiserie called empanadas criollas which was accompanied by red / white wine or orange juice. Vanessa explained how the day would work, first of all we had the opportunity to have a look around their family home, which is now the museum, set up as they wouldve lived, then a ride in the carriage and a horse ride around the paddock, then at the sound of the bell dinner would be served so we would head back to our table for a meal, then after the food a tango show and then a goucho show before leaving, so as soon as we were released into the ranch i headed straight for the horses, there were dozens of horses if i had to guess i'd say at least 30/40 i was issued my horse whom i named marc (which made me 'groucho marx') tee hee hee- as i climbed atop my horse he began going a little yampy and i was being shouted at by the goucho's as i was holding the reigns as you would expect to do with a british horse (between two hands feathering the reigns either side of your little finger) but No! This was wrong, 'solo uno maños' (only one hand)! So i did as he showed me and the Marc calmed down and we set off, once he'd settled into it we were a force to be reckoned with, he'd turn as i asked (just with a little movement of my hand left or right) walk on, trot and at one point we even cantered hehe tho actually i dont think i did that i think it was definitely more marc. Hehe anyway we trotted around the paddock and then headed back to the stable area and after i got off a few of my group members had a go so i took some pics for them, then we all had a go on the carriage which was basically a horse and cart, again once round the paddocks then back to the stables. After this i went to have a look round the museum which once was the house of mr fancisco and susanna which was very nice, a very large house with another building next to it presumably for their staff. As i was leaving the museum the bell rang meaning dinner was about to be served so i made my way into the, now, completely full restaurant, and the gaucho's who now doubled up as waiters delivered us some bread and many bowls of salad for each table, then they came with choritzo sausage followed by black pudding followed by THE thickest steak i've ever seen all cooked very nicely, and more available if required alas i was full to bursting so passed up on any more food. After dinner there was a guitarist and a squeezey-box musician, (i cant remember the spanish term for him tho). After a song or two they were joined by two latin dancers who began with a tango then a samba and a few different dances. After the show and all the merriment had finished it was a big rush to beat everyone to the paddock to see the gaucho show where they had yet more horses, some of which were playing the part of a cow, to demonstrate how the herding of their cattle wouldve been done, it was very dusty but the thunder of the (horses) cattle running past made the ground vibrate with the excitement of the show. The goucho's then demonstrated a typical game they wouldve played, similar to jousting where you have to get a hoop with the lance, however the hoop was the size of a small key-ring and the lance was no bigger than a biro. If the goucho's mananged to collect the ring they would give this to a (usually female) member of the audience in exchange for a kiss. Naturally the women among all of the audience were excited by this cheering on their favourite goucho in hope to be given the hoop. After this show had finished it was all back to the coaches and then back to the city of buenos aires. I arrived back at the hotel and began blogging, trying to get it all down before my memory and the excitement of the day faded, however shortly there was a knock at my door asking if i was coming for some food, well as the meal we'd eaten was soo large i really wasnt hungry but i decided to go and have a drink instead, we went to florida (new street) and i decided i wanted to have a mooch around the shops and i bought a new pair of shorts a shirt and 3 pairs of socks (mine were all dirty and it was cheap enough to buy new ones rather than washing them) it wasnt until i was at the till that i realised the shop beared my surname so now all my new stuff is personalised yay 4 me. Once id done my shopping i went back to my room to pack my stuff as tomorrow we are flying upto iguazu to see the falls. Once packed i had a look on the net for a decent bar to experience the argentinian nightlife. There was a gay bar just 2 blocks away so i had a wander down there and bought myself a pina-colada (when in rome) and i got chatting to 3 guys, or rather they got chatting to me probably due to my honky colour realising that i was not from argentina. We began chattin about where i'd been and my itinerary, anyway one drink turned into a few more and the next thing i knew we were going clubbing. It turned out that two of the lads Omar and José were from Venezuala and the other lad joseph was from chicago, however his english (or rather american) was spoken with a spanish accent, and he struggled to underetand my brummie twang, tho if i spoke with an american accent he could understand me perfectly and ironically when i spoke american his spanish accent discipated and out came a thick chicago accent. We went on to a club called Flux we arrived there about 2ish and stayed in there 'till gone 4 Omar was staying just a few blocks from me and so we walked back together his spanish was very good and we were able to converse with a mix of spanglish. I got back at 4:15 and went straight to bed for our early morning start at 7:00am
So following on from yesterday i think it wasnt such a good idea to stay out till 4am 3 hours sleep definitely doesnt agree with me, i cant do it like i used to wjen i was a teenager. I woke up at my first alarm and jumped in the shower hoping it would revitalise me.. It really didnt, i skipped breakfast on the basis i had a bit of a delicate head and boarded the coach for the airport where we said goodbye to vanessa as she wasnt coming to iguazu with us, we then had all our luggage handled and we just had to go to the departure gate 6 where our flight to iguazu was leaving from. Eventually after a slight delay our flitht took off and almost as soon as it did i fell asleep with my sleepy music playing thru my headphones, after the 2h flight we were met by marçello our new tour-guide whilst in iguazu he transferred our luggage from aeroplane to coach leaving us to just handle our own hand-luggage and board the coach before the 45 minute drive to the hotel were i now sit under the 29•c sun around by the pool. Ahh nice! Tonight we have free time and whilst everyone else is going to have an a-la carte meal i think sue and i and a few of the others may just enjoy a meal from our own restaurant and then for me it's an early night as we have an early start on the morrow for our 1st trip to the argentinian side of iguazu. I'm going now to take some pics of the amazing scenery surrounding our new hotel! Will update later after our evening meal and i will once again try and upload some pics, i have sooo many to upload and videos too of the ranch yesterday. Oooh note to self - factor 10 isnt strong enough for the argentinian sunshine, as you may notice by my shiny red head lol - well although i said i was going to take some river pictures i never actually made it, i fell asleep by the pool and after a little while decided it was a better idea to go to my room for a lie down, i realised having missed breakfast AND the 'meal' on the plane, which apparently consisted of just a few crackers and some biscuits with drinks, that i needed some food before i fell to sleep. So i rang down to see if i could order room service, they took my room number and hung up the phone.. Oh i thought apparently not then, however within a minute or two there was a knock at my door and a chef brought me a menu, i went to quickly look thru the menu and decide what i wanted but he made the sign for a phone by his head, meaning i just needed to phone him again and he would deliver my request - ahh great i thought, a very good service. So i phoned thru and ordered myself a cheese and ham toastie, which came with chips. After my meal, which was quite nice i took a shower and had a nap, i'd arranged with sue that i'd be down around 7ish to get some food, however the next thing i knew there was a knock at my door and so i answered and sue was standing there, "are you coming for dinner" she enquired, it seems i'd slept for a good few hours without realising, "yeah i'll be there in 10 mins or so" i replied, so i came back into my room and sat on my bed.. The next thing i knew i'd woken and it was 2am - ooops! Sorry sue, i obviously needed to catch up with my sleep following the busy few days i'd had.
Tomorrow is the trip to the falls which begins at 7am so at least i'll be fresh faced for then eh! Hehe
Incedentally this hotel is in such a stunning location, right on the iguazu river, i have taken some pictures but for some reason getjealous wont upload them :-( i will keep trying and if not perhaps when i'm back in the uk i can do it then, hopefully.. If not i may upload all pics to facebook. Anyway hope ur all having a lovely time back home. I'm so jealous of the vile weather you're experiencing (hehe not) and the monotony of the xfactor where i have just learned via facebook that Ella's been voted out - if so xfactor is soooo dead to me!
Golly gosh! I've sort of been putting of writing todays blog because i knew it was going to take me aaaaages as soo much has occured and its been THE best day of my holiday so far, i have taken many videos and photos for you to see the spectacle that is Iguazu falls (Argentinian side) please accept my apologies for delays and also if i'm speaking with spanish accent, i now understand why joseph speaks english with spanish accent, even when not speaking in their native tongue you speak with basic language so you can be understood.
Anyway, for now i will try and fill you in on the days events of which there are many and really words will not describe how amazingly fantastic and awesomely spectacular the days events have been as they unfolded, i start with the beginning;
I awake at 6:35 (yes me 6:35) and i went down for breakfast, by the time i got there everyone else was already half way thru their breakfast but i still had a good 45 mins before the coach arrived so i was in no rush, i had a good breakfast consisting of cornflakes with various pastries, a yoghurt and coffee with toast jam and a banana (try bananas on toast if you havent already done so, sounds revolting but tastes like banana frittas, my family have been eating this since me and my sister were very young) The coach collected us at 7:30 sharp giving us about 40 minutes to get to Iguazu falls and national park entrance (argentinian side, brazillian side is tomorrow). So when we arrived after Marcelo (our new guide whilst in Iguazu) giving us a breifing on the coach as to how it would all unfold, marcelo is also a good guide, but he had some big shoes to fill, following vanessa's tour-leading prowess, she and i had a very special and jovial bond bouncing of each others jokes and comicly poking fun at each other. Although Marcelo was very good really i cant fault him except his tendancy to re-iterate things thrice, became a bit tired pretty quickly. [GET ON WITH IT] ok yes, get on with it.. So in scene 24 we have some great acting with some fantasic one liners - by me... [monty python - Holy grail]
We arrived at the entrance and we remained on the coach whilst Filomena and Marcelo (pronounced Mar-sello, not mar-chello) obtained our tickets he'd already explained (thrice) that we would board a choo-choo and go past the first station and stay on board till we reached the furthest point from the park entrance where we would take a walk along a purpose built 'cat-walk' taking you over to the furthest set of falls; garganta del diablo (double gargantuan falls) this is (as the name suggests) the most volumeous amount of water anywhere at the falls (in latin america). Marcelo did tell us how much water falls per second but i forget, so many million trillion zillion litres, a lot anyway by any standard.. All the way down the cat-walk there was nature a-plenty, all around us, underneath us with various species of cat-fish and turtles and all around us in the form of butterflies and birds and of course the flora and fauna, i already was a bit snap happy with my camera snapping everything that looked like a nice view, u may get bored of seeing pictures of water and splendid scenery, i didnt tho! But you might, tho i doubt it, but u might.. Ok ok.... Anyway, So we approached the falls and from a good 1/4 mile away you could hear a roar and sense the excitement which lay before us, and all the time helicopters flying overhead (tomorrows adventure) as the falls grew nearer and nearer (and my camera trigger finger grew snappier and snappier) until at last we were at the end of the walkway (it wasnt a real cat-walk, there were zero models) the first sight of this spectacle was truly breath-taking -(actually i feel a bit cheated as i know some of you have been following Michael Palin's visit to brazil and to here which was air-ed on tv the day we left however for me it was the first time i'd seen 'em as i hadnt yet seen this show) breath taking doesnt actually do it justice, as i previously said words cant really explain how beautiful and powerful and mesmerising this spectacle actually is, i have taken lots of videos tho, however even that wont be the same as being here, anyway i'm waffling again, we spent a few minutes and as long as u could at the balconies of the cat-walks, snapping so excitedly now my finger actually had a moment of arthritis, incdentally, my good friend Tim very kindly lent me his Cannon EOS 450D SLR camera, which today came into it's own, i still had my own little camera but i felt the falls deserved something equally spectacular (what a piece of kit, this camera is - i wont go on about that cos i'll definitely lose all my readers but if you're thinking of buying an SLR its deffo the way forward) so there i was taking in the beauty of this spectacle (are you grasping yet how totes amaze it is) feeling and hearing the sheer thunder of the volume of water and watching as each patch fell trying to follow it with my eyes before it reached the bottom where it completely disappeared into a cloud of watery mist and as your eye followed it down a few flocks of 'grey tailed swifts' fratonised in the mist almost as if they were delinquant teenagers playing amidst their playground, possibly doing mating rituals, possibly searching for food, all i knew was that they were making my videos / photos come alive that bit more, not that they were lacking depth but almost like a free gift. So after taking too many pictures and videos we were ushered on back along the catwalk back towards the train.. Did i mention a train, i cant remember but we rode an open air train to get there, so now back towards the station, but en-route you couldnt walk 3 steps without there being another beautiful scene or a stunning butterfly or an unexpected turtle and the like, back at the station we queue'd for all of 5 minutes until we boarded the train, now we were going back to the first station where we would do the circuito superior - upper trail where there was more spectacular scenery more amazing wildlife more butterflies, birds, trees, more catwalks and more waterfalls, by now i was becoming so trigger happy i'm actually surprised that i had; A) any space left on my disc and 2) battery life between my cameras but they carried on shooting like my paparazzi life depended upon shooting these amazing models down each catwalk - HA - i just got why they're called catwalks.. Lmfao only its the paparazzi who walk the walks and the scenery the models we're papp'ing so once i'd papp'd everything i possibly could and probably more, we were then lead to the central hospitality suite where we would break for lunch. But on the way a crowd gathered just before the opening of the end of the catwalk so i nuzzled in to find a beautiful model posing quite literally in the form of a beautiful little monkey.. Yes a monkey, an actual monkey no less than 2/3 feet away, and did he know how to work the camera's not to mention the audience, as i said very literally posing. Feeding the wildlife is STRICTLY prohibited but long ago they used to allow feeding so the poor little monkey probably thought he would be fed, and when he realised we were all just papp'ing him with no chance of some free grub, he, with a few carefully placed jumps and swings vanished into the undergrowth, just then on the opposite side, almost with near precision timing a racoon came from out of the undergrowth and once again sort-of posed, tho he wasnt working it quite as well as the monkey - Now; we were warned that these racoons whilst they looked really tame and placid are actually very very dangerous, and as signs depicted all around the catwalks with photos of the damage they've caused to several people's various limbs, i proceeded with extreme caution, thru the view-finder of the camera of course! Apparently they are (obviously) only after food, but quite like the Tasmanian devil we saw in Oz, a family of these cute unsuspecting racoons can strip a cow down to bone within just under an hour. Once papp'd i moved to the cafe where i ordered some food and drinks which i'm not gonna waste time boring u with as more ecitement was to come, so after lunch we continued onward as instructed by Marcelo down to the circuito inferior - lower path which now meant we would be looking up at the falls rather than being atop them looking down as we neared the path a lizard was spotted and papp'd (papp'd = photographed for you old fogies hehe) so onto the lower platforms where every step you took the breath-taking scenery changed and altered creating newer and more beautiful scenery, we were making our way down to the additional extra excursion of the boat trips, any of you reading who've visited one of the worlds falls, will understand what type of boat trip i mean, for those who've no idea, its a boat trip whereby you get a chance to take yet more pics and vids of the stunning scenery and possibly a chance to get slightly soggy. HA! So we thought, we boarded the boat after having put on life jackets, stowing tim's expensive camera in it's camera bag and then puting it inside my backpack and in turn, my backpack, (stevie, yes my backpack has a name - get over it) inside a waterproofed back, we climbed aboard the boat - the captain explained how to do everything and advised us to remove ANYTHING we didnt want to get a bit damp, including socks and shoes, watches, wallets, ciggies, lighters and anything else we wanted to ensure remained dry. We did as instructed and the boat set sail, i say set sail the power of this boat was truly relentless switching from side to side and powering us to the base of the gargantia diablo, which if you've been paying attention, you will know is the first falls we visited, we came up very quickly on this falls to the point i actually thought we might crash into the rocks which lay ahead, the pilot paused momentarily as if in suspended animation for us to take some pics and vids (yes.. More) and then switched sides so those on the other side could do likewise, then in an instant flipped the boat round and began powering our way thru the water to the other side, i was trying to think of a good analagy to explain the sheer power of the boat and i can only liken it to an aeroplane taking off cos thats just what it felt like as soon as he opened the throttle you were almost pinned to your seat as he with his obvious experience maticulously manouvered our way thru the water taking us to the foot of the salto san martin and salto mbigua, which you wont know are the names of the falls one can view on the upper trail, again he hanged in suspended animation allowing time for pics and videos then as we were busy papp'ing the crew (quite sneakily) suited up in very waterproofed clothing and put the video-camera they were holding (to sell to us the footage later on) in a waterproof housing - uh ohh.. So he once again advised us to stow anything we wanted to remain dry and then plundered directly for the bottom of the falls, initially just getting close enough to become moist with the spray being created by the water cascading down and hitting the bottom of the falls, but then as if someone had dared him to go closer he plundered once more wetting us even more, i have to say it had been such a hot day and with the heat of the sunshine it was actually a very welcome splash of water which did soak us quite thoroughly, he then turned the boat around once more and headed back toward the dock where we had recently boarded the boat. We were all jeering and saying how amazing that experience was and how wet we all were... Little did we know we went straight past the dock and back round to gargantia dioblo and literally parked the boat directly underneath salto tres mosqueterreo's (the falls of the three muscateers) and when i say literally parked the boat underneath these falls i mean he PARKED THE FRICKIN BOAT UNDERNEATH THE ACTUAL WATERFALL - we were mildly moist previously now we were every inch of us soaked right thru to the bone. To the point where we were more wet (if possible) than if we'd capsized, tho we hadnt, obv, but i have to tell you, it was quite a shock, the water falling down hitting you directly on the head almost as if someone were throwing full 9 litre buckets of water over you, tho the sheer force of the water almost drilling into your skull (or so it felt) and the temperature of the water taking your breath away, although this could also have been just the shock of the guy parking the boat there, for what seemed like a minute, tho in reality i think it was just a few seconds. Almost like he had tricked us into being his victims - i say this like it was torture, well it kinda was, but in the best possible way. As we pulled away i looked over at christine who was sat next to me and 'drowned rat' simply doesnt cut it. They called this a baptismo, we called it sheer exhilleration and imense fun. The boat now powered back towards the dock... Or so we thought, no this was simply another trick as he cleverly manouvered the boat directly down the rapids, at one point i'm sure we were airborn for a few seconds, then again, then again then again and again, flipping from left side to right side and back again until the rapids died down to a normal level flow, still powering downstream at an alarming rate for a boat. Passing the jungle and long sandy beaches on either side of the argentinian and brazillian side of this beautiful ever changing landscape... I must stop blogging now as i must sleep but there's soo much more to tell but its now 01:30 and yet another early start tomorrow. Will continue at some point tomorrow, possibly on the flight to Rio di Janerio.... Laterz peeps :-)
Part 2, so where was I ?! Oh yes boat ride, so as we'd blasted right down the rapids which was sensational we pulled into the dock where we disembarked the speed boat and made the way up the steps which there were many, now bear in mind that we are still pretty soaking despite the speed of the powerboat drying our hair faster than most conventional hair dryers, our clothing was still rather soggy (understatement) incedentally chris and I took a before and after shot of us on the boat demonstrating the amount of water displaced from said waterfall. Anyway as we climbed the stairs which in itself was no mean feat, not for me per-say but for some of the elderly ladies one of whom i did think was about to keel over but she fastered the climb and at the top had a rest and drank quite a lot of water. We waited at the top for a few minutes allowing the rest of the party and the other people from other boats to get to the top also, we then boarded a HUGE mercedes 4 wheel drive truck which was lorry sized but with seats like a bus tho without a roof. So we set off and Marcelo had instructed us that we must get off on the first stop as there were several, so the truck journeyed thru the thick jungle up the beaten down track and there was another tour guide on board explaining all of the different species of flora and fauna and the different kinds of animal we could potentially see including Jaguar, monkey, raccoon, lizard, puma, snakes, terrantula and various other amimals and wildlife, most of which we had already seen only jaguar and puma to see however these are soo rare the guide was telling us that in 10 years only 3 have ever been spotted so chances are extremely slim, however if we keep our eyes peeled you never know your luck, but the tour ended without seeing much other than a few lizards, as its mating season for the reptiles and they use the beaten down track upon which we were travelling to meet their potential mates. Although as the truck journeyed thru all of these lizards would scurry off a few seconds prior to being squished, it was almost like they were playing "chicken" with the traffic, i say traffic, there was only us at that point although as we journeyed deeper into the jungle some similar trucks coming the other way so we have to wait at various passing points so as not to destroy the jungle further, they are very careful to preserve the jungle as much as possible and they are very aware that without it's natural eco-system the entire planet would suffer dramatically and there are some very strict rules as to what you can and cannot do, for example, you cannot smoke, eat discard any rubbish unless in designated places and where there are refuse points there are ALWAYS 3 bins, one for plastics and non-bio-degradable items, one for metal and one for paper. After a little while we came back to the road whereby we disembarked the truck at the designated rest point within the hotel complex, unsurprisingly as with all of these trips you end up at a souvenir and gift shop and of course news agent type shops where you can replenish water bottles (with new ones obviously, not with a water fountain). So we had 15 minutes or so to purchase anything we wanted although those who didnt do the boat trip had been there for aproximately 45 minutes so they were very eager to leave pretty sharpish, we walked a short distance back to the main entrance to the park where our coach was waiting for us to transport us back to the hotel.
Upon arrival at the hotel it began to lightly rain, which really was pretty good timing as it had been particularly sunny most of the day if a little overcast at some points.
We congregated out by the pool and pauline and patsy (whom i affectionately named 'eddie and patsy' (absolutely fabulous)) were sat in 'smokers corner' so i joined them and we were discussing the trip, the tour guides, the hotel and rooms etc, and I discovered that patsy was actually on the 4th floor of the hotel giving her much better vantage points for wonderful views of the rivers and surrounding scenery, i asked patsy if she'd mind me popping to her room to take some better photos, she obliged and so we rode the glass elevator to the top floor and went to her balcony i took all of the photos i desired on the SLR camera and she offered to take some of me which i gratefully accepted, i jumped up on the balcony and she took a few pics and then a few more. I thanked her and went back to my room where i decided to have a shower before dinner that evening, it had been a very fun-packed day and we had become rather filthy with the dust and the.. Well, just with dust really, we had arranged to meet up back downstairs just over an hour after, so i set the shower running (its always good when travelling abroad, wherever you go to allow the water to run for a good few minutes before stepping in) so as the shower ran off the dirty water i deicded what i would like to wear for the evening meal. A perfect opportunity i thought to wear my new 'STONE' shirt i had bought in Buenos Aires. I went to get in the shower but i made an impulsive decision to actually take a bath instead, so i switched the shower to bath and added some bubble bath (provided by the hotel) and the bath, quite quickly, filled up ready for me to step in. I allowed it to sit for a few moments before stepping in, it was actually a perfect temperature and so i relaxed into it and sat there for quite a while my chillout music twinkling away in the back-ground i drifted away into a dream-like state thinking to myself 'ahh this really is the life'. After 15 or 20 minutes or so, i got a bit bored so i washed myself and my hair a few times ensuring i was nice and clean and then i climbed out dried myself off and went to my window to peruse the wonderful view (cover pic on fb) wrapped up in my dressing gown, provided by the hotel. I began to begin the beginning of the blogging tho i knew it was going to be a big one as there was so so much to try convey to you, my avid readers (yes you, you get a mention woop woop)! But shortly after beginning the blogging i had recently began to begin i thought i'd better get my clobber on for the evening because it's quite easy to lose track of time when blogging. So i adorned my new shirt and my new-ish stone-coloured cargo pants and finished getting ready for the evening, prior to arriving back at the hotel Filomena told us that we must have our suitcases outside the door at 7am for an 8am departure, so i breifly threw my stuff back in my case however decided it would be easier to sort this later. I met with sue who co-incided with me approaching the stairs, we then continued downstairs, after having finished getting ready for the evening of course and joined my fellow compadres who had already taken up residence outside on the exceptionally beautiful and rather ornately cleverly carved wooden chairs and tables, where they had already purchased drinks. I enquired what was happening for dinner and a few people were eating inside the hotel, others were going to the restaurant opposite and a few others were heading into town a good 25 minutes walk away, we had driven thru the town each time we arrived and departed the hotel and it, to be honest, was rather bleak. Seems rather a poor town without much to do and not many things to see. However i decided i wanted to have a wander into town and take a few pics, as i didnt feel my camera had worked hard enough as yet hehe and to try and capture for you some of the sites and scenes of the town of Iguazu. Following my walk into and out of town, which by the way apparently is very very safe as everyone knows everyone and therefore news travells very quickly as they are mostly inter-related and marcelo explained that if you wear your diamond necklace and someone tried to pinch it off you, the news of this robbery would spread like wild-fire and very quickly the locals would find and finger the culpret (not like that you dirty minded fellows) and you would have your necklace returned within half an hour or so and this news story would be the height of gossip for the next 3 years as not much else happens around these parts but he said due to this there is almost zero crime here so its very safe. Anyway i digress (as usual) i arrived back in the location of the hotel where the three countries meet, argentina, brazil and paraguay, seperated by the two rivers; iguazu river and parana delta. I continued past my hotel another 5 minutes further to try and capture this natural phenomenon, never before have i been so close to three individual countries i dont think, they are literally swimming distance from each other with brazil directly in front of the hotel and paraguay on the opposite bank (to the left as you look at the river) i took a short video to demonstrate this and in doing so i observed on each bank something i'd not spotted before. There were three obelisk shaped monuments each in their national colours stood on each bank depicting their representative coutntries territory. Once i'd captured this i headed back to my hotel for our evening meal, i had a beautiful succulent steak with a mushroom sauce and really tasty fried potato balls, almost like croquet potatoes however only the size of marbles and they popped in your mouth, the steak was cooked to perfection and at $86 pretty good value for money. Now, i say $86 i dont mean $86 US - no, something that had caused much confusion at the beginning of the holiday, but argentines use the dollar sign to represent their own currency, the Peso.. Why they couldnt come up with an alternative symbol is beyond me especially as their two currencies used in Argentina is the Peso and the US dollar. Anyway $86 (peso's) is the equivalent to about $16 (US) or £11.80 (sterling) anyway afterwards we went outside to take our coffee and have a fag, then i deicded to go to my room and re-pack my entire suitcase and prepare my hand luggage and then continued blogging till 1:30am at which point as you know i went to sleep.
So awoke this morning pretty early once again, all this burning the candle at both ends is pretty arduious but totally necessary and of course worth it. So anyway, suitcases outside the door at 7am for the porters to collect, and then straight down for breakfast. Filomena came down late for breakfast this morning and i joked with her that perhaps she had overslept, alas she abruptly told me that there was a problem and she was quite clearly stressed, i offered my services asking if there was anything i could do to help her, she explained to me that Michael, our eldest group member (and you know there's "ALWAYS ONE" on every trip, well on this trip, he's it)!!! He had lost his passport, today we are going over to Brazil, so possibly the worst time to mislay your passport, i said to Filo, i'm sure it will turn up. We boarded the coach and lots of contraversy, cos it meant filo would have to travel with Michael to Buenos Aires to visit the british consulate embassy, however, all civil servants of Argentina are on strike today, so they would have to overnight in Buenos aires before joining us in Rio, also it would mean we would not have a tour-guide for the next part of our trip, thus we'd have to load all of our luggage ourselves (ohh the hardship). Lol
Marcelo asks Michael to double check his bag, double check his bedroom, double check everything, now normal people would be ok with this, however Michael took exception to it saying "Do you think i'm cenile" (he was convinced someone had entered his room and stole it, he told me as much as i asked him), anyway marcelo explained to him that we would prefer to not leave without him and insisted that he and michael go back up to his room and check everything, so they went with two additional porters and took back to his room all his luggage with the intention of taking every item out to check. Well anyway 30 or 40 minutes later down they come triumphant passport in hand. Everybody clapped and cheered! So with Michael on board and suitcase and hand luggage re-packed we drove towards the argentine / brazillian border which was, as you should guess very close to our hotel. Within 4 miles i would say, the bridge crossing over from argentina to brazil (or Brasil) was painted blue and white until we were half way accross when the bridge colour changed to yellow and green signifying the crossing of one border to another which is exactly half way down the parana delta. As soon as we were off the bridge the coach drove to the border patrol. Filo and marcelo collected all of our passports to get stamped. Because of the long delay regarding michaels passport we had missed our slot to obtain the necessary paperwork for the crossing of the border so we filo and marcelo had to wait with the rest of the riff-raff to get our documentation to get us all across the border. This took quite some time, i didnt mind too much because it gave me a chance to continue the blog from yesterday, but others were moaning as we had been sat in the coach for about 2 and a bit hours since first thing this morning. Eventually both rep's got back on board and marcelo took the mic to explain the order of the day, he since yesterday had stopped re-itterating himself, maybe he'd read my blog hehe so todays main activity was to go to Iguazu falls brazillian side, where we would get the opportunity to take a helicopter flight over the falls, an opportunity not to be missed tho i had to carefully consider my options at 110.00 US$ as i had a $100 note which i had allowed myself per day to spend and i didnt really want to break into another $100 note just for $10 i thought i'd be able to pay the balance with my Travellers chueques card but i was informed that i could only pay totally in cash or totally by card, i wasnt sure i had enough $ on my card to pay in ful this way so i asked Sharon if she would mind lending me $10 to enable me to purchase my chopper ticket. We queue'd for about 20 minutes before being ready to board the helicopter, soon we were being asked to walk to the point just before the helipad awaiting the return of our chopper, after a few short minutes we were climbing aboard, unfortunately there were some germans ahead of us so the front seat next to the pilot was taken so we climbed in the back, it didnt matter too much cos the pilot would surely show both sides the same splendid views, quickly we departed and were skimming the trees until we were 6 or 8 times higher than them giving a fabulous vantage point of the jungle carpet below, stretching for miles and miles in every direction. Very shortly the scenery grew spectacular with a river meandering thru from the left hand side with an island jutting out i was trying to capture every inch of scenery from the air but obviously had to be courteous to the other passengers also, however they werent being as courteous to me, being a little selfish with the amount of window time we were sharing, tho i did get all the shots i desired.. I hope!
The helicopter was tilting on its 6 axis' available to try and give the best possible view points occasionally turning my stomach. The big falls (gargantuan) came up on the right hand side which was, well i was trying to think of a word to describe it, breath-taking, doesn't seem to do it justice, but as i looked out i could see the falls, the jungle surrounding it, the catwalks we had crossed yesterday (from the argentinian side) and above the whole scene, almost as if it were framed, was a magical rainbow and of course, the pot of gold was landing in the hearf of the jungle. This all happened in an instant of course cos as soon as you had seen it and appreciated it's beauty the chopper had moved along the river to capture more of the falls. To be honest i think possibly it will be better to wait until i can upload the pics cos my limited vocabulary simply isnt enough (not that i think my vocab IS limited but i mean language in itself is too restrictive, afterall how can one describe an emotion derived from a picturesque view). Anyway after the helicopter ride we boarded the coach to take us 11kms deeper into the jungle to see, close-up, the brazillian side of the waterfalls. Now when i was on the argentinan side i felt sorry for the brazillians because i felt they had a bit of a raw deal, seeing how little of the falls they got as the dividing line seemed to favour the argentinans over the brazillians, however when we arrived i realised just how wrong that was, the brazillian side seemed so much more beautiful. Most of you have probably seen this on 'palins brazil' but to see in person with your own eyes, its something else. The changing colours of the waters coupled with the fierce flow of water coupled with the wild-life and of course thats just what you see, then of course all the other senses come into play, the thunder you can hear as the squillion gallons of water, the vibrations this creates, the smell of the plants and flowers, the spray that lightly hits you cooling you down from the hot brazillian sun, it truly is a sensation for your entire body, not that this was different yesterday of course, however today was far less busy and easier to see and allow your senses to experience. I say it was far less busy, it was retrospective but as there was far less walking there seemed to be people grouped in specific areas to take pictures but quickly moved on to see the next part to take some more pictures so always you were able to get the shots you wanted whereas yesterday, not quite as easily. Anyway after this we took the pathways and elevators back up to the coach to leave for the airport for Rio Di Janerio. Michael asked me which was our coach so i walked him across the road making sure he got there safely and boarded the coach, i began blogging and eventually everyone boarded the coach, Filomena came down the coach counting in her native tongue of portugese, making sure everyone was here, with a look of confusion she re-counted, and again at the end determined someone was missing, you might guess who it was who was missing, Yep, Michael, he watched me board the coach and then (for some reason) got on the coach behind. A few minutes passed and marcelo came up the road with Michael in-tow so with everyone now on board the coach and with a hint of sadness to be leaving Argentina and a hint of excitement for Rio we began our journey to the airport. We said our good bye's to marcelo and he organised our luggage to be taken as a group to the aeroplane so again we had to only handle our own hand-luggage. After an additional short delay of about 30 mins at the airport we all climbed aboard the flight for Rio Di Janerio. I continued blogging and then had a bit of kip, as i awoke we were on approach to rio airport, sadly i was sittin on an aisle seat so couldnt really see much scenery :( but it was ok, soon we would be on the ground and among the husstle and bustle of this vibrant city, after baggage claim we walked the short distance to the coach, where our new guide (i cant pronounce his name but its spelled favevelioch or something like this) so i will call him amigo (friend), he began explaining a little of the history of the country and particularly the city of rio, now apparently we westeners (or i suppose easterners to brazil) call it Rio di Janerio this is wrong the correct pronounciation and the way the locals would say is like "huge-anero" i will come to the history more tomorrow cos i want to be sure to get my facts correctly so i will ask amigo to tell me more slowly so i can more acurately convey it to you. We arrived at the hotel and checked in after a short wait as filo gave us all our room key-cards, i went up to my room on the 17th floor and directly went to the balcony. Oh my golly goodness! The view was of the infamous copacabana beach streatching all the way left with a back-drop of sugar-loaf mountain, we breifly saw Him (Christo Redento, or christ the redemer) on our way in but he cannot be seen from my hotel, so snap snap snap and a quick change for dinner, i was sat in my room and decided i couldnt actually be bothered to go out as i didnt feel particularly relaxed or rested so i picked up the phone and ordered room service - a filet mignon au poivre con batatas gratinadas (fillet of beef with a black-pepper and mushroom sauce with dauphinoise potatoes) it was a taste sensation, i then went for a little walk down copacabana before returning back to the hotel to go to bed, but upon my return i spotted marian and dave, who've kind of become an item since being here, i first noticed this at argentinian iguazu falls but it was confirmed at breakfast, they had a photo taken at the falls and they very much look like a very happy couple, so i shared a drink with them and also Michael who was sat with them, i ordered myself a drink and joined them, michael then dozed off and was catching flies, we had a bit of a laugh cos he began to snore and even the barman was chuckling to himself, me being the kind hearted person i am, i woke him up and escorted him back to his room, as he stood up his passport fell out of his pocket, so i picked his passport up and as i saw him to his room i MADE him put his passpot in his safe before returning to my room to go to sleep.
Awoke after a good nights sleep from my room with the most awesome views of copacabana beach. Honestly i have to pinch myself it all seems so surreal, to see the beach with my own eyes that is so famous and so photographed. Ive had a screensaver on my laptop for a few years of the view, this picture was, without doubt, taken from my hotel, my hotel is smack bang in the middle of the beach (obviously not on the sand) directly opposite the beautiful copacobana beach, with its crystal white sandy shoreline and palm trees fingering the promenade all the way up to sugar loaf mountain, which rises up from the bay, creating the perfect back drop. I know my hotel is from where this picture was taken for 2 reasons; 1) our hotel is the tallest building on copacabana and 2) because i have managed to, without actually realising, replicate the photo almost exactly. I went down to breakfast for around 8am and there were a few of my group members there already eating, i asked if i could join a table, obliging i went to the buffet and had a few different options that i wanted, the breakfast here seemed much better than any other hotel so far, so many different choices, following breakfast we made our way to our coach which was taking us to sugar loaf mountain. Amigo told us of the History of Brazil and how it came to be, the story goes a little like this; (please excuse me certain facts are not spot on but i'm going from memory). In 1502 the portugese landed in brazil, the king of portugal at the time escaped portugal as Lord Napoleon was invading europe and so he absconded 1 day before napoleons armarda arrived, toleave his government to take charge. There were 25 ships that left with an enterage of british who protected them. The portugese brought 16 million slaves to portugal to rebuild their civilization, 16 million !! Tho some died on the crossing over here as they were poorly treated and malnurished, they were not allowed to speak their native tongue and were forced to speak portugese so they could be understood. Rio Di Janerio was founded in 1565 and in 1766 Rio became the capitol of brazil. In 1522 the King returned to portugal but left his son Pedro in charge he became King Pedro I and in at this time King pedro I granted brazil independance. When the King of Portugal first came to brazil which at the time was inhabited by indians, the indians saw the portugese arrive in their suits of armour and were imediately impressed with their stature, likening their suits of armour to a fish that swims only in the river which is very difficult to catch and tastes bad, therefore they leave it alone which was the same for the portugese king and his army of soldiers, the king began to establish himself an empire within brasil, he integrated as much as possible with the indians, teaching them new ways of life.. How to fish more efficiently and ecologically, soon after he decided to return to Portugal as napoleon had been unsuccessful in his attempts to conquer portugal but he left his son the throne, his son becoming King Pedro 1st, the new king was a bit of a 'playboy' living the life of riley, but doing nothing to help the country necessarily, the new and old brazillians were not happy about this and almost ran him out of town and so he appointed his son who at the time was only 4 years old to become emporer of brasil, as he was only 4 years old a team of advisors were appointed to help govern and to take charge of the running of the country and to best advise him, which soon became their republican government, ran by the people, for the people, when pedro turned 14 he at this young age took the crown and became Emporer of brazil making him King Perdo II - This king was goood, the people loved him as he was educated to a high level, speaking 8 languages and he tried to better develop the country making it a more stable environment to live and he was also the person who gave the city many new inventions for example; electricity the telephone, when he visited Pensylvania some time later at the age of 44 he met with Alexander Graham bell who was so impressed with his leadership he gave him two telephones which he brought back to brazil to implement brazils telephone system, the people were very happy, however because the established government continued to run the country, King pedro ii had to abdocate and usually when a king abdocates his power, the crown should remain atop the kings head, but his head should not remain on his shoulders, but because the people loved this king they granted him a pardon so he was able keep his head and move for the first time to portugal. To be honest there may have been more things he explained but there was soo much amigo told us of that i have forgotten most of it, by the time he finished the stories he enthused and inspired us with we arrived at the first ever cathederal built in Brazil, there were many many churches in brazil as each town tried to build a better church than the next and the next, continually improving their places of worship. The government donated a piece of land to build this cathederal on and many figures of the cloth visited including most recently in 1980 (the late) Pope John Paul II amigo told us that this cathederal can hold upwards of 200,000 people (including standing) tho upon seeing it i think he may have meant 20,000 but i may be wrong. The building itself was a huge feat of engineering and was built by the same person who built the Christo Redentor statue (christ the redeemer) although he actually died during its construction, then a belgian man finished it off to his exact specifications. If i'm honest i thought (personally, tho others agreed) it is probably the ugliest cathederal ive ever seen, from the outside, the cathederal is conical shaped, but coming to a point, almost pyramid-like, however upon entry the impressive 120ft high ceiling and ceiling to floor stained glass on 3 of the 4 sides are no mean feat of engineering, and does maintain a certain beauty, but i still found it ugly! We boarded the coach once more and he told us more history but to be honest i couldnt take any more in so it went in one ear and out the other, we drove to the foot of sugar-loaf mountain, excitement reigned in the camp as this was certainly a big highlight we had all been waiting for. Amigo went on ahead and into the office and obtained our tickets whilst we all disembarked and gathered our belongings he met us at the entrance where we were all issued tickets for the cable car to get to the top. For any Bond fans this is where jaws bit thru the cable car in moonraker, i didnt know this until we had riden the first cable car to the first point of the mountain, it goes up in two seperate cars in an L shape so you ride the first car to the top of the first mountain and then get a second car to the top of the actual mountain called sugar loaf mountain. Why is sugar loaf mountain so-called, i hear you cry, well i'll tell you as it was something i wondered myself; well i shall tell you, because i know, the indians called everything exactly as they see it so the translation for big mountain in their native tongue is cac a cose which was very similar to the portugese for sugar loaf which was something they taught the indians to make, the sugar loaf resembled slightly the shape of sugar loaf mountain when baking so big mountain became sugar loaf mountain. So at the top of the first mountain there were 2 bronze statues, one of it's inventor of the cable car and also the man who funded it's development. The great great grandaughter of the man who funded it is, to this day, the CEO of the company and still works for the company who maintain it's smooth operation. From the top of the first mountain you can capture some spectacular views and the first real uninterupted view of HIM (christo redentor - he likes to play hide and seek i've discovered, as soon as you see him and try and take a pic he vanishes somehow hiding behind a mountain, or a bulding, even a bill-board at one point, beconing you closer to ensure you dont forget to visit him, like i ever could, he's my favourite hehe (we have a bond but i'll come to that later)). Admiring him in all his glory and in the opposing direction the mountain of the sugar loaf, as we boarded the next cable-car amigo pointed out a wonderfully architectured yellow coloured building which is now the brazillian army HQ but was actually the first place that the first King to arrived in portugal landed, where he built his first residence, this is what mostly impressed the indians as they ran around almost naked with feathers and doing rain dances, the first king was adorned in silver and gold and was able to construct magnificeny palaces. We made it to the top of the loaf of sugar mountain and for the first time we saw the very reason this cable car was first introduced in 1908 (i think) WOW! The 360• panorama - it's just mezmerising again everywhere you look is a magical view of sheer magnificence, we were given aproximately 50 minutes to Pap these views and to take pictures of each other and stand and stare at the beauty, an occasional helicopter flew overhead forever making US part of their views and photos like a significant moment captured forever in time on digital screens. An airport was visible in the distance however this was only the domestic airport but the airport we had recently flown in to, from Iguazu. Literally about 10 minutes before we were leaving i discovered a path behind the main terraces leading down to some lovely (secret-like) gardens, i quickly ran down the steps to try and capture these scenes too, occasionally offering various tourists to take pics of them in this den of eniquity, in exchange for a return pic of course. I had to leg-it back up the 50 or so steps to where we had been instructed to meet the rest of the group, and as i made it to the top, somewhat out of breath i saw the last of them heading for the waiting cabke car, id just made it in time, panting like a dog on a hot summers day i explained about the secret gardens and showed off my pics to the rest of the group. Lunch was included today at a most fabulous restaurant which was an all you can eat buffet, tho like nothing id ever experienced before, first was a very accomplished salad-bar which had every kind of salad imaginable, you took your salad to your table and then waiters would come round and serve meat off a skewer which had been deliciously cooked with some wonderful herbs and spices on a rotisserie. Fault-less and delicious. When we got back to our hotel, the rest of the afternoon / evening was our own to do as we pleased so a few decided to go to the beach. Some went to copacabana which was directly in-front of our hotel however where we had just eaten was in Ipanema. Copacabana is actually a bit of a dump, well it's not it's very beautiful but very dated, first being popularised in the 1920's it could definitely do with a face-lift, however its almost as if Ipanema got the facelift copacabana deserved. So Kate Matthew Sharron and I decided to walk the 20 minute walk to Ipanema rather than settle for the hum-drum copacabana all the way being offered various (tat) souvenirs. In fact you couldnt walk more than 20 steps before you were being once again stopped to be offered more tat. Eventually we began to feel irritated by this and so decided that we would just ignore these street sellers and get to ipanema. When we arrived in Rio, amigo and filo told us that it is not a very safe place particularly to walk alone so we were all a little dubious but we knew where we were going and so we strode on probably appearing to the locals as 'tourists' hence our being so regularly stopped, we took every precaution not to put ourselves in any danger and sharron even stripped herself of all her jewellery, watch bracelet, necklace rings, earing etc, she said she felt naked but apparently it was necessary, i didnt get this vibe at all and felt very secure however we proceded with extreme caution. Especially thru the local park which did seem a little bit dodgy but even there was still no problems, we took some pics of street art which i suppose could be considered graffiti but to me it was art. As we exited the park we made our way towards Ipanema beach again with lush white sand and palm trees and street vendors, i bought myself a flag of Brazil as u like ti do whenever i come on holiday and we walked down onto the sand. The beaches here are seperated, not in any real sense but socially so you would have aristocrats relaxing with other aristocrats and the 'body beautifuls' (of which there were many many many) together and there was a gay section a nudist section a part for families so not to be pigeon holed into one of these boxes we just sat randomly not really knowing to which part we were actualy sat on, i immediately after putting my belongings down ran head-strong into the sea. The waves were ferrocious (being on the atlantic) and raather chilly too tho i didnt much care, i had a play in the waves and enjoyed the water for a little while before returning to dry off, Kate, one of the group members, said she was going to go for a stroll along the beach, so i asked if she's mind me joining here, we walked up past all the different numbers (each number depicting a different 'class / status' etc) we walked from number 8 to 10 which was say 1/4 of the beach, the hot brazillian sun beat down on our pale skin and both of us exclaimed we felt a little burny, so at that we did an about turn and returned to where we matthew and Sharon were sat. A little while longer we discussed walking back to copacabana beach, haha just saying that feels very rock & roll. As we were walkin back, almost at our hotel there was a market stall setting up selling all kinds of locally produced object d'art and bijou souvenirs and the like, we had a nosey of all the wares and bought a few bits and pieces. We then all went back to our hotel where we relaxed a while i began blogging again, i went down to the lobby around 7ish to see if anyone was about to go and have dinner with alas there was not so i went for a wander alone, now the previous night i didnt feel comfortable doing this but tonight i really was, i walked up copacabana beach almost to the top a good 2 mile walk in each direction, i returned to my hotel after an hour or so, and then decided to continue to ipanema beach even walking thru the dodgy(ish) park, tho really, no more dodgy than a park in the uk it wasnt very big and although it was quite dark was almost deserted other than a few people who were sat at either entrance, i walked half of ipanema beach also but then i decided i definitely needed some food, i returned to the hotel and but again there was no-one around from
Our group (of 22 people) so i decided i'd rather order room-service than eat alone, which i did. After meal of chicken al forno i went to bed.
Awoke around 8:20 for an 9am departure so went down for breakfast after having another good breakfast i returned to my room to ready stevie (my bag) for the day, ensuring i had everyhing i may need (and probably a bit more, but i was a boy scout y'know) and went down to find patsy and eddie in smokers corner (as per usual) so i joined them and had a quick fag, half way thru filo came out to us and ushered us on the coach. As we were leaving at 9am sharp, it was only 8:55 but i guessed they were all waiting for us, so we joined the other members onboard, however guess who was missing... Yep! You guessed it! (If you dont know, you obviously haven't been paying enough attention and need to go back and re-read from day 1 hehe). When the missing passenger eventually boarded we pulled off pretty quickly, amigo, who's name i've now learned "everaldo" (nothing like i spelled it, will still call him amigo so as not to spoil the symmetry, anyway he told us that we were going to delay doing Christ the redeemer until later that day as it was very misty and cloudy so we would turn the excursions backwards and do the 'carnival parade area' first and then go to the football stadium and do Christ the redeemer last. We all thought this was a grand idea as i think everyone on board was very enthused to see Him, Christ the redeemer, not the missing passenger. We first stopped at a souvenir shop, which was a bit weird, i imagine all these places pay amigo a commission for bringing his tourists there, the souvenir shop was small and the offerings tacky and limited, i bought a post-card and left, we all discussed that it was a bit of a weird place to bring people especially as it was right next to the train station which took passengers to the christ the redeemer, as we all came out the shop and congregated outside, amigo told us that he had bought the tickets for Christo Redentor and out allotted time to be there was 10am - oh! So much for turning the trip round for our benefit then. It was at this point around 9:17 so we were all a bit bemused by this. We asked filo what was going on as we'd had such conflicting information. She told us that we were now going to do Christo straight away, even tho it was still very misty but as there were so many of us they couldn't guarantee we would all get up there at the same time if we didn't take this slot. I could understand this to a certain extent but personally i would have preferred to have been given a choice as to what to do. This decision was take out of our hands therefore at 10 we all made our way to the queue, hoping that the weather had cleared by the time we got up there. We boarded the train and having watched the michael Palin when he went up to see Him i knew that sitting on the right hand side of the train would give me the better views, however i hadn't realised this would mean me traveling backwards, but never mind, if anything it would make it better as i could watch out for any big gaps in the trees to see and photograph the view. Eventually after 15/20 minutes we arrived at the top station (also i didn't realise there were many stations, i thought only one) by the way another good thing about said train; the locals dont pay to ride it, only tourists pay, which funds it adequately, same for the cable cars and all other means of transport too. We arrived at the top and to my dismay and complete disappointment the mist hadnt cleared at all, you could bearly see Him certainly not clearly at all occasionally, the mist would dissipate momentarily, tho not long enough to take any detailed photos maybe one of the statue in it's entirety.. Never mind i thought hopefully we will have long enough up here that the mist WILL clear and we'll get to see him in all his glory and magnificence as all the photo's depict. However this idea was short-lived as filo soon came around advising us all that the latest we could leave would be 11:40 with or without pictures as the other things we would have to do would take a prescidence, also the driver and amigo were, i imagine only paid until a certain time. This made me really upset because the biggest reason for my booking this trip was to come to see Christ the Redeemer, One of my friends had recommended that i use this opportunity to redeem the souls of those people who have done me wrong (anyone who knows what i've been thru this year will understand). But to get there and not be able to see him was extremely disappointing, i said a few prayers including praying for those souls, as well as to protect those of all my family and friends. Im not particularly a religious man, i wouldn't really consider myself to conform to normal religions and disagree with most of it for my own reasons but i do have my own beliefs which are personal to me, however, when you have travelled all across the world, across a huge ocean, thru a busy city, thru a thick jungle, and to the top of a mountain to see a monument of such epic proportions, also when coupled with the many others who have also travelled the world to do likewise, well you cannot help but become carried away with emotion and the spirituality of the sight your eyes feast upon when you are standing at his feet looking up one of the seven wonders of the world, (especially when that being the 2nd of the 7 wonders you've seen within in as many days). Now some facts about christ the redeemer; it's architect was a jewish man, yes thats right a jewish man created a beacon of light for so many catholics the world over, tho i personally dont just see the religious intentions for coming here, also for architectural reasons also, you cannot help but be in this blown away by the awesomeness of the design, construction and precision Engineering. In the 18th Century the portugese named the mountain 'the pinnacle of temptation' the story goes; Satan offered Christo Redentor a wealth of gold and silver, loads of fruits and good foods if he would worship him. Obviously he refused. The mountain was later renamed 'Corcovado' which was derived from the word corcova, meaning hunchback, as the mountain upon where he stands is somewhat of a hunchback shape. in 1884 inaguration of corcovado railway was built (by the british) and in 1901 the railway became the first electrified railway in Brazil. in 1922 the foundation of the statue, the plynth upon which He stands was laid in 1923 'National Monument Week' raised funds for constuction by engineer heitor da silva costa and in 1931 inaguration of the monument, the largest art deco sculpture in the world, it was designed by Carlos Oswald and Sculpted by Frenchman Paul Landowski, who was the jewish man who by the end of it's construction converted to Catholosism due to the fact that he beleived that Christo had watched over every member of staff used to construct it, as there were no deaths or even injuries during it's entire construction and moving each piece, by hand, into place where He now rests, overlooking Sugar Loaf Mountain. In 1980 Pope John Paul II Visited the monument and in 1990 a charity was set up for the renovation of the statue and shortly afterwards the likes of 'globo tv network, Shell (fuel co), the Archiepiscopal Miter of Rio De Janeiro, Ibama, Sphan and the city hall municipality' all donated, as well as millions of upper middle and lower class brazillians and in 2000 'project Christ the redeemer' restored the monument and after 3 years the project is completed and access to the monument became easier, as public transport routes were improved to enable anyone who wanted to do so could visit Him, My friend Christ the Redeemer. I think anyone who is said to visit him becomes somehow enlightened by his stature and redeemed by his religious prowess, tho his spirituality even touches the atheists among my group (who there were a few). Anyway after the disappointment we decended once again and i was filled with emotion, i listened on my iphone to the 16 harry christophers, a portugese choral group which just seemed very fitting to the moment. i was on the second of their song's entitled 'little lamb' which tells of the story of the lowly shepherd who leaves his 99 lambs to go and find the one who was lost, when from nowhere at the back of the train comes a funky samba beat, i continued to listen to my music until the end of the song, however the samba beat seemed to fuse with my choral beat seemlessly tho after that song i felt it was no longer time to feel emotional and clearly this samba beat was meant to uplift the souls of those people who had boarded the decending train. I took my earphones out and listened as the musicians at the back of the train seemed to uplift our souls almost as if working in conjunction with Christo. (i also took a video which i will upload shortly). So once we were back down the mountain we waited for the coach to arrive and i looked back up at hunchback mountain upon where christ stands atop and i said bye to my friend, taking a minute to remember the humbling of my experience, the coach arrived and everaldo explained what we were to do next, which was to go to the football stadium and then to where they hold their carnival - big whoop ! i was really kind of angry cos all i wanted to do was be with my new friend christo redentor, but i understood the show must go on.. we circumnavigated the football stadium but they couldn't stop the coach as all around the stadium is (double yellows) no parking. when we got to the carnival stadium, we pulled in and the coach stopped enabling us all to get off, to go and look around the museum where a lot of the costumes were displayed, and of course you could buy souvenirs of this, i didn't want to and a few of us went to smokers corner to have a grumble about, why we would want to visit a concrete staduim with a museum, rather than spend more time up with Christo. none of us were particularly inspired and most of us were moaning as we re-boarded the coach. now seriously i think we probably would've had a lot more enthusiasm had we done this first of all and then left christ the redeemer till afterwards, but it was what it was and soon we were on-board the coach once more to return to our hotel. On the way back i began talking to Kate who sat behind me and i asked did she fancy coming back with me to seen Him once more.. I desperately wanted to go back but was a little unsure about going alone - All i really wanted was to get some good photo's for my blog, see it wasn't just the statue, but from where he stands at 2500m double that of sugar loaf the views would've been specatular, but with a mountain covered by mist the views were very few. Kate said that she would like to, one the condition that we take the subway there, as she enjoys traveling by local transport more than by coach / taxi etc.. i said yes i was happy to do this as i would also enjoy traveling by underground too, so when the coach pulled up at our hotel, we got the map out and asked everaldo (amigo) which way we'd need to walk to get to the train station, he explained that we would be best to take a taxi as it was very difficult to get to by train, but if we perhaps took a train back we would need to get to embarko do juendo station and explained it backwards to us how we would return, so with this we immediately set off for the station knowing if we could get back that way we would also get there using these directions but in reverse. Walked down Xavier de Silva Avenue until we reached the station, i can't remember the name of this station but when we got inside we calculated we needed to walk to the platform that would take us north but first we would have to purchase tickets, so i asked the lady behind the desk for 2 tickets to embarko do juendo station (i think i've got the name wrong of the station but as i now sit at home catching up my blogs, i haven't got the map we used to navigate our way there, so again i'm just going from memory). So Kate and I walked down to the platform and waited for the train, the train came pretty quickly and we managed to get on board, as soon as we were on board we were working out how many stops we would need to go before we got off at the station everaldo told us we would need to get back to on our way back, we had mis-calculated how many stations the train would stop at as 3 however it was 5 but didn't know the route at all.. eventually we made it to the station and we disembarked the train and made our way to street level, looking at the map we worked out which way we would need to walk to get to the bus station to which would take us there, so we began walking and got to a junction, with our trusty map we were trying to calculate which way we would need to go, but wasn't sure, so i asked a kind black lady which way, it turned out we had walked in totally the wrong direction from the station and so she advised us we needed to turn back and then turn left, not right. haha Kate joked about how if there were two directions she could go, she always manages to take the wrong way as her sense of direction is poor.. so using this as a formula whenever we got to somewhere we needed to make a decision i asked her which way she thought it was, and we walked in the opposite direction.. lol we got to another junction and she thought we needed to turn right, just to be on the safe side i walked into a bathroom shop and asked the man behind the counter, and guess what.. he told us we needed to go straight on, but then take a left - we followed his instruction and we set off on our way, chatting the whole time about our experiences and how proud we were of ourselves to be walking to see him and not using any such public transport. We turned left at the end of the road as the bathroom man had advised us to and we followed the road round all the way to the end.. when we got to the end, Kate said to me be prepared to give me a high 5 cos up there (and she pointed to a brown directional sign) was a sign pointing to Christo Redentor 'HIGH 5' wooo ! so we continued in the direction the sign pointed us to and within another 5 minutes we found ourselves at the foot of the mountain where we had been not so long ago.. another HIGH 5 for making it there! Wooo ! we bought tickets to go back up to see him and were told that we had to wait until 4pm for the next train (it was now 3:25) so we bought a drink and sat in a little nook, where there was a kiosk selling drinks, so we each had a drink and then we decided to make our way to the queue it was now about 3:40 so didn't have a big wait for the train at all, we boarded the train and began the accent to the top of the mountain, all the way up trying to take some good pics, again sitting on the right hand side of the train to get the better views, again traveling backwards. when we made it to the top, we were absolutely ELATED to see there was no mist.. Views of spectacular proportions lay before us and for the first time El Christo Redentor stood in all his glory being able to see his every detail - I was soo Happy ! we joked how all of the people now there taking pictures took the experience for granted due to the fact that had they been there earlier this morning they woudl've been so disappointed but without this knowledge they were clicking away however Kate and I appreciated so much the splendour of the magnificence of the views of Christ the Redeemer but moreover the panorama of the setting which lay before him. being able to see the WHOLE of Rio Di Janeiro for the first time really.. Again I have a picture of Sugar Loaf mountain on my wallpapers (on my computer) which i managed to almost re-create, i imagine the picture i have was actually taken by helicopter as it was much more aerial than my picture but it was somewhat over-whelming to be standing looking at that view i have only seen on a screen before - Now i was able to capture it myself. This visit up to Christo Was sensational especially because this time i was filled with Happiness and Joy the fact that i could see him properly and not only that but get the spectacular views. We took many many many many many shots, joking how others in our group would be quite jealous of our pics, after a little while of taking pics, posing for pics, taking vids, taking more pics, posing for more pics, and taking a few more pics, just to be sure we had all the pics we wanted... A few moments quiet contemplation, we visited the chapel which sits directly underneath Christo and to our amazement there was a service taking place, i sneakily took a pic (without flash) and paid my respects and said a few prayers and then we decided we had better get a move on really as we had our fare-well dinner that evening at 7:30 pm and it was now almost 6 by the time we got back down it had just turned 6pm and it had taken us almost an hour and a half to get here, we decided it would be a good idea to get a taxi, back to the station, at least, if not all the way there, we waited for a taxi to arrive but they were all with passengers so we began walking back to the station, however almost as soon as we had given up hailing, one came down and was able to take us there, at a cost of 9.50 reals (the Brazillian Real (pronounce re-al) is 2:1 in dollars so 1 US $ is 2 Brazillian real so quite easy to work out how much in english) we jumped out of the taxi at the station and as we had already bought return tickets we went directly to the platform to alight the train. The train arrived and was very busy (like a tube in rush-hour) however as we stood at one end of the platform, when all the passengers who were getting of at that station disembarked, we were able to get on easily, leaving the rest of the people to push and shove to get a place - on all the trains there are security guards, and in all stations too, so felt no threat whatsoever, we got off the train where we first got on, again calculating the stations as 3 but the train does a wierd diversion to encompass 2 other stations we hadn't taken into consideration, as we assumed it would be a straight line, however the line is actually in the shape of a number '5'. When we arrived at our station we got off and already knew we needed to walk to Xavier da silva ave so was looking our for this on the way. it was now 6:40 and so we had just under an hour to get ready for our evening meal, which was hosted by just you, our tour operator, so we all figured it would be quite a swanky affair. Kate wanted to nip over to the market which was right in front of our hotel, but i wanted to go straight to my room to have a shower and get ready for the meal, so i decided as it was going to be a swanky affair, after my shower, i put a pair of trousers, a shirt and tie on. So all dressed smartly i rode the elevator to the ground floor where the rest of the group were waiting, everyone commented how nice i looked and i'd even had a shave, as Barbara made a joke earlier in the day when i mentioned my shaver, she said 'oh you do have a razor with you then' i was a bit stubbly, so i had a good shave and approached barbara and said, there i've had a shave, just for you.. she was quite made up by this i think, when all the group was assembled we walked the 10 minute walk to the 'all you can eat buffet' restaurant, which was NOT swanky in the least, more like a pizza hut - not a good one at that. As we all sat round the table it was announced that it was Frank's 70th Birthday and so he had bought 3 bottles of Champagne to share with us all, which was rather nice of him, so they popped the corks and poured the champers and we all toasted his health and sang happy birthday, this gave the last meal a bit more celebration that it already had, but the restaurant was not really up to standard - kids screaming, other diners yacking away and i think all of us were expecting something a little more... Well just something more ! Having done many of these kinds of trips before where you join a group of people, the last supper is usually a very exciting affair, for example on my Sri Lanka & Maldives trip, they hired an entire maldivian island and had a band and fire-works and it was just such a memorable evening, same in Peru, our last meal was in the Desert with just our group at the table, with silver service. In dubai we had our final meal atop the 'burj el arab' hotel - pizza hut just didn't cut it.. not with anyone, we all grumbled how much we had paid for this trip (£3500) and really the final meal should've been something of a spectacle.. the food was very poor, most of it being cold, and buffet style - honestly even the salad was wilted! so without even a thank you or any kind of speach to mark the occasion, we all just left and headed back to our hotel, some meandered and took in the opportunity to have an ice cream (as the meal didn't even include desert, and only the 1 free drink Frank had provided) As we walked back to our hotel, we decided to go and buy a few souvenirs and then I decided i really must go back and pack my stuff as tomorrow we were all flying back home :( booo !! i went up to my room and got everything ready to that when it was time tomorrow i could just close my suitcase and ready by hand-luggage and depart for the airport. once i'd done this i went back down stairs to see if anyone was around the bar area, i bought my laptop with me to show those who had not seen it the video of the boat trip at Iguazu, there were two people who had bought the 'official video' at a cost of £45 which i considered to be a slight rip off but kate had lent me the video so i could copy it to my computer. I showed those who were there this video and then headed back out to the markets as it dawned on me that i'd forgotten to buy someone any pressies (they shall remain nameless so they don't feel left out) so having purchased the ideal souvenirs for said person, i went back to the bar area but everyone had gone to bed. A guy from Colombia was sat at the bar drinking and we began speaking, he didn't speak any english so we talked in spanish, with the use of my translator app to help occasionally, alas we talked for a good hour and a half and he told me he was going to see christ the redeemer the next day, it was now almost midnight and i said goodbye to him as i made my way back up to my room to go to bed, as tomorrow we were doing a fivella's tour and i didn't want to be late.......
I overslept this morning and as i awoke the phone was ringing with Filomena asking whether i'd changed my mind about the favellas tour "No, I've overslept, i'll be down now" i exclaimed. The tour was due to leave at 8:30 and the time on my phone was saying 8:39 - ooops so in a whirlwind i quickly dressed grabbed my cameras and headed out the door - we had our rooms till 12:30 so i would have to finish my packing following the tour. I swiftly made it down stairs in 3 minutes flat, including the elevator ride - i think Filomena was a little shocked when i arrived so quickly so we made our way to the mini-bus which was waiting for me to join, everyone clapped sarcasticly as i boarded and i apologised to them all explaining that i had overslept. I forgot to mention, i didn't have a good nights sleep the night before because a mosquito had somehow managed to infiltrate my high mosquito security and had a mamoth meal on my blood, so going to bed so late i was a little over tired. We had a new tour guide for this part of the tour and his name was Ricardo, he looked very much like Rupert Everert, and even spoke with an american accent, he began explaining how the favellas came to be, he was very easy to understand and had soo much fascinating facts my early morning 'still half asleep' stoupa couldn't quite take it all in, however i asked him when we got back to give me another run down which i'll insert now, i recorded him on my phone when the 60 million (not 16 million as i thought everaldo had said) slaves were imported into Rio, they spread them all over brazil to build the country as the portugese saw fit, these slaves once they had finished building the various houses, bars, restaurants, hotels, marina's and everything else you see all over this land, the slaves were set free but not really treated equally, or well, in fact they were the forgotten race of brazil, whilst the aristocracy lived in big mansions and had servents, maids, cleaners, drivers, most of whom were from these favellas, these slaves who were now considered brazillian had a raw deal having to fend for themselves and make their own houses out of wood, they had to de-forrest huge areas for themselves, having very few basic tools which they had either stolen or acquired from their previous 'employers' i use the term employers as it's not at all accurate as they didn't pay them for doing this work, they were whipped and beaten and treated badly, and if they refused to work, as many of them did, they would either be severely mamed or sometimes even killed so they could be made an example of. Anyway they began establishing their own civilization turning to the underground world of crime and drugs and the black market to establish their civilizations often getting involved in gang life and the distribution of various drugs. They wouldn't produce the drugs themselves, however, moreover they were a deposit point for most of the other countries like peru and colombia who would produce them and send them with a guy, usually on foot who would deliver these drugs across the border to the people in the favilla's so they could be distributed all over the world, of course some of these runners got caught by the authorities and dealt with in a very severe way again to make examples of them and to ensure they couldn't continue with the distribution, this however occasionally started wars between the authorities and the locals. Not everyone actually wanted to be a member of a gang, but there were few other choices, many of them couldn't read / write, they had very few skills, without necessary tools so crime and illegal behaviour was their only way of making a living, and i imagine being almost lawless made them fairly wealthy, now i say being lawless, 98% of those who lived in these favellas were not lawless, they were very noble and humble citizens and they lived in communities, as they would've done in africa in their various tribes. but suffice to say they did have their own beleif of right and wrong, and i suppose many of them who were so poorly treated beleived they were owed a great debt by the brazilians who had literally abandoned them. Anyway as time progresses, they steal pilliage and criminalise themselves rather beyond redemtion, with almost army-like structure acquiring guns and weapons to defend themselves agains the police forces who kept trying to pacify thses areas. On the other side of the fence the government wanted them wiped out so they could inhabit these areas with their most spectacular views, and until recently (literally last year 2011) this was a war that had been going on and on however the government organised a secret police department almost like a swat team which had access to all the necessary weaponary and military training who were very organised to try and rid the favella of crime and drugs. There were two main gangs in the favellas almost like eastside vs west side, then a third gang in the middle callse the Amigos dos Amigos (friends of friends) - this gang would hold huge parties, trying to act as a mediator between them, a while back, dozens of teenagers wearing nothing but sandals, swimming trunks and comically oversized assault rifles provided security while partygoers casually snorted cocaine off tables set up in the plaza at the Rocinha favela and waved guns in the air as they danced. If neighbors didn't like the heavy-baseline music pumping until the early hours, they had little recourse: Rocinha was a Neverland-like world where boys were kings and the state was far, far away. But the gang no longer calls the shots in this, Rio's largest slum. Now the cops are in charge. After half a century of shocking neglect, Rocinha is one of several sprawling Rio slums that have been retaken by the state. Although the Amigos and two other drug-trafficking gangs continue to control the majority of Rio's nearly 1,000 favelans, within this newly 'pacified' slums are seeing development, investment and receiving mixed blessing of being 'run by Brazilian military
Police'. They went in and hit hard and the war waged for several days with blood shed on both sides, however eventually the swat team were triumphant driving the criminals out of rocinha. However the next time they decided to hit the favella they used what they had learned to try a different tactic, they dropped leaflets from helicopters explaining that this favella would be hit on a certain date and those who would come forward and hand themselves in would be treated fairly and would remain un-hurt however those who don't would be iradicated and for anyone not involved in any crime, to remain inside whilst this operation takes place. Amazingly the next time they hit the favella not a single drop of blood was shed and no one on either side was killed or even injured, too bad they didn't think of this first time around, but hey - the once 'crack-dens' of these favellas have now become community centres and samba and jazz clubs and schools enriching the favellas and teaching them how co-operation with the government can work in their favour; they now seem to get a very good deal, they have always had free electricity because they pinched it from the state to power their air conditioning systems, but the government have provided them with schools, hospitals, dentists, even a bank, so they can save their money and know it's safe - however after 2 weeks of the bank opening, it was robbed - the leader of the main gangs shut the favellas down, no one was allowed in or out, until this robber was found and excecuted. within the first 6 hours they found the two men, who had robbed this bank. They immediately returned every single Real to the bank and apoligised to the bank manager for the inconvenience. All the locals were extatic as many of them had already deposited their life savings in the bank. The men in charge of the favellas were about to put on a public excecution but then they decided to ask these men for their papers. It turns out that the two men were actually corrupt police officers who had obviously thought that they would get away with it, thinking they would imagine it was one of their own. The gang leaders contacted the police and explained the situation and asked whether they wanted them excecuted, but the police came and took the men away and dealt with them according to the law. One of the mayors who was also corrupt had recently been discovered as such and was banned from holding a place in the government for 5 years, however after his 5 year ban was served he went to be re-elected and during his speach he was saying 'my government will offer you, and my government will do this for you' however this was all rubbish, and the same gang leaders who'd found the police, was a memeber of the audience, picked up some dog poo and rolled it in sand, he thew this at the corrupted man branding him a liar, of course all the papers the next day were blazoned with pictures of this man with the dog poo over his face and the man who threw the poo was named as a hero; and comically likened to a chimpanzee, anyway in the elections that took place soon after. The corrupt politician didn't get a single vote, however the 'chimpanzee' was elected that year as mayor, he wasn't running for mayor but apparently if enough people voted for him he could chose to take the position, which he did - he was always well accepted and respected by all and he implemented a lot of the changes with in the favillas therefore progress began to take shape. The minibus pulled to the side of the road and we were able to get out, before this tour i hadn't imagined that we would be able to get out of the bus, thinking it would just be too dangerous, alas since these changes have become common place very little crime now happens and the communities are working together and with the government to make this a better place to live. I took some shots from where i stood of the favella and also of the beauty cascading before my eyes as you were drawn to the distance and to the view of sugar loaf mountain in the background. We hopped back in and Ricardo went on explaining things (rather than breaking up this explanation i have condensed it all into one, above) so the next place we stopped was right at the top of one of the favellas. Ricardo opened up what seemed to look like a mechanics workshop, with a few cars in various states of repair, however we were here for the view of the terrace which stood behind this workshop, as we walked out onto the terrace we had a full 180 degree of the favellas and from here you could see many things, which apparently have only happened in the last 15 months. there was an aqueduct running down the side of the mountain which would prevent these homes being washed away, and also taking any rain water from off the mountain into the city for purification so that it can be used for washing and drinking, there were water-butts atop many favillas and you could now see two schools one almost directly below us, where the sound of happy children playing filled the air and off in the distance you could see the hospital and almost all of these favellas now had a satelite for their tv's which apparently many of them had previously tho not legally, the government now provides free wifi access for the entire village to enable them to begin selling their products online as well as to the locals and tourists, as every penny counts, they also provide a schooling system for anyone who would like to learn to read and write, do mathematics and learn how to use computers etc; there's also another schooling system for those children who are perhaps not doing so well at literature, or numeracy, or perhaps sport, they can attend any of these free after school clubs for children 7-17 and they follow their progress ensuring that when they leave school they have the same education than that of a private schollar meaning they can get into universities granting them the same opportunities in life than their better educated equals. The final stop on the tour was at one of these after school clubs, now i say after school, for some of them, this was their only school as they didn't go to the main schools for whatever reason. as we arrived two little boys were playing football and we were lead into one of the small class-rooms where the children were all sat at computers tapping away, then we went to where they would be served lunch and have break-time as we would know it.. this after school was publicly funded, however they also have to try and create funds themselves, for example, there were books for sale that the children had made, the tutors, who initially were all voulenteers, would give the pupils a camera and ask them to take photos of their local area, their families, their dogs etc.. and then they were shown how to develop these pictures and put them into a book which as tourists you could buy for R$50 (50 reals, so $25 US). The tour continued down into the heart of the favellas right down to the very bottom where thru interconnecting corridors and alleyways, which by the way were all very clean, you ended up at a stream which runs right underneath the favella providing the locals with their water, and obviously they could do their washing and various other things here. We ended up at a kiosk where many of us bought bottled water and i bought some fags, which by the way were R$2 (2 reals $1 US, or about 75p (fags nowadays in uk shops, for those of you who don't know are £7.84 aprox)) we then got back in the mini-bus and was returned to our hotel. I now had just under an hour to pack my luggage my hand-luggage and get them both outside my room, and check out at 12:30 i managed this with near precision timing, having first had a shower and snapping a few more views of copacabana beach from my room, and mentally saying good bye to sugar loaf mountain and Mi amigo Christo Redentor. I then went back down stairs to find everyone sitting in the hotel lobby (our coach left at 2pm) i asked everyone why they were sat there, they said they were waiting for the coach.. i thought bugger that, i've got an hour and a half left of my holiday so i'm off to the beach, i took sue with me where i lay for a good hour 20 minutes until we meandered back across the road to board the coach, however i had to change my shorts as they were wet (and sandy) as i'd been playing in the surf of the rough atlantic sea. We arrived at the airport and a very stressed filomena sorted our boarding passes out, taking our passports in groups of 3/4 to the check-in desk to give us our boarding pass. As i was waiting in the queue a member of Air France staff was working his way down the queue and he got to me and asked if i'd be willing to voulenteer to get the same flight the next day in case they've over-booked, i thought for a few seconds, and said Go on.. he explained that i would be transfered to and from a 5* hotel where i'd be entitled to an evening meal tonight, breafast in the morning and lunch before returning to the airport for the flight tomorrow.. Go on... i said, he continued to explain that i would receive as a thank you from the airline 150 euro's which i would receive when i arrived back in the uk, either in cash, or as vouchers towards another flight... Go on i said.. he said that's it! so i said Ok then.. he took me out of the queue and weighed my suitcase and ripped up my boarding cards :-/ i began to feel a little scared but shortly after he reproduced my boarding card (on one card this time, not two) and issued me with a slip of paper to take to the reservations desk.. Excited by the prospect of having an additional nights stay in Rio, i went to my fellow group members and explained that i'd have to wait till the flight was closed at 17:00 to see whether i would get my extra free night in rio. so i said bye to some of them, and went to the check-in desk where i exchanged one piece of paper for a different piece and she explained to me that i would have to phone a number when back in the uk to receive my 150 euros and to come back to see her at 17:10 to find out whether i would get my extra night.. as i wasn't sure i wouldn't be able to check my suitcase in that day and it would have to keep it until such a time when i would be told whether i was staying or not, no biggie, i got myself a trolley and went outside where in smokers corner i found filomena, (pauline) eddie and patsy and sue, i relayed to them what had just happened to me and how excited i was to potentially get an additional nights stay in Rio they were all excited for me and they went off thru to air-side and duty free etc.. i skyped my mom n dad and told of the exciting news, and then rang a few others to kill a bit of time, i think got myself a coffee and waited for the hour to pass with intrepidation and excitement - Alas when i went back at 17:10 unfortunately they told me i could board. :( boooo !! so i had my luggage checked in and went thru passport control and customs, where i found the rest of the group members queueing to board the aircraft, i explained to them that there were sufficient seats and therefore i could board and they were all 'Awww' what a shame, i said, well not to worry i got 150euro's just for waiting the other side for an hour so can't grumble. I dashed up to duty free where i bought myself some fags and quickly ran back down to board the aircraft.. on board i was pleasantly surprised, i'd been sort of dreading this flight the whole holiday due to the outbound being hurendous this was a boeing 747-400 (with wing tips, i won't get on a plane without wing tips [pam ann]) i took my place at seat 34j (an aisle seat) i was sitting next to Tom and Alan, who i'd bearly connected with, but there were just soo many people to get around, i always tried to chat to them all but these were really the only two i hadn't so i thought, great, now i can.. but we didn't really to be honest! the whole flight tom slept, falling asleep thru his films, which i paused for him so he didn't miss any, he occasionally awoke began watchin and fell asleep again, this happened several times.. i likened him to my mom, who ALWAYS falls asleep watching films, tee hee hee - anyway we arrived in paris and despite the aircraft being slightly more comfortable i wasnt' able to get any sleep whatsoever in paris all the group was being seperated for their respective flights home. So once we'd cleared passport and customs in paris we all had a good-bye ceremony and went to our respective gates, i had a 5 hour wait in Paris as we'd arrived at 07:35 (local time) and my flight was at 12:55 - naturally because i'd had no sleep i was verrrrry tired, at Charles De Gaule airport they have these nice relaxer chairs where you could lie down and try and get some sleep, i fell asleep i was dreaming away... all of a sudden i was aware that i had actually missed my flight - uh ohhhh, not again i thought, this was the 2nd time i'd missed a flight from this airport (as some of you may remember my holiday with Keith) i began ringing round my friends, particularly Andrea who had helped me last time to get back from paris, i rang my parents and explained that i'd missed my flight and that i was going to walk home, walk home they asked.. Yes i had decided i was going to take my suitcase and my bag and walk home, taking in the sites of paris en-route, little did i know how far it was - Just then, i was awoken by Matthew the only other passenger to fly from birmingham, he said, it's time to board the aircraft - PHEW !!!! It was all a dream hahaha, as i came around i thought about how adamant i was to walk home - as if !! haha we took the flight back home from paris and i was very pleased when we'd landed back in birmingham, having NOT missed my flight home in reality ! I cleared customs fairly quickly as there were not many people on the Airbus A318 so i waited for my luggage to come thru and in the mean time i contacted my parents who were picking me up from the airport. As soon as my luggage arrived i said good-bye to Matthew and went to leave the airport - However [dun dun daaaarn] I was stopped by a customs officer, who was every inch of him an arse-hole, with a thick glaswegan accent, asked me if i was aware i'd broken the law having brought in 400 ciggarettes and i was only aloud 200 therefore he was going to search my entire luggage, FU**ING GREAT !!! I thought, i travel 9000 miles and this is my welcome home to England ! So he asked me to put my hand luggage on the stainless steel counter as he bagan to take things out of my bag, it's very full i exclaimed "Thats ok as you'll be the one re-packing it" he grunted back. I was very peeved that i'd been stopped because in Brazil i enquired how many ciggs i can bring back and was told 400 he'd seen my boarding pass and so he should've better advised me if i can only take 200 - never mind, i thought, he went thru stevie, and took everything out onto the desk.. he then asked me for my suitcase and went thru this also, after checking various things within the case the power-crazed man asked me several more questions about where i'd been and what i'd been doing, he could see that i was clean and so eventually let me go, i asked what was the fate of my cigarettes and he said, "i suggest you stick them in your suitcase before my boss see's them and i get the sack" So with that i packed very quickly my suitcase up and was on my way home. What an end to a fantastic holiday i thought, as i walked thru the duty free at birmingham, after customs i sighed a breath of releif, the nice lady at the counter with her smily face made me feel better after the ardiousness of the search i'd just endured, i decided to replenish a bottle of perfume i have recently run out of and began explaining what had just occured with the customs.. Ohh don't worry about it she said, it was probably a spot check, she could see just how shaking i was and how he'd taken the wind out of my sails, she was very accommodating and asked me if i'd like a hug... HAHA yes please i said, she gave me a hug and i bought my aftershave and thanked her, i then wheeled my suitcase with stevie on top, and all my fags inside hehe i then took the monorail over to the NEC where my parents were waiting for my arrival, My mom was waiting for me at the top of the monorail and gave me a hug and i explained the travesty that had just laid before me with the customs check, we rode the escalator down one floor to ground level and put my suitcase in the boot along with my hand-luggage and we drove home - THE END
New York here we come
2012-12-27
Happy New York!
