Diary for Hello World, it`s me - Shona!


Day 1

2008-08-18

Well...I`m here! Though it still feels like none of this is real. Arrived in Bangkok to 34C around 3.15pm local time (which is 9.15am home time). Currently its evening, pitch black really but i feel like its lunchtime.

I wasn`t going to bother writing anything today as i didn`t think I would have much to write, but then I left the hostel!

I got a taxi straight from the airport and Liz`s advice meant I didn`t freak out when the journey took 40 minutes, and I had change when we needed it for the toll, so far so good! We passed one guy who was in the back of a truck but was lying in a hammock! I need to learn where to get that kind of transport! Dropped off at Siam Oriental Inn on Khoasan Road (you`re right - it looks nothing like the website!) and chilled in the room for a bit, reading people`s lovely messages and trying not to feel too distraught! Left the hostel and I`d been in the street for 2 seconds when 2 elephants walked past, they had people on them but still - TWO ELEPHANTS!! Laura, I thought of you (not becasue you`re an elephant...never mind)

Got something to eat from one of the street vendors, have no idea what it was though it did involve beansprouts, noodles (I think) and an egg. Tasty though - the noodle bar will just never be the same. The woman had to keep moving down the street when the police passed so every time I looked up from my bag, she`d wandered away again - whole new meaning to `take away`! Only felt a little lonely when i had to attempt to take a photo of myself just to prove all of this is real, and had no one to take it for me!

Am off back to the hostel now I think, want to try and see as much as possible tomorrow. I`ve only found one ant in my room so far and I splurged out on AC so all is well! Have to atleast pretend to be avoiding the shops, at least in the first 24 hours. Don`t know how I`m not going to end up with an extra 3 rucksacks full, just by the end of tomorrow.

On a quick note before I go: Thankyou so much to all of you for the various kind words, cards and gifts before I left. Don`t know what I did to deserve it all but I was truly touched. Haven`t read/looked/listended my way through some of it yet as I cried enough on the plane after reading the card from M, D, M, C & L!!

Miss you all. Leave me messages! Love Shona xxx


Day 2

2008-08-19

Not done a huge amount today but figured I should get into the habit of updating this.

Got up really late as didn`t fall asleep till after 4am. Tried not to waste the day too much though. Found the hotel where the trip starts on Thursday (so much swankier than the hostel). Then went for a wander with plans to go to see the grand temple. Got accosted by a tuk tuk driver who offered to take me to 5 tourist stops for only 20THB...if I went to a tailor too. Agreed to this despite better judgement and it wasn`t too bad really. Saw the `lucky buddah`, golden mountain (which has incredible views of bangkok)  the tailors (who let me leave after a couple of minutes and weren`t too pushy). The guy insisted on taking me to another tailor who when i got inside asked me why I was there and not at a temple - i was thinking the same thing by this point! Despite the detours I`m glad I did that today as needed to get out and see a bit more and am in danger of floundering without some guidance of what to see. Had some awesome food afterwards at a little place called `Molly`s Bar` where there was live music from a Thai man playing country/folk songs like `fields of barley` in a texas accent! Alot of it was copies of the sounds instead of the actual words buit it was nice all the same! 

Plan for tomorrow is to go see the grand temple, huge golden buddah and wat pho. Again - thanks to the cousins for the suggestions! Am thinking of trying to get to the suan lumpini night bazaar tonight but not sure if its too late. All in all not a bad day atall, despite the rain and clouds (!!) but I`m definately getting up earlier tomorrow!


Day 6?!

2008-08-23

Heylo - I`ll try and be brief(which may be tricky as lots to fit in!)

apologies in advance for dodgy typing as there are no letters on this keyboard!

havent been on here for a few days but since then i`ve...

DAY 3: Met up with Heather and Jose (who i`d met atdinner the previous night) and went on a trip they`d already booked. Own provate tour bus for teh first leg so that was pretty cool! Went to the floating market first which was very awesome. Despite the traffic jams caused by lots of narrow boats trying to squeeze down an even mroe narrow canal - well worth the trip though, once youve seen a couple of stalls you`ve really seen everything they sell on all of them as its all teh same souvenirs clothes and food but it was still worth it.

Then went on to handcraft factory where people were carving such intricate detail onto wood, really wanted to buy some but figured, carringwhat was basically a huge piece of weed was not conducive (sp?) to `travelling light!`

Then lunch at a local thai restaurant where the food wasnt that dissimilar from sweet and sour back home (thought of you mhairi!) This was followed by trip to River Kwai and its bridge - made famous by film `Bridge over the River Kwai, and was built by thousands of POW`s. Very beautiful, if tragic place.

Then went to the tiger templw, which is basically what it says on the tin. You get to have your photo taken with tigers and see lots of themmilling about. I was dubious at first, what with it being tourists pestering lots of captive tigers. It certainly wasnt there natural habitat and i did feel uncomfortable at times but they were in good condition, had been hand reared from birth so were very tame and the australian and american keepers reassured us more about the way theyre looked after,limited contact with tourists etc etc. After that they fed all of the other animals which consisted of them emptying a truckload of pumkins onto the road anf throwing feed in our direction - which led to us being circled by lots of boars, cows and deer, oh - and screaming like girls!! Lots offun minus the rabies risk (can you get that from cowns etc?)

Next day went to grand temple and wat pho with heather and jose again. Both were awesome though am going to go back to grand temple to have a proper look inside when i`m back in bangkok. Wat Pho has a GIANT Buddah, dont  really get it unless you see it - but much liked by me anyroad!

That night (after sweltering in heat walking home from the temple) i met up with the intrepid tour. Lovely to meet everyone (much swankier hotel than previous too - which i found lizard in that morning!) and went for few drinks to say cheerio to Khaosan Road.

Arrived at lodge in Kanchanaburi, which is actually on the water, i thought the swaying was my imagination - but it was the waves! And went straight to river boat trip, (very fast and splashing! but lots of fun!) which took us to War Museum - good to learn more history of River Kwai Bridge (or `death railway`) as we went back to that too and then one of the cemetery`s related to the bridge.

Hostel is ok, despite the sea sickness! And just getting to know wveryone is nice. Went out again today to the waterfalls in one ofthe local national parks and climed 1500 metres to the top (may not sound like much to those who just suffered trhough the west highland way!) but very rocky, slippy and had to avoid the monkeys! Great reward at the top though - pictures to follow when on a faster computer - and swam in there before the fish nibbling at my feet got too much and we had to get out - that and lunch was waiting for us back at the bottom!

Just been out for dinner and to a local night market where Leah got the shoes I really wanted for equivalent to 1 pound (can`t find the symbol key!) to be fair they were 3 sizes too small, but still, i`m not quite over it yet!

Tomorrow is heading to Ayutheya (need to check sp) in preparation for overnight bus jouney to Chaing Mai for our 3 day trek. Awesome.

I did think, as we were bemoaning the trek up the waterfall this morning that had this been another day I would have been in the call centre with no windows, with the rain outside, for some reason that helped us walk a bit faster...


Chaing Mai and Hilltribe trekking.

2008-08-29

Wow - so much to tell, i don`t quite know where to begin, plus remembering it all is a little tricky!

Got overnight train to Chaing Mai on Monday? Which was a lot more pleasant/bearable than i had expected, you got your own bed, we only saw one cockroach and the banter saw us through. Didnt really sleep and then they got us up at 6AM to turn the beds back into chairs again but all was well. While we`d been waiting at the station a little brother and sister came over and when i offered hima  biscuit took off with the whole packet! Still, we became friends after that and the wee boy was loving having his photo taken (he was loving posing too!) so will try to post them shortly.

Hotel in Chaing Mai really nice and we headed out to the night bazaar which made a serious dent into my budget. Cant resist a bargain or the gorgeous and handmade jewellery and bags but would have bought up everything in the place if I could have fit it into my bag.

The next day we went elephant trekking which was immense, Leah got to sit on its neck, but I was more than happy with my little seat, you fed them bananas and went up into the hills. Was so much fun! Headed off to the hillside trek afterwards and it was definately one of the highlights of the trip so far. Had been waiting for the places I go to to really be different to home and got that with the trek. We`d all expected it to be fairly easy going and it was only 3 hours walking a day, but man - what a 3 hours! At the start we were given a bamboo stick for walking with (we were like `ha - we won`t need this) and a leaf (turns out that was to use as a fan!) and little did I know that they`d soon become my most treasured possessions despite the tonne of stuff id thought wise to bring and carried all the way on my back. Just shows that you don`t need all teh fancy walking gear, just some free and easily available natural products! Which goes the same for alot of the activities we did, learned lots of mind trick games that I`ll taunt Dad with when I get home that involved no more than little pieces of stick.

The first night we stayed with a family in a bamboo hut, very basic and when we got there all we wanted to do was jump in the shower, AKA - river! Which we did, certainly something you dont do every day - well not yet anyway! It was almost like a bed and breakfast and after our fried eggs (!!) we set off for the tribe`s village. It was a lot bigger than i expected but an incredible experience. The people were so lovely and the kids all gorgeous. We went for a tour round the village and the school and met some of the people and learned about their lives there. They are totally self sufficient, until recently even growing all their own cotton for clothing, though I suspect the spiderman t-shirts we saw on little kids everywhere came from elsewhere!

I ate a deep fried cricket!!!!!! Thats all I`m saying about that.

Then I made a pudding and gave it to all of the villages children. They just kept coming, I had thought there would be a huge amount left from the enormous potfull I started with but it was all gone by the end. Then some of the kids came back and did a concert for us, they know all the words to `Old MacDonald has a farm`! and we gave them the presents we`d bought them, i`ve never seen milk and chocolate disappear so quickly - it was like the old GUST buffets at the Hogshead!!

In the morning, we came outside to every available suface being covered with scarves, clothes and jewellery the tribe had made, i bought rather alot...again!

Leaving the tribe and their way of life for a return to reality (well, a kind of reality, where i don`t have to work or study and can do something new every day) was harder than i had thought it would be, especially after less than 2 days. Am definately thinking now of trying to do something similar for longer in the future. Role on volunteering!! it was just so different, though when we asked what they did in the evenings and they all said `just watch tv and stuff` we were more than a little surprised! I hadn`t seen the satellite dishes, but apparently they are there somewhere!

Back to Chaing Mai which was a little like coming home in a bizzare way. It feels a lot more affluent than Bangkok did, not as many stray dogs and it seems cleaner somehow too. I think  I prefer it to Khao San Road anyhow! Not thats there is really anything for me to complain about on this trip, I`m even handling the squat toilets!

We went out last night for Megan and Brandon`s birthday, so much for not having any alcohol, but it was a great night out, went to a local mexican/western food place which Tar suggested. Am ashamed to say I had a chicken burger, but aside from that I`m doing pretty well with the Thai food - its cheap and awesome, what more could I want. The band were great too and ended their set with a unique version of `Don`t look Back In Anger` by Oasis, the whole place, with people from all over the world werer singing along at the tops of their voices - was pretty special!

Needless to say, had a somewhat more subdued and chilled day today as a result. Went swimming in the hotels 5 star sister hotel which was cool, no sunburn - also good, and a cashew/chicken/prawn/rice and raisin concoction served in a hollowed out pinapple also made it another pretty great day.

Everyones off out drinking (???!) tonight but I`m heading back to hotel now for some more chilling before our journey to Tar Tar (?) tomorrow morning. Thankyou so much to everyone for your messages, I`ll try and get back to them the next time I`m on here. Am thinking of and missing you all. Keep in touch. Shona xxx


Riots in Bangkok!

2008-09-02

Hello!

Daniel and I are struggling to figure out what we`ve done for the past few days but I`m going to give it a go anyway!

Left Chaing Mai for Thaton and spent most of our time there chilling at the guesthouse as it was in such a lovely setting on the river. (Even if they couldnt get their head round serving you whatever you ordered, which led to me having a sour and spiciest ever sausage salad type thing - just as well the boys here are good at finishing leftovers!) Tar, Brandon, Nick and I headed up the hill to see some more Buddahs and a temple and were going to wait for the sunset but quickly realised that would leave us stranded in the dark so walked somewhat quicker down the hill again.

Next day we headed to Chaing Rai and over to the Golden Triangle where you can see Thailand, Myanmar and Laos altogether - a bit like the jogging viewpoint from camp in Maryland! Most people went on a long boat ride to Laos while Nick and I went for the cultural option with the Opium Museum, we thought there would be lots of stuff about the hilltribes which is why we went really but turns out no, it was pretty much just about opium, so if you need any info on that you now know who to ask...

Ashamed to admit we went for Pizza as opposed to Thai food that night, apparently I`m not able to eat western food anymore though and its rice or noodles from now on. More night market shopping and then hung out with some moskitos in a bar.

The next day people wanted to chill so for some reason James, Nick and I took it upon ourselves to cycle 40km to a white temple. I have to say it was totally worth it and though i will post photos later it just wont do it justice. It was only half built with one building being gold and covered in little mirrors and the other much bigger and white with lots of silver sparkly bits - it sounds ridiculous and in some ways it was but it was also so beautiful and really really different, my favourite temple so far (and there have been a few!) Needless to say i ended up with some rather fetching sunburn, especially as we got totally lost on the way back but it was all totally worth it.

Yesterday we headed back to ChaingMai to pick up our bags, interesting trip to the postoffice... and then went for overnight train to Bangkok - which explains why i`m up and out writing this at 9am. The plan had been to go back to the Grand Palace to have a look around inside but we`ve been advised not to becasue of the riots going on. We`ve not seen a huge amount of evidence of them, aside from the riot police lining some roads and tyres piles up blocking some others but so far its all been ok. We may have to end up going to the cinema or something instead (sorry mum!) It does potentially mean we`re blocked into KhaoSan Road for another night, but I`m in Thailand so who am I to complain?!

 


Bangkok again and Khao Sok

2008-09-15

Ok, so it`s been a while! Got somewhat distracted with Sun, Ocean, Thai Islands and the like!

Last Thursday (4th?) Nick, James and I decided to brave the riots and head to the Grand Palace. L, G, C and M - you were right, its quite something! Was quite surprised by how different everything looked, there didnt seem to be a theme of similar buildings other than them all being so impressive.

After an afternoon of hanging around really, we went for overnight train to Khao Sok National Park. Which ended up being an overnight bus instead sue to the political situation in Bangkok. It was the pinkest, campest, frilliest bus I`ve ever seen. And distracted us from the 14 odd hours we had to spend on it rather well. 

Went tubing at Khao Sok which was very cool, despite me continually steering myself in the wrong direction, i.e. towards the rocks. Back to my room, to witness a large monkey and its baby climbing through my window. Think I came off more scared out of the two of us. Spent the night listening to what sounding like a varietyt of footsteps/knocking/breathing around our rooms. (can say this now mum as it was ages ago!) Am sure things in my room got moved around too but it wasnt until the next day when tar informed us of all the ghosts she sees each time she stays in that room.  I think Daniel was more freaked out about the `figures` he saw in the boys room but I prefer to believe it was a monkey intruder as opposed to a haunting!

Went on a mini trek the next day, cut short by bad weather making the path too dangerous, and spent a while avoiding leeches. Managed to nab one as it climbed with great speed up my shoe, but others weren`t so lucky! I`ve decided leeches are evil. Speedy little suckers too! Then rope swinged it with the monkeys for a bit. Muchos fun. before best meal I`ve had since I got here. if anyone knows how to recreate sticky coconut rice with the sweetest mango/sweet potato on the planet then let me know! Otherwise I may just have to live here forever!

 


Southern Islands

2008-09-15

Headed to Ko Samui the next day (Sunday 7th) which had a gorgeous beach, despite the weather. Leah and Candy seemed to have got the best of it as they came early instead of the park but it wa all clouded over when we arrived. Chilled for a bit and then headed to the other beach (....) for dinner and dancing. Theres just something special about sitting at a makeshift table on a beach with a big group of friends eating good food and drinking good Chang!

Headed to lady Boy show afterwards which was so much fun, don`t know if James would agree with that though as he got taken up on stage to dance with everyone! He took it well though, we`ve got all the photos and videos to prove it! Cher was my favourite but she still wasn`t a patch on you Neil!

Dancing was followed by midnight swim, random but fun. Something you just couldnt do in the Clyde i feel! While I liked Koh Samui, it was more becasue of the people than the place. My guidebook describes it as being like a beautiful woman wearing too much makeup and its such an apt description! Koh Tao on the other hand....

Has been one of my favourite places so far. In addition to the hilltribe village in Chaing Mai. It only took me about 2 hurs to decide I wanted to stay here instead of head back to Bangkok at the end of trip. Luckily I`m a trendsetter (!) and Clare, Laura, Leah, Candy, Nick, Melissa and Daniel all had the same idea. So have just spent closer to a week here.

I don`t know what it is about his place, its a beautiful island, the sea`s gorgeous, the weather reasonable, the food good (and Lotus Bar amazing!) but theres also just a vibe about the place that makes it pretty special. Don`t know if I could stay here as long as a year but its beginning to get easier to understand why people do a trip like this and end up staying for so much longer.

Hven`t done a huge amount here, went snorkelling, which when I got the hang of the whole breathing underwater thing was incredible! Though I have since learned that it is possible to burn underwater which is good to know, if a little too late on this occasion.

Was persuaded into going to the full moon party on Koh Pnang Yang (sp?!)  aswell. Wasn`t going to bother until new Nick pointed out it was the only time I was gonna be here and the only place where you can go so it didn`t take that much persuading afterall! Trying something new every day and all that!

Full Moon party was awesome - thousands of people dancing all night on a beach. Why fired skipping ropes, limbo poles and fire rings are a good idea around all the drunk people I`m not convived though!

Am now hanging until we (Candy, Nick, Dan and I) get the ferry then overnight bus back to Bangkok, strike is still affecting our transport but if its a pink bus again I won`t miss the train too much.

Still don`t know what I`m doing next which is probably not a very clever plan. Going to head to Laos from Bangkok I think, but i`ve got all of an overnight journey to figure it out. i always do work better under pressure!

Missing you all loads, and thankyou so much for all of the messages. Am pretty gutted to be leaving this island, the group and the security of having that many people around you, but am excited about the next adventure. Thats one of the greeat things about this trip, no 2 days are the same!

Now all I have to do is survive the majorly bumpy, travel sick inducing ferry crossing back to Chumpeng! (sp?!)


You know that film `the descent`?!

2008-09-20

Hello from Laos!

Had to leave the remainder of the intrepid gang in Bangkok and head off all alone into Laos which was rather emotional indeed. Still - I`ve made it in one piece!

Stayed one night in the capital - Vang Vieng, for a capital there is surprisingly little there, save for a Buddah park where you can climb on top of something very high (if you wade through the flooded grass bit first!)

Onwards to Vang Vieng which is the tubing capital I hear. Main street has been compared to Khao San road which is unfair I think, but only becasue its much smaller. Multiple bars showing friends or family guy seem to be the entertainment options. Went ona  trip today which involved cave trips and tubing.

The cave part of the trip turned out to involve using a tube (giant inflatable tyre) to negotiate an impossibly small gap for the entrance to the cave and then crawling on our fronts through about a metre worth of space for about 100 metres in total, in the dark (there wasnt enough headlamps to go round!) and in the mud! It was....fun, i think - but not exactly the relaxing experience I`d been promised! And it got somewhat less relaxing when I remembered the film `the descent` where people go caving and end up alone in the dark surrounded by zombie type creatures....i moved a little faster after that!

Still the tubing helped us forget that particular trauma as we bobbed down the Mekong River for a few hours, stopping at a couple of bars with gigantic rope swings (coupled with beer - what is it with SE Asia and there insistence on games and activites that would be dangerous enough without several Beer Chang/Beer Lao?!) and surrounded by incredible mountains.

It really makes me wonder how you can go from this back to reality of work etc. I know I`ll have to do it some time but for now, I`m having way too much fun!

I feel like I should try and sound atleast a little subdued, this website name may become too accurate and noone will want to speak to me by the time I get back - erm...I`m having issues with visas, moskito bites and mini ants all over my room. See its not all bliss.... Just most of it!


Luang Prabang

2008-09-22

So onwards to Luang Prabang this time, and via the most winding road I have ever come across. Still, the 4 hungover girls in front of me on the bus had a much worse time!

Luang Prabang was lovely. Lots of french buildings, a great night market and a nice vibe to the place. I went to the main temples, and climbed Phu Si which has a few buddah statues etc on the way up and an absolutely incredible view at the top.

A bunch of Laos business men wanted their picture taken with me and some other westerners who were there - so I ended up posing for about 10 pictures, as they laughed and pointed at the obvious tourist! Still I got a photo with all of them too, bit random!

Climbed down and ended up chatting to a small group of local kids for a while. One of the girls taught me some useful Loas, including Í don`t need one` which was useful for the market later on! They also took great delight in what I had in my bag, not in a stealing way! But in a óooh, I`ve never seen stuff like that before way`. To the extent that I ended up giving them all my babywipes as they were a little obsessed with them. Sorry mum!

Then went to see traditional Laos ballet which unfortunately was really expensive and rather disappointing. Something about a bloke destrying a mountain by accident, (he was aiming for a lizard who interupted his prayers) and when someone repaired the mountain they got to keep the mountain god`s wife...or something like that. The plot sheet they gave us helped but as you can tell, not a huge amount!

Next day cycled for ages one way and then the other, seeing some of the local area but not much else. And for some reason I`d decided to do this on the hottest day so far, clever don`t you think. Still good exercise before my rather traumatic next few days...


Tuk Tuks, Buses and Rickety Boats...

2008-09-25

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, or rather - Tuk Tuks, Buses and Rickety Boats...

Had been getting somewhat bored of my own company, theres only so many conversations you can have with yourself before running out of things to chat about... So I left Luang Prabang and decided to head to Cambodia.

Got an overnight bus at 6.30pm on the Tuesday, figured I`d sleep through the winding roads this time, went ok aside from the guy behind me hawking and spitting out of the window every so often. Nice! Arrived back in Vientaine at about 7am, and figured I`d get a tuk tuk to the bus station for my next journey. The driver took an hour to do a 10 minute journey as he kept driving up the main road (in rush hour) and then changing his mind and turning round, this happened several times before he had to find a street in the middle of nowhere to drop some other passengers off at. For which he stopped at every right turn, and waited for them to tell him if it was the right street yet and hence holding all the )rush hour) traffic up behind us.

Still, wasn`t too fussed as my next bus wasnt for a few hours anyway. Got that one at 9.30am (we`re now on Wednesday) and set off on a 10 hour bus trip. SEVENTEEN hours later I arrived in Pakse. Reason being he stopped atleast every 20 minutes to:

drop people off, let people on, repack the roof, load up at least 17,456 eggs into the back  rows of seats (including my seat), change a tyre, deliver some mail, let people on to try and sell us stuff, let people off who`d been trying to sell us stuff. And so on and so forth.

I can say this now as it was days ago so mum, you can`t freak out any more, but I ended up getting dropped off at 2.30am in the middle of a ghost town, in pretty much pitch blackness, having not eaten for 24 hours and with no hotels or anything for that matter open! I wandered for a while and figured getting mugged wasnt really what I was after from Pakse so decided to sit outside a bigger hotel on their veranda bit until morning. Ha Ha I thought, this is like the stories you hear about. Mum and Dad would not be happy... Luckily a bloke who worked in this hotel saw me peering through the window (I think by the jump he did I may have startled him somewhat) and let me in, where I booked into one of the most expensive rooms for a total of 4 hours before I had to get the next bus. Still would rather part with $16 (its a lot over here ok!) than get mugged etc so all was well really.