So I was awoken at 10:30 this morning with a lovely cup of tea from Tim. I had to take my car to Kwik Fit as I had clipped a kerb on my way home from our clubbing escapades last Saturday night.
I inevitably fell back to sleep for half an hour so Tim came back up at 11 and with a sense of urgency in his voice, re-awoke me and this time I sprang out of bed and zoomed down to Kwik Fit.
When I arrived there were a few people in the queue but I asked the man behind the desk whether I could jump ahead as I was flying to New York in a few hours; fortunately the other two people were only booking their cars in, so he went back into the workshop and shouted a few men and quite quickly I had one guy jacking my car up and another guy began fitting a new tyre to the one that was in my book, within about 15 minutes I was driving back to Tim’s house to load the car with our luggage.
Soon we were on the M42 driving towards the M40 to London, we hit a bit of traffic though nothing too major.
Upon arrival Tim had very kindly arranged for us to have Valet parking, so we followed instructions as per the voucher and we got out the car, unloaded the luggage, handed my car key to a man and off we went.
Arriving at the departures part of the terminal we discovered we were slightly delayed by just less than an hour and we weren’t able to drop off our luggage. We checked in online and had boarding cards at the ready so we decided to chance our luck and approach the luggage counter. I presented my boarding card and enquired whether we could indeed drop off our luggage (we were 15 minutes early) she said ‘Yes’. Yay!
As my luck was in I also asked if there were any free upgrades available, she made some notes and as 'it was my birthday present' (not really but shhhh don’t tell BA) we may have a free upgrade ;-) fingers crossed.
We then decided to go airside we cleared security fairly quickly and perused some shops. There was a restaurant called 'Plane Food' which was owned by Gordon Ramsay; we looked at the menu and decided (as the holiday had already begun) we can treat ourselves hehe.
However the food wasn’t anything to write home about (mind you I just did. D'oh!) We both decided to have a crispy duck salad and (literally) 12 chips between us. The duck was quite crispy, almost shatteringly so, sadly not in a good way... A bit disappointed by it to be honest.
After the meal we then made our way downstairs to the duty free areas where I bought some Prada aftershave and some fags; Tim bought some Clinique moisturiser. We then went for a drink before we were ready to board the aircraft.
Our flight was eventually called and we had to take the Underground Transit Train to departure gate C54. We duly arrived at the Gate and waited a little while until our seat numbers were called, When we were called we were told we were not on that flight and needed to go to gate C66 which was located on the opposite side of the Departure building - oh no!!
Fortunately for us, it was only a 2/3 minute walk, when we arrived at the correct gate we showed our Boarding Passes (mine was on my BA app) and Passports and walked down the Sky-Way to the aircraft, A Boeing 777-300 (no wing tips)
We boarded the Plane and located our pre-booked seats which were right at the back of cattle class, (no upgrade for us, boo) but the seats were actually quite nice.
The stewardess greeted us and made us comfy and after exchanging a few pleasantries, stowed our luggage for us.
The flight took off shortly afterward and the captain announced the reason for delay was due to ‘Rotation issue’ (what the pilots use to give the aircraft lift) so we were glad that this had been checked prior to our flights departure. We settled into the flight and began watching some movies.
I watched 'Brave', ‘The Sweeney’ and ‘Lawless’; all of which I very much wanted to see. Soon after the end of the last film, we began our descent, however we were circling the Airport a while as Air Traffic Control were sending us on a bit of a detour; at one point we actually were over Philadelphia, eventually we arrived at Newark (not near Leeds for you Pam Ann fans)
Then there was at least an hour’s wait to clear Customs but as soon as we were through, our luggage was there spinning around the Carrousel we collected our belongings and made our way to the exit where a man was waiting to escort us to our own private limo, something that Tim bought as a Christmas present.
The chauffeur took our luggage and we began our journey towards Manhattan taking in the sights as we journeyed along, the first thing we noticed upon arrival is the temperature, it was FREEZING! About -2c, but there was a very cold wind making it feel more like -7c.
The Limo however, was fantastic; having only ever been in a limo once before it felt very exciting and very important, quite fitting as we were going to be staying at the Waldorf Astoria. Arriving at 301 Park Ave we checked in and were given our key cards and directed to the 8th floor.
We booked a 'Superior King Double' room. But… there was nothing’ Superior’, nor ‘King’ about this room. It was very dated, small, and scruffy to say the least; the view was just as un-inspiring.
We were very un-impressed.
We went back down to the Reception to complain. We were informed that we had been downgraded and so the Receptionist upgraded us to a ‘Junior Suite’, although we wouldn’t be able to move until tomorrow. We were told to pack our luggage the following morning and it would be collected and taken to our new room. We returned to our shabby room and as we were somewhat jetlagged, put the TV on for a while before drifting off into a sleepy oblivion.
As i awoke the following morning the tv was on and tim was already awake it was 7am (which is 12pm uk time). We sprang out of bed and i jumped (well, carefully stepped) into the shower, then i got dressed and began packing as tim showered and dressed, i packed my day bag (stevie) with lots of warm clothes just in case
Our first mission was to get some food and a kwafee in a new york kwafee house. I say mission because an hour later several blocks a subway ride we were still searching. Eventually we found somewhere and had that well known american brekkie bacon sarnie. We then decided to find grand central station and popped into the Chrysler building, a fantastic art deco building. grand central station was breathtakingly huge and so ornate. On the way out we bumped into a man selling hop on hop off bus tours around manhattan including a boat tour around the statue of liberty. This was a godsend as we were becoming expert in looking lost. So we set off on the tour starting with the empire state building. Once we defrosted our eyes the landmarks began to pass by. The empire state building moving down to midtown through greenwich village soho and ending with one of our many visits to battery park but more of that later. Downtown is vastly different from uptown which is based upon a grid layout. Greenwich and the areas lower were built later on reclaimed farmland and so the layout is more haphazard which really adds to the charm. Much more of a cosmopolitan atmosphere and yet to be explored properly. We got off at the bus in the vicinity of the former world trade centre but as the weather was the best it had been in days the guide advised there would be huge queues to visit the memorial of 9/11. With this in mind we decided to jump on the boat around the statue of liberty and ellis island. Sadly the latter was badly damaged by hurricaine sandy and so was closed to visitors. We headed off to find the boat. And walked. And walked. And walked. All in the wrong direction. Eventually we found the pier but no boat was found. It turned out the last boat was at 2 pm and we didnt find the pier until 20 past. Cold and tired we hopped back on the tour bus and headed back to the hotel for warmth. The bus took us through the lower east side, chinatown, past the un building and finally back to the waldorf astoria with excited anticipation to see our new room. We then noticed that there were several fine coffee houses within minutes of the hotel. We picked up our keys from reception and were told we had been given a juniour suite on the 25 th floor. We giggled our way up to the room and dan opened the door to reveal an amazing upgrade to the hovel we had the night before. There is a lounge with a big tv and even its own en suite bathroom and a bedroom again with big tv and own en suite. After showers to get warm we had a lazy early evening with room service and a movie. And maybe a crafty kip too.
Further showers ensued and we wandered down to an italian we saw from the bus ride. There were lots of italians eating there so we thought that must be a good sign. Tim had quarter of a cow and dan had veal both of which were delicious.
A quick walk round the block allowed dinner to settle before we headed back to our grand digs. Walking through the lobby is always interesting as there is usually something going such as a wedding and is great for people watching.
With full bellies and legs aching from all the walking sleep soon caught up.
We excitedly awoke at 9:30 to our new Junior Suite, I quickly dressed as I’d arranged to 'face-time' my parents. After a quick chat I went to the cafe which was just one block away and bought two coffees and returned via the Astoria Towers lifts to our room.
The Waldorf Astoria and the Astoria Towers are essentially two different hotels; in-fact the Towers are more residential. They were both owned originally by two cousins, who's surname was Astor, they didn’t particularly get along together constantly arguing about who's hotel was the better standard etc.
One of the cousins’ father actually died on board the RMS Titanic and so they both decided to sell their respective hotels to another family, however the name stayed. There's an '=' sign in between the Waldorf and Astoria on the sign which dictates that they were once separated by an alley however they were integrated back in the 1920's as one hotel with the new owners.
So arriving back in our lovely, spacious, comfortable, and homely room, we discussed what we wanted to do today; we decided as it was due to snow we'd hop on our paid-for Open Top Bus with the intention of getting to the site from where we would board a helicopter, again something that Tim had pre-booked as part of my Christmas present.
As the tour began we asked our new tour guide whether we would make it down to Wall Street (where the twin towers once stood) in time for the chopper, we had confirmed a time of 13:30 but we were advised to arrive approximately 45 minutes prior to ensure our departure time.
Ewan, the Tour Guide advised we should make it in time, and if it came to it we could always hop back off and get a cab. So excitedly we set into the tour with Ewan giving us lots of information about the local area including lots of info about the theatre district.
After a few stops the snow began falling, which gave New York a really romantic excitement. Tim decided it might be a good idea to ring ahead as the snow was really coming down thick and fast now, it wasn’t sticking as it was still a bit wet. After the phone-call it was determined that actually the chopper wouldn’t be running as they were all grounded due to the snow storm.
However we still had our boat trip to take. Ewan dutifully began handing our polythene 'ponchos' to save us getting too wet, however they weren’t as efficient as I would’ve hoped. I hadn’t realised but there was a canal down the side of the window where the water was collecting and each time the bus braked, the river of water was running down the side wall of the bus and all over the right hand side of my body, making me very cold.
Oh I forgot to mention that before leaving the hotel I foolishly kicked the rough iron coffee table, which hurt… A lot! My foot was throbbing and with half of me pretty much soaking wet as we approached pier 5, from where we would embark for the boat tour, we jumped off the bus and walked the 5 minutes to the pier. We had already walked around this area for a good hour yesterday looking for the boat, if u recall, the one we missed by about 20 minutes.
As we got to pier 5 we were feeling a little miserable, well I was anyway, we decided to scrap that idea and walked back to the Subway, near to where we preciously jumped off the bus. We calculated our journey back to the hotel and rode the elevator to the 25th floor and arrived back to our room.
Tim had nipped out to get us some coffee to help warm us up a bit, I immediately jumped in the shower and thawed out. After I’d showered I began running a bath for Tim as I knew he'd appreciate a bath to come back to, by time he arrived the tub was full and I was relaxing nicely in my Astoria dressing gown and began watching TV.
Tim soon arrived back with the delicious Kwoffee and jumped in the bath as I relaxed. As it was so cold we both agreed we'd enjoy the warmth for a bit and stuck a film on and ordered food from Room Service which arrived promptly.
We decided to hang the expense ($20 per day) for Wi-Fi, however it wasn’t working properly; I called down to reception and they said they'd send someone up to sort out the problem.
The Man arrived just after Room Service and he performed a few tests and determined that the Wi-Fi was working but as we'd had problems he agreed to refund the cost that we had paid for that day, not only that but as a gesture of goodwill he gave us a complimentary promotional code to access Wi-Fi in the room - Sweet!
After he left, we settled in to watch the film (Wrath of the Titans) and have Dinner; I had a Steak Sandwich which came with a colossal amount of chips and a teeny weeny bit of salad… typical American portion really. Tim had a Waldorf Burger which was similar to a Steak Burger rather than a whole cow on a sandwich! Both were lovely and more than either of us could manage, despite our best efforts to finish.
After Dinner and the movie had finished, we decided we would take the evening tour of the Northern route of the ‘Hop On’ bus, which was mainly a tour of the Christmas lights of New York.
We were very thankful that this bus actually had a roof and that the Tour Guide clearly had a wealth of information, charisma and personality… not to mention an American sized belly LOL!
As we drove around the northern part of Manhattan Ewan told us that we were passing the Dakota which is where John Lennon was shot; as we approached, the traffic seemed to slow as if aware that we wanted a better look. He told us of how he was shot, and the place where the shooting happened now stands a tall Christmas tree all lit up.
We journeyed on to Trump Tower (which is a bit of an eyesore to be honest) and then up around the Cathedral Parkway Circus, which is the first actual roundabout I’ve seen since arriving in New York.
The bus then rode along-side Central Park, with its snowy grass looking very picturesque. We continued back into Midtown Manhattan and past the Rockefeller Centre with its enormous Christmas tree which stands just in front of the Ice-Rink and the statue of Prometheus (nothing to do with the recent alien prequel movie which I’ve still yet to see)
A few more sights passed us by and eventually after about an hour and a half, we ended up back on 5th Avenue. There we got off the bus and began walking in the direction of Central Park with the intention of going ice-skating, something we were both very much looking forward to; however with our sense of navigation we ended up roughly back where we began!
You'd think with the grid system it'd make it easier to find your way around, but sometimes we’d walk in the direction we thought was right and after a few blocks, we realise that we've walked in completely the wrong direction, usually towards Wall Street.
Honestly we ended up going in that direction so many times it’s almost as if we have a magnetic pull towards Wall Street.
Once we'd got back to the Bus, we approached Ewan and asked him if he knew what time the skating finished? He gave us a phone number, but unfortunately it didn’t work properly, so we decided we’d go shopping instead.
We headed towards ‘Bloomies’ (Bloomingdales) we agreed that it would be better to get a Cab, but due to a lack of taxi's we approached 2 Chinese men who were on man-powered’ tuk-tuk's’ (a tricycle with two rear seats) and enquired how much it would cost to get to ‘Bloomies’ he pointed us to the costs written on the side of the tuk-tuk.
We calculated that it wouldn’t be that much as it was about 8/9 blocks; ‘Bloomies’ was closing in about an hour so as time was of the essence we climbed aboard and the Chinese man began cycling towards the Store; we made use of the on-board blanket so we were all snuggly.
When we eventually arrived, the Man calculated the cost of the ride came to $28. What we didn’t realise was it was $28 dollars EACH! So $56 in total. We didn’t want shares in his company, just a short ride… LOL; we commented during the ride how it must be a joy-less vocation riding through all the traffic, in all weathers for not much money… but when we realised we'd just paid nearly $60 for a 9 minute trip, we changed our opinion from a joyless job to being pretty tucked up, and finally dawned on us why it was called a tuk-tuk - translated to tucked-up!
Anyway after a 30 minute window shop and having bought nothing, we decided we'd hang the expense and pay $6 for our return in a cab back to the waldorf. It was now quite late and so after a bit of TV we went to bed.
This would’ve been the end of the day had it not been for some people in an adjacent room waking us up, having some rather loud adult entertainment... I'll leave the details to your imagination, alas we were both awake for some time.
Sunday Brunch
Having enjoyed a lazy lie in until 11 I dragged my carcass out of bed and wandered to our local Kwoffee shop.
En route I passed a chocolatier shop by the name of “Godiva”. I had a nosy in the window & ventured in and literally was like a kid in sweet shop; having bought several goodies I then collected the Kwoffee and muffins and headed back to the hotel only to find the lift wasn't working.
A porter kindly took me to another floor and led me to the lifts there. He sauntered off whilst I waited for the lifts to arrive; but these weren't working either. So now I’m lost in the bowels of the hotel laden with goodies & starting to wonder how to get back to the room.
Bearing in mind we were due to be at brunch in 45 minutes, I opened these two large doors to enter into the largest room I have ever seen; it was the Astoria ballroom. Amazingly ornate & about as high as a UK house if not higher. Anyway, with no time to lose, I managed to find the lobby and get back to the room.
Quick shower and we headed off to brunch; the Concierge had recommended a French Bistro for New Year and so we decided to check it out. Having Sunday brunch in New York is a big deal.
One taxi ride later, we were there. It didn't look much from the outside, but inside it was very French.
We could have been in Paris; the Service was impeccable and the food was something else.
We began with a Bellini and Mimosa; then for our starters we had escargot followed by our Main, Eggs Florentine. The waiter explained that it is currently truffle season and so for a few more dollars we could have freshly shaved truffle over our eggs… “Eggstravagant” (sorry couldn't resist) but delicious.
Now suitably stuffed, we left the Bistro to hit the shops; 5th Avenue was so busy it was frankly unpleasant. The shops were like a bun fight, so after a couple of hours of wandering around we abandoned that idea and headed to Broadway to see if we could get late tickets to see the Musical “Wicked”. Sadly there were only very expensive tickets left so we agreed that could wait until back in the UK.
The crowds on the Street were building up, and at one point we got swept along in a current of people; very unpleasant. We literally had no choice where we were going and soon got separated.
At this point we'd had enough and decided to head back to base. Not surprisingly we got lost once again on the Subway and criss- crossing Manhattan until we decided to head above ground and try our luck by walking back instead. Eventually we found the hotel, more by luck than judgement, and rested for a couple of hours with a movie.
Having recovered, we headed back out to Central Park to try our arm at ice skating; I’ve only skated 3 times in my life, and I was a little apprehensive whilst Robin Cousins (Dan) was a little more confident.
The Wolman ice rink is located in South Central Park and until fairly recently had fallen into dis-repair; It was rescued by Donald Trump who now sponsors the rink and it is a fantastic place with a fun atmosphere.
What is so great about where we’ve been is that there is no aggro; the people are here to enjoy themselves which is a refreshing change. Nervously I ventured onto the ice and managed to fall only twice, and no, I wasn't holding onto the rails! Although I think I did have wonky blades as my feet were like the wobbly wheels on a broken shopping trolley. Dan busted a few moves and skated until his legs had had enough.
We then hit the flagship Apple Store. Again I was like a kid in a sweet shop; & open 24 hours a day 365 days a year! But Willpower prevailed, and we left empty handed. A short taxi ride later we were home and fairly exhausted from the day’s exertions. Sleep soon followed, ready for tomorrows’ adventure.
New Year’s Eve
Excited for the day’s events as first thing today we were doing our Helicopter ride, and as the Beautiful blue sky greeted us, we were assured that today it would be going ahead for sure. We had to be at the Heliport at 11:15; we woke around 10am, ordered some breakfast from the Oxford Cafe who provide a complimentary delivery service, so I ordered breakfast whilst still in bed, and we jumped into our separate showers, and by the time I was dressed, Reception called up telling me our breakfast had arrived; I asked them to send the Delivery Man to our Room on the 25th floor and continued readying myself for the day.
Soon there was a knock on the door and the Delivery Man handed me two Brown Paper bags which I dutifully took delivery of, and sat down at the breakfast table. I had a Double Egg & Bacon with Mushrooms on toasted white bread with a Cappuccino, and Tim had a similar arrangement only on a bagel with regular coffee. Tim shortly joined me and we both munched our breakfast. We decided we would get a cab to the heliport.
I've got to tell you about the lifts in our hotel. It’s become quite a bug-bear because as of the 30th December the lifts had stopped taking us to our floor. There are actually 4 banks of lifts within the hotel; one bank goes up to only the 19th floor, another bank goes right to the top and always have. But the lifts nearest our room won’t stop (going up) between the 24th - 30th floor. We cannot understand why to be honest, as previously they accessed all floors but not anymore! We can call the lift from our floor to go down, but going up we either have to walk to the Main lifts, or get a lift to the 30th and then switch to a different bank of lifts. It’s almost like getting the train, it’s really weird, and anyway I digress.
The Taxi took about 15 or 20 minutes to get to the Heliport; we had been running a wee bit late but not majorly. When we finally arrived at the Heliport, Tim showed the voucher for the Helicopter Tour he'd already pre-paid, and after a little bit of queuing we were ready to board. There are 6 passengers per chopper and the other 4 people were French. As we boarded and had our seatbelts fastened by a Member of the Crew, he handed us our headsets with microphone we were almost ready for take-off.
As the anticipation built I was scouring the area taking in all of the scenery and then before I knew it the ground began to disappear beneath us; soon we were at least 50ft off the ground, then 60ft … 70ft and going over the Hudson River. Over to the right we could see boats bobbing around on the river, and a fuel tanker, just before my eyes caught sight of the Statue of Liberty I was clicking away like mad on Tim's Eos SLR camera which I’d set to take continuous pictures trying to capture every inch of the scenery.
We flew over Governors’ island which still showed signs of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy; as was Liberty Island which was closed to visitors as it was still considered unsafe.
Just to give you a written perspective (plenty of pics will be uploaded as soon as I arrive home as I haven’t brought the right lead to connect the camera to my laptop) Liberty island is expected to be closed until at least April 2013 to allow time for repairs, I didn’t see the extent of the damage from the air, it all seemed pretty normal to me; however I imagine that the damage lies below the lines of sight although trees looked sparse thus I’m guessing fallen trees and such have damaged it extensively.
As we flew over Governors’ Island there WAS visible damage of the Hurricane; the flight continued over a Copper Bridge which had been oxidized a green colour; (I don’t know at this moment the name of the bridge, suffice to say it was a rather impressive structure)
The Chopper banked to the left hand side as we came about, flying back over the bridge back towards wall street of Manhattan, all the time through our (Bose, noise cancelling) head-sets a commentary played mixed with New York infused music (Alicia keys, ‘New York, New York’ –Sinatra- amongst others) As we flew close to the new ‘Freedom Tower’ which stands in the footprints of the 1st Tower of the former World Trade Centre; the commentary informed us that the new Freedom Tower is now the tallest building in New York since they placed a girder atop , making it higher than the Empire State Building.
It was clear to see from the air where the Twin Towers stood, and also all of the affected areas; another thing which was truly evident was the grid system upon which the City stands.
Obviously from the map you can see the grid but when you are there, on the ground, and surrounded by huge buildings it’s less evident; however with a birds-eye view it’s quite clear to see the map as you would see on paper.
As the flight continued, I was trying to record the sights I could see. Tim spotted and pointed out the Two Towers of the ‘Waldorf Astoria & Towers’, the two sister hotels as was, & now owned by the Hilton chain in which we are currently residing. The commentary pointed out the new Yankees stadium uptown New York which I duly ‘papped’ while looking back across the skyline of this ever expanding concrete jungle.
The flight was only 30 minutes long, and gave us a really exciting view of this resplendent City, with all its hustle and bustle, and diverse structures and architecture. Another thing I noticed from the air, which wasn’t necessarily evident from the ground, was the amount of snow which had settled in certain areas; for example on Central Park but even more so uptown Manhattan;
Car parks with tyre tracks, parks with walkways which had been cleared, I guess by the locals, or perhaps just by the foot- traffic of pedestrians.
The flight turned to head back towards our starting point, this time travelling only down the West Side of the Island, I guess due to air traffic control as JFK airport is on the East Side of Manhattan within the Queens / Brooklyn area of New York.
Once we were back on the ground we began walking towards the Brooklyn Bridge; we still had our tickets for the Hop on Bus even though they had expired, we decided we'd try our luck by just flashing them to do a Brooklyn tour.
Our luck was in, as the Tour Guide Melvin, didn’t even check, he just directed us upstairs where we took our seats on the left hand side of the bus.
This bus was completely Open Top, which whilst we were sat awaiting its departure it wasn’t so bad, besides we had gloves, hats, scarves and jumpers to keep us toasty. We waited a wee while for the seats to fill almost to capacity and then the tour set off first driving near to site of the former World Trade Centre, and to a tall windowless Sky-Scraper.
Melvin said that various rumours and speculations had been made by various media as to why it has no windows, ranging from aliens, scientific experiments, a jail, to a secret government office.
The 'Official' explanation of why this building is (apparently) because it's a very technologically advanced building with lots of wires and windows would deteriorate the plastic... I mean, come on... Seriously? That's their explanation? Buildings world-wide have these specifications and none of them have zero windows. Tim thought it could be a huge underground bunker and this building is the air-vent. I have to say I think it needs further explanation as I don’t believe for a moment! Just wiring?
Anyway, the tour continued through China-Town, which (as daft as it sounds) is almost like being IN china, not really; as I’ve been to china and it's clearly different, but for someone who'd not been there you would be excused for thinking you were there. It stretches quite a considerable distance in all directions, with restaurants and Chinese writing covering most of this city-like district.
Moving on we approached the Manhattan Bridge and Melvin explained we couldn’t use the more famous Brooklyn Bridge as it has height restrictions, however the Manhattan Bridge is a double decker bridge with cars and the subway (train) going underneath, and anything bigger overhead.
Being on the top deck of this bridge had its benefits being such splendid views of the city behind and bridges in both directions… but the down side was it was FUCKING freezing!
Excuse my language but any other word just wouldn’t give it the feeling desired, it was absolutely Baltic, with an icy wind blowing off the river almost freezing any exposed skin upon impact. Mind you still not as cold as it was in Beijing but that’s a different story entirely.
Anyway as per usual I’m digressing from the journey once more; so once we had crossed the bridge Melvin began telling us that the quite exuberant area below the bridge itself is called 'Dumbo' like the elephant, which made me laugh, no explanation was offered as to why, only that’s what it was called.
Initially after the bridge's construction wealthy New Yorkers, most of whom were Jewish, wanted to get off the Island due to the noise, lack of space, and also due to prejudices which once were felt in a very real sense; so they moved in quite large numbers. They had been shrewd and made lots of money in Manhattan, moved their lives over the River and set up new digs, and this is now as we come to know as Brooklyn.
Obviously as time has progressed as with all of New York, it is more interspersed with other cultures, including, Islamic, Yemeni, Libyan, Greek, German, Portuguese, Spanish (or at least Spanish speaking, perhaps south American etc.)
The tour almost doubled back on itself and we went right underneath the bridge, back towards the shore of the Hudson River, looking directly onto downtown Manhattan, Battery Park and the business district, where the bus (almost) parked up for a good 4 / 5 minutes to give people a chance to snap pictures.
Whilst we paused for this ‘Photo Opportunity’, Melvin began to explain about the highway; we were adjacent to Brooklyn Heights which again is a very salubrious well to do area, he directed our attention skyward to a highway which passed above; apparently a pretty new addition to this area affording it much better links to the big city.
But, as with all things new, it was met with a great deal of objection; they didn’t want a highway, they were happy as it was before, alas the government had a meeting with the locals, who for months had been demonstrating, petitioning, and such to try and thwart its construction; the Government made an offer to the locals and following many discussions, struck a deal with them that they would build a lovely promenade all along the waterfront, with many leisure based amenities, to make this the most sought after location in the whole of New York.
With all the discussions about what was going to come, they forgot about being angry about the highway and focused only on the new promenade; the ONLY promenade of its kind in New York City (and outskirts)
Americans are so dumb! Ha-ha mind you, maybe not so much, because already the house prices are said to have risen by 35% making it an even more sought after area than it is now, and the diggers have only just moved in and begun working.
The tour-bus started up again and we began travelling down the 'High Street' so to speak.
Brooklyn is much more like other towns; with Banks, Bars, Movie Theatres, Bakeries, Butchers, and Dry Cleaners etc. all along the Main Road.
I suppose how England used to look before all the big supermarkets ran the little boys out of town, shame really, made me feel somewhat nostalgic. The buildings were all very British looking with decorative architecture, but at the same time unique and different, perhaps with many other influences; as well as English, definitely French, and Dutch.
Their Brown Stone fronted three story houses lined the side streets and up to the shopping areas. We journeyed on to the Barclay Centre; Melvin told that they had planned to knock this area down as it was in a state of dis-repair, but an American Baseball (might’ve been American football team sponsored by Barclays bank) had bought the place and soon enough the entire area had been re-developed, with the locals repainting their own homes and shops being modernized with many jobs being created within the centre so the redevelopment helped the local economy immensely.
The tour continued around Brooklyn and it was really interesting to see the contrast between the two cites which once were just that…two individual cities, whilst the bridge united them into one massive area we now know as New York City, however (the City’s original name was New Amsterdam)
We passed the Botanical Gardens & the Zoo which is where the tour performed a U-turn (literally, not metaphorically) and began heading back towards the Brooklyn Bridge.
By now we were absolutely freezing, despite all our additional layers. What was worse was the realization that we were approaching the Bridge again! Melvin pointed out a landmark over to the left, a monument to where the Americans’ defeated the English and ran them out of town (apparently) LOL; shortly afterwards we were crossing the Bridge but actually it didn’t seem anywhere near as bad on the way back for some reason; we made a few turns and ended up near the start of where we joined our ‘free’ tour.
Getting off the tour bus we decided we would try and have another go at shopping. Neither of us had eaten since breakfast; subconsciously fasting for our New Year’s feast ahead.
We popped to a Macy's as we hadn’t yet been there; it was a fair distance but we decided to get a cab, was nice to feel instant warmth and only cost $5 for the journey; we reminisced how we'd paid €60 for a bike ride - oh did we laugh (at ourselves).
Macy's was busy, a bit of a test of our patience to be honest and I was also busting for the loo, having been on the hop on (NOT HAVING HOPPED OFF FOR 2 HOURS) so I got in the lift to the 4th floor only to realise that the Men’s was on the 7th.
I rode the escalator to the 5th and 6th and then finally 7th, really having to distract myself from my urgent bladder but to my dismay there was when I found where the toilets actually was on 7th there was a rather painstakingly slow-moving long queue.
Anyway once I’d relieved myself I found Tim down on the 2nd Floor and began looking around, mainly for inspiration, but nothing really jumped out at me that begged my attention that much; I did find a nice shirt but the fitting room queue and also the cashiers queue was off-putting to say the least. So we left! Having bought nothing, feeling a bit deflated and harassed we thought we'd go to ‘Bloomies’; we were trying to get a cab for a good 10 / 15 minutes to no avail, they all seemed to be signing off duty, which we thought strange.
We decided to take the Subway, thing is when you look on the tube map it’s not the same as our tube in as much as there are single track lines which branch off in three directions for example; 456 they all go South, but have very different directions and therefore you think you can get on either 4, 5 or 6 line yet the 4 line will go South.
The 5 line will go East and the 6 line can take you West, we were, as you know, getting confused with walking round New York, we now discovered we weren’t doing any better on the Subway, and we ended up further away than when we began, but we rectified it and instead of going to where we needed to in a straight line, we did 3 sides of a Square.
Another thing we discovered was not all trains stop at all stations all the time; I think it depends whether they are running late but we ended up 2 stops and 5 blocks away, but in fact we were closer to home.
Arriving back in our Junior Suite and feeling once again warmth and relaxation soon ensued. We had various face time convo's between friends and family to wish them Happy New Year as being 5 hours behind , all you lot were already on your way to welcoming in the New Year.
We settled in to watch a bit of telly and our usual HGTV came on, and then I ironed our shirts and my jeans and got ready to leave, we walked downstairs and got our Doorman to hail us a cab and very shortly after we were on our way to the restaurant.
We were greeted at the door and had our coats taken from us, and shown immediately to our seats; within a few minutes we had cheesy choux pastries, bread and iced water delivered by our waiter and he explained the tasting menu to us, as follows;
An amuse-bouche which was a shredded garlic cod with crostini which was delicious
The next course was Salmon a la Parisian, with intensely flavoured raw cauliflower which IS officially the ONLY time I’ve ever eaten & enjoyed cauli flower!
Next was a whole shelled lobster in a really tasty bisque which was absolutely delicious
Then a Filet Mignon with black truffles, fois gras, & steamed vegetables; the whole dish was a taste sensation. I’d never eaten fresh truffles before, they gave the meat such a woody almost mushroomy taste, and it was stunning.
At this point all the staff came round and handed out party hats, beads, garlands, party poppers, and two different noisy things, party horns and a clacker like you'd have at the football,
All of a sudden a round of Champagne was distributed and we realised it was only 5 minutes before Midnight, almost at the same time, the desert arrived at the table, which was a chocolate fondant mousse, crispy base thing (as described by Tim) LOL with real gold leaf on top and a chocolate wafer thin fan shaped chocolate shaving strutting out the back.
This was served with 5 individual biscuits. All the different courses came with a different tasting wine, this was extra and not being a wine drinker myself, I didn’t bother but Tim did.
The countdown to the Midnight hour began, which was rather low key and passed without really noticing until it was literally a few seconds to go when the noise in the room grew so loud you couldn’t hear yourself think!
With all the confusion of all the different party hats, deserts, wines and champagne, we very nearly missed it, we wished everyone ‘Happy New Year’ and carried on with desert; it beat me! It was very rich and very yummy but I just couldn’t finish another morsel.
We absorbed the atmosphere and paid the bill joining in with the celebrations as the DJ rocked the decks.
The whole ceiling was covered with helium balloons with ribbons hanging them down and the staff of the benoit were grabbing bunches of them and tying their ribbons in knots and handing them to fellow diners as they left the bistro.
After a while we thanked all the staff of the restaurant and we left with a huge bunch of balloons and all the party gifts, as well as a huge fortune cookie in a bag with a Happy New Year wish on the outside sealing the bag.
As we walked towards our hotel, following the direction in which the taxi travelled mixing with the New Year party goers and distributing a few balloons to people who asked for one, on the way home to the hotel, it wasn’t as if we didn’t have enough.
Once we were once again settled in at home we began watching YouTube videos and had a little drink and had our own mini celebration back in our suite after quite a few videos and a few drinks more we both went to bed.
New Year's Day
Following a very late night, a well-deserved lie in was on the cards.
We awoke at around 1 pm feeling very lazy. I nipped to the local Kwoffee shop for supplies and a much needed caffeine boost.
Being New Year's Day we weren't sure what would be open however it turned out all shops were trading, so we decided to head off once again to hit the sales. The clothes shopping was sadly disappointing. I bought a couple of items but both Tim & I were left feeling underwhelmed. We then headed for the High Line.
This is an old freight track which has been converted into Urban Parkway. Apparently a beautiful tranquil space in the middle of Manhattan. We arrived at 17:30 ish to find it closed at 17:00. See a pattern emerging?
By this time tummies were rumbling and we decided on steak for tea; the hotel had a steak bar which sounded lovely in the hotel info, so we booked a table put on some smarter attire and headed down.
The ‘Bull and Bear’ restaurant boasts the best steaks and so we were filled with anticipation.
The restaurant is low lit with acres of wood panelling and a feel of a gentleman’s club. We were seated at our table and we waited for the menu… and waited.
After a while I asked the waiter for a menu so we could at least see what was on offer. A savoury scone and water was brought to the table and we chose our steaks, A ‘New York strip’ (16oz) with fries and a Waldorf salad to start. 25 minutes later we were still waiting to order....so out we walked to find somewhere else. Crap service which you wouldn't expect from a restaurant which rates itself so highly. Maybe that's the problem. So we left 25cents (which we found on the floor) for the Scones and off we went.
Two blocks down we hit another steak house, Smith and Wollensky. The Maître d' said there would be a 45 min wait. I explained we had just walked out of the previous Restaurant because of the service there.
He looked around and asked us to give him 5 minutes. This was a refreshing change and we didn’t really expect anything to come of it as it was packed and people were queuing to get in. We bought a drink from the bar, and 10 minutes later we were sat looking at the menu. Brilliant.
We chose fried Calamari to start and then a Colorado rib each for the main course, with potato and onion rings as side orders.
Being greedy buggers we (supersized) the side orders. The calamari portion was enough for a main but was cooked to perfection with a piquant tomato dipping sauce. Then came the steaks. I have never seen a steak like it. It filled the plate and was thick, about 4 times the size of a steak you'd get in the UK. The taste was just incredible and it was so tender the knife cut through it like butter.
However we soon realised our eyes had been far bigger than our bellies. We only managed about a third of the steak and barely touched the side orders. Such a shame but physically impossible to finish.
Bellies full, we headed back to the hotel, the walk allowed some time for the previous feast to settle. We turned on the TV to watch “HGTV”; this is a property channel which has become slightly addictive whilst we have been here; it’s part ‘American DIY SOS’/ ‘Grand Designs’/ & a touch of Fantasy House shopping for the rich, looking at islands to purchase; also looking around amazing homes.
It is amazing how Americans’ take space for granted and moan at a 4000 sq. ft. house being too small, or at the lack of an immense walk in wardrobe, or the lack of a 6th bathroom or not enough space in their room for their king-sized bed AND a bedside table!
Anyway we set the TV's timer on to switch off the TV as we drifted off into a sleepy oblivion, to be ready for our last day in New York City.
ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END
The last thing we did before we went to sleep last night was to order breakfast from the Oxford Cafe, for delivery at 10:30 as for the next day we were flying back to Blighty.
The alarm was set for 10:00am; and as we were about ready to get up, at 10:30 precisely, there was a knock at the door and our breakfast was delivered. What a fantastic service!
Shame the room service was too expensive in the hotel though, at a rather steep $50 a head, the $13 for two breakfasts from the Oxford was much better value.
We watched HGTV as we readied ourselves for the Airport, having already packed the majority of our stuff last night before bed. (Not that we actually un-packed per se) We got really into a programme on HGTV where a bit like “DIY SOS”; they had got stuck with their renovations and so two people came in, and one looks for a new house for them to move into and the other does up their home with a pretty high end spec, and they have to decide whether to love (stay) or list (go) their house.
Unfortunately we were so wrapped up in the programme, we realised we had only left ourselves about 10 minutes to check out! But we were pretty much ready to leave.
Our return flight was scheduled to leave at 20:00 from JFK, so we took our luggage down to the Towers Reception and asked them to store it till we returned at 16:00.
We left the hotel to get the Subway down to the World Trade Centre area, as we had planned to visit the 911 memorial. We worked out how to get there and jumped on a Train; as we continuously ended up by Battery Park what could go wrong? After a short walk across a Subway platform, to a connecting Train, we off at the right stop, which I think IS a first.
We then headed towards the Freedom Tower, following signs for the Memorial; we arrived and only then did we realise we needed to purchase tickets prior to going in... D'oh! We walked back a few blocks to the Ticket Outlet; why they're not in the same location was beyond me but when we arrived, there was a bit of a queue, so we thought it's not too bad won’t take long, but then as we got to what we thought was the back of the queue, we realised that it wasn’t the back of the queue at all! There was a further queue, each line was about an hour long. So we decided to scratch that idea.
Instead we walked across the road to a really pretty Church which was close to the 9/11 area, yet was completely unaffected architecturally, which is quite remarkable.
We entered the church and it appeared at first sight there was some kind of service going on; there was a man speaking over a microphone, however he wasn’t preaching…in fact he was surrounded by a Full Orchestra and behind them in a crescent shape was a Choir.
I walked nearer to get a good vantage point and as they began to perform a piece by Bach. I began recording it; was very magical and felt Christmassy, especially because where I stood was wrapped with Christmas tree branches so all I could smell was pine. It was so lovely and spectacular hearing my favourite Composer the piece went on for a good 10 to 15 minutes.
I had to stop recording at that point for fear of my arm falling off! Damning myself for not remembering my tripod; I went to have a look around the church, which had various memorials to 9/11. It was a very moving experience, hearing the fabulous Choral singing in German & the Orchestra with all the Christmas decorations definitely made it feel very Christmassy indeed.
Eventually we had to leave the church as we didn’t have a great deal of time left, so we decided to head to East Greenwich which is where the show 'friends' was filmed; intending to do a Studio Tour, and see the places we know and love so well from the show; however with our questionable sense of direction coupled with the problems we were having negotiating the Subway, we ended up at 42nd Street (about 4 stops passed) as the Train we were on didn’t stop at all stations.. D'oh!
Oh well, we thought we'll head to the 'Ugg' store instead; but as we approached the shop, we noticed a queue… Yes that’s right, a queue to get in a shop. Madness I tell you utter madness!
Suffice to say we didn’t bother queuing; instead we went into the Toy Store used as the location in the film 'Big' with Tom Hanks; we began by getting a reading from Zoltar (the fortune telling machine) and had a really good look around the entire store; including the huge piano shown in the film.
We both felt like big kids, seeing all the toys like the Lego statues and watching the Staff store selling the hot selling items to the children.
We then headed over to the 'Abercrombie & Fitch' store, but as we passed by the 'Ugg' store, we noticed the queue had gone altogether, so we decided to try to go in.
We had to wait a few minutes before being let in and have a gander at their products; To be honest they were way over priced; $120 for a dressing gown, and a leather jacket at $925... Now I know 'Ugg' is a designer label but really… Does it make it any better / warmer / nicer / valuable? No! So we left and headed back to the Waldorf to collect our luggage and go to the airport.
After a quick 'face time' convo with my Mom we retrieved our luggage and got a taxi to take us to JFK terminal 7. The traffic was quite heavy so the taxi driver suggested we took a slightly different route from normal; we didn’t mind too much as we had plenty of time before check-in and it was a flat rate of $57 to any airport which I didn’t think was too bad.
Eventually we arrived at JFK and he stopped right outside the terminal so we had no distance to walk.
We entered the Departures part of the terminal, and Tim approached the Boarding Card Printer and printed out his Boarding Card while I had mine on my BA app on my phone, so I didn’t need one, but the machine printed one anyway.
We went to the queue for Economy Passengers and it was gargantuan; as you may have begun to realise, we don’t do queue's so I suggested we tried our luck and queue up with the Business Class passengers instead, figuring the worst that could happen is we would have to join the back of the Economy queue anyway, as the Business Class line was way shorter, and moving much faster we figured we had nothing to lose.
We approached the front of the queue and 'played dumb' when she said we were in the wrong queue, we explained that we thought because we'd upgraded to Premium Economy we could check in there; no she said, you should really go to economy.
I asked if there was any chance of being bumped up to Business or First and the kind lady told us in no uncertain terms there would be no chance of this happening as the flight was chocker, though she did agree to allow us to check our cases as we were there. My case was overweight so the nice lady asked me to remove 1 item from my case, I did as requested and removed my scarf and put my case back on the scales, that was fine she said, and then she took Tim’s case. She directed us over to Passport Control and Customs and wished us a nice trip back to UK,
We queued a further few minutes at the Business Class Passport check-in and x-ray machine, then all of a sudden we were done, and now Air-Side of JFK awaiting our flight! What a boom!
I shall try this more often methinks as had we waited in the Economy line I was sure we'd still be queuing for baggage drop, let alone the Passport and x-ray machine, we were very happy with the swift service, but we were VERY disappointed by JFK airport, what a hovel! You'd expect it to be quite swanky, it’s definitely NOT! We decided that rather than fighting for space with the 'minions', we'd go and grab a bite to eat at the Restaurant. We had some lovely food and a very good service there, and by time we'd finished we had about 90 minutes before we flew, so headed to Duty Free.
After a while and having bought nothing, our Flight was called and they were emphasising that they needed folk to check-in quickly to guarantee our departure time.
We were one of the last on board but as we had pre-booked our Premium Economy seats, it didn’t matter, we got to our seats which had a greater seat size & bigger seat pitch; I’d say 22" over the standard 17" seat pitch.
The TV screen was better, the tray tables were in the arm rest, even the Headphones and Blankets were of better quality, and even the movie selections were nicer slightly (though not a lot) more up to date.
The flight eventually took off and we settled down, being served free drinks; then came the food, which was lovely… Beef steak with veggie's.
The Pilot came over the Tannoy and announced that the flight would be landing ahead of schedule due to immense tail wind and we were expected in 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled arrival time, and true to his word, we did.
All seemed to be going a little too well, as you may recall we had Valet Parking so once we had cleared passport control we walked to the Carousel and there whizzing round, awaiting our collection was our luggage; we collected and went straight up to the level 'L' where we'd dropped the car off, and there was my Car waiting to take us home.
Within minutes we were on the M25 and then the M40 what a boom! The valet parking was an absolute sensation, remarkably quick indeed, we left the Airport around 8am and we arrived back to Tim’s at 9:20am having had no sleep on the plane, we then both fell into a sleepy coma which didn’t help with the re-acclimatisation to the time zone at all, but we weren’t returning to work until Monday anyway.
My day began very early, having not had much sleep the night before due my excitement and double checking I'd packed everything I may need. I still had loads to do but I had my check-list as usual, ticking things off as they got sorted, and ended up either in my case or hand luggage - 30kg limit! I think I might've just about managed to get it up to 30kg this time... I wonder if you get a prize if you get it bang on?
I printed all my documents I might need and began the check-in procedure online, however I was thwarted by the lack of passport details, so I left the page open on my laptop and carried on busying about other jobs I still had to complete before I could really properly relax.
My Mom & Dad popped in to see me and to say good bye; I gave them the rest of the beef joint I'd cooked on Sunday, they wished me well and scurried off leaving me to eat my Chinese I'd just bought... my last civilized meal perhaps for a while, having not eaten all day long, I woofed it down.
Having finished packing my suitcase I began on the hand luggage; everything was all set, just had to locate things in their various pockets as I'd need them. My plan was to go to sleep for a few hours allowing me to depart refreshed, however I was thwarted once again by my own bad planning. I'd forgotten to drop off an overdue Birthday present for Jamie Aldridge, so I jumped in the car and drove round to Paul & Miriam's, where after about an hour chatting about holidays, Kung Fu, and various other topics I realised I'd spent a bit longer there than anticipated so I got on my way.
Shortly after arriving home I finished off all the things I had left to do on my list and finally sat down, to relax and watch a bit of telly... Nothing on, well nothing worth watching at least. So instead I turned on my PS3 for what would be the last go on GTA for a while, I had a good few hours to kill and having resigned myself to the fact I wasn't going to bother to get any sleep as by now it wouldn't serve me well.
I got into my game, creating a 'last team standing' mission which I published having tweaked it a bit to make it quite playable. I kept checking the time on my phone almost wishing away the hours, really began getting excited now, to think that soon I'd begin my journey to countries new.
Having never been to India before I had no idea what to expect but my pre-conceptions were keeping me guessing. I decided I would go to bed, even if I didn't sleep, it's certainly better than sitting on that uncomfortable sofa, plus I'd soon be in a sitting position for a while I guess, so lying down seemed a good plan.
I flicked through a few channels in the vain hope that there might possibly be something worth watching, after a bit of searching I happened upon an episode of the 'IT Crowd' which, although I've seen the entire series, I still find very amusing; Time passed and my eyes began to feel heavy, the yawns were now becoming more and more frequent, like a pregnant woman in labour experiencing contractions, each one feeling slightly more painful than the last. I tried to ignore them and I kept checking my clock, not wanting to be late; I calculated the timings a few times to ensure journey times were accurate.
My flight was due to leave from Heathrow Terminal 4 at 08:00, so I had to be at the airport for 06:00 at the latest; however I'd booked a 'meet and greet' Valet Parking service which I had to check-in at 05:00, so I calculated departing somewhere between 02:30 and 03:00 which might be cutting it fine as according to my Sat Nav takes 1 hour 45 minutes to get there.
Eventually I decided at 02:40 that it was time to leave, so I got dressed , closed my suitcase for the final time, and zipped up the bag of my hand luggage and loaded everything to the boot of the car, locking up the house as I went, but then I decided I needed a belt, so I returned to the house , found one and then after locking up the house again, I finally set off; by now it was 03:15...I was running late !!!
I wasn't too worried but decided I'd better get on my way quick-time, any delays though, and I could be in trouble.
I joined the Motorway and besides the odd bit of fog, the journey was over very quickly and all of a sudden I was at the airport finding the meet and greet service I'd paid for, said goodbye to' Stevie' (car), handed in my keys, and made my way to the departures; arriving at the terminal having ridden the elevator to the 2nd floor, and quickly checked my bags in, watching as they went down the Conveyer towards India (hopefully)
I had a quick whizz round Duty Free, treating myself to some Chanel (As you do) then headed over to Pret to have a coffee. I then had a fag and a wee as I don't know when I might get another chance before boarding.
As I walked toward the gates looking for Gate 2 where my plane was, I caught a glimpse of my reflection and I thought to myself "Oooh, I look like a tortoise with my home on my back"
It's now 06:35 and I've got an hour to wait for my flight to be ready; so what can I tell you in an hour? Hmm, well for starters Heathrow Terminal Four has had a facelift since I last flew from here which admittedly was about 10 years ago; Lots of Christmas Decorations up though, very understated. I reckon it'll be a different kettle of fish upon my return as they slowly roll out the Christmas festivities as time progresses, encouraging you to spend your hard earned cash, here rather than abroad.
I really could do with going to sleep for a while or at least having a lie down; guess I'll just have to wait till I'm aboard.
Watching the people busy about their jobs while you're waiting to board the flight I find quite exciting, knowing all these people are just employed for your satisfaction and they're just going about their day to day life as 'one' begins an epic adventure.
So after a while of waiting and spinning round and round in the spherical swivel chair by gate 2, I received a telephone call from Dad who rang to wish me a happy holiday and pick me brains about something to do with eBay.
After we had spoken I noticed the people who were queuing had gone, so I grabbed my things, and at rather a fast walking pace I made my way to the gate, only to find the people who I thought had vanished, had formed themselves into an orderly queue handing in their boarding cards one by one; How very British I thought, I once again took a seat. There was no point in standing in a queue when I can just be the last to join and just walk straight onto the plane.
I rang Lucie Demetre (my PA) to tell her a few last minute things I'd forgotten to mention, and with that it was time to board, in fact it felt it was as if they were waiting for me, I doubt they were to be honest but no one else was around so I handed my boarding card over and began to walk down the Air bridge to the aircraft.
Before I left home I accessed an App on my phone called 'flight-radar' which is an app that allows you to see every plane that is in the air (its excellent if you like these sorts of things, which I do), I decided to have a look at where Doha actually was because although I knew it was somewhere in the Middle East, that's as much as I could say.
I found Doha and it's just to the West of the U.A.E. I happened to notice a flight on the App going from Doha to Heathrow. Ha! I thought that's the reverse of the trip I'm doing. Then it suddenly dawned on me... OH.. NO FRICKEN WAY DUDE. That's my ACTUAL aircraft, inside which, I shall soon be sat, it's flying home to arrive at 06:25 therefore after 1:30 turn around, that is actually, the exact flight I would be sitting in (and in which I am now sat).
It was really exciting and quite interesting to picture the plane on its homeward journey, only returning, for to take me to my destination. I noticed the route it would be taking ; After take off we initially fly over Germany but then over Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Turkey, then over Northern Iraq, Kuwait and eventually Syria before crossing the gulf of Persia to Qatar; but I digress.
I was met at the cabin door of the Airbus A330 (I was hoping for an A380) and I was ushered to my seat; I never really understand why they feel the need to do this as the plane is one straight long line with two aisles, like most planes, boats, trams, buses, trains and other modes of transport. Even the seats are numbered, and lettered depicting exactly which seat is which. So why do I need help to locate my seat?
Anyway I found my seat (wasn't hard, it was exactly where I anticipated it being) and stowed my luggage in the over-head luggage compartment, and once the Aussie dude had moved, I took my window seat.
By now I was feeling very lethargic and droopy eyed and sat for about 15 mins as more people arrived to be ushered to their seats... Seat 26? Guess what... its down that way... where all the seats are... Noooo really ?!?!
The pilot made a few announcements and we began to taxi to the runway, we were about 10-15 mins late as there was (as always at LHR) a queue of planes waiting to depart.
We sat patiently waiting, then without further ado we were speeding down the runway till we hit the full take off speed and the pilot 'rotated' and the nose of the plane lifted effortlessly. The air-flow glided over the wings creating enough lift for the plane to become airborne... You know how a plane works.. I imagine... I remember thinking to myself... Isn't physics amazing (and physicists' of course)
The aircraft itself is quite nice, 2,4,2 configuration; all the seats have TV screens in the back of the headrest of the seat in front (as one has come to expect in this day and age) with a remote control in the arm rest. I was familiar with the remote as its similar to what I have experienced on Emirates.
I felt a little squashed and cramped already and I still had a further 6/7 hours to go on this flight and we'd only just took off. The Aussie next to me wasn't taking any prisoners either, his chunky arms taking all the shared arm rest and his muscular thighs squashing mine mostly out the way!
We're going to have a problem I thought to myself, however unbeknown to me, a wondrous and magnificent thing occurred shortly after take off, well three things actually...
Firstly I fell asleep.. which in itself was nice and slightly unexpected, but the second thing was as I awoke I was being asked what I would like for breakfast? Must admit I wasn't really listening to the choices so I just said 'the 1st option' which was Egg, beans, sausage and potato wedges, it was served with the usual, fruit bowl, yoghurt, croissant, jam and butter and an orange juice, with Tea or Coffee to follow; so that was the 2nd thing.. 'what was the third thing'? i hear you cry, well read on and I'll tell you.. Be patient...
Shortly after the dinner trays had been removed I excused myself from the Aussie because I needed the Loo, but sadly got stuck behind the trolley.. D'oh! I patiently waited, inching forward as the trolley collected the food stuffs.. Well obviously the crew did, the trolleys were merely just a vessel for said collections.
Anyway as I was saying, before I interrupted myself...A lady joined the queue behind me to use the loo and, as you do, we began chatting.. Now up to this point I was still mostly sleepy and hadn't noticed the marvel and wonder which was promptly pointed out to me.. What was this wonder and marvel you must be by now intrigued at least a little bit... No? Ok I'll carry on waffling.. Ok ok the marvel and magnificence was just how empty the flight was.
Honestly there must be about 100 people on board, tops including the Flight Crew; by time I'd gone for my wee and got back to my seat, the Aussie had already re-located himself, to a seat, a few rows back, leaving both seats for me to utilise... Bloody wonderful I thought... Couldn't be happier about that.. Oh.. But stop... Wait... Hold on a bloody minute... I went for another walk to investigate further, I then noticed towards the back, there were full rows totally unused, 4 seats next to each other and not just one. Row upon row of empty seats.
Now usually I would've been courteous and asked one of the Crew if it were ok to change seats, but I thought, Sod it, they're hardly going to say no anyway, so I'll just take it. So I did!
I spread myself out across on the entire row of seats, if it weren't for the seatbelts which dig in slightly I could've pretended to myself I was in business class.. It was really comfy, eventually, after carefully placing various blankets and pillows across the joins of the seat, the only problem was, with all the movement and to-ing and fro-ing I was no longer tired... so I watched a film instead (Guardians of the Galaxy #wouldn't rave)
After the film had finished they came round with some sandwiches, I was a tad underwhelmed.. 'Sarnies?' I thought , but when it was handed it to me, the box it came in was warm, and so was the sarnie. It wasn't actually a sandwich but in fact a spicy chicken wrap, and for afters a warm choccy cake.. Mmm, don't mind if i do!
I decided to try and get some more sleep, so I lay back down in my now personal four-seat-row which I'd now made into a mini fort with pillows and blankets; I put my head down and actually slept, not sure for how long but I was definitely asleep, I know this because turbulence woke me, Along with a pressing bladder.
After visiting the loo I returned to my original seat where I'd left my trainers, I sat down and started to watch another film, but almost as soon as it commenced there was an announcement to say "we will shortly be landing in Doha, Qatar and could everyone return to their seats, fasten seatbelts, tray tables up, foot stools up"... Yada Yada.
I turned the film off because there was just no way I would see it all before we landed, I looked out of the window trying to get glimpses of Qatar and the surrounding areas, I imagined it to be like Dubai, I wasn't far off either; I couldn't see it properly because it was dark.
Oh I forgot to mention.. Well didn't want to say earlier in case they over-heard but for most of the outbound flight there was a screaming infant. I say screaming... it was like being in a horror movie for infants. I wouldn't have minded too much, I know kids struggle with aircraft, it's all about their delicate ears and the cabin air pressure etc. However the parents of the child (Asian) were almost blatantly ignoring it and watching a film on with headphones, drowning out the sound of the screaming infant I would imagine.
Anyway I think the crew had a word with them after a bit because the Mother was down the back swinging him round rocking him back and forth.. oh and guess what... The infant stopped crying.
It was a bit like that scene from friends where Rachel's daughter Emma wouldn't stop crying and then when she finally did Phoebe thought she'd gone deaf. I had a ringing in my ears and the silence was deafening.
So we landed in Doha, the local time was 17:40 we left the aircraft and went to the Transfers Terminal so basically you walk straight into Departures; the flight was due to depart at 20:00 so I had a bit of time to kill so I went for a fag & a wee, then popped into Duty Free where I bought 200 ciggies' for £13.00 (GBP) which is pretty much what you'd pay for 30 fags back home (a 20 box in UK being about £8.50 give or take)
I found a seat in the Terminal and found a socket to plug me phone in as the battery had died, and I wanted to keep writing otherwise it goes out me head you see.
Time ticked by, and soon enough I was being called for the next flight; I sat patiently waiting, as before, for the queue to dissipate whilst getting every possible ounce of electricity into my phone battery , managed a nice healthy 38% which I figured would last till India.
I got on the bus to take me to the plane (could've walked it was about 25 metres) and the bus didn't move for a good 20-30 mins.. I was cursing; I could've been in the Terminal charging me phone, with British plug sockets incidentally, so my UK 3 pronged plug fitted straight in!
Eventually the bus took us to the aircraft , then it was a mad dash to get on-board, as if the plane had been over-sold and people would have to stand, pushing and shoving ensued and people were coming on at the back and the front, so some were walking front to back and some back to front suffice to say it was manic madness, mayhem and mind blowing ineptitude! Why cant people just be patient we're all going to the same place at the same time.
I found my seat, and stowed my baggage and sat down, but even before the plane had moved, my eyes were heavy and kept nodding off only to be woken by my head drooping forwards and slowly again waking myself up I must have done this 5 or 6 times before finally falling fully asleep; I must've been dozing though, because I kept smelling the food that was being given out... Lamb Biryani with a bean salad and feta, bread, cheese and butter, followed by a cake and a chocolate square, was all very nice I have to say!
When the trays were taken away I figured I'd sleep again but having just eaten, I wasn't really sleepy anymore.
I don't have much else to write yet so I'll wait until there's slightly more to say else I'll end up telling you rubbish things like the carpet was grey; the staff seemed mostly foreign but spoke very good English, and some of the girls particularly looked a cross between Indian and Chinese; the temperature in Doha was 27•c and they were 3 hours ahead; Their currency was the Qatar dinar (its so hard to not put a letter 'U' after the 'Q' of Qatar but then it'd be Quartered)
There are One hundred Rupee to the British pound ergo 1000 rupee is £10 sterling so just move the decimal place - job's a good'un!
What else have I learned so far?... Urrrhm oh yeah, there are 3 white people on board Me being one of them (DOH-TRV) however I was quite surprised how many white folk there was in Doha; incidentally you can now fly to Melbourne, from Doha. I didn't know that, now I do!
I quite like Qatar Airlines I must say; no complaints at all so far, well except the infant but that wasn't their fault. Wouldn't hesitate to use 'em again though!
I think I've expunged all my wisdom for now.. So i shall continue in due course! Tata for now... Ha-ha get it TATA (google it)
Oh yeah.. Before I do, for all you youngies who may be reading, (though not exclusively) I heard a blast from the past on the way to Heathrow, from probably the really early 90's; Arrested Development - Mr Wendel.. Quality tune, YouTube it! Will bring back memories, maybe. It reminded me of Torquay back in the day..
So the flight continued as flights tend to do.. Well if not then you're in trouble.. And I did sleep for quite a bit of the flight; the flight-time from Doha, Qatar to Thivurampuram (or Trivandrum) was approximately 4 hours; I only recollect about an hour of this, as I must've slept the rest. We swiftly landed 15 minutes ahead of schedule despite taking off a bit late.
Upon arrival I walked into the Terminal building expecting, as my preconceptions dictated, it to be smelly and dingy, but I was actually very pleasantly surprised, the lavish marble floors stretched out in all directions and the walls were tastefully decorated with various scenes of elephants and boats etc.
A man handed me two pieces of paper, having seen my burgundy passport and establishing my 'Britishness' I looked at the pieces of paper - Visa application.... WTF I thought, I applied for my Visa in advance and at great expense (£170) changed the schedule of my arrangements to ensure I had my visa in my Passport so why the freak have I got to fill out a Visa application form again.
Ho hum, I borrowed a pen from one of the security guards and dutifully completed both forms, front and back, then I joined the queue for Immigration/ passport control.
After a while of waiting and handing in my Passport, both pieces of paper, and my Boarding card, to the Immigration Officer who checked my details, asked for my phone number on the form, which I had forgotten to put and he stamped my passport and handed it back to me.
I would like to talk about something now; Visa's.
I find it rather incomprehensible that as an Indian national, they get granted automatic entry into the UK, no Visa's to apply for, no pieces of paper to complete. Nothing.
Yet me a British national to arrive in India, I have to get a Visa which costs approx. £90, for which you have to wait about a week for its approval, after having first stipulated for how long, where you're staying, and for what the purposes of your trip is; Yet they can just waltz in a free-gate stay indefinitely and not pay a thing... There's something amiss here I feel, and before anyone starts harping on about racism.. I'm not being racist, just pointing out facts! Our immigration policy must change I feel.
Anyway once I'd got my passport back I walked to the Carousel to collect the rest of my belongings which took a while, but luckily my case was among the first 10-15 to pop out.
I left the Arrivals Terminal to exit the Airport, but I needed to change some money for the taxi, now remember back up there ^ somewhere, I mentioned the rates of exchange? .. I changed £60 sterling to expect 6000rp but I only got 4900rp airport prices I thought.
I went out the main exit to see a sea of heads, like maybe 40 deep and 100 wide of Indians presumably there to collect relatives etc.. I glided past all of the rabble and walked to the other end where there were fewer people, lit up a fag and was instantly accosted by many taxi drivers. I decided to find out how much it was to go to Kovalam, which is where my hotel is.
Before I left the UK I had asked a friend of mine, Phil Green how much I should expect to pay for a taxi to kovalam, he had recently returned from this area, and he told me I should expect to pay between 200-350rp. (Rp = Indian rupees btw)
When the man told me 470rp I was very disgruntled and figured maybe I have to haggle.. So I opened at 200 he told me it was a standard fare and that I pay before departure to the taxi rank. He walked me to the rank where all the prices were listed on a board. 470rp it is then... Which is only £4.70 so I could hardly argue really, so I jumped in the TATA car, ironically, and we began our journey.
I would like to point out I had noticed since leaving the airport, was the temperature, it was stifling, muggy and close; like a stormy UK Summer evening back in August we were having. Very humid. As we drove I wound down the window in the back and the driver opened both his and the passenger window to allow better air flow.
We drove out of the airport vicinity and began our journey; all the way I kept seeing signs for Kovalam so I felt safe in the knowledge I was at least heading the right way.
Stray dogs meandered across the roads as we overtook "tuk-tuk's" and motorcycles alike; eventually we stop in the main street of Kovalam. The driver asked me once again for the address so I showed him the info on my hotel voucher, we pulled over and asked a policeman who basically pointed to a hotel behind us, called the Turtle Bay, and they exchanged words in their native tongue I wasn't privy to, and the driver did a U-turn and pulled into the gates of the lavish Turtle Bay hotel.
Immediately I thought he's trying to pull a fast one here, maybe taking me to a hotel of his relative or something, my suspicious nature kicked in and I began to say, I have a pre-paid accommodation voucher for the "Toms Inn Premium"... This is the Turtle Bay; "YES YES", he interrupted, this is sister hotel, Toms Inn is located in front of the "Turtle on the Beach" hotel...
"Aaah ok" I said "Fair enough".
I entered the reception and began to check in; the taxi driver asked for payment and I must admit it had slipped my mind. Now remember my 4900rp I had? I was still a little confused with the denominations and so I handed him what i thought was 500, in fact id given the taxi driver 4 x 100rp + 2x 50rp.. Or so I thought, the taxi driver vanished and my suitcase appeared beside me.
I carried on with the check-in procedure completing various forms, at which point the taxi driver re-appeared... "You have given me too much", he said. Oh! I looked at what I had given him and I'd actually given him 4 x 100 + 2 x 500 (which is 1400 (£14) )
How very honest I thought - we rectified the mistake and I gave him 1 x 500 (£5) and he shook my hand and vanished again.
The receptionist called one of his colleagues to show me to my room; I left my case at reception and followed him out of the hotel, then we turned left down a steep drive-way, and then took a right at the bottom.
From what I'd seen so far I was very impressed; very Colonial in style with lots of wood and fabulous architecture. The porter pointed out the swimming pool to the right of us, but quickly added, this is the smaller pool, the Turtle on the beach hotel has a bigger pool for you to use, complimentary of course.
We arrived at the top of some stairs and he pointed over to an adjacent staircase and said, "this is your room". We descended a stair case and back up the other side.
There was a large patio with table and chairs on a balcony, almost like a porch to my room, there is only my room atop the staircase so it feels very private and quite secluded, I could hear the roar of the sound of waves and whilst I couldn't actually see the Sea, I could hear and taste its saltiness. He opened the large wooden doors and put the door stopper down.
I didn't know quite what to expect from the room, I had seen pictures but sometimes they can deceiving ; As we walked through into the room, I was overwhelmed with excitement; the room itself is huge, probably about 30' X 30'. A huge wooden comfortable four-poster bed, table and chairs sat in one corner of the room in front of the floor to ceiling windows which run the span of the room . Opposite the bed there's a nice 47" LG flat screen TV.
Next to the bed is a very decorative and quite ornate chaise-longue with an AC Unit above, then you have an arch way where there's a wardrobe, and opposite is the lavish bathroom; I opened the door to the bathroom and was instantly impressed.
A very nice extended sink unit in front of a mirror with adequate shelving for all my lotions and potions, then.. Get this.. A sunken corner bath with a rain-shower head above! WOWEE! I thought, impressed didn't quite cut it -I was blown away! Reaaally blown away!
It had massively exceeded my expectations, beautifully clean too!
I settled in and began to unpack my toiletries and put my belongings away in the wardrobe, when I noticed a safety deposit box inside the wardrobe! BRILLIANT ,I thought, I was slightly worried about security before this, but now, I feel very secure in the knowledge that my Passport, iPad, laptop, fags, camera and all my money would be safe behind my individualised entry code.
I was rather elated and full of excitement but also it was 4:30 am by now, so after a quick shower cuppa tea (complimentary tea/coffee making facilities too). I went to bed!
Oh my gosh! I've got SO much to write and I'm really tired, not sure how much I'm going to be able to detail it but I'll try my best. Zzzzzz
So I woke up this morning and was deafened by the sounds of the roaring waves, in fact as I lie here now I can hear them every 4 or 5 seconds or so, its such an awesome noise, probably one of my favourite noises in the world, well that and the kettle having recently boiled.
Anyway the soundtrack I awoke to was lovely, I'm so close to the sea and now I can actually see it too!
I stood in my window, having first opened the curtains and then wound the blinds up to reveal the beauty of the beach (You can see this in pictures of yesterday now, all online).
There were people on the beach walking back and forth and even people in the sea playingwith the fierce waves crashing down on the golden sands.
After a few moments of elation, having to pinch myself n stuff, I decided I should get about making a start to the day; I took a shower, applied insect repellent, sun oil & deodorant and donned some clothes and headed out to explore. I was a tad nervous, being on my own here, I wasn't sure if I would be warmly received, being a honky. Nevertheless I continued boldly onwards, my first stop was the hotel reception... as I needed info.
A few weeks ago, me, Lucy Aldridge & Jamie went back to my house after Kung Fu as normal, and after I'd had some food and we'd done a bit more practicing, we left.
We all had a grading due so every moment we had to practice, we took. We left my house and drove towards Paul & Miriam's house (Lucy's Mom & Dad) and on the way I realised I needed fuel; I went to get my Debit Card out of my wallet... but my wallet was no-where to be seen.
Panic-stricken I quickly drove back to my house to see if perhaps I'd left it there, but I remembered putting it inside the door pocket of the Car; Strange, I thought, well as I arrived at my house, there lying in the middle of the drive was my dishevelled wallet, having been driven over by my good self! Dammit!
My wallet which I'd had for many a year was in tatters; Cards all over the shop, money strewn about the driveway, and the integrity of the wallet was shot!
I didn't like walking round with just pure cash on me so my first job was to find somewhere I could buy a nice wallet from. So down to reception and I posed the question. The man who was serving me was very helpful, and not only told me which way to walk, but actually took me to the end of the road from where I could find all the shops adjacent to the beach.
I meandered down past some restaurants, bars and shops selling all sorts, from tours to clothes, to incense and spices, all kinds of different shops; a music shop; a yoga shop... I know right...a shop for Yoga! Who'd have thunk it!
I thought of my auntie Margaret who would love this shop, having been a yoga tutor for some many years now.
Each shop had a 'representative' outside, to excite you into buying their wares; this became a little tiring after the fourth or fifth shop.. Just smile sweetly and say No thank you...
I thought to myself, shop after shop, restaurant after restaurant bar after bar, all accosting you, verbally wrestling you inside.
Eventually I came to what looked like the end of the row of shops, but I noticed some back streets leading off away from the beach and they seemed very much more low key and isolated, as I wandered along the windy alleyway, I noticed the shops became fewer and fewer and somewhat more bespoke; a tailor for instance; a man making sandals out of leather; and a watch-repairer. Amongst these there were some of the more run- of- the- mill sari / sarong specialists.
Shortly I realised I'd done almost a full circle, as the back streets were running in a 'D' shape (if you will) with the straight of the D running adjacent to the sea and the curve going behind.
So I was back to where I'd started and not a wallet in sight. So I ventured down the straight bit of the 'D'. Once again trying not to make eye contact with the "Hasslers"; I neared the end of the Promenade once more and decided that I would be better to ask someone for some directions.
I came across a chap who wasn't trying to sell me his Grandmother, so I asked him if there was a Leather goods shop, or bag related shop close by? He pointed back down the Prom to a brightly coloured Yellow shop or 'ello' as he put it (At first I was looking for a shop called 'ello'), As I looked into the distance I aligned my eyes with his and spotted the shop of which he spoke, and set off towards the middle of the sea-front.
As I approached the shop I felt really stupid, considering I'd walked past the brightly coloured 'ello' shop... twice now; I could now see all things leather, the shop even had leather in its title.. D'oh!
I ventured inside to find many number of leather items, bags, shoes, sandals, belts, jackets and.. Yep, u guessed it... purses and wallets!
I began perusing as the shops' owner appeared, almost as if by magic, telling me of the authenticity of the leather and the integrity of its production; it wasn't in question until he mentioned it but now I began to scrutinize the manufacturing quality to ensure it was a good buy. I did like the wallet and it was exactly what I was looking for so, I enquired as to its cost...
1250rp came the reply (£12.50 to you and me) now that to an English man seems fairly reasonable for a handmade genuine leather wallet, but I knew I could get it cheaper...It was Haggling time!
Now I do love a good bargain, and I do enjoy haggling too... So I said I can't afford £12.50; would he accept £7.50? , knowing that it would be refused immediately, as it was almost insulting.
He declined, telling me tales of the manufacture once more and the inside being suede and.. Blah blah blah. My eyes glazed over and I thought to myself, you're talking yourself out of a sale here mate!
I then went to 800rp he went 1000 we settled at 900 so just £9.00. I was pretty happy to have agreed just to stop him waffling on to be honest, we shook on the deal and I paid the man and left.
Having walked past all the restaurants which were now smelling mighty fine, I discovered my hunger. I wanted to get something from the local places, but I thought, hmm play it safe for now... so I came back to my hotel where I went to the Restaurant, which is called the Catamaran.
I was met with a warm welcome and a very smiley lady seated me & asked me what I would like to drink? I replied & she left me to peruse the menu. By time she had arrived back, I'd already made my choice... Well my grumbling tummy had already decided what I would like to eat.
Before leaving the UK Dad told me to be sure to try the tiger-prawns, so with his voice ringing in my ears and the tiger prawns being the first thing my eyes were drawn to I quickly decided on the Tiger-Prawn Thermidor.
As the smiley lady was pouring my Pepsi I relayed this to her and she went off into the kitchen. A minute or two later a chap arrived with a basket of poppadum's'... Yummy! Although they weren't actual poppadums' ... Well not as I know them anyway; they were very delicate, almost like puff pastry though they did have that poppadum taste to them, but they were in the shape of a Samosa, initially I struggled to actually get one in me gob as it virtually disintegrated upon touching it.
Three attempts later and now covered in this pastry-like substance, I finally managed to taste one!
Time passed, and people came and went; there was a German couple on the next table to me having drinks, but then two meals arrived at their table and boy did it look nice...Food envy!
I was now starving hungry and smelling their choices had made my stomach groan in anticipation. The lady had a salad and the chap had a fish; HUGE bloody thing it was, like a dinosaur fish; eyes and head still in tact which would've put me right off but he dove in and began munching away on this huge gigantic fish.
My meal arrived and it too looked very nice indeed. Now my dad had told me that the tiger prawns were massive... These were not! Just ordinary sized, arranged delicately around the plate with the thermidor sauce poured over. I also had courgettes, tomatoes, beans, quenelle potatoes, lemon, limes, peppers.. It was really nice!
I ate as much of it as I could muster, and it filled me up nicely. A few Pepsi's later and I was done. I requested the bill and sat in the sunshine which was now beating down upon me as I waited for the bill... I waited and waited & waited and still no sign of the bill.
A few more people arrived and the German couple left; well she did. He sat there and had another beer. She re-appeared in a swimming costume and they relocated to the edge of the pool just a few feet in front of where we sat.
I noticed there was a towel on one of the loungers and I could read upside down the words 'England football'. It wasn't in any official colours, and no flag or anything but I had recently thought 'Oooh I wonder if the owner of the towel was English? and if so, whether we could be friends. However the cheeky German chap peeled the towel off the lounger and chucked it on the table, not folded and placed on the table, Oh no... just chucked it in a heap!
I imagined the drama that would take place when the English guy came back, (if he was English, if he was even a he, could even be a she for all I know).
Finally, the Bill arrived & I signed it, authorising the payment to be added to my room tab and I thanked the lady and left. I went back to my room. My intention was, to go down and get a sun lounger and sit by the pool soaking up the sunshine. I got back to my room and lay down a while, at which I became annoyed at myself because I was alone in my room.
I can do this back in England I thought to myself; so I forced myself up and left my room heading back up to the hotel reception.
When I spoke to the Receptionist earlier asking for info on where to buy my wallet, he told me that I would be able to buy one at the beach but the price would be inflated compared to the cost if I went into Kovalam Junction (the main town centre).
I decided I wanted to have a look at the Town Centre, despite having already bought my wallet, but it was something to do. I had no idea where it was or how to get there?
Immediately I had a chap asking me if i wanted a Tuk-tuk? Oooh, that's a splendid idea! I thought; so I began enquiring about cost. 100rp to go the Kovalam Junction, well that was cheap enough so in I jumped.
Within about 3 minutes we were there.. Oh! I didn't realise it was so close I was thinking it would be a good few kilometres.
He pointed out a few things; a temple and some shops, at which point he asked me if I drink beer? Strange question I thought, but I replied, not really.
He then went on to explain that the Supermarket to my left would be the ideal place to buy some beer, being much cheaper than the local bars and other places I could buy beer from.
Ahhh made sense now!
He asked me where in Kovalam I would like to go? And I explained that I'd only arrived that morning so wasn't sure what I was looking for, mostly just to see the sights locally. I saw inspiration flash across his face and he said, 'Okay, I'll take you to the light-house beach' Excellent. Drive on! I replied.
We arrived at the beach but little did he know, or me for that matter, I had already been to this beach, I mentioned this to him, and we jumped back in and set off once again.
We were driving for a few minutes and then he pulled over on the wrong side of the road and told me there was a quarry the other side of the hedge that ran parallel to the road.
I jumped out to see a huge lake which looked like it had been carved out of rock. On all sides steep rock. I took some pictures and we carried on. The road was very bumpy and largely unsurfaced for most of the way, he kept apologising for the bumpy ride and I told him not to worry as it was all part of the adventure.
I asked him about his Tuk-tuk; what size the engine was etc. He began to tell me that this particular Tuk-tuk was a 125cc Piaggio engine, and it was about 15 years old. He bought the vehicle last year meaning he now earns more from each fare.
He pulled over once again after a little way and told me there was a beach the other side of the wall; again I jumped out to investigate and to take a few pics, after which I jumped back in.
He asked me to where i would like to go next? I had no idea, so I said "You're the 'tour-guide' you tell me" we laughed and he said "Okay, I'll take you to the fish market..." Phooey I thought... Fish Market? Yak! (I Hate the smell of fish) But it was all part of the magical mystery tour I had embarked upon, so he drove a while and then we came to what seemed the end of the road, but just ahead were two temples; one painted a putrid Pea green colour, and the other a more traditional white / cream, but with the same putrid green colour on a few of the roofs.
I asked the driver whether that was a cultural or religious choice of colour? Or just to look nice? He replied that the Green temple was a new one; it was built, fairly recently, and a lot of the community were not happy as it stood too close to the original and existing temple. The plan was to knock the old one down, but the locals didn't want this, so they built the new one and painted it in this green colour.
There was a rift in the local community with half preferring the new more modern design, and the traditionalists preferring the original. Anyway, he went on to say, in the end they all agreed they would have both; but to tie the two temples together, the horrid green would be painted on the original temple to match.
But still, some people prefer the older one and some the newer Temple, suffice to say that with both, the whole community can pray and congregate together, albeit in two separate buildings as the older temple wasn't big enough to accommodate all who wished to worship there.
Our Journey continued onwards and my driver who had now told me his name was Sandrooj... 3 times, but I kept forgetting, so I said I'd call him Sandy instead, and I told him my name; so Sandy pointed out the Fish Market in yonder distance and the entire Marina was filled with long thin fishing boats, all different colours sizes and lengths; It made for a pretty picture so I snapped away trying to capture as much of the ambiance as possible which is hard to do on a still photo.
Sandy performed a U-turn in the road and we seemed to be driving back to where we'd just come from, but he took a sneaky right hander, in front of an oncoming bus who angrily sounded his two toned horn, almost akin to an emergency services siren but not quite.
The road grew less and less surfaced and more and more bumpy the ride became. Sandy apologised again and I explained that I have a full bike licence in the UK and I'm a keen Motor biker so not to worry about the bumps, its all part of the fun and the journey.
Eventually we arrived at the edge of the Marina ,and you could see off in the distance the scale of the Market itself; hoards of people were gathered there, some repairing nets, some painting boats, some tinkering with engines, but the majority were handling fish, throwing the catch to each other, up the beach, person to person forming a human/fish-conveyer belt.
I didn't need to be any closer as I could see the commotion, and the stench that drifted across the water which was already overwhelming, so after a few pics snapped I once again climbed back inside the Tuk-tuk and we carried on.
Within a few minutes, Sandy pulled over again; he told me of an ancient Hindu temple up a small pathway and it would be worth capturing on camera. I walked up the 30ft path to find a huge piece of rock into which had been carved , presumably a long time ago, various Hindu gods.
There was a sign, warning of the serious crime it would be, to try and climb or deface the Temple in any way; I took a few pics and went back to the Tuk-tuk to find it empty.
It suddenly dawned on me I had no idea where I was or even what Sandy looked like as I'd only really seen him from behind, and what I could see of his face was only in the mirror.
Just then he came running back down the road apologetically, he'd been to buy fags. We set off once more, I was telling him how expensive fags were back home by comparison to Indian prices; we joked about government and taxes, and he told me that since the late 90's, tourism has fallen off massively by comparison and so therefore prices had increased and taxes were applied to more goods including Ciggies! So can everyone reading this travel to India soon so fags become much cheaper again for Sandy. LOL!
Sandy asked me if I wanted to go to another Temple higher up, where from a big rock, you can see the top of the Temple and then nothing but greenery; just flora and fauna all the way until you reach the sea. He told me it was about 5km away and a perfect place to view sunsets. I naturally jumped at it and told him to 'drive on'.
When we got there, the Temple was very understated, but the view was as he described pretty spectacular. He came with me and we climbed up on top of the large rock where I took some pics, he took 2 pics of me. There was a holy man meditating in Lotus position under an orange flag which was flying from a flag pole atop the big rock.
We sat enjoying the view for a few minutes and then we carried on; he was taking me now to a natural lake (Not man made) and on the way we drove past a bust of a man, and I quickly snapped it as we passed. I asked him who he was and why there was a statue of his head. He did tell me who he was but I've forgotten so i will fill this in later.
Eventually we arrived at the two lakes, it reminded me of being in Earls wood in between the two reservoirs. There was a man selling fish at the side of the road; apparently the fish had come out of the lake and one fish was really big, like a Tuna or something, though obviously not Tuna as they're a sea fish.
He did tell me the name of the fish but i couldn't quite understand what he had said, and I'd asked him to repeat himself twice, and thought I can't ask him again, so just pretended I understood as he turned the Tuk-tuk round. I got out and took some pics. I took a pic of Sandy in his Tuk-tuk and then I got back in and we continued onwards.
When we were on the rock he told me that the rock was a wonderful place to view Sunsets which occurred around 5:30 at this time of year; on the way back he asked me if I would like to see the Sunset from the rock? I said I would be delighted to, so we drove back to the rock, it was now about 5:15 So the sun was still quite high in the sky, though you could see the sky beginning to change colour slightly as the sun sank; seconds turned into minutes and my brand new camera was trained on the skyline for a while taking pics intermittently.
As the camera was new, I had a play with a few of its functions to try and get the lighting just perfect in order to grab the best pics of the sunset. As the sun continued sinking in the sky, Sandy and I were chatting and I told him about café del mar in Ibiza, where people congregate in order that they can appreciate the Sun setting and when the sun finally vanishes how the audience applauds almost as if expectant of an encore.
He told me this was like his church, although he doesn't consider himself a religious man, despite being Hindu, he occasionally likes to go up there in times of trouble to talk to God.
There was quite a few people on top of the rock including 2 police men with their Walkie-Talkies blaring away at almost full volume; but they just sat there having quite an in-depth discussion. I asked Sandy if they were patrolling here or whether they were just on a break? he said they would be from Kerala's main Police Station, and they are spread far and wide across the state, and that they were there to police the area making sure there was no trouble.
By time we came to leave I'd taken many pics of the Sunset and the two police men had disappeared almost as if they heard me asking if they were skiving off; but for the meditating holy man who was still there, he'd now moved round the rock slightly but still sat still motionless, eyes closed both his feet on top of his legs as if cross-legged but both souls of his feet pointing upwards with his fingers gently resting on his knees in the position of what we know as an OK sign but upside-down.
The sun seemed to sizzle for the last few seconds and time was ticking by, it was now gone 6pm; we'd sat there for a good 45 minutes appreciating the Suns' beauty.
Having accepted that the Sun was now gone, we began to walk back to the Tuk-tuk, at which point I asked him about his Tuk-tuk. He corrected me and told me it was a Rickshaw.
A Tuk-tuk is more from Thailand and is man-powered (in other words a bicycle with seats for two behind) unlike his Rickshaw which was powered by an engine, although he did tell me some of the locals call them Tuk-tuk when trying to get customers as they don't really know the difference. ( I'm pretty sure Sandy had got that completely back to front though)
On the way back I saw some graffiti in the style of an open palm and I asked Sandy what it symbolized and he told me it was a political party.
I asked was that the party presently in charge of the government "No!" He said, India has a multi-party system with a mix of two dominant national parties (INC & BJP) and several small regional parties. The party in government was the BJP which had the symbol of a lotus flower .
I asked if the BJP party were doing a good job and he told me, Yes, they were slowly sorting out all of the countries problems, albeit very slowly. However each state has its own internal government system and unfortunately for Kerala, they are still with INC (palm) party, who were not doing a very good job; they were responsible for the increases in tax over the past few years, and so were not so respected.
We approached Kovalam again and he asked me if i wanted to go anywhere else? I asked if there was anywhere to go at night time or anything to do? not really, he said.. Not out of season anyway; but by now my tummy was rumbling again, so I decided I would go and grab some food.
I'd seen a message on Facebook having uploaded my first days blog from Phil who had (you may recall) just returned from this area and had remarked that there were some nice restaurants by light-house beach.
I asked Sandy if he had any recommendations? and he told me of a fusion restaurant and a 'tandoor' restaurant, Tandoori meaning they have a tandoor oven in which to cook the meat.
I told sandy I needed to pop to my room to grab some cash, he told me he would wait for me and take me down to the light-house beach, or at least as far as he was able to take me.
He pulled up outside of the Hotel, and I went in, grabbed my key, got some more cash (just in case) and went back and jumped in the rickshaw (Tuk-tuk) and we journeyed onwards toward the beach.
Sandy asked me if I had any plans for tomorrow (Thursday) and asked if I would like to go to Kerala's capital, Trivandrum. I thought that would be lovely and as I don't have anything to do or really anyone to do it with, so that would be nice. He told me he would meet me outside my hotel tomorrow morning and asked what time I would be there? I told him 10-11ish, and with that I got out and asked him how much I owed him for today?
Now bear in mind that I first met Sandy around 2pm, and it was now nearly 7pm; so five hours worth of driving round seeing sights and of course the fuel costs too. He asked me for 'a fiver' i.e. 500rp I couldn't believe it, £5.00 for 5 hours?
I knew it wouldn't be much but I thought how can he make a living at £1 per hour? I gave him 700rp the two 100's hidden inside the 500, he thanked me, and I meandered off towards the Restaurants id been recommended to go to.
I stopped outside each of the Restaurants; the fusion and tandoor, and vaguely looked at the menu. They both looked good to be fair, but I opted for the tandoor thinking maybe I'll go to the other one during the week.
The waiter ushered me to my table and promptly brought over some water, which by now was much needed, as I'd not had a drink for a while. I poured myself a glass and took a sip of the icy cold water (No ice IN the drink obviously, as I'm "allergic" to ice and also I was advised against having ice in my drinks.. Not that I do anyway ) He he.
I ordered my food and for the 2nd time today, opted for prawns; some Naan bread. Not quite sure why I did because I did fancy something different; alas my order was taken and off the Waiter went to tell the Chef what I wanted.
After a fairly long wait he returned and asked me how spicy I wanted the curry? I replied 'Medium'. Now at the time that seemed like the right answer, however, when the food was delivered to my table I discovered it was not!
The food was SO spicy it took the skin off the roof of my mouth, and when I breathed out it was as if I were solely fuelling the Sun.
Suffice to say it was WAY too hot for my liking; the waiter asked if everything was ok? I told him it was too spicy, and could he perhaps add some yoghurt, or cream? Maybe some milk to temper its heat slightly?
He took my plate away and I sat patiently waiting for its return. He arrived a little while later and handed me what seemed to be the same plate of food. It had been tempered down somewhat but was still bloody hot; it was however now palatable, although I wasn't particularly enjoying it, but not wanting to waste food, I ate the prawns and some of the Naan bread until I felt I could eat no more. I kept having to put the bread in my mouth to absorb some of the heat before swallowing.
I asked for the bill and made my escape from the torturous restaurant.
As I walked back along the promenade, which by now was lined with street lights and street vendors setting up their own little restaurants along the shoreline, and still glowing internally somewhat from the curry I'd just eaten, I felt a bit like the 80's advert for ready-brek (is that still going?) It wasn't as if I needed any extra heat as although it was now almost 8pm it was still lovely and warm.
People were wandering around buying things & being dragged into various restaurants and shops; There was a Lady on the beach doing yoga, and a tribe of what looked like Hari-Krishna's came by, dressed in Orange robes though that was all; no happy clapping, no chanting, so not sure if they were Actual hari-krishnas or just people dressed in orange; there were Dogs playing in the sea chasing one another, and trying to bite the waves.
By now I was feeling exhausted, not that I'd done much really; I was a passenger, but still my broken sleep pattern by now had caught up with me, so I made my way up the very steep hill towards my hotel, kind of in a world of my own when I heard someone shout "Danny!" Not knowing anyone here I didn't turn round.
"Danny".. was again called out, this time I turned round to see a familiar face. Oh! I do have a friend it seems. It was Sandy, he asked me about my meal and I explained how I had to have it sent back because it was too spicy for my delicate mouth. He laughed and said Indians do like their food spicy.
We agreed the time to meet in the morning again and I wished him well as I headed back to my Hotel. It was now just shy of 9pm way too early to go to bed I thought, but I'm just so tired. I'll start blogging.
Or so I thought..
Ha! Fat chance! I was asleep before I even lay down on my big king size bed; Dead to the world! I woke up feeling very much more awake and refreshed, but then I looked at the time.. 00:37 GREAT!
So basically I've slept for four hours and now its 1 am I'm now wide awake.
I sent a few messages, replied to some friends on Facebook, and sent a text to my Mom. When I 'face timed' earlier, my Dad was there, but Mom was out, and I know she would've been disappointed to have missed me so, I calculated the time (Incidentally, if you would like to know the time I am, turn your watch upside-down. It works perfectly so at the moment for example its 06:22 in India and in England it is 00:52 do the maths, it does work)
Anyway I received a text back asking to face time (apples version of Skype).
I placed the call and waited for an answer and in a few seconds we were connected wirelessly. Isn't technology amazing? We were having a conversation as if I were in the same room; the picture, the sound, everything was perfect.
We began chatting and she was asking me about my holidays and I told her what I'd been up to. Dad was there too, but as we'd spoken already he was the designated camera holder LOL.
I showed my Mom my room and bathroom, the patio (All of which you can all see pictures of now as they've been uploaded to get-jealous website) although it was really dark and the beach wasn't in view they could hear the roaring sound of the waves and the obligatory chirping crickets you always seem to get abroad along with birdsong and other background noises.
Oh actually that's my 2nd favourite noise, the kettle can come third! Actually thinking about it, there's lots of noises I prefer to a kettle now. I don't know what I was thinking.. Though I had just made a cuppa so was probably influenced by circumstance.
Our conversation ended and I realised I must get back to sleep soon else I'm going to be in the same situation tomorrow. I thought to myself I bet by the time I go home I'll be sleeping right through and to their time schedule; then I'll have to go through it all over again when I fly home! D'oh!
I lay on my bed, AC whirring away soft chill out music playing in the background but I couldn't sleep! Damnit ! I carried on writing my blog for a while and I went outside and sat on my patio; had a fag and then forced myself back to bed! I tossed and turned a while and eventually I did, again, fall asleep.
When I awoke the next time it was 04:44 I tried to go back to sleep a while but this was to no avail so I began writing once again. Its now 07:08 and I've just realised that breakfast is now being served so on that Bombshell its time to end the show... See you all next time!
So as you may recall from yesterday I was up before the crack of the crows; Oh, on that note, lots of crows here, also there’s a bird who's call had a high pitched scraping sound, almost as if an parasol is spinning round and catching on something every half revolution... very ear piercing and annoying. First of all I did think it was metal scraping on something but I soon learned it is actually a bird. Lol
So I got up about 6:20 and began to write my diary, may as well make hay while the sun shines. I went down for ‘brekkie’ around 8am as I wanted to get an early-ish start to the day and have a good breakfast as I had planned (As you may recall, if you've been reading) to go to Kerala's capital Trivandrum (Thivaranpurum).
I was due to meet sandy at 10:30 - 11:00 after breakfast I walked to the rickshaw stand where I first met him and lots of rickshaw and taxi drivers were trying to get me in to their vehicles.
I told them I was waiting Dor Sandoorj (Sandy) and I they said that Sandy had taken another passenger to Trivandrum! OH! Well great; I continued down the steep path towards the beach.
Today I’d put on my trainers thinking there would be much walking involved and immediately as I walked down the steep path I thought, I’ve made the right choice of footwear today as yesterday in flip flops I nearly fell & broke me neck, but in my trainers I felt very stable.
As I arrived at the beach, there were lots of men standing around a boat which was on the shoreline. I had seen people on the beach from my room and it looked like they were having a tug of war, but I couldn’t see the other 'team' they were pulling against.
Now I realise they were pulling in the catch, and now the boat. They all stood each side of the 20ft craft, and all calling out together in their local tongue, a team effort using the waves as lubrication, they heaved on the boat, and slowly but surely, inched gradually forwards.
The hot sun was beating down as the Men heaved and heaved, it was making me ache just to watch them. The boat was now out of the water, so the waves were no longer any help. They called out for more people to join in to help. It reminded me of when it snows in England and people gather from all around to push a car stuck in a rut.
They were pulsing their calls having a short rest between each push. There were people on both sides, and at the back and then the line of 'tug of warriors' at the front, pulling the rope.
A great demonstration of many hands making light work of a near impossible job. That personifies the Indian way. In England we have our own ways of completing such tasks, engineering various methods of conquering the job in hand. In India everything is done manually, with as many hands to the job as possible. It’s really nice to see to be honest!
The boat now stood proudly half way up the beach, and each man was now relieved of this duty, and carried on as before; not even a round of applause! I nearly clapped them myself but quickly realised it was uncalled for.
I sat on the beach for a few minutes just taking in the sunshine and the ambience of beach life, though the serenity didn’t last. Firstly I had a sarong / sari salesman trying to sell me a sarong; it was very nice, cream and gold & he was telling me of its multi-functionality as it can (apparently) be used as a sarong or a sari; a table cloth; curtains; bed spread; floor covering; towel, or even a washing cloth.
I really wasn’t interested though I just really wanted to sit there and enjoy the sunshine. I politely refused and he went on his way.
Seconds later, another man came selling an almost identical sarong /sari. I thought to myself You just watched me refuse the last guy now piss off! Obviously I politely refused and he went on his way.
Moments passed when another Man selling Sandals approached telling me of his fine hand-made craftsman-ship and the quality leather materials he used. Again I politely refused and sent him on his way..
Guess what... Yep, this time a lady approached asking me to buy some coconuts, mangoes, melon, pineapple, bananas... By now I was really beginning to get annoyed! On the way to the beach there were more sellers on the hill trying to get me to buy their items, so this was probably the 10th person within 10 minutes; you can imagine my patience was by this point wearing thin.
I thought perhaps if I go further down the beach adjacent to my hotel there would be less hassle. But Nope! “Sir you want sunbed parasol?”
OMG! Feck this, I’m going back to my hotel. The hot sun wasn’t helping either as the sweat was very literally running down my head, neck, back, & arms; it was as if I were in a sauna.
I quickly realised my choice of attire wasn’t as appropriate as I imagined it being. I was wearing my smarter shorts today which are quite heavy almost cargo-pant-like but just past the knee.
I climbed the steep hill thinking to myself they really could do with a funicular railway as the slope is really really, REALLY quite steep; so much so that a 4x4 pick-up truck laden with goods and people was struggling to make the climb.
People in the truck were moving around trying to add weight where the wheels were, a bit like those motorbike & sidecar races where the passenger clambers about to get better traction etc. (Can’t think what it’s called).
The slope is also in the shape of a long 'S' making it harder for the vehicles to negotiate, as at one point it’s down to a single track, and there were lots of vehicles all trying to traverse the slalom.
I neared the top of the hill, which reminded me how unfit I am; as I stopped to catch my breath for a second or two, I was approached & offered a taxi/rickshaw. I refused and decided to head back to my hotel.
Over breakfast I saw a few people who are staying in the hotel, there were 2 ladies who were sat together and then a lady sat alone. I thought.. Ooh they all look English!
Arriving back at the hotel I headed for the pool where I sat yesterday having my lunch; wait! was that yesterday?.. I dunno! The days are kind of rolling into one long day due to the sleeping issues I’ve been having. Anyway when I arrived the three ladies were still sat where they once were for breakfast an hour or so before, enjoying their coffees and the sunshine.
I must’ve looked pissed off, because one of the ladies asked me if I was okay? I told them of the hassle I’d had down at the beach, and how my peace was constantly being interrupted. We had a laugh about it and they invited me to take a seat, I obliged and ordered myself a coffee. A free one as it was still breakfast. (Yay).
We all began talking about how long we were all here for and where we were from etc.
One of the ladies had her arm in a cast. I enquired what had happened. They arrived a fortnight prior in Chennai and were on a bicycling tour when Gill ( the lady with the arm in a cast) had a 'collision' with a truck and came off much worse.
The other lady was called Mo, she had recently broken her foot before coming out to India so whilst Gill was cycling, Mo was sat on the support bus!
Oh no! I can’t imagine being on a cycling tour in India; again the thought of it was making my calves ache, but I think I’d much rather cycle, than sit on a damn bus for 2 weeks.
Mo said she found it boring at times and I sensed a tension between the two of them, so I quickly moved the conversation on to where they were from; Worcester they told me! Oh only down the road then, I’m from Birmingham I exclaimed.
Ooh where in Birmingham? Gill asked. I replied ‘Solihull originally… but now I live in Kings Heath...’ ‘NO’, she said, I used to live on Vicarage road… we laughed, small world eh?
We carried on chatting a while but the sweat was by now soaking my clothes and I could almost smell myself humming. I wished them well and went back to my room, a definite change of shorts and perhaps a shower I thought.
I took a shower (which was neither warm nor cold) despite messing with the temperature control. I Put my swimming shorts on, and headed back to the pool.
All the time I was feeling a tad disgruntled by the fact Sandy had taken another passenger to Trivandrum; almost as if I’d been stood up on a date. Lol
What was I going to do with myself for the day because I sure as shit can’t sit round the pool all day; 1) I’d get bored after an hour or so, 2) it was way too fricken’ hot to sit out in it, and it was still only 09:30 in the morning, imagine how hot it would be by midday when the sun was at its highest point in the sky.
Nevertheless I went to find a sunbed by the pool, all appeared to be taken, however there was a secondary terrace level toward one end of the pool though you have to walk down some steps, and it was completely secluded. Normally if I were travelling with someone that would’ve been ideal, but when you’re alone, you have to try and make friends so you don’t feel lonely.
I took my sunbed, turned it round so it was in the sunshine and lay there for a few minutes, having first applied sun oils; literally within 10 minutes or so I needed a dip, so I climbed the steps back up to the poolside and jumped in the deep end.
Ahhh that’s better I thought; I swam two lengths and got out; remember I’d not long eaten, so the two lengths were actually more than enough; to be honest, I just needed to be immersed in water.
As I returned to my sunbed I noticed two vacant beds next to each other; there were also two more English types there who had appeared. An English looking fairly young couple, I thought, a perfect opportunity to speak to them. I asked the lady whether there was anyone using those sunbeds to her left, she looked over and said there was, but she thought they'd gone now. “Ace!” I said, I went to grab my stuff, and relocated to the vacant beds and ordered myself a can of Pepsi (coke doesn’t seem to exist here I’ve only had Pepsi which I do prefer so Yay).
I lay there lapping up the sunshine and enjoying the occasional breeze; to my left was a Spanish family; their young boy playing with an oversized beach ball with the map
of the world printed on it, which was really cool (The ball I mean) I watched as he kept trying to jump on top whilst his mom held the ball still. every time he jumped on, he immediately fell off, a bit like those giant balls in ‘Total Wipe-out’ (hosted by Hammond).
It was quite entertaining watching him try; then he was chasing the ball down the pool with his mother still holding the ball, encouraging him to swim. It was lovely to see Mother and boy happily playing, it made me, nostalgically remember the fun we used to have as kids whilst on holiday.
All of a sudden I needed to be immersed once again; the dips in the pool felt so refreshing. I noticed a strange thing when standing in the shallow end which was the bottom of the pool didn’t seem to be 'attached' to anything as if it was ‘floating’ ; each time I put my foot down it was met with a bubble of air. Not too sure what it was, but it felt like no pool I’d ever been in before. It was like being on an underwater bouncy castle. Time to get back out again.
I had been lying in the Sun now for an hour or so, and still feeling a bit miffed at not being able to go to Trivandrum. I was soo looking forward to doing everything that Sandy had described. Oh well never mind I thought, maybe I should just go anyway.
I left the hotel and, as per usual, accosted by taxi and rickshaw drivers. I decided to go to Trivandrum after all. So I got in a rickshaw of another chap, and he was asking me where I wanted to go? I explained that Sandy was taking me on a tour of all the things I would most enjoy, but I didn’t really know what these were; “So where do you want to go?” he said.
‘Oh My!’ I thought, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, as I could imagine being dropped off in the busy city, not really knowing where to go or what to do. I started having second thoughts, but just then, out the corner of my eye, appeared Sandy!
YAAAAAY! All’s forgiven I thought, and actually I noticed the time had only just turned 10:30 - so he hadn’t 'stood me up' at all, he had me in mind, and made sure to be back in time for me! Bless him!
We walked to his Tuk-tuk (Can’t be arsed, to keep writing ‘rickshaw’, Tuk-tuk is so much easier to type lol) We quickly set off for Trivandrum and I told him that the other drivers were telling me you would be gone all day. “No!” He said, “I told the previous customer I could only drop him off as I had to be back for another customer!” Ahhh, bless him , all IS forgiven! LOL
I began to feel excited now as we drove, knowing that Sandy had some great things in store! I spoke with him all the way there about various topics; he told me of the traffic issues they face in Trivandrum, almost pre-empting the traffic jam we suddenly found ourselves in only moments later.
After a short time the traffic finally moved on, and we were whizzing by again but only to ground to a halt once more. When I say traffic jam, they're not like our traffic jams, where you get 1 or 2 lines of traffic in a neat orderly queue; No this is basically one carriageway, with buses, trucks, cars, motorbikes, tuk-tuk’s, bicycles, pedestrians all filling up every inch of space; as if the bigger vehicles were like marbles in a jar, and the smaller vehicles were the sand poured in to take up all excess space, with perhaps the pedestrians being water which soaked up the sand; the gap between our Tuk-tuk and the one beside me was so small, I could see the food still stuck in the teeth of the person next to me; probably no more than 6" away.
Eventually, we parked up, well Sandy did, and jumped out. I didn’t know where we were going, but was happy to follow my 'tour-guide'.
We arrived at a very impressive temple, it looked like it was made of ivory with very ornately carved gargoyle-like statues carved all over the building. I’ve taken lots of pics but as I only have Wi-Fi on my phone I cannot upload them here, but I will figure a way somehow soon! (Just a question of techno-wizardry).
Alas I don’t feel my words do justice to the impressiveness of the temple which stands high in the air; as I’m not a Hindu, I wasn’t allowed to go inside or even look in, but there was a museum I could look around if I wanted to. I decided against it, as it looked very time consuming, and there were more exciting things to be getting on with.
Where Sandy had parked, was a restricted area, & had to move his Tuk-tuk; so he left me
to explore the Temple surroundings alone whilst he moved, as we'd parked in front of a vendor selling his goods on the street.
There were some angry words were exchanged, & Sandy bargained for a few minutes whilst he showed me where to go, and then he promised to come straight back, the man agreed so long as he was quick.
By time he'd returned, I was ready to leave, so we headed back to the Tuk-tuk. He fired up the engine [ahem] no…it chugged to life, and he engaged reverse, though we sat still for a good few minutes idling, with all the passing traffic, and people; eventually we managed to escape our parking spot, I use the word ‘escape’ because it literally felt like we'd done something wrong due to the speed at which he had to manoeuvre the Tuk-tuk in order to not get stuck again.
“Where do you want to go next?” Sandy enquired.. “You're the 'tour-guide' remember” I replied , and we both laughed; inspired he said, “Ok, I’ll take you to the palace!”
Oooh a Palace! I thought.. Hmmm! Sandy was pointing out various temples, & Government buildings, and I pointed & squirted my camera at them all, trying to capture the points of interest, as we chugged along! (Remember his Tuk-tuk is 15 years old) lol..
Sandy made a left turn and was looking for somewhere to park, we had to drive quite a way from the Main Road to the nearest parking spot, which was behind a coach. From here we walked back to the Main Road and he told me, ‘We have the palace on our left, or the Zoo on the right’ Oooh, a Zoo sounded interesting so the Zoo it was to be.!
I didn’t know the protocol regarding payment, do I offer to pay for his entry? Or do I allow him to pay for himself? We approached the ticket desk to enquire as to the cost; 20rupees per person. (20p)
Okay, I’ll pay… I think the budget will stretch to that! There was a further 50rp if I wanted to take photos. So it was 90rp in total. (90p) well that’s cheap enough I thought! I duly paid and we were issued with tickets.
We went to the Zoo entrance and the lady took our tickets and asked if she could check my bag. She saw I had a (nearly empty) bottle of water, and asked me to get a sticker placed on the bottle as plastics were strictly forbidden inside the zoo as the damage they can do to the animals. Fair enough, I thought, I downed the rest of the water, saving the need to get a sticker, and discarded the now empty bottle in the bin as we entered the zoo.
The first exhibit of animals were two adjacent enclosures of monkeys; various types and species, with information signs detailing their origins, diet, behaviour, scientific names etc..
We followed the path round where there were various species of birds. Whom in my opinion didn’t really have that much space, at all.
The highlight of the Zoo were the lions tigers and bears; Oh my! (Well I didn’t actually see the bear because he was hiding) We waited for a moment hoping it would grant us an audience but to no avail.
We turned round to see what was on the opposite side of the enclosure, I had a vision of the ‘Kit-Kat’ ad where the photographer waits patiently for the pandas’, when he sits down and breaks his Kit-Kat open, & the panda's come out on roller-skates and do a little dance, until he turns back to his position when they vanish. Sandy thought he saw the Bear, so we waited again but no, he wasn’t feeling sociable.
Next came the Lion enclosure; there was a Guard standing by to ensure no-one fell in I presume, but who also pointed out the lioness’ position, I quickly trained my camera on her and zoomed in as much as possible!
My new camera is Ace! I can zoom, up to 48x by using digital zoom which is really very excellent, at full stretch I got some really good pictures of the lioness as if she were inches from me, I was very impressed! Not so much by the lion, i have to say, who just sat there, still, not moving.. but by my camera - wow! Haha
Once we’d seen all the exhibits in the Zoo, which included Leopards’; two types of tiger; Jaguars (sponsored by TATA - (no, not really) a Panther, and of course the lions.
They also kept various monkeys, birds, crocodiles, hippos, rhino's, deer, antelope and zebra. Then there was a reptile house, housing all kinds of venomous snakes, along with various iguana’s, chameleons, and lizards, tortoises, turtles etc.
We left the zoo and took a walk around an adjacent park, which apparently tends to attract lovers who meet here for lunch; a chance embrace each other (sometimes more than just embrace if u catch my drift) then go back to work.
I would like to say, although I did enjoy the Zoo, I also felt very sorry for the animals; they all looked very well treated and looked after, but I wish there were no such things as Zoos. I wish they were all left in Africa to roam free.
One of the tigers I was very upset for as he was clearly demented, pacing 4 steps forwards turning round and pacing 4 steps back then turning round and pacing 4 steps forward so on and so on.
They do have quite a bit of space but animals should not live in cages in my opinion; yes I realise I’m somewhat hypocritical, having helped fund the zoo by paying to go in, but it’s a bit like being veggie for the sake of the animals. They're not going to stop slaughtering them just because people choose not to eat them. Sorry if that causes offence to anyone!
Anyway…As we left I bought 2 bottles of water for me and Sandy; 2 x 1ltr bottles for 40p can’t be bad! We walked back to where he'd parked and on the way, he said, “Oh no my Tuk-tuk has been stolen!”
“No Sandy, it’s just further down” I said. “ No… I parked behind the coach” he said with concern…” That’s true,” I said, “ but the coach we parked behind was also further down, and whilst there are no coaches beyond this one, I’m sure your Tuk-tuk is still in there!..”
He was pulling my leg as he knew that already, and was just trying to shit me up! Ha-ha! FAIL! Sure enough, there it was.
He wiped the back seat with his rag under his seat and I jumped in. He asked if I would like to see the Palace now? “Sure” I said.
We drove back to the end of the road by the Zoo entrance, where he took a left turn, and we carried on for about 50 yards, where he took another left. Not sure if I’ve mentioned or not yet, but they drive on the left in India so navigating is very similar to UK, though there are way more vehicles in any one space of road than in UK, and vastly many more motorbikes; I reckon they must have as many in the state of Kerala alone, as we have in the whole of the UK. Probably not, but it surely seems like it!
Arriving at the 'Palace' I was frankly, very underwhelmed. It’s more like a nice house really, I asked who lived here? he told me that the Last king of India once lived there, but now he lives in Kovalam and the Palace is empty, being used mainly as a location for TV shows and news stories.
The ‘Last King’ is so-called because now the Monarchy is dying with him; he's in his late 70's and when he dies the monarchy dies with him; the Government make all the decisions which affect the country, which apparently is better, because the powerful egotistical King used to govern creating laws to suit his personal betterment. But now the Government make the choices for the 'people'. Although, power hungry politicians are tending to follow in the footsteps of the King, taking the power for themselves and bettering their own lives, leaving the people to almost fend for themselves. Just goes to show absolute power corrupts absolutely!
We journeyed onwards to our next stop on the Magical Mystery tour, which was the 'back-waters'; a series of inter-twining rivers and canals all fed by the River Ganges.
Upon arrival Sandy went and spoke to a friend of his, and enquired how much it was? The 2 hour trip was 3000rp (£30) which I thought was a bit steep; but as we'd driven almost 10kms from Trivandrum, and stopping in Kovalam to get some more money exchanged, I could hardly refuse.
We were given life jackets as we boarded the boat which had an aisle with rows of seats either side. No-one showed me to my seat, I figured it out for myself.
We took our seats as the boat journey began. Very slowly, almost walking pace I thought.
I was expecting it to be slightly quicker paced if I’m honest. We took a right down a very narrow canal, literally just wide enough to take the boat, and along the way, Sandy pointed out various birds and animals as he spotted them.
We ventured on, returning back to the main river source and heading along towards where the ocean meets the river. There were Floating hotels & restaurants situated over to the left as we headed towards a statue of Jesus being held in the arms of the Virgin Mary.
I forgot to mention, that amidst the Temples and Mosques in the city, there were a number of really nice Christian churches; some which looked very British using our traditional methods of construction. I found this bizarre.
Naively, I thought all Indians were either Hindu, Muslim or Sikh. but some Indians are Christians, particularly in the south of India, particularly in Kerala and even more so in the capital.
There seems to be no such thing as 'racism' in India, Sandy was telling me; Christians, Muslims, Sikhs Jews, and Hindu’s all formed one big community! Each having their own individual places of worship, but all coming together to work as one race. Indian.
How wonderful to see them working collectively to build one country, with little animosity or trouble, between different religions. We all have Gods, he was telling me, they are all just different versions of the same story. With exception of Hinduism who have many different Gods.
It made me feel somewhat racist by proxy; all we seem to do in our country is bicker and argue over who is the superior God and religion, when in the eyes of humanity we are all alike. Obviously that doesn’t cover the whole subject.. but also it really kind of does!
Many problems we face in the UK is more to do with immigration than race I think to be fair! Though I’m sure there are those who will argue, for every opinion there is someone who will disagree. You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time!
Anyway back on track. I took pictures of Jesus and Mary and we journeyed on; to be honest the boat ride was very lovely but a bit samey. Although I was really enjoying the constant breeze; the weather having turned quite sticky and close compared to the hot raw heat of the morning.
A lot of the birds were similar in species, colour etc.; the most frequent being the Kumarant who dive down to fish, sometimes for up to several minutes, a bit like our English Cormorant & Moorhens I have seen from time to time on the canals and rivers of England. Which reminded me of a game we used to play back in my childhood, predict where the Moorhens pop-up & first to spot him wins.
I took many pictures, and the boat continued along his pre-ordained route. I know this because there were several similar boats in front and behind. Each one varying slightly from boat to boat, but all generally going in a similar direction.
Along-side the rivers and canals were houses and places of worship, and at various intervals communities of people were bathing and washing their bodies and clothing, using their sarongs as washing cloths like a flannel, though as big as a towel. Oh so you can use them as a wash cloth I thought! Thinking back to the pest on the beach; the bathers were all chatting and enjoying the water and its life-replenishing qualities..
Time passed as did the water beneath us, and I’m not saying I was getting bored because each turning was different from the last if u know what I mean. I did think perhaps an hour would’ve been sufficient!
We were heading back towards the statue of Mary and Jesus, I wondered why? We pulled up along the sandy beach of the river, and Sandy told me to get out at the front. I did so, and as I stood on the beach, which was concaved slightly & obscuring the view beyond.
As we climbed the slight hill, I saw the other side of the beach was the Indian ocean. Wow! That’s impressive I thought, the fierce waves lashing down on the very steep, sandy beach.
Sandy told me of the strong under-currents here, so it is not safe to swim, but lots of people were on the beach taking photos of each other, and of the scenery.
We got back on the boat and was pushed off by a kind man on the beach, presumably someone who worked for the many companies who do trips of the backwaters.
When we were in the middle of the river basin which is formed by the swelling of the river which meets the ocean via a little inlet or canal, the Captain, who's name escapes me, asked me did I want to 'drive' the boat? ‘Sail’, I thought… ‘Sail the boat’… But YES of course I do. Truth be told, I’d been itching to take the helm to see what the boat could do.
I got told off.. “Please don’t accelerate too fiercely; there is a speed limit we must stick to, to preserve the natural habitat” said the Captain. “Understood.” I replied! Lol
I took my place back in my seat after navigating the boat for a good 10-15 minutes.
Just then, the Captain cut the engine; I thought there was a problem, but as I looked round, he silently pointed over to the right the boat, spun round by the boost of power he had given it before cutting the engine, and so coming round to my left hand side, there sat very still and peacefully was a Kingfisher!
Wow, a real live kingfisher right before my eyes; I’ve never seen one before in real life only on TV, his turquoise plumage reflecting off the water like an optical illusion. I had my camera to hand so pointed and shot several pictures. The first one I rushed, and so was blurred, so I took my time with the next, trying to take a good picture before he flew away.
I managed to get a good picture, but thought if I could zoom in, I could get a close-up, so pressed the zoom button, and seconds later his beauty filled my digital screen and click…got him!
I went to take a second close-up, but sadly he flew off. Such a beautiful bird; his turquoise feathers leading to an orange flash down his face almost disguising his eye with white under his bill, and reaching round to his neck.
Ok, so the trip, all of a sudden became better value for money I thought, that was well worth £30 to see a kingfisher in the wild. But just then, as if feeding off my elation, he cut the engine again. I frantically began searching for what he had stopped for this time, knowing there must be something.
What did I see I hear u cry? Only a bloody Eagle!
He sat atop a branch high in the trees, almost as if waiting patiently for me to capture him in my screen. Zooming in for a close up, I got two excellent pictures! I was overjoyed!
“That was magnificent”, I said! Ok! This trip is Awesome I thought! He fired up the engine again, and off we went.
We headed back to the jetty where we first boarded the boat, and I assumed that our time was up. prior to the point in the trip where I saw the Kingfisher and the Eagle my eyes began to feel heavy, and I nodded off.
The sound of the boat engine was hypnotising me somewhat as I found myself drifting off to a dream-like state; I remember having a full blown conversation with my Mom & Dad in my dream-like state, and then instantly I woke up.
This happened several times, so when we arrived at the jetty I must admit I was glad to be getting off; perhaps I can sleep in the Tuk-tuk I thought, not wanting to fall asleep on the boat and missing the adventure.
However, we were only there to re-fuel I discovered, as we still had a full half an hour left on-board. Oh! Well, perhaps there’s more to see than I thought.
We pulled away after refuelling and headed in the opposite direction; Sandy and the Captain exchanged words in their native tongue, and then Sandy asked me “ Would I like to see an elephant?”
“YES! Of course.” So we pulled up at another jetty not too far from the one we'd just refuelled at, and once the boat had been securely moored to the jetty, I climbed out, and there stood in front of me were 3 beautiful Elephants, gargantuan in size, stature and presence.
One of the Elephant herders brought one over to a platform I’d climbed onto to climb on top of the Elephant. Oh did I mention I had paid £5 to have a ride? No I don’t think I did.
The Elephant who was clearly used to having people ride him, lined himself with the platform and I carefully (after removing my shoes) climbed on, trying not to put too much pressure on the poor animal. Again I did feel a bit sorry for it, but at the same time it’s not every day you get the opportunity to ride an Elephant.
His leathery skin had sparse hairs sticking up like the hairs of a new born baby, but they were very prickly like a cactus or a sea-urchin. Or how I would imagine. We walked around a track with the 'Mahout' leading the Elephant where he wanted him to walk and I had to duck below some of the palm leaves level with my head.
I felt like a Maharaja, being way above everyone else; I can see why they enjoyed this mode of transport, particularly through dense forest or jungles.
As soon as we'd walked around the track a few times, it was time to get off, and return to the boat. We set sail once again, we didn’t get very far before small rings began to appear in the water, and sadly no, it wasn’t a multitude of fish, it was rain!
Still first time I’ve seen rain in India, and whilst it began to lash down, it was still fairly warm, even the rain water wasn’t cold so it was no bother really.
It was now 6pm and having been up nearly 12 hours, the sun had set, and it was dark; street-lights flickered on as the boat ride came to an end, but what an end. I was on a massive high, but feeling somewhat exhausted by now; fighting off yawns as best I could, the rain shower did help a bit, but I was still hoping for some sleep on the ride home, however, that wasn’t to be.
We set off in the Tuk-tuk and the traffic ground to a halt. People were dashing here, there and everywhere, under umbrellas sheltering from the rain. Their open fronted shops being closed off by sheets of blue tarpaulin to save their goods getting wet.
Sandy pulled over on the wrong side of the road, got a newspaper from behind me and scrunched it into a little ball. What’s he doing? I wondered.. He then wiped the outside of the windscreen, absorbing most of the water in the newspaper, he took a second piece and did the same with the inside.
“Don’t your windscreen wipers work? I enquired. “Nope!” He said, “ It’s ok, do not worry” Ha, don’t worry I thought! No its only my life you have in your hands. Still, he seemed to know what he was doing, so I ignored the fact we could be killed at any moment, and I just sat back.
“Where to next?” Sandy asked. “Home I think Sandy, I’m really tired and hungry, and I think it best I do so as I’m spending lots of my budget, albeit on memories I will cherish”
The thing is, the cost of living out here is SO ridiculously cheap, you spend money like water, as if money is no object.
“So what would you like to do tomorrow?” he asked. At this point I had to remind myself whilst I consider him to be my friend, he's a great chap, very knowledgeable, helpful and fun with a good sense of humour,. I am, to him still, just another customer!
I then began to wonder whether he was on commission for all the places he takes me to? Probably I thought; well fair play I suppose, he has to make a living; also he has shown me things I’d never have seen without him. I told him tomorrow I think I’m going to just have a quiet day by the pool.
The rain continued to lash down and with the speed of the Tuk-tuk I was now feeling quite cold. I unwound a piece of tarpaulin from up above, from where you would have a handle on the passenger side of a car, above the window-line.
As it unfolded Sandy said… “Oh, I will pull over to fasten it correctly” I didn’t realise, it pulled right to the front and clipped in to where the wing-mirrors are attached to his vehicle. ‘Oooh that’s clever’ I thought.
Now I was all nice and snug, I leaned my head back against the back of the seat and let my eyes close for a moment at which point Sandy spoke to me; I didn’t hear what he said, so I leaned forwards and he repeated himself and I replied it was just general conversation,
I leaned back and he began talking again; I thought to myself are you doing this on purpose to stop me falling asleep. Maybe I’m not allowed to sleep in the back of a Tuk-tuk perhaps?
Eventually we were back at the Hotel, and still the rain lashed down, I paid Sandy the remainder of what I owed him as I’d given him some funds earlier to refuel, in total 600rp for the day so even though his avarice annoyed me it was still dirt cheap really.
I arrived back in my room and contemplated going down by the beach for some food, I then thought about all the hustlers and I decided I’d have room service.
I picked up the menu and decided on a lamb biryani with naan bread. I rang down to place my order making sure to point out I wanted it extra very mild, after the previous night’s meal.
I began to run myself a bath as I was very tired and fighting to stay awake. By now it was about 19:30 I was determined to stay awake till 22:00 else I’d be up dead early again.
The bath began to fill and I checked the temperature.. Hmm tepid! I felt the temperature of the water coming out of the tap.. Cold, not ice cold, but certainly not hot enough to bathe in! I rang down to reception and asked if someone could come and sort it out for me.
A little time passed and the doorbell rang, I opened the door to see a uniformed member of staff who with a wobbly head, like a nodding dog. He exclaimed, I’m here to sort out your hot water. I left him to it for a while, as I pottered about sorting through my clothes.
He said to me, “Sir, it's sorted now; you must not touch the temperature gauge.” “Ok, brilliant” I said, thanked him and he left. I kept it filling up the bath but within a few seconds the temperature had gone cold again! FFS! I thought! Ahhh feck it, I’ll just boil the kettle, like back in the old days when you ran all the hot water off, before the days of combi boilers, I’m sure we all remember that eh!?
My food then arrived so I sat down to eat, & thought ‘Bugger the bath, I’ll sort it out later’.
I opened the lid to reveal 2 plates; one with the curry, rice, and the sauce, I assumed.. And another plate with the naans’ on.
Ahhh that’s good, the sauce has been left for me to add. I wonder how hot it was. I picked up some Naan and dipped it in; It felt like I’d just licked a 9v battery! JEEEEZ! Fire! Fire! Someone phone 999.. No wait.. 112.
I’ve never been one for extremely hot food, but I can take a fair amount… but this, it was like liquidised scotch bonnet! Ridiculously hot! Okay I’m glad I tasted it before adding. Won’t be using much of that!
I ate my dinner making it just the right temperature, then I chomped on a clove, Ew vile!
I spat it out. I bloody hate cloves; I appreciate their medicinal qualities when I have toothache ,but NOT in me dinner! I began searching for any more that may have been hidden, I couldn’t see any, but was taking each spoonful very carefully,
Then the roof of my mouth began to feel pain, WTF is that? I spat out the lamb I’d just rolled up in the naan bread; it was still attached to the bone. ‘Omg,’ I thought, I wouldn’t mind if the lamb that was attached was of good size, but it wasn’t. Hardly any meat… in fact in the whole dish!
I have to admit, I’m not really a fussy eater, I’ll generally eat most things, except cauliflower, cabbage and sprouts. But this was just unacceptable in my opinion, good job I ordered chips on the side!
I ate as much as I could until I felt more or less full, & washed it down with the Pepsi and pushed the table away, and began boiling the kettle for a cuppa tea, and a bath!
Eventually after much kettle boiling, I got the bath to an almost adequate temperature, still on the cold side to be honest, but I kind of stank, so I continued with the bath, washed myself and got out; bit unimpressed to be honest, I was really looking forward to a nice soak! Never mind I’ll have one when I’m back home and just shower for the rest of my stay!
It was now about 9pm and I still had an hour to go until my designated time to sleep. And still the rain lashed down.
I caught up with a few friends via various apps and chatted to Kev on Facebook messenger, whom I wanted to mention for a while because he is my official Editor! Has been for most of my blogs and never have I given him any recognition, so thanks Kev for all your hard work and efforts, and for chatting to me last night making sure I didn’t go to sleep before it was time! ( You’re welcome Danny, it’s been fun. Kev Ed.)
We were trying to sort out skype so we could, well Skype each other but despite numerous times I tried to log in, it told me I needed to change my password; so I did, logged in with the new password, & it told me my password was incorrect! I changed it again, and again when logging in, told me my password was wrong. We gave up in the end and just chatted on Facebook instead!
22:00 rolled in! Yes! I'd made it.. Now I can sleep.. And I did!
Day 3 (chillout begins)
Having remained awake as long as possible last night, i had my first good nights sleep since my adventure began, what seems like weeks ago now even though its only been a few days.
I woke at 06:25 looked at my phone, went back to bed. I figited for a while trying to get comfy and then drifted back off to sleep.
I woke again 08:25 looked at my phone went back to bed. I figited for a while trying to get comfy and then thought, hmm maybe i'd better go for Breakfast, thought naah its too early yet. Figited a bit more and then drifted off back to sleep.
Btw its appropriate to mention at this juncture that breakfast is (included in the price of my hotel reservation, much to my surprise and sheer delight, as i thought i was on a room only basis) served between 07:30 and 10:30
I woke again at... Yep u guessed it 10:35 ha! Damnit perhaps i shouldve gone down when i woke before. I quickly scurried round to the phone rang down to reception and asked whether or not i had missed breakfast.
A lady answered and i asked the question, she told me the times for breakfast were 07:30 - 10:30
i know, and i realise it's 10:35 i pressed on, am i too late?
Oh, sorry sir i didnt realise what time it was, let me call down to the restaurant and i will call you straight back.
Okay, thank you..
I hung up the phone and pensively waited, do i have a shower quickly while i'm waiting, do i make a cup of tea. Do i quickly brush my teeth.. Ooh i do need a wee, i'll do that.. I took two paces towards the foot of the bed and the phone rang.
I answered, with... get this.. "Hello"? (I know right.. im such a cunning linguist)
Hello sir, this is reception. You can come down to breakfast within the next ten minutes and it will still be open to you.
Perfect, Thank you very much. And with that i hung up.
I raced into the bathroom, with the the theme tune to benny hill in my head on double speed.. I hurridly grabbed my toothbrush loaded it with toothepaste, began brushing my teeth, turned on the shower, had a wee, got in the shower still brushing my teeth, thought momentarily about how i couldve killed three birds with one stone if i'd had a wee, in the shower. I finished brushing my teeth loaded myself up with soap and shampoo and washed my hair and body for a moment or two. i stood up straight for a second to wash the shampoo out my hair, all of a sudden i suddenly realised... Suddenly.. Omg! Hot water. And not too too hot but just hot, just right in fact i heard an choir of angels in my head sing 'Aaaaaaaaaaaah' as a harpist fingered her entire instrument. [leeeeave it]. Shame im in such a hurry, i couldve really enjoyed it! Nevermind.
I stepped into my flip-flops and got dressed quickly after toweling myself off. Grabbed my key, flinging the door open, closing it behind me doing a little twirl inwards so i faced the door, locked it and jumped down most of the stairs to the flat landing and ran up the steps on the other side.
As i got to the corner of the other peoples balconies. I noticed (as my curtains were still drawn) it was still persisting down percipitatiously (raining).
I turned the corner and started the climb up the steep hill towards reception, there was a puddle and wearing my flip flops my one foot aqua-planed accross the puddle and i nearly did the splits. Rectifyingly i shuffled on along the wet marble, as if i were some kind of gaysha girl in a pencil skirt too tight around the ankles, until i reached the covered concrete, and the even-steeper, hill, leading down to what (i presume) is the owner of the hotels private residence. It does have a sign saying private residence, so that much i know for sure. And leading up to the street level in the opposite direction.
I shuffled to the top of the 'steeper' slope turned the corner, right and right again after the indian bookshop and i was at the top of the stairs leading down to the restaurant.
Marble - Be careful, my brain told me, this could hurt if it goes wrong. I tip toed down the stairs, almost statue-esque on each step as if i were creeping up on someone, phew. Made it, took a step towards the door ---
SPLITS!! GOD-DAMNIT! Right outside of the glass fronted doors, where the entire staff and all the patrons of the restaurant could see.
The door quickly opened inwards and a dash of ice cold air hit me and luring me inside invitingly, as a man, (who had opened the door from the inside) who had come to help me.. no, no i'm fine. Im ok. I said. He was very worried for me, ru sure your ok sir, no cuts or bruises. No no, honestly i'm ok.
I noticed by now practically the entire restaurant was looking over and i felt my, already kinda slightly sunburnt face go a few shades deeper.
The wiater-type person who'd sat me down the previous day, showed me to a vacant table, there were a few tables available, dotted about the restuarant, but he has clearly already recongnised i enjoy sitting in the window, for the view
They are so good at hospitality, Indians, with great attention for the details, well, most of the time anyway. Its those little things i find that make you feel most welcome here tho, so welcome and part of their, well, family almost as if you are some long lost cousin who they've never met but are longing to meet.
I sat down for breakfast and before i'd got my plate to go to the buffet, the 'egg-man' who is outside and cooks you any type of eggs you desire, fresh. Not sure why he's outside, to be honest, seems an odd place for him to be on his gas burner, id far prefer him in a kitchen, but seriously, 'health and safety' is a very very alien concept in India! Trust me on that one.. AAAY LEEE YUN!! Alien!
I declined the eggs for today cos i couldnt actually decide so quickly, and i wasnt massively impressed by yesterdays attempt to fry an egg.
I mean, i was talking about service a moment a go, but if your gonna have a chef specifically for the purpose of cooking an egg, youd think he'd be able to do the most amazing eggs ever. Nope! 'Salmanella-tastic' !!! I might give him a shot tomorrow i thought but for today i'm playin it safe!
Stick to cornflakes and pancakes. I thought cant go wrong with that much.. Ooh french toast, go on, thats nearly eggs!
On the menu for breakfast we have from start to finish, in quite exciting dome-like heat-lids, which, when u open them, you get a 'soft close' so you can mantain your grip on your plate, in ur left hand and still pick up the spoon, get out the food items and move on to the next dome-lid! Without the need to put the spoon, serving tongs etc, down.. Very clever really.
So, two rows on either side of the long table then occasionally things in between ON the table. Chicken liver sausage, french toast, pancakes which are usually fruited, either bananas, cherries, strawberries etc, then theres scrambled eggs with herbs and spices mixed in, then on the tables you have pastries, croissants, danish and some other cakey looking items, in between you have all kinds of jams marmelades butter and lemon curd, then back up to the heated dome surprise pop up lid things, potatoes, cooked differently daily, today they were like dauphinoise, then you have beans and then, well theres one that seems to change daily. Today it was fried tomatoes with grilled cheese on. Then you have some bread next to the toaster.
Then at the foot of the table you have your cereals, cornflakes and coco-pops, except they're not coco-pops as the pops are more like moons but taste the same..
Then on the opposite side coming back from the foot of the table to the top of the table, more heated pop up dome lids; porridge, soup (changes daily), then on the table, theres a really big selection of fruits, meusli and granola bars (which i sometimes take with me for lunch.. Haha Ommmv)! And then back up to the lids, 3 types of curry which two seem to change daily, and then two types of rice, then back down on the table there are naan bready, chupatti's and poppadoms. And a load of different chutneys and then at the head of the table, there are three types of drink, usually 2 juices and a milkshake,
Once id sat down with my cereal, pancakes french toast and croissant. Apple-vanilla milkshake, cuccumber juice and really cute ickle baby bannanas. Like the size of a ciggarette, well maybe a bit bigger but they're dinky.
I know what you're thinking, "they're plantains".
Plantains are often found in the carribbean and south america. They are quite bitter to the taste and dont at all taste like banannas, more like potatoes. They tend to be cooked before eating.
These small bananas really do taste just like a banana. Just literally a quarter of the size.
There was something i had forgotten to mention yesterday and with all the dashing here and there when i was recalling it, i just skipped right past it,
So i'll talk about it now and you'll see why its all relevant, i hope.
After we left the zoo and the 'palace', we whizzed off and at that time he hadnt told me to where we were going, we pulled in to a little piazza almost itallian in style except every detail was indian, if that makes sense, no not really i suppose but, it was like a big octagonal courtyard with a small hindu temple in the centre and then parking around for bikes and tuktuks, he reversed into the space, rather expertly i might add, within centimetres from both rear and side wall, as ours was the last kart in the line.
He went and paid for parking and we began to walk, i still hadnt asked where tho i was wondering, at first i thought we were going to a temple, but then i realised i wouldnt be allowed inside so it cant be that... But where are we going.
I have to ask, the suspense is killing me, i do trust sandy very much, i feel very safe and relaxed with him. Secure in the knowledge that he's there looking out for me. I followed almost blindy, he couldve been taking me anywhere i thought as we dashed in between the traffic around the edge of the piazza.
As we crossed the road he started to explain; "Danny i want to show this to you, it is a really real traditional market, really traditional. Non-proffit making, like a wholesale market, i came to understand after a bit of confusion.
Everytime you come everytime. Im not really sure what he meant by that bit, to he honest but that happens quite a lot.. And i just put it down in the colulmn labeled "lost in translation"
I figured he meant u should come everytime u come to Kerala when you come to india, or you should always come to the markets when you come to Kerela.
Anyway the markets felt very cosy, and kinda familiar. Homely if you know what i mean, there were people tempting you with goods, but there was no hastle. No bartering for 10 minutes for a toilet seat you dont even actually want.. (Dont worry i havent bought a toilet seat) when the thing you want to buy, in the shop at the end is the thing you want to but you just cant get there..lol
There were shops on both sides and the roads were narrow and filled with karts and stands and stalls in addition to people selling off tarpaulin sheets on the pavement.
The shops all seem very samey, if im honest, everywhere i've been, same stuff, shop after shop, but then broken up by the odd bag shop, a tailor then a jewellers a man selling fish on the pavement people selling big jars of pickled somethings..
A shop selling xmas decorations, tho none as tacky as ours with tinsel and shiny foil, but still tacky but in a different way
We walked up a bit until we came to a cross roads, there was little (tho some) traffic but we stood in the apex of the cross-roads and i looked straight ahead, left and then right, it all looked the same for as far as you can make out in all directions, as if one infinite market spanning the entire globe.
Then thru the fish market. Yak yak yak. The stench was acrid, i could taste it and it got right in yer clack, every beath was like a thick fishy soupy stock which u inhaled.
We both darted quickly thru like norty schoolboys trying to escape the head master till we got to a point where we foud we could breathe again. Sandy apologised and i said its fine, i hate that smell he said. Yeh me 2 i replied.
We headed back to the tuktuk. On the way there was a fruit seller and i saw something i'd not seen before at least i dont think so.
They were red bananas. Same as an ordinary banana, but red and slightly fatter and shorter. I asked sandy what it was and as we continued walking back to the tuktuk he began to say that the red banana (kapa-param, in malyalam) has many ayurvedic qualities and is used a lot for its medicinal purposes, as it can assist in the releif all manor of ailments, including; (tho not exhaustively) constipation, diarrhea, hangover, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, depression, ulcars, morning sickness, it can help you to give up smoking.. Heartburn, upset stomach..
As he went on, and on, and on, detailing many more ailments some which of which seemed a bit obscure to be honest so i thought i might google it when i got back to my room. (And so i did (source:wikki) and it seems that what he is telling me is true.)
Now when sandy was explaining this, and he got to upset stomach, my brain, (absorbing like a sponge, as if on record) switched off at that moment as since before leaving the uk, for maybe a few days or more, i'd been suffering from an upset stomach, i felt constantly gassy, i wont gross u out suffice to say i constantly felt i needed to either berp or fart. Nice! Thanks, what happened to not grossing us out, oh yeh, 4 got that! Soz!
Aaaaaaaanyway onwards swiftly moving, As we got back in the tuktuk i handed him a banana and pealed one for myslef.
Just as i was about to take a bit he turned to me and said "Danny, after eating, dont worry if you get a cold feeling in your stomach, a bit like butterflies'.
I thought great! What am i ambout to eat.. some sort of powerful laxitive or something, so before i ate it, i waited for sandy to open his and eat some, just in case it was a practical joke.
Cos he is a joker, it has to be said! Well we both are to be honest. At the zoo when an we walked to what was an empty cage in the reptile house, i said to sandy, "Oooh look", with a bit of excitement in my voice as if something really good... He stared for a minute. Looking blankly past the sign saying the cage was empty. until eventually, i said, "it's great isnt it". "What"? He asked me, 'vot am i looking for'.. I waited for a few seconds trying not to laugh, until i could hold out no longer and i said "Nothing its empty"! As i pointed to the sign! Ha ha ha! We both laughed and laughed and then moved on to the next bit.
Anyway i having seen sandy bite his banana, i took a bite into mine. Mmmm tasted.. Well normal really, not much diference at all. The skin has a slight pink 'hue' to its colour but apart from that they're quite normal.
I noticed that when he peeled his banana he peeled it from the bottom and not the top.
I asked why he peeled his 'kapa-param' upside-down? It's how monkeys eat them, he replied. We laughed.
So why do you open yours upside down he asked?
Upside down. I cried.. No thats the 'right way'. I said.
No, he said correctingly, that is the top of the banana, the bit that is attached to the tree. That is the hardest bit to peel from, if you peel from the bottom it is much easier and u are far less likely squah the fruit thereby not briusing your 'kapa-param'.
I sat back in the tuktuk for a moment, and i thought! Well thats just blown my mind actually. I sat still for a second or two, thought it over, logically and decided it makes perfect sense too when you think about it.
He does have, lots of these little bits of information, he shares with me from time to time.
Well, i thought. If it's ok by monkeys its, definitely ok by me! I ate my banana which apparently is upside down, and chomped on its medical wondery goodness.
We were on our way to the backwaters as you may recall and if you havent fallen askeep yet.. As we went past the place where stopped to take a picture of the quarry, the lake carved in stone.. Yesterday which he pointed out to me, he pulled over again, so he could talk to me, and said; "Danny remember when we were here yesterday and i told you of the houses amidst the forrest that you cannot see", yes i replied, well now i will show you of the willages. Ve vill be driving thru them shortly! And you can take your camera out and taking some pictures". Ok i said and gave him a thumbs up, as a bus sounding its horn clashed with with my reply.
As i got went to get back in the tuktuk having stood up and got back in, my whole body started to tingle, as if, santa were coming down the chimney and i was still awake.. Almost an anxious / excitement.
As we approached the villages we'd seen from above he pulled over and showed me where we were just parked 5 minutes ago. His tuktuk had cut out and he had to switch the tank over to the reserve tank which is underneath the passenger seat in the back.
I got out to av a wee in the bushes while he sorted out the tuktuk. By time i got back in i noticed that my stomach had began to feel back to normal, no tingling or coldness.
Sandy fired up the tuktuk and we set off. By the time we got to the back-waters my stomach issed were solved. I "passed wind" several times on the way, neatly disguised by the engine noise of the tuktuk and other vehicles horns and what not.
By the time we got to the place for the back waters. All my stomach gassy-ness had gone! Gone completely and has been ever since.
Now there may be a certain amount of placebo effect happening, whereby i beleive it cos i was told it would help, but i really did feel much more comfortable. From now on it's kapa-param all the way baby! I thought!
So carrying on from before the markets where i'd just eaten breakfast, i went back to my room sparked up a fag and began to write the previous days events.
Which if you're still reading after the 8000 word essay i wrote yesterday;
Firstly give urself a round of applause cos that was a mammoth!
Secondly! Soz but when i set off on a journey i like to take u with me, in my pocket. Haha
So as i began to write and write re-living the day as it unfolded in me brain, trying to cram in every last detail, the rain still lashed down and it was chucking it down.
I felt all cosy in me room, but i rather fancied being outside, so i relocation to the patio, watched as the locals played on the beach in front of me probably 40 yards away.
They were all soaking wet in their school uniforms so i think they mustve thought bugger it. As they were all having one massive water fight at the waters edge.
I took some videos and pics and while i was still enjoying the sounds i could hear, my brain was busy organising thoughts into sentences which i was tapping into my phone to form day2
I carried on writing and writing the minutes drifting into hours and i was very content just to sit there writing and enjoying the sounds coming from the beach below. Every now and then there's be some kind of whoopla happening and id glance over take a few pics and carry on.
This went on for some time and i began to feel its wasting my day, i contemplated doing something. I now have sandy's number, we exchanged numbers last night so that i could text him if i ever fancied going anywhere.
I thought about it a few minutes and decided naah, im very happy here! So i sat. And i wrote. I thought to myself some people, when they go on holiday like to sit and read..
I like to sit and write and so with that justified in my head, and having nobody but me to answer to. I sat and i wrote.
The sun began to set in the sky around 6- 6:30 and so it was more of a case of trying to capture every second i could of the sun setting with my writing now interupting the ever changing scenery second by second.
Id look up, see the view, put down my phone pick up the my lovely purple camera (yes its purple. a 'canon ixus 265 HS' if ur interested) lol take a few shots. Put down the camera and pick up my phone and begin to write.
This happened over and over and i decided in the end to pause the writing and focus on the view while it lasted.
The sky turned all kinds of colours, yellow, orange, red, bright orange, bright red, almost purple at one point. Its utterly breath-taking, the only thing that was bothering me slightly was the everso, slightly obscured view.
The couple from the pool yesterday, before trivandrum. Were, unbeknown to me, staying in the next room down, well next door but one actually but lets not split hairs, there were three rooms in all on this level and i have to walk past their room and the right of passage that leads to my room is their balcony basicaly.
Anyway the bloke popped out and had a fag, as i was stook takin pics and also havin a fag, i hadnt noticed him standing there at first as i was messing with the settings of my camera trying to do the sunset the best justice messing with the programmable functions.
Alright Mate, he said.
Ooh ello, i replied, sorry didnt see you standing there, i was stilling on the chair so the balconies between us was also obscuring my view slightly.
We began chattin about how long we'd been here and what we'd been upto, and one of the first questions one seems to ask is, when do you leave. Ive noticed this a few times now it was one of the first questions gill and mo asked me and also the same question id asked someone earlier at breakfast
The day before who i had a breif chat with but didnt mention it cos it was very insignificant. But it was what i asked the chap from the next room and he told me that he was flying home at 1am.
Aww gutted! I thought. I still have 5 full days near enough so i empathised with him when he told me he wasnt lookin forward to goin, esp as they've been out here for 3 weeks.. Sooo thats why he's so tanned i thought.
Incedentally on that note so far the weather has been somewhat disappointing. Only one day so far when i've had actual sunshine, i dont mind to much tho to be fair, i dont come on holiday JUST for the tan, obvioulsy but it would be nice to return WITH one if at all possible.
Sandy told me "You must sayer a prayer to Shiva, he is the one who is in charge of these things. He has all the power, in the world so he can change these things for you if you ask him to.
Our conversation, mine and my neighbours was breif as he had to leave to continue packing, its a shame the weathers so rubbish for your last day! I said as he walked away, hopefully it'll brighten up before u leave so you dont get soakin wet when your on ur way to the airport, anyway safe journey! Take care.
He vanished around the corner and i never saw either of them again. It was as if they entered the twilight zone. 🎼Doo do do do, doo do do do..🎶
Now i have to admit i was slightly gettin 'cabin fever' having sat all day relaxing typing viewing listening and not really interacting with anyone. The guy id just had a convo with reminded me that i really should go and do something.. Even if its just go down the beach.
I locked my room having first tidied everything away and headed for the beach,
I began the walk up the two slopes 'dteep and steeper' and as i got to the top i noticed it HAD actuatlly stopped raining, aww good i thought, thinking of the couple with all their baggage.
As soon as i left my hotel along came the pests. Taxi/ rickshaw sir? No, im going for a walk thanks. I replied.
U may recall last night i was left feeling a bit 'used' by sandy as He, it felt had just been trying to extract money out of me, and claimig commissions on everything i spent on him, hence i'd sortof, given him a bit of a wide berth, tho not maliciously, just i was comcerned for my finances really..
As i approached the corner, there was Sandy. 'Danny' he said with a big smile on his face, clearly pleased to see me.. I thought i know what ur after and ive not got any cash on me so ur outta luck mate.
He asked me where id been and what id been upto i told him just relaxing and enjoying the view etc. he asked me where i was going. I told him to the beach.
You want me to take you, he said.. naah its ok, im happy to walk. I have no money on me and i was just going to go down the beach.
He tutted at me and said. Danny... You are my friend. I take you to different beach. Is not so far but more secluded. I think it is much better this one!" He said with broken english.
We had visited several beaches on our travels but there was one he kept harpin on about, coconut bay beach. He had been wanting to take me there when we went to the back waters but as the sun had set by time we finished, there was just no point.
He said, i take u to my favourite beach. No troubles, no hasstles. Come on get in!
At that i had a slight pang of guilt. Maybe he's not after me soley for money perhaps my friendship is, as valuable.. Naah doubt it, i thought. Just good customer service.
oh well he knew i had no cash on me so, fair do's.. I jumped in.
We whizzed off and within minutes we were joking with each other and telling stories of our lives as the engine pulled us along our journey, with a chug chug here and a chug chug there, here a chug there a chug everywhere a chug chug.. You do the hokey ko... Ok stop that.. Stop that, it's silly! (And now for something completely different).
Soon enough we had arrived at the beach, it was kinda dark by now, not like pitch black, you could still see things, just there was not much colour and your eye had to piece together the blanks, although occasionally your brain seeing things in the shadows. whilst this didnt do it any justice to the beach, it was lovely. Being so much closer to the waves and feeling the sea breeze etc.
We sat on a rock and we chatted for hours about out experiences, him telling me funny stories and me doing likewise. We mustve been on the beach, well, the rock, for a good hour or so, ive no idea how long actually because i didnt have my phone and i dont own a watch. (No.. i dont want one for xmas, before anyone, takes that inspiration, i just prefer not to wear a watch tbh lolz).
I asked sandy the time and it was 8:25 gosh we had been on the rock way longer than expected.
Sandy began telling me, after id probed him on the subject about the hindu gods. Ganesh vishnu etc..
I found what he was saying entirely fascinating but we both agreed we really needed to leave, me because i was hungry and him cos well i figured cos he wanted to earn some more money.
We arrived shortly near my hotel and sandy before pulling in, stopped his engine, jumped out the tuktuk and vanished somewhere, i didnt see where he went and he gave no explanation before jumping out, i looked out of the side-door. Well.. Its not a door, cos there isnt one, its just door-less, but where u would expect a door to be.
No sign of him anywhere. Oh well he wont be long im sure! I sat there patiently waiting.. And within a few minutes he returned.
Sorry danny he said, as he got back in. I just had to go and see my friend really quick. Ok no probs i said and he fired up his handbrake kickstart and we quickly moved off.
We pulled up adjacent to my hotel and i got out and said thank you. Danny, is for you. He said handing me a bottle of beer.
Ohh, thats very sweet but i dont really drink. Thank you tho! Oh no problem he said more for me. I felt a bit rude cos he'd clearly just been and bought us both beers, i said to him, your welcome to come and chill with me if you would like, but i assumed you were goin back to work.
No, he said i want to spend time with my friend. I was still a little suspiscious. Thinking perhaps it was a bit like a bank manager taking his investors out for a game of golf, thats all this is.. I told myself, but at the same time i was happy i no longer had cabin fever and its true to say we do have a certain rapport.
I began probing him further about the religious and cultural aspects of his faith and now with phone in hand i began taking notes.
Now, im gonna try and relay this as best i can, as for the next few hours we sat, drinking, well he was, i had tea.
we discussed the subject in great detail with the broken english and the gravity of the subject occasionally getting in the way, sandy doing his best to describe it from his view point.
I was something i had wanted more info on since day1 really when he first started the 'education'. But now the conversation flowed and i was able to begin to understand the structure and the relationships between all the gods.
So it goes a little something like this; all of the following they learn at the temple, not at school by the way.
Shiva, is the supreme god, in my head he was zeus in greek mythology. He is the most powerful man in the world, he told me, all the power. He controls the planets, the weather, the birds, the trees, the snakes, the elephants, the whole thing, he told me. He is the universe. Ok! I getcha i said.
Then you have ganesh, who is the son of shiva and the elephant god. Shiva had another son called ayypan, who has the symbol of a 5 headed king cobra.
Then you have Visshnu. Visshnu who is like a cousin of ganash and ayypan and he is very wealthy, all the money and all the gold, all the jewells, all the wealth in the world sandy told me. Very much wealthy, he is covered in jewells. I will get pics to make what im saying clearer as to make sense of it, i was googling pics of the gods as he was saying it so to give him a reference to better explain the stories. My wifi in my room acting as host.
Then theres Vavar, he is a muslim god, and he told me of a story, after pulling up a picture of vavar, to help, he looked at the pic and studied it for a moment and the particular picture was a painting (i WILL upload this cos its very interesting) with vavar in the centre of the picture, ayypaan to his left and then behind him was a woman.
She is the devil, he cried. A she-devil and she wanted to kill vavar to please her master, and her choice of weapon. A tiger... Nice! What a way to go eh..
Ayypaan son of shiva, who was only a child at the time, could see what was happening and so to protect vavar, climbed on the back of the tiger and the tiger paraded around with ayypaan riding on his back.
The way he said it, in my mind, it was a bit like the scene from avatar, for those who have seen it, when the lead man (forget his name as it's been a while since i saw it) jumped off his dragon to try and tame the king dragon, his tail of his hair, inter-twined with that of the dragon and he therefore became king dragon rider, and they all saw him as a god.
As ayypaan rode the tiger the tiger began to posess the powers of the child god sat on his shoulders and so the tiger became ayypaan's 'vehicle' as sandy put it. His mode of transport. And in doing so, protecting vavar and turning his back on the she-devil freezing her out powerless to take further action against this young but powerul child.