4 hours later got another local pick up truck type contraption (will I never learn!) which was fine, aside from being about a 12 seater and at one point having a total of 26 people on it - until it stopped and let a couple and their 6 children on! Thats of course not to mention the sacks of vegetables, pots and pans, luggage (and a few more people) on the roof and for some unexplained reason several portable electric fans throughout the seats too. Despite this I don`t regret not getting the VIP tourist buses, its much more authentic (if a little time consuming) doing it this way. And I had a laugh with the other passengers, who splashed me with water (accidentally) which was ofcourse, very funny... and offered me food etc. One thing I noticed was that nobody really knew each other but still chatted and laughed the whole journey long, I guess with that many people in such a small place you get to know each other pretty well pretty quickly, but the way they all talked to each other straight away and shared food, water and so on made me think how much better it was than sitting ignoring each other as we hide behind the metro on the tube at home.

Arrived at the port (very very genorous term) for 4000 islands and waited for the boat...

 


4000 Islands

2008-09-25

Rickety Boat was much more than I expected and as I hadnt got any money out in Pakse as I arrived so late wasnt really an option. Had to wait for more people so I could get the cheaper boat. The only thing was there was NO guarantee that more people would actually turn up!

Got chatting to the guy selling tickets who was very nice, but still wouldnt give me a discount!! For a while, waited some more, chatted some more, waited some more. As I was admitting defeat a group of 3 girls arrived (hurray - saved!) (Julia - England anf Wendy and Seitska from Holland) Turns out they`d been dropped off their (VIP!) bus in the middle of nowhere and had to pile onto a motorbike as there was no other transport available. Still, made my way across on the leaking and very rickety boat to Don Det.

Headed for what the lonely planet describes as the backpackers hotspot or something. Only it turns out that the arrival of the 4 of us had infact doubled the number of travellers on the island. it was soooooo quiet. Which was a shame but as I had met the girls and was no longer stranded alone I wasnt too bothered. Lovely island though, with water bufallo everywhere, and surrounded by other smaller islands (hence - 4000 islands) and our guesthouse had hammocks! Went for a wander then had some dinner in a restaurant that had atleast 3 other people in it, it was positively bustling!

Next day Julia and I walked to the other main island Don Khon and got absolutely soaked to the skin in the rain. The mud wasnt too pleasant either! Saw the main waterfall, which was huge but more wide than tall so looked more like river rapids, then got a boat to Cambodia (well they charge you a dollar and say its cambodia but I`m pretty sure it was still Laos!) and watched the Irrawaddy dolphins. Very cool with flat faces and meant to be really rare. Got the boat back, lovely little trip on the river, and had dinner and drinks with Wendy and Seitska. So not what I had expected from the islands atall and could have been a bit disappointing after the mammoth bus journeys to get there but as it turned out was nice to have the place to ourselves and I have friends again. See it pays to get stuck an extra 7 hours on a bus, stranded in the middle of nowhere and run out of money so you can`t eat and can`t afford the boat journey - if not I wouldnt have waited and wouldnt have met them atall!


More journey fun to Cambodia

2008-09-27

Its getting very confusing keeping a paper diary at the same time as this one...here`s me thinking I was all up to date...

Left Laos on the Saturday:

Got the boat across to mainland Laos in the morning, balancing somewhat precariously with my rucksack, backpack and shoes mere inches away from the water. Bus journey to border was fine. people got very ratty with the $1 departure tax - basically pay a group of official looking people at the border some money to let you leave the country. As I hadn`t even been sure I could get a visa there I wasn`t too bothered but some people were less than happy. Still, as Greg says - never argue with a man in uniform at a border! half of our bus load headed to ... somewhere!... en route we stopped to pick up some local people, and despite having only 2 spare seats and having paid over the odds for the `VIP minibus` the driver insisted on letting the 6 of them on board.  This involved squeezing 5 of them into the middle row and the man shared the ...DRIVING seat!!! Anyways, once we`d got used to the squeeze (and being in the front passenger seat, I`d got used to seeing the not so safe dricing techniques when you`re sharing a seat) we continued on our way.  We were dropped off, somewhere or other...and  3 hours later the second half of our original bus load turned up. We seem to have had the better deal. They were in an old clapped out minivan, where the promised Air Conditioning consisted of having the cracked windows open! They had only left 40 minutes after us but had stopped to deliver mail and drop off/pick up more people.  They had refused at one point so the driver had put an elderly woman on the roof of the bus, at which point they insisted that she climb back down the ladder and squeeze in with them. So anyway, we joined there "luxury AC van" and continued on our way (and no I`m not sure why we weren`t told to do this in the first place!) Apparently an airline are bribing the government here to keep the roads bad so that people fly. I don`t know if its true but the roads certainly need some work, at one point we got stuck in the mud. That`s not an exaggeration, we got completely stuck! As we toppled over to the side we managed to convince the driver that perhaps it was advisable that us passengers get out (read: clamber and crawl out of the remaining space between the door and the 3 feet of mud). This he agreed to, though he changed his mind half way through and kept trying to drive as people were half way out of the door!

Once out of said mud, we continued. Another rumour is that drivers take you on a round about route through villages and bumpy dirt roads so that upon arrival at your guesthouse all you want to do is shower and go to bed and hence, not look around for another guesthouse. This, I believe, is true. very bumping, very winding, through villages and so on, only to join the main and tarmacked (sp?) road after several hours of said bumpy village roads! Then our driver wanted to stop for his dinner 20 minutes away from our destination. So he did. As we waited on the bus I wondered why I wasn`t as bothered as others seemed to be. I found it all rather amusing. Not sure why. Perhaps becasue I had company and I`m getting used to ínteresting` bus trips, maybe because I`d rather be stuck on a bus in Cambodia than rush hour british traffic, or maybe becasue life is too short and it will make a funny story and is life not supposed to be about the journey not the destination?! (though I`m not sure thats the intended meaning of the quote!)

Dropped first half off at their destination and 2 hours later we arrived in Phnom Penh. Us 4 girls and a nice friendly Australian bloke we met on the bus.


Phnom Penh

2008-09-28

Our hostel, `The Okay Guesthouse` in Phnom Penh is my favourite so far. There are loads of people about, the rooms are nice, the food is good (providing you don`t mind being served 2 hours seperately from the person you ordered with) and theres just a real upbeat vibe around the place.

The same could not be said for Cambodia`s capital city. I`m being quite unfair with this but it was a public holiday the whole time we were there and it rained, the whole time we were there. Perhaps suggesting why some many people hung out at the guesthouse - it was one of the few restaurants open!

But moaning should not be allowed in this particular blog -

Julia and I spent most of the day at the Teol Sleng Museum, otherwise known as Security Prison 21 a mere 30 years ago. I didn`t really know much about cambodia`s history before I came here, but what we learned was both harrowing and shocking. The amount of people killed and tortured under the Pol Pot Regime is incredible, and the fact it all happened so recently makes it even harder to understand. The prison was a former school and is now filled with evidence of the people that were kept, hurt and killed there. The main exhibits take the form of hundreds of photographs of the prisoners, many are women and young children, even babies. I looked at each one and every picture haunted me. There was a documentary too which told the story of a couple who were killed and a new, special exhibit which explains more about what happened and includes interviews both with prisoners and the now grown up child soldiers who worked there. As it points out both sets are victims and how either group has carried on is beyond me. I don`t know how the country is not completely screwed after what happened here so recently but I do know that it isn`t. Its the one country where I`ve seen real efforts to take itself forward, be it through education, supporting those disabled by landmines or whatever. It has come though alot more than other countries know, appreciate or even fully understand and I really hope it continues to grow and move forward. 

The next day Julia and I went to the Killing Fields which was just as upsetting. There is a building just full of human skulls. You can`t get how overwhelming it is unless you`ve seen it and stood next to it. 8000 could just be an abstract figure but there were atleast that many inclosed in that tower and each one was a person with a family and a life. Its important the place is there but `harrowing` doesnt come close to covering it this time.

Am reading a book by a young girl who went through the labor camps etc, called `first they killed my father`. The personal story makes it seem more real and its a very good book but it definately makes you cry.

Sorry, that wasn`t meant to depress you all, but figured it was important to include stuff like that as it makes me appreciate all the more the fact that I have the opportunity to do this trip and love my time doing it.


Siem Reap

2008-10-01

To lighter topics...

Did some other stuff in Phnom Penh, such as have a major shopping trip with Julia and a night out in `The Heart of Darkness Bar` which is apprently well known for being ultra dodgy. It seems to have improved an awful lot (much to Greg`s disappointment!) in the past few years though, you`re even asked to leave your gun at the door now! It was here that I learned that apparently most clubs don`t frisk you for knives etc when you go to them. There must be something about Glasgow...

So Siem Reap is temples, temples, temples! Went to Angkor Wat which wasn`t quite as divinly inspiring as I had hoped it might be, I`m not sure I`m supposed to admit that but Julia thought the same thing so its ok! The other temples were incredible though, Angkor Thom etc. Saw sunset over Bayon (I think) which was good. The Lonely Planet says the sun setting ovedr the Mekong River is the best view but apparently the trees have grown a little since Lonely Planet was last there as they were blocking the view! We had taken up a beer though so all was good!

Next day we got up at 4.30am for sunrise over Angkor Wat which was pretty special, then we fitted in about 7 temples before lunch! The temples were all a little different which was really cool, though some fun additions to our day were the monkey we saw licking a lollypop (!) (bad for the monkey but good for the photo!) and all of these insane trees, many of which are crushing the temples as their roots squeeze through the bricks basically wrecking them. Incredible! The pictures tell the story better than i can.

Following day we convinced our driver to take us 50km out to Kbal Spean which is a waterfall with loads of carvings done directly into the riverbed. We got somewhat sidetracked by an animal welfare centre offering free tours of their grounds, where we got to see Gibbons, a humongous porcupine and some snakes and turtles amongst other things. The centre manager gave us the tour and was really friendly and interesting so the random detour was totally worth it.

Had some real `wow, we`re travelling and its amazing` moments on the drive back. Red dirt roads surrounded by lush green hills, locals cycling past on, well, bicycles, children leading Ox home - it was just like in the guidebooks and travel magazines they show you. Then the sun set and despite only being able to see though one eye (the tuk tuk drive on red dirt roads creates alot of potential eye dust) it was truly special.

 

 


On my lonesum again

2008-10-05

The next morning (Sunday) Julia headed off towards Vietnam and i was all on my todd again. Proportionally have travelled with her for quite a while and really enjoyed it. I know I was determined to be all independant but having a travelling buddy doesnt just make things cheaper, it makes things funner too!

We had an impromptu `birthday night out` on the Saturday when we went for one drink and ended up behind the bar mixing our own cocktails! Not sure why I asked but they said it was ok so we created the `Juna (c)` (Julia and Shona - geddit?!) which involves Gin, Vodka, Cointreau, Orange Juice and a splash of grenadine. Mmmmm! Ended up staying there for hours, laughing and flipping beer mats! After never managing even one, my new record is 16!! So it was obviously a special night!

First day on my todd was fine really as I just went to the Old market and did a ridiculous amount of shopping, then caught up with loads of emails etc. Was updating this when the woman in our guesthouse asked me to go to bed! And so, on my last night of being 23 I did as i was told, and went to bed!


It`s My Birthday!!

2008-10-06

Figured here was as good a place as any to thank you all so much for all of your lovely messages. I am truly overwhelmed by the ones on here and on facebook. I don`t deserve them all but i like them all the same!

Today has been a bit weird. The first thing anyone said to me was the waiter at breakfast who asked if I was ill as "you don`t look well this morning, you look unwell" So the day started well then!

Hung around really until I got my flight. Makes such an incredible difference getting a 3 hour flight instead of a 3 day bus journey and i like this way a lot better!

Managed to negotiate the train and tube (which is just like waterloo, and in rushhour, and I had a really heavy bag due to all the shopping yesterday, and i had no idea where i was going) and walked to Chinatown where I luckily stumbled across the guesthouse Julia had recommended. So really I feel quite proud!

Came out, wandered around and just missed people to be honest! Have inevitably spent most of today thinking about all you folks at home and and am missing you loads. Will have to disappoint you with the fact that I haven`t had a mad night on the tiles in KL but its my first night here and I havent met anyone yet! I guess my fantabulous leaving do can count as my replacement birthday night out though! And getting all the lovely messages has made up for it in many ways. Again - I`m quite overwhelmed!

Got chatting to Swedish guy at dinner who is 4 months off being 80 years old and has been sailing aorund the world for 17 years!!! I love meeting so many different people from ages, cultures, countries etc, one of the great parts of travelling. And here was me thinking that the french woman who had been travelling for 7 must be at some kind of a record, she`s got 10 years to go yet!

So now i`m just waiting till someone from the Morrison family finally gets home from work, school or uni so I can speak to them. There will be plenty of other birthdays and I wouldn`t change this trip for anything but my birthday just won`t be complete until I speak to them. (Although with the time change and the fact i lost an hour, Malaysian speaking its not my birthday anymore! But as Nicky said - I was born in Scotland so its Scottish time that counts and in that case I`ve got...Shona counts on her fingers...7 hours left!)

 


Kuala Lumpur and Perhentian Islands (somewhat briefly!)

2008-10-10

Next day I was uber organised and went to find the bus station. Being in Kuala Lumpur is a bit odd, the tube is just the same as the tube in London or somewhere, it even has an oyster card equivalent (have i written this already?!) so i felt like in many ways i could have been anywhere, infact at one point i actually thought i was on my way to see Chris, James and Nicky!! Before i noticed all the palm trees ofcourse!

Got my ticket and headed back to the centre. I figured if I could cram as much as possible into today then i could save time later by not having to go back via KL. So i decided to visit the National Mosque. Wandered for ages, nobody seemed able to give me the right directions (given 15000 people pray there every Friday i found this a little odd). Finally I noticed it in the distance and headed in that general direction. Only to find it was closed!

Took some pics (its still very pretty from the outside) and as i was leaving it opened again! They give you long purple hooded cloaks to wear so that your head is covered etc, but what with the colour we would have fitted in well with the cast of a harry potter film.

The building inside was gorgeous, very light and airy with lots of pillars and water features! The main prayer hall was beautiful and a guy there gave us a really interesting and rather amusing talk about the history, purpose and daily life of the mosque and a muslim living in KL.

Afterward went to the Islamic Arts centre where they have minature models of lots of key mosques from around the world. Rushed round a little so that i`d have time to go up the telecommunications tower but on my way there the wind and torrential rain started again so figured it was best not to bother. Plus, I figure there will be tall stuff to climb up in Singapore and Oz, right?!

Then got overnight bus towards the Perhentian Islands...

Arrived at about 8am, trudged up and down looking for cheap and not manky accommodation. Finally found somewhere that was a bit in between! Then lay on the beach all day which was really rather nice. Next day went snorkelling and saw;

giant tutles, big sharks, nemo fish, giant sharks,million of other fish, jellyfish and did i mention the sharks?! Got back to my room to be greeted by a ginormous monitar lizard so all in all a pretty good day!

Had dinner with Kem (guy I met on the boat from the mainland) and a couple from snorkelling. I was thinking of staying an extra day on the island and in the glorious sunshine it was quite hard getting on the boat this morning, especially after the rain yesterday. But I`ve now decided to go on the `jungle train` (how cool does that sound?!) with the snorkelling couple instead. It takes you to a national park where you can trek, learn how to use a blowpipe or go on a canopy walk on a wooden rope bridge above the trees. My original plan of Cameron Highlands and the tea plantations would have been nice but i reckon this sounds like more fun. And besides, I don`t drink tea!

 


Taman Negara

2008-10-11

So we stayed over in Kota Bharu (sp?) so that we could get up early for the jungle train...

After getting up that early and not having slept much in the first place I ended up sleeping for half of the journey - whoops! Still when I was awake it was in the only carriage where the AC wasn`t working. Can`t complain though, the wildlife we saw in that jungle was amazing. A goat AND a chicken!! In the one day!! (The scenery was actually pretty special and a woman sitting next to me offered me some traditional Malaysian foods and taught me some Malay phrases so all was well)

Taman Negara wasn`t what I expected atall. I was thinking little choice of poor and basic but overpriced accomodation (abit like the perhentian isalnds) but instead there was loads to choose from and a fair amount of it was pretty good value. Settled on a nice wee guesthouse, I was in a dorm for 10 ringgit a night and had the room to myself half the time. No complaining from me! (6 ringgit is a pound!) There were lots of nice floating restaurants on the river, though you did have to clamber over some dodgy looking planks of wood to get to them.

The first full day we had there we went on the canopy walk. The leaflets said its the longest of its kind in the world, who knows, but it was over 45m off the ground for most of it! wasn`t anywhere near as scared as i expected, to the extent that I attemted walking without holding onto the sides and stopping to make myself look down every so often. Don`t know whats happened to me on this trip! There was a large group of Amercian kids on a school trip so they scared the monkeys away which was a little sad, they obviously hadn`t seen the `No annoying screaming and shouting` sign on their way up!

Then we decided to walk up to one of the viewpoints which was pretty cool. Then we decided to take the `scenic` route back down, which was not. We walked for about 2 hours instead of the 30 minutes we had expected (and therefore brought only enough water for) There was a path, well - some hidden steps and a dodgy rope...but I actually really enjoyed it. Apart from when my walking boots broke in half. Though I did get to be creative and tied them together with some long leaves and micro tape! It was here I also saw both the hugest individual ants I have ever seen, and the largest swarm of them in one place, there were literally MILLIONS, eww! (Pictures to follow!)

Found out that night that atleast 90% of my photos are blurred, so thats a bit of a bummer. Still, could be worse, atleast I still have them and now I have a reason to so more shopping in Singapore. Still, rather glad I`m not solely concerned with getting good pictures all the time, as you can often miss seeing the things that are right in front of you by only looking at them through a viewfinder.

Next morning I tried to change my flight so that I can go straight to Sydney instead of Cairns. Was put on hold for the first time in a while and the automatic frustrations you go through came back all of a sudden. it was uch a weird feeling after being so completely chilled for 2 months. Then I had to laugh as I looked around and took in the incredible hills and the sunshine, and there I was standing in my bare feet in a hostel I`m paying less than 2 pounds a night for, listening to hold music as I try to cange flights for AUSTRALIA! I think i can handle that! ((though it turns out they can`t do anything for me and I`m now going to be stuck in Cairns airport on standby until I can get a flight!))

Afterward we ummed and ahhed for a bit before deciding to go for the boat trip to the local water cascades. It was pretty expensive and not really worth it to be honest. As I say that I hope its not a sign of me taking things for granted or getting too used to seeing things incredible every day. But I`m pretty sure its not like that - it was just not that impressive a waterfall (hence they`d called it a cascade!)


A womans perogative...

2008-10-14

So I changed my mind again...

And decided to head to The Cameron Highlands. Which is consequently the least Asian sounding and most Scottish sounding place I have been since I left Glasgow.

The bus was delayed as it was waiting for some people who had slept in or something. People were getting quite ratty about it all but after spending time in Cambodia I really didn`t see the problem. We had an aircon bus that had atleast picked us up on time, it was comfortable, it followed the agreed route, it didn`t stop to drop off some mail or squeeze extra people into any available corner of space. And yet despite all that, I found myself actually missing the laid back, chill out and see what happens, we`ll get there eventually kind of attitude from other parts of SE Asia....

I don`t want comfy buses and I don`t want them to be on time?! Am I mad?!

Got dropped off at a guesthouse, which normally raises some warning signs but in this case it turned out to be a great thing. The hostel was good, clean (aside from that one rat...) cheap, good food, films at night (although not under any circumstances after the 7.30pm time slot - the wall said so) and all the usual things I have come to learn constitutes a good hostel.

Glad I managed to fir CH in, as once again, they are absolutely stunning. Lots of high green hills with chunks missing for strawberry and tea plantations. The chunks missing looks better than it sounds!

The next day (Wednesday 15th - time going so fast! When did it become October?!) we got a public bus to the bee farm, which was basically a garden with some bee boxes and cheery cartoon bee lifesize figures - i say lifesize, i mean 6 foot tall...   Then headed to the Boh Tea Plantation, where I actually had a cup of tea, it was raspberry flavour, but still, thats a big step for me - perhaps I`m becoming a grown up after all. If you don`t know what I`m on about, you`ve obviously never tried to make me a cup of tea. Or coffee. Or a plate of coleslaw.)

Then we saw inside the tea plantation which smelt of tea. Alot. There was also lots of signs up to teach you about tea. The guy who started it all was a scottish bloke. They called him British and didn`t mention this ofcourse though! Walked around, went to the butterfly farm and cactus farm shops, but didn`t bother going in. Is that bad? Then went to the strawberry farm and had chocolate covered fresh strawberries. INCREDIBLE.

Heavy rain that night so largely hid out from the rain and went online/read my book. Life of Pi at that point, I felt the weather was appropriate.


Mersing, but mainly Pulau Tioman.

2008-10-16

Left the next morning and got a bus to Kuala Lumpur. Had grand plans for diary and postcard writing and phoning home etc when I arrived at the quiet fishing village of Mersing, the dropping off point for Pulau Tioman. Then the bus broke down.

So once again I arrived at night, when everything was closed. This time it was at the bus statoin a little out of town. But it didn`t take me long to find a hotel, which wasn`t the nicest but I was only there for 6 hours. And after Pakse at 2.30am, this was nothing!

Got boat for Tioman the next morning. A few days of beach, chilling, sun, sea, sleep, and general holiday type activities before I ave to find a job in Oz.

Met two English girls on the boat and all that went out the window.

In a good way though! We went trekking, saw loads of monitor lizards, monkeys, ants and jungle. It took us over 2 hours of hard jungle trek to get to the resort ABC. Luckily our fear that it would be nicer than the resort Salang that we had chosen was ot fulfilled. ABC wasn`t all that nice, and there was even fewer people than on Salang. We tried to hitch a lift with a delivery boat back to Salang but they were shady (when was the last time i used that word?!) and asked for loads of money and then sailed away before we could even barter with them. So we made a somewhat more hurried beeline through the jungle back to Salang as we didnt want to get stranded in the jungle, nice as it was, in the dark.

The next day we went snorkelling and saw loads of cool fish, including bright neon blue and purple ones and nemo fish, and some amazing coral. It strikes me that I`m pretty lucky that all of my first experiences of snorkelling have been in some of the best places to do it. I fear I may have peaked too soon. Oh yeah, the Great barrier Reef...never mind!

Next day we went trekking again, though we had the sence to get a boat to take us to our starting off point this time. More jungle but this time the road was more clear and it was even more enjoyable than the earlier trip. Not as many monitor lizards though. Although there were alot more monkeys this time. I was amazed at one point to find it `raining` in one tiny spot of the jungle, right next to my head. I looked up to see the monkey above me and marvelled at how the `water` was only coming through the trees next to me. Until Chloe pointed out that the moneky was peeing. I know I want to do something new every day, and that largely, I`m managing that on this trip. But a monkey purposefully aiming its pee at me was not what I had in mind!

All was forgotten as we arrived at Juara beach. It is quite possibly the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen. It was deserted, the sand was perfect and bleached white, the sea was an incredibly clear and a fabulous green/blue colour, it was just all good!

The others got wind of some surfing at the other end of the beach so we headed off there after lunch and I lay in the sun while they `caught some waves man`. Its a hard life eh?

Met a pet monkey, which  don`t like at the best of times - the fact its a pet, not the monkey. Though I`m willing to make an exception for this one. The little ...toerag... broke my anklet and my fancy new and rather cool fake rayban sunglasses. I`m genuinly quite upset. Still I dropped my camera on the walk over and royally broke it this time and these things come in threes so atleast thats something.

Took a horrendous road back to Tekek to attempt and catch a boat back to Salang. It was the steepest road I`ve ever walked down and the blisters I`d managed to get on the soles of my feet were not helping matters for some reason (thanks for the plasters dad - now I understand why you felt the need to disappear 4 monutes before I caught the plane - they are much appreciated!)

Luckily there was a man with a boat willing to take us back in the dark. So he dd. The journey was pretty cool actually and the stars looked amazing. As did the lightening that kept flashing under the clouds in the distance, it looked like fireworks.

The others decided to move round to Juara for more surfing for a few days, I was really tempted but stayed put and rather enjoyed my day of sunbathing. It was a while coming but I wouldn`t change the few days I`d had for anything so all was well. Tioman is amazing - go there!

Got up early this morning to cathc the ferry back to Mersing. Then the bus to Kola Bharu sp?). Then the bus to Singapore - which I actualkly had to catch a total of 3 times as you had to get off to go through customs and immigration every few stops.

So, now I am in Singapore. The final Asian country of this trip. For now atleast. Wandered around Little India tonight (AKA: got lost for ages) and am looking forward to what tomorrow brings.....Goodnight all.


Singapore

2008-10-22

Am writing this from Oz, but we`ll ignore that for now and assume I`ve been better at being up to date...

First full day in Singapore and largely spent it walking around. Don`t know what distance I covered but I walked pretty much non stop for about 7 hours. It involved the Colonial District, including the merlion statue, Chinatown, too much rain to appreciate it really, Little India again, and another area with lots of cathedrals and churches etc. And everything else in between. I also stopped off at what is apparently the largest fountain in the world.

Unfortunately it was turned off.

Next day I headed off to the Changi Museum, which was a bit of a trek away. Singapore is so much like a big western country though. The tube and buses are easy to figure out, and the main language is English so even if they weren`t it wouldnt be an issue.

For this reason, I wasn`t loving Singapore a huge amount. I enjoyed Asia so much and feel like I`m being forced out of it in some ways. Though phasing me through the transition gradually may not be a bad thing.

Anyways, after the museum I went on a tour of Little India, to see and head about the Deepavali festival. It was really interesting and was good to hear about what was going on locally and to hear explanations of all the things I`d been looking at for 2 days. And we got some free bombay mix!

that night I got roped into playing fuseball with 3 guys that had met at the hostel, and it was all downhill from there!

The next day we got up and went, at Jimmy`s AKA Nipper`s request, to see an Orchid Garden within the Botanic Gardens. It was pretty though I don`t reckon the hungover John was best pleased at having to pay $5 to see some flowers. Then we headed to a local National Park. The plan was to walk up to the viewpoint. This was supposed to take 1 hour and 10 minutes according to the leaflet. John and Ed seemed intent on running up the bloody hill - did I mention the viewpoint was up a MASSIVELY STEEP hill? about 12 minutes later we arrived (me somewhat gasping) at the top. To see a huge telephone pylon and lots of trees obscuring the views.

The pain I was in was somewhat mellowed by the sighting of lots of monkeys. Who fought. Alot. The distraction was welcome and they were rather funny in fact. I still think of Mark getting bitten whenever I see monkeys so I remember Liz`s advice and steer clear unless I have a big stick. (out of context I realise that may sound a bit bad...)

We followed this up with a trip to the night safari. Awesome! It started with a `creatures of the night show` which started off with an incredibly cheesy and over dramatic voiceover relling us about said `creatures of the night` in a deep, menacing and downright ridiculous voice. It was rescued though by a hilarious woman who kept our attention by taking the p*ss out of various members of the audience. And the animals were cool too.

We saw tigers, loud roaring lions, hyenas, deer, loads of other zoo like animals and bats. Big bats. Loud and scary big bats. So when Ed, in his infinite wisdom thought it would be funny to tickly my back as one flew straight towards my head. The fact I didnt scream but simply jumped up and down, did a rather unique `arggghhhhhh` dance and ran out of the enclosure, was really quite impressive. You`ll have to take my word for that. (Plus I`m holding onto the fact that John was a bigger scaredy cat than me!)

Got back about 1.30am and decided to go out. Weird being clubbing in a club and not on a beach, but you can`t have everything! As an even better idea decided not to go to bed upon our return at 6am. So the next day was a little tired. We did manage to fit in the zoo though, so all was not lost. Highlights here included elephants, tigers, leopards, birds, polar bears and orangutans, which were definately my favourite, especially as they just roam around the zoo freely. There was also a sealion show but it didnt have a patch on Blair Drummond I have to report...

Got back and headed to the airport. Which means I was about to leave Asia. Which is insane, upsetting, exciting, crazy, unbelievable, happy and gutting all at the same time.


End of Part 1

2008-10-25

this bit will be a bit gushing, so I`m thinking about what to write first...

plus I`ve had a pint so now isn`t the best time!


First few days in Australia!!!

2008-10-31

And now its Aussie land! And its...awesome! What a relief!

Was gutted to leave Asia and wasn`t looking forward to things being so much more like home. They`re not! Its SO different here to how it was in Asia but instead of wanting that back, I`m loving the change. Its not just the place thats different, or the food, accomodation, people, setting, weather, transport, activities, but the vibe and attitude too. In Asia if I spent a day not doing anything I`d feel guilty. Even a day on the beach was counted as an activity. Here, things are so chilled out and not filling your day with numerous activites isn`t a bad thing. `Chill man, take your time`! I still wouldn`t change Asia for anything but I`ve been here not that shy of a week, haven`t done much, may stay atleast another week. And thats all good!

Arrived at the airport thinking I would get a flight straight to Sydney to try and find work. Couldn`t get a flight so figured I`d spend a day or 2 in Cairns then head south. To think I nearly missed this place! Cairns is great. Real party backpackers town, while being completely chilled out at the same time. Us backpackers are tripping over each other somewhat and while in Thailand etc that really got on my nerves, here its just nice to meet so many like minded people. After the relative quiet of places like Malaysia and Cambodia, there are people again! Its made for us here, free internet, free food, bars, clubs, and a gorgeous little lagoon area on the beach with a little pool, bandstand, sunbathing area and all this on the beach. You can`t go in the sea though, due to crocodiles, deadly jelly fish and some apparently dangerous creatures that live in the water, sharks or something thy`re called...?!

Have been constructive in the sense that I`ve opened a bank account, bought a phone, ..., ..., moved into a cheaper hostel, been to the post office... , ... yeah, in 5 days that is it. Anyone would think I was on holiday...

Nearly got a bar job but decided to go fruit picking next week instead. So its out for halloween tonight, sunbathing for a coupla more days, great barrier reef at some point and then the work will start. Australia is great. Come visit!

PS - other big news is that I found Irn Bru!!! Now I don`t ever need to come home. JOKE!!!


Diary of a lowly fruitpicker. Day 1. Week 1. Volume 1.

2008-11-07

My first impressions of my first ever fruit picking job came from Shaun, a guy i met through Rosie, in Cairns. They came in teh form of what sounded an awful lot like sheer horror, the words `Oh No` actually came from his mouth. Him and his travelling companion laura exchanged knowing glances before confessing that what was to become my new home was infact the same place they had informed me about just the weeki before, the one they ran away from in the middle of the night.

My only other inkling that i was set for a fun few weeks was from the owner on the telephone line when i got the job. Upon informing him where i was from he responded with `Ahhh, Scotland` in an attempt at a scottish accent that more closely resembled a highland cow being washed down a drain, or Mel Gibson in braveheart - the choice is yours.

I arrived at the hostel, which is located in a town I call Porquepine, though thats not its name. Its sits above an Irish pub/restaurant, which youd assume would make it a barrel of laughs. Youd be wrong. I was `greeted` by the most unfriendly irish woman i think i`ve ever met. She requested $165 for the room and weekly travel, fair enough, and a $50 deposit which we only get back if we stay for 4 weeks. "Eh, I was told the season only lasted 3 more weeks` I said. "It might last 3, it might last 4, it might last more, or less, I don`t know" came her helpful reply. "Okay, no problem" I said. #@**X@# I thought.

At the moment I have a 4 bed dorm to myself which is nice but not great for meeting people. Thats not including the rather large cockroach that scuttled across my floor and under my bed 5 minutes after i moved in. I survived 3 months in Asia without room sharing cockroaches, not so in Australia. Still, its nice to have the company.

Have so far discovered that there isnt much phone signal, the only available internet shuts long before we get back from work, the kitchen is equipped with 3 plates, 2 bowls,a  butter knife, 1 plastic and 1 metal fork, 1 oven that works, 1 oven that doesnt, a broken microwave, and no tin opener. Which made trying to cut, open and indeed cook most elements of my dinner on my first night somewhat awkward.

Chatted to a couple of people who advised me what to expect from the fruiot picking, the twinkle in their eye at the sight of a newbie made me suspect I had to expect the worst. Met a friendly german bloke who joined me as we ate our dinner out of saucepans. I forgot to mention the saucepans.

And so, at 5am, I rose to begin my first day of fruit picking. Turns out we have to get a bus for an hour first, so we did that. Passing amongst other things, a sign for trips to the Whitsunday islands - just taunting me! We also passed a water jet over the local fields, which lit up as a rainbow when you drove past, so that was a nicer start to the morning.

We got put into different teams, me on the newbie team ofcourse. Tomato picking is meant to be one of the easiest fruit to pick, Ive met people who haev burned their skin on mango sap and cut open their hands and feet while chopping bananas, so tomatoes was fine with me. Having said that, it takes some getting used to. You are, under no circumstances supposed to `pick green`, as yesterdays pickers found to their detriment when they got fined `2 buckets`. If there is a spot on the bottom of the tomato thats beginning to turn yellow/orange then its good. But theyre not to be confused with the sunburnt tomatoes, which incidentally, look pertty much the same...

I found it okay considering, I went relatively fast in comparison to some of the others. Once I`d figured out which ones should have worn their factor 30 and which ones were actually ripe that is. We stopped for 15 minutes lunchbreak, attempting to eat a sandwich when your hands are the dirtiest they have ever ever been is a little unsettling but you battle through. The dirt just sticks to you in this job, it cements to your shoes so that they double in weight- to the extent that the sole of my right shoe fell off, which was a little upsettign. The dirst gets into every crinkle and crease of your hands, arms and neck and your fingernails?! I`m not sure mine will ever be truly clean again. My clothes a re a right off already, so Ive decided to wear them every day as long as im here. Do I think that is a bit disgusting? Yes! Do I care? No, becasue everyone else is the same.

 

(more to follow, but you`ll note for those picky readers - dad! that i cant quite decide if i`m writing this in the present of past tense... given i`ve already left (which may give you a hint about the next few entries) and the tomato dust obviously effected my brain...that and my fingernails are STILL dirty.)


Diary of a lowly fruit picker. Entry 2. (Plus bird attack)

2008-11-09

And so the fruit picking continued. For the first few days i was on the newbies team and this meant we were somewhat slower than the others. You get paid $80 per bin, which is divided by the 14 members of your team. And it takes each person about 4 buckets (around 135 tomatoes in each - i counted them, i got bored, it was a way to pass the time that made a nice change from singing songs that as many of you know, i dont know the words too) to fill it. Not sure if that makes sense but its a lot of maths and the basic result is a lot of tomatoes for not a lot of money!

It was back breaking work but when you got onto the faster teams it could potentially pay off a bit better. Their technique is to fill the buckerts with `green` which is not allowed but means you get more buckets, quicker and hense more money. But it also means you get shouted at, alot, by VELDA!!! Velda is a tiny australian woman who doesnt agree with suncream and reminds me a lot of Kylie Minouge. If Kylie was 20 years older, constantly wore a baseball cap, was followed around by her porky bulldog, screamed a lot and her every second word was an expletive.  Despite this, I quite liked her.

The problem was it was the end of the season so you`d get up at 5am every day, work all day looking for the fruit but not actually being able to pick anything with the result that you`d only make about $50 each a day. I kept thinking in british money and every time i remembered about the exchange rate and therefore that I was actually making less than 25 pounds (I still havent figured out how to do the pound signs over here) a day I was a little disheartened.

Still, it meant you were finished earlier than planned, so you waited on the bus home for an hour and then had time to chill in the hostel. Only the hostel didnt really create a chilling kind of vibe for me. Given the aforementioned cockroaches, the fridge crawling with bugs (of the bacteria kind, not the multi-legged black creepy kind) (I hope), the music they played until 1am every night that made your door shake on its hinges despite telling us on signs everywhere that there was to be no noise or social gatherings after 10.30pm (!) oh yeah, and the maggots. Did I mention the maggots? Well there were maggots, crawling on the kitchen surfaces. Nice.

I`d originally planned on staying for 3 or 4 weeks. But as you may have gathered from my cheery tone, this place was making me whinge, alot. I`d not been down or angry or depressed or fed up or had negative emotions in anyway atall (apart from the obvious missing of people) (and apart from when the monkey broke my sunglasses) since leaving home and this place was having a seriously bad effect on my mental wellbeing! It was helped when I got talking to an Irish girl, Naimh as we bonded over our shared bitching about it all, but theres only so much that bitching can help and I began to reconsider the length of my stay.

On the Tuesday I decided that if I didnt make decent money for the rest of the week I would head elsewhere and try my luck wherever that might be. I got up at 5am, had breakfast, put on my muddy clothes and headed down to the bus. To see it pulling away. I shouted and ran towrds it. It continued to drive. I chased it ALL the way down the street, waving my arms and jumping and generally doing those things you assume will catch someones attention, especially on a deserted road at 5.30am, it didnt work.

I got angry.

I kicked some things.

I`m not gonna lie. I swore abit.

I stomped around my room.

I realised that this place REALLY wasnt good for my mental wellbeing.

I went back to bed.

And so I was destined to spend the day in Proserpine. I decided to go for a walk to see what the town had to offer. I don`t mean to be mean but seriously, there was nothing. It took me literally 8 monutes to walk around the whole town. With a few added extra ones to be attacked by a bird...

I was walking down one street, it may have been Phaff St but I`m not certain. (heehee - Phaff St?!) When suddenly I was hit on the back of the head. As the offending creature (at first I thought it was a bat, but it turned out to be a bird) swooped away I recovered from my shock and figured it had got disorientated or lost its balance (do birds lose their balance?). It looked a bit like a magpie so I took off my sunglasses as I remember something about them being attracted to shiny things. I continued down the street and then it came at me. Swooping towards my head and smacking off it again. This was no accident. It actually aimed for me. It was pretty sore too. It was big bird and it came at me full force. You could argue that I was somewhat freaked out. So I`d missed the bus, not been able to work, and now I was being attacked by a bird, in broad daylight. Thinking to myself how much I was over Proserpine I walked, rather more briskly back towards the hostel. The bird followed me. It swooped a few more times and I had to duck. To anyone watching I guess I must have looked pretty stupid, as I randomly ducked down and pretty much walked backwards the whole way back so I could keep my eye on it. But hey, travelling is all about the new experiences, and I`ve never been attacked by a crazy, evil magpie before.

I have since found out that in the nearby town of Bowen there were signs up, next to the ones warning you abot crocodiles and stingrays, about these swooping magpie type birds. It actually gives you a list of things not to do, like ride a bike. I cant decide if this official warning sign makes me feel better for confirming that I wasnt going mad and there wasnt just somwthing about me that made birds want to hit me on the head, or makes me feel worse becasue now my fear of black and white, medium sized birds is completely justified.

 


So much for diary entries 5,6 and 7.

2008-11-12

And so it was that I decided to get the hell out of that little town. I had paid for the week so stuck it out that far atleast. I felt like a bit of a failure for not lasting the course but I took comfort in the fact that I could handle the work. It was the lack of pay, the maggot infested hostel and the evil birds that drove me out.

Airlie Beach was calling. So it was with an incredibly huge grin on my face that I boarded the bus out of Proserpine, never to return. (Apart from when we drove through it a week later on our way to Bundaberg, Damn.)

Airlie Beach was a bit like a poor mans Cairns, but still pretty cool. Stayed in Magnums, one of the biggest resorts in the town and quite like Gilligans in Cairns. Spent about 5 days there and chilled by the lagoon mostly. Ate some more Oreo McFlurry`s, did a small amount of shopping, discovered the bank had lost my bank card, drank some beer, watched Andy Murray win, and then lose some tennis, changed rooms 4 times, watched one of the weirdest parades I`ve ever seen, with floats full of kids firing water pistols, a santa in a paddling pool and camels...

I didnt do much else worth writing home about. So....


Diary of a fruit picker, again.

2008-11-21

Bundaberg this time.

Arrived at 3.30am with nowhere to stay. Had found a bed for Jon, but not one for me. So figured I`d just sleep in the bus station or something. This wouldnt have happened in Asia!

Luckily there had been a last minute cancellation at a hostel called Cellblock so I headed there and got a bed for the night. The next morning I was told its not the safest place to walk around by yourself at night. Glad I didnt know that the night before.

Things here are so different to Proserpine. There are lots of people in the hostel for a start. The town is big enough to have a woolworths and a coles, and a cinema so all is well. Have done a few different jobs already. Packed tomatoes, which was not fun. Picked tomatoes again. I think they are following me. And then confirmed this when I answered a tannoy call for a few hours extra work to help clear an overturned truck. Which was FULL of the red, round, tomato tasting fruit again.

A group of about 15 of us got the door of this truck open to find it literallt bursting with tomatoes. There had been 62 bins full (see aforementioned maths to see just how many thousands of tomatoes that is) (or if you prefer - it was $40,000 worth!!!) and all were tipped onto their side. We got the first few bins out and then climbed in. It was one of the most surreal things I`ve done. We were literally swimming in them. It was like a giant red ballpool (Chris- you would have loved it!) We were using anything and everything to try and shift them. Some of us climbed into the overturned bins and used out feet to push them out, it was one gigantic  tomato pile. We were all absolutely covered in them when we finally finished 3 1/2 hours later. It was actually quite a lot of fun, and not something you do every day, which is the whole point right?! But the novelty definately wore off about half way through. Things dont get much more exciting than this in Bundaberg, which was confirmed by the arrival of a newspaper reporter, and photographer, and the local television news crew!!! I`m not sure even GUST would have covered a tomato truck turnover as a leading news story. I could go on about what it looked, felt and smelt like but the description wouldnt do it justice, it was tomato carnage at its finest, guess you just had to be there!

As a result I got put onto one of the sought after jobs here, at Forest Nursery. The hours are good and you dont work weekedns and the staff dont treat you like youre a moron which is an incredibly nice change. My job is consolidation so I sit outside all day and sort plants into sizes. Thats basically it. Its still relatively tough, even if you do get a seat (a bit like autocue in that regards gusties!) but its not bad work if you can get it. I`d actually prefer more hours from the money point of view but I`ll happily take this for now. Plus all the rain (yes, we have rain here too you know!) is putting a ot of the work on hold at the moment). The only down side is the sprinklers which come on every 40-ish minutes and soak you to the bone. Even though youre wearing a rather fetching, damp smelling, bright yellow raincoat. At first it was quite refreshing, but the novelty wore off there too, especially when you get home at the end of the day to find your feet looking like theyve been soaking in water for 8 hours, which effectively, they have. Mmmm, wrinkly.

The banter here is plentiful and there seems like a good bunch of people. Even if half of them stay up all night, screaming and jumping into the pool which is just outside my window (yup, theres a pool, thats pretty cool!) This is what I thought fruit picking would be. Hard work and then beer drinking aplenty in the evenings, and thats what it is here. Though there are people who take it a little too far. Ive met so many people that have been here for 3 months for their 2nd year visa and havent managed to save up any money (having spent all of it on booze) and so have to stay another couple to save up some cash. I know its a good laugh here, but staying in Bundaberg for 8 months (which is what some people have done) is not my idea of travelling Australia. Still, each to their own. But I`ll be out of here by Christmas. Speaking of which, how on earth did it get to be 30th November already?! And how on earth can I have sunburn in November?!


rain, sprinklers, christmas parties, non-existant towns, no turtles and brisbane.

2008-12-21

My last few weeks at forrest were by in large very good.

There was one day where it rained so much that everyone got sent home (this didnt make them turn off the sprinklers though), apart from me who volunteered to stay behind for some extra $`s. By the time I got home I was cold and wet. Infact, drenched and shivering would be a more accurate description. On a more positive note the legend that is Sue (local permenant member of staff) let me borrow her dry shirt and it said `struth` on the back!

I did a day of overtime one weekend which involved walking up and down the paddock watering plants. Over 100,000 plants to be more precise. I had time to work it out! Yet they still put the sprinklers on so I got all soggy again. That day passed remarkably quickly. Then the 3 of us who were working had some beer. Which was nice. Good day all round...

...atleast it was until I ended up going out that night, drank a concoction of pure evil, otherwise known as passion pop, got rather inebriated (polite way of saying I was `hanging like a washing`) and the rest, well i`ll save that for the paper diary.

Needless to say I suffered horrendously for my actions. having said I would never drink while I was travelling, to give that up after 4 days, but still never have a hangover in the 4+ months that I`ve been away, I made up for it big time on that particular Sunday. It brought so many flashbacks of that morning the week before I left with Carol and Laura, guys - i missed you that morning, my hangover just wasnt the same without you both!

having promised never to drink again (again) the free christmas party the next weekend was an event not to be missed. So it wasnt. It was so weird being at a christmas party, it was in this random hall and it was so quiet when we first arrived. Man, I missed strongbow! The banter expectedly increased as the night went on and it was a class night. Danced about like an idiot with Kerry, Sharon, Eiblish, Hayleigh, Mike, Sue and Sonia. Even managed to get the proclaimers on! Ened up hijacking a rudolph the reindeer statue and singing christmas tunes at the top of our lungs on the bus into town. It was a grand night, despite my sobriety and fun was had by all. So different to the christmas nights out I`m used to at home though: daft friday, SRC, GUST etc. Was great fun but I miss you guys all so much.

.....shop closing....to be continued...

i just realised you can do italics and stuff on this...only taken me 4 months...if i`d kept my original dates I`d be over half way through, and that is insane.

how do you turn the italics off?!

 

Thanks Yvonne!!

As I was saying...

I spent my days off going on a road trip with Caroline, Hayleigh and Kerry. yay - "road trip"!! We drove over to the pretty town of Agnes Water, took some `comedy` santa hat shots of us on the beach then decided to drive to the town of 1770 to see if the beach was a bit better. There were signs all the way up to it and then they seemed to disappear. So we walked around a bit trying to find a beach or a main road or something to no avail. So we drove back to Agnes Water, got something to eat and spoke to some people who informed us that 1770 was kind of Agnes Water and vice-versa, sort of. So we drove back to 1770 (see what happnes when you have a car again) and clambered down to a mini beach that was all but deserted and spent a rather lovely afternoon there. Well, i spent most of it asleep on the sand and w didnt go in the water for fear of scary jelly fish but it was SO nice not to be planting trees for a while.

The rest of work continued pretty well, spent most days doing consolidation, tray maintenance (putting little platic tubs into trays), spacing out plants and general dogsboddy stuff. Then, in my last week I took it upon myself to volunteer to work in the hothouse - why, why, why?! It involves standing at a conveyor belt using a knitting needle to pierce a hole in little jiffy bags and putting a small tree seedling into them. This wasnt the problem. The 80% (!!!!) humidity was. Nuff` said. (think sweating, faint spells, lack of coherant speech, and you get the idea).

The last day of came and went and ended with me and a few others holding hands and jumping into the hostel pool, in our work clothes in something of a cellblock tradition (so thats why the pool is always so dirty...)

Had arranged to meet up with some Aussie girls that I`d met at work to go to the turtle sanctuary. Its the biggest of its kind in Australia apparently and you go to see the giant sea turtles come up onto the beach to lay their eggs, if you go back a few weeks later you can see thousands of baby turtles scurrying down to the water too. Both of these rely on the turtles turning up however...