At that point i asked him, if the same were true for all the gods, their 'vehicles', absorbing their powers and making the animal the god of the species, yes, he said, exactly, but more than that a god in their own right too, to mankind i mean. He said.
So that is why the cow is considered sacred? Exactly! So who rode the cow, i enquired. Shiva the high god! Got it!! It was almost a eureka moment as i felt the picture was coming thru clearer and clearer as each piece of the jigsaw puzzle, formed to make a great epic scene, again my mind travelled to greek mythology, each story having a reason why a certain god has a particular power and therefore, why the people prey to him when in need of a certain specific prayer to be answered, like the greeks praying to Ares, god of war, when they are needing strength in battle.
So the Maharaja who rode an elephant thru the jungle, who was a king. His elephant was aslo King?! Exactly! He repeated as a smile flashed accross his face knowing, id absorbed what he was saying and he was beginning to see that i was start to understand.
He then began to tell me of a pilgrimage called Writham. I had to keep asking him to spell various words because i needed them for my blog, which i have told him i am writing. I wanted to be sure to get the facts straight and as accurate as possible. Sure sure, he said, spelling each word with his indian accent. Obviously i spelled rythmn but he spelled out each letter.
The national language of India is Hindi, but there is also a state language, i suppose like a dialect, similiar to say geordie and brummy. based on the mother tongue but with its own slang. Their local language is called malyalam. But then there are other languages, outside of the languages which are still based on Hindi. Like for example, welsh and english, or scottish and english.
I heard hindu at the airport in Doha, Qatar, it sounded almost Germanic there were words which sounded similar to words and pronunciations of german words. Tho they probably mean completely different things.
Sandy also speaks fairly good english, bits of german and japanese. I presume because these are the people who frequent India the most so for his job he has to be able to make sense of what is being said.
So he went on to tell me Writham is for people from all over india, who congregate in Kerala to begin a pilgrimage to a temple.
Not just india, danny, all the worlds, from russia, england, america, south america, australia. Everybody from all parts they do the pilgrimage, he said.
And what is the pilgrimmage what does it entail i excitedly pressed on, i sat there listening intently typing in short hand on my note pad as if i were a reporter with a pad and pencil, interviewing some guest star about certain facts making sure to try and cover all bases, all angles, each aspect so as to not leave any stone un-turned.
For 41 days people fast. They begin a journey to the temple. It must be done on foot, and for the entire journey, tru de vay, de whole vay, valking with barefoot, and no sex, not even masturbation, no meat, no fish, no eggs, no animal products at all, strictly vegitarian. He said. And the journey they take is hard. It is meant to be hard, you walk for several hours at a time visiting various villages and towns throughout the state of Kerala, collecting more and more people who join the pilgrimmage.
There is ONE holy man leading the way and he is the person who is deemed as the 'elder' as he is living the strictest lifestyle following the rules to the letter, not cutting his hair and beard, leaving his fingernails to grow, washing in the correct manner, meditating and preying religiously with the strongest faith in the gods that they will do right by him as he sticks so highly to the rules. He is neither eleceted n'or self appointed he just is, he has been his whole life. Since very young! Sandy told me.
Even as a child this person would be the piccacle of equilibrium, im paraphrasing now becsuse for him to explain just that one sentance 'pinnacle of equilibrium' took us about 15 minutes for me to grasp what he was saying. He would be balanced, never angry, n'or sad, because the gods chose this man to be special because he is so pure, thereby becoming half-god in the eyes of the community.
It all started to make sense, but he went on to say the pilgrims wake up early at 5am. They wash pray to ayypaan for protection.
Wearing a 'Lhungi', which is a traditional sacred sarong. They buy rice coconut, flour, grain, and some other things, holy oils and such, which are placed in two small metal bowls, this is then tied in a cloth and tied in the middle with a bow and then placed on their heads. They walk and walk for 7 days with the food on each persons head until they reach the temple. They stop at intervals as dictated by the holy man at which point they use the food in the bowls, all sit round, make a fire and they cook some of the strictly vegitarian ingredients and have a meal, which they share together, like a family picnic where each member brings along a different food item.
The people on the pilgrimage are not always relations, but they are all related thru their gods so they are all brothers and sisters mothers and fathers cousins aunties unlces neices nephews although no blood relation necessarily exists, tho obviously sometimes they are blood related too.
So they walk and walk for 7 days accross mountains over hills thru forrests, jungle whatever the journey throws at them, all the time praying to the ayypan for protection.
Arriving at the temple, they have to pass 18 setps one by one, each step has a specific signficance so they say a prayer on each step and when they get to the tho of the 18 steps they are at the temple.
Inside the temple which is nothing like what u imagine, being a christian, a temple to me is a church. Usually big enough to fit many many people inside. Temples are very different. Particualry the important ones. This one is very small, only a few dozen people can fit in at any one. time Its more like a cave in side. But obviously very beautifully architecture and every inch of it decorated with bright vibrant colours and lights making it glow a teal green/blue.
Once indide the temple the say a few prayers and and they are given something called Arrya vana and appam, which is poured into the palm. They then lick their palm like a cat cleaning itself starting from the wrist. The arrya vana and appam signifying the end of the fast.
Sandy was telling me that 'it is the most beautiful thing in the whole worlds. The most beautiful tasty thing, Danny'. He said. Once you tried it, always everytime wanting more.
But it is scarce and very limited, the only place on the planet you can get this arrya vana and appam is at this temple, only this one temple in Kerala.
They then leave the temple having accomplished the mission and begin the journey back home, either by car, train, bus, tho the elders put their food on their heads and walk off bear fotted towards their point origin and walk the entire way, still sticking to the rules and therefore being further protected. Anyone can go on a pilgrimmage, even a honky white boy like me but you have to beleive in the Gods.
Writham is either in November, December January and February only. It cycles round. Annually, which month it falls in depends upon the rules of a very old legend, but it will be nov this year say, so next year it will be december, then january then february.
At this point we wandered off topic a little and began chatting about general topics as normal, films, music that kind of suff. He was asking me about which football team was the best.. Manchester utd. He told me... Reeeally ? All the way in india an i get a Man-u fan! I told him im not so interested in watching sports on tv. I prefer to do the sport, go canoeing, or rock climbing but my biggest passion of course being my kung fu.
I was explaining all ive learned about the journey ive been on for the last 8 years of my kung fu life and telling him, why when i was at school in got bullied and it had changed who i was as a person and so i searched until i found somewhere to do kung fu and began my journey.
I gave him a demonstration of 2 of my forms (sets, kata's whatever you prefer to call them) and he applauded at the end.
I wasnt expecting appluase, i was so embarrased. He was telling me that it was like the films you see on the tv. Ha! I wish! Lol
He was telling me of a friend who's friend was his friend and his friend's friend who is english, comes over to train. His friends, friend and his friend went to see a man.. It was all very confusing but i got there in the end. I wont waste words explaining it to u with it cos ^ that covers it adequately.
The upshot of the conversation is there is an indian martial art called Khaladi. So i asked him whether i could do some training. He said you cant just turn up for a class he has to arrange, but i know where he lives cos the friend of his friend who's called paul.
Paul comes to train with ajith, the instructor of Khaladi and i take him there each time he comes over. So can we arrange to do some training i pushed on, Yes! He said we can go tomorrow but danny dont get to happy because he may say no. fair enough i said but can we try. Sure! I'd be happy to try and if he say yes then everything is good. But lets just wait and see, i interupted. Yes. Ok! We wait.
It was almost bed time so i was beginning to yawn, but just before we parted, we got back onto the faith stuff cos i read my notes back to him to be sure everything was right.
He went on to say about the fire-works and celebrations they have on the beach for new years, you should be here for that its incredible. And Christmas but new years is best.
Do you celebrate Christmas i asked, yes of course! And Easter. Of course Danny. There are people in my community who are christians, they are also my brothers sisters mothers fathers uncles.. Yeh yeh yeh i get ya. But do you buy christmas presents? Yes of course. And we have a christmas tree.
We make a Hut out of christmas leaves and put statues of jesus and mary out side each house, and we sit down with our families and have christmas dinner.
But you're not christian i said, he said it doesnt matter danny so long as u beleive in god. So u beleive in the christian God too and therefore Allah?
He nodded as he took a drag on his ciggarete. So do you do Ramadam too i pressed on..
Yeaah. I dont understand why you cant understand this he was saying.
I said cos ramadam is muslim and christmas is christian.
I went on to say how it is in England, with muslims sikhs and hindus living almost in a segregated communities, not physically, but socially, and them calling us racists because we fly a british or english flag, and want to celebrate christmas and such.
He was clearly a bit uncomfortable By the thought of it but i continued to tell him how it is in certain places of england and how the social system gets abused, not just by indians but by polish, australians, americans, bulgarians, chinese.. Every race! Because we let anyone into our country.
He said, in India everyone is Family, even you danny. You are family even just for a short while whilst you are here.
It made me feel very welcome and humbled, mi cassa su cassa, i thought, the spanish; my house is ur house.
He went on to tell me of a traditional dance from kerala, which over here is pronounced Kerla. The dance is called Katagali. Its not related to their gods or religion but where they wear head dresses and perform a ritualistic dance with very precise movements which are taught thru generations
Danny; Whilst a woman is on her period, any woman in family, regardless of relation, everyone has to fast no meat eggs etc.. No touching woman.
Either the man or the woman has to leave, depending who it is least convenient for, so if there's two ladies in the house and one man and one of the ladies gets 'the decorators in' the man leaves and goes to a different location. And if there are two men and only one woman. Yes then its least convience for the woman to leave.
Isnt that a bit weird knowing when your mother, sister auntie is on her period? I asked. No! Because we suffer with them to burden their pain. It is a mark of the highest respect.
Also Danny, tid-bits of infomation, now being fired at me like a bullets out of a machine gun now. I was frantically trying to savour each and every bit as if sifting for gold.
There are many similar temples for different cultures. Each one has its own deighty their own gods for their own specific reasons, as there are many many gods, even I dont know them all, there are too many, but each different part of the state, or part of other states do similiar pilgrimages to differenet temples, depending on each persons particular beleif.
Ahhhh i see! Another piece of the puzzle..
And is it compulosry to do this, and what age do you start.. Its is not compulsory Danny, each person chooses whether and if they do the pilgrimmage annually
It is like you coming to India. No one is forcing you to come. You have to chose whether you want to come, but once you come you will come again and again.. Many times.
There are times when you cannot go, maybe your leg gets injured in an accident or you have sickness.
Then you cannot go this time, but next time you make sure its possible. The first time i went i was a baby in my mothers arms. She carry me on her back like a pappoose.. Ohh i see, so how many times have you made the the journey, i asked, so far i have been 9 or 10 i think. Maybe 10.
We talked for a little while longer but i soon realised that i had to go to bed. I wished him well after arranging what time the adventure started the next morning.
And with that he left and i flopped on my bed, my head whizzing with all the information i'd just tried to get my head around, hope i can make sense of it all there was just soo much! I remembered thinking.
As i sat there thinking about it all i could really really start to understand things from an indian perpective, not just religiously but every aspect, i dont know how but it all just made sense. It shouldnt, a bit like the way a bumblebee technically should be unable to fly, yet it does.
With that i flopped on the bed, phone in hand and began re-reading the notes id made,making sure i got it. I read it a few times and i smiled. I felt very differently, like the whole world had just tilted on its axis or something.
My brain was overloaded and i was tired, i put my phone down and drifted off to slumber..
Day 4 - Lion Safari. (Egg man redemes himself)
So i woke at the crack of the crows again this morning, so i thought id make some time to write as i was beginning to fall behind and i felt like the information might vanish if im not quick to get it all down, at least the facts.
I thought back over the previous days events and began thinking as i got to various points during my story how i was feeling at the time etc.
How at the start i thought sandy was basically kinda trying to pull a fast one all the time and basically playing me, just after my money etc. 'i was just another customer'. And i guess i still am just a customer in a way but i began to feel bad, for sandy, for thinking that.
I know he is after money, of course he is, and he smokes my fags quicker than i do, and i buy him water and pay for the fuel and things.. But for all of that i'm getting all his wisdom, his translational skills, his time, his security
The fact that people pester me less when we're together having a laugh. After all he had taught me and the detail we went into, which still doesnt actually scratch the surface on the subject of hunduism, really.
I enjoy the company and for what it costs me, which is no more than a few quid each day, im more than happy to pay for what he wants. He doesnt take the michael, never really extorting it from me. Just charging me what is to me pocket change.
Time began ticking by as i sat busy writing and i kept glancing out of the window to see what the weather was doing. Not much it seems, grey skies. A bit like being in england i thought. I decided i'd better get up and start my day.
I went down for breakfast. As i opened the door, the waiter walked over to me and said usual table sir. Ohh yes please. I said.
Actually my usual table wasnt vacant so he offered me an identical table next to it, telling me, "this one is better, for you sir, i think." I chuckled to myself, as his head wobbled from side to side. He pulled out my chair and i sat down.
I went to the buffet after sitting down for the obligatory 2 seconds before realising i had to get up to go to the buffet. On the way (2 steps) the lady had broght my white coffee and was already pouring it in my cup i noticed. She then began to set my table as there was only a cloth, salt, pepper etc on there.
As i went to the buffet, i was debating to go for the full english or just have toast and something..
Deciding upon full english i went to get my scrambled egg, and there was none! I was a bit late for breakfast, no so much as yesterday but it was about 10am. Just as i discovered this as if on cue, the egg man appeared having cooked some scrambled eggs for an indian couple sat behind me adjacent to the breakfast bar.
Perfect. I thought.. Go on egg man! Save the day. I approached him and asked if i could please have some scrambled egg.
"There are eggs scrambled in here sir", he lifted the lid, to find it empty, as i had done not 2 seconds before. "Oh very sorry, to you sir! I will cook them right away". And with that he left almost hurridly, to begin cooking my eggs. Hope they're better than last time i thought.
I carried on collecting my breakfast things, some sausage, i'd pre-loaded 2 pieces of toast before the egg discovery but the toaster takes a fair while to pop ur toast up. I took some fried tomatoes with cheese on, as i thought oh, maybe they dont change daily. Oh well, beans next then some potatoes. My toast popped up which reminded me to grab some butter,as i do always seem to forget then have to go back up, tho usually i just ask the lady when she pours my coffee, well it gives her sommet else to do.. Dont it! (She dont do much) Haha
So i took my seat diagonally opposite the lady who occupied the table i usually sit, whos name i later learned was Lesley.
Just then the egg man, came in with my plate of scrambled egg. I thanked him and he quickly vanished back to where he had come from.
Lesley, was clearly English it was plain to spot the uk product brand-named she had with her, for example the early grey tea bag that was spinning round in cup of hot water.. not on the selection of tea's available, i noticed so i figured she either had her own bags, or asked must've asked for it specially.. Either way English!
As i sat down i wished her a very good morning to you, and enquired if she were enjoying her time in India.
Well we quickly began chatting about the service and the quality and value for money of the hotel.
She went on to tell me that she had lost her husband a five years ago and she remaked as to how he wouldnt have wanted me to stay home, as we were always travelling together.
So you're here alone i asked, oh yes! I've been all over the world on my own in the last few years.
You all thought i was brave for coming to india on me tod! turns out she is seventy six.
Little doddery old gentle lady, and she was everso nice we, carried on chatting over breakfast and she told me of all the places she'd been to. Japan, china, sri lanka, australia, canada, africa... ANTARCTICA..
I was taken back! Seriously you've been to the Antarctic! Oh yes she said in her thick Bolton accent! Quite spectacular she said. Aurora borealis. Best i've seen in the world.
I see! So where else Have you seen it, finalnd, norway, scotland, iceland, canada of course. But the photographs that i got from the antartic were the best by far. Ive got all the pictures in me hall way. She said
We carried on chatting and she went on to say about her tuktuk driver. Turns out she has her own sandy. Such an adventurous lady, she used to be a keen motorbiker and rock-climber when she was younger, she was telling me, but she doesnt climb now cos of her hip but she still enjoys walking at the foot of the hills in the lake district where she used to climb with her two sons and her hubby.
She was saying how her version of sandy, called biju, was like her personal concierge! Mine too! I cried back with enthusiasm!
She went on.. He takes me to places, he carries my shopping bags, he opens my door for me when i go into shops.. She went on listing all the functions he performs, and as she spoke i drifted off slightly momentarily into my own subconscience.
I began to think about sandy and how he was just the same. In nearly every way she was saying. As i re-joined the conversation, buttering my toast at the same time. She told me she likes to treat him to some food so she knows he's eating properly and she bought him a new pair of sandals as his were held together by a rubber band and the band had been digging in causing him to walk with a limp.
Nice new pair of leather sandals she said, he was everso pleased. Aww thats so nice of you i said, and i began telling her of sandy and how he'd been a hero really, changing my holiday so much for the better. We had a little moment. And after breakfast i excused myself and went upstairs.
I began feeling guilty for feeling sandy was just some scam artist, so i decided today as the weather isnt particularly good i may as well be out seeing stuff not stuck in my room, truth be told i had missed the company and the laughter during the day and the information he had given me i felt was gold-dust!
I sent him a text asking him to come pick me up and soon after my doorbell (which sounds like crickets chirping) chirped into action..
Sandy! I said opening the door! Hey! Danny, how are you men. He said to me with a big smile!
I'm good thanks! We got the pleasantries out the way and having already packed my bag and only had to brush my teeth, i finished readying myself and we left.
I told sandy about the 76 year old lady who had come to india on her own and he ageeed with me that she is very brave! Very brave.
So as we arrived at the rickshaw i hopped in the back as normal telling sandy i needed to get some cash changed. I took out my days money, and as i didnt really spend any money the day before i calculated i had more than i had originally figured.
We got the money changed and jumped back in the tuktuk.. The wrong tuktuk. I leaned over to ask sandy where we were going at which point i realised.. Ur not sandy.
I jumped out of the tuktuk apologising for the inconvenience, jumped in sandys tuktuk behind and we both fell about laughing. Literally i was in stitches. Giggling away as he drove off, as he had whitnessed me entering the wrong tuktuk then getting out seconds later looking very confused.
We whizzed up the road, well kindof, to the junction, where the 5 roads vaguely meet, we waited at the lights and still i was laughing by now my sides had begin to ache as i couldnt stop thinking about what had just happened, especially when i saw the mans face and it wasnt sandy.
He crossed the busy junction with traffic overtaking us, on both sides, going in the same direction,
I took out 500rp and gave it to sandy. What is this for he enquired. Petrol i said. But you havent gone anywhere yet, he replied. No but we will need petrol so get some now and its done. Ok, we did a u-turn after a few minute wait, allowing several cars, bikes, busses and a goat to clear the way. We went back to the 5 ways junction and took a different carriageway and within moments we were at the petrol station.
We refuelled and he jumped back in. So where are we going sandy, i'd asked him three times already but he either hadnt heard me or he chose not to answer.
Today danny is big surprise. We are going far. Perhaps 45-50kms away... Oooh ok! I'll just sit back and enjoy the journey!
I kept my camera close by snapping pics as i went. I was quite excited as i knew i was going to see much more of india today. Perhaps the real india away from the tourist resorts.
Sandy told me he wanted to stop at a shop for a second or two and was it ok, sure i said, shall i wait here. No come with me if you want i will introduce my friend to you.
He seems to have friends all over the place.. We walked down the side of some shops climbed some stairs, where at the top there was a tailor man, sandy had bought some matereal recently and had taken it to his friend for him to tailor a shirt.
A few minutes later we were back in the tuktuk and journeying on.
Kapa-params i said before we got to the lights at the end of the busy street.
You want some kapa-param? He asked. Yes please, same as before he asked, yeah why not i said. Lesleys words ringing in my ears somewhat about getting a good meal etc.
We stopped, he bought some and we carried in pootling along. The weather wasnt very exciting, it hadnt rained yet but it was evidently on the way.
We drove and drove for a while exchanging the odd bit of conversation. I asked sandy how, in malyalam, would you ask for a normal banana (yellow one).
He said, its just Param. Ahh i see i said, so does Kapa mean red i asked. Yes he said. Aaah so it literally means red banana then. Exactly! He replied.
We took a few lefts and rights, slowing down to take the odd pic (867 so far and counting). And soon we came to a very narrow almost rickerty bridge tho made out of concrete.
He navigated accross and we turned the corner, carried on driving for about a half a mile, where we came to a similar rickerty bridge, we crossed this one too and then a third, as we crossed the third, sandy allowed his enging to cut out, putting his foot on the brake in 2nd gear half way accross the last of the bridge.
Can you hear that, he asked me... I could hear something but i had no idea what it could be.
Yes i said, what is it. Part of the surprise he said! Ooh i do love a surprise! We trundled on a bit more when past a left hand and then immediately a right hand bend, the noise became clearer and as we turned the next corner there it was.
It was a really big Dam! A bit like the hoover dam but on a much smaller scale.
Wow! That was pretty awesome, he yanked on the kickstart with his left arm, which really should be like popeyes (eg eg eg) but his arms are actually as thin as a drinking straw.
After a few minutes more driving almost vertically upwards at one point, sandy having to egnage 1st gear at one point to muster the climb.
When we arrived at the top we stood by the side of a huge lake. A reservoir i would imagine. I jumped out, took a few pics, asked sandy to be my photographer as he snapped away to my C&A catalogue poses.
We jumped back in, fired it up and drove for another half a mile where we came to the bottom of the lake / reservoir.
I jumped out again, handed sandy my "photo-camera" as he calls it, and carried on c&a posing as the scrnery had changed again since the previous pics.
I wanted a pic of the tuktuk so i climbed on the smal wall seperating the road from the res and sandy shot away, click click click, flash flash flash, and we were done!
No more paparazzi! I cried! Covering my face jokingly!
Before he took the pic with me and the rickshaw i fell down, my feet going from under me and i ended up scraging all my arm on the concrete wall - ouchie!
Again jumping back in the tuktuk and powering off down the, quite freshly smooth tarmac'd road, which was a first i think, after a little way we pulled over, having had more red narna's en-route.
When we pulled up we began climbing the stairs, and the sign said Crocodile sanctuary! Oh ace! Crocodiles i said.. Not just crocodiles, you will see.. He said micheviously still not giving more than he needed to away.
We were turned away at the top for not having tickets so, heading back down to the ticket shop where we were told we would have to wait. Sadly i saw a sign, ruining the surprise for sandy, whilst he was enquiring about the tickets, but i didnt let on, i quickly spun round and went outside.
He came out to me and said, we come back 15 mins after. Ok i said. He went back in and after a few minutes he returned with a printed invoice, which was our tickets. (Which he paid for out of his own money, well the money i gave him for fuel)
So Danny, he began, "i will now tell, what is the surprise" i thought for a second how that didnt really make sence gramattically but then who am i to talk..
He went on, here we have the crocodile, and here we have the dear. We must take a boat, is coming shortly first to somewhere else.
Ok. I thought, is it a lion safari park by any chance.. Still i kept quite not wanting him to be disappointed as he'd clearly put some effort into the 'surprise' prior to picking me up.
To be fair the dam itself was surprise enough but now we have lions, deer and crocs, oh my!
The boat eventually came and a few other people got on board before us not leaving much room for us to sit. In england Health and safety wouldnt have allowed as many people as were already in the boat.. But this is india, they crammed us in, people having to move legs to allow other people to squash in between them and the next person. The boat was like an old fishing boat maybe 7/8 feet long and all told there were 15 of us including the captain. So u can imagine it was rather cosy.
There was a black guy and a blonde girl from
Switzerland, a family of three men, cousins or brothers i would guess cos they all looked very alike. There was a couple who were from bangalore, she being very afraid of water, then there was a guy from russia travelling with his son and wife, then there was another family, dad mom and son, but much older, the boy was probably just a bit younger than me. So with me sandy and the captain that made 15
I found out all about them all on the journey, as to chat was really the only thing to do to disguise the slight awkwardness of being tied together like sardines.
Taking pics en-route, wherever the boat was taking us to, i spotted a king-fisher over to my left. I zoomed right in but before i could even get my finger on the button he was gone.
The lake was very peaceful, still and calm with only the ripples we had created, making it appear almost glass-like in front of us. The reflection in the water of the mountains and hills which surrounded the lake causing a mirrored-like optical illusion.
As we drifted across the clean lines, creating new scenes with every second we were asail, i noticed up to the left were some huge double fences. Oooh this is gonna be good i thought.. Double fences..
I jokingly said to Sandy is this jurrasic park? It did look and feel a bit like it as we approached. Thirty seconds or so later and over to the right like the entrance to a theme park in big white letters on the fence it said "Lion Safari Park".
I was busy messing about with my setting so wasnt really paying attention for a second when sandy poked me in the side (quite sharply making my body spasm sideways) i looke at him, with a single raised eyebrow, he was smiling and laughing and he pointed to the sign and gestured with his haid. Which was to the right of me.
Words could not really be exchanged due to the loud noise of the boats engine just behind us.
I looked over and pretended to be really surprised. For him. He was happy and a few minutes later we were off the boat and being loaded onto a bus.
The bus was a bit like a prison bus in the american films with bars down the windows and doors and a police meat wagon / riot van style grille accross the front windscreen. This really is like jaursssic park i thought... No expence spared, one of the tagline's of the film as it was repeated several times by the bonkers old fool who in the film as we know extracts the dna from the mosquito trapped in the fossillised nectar, which is on the end of his walking cane.
Just to clarify, When i say bonkers old fool, i dont mean the Great, Late, Sir Richard Attenborough, who was, and always will be legendary in my opinion.. I do mean the character he played.
I mean. Did he really thing he could create a world where man and dinosuar meet?! Ludicrous.. then there was all the problems with the electric fence, and the fat man being eaten whilst takin a dump, it was very il-thought out plan if you ask me, no escape facilites, not to mention, bringing kids into the equasion, i mean come on.. Kids will only ever slow you down in a life or death situation. Throw the kid at the dinosaur hope that satisfies him till at least dinner time, when u throw the other little brat! (She was a brat too) Haha i am of course joking! I love kids really.. I Just couldnt eat a whole one!
The bus pulled away with a jerk as we arrived at the entrance, i noticed on the wing mirror there was a sign saying 'vehicles can appear closer than they are' or whatever the saying is.. Each step was convincing me more and more this was jurassic park.
Even the double gated entrance! I was just glad to have an actual driver, not a robotic droid.. Thing.. Well the cars in jurassic park were on a track.. Anyway enough movie referneces.
The gate opened and we drove in as far as a roller shutter the other end, we entered a time-lock as the man who had opened the gate had locked himself in with us and was now walking round to the roller shutter door..
Oh he's gonna be the first to die i thougt, that's just obvious! The lions having heard the bus setting off will know it means one of two things, visitors or Lunch.. To a lion this is the same thing i think, hence they dont do well at dinner parties!
The shutter door now fully open i waited for the lion to come rushing in and ripping the mans head off. Alas we drove out and the shutter closed. Oh very un-realistic i thought.
He should be dead by now.. Dead.. I was of course joking but my distrubed mind making us both laugh as i told sandy my thoughts after wondered what i was chuckling at.
The track wound around and around driving very slowly when i kept feeling the roar of a t-rex ripping our roof off and eating the bus too for good measure.
There was huge excitement on the bus when a t-rex... [ahem] sorry lion, stood on the left of the track with a second lion, a lion-ess stood a little way ahead of him.
His grizzly main looking a bit tattered and clearly they'd been havin a row over who was takin the cub to "humans". (The feline equivalancy to 'scouts' but for the youngters - dib dib dib)
They were both magnificent beautiful creatures. I heard someone on the bus ask why they had been fighting.
The safari park ranger replying that they do fight from time to time, but we cannot do anything excpet try and distract them, giving them things to hunt (live animals and so on) moreover they are not allowed to intervene as it was a widlife park, not a zoo, therefore they were obliged to leave them to it as if they were in the wild.
And i have to say i do have to commend them on their park. It was safe, for both humans and dinosaurs, the lions despite their row, looked healthy and happy, with a big lot of space, probably as big as earlswood, woods. Or cannock chase as their teritory, with the excpetion of the fences it seemed very natural and not unlike how i would imagine they live in the wild.
There were actully 3 lions in total. I hadnt seen the other one as it was in front but off to the right slightly. As the bus jerked forwards again the lion up ahead moved, begrudgingly so the bus could u turn.
The driver stopped the bus mid-way thru the u-turn segregating the male and female from the other remaining female.
We all took pics like the paparazzi and the lioness who was once in front of the bus had now settled down almost in the same spot, but further back towards the oposide side of the track, which was now, just outside my window.
I stuck me arm out in between the bars on the window as i began lining my shot up, camera strapped onto my wrist as i didnt want to have to go and pick it up.
As i put my other hand out the window to steady the camera so i could take my shot, the lioness leapt up and my arms sticking out like kfc chicken wings, she ripped my arms out of my sockets, camera and all chewed on them for a bit and throwing them back into her mouth like a pelican eating a fish, now im having to type with my eye-balls.
No not really obviously..... Im using my big toe!
Aaanyway after a near miss i decided only to take pics inside the bus and zoom, which worked out much better for all concerned. Especially me! And especially my camera. I was more worried about losing the (868 pics and vids (i now) have taken so far. (Bet u all scroll back up to see how many it was preciously)..
I can always grow new arms! Errrm. Yeh! No, no u cant, you're not a starfish!
Im sorry this is really going slowly and im waffling like a wafflehouse thats got a special on waffles. two for the price of waffle.. So i shall conclude next time.
I am getting a bit behind with my writing as the days are running out and im constantly trying to cram as much into each day as poss... i will catch up when i get chance, There just arent enough hours in the day.
To be continued...
*takes a bow, walks away*
Part 2
Ok so carryng on from where i left off. Ive realised there was a part of the story i missed (again) yesterday.
Before we got to the Dam in a town just outside of Poovar, not long after sandy had been to see his tailor, we had been thru this place a few times now, on the way to various places, sandy testing me asking me if i remember the name of the place.
Poovar i replied with enthusiasm, wasnt sure if i was right, i knew it was either poovar or varrya. Well done he said, looking quite pleased that i clearly do listen.
Now, Danny, he went on saying. The man, you remember Ajith, who Paul from your country comes to see. The one who does Khaladi.. Ooh yes i said excitedly.. He has one house in this town, we go there now to see if is possible for you to do some training.
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! I said very egerly, ok, we go. And with that we took a few turnings off the main road down a dirt track where sandy pulled up outside a big house.
You wait here a moment and i will go and see if its possible for you to train today! Ok! I exclaimed.
Today, i thought... Oooh dunno if im ready for it today. I need to prepeare, stretch my limbs, wear the right shorts.. Actually i thought i'm being silly, if its today.. Then today it will be and i will just get on-board!
After a few minutes after sandy left, he called me and asked if i would come and join him. I grabbed my bag (you dont leave anything behind else it may not be there when u return) and walked up the driveway to the house where they both sat chatting on the porch.
Danny, this is Ajith, he said, his flat palm out-stretched. I shook Ajith's hand and he offered me a seat, he spoke a few words of english but his vocabulary was no where near as good as sandy's so he began talking to sandy in malyalam and then sandy would translate for me.
The upshot of the conversation was that i was coming back tomorrow to train at 10am, brilliant i thought. He went on to show me some old black and white, almost sepia photos, they're being very old and all.
Some of the photos were of his father who taught khaladi to him, and others. He would go and fight in tournaments with, sandy translated to me.
I was so excited i wanted to jump up and down, i was actually.. Officially, gonna be doing some marital arts training (videos appearing shortly)..
We spoke for about 15-20 mins at which time we agreed the time for tomorrow, i thanked Ajith and did a little prayer sign in my solarlplexus and bowed as is customary to show respect, not to everyone tho, most people are just a wave, but he was getting a full bow, sandy was showing me how the night before when we were getting deep on the religious stuff.
Once we set off once more for the 'surprises which lay ahead we were on track at the the lion safari bus, driving back towards the jetty where we meet the boat, there was no boat so we sat about talking each group of people in their own little pack all talking away in their foreign tongues.
It began to rain, quite firecely, we all took shelter under what looked like an english bike shed, where there was a moped parked. I told you it was going to rain, i said to sandy, and you dont have any wipers, i said wagging my finger with a jovial 'disaappointed-in-you' look on my face.
A short while later the boat arrived to take us on our next journey, we call climbed aboard once again taking the privacy issue in hand invading each others personal space.
The boat set off whilst life jackets were distributed. The lady of the couple who were from Bangalore looked very uneasy by the water and i enquired if she was afraid of the water. Yes very much, she replied, slipping the life vest over her head. I reassured her telling her i was a quallified life saver in water.
Now obviously i havent done any 'life-saving' since i was very young but i still remember how to do it.. Ok the 'qualified' bit was an exxageration of the truth but she didnt need to know this.
Reassured her face relaxed and she began to enjoy the journey, her husbands too, as im guessing he's no massive fan either, with less tension. I snapped away with my camera.. Ooh look another king-fisher..
The boat circumnavigated three quaters of the island on which the lions were housed (i later learned it was not an island more so a peninsular with a small causeway with a road running down from the mountains.
We stopped alongside another jetty, we climbed ashore and then some steps where a lady pointed off to her left (my right, as she was facing me). We took a path which was among the tress and shurbs that lined the walkway,
Ooh another king-fisher... Yeh thats so last season now! I said after he pointed it out! Ive seen 4 now today, gettin a bit boring! I joked.
As the path twisted round, over rocks and past some very strange looking trees. Almost 3 or 4 singular trees, plaitted together to form one big trunk. When the tree gets to a certain height, branches fall downwards and route into the ground as if to support the branches which also grow horizontally like a 4 dimensional spiders web, each branch supporting the next and routing either back to the tree, forming a strong isossolese triangle shape, or back down to the floor, forming a right-angle triangle (or equalatteral if you wonna be technica) between the two branches.
Eventually we came to an enlosure, where there were it seemed, 2 herds of deer, doe's stags and fawns all gathered in the group forming the individual herds. They were eating grasses and leaves off the ground in a very deer-like manner.
Some of the indians began to offer the deer some grasses and ferns which were growing on our side of the fence. The deer cautiously came over and gently took the leaves and fern from the indian mans hand. So the grass IS sometimes greener on the other side i said..
Awww they're ever so gentle, quite tame allowing us to strok them thru the fence separating us. After this we walked back along the path to where the lady once stood. There was a plaque commemerating the life of Ozzie wildlife's answer to David attenborough; the late great, Steve Irwin, who had apparently visited the park himself before taking a sting-ray to the chest several years ago. We followed the path further round in the oppiste direction when we arrived at the croc-pit.
There was a very staue-esque croc who lay in the middle of the enclosure, mouth wide open as if waiting for some prey to wander near. A park warden with big heavy welly boots was spraying the croc with a powerful hosepipe. The croc didnt budge an inch, enjoying the cool water he was being washed with.
I noticed another man inside the enclosure where there were also more life-less crocs, the other man looked like a gardener pulling shrubs and weeds out the ground. He had no welly boots just a paid of flip-flops. I joked with sandy asking do they take it in turns to wear the welly boots swapping over daily.. Noo it's not like that, danny. He replied. This man is a ranger and so he has the boots. This man is just a gardener. Ohh i said, realising my joke was lost on him.
There was a swing hanging from a tree which was tied to a branch with a metal pipe for the seat. Sandy jumped on and began enjoying himself, pushing thru and going really quite high. I took a vid, as it was nice to see him enjoying himself, not just standing watching me enjoy myself.
There was another short wait while the absent boat took other holiday-makers to each of the stops along the way. I wanted a go on the swing but others had jumped on, as we heard a boat coming thinking it was for us.. It wasnt it was just another ranger coming over from somewhere else.
I waited patiently for the swing to become free and i asked sandy to film me as i swung, sure, sure he rellied as i handed him my camera and reminded him which button to press to take a film, rather than a photo. I remember i remember, you showed me yesterday.
Oooh ok, clever clogs! I said, both of us laughing once more.
It was my turn so i got on and walked back as far as possible with the bar tucked under my bum, i jumped back and leaned back, as you do.. And swung forwards and backwards, standing mid swing to pump more power in to go higer. Sandy filmed me and a short time after, my time was up as someone else was waiting so i climbed off. Handing it to the aqua-phobic lady.
The boat then arrived to take us back to where we had first boarded, where the rickshaw was parked. Where we began our excursion.. We climbed the stairs we had firstly upon arrival, where we got sent back to buy tickets, if you recall.
Beyond the steps were several concrete enclosures all with wire fencing as a roof, each enclosure containing one, two or more crocs, the most that was in one enclosure was three, which looked like a mother father and infant. Ahh thats nice, i thought.
Once we'd seen all the crocs and i'd photographed as many as i deemed necessary, we left the park and got back in the tuktuk. We zoomed off, sandy wishing well his friends who he had met there.. One being from his own stand in kovalam where i first met sandy.'
After a minute or two we were at the point where the reservoir turns into a dam, and the bridge to cross it if you wanted to. There was a big tall building with just steps leading up to a platform. It reminded me of the towers you get at a fire station, allowing the men to practice rescuing people from a great height.
We climbed each staircase as it spiralled round in a square fashion. Reading the graffitti that was scribbled onto the cream paint, there were people who had written stuff from india, and china, and america, and scotland, and ireland, england, south africa.. Many places and names were scribbled and scratched into the surface of the tower.
On top, the view was pretty spectaular as we could now see above the trees on all four sides. We had a bit of a photoshoot me posing as usual and sandy snapping away like the good little photorapher that he is.
Back in the rickshaw, reversing out of the parking space, sandy said to me. Danny, i have one more surprise for you. 1 more he repeated... Oooh ok, this one is a little further on first we go back to the bridge, you remember, where i stop the ricksaw. Yes ok, i said drive on tour-guide extrodinaire.
Soon we had arrived at, said bridge, and crossing back to the main road we journeyed on, he navigated our way thru the busy streets and a little wile later we were back on the bumpy roads again made mostly out of dirt. The road was windy and bumpy so sandy drove slowly navigating the pot-holes in the "road".
I wonder where we're going, i thought, excitedly. The bumpy road finished and we were back on tarmac. Ooh thats good. Smoothly sandy accellerated as if the tarmac were his runway.
We turned off the tarmac'd roads and back onto the bumpy roads after driving only a short distance on the nice tarmac.
Oh well that was nice while it lasted, having eaten all of the bananas from the mornings drive i said to sandy as we approached the cross roads. Shall we get some more kapaparam. He sharply pulled over and parked right on the apex of the corner facing the traffic, slightly down a hill, created by the apex of the corner,
I dont think tuktuks have hand brakes, or if they do it doesnt work, which is probably morelike the truth, as many things in sandys rickshaw dont work.. in fact the only thing that DOES work is the engine, wheels and head-lights. And trust me when i say for some people the head-light is still considered a luxury item as many drive round blindly fumbling their way in the dark, like a mole.
As he was buying the bananas, the tuktuk kept jerking forwards slightly, slipping in gear. After it had done this about 4 or 5 times, each time i was thrown about a bit. i jumped in the front and put my foot on the brake.
There were a few indian chaps who were sat down inside the shop, as if the shop were a bar, and they, its patrons! they began laughing loudly, i heard them talking in hindi and realised they were laughing at me jumping in to put my foot on the brake. I heard the word Brekala which is as ive come to understand is Brakes.
We all had a big laugh and sandy told me you dont need to put ur foot on the brake, its ok the rickshaw wont roll away.
I know i know i said but it was jerking forwards and not so comfy in the back.. I informed him, still laughing as we drove on, we took the road now in front of us, making it a right turn,
Still on a dirt road, on either side was what looked to me like jungle, big palm trees and shrubs leading to peoples houses and farm-lands. We drove past an open prison and sandy was explaining to me how if someone had done something criminal he may end up
In prison, he will serve whatever time the courts have ruled, but in order to rehabillitate the men they go into an open prison where they have to wash cook clean, etc, whereas in the clink everything is done for them. Then moving to an open prison where he has more freedom but has to work to provide for himself.
Yes we have a similar system in england i said reassuring that i understood. Yes he said, our system is most likely based on your governments system as lot of rules and regulations still exist from before india was granted independance from england in 1947 - two years after world war ii had ended.
We had spoken about the independance issue before and whilst ive forgotten to mention (like with so many things, to be honest) it was discussed in great detail.
So after about a further 20 minutes we pulled up outside another kind of wild-life park.
Not catching a glimpse of what it actually was as sandy had quickly pulled in to the left of me, meaning the entrance to the park, was behind me.
Before we got out of the rickshaw he swivelled round in his seat in order to face me and said; Danny this place is an Elephant sanctuary, they take elephants from the wilds, bring them here, give them the foods, medicines, and they attach a metal clip to the ear of the elephant for identifications.
Then once the elephants are more healthy, they gradually release them back in to the wilds. Sometimes they stay just a short times, sometimes many years depending upon their condition. There are two elephants here who will never leave as they cannot be rehabillitated due their not being accepted by other ephants when they try to release them, these two elephants you can ride as you like, as i know you were disappointed to not have photos at the other place. Thats not exactly how he said it but words to that effect i think.
See, attention to detail, always remembering i thought, it was really nice that he had thougt of this and considered that i might like to ride another elephant purely for photographic purposes.
We paid the entrance fee, and i paid extra to ride the elephant. Firstly we walked around the estate (if u will), where all the elephants were, at first i thought there was maybe one, or two but as we kept walking more and more elephants appeared baby ones, teenage ones, adult ones and even some which would be grandparent age too.
Each elephant had, like at the zoo, a plaquard depicting its name, where it was found, age and a few other details. What they most enjoy for food etc.
I asked sandy, how do they know the elephants name, jokingly, does someone communicate to the animal with a trumpet, you know like a brass instrument, making sure he got the joke.
Hahhaa no its not like that Danny, the name of the elephant depends on the name of the person who found the animal, maybe its his own name, sometimes maybe they name it after their mother, or son. He who finds the animal, names it. He said, for clarity! Got it ! I said.. Ahh thats nice.
We continued down the paths visiting each elephant, they were, all chained up, to a post which was cemented into the ground, the chains binding one ankle giving them enough freedom to walk all about the concrete square on which they stood. Also giving the mahoots the security, as they could easily be trampled on without it.
Piles and piles of palm leaves were placed in front of each of the elephants as each elephant was munching away on the leaves, first stripping them using their tusk and their front foot to do so.... foot? Erm.. Paw maybe? No not paw.. Hoof then.. Oh whatever his elephant body stabliser!
We saw each and every elephant and i took lots of pics and a video of one of them. One of the elepants was 76 years old, and i thought back to my breakfast companion.
It was time for me to ride the elephant, so we found the man, gave him the ticket and he went off, up the path to get the beast.
I climbed, as before on a platform, where another Mahoot stood, smiling at me with a warm welcome, among a pile of what appeared to be, saddles!
Yes! I said, to myself in my head. Comfort!
The animal whose name was Jayasree and she was a 41 year old who was once used at an eco-camp, whatever that is. The government apparently transported her to the sanctuary and now because she cannot be re-admitted into the wild she is one of the animals they use for riding on. I think i have said all of this, im not sure if i'm repeating myself or not (its very late).
Once she was saddled with a purpose-made blanket i climbed on top, hooking my feet into the rope as before. We walked off a little way, they told me to hold the rope, but i found with my feet tucked in i didnt have to.
Pics and vids and a short walk later and it was time to get off and leave. We arrived at the tuktuk, sandy yanked on his lever and engaged reverse, we backed up, when a little white haired indian man appeared jabberin on in hindi.
Danny, do you mind if we drop this man to the place where we stopped to buy kapaparam. No not at all i said. So i slid over and in he got in.
Sandy was talking to him in malyalam, then talking to me in english. We got back to the cross-roads, we were at previously, where i had put my foot on the brake giving the men in the shop their daily entertainment.
The man paid no money and as he got out. I slid back over as the man was waving good bye and thanking sandy. Sandy pulling away, turned his head, so to face me but looking forwards, so his voice would reach my ears over the engine.
He said to me, i didnt charge him anything cos he is very poor and old and frail. I like to show kindness to people when i can. I have to say it made me feel very warm. I thought to myself he shouldnt really have to pay anyway as my 'fare' is covering it, but i guess he would've done so normally, this making two fairs.
Anyway we pootled off down the road tuktuktuktuktuk went the engine as he tried to pull off in the wrong gear. Ahhh thats why they're called.. A Rickshaw. Lol
I decided i wanted to do something nice for sandy, i thought about it for several minutes, sandy asking me occasionally,
Ru ok danny, yes very good sandy, i'd reply.
He had been telling me when we were at sunset rock all about the costs incurred with his rickshaw, the licence the 'health check' (M.O.T.) Btw i put "M.O.T" in cos it took me a while to get what he meant by health check. I initially thought 'HE' himself had to have a health check to ensure he was still fit fo drive, and this would be costing him about £100 which is 10,000 rupees. (Quite hard for him to comeby and really quite expensive for a health check). the list went on and on with many jobs needing doing to his rickshaw
It also seemed as if it would soon be savaged for scrap. If he could not afford to pay to have the many things repaired as required.
I say, Savaged, i do mean savaged not salvaged.. his rickshaw would be stripped by other vulture-like rickshaw drivers, 'pimping' their own rickshaw, (as his rickshaw would not be allowed to move from where it was parked, until it passed the test)
He went on to tell me how he has some gold in a safety deposit box worth quite a bit of money, (about £5k) which he adds to on a regular basis as he is saving for a taxi. (Which costs £7k)
He wants to drive a taxi, so that he can drive further and therefore earn much more money, so he can provide a better life for his family, 4 sisters, 1 brother (who is also a rickshaw driver) and his mom (who is fairly frail by the sounds of it).
The point was that, If he doesnt pay the fee for the deposit box he could potentially lose a lot of money.
I had a dash of inspiration and inspired i spoke to sandy inpiratiously. I spake thusly.
So you know when you were telling me the other day about your health check, what does it entail, disguising my enquiry as general chit-chat, he told me a list of all the things he needed, some of which id pretty much gathered.
A battery was evident as his, horn, side-lights, indicators and windscreen-wipers didnt work,
He carried on listing items he said he needed a spare wheel, he said.. Carrying on talkng my mind whirring away like a cement mixer, i asked him after each item, how much it would cost totting it up in my head. For all the many many jobs he needed it came to a grand total of 4250rupees
I allowed the conversation to drift off naturally, secretly plotting and planning to change some money, find out where to get the parts from, think about where we could do the work, as i wanted to make sure he spent the money on the rickshaw, not on say beer..
Afterall if I was gonna 'Pimp' his ride, Well, make it legal at least, so he will pass his health check, i had to be sure we could fit all the parts he had bought.. Especially as this will be ensuring his safety and also the customers well being, making him more likely to retain his passengers long term, which is how he likes it best.
Its perfect i thought, had gold stars all round it in my head. Just gotta work out the logistics of it all..
We came back to my hotel room and i decided to give him a good meal too, as i was starving and he eats very little anyway but is as thin as a horse-hair!
I have to be honest, i was a bit worried at first, ordering food, just in case he was a messy eater (as indians tend to be) i thought it might put me off my food but nevertheless the decisions were made, once i gave him the right menu as i had given him the menu for the spa treatements at first.
I phoned down to reception and soon enough our food arrived. He had fried rice with veg not very exciting, or expensive!
Now, I had hit upon a bit of a gold nugget before going to bed the night before, when i discovered a steak & cheese club sandwich, which i ordered, and by god it was good! It had been such a long time since id had something i enjoyed, I wolfed it down and it oooh it was bloody lovely! And only about £4 too #bonus!
There was an extra plate of chips i didnt order or pay for (as it wasnt on the bill) and so the food was plentiful. Good i thought!
He can eat and eat until he was full and so can I.
Over dinner i asked him where to go to get the parts for his rickshaw and whether there was anywhere to go where with good light ?
It was dark by now and so we would need good lighting.
He said danny we dont because the men they fix it. How do you mean i asked. He said you no pay for labour, only for the part. The men they fix it for free cos they are my friends. Ha that figures i thought, he does have friends all over the place you know!
We were almost done eating, so i turned to him and said. After dinner we are going to kovalam junction to your friends shop, where we will get you a new battery, so you have a horn & lights, a wiper motor blade so your wipers work, a new spare wheel as you dont even have one. And it will be my pleasure to pay for this for you, as a thank you for your friendship and kindness and help, this week.
He sat dumbstruck, speechless and stil for a moment. I wasnt sure he has understood what i said, so i asked him, do you understand?
He said, no explain it to me again. I think he did, but wanted to be sure. I repeated myself virtually word for word, with great sincerity in my voice.
By the end of the sentence, he had tears in his eyes, and he leaped up out of his seat and hugged me really hard. Repeating, you dont know what this means to me, you dont know what this means to me, both of us now in tears like a couple of girls at an engagement party.
With excitement in his voice, he said so we can go to do this now? Well finish your dinner first and we'll get going. I've finished he said. Jumping up to put his sandals on.
No c'mon sit down finish your dinner, theres no rush. Ok he said sitting down and began ramming food into his mouth like a kid at a kids party.
Slow down man! Theres no rush seriously, assuming the place isnt going to close. I was almost done eating myself to be fair but was enjoying every bite.
The place will not be closed yet he said but ive really lost my appetite, i picked up the last of my steak sandwich, rammed it in me gob standing up as i did.
Im just going to use the toilet, i said. I was actually going to sort out me cash too but i didnt want him seeing necessarily. Not cos i didnt trust him, u understand, but as it is a gift i didnt want him to see the money. i do trust him, i im still cautious to an extent but he is very good at protecting my belongings.
We left the patio where we had eaten our dinner and as we both jumped in the rickshaw i said, ok, money exchangings! Mocking the way he says it in a jokey maner
We powered off down the road, and i nearly broke me neck as the rickshaw did a 180• turn on a 5pence piece, as rickshaws have a good turning circle.. Woaah easy tiger! I said returning to my sitting position.
Sorry danny but you do not know what this means to me. He repeated several times, Quickly we arrived at the exchange place, i went in got £40 changed and left. Got back in.. The right tuktuk and we sped off.
Sandy is a very good, cautious driver, at times, more cautious than i give him credit for, when i dont think he's seen something but then he makes a minor adjustment and a problem doesnt arise.
Im telling you this cos right now i was being thrown round as if a rag doll in the teeth of an excitable puppy, trying desperately to rip his head off.
Within about 3 minutes we were at kovalam junction and a further minute and he stopped at the side of the road, glancing behind him to the right waiting for a gap in the traffic where he quickly pulled accross the road and let his engine come to a stop with his foot on the break, as normal. I thought if only you knew what u were doing to your poor engine!
He spoke to the man at the shop, for a moment or two, when he vanished accross the road to another shop facing the small workshop. I looked at sandy with confusion, he said to me, i dont know i think he has gone to get the part. I asked him, did he say he was? No, he just said hold on, and ran off.
Oh! I thought. Well there y'go u cant always get good customer service i suppose.
We waited and waited as the man served some other customers who had since come to the shop over there when i noticed, no what he's actually doing is lighting insence sticks.. WTF! Ok thats random, I thought we order some parts off you but the joss sticks are out! I actually found it rather amusing that his priorites were a little distorted.
Meanwhile another younger chap had approached in a dark blue shirt, i thought he was a customer, but this was actually sandys friend who he'd come to see. They chatted for a few minutes before sandy had obviously asked him for his assistance as he too ran accross the road.
I thought.. Anyone else wonna come and 'not' serve us?! I was chuckling away to myself. As these thought popped into my mind, do we smell, was it something we said? What is it..
Unbeknown to me the second chap had gone to collect a wiper motor blade, and a few other parts from the shop opposite where the other man was still sat waving his joss sticks around whilst his customers impatiently waited.
The first man, who shall be known as 'joss-stick-boy' left the shop, hitched up his sarong so it was only down to his knees not his ankles, ran accross the road where he began lighting more joss sticks for this shop!
I thought this guy is a wako! He's obsessed, no maybe addicted to insence. I asked sandy, what is he doing, is this normal is it cos of some ritual or something, maybe he has to appease the gods in some way.
No no, i dont know either danny, he replied. I think he might be a little, y'know.. He spun his fingers around his temple three times in a clockwise direction, the international sign-language for 'cooo kooo'... (U have to do it in the voice of the bird else it doesnt read right.. Oh you did, good)!
Anyway he left the shop once the insence was burning and went back to serve his customers who were by now becoming more than impatient, more like a rowdy rabble.
By now the entertainment had distracted us from the fact that sandy's mate had already done the wiper starter motor, battery and was now working on the horn and windscreen wiper, making sure it was working. Wow! That was quick i thought, seconds later his two tone horn did a little 'didle-iddle-diddle-iddle' awww so cute! I thought! His tuktuk slowly coming to life as each job was sorted.
The one horn, as there are two actual sounders one above each wing mirror, wasnt sounding correctly so, by now the crazy insence man had returned, and began to take the horn assembly apart, a bit of a tweak here and bit of adjustment here, a good blow.. and all was done!
He re-attached the horn and then it came down to price. Sandy told me all we'd had done should cost 2800 rupees, £28.00 ok no problem i said. But do you think you could haggle and get him down ? Yes i think maybe, i think i should say i have only 2500. Noo if your gonna haggle go in Low i said (thinking a bit about my own cash balance) go in at 2000. Ok i try! We see, after it is finished i say 2000.
The men working as a team now, tweaking his tuktuk and even the engine in places, re-wiring a battery housing and also curing an oil leak with a new rubber seal. I was very impressed, not the kind of service you get at a uk garage thats for sure!
Soon the work was done, so sandy looked at me nervously, i made the peace sign, signifying 2000 rp and gave him two thumbs up, and exxageratively winked at him as I gave him 2000 rupees.
He went to talk to his friend and words were exchanged and i could tell haggling had ensued by the expressions on sandys face, disagreeing with the price offered.
He came back over after about 2 minutes and said 2200 is this ok! Good work i said, patted him on the back and handed him the additional'£2 in rupees, of course.
What about the spare wheel sandy i asked as we pulled off. We have to go somewhere else for this. You see? Ok !
We journeyed on, sandy now pressing his horn at every bike, person, goat, dog, cow, car, tree, house, bridge, watermelon we passed. Diddle-iddle-diddle-iddle it went, each time.
Why did you sound your horn at the watermelon i asked.. Cos it might jump out at me, he laughed..
You have to understand danny, barely stopping for beeath, i havent had a working horn for 2 years. No more.. I missed it! Thank you danny, thank you so much!
Its my pleasure i replied with a big smile in my heart. Seeing before my eyes, they joy it was bringing him.. Diddle-iddle-diddle-iddle..
What were u beeping then, i asked; the fire, he said.., the fire i said back in a high pitched voice.. Yes he said i was showing the fire my new horn. Okaaaay.. I said. Maybe i should take you back to the.. I did the 'clockwise-temple' thing, as he looked at me in the mirror, to see why i had stopped talking.
The fire incedentally is the way they get rid of their rubbish. They all just throw it on the pavement somewhere, then when the pile is big enough, ignite it. Spose it does solve the problem really! Im not saying india is clean, not by any stretch, but im saying its a good method. Each town responsible for its own clenliness and the disposal of rubish thereof.
We pulled up at the tyre place and i sat in the back as he went off and spoke to the man, as per usual really.. Its best cos that way i dont get people coming up to sell me their whatever, im not really interested, in, thank you!
He came to my door.. Well there is no door but to my side, and related to me a slight problem, they cant get the wheel now but im gonna have my front trye changed now, have the tyre thats on my bike reconditioned and that can go on the spare wheel when it comes in on wednesday. Ok ! So how much do u need.
Remember i'd got a figure of £42.50 or 4250rupees. Having spent £22.00 there was £22.5 left in his budget.
1350(r)p ok no probs, and this includes the cost of the wheel? I wanted to be sude inhad left no stone unturned. He nodded in agreement. Inhanded him the money over and he paid the man, and they bagan to get to work on his rickshaw.
I got out as at some point i assumed they would need to jack up the rickshaw.
There was a beautiful dog who was by the tyre place and the dog had a collar on. Now i know what ur thinking you should never touch foreign dogs, esp in india as they are mostly savages, but this one was different. So playful, placid and such a cute doggie.
I played with her for a while play fighting, and the indians were watching me, the dog belonged to the man who owned the tyre shop, hence i knew she was not rabid or anything.
For quite some time i was giving her fuss, allowing her to jump up me and pushing her away, as i do with all doggies everywhere.
The owner of the dog, and of the shop, came over to talk to me, he asked me if i had a dog in england i was missing as he'd seen how much i'd enjoyed playing with susie, her paw prints now all over, both my t-shirt and my shorts, like some muddy paw-pattern.
I told him that i had a dog but he had died 4 years ago. i dont think he understood really, but i agreed, i do miss him. You are very good with her, he said, she doesnt normally take so quickly to strangers. Oh I love dogs. Dogs; to people, in england are what cows; to people are in india, i explained, we love dogs and cats, and keep them as pets, they live with us and sometimes even sleeping in our beds. I told him.
He was shocked by this, in your beds? He said. Sometimes i replied smiling.. I showed him a picture i have of max on my phone and they passed my phone round as each one awed at max, as everyone always does.
Eventually getting my phone back restoring my temporary anxiety as my new iphone 6 got passed around a group of 12 of so men, who seemed to be sitting inside the shop, as if the shop were some bar and the men its patrons.
The work was now done and sandy went to pay the man, i was now shaking hands with all 12 men who wished me well all smiling and wobbling heads..
Incedentally i asked sandy why they do this and he doesnt know. He does it himself sometimes he obviously dosnt realise it. I think its something to do with emphasis of conversation ive come to realise.
We jumped back in the tuktuk, and sandy handed me 300rp. I asked.. Whats this? I didnt need it he said. Oh howcome, did u haggle i asked. No i didnt need to. He liked how you were with his dog, not caring bout the muddy foot prints, allowing her to bite you (in the same playful manner max used to, not hurting one bit)
He say to me 1000 rupees. Fantastic!! #BONUS!
So where to next sandy i asked, what else? Nothing he said, all is done now! Ok then i think its bed time for me.
We drove back to my hotel, he thanked me profusely, telling me over and over how much it meant to him, and with a big hug, he left as i waved him goodby and turned to go down the really steep slope, to the not so steep slope (yet still deadly, u can never let ur guard down, especially in flip-flops)
I unlocked me door, turned on the air conditioning, made meself a cuppa tea and went to bed!
The end.. (Of day 4)
Day 5 - Training Begins
Prior to sandy leaving yesterday we had arranged that we would leave around 09:15 to be there for 10 as it was about a 35 minute drive, leaving ten minutes for traffic etc
I woke up to the sound of chirping crickets, it was my doorbell.. Oh no! I havent overslept, not today, the previous night, i had tried to email kev to get my blogs over but i couldnt seem to send it snd he couldnt seem to receive, no matter how many times i tried.
We decided together, as time was passing by that i would upload directly if i could, as i wasnt having any trouble getting on to get jealous, i just found i wasnt receiving any mail. Strange ! I did try a number of methods like going onto hotmail, and yahoo (as i have both) website rather than the app, in hope it would function correctly, alas to no avail.
I uploaded the previous days events to get jealous, but their website is kind of annoying, very annoying. Once you upload, it seems to take all the paragraphs out, and make it one big long paragraph. I had been very lazy with my grammar, focusing on the details, as i knew kev would pick up on every mistake, correcting punctuality and making sure the story read ok, as sometimes i would insert a paragraph when i realised that i'd missed something integeral to the story.
I read thru aftrr first uploading, and when we got to the markets and kapaparums it didnt make much sense... Oh no kev, HELP! This is a disaster i thought! I tried to edit the story online on the website.. And the app!
You could easily change the words no trouble, after clicking edit on the page then overtyping, but each time i clicked save having spent quite a while re-jigging the paragraphs and the words within, to make them compute correctly!
After doing this several times i began to get very frustrated as it seemed no matter what i tried, it always failed. I was up very late trying to sort it, hence i slept thru both of the alarms i had set to wake me up.
I opened the door, having first wrapped a towel around me, apologised to sandy as i had got straight out of bed yo the door, i told him i would be about 5 minutes and i went back inside to turn the shower on,
It was a good job he had come slightly earlier than arranged as we initially said 09:15 but the, ever punctual, sandy had arrived 15 mins early, so there was still no rush he assured me before the door had fully closed.
I jumped in the shower. Wondering whether todays shower would be nice, waay to hot, or basically too cold to shower in. I placed my hand under the stream of water and it was waaay too hot, scalding.
I had a bit of an idea, at that moment. Because next to the bath, on the wall there is a seperate shower head with its own tap. I'll try this one i thought, leaving the rain-head shower running, as i opened the tap, the pressure from the rain head shower diminished momentarily as the water was diverted to the other shower head but once it was upto full pelt the rain head shower came back into action,
Now the water had turned cold in the rain head shower but the other showr head was coming out scalding hot, underneath the cold shower i stood, with the second shower head above me too.. With the two shower heads togethet it made a perfect compliment tempering the water to perfection.
Fan-bloody-tastic, what a break through, i then noticed the temperatures swap over, so i was able to re-locate the hand held shower back on its holster for a moment whilst i added shampoo to my hair, which is becoming lighter and lighter (in colour) each day.
As i stepped back under the stream of water, Both shower heads were at a very nice warm temperatue. Great i thought if i use both i have a perfect shower, thru one way or another, either using the one to cool/warm the other, or waiting until they both stableise.
I finished washing myself, brushed my teeth combed my hair and put my contact lenses in. I can train in my glasses but occasionally they get knocked off, so took them out of the equasion.
I jumped into some clothes, i wondered whether i would be doing it in trainers or barefoot. I wasnt taking any chances, i took my most comfy trainers and after uploading socks to my feet, i put my trainers on and with that we left.
I was telling sandy of the troubles i'd encountered with email and how i was up till nearly 3am trying to rectify the problem. Is it ok, your story, he asked me. No it's a right mess i said, bits of the story not reading it correctly,
He said, can you not edit the story on the website to make it better, him knowing just how much the story means to me, as i have been explainjng to him, i always try to write a journal when i go travelling. I explained the situation to him regarding the website, and he offered me a golden nugget of an idea. Why dont u correct the story in its original format (ie. Notes on my phone) then re-upload it, he said. In his pigeon english.
What an amazing idea i thought! I could do this, this would potentially rectify all the problems i was having long term, saving me the need to re-edit when i get home.
Sorted! Thats what i shall do i told myslelf. What a good idea too, hadnt thought of this myslelf.
All the way to the house where i was to begin my training, sandy was sounding his horn as he drove merrily along, each time a slight smirk washed accross his face, as he was clearly happy to have a working horn.
Anyway we were en-route to my training and upon our arrival, we climb the concrete stairs to the flat roof, incdentally the stairs going upto the next level were not complete, it reminded me again of being in greece where they build one floor then leave all the structure in place for the next floor to be added at a latet stage, perhaps when funds allow or maybe just when there's time, out of season etc.
The first thing we did was what i likened to a bow in Kung fu! In stead of the 'right palm meets left fist' as i do in kung fu, we touched the floor with both hands as if stretching our legs, then returned to an upright position with our hands in a prayer position. Then lifting the left leg and touching the soul of the foot with the right hand. We spun around and did the same again.
Then we began. The first thing i was to learn, was similar to my first set (form, kata etc depending upon which style you train, we call them 'sets', so from now on i shall relate them as a 'set'
So the fist set was similar to one of my sets but completely different also. You will have to watch the videos as i shall upload them later and its way to difficult to explain.
The training went on for 2 hours in the warm indian sun, typical i thought, for it to be really hot and sunny when i needed it to be cool. Oh well never mind, my t-shirt turning more and more sodden with each technique i was shown.
We were practicing on a concrete floor in barefoot, but all over the floor was a mossy residue, which got everyhwere, in between my toes up my legs, backs of my knees, as some of the techniques require you to stamp on the back of the knee-pit, forcing the assailant / enemy to the floor, simmililarly to how we do in kung fu also.
I have to say the training was superb, very very similar techniques to kung fu, but with different movements making each technique more complicated for me to learn, having to re-train my footwork according to their rules, forgetting momentarily the ways ive been learning for the last 8 years. #noteasy
I ate up as much as i could of what ajith, and a friend of his, who had come to assist in my training, had shown me. His friend occasionally doing the steps with me so i could watch the feet. Occasionally holding me at the end when i was in some kind of lock to ensure i didnt become injured.
It was very good and again a similar format in the way we work. Always making sure the student, your training with, grasps the technique without injury.
I was very comfortable training like this as i quickly realised they wanted me to grasp it quickly, it reminded me a bit of the 'chi-nah' and 'dim-mak' seminars i've done in england with the kung fu legends i have been so fortunate to train with. For training purposes going soft but in reality, destroying the bones, joints, muscle, etc rather than just pretending to.
The training ended and soaked thru to
the skin, sandy asked me as we jumped back in, what we do next? I said.. Beach. Beach. Beach, i need the sea today, i replied.. having only been for a paddle so far in the lovely warm, Indian ocean. So which beach you want Danny. The leela hotel beach i replied, we'd been there previously and i thought it would be a nice place to swim.
Now i know what ur thinking.. Howcome u'd not yet been in the sea? I had been thinking the exact same thing my self, the reasons were various, sometimes i wasnt in my shorts but maybe my light cotton trousers, sometimes the sea was too rough so swimming was fobidden due to strong undercurrents which could easily pull you out to sea, other times it just wasnt really the right kind of weather, either raining or overcast. One time i didnt even have a towel cursing myself as i had decided today was the day.
We drove to the leela hotel, where i stripped out of my tshirt layed my towell down and went in for a dip, diving under the strong surfy waves. Ahhh thats beautiful! Being drenched head to foot as the waves lapped in. The sweat now immediately having been washed from my body.
After a little while playing with the surf, trying each time to make it further and further to shore, honing my technique as i did. I caught a really big giant wave and i surfed away, the wave was feirce and tipped me over me doing a full handstand, forced over and over by the sheer power of this gargantuan wave.
I wondered what it wouldve looked like from the shore, imagining my dad falling about laughing had he seen ! I had salt water up me nose, and i was coughing as i walked up the beach back to where my towel and sandy sat.
Are you ok, danny? He asked slightly worried for my safety, ohh yes yes im ok. I told him how a similar thing had happened when at avoca beach near Sydney, in Australia, and it was all part of the fun of surfing.
He said that he didnt think the waves today were good for surfing as there is too much power at the top, i concurred as i was drying myself, blowing my nose on a corner of the towell.
I lay down soaking up the suns rays, having first applied my sun oil Spf15 giving me 15 minutes of protection. That should do it i
thought. After 15 mins
The whole time all i could hear was ajiths voice, his english not being particuarly good, as the three main sentences he knew, were running thru my head as if on repeat or a stuck record. The three sentences were as follows;-
'After you give me, this' meaning attack me like this, as he demonstrated which attack to use.
'Ok good yes' (nodding as he spoke) was the second, and the third sentence being; 'no wrong i show"! (This usually came with a side order of 'angry face').
As i was drying myself off with my towell, the words 'after me this', which was the shortened version of 'after you give me this'.
Sandy was chatting away to some friends, he has friends all over the place you know.
A little while longer he chatted, both men sitting in a squat position as if they were visitig the loo, as they spoke away in malyalam. Sandy looked to me, we go now he said, interupting the man, so to speak.
When you're ready i replied waving my hand signifying no rush! Lighting up a fag.
We left saying bye to his, friend who also shook my hand, as any friend of sandy is automatically a friend of mine it seems. I gave sandy's friend a ciggie and we left,
Arriving back at the tuktuk, he asked so whats next. I thought for a moment, and said, maybe some yoga. Or perhaps ayurvedic treatments. His brain plotting he navigated the pot holes in the car-park, making his way to the tarmac'd road where he picked up the speed. We zoomed straight past our hotel, past where the new pavement is being laid..
I've been watching them lay the pavement all week remarking to sandy ooh look they've begun with the paving slabs now, the paving slabs being almost circular with two crescent shapes cut out each side to form an almost rectangle, each slab inter-locking with the next and last. They have now paved almost the entire street, making most of their bulding supplies at the road, i have aslo noticed. Presumably keeping costs down.
The slabs start out as sand to form the shape inside the mould, then they pour the different coloured concrete mixture in to each mould, making each brick as required. Leaving them in the sun to dry overnight, after they've been smoothed off very precisely.
There are a group of men who make the bricks, another group of men who, lay the gravel down underneath, another group of men who lay the kerb stones, also which are man made, on site, by pouring cemement in betweek two accurately measures pieces of wood, they smooth them off and leave over night to dry, as with the bricks and slabs, they then remove the wood, smooth down the kerb-stones and move on to the next section and the next and the next..
We got to his friends 'surgery' as locals see these people as doctors almost, being able to cure most ailments as in western medicine.
As we went in, two british types were leaving, waiting at the bottom of the stairs, allowing them to descend before me, i asked whether the treatment was any good. Marvellous she said, i feel like im floating, her husband nodding in agreememt.
The 'Doctor' came to meet me at the door, and as usual sandy did made the explanations, regarding treatments etc.
The doctor spoke english, tho his vocabulary was limited, he explained to me the various treatments he offered, explaining each one as he did, sometimes getting lost in translation, tho i got the gist.
I decided, as i only had 3 more days (including this one) i wouldnt have tome to do an entire treatment, which lasts a minmum of four days, the can go upto 7, 10, 14 whatever you like.
The prices were much cheaper than at the hotel, but i could also see that it would be very easy to spend your entire weeks holiday money on just treatments alone.
i opted for an 'ayurvedic experience' which lasts 90 minutes and has a taste of a few different treatments.
He told me he had someone coming in shortly and asked if it would be possible to come back for 5pm. No problem i said, as it was now about 1 or 2 pm.
On the way back from fixing sandy's rickshaw last night it had begin to rain, only gently but giving sandy the perfect opportunity to try out his wipers, tho i had to prompt him to do this as he had forgotten he actually had a working wiper.
As the single wiper went accross the windscreen, it didnt really clear the water more than smudge it accross the screen. Thats no good i thought, he needs a new wiper blade.
I directed sandy to the workshop we had been before and confused he asked me why, i explained to him that a new wiper blade was needed so it worked efficiently. He said to me, danny it is not necessary, you have spent much money on me and i dont want you to buy this for me.. I buy! Ok i said but either way we're not leaving here without one.
He asked 'insence-boy' or was it 'joss-stick-boy' i cant remember, for a wiper blade and the man ran over the road. I looked at sandy raising one eye brow, and said here we go again. No no he has gone to get the part he replied laughing with me, remembering the antics of the night before.
Seconds later he had the blade in hand and was looking left, waiting for a gap in the traffic, after the last car in the line of cars coming down, he darted quickly over the road to the front of sandy's tuktuk.
He popped the blade on the top of the rickshaw temporarily while he grabbed a size 8 spanner, 7 or 8 anyway it was a small-ish bolt. He began undoing and then replacing with the new one, i asked sandy how much it was, 200 he said.. Omg £2 for a wiper blade bargain.. I thought. U have 200 ? I asked i will happily pay, he had a bit of a guilty look on his face as i knew he didnt have. Silently i took 200 out of my wallet and with his back turned to me, i shoved the £2 in his hand.
He turned around looked in his hand, where releif flashed accross his face as i think he was asking insence boy if he could pay at the end of the week or at another time at least. Take it, i said to him. Pay the man, lets go! As if my patience were running out! They werent, i just wanted him to accept the £2
He paid, we got back in, placing the old wiper in the back as a spare.. U never know i told him as he put it in the back. Yes that is what i think danny. You never know!
After this he began to drive away. Fiddling with his insturments as he did. Problem i asked him.
Yes danny, he replied. Clutch is gone. Oh no.. Back to the workshop! No, different one. He continued down the road riding the clutch with it slipping occasionally. We pulled up at an almost identical workshop but on the oppostie side of the road, with a shop for the parts opposite.
Hagar-davin-deri-clutch-cable-malarhan-drasi-meri. Or something similar, he said to the chap. The man ran over the road, i was beginning to get used to this being the way now, he returned moments later with only the wire section of the clutch cable. Dont you have to change the entire thing i asked him thinking of how 'one' would do so on a motorbike.
No need it seems as only the internal part was worn, so its entirely possible to change only this one, only this one he told me.
30rupees later (30p) and we were once again blasting off down the road, excited as his tuktuk really was comig good now.
We came back to my room, where we sat smoking, chatting and drinking for a while i decided i wanted a shower as there was sand all over me still from the beach, and not a relaxing massage, that would make!
I showered and readied myself, asking sandy do i wear just shorts, or maybe trousers and underwear, for the massage, just underwear should be fine danny! Errrm, im not goin down there in just me underwear, i joked,
No danny u ask me do i wear shorts, or my underwear. You wear underwear! To be fair it was how i had posed the question initially.
Reet-ho! Underwear it is, whilst sandy sat at the table on my porch, sending texts and taking calls and listening to his indian music, i got dressed and sorted everything i needed out. The massage was going to cost me 2800rp or £28 (more expensive than all of sandy's repairs including thr new wiper blade and clutch cable) so i needed to get a bit more money changed. I had exchanged some earlier, but only enough for my training, which was £10 (same price i pay per hour at kung fu).
I got some more cash out of the safety deposit box, did a quick recky to establish how my budget was going. Not bad not bad i thought.
Just in case i run out of sterling i might withdraw some from my english cash i said to sandy, is there an atm here. Yes, same place he said, i wasnt sure if he had understood so i repeated myself making it more clear, and he repeated the same answer, with sarcasm. Coolio i replied. Him repeating but not actually saying coolio more like 'coolaylee'. He has been trying to pick up my slang all week, 'what what' was particularly funny as he cant seem to make the 'WH' sound, turning it into a vee sound.
Vot vot vot, he would say.. Noo 'whuh', 'whuh' i would say not with a V but a 'wh' sound, like ur blowing out a candle. That he could do, but couldnt make the 'wh' of what no matter what i tried.. Try 'whip' i asked say 'cool whip' he would say 'cul vip'.
My mind thought back to the musical of my fair lady, "the rain in spain falls mainly in the plane". We gave up in the end accepting defeat with rauchaus laughter and as it was time to go i put me flip flops on and went to the ayurvedic place for my treatments.
As we arrived, the man was finishing up with some other patients, presumably the ones i who were coming in after i had my initial consultstion a few hours earlier.
I waited patiently outside for him to finish off when he asked me to follow him in and sit facing away from him on the stool. He began massaging me over my shirt, almost as if reading my body and discovering where he needed to pay attention to, asking at various intervals whether there was any pain.
Afterwards he left the room and told me to remove my clothes, jewellery, socks and glasses and as i did i hung each item on the pegs prvodied.
He re-entered the room, and said pointing at my white boxers, those too! Errm.. What!? You want me to be naked? I asked with an upward inflection.
For me is no bother, either is ok, if you are more comfortable in your underwear leave them on, but the oils i use, are all made by me, in the back, and some of them WILL stain your clothings, he added.
For you i think is better fully nude, but i will leave for you to deciding. Ahh well in for a penny in for a pound i thought, i took them off and hanged them on the peg, returning back to the stool to begin the treatment.
Have to say i was feeling rather exposed and somewhat uncomfortable and i very nearly changed my mind, but reassuring myself that he was a proffessional and not wanting to get stains over my ck boxers i allowed him to continue, telling myself again he a proffessional, and so his discression is assured and i imagine lots of people go nude actually, especially the locals, to whom privacy is another alien concept, i reassured myself.
After the initial breif massage, he asked me to climb up on top of the massage table where i lay face down. Thats much better i thought, i dont mind my bum being exposed. I can handle that, i said to myself again.