We lwere sorted into groups and then taken through to an auditorium type thing where we listened to a somewhat long speech from one of the rangers. It was interesting...at first. People got a little restless after the first 2 hours. The turtles, having turned up after half an hour the night before were taking there time a bit more the night we went there so after the speech took a break we ended up colouring in pictures of turtles instead. Alas, it ended up being the only turtles we saw that night as groups 1 and 2 got called up but us lot, AKA group 3 had no luck. Apparently you can wait till 1or 2am somwtimes but given we`d been up at 6am and i had to catch a bus at 3.30am we decided to call it a day. Still, atleast I can say I tried to see the turtles and the colouring in was great fun, as were the picture books and puzzles in the childrens area and the banter created by Amanda and Nat. Plus the man at the food and drinks van gave me a free bag of sweets so in many ways it was quite a successful evening!

Drove back in the rain, at which point nat and Amanda offered to drive me to the bus to save me walking in the rain with all my stuff to the station. I got back to the hostel packed up my jail cell and sure enough, the pair of leg-ends turned up at 3am and drove me to the station. What stars, I think they were a little bemused that the rain had stopped but they didnt seem to mind. Crazy Ladies!

And so to Brisbane...

 


Brisbane at Christmas

2008-12-28

Arrived and instantly fell in love with the hostel and the area I`m staying in. Its in the west end of Brisbane and is more chilled out and quirky than the main centre area. The staff are all lovely, it doesnt take 2 hours to cook your dinner on the stove and its in a leafy residential area which is just lovely.

Havent done much for the first few days here. Chilled and got used to not working again which is nice. I`ve walked round a lot and generally enjoyed being in a big city again. Aside from a few days in Singapore I havent really done so since I left home so its nice to find things open on a Sunday and have shops that are open after 5pm.

And so it came to Christmas Eve and after the usual routine of christmas shopping then the watchnight service was undertaken. Christmas just seems to be so different here. There are the same work nights out, last minute shopping and decorations in the stores but it seems less overstated and excessive some how. People were shopping on Christmas Eve but they didnt have the same look of stress/panic that seems to follow you round Glasgow on the 24th. From the people I`ve spoken to about it I gather that the day itself is more chilled out to, as many would argue it should be. Maybe its because people have barbeques and dont need to worry about preparing a feast of turkey, roast vegetables, cranberry sauce, gravy, pudding, ....... man i miss christmas dinner...... to all be ready at the same time. People and the atmosphere in general just seems far more relaxed.

Anyways, I went along to the local church at 7pm, which was 5 hours earlier than planned but thats when they wanted to hold the service and i wouldnt have felt so festive sitting outside the door at midnight all alone. I always knew that Christmas without the people I love was going to be hard and thought that there was a pretty good chance the service, without mum, mhairi, calum, eileen and hannah would be a bit tough (lewis still doesnt go incase he comes back and interupts santa coming) but it was a real mixture of emotions in the end! The church was so familiar it was almost unnerving, the organ sounded exactly the same, the carols were largely similar though some had been changed to be more relevant to australia in terms of both place and climate! the pews were the same, the children running and shouting up at the front were the same, the announcements being a little mixed up and the leaflets handed out had some misprints, the place even smelled exactly the same! I loved it! These were the upsides, as were the lovely people there who made me feel so welcome. The fact that it all combined to make me miss people so much that I cried the entire way through the service was a slight downside but hey, i know i`m lucky to normally have that kind of family christmas to miss in the first place, some people never have that and I only have to miss out on it for one year so all was well really. And then they played hymns from the Iona Community and I forgot all about crying as I was so surprised to see words from Iona infront of me on the absolute other side of the world! Pretty special huh?!

Christmas day was a little weird. Went to church again which was cool, then had some lunch which the hostel had provided for us all. Now I`m not one to complain (shut up...!) and some people have nothing and even people in the hostel who came down too late didnt get all that I did, but chicken, cheese slices, lettuce and bread is just a little different to what I was used to. And I loved it when Lewis and Dad that night described in detail the contents of their christmas meal.

Didnt do an awful lot for the rest of the day. Then ventured for a walk down to the lagoon/fake beach area in the evening. It was warm, there were people swimming everywhere, in shorts t-shirts and swim stuff, people eating ice cream.....but i had a santa hat on so it wasnt that different to home.


New Year in Paradise, Surfers Paradise to be exact!

2009-01-03

thats really the name!

Didnt do a huge amount in the week after christmas in brisbane, wandered around the town alot, went up to fortitude valley and china town and spent some monies on stuff there. Went to the cinema (why do i never learn that I dont like Keanu Reeves films?!) and generally potted about and chilled.

I did meet up with a good friend who I`d met in Thailand. It was so weird meeting somebody that I already knew and though I don`t know Leah from home it was just the same really. While I absolutely love meeting so many new people on my travels there was something really nice about meeting up with someone who already knows you, and the people you know, and the kinds of things which might be on your mind already without having to explain the whole background and constantly reminding them who everyone in the story is or how it fits in to wat youre talking about. I guess thats something you normally take for granted but it was awesome seeing her again, and not just because she knows and understands what the hell I`m on about without needing the whole backstory afew times first!

Anyways to new year! The Monday before arrived and Jon got a call from Afton offereing to take us down with her and Paul, that afternoon to surfers paradise fro new years. While I was tempted to spend it in brisbane and had said to Nat and Amanda that I`d meet up with them, the offer of some good banter, a great beach, oh and the 3 bedroom luxury apartment we`d be staying in sealed the deal, and off we went!

Afton and Paul were lovely, as was the beach, and the apartment! I didnt do a huge amount once again, just chilled, browsed the shops, cooked some dinner in a kitchen I wasnt sharing with 30 other people and sat on a couch and watched television with a remote control!!! Bliss!

New Year itself was fun, not the same without you all ofcourse, that goes without saying (...she said) but we went to a club called the Ruby tramp (i think...) and drank champagne, and tequilla but I prefer not to think about that, then went to watch the fireworks, which were set off from a barge out on the ocean. There was no countdown as such and no impromptu burst into Auld Lang Syne so I didnt actually realise it had gone midnight until a while after! Therefore having no time for my usual sentimental goodbye to one year and hello to the next. Maybe a good thing?! Then went back and played poker, which was awesome!

And now i`m back in Brisbane. Its a new year which means I havent seen you all since last year. Which is crazy! My new years resolution continues to be the same as my general travelling pledge which is to try something new every day. Today I`ve yet to think of something, though I saw the film BOLT earlier (great film) but I`m not sure that counts. I hope all of you had a fantastic Hogmanay, and I wish you all the very best for 2009. I hope its everything you want it to be (can you tell I just watched a cheesy disney film?!) and I`ll see you later this year!!!!


Koala`s, Kangaroos and Krocodiles!

2009-01-07

Went to Australia Zoo yesterday. It was awesome!

Got a bus through a company called Croc Connections, our driver spent the journey telling us about the history of the zoo, the ins and outs of the Irwin family (including showing us the pics of him with them that were taped to the inside of his sunshield...) and how much he loves tigers. Then he played a video about the life of Steve Irwin and dropped us off at the zoo just in time for the elephant feeding.

Found seats in the `crocoseum` a 5000 seater, $9million stadium that the animals crawl, fly and swim into during the show. It started with the fastest talking bloke i`ve ever come across trying to get the crowd going and giving out prizes to the most accurate monkey impressions. Then the show began, with a number of snakes being brought into the stadium, I think the presenters were going on about conservation and similar topics but I was somewhat distracted by the huge python in the swimming pool and the suspicious looking snake the woman standing RIGHT next to me was holding. The show got better with the birds, bright coloured parrots flew over peoples heads and around the stadium from corner to corner to whoops and ahh`s from the crowd. Then we all had to make daft noises to call in this gigantic stork type bird. I feel bad that I`ve forgotten what kind it was, but it was incredible. We called a few times and then this huge shape appeared on the horizon over the tree line outside the stadium and slowly made its way over the top of it, proceeding to swoop in circles round and round the rooftop before coming to a rather elegant stop in the middle of the stage area. I don`t think i`ve ever watched a bird like that land, i thought its spindly legs would snap in half but they didnt, it was very impressive.

Next came the moment the audience had been waiting for. The crocodiles! Apparently Steve Irwin built this stadium and planned on getting a croc to swim in through a small lake that led to and from its enclosure, everyone told him he was mad, but it worked! This section of the show started with Terri, Bindi and Bob Irwin coming out on stage and speaking to the crowd. Then the crocodile made its way through. I don`t think i`d seen one before today. In fact i`m sure, as I`m pretty certain I`d have remembered if I had! It was huge and terrifying. They fed it some meat and got it to come up out of the water. You go to shows at the zoo normally and they`re always impressive but this one had a different element to it, real danger! You`d think that the keepers would get used to it all but at one point this guy Wes went to feed this huge croc and stumbled on his way backwards away from it. The panic in his voice as he fell into the fence with such force that he broke it and yelled out `shit, i mean er crikey` was genuine. This was followed by general hilarity amongst the presenters and the audience as he`d obviously messed up and swore infront of all teh kids, but it just showed how real the threat of being crunched in half by this massive creature was. Later on he slipped again (it obviously just wasnt his day) and had a similar reaction. 

My nerves were somewhat on edge at this point (his probably were too then) but then they got the crocodile to do a `death roll` which is how they normally kill their prey, or how, as I`ve heard from many amused locals recently, they would drown a human if they got hold of one. I don`t know why it freaked me out so much, but the sight of this massive ancient crocodile, jaws clamped shut on this leg of meat twisting and rolling under the water was terrifying. I don`t care that the toddlers and young children in the audience cheered in glee, i was scared! It was like that scene in Harry Potter all over again.

The rest of the zoo was awesome too, its quite different to those I`ve been to before, there is a smaller variety of animals but those that are there are also so different to what I`ve seen before, primarily the crocodiles, kangaroos and then the koalas. Who, no matter which one i went up to, turned its cute little head away from the camera every time I tried to take a picture with it. Every time.

The other aspect which was somewhat different was the focus on the Irwin family as opposed to the animals, with dolls, pictures, calendars, magnets, and every other merchandise possible all featuring the family. Though there was a really nice memorial for Steve Irwin underneath the crocoseum. Apparently theres a lot of controversy over the little girl Bindi and how much tv work she`s doing etc, as we discovered to our...discomfort...this started from the moment she was born. The second half of our bus journey video on the return leg featuring her actual birth. Hmm.

Anyways, the zoo was awesome, the crocodiles incredible and the koalas and kangaroos so cute. Do it!


Art, Clowns and Tacos.

2009-01-12

Still chilling in Brisbane.

Met up with Leah again which was very lovely, aside from the drunken bums who pulled perhaps the worst lines I think I`ve ever heard when we were having a nice quiet drink and minding our own business but anyways...

Went to the Art Gallery to see a modern art exhibition called `Optimism`. There was a big mix of paintings, photos, installations, sculptures, videos etc. Some of it was really interesting, some thought provoking, some mad, some confusing and some just generally impressive. Like the real scale floor plan of a house hanging on the wall, and a gigantic 30ft lifelike woman in a bed. Though the way she was always looking at me as I walked around the room begain to freak me out after a while. There was also loads of those human statues you get, you know the ones that cover themselves from head to toe in gold paint or something or dress up like charlie chaplin. Anyways, they were really cool, until after staring intently for a large period of time wondering at how they manage to stand so still, barely even breathing, i realised they were actually just statues...

Got to colour in a fold up house in the childrens section too though and that was fun. So all in all, a good day out. I even managed to avoid staring at a fire hydrant for 10 minutes thinking it was `modern art` when it was actually just a fire hydrant...not that I did that in Barcelona that time...

Also went along to a clown show in the library. Theyre doing a special selection of activities for the kids Summer Holidays (!?) and one of the events was a clown show that was supposed to go over the major events from Australias past. There was a lot of waltzing matilda, abit about the war and a finale with Kylie Minogue so I have to admit that my Bill Bryson book `Down Under` is teaching me a little more than the clown show did, but it was lots of fun, the water pistols missed us and it was generally something random and impulsive to do which is what I`ve been missing out on recently. Heading to Sydney next week (whoop) so bring on the randomness then I hope!

Met up with Emma and Julian last night, the couple I met in Malaysia. Was great seeing them, though a little odd to be in civilisation. Had fun remembering all about our travelling adventures together and what theyve got up to since they dropped me off in KL airport. Loads by the sounds of things. Given me lots of ideas for future trips. Theres just SO much to see and do, you could keep going forever. I love it! Oh and we had $2 tacos - hense the blog title.

Off to Surfers Paradise again now for a couple of days for some more chilling (was going to attempt surfing but theres been lots of reports of shark attacks recently, which, for some reason puts me off slightly...), though on a beach this time. Its a hard life eh? Gotta love the travelling!

(Wow - you are all going to hate me by the time I get back!)

 


Surfers` Paradise. Part II.

2009-01-16

Surfers was awesome again the second time round. I was staying with Jon and his mum and they had booked a ridiculously nice apartment to stay in. On the 18th floor with incredible views of the ocean, can`t beat it! At night the moon lit up the sea and it looked a little eery but it was really something special. The outdoor pool was huge, but, as it turns out, freezing! So I retired to the indoor one instead. As you do.

Went for a walk along the beach, trying to avoid the minature stingers dotted along the shoreline. Managed this for the majority of the time only to find that they make a really cool popping sound, alot like bubble wrap when you do accidentally stand on one...somehow i managed to avoid the crippling pain that are meant to be associated with them so that was nice. Ended up sitting in the sun watching the surfers, waves crashing down on the golden sand, and generally wondering at how nice it all was. I think my facebook status with words to that effect probably made me a few enemies, given the ice and snow at home and what not. Have I just done it again...?! I can`t help it and its certainly not meant to be a gloating thing, I just think anyone who hasnt travelled should. Its not the weather being nice, though it is nice. Its the things you see and the people you meet and the experiences you have.

Speaking of which, we went up the Q1 which is the higest residential building in Queensland and the 20th higest building in the world. Pretty high then. The view was incredible with beach and sea and skyscrapers stretching forever along either side. I hadnt realised Surfers was based so much on the water with many little rivers in place of where you`d expect streets and culdesacs to be. Still if it means you have an excuse to own a little boat it can`t all be bad!

 


Brisbane. Part III

2009-01-18

And so, back to Brisbane. Again! For some reason I kept getting drawn back to this city, perhaps I should have stayed there to find a job but it does have such a nice vibe to it. Lots of different areas like the westend, which i love and Southbank, the lagoon and fake beach area which is a great place to hang out.

Anyways, went to stay with Afton and Paul. Their new house is incredible, they`d only just moved in so I felt very honoured to be staying there so soon. We spent the day going to a park that has one of those treetop walks in it. Wondering why it was so cold there, we realised pretty quickly it was becasue we were literally IN the clouds! Which makes a nice change from it being me up there on my own!

The walk was good though not as long or as high as the one in Malaysia. Having said that I climbed up this little cuckoos nest typ extra bit that had a platform 24 and then 30 metres above the gorund. Nobody else plucked up the courage, not sure whats got into me on this trip as I would normally have declined to climb up a little ladder that high (it seems WAY higher than it sounds) surrounded only bu a thin metal casing  type fence type thing and not think much of it. Though I haved to say when the wind started the tiny platform I was perched on swaying in the breeze, I quickly (or as quickly as you can go climbing backwards down such a contraption in flipflops with an overstuffed handbag) descended back to ground level.

That night fish and chips from the sea front. Turns out I love calamari!

Next day Afton, Jon, his mum and I went to Paul`s dads house. I say house. Its a heritage listed mansion called `Whepstead Manor`. But it was a fantastic house. With a library and everything. It even had its own ghost who lives in the attic (Mary, a young girl who disappeared from there years ago and was never seen again)...

I thought we`d just be going over for a small family barbeque which in a way it was, but not exactly the surroundings I`d imagined. I had a fabulous time there though and his dad was so lovely and we had a really interesting chat, about Australia, New Zealand, how climate change doesnt really exist... and how theres no class system in Australia so if you have money or live in a house like the one we were sitting in, people dont think it makes you necessarily better than anyone else, just that youve worked hard and deserved it. Hmm, if only more people saw things that way. But it certainly explained alot about how welcoming he was and a good time was had by all.


First night in Sydney - a tale of two halves.

2009-01-19

Flew over to Sydney on the Monday morning. Saw the opera house and harbour bridge from the plane and they looked huge, even from the air. On closer inspection their size was proven, the bridge especially - massive!

We walked down the street with our eyes covered, trying not to bump into anyone or get knocked down. But it was worth it as it meant (and this had been the intention by the way!) we saw the opera house in all its glory in one go, not piece by piece being revealed as we walked past the wall. Its splendid, and I dont really ever use that word. But it fits. One of those things everyone should try and see in their lifetime and I`m so glad I have. It really takes your breath away. I`d somehow managed to overlook the bridge when thinking about Sydney but that sure won`t happen again. Magnificient. Cannot wait to climb it! We`d gotten down there for dusk time so wandered around and waited to see it all lit up in the dark night sky too. Equally impressive.

Went to bed happy.

Woke up at 1am as the large german guy on the bunk bed above me fell out of his and somehow managed to land on  top of mine, and me. Using my leg as a pillow he proceeded to snooze away. He wasnt happy to be nudged awake and asked (rather politely I might add) to move. When asked (somewhat less politely) for a 5th time he seemed to come to and with a confused look left the room. Only to knock the door 20 minutes later to be let back in.

Settled back down to sleep when Jon got a bit of a fright as he came across a rather large cockroach scurrying up his pillow towards his head as he jumped out of his bed none too happy. It was at precisely this moment that I remembered the one hostel Emma and Julian had warned us about a mere 6 days before. "Great Aussie Backpackers", turns out the name wasnt familiar for positive reasons. In our infinite wisom we had managed to find, book and sleep in the one hostel (out of hundreds in the city) that we had been warned about. Clever.


Sydney baby!

2009-01-25

Have now been here for a week and I love this city. Have spent an unfortunately large amount of time trying to find a job. This is boring. But must be done. Have had a few interviews and some offers that may or may not prove to be a bit dodgy. "We don`t pay you for the 1st 3 weeks becasue of a cooling off period, you`re okay with that right?" Turns out all the uni and school students are home for the holidays so most of the jobs are taken up by them. Plus turns out the poor economic crisis that I`ve so far managed to avoid and pretend wasnt there has hit Australia, despite being told a couple of months ago they didnt really think it would have much of an impact here....so the way it stands at the moment it`ll be back to fruit picking very shortly!

Haved managed to do much more pleasant things though, such as walk over the harbour bridge, get a ferry ride to Manly (nice beaches and walks) and see a free gig as part of the Sydney Festival. It was a Russian Ska band who sang songs about Russian criminals. Atleast I think thats what they sang about, but given most of the lyrics were in Russian, one could never be too sure (unless of course you spoke Russian, then it would probably be quite easy to tell) Anyway - the gig was awesome fun and in a makeshift circus tent type enclosure which just added to the randomness, which is surely what its all about.

Speaking of randomness, I bought a pinapple, which turned out to evil. I donht know if anyone has ever come across this before but just as I was finishing it my mouth went on fire (not literally) and it felt like I had just drank a pint of acid. I had to wander around afterwards with my tongue hanging out trying to cool it down.

I looked cool.

Last night I went along to a proms in the park style event, so I thought of you lots mum! It was a bit of a stange day as it started off at 40 degrees. Mum keeps asking how I`m handling the heat and I generally reply, I`ve not really noticved it, its not a problem. Not so yesterday as it turns out. 40 degrees is apparently my limit. I managed to half walk half crawl to the NSW Art Gallery which was very nice and had great air conditioning. Its not that I didnt appreciate the art, which I did but I would definately like to go back when I can concentrate on it more and not just sit and wonder at the modern technology that felt so cool and breezy against my cheek.

However, in true Scottish style, the weather changed and I ended up in jeans and a rugby top that evening (this is unusual btw - hasnt been the case for around 3 months!) watching the Sydney Symphony Orchestra playing at this outdoor area called the domain. The music was great, the free cardboard chairs surprisingly comfy, the obviously well practiced audience with the wine glasses, little wine glass stands, picnics of cheese and biscuits rather sweet, the thousands of bats that appeared swooping over the trees as the music played, well a little creepy to be honest, and the fireworks that ended the show bursting over the audience in time to a classic Tchaickovsky (sp?!) number absolutely phenomenal. It made waiting in the park for 6 hours before hand (we got the start time mixed up) absolutely worth it.


Happy Australia Day!

2009-01-26

So, I`m still in Sydney, though for how much longer I`m not too sure...

It was Australia Day on Monday (26th) and I headed along to a free music festival which was held in a delightful area called `The Rocks`. Most of the businesses leave you in no doubt about where you are: the rock cafe, the rocks, the rock burger, the rock art store, nurses lane...well, maybe not that last one.

The festival was rather lovely. A real mix of music, from an eclectic mix of brightly coloured soul choirs singing songs from across the world on the steps of a quaint but cramped lane, to random bands, soloists and duets bursting into surprise song from the windows of bars and the patios of residential apartment buildings to one of the biggest indigenous performers in Australia on a stage by the Harbour Bridge. It was all pretty special. 

Sitting down afterwards on the grass opposite the Opera House I think I may have fallen into a bissful sleep (I`d been up all of the previous night with wisdom teeth issues!) until it started to rain. It`s Summer here and for whatever reasons I had been led to believe that it didn`t rain in Australian Summertime. Hmphh. So I retired to the hostel for shelter. Again - Rain, Australia, Summer - it just doesn`t go together. Still it was a bank holiday Monday so maybe its just a worldwide rule that it has to rain on such occasions.

The evening events included a big show in the middle of the river at Darling Harbour, made bigger this year as for the first time in ages Australia Day corresponded with Chinese New Year. Unfortunately the terrential rain (Hmphh again)  and the resulting mass of umbrellas somwhat obscured the view. But none of that mattered as the fireworks started. I was still a little gutted to have missed being in Sydney for New Year but this more than made up for it. If the Australians know anything (and I`m pretty convinced they know a lot of things) its how to do fireworks. It was the most impressive display I have ever seen. It went on for ages and despite the combination of rain, flipflops and threat of an umprella spike to the eye I didn`t want it to stop. It was timed to music, including Waltzing Matilda, but any cheesiness was negated by the awe everyone was in. It was magic!

And so I returned once more to the hostel, soggy but happy!

 


Peanut Butter Sandwiches

2009-02-01

Spent some time with Greg, a bloke I met in Laos. He wanted to find a church that is noted on Dan Cruickshanks (sp?) TV show - He has identified 80 or so places he recognises are the best man made wonders of the world. He always seems to go for the unexpected ones. But Greg has managed about half of them so we went off in the direction of the church. We found St Mary`s which is a hugely impressive cathedral and were in heartfelt agreement with Dan`s choice on this occasion when we realised this wasn`t the right church at all. Damn. We`d actually walked right past the one we`d been looking for on route to St Mary`s but hadn`t even noticed it as we were too busy staring at the cathedral.  So off we trod to the actual church we were looking for. It wasn`t bad, and actually turned out to be the oldest church in Sydney but aside from that I`m not sure what old dan was getting at. Apparently he sometimes picks very specific aspects of a building to get excited about. So I`m still waiting for greg to check and get back to us about exactly what it was we were supposed to be admiring.  Needless to say we wandered back over to the Cathedral and I am pleased to say that it wasn`t just its size that was impressive.  I would have felt a little bad if we preferred it just becasue it was bigger. Size isn`t everything afterall... But it was stunning inside and had a fantastic circular stain glass window up high on the very back wall, I liked it alot.

We also wandered over to MacQuarrie`s chair which is located next to a fantabulous view of the Harbour and Opera House which I hadn`t seen from this angle yet. So we stopped and took lots of pictures. Well, I didn`t as my second camera is still broken but the others did! We didn`t quite make it to the chair for some reason, thats assuming there definately is one and its not just a metaphoric chair or something, If I do find it I`ll try explain at that point why its there etc.

Aside from that I haven`t done many touristy things. I`ve sat in the park alot and think I`ve found my favourite spot - the afore mentioned patch of grass next to the Opera House. Whenever I see that and the bridge I remember I`m in Sydney and I can`t take my eyes off it. The view from this spot is increible and for some unexplicable reason is never too busy so any scrap of time I get away from the job hunt is likely to find me there.

Speaking of the job hunt thats really all else I have to talk about at the moment...

I`ve applied for more jobs, sat through 6 hours of training about licensing and responsible drinking so that I can go for bar jobs, have walked round numerous (over 60 anyway) bars and restaurants and shops and stores asking for a job - I can`t take much more rejection! I`m getting closer every day to making up a big cardboard placard to hold up in the street asking for someone to employ me, but I fear that may create a less than professional impression. Still, each new `sorry, no have you tried next door` pushes me closer and closer to getting out the felt tip pens!

As a result I am trying to live on a ridiculously small budget. I should point out here that Mum and Dad aren`t having me starve or anything, I`m just reluctant to eat (literally! ha that wasn`t even intentional!) into my New Zealand/India budget. And so I am currently living on peanut butter sandwiches, noodles and 59c pasta. Turns out its quite amazing what you can get for $1.50.

I was offered a free place on a wool handling course which would have been delightfully random I would think but lack of a tent meant I had nowhere to live should I turn up there. Alas I`m still in Sydney being rejected for jobs and will probably never become an expert wool handler now. Am particularly gutted as it would have meant staying in a place called `Dubbo` which sounds funny. Ah Well.


Being `funemployed`

2009-02-10

Have done a small variety of things since my last post...

A lot of it involved applying for more jobs, including being a train driver in a tourist car disguised as a train around the botanic gardens. I didn`t get that one but given my navigational "skills` I probably would have ended up on the Harbour Bridge so its likely just as well. I took a 6 hour course on responsible drinking which you need to work in bars here. I learnt how to tell if someone was drunk. Yep, thats pretty much it.

So back I went to all the bars that had said they had work, only to be greeted by people who had just been hired, ie in the positions they were on about in the first place. Sigh. I did have a trial in a cafe but after I`d turned up in my new and required black outfit I was told that as I didn`t have black shoes on that wasn`t good enough for the 2 hour trial. Sigh again.

As a result of all this rejection (I think MacDonalds saying no may have pushed me over the edge) I have decided to leave the fair plains of Sydney behind...but more on that later.

For the past week or so I have spent more time sitting in the park, which I could really get used to. But managed to find other ways to pass the time too.

I went along to the Chinese New Year Parade. Unfortunately so did thousands of other people, earlier than I did. Still, the glimpses I saw through the spaces between peoples heads looked really cool, big floats and dragons dancing along the streets. There was some slightly odd stuff too but not quite as strange as the camels in Airlee Beach. The parade was followed by fireworks down at Darling Harbour, where the Australia Day display had been too. I like fireworks.

I managed to pull something or other in my neck which meant I couldn`t really move for 3 days. I was walking around with my head sat on my left shoulder as I couldnt hold it upright. I don`t think this was particularly conducive to helping with the job hunt situation. Though I didn get some concerned and pitying looks from passersby.

I moved into a different hostel, imaginatively names, Australia Backpackers or something like that. It was a somewhat odd place. I went up to bed one night to find my stuff moved and pillow missing. When I returned sometime later, new pillow in hand I found my original back, and alongside it a girl sleeping in my bed. Hmm. The bloke who worked downstairs marched into the room (when I pointed out to him I had nowhere to sleep) turning on the light, seemingly not bothered that he was waking everyone else up, or that it was a girls only dorm and demanded that she move. Which hadn`t been my intention. There were 8 beds in the room and 2 of them ended up with 2 people sharing one. The bloke kept asking me if I wanted less people in the room as if he would just throw some of them out. Very strange. What was stranger though was when I woke up at 7.20am the next morning to find that all but 3 of the occupants had completely disappeared. Two ladies were in the corner making a pot of boiling tea. (They actually had a pot of boiling water, there was a kitchen downstairs but apparently 7.20am is a perfectly reasonable time to make tea in a bedroom, when people are TRYING TO SLEEP). But yeah, everyone else had vanished without a trace. Its just weird.

I also caught a bus to Bondi beach, which was just mobbed with people. And mostly men which seemed odd. But it was a massive beach and I`m really glad I made it there eventually. Decided to do the gorgeous 3 hour walk to another beach further along the coast called Coogee. The walk was as beautiful as promised with great views and lots of other nice beaches that you could stop off at along the way. Somehow we managed to get a little confused and instead of taking the smooth, paved path for one section we ended up having to negotiate the rocks that ran alongside the water. I`m not sure how we managed it but needless to say I ended up bag tied around my shoulders, shorts rolled up, clambering through the water while holding onto the cliff edge for support (cliffedge may be a slight exaggeration before you freak mum!) (but it was close enough!). Meanwhile spotting massive spiderswebs and crabs that I continually thought were big hairy, and likely poisonous spiders. I thought I saw a snake at one point too but in retrospect that was probably a crab too. Fun times!

My other touristy accomplishment was to go along to the Australia Museum. Its a natural history museum and its fab.  The `National Geographic` photography competition entries were on display and were great to look at. They had loads of skeletons in a display I`d never seen the like of before, the penguin one was still the cutest, in as far as skeletons can be cute. They had a dinosaur exhibition which was impressive, and a survivor australia section which had a crocodile which kind of lept out at you when you touched the interactive screen. No surprises that I screamed and jumped around like a big girl there then. They also had a stuffed bird section and this may just be me, but have you ever found that every single stuffed bird display I have ever seen (and for some unexplained reason there have been afew) are set up on a circular balcony with a big gaping hole that looks down onto the museum floor. It was exactly the same as the set up we stumbled across that time we were in Alyth for New Year. Just me? Never mind? I digress...

Finished the museum day off with a trip to a lonely planet recommended pub called the `friend in hand`. It was awsome and quirky and I liked it alot. Sadly we missed the ever popular crab racing by a mere day but the random objects, pictures, helmets, mobiles etc all hanging from the ceiling and the real life cockatoo in the corner more than made up for it. I shall definately endeavour to be back.


Indian Pacific. Before.

2009-02-11

As previously mentioned I have decided to head on from Sydney in search of employment elsewhere and as such find myself an hour away from a 4532km, 3 night/4 day train journey called the indian pacific.

I`m really excited about seeing so much of the country, it takes you all the way to Perth, atleast I was until I read this excerpt from Bill Brysons book on Australia...

"I discovered with a start that we were in the forbidden coach section. I have never felt so stared at in my life. As we followed David through the 2 coach carriages, 124 pairs of sunken eyes sullenly followed our every move. These were people whjo had no dining carriage, no lounge bar, no cosy berths to crawl into at night. They had been riding upright for 2 days since leaving sydney and still had 24 hours to go to Perth. I am almost certain that if we had not had the train manager as an escort they would have eaten us.

I have made some tuna pasta just incase but I guess time will tell.


"Oh The Indian Pacific Spans the land"

2009-02-11

Well, that was quite something!

I am pleased and proud to say that I have now travelled by train and seen (when i wasnt sleeping) 4352km of Australia between Syndey and Perth, via Adelaide. I feel like its quite an accomplishment, even though all i had to do was sit there. 3 nights on a train, without a cabin, or a bed but I am very happy to report that it was worth it.

If I`m completely honest it wasnt exactly what i had expected, the desert wasn`t like the other deserts I had seen, and it wasnt red dust soil stretching for miles into the distance. It was more of a grey/orange/greeen mixture with stones and prickly bushes, but it certainly seemed endless and it was practically all I saw for nearly 4 days. If nothing else, it makes you truly appreciate the gigantic size of this country.

The train started off in Sydney. which I was rather sad to be leaving, I`d always imagined myself staying there and working for a few months but alas it was not to be. I miss sitting and watching the opera house and bridge views but I`ll be back to catch my onward flight so i`ll get to see it again. So anyways - yeah started in Sydney and was pleasantly surprised to find my little seating area quite roomy. We`d checked in our bags so didnt have too much crap to carry with us. I looked out of the window a lot and then switched between that and reading. We were in the basic coach class, there was another section who had seats that turned into beds and then the folks from the front of the train who emerged at the few stops we had looking refreshed and as if they had just left the cosyness of their front rooms for a stroll round the local area. Hmphh. These were the passengers who had silver service meals and ensuite cabins, and beds. But they also paid $600 a night for the priviledge so I was quite happy with my lot.

We made a few stops en route, the most interesting of which being a little place called Cook. I would call it a town but it would be more than an exaggeration. it exists to service the railroad and its passengers. There was a school but it lay empty save for the graffiti (who sprayed it there I have no clue) some broken chairs and a dead bird on the floor. There were a few houses which as far as i can tell were also empty and a bloke drove around in a truck. Aside from that there was a vast expanse of nothing as far as the eye could see in every direction. The "town" has 3 inhabitants, the bloke from the truck and 2 women who I met when I stumbled across a little shop just before I got back on the train which sold postcards, magnets and perfectly timed icepoles! I cannot imagine what it is like to live there, apparently the population has changed over the years with a many as 50 people liveing there at one point or another but for now it is really just a ghost town, save for the twice weekly stop of train passengers who alight, take lots of pictures, buy an icepole and leave again 30 minutes later. It was great!

We also stopped at a mining town called Kalgoorlie. I couldnt get over the heat of the place as we walked through it, it was just SO humid, and this was about 8 o`clock at night. it brought to mind the towns from old western movies, with the really wide streets and you did get the impression that a old stylee gun fight could erupt from any time from one of the many many loud bars that lined the streets. I have since found out that Kalgoorlie is a really important town for WA (Western Australia) as it is vital for their mining industry. The streets are so wide because they needed to be in order to turn the horses and carriages round in the olden days (well, as olden as they can get in Australia) and just the other week there was a news story about a fight and riot that broke out there one evening. Told you so!

We made a few other stops too, some just brief enough to allow the couple of people that live alone out in the expanses of the desert to catch their mail from the passing train. Adelaide was another stop off point, I only had about 2 hours there so I walked around the local area, visited a couple of food markets and had a nice cold pint. Which was nice because you can`t really get pints on the East Coast, only schooners. And i felt like a pint.

There was some interesting characters on the train, not as many backpackers make the trip to the West Coast, and they rarely do it by train it seems but i met a guy from India, an English girl who talked nonstop, an aussie woman who got barred from the bar on the first night for being too intoxicated (!!) and a lovely older Australian lady who makes the trip every year to see her old friends in Sydney. We also got chatting to one of the staff members who gave us the inside story on what life is like in first class. But he said our carriage was more entertaining anyway.

It hadnt been what I expected, and all i really did was sit on a train for a few days and nights but I really enjoyed it and am chuffed that I can say ive travelled so far overland in Australia now. Plus about an hour out of Perth on the Saturday morning i finally saw the family of kangaroos hopping away past the window that I`d been secretly looking for every time I looked through the glass. And that rounded the journey off perfectly.

 

 


Perth

2009-02-14

And so at 9.15am on Saturday morning we departed from our train onto Perth Stations platform. I`d arranged to meet Greg and he very kindly put us up for the night. greg is the kind of bloke that mkes you really enthusiastic about travelling as he has done so much of it. he;s currently planning a trip to `the Stans` as he calls them. Whenever I meet up with him I end up with an extended list of places that I want to see. Morocco seems to have made its way on there now, but for now...back to Perth.

As a traveller himself Greg seems to know exactly what fellow travellers want to see and do, so it was back to his lovely old almost english style house for breakfast (mmm moroccan omlette) and a shower. Then a guided tour around the city. I get the impression that Perth is a place to live rather than be a toursit. Its like Glasgow in that regards - I`ve taken to telling people that id they want to come to Scotland, Edinburgh is the place to be a tourist and Glasgow is the place to live. We went to the old prison, and had a look around afew of the main areas in Perth like freemantle and spent some time walking around the park. There were some spectacular views over the city and I was surprised to find that Perth too is surrounded by water. I kept hearing that WA was all dry and red dirt with no green, but I have seen trees everywhere! We went along the tree top walk (my 3rd now!) in the park though this one wasnt as surrounded by the tree canopy so you can see the ground alot clearer...great, its seems a lot further away when theres not 50 trees blocking the drop down.

We spent the evening chilling and chatting in the back garden, with a barbeque (whoop whoop - not had enough of these!) and this was a very impressive one. With steak, sausages, salads and pumpkin bbq-ed with paprika and cumin mm-mmm! Oh and some goon of course!

The next morning I ignored my goon induced headache and we went out for breakfast, i don`t ever really go out for breakfast, i like it. It was a really busy little cafe come restaurant with a great atmosphere, save for the beyonce videos playing on the walls. Then it was a quick drive past the beaches and onwards to the train station to catch the bus to Dunsborough.

If youre reading this - Thanks Greg, for your hospitality and bbq skills - had an awesome time!


Dunsborough by name. Really lovely by nature.

2009-03-18

When times got desperate workwise in Sydney I resorted to searching google for the names of towns in WA and then matched them up with a search for working hostels. Dunsborough was just one of those that came up whose main hostel said we could get fruit picking work no bother. So I was expecting another middle of nowhere, nothing much to do town like Proserpine or Bundaberg. Oh how wrong I was. Its still in the middle of nowhere (everything on the west coast pretty much is) and theres also nothing much to do here, but I love Dunsborough. I`d never heard of the place until google enlightened me upon its existence and I dont think it often makes it onto the backpackers itinerary but apparently  its a hugely popular holiday destination with Australians themselves. Almost to the extent that it is becoming detrimental to the area. Greg was saying tehre has been huge development over the last decade or so and even now there are building projects going on all over the place. So that the quiet idyllic little town that people come to get away from it all, isnt so quite or little anymore.

But for now, it is still gorgeous and I`m happy and lucky to be here.

I`m staying in the YHA hostel the Dunsborough Beachouse which has a really great vibe, is very chilled out, the staff are lovely, the kitchen is clean, you get free rice and they even have a herb garden!! The hostel is about a 35 minute walk from the town which has a petrol station, 2 supermarkets, a shop that sells clothes for dogs, a chemist, no macdonalds (yay) some other small businesses and 2 piercing studios!  The beach and almost perfectly still sea waters are a mere 50 metre walk from the hostel seating area and some pelicans live in the pond nextdoor. Whenever I walk past them or see them swimming or flying past I can`t help the big grin that springs up on my face. I have recently decided that I love pelicans!

The only thing with this town is that it has a tendency to make you really homesick! Whenever I sit on the beach, especially if some of the irish people are there and Brian is playing his guitar I think of Rowerdennan or other such similar events and how much my mates would love it here. If only it was close enough for us all to come on holiday some time here, you`d love it! Sitting on the beach alot leaves a lot of time for thinking, about home and the people there but you can`t help being hopeful and positive about things when theres a full moon out, a giant stingran has just swam in front of you in the water and the millions and trillions of stars that you can see above you are reflecting off the sea like little dancing spots of light. It is truly beautiful. Then 2 pelicans fly past in perfect sync with each other just above the waters surface and you realise how lucky you are to experience such a special place and have people to miss in the first place.

Though I have to say I was missing people alot the other day and was sitting in the dark (the full moon had passed) and looking out to sea getting somewhat tearful when 2 dolphins swam past. In many ways it was the perfect time for their first appearance to me but in others it was very inconsiderate of them - I mean how can you be expected to cry when there are dolphins racing through the water up ahead of you?

What i also like about this town is how friendly it is, everyone says hello to each other in the street, sometimes even through their car windows when theyre driving past and theres plenty of hello mates and how ya goings. It helps working in the local area - more on that later but Im amazed at how much of a local I feel already. When the town gets busy at the weekends, like last weekend when there was a public holiday I got irritated at all of the new people walking around and leaving their mess everywhere, taking all the parking spaces and making the beach really busy, I couldnt wait for them all to go back to the city and leave `us` to our little town again. And this coming from someone who is only staying here for 2 months!

 


Working 9 to 5.

2009-03-18

Well 10 to 6 or 6 till 2 actually but you get the idea.

Had come to Dunsborough on the promise of fruit picking but after experience in Sydney decided to try and see if there was anything going in the local area as well. Went into all the cafes and the award winning bakery in search of work and then managed to find some in the local independant supermarket. Its perhaps not the job I`d expected to be doing in Oz and its not the most glamorous but its worked out really well. And I am now employed again! Finally!

The people are lovely and the pay isnt too bad, plus I`m getting enough hours to save up for the rest of my trip round Australia. It started out as mainly shelf work and checkouts which was good for meeting people. Like the couple who always ask me if the Scottish lady who works there is my mum, the older man who comes in every other day to warn me about the UV count and offered a print out of the websites to show me how to check how bad it was and calls me Shona from Iona! Everybody always asks me what part of Ireland I`m from but as I always tell them - thats close enough! 

But recently theyve put me in the deli which is fine, well mostly fine. I`m learning alot more stuff, making fancy salads (any ideas for new ones I an make are very welcome on a postcard!), cooking roast dinners (in this heat - I dont understand why) and so on. I have to do a tonne of washing up but I reckon my favourite job is rodding the raw chickens every morning. Vegetarians look away now.....but it involves stuffing them - fine, rodding them - ok-ish, and bending there wings around and tying their legs to make it all look "pretty" - not so good. I know I said I wanted to try something new every day when I was travelling but this really wasnt what I had in mind!

Have met a good bunch of people at the hostel, its smaller than places like the hostel in Sydney so its much easier to get chatting to people properly. Theres an irish group which you`ll geneally find me with, 3 scottish girls came through for 2 nights a few weeks ago. I instantly snapped back into a proper Scottish accent - it was the longest conversation I`d had with a scottish person for 6 months and I loved talking about home and we even knew some of the same people from uni which was great if a little weird. They were just at the start of my trip and I was rather jealous of all that they had ahead of them, cannot believe I`m over half way through now, expecially cannot believe that originally I would have been going home in 3 weeks, thats a thought that will linger.

Met a lovely girl from the states who is basically a real life CJ - for all those of you that I haev converted to WestWing fandom at home! And another American bloke called Ben who kind of randomly asked me what I was reading when I was on my way to bed. I got chatting to him and talked about travel plans etc. During the course of this conversation I mentioned that funnily enough I was meant to be flying to India the next day...I was meant to be flying to India the next day...I politedly excused myself and went to change my flight. Where I had to apologise profusely when the operator informed me due to the time difference I really should have been at the airport (in New Zealand!!) getting ready to check in. The words skin of my teeth spring to mind.

this has been a bit of a mammoth update session and I hope I havent rambled on too much. As mental as it sounds I havent done a huge amount, I`m just working alot which makes the time and weeks fly past, I can`t believe I`ve already been here a month. theres not really easy internet access so I`m being rubbish at contacting people at the moment but it really doesnt mean I`m not thinking of you all alot, quite the opposite infact.

I don`t know how much longer I`ll be here, I keep switching between wanting to stay for ages and looking forward to getting `on the road` again. but for now I`m off to cycle to Yallingup (8km away) which apparently has more dolphins and some nice looking caves. Off to work at 6am tomorrow, walking in the dark isnt so cool but the walk home along the long thin stretch of beach next to the glistening greeny-blue water makes it all worth while. if you ever get the chance to make it over to Dunsborough you should come. I know a great hostel you can stay at.


Making a break for it.

2009-04-04 to 2009-04-05

So things are plodding along nicely in Dunsborough. I`m sure I had lots to tell you and to talk about but really I don`t do alot here!

However I did finally make it outside of the space between the hostel, IGA and town to go away for a couple of days at the weekend. Jon and I had both days at the weekend off for the first time since we got here so we figured a little exploring was necessary. We`ve been here for about 10 weeks and havent been outside the aforementioned hostel/local town. So we rented a car and headed off on an adventure!

First up it was very strange driving again, luckily it was an automatic but driving for the first time after about 8 months was a little odd. We stopped off in nearby yallingup first and took some photos and admired the view. The waves were pretty impressive - I like that kind of sea more, the water in Dunsborough is so still its more like a big swimming pool than a living, moving ocean.  Then we set off to a surfing competition in the nearby Margaret River. Not to partake you understand, just to watch. Obviously. It was interesting to see and from what i could tell the participants were very good. But to be fair i was looking out to sea at a few little colourful dots on little white specs and trying to work out what was going on. The commentators were speaking a different language to any i`d heard before and the multiple cameras and video footage being shot was only available to watch in the special VIP section and alas, I was not a VIP. So I`m glad I went and now I can say i`ve been to a surfing competition but aside from that it was just nice to sit on the beach.

We then drove back to Margaret River, which was a proper sized town with shops and pubs and such like. Not that I`d really change Dunsborough for anything but it does get a little small sometimes. We had a great lunch, I had a vegie burger, so now you know, and wandered around the town for a while. Then it was my turn to take over the driving properly. There were some issues pulling out from the junction, but they were Jon`s issues, not mine. I disagree with anything he tells you about rolling back, possible collisions and taking 10 minutes to turn right. The drive over to Augusta was great, nice to be back on the open road again and feeling like we were actually doing something with our days off. We passed cassowaries (Australian bird a little like an Emu which has a gigantic claw that is capable of ripping you apart...they were behind a fence so it was fine), dry open ground everywhere; proper outback style, and lots of kangaroos. Unfortunately they were all dead at the side of the road. I did see one hop across the road in front of which was huge, and made me appreciate more why people try not to drive outside the hours of 8am and 5pm and why people take trying to avoid hitting them so seriously. Theres something a little more concerning with hitting a 6 foot kanga than a small rabbit you understand.

We stopped off in the Karri forrest which was a pretty incredible sight. Huge tall and spindly trees that just engulf you as you drive amongst them, I think I remember reading they are some of the oldest trees in the world or another such interesting fact, which happens to escape me right now. But they were cool anyways. We spent the night in Augusta which was a quaint little town with stunning views out over a big river which ran down into the sea. Very pretty.

The next day we decided to go for a walk to some waterfalls amongst the forrest. So we drove out of Augusta. Then we drove back to Augusta. Then we left Augusta again. I`d like to point out that this was not my fault. But given we hadn`t really got lost until this point and I was the one driving...well...the main thing is we found the falls in the end. They were very pretty though we couldnt hand around too long as the mosquitoes were driving us crazy. So we took some pictures of the waterfalls, each other on opposite sides of the falls (which involved lots of running ahead and swapping of cameras etc) and some more of really big trees. Then headed into Pemberton, the furthest away point for our weekend away.

Pemberton was a bit odd. It was pretty and it came highly recommended from others who had been there but there was just something about it. We had breakfast in a small cafe which was quite busy and then climbed on the old abandoned train which was sat outside it. The visitors centre was somewhat freaky, it was half closed and the museum part of it had no working lights. there was a sign saying that it wasnt fully functioning but to have a look anyway but there was something about models dressed in old clothes, surrounded by a makeshift living room (with the kind of fire we had in our dining room until very recently!) with sound effects and buttons to press that didnt do anything and stuffed animals on the walls and no light that all added to make it more than a bit freaky. We didnt stay in there for long. Then there was the gift shop which was closing down and sold digireedoos (sp?!) boomerangs and all of the same tacky crap you get on holiday in Spain. With loas of little posters and signs on the window with funny anecdotes and angry rants about how if you want a job that pays well, gives you 6 months off a year and lets you blame other people for stuffups you should be a politician. And there was a scarecrow in the window. Weird.

I`m sure lots of funny things happened on this weekend as I remember laughing alot, and not always in a nervous way when I realised I`d got us lost again, but as it was a fortnight ago now I can`t remember a lot of the details. I shall endeavour to do better when I leave here.


Crazy.

2009-04-11

I cannot believe that I was supposed to be home today.

I miss everyone lots and I`m gutted to be missing Calum and Lewis` birthday (Happy 18th you two!) but I really dont feel ready to come home yet. IGA have offered me a letter of invitation to come back for a second year and though i wouldn`t take it straight away, its nice to be asked and makes me wonder where I will actually be in a year or two`s time.