He began fiddling with various instruments, plugging something in by my head. A brass bowl came out of his little cabinet of many items as he placed the bowl on whatever he had plugged in.
I later learned this was just an electric hob, similar to that which Tim bought from aldi many months ago, it uses magnets with which to create heat thereby heating the pots and pans u place upon them, and they are used everywhere here, to keep food and coffee warm, at breakfast.
He splashed my body with Hot oil, all over, starting with my feet, legs, bum, back, neck, shoulders, arm. Then he added more oil to his hands as if to wash them in the oil. Unnecessary step i thought, theres enough oil on me to keep italy going. I could feel it all begin to trickle down into various crevices and onto the (beaaaautiful) wooden table below.
I was now able to slide up and down the table without it causing any friction. I was slippin an sliding all over the shop, albeit only on the wooden table. I thought i bet this woukd be a nightmare on the slippy marble surfaces in my, stunning hotel.
The man had gone to get the rest of the things he needed as i played like a school boy, now sitting up-right and slipping down and sliding back, the length of the massage table (nope, i will NEVER grow up) hehe #peterpan
The man came in mid-slide and saw what i had been doing and he was laughing at me. Slightly embarrased i laughed out loud at having been caught and then re-took my position as i was before, still chuckling away to myself as was he.
He did tell me his name but it was one of those 3 times still hadnt got it and so i left it moments (they happen frequently in india). He did give me his business card but i have since forgotten his name again, its something like vijay, so from now on will be refered to as 'VJ' (for speed of typing)
So vj, now ready to begin he oiled his hands once more, and began with my shoulders neck back and arms, again asking me, does this hurt.. Does THIS hurt.. As he moved to a new knotted area of my body.
The then did a full body massage before asking me to turn over, providing me with a conical shaped foil thing, to place over my [ahem] dignity.. Similar to that you might find when u go for a sunbed to place over ur eyes so they dont burn, same material same colour just in the shape of an ice cream cone, and about as tall as one.
Having covered my manhood i felt much more relaxed as i settled in to the massage once more. Vj had been massagin for some time now talking to me asking me how was the 'Hot'. At first i thought he'd said hows my heart, so i went on to say i have no heart problems to speak of.
No no.. The Hot, how is the hot... Ohhh the heat, you mean, the temperature, yes sir, how is the temperature he said apologetically. Fine! I replied, it was actually really nice, perfect temperature.
He told me he would be only a few minutes as he left the room, to get more stuff. And he asked me to lie 'once more face down'.
I took me cone off and placed it at the head of the table before turning over to my front again as requested.
'After me this' he came back in with what looked like a coulle of tea-bags, but in the shape of a sprigg of brocolli. He added both spriggs to the oil, turned on the burner and he promptly left again. He came in and out a few times until he was ready.
He picked up the brocolli shaped herb bags and dabbing on his hand to test the temperature he began tapping it all over my body, sure enough the hot oils and various herbs began to seep thru to my skin, the herbs feeling now more like sand, well my shower was pointless i thought as the surface of my skin began to feel scratched somewhat.
How is the Hot Mr Danny, he repeated. I corrected him again saying 'the temperature is perfect, thanks' gooooood good' he would say, 'goooood good'.
He did my front similarly and then onto the next stage of the treatment which was the same oils being poured continually onto my 'third eye' in between my eyebrows and just below my hair-line within the area one would normally call the forrid! Lol
I was already lying on my back with my cone nicely back in place covereing my privates once more, he heated a whole bowl full of the oils whilst he placed hole of the mammary-like vessel allowing the oil to continually pour onto my head.
Now im not entirely sure what happend after this as i drifted off to the sounds of india in the background, as i lay there hypnotised by this amazing feeling and the wonderful background noise i thought about what we could do after the treatment.
Before i left i asked vj what the box was to my left pointing to it as i did. It is a steam box, he replied. I tell you what, he said, you come tomorrow and i will give, only for you, a complimentary treatment in this one! Only for you! Awww thats good hospitality, i thought. I thanked the man and put my flipflops on meeting sandy outside.
Sandy always waited outside for me, leaving me safe in the knowledge that when i needed him he would already be there. I often said when he dropped me off, if you want to go and do some business while im here, i wont object, thinking he could be earning cash as i relaxed. He always declined, no i'm happy to wait here he said, opening his newspaper and pluggin in his headphones.
After the massage had ended and i really truly had drifted off to a different plane (not the ones in spain, no). Vj directed me to an adjacent bathroom, where he fiddled with the shower trying to get the "hot" right! (Heat) without much success, he left the room clearly realising that he hadnt turned the hot water on and soon returned with a bucket with what looked like red sand inside.
He began to tell me to use the clay-like substance to wash with, it being slightly gritty with a swarfega feel to it, tho a very spicey pungent smell, which i quite liked.
I rubbed it all over my body ensuring all the oil had come off and i used a small sachet, he had provided, of shampoo to wash my hair.
I paid the man the money and we left. When we were at the beach before, sandy pointed out a restaurant to me where he used to work, "the curry leaf" it was called. I chuckled thinking about the take-away i sometimes use with the same name. As we walked past his friend (presumably his old boss) came over to talk to him and he gave me his business card.
Very good food there danny, whatever you enjoy to eat they will make for you he said promoting their restaurant.
Arriving back down the stairs of the ayurvedic place sandy asked me where to next. I said, lets go to the curry leaf. He had told me he often takes his mom there for a birthday treat as the food is soo good.
Now dark, And having missed sunset, we trundled back to the place we were for this mornings swim where the curry leaf was.
We walked up the steps amidst the shrubs and plants only guided by a single strobe light we, high up so not providing much in the way of light, we carefully navigated to the foot of the restaurant where we were greeted by sandy's old boss with a big smile, a warm handshake as he was clearly pleased to see us, he lead us up to the first floor, where other (english) diners sat eating their supper.
The blue and white striped deck-chair style canvas roof had very ornate lanterns hanging down piercing the canvas roof and walls and casting a very pretty shadow accross the tables yet still providing enough light to be able to see what was being served on the menu.
I have to mention, this was by far the best selection i had seen so far looking something similar to an english pub menu rather than an indian take away. The boss man came over to me as i was deliberating as to what to have,
He said to me, i have something very special just for you, i am thinking it will be perfect for you, his language skills being very smooth i remember thinking. What we have is a seafood platter.
You have the lobster, the prawns, some nice cockles we have picked especially just for you, then some kalamari, some snapper or king fish whichever you are preferring, then topped off with some nice chips and vegetables.
Cockles they have picked just for me, well thats bespoke i thought. How did they know i would he coming, much less chosing exactly what they have chosen, that was a stroke of luck i thought. I could hardly refuse they're having been picked especially just for me, i wouldnt want to waste them. Sandy chose the fried rice with veg, as he always tended to do!
So i happily agreed to it, chosing kingfish over the red snapper. Which by the way was what the german man was eating on my first day, i have deduced.
So sandy and i sat conversing, looking out to sea, where there was a pretty fantastic view if im honest, i was dark but not so dark you couldnt see yet, tho it wasnt long before we were plunged into total darkness, with the exception of the un-natural light provided by the various means of electrical appliances.
The food seemed like it was taking rather a while to come. Tho i often find this is a sign of a better restaurant, those restaurants where it almost appears instantly mosy likely just reheating the food not cooking fresh.
It re-assured me it was to be very good, and soon enough the man came up the stairs with a tray wrapped in tin foil. On it there seemed to be an array of green dishes.
Ooh this looks like mine i thought my mouth now watering. As he approached our table confirming to my stomach it was about to get some yummy food, he placed the tray to my right with a plate infront of me, explaining as he did the various dishes i had ordered.
I realised the 'green dishes' were actually white cabbage leaves, served similarly to the chinese dish 'yuk sung' where the mince is served inside the lettuce and you eat it as you would do a wrap making a cylinder of the lettuce and adding the various components to make the dish.
As he had told me all the food was there. 4 lobsters - they were only small lobsters but 4.. Im never gonna eat all this i told sandy, eyes popping out on stalks at the sheer amount of food there was.
I began with the lobster, removing his tail and with my fork stabbing the meat, in order to pull it apart to get the tasty meat out and quickly in me gob. I then added to my plate, some chips, veg, a few tiger prawns, a few of the deep-fried battered cockles (picked specially for me remember) a bit of the king-fish, and some of the kalamari which was served in a nice cheese sauce.
Omg it was bloody gorgeous, my mouth is watering as i type actually cos its nearly dinnertime and the thought of the food is making me salavate... You too huh? Good good!
So i ate with gusto trying to cram as much into my mouth as my stomach would allow. Sandy told me he was really enjoying his too, much better than the previous night at my hotel he remarked.
The food was nearly gone and by now i was stuffed.. There was just so much left i didnt want to waste a single morsel. Alas it did beat me and even giving sandy a lobster i just couldnt finish it.
I suddenly realised i hadnt even asked how much it would cost but it was irrelavant (no, not an elephant) cos it was BY A COUNTRY MILE, the best, no the VERY best meal i had eaten to date on my indian vacation.
We asked for the bill and checking my wallet to see how much i had, i thought 3000 should cover it! (£30) the bill came and i opened up the leather wallet thing. 4070rp.. My chin hit the floor as my mouth fell open so widely.. £40 ??? £40 ??? I reminded myself its still much much cheaper than it wouldve been, back home and to be perfectly honest he couldve said £100 id still have paid it.
Alas i didnt have sufficient funds. I explained to sandy the situation, and he said unto me that he would sort it out and we could come back soon after getting more money exchanged. No problem the boss man said. No problem, you go and come back, take your time! He said reassuringly.. So we left the restaurant, headed directly towards where the tuktuk was parked and soon found ourselves able to walk no further..
Why i hear you cry, why danny tell us, tell us why.. Ok i was gonna keep it a secret but i'll yell ya! As its you!! We had gone the wrong way, and with the sky now pitch black (couldnt see ur hand in front of yer face jobby) we had to turn back and find a branch off the main path we were walking down which would lead us to the sea. It was all very pointless because 2 or 3 minutes later after walking down another path we ended up at the same point just a little further down. D'oh!
We traversed once more back to the point we had met the path and tried again to find the path that lead to the sea, and to the path that would take us back to sandys rickshaw.
U wont beleive it.. I didnt, we were at the same place again, well by now sandy and me were in histerics! How can we fail three times in a row, i suggested to sandy we went back to the restaurant where we could link back to the stairs we climbed first of all.
Sandy didnt think it would be a good idea as we had been gone now for a good 15 minutes and he might think that we were bringing the money back.. We struggled on and by the light (by the light, of the silvery moon, of the moon of the moon..... stop that.. Stop that it's silly) actually by the light of sandy's phone we managed to find our way back to the path.
Sandy shining his dim phone's screen back-light, both in front and behind him so that i could also see at various points when he had got to a point whereby he was safe, grounded, not gonna slip, unlike me who was slippin all over the place, as if i were sloshed! (I wasnt).
We arrived safely back at the tuktuk and we jetted off (sandys rickshaw now performing better since the oil leak, o'ring change) and we were soon at my hotel, where out of the extra hundred quid i had withdrawn from the cashpoint earlier, i grabbed 2 or 3000 rupees and we set off back to the currry leaf.
Sandy, not wanting to repeat our earlier mistake where we got lost, this time, drove his tuktuk right accross the footpath that lead us round the bit of headland to the foot of the steps leading up to the restaurant where we had previously climbed prior to eating.
I asked him was he allowed to do this?! Not looking like it should be allowed. By day it is big problem he said, but by night there are no peoples so is ok! I chuckled and we got out and walked back to the restaurant. The boss man seeing us walking up, came to meet us half way, i gave the man the remainder of the balance plus a good tip, for good service amaaaazing food and no hastle over the bill, i felt it was deserved.
We jumped back in the tuktuk, sandy did a 3 point turn very maticulously so we didnt go over the edge, and we zoomed off once again. Arriving back at my hotel, we said our goodbye's after arranging what time we would meet the following moring and with that he left.
I traversed the steeper slope and the not so steep slope unlocked my room to walk into the icy cold air conditioned room, where after a bit of faffing, sorting my clothes out for tomorrows training, writing some more blog, and then fell asleep.
Day 6 - Last full day.
I woke earlier today with about 45 minutes - an hour to spare depending on sandy. I opened my curtains and went back to bed, where i could hear much whooping and gaeity (no not that kind).
Every morning there was some kind of hoopla going on, on the beach first thing in the morning, either people playing cricket or football, occasionally a group of people pulling in the cath, sometimes yoga was taking place, but everyday there was some noise where people seemed to be enjoying their lives having fun and playing in the sea or on the sand.
I decided i'd better get up and maybe even go for breakkie. I was somewhat dubious to be honest cos if i eat too much i may find it hard to train, but if i dont eat, maybe i cant keep up the stamina for the entire two hours.
So i went for brekkie! Had my usual full english but only a very small portion of it. A few bananas and a couple cups of coffee later and i was done.
I went back to my room, hoping that sandy handnt arrived whilst i was in the restaurant, he hadnt, it was now almost 10:00 so i was sure sandy was due to arrive shortly. My training starting one hour later today as ajith had something to do first thing.
The minutes passed by and still no sign of sandy.. Where is he i wonder. Do i give him a ring?! I'll give him till 10:15 i thought still giving us 45 minutes to arrive at the house to begin training. I grew anxious waiting, trying to potter around trying to make myself busy, i kept checking my watch to check the time 10:05, 10:10 i'll give him 5 more minutes i thought.
When i arrived home last night to collect more cash to pay for my exquisite meal, approaching my room walking past the other two rooms, where, the english couple had once resided. There now were new-people. A family from Norway, they spoke really good english and so for a few minutes i had a nice chat with them.
The son being mid-late 20's had been travelling around India, starting at chenai, then mumbai then new dehli, calcutta, amidst a few other places i'd never heard of.
Upon arrival in chennai, he bought a motorbike, he was telling me, a Royal Enfield, which are very commin in india. Once a british bike produced in the late 1940's but to my knowledge production in the uk had stopped in about 1977 (could be wrong).
India, it seems bought the company and continued the range, which was clearly very popular in India as they were everywhere. It was very weird seeing these vintage bikes, which you can buy for only £350 which is probably much much much cheaper than you could pick one up from the uk.
We all had a little chat and i was telling them about sandy and how he was soo good to me treating me as a friend and taking me to see all the things i'd been to see. I said to them that if they were interested i could ask sandy for a telephone number of a friend so they could do similarly to what i'd been doing.
I said i would go and get sandy to arrange this, i quickly ran back, having retreived some spends, to where sandy had dropped me. But he was no where to be seen.. I walked up to where his stand was in case he had found a friend to chat to whilst he waited for me.. He does have friends all over the place, dont you know.
There was still no sign of sandy, but then all of a sudden he came zooming up the road his horn sounding diddle-iddle-iddle..
I told him of what had occured and asked him whether he had a friend who would like this kind of customer, he thought for a second, pulling his phone out and within another few seconds was dialing a number and then making arrangements with one of his close friends.
We walked back towards my room together, sandy having pre-arranged their driver to be on standby. We arrived back at their room where they stood outside, enjoying the view and a drink. The young lad had a guitar with him and he has began playing it and when we arrived they were singing.
As we rounded the corner the singing stopped and i apologised for the interuption but explained to them that sandy had arranged a rickshaw for them to use at their convenience. I introduced sandy and i nipped back to my room, as if i'd forgotten something but really just to give him some time to chat and explain all the things that they could do whilst they're here.
Anyway we left shortly after to pay the man for the remainder of the balance of the meal we had eaten.
So back to today, i saw bjork, im sure he said his name was Bjork.. Couldve been bjerk or bjurk but as he said it my mind pulled up the icelandic singer. I asked him whether sandy had been here this morning, perhaps i had missed his arrival somehow.
No, no i dont think so, he said, we have been in all morning and nobody but the staff have been to tidy room only. He said with a thick scandanavian accent.
I looked at the time on my phone and it was now 10:16 i began to worry as, you can set your watch by sandy. I decided to give him a ring, i got my phone out and unlocked it using thumb-print recognition technology on my new phone.. very clever i thought as my home screen popped up. My apps being now available.
Just as i was searching for sandys contact details as he came dashing round the corner.. Ohh sorry danny sorry sorry sorry. This morning i oversleep he said panicing. Not to worry i told him he was here now and that was all that was important, tho, i told him, i was worried i thought maybe you have had a crash or maybe your rickshaw was faulty somehow..
We set off and sandy trying to make up for lost time was zooming.. Zooooming along now, i was getting a bit behind with my blog so whilst waiting for him to arrive i had been typing up the previous days events, and i also began to re-jig day3 which didnt read correctly as we trundled along, stopping for, what is now, the obligatory kapaparams, i couldnt seem to go without them now, as they were a really good source of energy just prior to training without making me feel full or manifesting in a stitch, which occasionally happens if i eat to soon prior to training, but kapaparams were fine!
On the way to training i noticed sandy wasnt his usual perky-self, he seems down. I asked him if he was ok, he told me he was but still i could tell he was upset about something, there was an obvious elephant in the tuktuk, if thats even possible, but i was leaving soon, this really being my last ful day as i had to be at the airport really the day after the next day, but tomorrow night i would be leaving for the airport for an early morning flight.
I broached the subject of me leaving, testing the waters with my big toe, to see if it was this or something else. It was! He was going to miss me, he told me and it felt as if he has been on holiday too, and therefore his holiday was also coming to an end.
I then saw something very upsetting. As we drove out of one of the little towns we went through, en-route to the training, (warning: some readers may find the following paragraph, upsetting).
There was a small puppy in the middle of the road, he had obviously been knocked over very recently, maybe one or two cars prior to us. He was on his back with his legs in the air, he couldnt get back on his feet and was yelping continually.
I shouted to sandy: STOP THE RICKSHAW!!
He refused. He said it was a dangerous place to stop as it was on a big blind bend. I knew what he meant but still i pleaded with him, "we have to go back sandy, please" sandy exclaiming, it's not like that in my country Danny, the dog is considered a common animal, is not sacred in any way and therefore we dont need to help him.
I explained how it was in my country and how dogs are very important to man, mans best freind, somewhat with a bit of ferocity in my voice, not directed at sandy but at the fact i couldve helped the little dog at least moving him out of harms way.
I looked back out of the rear window but i could no longer see him. Assuming that the next vehicle down the road wouldve hopefully squished him, putting him out of pain and mysery.
I was quite upset, almost in tears. I thought of max, and a few friends back home who have dogs and it filled me with sadness. If only i couldve jumped out and rescued him, i kept telling myself.
I couldve made a difference and it wouldve been easy, to do so but yet i was powerless to do anything. The journey swiftly continued, rounding corner after corner.
I told myself, this is India. It has its ways and customs, as we have our ways and customs.
Quite soon after, we arrived at ajiths house and went up to the roof as before. I kept thinking back to the dog, hearing his yelps in my head and i was still a little sad that i couldnt save his life.
Nevertheless, my training commenced.. and it was awesome. We bowed in as before and i had to demonstrate the 'set' i had learned the previous day. I wasnt very good cos i couldnt remember in which direction i had to go. I kept getting angry face and 'no wrong'.
But after a little practicing i had it right, it still needed fine tuning but i had the movements in the right order and going the right directions with each movement. It is really quite tricky!
We then went onto working with a stick. tho not a kuan, as i would know it, as my kuan (stick) is 6 foot, this one was short about 2.5 foot perhaps the length of your arm.
Ajiths friend suresh, was showing me some techniques, again fairly similar to that of kung fu, but still different, yet using the pressure points or 'malma' in hindi, and arm locks to disable ur attacker thus rendering the situation quickly resolved and in doing so removing the weapon, to use as your own if the situation were necessary.
He went on to show me how you could slide the stick, accross someones wind-pipe, then applying a lock which would obviously and quickly make them pass out.
But then he showed me how to get out of that lock, from my perspective, so if you were ever in that lock, you swing ur arms round like 'butterfly stroke' in swimming, locking the stick underneath each arm pit as you do, then bending down as if your touching ur toes, and with a twist of the body, you become released and now have the weapon, putting you in the driving seat, so to speak.
All of the technical stuff was filmed so that i can watch it again and again, practice more and more and hopefully improve.
I was absolutely loving it. Eating up each technique, which went on to form its own 'set', although each of the techniques can be changed, altered, adapted subject to the specifics of the fight.
I would like to say a few things. Firstly, as with my own style of fighting, the only reason they should be used, is for self protection.
I dont learn Kung fu (and other martial arts i've dabbled in) to create violence, or start a fight. It is a means of dealing with a situation, ending it peacefully and quickly, using only, adequate and necessary force.
In the eyes of the law if someone attacks you you are entitled to defend yourself with equal and necessary force.
Ergo; if someone comes at you with a stick, you can use said stick, once retrieved to defend yourself against your attacker, in theory, Whilst you call the police. Obviously keeping him in somekind of lock which he cannot get out of.
Secondly; if anyone is interested in learning any of the techniques i learned, or in fact any other techniques from kung fu, which i know far better, then get in touch and we can arrange it, as it could, one day, save your life, or maybe that of your family or friends. Food for thought.
Thirdly; After the training, i needed to go in the sea again, but in stead of going back to the leela hotel as we had done yesterday, which is just past my hotel, we went to a different beach at a place called Samudra. We had been there before at night time when the view was less spectacular (you may recall when the shadows were a bit eerie)
As we arrived we navgated the small path which lead down. As we arrived on the beach, a few people came to find out what i needed, fruit, sarongs, sun-loungers etc, when they realised i needed only the sea and the sun they quickly vanished to try and get more punters.
Sandy had taught me a word in malyalam, for "go away", which is eithdr, pula for a man or puli for a woman, apparently its not polite but it gets rid of them quickly! i hadnt used it yet cos i didnt want to be rude, but it got to a point on this beach with one particular man, who kept insisting on standing in my sunshine (not happy). I very nearly broke out my best native tongue, but i was polite and asked him to kindly move away, when i calmly told him i only needed the sea, sun, beach and peace... he got the message and left with his tail between his legs.
I went in the sea and had a swim, the sea here was a bit calmer, not much but a bit, than the day before, so i could just lie there and enjoy the gentle tide pulling and pushing me, the odd occasional wave catchin me out and splashing my face making me put my feet down. This would happen every fith or sixth wave or so. But not always as sometimes i would prepare, and then nothing, as soon as i relaxed. Woosh! Cought cought splutter splutter.
Today i had brought a towel for sandy to lie down on the beach too. As i had not thougjt of this the previous day. It was still slightly overcast and a bit sticky, but yet it was still quite nice, i was enjoying every minute, i kept thinking to how cold it would be when i get home.
i left the waters edge after i'd had enough of the sea for now, and i went and sat on my towel where we relaxed for a good 15-20 minutes.
Now since my religious education i had decided i wanted to buy some momentoes of india, so i had been searching for three main gods. Shiva ganesh and ayypan.
The money exhange place was where i bought my first, i found shiva, who was easy to find as he is most popular and therefore almost every shop had their own shivas, both for their shop, so to bring them luck and also for sale. All In various sizes.
When i was at the markets a few days before i forgot to mention that among the shops i saw, THE most common shop was a spices shop, there were spices shops which sold fruit, spices shops which sold wooden statues, spices shops which also sold phones, watches and gadgets. Basically nearly every shop sells spices, even at a barbers shop i noticed spices for sale. Im sure if you were to walk into a shop which doesnt sell spices, and asked for some spices, lets say at the workshop, im fairly sure there would be some out back you could buy, most likely from their own stock.
So we called in to a few spices shops, looking for ganesh and ayypan. I managed to find a wooden ganesh quite quickly and after haggling a bit and getting to the foot of the door, the man almost halved his price, so i bought it, almost feeling like i was ripping him off now..
Ayypan was proving very illusive, and being particularly difficult to find, sandy had told me that there was a very good shop near kerala's capital, trivandrum but he still had a few aces up his sleive before we went all the way to trivandrum.
We tried shop after shop after shop, but no-one seemed to have ayypan. Time was ticking on, and my belly began to rumble as i had bearly eaten anything at breakfast so as not to fill myself up, making me lethargic for the training.
I gave sandy another remit! I think we need some food i said, lets stop for lunch, sensing that sandy was probably hungry too. So i told him, i want a nice place where i can maybe get a nice seafood platter, has to have a good view of the sea, somewhere i wont be hassled and not too pricey.
His mind whirred like a computer powering up, i could almost hear the cogs turning. We werent far from kovalam, so he said maybe we should go to the samundera beach. Not to be confused with the samundra beach we had previously been. (It gets very confusing cos there are several place names which are so similar in spelling and in sound, with just a few letters difference)
We pulled up a short distance from the beach, like maybe a good ten minute walk, i said to sandy.. This isnt the beach, he normally parked so close to the beach we could almost fall out of the tuktuk and be touching sand... almost. But today we seemed a good 5 min walk at least.
Sandy told me there was a reason he hadnt pulled up that far and the reason was the hotel we had arrived to the right of, i had quite overlooked. This was where he has in mind for us to go to lunch. I looked to my left and thru a big archway i spied the light azur waters of a swimming pool.. Ooooh nice!
That works, i said, i will sacrifice the sea view for a pool view if the food is good. Sandy told me that he loved bringing people here cos the quality of the food was excellent. Fair doo's i thought, i cant argue with that.
We walked in to the property, and instantly i felt very relaxed and happy, apart from the sea view he had checked all the boxes i had set in my remit (as he always does). We sat down ordered some drinks as i began perusing the menu.
This place was of really good quality.. The rooms occupying both pool and sea views, having balconies on both front and the back of the hotel, and the rooms looked very spacious.. Not too far at all, from my place either. So i decided i would get some prices, if i wanted to come again to kerala i might consider staying here.
The menu was good! Exciting! Many different choices, all sounding very nice, and quite familiar, incedentally the restaurant was called "Molly's" which is a nice english name, so i enquired whether this was english owned as the menu looked like it had been very carefully written by someone who had a good understanding of what british punters enjoyed, but also how to dress it up to make it sound like a banquet, rather than a single plate of food. Very clever, i thought!
Each meal sounded really nice, i dont know whether this was genuinely just because of the way it was written, or because i was really hungry now my belly grumbling and it seemed a bit alien to me having really only seen indian menus which had spelling mistakes. Words which were not really belonging in a menu for instance, along with many other excentricities, making each menu unique in some way, usually for the wrong reasons, gramatically or logically. Even my own hotel menu had mistakes but this one was clean, crisp, precise. Well written!
I considered the steak, then the gammon, then thought i'd go with mixed grill, when i happened upon a seafood platter, fairly similar to that id had at the curry leaf, but this time i could also see the price 1400 rupees, (£14) oooh! thats good value ! Remembering the 35 quid one from before, so i had decided i would have this, sandy ordered his usual, fried rice with veg.
We had been talking recently about his diet as he rarely eats any protein at all. I kept saying he should order some fish, or chicken perhaps. He stuck with his fried veg and rice.
The food came after about half an hours wait. In the mean time a man approached our table and sandy, looking happy to see the man, as it was a friend of his, he has friends all over the place, you know!
They chatted and he introduced me at which point we shook hands, before they went back to conversing. When our food arrived he left us to eat, but soon after we were done eating he came back over and the conversation continued once more. I could see that he and sandy were close, by their body language and the frequency of the laughter, and the speed at which they spoke.
It was nice to see sandy relaxing and enjoying himself, smoking like a bbq, drinking beer and eating his staple diet. The food was Deee-Lisssh! Eating as much as i could force down me.
Sandy bid a fond farewell to his friend, who also shook my hand apologised for stealing sandys attention for a few moments and then he thanked me for allowing them to catchup, sandy's friend telling me, it had been a long while since they last saw each other, which had been evident for me to see really.
Very polite, very polite i thought, of him to thank me for, he hadnt disturbed me at all, really but yet he was so thoughtful to apologise and thank me. He scurried off and i having already paid the bill we got up to leave.
I had to take some pics of this wonderful boutique hotel, which was literally an oasis among the hustle and bustle of the samundra town area right outside.
With all the excitement of his friend arriving tho i quite forgot all about my desire to price it up, to compare to the "toms inn premium" where i had elected to stay. Thinking to myself as i had realised i'd forgotten, i can probably do so more quickly via the internet when back home anyway.
We got back in the tuktuk and we began our search once more for ayypan. time had been ticking by with still no sign of him anywhere, we still hadnt managed to find ayypan. sandy told me ayypan was very important as he was whom, Kerelans, preyed to, for protection, as you may recall, if you've read each day and been paying attention! Lol have you? Good!
A few shops later and still no signs of ayypan. Sandy told me that the easiest place to find him would be where they do the pilgrimage to the temple, at the temple there are many many shops selling statues of this god.
Take me there i (jokingly) exclaimed! Sandy almost revolted with, its too far danny, it takes maybe 1 or 2 days to get there by bus and train, maybe 4 / 5 by tuktuk. I told him i was joking and then releived he burst out laughing, we laughed as drove on looking for the next shop! I think we're gonna have to go to the shop in trivandrum, i said to sandy looking for confimation this was a good idea, he agreed, so we pulled a U-turn in the road, waiting for a few vehicles plants and animals to cross first.. Yes.. plants! There was a cactus we had to wait for, i think he was going for a haircut!
Selecting the right directions to head for trivandrum, taking a left, then another then a right, then a left. This went on for sometime, the roads changing with each turn, from tarmac to dirt road and back again, and back again.. Again. Again. Again...
Eventually we were on a busy highway with many vehicles journeying along to their own destinations various.
Along the way we would occasionally stop at a spices shop which sold the bijoux wooden objet d'art. Each place we tried was to no avail sadly. Each place trying to sell me something else instead.
They're very good at up-selling and switch selling. U go in to buy one thing you come out, needing a elephant to help carry ur purchases home, and they'd probably sell you the elephant too if you wanted it.. However today i was taking no prisoners, we needed ayypan only, if they couldnt oblige we quickly left thanking them profusely for their help and making a sharp exit.
Sometimes not even giving them chance to turn the light on enabling us to see, only the mere dim light of the adjoining room, just enough light to quickly check, to see from the ones they had ayypan was not among them, the light then flickering on, as we were about to leave, so we had a double check in the light, nope, still not here, where the shop keeper would join us to begin her sales patter. And we'd then have to battle our way out the shop like some gauntlet of obsticles she would offer, to us, for us to object to, for her to try and counter the objection, as we inched ever closer to the door. I breifly considered making it into a tv game show! Lol
Sandy told me there was one shop where we were sure to find Ayypan, if anywhere. Then this woild be the place, it sounded like a last chance saloon, sandy telling me if not here then maybe you come next time. Sensing the tone wasnt great i said, ok, lets try that one last shop.
We arrived about 15 minutes later. This is a government shop sandy told me, as in it was run by the government, therefore all prices were fixed, tax was additonal and a wrapping service was also commonplace. Oooh wrapping i thought, i breifly pictured indians taking on 'eminem' and 'fifty cent' tracks on the kareoke but then thought naaah, cant see it myself. At which point i thought of the two indian dancers who were on Britains got talent a few years ago, when the one guy is dancing like Michael Jackson, then the other guy comes in sweeping the stage. I'll have to show sandy this on youtube later i thought..
(Click here to watch said vid) http://youtu.be/0wsygHiSWiw
We arrived at the shop, and as we pulled in i began to take some pictures as it looked as if we were about to enter a temple.
Upon entry being overwhelmed by the sheer sizes of the wooden statues which stood outside, luring you in. There were two wooden elephants about the size of a medium sized dog, and then a gigantic statue of i think sarasouvi who is the dancing god, (i'll attach a pic so you can see).
We went inside and to save time sandy asked the people behind the desk whether they would have what we were looking for, they gestured towards the back section of the shop, to where there were more and more and more and more statues. This was like a wholesalers of statues i thought, all sizes, all shapes, all materials, everything you could possibly imagine.
The men at the back were helpful trying to find ayypan but we could not find it in wood, only a shiny metal which looked a cross between silver and tinfoil. Lol eventually and as i soon realised it was kinda this.. Or nothing, i bought the silvery statue!
Once we had left sandy said to me where would i like to go next as by now i had began to exhaust his list of places to take people when they're on holiday.
He began telling me of a black market in trivandrum where you can buy lots of electrical items. Naah ur ok ! I said thinking of what a black market meant; most likely stolen, or illigitimately gotten goods.
He said, so where... Hmm i thought as we drove around the busy city streets, sandy navigating us thru the busy traffic..
Ooh I know.. I know.. I said! Lets go to Varkala. Now varkala was somewhere sandy had been telling me about all week as it is one of his favourite places to visit. He told me that he had been there with some of his closest friends a few years ago and how it was one of the nicest resorts and if he didnt work in kovalam he would probaly work here at varkala instead.
But Danny, he told me this is nealy 75km or more away. Therefore we may not arrive back home till maybe 10pm. Perfect i told him! Lets go! He double checked, are you sure? He seemed reluctant to go. Yes sandy i'm sure, now lets go. We will need some fuel he said, i know this, so lets go to a fueling station and fill ur tuktuk up!
Fill it up? He questioned with an upward inflection sounding surprised.. Yes sandy brim it! So we have plenty of fuel! But danny this may cost nearly 1000 rupees.. (£10). I handed him 1000 and said.. Ok? Sure, sure ok, lets go.
I assume he doesnt very often brim his tuktuk as it seemed an awfully odd request. I think it mustve been because he added fuel but gave me 500 change.. Uh? Why did you not brim it i asked him. Because i think it is not necessary to do this, i think we need only 500 to get there and back. This wasnt really the point i had wanted him to brim it so he didnt have to worry about fuel.
We began our journey, i could tell he was quite excited about what lay ahead, he was smiling and bouncing around the pot-holes. He then told me, i'm very excited about going to varkala he said.. "It has been many time since i last visit".
People only drop there normally he went onto say, meaning i travel back alone. Ahhh i see, it all made sense now! He was excited cos he could show me all the things he wanted and still have company for the journey home! This is good danny, he said it is very good! Awww i thought bless him.
We were now blasting down the road, the quickest i think we've been. Even quicker than when we were going to get his tuktuk mended, zipping past all the other road users. He was clearly excited and happy to be taking me there.
On the way the sun broke thre the clouds and i allowed it to filter onto my face stickin my head out slightly as we went dow the road, as we did i was takin pics and snapping away trying to capture every last minute.
The sun felt nice, it was a shame we werent on the beach i thought frequently but we were now miles away from any beach or the sea. The traffic was really impressive.
I say impressive because it was heavy. Yet everything moved, very swiftly, sometimes there would be 4, 5 cars a-breast but they each moved over causing no fuss or dramas, just each flowing round each other like different schools of fish meeting in the ocean.
Breifly borrowing our side of the road to pass vehicles on their own side of the road, then we'd move back into the middle of our own carriage way to overtake something up ahead thereby joining the opposite carriageway.
We'd been driving for some time now and i was begining to worry that maybe sandy needed a break. I wondered how we were doig for fuel too as he'd only put in 500 not the full thou. I asked sandy to stop so we could get some coconuts. Id not had a coconut yet, except for with breakfast but there it was all nearly prepared. I wanted a rugged one from the tree.
We pulled over to the left next to where a man stood selling his coconuts. Sandy and he exchanged words and he turned his back on us, while he picked up his machette, off the side of the road, no sheath, no hook, just there for anyone to stand on, or trip over..
He then began Hacking into this coconut, choppin his head off with one fowl swoop, then he handed it to me, with a straw, for me to suck the milk out of the inside. He did the same for sandy, and so we drained the coconut of its milky goodness, which was really nice.
We then handed it back to the man for him to hack it some more so we could get the moist slimey fruit out of the centre. The roadside coconut selling man then hacked an extra slice out of the bottom and sandy showed me that you break this bit off to use as a spoon, to ge the flesh out of the coconut! Ingenious! I thought. They have an answer for everything! In the same way we do i suppose, just theirs is so much more natural. Like for example i was handed a recepit in an envelope at one of the shops i had bought something from. An envelope made from newspaper! It really looked quite arty!
We handed the man the empty shells once we'd finished and after paying the man, we continued on our journey towards Varkala.
We past towns and villages with many things to see as we drove. Sometime later we pulled over to the road side as we had run out of fuel. Sandy switched the tank to reserve and we carried on. And then we finally arrived in Varkala.
There are two areas of varkala the beach and cliffs and sandy had said we would go to to the beach first, then after, we would go to the cliffs which was where he liked it the most, as the views were spectacular.
He navigated thru the busy streets and immidiately i saw many white faces, it was very strange to see as in my resort its mostly indians except for in my own hotel. But this place was busy. Alive with activity, the usual shops bars and restaurants lined the beach, where a very strange thing appeared to be happening.
There on the beach in rows of about four deep by maybe 12 or 15 long, lay what appeared to be coffin shaped sand castles. All of them very neatly lined up and carefully finished off, with precision to form exact coffin shapes.
I asked sandy what was going on and he told me that there was some kind of mass funeral ceremony about to take place. This was bizzaare. I mean. Coffins on a beach!
I joked with sandy that i didnt really fancy waiting around to find out who was gonna end up in the coffins, so we left sharply, looking for a petrol station on the way to the cliffs.
When we arrived up at the cliffs i was transported back to Europe again. It was like a really classy spanish resort, with street artists along the front of the many many restaurants, one of them being called "Cafe Del Mar". It really felt different to my resort.
The restaurants were all at an elevated position one floor above the busy promenade, where the street vendors showed their wares, but wait.. Something was different here.. No-one was approaching me, no one was hassling me. No one at all, it was very peaceful. Now even with sandy by my side, i sometimes got hassle, sandy would say a few words and we'd walk off leaving them behind, but this was very different, you could look at what they had to sell, but if you wanted to buy something, you picked it up and someone would appear, as if by magic, like u'd rubbed a genie's lamp.
We walked thru varkala sandy saying hello to some of his friends. One of whom he said was his cousin-brother. We got to a nice restaurant where sandys friend worked outside of. They stood chatting for a moment when they gestured upstairs, where we made our way to, sat at the very front seats, perched high up on the face of a cliff with an infinity view.
The waiters appeared and handed us menus as i was taking photos of the views before the light had faded. There was no sunset to speak of, it just went dark. And as our food came the last of the light faded as we were plunged into darkness as we began to eat.
I dont mean there was no lights in the restaurant, of course there was but, the natural light i mean.
I had ordered a pizza my first choice of steak not being available. The pizza wasnt up to much either, basically it was a naan bread with pizza toppings and rather than the toppings being integral to the pizza base, they more just sat on top, so as you picked it up to eat, you had it covering your hands and falling back onto the plate, making it a bit difficult to eat.
I had given sandy the other 500, for the fuel, in case i didnt have enough to pay for the dinner, in which case i could offer them all i had in my wallet (i had 1500 in total) without handing over the 500 we needed for fuel, well, the meal only came to about 600 for both of us including drinks and stuff. So there was no need to worry really.
Once the plates has been cleared and the bill paid we headed back to the tuktuk, sandy telling me we had 20 minutes to get back to the tuktuk if i wanted to be home for 10pm which had been my bed time since arriving, well its what i aimed to be tho sometimes it didnt turn out to be. I told sandy there was no worry anyway as it didnt really matter what time we got back.
We walked back to his rickshaw and we set off once more in search of a petrol station.
He told me of a time he dropped a customer off at Varkala and when he left he took the wrong turn and went the wrong way for 15 miles where he quickly checked his mistake and turned back but then found himself out of fuel.
He had gone a different way back to the way we came, taking us under a fairly long tunnel, then straght back onto a high-way. It didnt seem the same as the one we'd pulled off so i checked with sandy we were going the right way.
We are going the right way Danny we have just joined at a different place. Aaah i see, i said, so where's this petrol station, worrying slightly about the situation, knowing we had less than probably ten miles worth of fuel.
We pulled over and sandy asked for some directions from one of the street fruit sellers, without having to get out of his tuktuk. They had a chat and soon we were, with a change of direction, travelling towards the much needed fuel.
We arrived and sandy got some fuel whilst i popped to the loo. I photographed a fire extinguisher as it was the first one i had seen since arriving there in kerala, except at the airport.
Sandy paid the man the rest of the 500 and we drove away and continued on with our 2 hour journey back towards home. On the way he told me stories of him going to varkala when he was younger and how he was taking a fare, at the time he was using his friend's tuktuk. His friend being the same friend of Pauls, back in London who's friend was the friend of the friend who had a friend who's friend was the friend who did the Khaladi martial arts training. Ie. Ajith!
So on his way back from delivering the fare to varkala he had quite a big accident on the way home. He was out cold and an ambulance was called and he woke up in hospital with his friends mom sitting there.
Confused as he came to, she explained that he'd been in a serious accident and because he was using his friends tuktuk they called his friends mom, so his mom had driven here at brake neck speed thinking her son was injured. So somewhat releived i imainge to find sandy there not her son, but feeling bad for him, she paid all his medical bills for him. Which he now pays her back bit by bit.
Sandy and his frend Giresh went the next day to retrieve the tuktuk. All that was left was the frame work and a few pieces of metal. The engine was gone, the pedals, the gears, the handlebars, the seats, the roof, the side panels, the wheels, the glass.. Everything stripped ! Nothing left.
Sandy had to pay his friend back for the tuktuk also so it has been costing him dearly, hence he has to work long hours to try and afford some money to pay back to his debtors.
He was telling me this in the strictest confidence, he said, i wouldnt normally tell people of this because they need to be able to trust me and if they see my scars the locals wouldnt get in my tuktuk which means i would have no business.. Ahh so thats why you always wear jeans, i asked. Exactly! He said. I felt very for my little friend as i could start to see his way of life was very hard.
I could also see i had spoilt him somewhat this week, which was also attiributing to why he was a bit low this morning he confessed. He is going to miss me he said, miss my company, but also miss the nice lifestyle i have afforded him, as he gratefully thanked me for everything i have done for him, in treating him so well.
It was very humbling to me that he was so grafeful of my help. It wasnt as if i'd done much really to be honest, he had charged me hardly anything for transport, really, or anything else for that matter, mostly charging me only what he himself spends. And yes granted i pimped his ride but that cost peanuts compared to the costs back home, but yet to him it truly meant the world.
Arriving back home, and he came in for a coffee, i wanted him to relax before driving off towards home as he'd driven for nearly 2 hours straight and i nearly fell asleep on the way home... and i wasnt driving!
We chatted while he drank his coffee and he smoked about 14 ciggarettes, and then he left and i went to bed.
Quite aware as i lay my head down that this would be the last time i actually slept there as the next bed i would be sleeping in would be my own.
I took one last look on my patio before turning in, with a towel wrapped round me, i stood there leaning on the bannister, taking a full lung of air, as if smelling india one last time. I stood for a few seconds, then remembered back to a few nights previous where i'd stood there to do some filming, to find myself eaten alive by mozzies. I quickly ran back in side my room, where i enjoyed the same view, just less risk of mozzy bites.
I brushed my teeth with my ayurvedic toothepaste i'd recently bought, and then went soundly to sleep.. 💤
Day 7 - Departure day #Boooo
So i woke this morning to the sounds of chirping crickets. I lay in my bed for a second, thinking.. Thats odd, dont usually get crickets by day..
Then it suddenly dawned on me, i'd overslept and the sound was actually that of the doorbell, not actual crickets.
I shot out of bed, flung a towel round me and went to the door, opening it just a crack, enough to see the smiling face of sandy who was saying "u've overslept again havent you" with laughter in his voice. Yes i had it seems.
I checked the time on my phone 09:55 ahh we're ok i thought still got 20 minutes before we need to set out, i asked sandy to wait on the porch a few minutes while i readied myself as i jumped into the shower and began my morning routine.
After id got dressed we left and hurriedly went to sandy's tuktuk.. We pulled off and drove up the road, when i suddenly shouted STOP!! Sandy pulled over and we did a u-turn..
I ran back to my hotel room, my mind thinking of the 'absolutely fabulous' scene where eddie runs back in the house shouting "tickets, money, passport"!
Id forgotten my camera, my wallet, my water, my towel (for the beach afterwards).. Everything i needed for the day, i'd taken my back-pack but it was almost empty, with just a few bits and bobs which remained permanently in my bag..
We set off once more, the time now nearer to 10:15 and it was a good 45 minute drive to training.
As we drove along the road, it dawned on me that today i would be seeing india for the last time, as this evening i would be journeying to the airport for a very early morning flight (4am effectively the next day).
So with a full day still ahead i decided i would try and make the most of the sunshine. After training of course.
We arrived at Ajiths house and i noticed the time on my phone was only 10:50 so technically i was early - good old sandy, i thought..
I had decided to take my phone today so i could try and catch up with my blogs we we zoomed along the bumpy roads towards training, as i was falling behind once again, the previous few days we had been thru the same towns and villages meaning i'd really seen everything there was to see, meaning i could blog away with a clear conscience.
After a few minutes wait, we went into his house, where we were instantly barked at by his dog who had barked at us the past 4 days now, you'd think he'd have known us by now, but of course, their dogs they keep as 'pets' are mainly for protection, not for company.
The training began, we started as we had done for the past few days by 'bowing in' which meant paying respect to the gods and asking for their protection if ever we come to use khaladi in a real fight situation.
I had to perform the first set i had learned the previous days, i remember thinking, i really shoudlve been practicing.. But when?! I've had no time to practice.. After a few attempts i managed to get it right and so i felt quite proud of myself for managing it.
We then went onto some knife defenses. Now in kung fu, for my last grading i had to do 6 knife defences. I found this really interesting as the ways we do in kung fu, almost directly translates to khaladi, only its different (again). Videos were taken to ensure i could practice when back in the uk.
Ajith was showing me a few different techniques or at least different endings to some of the existing tecniques i had learned adapting them to suit. I noticed that he was practicing today only on me, and holding me in a locked position longer than was necessary. I questioned this, saying, you enjoy causing me pain dont you.. Grinning as i said it..
He asked sandy what id said, half laughing as i think he had understood what i'd said, when sandy finished speaking ajith began laughing and nodding his head in agreement! I jokingly went to push him off the roof, after i realised that this was the case, yes, he does enjoy causing me pain!
After the training, which today was only 90 minutes, i had decided after 90 mins, id had enough, i was aching all over and not really feeling relaxed enough to train as i was mentally packing my stuff away.
We jumped back in the tuktuk and sandy asked me which beach i would like.. I thought for a second or two, and decided i might be best to go back to my own hotel room, where i can begin to pack and then relax by my own pool.
I relayed this to sandy and told him that perhaps today he should see if he can get some local fares whilst i packed away, he had agreed to take me to the airport at 1:30 so he would be back in time to take me.
Initially i was gonna get a taxi but with sandy now agreeing to take me, there was no panic or rush. I dropped my bag off at my hotel room, said bye to sandy and that i would see him later, then i went to my own pool, i say my own.. I dont own it as such.. But as i was the ONLY guest in the 'toms inn premium' all other guests belonging to the 'turtle on the beach' the pool was mine to use as i deemed necessary, however as yet i have not used this pool.
Today was the day, i pulled up a sun-lounger and after a quick (pool-side) shower and a quick dip in the pool, to wash away the sweat and discomfort i felt, i lathered myself up with sun oil, insect repellant and after a sip of water i plugged my headphones into my phone, turned on the chicane album (very chill-out) and i relaxed, soaking up the sunshine.
It wasnt long before all the oil had soaked in and a dip in the pool was required again, afterwards returning to my sunbed re-applying my lotions and potions and then relaxing once again. This happened several times.
The sun wasnt 'out' as such, it was mostly overcast, but still, thru the clouds i could feel the powerful heat of the hot sun lightly cooking my skin, like a sausage, under the grill.
I began to feel hungry, as i had missed breakfast and despite the kapaparum we bought en-route, which i seem to have become somewhat addicted to, i hadnt had anything else yet to eat.
I thought momentarily about ordering room-service but have it delivered to the pool-side. By now my skin was beginning to feel a bit prickly and i could feel if i sat out any longer i may end up burning. Clearly i didnt want this, so instead i decided, after a shower, to rid my body of the oil, i would go down for lunch and have it round by the main pool at the turtle beach.
En-route to the restaurant i visited the hotel reception, where i explained that i would be leaving around midnight for the airport, so could i pay the remainder of my bill, for all my room service etc.. And do the initial check-out, leaving only my room key to be handed in. I left the reception and headed for the restaurant for lunch.
I walked down to the catamaran restaurant where i'd been for breakfast daily (well almost daily) and the smiley lady who had served me on my very first day in india, sat me down at a pool-side table, and working around me settling down, layed the table, instantly vanished, but just as instantly returned with an ash-tray (even tho i wasnt actually smoking, she had remembered i do) and a menu.
I had already semi-decided i wanted the tiger-prawns thermidor which i had on the first day, giving a certain amount of symetry to the beginning and end of my holiday.
I was feeling a little down today, i had really grown to love this place.. And it was all thanks to sandy. I kept telling sandy that had i not met him, i may have had a completely different holiday as the pests down by the beach were, well pests, i wouldve done mostly anything to avoid, and had i not been shown all the places sandy had taken me to, i may have not actually left the hotel, much less the resort.
Sandy had already been gone for about an hour or two and i was beginning to feel lost without him, no-one to chat to during lunch.. No one to smoke all my fags.. I began to think maybe i shouldve invited him to enjoy my last day with me, but he did say he wanted to go back to the workshop as something wasnt quite right with his tuktuk but his friends would soon sort it out, he assured me. I had given him a few quid in case he needed to buy anything.
So my food came i toyed with ordering the tiger-prawn thermidor but changed my mind at the last second and ordered the steak with a bernaise sauce.. As soon as she went, i thought.. Oooh have i made the right choice, maybe i shouldve got the prawns.. Oh well decision is made now and nothing i can do now.
I sat there busy typing away on my phone, when out of the corner of my eye i noticed the tour-guide lady from the ayurvedic massage place, i cant remember whether i told you about her or not but she had basically gone there to asess whether the massage place would be good enough for her potential customers travelling to india from Denmark for a holiday.
We began chatting and i told her how id ended up spending a good hour and a half, after the steam-box therapy i had been having, to talk to him about business. Apparently i'm some kind of business guru now! Lol he was most grateful for my advice and on top of giving me the steam-box treatment, he also gave me 500ml of hand-made oils, specifically for my psoriasis, which was nice.
Anyway i mentioned to Ignita (the danish blonde) that if she should ever need a tuktuk driver, that sandy was her guy. Oooh great, she told me, i do need someone reliable and trustworthy for my clients..
Perfect i thought, that's just what sandy needs, a regular supply of customers who need more than a tuktuk driver. People who would need sandy's (un-official) "tour-guide / concierge extrordinaire" title, i had bestowed upon him!
I wrote sandy's number down for her on a pad i borrowed from the smiley lady and with that she left, telling me she had to go and pack as she was also leaving shortly tho her flight was going to dubai and left before mine, else i couldve had a lift to the airport in the transfer coach with them, to which i thought, that was incredibly kind of her to offer, although its not much in a taxi FREE is always the best price ;)
As she was leaving and we were saying good bye, my food arrived. The (thin) steak i had was alright as steaks go, more like a sandwich steak, than a dinner steak i thought, rib-eye, this was not! The veg was nice and the bernaise sauce was tasty!
I ate my lunch sitting under the hot sun, which was now intemittently breaking thru the cloud coverage for a few seconds at a time. I ordered another pepsi after id finished my lunch and i just sat in the chair soaking up the U.V rays beating down on my tender skin, which was getting more and more tender as the moments passed, as i typed away on my previous days blog.
I decided i might be better off in the shade and i noticed that although there were a few people around the pool-side there was a sunbed underneath the cabanna at the top.. That'll do i thought, collecting my belongings, and my ash-tray and i re-located.
I began to type away for a good hour or two, hours slip by when im re-living my holiday, trying to document all thats happened making sure i dont miss any important details.
Eventually 6pm came around and down went the sunshine for the day, i decided i had better go and actually do some packing, on the way back to my room i called sandy and asked him whether he had finished work, and if so, he was welcome to join me at my room where i would make him a coffee etc.. He told me he'd be about 20 minutes.
Ideal, i thought that gives me just enough time to pack my stuff away... By the way... Can someone remind me next time i go.. I dont need to take my entire wardrobe as i've only actually worn shorts and t-shirts!!!
20 minutes came and went and no sign of sandy, also not much had happened in the way of packing my suitcase, id shoved things in and rammed it down, i breifly considered re-packing the entite case, taking everything out re-folding and re-packing. As i had not used the wardrobes provided and lived out of my suitcase.. I quickly decided against this and i carried on shoving and pushing things into place.
Crickets! Ahh sandy, at last, i had begun to get worried. My case was almost done now, i was working on my toiletries, there were many. Before leaving i'd put each liquid item inside a sandwich bag before adding to my toiletry kit. I was re-using the sandwich bags to protect the liquid contents once more. I was very glad i had done this too as on the way over, virtually a brand new, "lynx" shower gel had leaked giving me a blue bag of soap to use upon arrival.
The sandwich bags containing all of the spilt liquid meaning nothing was wasted as i was just using the soap from the sandwich bag before squeezing more of the soaps substance out of the bottle.
I was eventually done, the suitcase was packed and closed, my hand-luggage was also done, and despite both bein very heavy, i was happy the job was complete, although a new worry arose, how heavy was my luggage, you may recall on the outbound flight i had 30Kgs weight allowance and therefore had to reach no more than the same 30Kgs on the return leg.
I was sure this was heavier tho, must be at least 30kgs, maybe even 40... I had a contingency plan. I had a bag which folded down inside its own pocket, a bit like those cagools you woukd have as a kid, remember those? No... Just me then! Haha
What i thought was if i were overweight, i would take all the wet items, towels shorts and t-shirts which i'd been wearing and put them into the green cagool - stlye bag, making my suitcase lighter and not impacting too much my hand luggage.
Putting it to the back of my mind for a while i began making coffee for sandy and me and we began chatting about stuff. He had been telling me during the week that he spoke english, german and a bit of japanese..
It turns out he cant speak german much at all, in fact the only thing he knows is 'wonderbar' and 'All ist klaar' (which means 'wonderful' and 'all is clear' respectively)
I decided i would try and help him with his languages (as i can speak 5 international lagnuages (fluently and backwards)) and he relied upon language to enable better communications.
I had noticed another chap at breakfast say to a german couple 'all ist klaar' to which the germans replied 'all ist klaar' as they would do normally in their language if someone asked them this!
I asked sandy what he would like to say in german and he told me a list of things which would ease his life.
Hello
How are you
Where would you like to go
How long are you staying for
Would you like a tour-guide
Please
Thank you
Goodbye
(And a personal one just for him to use appropriately)
you are a very beautiful woman.
I wrote the equivalencies in german but although i had written in german with correct spelling i quickly realised that i needed to write it phonetically, rather than gramatically, so i asked him how he would spell each word, if he were writing it, testing out the full page at regular intervals ensuring his pronunciation was more or less accurate.
I did the same for spanish, french, and with the assistance of a clever iphone app, Russian.. The app, which always comes into its own on holidays, those among you who are avid readers of my blogs will remember in Argentina i had to use to to speak to Omar, a friend i made over breakfast one day, as my vocabulary was so limited in spanish at the time (obviously im fluent now tho) lolz
We carried on talking after the language lessons, and he told me that he was really grateful for having met me, as besides all of the money i had given him (although id felt i was being tight) paid for his tuktuk to be repaired and such, one of the highlights for him was to be inside the hotel.
He told me that before meeting me he had never even so much as stepped foot in the place, not the lobby, not the reception, not the restaurant, not the pool, and certainly not the room. Aww i thought! What a shame..
Then i suddenly had a fantastic idea. When i was making my reservation all those weeks ago in england, upon noticing the flight times i had decided and elected to pay the additional cost to keep the room for one more night, so that i still had somewhere to go to rest and relax and leave my bags and maybe even have a shower.
With excitement i rang down to reception. Firstly ordered some more sachets of coffee, tea, sugar and creamer as we had ran out, well nearly, but were soon going to, and secondly to find out what time i had to officially check out of my room.
The confused receptionist told me that i would be leaving at midnight for the airport, or so he thought, i agreed that this was the case but pressed on with my enquiry, how long begore i had to evacuate my room?!
Midday tomorrow.. but isnt your flight leaving at 4am, he asked me. Yes i replied, however theres been a slight change of plan.. My friend is going to be staying in my room, and he will drop the key off before midday tomorrow.. Ahh ok, very good sir! Came the response.
I turned to sandy and said to him.. Tonight my friend, you will sleep here, in this very room.. This is now your bedroom, feel free to take a shower, watch some tv. Order some room-service and enjoy the last night of 'our' holiday in style.
He looked at me with a blank face.. He hasnt understood i thought, so i re-iterated what i had arranged, just then crickets! Signifying the arrival of the sachets of complimentary tea and coffee. I went to the door, collected all the sachets (and there were many he gave me), and dropped them onto the bed.
Sandy was still confused! I could tell the penny hadnt yet dropped. So i explained again. Tonight you will sleep here! In this bed. You will wake tomorrow, now talking very slowly, only using key words.. allowing my excitement, for him to understand, to diminish slightly. When you wake tomorrow, you will deliver the key to reception.
I can stay here? He asked... YES! I shouted, realising that the tears now building in his eyes, that the message had been understood!
He jumped up and began dancing round the room, like a kid who'd just been told he was going to disneyworld. He was whooping and laughing and crying and dancing.. It was soo nice to see! It made absolutely no difference to me, so long as he handed in the key, so it was a no-brainer really for me! In fact it was preferred, as otherwise the room would remain empty and unused.
He told me how happy he was, not that i couldnt see for myself, but he went on to explain that he no-longer lives by the tuktuk stand where we first met. He had moved from there about 6 weeks ago, making way for a younger member of his family to move in, and so for the past 6 weeks he had been to-ing and fro-ing back and forth from where he now lives 6km or so away, which means that when he wakes up tomorrow he can go straight to his tuktuk and start work, thereby affording him a long lie-in.. Something i dont think he has EVER done.
I told him that he must deliver the key in the morning and pay 80p for the internet which i had extended by one day. I gave him 100rupees to cover this.
Oh on that note, i discovered only today that the code for rupees isn't "RP" as i'd been typing but "RS" oh well!
We continued talking and every now and then i could tell, he would remember what was going to happen when i checked out after he had dropped me off at the airport, as a big sandy smile washed over his face, giggling like a child who was going to see santa.
We talked and talked and talked, he kept telling me that he felt very privelaged to have met me, and how much of a lovely week he had enjoyed, thanks to me! No! Thanks to you, i would say, explaining how my holiday wouldve been very different had i not had the privelage of meeting him..
We agreed that it was fate that had brought us together.. The gods, he said, were watching over us both! I dare say, i had to agree.
The time had come and i had to leave! With a heavy heart, i climbed for the last time, the slope, and then the steeper slope, and soon we had loaded the tuktuk with my suitcase and hand luggage and we were heading off towards the airport.
as we drove, i was saying (outlouf) bye tree, bye lampost, bye dog, bye old lady carrying stuff on her head.. Bye pavement layers, bye bricks. I have to say it was very emotional!
We arrived at the airport, sandy weaved out way thru the coaches, cars and taxis until we were adjacent to the departure doors.
Sandy helped me to get my luggage out of the tuktuk. I still had some rupees in my wallet, money i had changed to pay my room-service bill, but when i went to pay it, i decided i would pay by card, allowing me some cash to get some food and buy a few last minute bits and bobs i may need.. Fags among other things.
However since then i had decided i would make a sacrifice. I would for-go my last meal, starving myself to enable sandy to be able to eat. You dont understand that these people, the indians, have soo little and to them £1 can go very far, very far indeex, buying (at local prices) at least a few meals worth of food and water.
On approach to the airport we were talking about his headlights as they were very dim, his horn sounded very weak (a bit like Herbie, in the old movies, when he runs away) and also sandy's windscreen wipers were very very slow indeed.
Thats no good i thought, i think its his altenator. I enquired how much a new altenator was and he told me 300 ruppees (£3... £3 for an altenator i mean, come on.. You couldnt even get the box it came in for that in england)
So after he had helped me retrieve my luggage out of the tuktuk, my altruistic nature kicked in, i took all the money out of my wallet, and shoved it inside sandys top pocket. There was £27.00 i think (2700 ruppees). As i shoved it in his pocket, i said to him, you go tomorrow to the workshop and you get a new altenator! You promise! He was overjoyed again and i thought to myself im not sure how much more he can take of this!
When you get back to your room, you ring down to reception and order yourself some food, you buy an altenator, and maybe a few beers, some fags and you enjoy the last night.. You promise?!
I promise he said, we were both welling up again, as i knew this would be the last time i saw him, until maybe next time.
With that, with tears running down his face, tears of joy and sadness, he told me i was the best friend he had in the whole world and that he was going to miss me. We hugged it out and i waved him off as he drove away.
After he had gone i entered the airport, where before you can even check-in you have to clear, what i thought was passport control, quite a clever idea i thought, everyone gets checked, so if you're not travelling, thats the end of the line, however once through the check-point, you can continue chatting to your loved ones over the railings.
Then another queue for lugage scanning! Everything, suitcases, hand-luggage, belts and shoes, the lot! Again very organised i thought, the airport takes care of security leaving the airlines to focus on satisfying their customers, at each queue there was a security guard monitoring the queue and would appoint you to the next available person to complete the checks as necessary.
I joined the queue for Qatar airways, i was still rather concerned about my weight, not my weight, personally, but the weight of my luggage. I asked one of the ladies, who stood at the back of the queue, to double check everyone who enters the queue to ensure they are in the right place etc.. What would happen if my case was overweight
She explained that if i were overweight, depending by how much i would have to pay, so much per kilo, i was over, however to be on the safe side, to give me a chance to re-pack, if necessary, there were some (free) scales behind the pillar, where i could weigh everything to ensure i wasnt over-weight.
She told me she would stand in the queue in the mean time to save my place.. Ahh thats nice i thought, i might go and get a coffee too and buy a magazine and return when she was approaching the front of the queue.. Lol
I didnt do that tho, i went and weighed my case, discovered my weight was 30.10kgs and rejoined the queue, releiving the lady to return to her duty! A very good service i thought, can you imagine that happening in england... ERRRRRR NO!
Soon i was at the front of the queue handing over my passport and loading my case onto the conveyer-scales-belt. He added the necessary tags and stickers to my case and passport etc and then sent me on my way upstairs where i could go thru to passport control.
Oh! I thought that was passport control, clearly not! I joined the escelator, rode it to the top and joined the back of a rather long queue, every step of the process showing my boarding card and passport to someone, usually getting this the wrong way round,
I had over my boarding card to be told he only needs my passport, i hand over my passport to the next person, to be told they only need my boarding pass..
Eventually i was done! Thru to departures, awaiting my flight's boarding procedure by gate 1 - aaaand relax! A sigh of releif knowing all the stress of the airport was behind me and therefore i could now enjoy the airport!
I sat down on a bench like seat, and now the time was gettin on for 2:30 my eyes were very heavy and droopy and i kept nodding off, dreaming that i had missed my flight and was having to purchase new tickets.. This happend several times, i aslo dreamed i had lost my passport and so was being taken to the cells to await a replacement from the british embassy, which lets face it could be anything upto a few weeks, the person in my dream was telling me.
I woke up startled thinking id missed my flight, only to realise it was just a dream - PHEW! As we all know (or some of us at least) i do have a tendancy to miss return flights home after holidays (3 times now, once from dublin, when there was a political protest on, meaning the busses werent running, another time in Paris where we had jumped on the train going in the opposite direction, and another time when i was flying home from Ibiza and turned up a whole day later than i should've)
I decided to walk around the airport, as soon as im on that plane i can relax i told myself, until then i must be alert, stay alert.. The country needs "lerts"!! Lol (private joke)
The time came the plane was ready to board, we shuffled down the bridge after handing the wrong things to the wrong people once more (passports and boarding cards), and eventually i was on-board looking for my seat number 27F
I walked down the aisle, checking the seat numbers, 19, 20, 21.... 25, 26, oooh 27 is an emergency exit seat - BONUS! Maximum legroom! Yippee!
I stowed my luggage, took my seat and before we'd even taken off i was asleep. I mustve been really tired, the flight only took 5 minutes! I remember taking off and feeling the thrust of the plane, and the next thing i remember is touchig down at qatar!
Wow that was awesome! 5 minutes literally, it seemed! We disembarked at Qatar and ushered to the right place to meet my connecting flight to Londons Heathrow (terminal 4).
Now when i was at qatar on the outbound, the departures section i waited in was very small, morelike a train station platform than an airport lounge, no shops or eateries or anything, just chairs and departure gates..
This, however was very different, more similar to Dubai's massive airport, or amsterdam or maybe even Heathrow! Huge travellators spanned the centre of the walk ways with departure gates either side, and shops, bars, cafés dotted around with kiosks selling various novelty souvineer type items. Free wifi everywhere too ! Awesome.
Sadly i had no money, i was now really hungry, yet still probably no where near as hungry as most indians who for some 1 meal a week is as much as they get, for some, 1 meal a month, the rest of the time eating scraps that we westerners discard in bins and off the floor. It really is a different world and you cant help feeling, grateful for what you have, n'or guilty for wasting food!
But this was Qatar now, it seemed a million miles away from the poverty i'd left behind, with golden statues, and all major retailers in the airport, including an Apple shop, and a Marks & Spencer i noticed.
There were many many types of different people at this airport, white people, chinese people, indians, emirates in their white regalia with a black bit of rope round thier heads ensuring their head-dress didnt fall off, there were australians, travelling to melbourne, yanks flying to New york, there were germans going to frankfurt, french people, spanish people... You get the point, but for the last 10 days i'd seen 99% of people being indian and 1% everything else, now it seemed i was more the other way round 99% others and only 1% indians.
I found my gate i was departing from, showed both my passport and boarding card together, as i knew whichever one they didnt need they would hand back, oh you need both.. Goodie!
After about a 20 minute wait, we were boarding the plane! Omg that was quick i thought, i only left the other flight not 20 minutes before, 20 minutes to walk to the gate and then 20 minutes wait at the gate then we were boarding! What a boom!
I took my seat onboard the A330 airbus (still miffed it wasnt an A380) i was in the centre set of seats, on a 2, 4, 2 configeration.
There were 3 seats next to me still available.. Oooh might i have a row to myself i thought - No! Almost as if i'd just hex'd myself 2 australians came and sat next to me
We began chatting and they told me they were from "Landan" originally but now lived in "Melbun"! His accent changing accordingly for each country.
We chatted for a while on the flight back before i fell asleep once more. When i awoke i had about an hour before i arrived at heathrow so i began watching a film.. A film which was interupted several times by the 'PA' announcements and various other technicalities, the net effect was i didnt really see more than about 30 minutes of the movie, which was Hercules. One i'd been looking forward to watching for a while.
We landed at Heathrow and having travelled back in time, travelling east, it was now 12:25 and it was sunny! Wow, that was a nice surprise i wasnt expecting sunshine!
I wont bore you with the rest of the airport procedure but what i will say is this, after i had collected my suitcase, which came almost as soon as i arrived at the conveyer belt, as if waiting for me to arrive before popping out, i left the airport.
I walked accross the road outside the airport, and directly into the valet parking stand where i hadned in my receipt for my car parking, i was handed my key, and with that i walked to my car, probaby less than 20 paces, i loaded my suitcase into my car, shoved my hand luggage on the passenger seat and with that i left the airport.
10 minutes later and i was on the M40 heading back to brum. I have to say i was feeling glad to be home, airports can take it out of you, but what an amaazing hoiday i had enjoyed!
The sun shone most of the way home, as if affording me one last look at the sun, before arriving back to a very gloomy Birmingham.
In conclusion, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, India! Stunning place, warmest friendliest people your probably likely to meet, cheap as a cheese sandwich and beautiful scenery.
So, Would i go back to India ?? Yes Of course, in fact, I've already booked my next ticket ;-) yippeee !
Keep yer eyes peeled for my next blogs......
Day 1 & 2 Departure and arrival
So i had to get up at half past 6 - half an hour before i went to bed and had much to do, still before i could vacate my abode airport bound.
Having completed my packing, i brought my suitcase to the top of the stairs and then watched as it fell top to bottom, with the extendable handle, used to navigate the wheel function of my suitcase, still in my hand. D'oh! Eventually leaving at just after 7 i drove into town to pickup the A38M to get onto the M6 to manchester.
En-route i had a momentary panic that i'd removed my passport from its holder and, did i put it back in my bag, i hoped so but my bag was in the boot and there was little time to stop to check, so i drove swiftly onwards in hope that it was in there.. after a very easy journey to manchester i finally arrived and went to the designated car park and decanted my luggage and in doing so finding my passport as and where it should be, releived I awaitied the courtesey bus to take me to Terminal 2.
I got dropped off by the coach driver and made my way inside the terminal building where we'd arranged to meet the tour leader and my fellow trainee passengers, that is, they're doing martial arts training, they're not training how to become a passenger just to be clear.
We met, checked in and made our way thru security and passport control etc to arrive in the duty free, where we bought some last minute essentials and we decided as a group to have some breafast.
After id eaten my Eggs Benedict, #Yum we then joined the queue for the airplane and duly (and eventually) boarded the direct flight to Beijing, China with Hinuan airlines, a relatively new airline.
The airline was pretty good, no complaints at all, food was very good, there were ipad sized tv screens in the back of the seats and after 10 hours 23 minutes we landed at 06:10 (am) Local time.
LeeMing who was meeting us in Beijing arrived to escort us to our hotel, which was a 5* located about 20 minutes both from the airport and from the city centre it turned out, however when i say the city centre, in Beijing you can travel for an hour in any direction and still be within the capital city.
When we arrived it was very overcast and gloomy. We later learned this was actually due to pollution as Beijing suffers a lot particularly in the summer, from pollution.
Upon arrival we had a small wait because we werent able to check in to our rooms as they were being cleaned the previous customers having only recently checked out.
We went for a short walk, along a canal, thru the park where there were local people doing various forms of martial arts, namely Tai chi, chi gong and an entire square of elderly who looked to be doing line dancing.
All dancing the same moves to music walking around the square one by one completing the same movements, it wasnt actually line dancing but thats the nearest thing that i can relate it to. It actually looked a bit like the macarena.
After a little while we returned back to the hotel where we were issued our room keys. We went to our room and were duly impressed. Having decided who was going to share a room with whom.
By now the fatigue was massively kicking in as we'd had bearly any sleep on the plane and id been awake extra early therefore sleep breifly ensued.
We had arranged to meet for breakfast/lunch around 12 (local time)
So we arrived at the hotels restaurant where we met the rest of the groups, bearing in mind we 5, had flown from Manchester, there were a few people who had already arrived the previous night from London and a few others from Edinburgh who arrived after us (despite their setting off before us, they flew via Dubai and so had 2 planes to catch with a small wait in Dubai). #Haha
We all assembled around a big round table with a massive lazy susan in the middle and very pretty ladies arrived neatly dressed all addorned with a few different dishes which were placed in the centre for us all to pick at. I wont bore you with the details, suffice to say there was a beef dish, a pork dish, a tofu dish, a noodle dish, rice dish, a few mixed veg dishes and it seems i have bored you with the detail.
Following brunch we discussed what was happening later in the day and a breif overview of the entire itinerary whilst we were in China.
So straight after brunch we showered freshened up and after only 20 minutes we set off for the forbidden city, once home to the Emporer of various dynasties, which is literally opposite Tian an men square.
Obviously i had already visited these sites when i came in 2010 however due to the MINUS THIRTY DEGREE TEMPERATURES we were not so inclined to spend much time sight seeing, therefore, and as by now the pollution had cleared up following a short rain storm, the sun had began to shine down and i have to say at this juncture the humidity was rather stiffling however the sun was very welcome as we queued to get inside the palace i had flashbacks of shivering as the icy coldness almost froze me in time and so to stand there and feel too hot was very nice indeed as daft as that sounds.
When we were there in 2010 i think we mustve visited when the palace was actually closed as we weren't able to walk beyond a certain point however this time we had access to all areas.
So as we entered the first gate we entered into an impressive courtyard where the emporer and emporess wouldve once resided. Now i thought that that was it, however beyond this building there was another courtyard, and another palace type of building, this courtyard was bigger and more impressive than the last and thru the door there was another courtyard, and yet another palace and then another and another and another, each time we entered thru the gate below what i assumed was the palace there was a bigger, more impressive courtyard beyond, a bit like the opposite of a russian doll, instead of getting smaller and smaller they just grew and grew in both size stature and intricacy..
After we had done everything there was to do including the palace gardens we split off into two groups and half of us went back to the hotel to get some sleep and half went to the 'silk market'.
I realise i probably havent done much justice to the description of the palace but actually, the pictures, once uploaded will speak for themselves.
The silk market isnt so much a market as one would imagine, moreso a multi-storey shopping complex selling everything from toys to bags, to furs, to shoes and trainers, silk suits, dresses, leather goods, bedding, kitchen utensils, artwork, electronics, towells, suitcases, foreign exchange, food items, jade ornaments along with many many other things which escape my limited memory at this point due to the amount of experience which had been crammed into such a short space of time, suffice to say, it was a bit like stepping inside of Ebay, its probably where most of the goods you order from Ebay come from.
Due to the fact i had broken my suit case i decided to go and have a look to see what they had in the way of suitcases.
The suitcases were big and small thin and fat with or without wheels, made of plastic or material, or a mixture of both, anyway there were many to choose from.
Now, you cannot it seems, walk into a store selling anything within the silk market and not begin a negotiation to buy something, so bartering quickly ensued. I didnt actually want to buy a suit case at this juncture and i was mostly having a look to see whether one could be purchased, i didnt particularly want to buy anything, however i did need a day bag.
My hand luggage bag contained everything i had brought over from the U.k and i didnt want to pack and unpack it on a daily basis, therefore i began to enquire as to the cost of the back-pack type bags and two sales people quickly began to haggle with me, i quite like haggling and so even tho i wasnt convinced the chinese version of a samsonite bag was what i wanted to buy, it certainly did match the description i was looking for, anyway i eventually usk'd em down to ¥160 but i was only prepared to pay ¥150 tho and they wouldnt budge the extra ¥10. So i walked away,
On the ground floor where i stood, there were many many suitcase / bag vendors, so as i walked away they shouted down to me to say they would let me have it for ¥150 !
150 Yuen by the way is the equivalent to about £15.00 give or take subject to the exchange rate - at the silk market we were actually getting ¥8.05 : £1.00 so its actually slightly more than £15 but for ease of calculations i just call it 10:1 and then just add a bit.
Anyway, as i wandered off i discovered another place in the corner that was selling an Actual samsonite back-pack, which had wheels and a handle and so as i had looked with my hands more than my eyes the negotiations began and i quickly got him down to ¥150 and this guy was way less aggressive and was interested in our lovely British Pound alas i had none on me as id recently changed a chunk of GBP £'s sterling into CNY ¥'s Chinese Yuen.
I walked away pretty smugly having actually paid only ¥140 and did a whole 'pretty woman' thing and walked past the previous vendor with a big smile on my face having paid less than they were prepared to go to for with my brand new samsonite bag which i had paid less than a 'copy' of the same thing. "Big mistake.. big mistake, massive - huge" i thought to myself!
Once we'd all shopped a bit by now the fatigue had hit us all, so we all decided it was time for bed, and so we drew a close on the first very long and exhausting day of our China trip.
Before going to bed, we breifly discussed what was happening tomorrow, which was going to be another long and fun-packed day it would seem therefore it was important to get a good nights sleep, as we were going to have to be up for 7am.