Things are still fine in Dunsborough. The weather picked up again and its definately more enjoyable here when the sun is shining. The pelicans continue to create a sense of wonder and enchantment in me whenever I see them fly past with the tips of their wings just grazing the water. They are awesome. The other evening I watched another sunset from the beach and had a blazing red to my right and a glorious bright full moon to my left.

I`m leaving in under a week now and I cannot wait to get back on the road again and not have to rod raw chickens every morning, but I really will miss this place.


Cheerio Dunsborough (attempt 2)

2009-04-19

I am a bit miffed as I had written a blog all about Dunsborough and how sad I was to be leaving etc but its somehow disappeared. Hmph.

Basically, and I`m sure I won`t do it justice as well the second time around, I was just saying that I was really gutted to be leaving such a nice place with so many great people. To the extent that I burst into tears when my boss Jackie was ridiculously nice to me at the end of my last shift. I just about regained my composure in time for saying cheerio to the gang at the hostel and then promptly broke down again on the way to the bus stop. But I know that I`m lucky to have found somewhere that I care enough about to actually be sad about leaving.

I didnt do a huge amount in Dunsborough but I loved it all the same. I got to walk home along the beach every day, watch some stunning sunsets and occasional sunrises on the way to work, see pelicans every day, have bbqs, earn some cash, work with some lovely people, live with some lovely people, learn about salads, and cooking `chooks`, walk along the longest jetty in the southern hempisphere (which was closed the week after for being unsafe!) see stingrays in the still water whenever I wandered down the beach in the evening, and loads of other little things like that. I can`t believe how close I came to not bothering with the West Coast, it was luck really that I made it over here atall but I am so glad that I did. So many backpackers don`t venture that far from the East Coast. And they are missing out bigtime. The people and general atmos of the place is so much more chilled out and the pace and way of life suited me to a tee.

I can`t remember what else my original blog said about this topic but needless to say I`m pretty sure I strongly advised anyone who gets the chance to give Dunsborough a wee visit. Its definately worth it.


Roadtrip Day 1

2009-04-21

Up early, keen to get on the road. We had booked a campervan with a company called `Wicked`. They are really popular over here and youre always seeing their vans driving on the roads or parked up next to beaches all across the country. They are easily recognisable from their in your face designs, everything from the Simpsons to Spongebob Squarepants to SinCity, Rolling Stones, The Goonies, Evolution of Women (5 pictures of a woman scrubbing the floor...hmph!) to fake security vans and grafitti-ed slogans blazing across the sides. So there was a slight feeling of trepidation as we went to find out what would adorn our van. You can only choose your own design if you hire it for atleast 60 days and as we were only there for 10 we had no such choice. Therefore we were greeted by our home for the best part of the next fortnight, a campervan complete with little kitchen, cd player, air conditioning and a giant picture of scooby doo and shaggy smoking a massive joint. Nice. Even better was the giant `Honk if your horny` (their spelling not mine) srawled across the back. Subtle then...

So off we set with our "Doobie Doo" van, filled up with petrol for the first of what was to be many many times and head off to...Coles. Stocked up on a various assortment of crappy food and lollies (sweets) for the journey as well as our good ol` favourite - peanut butter sandwiches. We sat in the car park and had some lunch and then headed off again, met by our first honking and shout of "yay wicked!!!" on our way out of the car park. made our way out of Perth. Got lost. Pulled into a residential street to get our bearings and consult our new map. Ate some yoghurt and then got on our way...again. This time was somewhat more successful and we got out of Perth and onto the open road.

The van was a pretty smooth drive and had 82882kms on the clock. We drove for a few hours but as we`d left Perth pretty late in the end we only made it as far as Cervantes. Drove around for a little while, found a car park next to the beach which had some public toilets and was a bit out of the way of the main parts of town. Out came out little gas stove and made some soup. It was pretty clouded over so there was no great sunset that I`d been looking forward to but it was still pretty special to be sat out next to the sea looking up at the stars and suchlike. Had been up pretty early so ended up asleep by about 9pm. Ready to make some real progress on the road the next day.


Roadtrip: Cervantes to Kalbarri

2009-04-22

Awoke early, bit breezy outside. We`d been joined by two other wiked vans overnight and a fancy `proper campervan` which you came to look at with envy as people appeared from them fresh and ready to go each morning, as we clambered from our 1inch thin matress over our rucksacks and half jumped/half fell out of the door.

But still, our first full day on the road - exciting. We drove over to the Pinnacles desert first. A pretty popular toursit spot, its a desert that just appears in the middle of nowhere,a stretch of sand surrounded on all sides by bushland. What makes it more special are the huge limestone pillar-like rocks randomly sticking out of the sand. You can do tours into the centre of it where you can surf down the sand dunes and the pillars reach over 5 metres tall. We just went into the first part though as the park wasnt even open that early. Here the rocks were abit smaller but still weird enough to be very impressive. The way you`re just driving along the road surrounded by dry green bush land and then suddenly this sandy rock spatterred area appears, its just odd. But very cool, and lots of pictures were taken. It was nice to be there so early actually as we pretty much had the place to ourselves (apart from the other wicked van we spotted on the horizon) and didnt have to queue up for photos etc. Plus we didnt have to pay to get in either, which is always a bonus.

On the road out of the desert we passed a huge kangaroo staring at us from the side of the road. Probably wondering why backpackers were up sightseeing at this time in the morning. It was the first kangaroo of the roadtrip and it was awesome. Random but unique desert and rocks plus a real life roo and it wasnt even 8am. It was gonna be a good day!

Travelling on the Indian Pacific across Australia really helped me appreciate just how huge this country is. Driving on roads that go on forever really hammered that point for me. Youre just faced with this endless stretch of road infront of you, it goes on as far as the eye can see and every time you think it might end or atleast change in some way..it doesnt. Each time you reach the brow of a hill or come around the (rare) turns in the road youre met with more of the same.  The view through the windsreen and reflected back at you in the rearview mirror is the same, an endless strip of concrete amongst flat, green or red bushland.  Its just phenomenal.  When not driving you can appreciate the surroundings, though they get pretty `samey` after a while too. Not that I ever really got bored of it. The colours are much more red on the West Coast, more like the Australia I`d expected and they also stretch on for miles (sorry - kilometres) on either side of you. Everything was just so flat, there was no real end to what was around you. This country is frickin` massive!

When you hear about the west coast of Oz you are told that there are a few towns spaced out along the coast with nothing really in between. Turns out this is not an exaggeration, there is NOTHING in between. And often the towns themselves didnt seem to contain much more than a petrol station and a couple of houses, maybe a swimming pool or health centre (which always seemed a bit odd for such a small town) and some of the bigger ones had a campsite. One such place we stopped at was called Eneabba, popn 286, we pulled up for petrol at the ridiculously overpriced station, bought an energy drink and left. I just asked Jon if I`d missed anything out from our visit there, but nope thats all we did.

We continued on with our drive and passed afew absolute gems of road names. Some of my particular favourites being `Hangover bay` and `Useless Loop Road`.

 The thing about driving in Australia is the problems involved with driving at night. We were warned by people all over that the roads belong to animals at night and you should avoid driving around dusk and dawn if atall possible. bearing this in mind we stopped driving quite early at the pretty little seaside town of Kalbarri. It was much bigger and full of families making the most of their last few days of their Easter holiday. Loads of boats on the water and we parked right up next to the jetty. We went for a wander and sat and had a pint at a local bar. Western Australia has pints instead of Schooners. Yay. It was mainly so we could cheekily use their plug sockets to charge my camera but any excuse right?!

You could argue that our nights meal was a little optimistic. Making stirfry with noodles on a little gas camping stove proved a little tricky. But it was vegetable stirfry so it didnt really need to be cooked anyway. Though it would have probably tasted quite nice hot.

Sat on the jetty briefly then sat out next to the van and looked at the stars, cheesy but cool. There was a sign next to the toilets saying that camping wasnt allowed but we figured that might just mean tents and we`d had no problems the night before. I was sure it would be fine...


Roadtrip: Kalbarri to Monkey Mia

2009-04-23

Yeah so we got woken up at around 7am the next morning by a hammering on the side of the van. Hiding wasn`t really an option and so it was that we met Zultan Prado. He proceeded to give us a elongated lecture about when travelling to new countries you should read up on the laws of that country before you get there and ignorance is not a defence under the law and such like. We pleaded ignorance and used the aforementioned `I thought it was just tents` excuse but he wasn`t really having any of it. He wasn`t an idiot, it was just us that were pretending to be but he didn`t give us the fine so we just apologised profusely and he eventually left us alone. I reckon our van design didn`t help the situation but maybe thats just me... Now I`d understand not allowing people to set up makeshift campsites in the middle of a parking lot but we were allowed to park the van there its just that we weren`t allowed to be in it at the time. It`s a stupid rule if you ask me but rules are rules so we didnt hang around for long incase another Zultan like character came along.

Every morning Kalbarri plays host to a family of pelicans who come up onto the grassed area next to the beach and get fed. Its been happening for years and has turned into a bit of a tourist attraction. So there we were waiting for the peilcans to appear, and along came the volunteer from the tourist office with her bucket of fish and we waited excitedly, and then a bit coldly, and then a little disparingly and eventually rather hopelessly. The lovely volunteer lady said she was awfully embarrassed and she`d give them into trouble next time she saw them but alas it was not to be. Personally I reckon its Jon`s fault. I think he may be cursed. First he snorkels and dives and no turtles appear anywhere and then we go to the turtle breeding place in Bundaberg and wait till after midnight to no avail and now the pelicans. There`s definately a pattern is all I`m saying.

So off we set out of Kalbarri and decided to head over to the famous `picture window` a rock formation in a national park that looks like a picture frame through which the view is meant to be pretty special. We paid our entry fee at the gate and received a funny grin/smirk type thing from the guy selling the tickets. I thought it was Scooby`s fault again but after 30 minutes of trying to make our way down a 4x4 track in a wicked campervan I`ve had second thoughts on his reason for laughing at us. It was like being inside a washing machine. The whole van was vibrating, the windows pretty much came out of their sockets and the noise of our plates, cutlery, stove and various other possessions rattling around in the back together was pretty painful to say the least. After about half and hour and 5kms we`d had enough and admitted defeat. So we turned round much to the pleasure of the properly equipped vehicles that had been trying to overtake us and went back to the entrance. Turns out the road to the `picture window` is actually 30km long so its probably just as well we gave up or we might still be there now.

Onwards then on our endless stretch of road. I describe it like this but it isnt meant to sound negative. Getting to drive on such different terrain on a road that would be impossible in Britian or anywhere else I can think of really is something pretty special and I`m very chuffed that I`ve been able to do it, but anyway - We continued along and stopped off at Hamelin Bay. If you ever read the Bill Bryson book about Australia you`ll see that we`ve pretty much done the same route as him, though not in quite as much style.

Hamelin Bay is home to the worlds oldest collection of stromatolites, which are the oldest living things on earth. Essentially they are rock like minerals but still, pretty cool eh?! We wandered through the visitors centre and down to the walkway where they sit on the water. While it was cool to see the stromatolites, the flies were insufferable. Swatting them didnt work, swearing at them didnt work, flapping your arms around while jumping up and down in a circle in a weird sort of dance didn`t work, nothing worked. And so our time in Hamelin Bay was cut short to about 10 minutes as we just couldn`t handle them any more.

We managed to make it back into the van with minimum fly passengers and headed to Monkey Mia. Now we had seen a fair number of kangaroos on the roadsides at this point, unfortunately all of which were dead, but that had been nothing compared to this leg of the trip. You couldnt go more than 5 metres without seeing one. It was crazy, apparently the road trains (massive trucks with 4 or 5 tralier sections) which drive through the night just go right through them and the numbers of them just lying everywhere was insane. Sorry not a nice image but it became a big part of our scenery.

We arrived in Monkey Mia which is a small resort on an inlet of land on the coast (if that makes sense?!) It was awesome! It had such a family holiday vibe to the place with kids, tents, caravans and emus (!) all over the place. Didn`t do much the first night just had a couple of beers and enjoyed the use of a kitchen instead of a camping stove. Early night in preparation for the mornings activities...

...one of the reasons so many people go to Monkey Mia is the family of wild dolphins that come into the bay each morning and swim along the shore. Three times a day some staff at the resort feed them and pick out volunteers to do the same. You can`t touch them or anything as they are wild animals but they come right up to you and swim around in front of you for ages. I have since decided that I love dolphins. It was wicked!! Spent alot of the day after that sunning myself on the beach and reading a book. It was so good to be somewhere properly hot again and I definately took advantage of it. Spent the later part of the afternoon building a giant sandcastle. Well, I gathered up all the same expecting the real deal; turrets, towers, a drawbridge and everything, we certainly had enough sand collectected for all of that. Unfortunately I`d left the architectural plans to Jon whose version of a sandcastle was actually just a pile of heaped up sand, albeit a very large pile of heaped up sand. Chilled again in the evening just enjoying the atmosphere and some time off from driving. In preparation for our end destination up the coast - Coral Bay.


Roadtrip: Coral Bay (+ whalesharks!!)

2009-04-25 to 2009-04-29

Coral Bay had been the main reason behind our roadtrip in the first place and it didn`t disappoint. A tiny little town with one main road, a little supermarket, lovely beach and lots of caravan parks it also had a similar vibe to Monkey Mia though on a slightly bigger scale. We ended up being there for 4 nights and only had to drive once in that time (to the bottle shop) which was a good break.

Didn`t do a huge amount most of the time, lay on the beach until the tide came up and made my feet soggy, walked around a bit, snorkelled off the beach to see the fish and coral that was just a few metres offshore, ate alot, drank alot and generally just had a bit of a holiday. I also met a nice bunch of people there too, an English couple the first night and then a young English family the next. They`d moved over to Australia just before Christmas with their 2 young children, bought a campervan and a 4x4 and started touring round the country. They`re going to do that for about a year and then settle somewhere for a bit. Its such an adventure they`re on, a brave thing to do in many ways but so exciting, I was very impressed! Theyre all kitted out though and even had the internet for their little van!

Some of the vans in this site were insane, many had big attachable canopies they would sit under, loads had full on satelite television, one had a full size fridge freezer outside his! And so many people had big fancy boats parked up next to their tents, obviously the folks with all the cash but my impressions of camping and having to `rough it` in a cramped canvas tent for a couple of weeks have certainly changed over the past few weeks.

On the Wednesday we reached the main purpose of our trip to Coral Bay - a day swimming with Whalesharks!!! I prefer to think of them as whales but they are actually from the shark family and are the biggest kind of `fish` that you can get. I`d been assured that they were strictly vegetarian but was still a bit nervous all the same. We went for a `practice snorkel` first to check out all the equipment and then the wait began. Sometimes they don`t see any sharks though normally at the right time of the season they see a couple a day, we saw 4. We went into the water to swim with them 5 times which is the highest number of times many of the crew had ever had and we could have kept going all day if they hadnt decided people were getting to tired and taken us off for a snorkel on the reef instead.

The first shark we swam with was a couple of metres long and had a gigantic chunk taken out of the side of it. I was so mesmerized by it I kind of forgot to be nervous but I stayed right by the guide just incase. We werent in the water for long and had been split into 2 groups because of the regulations governing how many people can swim with them at any one time so had to stop to give the other group a chance before it swam too deep to see but it was incredible just seeing it.

If I`d thought that was inmpressive the next one, bigger in size was awesome. It had lots of speckles and just moved so gracefully through the water. Again the time in the water just flew past but we`d only been back on the boat a matter of minutes when our `spotter plane` found another one.

This was the daddy - or as it turned out the mummy. The crew all reckoned this one was pregnant but either way, it was massive, 8 metres long. But I could have sworn it was bigger. At first I couldnt see it and was more concerned with looking above the water to find our guide. Once I`d spotted the guide I turned round to my left and this huge shark was swimming right next to me. I was right next to its head and its gigantic mouth was open swallowing lots of plankton, I didnt want it to get confused and accidentally swallow me so I swam away round to its side pretty sharpish. If I hadn`t had a snorkel set in I probably would have screamed! It was phenomenal though and we were swimming alongside it for ages. Afterwards the crew told us that so few people actually swim with these creatures in their lifetime but I didn`t need them to tell me that to know how lucky I am to have done it. A truly special moment and a real `I`m travelling and its amazing` one too!

Afterward we had a nice lunch and then snorkelled around the coral for a while. The colours and fish were great and if I`m honest it was more impressive than the Great Barrier Reef.

So you know, a pretty good day then!


Roadtrip: Carnarvon to Yanchep

2009-04-30

Ended up leaving Coral Bay after the whaleshark tour so that we wouldn`t have to rush so much to get back to Perth.

After speaking to a few people who said they did most of their driving in the evening as its cooler so in theory you save petrol as you don`t need the ac as much. Apparently as long as youre not driving at dusk or dawn its ok kangaroo-wise. Hmm.

We started off ok and then stopped off and had something to eat while dusk settled and set off again when it was dark. We only had about 100km to go until our intended destination, Carnarvon. And its true we didn`t see many kangaroos, only 2 infact. HOWEVER, there were sheep and cows everywhere. Jon did all the driving and got so freaked out that we decided the best plan was to drive at 60kmph the whole way back. The number of times we spotted a flock of gormless sheep stood in the road ahead of us was quite frightening. But we made it to Carnarvon in one piece albeit a little on edge!

Set off early the next morning but stopped briefly in the town to take photos of the giant banana. Australia has this thing about giant models of things, they are dotted all around the country and usually take the form of various fruit or vegetables like the banana. I`ve also heard of the giant lemon, lobster, sheep and pinapple. So you see, we had to stop at the banana, and it was very cool, even if we did find out afterward that it wasnt the `real and official` big banana. I couldn`t tell, all giant bananas look the same to me.

I don`t recall anything else significant from that day, more of the same driving along endless roads. Loved it though. We stopped off that evening in Port Denison/Dongarra. After driving around for ages trying to find somewhere to stay we pulled into this quiet and pretty empty caravan site. There was noone around so we just had some food and went to sleep. Awoke about 6am and headed off. Then we got chased by the owners. All very embarrassing. In our defence the place was closed when we got there and closed when we left and we hadnt used any facilities or anything like that.  I think they accepted our excuses...I think the $30 helped somewhat with that too though.

Arrived at Yanchep National Park in the afternoon, its only an hour or so out of Perth so figured we`d chill there for the evening and then head back to the city in the morning. The park was lovely although its more of a town with pubs, shops, supermarkets and all that jazz. We got some grub, cooked it on the little stove in the middle of a carpark down by the sea. I went for a wander on the beach and got all excited when I thought I`d spotted some penguins, I was trying to get to an angle where I could take some photos so show Nicky when Jon came up and spoiled my fun by informing me they were infact those Comorants (?!) They were quite far away I guess. Gutted.

Went back to the main section of the park and walked around...wait for it...`Loch McNess` (!) The area had been totally devestated in a bush fire at the end of last year and it was insane to see it like that. Acres and acres of the park had been incinerated pretty  much. I met a family from Aberdeen in the park who were telling me that you could see the smoke just blanketing the park, from miles and miles away for days while it burned. Despite all that though, after only 5 months or so some of the trees were already producing green again. The demonstration of natures ability to fight back was quite remarkable.

There was a group of semi wild koalas in the park which I spent ages just watching. One in particular was unusually active climbing up and down the tree and munching away - sooo cute! I was chatting away to the Aberdonian family there when we got a phonecall asking where our van was. Turns out we were supposed to return it to Perth on the Friday but i was somehow convinced that it was the Saturday. Oops. Luckily they let us keep it another day. Note to self: check diary when responsible for flights/hire cars/and general matters of importance.

The park also had tonnes of kangaroos. Everywhere. And lots of them were pregnant or had little joeys in their pouches. I didnt actually see any of them but you could see them kicking around inside. When we walked back to the van after a few drinks in the pub it was really dark and we got proper freaked out by them suddnely jumping across the path infront of us or bounding away over the grass. I got myself into a bit of a state and half expected to find them in the toilets when i went to brush my teeth. Those legs can give you a nasty kick if they want to. But all was well and I remain a fan of all the `Skippy`s` of Yanchep.


Return to Perth (again)

2009-05-02

Our morning in Perth started off well then quickly got a bit messy. To be brief -

got to Perth early, parked van, walked to hostel, put vans laundry on, walked back to van, drove around looking for parking space, parked van very near original space, carried bags back to hostel, checked in, waited for tumble drier to be free, put van laundry in drier, walked back to van, drove to petrol station to clean van, inside and out, got phone voice message asking for van to be returned at 12 (this was at 12.30) (instead of prearranged time of 3pm), got annoyed, phoned wicked, answer machine said they were closed, panicked a little, drove around looking for another parking space, walked to hostel, picked up van laundry, drove around for about an hour looking for wicked office (they had moved since we picked it up a week ago), eventually found wicked office, open after all, gave van back, they said they wouldn`t give back the $500 bond, got angry, they said they would give back the bond, walked ages to the train station, got back to the city, went to pub to catch the end of the AFL game we had really wanted to see, drank pints. felt better.

The evening continued to improve when I caught up with Amanda who I`d worked with in Bundaberg. Went to the pub and had a few drinks with her and her mates which was good. There was a mirror in the pub declaring that Tenants lager was Scotlands finest lager. I do hope that Australians and other nationalities son`t see this, think it is true and then judge our entire country as a bunch of morons when they visit Scotland and find this to be somewhat inaccurate.


Alice Springs, Kings Canyon and Uluru!! Whoop Whoop!!

2009-05-03 to 2009-05-09

On Sunday morning we got a flight to Alice Springs. I was quite gutted to be leaving the West Coast but I kind of view anywhere thats not on the East Coast as being WA. Despite our new location in the Northern Territory as being around 3000kms away from any resemblance of a `coast`.  My appreciation of geography leaves a little to be desired I know.

 

I`m not sure what I expected from Alice and as a result I`m not sure what I thought of the place at first. Quite a sprawling town and there were lots of Aboriginal people, far more than anywhere else I had been. Many of them seemed to be left behind by society, ignored or stepped upon which was quite upsetting to see.

We had a 3 day tour of the `red centre` booked so we were up early the next day to make our way there. We drove past what I (and others i might add) thought was `the rock` but turns out it was Mount Connor. Apparently a fair number of people come all this way to the centre of Australia, see Mount Connor and go back to wherever they came from thinking they`ve seen Uluru (Ayres Rock). Oops. Not that I would have done that if i didnt have a guide...

We stopped off briefly at a large cattle station, when I say large I mean "the size of switzerland" large. It was a cattle station the size of Switzerland. Now either Switzerland is smaller than I thought or this cattle station was, well...the size of a small country - mental!

Made camp then went to see Uluru at sunset. The colours reflecting off the rock, the awe you feel when you stare at it, the atmosphere, the fact I managed to find a quiet spot away from all the crowds to wonder at it all. One word - Magnificent.

Slept in swags that night - basically a large, waterprrof, external sleeping bag you put your own sleeping bag inside of. It means you get to sleep outside under the stars, round the campfire (that we werent supposed to have...) fully aware of all the sights and sounds of the world around you (aside from the bloke snoring that is). I loved it, we should totally invest in them for Rowerdennan/Loch Lomond trips. You even get a matress inside them and a little cover for your head id the moon is too bright etc. We were all woken in the middle of the night by dingoes howling and prowling around and through our camp, which did make me pause over the security issues arising from sleeping outside in the Australian bush, but it was all grand in the end.

Up early next morning, for Uluru at sunrise this time. Again the colours were just spectacular. I took a ridiculous amount of pictures. Its funny how no matter how long you stare at it, whether in the same position or from different angles, from different times of dasy and in different lights. It never looks the same as it did 2 seconds before hand. And this merely intensified when we walked around it.