We all retired to bed. (Not together i hasten to add)
Day 3 First full day - Great wall & Summer palace.
I woke this morning at 6:55 having slept sooooo well the night before, bearing in mind we got to sleep around 10pm so i woke and felt so good, very refreshed, the hotel bed was comfy and the air con kept me (and my room-mate Ross) very comfortable.
The hotel by the way was called lujingwan Beijing International, a 5* no less with many amenities and facilities for us to completely not utilise due to the heavily packed schedule.
The room itself was very very spacious with two almost double beds in, not quite a double but definitely bigger than a standard single, it had a writing desk and stationary, plugs to connect to the internet, it's own wifi router, cupboards with dressing gowns and a safe and all the other finerary one has come to expect from five star luxury, the bathroom was pretty huge with a nice big bath tub and a shower cubicle which was the shape of a sim card but probably a good 5/6 feet rectangular with the one edge being sheered off for the opening of the door into the cubicle. There was a rain head shower along with a hand-held shower head too.
There were all manor of toilettries provided, including but not limited to, the standard toothbrush, tooth paste, shower cap, comb, moisturiser, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, body wash etc.
However there was a nice leather chest on the side of the bathroom shelf with many many other items which most of i cannot remember and wont bore u with the details of because im sure you dont really need/want to know but just know that it was pretty extensive and every kind of thing u could possibly imagine, including a box of condoms, which i definitely think is a new one, something i didnt expect and initially i thought that this was perhaps my room-mates, until we had a bit of a giggle together when i asked why he'd brought them, moreover why he'd left them on the side, only for us both to realise we had both come to the same conclusion. having both assumed it was the others belongings! Oh how we laughed!!
So breakfast was served on the 2nd floor and it was mostly buffet style although there were chefs on hand to cook various extra requirements, as necessary but the choices were vast.
Again im not going to go into detail to save my fingers tapping away with information you probably dont need or want to know when the title of the blog suggests far more exciting things afoot to tell you about so i will skip that bit and explain that after brekkie and a quick blast around the local shop (literally next door) to try and find some decent food for lunch, having been somewhat disappointed with the available choices we boarded a mini-bus to begin the journey to the foot of the Miu Tian Ang section of The Great Wall of China. Famed to be visible from the moon (its actually not this was just a selling point later found out to be untrue (you cant even see it from the plane truthfully))
So after a short walk down 'shopping street' a more typical market style of a shopping experience, we arrived at the shuttle bus to be transferred to the foot of the wall, where we had the choice to either take a cable car to one of the first 'watch towers' or if one preferred 'Beast mode' could be engaged and one could muster the strength to climb the thousands of steps which lead to the same watch tower that the cable eventually arrived at.
Now, normally i would've mustered the challenge, engaged 'Beast Mode' and climbed the 1000's of steps but following my calf injury in June i didnt want to risk doing further damage and so we split into two groups and i joined the group on cable car luxury, i have to tell you, i do not regret this decision one bit!
The cable car wasnt so much a cable car, as one would expect, more akin to a park bench on string, sounds flimsy - it actually felt pretty safe to be fair but the sight of it was not as was described. The 'car' being more ski-lift than the nice enclosed cabin i had expected, so me and Debbie, one of the other people on the tour, went first but due to our inexperience in catching such modes of transport we missed the chair we were meant to ride and after being shouted at in Chinese (Mandarin) and much laughter, we stood on a wooden plank on the floor painted white and were duly scooped up by the next bench on string, as we sat a safety rail was lowered providing us somewhere on which to rest our feet.
Once the ride began it was actually really nice, the views to all sides was magically spectacular with mountains and trees folding away in all directions and all manner of nature and wildlife visible all around.
I have to mention something at this point, well a few things, as many of you know in 2010 i visited China En-route to Australia, where if your up to snuff on my travel journals (if you're not feel free to have a butchers hook) you will all know that i had previously done the Great Wall of China (still not visible from the moon, or even aircraft) however this trip was massively different. "How was it so different Danny, tell us do", i hear you cry, i will just be patient !
It was massively different for a number of reasons, cheif among them being the temperature.
When we arrived in China en-route to Oz, the temperature upon arrival was a shocking and almost debilitating MINUS THIRTY DEGREES CENTIGRADE, yes you read correctly -30•c today was a stiffling +31•c [bliss]
Another major difference is related to the same aspect but it is more deeply ingrained due to the fact that when we went to the Badoling section because the weather was absolutely bloody freeezing the photos i took, look grey and dull, the mountains appeared grey and dull, the wall itself appeared grey and dull and the temperature itself meant when we arrived at the top of the first watch tower of that section, my scalf, which had to be purchased, due to the extreme cold, had very literally frozen to my face/beard. No joke! My water in my back-pack was completely frozen my joints ached, my fingers were numb, my toes felt like they'd actually fallen off and well i wont gross you out but my bladder froze also, something i didnt even know was actually possible, i now/then discovered why chinese spirits were like 98% proof, to save this very fate.
"So how did this experience differ from the last time Danny oh wise and oh so magnificent one" i hear you once again crying;
Well firstly, im not actually that wise or magnificent but it is nice of you to say.
Im not in any way bismerching the previous experience, as it was my first time in China and it was, in its own way magical and mystical albeit absolutely bloody freezing..
But this visit the afforementioned wall, was entirely different, for starters, it was +31•c secondly we visited a less touristy part of the wall and yet this section had not only a cable car to take u to the foot of the climb, but also.. get this.. a Toboggan to get you back down. #woohooo!
So as me and Debbie sat on the chair lift admiring the views, Debbie confided in me that she was shit-scared of heights, something i'd heard her say before but this was slightly different as there was only me and her, she began to tell me of her extensive hynotherapy sessions she had undertaken to try and rid herself of said fears and as she tightly gripped the safety rails, knuckles turning somewhat white, i realised this would be a perfect opportunity to put my loving caring skills of being an all round bloody good bloke to work and i calmly talked her anxieties away, guiding her into a more relaxed state by asking her to describe her hypnotherapy and what it entailed in doing so making her re-engage with the techniques she had learned which had a very dramatic and lovely effect on her sense of well being, she didnt let go of the rail, but she was able to look around and enjoy the stunning scenery without it negatively affecting her - Result! I told myself, when we arrived at the peak, probably some 1000ft above where the shuttle bus had dropped us off about 20 mintues before, a photograph was taken, akin to some well known fair ground rides at various theme parks.
When we eventually managed to disembark, with a slight moment of eddie/patsy running thru my head (some of you will get that reference, some will not) we vacated to the left and alighted a while awaiting the rest of our group, meanwhile our picture was displayed on a huge tv screen with an opportunity to purchase.
Debbie decided to buy it as a remider of how well she had done to get on the chair lift as pride was obvious and apparent as she was now pretty elated to have accomplished the task and overcome her fear, as we marvelled at the freshly printed out picture she thanked me for my assistance but i reminded her that she had done the hard work, i had merely engaged her positive energy, alas i could tell she was really chuffed with herself and couldnt wait to tell her boyfriend who was also on the trip and show him the picture.
Her boyfriend Mikey who HAD engaged "beast mode" however, was still walking up the 1000's of steps to arrive at the same location and therefore was pretty far away.
When the others arrived at the top of the chair lift she proudly showed off her picture to all who arrived with a real sense of accomplishment. "My work here is done, i thought to myself" as we almost skipped to the beginning of the first watch tower ('top', from here on in).
The first top, had a courtyard with binoculars posted at various intervals and scenery of amazing wonder and spectacle of which was photographed many many times of course with subjects in the fore ground, back ground and further distance to make up some exquisite compositions which will be making their way up here at some point when i get a moment to allow this situation to become realised.
On that note at this moment in time, where i sit on-board an overnight train, recapping the adventure thus far, i cant get online, i cant access facebook, i cant even get on 'get jealous' (the website you're using to read this blog) despite there being a phone signal, since arriving in China i've not once had 4G or 3G yet, im struggling to get 2G but even with 2G i cannot get online, hence im writing within the 'notes' app on my phone to be uploaded at the next point at which i might have wifi.
Before you worry about costs of being connected to a phone signal, i've prepaid my network to allow this for a capped amount per day!
Alas i digress, at the foot of a huge climb both up and downward to follow the contours of the mountain on top of which there has been stood for many years a Giant Hand built wall, at the cost of at least 10'000 lives over the span of about 400 years covering 3 different dynasties and spanning the distance of 5263 miles as a crow flies, costing an estimated £4.2bn in todays money to say the fete is impressive is a mahoosive understatement.
As you climb the stairs going towards the next top and every subsequent top thereafter, you are reminded that said fete was acheived in a time where there was very little in the way of machineary, cranes or probably not even much but primative tools and all hands on deck working hard to acheive the massive accomplishment one is being so privelaged, nay honoured to step foot upon, a breif thought about how it must have driven 100's of millions of tourists to the country and moreover the area to visit the spectacle on which i stood as i began to climb an almost 65 degree (upwards) ascent i was literally dripping with sweat and struggling to muster the strength to reach the top of this section without hyperventilating. Hence you cannot help but marvel at the acheivement.
Words simply cannot do it justice at all as u look in two directions and you see the wall stretching off in both directions with an occasional offspring branching off to meet civilization at ground level, the best i can advise is that you come and see it with your own eyes because it really is a magnificent awesome spectacle the likes of which the world will never see again i wouldnt have thought...
unless a certain president is to manage to accomplish his futile childish games and build a wall against the borders of mexico, even if that does come about i simply cannot imagine it being A) as spectacular B) as long C) as well engineered D) built with such enginuity and magnificence and even if it is, it wouldnt be at such an altitude.
Anyway, we clambered accross the steps, some small some larger than hip height, and after about 40 minutes we arrived at the next top, at the next top there was a make-shift ladder taking you up to a view point making you feel as if you're literally at the top of the world.
Obviously standing there you get another reminder of their acheivements but also with various portices around an almost 'castle turret' style scenareo, one is also reminded that this wall wasnt just a sight to behold but you are reminded that this was a fortified nation being able to imagine hot oils being poured thru the portices along with arrows being fired by many a chinese soldier thwarting the enemy with ease and making the country safe from attack namely from the mongols of mongolia as well as various mythical beasts said to have been irradicated with various superstissious artifacts being well placed to enable a good luck charm to help win the good fight, you can almost hear the screams of the thwarted foe as they fall to their bloody death having not reached their goals, suffice to say that China as first unified by Genghis Kahn was safe from any would be adversaries.
Of course at this point more photos were taken, hopefully bringing a sense of awe to be upheld..
We climbed back down the steps and continued onwards towards the next top, of which there are many. Each top being a fortified turret from which they can easily and efficiently defend.
Eventually after about 2 hours we reached the final top, now i must point out at this time that not all 5263 miles of wall remain in tact and at the final top contained a window a window which proudly once allowed a view of some less maintained wall, had since been blocked, presumably due to tourists who visit this top who either cannot read, or who choose to ignore signage probibiting further adventure and exploration.
Therefore our only option was to turn back and head back to the top of the chair lift station where for an extra cost you can purchase a ticket to return down the 1000 ft by toboggan, now obviously me being a scaredy cat i chose to... ahh who am i kidding i couldnt possibly convince you that i didnt not take a toboggan..
We queued up for about 15 minutes where we eventually boarded our individual toboggan as we set sail for the bottom of the slide.
The taboggans themselves were a two piece creation, folding in the middle meaning that once used they could be attached to the back of the chair lifts enabling their fast return to the top of the toboggan's run.
A lever in the middle of the toboggan serparating the two individual pieces, which were hinged, allowed for braking and of course if pushed the other way a release of a brake meaning speed could be quickly acheived and maintained.
On the corners where the toboggans slide changed direction the slide banked sharply upwards to form an almost conical shape albeit missing a third of the cylinder to create a corner, which was very much like a metal kiddies slide in a park, but in the corners i learned that i could sharply bank to gain extra speed almost riding vertically around the corner and almost pulling a few G's of G-force..
It was absolutely brilliant fun, and we whizzed down one by one, in front and behind each other occasionally smashing into the occupant in front, or being smashed from behind by the person to immediately follow you down.
Unfortunately the person at the head of our group didnt i dont think, understand the mechanism or indeed the operation or use of the speed lever, meaning that occasionally a pile-up occured, me hitting Ross in front and being hit from behind by Carolyn, who in turn was being hit by Terry, who in turn was being hit by someone else, and so on and so on..
All of us giggled like school kids as the hilarity continued for what seemed like an awfully long time. As we reached the bottom another photo opportunity occured, but this time, i decided what a memory to keep forever, despite several videos being attempted on the way down, some of which worked, some didn't really too much, however i think all of us were left with a feeling of elation and much more wanted to do the whole toboggan run again!
At the bottom of the hill we journeyed back towards the shuttle bus to take us back to the car park, not before stopping off at a 'Subway' fast food joint to buy ourselves a custom made sandwich, as we have come to know from the well known food chain.
'Subway' was a quite recent franchise being introduced into China only within the last 9 months, to say it was a surprise to see it there would be an understatement no less a welcome one, as we were all particularly hungry and being able to just point at what you wanted meant everyone could 'make their sandwich, their way' ™.
We rode the shuttle back to the car park and met our driver of the mini-bus who waited patiently for our return.
On board we all discussed what an amazing experience it had been and how excited we were for the next phase of the days activity which was of course, as the title suggests, the Summer Palace.
We arrived in our minibus and walked to the entrance where we stood breifly with the hot sun blazing down on us, the air conditioned coach allowing you to forget just how hot it is outside, as we waited for the tickets a few minutes as we felt the sun begin to burn our skin.
The tickets arrived courtesey of our secondary tour guide Leeming, he handed them out and then arranged times and places to meet later in order that we all arrive at the same place at the same time, we visited a small shop selling bottles of water and ice creams and things. We then entered the summer palace.
Again, somewhere i had been before but we had only got so far due to the freezing cold, did i mention that last time i was here it was -30•c ?! Yes, yes i did!
The first building housed a throne type room with a few ornate animal statues outside and after a few pictures were snapped we made our way thru, had our tickets scanned and continued to meander onwards, in front of us stood a beautiful lake, with boats which could be rented by the hour or day, but we followed a walk way round the side of the buildings adjacent to the lake, to our left stood a huge forest of lilly pads with an occasional orchid, they were constantly moving with a hint of natural life lurking beneath the depths of the murky water.
The "long corridor" followed which was, well as the name suggests, a long corridor covered by chinese style a really ornately decorated roof which continued on for probably a mile or so, either side there were spectacular views off to the left of the lake and to the right, various temple style buildings off to the left, for which if you wanted to explore, there were further tickets to be purchased, alas i decided not to, as there was still much to explore lakeside.
I followed the long corridor as it gently swept following the contours of the lake in an almost straight line with a gradual bend to the right, everywhere you looked there was spectacular artwork adorning the façade of the roof the walls the inside of the roof, basically everywhere, symetry and exacting mathmatical precision with the application of artistic chinese influence. Each square exactly the same as the next and the one before and so on, jade greens and bright yellow golds with figures and caligraphic symbols exquisitely mastered.
There's not much else to say about this place althought it was peacefully tranquil, despite there being hundreds, possibly thousands of visitors, most of whom were chinese, however the odd occasional tour-guide clutching an elevated umbrella/parasol with a flag attached to it's highest point, talking in varying different languages, german, french, spanish, tho majortively Chinese.
As we arrived at the end of the long corridor there was again a small jetty renting out small boats for people to best enjoy the serenity of this palace.
At the end of the corridor there was a highly impressive Stone boat.. a Stone boat i hear you cry.. yes a boat made entirely of stone! This was however a building, not a boat as it looked. Naturally the boat was not afloat merely built into the lake as if it were floating alas it was not!
We decided to take a boat over to the other side of the lake where a bridge stood with arches of varying sizes underneath allowing different sized watercraft to neatly pass underneath, the largest arch enabling the largest watercraft asail on the lake to effortlessly traverse the bridge and the island to which it linked to the land.
As the boat set off a gentle breeze cooled everyone on board as all the tourists began happily snapping away the scenery trying to capture its every view from varying different angles. People taking selfies and group shots with a wonderful backdrop comprising the water the temple style buildings and of course the stark dark green of the trees, flora and fauna and wildlife from all angles.
The boat trip was really nice but time was pressing on and upon reaching the foot of the afforementioned bridge we disembarked and had a choice to make, do we turn left and head back where we had arranged to meet the other group who had seperated to visit the temple, or do we take a right, crossing the bridge to the island.
We had about 25 minutes before we were due back, bearing in mind we had probably been at this location for about an hour and a half (give or take).
As we had the tour guide and all round martial art legend Steven Burton with us, we decided to take a right and so we crossed the bridge, we estimated the walk back was about 15 minutes so we had 5 minutes to get accross the bridge and 5 minutes back before walking back to the point of rendezvous.
On the island after taking many photos, including one of a monk dressed in all his robes, we bought an ice lolly from a shop. This was actually quite funny because i was walking with one of the wee lasses from Edinburgh, Carolyn. Carolyn really loves peas - that sounds like a rather random statement to make, however it has significance at this point due to the fact that whilst i chose a nice raspberry lolly she opted for a randomly flavoured Pea flavoured one.
A pea flavoured ice lolly, the likes i personally had never before seen / heard of. We began our walk back to meet the others and i was enjoying my lolly but Carolyn's lolly was actually disgusting. I did think at the time, im not too sure i'd enjoy this flavour however it had the potential to be quite tasty. It was not.. at all.. not even remotely ! I did think it was a bit funky, and i think that even to a self-confessed pea lover, she had anticipated it tasting a little sweeter than the reality of it.
Anyway soon we were back at the square where our coach now stood with all aboard except us few who had gone a different way.
We set off, breifly joking that we were late because i had fallen into the lake, how gulliable some people are as they were questioning how i had dried so quickly, with my Chi, i exclaimed, i have so much Chi i just shook my body to a firm stance and i shocked the water away with my chi.. befuddled it slowly dawned on them that we were merely winding them up.
We journeyed on exchanging banter, jokes and general merriment as we headed back to the hotel. The plan for tonight was to go to a restaurant which specialized in Beijing Kao Ya. Or peking crispy duck!
After a quick shower and change we all headed to the metro station which is the equivalent to the London underground with an extensive network of stations dotted all over the city far and wide. The cost is very inexpensive too, costing aproximately £0.20p per journey with an oyster card type of access
After we'd gone a few stops we got off and a short walk later brought us to the restaurant which was very nice indeed, we actually had our own private room with a huge table to accommodate all of us with the standard but huge lazy susan in the centre.
The dishes arrived and they kept on coming and coming but there was no sign of the duck.
This was really our first full day and although it felt already like we'd all been in each others company for a fairly long time and gotten to know each other fairly well, we had all been together as one group really only since this morning and despite this the banter flowed around the table, accross the table even thru the table at one point.
Steven our martial arts Guru upheld a special tradition as the humourous jokes and witty puns filled the room with laughter; the tradition, usually done with a very high % proof alcohol, went around the table and individually said 'cheers' to everyone. Steven just used beer but the tradition goes that if someone clinks ur glass, you have ur glass lower than theirs as a mark of respect, therefore he circled the room clinkin' glasses with each person he came to.
Not long after this arrived our crispy duck, although, it's not like the ones you get at aldi! It was pre-caved slices of duck, with pancakes and hoi-sin/plum sauce. With neatly chopped cucumber, spring onion and yams and potato and something else i'm still not sure what it was some suggested it could be pumpkin alas we never truly found out.
The ducks head was served in a side dish and was eaten by Lee-Ming and Steven as a mark of respect to the duck and to the rest of us, not quite sure how that marks respect but anyway i definitely wasnt going to eat it myself, despite the restaurant being my idea of an evening meal.
After the meal we split up into two groups again, some going back to the hotel to recouperate and others (including me) hitting the town, mike and debbie (of yonder days blog fame) had arranged to meet some friends of theirs who just happened to be in Beijing at the same time, so off we 6 set off in two taxi's having been arranged by Steven.
We had arranged to meet at a bar appropriately named Hiden. Our taxi driver spoke exceptionally softly and was very difficult to understand, him being Chinese and all, however he had the address so we figured, what could go wrong so, Debbie, Mike and me were in the one taxi and all of a sudden he pulled into a service road off the main road.
He spoke to us again very softly and i think he was saying that the bar was just past the Lamborghini / Rolls Royce garage opposite and so we should wait here, in the middle of the road so that the taxi which was following would see us and stop at the same place.
10 minutes went by and there was no sign of the other group of people who were joining us for the night out, mike was trying to find his friends at the same time and headless chickens would be the optimal phrase.
We had no way of contacting taxi 2 or the other people because although we all have mobile phones, the network is so poor it takes too long to get messages thru. We had no idea where hidden bar was and we had no idea where mike and debbies friends were so we decided to cut our losses and go into the german bar with a big tv screen and a läderhossen promise.
There was not a German person in site. The staff, all chinese, the patrons, all chinese everyone was chinese and despite our thinking this would be good as perhaps at least we could make sense using german to perhaps ask if they knew where Hidden was hiding, we were out of luck.
So we decended the stairs down into a courtyard type of sitting area, where sat Mike and Debbie's friends who had also given up trying to find hidden. So having all drawn the same conclusion, we got some beers in (i had coke) and we drank the nignt away.
So the two guys that we had met, katie and Edd were pretty tired having only arrived that morning and had been on the go throughout the day and so it quickly became time to leave so we put Katie and Edd into a taxi and we waited for another one as we were all going to different destinations
I flagged down the next taxi and handed him our room card so that he could see the address and began haggling to establish the cost.
He handed me the card back and drove off...
Oh! Errrrrm... ok! Well ok, we'll get another, we stood chattin laughing really wondering why he'd driven away without explanation or warning.
A few minutes past and another taxi arrived. So again began the process of establishing a price after handing him the address and once again, the very same thing happened.. we were like WTF!
Mean time a tuktuk / rickshaw (whichever one is correct for the motorized vehicle) pulled up so after much negotiation and deliberation and a few more failed attempts to flag down taxis we opted for a tuktuk.
The tuktuk wasnt spacious, really should've only catered for 2 people + a driver but we made it work. We began our journey and quickly realised the tuktuk man didnt have a clue which way he was going, so we had to persevere with google mapping and typing in the hotel name.
Eventually after much waiting and the driver driving really kinda slowly we had a route planned and we were on our way, at one point the tuktuk driver pulled over breifly and threw up, which was ermm, interesting to say the least, we followed the sat nav but time was getting on and at the end of the route we still were not in the correct vicinity of our hotel.
We decided to get out and walk the rest of the way so we paid the man but he was insistant that we got back in, wasnt too sure why the google maps hadnt correctly navigated us but all we could do was to try again to get back home to our digs.
We eventually got back home for about 2:30am and had to be up for 7 for our first training session and so we all went tk bed, happy we had managed to find our hotel.
Day 4 Silk Market & Over night train
So toady began with a trip to the silk market. Id been struggling with my luggage ever since our arrival and despite the fact that it was securely housed in the hotel in Beijing, as the next legs of my grand tour of China would be mostly by land, ie train and busses i decided to bite the bullet and discard my trusted samsonite suitcase and buy one with wheels and a handle as it would be a god-send.
We had planned to visit the silk market once more anyway so i decided if i could find a suitcase with the right elements at the right price i would buy one and be done with the lugging my case around everywhere
We took the 126 bus from just up from our hotel to the stop just outside of where the silk market is, we crossed the road and arranged where and when to meet back up so we could all go off in different directions and purchase anything we wanted to buy.
I went straight down to my friend whom i had purchased my samsonite bag from and this time i was prepared with some English cash, as he said he wanted to see the currency.
As i entered the shop however he wasn't there, so i began chatting to the lady in the shop and asked her about the largest suitcase with wheels (and a handle). Just then my friend appeared as if he were a genie in a magic lamp and we exchanged pleasantries and began bartering over the price.
The suitcase on the shop floor was only for show and so inside were many other bags and suitcases, russian doll stylie. We removed all of the bags from within the case and he showed me the locking mechanism and the interior pockets as well as the straps to hold the belongings of the case nice and sturdy.
I decided to go for it, so it was all a question of cost. He opened at a ridiculously high price the equivalent of about £260 which i was clearly not going to pay, so with his talking calculator in hand we entered prices and eventually agreed on 1400 (£140) however i had an ace up my sleive, i was holding ONLY English cash, to the tune of £100 so i pulled out my shiny £20 notes and handed this to him and said, that's all i have, he was disgruntled because it worked out to be only 800 Yuen.. This is good i thought, i've got him on the back foot.. I did have some yuen too but not many, about 60 or so.
So i sort of said that's all i have, using a translator app on his phone to communicate effectively.. I handed him the cash and offered to top it up with yuen. As far as he was concerned he had cleaned me out financially, and so he actually gave me the yuen back for my 'taxi' back, haha little did he know i had an oyster card (Chinese equivalent) Meaning i could use the bus to get back home. Therefore i ended up paying only 800 Yuen (mwah ha ha ha) meaning the new suitcase which by the way i could easily live inside of, for £100
I left the shop feeling rather pleased because although my samsonite case cost me £159 from Debenhams i'd had this case for about 16 years and it had very literally been all over the world with me, from Sri Lanka to the maldives, to Dubai, to Australia, Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Ibiza about 8 times, Zante, Paris, Peru, South Africa, New York, The canaries cruise, along with a few other places which escape my memory so It had served me very well indeed really. I would be sad to see it go, but in light of the current circumstances it was a necessary sacrifice.
We all met up at the meeting point and after getting some more english money exchanged which i sneakily had inside my samsonite back-pack, we made our way back to the bus-stop.
To give you some idea of the size of the new case, when we got back to the hotel to save faffing around I put my old samsonite case inside of the new case and it fitted like a glove. Having done this is did mean that i would be able to open it until we arrived at the next destination which was Wudang Mountain.
So Again we used our oysyter cards to board the metro underground, we had to go 11 stops on the one train and 4 stops on the next train which brought us to Beijing west overground station.
Upon arrival we were all a little hungry and so we entered a fast food type of restaurant to get some lunch. McDonalds and Kfc were off to the right and to be honest i really fancied a KFC but it was over ruled by some of the other group members so we went to a chinese fast food place next door.
It was a bit chaotic because there wasn't a table to fit us all on, it would only accommodate about 10 people so 4 of us had to get an adjacent table. Ideas were floating round with various flavours of food, pork beef or chicken noodles and or beef pork and vegitarian dumplings, I'd never eaten dumplings before so i went for both noodles and dumplings as a few others had done also.
Me and a guy called Nick sat down at a table but the table needed clearing so i politely gestured to a waitress lady to ask if we could have our table cleaned, the lady promptly whizzed over and and gave the table a wipe and cleared all the previous customers plates and things away.
We were then called to place our order so we briefly left our table and decided what we would be having to eat. When we looked back, a rather shady character was sat, not at our table as such, he was sort of in between two tables, his head down, his face very brown and his clothes looked as unwashed as his face. We were rather concerned, in fact a little scared by this as it was pretty clear that he was most likely high on something, maybe opium, maybe alcohol it was hard to tell, however we decided to sit on the opposite side of the table with our backs to the rest of our group of people.
The starter came, which was noodles and seaweed, but it was stone cold, this was the main course.. To say the least i was not impressed, i began thinking perhaps KFC would've been a nice option, was it too late ?! where were the dumplings ?
Mean while the management of the establishment came to try and move the hobo. They woke him up and he cunningly fell straight back to sleep. She persisted, with an officious unhappy looking security guard who was standing poised ready to step in if the man didn't do as instructed, the lady lifted him up by the elbow and began to escort him out, i kinda felt a bit sorry for him, i think he was only in there really to cool off, maybe try and get some food.
As she directed him to the exit he sneakily took a left towards the counter, she began to shout at him, presumably saying, Oi.. Out out.. Almost aggressively. He was escorted off the premises and we were able to carry on with our cold noodles and seaweed. My heart went out to him and although he was definitely on opium his eyes were bloodshot and rolling around in his head.
After the drama some ladies came over bringing a huge casserole dish sized bowl full of broth noodles and stewing steak type meat. It was absolutely delicious. I was soo happy, i began munching away on the really tasty food, happily. Shortly an array of dumplings arrived and we added them to our broth.
After the lunch we began the short walk to the train station which was literally next door, we were almost on concourse. After buying a few drinks and extra nibbles we were ready to board the train. We quickly found our respective cabins and bunks.
I've never been on a sleeper train before and it was actually quite exciting, It was so nice to be able to lie flat, after storm-trooping on mass with our luggage, like little tortoises with all our worldly possessions on hand.
We boarded during the afternoon and so we began to see some of the real china, it was rather interesting to see the varying landscape changing by the second. We were all on a bit of a high having been fed and watered and now locked in on the train for the next 19 hours we had lots of time to bond as a group. The jokes, drinks and merriment began, we played some card games (shit-head) and exchanged banter.
This went on for some time.. Not much else happened really, we did a bit of training in the limited space the corridor between each cabin provided, bear in mind there were no doors, no separating curtains, except on the outside of the train to block the light out after dark when the lights went out.
Lights out was at 9:30pm and once it went dark it was slightly difficult to navigate the cabins, and for most of the group we mostly went to sleep, i began writing my blog while others chatted and drank into the small hours of the morning, i think there was probably a cheer from the locals when we finally arrived at our station at 9:30 the next morning.
Day 5 Wudang.
Before i begin todays blog, it occured to me, whilst writing todays blog that i'd completely missed something (And i dont quite know how i forgot) but it's definintely something that cannot be omitted.
Yesterday after breakfast but before we went to the silk market, we had our first training session with the tour leader and Dim Mak Master, Steven Burton.
I will explain a little more about Dim Mak shortly but we began with a few warm-up excercises, one of which was quite a good little game, so the game goes, you make an shape of one of the five animals with your hands, the animals are dragon, snake, crane, panther and tiger and as you create the shape, you say the name of the animal you're creating - working in pairs, your 'opponent' has to do one of the other 5 animals, they cannot do the same as you and they must speak the animal they've done, so a little bit like Rock, Paper Scissors, but with kung fu animals.
Whoever messes up first must complete a forefeit, such as press-ups, star jumps, sit up's etc..
Then we moved onto some different techniques, which consited of a block, transfer and then a strike to the neck on the accupuncture / dim mak point of Stomach 9 which is just in the soft skin to the side of the wind-pipe, so called because it relates to the Meridien points of Xi (Chi) within the stomach, so if you imagine a human skeleton, 'stomach 9' would be the 9th point above the 'dan-tien' which is just behind the abdomen (belly button).
We then moved onto the 'window to the sky' points which lie around the neck. I will try and go thru this with you but without photos / video, it will be quite hard to explain but i will try my best.
So 'window to the sky points' means that upon striking these specific points, the head would fall back and the attacker would fall to the floor, largely due to having been knocked out, pretty feirce in a real fight situation, where your attacker means to cause you pain / harm.
So the points stomach 9 as i said is the soft tissue to the right of the windpipe (or left depending upon which side of the head you're aiming for.
Large intestine 18 would be best associated with Frankensteins bolt running thru the neck.
Small intestine 16 is slightly further back so if you were to grab someone round the neck from behind and grip, with your thumb and forefinger, you would effectively grip small intestine 16.
They all line neatly so if you place your one hand on the side of your neck, and (gently) clap your other hand exactly adjacent, you will feel a slight ringing and we call this '5 pints of stella' as it can make your head spin and your brain rattle, giving the feeling of being '5 pints' down.
There are certain directions in which they can be struck to get the most effective reaction, so stomach 9 would be straight up at a 45• angle, large intestine 18 would be as i suggested frankensteins bolt going straight thru the neck, horizontally, and small intestine 16 would be coming back toward you for best effecfiveness, again there are particular parts of the hand which would create the best reaction, so small instestine 16 for example, would be the base knuckle of the thumb,
To add to this, there are also certain noises / vibrations you can make audibly to amplify the technique, for example a bzzzzz noise (as if immitating a bee) would cause the assailant to drop like a stone, legs crumpling into the ground and so the fight would be over in a matter of seconds, without even breaking a sweat!
From a defense perspective this would pretty easily end the fight as with the adequate force they can literally knock a person out! (no matter how big, strong or muscular a person is)
It's all about body chemistry, and as we know from Einsteins theory of realtivity, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.
If you want to try this, be really carefull to only use about 5% of your power about the same force as id you were to slap yourself around the face.
If impropperly used it can cause serious damage, hence when we're training, we gently tap these points for the sake of our training partners health, but to get a real feeling of the effect felt, although obviously, in a real fight situation you would hit your assailant with equal force they attacked you with, creating a very dramatic effect. (I.e - K.O'd) I also have to point out for legal reasons that according to British law, you are allowed to protect yourself with equal force.
Anyway, we then moved on to strength tests and posture, again something you can try at home, because this is really safe, again it utilises the body chemistry and yin-yang so, if you imagine a yin-yang symbol (google it if you dont understand the notion) the two dots on the warped semi-circle, where the dots lie, if u were to draw a direct line accross the the semi circle (horizontally) where the strength lies on the black point, for example, the equivalent point on the white would be paricularly weak.
So how does this manifest you might wonder, ok, well i can demonstrate this very easily. So if you want to best understand this, you must first stand in a neutral stance (feet shoulder width apart, a slight bend in the knees, hands down by your side)
Now elevate your right arm so its horizontal to the floor, because this arm has strength due to the muscles used to hold it up, your left ankle would be particularly weak!
This is due to the brain not being able to make two points strong simultaneously.
So the test; if you hold your right arm out and hold it there as strong as possible, and get a second person to push down on the elevated arm, you should be able to resist pretty easily holding your arm steadily in place without too much wavering..
Now do the same thing again, however this time i want you to move your left hand, over to the right hand side of the body, crossing the centre line of the sturnum, and ask the same person to apply exactly the same amount of pressure, you will not be able to hold your arm in place, your arm should be able to be pushed down, even with just a single finger, this is due to the distruption of Xi.
Another thing you can try is, maintain the same neutral position and get your 'partner' to place a hand on your chest, with your knees bent, If you push as hard as you can, you should be able to maintain your stature, with ease, obviously if they push too hard you will fall backwards so do be careful not to use excessive force.
Now if you place one foot in between their open legs, we call this the 'empty space' and push again, just by placing one foot in between their legs the disruption of Xi means you cannot maintain your posture and you will most likely have to take one or two steps backward.
Therefore if someone were to punch you in a left stance, (left foot forwards, left hand high, right foot backwards (but pointing in the same direction as one would walk) fingers on your hands pointing skyward or to twelve o'clock on a clock face, and then right hand slightly lower adjacent to the navel / belly button), with a straight punch to the face, if u very gently tap their ankle on the opposite foot on the inside (splein 6) and it wouldnt take much force at all, their foundation or structure of their stance would crumble, giving you the advantage, obviously you would want to block their punch, but even if you didnt a sharp sweeping motion just above the ankle bone would mean that they would effectively do the splits twisting their body away from you exposing their ribs, allowing you to offload your punch to a much more painful and potentially dangerous points, there are also Dim-Mak points there (liver 14) but if u dont know where this is, the floating rib (smallest rib) is where to aim, the outcome of this would be dramatic and they would most likely lose the fight very quickly.
Its all completely fascinating stuff and if anyone would like a private demonstration of this, ask me upon my return and i will show you how it all works (and some other stuff too if desired).
After this short demonstration we went over some more stance and posture work which would only make sense if being demomstrated upon.
Following this for the last bit of our training we learned the first 7/8 moves of a 'Hung-Gar' stlye 'form' (hereafter called a 'set') which is called, 'bac guo fa quen' (back gar far kyoon) again, too complex to explain but i will demonstrate to anyone who would like to see it, the principals of which strike various dim-mak points around the body. Thus ending the fight!
Just a little footnote here the main aim of all of my martial traning is not to incite violence, and this is important to understand, it's more about making peace with your assailant, or rather counter attacking to a point at which it's safe to be on your toes and get out of that situation.
So back to day 5 Wudang mountain;
Having disembarked our train, we left the train station and made our way down the street where a coach was waiting to take us to our next hotel location.
Wudang has special significance to Kung Fu. It's located on a mountain top, which has
exceptionally stunning and impressive views, however, before i go into the days events, there's something else i've been meaning to tell you regarding the organisation of china itself.
Bearing in mind that china is a communist country, although becomming more and more relaxed, the 'red-tape' still remains fast.
But... before i do that, and you'll have to remind me because i might forget, i want to tell you some of the background relating to martial arts and specifically Dim Mak.
Apologies for the hap-hazard nature of this blog. Mostly due to fatigue and various thoughts which pop into my head whilst im writing (currently in the hotel library where distractions are fewest).
So it is know that a martial Daoist monk named 'Zheng San Feng', is the founder of Wudang Martial arts, the founder of 'Dim-Mak' and allegedly the founder of Accupunture, he is revered on the mountain with statues and temples in his honour.
Wudang mountains have many mountain peaks and with numerous temples, residing within the peaks and valleys of the blissful countryside mountain setting, mountains folding away in all directions which vaguely dissapear into a mist. Photographs do not do it any justice if im honest because no photograph can pick up every detail that the eye can see.
So from Zheng San Feng's teaching and principals, many of the internal martial arts have been founded and formulated, including among others and more famously Tai Xi (Hereafter called Tai chi which is it's english equivalency)
Tai chi is a combination of soft flowing movements interspersed with short bursts of speed and agility combining both health and martial application, this follows the principals of Daoism, eg. Yin-yang, thd balancing of nature, flowing like water, soft and hard, light and dark, happy and sad etc... unlike external martial arts which directly confront an oncoming attack, with equal force, tai chi dissolves the attack by redirecting the power of the oncoming attack, allowing the attacker to potentially overbalance and lose their power, almost as if borrowing the power from the attacker, and using their strength against them.
Once the attacker loses their power the short sharp burst of the movements give rise to the perfect counter attack, thus subduing the, would be attacker.
Because the movements of tai chi and other Wudang martial arts use flowing movements rather than muscle power, it's very easy to use Wudang Kung Fu skill, without becoming short of breath, whilst maintaining balance and posture, giving the martial artist the upper hand.
Wudang martial arts including tai chi, ba-gua(bar gwar), xing yi (shing yee) etc, all utilise spiralling movement to absorb oncoming attacks, or to move around the attacker, allowing a counter attack to directly target the vulnerable areas of the attacker, leaving them briefly defenceless.
Striking the vulnerable areas is known as Dim Mak. Many people believe that dim mak, means 'Death Touch' however this not entirely acruate, the actual meaning is more like 'stike chi' or 'Manipulate Energy' Chi is energy which flows throughout the bodies meridians, within the acupuncture channels.
By doing this, one can weaken the structure of their body, affect the internal organs, causing temporary paralysis of limbs, unconsienceness, or in necessary situations where the need arrises, in the extreme; Death!
Dim Mak allows a sliding scale of outcomes from simple pain response to complete 'de-animation'; however, in todays society the lower end of the sliding scale would be the most commonly used, due to legal ramifications and also morals and ethics.
Steve Burton our Dim Mak instructor, works for the Lancashire police and has also taught his techniques, both locally and internationally, to to law enforcement agencies showing that Dim Mak, whilst being an ancient concept, has a modern use in todays society demonstrating that, when safely and appropriately used, the need for serious injury thru improper techniques can actually reduce time in dealing with felons, enabling them to quickly and efficiently deal with such criminals reinforcing public safety at the same time minimising risk to the general public.
Dim Mak could and does get used in close protection body guarding too, for example, to protect the 'principal', the principal being the person who is being protected, in particular when the use of fire-arms are inappropriate, for example perhaps a Royal visit or grand public event, activist demonstrations and when the 'close protection teams', consider the use of a fire-arm dangerous; unless at very close range and even then this could pose a risk to innocent bystanders thus preventing a potential commotion, enabling the visit or event to go as planned, most often, without the Principal even knowing such an attack were present.
So, the organisation of China (thanks for the reminder btw folks *rolls eyes*) is very hap-hazard.
For example, we boarded the coach and drove to the foot of the mountain, whereby we had to take a bus up to the top of the mountain.
However, we had to move our luggage and belongings to the other side of a gate post, then walk back around the corner where into a room which when full of people a long queue would have to be joined to enable a guard to stamp our bus ticket, check our passport and allow passage thru to the other side of the gate post where we had previously walked thru and deposited our luggage. Almost as you would expect at an airport.
It seemed completely pointless, fortunately due to the time of our arrival there was no such queue so we literally walked thru the door, to the left of the queueing barriers and then straight back out the door, where the man stamped our tickets scanned our passports and allowed us passage onto the mountain.
Id is essential pretty much everywhere you go in china, whether it be that you're travelling by train, both under and over ground, and often within the city to do such things as exchange currency, so everywhere you are, the government knows where you are, big brother is always watching it seems.
I asked Liming (who's name i've been incorrectly spelling as LeeMing) what would happen in the event of you losing your passport.
It sounds particularly thwarted by beaurocracy, due to the very nature of the fact you couldn't have access to medical, transport, foreign exchange or banking, so you would effectively be homeless too as you would be unable to check in to a hotel.
Now obviously you can often find places to get money exchanged without a passport for example, as i found out in the silk market, occasionally you can buy things with English cash, however long term it would prove very frustrating and difficult and you would have to visit the British embassy, which may be located a fair distance from where you are thus compounding the problem as one wouldnt be able to use public transport due to having no passport. I asked if a photograph or digital version would be accepted, alas it would not!
Therefore your passport is literally the most valuable posession you can have whilst travelling.
Another thing i wanted to briefly touch upon was the safety and crime rates.
It is probably the safest i've ever felt whilst travelling abroad, for example your personal belongings, it's very common to see mobile phones plugged into municipal sockets, without an owner nearby, it would be pretty unheard of for a local to go pilfering through your belongings if you leave it whilst you were to go into a shop for example.
Now obviously common sense tells us not to leave our stuff lying around for fear of having it pinched, and as many people would know theft of such goods is rife in other parts of the world but in China, you feel completely safe, to walk the streets at night and to leave stuff lying around, whilst perhaps taking a quick photograph.
When i first boarded the overnight train, i went to the toilet as soon as the train pulled out of the station and then i had a bit of a mad panic whilst i was having a pee, because i realised i'd left both my phone, passport and wallet on the bed, now obviously there was enough of our group around anyway but as i type now (on another overnight train) there are phones and ipads, laptops utilising the trains free charging facilities at various plug sockets along the carriage, available for anyone to walk along and pick up, I know for sure they will be perfectly safe, maybe because crime has pretty high penalties, or maybe becuase the people of China are completely honest and have a lot of integrity, maybe a combination of the two.
Either way, it really instills a sense of security and relaxation with regard to the safety of your belongings.
So anyway, after our little 5 minute detour of the gate post, we boarded a public bus to the top of the hill, our suitcases and many number of luggage items, which had been left alone in the street for anyone to pinch, but of course, all was exactly as it was left.
Disgruntled locals cutting me dirty looks as they tried to board the bus, having no room to sit due to mine, and other of our groups, sizeable suitcase.
Eventually, When the bus was full we set off up the mountain and the view each side and all around was spectacular, really breath-taking and a stark contrast to the busy city we left behind. After a little while we arrived at the bus stop and so we all departed the bus, only to board another bus which took us the rest of the way.
After a little wait at the first change point we arrived at our hotel which was appropriately named Tai Chi hotel, It had a 40 foot yin-yang symbol on the floor, we were ushered to our rooms lugging our suitcases up a few steps and upon arrival we had a small amount of time to check in and relax before going straight out for training which was on the roof of the hotel.
This hotel was quite different in both size and facilities offered, the rooms a little on the small side and quite a weird arrangement with a blind separating the bathroom and the bedrooms with a (see-thru) glass wall behind meaning privacy is a little awkward / limited to say the least. However we made it work.
Wudang mountain peaks top out at approximately 1509m above sea level, and whilst the primitive attempts at a modern day society as we would know it, it has ways of creating a community at these altitudes where you would rarely expect to see life, let alone such things like electricity and means of cooking and providing lighting, charging our prescious communications devices and of course heat in winter or such luxuries like Air Conditioning in the summsd etc.. It's very impressive to say the least,
So after we'd had some food, had a little time to re-orient (see what i did there) ourselves we had another training session with Steven and our first training session with Yue Liming. Liming is his first (Given) name and Yue is his Surname (or family name).
In China you address people by this way, so I would be Stone Daniel, my name in Chinese is pronounced as Shi Dan Ni. (Shee Dan Knee)
Anyway i digress (i do that a lot) the training with steven was dim mak based, we began with the rock, paper, scissors game and then we did some body conditioning; Where, working in pairs you block each other wrist to wrist, as if you were blocking punches, the purpose of this is to strengthen bones as the more a bone is struck, it in effect damages the bone but only moderately, the body then repairs the damage to the bone thus making it stronger so when faced with a foe, a good block can deter further attack, as a good defense can be as good as a good offence.
We did several strengthening techniques over and over and our wrists were beginning to ache and feel very sore, obviously the pain eventually discipates and the healing process begins.
We then refreshed more of what we did the previous day and covered a few more areas of Dim Mak then we moved on to the Hung Gar 'set', bac lau far kuen and added a few extra movements in at the end extending the set.
The set is quite long and complex but with each succession it grows and becomes more and more defined honing the techniques to make if flow better and become more effective.
Following this we had a training session with Liming. This session was pure tai chi. This was the first time really i had been exposed to Tai Chi properly, Although I have done a very small amount back in the days of my Blue sash some 8 years ago with Master John Russell, who at the time was a 6th Degree black sash, he has since become a Master as our very own Master Yau, responsible for bringing Lau Gar Style Kung Fu into Britain becomming a Grandmaster,
However this was very different. Yue Liming began by explaining the principals behind tai chi. Namely that it utilises the soft touch, to discipate the attack and using movement in spirals and circles to best thwart the attack as i said earlier, i cant remember all of what was said but it was very inspirational.
I voulenteered to be the guinea pig to be demonstrated upon, he asked me to throw a punch, which he absorbed and then stepping thru into my empty space, threw me off balance and im not quite sure what happened after that because it was ever so fast suffice to say i ended up on the floor with Liming holding me in a locked position, unable to move. I couldnt have further attacked even if i wanted to due to the lock i was very tightly being held in, letting out strange noises of pain as he applied and released the pressure.
Each training session lasting aproximately an hour and whilst i learned a lot; to try and describe each movement and attack is really difficult owing mostly due to the fact that i can bearly remember what actually happened, this is because each day has so much crammed into each moment, its truly difficult to recall, as im writing retrospectively.
Even asking some of the other members of the group, picking their brains there's just too much information to remember and relay to you, my lovely avid readers.
Suffice to say the training was excellent, a real eye opener into Tai chi, again something i can better demonstrate than describe as desired.
The best part of that particular two training sessions was the back-drop, as on the 'tai chi roof' as we here-after affectionately called the roof on which we had been training, was absolutely spectacular. Pictures of which breifly became my 'cover photo' on the book of faces.
It was dark by time we had finished and due to the overnight train where it was difficult to get any sleep at all, and the early morning bus ride and the changing of busses and everything else that day, we retired to bed.
One other thing i must point out, something which i hadn't even considered was the fact that whilst lieing in bed, it felt as if the room was vibrating / shaking, this was due to the fact we'd spent 19 hours on a train.
It was akin to the feeling felt when one has been on board a boat for a few days, you dont notice at the time but once back on terra firma you begin to feel almost as if you're still on board a boat. #JellyLegs
Day 6 Daoist Monk. Wot no electic!?
This morning we woke early showered and readied our day bags and went straight down for breakfast. The choices in this hotel for breakfast were somewhat limited, compared to the Beijing hotel, mostly chinese influence with various unrecgonisable dishes.
They seemed more what you would expect for an evening meal, than breakfast but hey, when in Rome!
So this morning we were going on a trek up the wudang mountain, we took a private coach to the opposite side of the mountain passing via the public bus change over point where we had been yesterday.
The weather by the way has been scorching and today was no exception, reaching temperatures in the low-mid 30's pretty much every day, however as we were in the mountains there was a presence of a mist we'd not encountered since our arrival in Beijing, although this was a fog rather than smog. Despite that the sun shone down and it was glorious.
We arrived at a cable car which would be taking us up the mountain to save our little legs. We boarded the cable cars after a rest stop for those who needed it and i, folloiwing breakfast had a fairly fierce attack of the dreadded heartburn, something i suffer with regularly (as many of you know).
I asked Steven if he knew of anywhere i could perhaps buy a remedy but due to the limited amount of shops at this location it didnt look good... However, his superior knowledge of the human body and in particular accupuncture points he suggested massaging a point on my writst.
So, if you take your left hand and hold it flat facing upwards (palm to sky) then place your the first three fingers of your right hand (index, middle & ruby ring) so that your third finger (ruby) meets the crease of your wrist, the dim mak / accupuncture point is directly next to the knuckle of the index finger.
So with your thumb on your other hand massage this point anti-clockwise which affects the digestion system. So i stood as we waited massaging this point all the way to the point at which we were boarding the cable car.
Again due to the beaurocrasy of china, passports, tickets and at this station even a fingerprint was required, this is allegedly to prevent people passing tickets over the barrier to ensure no body is cheating the system.
The cable cars came fast and it was 8 people per car, so we hurriedly boarded quickly ascending the mountain, as we climbed and climbed almost the same angle as an isoscilies triangle the mountain and the floor forming the other two sides.
As we journeyed on, we the view over the valley below growing more and more beautiful. It took about 1
5-10 minutes to reach what appeared to be the summit. There were a few steps up from the station at the top where we all met in the central location as our group was split in two due to the 8 person per car.
We took photographs however at the top of this mountain the fog or mist had turned more wide spread, almost as if we were inside a bank of cloud.
Although visibility was pretty poor looking out accross the mountain ranges, what we had come to see for at the top of the mountain stood a very famous temple.
There were many steps up to the top of the mountain despite the fact the cable car took us to the 'summit' it was not quite the summit.
When we arrived at the top, many chinese tourists and locals alike filled every nook and crannie barging past as if their need were greater than yours.
Another thing which has surprised me, considering the chinese people are so warm and friendly, they dont understand the ettiquite of queueing, or patience..
in fact they have very poor manners, frequently hacking up their lungs to spit on the floor, or worse still closing one nostril and blowing the snot out! Sorry if ur eating.. but it's something i find particularly grim, makes me pull a very grimacing face each time i hear / see this, the over night train journey particularly as just as you're dropping off to sleep, this vile hacking up of the phlegm was a constant background noise which made me pull a very frowny face each time.
Anyway moving on swiftly, there were actually two temples at the top of the mountain, i think it couldve been an old and a newer version but i could be wrong, anyway we visited the first temple and there are, of course, certain rituals one must do to pay respects to the ancestors and ask for blessings.
So we entered this very small cave-like-room with a statue inside a temple, the room itself was probably about 12 foot square with the temple taking up about 10 feet of the entire room, part of the ritual was to walk around the back of the temple within the room, and it was pitch black once inside so if you were a bit claustrophobic i think it wouldve been pretty difficult. Also if you were on the large side, like some Americans tend to be, you wouldnt have fitted in and around the temple.
Once you had walked around the back, there was an alter-cushion on the floor, and Steve told us all how to complete the bows so that we could be properly blessed, after completing the bows, of which there are 9 in total, you place a small donation into the box in front which had a gap to post the money inside.
The donation doesnt have to be much, and most people put somewhere between 1-10 yuan, which is 10p-£1 there was a distinct smell of ash in the air as you left the room and decended the steps to the courtyard area outside, before climbing the few steps to this temple there was a series of courtyards, some which had market style shops where you could buy all maner of cooked and cold snacks, and also some things like selfie sticks and portable battery operated fans.
Just off the courtyard there was an oven, where a fire continually burns, hence the smell of fire and floating bits of ash.
Once all of the group had completed the ritual and had their blessings, there were more steps leading up to the golden temple which stood on the highest point of the highest mountain.
So once again we begin to climb up the mountain, up various flights of stairs, im not sure how many in total but by the time we got to the top, bearing in mind we occasionally had to stop to allow people to pass as they obviously had greater urgency than us #rude.
And also because there was occasionally a traffic jam. This gave us a great vantage point to take some lovely pics of the... oh! Of the cloud ! It was somewhat eerie to be honest, there was a slight chill in the air.
And all around all u could see was mist, i made a joke about gorillas and took a few pics and videos to capture the ambiance, when we arrived at the top, there was one grand temple directly in front of you and then another temple to the west north and east face of the courtyard.
The main temple directly in front of us was very busy with many people having blessings and depositing monies into the box in front of the cushions, just as we had done at the previous temple. Meanwhile i walked round the top of the mountain courtyard taking photos of all aspects, although some of these photos were not very interesting as all you can see is cloud / water mist.
As i got back round to the front steps where we had arrived at by the main temple, the argy bargy had seemed to stop momentarily, as just one single man stood solemnly, his head bowed and the moment grew almost silent. People were whispering in hushed tones and as he stood up, he completed the bowing ritual, and then proceeded to make his donation into the post box.
When i made my donation I put 10 RMB into the post box (equivalent of £1) this man who stood in front of the temple took out a wad of 100's, there must have been about £4k in english money that he posted into the box, i was standing by Ross at the time who also witnessed this and we looked at each other, eyes wide, mouths open. We couldn't quite believe the amount this guy had posted.. If it was in English currency the wad of notes would've probably equalled £40k it took several attempts to post it all thru.. Whatever he was preying for, he definitely wanted it..
As he left with tears in his eyes i began to wonder what he had wished for but sincerely hope he gets his wish, cos if he doesn't then, we'll he's probably skint now! It filled me with humility thinking how fiercely these people believe in their deities and that the preyers that they prey are clearly more than money, i wondered if someone was ill, perhaps close to death. Then i began to think, perhaps he wants someone dead.. Either way, it was astonishing!
Once we'd done our little blessings, I asked the ancestors to help my friend David's brother, who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour for help and deposited my funds into the post box, this time i posted 20 RMB hoping that a larger donation might get the ancestors to work their magic, then again, i don't think my wishes would be that high up the queue if it's subject to how much money one pays, i was assured that it was not and every prayer was answered..
I also prayed for world peace, an end to global poverty and corruption... Nothing too taxing for them i'm sure, after all they are spirits and can therefore perform magic i reassured myself.. Lol
By the way, RMB is another way of expressing the units of currency, I can't remember if i've touched on this or not, but there are three ways you can say it. For example you can either express it as Yuan so 10 yuan, or Kwai - 10 Kwai, or RMB like 10RMB as previously stated.. I've yet to learn why there are three, i understand that Kwai is a bit like saying quid, but where RMB comes from i don't know because their monetary term in the foreign exchange market is CNY so actually there are four ways.
Fifteen or so minutes had passed and so it was time to descend the mountain and journey onwards, the steps down were a little on the steep side but there were chains as bannisters, with many engraved padlocks attached as we walked down. I've seen this before several times, in India, in Peru, in Brazil, in Argentina and a few other places i think i saw them at the Great Wall too, tho that might not be true, i just cant recall.
Anyway the tradition goes, two people, perhaps from different religious backgrounds, maybe from different classes, who are not able to marry, for whatever reason, they have a padlock engraved and lock it at the top of the temple and their hearts are forever locked to each others, allegedly they burn the key to the lock in a hot fire, or perhaps throw it in a river or the sea so that it can never be undone.
I also know some people who do marry do this tradition too to lock their hearts together forever. Some people do it on their wedding day too.
When we approached the bottom of the staircase, a different one we used to climb to the top of the mountain, we ended up in a little courtyard where there were people selling snacks, ice creams etc.. As always seems to be the case, it's as if they knew we were coming.. However this particular one had an artist who was doing sort-of calligraphy on a poster, the poster was pre-painted with the mountain and a few background images on. But what this guy was doing was nothing short of outstanding.
We watched a while and then as if by magic a lady appeared asking if we wanted to buy the finished artworks. I have to be honest the works of art were completely spectacular, he was using different colours on what i can best describe as a pencil eraser, with corners chopped off. Obviously there's probably a technical term for this but i don't know what this is, so that's the best description i can give you.
the lady instructed us to write our names down and what the artist did was create your name in letters, but they were also animals, so for example the letter A would be made up of two birds sitting facing each other kissing. I took some video so you can get a perspective of how cool it was. Some of the group began writing their names down to keep as a souvenir. After recording him create one for one of our group members, i decided it would be a lovely keep sake.
Now as i stated earlier (or in days gone by, i forget) My name is Shi Dan ni. We had a tour guide with us, in addition to Steve our Dim Mak instructor, she was Chinese and lived on the mountain, so i asked her to write my name down for me in Chinese so i could have it written in Chinese. However after several seconds i decided to change this, as i wanted my spiritual name instead.
My spiritual name consists of my two star signs combined, so as i'm a Gemini (Twins) in the western zodiac and i'm born in the year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, my spiritual animal would be a Double Headed Dragon.
I have discussed this with my Mandarin tutor before and we had discussed that in Mandarin this would be Liang Tou Loong. So instead i decided to have this translated into Chinese writing (or radicals) and so that's what i decided to have painted instead of a name. I'll show you upon my return.
Once we'd all had snacks and ice creams, drinks etc it was time to once again descend the mountain, but the way down was going to be done manually.. Or should that be pedularly.. Im not sure that's even a word, what i mean is we had to walk it. Initially this sounded like a lovely idea and it would be a lovely stroll down some lovely steps which would eventually lead us to the bottom of the cable car ride, perhaps some 1000ft below, a bit like we had at the Great Wall of China.
How wrong was this perception. Jeez, it was a gruelling 4 and a half hour trek. Initially down hill, but as the road meandered through the mountains, it twisted and turned and fell and rose went round and round back up and down, in all directions. As i say retrospectively writing this looking back it was awesome, but at the time it was pretty hardcore. Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed the slog, because it was really good exercise thru absolutely stunning scenery, we stopped off at various intervals for toilet breaks and for sips of water and eventually we neared the end, people who had done the trip and therefore this 'walk' before kept saying, don't worry we're nearly there now... We were not! It was like a mirage in the desert which just kept on getting further and further and further away to our end destination.
Eventually tho we made it down to the bottom of the top of the mountain, if you understand that, basically we were now roadside.
Just before we arrived at this point however, and i'd like to drawer your attentions to anyone who has seen the film the Karate Kid. Not the 1980's original with 'Daniel Son' but the more recent version of the film with Will Smiths son Jaden Smith (i think he's called) and Jackie Chan; All with me ?! Good.. If not do watch it because it is good, anyway now you're upto speed, can you remember the scene where Jackie Chan takes will smiths son up into the mountains and there's a lady dressed in a yellow tai chi suit (could've been white) and she was seeming to copy the movements of a King Cobra balancing atop a ledge which strutted out over the mountain peak..
Well, that scene was taken at the top of Wudang Mountain, a place where just before the end of our lille stroll could be seen from across the valley, Zooming in as far as my little lens would carry me i took many photos trying to capture the ledge of which i spake. Alas it couldn't really be seen, but it was amazing to think that this is where that scene took place.
Back on the road leading away from the top of the mountain, it was just starting to get dusk and so we walked a few 100 yards to where i figured the bus would be collecting us to take us back to our hotel, however i was shocked, nay, dismayed to find our hotel literally to the right hand side of me, I almost had to pinch myself, is it real... Can it be !? We're home, already, no bus to catch to bring us the remainder of the journey. Yes it seemed it was real ! Yippeee we cried.
What had been carefully planned by our Steve was that we drove to the furthest point away from where we were staying and we then walked back leading us back to our hotel. It was a very welcome sight i have to tell you, we were hot, sticky, sweaty, achy, an boy was i glad to be back home.
Half of the group went over to the shops across the road where they bought some more snacks and things, and me, i headed straight for my room, and had a nice long cold shower, until Ross came in and the awkwardness of the glass bathroom door made us both feel a little uneasy momentarily.
By the way, i'm saying these things, not because it's something i would necessarily change, i'm just relaying it to you as it happened, and it's actually pretty comical, the room also had a floor to ceiling window the other side, which overlooked the corridor to an adjacent set of rooms, none of which were occupied by our group, however there was a blind which could be pulled down to the floor offering further privacy.
We made do by putting towels up on the entrance to the bathroom door, and another towel on the shower door itself, which by the way also had it's own kind of hilariousness, due to the fact that if you pulled the shower door towards you it caught on the toilet cistern meaning it couldn't be opened more than about 6" and if you pushed the door, it caught on the rain head shower, however you could open it just enough to squeeze thru the small gap. (unless you're an american)
When the shower was running the water didn't seem to have anywhere to drain within the shower cubicle meaning the water escaped the cubicle and would run onto the main floor of the bathroom meaning if you left fresh underwear on the floor whilst showering, it was soaking wet by time you'd finished, something i discovered on our first day of arrival when arriving in at night time, after the first thing i wanted was a shower.
The bathroom also housed a kettle which is a rather random bathroom accessory, despite their being a massive table in the main bedroom underneath the tv, this meant there was very little space for toilettries, there was however a tea making facility over by the floor to ceiling window, in between two cosy arm chairs, we never got to actually sit on.. Lol
It seemed it was slightly more form over function. The sink was a gigantic circular shape way too big for the space available, meaning that when i bent down to pick up something i'd dropped on the floor, not only was it immediately soaking wet, but i also head-butted the sink. You had to laugh really it was pretty hilarious, just a slight lack of attention to the detail. It was crying out for Alex Politzi to come and have a word with the owner.
Incidentally there were other hotels at the top of the Wudang mountain, but ours was definitely the best of all of them, all the other hotels were more B&B type of establishments above a shop, or round the back of a food vendors etc.. Ours was a proper nice swanky hotel with a taste of luxury.
Upon our arrival to the hotel there was no power, we believe this was due to a mountain-wide power cut, although the emergency generators had kicked in, allowing us access to the rooms with the key card and to have lighting in the main atrium of the hotel, alas no power was in the bedrooms, meaning we couldn't see to shower or get changed, charge our phones, plug in kettles etc etc..
This for some caused a bit of stress due to wanting to speak to loved ones back home, but due to taking many photos using their phones, their phones were now dead. For me personally it didn't matter too much, because although i would've liked to have charged my camera batteries, i have spares. My phone was pretty much fully charge, and in case of extreme emergencies i also had a power bank, which can simultaneously charge 3 items to a full charge too.
Obviously i offered this around, but there was also the fact that it was getting pretty dark and so visibility within the room, despite all the glass was limited, meaning it was better to feel for things that to try and see them.
Anyway enough about that, because after we'd showered, we were heading up to the tai chi roof to meet Yang Limin. (not to be confused with Yue Liming, the tai chi master of days gone by).
Yang Limin is a 17th Generation Daoist monk who was joining us for the remainder of our stay in Wudang and he was a very lovely man, he spoke bits of english, but for the purposes of training he preferred to speak in Chinese and Yue Liming was translating
I can't go into his training for confidentiality reasons because the training given was for our eyes and ears only... Ahhhh who am i kidding, i just can't remember. Actually that's not fair, i just cant explain it to you, besides it's easier if i show you - after all i have to have something to talk about upon my return.. Hehe suffice to say it was absolutely brilliant, i remember as we were doing our warm ups, thinking to myself, this is some next level stuff right here.. And that was just the warm-up!
After we had completed the warm up we had to move downstairs because the light was quickly fading and we could barely see Yang Limin, we continued our training by the light from the reception.
After training we all went down for dinner, including Yue Liming and Yang Limin (Very confusing i know) and this was taken in our own private room akin to the room we had at the Kao Ya (roasted Duck) restaurant in Beijing.
The waitresses laid up the table with many different dishes and we helped ourselves to what we wanted and Yue Liming (tai chi) and Yang Limin (monk) told us of the politics regarding China and the economy etc, and how it was quickly changing with the dawns of the new age and the next generation to follow, which was very insightful an interesting.
After dinner, still with no electricity in our rooms we retired to bed..
I'm going to sign off now as i'm going for a Chinese massage, all those steps made my calves very sore, and despite me having a thai massage at the Chinese massage place two nights ago, i feel that i would definitely benefit from another, plus it's dead cheap, and you get free drinks and fruit upon arrival.
I will upload day 7 shortly as i've opted not to go out tonight as i'm a bit cream crackered, hence the massage too ! TTFN !
Day 8 overnight train to Zhengjiajie (15/9)
So today we were boarding another over night traing to Zhengjiajie - say it with me, Zheng (jang) Jia (jaah) Jie (jay). Zhengjiajie..
Our train wasnt until 9:30 in the evening however due to various connection issues relating to the times of the trains at Wudang, instead of departing from Wudang we were going to board the train from the previous station on the line.
I cant actually remember the name of the station but its not really important.
First of all tho there was important things to do, because primarily we had to get us, and our luggage down the mountain which in itself was a bit of a mission, completing the same journey, changing at the temple we had our blessing at yesterday, our cases seeming to get heavier and heavier as the journey continued, either that or we got weaker!
Eventually we arrived down at the foot of the mountain, at the place where we had to do the check-in shenannigans at the begginning of the trip.
The bus parked up and we all got off... ooh i just realised i've omitted something again.
The night before, before going to bed i bought a new sword, which most of you have probably already seen as there have been pictures leaked by the paparazzi on facebook! (Me) hehe
Anyway the rest of the group went shopping, at the bottom of the mountain, the main kind of shopping one is able to do in Wudang is for weapons, all shops at the foot of the mountain sell mainly kung fu weapons, majoritively Swords, but there are other weapons too, such as daggers, nunchucks, fishing knives, walking canes which are swords in disguise, among many other kinds of weapons, some of which will make sense to you some won't; Quando, Broad Swords, Chinese Katana's, Cross-Bows,
Once we'd all bought what we wanted we bought a few drinks and snacks for the journey, and we set off on a 2 hour bus ride to the train station, along the way there was a construction site of what looked to be a bridge, i enquired with Limimg what it was they were building, whether it was a faster more direct motorway perhaps, he informed me that they were actually building a high speed rail network which will span the country, technology which is coming from Japan, ie the bullet train, meaning that the overnight train from Beijing to Wudang instead of taking 19 hours would actually take only 5 hours which means that perhaps next time i come to china, gettin around should be a lot easier and travelling times should be less meaning the cost should decrease as it may be cheaper to take a train rather than internal flights.
I fell asleep along the journey for several hours meaning by time i awoke we had arrived at the train station.
We got all of out belongings off the bus and made the short walk to the entrance of the train station.
Upon entry we had to scan our luggage thru the xray machine, as our group passed thru, the buzzers and alarms were going off all over the place due to the amount of weapons we were carrying as a group.
Terry for instance had bought 3 swords and a dagger, i had bought one sword from the top of Wudang mountain, Nick had bought a sword from the top at the same time i bought mine, in fact he lent me ¥40 because i couldnt seem to get any foreign currecny since we left Beijing, it hadnt really been a problem up until that point because there was little to spend my money on, however when i saw my sword, i knew i had to have it.
It still needs a name yet because all swords have to be named but it doesnt have to be an imidiate thing.
Anyway back to the buzzers, so there we all were buzzers and alarms going bezerk and the security staff asking to see each piece individually, so one by one we removed our weapons. Once they'd established that they were not 'live' blades they were fine about it and wished us well along our journey.
Actually i have no idea what was said because although i have been learning Mandarin since march, im not yet proficient to be able to understand much, tho i have been speaking it as often as i could, however as soon as you begin to speak the language, they reply to you, in their native tongue speaking so very quickly i mostly lose the thread of the conversation, i would occasionally ask them to speak more slowly, in Mandarin but my limited vocabulary thwarted further conversation.
Anyway Liming was explaining to them that they were for training and so we were allowed to travel up the escallator to the waiting area which actually looked a bit like an airport lounge than a train station.
We were all starving and so we began to discuss arrangements to get some food, obviously we couldnt all go at once because whilst China is safe, its probably not advisable to leave that many cases in one location mas they may have created a security alert possibly leading to a terror attack and therefore they may have destroyed our luggage.
So the first group of guys left looking for food, on the way in i heard people mentioning Kfc, but as i sat there thinking i can hardly imagine thats gonna be on the cards so i wont get my hopes up.
Just for clarification im not, not enjoying chinese food, but i was just hankering for something western, more than eastern.
After a little while the other guys came back and so it was our turn to go, so Myself, Anthony, Ross, Natalie and Nicos left the train station.
Ross is a vegitarian so we were trying to be accommodating for all however Natalie doesnt really enjoy Kfc so they decided they would go somewhere else... Which meant... me Anthony and Nicos went to KF BLOODY C!
I walked in the shop and immediately my tastebuds did a little dance the anticipation of some delicious chicken!
I ordered my food and waited patiently, helping the others with language although it was acually possible to just point as they had a menu on the counter.
My meal arrived first and i was everso excited to get a taste of the finger licking goodness, my mouth is actually watering now just thinking about it because as i sit writing, i'm starving hungry! (We're going for food in an hour)
That first bite, it was as if the world went into slow motion as my tastebuds savoured the 13 herbs and spices of the deliciousness of the chicken, bearing in mind that the food we've had in Wudang has been 100% easten influence, no bacon, no fried eggs, nothing of western decent at all.
Anyone who knows me, knows i love oriental food and i really have enjoyed eating it, its just that sometimes you want something that reminds you of home!
Anyway after id finished my meal, Anthony and Nicos has too, it was nearly time to leave, the train wasnt for another hour but we had to board the train half an hour before the departure time.
Anthony and I said that it was so good we could've eaten it again.. so we did, i ordered a burger and so did Anthony.
After all who knows when we'd be next getting some food, let alone another Kfc.
We headed back to the train station where the rest of the group were playing a group game on their phone called 'Heads Up'. Some might know this game but its basically Charades, well no more like balderdash, where you have to choose a category and explain without saying the word on the phone, it was really good fun and passed a bit of time.
Before long we were making our way down to the platform adjacent to where the carriage, we were all booked into alighted.
We boarded the train found our beds and stowed our luggage in the relevant places and as the train pulled away from platform it had become evident that it was night time, literally half an hour into the trip all the lights within the carriage were turned out.
Despite this, the driver DID insist on blowing his horn every thirty seconds, for no apparent reason, it was funny... at first, after about 1am when i still had no sleep due to this it began to get pretty irritating.
Day 9 - Zhangjiajie - Avatar mountains (16/9)
So we arrive in Zhangjiajie at 6:15am having very little, broken sleep, there was a guy in the next cubicle down from us who was snoring very heavily.
We hit the ground running due to the fact that we couldnt check in to our rooms till later on because the rooms needed cleaning. So we boarded the minibus heading for Zhangjiajie mountains.
From Day 1 Steven had been praising this place as it's a wonderful location full of natural beauty and nature.
We arrived about an hour later i must admit i dont remember too much of the journey due to the fact that i was so tired i fell asleep, the brakes on the bus were very noisy and made a terrible sound when being pressed and unfortunately i was sat on the rear wheel arch so each time the bus slowed or stopped i was awoken by the awful grinding noise.
Apparently the road there wasnt the best of roads either there were parts of it which were basically dirt tracks, i remember that bit because again i was awoken by the brakes and discomfort and constant horn blowing by vehicles all around but i was soo tired i had no choice each time i was awoken i fell straight back to sleep.
When i awoke for the final time it was because we had pulled into the car park of the place we were going to visit, we were informed upon arrival that several films that were made using this location.
Avatar being the main one which when we arrived i could totally see the back drop, in particular where the lead character jumped on his dragon and swooped down on top of the other one to combine his tail, it was right there in front of me, clear as daylight.
The scenery all around, the nature, the smells, the sights the sounds it was magnificent, completely unspoiled by humanity except from the few shops selling bottled water and a few snacks, as we waited for the tour leader and our new sub-tour leader, who's name is Anna, purchased the tickets.
As we waited a rogue monkey walked among the crowds people taking photo's and video of him. He was right there next to us, we were warned not to get to close because in previous years tours gone by apparently someone had gotten too close trying to get some good photos, at which point the monkey grabbed the ladies camera, which was tied to her wrist, because she couldnt / wouldnt let go, the cheeky monkey grabber her hair, obviously she let out a high pitched sheek which eventually made the monkey let go as he wandered off empty handed.
Suffice to say i wasnt taking any chances, i really wanted to go and stroke him but i was reminded by my brain that he was not tame, despite his appearances and therefore i should give him some space.
We went thru the security which was bio-metric, finger print, passport and a ticket required. As we began to walk along a path there was a gentle stream running to the right of us.
The gentle babbling brook was very inviting and i told myself at some point im going in for a swim, as we were all very hot and sticky, the air humid and dense and with the train journeys stench and acrid smoke filling our clothes a nice swim in a natural stream becconed me to its clensing waters.
We continued onward down the pathway, through some ornate gardens with very precisely cut low lying hedges and a path made entirely of pebbles, which if you were to walk bare foot along would be agony, but would also massage every point on your foot that relates to the bodies vital organs, therefore i decided to remove my New Nike trainers i'd bout before departure and get an all over body massage.
This was something i had learned when i was in Sri Lanka and i was right, it was agony, yet at the same time kind of nice, but painfull.. twas a healing kinda pain, if that makes sense..
The next thing we came to was circular podium type things spread a small space apart going four or five wide, this was designed, i guess to tackle hand-foot co-ordination, i walked along making a tune in my head with each stepping stone having a different note. Dum dum dum di dum dum dum da dum di dum di dum.
We came accross what looked to be rather a pretty looking set of modern cottages, with three front doors. We all commented as to how it would be a lovely place to live, right next to the water, although i could also imagine it being rather sinister at night time, as if it were the scene from a thriller/horror movie it had that kind of vibe..you could imagine the beginning of a movie a group of frends renting the cottage out but there being a horrible plot twist in which something dark happened by night fall..
A little further along and there was a man-made square lake, with moss growing along the top, i imagined being here with Twixy dog and him mistaking the moss for grass as he ran onto it quickly sinking and then turning to look at me with a confused look on his face as he sheepishly made his way back to me.
On approach to this mossy pond there was a pathway with an elderly lady tip-toeing along with a far more elderly lady clutching on to her, i asked Anna our translator tour guide to ask if she'd mind if i took a photo.
She looked very frail yet could also probably take u down with a flick of her wrist. Anna asked the lady how old she was and she was 109 we were pretty gob-smacked. She looked very good for 109.
We continued onwards to find a group of much younger ladies all in 'active wear' (google the youtube video entitled 'active wear' if you want a laugh) these ladies were in a circle their heads all in the centre of the circle and they were doing a 'dog salutation to the sun' yoga pose. They changed poses a few times as we stood there, ending up with their right leg to left knee with hands in a prayer position above their heads in a 'tree' pose.
Anna told me that Yoga wasnt that popular in China tho it was becomming more-so but they had to visit retreats such as the one we were stood at.
After a few photos we journeyed on accross a little foot bridge, everywhere you looked was picture postcard, not least of all the 'avatar' mountains which stretched out above us, as needle like fingers reached into the sky all around trees, bushes, rivers, flower beds, statues and signs asking people not to damage the beauty and that picking flowers was forbidden, as was making a fire, all designed to preserve the natural beauty.
A little further along our walk and there were dragon-flies and butterflies dancing on the flora and fauna. Rocks lined the pathway leading down to the waters edge, i was snapping away like david attenborough trying to capture the beauty.
As i walked down to the waters edge and took a few more pics a chinese couple were preparing to take some photos of each other but as the chap got his camera out, he dropped a 1.5litre bottle of water which bounced as it hit the ground. It rolled down the rocks and fell into the water with a splash, i was right next to wear it splashed.
Being the good natured person i am i stowed my camera in my pocket and i tried to grab the bottle however it had gone a little too far to reach, so i stepped onto a rock which poked up out of the water there was a further smaller rock, slightly further out and i figured if i could make it to that rock i would make up enough ground to prevent the bottle sailing down stream.
I leapt from rock to rock but in that instant the second rock i wanted to jump onto was slippy and so with a huge splash, i fell into the water. My brand new Nike's resting on the river bed, my camera completely submerged in the river, just to make matters worse it left the safety of my pocket and landed next to my new trainers on the river bed.
I made it a priority as the £1.50 bottle of water fell into insignificance compared to my £159 cannon camera.
Once i'd rescued my camera, i handed it to the man who's hands were holding his head in dismay, i could see the look of shock and horror on his face as my soggy hand reached out to give him my sodden camera.
I went back, waded thru the water and grabbed his bottle of water and pulled myself up and out on the rockface.
I was gutted! I didnt really care too much about the camera as id already resigned myself to the fact that it was dead. My soggy feet squelched as i clambered up the rock face and i was soaking wet right up to my middle.
I exchanged the bottle of water for my camera and the chinese couple who had a very guilty look upon their fsces with the bottle of water, i quickly removed the camera's battery and the SD card upon which i had been taking all my photos and video.
I dried them out on a tissue i had in my bag and stowed them safely away in a zipped pocket, now within a dry tissue.
The man asked me in broken english if i was ok, was i hurt etc.. i replied with a hand gesture to let him know i was unhurt, just soggy.
I knew i had a mission now, to try and find some uncooked rice, as i knew the rice would absorb the moisture and hopefully my camera once it had sat in the rice for a minimum of 24 hours might just be ok.. Might be! Fingers crossed.
I joined the rest of the group with Nicos who was with me, concerned asking if i was ok. I reassured him i was fine but inside my head i was saying.. stupid, stupid Danny.. why did i sacrifice my photo-video recording device for a cheap bottle of water for people i dont even know. Truth is, if i'd taken a little more time to ensure my footing i couldve got the bottle of water without making such a huge sacrifice. Silently kicking myself i meandered on.
I did have my phone with me as i have to constantly try to update my blogs at every spare moment i get because there is literally no time in which to catch up on my writing of my stories.
I switched over to my camera taking photos on my phones camera instead.
Some of the photos i took (again) do no justice to the sights i was seeing with my eye, especially now as i could no longer affect the light/dark or the length of exposure etc..
I muddled on taking snaps, and actually i thought to myself this isnt such a bad thing because now i would have pictures on my phone which i could upload directly to facebook, next time i came to have wifi as with my camera i would have to upload photo's first before i could upload anything.
We journeyed on continually snapping photos of the mountains towering above us and the lush scenery, as we hiked along the bank of the stream, squelching as i walked, i began to miss my twixy dog, thinking to myself, ahh he wouldve loved this walk, i imagined him running thru the water and up into the woodland chasing stick i'd thrown for him and enjoying the long walk we were on.
Since being away from the bustling city of Beijing i had not had any opportunity to exchange any of my English cash for Chinese yuen and by now i was beginning to run really short, borrowing money from other member of our group to be able to afford to pay for the additional excursions of our trip.
Most of the food was included in the cost, breakfast and evening meal generally being taken at the hotels in which we were staying, however lunch was just being grabbed on the go and paid for by ourselves, however at this stage i had 4 single ¥1 notes equivalent to about 40p in Sterling.
We got to a point where there were food vendors and everyone dived in to purchase various goods from ice creams to chilli potatoes and sausages on an oversized cocktail stick!
As i had very little Chinese currency, at this juncture i decided, as i didnt know when i would be able to get some of my English notes changed that it would be a good idea to transfer some funds from my savings into my current account meaning i could at least withdraw £100 in Yuen from the hotel lobby, i sat peacefully on the steps while the group were busy munching on their various snacks they'd bought, occasionally people came to me and offered me cash / food items but not having my own money was beginning to really stress me out. As i sat i checked to see if, at this remote location there might be a wifi signal i could pinch, and to my surprise and sheer delight there was.
As i may have mentioned you cannot access google, facebook and a few other English sites, even on wifi (including get jealous) but i was able to access Lloyds bank. I made the necessary transfers so when we arrived back i would be able to withdraw some cash.
We carried on walking seeing the sites at the foot of these myserious mountain ranges. Appearing to have been eroded over time, leaving the smallest columns of rock fingering the skies above.
Occasionally stopping for toilet breaks and taking pics and videos. After a good few hours walk we arrived at the end point, we had all assumed at some point we would have to about turn and walk the same distance back however it came to light that at the end of the journey we arrived at a bus station.
We had to queue to board the bus which took us back to the beginning of the walk where we had set out from a few hours ago. The bus stopped and we all got off but this wasnt our stop so after a bit of confusion we clambered aboard the bus and retook our seats.
On the way back we drove past a huge lake with adam at one end, not Adam, sorry, A dam. Lol The lake was a really beautiful greeny blue colour, it was very unspoilt and lush with vegetation on all sides, a very small dwelling stood on the far side from us and i breifly visualised waking up there and having all you need for life, as long as you enjoy eating fish of course! Mind you im sure there would be rabbitts or other such equivalncies to munch on, you couldve cultivated a veg patch and grown some lovely flowers by the waters edge... then i remembered how cold it would get in the winter when the lake would definitely be frozen. You'd want double glazing really and that would spoil the asthetic of the place.
Arriving back at the first place where we were dropped off we had a short walk around the corner, stopping of en-route at some vendors selling t-shirts, sunglasses, fans and other nic-nacks and thingymebobs. A few people purchases one or two items and then we continued the walk to the bus station, where we queue'd showed our tickets, our passports and boarded the bus back to the hotel.
The winows on the bus were open wide which was a very welcome blast of fresh air. The hot sunshine had been blazing down all morning and despite the fact we had dappled shade for most of the walk, occasionally walking in between various points, the end of the walk and the bus stop, the bus stop to the bus etc.. at these times the temperature seemed to be much hotter than it was alleged to have been, it felt like it was in the high 30's.
We arrived at our hotel some time later, on the way taking sporadic pictures of natural scenes of beauty and tranquility.
I decided i wanted to try and get some cash out but before i did i thought is ask at reception whether they had a foreign exchange, after all it was a 5* hotel surely a foreign exchange would be one of the facilites they offered - it was not!
We had a sister hotel attached where the cashpoint resided enabling me to draw out the funds i had since deposited into my current account, before doing so i figured i may as well ask at that reception too due to the fact they were also a 5* hotel, despite their being completely seperate to our hotel they were all part of the same chain - they also did not.
I had a bit of a row with the hotel manager who was particularly unhelpful and rather rude by all accounts, i explained to him i had only ¥4 and he lauged at me... he's not going to be getting a good review on trip advisor!
Anyway i went to the atm and withdrew the money and went back to my room to chillout before we met for some dinner downstairs in the restaurant, annoyingly the same rude man met us at the foyer of the same sister hotel.
I blatently ignored him and went and sat down on the, deceivingly, not so comfy sofa and awaited the rest of our group i walked in with a few other people so left them explaining that we were waiting for people and they joined me sitting down with rather a thud, they looked to me, exclaiming that they thought it would be more comfy that it actually was.
After a short wait we were all assembled and so we made our way to the restaurant. As there were so many of us we werent able to all sit around one table so the majority of the group sat around one table leaving Me, Mike, Debbie and Gordon on a table of our own.
The food was great to be fair lots of really nice dishes.
After dinner we were all so tired due to the lack of sleep and being on the go all day, we all went to bed.
Day 10 - Tianmen Mountain & Cable car - Special temple blessing (17/9)
So today we are going to the top of the big mountain which completely enclosses Zhangjiajie city.
We began as usual at breakfast which was more chinese / eastern than europpean. One thing ive noticed since being here is that the people tend to speak slightly more english before they get their translator apps out, not much more but a smidge. Therefore i thought they may accommodate anmore western culture, alas i was quite wrong.
Again, not something im too bothered about due to the fact that there were fruits and bread to make yourself toast, however there was no butter ot jam, so it did seem a little pointless.
They seem to serve warm milk from a big vat which is almost sweetened perhaps for cereal i thought but there was no cereal either.
The most popular dish seems to be noodles, which were pretty greasy and not very appetizing.
Anyway, due to the fact im pretty knackered im not really making this very interesting, so lets get on with it!
The first objective was to find our way up the mountain. There is a cable car which runs from street level to the very top of the mountain - yaaay!
After we had all eaten, we began hot-footing it to the cable car station although when we got there the queue was literally around the block and so wouldve taken about 3 and a half hours at least, therefore we made a secondary plan, we took a bus to the bottom of the top of the mountain, again somw some of you will have seen the photos on facebook.
On the way up the mountain the road snaked back left and right coming back on itself as it wound its way up the mountain. All the people on the bus were making whooping noises as the bus took a sharp turn, partly from fear and partly from the lovely view that befell our peeky boo's (eyes) one we had roundsd the corner.
From the top of the mountain where the bus finally came to a stop was a, well a bus stop primarily but there were also cafe's and a plateau from which one could take some photos, both of the city below, (which, to answer your question, Mom is about the same size as Birmingham (give or take) but probably had many more residents) the road we had just travelled up, made famous by the boys off Top Gear, when they drove a Ferrari, an Aston Martin and a Lamborghini down top to bottom and i have to say it made the hillside rather pretty sweeping back and forth.
Ahead of us tho, we still had a bit of a mountain to climb (literally) 99 steps to be precise, it stretched up to a place called Heavens Gate, which presented itself as a hole in the mountain range right at the top of the steps allowing soft sunlight to pour thru making it look as if it were literally glowing.
After buying a selfie stick, i began the trek upwards. I had to purchase a selfie stick due to the fact that my camera was out of action, as you may recall it was unfortunately bathed in river water yesterday, ergo i was using my phone's camera for pics and vids for the time being in hope that i could get some rice!
Something i forgot to mention about yesterday actually was the fact that i had gone out for a walk with the rest of the group, or at least some of them and we walked and walked and walked, they were looking for a bar that steve's friend owned, but i was looking for uncooked rice.
You might assume or imagine that wouldnt be difficult in China, a country renowned for rice dishes, Rice being produced and grown locally, i know, cos i've seen the rice fields, all over the place in fact, yet, i couldnt find any. I only needed about 500g in a bag or a box, i wasnt fussed, just enough to submerge the camera, battery and SD card.
I went into shops, i asked street vendors, i asked steve for help, but the illusive rice was not to be found.
I even translated how i would ask for it so i could ask in Chinese because despite initial thoughts that they seemed to speak slightly more English apparently they were luring me in to a false sense of security, because in the main areas we were visiting English wasnt their 2nd Language as i originally thought, im not sure it was a 3rd 4th language, in fact im not sure they even knew England existed, as everywhere we were walking people would stop and almost stare as we walked past, some even taking photos of us, perhaps they thought we were movie stars or maybe they just literally hadnt seen an English or western face before.
Eventually i gave up realising that i probably wouldnt solve this issue today and went for a Thai massage with a girl from our group called Natalie.
The massage was AMAAAAAZING, cracking my bones and relaxing my muscles, by time i came out it felt like i was floating, my muscles, bones and entire body now fully on an entirely different spiritual plane.
So i began to climb the 99 steps to reach the summit, there was an escallator which one could take should one have desired but we all decided to climb the stairs relishing the challenge of the 99 steps.
When we reached the top, the beads of sweat had combined and turned into rivers. Everything was soaking wet, although my legs were aching, due to the massage i didnt feel like they were on fire, i was actually feelig quite loose and relaxed.
We congregated at the top and stood for a moment sipping our bottles of water, taking in the views. From here it was as if you could see the entire world almost see the curviture of the earth, you couldnt but it felt like we were high enough to, the air was fairly thin but the sun blazed down cooking us from above.
There were four more flights of escallators and the escallators were long, like the ones at kings cross train station, to put it in perspective each flight took a good 5 minutes to ascend to the top, and then a short walk and we were on the next bank of escallators and then another then another.
After some time we had arrived at the top of the top of the mountain... or had we?! No, we had! The view once again was sensational. Steve was carrying with him a dust-bin bag, containing incence and what appeared to be phone books.
We werent sure why but we figured there would be an explanation that would come in good time.
From the top there were two directions we could walk, left and right, there was a quick discussion between steve and anna and it was decided that we'd go left.
We had to pay 5rmb for the privelage too, initially we werent quite sure why, there were some of our group who have a fear or phobia of heights, so they were feeling a little delicate and so they were offered a different path.
After going thru some turnstyles we had to put some cloth shoe protectors on as the next segment of the pathway was made of glass. Meaning when looking down you could see the 400 ft or so drop beneath into the canyon.
All the way along there were various insects, flora and fauna and of course the death defying drop beneath.
We journeyed on taking photos but due to the reflective glass, the photos mostly showed our own reflections not giving the pictures any depth, certainly not doing the view beneath or the skill it took to create a walkway, let alone one made entirely of glass, any justice.
As we approached the end of the walk way there was a lady asking us to pose for a photo, which of course could be purchased for 20rmb (abouf £2).
A few more pictures and videos were captured as the rest of the group joined us. The walk continued around with a solid rock footing leading us to a courtyard with the usual vendors selling the standard snacks and drinks, sausages on a stick, sweetcorns on the cob, on a stick, and packets of pringle style crisps, chocolate bars and an assortment of refreshments.
We collaborated once again to breifly discuss the next stages of our pilgrimage, at this point, most of us were unaware of any such pilgrimage.
However the insence and the 'yellow pages', i figured had something to do with it and so we continued down the pathway, following on in the footsteps of all those that went before us.
A little while later after a few twisty turns, we arrive at a courtyard, some toilets and a few a really pretty temple, some square ponds containing massive koi carp.
We waited a moment whilst some people utilised the ablutions, took some photos and waited for the locals to discipate because Steve knew a secret that no one else did.
There was an original temple which was a further 2/3 minute walk along a beaten down pathway, it looked as if it's been there for a thousand years.. as we rounded a corner we came to a huge pagoda reaching up into the sky.
Behind the pagoda stood the temple, it was in a state of ruin, this was due to it being demolished during the time of the chinese government trying to wipe out the history of China, destroying buildings and antiquities throughout the ages, eras of times gone by, just demolished by royal decree.
On the entrance to the temple stood a very elderly man who was a caretaker of the temple, all around the air was filled by the sounds of nature. Crickets, birds and insects all going about their day, completely oblivious, or at least, nanchelant of our existence.
Inside the ruin stood a tent like structure made from bits of wood and other debris, the sides being made from what looked to be old Chinese flags. Inside the temple stood a small statue of one of the ancestors specific to that particular temple.
Steve began the ritual by chanting some Chinese words inviting the ancestors to the location to help with the passage. He then set fire to some of the 'yellow pages'.
This was actually symbolic of paper money as an offering to the gods and the ancestors for their presence.
He then ignited the insence and placing the insence in between his index finger and the second finger on his left hand and then the same on his right hand placing his left thumb on the very bottom of the insence stick and then his right thumb below his left thumb, holding this up to his forid he bowed three times facing the statue and then turned to the left of the temple and repeating, and then to the right hand side. Centering himself once again he bowed one more time and then placed the insence into the pot of sand at the feet of the statue.
We all copied this ritual one by one, which took a little time as there are about 13 of us. As you held the insence upto your forid, you asked the ancestors for help in a certain aspect of your life, maybe it was financially, perhaps for health of yourself or a family member, maybe it was to ask for rain so this years crop wasnt destroyed. Whatever you wished for would be listened to and if the ancestors beleived your wish was heart felt, then perhaps they would interveen and resolve your issue meaning your focus could be redirected to a more positive outcome.
Its all about balance, yin and yang, if you just wanted riches for the sake of greed for example they would look on you with contempt and perhaps your karma would be negatively affected.
Once everyone had completed the ritual we stood there as a group, beads of sweat trickling down our back and i felt for every second we stood there, we were slowly but definitely being eaten alive by various insects, steve began a chant, in Chinese, which in itself took maybe about 15 minutes, some of it had melody to it almost singing in some parts.
Once this aspect was complete, one of the guys of our group, a guy called Prashant, who had been studying hard in the spiritual ways of chinese martial arts, had an individualised blessing, in doing so, the element that he had learned became part of the ritual. The character for which was written in insence onto his palm, this character was then written onto everybody's hand in the group.
Steven was explaining this to us in Wudang, it's a bit like the film 'bullet proof monk' this was how he received this power. By training in martial arts and learning specific elements of the chants which asks the gods for protection. Therefore by proxy, i am now bullet proof! Haha
It felt very special, almost emotional, definitely inspirational, whilst steve was chanting we stood with our hands in front of our chests in a prayer position, whilst i stood there, my legs felt week because by now we had been there for a good 30-40 minutes, however i felt a pins and needles kind of feeling rusing over my entire body, including inside my brain. It was as if every molecule were tingling.
Initially i thought this was because we had been stood still for such a long time, but once we left and got back to the courtyard of the temple where the afforementioned Koi carp were he asked us whether we enjoyed it and if we had any feelings within our bodies whilst we were in the old temple.
Mikey who stood next to me was literally physicallly shaking, his hands almost vibrating back and forth as if being moved by a third entity. His eyes tightly closed and completely oblivious to the motion he displayed and felt.
Apparently sometimes people can go into various 'forms, or sets' which relate to the specific mantra or chant being spoken. For me tho the pins and needles tingling sensation was very real and quite a weird sensation, afterward my liver began to ache a little as if my life force were drained, apparently this was common too, especially if when you made your wish it was for the health of someone else, which my wish was. Again as before i wished for world peace, an end to poverty and corruption and for the health of Richard, David's brother.
Steve, whilst chanting with Prashant had some stones which were handed down to him by one of his masters some time ago, he threw this over his right shoulder 3 times to see whether the chant had been affected and whether there were any specific conditions Prash had to abide in order for the chant to be realised.
As soon as we had completed it was customary to pay the caretaker man, who was also invited to participate in the group blessing.
This elderly man who's face looked as wrinkled as a wallnut, brown as leather, he had no teeth and was clearly very very old.
As we handed him some money, thanking him for the time we spent at the temple, his little face lit up as if it was his birthday. We were only giving him the equivalence of a few quid but to him it clearly meant so so much!
He had a veg patch which was failry extensive but partly scorched by the heat of the sun, tho his cabbaged and what i think were artichoke were growing strong and the hardy plants were probaly all he had to eat, so our small donations of a few quid clearly meant a great deal to him.
The next part of our adventure was for some a little too much as it involved another ski-lift style cable car, so those who were not feeling it took the long way down the mountain on foot, eventually arriving back at the bus stop and then rode the bus back to the city.
However the rest of us bought a ticket at the cost of £2 to ride the ski-lift to the very very very top of the mountain where the cable car station was enabling easy travel back to the city.
We stood on a wooden box and awaited the next chair to arrive. I was travelling with a Greek guy (who's part of our group) who we affecfionately call Nikos.
So Nikos and I set off on the lovely ride and the scenery was spectacular. Views all around of lush trees reaching out into the sky. All the while our dangling legs bearly missing the canopy of tree-tops below.
We took a few photos, very gingerly because i was using my phone rather than my camera because i still havent managed to find any rice.. no rice in China, im sure there's some irony in there somewhere.
When we arrived at the peak of the mountain, which, by the way, took a good 15-20 minutes, so you can imagine the distance we travelled to from where we were to the top of the mountain, Anna had very nicely pulled a few strings to book us a departure time, which was particularly clever and probably saved us about 3 hours.
We practictically walked straight onto the cable car, although we did have a small, fairly civilized queue, especially compared to the previous queue we'd skipped due to the fact that there were so many people who were pushing and shoving, ettiquite failing just short of neanderthal behaviour.
We were very pleased to have been able to skip the enormity of this situation. Upon arrival at the cable car we entered the carriage and duly took our seats. There were 8 people per carriage so, myself, anna, anthony, prash, nick, mikey, debbie and Gordon were in one carriage.
Ever since our arrival the three lads, Mikey, Nick and Prash have been doing (rather good) impressions of Arnold Schwartzenegger who as we know is an action hero of the silver screen. In the Uk when i play my playstation online, my group of friends often break into Arnie 'get to the chopper', 'get down' etc at appropriate moments, and earlier on in the trip, when we were having our calligraphy done at the temple, i has put Prash on the spot and asked him if i could do a video of him doing his impressions so that i could post it in my PS4 group chat, as it was pretty hilarious.
Now, Nick, Mikey and Prash were all in the same carriage, so as the perfect opportunity arose i asked people to move around so i had Prash, Nick and Mikey sitting beside each other, me sitting facing them in order that i could take a really good video of them all three doing impressions of Arnie exceperts of which were famous lines from various movies. The video lasted just under a minute and was absolutely flippin hilarious. By time we landed in the city, our sides hurt from so much laughter, and i think poor Anna was very glad to have got out and taken some peace.
On the way back home i was still on a mission to find a bag of uncooked rice, so i went into a few shops that in the uk would definitely have sold rice, however none of them did, and despite me having googled how to say it, checked with Anna (who's chinese) i was still getting blank faces and confused looks.
The very last shop on the street, next to where id had my Thai massage looked promising tho. I went in and was immediately greeted by 3 ladies all sitting down to eat dinner, they actually had three bowls of cooked rice, and so i began asking "Ni-hou, you mei you shēng mi", "hello, do you have any uncooked / raw rice".
They began repeating what i had said, "shēng mi"? With again blank confused looks upon their faces. Oh jeez i thought im not gonna find any rice i thought, however because they were eating rice, i had a visual aid to help me.
Mi, mi, mi, I exclaimed (rice, rice, rice) the lead lady asked me if i wanted Mi-fen (cooked rice) probably pointing out in the conversation that followed that there were many vendors of cooked rice literally outside the door, then i think she thought i wanted some of their dinner, bemused i pressed on, "Bu, SHĒNG MI" (no RAW rice).
She went to a cupboard underneath some vats, you might say, housing all manor of food items, none of which looked familiar by the way, as she opened the door i almost heard angels plucking the strings of a harp and a voice in my head sang "AHHHHHHHH". She pulled out a bowl, of UNCOOKED RICE!!!
Yippppppeeeeeeeeeee, Hao, Hao Hao! (Yes yes yes) a look of sheer delight was written accross my face as she began asking me how much i wanted (in chinese) and replying in chinese i said "Wu-shi" 500g she took a sealy back and placed it on the scales, all the time, in a sort of 'taking the mickey' voice, saying "Shēng Mi, Shēng Mi" clearly my translation was innacurate! But alas i paid her the equivalent of 60p in chinese money and put the bag of uncooked rice in my bag.
Who wouldve thought it would take this long to buy some bloody rice in China. I was convinced by my success that my broken camera would magically come back to life!
I almost skipped the 500 yard walk back to my hotel, entered the ice cold lobby, bought myself a magnum ice cream and a fruit flavoured yoghurty drink (which by the way is absolutely gorgeous and made with Soya milk)
I took myself up to my room, and submerged my camera deep within the ricey goodness, in the mean time i turned the shower on as we were heading out to a show called the "wood-cutter and the fox spirit".
We had arranged to meet for dinner at 7:30 as the show began at 9pm so after id showered and made myself look pretty (didnt take long) i went down to the lobby of the adjacent sister hotel, where the manager had laughed at me yesterday for not having money.
We ate our meal which was delicious, the food in Zhangjiajie was really tasty, full of flavour and with a serious chilli kick.
Shortly afterward we made our way back to our hotel foyer where we boarded our coach from just outside.
A short journey later and we had arrived at the 'theatre' i use the term theatre very loosely because, the theatre was open air, and the stage was set into the mountains, well the stage stood behind a lake, but the rest of the set was up in the mountains, with little wooden houses creating a village scene, it was a grand spectacle, complete with fountains springing from the lake and a waterfall cascading down the rocks to the right of us, the story line was a little weak to be frank, but the play itself was a special magical marvelous sight to behold and has to be seen to be beleived, a real wow moment when the lights came on near the end, where ligthing both behind and in front of us illuminated the entire mountain before our very eyes. It was really epic and amazing.
Anyway i apologise for the delay in uploading this, you'll see why when i get up to date (if i do). See ya later peeps!
Day 11 - 18/9 Yellow dragon cave and Bank of China !
So today began very early, it had to because, as you may or may not recall there was a huge shortage of cash and so i decided id better get up and out and get down to the Bank of China, so before i left i did a bit of research as to what time we'd be leaving and such and so i made my way down to the lobby to get in a taxi to take me there as i calculated it would take too long to walk and so i'd miss the days activities.
So i jumped in the taxi and he took me straight to the bank, he asked me if he wanted me to wait for him, so i said yes. I knew i'd only be a short while doing a foreign currency transaction.
So i jumped out of the taxi and went into the bank, a man greeted me ans asked me why i was here, i explained that i wanted to change some money, this was something i'd recently learned in my mandarin lessons so before departure of the hotel i had a little revise of the wordings id be needing and so when i got to the bank i was pleased to have been able to respond with efficiency!
The man walked over to a ticket machine and pulled one out, it was a bit like those things you get at the butchers within a supermarket to keep a good order.
So, my ticket number was 0023 and they were currently serving 0005 - Bugger! Thought I, i'd better let the taxi go, and i'll just have to hope im back in time to meet the bus which was arriving at 10am sharp.
When we order a bus (as a group) they charge a certain amount for the hours rental but you also have to pay the driver by the hour too, therefore if the bus leaves at 10... the bus leaves at 10 with or without you, so it was vital i made it back in time, but to be honest i got to the bank at 8:45 so i should have no problems what so ever, after all, i was only doing a foreign currency exchange, nothing taxing, like getting a mortgage or applying for a loan.
Cut back to 09:35 and the ticket machine was now displaying serving customer 0019, i had steve on the phone to me texting me via the chinese equivalent of whatsapp, asking me where i was and how long i was likely to be, i'd been chatting to him since about 8:55 when i got to the bank as i could use their wifi.. i was beginning to get very stressed out because i knew full well that if i wasnt back in time i would miss it, but also by the fact i had very little money, not only this but the fact that if i didnt get it sorted this morning, i might not have another opportunity to do so, as we probably wouldnt be back in time this eve before the bank closed.
9:55 and i still wasnt done and so with a bit of a heavy heart i had concluded that i wasnt going to make it back in time. The running conversation between Me and Steve had basically to the same conclusion that id have to miss out on todays adventure, but then, 0023 was called and i was instructed to ; go to cashier number 6 please (obviously it was said over the tannoy in Chinese, but there was also an english written translation on the board)
So i sat down and handed the lady the form i had completed with the man who greeted me at the beginning and handed her my passport and the cash. Tic tock, tick tock, tic tock..
9:57 Id told Steve that i was now sat at the till and he was saying you're probably not going to make it Danny, i know i said, but at least i was now being served, Steve told me he was still waiting for one or two to arrive ans so not to worry. Grand i thought, i still coupd make it, doubtful but not impossible
Anyway, the lady had everything she needed to complete the transaction yet still i waited. She typed some stuff into her computer as i continued to sit patiently waiting. She walked over to someone sat at a different desk with my piece of paper, my passport and the cash and then she came back, with my currency.
Or so i thought, nope she still had my English cash. She then spoke to me, in Chinese which i obviously didnt understand, therefore she went and asked someone to come and help, tic tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock,
So the new person came and spoke, to me in Chinese. I thought, how was that helpful, i didnt understand the previous lady, im not now all of a sudden going to be fluent in Chinese.
I explained again in what little language i did have that im English and therefore could she speak in English.. i only want some bloody currency i thought, anyway this rigmarole continued for a further 10 minutes.
Eventually tho i did receive my cash, i spoke to steve just before i left the bank and asked him if there was any way i could be perhaps collected en-route, he instructed me to cross the road over to the other side where they could pick me up with ease,
So not only did i get my money changed, i also made the trip! Woop woop!
I had decided that later that day i would not be going out with the rest of the group as i felt i just wanted some time to myself to relax and catch up on some writing, maybe take a nice long shower and maybe go for another massage, therefore it was quite important that i'd made it to the daytime stuff.
I began writing yesterdays journal on board the bus, but i was a day behind on my writing (im now actually 6 days behind and i seem to have lost a day entirely as ive been making bullet point reminders for each day).
We arrived at the caves, car park and disembarked the coach heading towards the cave entrance, which was beyond a small row of market vendor type people selling everything and anything you could fathom, majoritively food vendors but also toys jewellery, clothing items and a few other things too.
Anyway we pressed on as there would be much to see, so we followed the pathway downward and over a bridge, following the path further still brought us to some pretty cool interlinked watermills, all feeding each other, a bit like cogs turning around affecting the second hand of a watch or clock.
We then came to a rickerty bridge which lead the way to a temple looking building, after a while we entered the caves, there were some very impressive stalegtites and stalegmites, some of which dated back to 9.6 million years ago, and were 17 feet high, the system of caves seemed to go on and on and thanks to some cleverly placed lighting within the cave it was very easy to see!
Taking photos and videos, still on my phone as my camera was basking in some ricey goodness. We then approached a Vip walk way which has about 40 steps down to a river from where we could take a boat thru the underground river system at the very foot of the cave, it was actually really far down and it was naturally very cold inside
When we arrived at the rivers edge waiting to board the boat which would take us thru the underground river system, we were told that we couldnt take the boat from that location and so we had to walk back up the many steps and traverse accross a bridge and go back down the opposite side.
We followed the bridge and made our way to the boat departure point and boarded the boat which took us back to the entrance where there were more shops to buy food and various object d'art.
I havent said very much about the caves. Mostly because its nigh on impossible to describe and to be honest it got a bit boring. I mean a cave is a cave. They were big and deep, thats about all i can say, lol there was a point on the boat journey where the rock formation almost made the shape of a dragon sadly because my phone had died thru all the texting between myself and Steve therefore i could no longer take photo's, i did have photos but not so many.
I did have a power-pack battery but this, i had left in my bag which was in the bus!
Anyway we'd arranged to meet at a the concrete bridge at a specific time and so we did. I cant recall the time now and this is beginning to sound a bit tedious, therefore i shall skip forwards a few hours when i arrived back at the hotel.
So all the people going out had arranged to meet at 5 for dinner but i had quite a lot to eat for lunch so as i wasnt going out with the gang tonight i chose not to go out for food.
So i waited for Ross to leave before moving really, i sat on my bed writing the days blog, to do so can often take quite a lot out of me, it sounds daft cos all im doing is recalling the days events and committing it to paper, well not exactly paper but my screen, however often it makes me very tired having to concentrate for such a long time, then theres the spelling to get right, and the grammar, which obviously sometimes goes a bit awry, and then on top of that i have to remember what has happened and then formulate that into sentences that would make people want to read it. Anyway im not moaning just explaining the process can often make me fall asleep, sometimes dropping my phone onto my face, which often wakes me up. Today was no exception as i was typing lying on my bed, i did do just that, it made me laugh out loud and so i carried on typing and then it happened again. And again..
So i thought it probably best that i did something otherwise i would just literally waste my evening sleeping which i did not wish to do!
Therefore i got up out of my bed and turned on the shower and woke myself up, i got a bit excited because it had now been at least 24 hours that my camera had been in the rice.
So i removed said camera from the rice, went to the bathroom and gave it a wipe with some toilet roll, to clear the powder that had laid a film all over the camera, opening the shutter manually and taking a lot of care, now using a cotton wool bud which id noticed on the side as part of the toiletries that the hotel provided.
I put the battery that got drowned in the rice also but in the mean time i had been charging all batteries i have 4 in total but tend to use 3, one to use, one to charge and one as a spare in case the one im using runs out, it rarely does, but i have ran out of battery life in the past and so i bought extras to prevent this very very thing, anyway i imagine you all falling asleep yourselves reading this as the height of excitement so far has been finding cotton buds.
I went back to the desk where i had all my other batteries charged.. i anxiously insterted a battery into the camera and pressed the button... to my surprise and sheer delight, my camera displayed on the back, a time/date screen which i entered using the cameras buttons, once that was done the camera sprang back into full working mode! Yippeeeee!
I was soo chuffed i think i nearly cried, now the next big question was, were my photo's ok, or were they in fact screwed, i would be gutted if id lost all my pics so far, so again i inserted my SD card into the slot and BAM, there they were in all their pixelly goodness (not sure pixelly is a word). I did a little dance and went round shooting inanimate objects to ensure it was actually working correctly and it was, it worked perfectly!
So the shower was now beginning to fill the bathroom with steam as despite all of this not taking very long to happen, it had been about 4 minutes and as i walked inside my glasses steamed up every time.
So i had a shower and then i decided, as i'd really enjoyed my Thai massage a few days before, that i would go back for more!
So after i was dry and dressed, i went to the massage place and spoke to the lady on reception to book in, i had already decided that due to the fact i had already experienced a Thai massage i would have an Oil massage, this time, due to language barriers the lady used her phone to ask me which massage i would like, because i now had sufficient cash i decided to go the whole hog and pay ¥329 (£32.90 or there abouts)
I wont go into detail as to what went on in that room, suffice to say three things; first when i left i felt like that was the most intimate i had been with a lady since i was 14, secondly that i felt somewhat violated, thirdly that this was actually probably a knocking shop disguised as a massage parlour.
It was not unpleasant, but it was definitely a bridge too far as the paper shorts i was provided to protect my dignity had been completely destroyed by her ripping them up the sides, and (brace yourself) between my crotch! There was actually very little point in me wearing them at all actually!
Anyway whilst it was occuring i thought to myself, ahh well in for a penny, in for a pound! But was pretty pleased when it was over.
I went back to my room and went to bed, feeling somewhat relaxed, but all i could think about that lady who massaged me was, what a hussy!!
I relaxed into my slumber and drifted away.... until next time.. you have been reading, my blog..
Yours
Dangle VanDangle
Day 12 travel to chengdu 19/9
So this morning we were moving on to Cheng Du, which is where there is a panda reservation.
We had to check out by 2 so we had somewhat of a lie in, we met down in reception about 13:45 and loaded our cases onto the minibus and we went to the airport.
The weather today seemed a bit moody, the mountains in the background covered by a low lying cloud, which looked very pretty, but it brought the air temperature down somewhat, so it was a good thing we were leaving Zhangjiajie, despite the fact that Zhangjiajie has been lovely and somewhere i would definitely enjoy coming back to.
As we were travelling to Cheng Du we didnt really do much today. We arrived at the airport and checked our cases into our flight plenty of time before we were due to fly, we had a little look around the shops and bought one or two things to tide us over on board the plane.
There was a slight issue at the check-in due to the amount of weapons our group had. It wasnt a problem at all however, as all the swords we have purchased do not had live blades.
We did have to have them re-packed in cardboard boxes meaning they could travel in the hold saving us carrying them on board.
The packing service was actually really very good, it cost us £10 per box and we could fit 3 swords per box. My sword that i purchaed in Wudang actually fits inside my suitcase so it was just my swords travel case to go into the package.
After a few hours wait we were able to board the aircraft and off we went to Cheng Du.
The flight was very turbulant, and for some reason i was a little bit petrified, im not sure whether it was surrogate petrification for those scared of heights, or whether i was scared for myself, suffice to say i was very happy to have landed.
We arrived very early in the morning and we had been booked into an airport hotel, which meant we were quickly checked into our rooms and after a shower and a sift thru my case, i went to bed! Night folks!
Day 13 Pandamonium - Cheng Du (20/9)
So this morning we woke early and had breakfast. Word had come down the line via Steven that we would be appearing on Tv in Foshan which is the next stop on our intinerary.
So, in Foshan we will be doing some training with an absolute legend who has appeared in many films, i wont list them cos i cant remember them all but if you want to, google his name; Mark Houghton.
He is very famous throughout the martial arts world he is a grand-master of Hun Gar Style Kung fu, again, which is well renowned.
So Sigung Mark Houghton, we call him Sigung because our sifu, Steven Burton, trains underneath him, therefore he is our Sifu's, Sifu.
Sigung Mark Houghton's 'Sifu';
'Lau Gar Leung' died in 2014 meaning that Mark became the GrandMaster of his style, so why is this relevant you might wonder, well, i'm coming to that;
Our Tv debut will be the opening of Sigung's new Kung Fu school, Art Gallery, Kareoke studio, Tea Ceremony suite and eventually a gym and Sleeping accommodations;
Sigung found out that we were in China and so he asked our Sifu Steve, if we could learn and perform the first set of Hun Gar style kung fu, which as u might recall is Bac Lau Far Kuen, the set we began learning in Beijing, how convenient!
So after breakfast the news was announced so we all congregated in the corner of the car park, to learn a bit more, and a bit more to the point where we were up to half way, at the half way point it mirrors the first half, so its the same but just going in the opposite direction, so we face forward to begin with, then we change at the middlew point you face backwards, for those who know Lau Gar, its a bit like with the set 'charp choi'.
So we trained hard, the sun was blazing down and despite the fact that Cheng Du is actually north west of Zhangjiajie the sun seemed hotter, a more raw kind of heat.
We wanted to go to the panda reservation early because panda's like the cold weather they grow very lazy thru the mid-day sun. (I know how they feel)
Anyway after training we had a quick 15 minute turn around to shower and change and get in the air conditioned minibus as we headed for the panda factory.
Now i have to mention we have a resident zoo-ologist with us by the name of Carolyn, she was literally fiZzing with excitement because she has been looking forward to this element ever since Beijing now almost growing intollerable, almost. Lol
She was literalaly buzzing because she had been told, since Wudang, where the excitement had begun, that she would be able to do a Panda experience, which involves handling them, feeding them and generally being in their company within the enclosures.
But, since this morning her excitement waned slightly due to the fact that sadly, the manufacturer of said panda's have cancelled this element of the tour, due to panda's becomming sick, which was due in part, to human contact and so therefore it would not be possible to have the full panda experience.
However she was still fizzing with excitement because at least she would get to see them, for real! As would we all, but her enthusiasm was so much more intent, in an endeering way of course,
So we arrived at the facility and Anna and Steve went ahead to purchase the tickets, meaning we could walk straight thru the gates and we were directly into the park.
The first enclosure we entered, was closed - no panda's boooo! So we took a detour to the red panda enclosure, now they told us that there are in fact red panda's in there but they must either be reeeeally good at hiding, or they were all lazily sleeping!
Possibly a combination of the two in reality. Red panda's incidentally for those who don't know are small and cute with big ears, for anyone who's seen any of the Kung Fu panda trillogy will know that Master Sifu is a red panda.
So by now Carolyn's excitement had begun to turn to frustration and she was not alone, we were all a bit miffed that there were still zero pandas to be seen!
We left the red panda enclosure having walked around it twice, really carefully looking for the fury ones alas with no joy.
By now we were beginning to feel a little ripped off because we had been in the park by this point for about 20-30 minutes and not a panda in sight! Was there shennanigans afoot, or were they just being difficult.
I had images running thru my head of (for those of you old enough to remember) the 'Kit-Kat' advert back in the 80's of the man sitting patiently waiting to spy pandas, his finger poised on the button of a camera waiting for the ellusive panda's to make an appearance, then as soon as he "took a break"™.. two panda's would explode into the back ground, on rollerskates doing a merry dance; then as soon as his break was over, they'd go back indoors as he once again patiently sat with a poised finger on the camera's shutter button.
So with this visualisation repeating thru my brain, we began to walk along a pathway, over a rickety bridge to the next 'panda enclosure'. I just want to say for those nature lovers among you, they did seem to be very well cared for, despite their illusive behaviour, the elclosures have plenty (too much) room for them to run (unlikely) around in, they had little bathing areas, lots of shelter, lots of resting spots and most importantly lots and lots of bamboo.. literally everywhere.
Anyway following the path further and a queue began to form, we werent sure as to why, we just knew that we were standing waiting for something... and the excitement grew, carolyns auidible excitement filling the air with cherps of joy and the occasional "pandas pandas pandas"
The queue went slowly but what awaited us was definitely worth it... infant pandas, probably between 1-2 years old, they were so cute, fairly active, we were ushered thru fairly quickly tho as the queues formed behind us and so after taking many pictures and videos and lots of oooh's and aaah's, we were moved on.
However we had actually seen actual living panda's and they were sooooooo cute, just like little teddy bears running around and falling over each other,
Outside there were three or four more enclosures with fully grown panda's mostly sitting, eating bamboo shoots, there was a slightly older but still not fully grown panda in the same enclosure. Probably about 5-6 years old i'd guess.
A zoo-keeper-man came out of the room beyond and had an apple which he attached to a large stick, trying to ecourage the small panda to eat, apparently they try and supliment their diet with fruit from a young age to try and stimulate better growth, therefore a better chance of survival into teenage years and adulthood.
The panda took a good 2-3 minutes to try and get off his little platform and i think eventually he wore himself our and just stayed half on and half off the platform, it was pretty comical to watch actually.
We were commentating as if we were the child-like panda, first he was trying to reach the bottom rung of the platform, with his right foot, then he tried to reach with his left foot, he was literally only a few inches from reaching his foot onto the floor, before switching back, all the while the zookeeper was waving this half a rosie red apple at the baby panda, calling his name, trying to encourage his movement to come and get the apple, all to no avail, eventually the zookeeper spoke on the radio and gave up at which point the panda tried to clamber back up on his podium which he very shortly after just gave up doing, altogether. It was now as if he were sleeping with one leg in and one leg out of bed, only the bed was his wooden multi-level platform which lead to an almost 'tree-house' structure in which, im guessing, he lived with his, mother, who im guessing was the other panda in the enclosure, couldve been his dad, i have no idea as he was almost, by now almost completely submerged in discarded bamboo, erm peel, sheath, kernels, im not sure the correct term but the bit that pandas dont like. To be honest i didnt actually know there was an inside of bamboo, i thought it was entirely hollow, turns out, its not!
It was a little frustrating to watch cos we were all sort of willing this little panda to make it down to take the apple.
Partly for selfish reasons because of the photo opportunities this wouldve presented but also because we really wanted him to have his fruity lunch.
Beyond this there were several more enclosures all housing pandas, all of whom just sat in one location eating bamboo as if it were going extinct and the rate they were eating it, im surpised it's still in existence, its a blooming good job Bamboo grows so quickly, im now beggining to wonder if it grows so quickly because of some natural simbiotical process of evolution.
He firstly peels the bark off the bamboo and then he eat the goodness from inside, one panda just sat munching on bamboo for like the entire time we were watching him, he looked like a drunk eating a kebab after a heavy night out on the town.
There were several panda's we'd seen by this point and Steve and Anna had gone to find out whether there were any strings that could be pulled in the mild hope that Carolyn could possibly do the panda experience, alas it was to no avail.
After we found this out we went wandering around the park looking for more excitement, it was a bit like being at a theme park, minus the rides, all very beautiful and peaceful, but if you ask me, way too spread out, there was a lake called 'swan lake', which was rather appropriately named as there was literally only one black swan, "well it wasnt called 'swans lake' now was it", Mikey joked! How we lol'd
After a bite to eat of some street vendors selling sausages on sicks and noodles, and ice cream (in sepeate places) which seem to be a staple for the street type food, which by the way is everywhere, you'd never go hungry in China because there is food available everywhere, even in the most remote of places, hot food always seems to be plentiful!
Imagine being at the top of the malverns, or snowdon and there literally being a market place set into the path selling all manner of food items, thats just was this was like, you're walking for hours up a mountain (not today obviously) feeling like you're the only soles left on the plannet and then suddenly there are 3 or 4 vendors with tables and chairs, or not sometimes just the raw meats on a bed of charcoal only divided by a piece of tin foil, or sometimes a grill mesh.
The food by the way i probably havent really done any justice to, because all i've raved about so far is western-ized fast foods i'd just like to say i do very much enjoy the local flavours, as we've journeyed thru different regions of China the taste, the flavour and the spice has changed, of all the different flavours we've sampled so far the food in Cheng Du has been my favourite.
But actually at this point in my little adventure i havent yet discovered this at this point in the day, however i did just want to make it clear, the food here is nice.
Not only the most naturally presented products, having had very little in the way of processing, ie presented in a very straight to plate, way, (from the live chicken running round, to having it's neck wrung to it being roasted to, being in front of you, not necessarily the same chicken you eat but i mean there is no processing in the middle, restauranteur would probably have their own livestock and vegetables growing) which, whilst this can be a little off-putting for us westerners, when your food arrives on the plate, looking at you, but when you think about it, the most nutritionally well balanced.
Chinese food generally consists of the following. Meat, well cooked and served usually on the bone, veg generally steamed to perfection, with a sauce or gravy like substance made from the juices of both seasoned with various, locally produced natrual herbs and spices served with rice and or noodles and lots of variations therein, such as dumplings which are steamed minced meats (usually pork) packed inside a little parcel a bit similar to ravioli, yet with way more filling and a much bigger square of pastry.
Because of this tho you're getting every part of the animal and i do mean every part, (except this gibletts which are used for other things) which means it's far less impact on the environment with wasted carcasses and dejected body parts, basically what i mean is that they dont waste a thing, unlike we westerners who dont find brains, tesicals and feet particularly appetizing.
I must admit i'm not saying that i do find those bits, at all appealing, but at the same time i admire their culinary attempts at making things go a long way. Obviously because there are so many Chinese people and recources growing fewer and fewer with each passing day.
Which also means you do get things on the menu that you would expect.. not on an actual menu, tho it's more a visual, right there in front of you kind of way, the menus of hotels and restaurants look mostly similar to our own but when you're seeing foods being sold on the streets, as you're wondering past local restaurants and market type stalls, you do see lots of erm.. varieties, shall we say.
Anyway up to this point im writing from; Zhangjiajie has probably the best food we've had, so far, quite fiery with spice, and very tasty food wholesome too, and lots of it!
Except Tofu! I have always wanted to try a propper Chinese Tofu, because i've heard it's supposed to be quite nice, i've tried it now on several occasions and i have drawn a conclusion that, i dont like Tofu!
It looks meaty and deceivingly tasty, however it has the consistency of runny scrambled and the flavour - mostly smokey.
I cant describe the taste any more than that, despite having several different variations of it, zingy lemony tofu, sweet chilli tofu, very bland but heavily smoked tofu and even a desert tofu. But me.. I dont like tofu!
Some of the group did and would rave, oh, this tofu is really nice. So i'd try it and, be mostly heavily disappointed!
Anyway i went a bit off piste then, maybe because im slightly peckish might have a deep fried jaguars ear lobe and some wolfs nipple chips - get em while they're hot, their lovely! #OnlyHalfaDinar #Splitter!!
So back at swan lake after all having eaten ice creamed sausage noodles as well as buying copious amounts of water, as despite flying north west the weather seems to be far less humid yet more intensely hot, the group more frequently seeming to need suncream as the sun feels hotter and you can feel your forid begin to burn if you spend more than a few minutes in the sunshine or any one place for too long.
We walk past a more 'sit-down' type of restaurant than a street vendor and there was a sign which had been placed against the railings of the al-fresco dining area which read 'beware of landslide' which was incredibly bizzarre as the enitre surrounding area seemed to be particuarly flat, providing us with a mild amusement for several minutes.
One of those times where you wonder is that a 'lost in translation' type of thing or, there was was a landslide in 407BC and so there is a sign, just in case.
By the way on the subject of lost in tranlslation, one night when we were in Zhangjiajie, walking around looking for the pub, Steven was telling us of a leather good shop somewhere near which was called 'Bulls Anus' and there were signs at the top of heavens gate which read 'No Tossing' with a caption of a man falling over the edge.
Another read 'Slip and fall down carefully' and another 'tuna mayo, prawn mayo, smoked salmon - crap stick'. I could go on and on because there were countless endless sources of such blunders, another one which springs to mind was 'beware of safety', now obviously you know what they mean, but it's just constant little small errors which can make u spit ur drink out with laughter, when you first notice them, if your drinking of course otherwise that image is a bit weird.
This day's events is jumping about all over the shop, probably due to the fatigue.. anyway i will press on, we walked onward towards where i assumed we had begun the day at the large panda enclosure which was appearing to be cordoned off, im not sure if this was the back of that enlclosure or an entirely different one, anyway in here, there were some more pandas, however the panda's in this enclosure seemed to be providing far better entertainment because they were actually doing things.
I dont mean rollerscating in tutu's but they were active, by comparison to all we had seen so far, granted several of them were still munching on bamboo, which is only interesting for a moment until you realise that this poor guy is trying to eat meanwhile you're just staring at him, i imagined if i were in his fur i'd probably wishing you'd just bugger off so i can enjoy me dinner, in peace, without prejudice for bad table manners, gorging myself with bamboo i wonder if they ever get a complex, or am i overthinking this?! Lol he didnt seem to be that bothered to be fair!
The next enclosure however had a very animated panda, i dont mean he was doing Kung Fu, but he was walking about his space which was probably about 40m squared, he had a little podium which had windows providing him with shelter and shade and the floor was basically like a jungle, natural woodland with copious amounts of bamboo, and a dug out paddling pool, which he had a little play in.
He was ever so cute, seemed to have a really jovial character, almost as if this were 'his 15 minutes of fame'! Everyone around was filmig and taking photos of his lolloping about in the water as he splashed himslef.
I think these pandas were a bit cooler than the one's we'd previously seen.
Not in a 'Frankie goes to Hollywood' kinda way, i mean more the temperature appeared to be less intense, for both humans and animals alike, mostly due to a more densely overhead coverage of tree line.
Panda's like the cold, they tend to live in more northern states where it's much colder for most of the year, putting them in the middle of a sunnier climate seems somehow wrong despite their being well looked after, id prefer to see them in their natural habbitat, or actually not seen them at all, because they should be left alone to get on with it, however if this were the case they would by now be extinct due to their ineptitude at procreation. Im not being flippant by the way this is fact! It tells you on little cards as u walk around the park.
They often give birth to twins every four of five years, maybe once or twice and thats it. They tend to favour one of the twins meaning the strongest tend to survive effectively killing the second born, and often (in the wild i mean) they end up dieing accidentally due to being rather clumsy and it seems a bit dumb.
Again, just reporting facts i read, although i am also summising because the direct translation was less than accurate so you have to kind of piece together what it is they really mean.
I can give u a slight example of this, particularly so because of the fact that in Cheng Du it does seem to be quite touristy, i guess due to the amount of people coming to see the pandas.
Anyway my example is; the word "Chow-Main" as we call is is actually "Chao MiEn", which means 'to fry noodles' its an adjective not a noun, but, when you translate it into english it would be 'to fry noodles' compared to "zhēng mien", 'to steam noodles' so often when you see noodles, it can say "2 Steam Noodle' or "2 Fry Noodle" making you think, as an engligh man, that the 2 relates to quantity, as it's been numerically translated not as in an action which one would do, thus creating confusion, and these examples are everywhere, i dont just mean noodles, but really anywhere you might see english translations.
Another one is 公共汽车 "gōnggòng qìchē" [pron: gong-gung chee-chur] which is a 'bus', but the literal mandarin-english translation is. "Shared Work transport vehicle" so you can see why things go a bit awry sometimes when it comes to words and meanings.
Anyway a little while watching filming and photographing pandas like as if they were about to expire before our very eyes and it was almost time to leave, we had lots more to do yet, including lunch cos despite having snacks a little while ago, hunger was now beginning to build.
So after we'd spent as much time as we could with the pandas, despite it being on the pathways not inside the enclosures as some wanted which is nobodys fault, not even the Roman's.
We boarded the bus and drove for about 15-20 minutes until we entered into Cheng Du considering this was a little town, it had quite a hustle and bustle of a city vibe to it
There were sky scrapers all around consisting of business and residential type of places but in the midst of it all were very traditional buildings with their triangular pointed rooves.
We went for lunch at a really nice restaurant which had a nice water feature in the centre courtyard, we ate to the left in our own private room of the restaurant.
The food was exquisite really packed a punch but was very delicately flavoured, all the standard meats and veg, rice noodle combo's, a really unique thing about this place were the chopsticks, which were unusually shorter than most other places we've eaten at yet.
However inside Individually wrapped packages were little wooden ends which could be screwed in to the ends of the other chopsticks, accompanied by two tooth picks, which i suspect are actually for stabbing the food to transfer it to your own personal bowl, than actually picking your teeth with, however they served the purpose of both really.
During lunch there was one particular chicken dish which had a very lemony flavour to it was almost as if there was lemon peel in the mix cos the zing was quite strong and left almost a buzzing on your lips, a little bit like popping candy
I came to discover it is a type of pepper corn, a Szechwan pepper corn no less, therefore after lunch i went in search of it's zingy peppery goodness which to my dismay i found straight away in a market place just off the main square, whats more was i conducted the whole conversation in Chinese, because i've covered, in my lessons, quite a lot shopping, particularly at the market so i had all the relevant language in my head, working out which order the sentence needed to be and remembering the correct terms for numbers and grammes and monetary terms i plundered in and managed to buy a quarter of a tub of these peppercorns.
A quarter of a tub being the equivalent to about 550g i asked for 500g but she went over and it was only the difference of about 10p so i hanged the expence.
I began chewing them to ensure they gave the same zingy flavour, i have to say, raw... Not so nice, much nicer when softened in a nice sauce / gravy, however i had to try them and they are still very delightful.
We all had a little bit of time to ourselves walking around the town buying nick-nacks and pressies for people, as well as seeing their local culture, there were people posing for wedding photos, people dressed in traditional almost war painted costumes, as well as pretty girls standing inside shop doorways in ornately dressed gowns, some of them playing very alluring musing beckoning you inside, either like a siren on a rock, or the smell of gravy to a bisto family, i'll let you decide which metaphor is the most fitting.
A little while later and it was time to board the bus once again as we had more training to do in our little car-park corner training ground, where occasional people driving by would slow down to watch us practice, over and over and over the same few moves, before building it up to as much as we know and then adding a bit more to extend and then back to the beginning.
The sun was a lot milder in the evening and a nice breeze meant you were only dripping in sweat, not completely drenched.
A few of us stayed over after the two hour training session, to further practice, this session focused entirely now on our pending Tv performance which is only a few days away..
We were getting the positioning of people in the right places, so everyone could be seen, but also so we had someone who had a better grasp of it in all four corners so there was someone to follow when we ocasionally, or frequently messed up, time and tide wait for no man..
We'd all built up quite a hunger now and so we made our way to the hotels restaurant which served up the nicest food we've eaten to date. It was really flavourful and as i said earlier looking back retrospectively the nicest food anywhere so far in china has been, in Cheng Du, in my opinion anyway.
After we'd all had our fill of food, laughter, jokes, drinks and banter we all settled in the main hotel lobby for a few card games, before eventually retiring to bed about 11:30
we have quite a busy day tomorrow as we were flying to Foshan, the first Cantonese influenced place on our whistle stop tour of china.
Anyway that's tomorrow, so keep reading... Night Night!
Day 14 Cheng Du to Foshan. (21/9)
So this morning we had substantial lie in, we decided last night as today we were flying out of cheng du we'd have a bit of a lie in, so we all met down at the car park at 9:00 after breakfast,
the breakfast here at this hotel was quite nice, there was a toaster for bread, with - get this, Butter and Jam It was a first for China thus far!
To be honest tho i've gotten so used to not having butter, i just went straight for 2 fried eggs on top!
I asked a lady if i could have a black tea which was duly brought to my table, they do not know how to make a cup of tea.. well obviously THEY do, its us that dont, they invented the stuff. But what i mean is, they never allow the tea bag to stand in the cup long enough for any tea to be translated into taste.
Your tea, if you manage to get one at all, is pretty transluscent and the bottom of the cup is clearly visible, like a lime flavoured water colour would be, ahh well, i went and got some milk out of an urn, which kept the milk warm, not too sure why but i didnt mind, it was a cup of tea, well almost.
No bloody sugar tho, i asked a waiter for some sugar and he asked someone else, who laughed at the request, then they realised it was a serious request, and scurried off, they came back, maybe 15 minutes later with a bowl of sugar and placed it in between the hot milk and the hot orange jucie which it stood next to.
I honestly think a chinaman would be appauled if they were to visit a British hotel / B&B and saw how the table was laid up. Im sure they'd be asking for noodles, spicey potato, bubble & squeak, boiled yams, congee, which is a sort of startchy runny ricey potato porridge, sweet corns on the cob all of which were cut into quarters length ways, the only meat i saw present was bits of bacon amisdt the noodles, which are usually very greasy.
There were a few other indescribable dishes on the chinese breakfast table, some of which was appetizing, some of which deceivingly so. I had tried almost everything on the breakfast menu at some point.
Between beijing and this point in Cheng du, the influence became more and more radical. One place we had been, i think it was in Wudang had an orange jam, which you ate with a steamed bun, it was quite nice, but the jam felt a bit more like a sweet orange juice than a jam.
Just before we began to train i had nipped back to my room to grab a towell as it was clearly going to be a hot one today the cloudless sky promised as much, something was wrong tho, i was in a slight amount of pain in my right hand side, i was struggling to breath fully without there being pain present, what i had done felt familiar by all accounts as last year i cracked my rib on my left side, on two seperate occasions, which was my own fault for not blocking kicks correctly.
I realised on the way back down that this was the same kind of pain, on the ride back down in the lift, i was in a lift with Steve and so i explained the pain to him and he confirmed that ive probably cracked a rib.
I think i know when this happened too, in Wudang i had been working with Nikos, the greek guy, who isnt very advanced with his martial arts, he's never really done kung fu before he's done tai chi and Brazillian JuJitsu, he had done a bit of Wing Chun style kung fu but clearly this was only a recent thing.
Now, obviously all martial artist were welcome to join the trip we are a broad church who try and cater for all tastes in martial arts, majoritively the rest of the guys training laid in Lau Gar style Kung Fu; which is the style i've been training since day 1 on the 4th July 2006.
There were a few other styles too for example Ross does Karate, tai chi and had recently started Lau Gar, and acheived a yellow sash, Natalie does Chen style tai chi but pretty much everyone else had a basis in Lau Gar.
Whilt in wudang working with Nikos, Yuang Limin had showed us a technique which involved a strike to the rib, now im not entirely blaming Nikos because he didnt really know what he was doing but he kept shooting his hands into my ribs, which was the technique, but first he shouldve collapsed his hands at the elbow, absorbing the strike coming forwards towards him and then pushing back centering his two hands on the floating rib, he wasnt quite doing it correctly however and now as a result, i have a cracked rib.
So training began 9am sharp, we began working on the set again after having played a game of rock paper scissors, with the 5 animals, to warm us up, all the while my rib letting me know that it was there and causing me varying amounts of pain from a little discomfort, to not being able to fully breathe.
As the training wore on and on, i decided i would sit out for a bit because during the performance of the set i was unable to breathe at all, so i was holding my breath throughout the entire set, which is obviously not good for you, a bit like not breathing correctly when you're swimming, eventually you run out of steam because the oxygen isnt being transported around the body correctly and so you have to stop and catch your breath, occasionally bringing on a 'stitch'.
I sat down wheasing slightly gripping my right side with both hands. The hot sun was not helping either making breathing even more necessary.
Steve broke the set down to define the applications of each movement of the set. I will try and describe this thusly;
So the first bit of the set is a bow, a show of respect which all martial artists do before performing, or training or fighting together. This bow was similar to lau gar bow, but slightly different;
You start with both hands striking upwards palms facing to the sky, until your arms are in a 'please, sir can i have some more' type of angle, then you draw back your hands into a fist which sit upon your hips, this is almost a wind up, i dont mean a joke at someone else expence i mean a coiling of your arms to create power to shoot back out, stepping forwards with your right foot, which points off to the right, as you turn your left foot out slightly too, so effectively your left knee ends up resting on your right calf with your groin protecting from a kick in between the legs, whilst at the same time blocking an imaginary punch (no.3 handblock) metting your fist which is over to the right hand side of your body. Then stepping forward with your left foot, into a hanging stance, which means that all the weight of the body is taken by the right leg, the left ball of the toe resting gently on the ground, heel off the floor. At this point the left hand pushes forwards fingers pointing to the right fist which has spiralled out in a drilling punch type of action, then both fists and hands draw back into a ready position, so feet shoulder width apart, hands spiraling backwards to protect the floating ribs. And thats the bow! It sounds complicated however once you've seen it you'll realise its dead easy, especially for us martial artists who are quite used to bowing before perfoming sets, or hand/kick blocks, knife defences, stick defence, in fact everything we do, we do a similar bow before.
This dates back to the days of old where the shaolin monks would train in secret, learning the ways of martial arts from Indians who'd travelled down the silk road to exchanged good, obviously martial arts back then were pretty non existant in china and so it wouldve been banned in china, so it wouldve had to have been trained in secret.
Therefore they had a secret handshake you might say, to show respect, you might recall when i was in India in 2015 there was a similar ritual before training there too, this one involved touching the feet of your opponent.
Anyway the set then begins with a tiger claw strike to the throat. With the right hand, a leg block with the left;
Stepping out with a left stance, again similiar movements to what we have in Lau Gar but this was very over-extended, there had to be a straight line between the ball of the heal, on the right foot and the shoulder of the right hand side, at a 45 degree angle, whereas in Lau gar it's more just a hanging stance. This was a definite lean forward by comparison.
The next move is a strike down with the right hand, from throat to right hip and a block with the left hand, blocking accross your body (again like a number 3 handblock)
And then the 3rd move is into a horse stance, feet facing forwards but to the left of where you stood, in a left stance so your right (back) foot pushes thru until you sit in a horse stance with your right arm extended into a punch!
This was as much as we had learned in Beijing and so as to not overface you, i will add to this as we go thru, but by this point in Cheng Du, we pretty much had worked it up all the way thru to the half way point, at which point we began to add the next few moves meaning we could actually go all the way thru the entire set, as the repeat of the first bit was easy to remember, i think there are 19 moves (exluding the bow) to the half way point.
So we had practiced hard and despite me sitting our of the practical applications traning which involved a few strikes to the ribs, i decided it best to just hang back, until we were ready to once again go thru the entire set at the end. Which we actually did twice.
Today we were flying to Foshan, and so we had to pack our belongings into our suitcases and hit the road, however our flight wasnt until later on that day so we had decided collectively as a group, what we’d do was take our luggage to the airport and leave it at ‘left luggage’ meaning we could better enjoy the day hassle free, so we took a courtesey bus to the airport and deposited our bags and suitcases, paying the equivalent of ¥32 for a large case and ¥12 for a medium and ¥6 for a small case, now by this point i had a huge suitcase, a samsonite bag, both of which id bought in Beijing and a second piece of hand luggage, the only remaining piece of luggage i had brought out with me, which was my black ‘Jeep’ back-pack.
Therefore as i left my suitcase and my samsonite bag, which by the way had already broken in one part, clearly not a genuine samsonite bag, i spent ¥44 on the left luggage a total of £4.40 - cheap enough i thought, as we walked away in the direction of the metro line which would took us into the heart of Cheng Du.
I actually thought the centre was where we had visited yestersay with all of its market stalls and street vendors in the oldy woldy looking town. However the city of Cheng Du was a bit like the centre of Birmingham.
Very built up, with huge department stores and very tall sky scrapers, in the centre where we arrived stood a huge courtyard square, with the metro station resting right in the middle, underneath all the hussle and bussle of the busy city.
We were given 2 hours to have a mooch around and so i set off looking for things of interest, i had to keep in mind which way the train station was so i didnt end up getting lost, so i walked away heading due west from the station, which took me to a cross roads, i crossed to the other side of the road, where stood a Lamborghini shop, selling clothing and cars, rather an odd mix i thought, i could imagine a rich kid walking in there to buy a baseball cap, and walking out having bought a half a million pound Lamborghini Aventador.
I took a few photos and headed back towards the train station and decided to walk due north, on this side of the square stood a rather architecturally decorative building which as i got closer i learned was a museum of chinese culture, i toyed with the idea of going inside breifly but decided i probably wouldnt have had sufficient time to get around it all as it looked pretty huge.
So i went due east, where stood another impressive building with a 30ft tall statue of Chairman Mao.
Taking photos of pretty much everything now, i began to wonder whether the chinese locals saw us western tourists in the way that we westerners see chinese tourists in somewhere like London, click click click, flash flash flash..
After some time i had pretty much walked all four sides of the square having meandered down the streets in all directions from the centre and back again and so i decided i would sit and write some of my blog in the centre, having bought myself some food, i found a bench on which to sit myself and i began typing away the days blog i had been working on.
All of my fellow students and colleagues had gone into the department store as i walked down toward the Lamborghini store, the sun was blazing down and it was a little too hot to sit there in direct sunlight writing, so i began to have a wander around the department store, which was very much like a debenhams, with ladies fashions on one level and mens on another, a childrens section on another and an outdoor department selling tents and other camping equipment, and suitcases at the top of the store on the highest floor, there were many food eateries on the top floor too, but the best part was the air conditioning, it was so cool in here it was lovely, i found myself somewhere to sit by the food court areas and i sat and wrote for a little while, eventually it became too cold tho, as unless you’re moving around, it can grow a little chilly, so after a good half hour or so i went back outside and went back to my park bench by the train station.
The sun had set slightly more and therefore the temperature outside, whilst still stiffling as you left the cool air conditioned department store, once you’d been out in it and allowed your body to acclimatise a bit, it wasnt unbearable any more.
Eventually it was time to meet up with the rest of the group and head back to the airports so a little while later we were back at the airport having recollected our luggage as we made our way thru to the check-in desk, customs and passport control.
Thru the other side we sat around catching jokes, waiting for our flight - we were delayed by an hour, greeeat!! We shopped and bought more food, crisps and drinks to pass the time and feed ourselves and eventually we were able to board the plane an hour later than expected.
The flight went as normal, i think i slept a bit, with my earphones in, listening to some music i mustve nodded off for about half an hour or so.
We eventually landed in Foshan at around 2:30am we collected our luggage and made our way to the coach that was waiting to take us to the hotel which was about a 2 hour drive away.
Upon arrival at the hotel there was a bit of confusion with regard to the amount of room key distributed and it turned out we had been given the wrong key, so we had to go knocking on doors of members of our group to try and find someone who has been given a twin room, as the key we had was for a double.
The hotel itself was very swanky, it was called the Orange hotel and ive no idea why, cos nothing was orange but as hotels go i think it was probably the best yet.
There was a control pannel next to the bed, which meant at the push of an illuminated blue button you could dim all the lights, or have them all turned on, open and close the curtains, order room service, control the tv among a few other little actions like place a ‘do not disturb’ symbol on the front door, and similarly a ‘make up my room’.
We eventually made it to our room, room 1112 having had to evict Natalie into the double room, which fortunately was just accross the hall.
After Ross had taken a quick shower we were in bed (seperately) at 5am..
Day 15 22/9 First day of trainin with Sigung Mark Hougton. Long hard slog!
So today as you might recall from yesterdays blog we are in a place steeped in Chinese Kung Fu history, a place called FoShan, or Fatsan as would be said in Cantonese language.
Also you may recall my not getting to bed until 5am, yeah remember that... all cosy in my new bed for what seemed like 5 minutes, why you may ask, well.. we had to be up today dead early because we were going to be opening a new Kung Fu school today, which is an amazing accolade in itself really.
Foshan has had such a great many number of Kung Fu schools over the years, it’s said to be the home of the origin of Chinese Martial Arts.
So we had to be up and dressed down in the lobby by 8:15 - yes im not joking, three and a quarter hours sleep!
So i woke up at 08:10 or somewhere there abouts, i sprang out of bed and just a quick shower and brush my teeth, jumped into my clothes, no time for breakfast tho and I was down in the lobby at 08:15 (on the dot) #hero!
So as we were waiting for others to arrive we discussed how we would be getting to the kung fu school, the school isnt very far away but no-one knows exactly where it is, so we start to try and flag down some taxi’s, obviously we’re not all going to fit in one cab and we have only 45 mins to get everyone there for the prestigious opening.
There was a bit of a panic that filled the air, as no taxi’s were stopping, they all seemed to have customers with them, so we walked down from our hotel a bit to try and flag some down a bit further down, in the mean time, Steve sent a group message to everyone with the address of the school so if anyone did manange to get a cab they could just be on the way,
10-15 minutes later and still no signs of any cabs, so steve went back into the hotel to see if he could arrange for them to call one for us, shortly after, the first cab arrived, so me, Natalie, Debbie and Mike jumped in the first one and we set off.
Literally 2 minutes later we had arrived at a place, we paid the taxi driver ¥7 (70p) and he drove off, everyone was tired, almost falling asleep, we were hoping for perhaps a 20 minute visit to the shcool, and then perhaps we will be allowed to go back to bed, afterall they cant make us train having had only 3 & 1/4 hours sleep. Can they ???
As we waited for the others to arrive, Me, Debbie and Mike began having flashbacks, of being in Beijing looking for the ‘hidden’ bar, which by the way we never actually found.
We joked about us not even being in the right place, as to be honest, nothing around us looked like our imagined picture of what the school would look like,
From the hotel our taxi had to go to the junction at the end of the road and then turned left, then at the next cross-roads taken another left, and then we were there, so we invisaged that we were almost directly parralell with out hotel, which would be the next ‘block’ down, so where were the others?!
As we stood waiting contemplating what to do, we noticed that, oh boy !it IS HOT in Foshan, it was only 8:45am and already it seemed way hotter than the temperature was in Cheng Du, a lot more humidity the air temperature at least a few degrees hotter, making it seem like we were in a sauna.
Another taxi pulled up as we breathed a sigh of releif, knowing that we had arrived at the right place, we must’ve done if others were getting out aswell, straight away afterwards a third taxi pulled up and the rest of the group got out, we were not a pretty sight, all looking a bit deshevelled tired, hungry and sweatty, puffy red faces, hair sticking out / up all over the place.
Carolyn was feeling sick, mikey and me had an upset stomach and to be honest we were good for nothing reallly. It was ridiculous how little sleep we had been allowed as we stood on the pavement, melting under the humidity and the heat of the raw naked sun blasting down the rays of heat thru a cloudless sky.
We followed steve into the buildings entrance, and he pressed a button on the wall, illuminating a lift call button, it was very dark in the entrance as there were no lights on.
A few loud clunky noises were being heard in the lift shaft beyond the doors and slowly but surely we could hear a lift moving down towards the ground floor.
The doors slid open and a huge elevator stood before us. When i say huge, all 13 of us managed to get inside, still with much room to spare, it was definitely more like a cargo lift than a people lift, the insides lined with a sky scenery which probably masked a once graffitti’d lift capsule.
Someone pressed the 5th floor button as the doors began to close and the motion began elevating us upwards towards the 5th floor.
When the doors opened we were met with two big wooden doors, which were closed. So where is everyone, today’s the day, Right ?!?
We decanted the lift and sat down at the top of the landing as steve impatiently tapped away on his phone, trying to get hold of people to find out what exactly was going in, feeling everyones frustration and his own of course.
We could still be in bed, i was thinking, and i dont think i was alone witht this thought, but then again it wasnt quite 9am yet, still a few minutes before, so we all slumbered down on the floor, patiently waiting.
The lift once again roared into action as we heard it descend, finally someone was coming to let us in, we thought.
When the doors opened we all stood up, as if standing to attention, to greet, whoever might be on the other side of the doors.
When they opened we all breathed a slight sigh of releif, a chinese man got out the lift, wearing a pair of blue running shorts, a yellow/green luminescent top and highligted trainers to match.
Steve spoke to the man; Eric Wong, who stood before us, discussing the fact that he has just travelled from Hong Kong and as such was pretty much in the same boat as us, he had had very little sleep, having travelled thru the night and guess what, he had no keys to open the door either.
Eric sat down and joined us in our slumber, people were using all sorts of objects to fan themselves, sitting in the dark, with only narrow chambers of light filing thru into the stairwell, where we were sat, just waiting..
Eric vanished momentarily possibly looking for some answers, as we were. Primarily where was the man we had travelled so far to come and meet, Mark Houghton.
Ive never met Mark Houghton before, ive seen him in pictures and ive heard he’s well renowned and world famous as an actor in many chinese kung fu movies.
By now it was about 9:15 and on the advice of Eric we all jumped down the stairs to the 3rd floor, where there was a huge massive piece of unfinished art work ok the table, in the middle of the room it must’ve been about 15 feet long probably about 5 feet wide, and it was absolutley exquisitely beautiful.
A stunning mountainous scenery complete with waterfalls trees, lakes rivers, a truly stunning composition.
In this room there were a few wicker chairs which we dished out and some of the group slumped down dozing, whilst a standard fan which had now been plugged in, really just blew the warm humid air around the foisty smelling room.
Foistily smelling as not only were we somewhat ‘fragrant’ but also there were still decorating taking place all around us, even as we sat there, people busily banging away, scratching and cleaning; clearly this school is still a work in progress, i thought.
As everyone dozed, i knew if i allowed myself to doze i probably would regret it, so preferring to keep my mind active, consious of the fact that my blog is slowly slipping further and further behind, i began to write, first of all writing notes of the days gone by, trying to capture every detail so it doesnt disappear into oblivion.
One such thought was the fruity yoghurty drinks we were able to buy from the lobby of the hotel in Zhangjiajie, im not sure if i have mentioned this before, but i certainly want to so i will take this opportunity to do so, i discovered them by accident looking for milk to add to black tea, which was present in a few hotel rooms ‘Tea & Coffee Making Facilities’ yet there was never any milk, so one morning in a hunt for some Nûi Nai (cows milk) i bought this paticualr milky drink which i would add to my tea.
However to my dismay but quite a delight i discovered this particular ‘milky substance’ (leave it) was actually more of a fruit yoghurt cocktail and it was bloody lovely, from that day on, bugger the tea, im drinking that!! So i did. I wish i could get it back home because ive tried all sorts since being back, but nothing quite captures the essence of this drink back in Blighty.
Anyway i began to write these little snippetts of info into various days i had pre-defined within my notes as time was ticking on, i kept glancing at the time as i typed. 09:23; 09:34; 09:46 i kept thinking, as we all were, i think, where the bloody hell is this guy we are meant to be training with.
I was actually beginning to seeth internally because i was so tired i very easily could fall asleep, moreover i couldve stayed in bed longer thus meaning i was more rested - 09:54 still no sign.
I was interalising, “if he’s not here by 10 im going back to bed because this is ridiculous. Very bad manners”!
Just before it got to 10 we rode the lift back to the 5th floor as we had heard that the room had been opened and so we could at least go and sit in the room we would be training in, so we all gathered our belongings and rode the elevator to the 5th and we went inside the room that greeted us, now with the huge wooden doors flung open revealing a large room, with blue carpet, at one end there seemed to be two offices and all around the room there were, hanging from the walls and standing in various plynths an array of training weapons.
Hanging on the left side were three Single Broad-swords, a double Broard-sword, and then on the wall opposite were some butterfly knives and double daggers, in the plynth there were spears, ‘eye-brow’ sticks, ‘rat-tail’ sticks, a ‘kuarn-do’ which is a long staff with a curved blade at the one end and at the base was a heavy metal pointy ball, type thing, almost like what u’d get at he bottom of a battle axe, there were several wooden dummies dotted in between the columns on the right hand side of the room and three lions heads (not real lions) in different colours, which are used to perform the various Lion dances.
By the way, when i say training weapons, what i actually mean is, for example, the Broad-Sword is the shape of a real Broad Sword, but the metal used for the blade, is thin, imagine the thickness of your average Saw. This bendy thickness of metal would be similar to a training sword, very light and easy to use, completely blunt wont cut you or injure your training partner, but it gives you the feeling of swinging an actual sword, however if you really wanted to put more into your training you could buy a more weighty option, or even get a real Broad Sword, it is not advisable to have it sharpened though, if you value such body parts as ears, fingers, noses aswell as other limbs and sticky-out bits..
Over to the left hand side was a huge drum, there was also a gong not far away and yet still there was no sign of the afformentioned Master Mark Houghton.