One of the downsides to being there as part of a tour was that you couldnt take as long as you may have liked, but we still had a good few hours to walk around Uluru. It wasnt atall like I imagined closeup, its not just one solid structure as you might expect, and has hundreds, nay thousands of indentations all over, many of which form a large role in the dreamtime stories for the Aboriginal people. There were ancient paintings on the walls where people used to gather or teach the younger generations. It was really something. You can climb Uluru if you want to, though the Aboriginals ask that you dont as it is disrespectful to their culture and people. Why the governement insisted they allow people to have the option is beyond me. We didnt climb it but there were so many people parading up like ants, what caused more confusion was the fact that there was no real pathway as such and people were slipping and sliding all over the place without so much as a sturdy handrail to hold themselves up, with many people bumping their way down the side on their bums.  The signs asking people not to climb also remind people of the dangers and the fatalities that happen each year and it was pretty easy to understand how that might happen.

But enough of my rant, Uluru itself was mesmerising. the colours the thousands of different shapes and bumps and grooves all over it could keep your attention for hours. People flock from all over the world to come here and its easy to see why.

Afterward we went to the cultural centre and then over to Kings Canyon. Another incredible albeit less famous rock formation nearby to Uluru. We climbed up, across, down a bit, up a bit and down again. The views were incredible despite the rather terrifying cliff edge drop. And the shrieking gaggle of teenage school girls who ended up accompanying us the whole way round. Still, you cant have everything. And the views were well worth the offended eardrums.

((Wow, I do sound like a grumpy so and so dont I?! Im not ungrateful in the slightest - the red centre was amazing and I loved it all. Its just what being along again in New Zealand and not speaking to anyone for ages does to me - but more on that later...!!))


Alice Springs 2nd time round.

2009-05-08

Had a good meal with new friend Gunsheek when we got back to Alice Springs. Has given me ideas about going off to Korea now to teach English. I am totally hooked on this travelling thing you know!

Had a total lazy nothing day on the Thursday, just properly chilled out and enjoyed the comfort of a bed over a swag again. Not that I didnt love the swags of course, coz I did! Watched atrocious television (Austrlaian tv is utterly diabolical) and read lots. My last full day in Alice was spent seeing a completely different side to the town. I walked around lots and stumbled across a lovely little promenade type place with little cafes, bars and suchlike. Then I walked to the Flying Doctors museum. I used to love the show when I was little (unless I`m imagining that mum?!) and it was really interesting to see how it actually works. There are a series of planes that travel to the furthest corners of Australia to tend to those who are sick or injured. Before they take that step though they often try to diagnose the problem over the phone and then the patient just has to go to the medical kit they already have and take whichever number the doctor has advised. Apprently it doesnt always go quite to plan...

"the doctor said the wife needed to take the medicine labelled 7, but we had none left so i gave her a 3 and a 4 and she turned out just fine"

Then I walked up Anzac Hill to see the war memorial and a fantastic view of the whole town, with dreamtime explanations of all the different landmarks.

So I`m pleased to say my first impressions of Alice Springs were only taking in one side of the place. There is an uncomfortable undercurrant running through as you see people who have been let down by the society that is supposed to protect and look after them. But if you look further you see a community that has taken many positive steps for its residents and a large amount of space, time and credit given over to the people who were there first and their explantions for how the town came to be.


Melbourne - fantastic city. Not enough time, though enough to be horribly embarrassed by a toilet.

2009-05-09 to 2009-05-14

Flew into Melbourne with Tiger Airways, baggage limit 15kg hence more throwing away of items. I swear every time I pick up my bag it is a completely different weight. Got to the airport and the airline) who obviously had too much time on their hands) said my handluggage was borderline for being too heavy so I was to take out afew books and hold them in my hand and that would be ok. So I did and then put them back in my bag once through the gate, and they were right - everything was fine. Would you believe it?!

Anyways, Melbourne is AWESOME! Hannah - I can totally understand why you loved it so much. We got in quite late so followed our (poorly given) directions to a hostel..."follow the signs for the market...there are no signs for a market though..."

What was weird was the temperature - it was freezing! There were people in hats and scarvea and gloves and there were autumnal leaves all over the ground. I hadnt seen Autumn since 2007 so it was quite a sight. As mum pointed out, probably the only time in this trip that I will be having the same weather as at home. Infact - it was probably warmer in Scotland!

The next day we went along to the Queen Victoria Market, conveniantly located directly opposite the hostel (the directinos made more sense in daylight) which I hadnt planned atall... It was a great combination of sights, sounds and colours, with people shouting out specials on meat and fish and the vendors offering everything from kebabs, wooly jumpers and jewellery to squid, fresh fruit and doilies (does anyone still buy them?) It was a bit like Borough Market in London but not as crowded or cramped together. I loved it. What I didnt understand was the people sat just outside eating MacDonalds for breakfast, madness.

Afterward we went on the free tram journey round the inner city (just realised the people in my hostel are watching the Texas Chainsaw Massacre - not pleasant, ignore Shona, ignore...)

ANYWAYS...the tram journey was pretty sweet and took us past a lot of the main sites in the city with a useful and informative narration throughout - I`ve been reading too many guidebooks.

The next day turned out to be `Stadium Day`. We walked around the Botanic Gardens and then spotted the Rod Laver Arena (Australian Open venue) over the road. It was closed but I managed to find a conveniantly open door so took a sneaky peak. Unfortunately the court had been removed but you could still imagine what its like during the tournament, I`d love to come back for it one day - it was quite something. The atmosphere must be incredible when the place is full, I can only imagine what it was like when Nadal beat Federer this year.

Next up was the MCG. Ended up doing a tour which was largely cricket focussed so a little boring for a Scot like myself but the stadium, both on the pitch and behind the scenes was excellent. That evening we went to see an AFL game at another stadium in the city (Melbourne is teeming with them). The game ended up being a bit of a washout with one team annihilating the other but the atmosphere was still great. Especially when the 3 guys in front of us kept getting so angry at their (losing) team, with the usual abusive swearing and so on. What was funnier was the wee woman sat right next to them who enthusiastically waved her flag over the top of them whenever her (winning) team scored.

Melbourne Museum and St Kilda the next day. Museum was really interesting, even if the promised Neighbours display had been removed and they wouldnt let me into the childrens section becasue I was too old. St Kilda was a little beachside town. We got a great bargain of a meal and then walked down to the harbour and along the jetty where you can see...PENGUINS!! I only spotted one but it was special nevertheless - Nicky you`d love it, I was about a foot away from them! I loevd the town and was just gutted I couldnt spend more time there. Still, always good to have a reason to return.

The rest of the time in Melbourne was spent going to see some more touristy spots, like the National Gallery of Victoria (amazing ceiling) and a somewhat random clock at the end of a shopping arcade. Melbourne is so arty and has so many galleries and cafes and bars and parks that I would have loved to spend weeks exploring and wandering but alas it was not to be.

Unfortunately for me I decided to fit in just a little more the morning before my flight...I still hadnt had a chance to check out your haunts Hannah so I went down to look for Joel the video shop guy. I coulndnt find the place anywhere but loved the little streets and houses everywhere. Every chemist I saw I thought of you. (Please excuse me everyone who doesnt know Hannah as this will make no sense).

Then I spotted that fateful toilet...It was like a silver spaceship bubble and very state of the art in toilet terms it seemed. It was all electronic so you pressed a button surrounded in lights to get in. it was a bit like an elevator inside and as the door closed a vioce told you how to exit and how much time you had and then it started to play "lift music". The toilet paper came out electronically judged by a sensor like with a handdrier. Anyway, without going into details - this is basically what happened after the initial introductions and instructions were issued...

Shona: lalala

Toilet: WARNING, No movement detected, door will open in 10 seconds, please move around to alert sensors

Shona: Makes as much movement with flaring arms as is possible in particular situation

Toilet: WARNING, Still no movement detected, doors will now open

Shona: frantically rushes to door as it opens to full view of main street, and LOTS of cars!! tries to close doors. being electronic this is near on impossible. keeps trying, meanwhile not in the most flattering of positions or state of dress. door eventually closes, and music resumes.

A while later, having let enough time pass for all the possible cars within a 5 mile radius to have moved out of the area, Shona emerges from said `evil` toilet to what she`s sure was a "Thankyou for using this service, please come again". Not Likely.

It seems to be rather typical that it was while wandering around Hannahs neighbourhood that the incident with the toilet had to take place. It couldnt have been anywhere else!!

 


Brisbane to Rainbow Beach to Fraser Island to Rainbow Beach to Brisbane.

2009-05-15 to 2009-05-19

Back to Brisbane again, caught up with Jons sister, who is staying in a rather lovely house. Were just there overnight and then headed to the nicely named Rainbow Beach in the morning. We just stayed there for the night in order to get our big security briefing in time for our Fraser Island trip.

We were all placed into groups, Jon and I with a group of 8 German friends, and a Canadian bloke. They were all lovely but it was a bit difficult as they were already formed into such a tight group. We were on a self guided tour which means you get a 3 or 4 hour security chat, then you order all the booze you want and load up the trucks. We were in an 11 seater 4x4 truck with 3 seats in the front and 2 rows facing each other in the back. It was pretty daunting but quite exciting at the same time.

So we headed off in convoy with 6 other trucks to catch the ferry for the island. I think our pile of booze was somewhere in the middle in terms of how much people had ordered. But thats the sad thing about this activity; so much of it seems to be about getting drunk (or maybe I`m just geting old). What I did find a little odd was throughout all of the talks and warnings that we received, not once did any of the organisers so much as mention drink driving.

Anyways, the island was great and I saw lots of cool and interesting things. Its the largest sand island in the world but is largely covered in vegetation, so it wasnt exactly what I`d expected but it was still incredibly pretty and the lagoons and things we visited were beautiful.

Unfotunately I was a bit of a tool and missed the dolphins that everyone saw because I was a little hungover and taking a nap on the beach. (I told you I was too old for it!) We got to camp out in tents this time which was cool, I missed the swags from the red centre, which surprisingly ended up being warmer than the tents too but they wouldnt have been possible because the dingoes on Fraser are much more dodgy. A few of them came right into the camp and theyve been known to attack people so I stayed well clear, by hiding behind whatever was closest at the time, a blanket, a bbq, Jon.

back to Rainbow Beach, finally a phonecall to mum (Happy Birthday!!) and back to Brisbane for the 5th time! By this point the weather was atrocious, we were really really lucky that we missed it for Fraser as I cant imagine having to drive on sand in that. The rain was crazy so we just camped out with Kayleigh and Rob and introduced them to goon and watched some films (well, I fell asleep, but they were on in the background).

And so, somehow, out f nowhere, onwards to my fnial Australian destination. How on earth did that happen?!


Sydney inc. Blue Mountains and a final farewell to Aussieland.

2009-05-20 to 2009-05-25

Back in Sydney, and it was SO different. I left in Summer and now I was returning in Autumn. To rain, lots of rain.

Got dropped off at the hostel and didnt do a huge amount for the next few days really, for fear of being soaked. We wandered around a lot really, just aking the most of being back in Sydney, and enjoying some good ol` goon and chilling in the evenings.  We did however venture back over to `The Friend In Hand Hotel` for the amous crab racing. It was great to be back in such a quirky pub with all the randomness hanging from the ceiling and walls. The crab racing competition started and was SO much fun. Basically peole could pay a small sum to enter and pick their own crab and then if they won that heat they had to compete is some such silly 2nd round e.g. first person to blow a balloon until it pops, hula hooping etc. Periodicaly the bar staff would get out a "supasoaka 3000" or some such equivalent and drench the surrounding  crowd of customers. (Ah, thats why they`d covered half the walls in binbags...). It was a great night and there was even a film crew there so maybe it will appear on a tv show near you at some point in the future but if anyone goes along to Syndney I wuld totally recomend it.

DISCLAIMER: Things went a little downhill when some of the rounds went down the guys show us your sixpack type road. Which was a real shame as it had all been fun and games until that slightly dodgy point. So if you do go along don`t say I didnt warn you!

And so Friday came, and so too did the...SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE CLIMB!! It was so amazing. We got all kitted out in some rather fetching jumpsuits and were given waterproofs and a hanky attached to an eleastic band - you can`t take anything of your own up there in case you drop it on some poor unsuspecting motorists head. About 2 seconds, literally, before the doors opened, the heavens did too and the rain just came flooding down. We all kindof looked at eac other and got out our rain jackets. It was quite exhilirating going up there in that kind of weather but it didnt do much for the visibility. Luckily though the rain petered off about 15minutes in. Then we only had the glaeforce winds to contend with, again pretty ehilirating. They were the kindsof winds you can lean into with your full body weight and they still push you backwards, looking back I`m quite surprised they let us up there!

We went for the discovery climb which actually takes you up and through the bridge instead of you up over the top of it. At times you come uot onto seethrough platforms looking over the water or the rushing traffic below you. It was incredible. For some reason unbeknown to me I wasnt that scared (I`m telling you, a skydive is looking possible!) and just loved every minute of it. When we came out on top of the bridge the view was spectacular, I can only imagine what its like on a clear day, as it was pretty cloudy and we could still see for miles. It was a total extravagance, but worth every single cent. Do it if you can!

For my final week in Oz we went to visit Calums friend Gemma Louise. He hasnt ever actually met her, given they met online, so I felt a little guilty getting there first. She was absolutely adorable and looked after us extremely well (Thanks Gemma!) We went round the Blue Mountains with her and her boyf Paddy, unfortunatley the rain and mist was so low that we couldnt really see anything but when the clouds parted for afew seconds at a time we could glimpse how nice it was, albeit somehat briefly.

We went to scenic World where we got a rollercoaster type ride down through the heart of one of the mountains. It endd up only lasting about 20 seconds so was short but sweet, but great nonetheless. Then we went for a walk through the national park which was nice, if a little wet. A nice evening was spent with Gemmas mates and movies and lots of chinese food, so fun was had by all I think.

Drove back to Manly the next afternoon and crossed over to Sydney in time to grab a couple of presents for folks back home and head to the airport. Arrived there at 7pm and my flight wasn`t until 8.35am the next morning. Fun times in Sydney Airport. Turns out they close overnight for a few hours but we managed to find some seats to crash out on (bad choice of words?) for the evening.

And so after a sad farewell to Jon and a long phonecall to mum and Lewis (made longer by the fact Britains Got talent was on and mum couldnt speak to me until after some famous Scottish woman had finished) (They even made me sit and listen over the phone, from the other side of the world while she sang her piece so that I didnt interrupt!) (I wasn`t supposed to tell people that was I mum?!) I boarded my plane and made my way out of Australia.

 

I`m not sure how I feel about leaving Australia. I ended up staying there longer than my whole trip was originally meant to be, so it must have been doing something right. I feel like I`ve done the country justice though, I travelled pretty much the whole way round it (aside from Darwin and Tasmania) and saw so much of the country. I saw crocodles, koalas, emus, dolphins, kangaroos, beaches, islands, bridges, deserts and an endless road. I did 5 dfferent jobs, met some great people, climbed a bridge, swam with whale sharks, did a road trip, saw the Great Barrier Reef, had some bbqs, and so much else in between. (Sorry if I`m doing your head in, I`m just trying to get all of this out now so that when i come back  I don`t go on and on about it to the point that you buy me a ticket back to Australia yourself...mmmm theres an idea).

I feel like I`m coming to the end of my trip now, which is a little crazy given I`ve got a quarter of a year left. But the rest is made up of little chunks which makes it feel much shorter. When I stop and think about it I can`t quite believe how much I`ve managed to fit into this year so far. And I`ve still got 3 months and 2 countries to go. This travelling malarkey is just incredible!!! (-:


New Zealand!!

2009-05-25

When I first left Glasgow New Zealand seemed such a long way off. Yet somehow, I`ve arrived. I was meant to be here 4 months ago, in the midst of Summer I might add, but theres something quite special about seeing this country in the Winter time.

I flew in over the Southern Alps and the view was just wonderful. Looking out of my window I could see jaggy white mountains stretching for miles into the distance, some tops only just poking through the clouds. Imagine a really long tray of vienetta clumped together and you get the idea...kind of. Mum keeps telling me of all the people who tell her how beautiful this country is and I can tell you now mum - they ain`t lying. The other noticeable feature is all of the green. So much green, and proper green, not washed out yellowy green like I`d come to expect in Australia. It`s quite remarkable how much like home this country is, despite being as far away as its possible to be.

I didn`t have a hostel or anything booked so I just asked around in the airport and called a few numbers to sort something out. Unfortunately, I didn`t have a bunch of people all heading in the same direction or a girl called Rosie to make friends with at the airport like I had when I arrived in Oz so I was on my own for this one. I managed to get hold of a public bus that could take me into the centre, after all the minibuses had tried to swindle me out of all my cash - it was like being back in Thailand. And so, I headed into Christchurch.


Christchurch

2009-05-25 to 2009-05-26

Christchurch was a pretty little city, though I couldn`t get over how cold it was. My daily outfit includes tshirt, rugby shirt and hoody. Every day - I don`t have any more warm clothes, given I was supposed to be here in the middle of Summer. I made the mistake of only wearing one pair of socks with my new gymshoes but I won`t be making that mistake again.

The bad thing about being here in Winter is that there is nobody else about. The town was just so quiet, as was the hostel so it makes it really difficult to meet anyone. A bus load of `kiwi adventurers` come in every evening and then leave again in the morning, but they`re all in their cliques already so its a pretty tough wall to break down.

you get very used to having someone there with you all the time, so its taking some adjusting being on my own again.

I managed to fit in loads to my time in Christchurch. I went along to the Art Gallery and the botanics, where I saw some baby ducks and a very hairy bloke told me about some places to go visit while I`m here. I also went along to the museum which had an exhibition based on a couple who had turned their home into wuite the quirky tourist attraction. They had spent years collecting a certain type of shell - common in New Zealand called the paua shell. Its used a lot in jewellry and thigns like that, but this couple had just collected them, polished them up, and stuck them on their living room wall. There were hundreds of them. First I watched a video about it all and then their living room had been reconstructed in the museum so you got to walk around it. Crazy new Zealanders!

Afterward I climbed the clock tower in the cathedral, not quite as high as Glasgow University`s but every bit as winding going up that spiral staircase. Then I went to a choir service in ther cathedral which was so English I could have been sat in the South of England. It was nice though and then I ended the day off with a trip to see Angels and Demons.

Lots of sight seeing, lots of touristy activities, but no amusing stories or anecdotes I`m afraid. I also went to the post office that day, but thats about it. You can tell I`m a bit lonely can`t you?!


Geraldine

2009-05-27

I came to New Zealand not really knowing much about the country or what was actually on offer to do here. As such I`ve spent a large amount of my first few days here tralwing through guidebooks, maps and tourist brochures. It`s proving quite difficult to see all that I want to without my own transport. The original plan had always been to get a van and drive around the country but without people to share the costs that can`t really happen at the moment.

Still, I came across the tiny town of Geraldine and figured it would be a cool place to stop off in. Then I found out it had the worlds biggest wooly jumper and I decided I HAD to find a way to visit. I managed to find a bus that would stop off there and the plan was finalised.

Geraldine was a sweet little town with a main street of little independant stores and surrounded by a national park. I managed to find my way to a hostel and checked in. It turned out to be the nicest hostel i have had the pleasure to come across on this trip so far, and given I must have stayed in atleast 75 different places, thats saying something. It was a former maternity hospital, surrounded by hills and sheep and a lovely garden. An older couple had taken it over last year and it was all freshly painted and cleaned and all that. However, if I had thought Christchurch was quiet, with me being the only person in my 6bed dorm, in Geraldine, I was the only person in the entire hostel!

I walked down to the knitwear shop and found the worlds biggest wooly jumper. I`d joked about stealing it given I was so frickin` cold but as soon as you see it you have to laugh. Its huge. I need a photo heat to illustrate my point and one will surely follow but the basic idea is that it was atleast 7 times the size of me. Out the back of the shop was a mosaic made from teeny tiny pieces of broken sewing machine metals that was an exact copy of the Bayeux Tapestry. It had taken the guy 25 years to make and was impressive to say the least. Then I bought some gloves.

Turns out Scotland is not the only country where you can buy gloves and eat ice cream on the same day. So I did. the only drawback to my gloves is that they don`t have any fingers on them so I do feel like a bit of a hobo whenever I wear them.

Wandered around some galleries then went for a walk in the national park. I always feel guilty going for a walk when Poppy isn`t there but given she`s on the other side of the world I didn`t really have much choice. Like the Blue Mountains in Sydney the apparently spectacular views were largely obscurred by mist and as I walked, it settled lower and lower until I could only see about 10metres in front of me. So I made my way back to "my" hostel and the warmth. I was beginning to enjoy having some time to myself to just chill and watch a film without sharing the couch with 15 other backpackers when a poor guy who had got lost in the fog checked into the hostel. He then proceeded to crunch on the biggest bag of kettlechips throughout most of the movie. I`m saying nothing.

 


Dunedin - New Zealands very own piece of Scotland!

2009-05-28 to 2009-06-01

When I heard about Dunedin, I knew it was a must. New Zealands piece of Scotland would be right. Its full of gorgeous buildings and has so much Scottish heritage - I just love it.

Got off to a bit of a rocky start. Arrived and instantly fell in love with the place, the first blue sky I`d seen in days helped matters. I walked what felt like miles to find a hostel. The frist one was double the price the internet had suggested and only had a bed for one night. I checked into the second which was lovely and was clean and all the rest of it, but sometimes you just don`t get the feel for the place. The room I was put in was a `mixed` dorm but my undestanding of `mixed` is not me and 4 old guys. Alas the owner has a different definition. I only stayed there the one night. I ended up back at the hostel I`d been stood next to when I first got into the town. Hmphh. Still, this new one is lovely and is small enough to have a really nice vibe to it while being in the centre and having enough people so that you don`t feel completely isolated. I got chatting to the guy from the bunk above mine, he was a bit down becasue he`d missed his flight to Thailand. Which was made worse by the fact that from Thailand he was supposed to fly back to NI for the first time in 3 years! When it comes the time for me to go home I`ll be at the airport 3 days before my flight is scheduled, I can`t imagine being late for that one!

Anyways, the second day was much more of a success and after moving into my (much nicer) hostel I went to explore. i went down to the railway station, a beautiful old building which houses a Scottish whisky bar (also sefving irnbru allegedly) and also has a sign outfront informing me that I`m currently 18869kms away from Edinburgh.

When I wandered over to the uni I was delighted to find it was just like Glasgow Uni. Literally. It wa modelled on Glasgow Uni! Its much smaller and made of different materials but the main section with the clock tower was so similar, I couldnt help but stare and smile. I spent a fair amount of time looking round and was surrounded by students going to and from classes. It felt really weird being back in that environment, I`ve not had to adjust really from being a student becasue I`ve not been at home for any amount of time while term is on again so I`m not sure how I`ll react to that when I go home. Still, it was a strangely familiar setting and I enjoyed being around it.

I stumbled across the theatre department and found that they were 10minutes away from putting on their lunchtime performance. I thought `why not?!` and 5 minutes later was sat in what seemd to be an identical space to the James Arnott (is that right?) theatre from Glasgow. the performance ended up being a lifesize game of monopoly in which the audience were the teams. The pieces were giant sized fruit items (the costume department must have already had them in, though why the need for a giant sized set of grapes and an apple I have no idea) and the dice atleast a metre cubed. It was a lot if fun, if completely random - and our team even won. Well we would have done if the banker hadnt kept demanding money from all the teams for things like factory closures and falling house prices which ended up with everyone being declared backrupt and the host announcing how the recession affects us all.

I followed this up with a trip to the Robbie Burns statue which takes pride of place in the centre of the main town square, well axtually its an octagon, but you get the idea. (Thats not me being facetious, it is actually known as the octagon). I tell you, this city is more Scottish than Scottish ones are.