So where was he, what was going on?! It no longer mattered, it was 10:05 and we were up and training, bugger Mark bloody Hougton! We’ll carry on regardless..
So we lined up in our formation and began to run thru our set, by now we’d practiced several times all the way thru the set to the half way point, and then added in the linking bit to continue to the end and then at the end there was another little bit which linked back thru to the end bows (bow like cow, not bow like blow) facing back to the front where our 'audience' would be sat.
So we could now complete the set, although we were still a bit ropey, some more than others, one in particular, Nikos, who just wasnt getting it at all, much more work was required if we were going to present this set in front of the worlds tv.
All of a sudden out of the corner of the office, a dark figure emerged, as if rising from the dead - a metaphor which will become more than appropriate, trust me!
It was Mark Houghton, he stood up, not wearing a top, staggered to the door, and almost fell thru it! He was blind drunk!
Blind drunk, I was outraged, we’ve travelled all this way to meet him, to train with him and he cant even show up on time, sober!
By now for me personally, I really was ready to walk out, honestly my dismay and horror couldnt be contained any longer, we all stopped what we were doing and went over to where out bags had been placed and took some sips of water and gossip, it really was a water-cooler moment!
Meanwhile Steve went into the office where mark had been passed out and was stood talking to him a little while, whilst we were muttering among ourselves, it was almost a mutiny as the crew fancied throwing the new pirate captain overboard!
It wasnt quite that bad but being so tired and hot and generally irritated wasnt helping us gain any adoration for this Master. Few members of the group were throwing round words like ‘disrespect’ and ‘dishonour’.
Just then, Mark stumbled into the middle of the room and gathered everyone into a huddle, he began by welcoming us all to Foshan and to his school which would be opening tomorrow (what, not today)?!
He then continued beginning with the heading of respect and how everyone earns respect, it isnt given freely, perhaps reading the micro-expressions on peoples faces he went on to justify by saying that right now he realised that we had all lost all if not any respect we had for him (well, “you got that right”.. i thought to myself in my head)
However what followed was a very genuine speach which, by the way went on for a good 15-20 minutes but i’ll summise for you, basically he was saying that you must have respect in life, firstly self respect, if you can’t respect yourselves then how can you expect anyone else to respect you, then respect for your fellow kung fu brothers and sisters, as when you’re training with them, you must respect their safety, we learn to ‘pull’ our punches to protect them, we respect their feelings and emotions we look out for each other, ensuring we’re giving our training partner the correct attack so we can correctly block / defend, we respect the elderly and infirm who cannot perhaps protect or defend themselves.
He went on to say how martial virtue became like a protective sheild for the community, explaining that in days of old, A pretty lawless China saw many towns and villages pillaged by would be gangs who terrorised locals looting their crops and slaying cattle in order that they have food to put in the mouths of their children, leaving the towns which they rode thru descimated, now in poverty and ruin due to these Gypsy like looters who would act without consequence.
Therefore martial virtue began to protect these villages and villagers ensuring their safety, learning how important it is to have protection from said gangs. Almost forming a society of law, which could be inforced to act as a deterrant for future attacks.
As i said the speach went on for some time and we were lapping up his every word, he mentioned how he realised that he’d lost face among us all turning up an hour late and staggering out of his office blind drunk, he made no bones about admitting he was so drunk, not that it wasn’t obvious, he stank of whiskey and he was struggling at this point to form english sentences, occasionally asking someone for the translation of a Cantonese word into English.
This was a man who was born in England, he had white skin, blue eyes and blonde hair, yet he was forgetting English, initially i wasnt sure how to feel about this, but then i quickly realised, he had been so deeply emersed in the culture and traditions of China that Cantonese has become his mother tongue, His English becomming a second language. I have to say that was in some way impressive, it wasnt just for show either, you could tell he thought in Cantonese having to quickly translate back into English, obviously being drunk wasnt assisting in his brain power at this stage.
Alas by the time he’d finished his speach, we all had a new found sense of respect for him, he HAD earned our respect, not just by what he was saying, which all the way thru fell in line with my values but actually moreso, the way in which he was saying it.
He was discussing how there are many different types of people in this world and some of them strive for high ideals and get a good education and perhaps become a Doctor or a Solicitor, or a Police man, other people who, perhaps dont have the same opportunities, perhaps because of their schoolin, perhaps because of their home life, or many other factors that have lead them to being a street food vendor, or maybe someone who sells newspapers, what he was getting as is, its important in life, to have respect for all human kind, not just humans, but animals too, no one man is any better than any other living thing, particularly because they have privelages such as wealth or a healthy lifestyle, maybe they do kung fu, maybe they do Tai chi, maybe they’re a Muy Thai fighter in an MMA (mixed maritial arts) fighting ring. It doesnt matter, he said, no one is more worthy or less worthy of your respect, no martial artist is better than another. Perhaps today they won the championship, this in the eyes of society makes them the best in the world, but perhaps the fight was rigged, maybe there was dirty politics afoot, perhaps it was an unfair fight in the first place,
It's all about your individual expectations verses your ability to acheive, maybe this man, placing his hand on mikey's shoulder wants to be the best fighter the world has ever seen, and perhaps this man, placing his hand on my shoulder, just wants to achieve his next sash. Just because this man has high ideals (looking at mikey) means he will achieve them, however this man (gesturing to me) his ideals are a lot less, however he's more likely to achieve them. He was using us as examples, but made it clear that he was speaking hyperthetically, the point was, he doesn't judge people on how strong they are or, whether they're injured for example, but how they adopt their various styles of kung fu to their body, not the other way round.
It's pointless after all there being a set for example which is unachievable, a set should be achievable for all despite your abilities, or injuries, if a man has one leg, does he not have the capacity to walk, maybe not, but if you give him a crutch, he can still have mobility.
Kung fu, doesnt even have anything to do with fighting he continued. Literally - it doesnt! The word Kung Fu, or Gong Fu as it is in Mandarin / Cantonese literally means “skilled work, with prestige”.
In other words, anyone who fulfills a job, whether he be a heart surgeon, a chef, a carpenter, a cleaner, a pilot, a driver or any other kind of vocation, which has taken an amount of learning to become skilled at, in your line of work, then you can be said to have Gong fu,
Skilled work, which you have and take a sense of pride in. Something which you do to the best of your ability. Therefore we are all capable of having gong fu, in our day to day working lives. But then when you apply this notion to a hobby, something you do outside of work, something perhaps you do not get paid for, his accent having a slightly funny Chinese twang to, at this stage, but maybe you do pay someone to teach you, then, when you 'tray har', 'travel the worl'; he said, gesturing to us all, standing in his school in Foshan in China, 'then, you have already Gong fu'.
Masters and Grand-Masters who live on far off mountain dont deserve your immediate respect any more than a man selling a news paper on the street, he began to say, which left a few puzzled looks on faces i think, he quantified by saying, some of these Masters and Grand-Masters who live on mountains far away from society, out of touch with reality, who galavant around with a sense of self importance, they do not deserve any more respect, than the taxi driver who brought you here, unless or rather until, it is earned by you. And dont let anyone tell you otherwise, he joked.
I have to say my heart had warmed to him, his frequent little jokes and frank delivery of his pep-talk had actually changed my original perception of him.
He admitted his mistake and sought to rectity it, with us directly, not excusing his behaviour, but accepting the situation and making promise to make amends with us as he would train hard with us, sobering up as we trained.
Now he wasnt home and dry yet, a cleverly placed chosen set of words does not a master make.
Despite them clearly coming from his heart, his Master the Grand-Master Lau Gar Kuen, recently died (2014) making Mark the Grand Master of Hung Gar style Kung fu.
Mark went on to say that if he was even 10% as skilled as his Sifu, Lau Gar Kuen then he would be happy but even he at his age still had much to learn.
His humilty shining thru, warming our hearts, like the sun peeking thru the clouds of a rainy bank holiday weekend.
After his little speach was over and as I said it did go on for some time, tho i think i couldve honestly stood and listened to him all day, it was clear he has had an eventful life, thru some ages perhaps even a difficult life and thru other times definitely a violent life.
He went on to tell us, after about having worked as a body guard for people in China among other countries, where he had seen all sorts of attrocities, including seeing one of his colleagues having his head blown off, trying to protect their ‘principal’.
After the talking was done, we went on a little tour of the building, starting, as we had, on the 3rd floor where we learned that the unfinished piece of artwork that stood on top of the table, where we had once been slumped, cooled by the single fan, was actually worth over half a million in English money at todays rate of exchange,
He gathered us once more and elaborated on the functionality of the building, so basically within the 7 storey building which sits set back from the road, down a little gated alley way, available parking for residences surrounding the area, the 7 storey building was once 7 floors of offices, but thanks to kind donations, investments and sheer bloody hard work, the place had been purchased bit by bit, getting transformed with each succession.
So first came the school itself, the room on the 5th floor where we were previously stood, then the 3rd floor was acquired which was slowly being transformed into an art gallery and a studio for the artist in question.
Behind this stood a Kareoke suite, complete with sound-proofing and a 3 Dimentional lighting rig making it pretty state of the art!
Mark continued to tell us of his future plans, as we rode the elevator back up to the 5th floor, he spoke of how eventually the building will house a fully functional Gymnasium with weights benches and all the modern gym equipment and when the relevant floors became available, accommodation on-site too, meaning that tomorrows students could come and check-in for a weeks traning and never have to leave the building.
Within the main school on the fifth floor, there were two offices, as i mentioned, the office to the right was his office, where he was found not 40 minutes ago clutching an empty bottle of whiskey, a huge floor to ceiling glass wall filled the space with light and the cool air conditioning making the glass appear frosted, as we now stood bathing in the icy flow of wind, all of us feeling a little more upbeat and certainly refreshed by the rooms chilly temperature,
He was handing out T-shirts and training ‘pants’ (trousers) for which we had to pay £10 each [equiv] for the privelage of wearing might i add, something which initially was a bit of a cheek, we thought.
Mark began to explain what would be happening tomorrow; tomorrow being the big day, the grand school opening, well actually no, he said; the school does not officially open tomorrow, he continued.
He went on to explain that to open a school, you must have, for good fortune, a lion dance, to honour the schools prestige. Mark has his own lion dance team, who will perform the lion dance, blessing each room within the school, officially opening it, however, Mark’s daughter Charlene, who is also a martial artist, was, on the same day of the schools opening, fighting in an MMA battle in Japan, therefore because she wouldnt be there to witness the opening of the school, the school would not actually be opening tomorrow;
We were all very confused by this, we thought this was why we were here.. he carried on telling us that Charlene, his daughter was one of the most prolific lion dancers and therefore as she wouldnt be there he didnt want the opening to happen, however because Mark’s fame had alerted the worlds press and media to arrive, what he decided to do was have a grand opening ceremony for the prestigeous art gallery and then he could open the school at a later date when his Daughter could be present and take part in the lion dance.
As we were standing there, he handed out t-shirts in various sizes, which are different to British sizes, so a medium is actually an XL a Large would be an XXL and an XXL in the uk would be XXXL in China, probably due to the fact that most of the Chinese population are petite by comparison to our British counterparts.
Anyway during this time Mark described the other areas of the school building and the adjacent office to our left was a tea ceremony room, therefore he has tried to bring into the one building the some of the most treasured elements of chinese culture, with the exception of the two with the most heritage which are gambling and prostitution.
We all scurried away trying on our various garments after he’d explained how the day would flow tomorrow, so firstly theres a bit of a dress rehersal so we needed to be at the shcool for 8am (sharp) cos at 9am there would be a red carpet event, welcoming all of the masters of other styles of chinese martial arts to bless the school, obviously cameras and tv crews will show up and take their photos and gather news stories as they happened,
Following this there would be a lion dance, however they wouldnt bless the 5th floor, they would only visit the other areas of the building which are officially being opened, ie, the art gallery, art studio and the karaeoke bar.
Ooh incidentally i forgot to mention at one point before going down stairs, he told us of a room which is behind his office, which is strictly off limits, however he did show us what lay behind this door of mystery, this was where the famous artists studio was, where he would create all of the master-pieces. He took us into the room and all the way down on the left hand side was another unfinished painting which pretty much spanned the entire room, there were several works of art here all in various stages of completion, mark told us that the piece he’s working on currently had been valued at £1.5m (notice i used a pound sign, that 1.5m in english currency).
Leaving the room and locking the door behind us it was pretty obvious we were not allowed to go in to this room again.
After all of these introductions and tours were complete, we began to get to work, the time was pressing on now as it was about 11:15 and we were all roasting!
There were black fans attached at various points to the wall, which all blew into the centre of the room, so actually if you stood right in the middle of the six fans, you could remain fairly cool, however if you moved even just a step, you were immediately sweatting.
Therefore performing our set, over and over and over again, trying to iron out the creases, was relentlessly unpleasant, the constant want and need to go and take a shower, yet knowing this couldnt happen until later, how long later we all wondered.
To be fair, Mark worked with us, making minor corrections at various stages, re-arranging our positioning to allow taller folk to be at the back and ‘less taller’, as he put it, at the front, meaning i was centre stage.. #NoPressureThen!
There were other people who would also be doing their own performances, Eric being one of them, who performed an open hand set (no weapons) which was slow and precise, yet powerful and complex.
Encompassing the 5 elements of emotion with the 5 animals of kung fu, in four seperate directions, it took a good 15 minutes from start to finish, whereas out set probably took about 2 minutes tops!
So we rehearsed and rehearsed under the careful guidance of our sifu Steve and his sifu, our Sigung Mark, and we went over and over and over it.
We were all beginning to wane with fatigue and the heat and to a lesser extent dehydration, refridgerated water was available in bottles and it was provided on an honour system at ¥3 per bottle (30p), each time you took a bottle you wrote your name down owing the money by the end of the day.
Shorlty after we had all completed a run-thru it was time for lunch, probably about 12:30 im not entirely sure because i have no concept of what time it was by this point as we’d all began to focus so much on the set in hand, when we went for lunch (for which the cost was covered) we left our belongings in the school.
So lunch was taken at a nicely air conditioned restaurant just around the corner from the school. The food was nice and the service was good and it was very enjoyable to just sit and relax not having to focus for a short period of time.
After lunch we made our way back to the school and upon return we jumped straight back into it. Rehearsing rehearsing rehearsing.
It felt a little bit like ground hog day, going over and over and over, defining every tiny detail, not just of our set, but also what we would be doing for the entire day, so we would start as i said with a dress rehearsal, then we’d go and do the red carpet bit, then we’d make our way to the chinese restaurant where we would stand in two rows facing each other welcoming the guests to the restaurant by saying ‘Fun Ying’, welcome.
We would then stand around our respective tables in the exact order we would stand in a line at the beginning, to enable us to best take our places on stage, then the next person to follow us would be Steve, and then Eric and then a guy from Scotland called Gary would be doing a double daggers set, then Eric would perform a 2nd set, this time double broad swords, and then another guy who would do a Kuarn Do set and finally the ‘preying mantis’ master would do a short set, followed by a live painting, the preying mantis by the way is the guy who’s the artist who’s paintings sell for so much, so not only is he a master of painting and art, he’s also a master of Preying Mantis style kung fu!
So after he had completed his art work, for which, by the way, i was assisting, not in the actual Calligraphy but i would assist by holding the bowl of ink, his paint brush and once he was complete i would hold one side of the painting aloft for all to see.
So we practiced this, where we would walk after, never turning your back on the audience, walking backwards to fall in line, to follow the rest of the line as we walked off the make-shift stage.
This continued up until we had our evening meal, which again was in the same air conditioned restaurant with the same good food and service as before and as before was included in the price we had paid meaning we didnt need to pay for anything,
Actually that is something ive been meaning to say, since arriving in China, i’ve paid for very little in the way of food / beverages. Actualy beverages slightly more, but really the only food i’ve paid for out of my own money, really has been snacks.
So once again after dinner we went back to the school, upon arrival tho, the 5th floor had been bathed in darkness, we wasnt sure what was going on initially, we thought everyone had gone home, ooh is this our chance to escape, i thought.
Nope, it turned out it was just a power cut, but never mind, back on your heads!!
We began fumbling around in the dark trying to create perfection when you cant even see is not only impossible but slightly dangerous, people were using torch lights to enable better vision but it was to no avail..
I must admit i did think at one point, ooh maybe now, in light of the circumstances, we can just call it a day, and perhaps come back tomorrow.. this was to no avail either sadly for us, we began to go over our set and we went over and over it.
No one could see whether we were doing it well or not cos it was literally pitch black. A short while afterward however, we all let out a sigh of releif, but then a slight groan, as the power was restored, filling the room with light again so that we could begin again from the top, and we proceded to going over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over well, yes you get the point..
It really did seem like it was never going to end, we were all aching like hell, soaked thru to our skin, my fingers were wrinkled as if i’d been in a bath for an hour, thats to give you readers an idea as to how much perspiration had been absorbed by my towell and clothing!
Eventually as we were all literally about to drop, i feared, it was over. We could leave, go home and relax, but i mostly went home, took a shower and went straight to bed!
Night all!
Day 16 - (23/9) T.V. Debut in China, Hong Kong & Usa Tv Documentory. Learning Double daggers
So today’s the BIG day, the opening of the school, well no, not the school but the rest of it excluding the school. Ahhh you know!!!
So, after a very long restful sleep last night I woke kinda early, I even made it down for breakfast. The breakfast room at this hotel was sortof small, compared to some of the other hotels breakfast rooms, It was also on the 7th floor which is a bit random, but the offerings were definitely more palletable, first of all there was toast, with butter, and jams :o there were bottles of orange juice, milk, tea & coffee making facilites, cakes, biscuits, fruits and the obligatory noodles with various different salad / vegetables, however there was a also dedicated chef to cook you what you desired.. Nice! Still there was only sufficient time for toast as we had to be back at the school shortly.
I do really like this hotel, kind of boutique in style but very modern, plenty spacious, and it feels fairly freshly done, ive mentioned the control panels which can open and close the curtains, but the shower, the shower is feeble! There is a 'rain head' attachment but the pressure doesnt seem sufficient to support it, i wasnt the only one to notice this issue, still i guess it worked, got me clean, what more do you want ?!
So today we walked around to the school, as we did from every subsequent time following the first taxi, it took around 10 minutes and it was quite a nice walk, there was a 7-11 on the way, as well as a bank of china... I wasn't going anywhere near that bloody place tho, i had all the money i'd need for the time being and it should be enough to last me until Hong Kong.. From there i'm not sure what i'll do, i just hope it's a lot less stressful than the bank in Zhangjiajie.
We arrived at the school and began rehearsing, we were about 3 parts the way thru the rehearsal, when i say rehearsal, that relates to everyone taking part in the 'production' our segment was really fairly short.. But none the less we practiced, there felt a much more relaxed atmosphere, a bit like yesterday being xmas eve and today being xmas day, all the preparations are done, we now just have to enjoy the day!
So we were called to down stairs, outside in the roadway leading in to the school there had been a red segment of carpet laid onto the pavement, fairly extensive too as it covered, i guess about 25 feet long by about 15 feet out into the middle of the road, i guess the road will remain closed for the day as no one was going to be able to get in or out..
I hope one of the residents isn't late for work, or on nights, because no way was anyone about to get any sleep!!
The press gathered around the front of the building, and before now i hadn't really seen it all come together but today, for the first time you could really see it. There was a plaque covered by red velvet curtains, for someone to open and reveal the name of the school, they kept blowing open as the street had a very strong air current, especially when a large vehicle, a lorry or a bus would drive past, a gust of wind would reveal the name to all who stood by, of which there were many, i'd say around 70-100 people congregated.
The whole ceremony was done in Cantonese, with no subtitles for we english folk, so actually we didn't really have a clue what was going on in all honesty.
In front of the building itself tho, there was maybe 8 brass hotel ashtrays, obviously they weren't actually ashtrays, but that's the nearest thing i can use to describe them, a flat base with a long tall stem, and a flat top each of which housed a bouquet of flowers and a red ribbon linking all the ashtrays together, each one having it's own bouquet and a red ribbon bow, which represented the cutting of the ribbons to declare the place open.
The proceedings were kicked off by a larger than life Chinese man, who was adorned in a bright yellow t-shirt, he rallied the crowds and welcomed everyone, was he a Chinese celebrity ?! Maybe I don't know, all around there were people dressed in silk and satin mandarin suits, and other 'performers' like us, wearing the traditional black trousers black t-shirt.
A lion dance team were warming up a little further down the road, practicing lifts and they had a great number of 'props' standing by.
We were all adorned with a golden sash, which is tied around the waist, worn on the right hand hip (we wear our sashes on the left) these were 'Demonstration Sashes' and everyone who was performing in the celebrations had one on, so we knew at a glance who was performing and who was spectating.
First thing that happened (before the compare) was an offering to the gods / ancestors to ask for protection of the school and all who train there, which was a golden dustbin, which had a fire burning inside, we each lit incense sticks and bowed as we had done previously..
Goddamnit, i realised i missed a major part of yesterday out; General Kuen Do was famous in Chinese folk-lore for being a hero of war, his notoriety came from his weapon of choice, which is now named after him 'Kuen Do' (might be Quen Do) so as you may recall a Kuen Do is an 8ft staff with a curved blade at the end, which was being demonstrated during the performances.
General kuen do, used this particular weapon in battle as the legend goes, as he was magnanimous in it's usage *vegetarians look away* he used to swing his Kuen Do like an axe chopping the legs of horses, bringing the rider to the ground where with the back swing he would de-capitate them in one foul swoop.
So yesterday a statue (which cost about £2500 and was brought back from Malasia) was brought to the school, where upon a rose-wood box, he stood, around him were various fruits, a mango, a bunch of bananas, a pair the size of your head, some grapes and other fruity offerings, we placed around the ornate box, with the statue of General Kuen Do with a red face and a long black beard would be situated.
One by one, we lit our 3 sticks of incense, bowed and placed the burning fragrances into a small pot of, what i imagine was sand. After we'd all completed the ritual, Sigung said a few words and asked General Kuen Do for a blessing to protect the school..
Apparently every police station in China has it's own version and since seeing this one, you do notice them quite frequently placed around outside shops, village halls, hospitals, sometimes inside a restaurant or bar too. It's said that once you've opened a new business, General Kuen do will protect it from looters and criminal gangs.
So, back to the proceedings, the (possible) celebrity-man in the yellow t-shirt, called things to order and invited the Legendary Grand Master Sigung Mark Houghton to the centre stage, and three pretty Chinese ladies, dressed in traditional, long red satin dresses adorned with Chinese detailing and frog buttons which had a mandarin-esque collar, hanged off marks arm, one adjusted the mic stand, and then they drifted backward allowing mark to take centre stage and say his speech.
A speech he'd either pre-prepared and learned word for word, or just winged his way thru, no paper was present so i think he possibly winged it. Fair play tho, he got to the end and the audience cheered. We had no idea what was said, but it seemed to go down well,
Shortly after this, ohh.. Wait, something else i've forgotten, when we arrived at the foot of the stairs, having recently tied our sashes, outside, propped up against someone's garage, was a huge red board with some Chinese writing on, we were all handed a gold paint-type pen and asked to individually sign the board, as a witness to the opening of the newest kung fu school in Foshan.... (Not really but shhhh - the official opening is yet to come remember)
So 8 Masters from other schools gathered in front of the brasshtrays and having waited for various pictures to be taken they each took out a golden pair of scissors and cut the ribbons and everyone cheered as two large bangs were heard which sprayed huge streams of paper confetti over the entire celebration.
Immediately after there were some bangs from the side of a huge drum which had been wheeled into place stage left, (to our right) as five lions roared onto stage, as the lion dance began the red ribbons were tidied out of the way and he mic was moved to the rear of the performance area outside the shcool.
The lion dances were fantastic, really very annimated, almost as if they were real lions, at times going up-to members of the audience (including me) putting their faces right up to your face, as if investigating your smell. Then there was a whole acrobatic element of the performance where two lions climbed an 18 ft pole to grab a scroll down hanging from a right-angled pole, the lions (bearing in mind there are two people inside) we up the pole for some time, the right angled bit which was parallel to the floor, had several things tied to it, each man inside the lion dance suit acting as if one creature.
It was remarkable how they moved, each step creating a whole new dynamic position of where the head was in relation to the body and the tail. Originally used as a mark of celebration, to bring in the new year or to mark a special occasion, such as an opening of a new business, wedding ceremonies and the like.. They can be dated back to the Qin Dynasty where they would perform exorcism rituals and to ward off evil spirits and offer protection to the locals and the community from evil spirits, ghosts and other nefarious gooliegogs.
Once the dances were over.. and they did go on for quite some time, at one point using park bench type of wooden arrangements to create almost an obstacle course for the lions to navigate, in doing so, setting off a huge fire-work which in my mind was a bit of a fire risk, the lions would go into each room within the building (except those occupied by other companies, and of course the prestigious new kung fu school still yet to be officially opened remember) making a blessing and asking the ancestors for longevity and prosperity.
Once this was over, we all re-assembled upstairs where the entire cutting the ribbon thing happened again, despite the school not being opened at this point, the ribbons were cut (just for the cameras) however at each juncture we were asked to stand for photos and light 3 incense sticks which after we'd bowed were added to the bowl of sand.
Then we had to make our move, because our performance had not yet been done, we were performing at the restaurant where we were first standing to attention to welcome guests into the main restaurant area, the restaurant was huge in size, you could probably fit an olympic sized swimming pool in side, just to give you an idea of the gargantuaus-ness of the place.
The stage was at one end, with very large tv screens all around and above, all of which were playing excerpts of movies featuring the Hero of the day, Sigung Mark Houghton, who was walking around full of pride, with a bit of a chuffed look about him. Deservedly so too, cos you can tell by the amount of planning and effort that had clearly gone into the day, it really was like we were attending the wedding of some long lost relative, the amount of ceremony that was observed was flabagasting
So as we stood forming a corridor of people, who were all little bit fidgety / yawny by this point, welcoming guests to the restaurant 'Fun Ying', 'Fun Ying', 'Fun Ying' we would say as people approached, some of the people entering looked as if they'd just won a badminton tournament, we weren't sure whether we were meant to be 'fun ying-ing' everyone who walked by, or just those who attended the opening of the school.
Anyway shortly after we were called to take our places at our seats, yet we were not able to sit yet, because we had to be announced. Once this had happened, we all sat, for what seemed about 1 minute, before we were all called up on stage to perfom,
This is it, i told myself, our moment to shine and bring great honour on Mark, as we are representing his school and after the one hundred and forty nine thousand rehersals we had been thru, im sure we got this! I said to myself as we walked up on stage.
We all lined up at the back of the stage as Mark made a few more speeches, diners of the restaurant looking bemused by the pomp and circumstance that was about to take place.
Now, Mark had promised us that he would announce the fact that we’d only recently learned this set, within the past two weeks, as it was a demonstration as to why it’s important for the rest of the world and china to visit china to train with the genuine masters because all over the world the martial art itself is being diluted, by people only learning 3rd and 4th hand, which naturally, gets somewhat bastardised with each succession, people adding or subtracting elements as it gets taught over different periods of time and different continents of the globe.
The talking stopped, the crowd fell eerily silent as the strike of the first drum, called everyone to attention.
First of all we bowed, not from the waist down but a Martial Arts bow, lifting our right fists level with our chin, then cupping with the left hand, inclining the head downward and then retracting, standing to attention once again.
Then the drummer began the rhythmn and everything went into slow motion, a thousand thoughts running thru my head between each bang of the drum, This is it, it all comes down to this one moment in time, as our sifu, Steven, called, we all ran out onto the stage taking our places as we had learned in class.. A sea of heads, all looking in our direction, fixed gazes upon our faces.. I wasn't at all nervous!!! (Lies)
The stage was smaller than we were used to and there was a weirdly placed raised circle centre stage, which obviously can’t be seen from where the audience are sat, however this is something we had not had to oppotunity of seeing beforehand and whilst we stood in a line several people were silently freaking out due to this anomoly,
Not only that but lining the stage were several ceramic pots which contained arranged flowers; now the raised floor brought me no concern as i was centre stage at the front and it was behind me, but the flower pots, they could easily be kicked off at the point when i do the front kick, or maybe even the tiger claw strike to the throat, no matter, we'll have to just meter our footsteps to compensate.
The first call was made, which could only just be heard over the banging of the drum. We went into the first little bit of the bows, and then we waited for the next call then we were back in a 'ready position'.
We paused a moment waiting for the next call to begin the set, each call had a certain specific set of moves attached, sometimes it was just one move, other times it was a series of moves until we arrived at the end of that element before moving on to the next, until we reached the half way point, at various intervals we called as we struck out, making the sound of a lion roaring 'Waugh' but with gusto the sound coming from our diaphragm not our throats.
We made it to the half way point at which point we're all meant to be completing the same movement at the same time, with symmetry so it looks neat and tidy, we weren't far out, in fact from my perspective, we were as near to perfect as we'd ever been. I know it was definitely the best i'd performed it!
We repeated the beginning of the set, taking it from the half-way point which is a mirror of the first bit and eventually we had completed the set and were drifting backwards, remembering not to turn our backs on the audience, except for when the set required us to do so. We then stood in a line regaining our breath.
Then it was Steve's turn, the drums again signalling when to begin and he performed his set flawlessly, something he had been struggling with yesterday, he'd only been taught this particular set in the morning of the day before so he had absorbed it fully from start to end in one day (the mark of a true legend) however at the end of the day, he was making small mistakes which were leading to him facing the wrong way, however now, after a few more practices in his room, i imagine, he had nailed it!
Then next came the turn of Eric Wong, who's set was phenominal, really expressive, as i said encompassing the 5 emotions and coming from the monkey style, there were parts of this set where he audibly laughed at the same time, his hands were seen to be scratching both sides of the back of his head, again; it's probably best if i show you the videos of this, they are actually available now on facebook, youtube and various other websites.
All the other performances went well including Gary's who was doing the double dagger form, which Steve was meant to be doing, something we will be learning ourselves after the performances are over and we have eaten of course, but again something he was struggling with the night before, i think to be honest, it was mostly due to fatigue and the pressure.
Gary by the way, isn't a member of our group as such, he's one of our groups Sifu's he's from Scotland and flew out here, with another guy called Glen, who's based in Leominster (incidentally, initially, having never met them before, I was getting their names mixed up, as I kept calling Glen Gary, and Gary Glen, tho i'm not sure anyone noticed).
So the performances came to an end and it was now the turn of the Preying Mantis set and art performance, so the Master of the Preying Mantis came up on stage, as Terry, Myself Gary and Eric moved to stage left, waiting for the right time, for to hold the blank tapestry, onto which he would be painting. Whilst he was completing the caligraphy, Gary and Eric assumed a 'horse riding stance' (kae ma po) and the artist, who's name i've since forgotten (shame on me) firstly posed for some photo's of the media who gathered around him and then beckoning me to step forward, as i was holding the bowl which had a paint/ink mixture inside, it smelled of ink, but it had a consistency more as you would expect of paint.
He then completed the masterpiece, all the while Gary and Eric remained in a horse stance, it probably seemed like an eternity, as whenever you're in this stance, pretty much everything hurts. It was actually only for about 90 seconds, but when holding a stance for any length of time, it's almost as if time itself slows right down, each second seeming to take 10, beads of sweat formed across their brow as the artist completed his calligraphic composition.
After it was complete, Terry and I took the remaining two corners so that we could hold this newly done piece of art work for the world to see, Gary and I adopted a bow stance and held our fingers out almost in a tiger claw, but vertical, with our index finger sticking upward.
After this we all rejoined the line of people at the back of the stage again and at a certain point, Gordon who was the furthest to my left (stage right) called and turned to his left (stage right) and waited, until everyone behind him had followed suit, until another call was made by (i think) Eric, to confirm we had all turned at which point we all ran off stage, walked to the back of our respective seats around the table, awaiting instructions from Sigung that we could sit down.
The thumbs up came and we all sat, sighs of relief was heard and various people admitting their mistakes, almost persecuting themselves for not being in the right place at the right time, etc.. Moaning about the dodgy carpet on the stage, which caused minor problems with steps as it wasn't glued, only placed on the stage.
Anyway we proceeded to eat the food which was being frequently placed on the lazy susan in front of us, i have to agree, this probably went down among us all as being the worst food thus far, not overly appetizing, heads, eyes, feet all present, nothing at all for Ross who’s a vegitarian, the trouble was you see it was a set menu, so they cook the same dishes for each and every table, we were being hosted to this food by the restaurant itself. Even a call for more soft drinks went down like a lead balloon. Being told there was literally nowhere that could take funds for additional drinks, further bottles of (warm) coke and sprite did appear shortly after however. Being honest the food was plentiful, it just wasnt great! There were certain dishes which were nice, although they were in the minority. It felt like they’d tried to cater for all, and in doing so, catered for none. That being said, the locals seemed to thoroughly enjoy the food being offered so it might have just been a question of taste and presentation. I must admit tho, i left there feeling full, but there was a lot of food left over at the end of the meal.
After the meal we were taken back to the school however, as we were moving on tomorrow, some free time was allowed to go back to the hotel to pack our belongings so that when we woke up we could be straight out after breakfast.
We were given forty minutes to head back, pack our stuff, obviously after sorting out what we’d be wearing etc.. and get ourselves sorted out. I think i fell asleep for a bit after having packed my stuff away, if im honest it only took me about 5 minutes anyway as, since leaving Cheng Du, not much had left my suitcase at all.
Forty minutes later we were leaving the comfort of the nice air conditioning of the hotel, out in the humid hot sunshine and we were walking back toward the school, for we had more training to do!
This was fantastic, we were all excited to be learning the new weapons form, Double Daggers.
Double daggers are as the name suggests, two identical knives which when used in conjunction with each other form two independant weapons, however thru the form, or set we were learning, were very deadly.
During the training Mark came over to us to offer advice and show us where we were going wrong, at one point he gathered us together to talk about the daggers themselves.
Obviously what we were learning is deadly, there’s no two ways about this, all attacks were being made to arteries, to the throat, to the some of the main veins and vital organs, therefore mark broke down the set and explained that what we’re learning is not to be taken lightly, that we are learning this in the hope you never have to physically use this, but if you do need to use this form, that its to protect your own life, in a life or death situation, or the life of a family member.
He continued by saying that each and every one of us is responsible for our own actions, not only in the eyes of the law and the lord, but also in the eyes of his school, basically what he was getting as was that by learning this form, one does so with a sense of responsibility, a sense of maturity but most of all a sense of humility, if any one of us were to end up in prison, for example due to mis-use of any of his teachings, it would weigh heavily on his heart and as we’re all learning the form together equally on the hearts of all of our kung fu brothers and sisters as he so elloquently put it. In other words, dont be a dick, because you can easily, with this skill, end lives!
He went on to say that he will never teach knife defense, something which we do in the Lau Gar sylabus, he quantified this by saying that if someone is going to stab you, they wont show you the knife, it’ll be hidden behind a leg, or up a sleive, it wont be on display and chances are, he’ll be away as your guts fall out, not quite realising what has happened - fair point i thought, however most people who would be likely to pull a knife on you, would probably mostly be doing so in order to extort money from you, probable drug users looking for their next hit, or potential muggers looking to scare you into giving them riches.
It is a beautiful world in which we live, however certain people make it ugly due to their actions, motives unseen to the naked eye, me personally i agree with what he was saying, if someone is going to stab you, generally speaking it will be over before you’ve realised whats happened, but i do also see a need to learn how to defend oneself in the event of a mugging or other such attack, therefore i was a little torn in my thought process.
He pressed on saying that knife defense can give someone a false sense of security that they can defend themselves against a knife attack although in reality, if someone presents a knife, you actually should either do as they ask, or run fast where possible.
What we are learning today is violence, not for the sake of violence, but for the sake of protection, what our sigung mark was demonstrating, both verbally and physically is that you will never be faster than someone with a knife, if they mean to bring you harm, by means of this method then your only hope is that luck is on your side.
We went over the form many times, correcting and re-iterating the importance of the hand positions and the strike points. All at once we heard a loud scream of YES !!!!!
We all turned round astonished, wondering what the commotion was about; YES!!! MY DAUGHTER WON THE TOURNAMENT !!! Came the clarification as everyone in the room, literally stopped what they were doing. Marks daughter who as you may recall was fighting in an MMA tournament in Japan.. She only went and bloody won the entire tournament ! What a day for this guy, first he opens his Art Gallery, Stuido, Tea Ceremony suite and Karaoke bar (not the school remember) and now his daughter has won the tournament. It was cause for celebration indeed, yet we had more to learn..
We carried on training for a little while and by now time was pressing on and it was beginning to get dark and there was now much celebrating to be done so we wound down, having a few pictures taken with the Grand Master after he’d handed us all some yellow friendship flags, with the name of the school on and a few other messages in Chinese.
It was a lovely gesture as with heartfelt words he explained that we were now considered to be family! Before handing me my flag, as i was the last person, having taken photos of everyone having their flags handed to them, he looked at me and as he shook my hand and handed me my flag, he said, "this guy has the biggest heart of anyone".. I was like, erm, really !? Are you sure ?! my modesty not allowing the words to filter thru to my ego..
We then headed down, all in the one lift to the third floor, to the Kareoke suite, which when we arrived already had a few people celebrating, some singing songs in Chinese.
Mark had brought with him a very nice bottle of Whiskey said to be worth £3000 therefore each glass would be the equivalent of a few hundred quid.
Now those of you how know me well, will know im not a drinker. In fact some would probably use the words tea-total. In fact the last time i really drank any alcohol was at probably at least a few years ago and even then it wasnt very much!
However... this night, it seemed rude not to. Especially as the alcohol in question was so bloody beautiful. At the beginning of the night, Mark came up to me handed me a mic and so i joined him in song, i cant remember what it was but it kicked things off with a bang, he was pouring the whiskey as if it were water and we were having a whale of a time.
So i battened down the hatches and got blind drunk - well, when in Rome ?!?
I was dancing on the stage, i was singing on Kareoke and i was by all means suddenly very drunk. It was whiskey that began the pickling of my liver, however we downed that bottle between the 20 or so people that filled the kareoke suite within about 30 minutes. Beers were flowing but i dont drink beer.
Soon after the whiskey ran dry, i asked mark if there was any more, as i dont really drink beer, mark vanished a little while, whilst a dance-off between Prashant and a Chinese guy, we were singing on the kareoke amidst heavy dance tunes were being played and everyone was having lots of fun.
Mark re-appeared and with his arm around my neck he walked me to a quieter corner and told me that, i’d asked him for more whiskey, alas he had none, however he produced another bottle.
He said this bottle of brandy, is over 290 years old and ive been waiting for a special occasion for it to be opened.. I Looked him in the eye and said "Dude, this is not that special occasion", when i asked for another bottle of whiskey, i expected him to produce a bottle of Jack Daniels, or Scotch, i certainly wasn't expecting a 290 year old bottle to be opened, but he insisted that today WAS that day! Thinking about it, he had opened his very own Chinese Martial Art School today, his Daughter had won the tournament, everything went without a hitch, perhaps today was that day !!
"Fair do's, who am i to argue, charge my challis" , i said to him, he cackled with laughter, pulled out the cork with his teeth, in true pirate fashion and poured us both a (plastic) glass of the lovely liquor.
This brandy.. Ooh this brandy. It was soo tasty. We were drinking it neat, by the way, no mixer to go with it.. And shortly after I was really was very very drunk! Still laughing hard, particularly at Nikos who'd gotten hold of the mic and was saying the words to the songs which were appearing on the screen.
I found this absolutely hilarous, he obviously didn't know the songs, despite them being pretty well known English songs, but he's greek, instead of singing (he was quite drunk too btw) he was literally just reading as if he was reading a sermon..
I have to say i laughed so hard i actually fell over. To say the night was going down a storm would've been a huge understatement.
Glen was Mc'ing over the hard dance tunes in between the karaoke songs being (mostly) murdered by those choosing to sing (me included), it reached 12am and i had planned to leave around 11 to get a good nights sleep, but i think when i saw the time i threw caution to the wind and just carried on..
We got to the point when we all had to leave, mostly because the loud music would've been disturbing the (very understanding) neighbours and so the lights came on and we were ushered out of the door, it didn't matter, we'd had a blast and it was by now nearly 2 am 3 hours past my bed-time.
Attempting to walk home, very drunk, we were singing, holding on to one another for fear of falling.. Apparently at one point i got hit by a parked car and was rescued by the long arm of The law, our very own sifu Steve (who was also pretty hammered tho, no-where near as much as me i don't think).
He sought to scrape me up off the pavement and point me in the right direction of our hotel, laughing as he did (i hope). He had a really good singing voice too by the way, as he picked me up i recalled us singing together at the karaoke suite and we both carried on walking down the road, singing and enjoying the ambiance
i say apparently because i have no recollection of this at all, i do however recollect nearly making it back to my hotel room, however i passed out on the carpet just outside.
Mikey and Debbie to my rescue arriving back shortly after me, heroically helped me into my room before returning to their room.
Three things i remember from this night are;
1. I have never laughed so hard in my life,
2. I have not been this drunk since 1996
3. I have had an amazing night and i love this place!
Ok so that was technically 4 but who's counting !? I think i slept with my clothes on, i did however remember to set an alarm and remove my contact lenses before finally passing out on my actual bed and probably snored like a bear in winter !!
Day 17 - 24/9 Leaving China.
So today we are leaving China there’s only a few more days before our trip is over (booo) but we are heading for the beautiful harbour town of Hong Kong.
Before i go into todays blog tho, some things i need to share with you about the wonderful country of China.
Firstly, they are a very peaceful people, working happily along-side each other, valueing highly such things like Family, Community, Healthy Living and a desire to help one another, not for financial gain but more in a ‘you scratch my back, i’ll scratch yours’ kinda way, they are incredibly innovative aswell, every problem seeming to have a solution, there appears to be a very low rate of unemployment and majoritvely people seem happy and contented; obviously this may just be on the face of it, perhaps cracks in the leadership / governing of the country don’t show, but i think on the whole, we’re not quite sure why, or neccesarily how it does but it just seems to work!
Often you would see, like in Beijing in the parks in the morning, many many people socialising, whether it be practicing Martial Arts, or dancing, movement seems to be a key factor, ive seen it before when i was there too, even in the freezing cold temperatures falling way below zero, yet still in the parks people were dancing with each other to music either being played live or on a cd player, its a very lovely way of life, something that we westerners seem to have lost touch with somewhat, all choosing to stay in our homes and watch Gogglebox than go into the community and meet people face to face.
Traffic can be horrendous however it also seems to flow freely, despite hold-up’s and traffic jams, it all still has a sense of movement, as they dare to dice, switching lanes, simulatenously over and undertaking one another with a sound of the horn and late indication, they pull off and onto the motorways, using the hard shoulder if they have to.
Each city we’ve visited have very good transport links, often using an underground system which is often uber-efficient, if a little crowded at the height of rush hour, the busses and trains can be paid for by an ‘octopus’ card which you pre-load, similar to Londons Oyster card.
The food is very tasty, each region having it’s own style and flavours and of course Spice, not always blowing your mouth of firey, but there’s usually always a bit of a kick, no more so than in ZhangJiaJie where it was agreed by all, the hottest and most chilli taste, is it weird that the name for heat in food derives from something we call chilli, or is that just me.. lol
Often you will find things being delivered to your table looking similar to how it wouldve looked when the animal was alive, ie heads, feet, beaks, eyes and bones are common often having the leg, for example diced up into mouth-size pieces. The locals often spit out the bits they dont eat, which can often be off-putting for us westerners.
They love to spit, having hacked up their lungs before hand, which always makes me pull a disgruntled face, occasionally holding one nostril and blowing a globule of snot out of the other therefore its fair to say their ettiquite isnt quite what one would call civilized.
Its very safe, not just to walk about you your own but with regard to your personal belongings and your general sense of safety, at no point did i feel like i was entering a dodgy situation or feel uncomfortable, except with the frequently annoying security checks, however i can see the sense in this, not just from a governmental perspective but for your own personal safety. Also as a way of controlling immigation and visa’s etc..
ive mentioned all of this before, i know, but im just giving you my overall impressions of China as a country.
Toilets; they tend to be a bit hit and miss, more a hole in the ground, with two foot steps either side on which to stand, however hotel rooms tend to have a european toilet bowl. Toilet paper is NOT always provided so it's best to carry some with you, and whilst you're there i'd recommend an alcohol based hand sanitiser. Oh, some public toilets don't even have a door.. it seems privacy is a luxury in public here. Having said this, i've only had to use one toilet which wasn't European and that was in the school in Foshan, so i got away lightly really. Apparently tho, the idea of squatting is a much healthier way of doing a poop, because your colon aligns better moving your intestines out of the way... Moving swiftly onwards;
Its very beautiful and green (in summer (the country, not the toilets)) it definitely pays to have a basic understanding of their language as in certain places they wont / dont speak any English, and can grow a little impatient if they dont understand what you mean or want, unless they have the ability to use a translator app to assist the conversation, this however largely relies on wifi. Good levels of 3G and 4G are hard to come by as i didn't seem to get anything higher than 2G (E) once in arrived in China, despite me having paid for a world wide bundle with my phone operator prior to departure (02)
Generally if your buying something they will really go the extra mile to get to the bit where they’re taking your money however, but if you were lost and needed help for example, i think it could prove difficult unless you happened to find someone patient enough to assist you
So, would i go back to China again? HELL YES, and I plan to before my visa expires. (Watch this space)
So last night i slept very well having woken up slightly later than i wanted, having slept thru my alarms i set before passing out.
There was no time for a shower, or even breakfast as we had to be down in reception for check out as we would be catching a bus to the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong.
Arriving down in the lobby i realised that the feeling of motion i had in the lift wasnt merely just the motion of the lift but i was in fact, still drunk - oops!
I donned my darkened glasses which was helping slightly with my headache, i took two ibuprofen and had copious amounts of water to help with the dehydration as i knew as soon as i stepped outside i would be blasted with the heat of the days sun and explosive temperature, despite the fact it was only 9:30am
As sure as eggs is eggs as we left we were hit in the face with a furnace like blast of heat, and just to give you an example of the heat, it steamed my glasses up.
We were walking to the bus stop which would take us to the border between China and Hong Kong wheeling our lives in suitcases, along the road, we were recollecting the night befores antics and having a jolly old laugh at our own expence, what a fantastic night it was too, we were all feeling a little delicate, suffice to say.
The bus stop wasnt too far just around, probably just a little further than the School where we’d been training but in the opposite direction, however wheeling our cases along the pavement, navigating the locals, being thunderblasted by the sunshine, all with wobbly legs and a pounding head was somewhat of a challenge i have to say, although i was happy we didnt have to do anymore training this morning, as initially our coach wasnt leaving until much later and so we wouldve had to continue our training, learning more of the double daggers set..
I for one was very pleased his wasnt the case, im not saying i wouldnt have liked to have finished off the training but i know if i had been doing that, i wouldnt have drank anything the night before and i very much enjoyed the getting drunk bit, plus the fact we were now heading to Hong Kong, not only is it somewhere ive always wanted to visit but also, there’s no plans as such, so its kinda like free time for 3 days and that was something i was very much looking forward to, dont get me wrong, ive enjoyed every minute of the trip thus far, but to say its been exhausting would be an understatement, mostly as a case of burning the candle both ends.
Anyway the coach arrived after a little time, just enough time to get some provisions, water, crisps and those lovely Yoghurty drinks i seem to have been pretty much living on since i discovered them, and we set of for Shengzen which is the closest town to the border of Hong Kong.
Within about 32 seconds of the coach pulling away from the bus-stop on the side of the road, 98% of the group were zonked out, fast asleep.. i however was not, i was taking in the scenery and writing my blog, my blog has been hard to keep on top of, since being having moved south, duly because of the amount of time we've been training and after training it's often been too late and i've been too tired to write, but i've been writing notes so i don't forget.
I really do enjoy writing my blogs from wherever i've been in the world i find it helps me to relax at the end of the day and more to the point, it helps me to capture some of the memories, not only that but it reminds me when i'm reading back the emotions i was feeling at the time and the little details i would forget if it weren't being recorded, so i hammered my little keyboard as if it were going to suddenly expire, somehow, typing as much as i could, trying to mentally put myself back in that space and time and really connect with how it was, by now i've fallen about 6-7 days behind however and despite my best efforts i just wasn't able to keep on top, so i had decided just before my arrival in Foshan that i would focus on what was important, which was the training and now at this point, i needed to try and catch up as much as possible, so as the laughter and cheer, turned to silence and snoring, i tried to capture as much detail as i could about the previous few days, remembering things i would later call upon to make it in to the blog.
We were trundling thru the backstreets picking up more passengers as we went to various bus stops around Foshan, however, the driver was a complete idiot, he was definitely driving too fast for the roads conditions and it felt as if he wasn't fullu concentrating on the road ahead when a very loud, collective "gasp" filled the coach as he had to perform an emergency stop and everyone on board, nearly head-butted the seat in front, myself included.
I wondered if he were actually on his phone whilst driving, as the traffic had come to a complete standstill momentarily. Talking on mobiles whilst driving in China isn't illegal, in fact i've even seen police driving along with a mobile pressed to their ear, having a good old chin-wag as they single handedly navigate the streets, not only the police, but single motorists on mopeds and motorbikes, without any form of protective clothing, or a crash helmet.
Being a biker, even i could see how stupid this act was, it made me think about how we moaned when the ban came into force in the uk and actually made me feel very grateful that the ban is in place, because and i'm not saying the driver of our coach, definitely was on the phone, but it made me think of what would happen in the event of a major crash with all those people.
A short while later we were sailing along the motorway, the coach drivers skills still coming into question now and then with a few choice swerves and not exactly braking with any sense of courtesy for his passengers suffice to say i think we were all a little relieved when the coach finally pulled into the car park, i'm not too sure what happened preceding this, as i did fall asleep for what seemed like about 5 minutes, but i think it was probably closer to the standard 40 winks
Where were we ?! I was a little disorientated. As the coach doors opened, i remembered it was still hot outside, the nice comfortable air conditioned coach keeping us all cool, literally as soon as i stepped outside, i longed to be back in the comfort of the air con.. I did briefly consider just getting back on, so i could get back off, with the realisation that this would happen. Alas there was no time.
Anna was leaving us at this point as she had a connecting flight, due to an problem with the issuance of her visa for our next stop on our whistle stop tour of China, so we all hugged her and thanked her for her non-wavering support, as she had been there since we arrived in Cheng Du and we had all grown attached to her.
So after we said our good-bye's we entered into an airport-like building, i say airport-like.. It was an actual airport, but we weren't flying anywhere. As we were on the border between Shenzen and Hong Kong, Which of course was until 1997 was owned by Great Britian, before we handed it back to China, effectively we were leaving China and entering the Uk.
What happened next was a little bizzarre, because we had to clear customs, passport control and of course the standard security checks one normally associates with an airport, yet still we were not flying anywhere - I think most of us were still a little drunk.. We had to fill out a 'departure card' for China and an 'arrival card' for Hong Kong this in itself was a challenge, no more so for a chap called Terry, who i affectionately called Uncle Terry.
His legs were wobbly and his hands were shaky and he'd somehow managed to lose his glasses somewhere along the line, well maybe not lost, most probably just packed away in his suitcase, so i assisted him with completing his departure and arrival cards, which was arduous to say the least, it was bad enough doing my own, anyway several attempts later and we both had our cards done and ready to go.
We then joined several queue's and had our passports stamped, our luggage scanned and sniffed by a lovely black labrador we then made our way down a bit of a ramp to our next location.
Hong Kong ! Technically, we had arrived, we had legally crossed the border and despite there being a shortage of time, to visit duty free inside the airport, or even enough time to visit the toilets (we didn't want to miss the connecting coach) We shortly after loaded our belongings onto the coach and began the 45 minute journey to Hong Kong.
I think we were all a little filled with excitement, what was Hong Kong like, would it be reminiscent of our colonial past, would there be nicer toilets.. Oooh we're driving on the left, that's erm.. Odd, and a tad refreshing, what was more refreshing, was this particular coach driver (new coach) was driving far more sensibly and that was a releif.
All the way along the journey out the windows there were some beautiful scenes of the water, which we'd not seen for a long time, except rivers, but this was actual sea, wait, was it, or was it a river.. No i'm sure it was the sea.. Bridges spanned a huge distance between islands, boats busily made their way back and forth spanning the distance, between the bridge on which we were driving and the land off in the distance, Was that hong kong, naah it couldn't be..
It was very beautiful scenery everything appearing to be more spread out, peoples homes having lots of space with gardens and roof terraces, some even having a jetty to grant easy access to the waters edge.
We entered a tunnel which seemed to go on for a very long time, maybe 10-15 minutes (i'm not sure exactly, as i fell back to sleep again). As i woke up, we had pulled into a bus stop, in the middle of a busy city centre type of scene, we disembarked, from the left. Which felt odd, as i'm sure we got in on the opposite side - aaaah that was what was different, no, in fact we hadn't we got on from the left side as you would expect, it hadn't occurred to me until now, perhaps because i was still a little drunk / sleepy or perhaps because it felt normal, despite the fact that i'd been used to getting on and off on the opposite side of the coach / bus / mini-bus etc..
So as the coach pulled away leaving us stood on the side of the road baking in the hot noon-day sun, we were discussing how we would be getting to our new Hong Kong hotel.
Obviously the easiest way wouldve been to jump in a taxi, however, there were one or two issues with this prospect, primarily being the sheer amount of luggage we have now accumulated since the past few destinations and one or two of us (Terry) buying at least one of everything China has to offer.
Not only that, the bigger issue we had was currency, as everything we’ve been buying, has been paid for using the local currency of ¥uen (CNY) and now we were in Hong Kong which uses the Hong Kong $ (HKD).
By now Prash’s case was beginning to fall apart. In Beijing was the first time we had seen the issue, basically one of his wheels fell off at some point between London, Abu Dhabi and Beijing and so when he arrived he began dragging the case around on just one wheel.
The other side had a plastic wheel assembly, with a missing wheel, so all the housing for a wheel, but the wheel was absent.
When we were at the silk market he did look into getting a new case, however he decided against purchasing a new one because he reportedly has many suitcases and so to buy a new one would be pointless, due to most places we visited, up to this pointc, having a rather flat, shiny marbel surface,
Cut to 6 cities later his poor case being literally dragged down roads up mountains, on busses, trains, planes, taxi’s, lifts, mini-busses, and being dragged for miles and his poor little (big) suitcase was beginning to show, signs of wear shall we say, the wheel housing has by now ground down to a short stump and the bottom of the suitcase has began to fray.
Therefore the prospect of dragging his case all the way to the hotel was rather a daunting prospect.
The only way we could get to the hotel without taking a taxi would be to use google maps to locate it on the map, as we had no real idea as to where in hong kong we were in relation to the hotel, we knew we were in the right vicinity but without knowing exactly where would probably be as hard as finding nemo.
So we had ourselves a bit of a dilemma. Stevens phone was on a bit of a go-slow which was not helpful considering he has a number of people relying on his navigational prowess, as it turned out, some people do have a small amount of hong kong dollars and so to save those people who had particuarly bad issues with mobility, prashant due to his wheels, Uncle terry due to his discombobulation what with him still being slightly wobbly in the leg department and Nick, due to him (and terry) having purchased a rather substantial quantity of swords and other such weapons, they all jumped in a taxi, there was one space left in the cab and as the meter was running already, the person with the least amount of luggage (due to a lack of space) took the remaining seat.
Debbie who was bundled into the cab by me, pulling off had a sadface on, upon reflection i think she wanted to walk, but it all happened so quickly and i think it left her disgruntled, so Debbie, if you’re reading, im sorry! Xx
It was all a bit hectic but once the taxi had pulled away Steve’s phone had caught up with the new Hong Kong networks and so we had a route planned to walk to take us to the hotel.
It was really interesting seeing the differences between Hong Kong (From here on known as HK as its too long to keep typing out). So the first differences were abundantly obvious.
The heat, oh my gosh talk about jumping from the frying pan and into the fire, the sweat was pouring out from everywhere as the group of honky white people traversed thru the busy streets, suitcases were misbehaving all over the place, wheels going off as if it had its own agenda, my case ran quite smoothly, on the nice marble floors of the air conditioned airports but now, on the cobbled streets of HK with uneven slabs, raised nobbly bits at each intersection, presumably to aid the blind, they were causing all kinds of havoc for me.
I dream of the day where one can have a ride-on suitcase with a nice 50cc engine, especially if theres a hook at the back for handluggage, or to add additional wheelie cases - #GapInTheMarket
We were walking in the direction of Prince Edward street, wait.. what ?! Price Edward street? Cant be - yep, it was, most of the roads in fact had British names, argyle street, perth street, chester road, derby road, lincoln street, it was just weird but in a comforting way, there were some chinese street names interspersed to tho Long Mok street, Ho Ti Man street, we were in the subburbs of Kowloon, which is rather internationally renowned, for where Ip man set up his school after having left Foshan back when the Japanese invaded, if you havent already seen it, watch a film called “Ip Man”, bloody brilliant film depicting Ip Man as being the saviour of China in this time of unrest, Ip Man being one of the few people left who was a master of Wing Chun Style kung fu,
Anyway we were pushing our cases along, and i began to tell you of the differences between HK and mainland China, so some of them were suttle like for instance, English language is everywhere, every sign has an English translation, street signs, shop signs, even signs for food i noticed had translations upon them, instantly this made one feel somewhat, ‘at home’.
However, it was definitely still very oriental. The streets were not curry’s dixons and holland and barret, no most of the shops were similar to as we had seen in mainland, except, there were dozens more of them, selling all kinds of things, jewellery seemed to be pretty common, as well as opticians and electical goods and by jove i dont beleive it - foreign exchange !!
Foreign exchanges, not just one, but practically on every street corner, every few hundred yards even, we were walking past food eateries with all kinds of pre-cooked meats, there were diy shops selling showers, hammers, drills, well you know Diy, but not like a B&Q style, more like the traditional specialists we used to have before the big retail parks began to spring up in the uk, like weeds, strangling the once proffitable hardware stores which are becomming a thing of the past now.
There was a right din, the background noise being filled with all kinds of traders and street vendors, whilst it was great to see, i slightly envied those who had travelled by taxi, by now i was sweatting so much that i think even my eye balls were leaking sweat, i mean whats the point of eye brows and lashes if the sweat just runs into your corneas anyway.
It took us probably about 20 minutes to find the hotel and when we went into the foyer it was ICE COLD, it was like stepping inside of a deep freezer and oh my days it was truly lush!
It was like every part of my body was an ice lolly. I have to say standing in that hotel lobby for that period of time, whilst room keys and passports were sorted out, it was like jumping into a plunge pool having been trapped inside a sauna for slightly too long, it was heaven !
Once we had completed check-in we had (i think) 45 minutes to aclimatise and go to the rooms, take a shower, utilise the ablutions, then we were back down to the marble façade of the hotel lobby as we were heading out for food.
There was a 24 hour McDonalds on the road opposite our hotel, can u beleive it, a 24 hour McDonalds, it really felt like we were back in civilization compared to China, now obviously we didnt eat there, but it was just the sight of those golden arches.
To be clear, i really dont like McDonalds food! I very rarely eat it when im in the U.k maybe once every six months when it gets too late to bother cooking and so McD’s is the easiest option, but when you’ve been in some of the deepest darkest parts of China (which if im honest, we probably really hadnt even been to, but on some days it did feel like the rest of the world is literally a different planet) anyway it was a welcome sight, a sight which lured you in, but we hadnt got time for that.. not yet anyway, we walked about 15 yards up the street heading away from our hotel and there stood opposite us, was a foreign exchange, i went up to the counter, it wasnt so much a shop as a shop front, handed the lovely lady inside all of my CNY and she handed me the equivalent in HKD, it worked out roughly the same, calculating from English to Hkd we were getting just over $9.00 : £1.00
Directly opposite us there was a chemist, again something that was a little few and far between in China, there were stores selling [ahem] ladies products and hair, beauty products but no chemists as such.
Just then, a very British-looking ambulance pulled up and there was a bit of a commotion happening right across the street from us, at which point Uncle terry dashed across the road, we thought, to see if there was anything he could do.
I decided i needed to go to the chemist as i needed to buy some Psoriasis cream, so as i got i to the chemist, there was Terry looking around the (extremely narrow) aisles, he was trying to find some spectacles as he still hasnt managed to locate them since leaving the mainland.
After we’d both finished in the chemists we went practically next door to a little restaurant, where along the back wall, a little old lady sat enjoying some ‘congee’ which is a porridgey looking startchy rice dish.
As we entered a very smiley lady approached to ask how many people we had, now this number has increased and decreased occasionally due to various additional tour-guides at various intervals, we decided upon 12 people i think after a quick head-count.
Unfortunately there wasnt 12 seats together so the poor lady eating her congee was politely asked (by the restaurateur) to move tables so we could all sit together, i must say i felt a bit sorry for her as she shuffled off muttering something in cantonese (probably something like ‘Bloody English’).
We sat down all in one row where we could all have a good look at the menu, it was large and extensive but most of us opted for the same thing, beef noodles.
I have to say at this point i couldve eaten a donkey, i was starving and i could feel my body telling me, it’s time to eat Danny, why are we not eating yet... has one still not arranged some dietry requirements, in the form of several groans of my stomach, seeming to feel louder and more intense with each succession.
The food seemed to take an age to come, it probably didnt but i think because i was just so hungry it seemed every passing second was lasting at least a minute.
I guess it took maybe 15 minutes for the food to arrive and it was good.. very good in fact, a lovely noodle broth with strips of beef a few pungent chilli’s and some leafy corriander, on the table there were condiments in the form of soy sauce, chilli sauce, seasame seeds, salt, pepper and (randomly) tooth-picks, chopsticks were in a seperate metalic tub but serviettes were none existant.
We all ate and recharged out batteries, mikey throwing around some awful jokes, his trademark it would seem, the groans of laughter when you heard the punchlines, honestly i dont know where he actually got them all from moreover how he remembered them all, because it was as if they were in a plentiful supply. Personally, I happened to find his sense humour right on my level.
As we left the noodle bar, heading back the 15-20 yards to our hotel we passed a 7-11 (supermarket) which sold all manner of yummy goods, including some very well known brands, including (but not limited to) M&m’s, Cadbury’s chocolate, skittles, mentos and my favourite yoghurty fruit drink, i ended up spending i think somewhere in the region of about £15 ($150 hkd) on confectionary and i didnt care a jot! I was affluent once more and so i rejoyced by treating myself!
We went back to the hotel for a bit so we could unwind and let our dinner go down a bit before heading back out toward the harbour of HONG KONG CITY BABY!
We took the metro which was, from our hotel maybe 150 yards to the left, we rode a few stops and were delivered very quickly to the most amazing night time scene one could feast one’s eyes upon.
I have to say at this point it was very concrete jungle with the skyscrapers reaching up into the sky, but the illuminations that danced off the water was in itself a spectacle.
We walked around a bit, taking in the ambiance, seeing the skyline all lit up like christmas made me really feel comforted, im not sure why, but it felt very homely, almost romantic and certainly very spectacular.
We had a mooch thru the down town streets, beside the harbour, round some back streets and right into the heart of the city, the shops here were more as you would expect to find on Oxford street in London, definitely a very western feel to it, ooh look a Pizza Hut, ooh and a Pizza Express.. we journeyed on taking in the city, with each corner we turned a new vista befell us creating an entirely new scene, ooh Nike store, and an Addidas, it really was like home, but interspersed with various hints of Chinese origin.
You can definitely feel a British heritage sewn into the fabric of the city - ooh look an actual Holland & Barrett! Random!
Time pressed on and it suddenly became time to eat again, it seems like we’d only just eaten but it was probably about 6 or so hours later now.
We took a vote as to where we would like to eat and the verdict was wither Mr Spaghetti, or Pizza Hut. If im honest i wasnt too fussed either way, Itallian is always a good choice for me, even with an American influence.
We opted for Pizza Hut, so we trundled over to Pizza Hut and decended the stairs to the restaurant inside, however thwarted by our own patard, it seems, we had taken too long to decide which restaurant grabbed our eye as by time we had got to the foot of the stairs, we were met by a very pretty waitress who sadly informed us that they’d just closed.
Mr Spaghetti it was then, we made our way back over to the opposite corner and entered the lobby of the restaurant, after taking an elevator to the third floor, we were seated at the back of the place, with a bench seat along the back wall, the attentative staff, moved some tables around so that we could all sit next to and facing one another in one group, menus were dished out and orders placed.
I decided to only have a starter as i wasnt fully hungry but i definitely could eat, i ordered an Avocado, egg and cheese salad and when it was presented to me, i felt very grateful that i’d only taken a starter, it was the size of a salad one would prepare if one were going on a picnic with 14 friends and it was delectable!
We had sat there eating and drinking, some with eyes bigger than their bellies, however no one knew quite how big the portions would be..
After the meal we sat chatting, drinking and exchanging stories and generally having an array of banter between us, so much so that once our bills had been settled, literally with no fuss what so ever, especially considering we all wanted seperate bills as we were going dutch, anyway we were asked to leave because the restaurant was closing!
We left the restaurant all having fed and watered our selves and then we made our way back to the tube station and journeyed back to our departure point, olympic, walked the 150 yards to our hotel and went to bed!!!
Until next time.. see you later peeps!! Xx
Day 18 - 25/9
So Today is our first day in Hong Kong, After getting back last night we arranged to meet in the lobby at 10:30 so we had a bit of a lie in which felt very luxurious, didn't even bother to set an alarm, although it turned out i'd not cancelled it either, thus i was woken up at 07:30 i checked the time and went back to bed.
When we arrived down in the lobby, after showering and getting dressed etc, we went to the various places locally for food, individually to speed up the process, as today we are going to Victoria peak.
Ooh i forgot to say a really cool feature of this particular hotel is that they have a FREE mobile phone in the room, which is free to use and it can be taken out of the hotel to use as your own, you can take photos, use 4G services make calls and do everything else you'd normally do with your own telephone handset. I think this is a really cool feature of this hotel, obviously there are charges in case of loss, or damage which is understandable.
The weather this morning is very hot and sunny, quite humid too but it's a very nice temperatures by all accounts, i did the usual thing of walking out of my hotel, forgetting that you've been air conditioned all night and throughout the hotel so when you arrive in the lobby it feels normal, often considering whether to go back and put longer trousers on and then when you walk outside, you nearly faint due to the heat.
We went to the metro station which is very close, as i mentioned, but i think due to a typo yesterday id put it wasn't very close.. It was very close ! It took us about 4/5 minutes to get there, i guess a similar distance to your local bus-stop at home.
We journeyed down to the central point as we were going to take a 'Junk Boat' trip around the harbour. There are two boats that do harbour tours, one is an original junk boat which was once sunk to the sea bed. The other is a replica.
The once sunken wreck was apparently raised from the harbour floor by a rich man who spent a fortune and lots of time, restoring it to it's former glory. We wanted to get on this boat for a bit of heritage, tho apparently due to it's restoration it costs a bit more than the replica.
So we went down to the harbour port and made enquiries, the original junk boat, which was called the appropriately named the 'Duk Ling' was undergoing it's annual maintenance and therefore the only junk type boat sailing today was the Aqua Luna which was the replica, hey ho! We thought, at least it saves us a few quid (£40 to be precise).
We purchased tickets and were told to head down to pier 9 where the boat would pick collect us within half an hour. There was a few vendors selling snacks and drinks along the harbour, so i treated myself to a blueberry smoothie, which was absolutely stunning.
Whilst we waited i ascended a set of steps which lead up to a viewing platform over the harbour, from where i took some pictures last night which i have to say came out remarkably well, therefore i wanted to take some similar daytime shots.
The boat arrived and we were assisted getting on board, presumably because people in the past have fallen overboard, we went straight to the top deck where lovely relaxing recliner seats awaited, at the very back of the boat on the top deck was a long bench like seat stretching all the way across, we took our places and a nice lady appeared offering us drinks, we could either have juice or coke and it was included within the ticket price, so we placed our orders and sat back and relaxed.
Our drinks were delivered to us just as the boat departed the harbour and i have to say, it was bliss ! The sun was beating down on us all reclining drinks in hand, we set off into the harbour of this wonderfully spectacular city. All the while we were taking photo's including group shots which were taken by the boat operatives.
I have to say at this point, as bizarre as it sounds it really truly felt quite wonderful to just be on the boat in the sunshine, relaxing. The trip so far, as you might have already gathered has been rather intense, rarely allowing for time to rest or recouperate. This was absolutely lush.. Just sitting there, being transported at a leisurely pace around the harbour it felt very luxurious and we were all in quite high spirits, very tranquil, but enjoyable chill-out music was playing thru the boats on-board speakers and it felt as if we were in Ibiza.
We arrived at the opposite side of the harbour from where we'd set off Initially giving us a completely new vantage of HK. We didn't get off, the boat has a hop-on hop-off type of ticket price, which we had paid, therefore we could just stay on the boat for as long as we wanted up until 5pm or, we could jump off at any point and then get back on later, the Aqua Luna effectively only has 2 stops, where we got off and this stop, almost directly opposite, there is also a ferry one could take at a much more reasonable cost should one desire, however I'm so glad we took this boat, after the boat pulled out of the second harbour, it does a loop around the bottom of the harbour, before returning back to pier 9 where we first got on.
Whilst we were in the middle of the harbour, the view changed again, being equidistant between both sides of the harbour, which by the way was probably about half a mile at it's narrowest point, the basin probably being nearer to a mile.
We all laughed and cheered and enjoyed the relaxation we were being afforded before arriving back at pier 9 by which time, the sun had warmed, relaxed, replenished and recuperated us back to a very happy sense of wellbeing.
Once again the boat departed having collected and dropped off a few more passengers, we were heading over to the opposite harbour once again where we would this time be departing.
Upon arrival probably about 25 minutes later we disembarked and the plan was to take the tram to the top of Victoria point after a few more photos including some inside the mouth of a huge great white shark statue we climbed the stairs which took us over a bridge link, into an indoor market type of place, where i exchanged some money, receiving a much better rate of exchange at a western union shop ($10.35 : £1)
We walked up quite a steep hill, past a very British inspired catholic church, to the tram station at the foot of the hill, whilst we waited a fountain spat water out onto us which was actually rather refreshing, we were handed tickets by the lovely Miss Anna and Steve and were ushered towards the front of the back of the queue.
We wouldn't get on the fist tram as the queue, was quite enormous, a man came up to us instructing us to to pack ourselves in like sardines, but of course being british, we preferred to queue sensibly and civilly, just then another group of probably 20-30 Chinese people arrived and duly took all the excess space we had created, queueing in single or double file. Immediately we were squashed to the back and so when the next tram arrived probably about 4-5 minutes later, there was no room for us to get on board, a lot of shoving and pushing ensued with elbows out at right angles, preventing us to clamber aboard, despite our patiently waiting it seemed we possibly wouldn't make it on board this tram either.
We realised that being British at this time would not get us to the top of the peak, therefore we waded in with our elbows outstretched ensuring all of our group made it on board, some people (myself included) even had a seat on which to sit.
The tram departed and although it wasn't a funicular railway, the tram was almost going vertically upwards the nose of the tram appearing like a plane about to take off, however due to the construction of the floor, being made into an almost zig-zag it was perfectly possible to stand up-right, however those sitting were akin to a space ship launch.
When we arrived at the top having taken in the stolen glimpses of the scenery on the way up, we had to still ascend 4/5 more escalators up to the sky viewing terrace on the way there was a 3D photo's gallery, whereby you could stand in certain positions on the floor, against the backdrop of very cleverly taken photo's so it would appear as if you're being eaten by a shark, or falling from a sky-scraper, however you had to purchase all the photo's, you couldn't just take them with your own camera, therefore we walked straight round, looking at all of the different pics, and promptly left.
Since being in HK I've noticed that although the currency is as easy to work out in mainland China, everything seems very much more expensive, probably a bit closer to what you'd expect to pay if you were in London 10 years ago, it's not as expensive as London, but its probably not too far behind. I'd definitely say it was more in line with the Uk than China's economy tho. Housing prices are quite steep and so is the cost of food, by comparison.
After a few more ascensions we arrived at the sky terrace 428 (not sure why it's called this) as soon as you exit from the protection of the building you're instantly onto the terrace and the view, oh my god.. It was like being on top of the world, literally.. You were looking down on the sky scrapers, you could see the entirety of HK from here, the view was sensational.
Unfortunately, the sky itself had turned somewhat moody, with cloud forming, blocking out the sunshine momentarily, it was as if it had been coloured in whilst we were on the tram, because before it was a glorious sunny day, but now, not so much.
This meant that the colours weren't quite so vivid, although at the same time, it did give it a quite different perspective, being up there shoot pictures out over the city it almost seemed like it was going to rain, but actually despite the lack of bright sunshine, the pictures we were taking were actually still pretty special and actually the sky being slightly overcast gave the view some depth, as if there was a ceiling on the sky.
We stayed up there for a good half an hour or so and despite the group being momentarily seperated, due to the shops inviting certain people in to haggle over things, we all eventually met up on the top of the viewing platform and after taking some (many) photo's we began to discuss what we would like to do thereafter.
The options were out there, but it mostly came down to one thing, the night markets. The majority of the groupw wanted to go to the night markets, which are near kowloon in HK which basically means it was walking distance from where our hotel was, in fact it was pretty close to where we were dropped off on the coach when we first arrived in HK.
We rode the tram down the peak to street level and took the metro back to our hotel, a few of the group had other plans for the evening, as they had friends / relatives in HK but the rest of us went out for dinner first, after showering and getting changed.
We went to a restaurant which wasn't far from our hotel, the restaurant was fairly small and compacted and we all squeezed around one circular table, since arriving in HK we hadn't really eaten around one table we'd all had separate tables, Steve placed an order for some food and a Chinese gentleman came over and began chatting to us.
He was helping us to order the food, to be honest, none of us knew he was just a patron at the time because it seemed as if he worked there, but it turned out that he was just enjoying a meal there himself, he made a few recommendations and soon after the food arrived... And then more food arrived.. And more, and more and more and more eventually we had so much food there was nowhere to put any additional dishes, let alone drinks, the table was so full and there was so much food, once we'd all eaten everything we could muster, there was so much food left over, we ended up taking doggy bags back to our hotel.
We then walked to the Ladies market, i was a little concerned by this as i thought it would only be ladies items for sale, but it turns out it's just a name, nothing to do with gender or which products they were selling.
I walked up the narrow lanes which had market style shops on both sides, selling all kinds of things, it was like id once again, stepped inside of ebay. There were electronics, vehicle accessories, watches, suitcases, silk dresses and other garments, umbrellas, belts, headphones, speakers, jade ornaments, chopsticks, herbs and spices, so many things, i can't really list them all else i'd be here for hours, practically anything you can think of really, you would find someone somewhere that was selling it.
Every time you picked something up you were into a sales negotiation with a 'sales clerk' they would start at a ridiculously high price but eventually you could get them down to about a tenner.. Lol $100 depending upon what it is and they were all very genuine looking fakes, it reminded me of being in the silk market, except there you were walking around a shopping arcade, this was more like a turkish bazaar.
I bought a few things, some pressies for family members and for myself. I must admit, i was growing quite annoyed having to haggle so much, i just wanted to pick an item up, buy it and walk off but first you had to haggle.. It reminded me a bit of the scene from the life of Brian where he was trying to buy a beard as a disguise.
Once we'd all bought what we wanted we returned back to the hotel which in itself was a bit of a mission because we got a bit lost, we ended up using the gps on Steve's sat nav to get back home.
Once we were back in the lovely air conditioning again, we rode the elevator to our respective floors and went to bed.