Then I spent hours in the internet shop burning photos onto CD, which isn`t really an interesting story so I`m not sure why I mentioned it.

Sunday consisted of the Cadburys factory which was actually a big disappointment I`m sorry to report, though I did get free chocolate. And then a walk to the steepest street in thw world, Baldwin Street. Which I walked up and in my opinion, they might be right.

Yesterday I caught up with Zanzee, a girl I`d met working in IGA in Dunsborough. We went down to the beach to try and spot some penguins but unfortunately didn`t have much luck (sorry Nicky). In the evening I went with her mum to a ...ceilidh!!! I`d spotted it advertised in the...wait for it...the Scottish Shop (thats actually what its called - do we even have one of those?) It sells tunnocks tea cakes and irn bru in a can and everything!! It turned out to be an evenign of piping and there wasnt a Scottish dance in sight but it was still interesting to watch. The haggis they served was more like a grey-brown pate and tasted a bit icky if I`m honest but it was still nice to go along.

There was something just so surreal about sitting in a pub, huddling closer to the fire because it was so cold outside, watching 5 men march in the pate version of the haggis, one in a `see you Jimmy` hat, another carrying a sword and shield and another piping `a man`s a man for aw that` and then listening to a bearded kilted man shouting out Rabbie Burns poetry and then having to remind myself that I was actually on the other side of the world from Scotland and didn`t really know anyone I was with and wasn`t actually about to put on my coat and jump in the car and drive through the roundabout to go up the hill and through my own front door.


Dunedin and bit, and Queenstown (inc Milford Sound)

2009-06-01 to 2009-06-04

I ended up staying a bit longer in Dunedin but thats because Leah arrived (yay! someone I know!) leah was my roommate for my first few weeks in Thailand so meeting up with her is as close as I get to seeing someone from home. Its nice. This time her mum was there too, which was also nice. We went round the Art Gallery and had some tea. it was nice.

In the morning we went to the Otage Museum which was quite interesting and had lovely pictures of glaciers, an egyptian mummy, a massive whale skeleton and big boats, amongst other things. It also had a lifesize model of a crocodile, unfortunately it was sat in the middle of the path up towards another exhibit but both of us (and as there were two I have less shame) were too scared to walk past it to see what was up there. Thats just bad museum planning if you ask me.

A final farewell to Leah and it was off to the infamous Queenstown...

My first impressions were hampered somewhat by the fact I arrived in the dark. i got chatting to the bus driver who was telling me the place was pretty much overrun by tourists which had spoiled the serenity somewhat, but then he also told me to hitchhike my way across the rest of the country and not to bother with buses so...

To be fair though the town initially seemed to be made for tourists and backpackers, complete with many hostels, hotels, restaurants and everything was suitably overpriced. The problem being that if you don't want to throw yourself off something very high, there isnt a huge amount for you to do in this town famous for adrenilin filled extreme sports. Heading away from the bungee enthused masses the next day i went for a slightly less extreme, old fashioned walk on the queenstown hill track. here you see the other side to Queenstown, the absolutely beautiful side. The views were absolutely stunning, and as much as I complain about it being so cold here, and will likely continue to do so, the snow really seemed to improve the view.

The beauty of this country was further revealed to me when I went on a daytrip to Milford Sound. It was a cold start to the day, being only 1* outside (I don't know how to put in a degree sign) it was the kind of cold where, if you open your mouth your teeth go all sensitive like when you bite into icecream, you could see your own breath, and that was INSIDE the hostel. Anyways, the drive up to the fiord was gorgeous, each turn of the road revealing yeet more incredible mountains and lakes. Some were lightly dusted with snow while others were covered in blankets of the stuff. I was supposed to be here months ago in the height of Summer but there is something truly special about being in new Zealand at winter.

Granted, it can cause problems for the visibility as was proved on our boat trip as many of the mountain tops were obscurred in mist, a real shame. very atmospheric though. You can see how LOTR came to be filmed here. On which note I'm pretty sure I saw a hobbit house on the drive over, there was a little indentation in a hill and it had little pebbles over it and a round brown wooden door. Apparently all of 'The Shire' was filmed elsewhere but either the owners have made it as a joke, to attract tourists or someone has a very odd looking garden shed.

Our tour included a stopoff at an underwater observatory where you can see rare black and red coral, normally only seen at depths of 40+ metres so that was quite special. Lots of fish too and we even saw some seals on the way back. Plus the buffet lunch was out of this world so all in all, a pretty good day.

I'm heading off to Fox Glacier tomorrow so providing I don't get stuck in the forecasted snow (apparently quite a possibility) I'll be climbing a glacier on Saturday, I'm rather excited!

 

PS - Happy Birthday to Dad, sorry I missed it but I hope you had a lovely day.


"Ice Ice Baby"

2009-06-05 to 2009-06-07

I arrived at the small, and by small I mean tiny, stop off town for Fox Glacier. The hostel was ridiculously quiet, given the one other person that was there, so I decided to go for a wander round thw town. It took 2 minutes. Luckily a friendly girl from Israel came in a few hours later and offered to take me down to Lake Matheson (Andy i thought of you!). Its this gorgeously still lake that reflects the mountains, including New Zealands highest; Mount Cook, perfectly in the waters. It was absolutely stunning.

I'd opted for a full day on the glacier and i'm so glad I did. First we had to walk up a fairly steep path through the forest, not so icy there. Then we all put on our crampons - I felt like a proper Arctic explorer! Its a bit bizarre walking ontop of metal spikes but you soon get used to it and get over the feeling that youre bound to slip on your face given youre walking on tonnes and tonnes of solid frozen stuff. We spent the whole day exploring cravasses (sp?) which are apparently not the same as crevasses (sp) which is what I'd been calling them...?! We climbed up, down and through tunnels, stepped over some rather large splits that went for miles to the centre of the ice and our guides carved out steps so that we could go up over the top of some sections and down deeper into the ice at others. It was completely different to anything Ive ever done before and I loved it!

It was really quiet again, about 40 people on the ice that day on the various trips when they usually have about 400 in Summer but it was great having the 12km glacier pretty much to ourselves. Ive finally managed to meet afew more people who are going in largely the same direction for a bit which is a welcome change. After deciding about 11pm last night to come to Nelson today I ended up meeting some people I'd met in fox and as a result and now going on a 3 day hike through the nearby National park. I dont have a sleeping bag, or proper footwear, or anything else you might need for such an activity so its all a little random really but thats what its all about after all!

I'd actually met one of them becasue she was doing a jigsaw in the Fox hostel. It was the most sadistic jigsaw I've ever come across. It had no edges, 5 purposefully extra pieces and was just pictures of mobile phones ontop of newsprint, all facing different directions etc. I only spent an hour or two chatting and helping (I think I managed about 10 pieces!) but she's been there all day. At the end there was much celebration A.K.A. relief that I could finally have some dinner, until that is, we read the box and found out that there was a picture of BigBen hidden somewhere that we were supposed to find. After a while we simply gave up but a german bloke came along later and found it - it was literally 2 cm long and 5mm wide and hidden in the shadown on the side of one of the phones. I dont know who invented this puzzle, or what the world did to piss them off so much but they are a very very evil person whoever they are.

On another note, this country just gets more beautiful the more I see it and I can't get over how much it looks like Scotland! Not just the towns like Dunedin but just the general scenery with the rolling hills and fields full of sheep. I'd always thought of New Zealand as being lumped in with Australia but, so far atleast, they are nothing like each other. you could just look out of your window for hours marvelling at how pituresque everything is, which is just aswell really given the 10 hour bus journey Ive just done!

 


It never rains, but it pours.

2009-06-08 to 2009-06-09

Arrived into Nelson in the evening to quite possibly the nicest hostel I've seen. It has a VW theme running throughout which may sound tacky but you have to believe me when I say its tastefully done. The rooms are great, clean and warm and the kitchen is lovely (this makes quite a difference as its quite rare). Plus, and heres the star selling point, I got a free bowl of fruit crumble and ice-cream when i got there AND fresh bread is provided every morning. Bliss! The hostels in New Zealand are often smaller and independantly ran and owned and they are just fantastic.  But crumble and fresh bread is a new one even for here.

I set off with Shushana and Guy bright and early on Monday morning to do a 2-5 day hike through the Abel Tasman National Park. We decided to do it in 3 days and were advised this was more than manageable. Its supposed to be the easiest walk in New Zealand (oh how that makes me laugh now) and even people "who dont consider themselves hikers" will have "no problems". Hmm...

The first afternoon was lovely, the views were great, I'll be honest when I say not spectacular, but very pretty just the same. The skies were blue and it was a little nippy but that was fine as we were walking pretty quickly. We got to our 'Awaroa' hut in plenty of time to start a fire, cook dinner and generally chill for the night. The huts are very basic with no lighting and each room just has 2 beds, but they are big enough for 5 individual matresses. Though it didnt really matter as we were the only ones there anyway.

I heard the rain a little throughout the night but didnt think much of it.

The next day was a little different in terms of the blue skies, the walking speed, oh yeah - and the fact I nearly died.

It went something like this:

Wake up, have breakfast, realise the weather is pretty rainy and has been for most of the night so everything is a little wet, damp, muddy etc. Wrap most items in plastic bags, change into walking sandals (instead of pathetic plimsole type gymshoes from the day before) and hide under rainjackets. Walk for 1 1/2 hours to the first crossing of the day, at this point the rain isnt too bad. Each day we have to cross some estuaries which are affected by the tides. The night before we'd only had to walk up to our ancles and it was the last part of the day so it didnt matter too much. This day however the tides, combined with the nights heavy rainfall had made the river section pretty bad. So... I decide to attempt crossing, realise it really is too deep, spot a much narrower section at the start of the estuary, figure best way of approach is to climb towards rather than go round the side of the river in the water. Spot a "tramped down" section along the mini "cliff edge" (you know like the sides of a river bank that are afew metres high and covered in trees, bushes and general green foliage etc?) make my way along, slowly, lose footing. Slip. Say "no" in a calm voice. Slip further and grab onto tree branch. Say "no" calmly again. Tree branch turns out to be more like a really thick leaf and breaks off in my hand. Go through things SO slowly that many thoughts pass through my mind; i don't have insurance for this, "no", that I might die and I don't know how far it is to the ground, that I dont know if I'll land in water or on rocks, "mum" etc. Fall around 2 metres over side of riverbank/mini-cliff. Land ass and elbow first, half on rocks, half in water. Bag kind of cushions fall. Kind of but not quite. Smash top of leg and arm onto rocks. Sit for a considerable time in shock. Realise I am half in the water, as is my backpack and struggle to move it. Whimper a bit. Hear Shushana who has seen the second half of the fall (and will later recall it brought to mind a fictional 'drop bear' from Australia who drops on travellers from the trees) and has attempted to rush over, which is understandably tricky in deep water that has no real way round it aside from the obviously STUPID route which I have just taken. Assure her I am ok. Realise I am ok, though I could have died, or atleast really quite seriously hurt myself. try to get up. Don't like trying to get up. Eventually hobble round to the others again, through the water I'd originally being trying to avoid.

Decide that we can't cross the estuary and shouldnt wait for the tide to go out further as it will be too dark when we finally arrive at next hut (ha!) Continue, with more of a hobble than I had originally back the way we came. After another 1 1/2 arrive back at Awaroa hut. Eat. Wait for this estuarys tide to go down a bit further. Start walking again. Shushana crosses water, gets a bit wet. Guy assures Shona that it will only be half an hour to go round the coast in order to avoid crossing more water. In her dishevelled state Shona doesnt want to get soaked again so agrees. Atleast an hour and approx 5kms later, Shona and Guy return to original point where Shushana crossed, having had to walk through knee high water anyway. Hmm.

Continue through knee high mud this time, nearly losing balance and sanity, and definately losing a shoe. Come across Shushana who has been waiting for us in a conveniantly located portable public toilet cubicle for the last hour. Yay!

Start walking the 15kms round the outside of the park to the 6km inland track so that we can make it back to another hut where we can spend the night. Sing musical and disney songs to keep us going, Guy doesnt join in. After around 1 hour it gets dark. reach the inland track and after about 10 paces realise it is too dodgy to walk in the dark. Have to continue round park to get back to the start. Walk for a long time over many kms, in the dark. Get back to car in the carpark, not allowed to sleep in it. Despair somewhat. Nearly cry with thought of walking another 5 1/2 kms, in the dark, uphill, to a hut. Want to sleep in the car. Not allowed. Begin to walk uphill. Guy goes ahead with Shushanas torch. Continue, slowly. Shona's torch battery runs out. Shushana and Shona continue walking uphill, in dark, in tiny baby footsteps as they dont know where the edge of the cliff is, save for what they can see in the glow of the fullmoon which is pretty well covered by the thick clouds.

Reach the hut, 40kms after they started that day, having seen less than 20kms of the track, and even less infact because the clouds covered any views there might have been, muddy, damp, bruised, hobbling and tired. But thankful to be alive.

'Abel Tasman' Ladies and Gentlemen- New Zealands "easiest" walk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Nelson

2009-06-10 to 2009-06-11

I don't know about beautiful views, but I certainly have some interesting 'beautiful bruise-s' to look at now.

Arrived back in Nelson after an extremely wet hours walk back to the car and a wobbly drive round the bendy road back into the city. Shushana and I went along to the World of Wearable Art museum. It displays all these competition entries of garments such as coats, dresses, bras and headpieces made out of everything from wood, food, metals and china to feathers, rubbish, foam and everything else in between. All displayed on a revolving catwalk with loud music blaring and mirrorball lights glittering. It was great! There was also a vintage cars section (random combination), at first I followed the signs to that exhibition and could only find the carpark so thought they were trying to be funny, but surely enough there they were. Not as interesting as the "zimmer frame bra" or the "china plate dress" though.

Shushana and Guy left today for the ferry so "here I go again on my own..." The weather is pretty miserable still but I wandered around the town a lot and went to a few galleries and shops. Then I climbed a small hill (enough to bring back bad memories now though!) to the 'centre point of New Zealand'. It was pretty grey so the views werent great but I did get to stand on the plaque and now I can say I've been to the centre of New Zealand. Well atleast I thought I could...on the way back I passed a sign that said people now think its actually 55kms away. I think the word here is 'disgruntled'.

Then I visited the jewellers that made the ring for the LOTR films. They have replicas of the main ring and the ones worn by other characters like Aragorn and Gandalf so that was pretty cool. I didnt bother buying one though, you never know what might happen.

Afterward I spent a nice half hour in a bead shop which is filled floor to ceiling with beads of all shapes and sizes, designs, colours and materials. So I made my own original 'Shona' and that was quite pleasant.

Wellington tomorrow via the ferry. As long as it hasnt been rained off....


Wellington

2009-06-12 to 2009-06-15

So the ferry wasnt rained off. And we even passed some dolphins on the way across from the South to North islands. Blimmin' cold up on deck though. I hid inside and read a book.

Wellington is a lovely city, it has a bit of everything and is the first place in New Zealand that I could have imagined spending a decent amount of time in. Its not so small that you'd get bored but not so big that you can't get around anywhere. It has cool little streets with funky cafes and shops and gorgeous views and lots of "cultcha".

I spent my first full day going around the Te Papa museum, 7 floors filled of exhibits covering everything from Mauri to modern art, the earth, animals, water and fashion. The earthquake and volcano section had a makeshift room that simulated a real quake, there were lots of videos and interactive areas including a room that took you back in time with all of the 'props' moving around and jumping out at you. Then there was the ginat squid, the biggest of its kind in the world - it was the eye that freaked me out! I spent hours there and only really grazed the surface. Very impressive and I didnt even get bored!

Next day I met up with Fi, a girl I'd been to camp with in 04'. Having already met up with Lyndsay in Oz it made me realise just how important it is to stay in touch with people. I hadnt seen these girls for nearly 5 years but because we kept in touch we were able to meet up again on the other side of the world. I'm pretty dreadful at it but you never know when the opportunity might present itself and it would be great to think that for all of the people I've met and said goodbye to this year, I may actually see a fair number of them again. Which is nice.

Anyways, we went up to Mount Victoria for the stunning view of the harbour and mountains (and the spot where Fi got engaged the week before, so i felt very honoured! Yay again btw Fi!) then lunch and then we kind of stumbled across the studio where all of the effects for LOTR are done. There was a small selection of models etc from the films including a terrifying Gollum and a couple of horrifying Orks and there were the hobbit feet the actors used and some of the weapons and even the armour hand thing that got chopped off from that bad guy and started the whole thing off in the first place. I can think of a few people who would have loved it!  

Monday was spent having a bit of a wander (and some treats of the coffee and chocolate kind with Fi) round the city. I visited some cathedrals, one really modern and the other ancient and made largely of wood inside and it smelled amazing! I went of a tour of parliament which was interesting, though it does make me appreciate just how much history we have at home. New Zealand is such a young country in terms of when the Europeans first settled and it means that alot of their buildings are much newer etc, telling people my house was probably around 100 years old seemed shocking to some so I'll try to appreciate that side of things more in future. I'm beginning to understand why people would want to visit Scotland and the UK so much. I went up a small cablecar to get amazing views of the city. Some houses who live up particularly steep grounds have their own personal cablecars, with one family investing in one because their dog was getting too old and was having difficulty climbing all the steps...Hmmm. I also went along to another museum that had a video display about Mauri stories, only it was all done in these hologram type things. Very hitech and fancy!

So in conclusion, I liked Wellington, aside from the Scottishness of Dunedin I'm pretty sure its my favourite place in new Zealand so far.

The only problem I seem to be having is that I can't get the idea of India out of my head. Since I decided to come travelling its the one place I knew I had to see and I'm just worried I'm selling NZ short a little as I just can't wait to get into India. I'm so excited to be back in that "travelling" mode, having to deal with a completely different culture and challenging myself everyday. Not to wish away my time in New Zealand but I cannot wait to get there!!


It had to be done!

2009-06-16

So, got into Taupo around 4pm on Tuesday. At around 4.20pm I was on my way to an airfield. You see, I'd been advised that due to the ever changing and unreliable weather if I wanted to go ahead with the activity I'd been considering then I was best just to do it whenever possible and everyone was expecting terrible weather overnight.

And so I found myself in a red jumpsuit, sitting in a teeny tiny plane, wrapped in a harness, being edged closer and closer towards the OPEN door! I'd been ok, the short notice hadnt really allowed for me to think too much about what I was about to do and therefore I wasnt really that nervous. Then as we had approached the plane my instructor/guide person had startled and ran back to the hangar as he'd forgotten something!!! I still don't know what it was but at the time it didnt exactly fill me with confidence!

We climbed to however many thousand feet and the camera man opened the door, thats probably the point that I got scared. He closed it again which I was thankful for until i realised this was so we could fly up higher. When the red blinking light turned to green again and he moved to open the door a second time I really began to consider my options; given I was sat at the front and attached to someone they were pretty limited. We edged towards the open door and I had to hang my legs over the side. Then  we rocked back and forwards afew times and suddenly we were FALLING OUT OF THE PLANE!!! I remember having a split second thought as we first fell that this was ridiculously stupid and I was falling out of a plane and this was insane and seriously wondered after my own mental well being. I don't really remember the first few thousand feet, apparently thats normal and given we were going at around 200km/per hour its kind of to be expected. My camera guy came towards us and made me shake his hand and stuff which was cool. It was absolutely freezing too! We almost didnt go becasue it was so cloudy, going up in the plane the weather had been ok and the view as the sun was coming down was incredible but the clouds moved in so quickly that they almost decided againt it. This meant that we largely flew through the clouds, which I guess is a pretty unique thing to do! But it did mean that I didnt really see anything as we came down because the clouds covered everything which was a shame. Still, now I've got a reason to do another one in the sunshine, and i'd certainly do it again in the future. Now I can say that I've jumped out of a plane, willingly, from 15000 ft, I've travelling through the air at 200kms/per hr and I've fallen around 10000 ft in 60 seconds. I cant believe that I wasnt really that scared, all things considered (I think the clouds covering the ground kind of helped that) but it was awesome fun, next time Mum - fancy joining me?!

 

Woke up to gloriously blue skies this morning though, looks like New Zealands weather is as unpredictable as Scotlands! Bah!


Taupo

2009-06-17 to 2009-06-18

Another glorious blue sky on Wednesday, I'm trying not to be bitter though its still a little disappointing. Still, being able to say that I've fallen through the clouds is pretty awesome!

Went for a walk to the Huka Falls, passing some natural hot pools. Basically a river stream type place where you can relax and chill out in naturally heated water. Relax that is until some little sh*ts come by and steal your purse while youre sat there as happened to 2 of the people I passed. Bit detrimental to the whole relaxing aspect I would have thought.

The walk was beautiful and the waterfalls were lovely. I walked another 40 mins or so to the "craters of the moon" which were very dramatic sounding and pretty cool to see. Lots of steam rising up from craters and holes in the ground. The viewpoint that looked out over Taupo and beyond was the best bit though. The worst bit was probably having to walk past the mud craters, which because of the sulphur underground, let off a pretty nasty smell - bit like walking through lots of eggy steam - nice!

Got a lift back from an American family which was sweet and watched some crappy tv for a while. Bumped into Shushana (Abel Tasman) which was both random and a nice surprise and spent the next day with her and 2 American girls. We went up to the Thermal Park which has a 'geyser' which errupts every morning at exactly 10.15am. We were all rather impressed by this until we realised it was because the park rangers add some soap powder to it a few minutes before hand. So the natural wonder was spoilt somewhat by the bloke walking up and announcing that he was "now going to add the biodegradable detergent" before the pretty spectacular 10ft erruption. Then we saw some huge bubbling and boiling mud pools, more dodgy smells but they looked good. Followed by a walk round loads of coloured pools, bubbling mud and water, steam and smoke rising out of everywhere and just general natural wonders like that.

Back to Taupo via some power plants (Shushana and Michelle study environmental engineering so found this a bit more exciting than I did) for a trip to the museum and art gallery and a walk along the gorgeous (if freezing) lake Taupo.

Rotorua tomorrow for the spas and Mauri "experience". Apparently the whole town smells of egg, all the time, I'll let you know!

 

 


If I seem a little sheepish...

2009-06-19 to 2009-06-20

Up early for a skyping session avec Nicky and James - hey guys! Why have I not done more of this?! Keeping in touch with people who are away/when youre away is a funny business and every time I finally speak to people I wish I'd done it more. Anyways, it was lovely to speak (and see) to you both. Even if I get more homesick when I do!

So, onwards and upwards to Rotorua. And it does indeed smell of rotten eggs, though I'm happy to report nowhere near as bad as I'd been led to believe. it was overpowering at certain unexpected times, as a rush of eggy steam passed over you (eurgh) but aside from that it wasnt too bad.

I found a hostel and spent a pretty boring amount of time trying to sort out flights and insurance and travel vaccinations and tiresome things like that. Afterward I wandered over to the museum and art gallery which were fine, though I think I may have reached my saturation point for these for a few weeks atleast.

I walked over to a functioning Mauri village on the outskirts of town. it had a pretty average looking church in the centre but when you went inside it was filled top to bottom with Mauri carvings, it was beautiful and quite different to the many others Ive seen which was nice. they had this picture of Jesus draped in traditional Mauri clothing on a plain clear window with the scenery from behind along the bay showing through. That was pretty cool.

I'd forked out to go to a traditional mauri evening seeing as most of my knonwledge and experience of the culture had come from exhibits in museums and not people directly. Id been told most of it was inside so was quite upset to find us walking around in the dark whilst wearing my flipflops - freeeeezing!! But the evening was really interesting, welearned about the culture first hand and there was a performance of songs, dances, poi, weaponry and ofcourse the haka (each tribe has their own unique one). It was really interesting and quite funny at times too. Afterward we had a 'hangi' which is a traditional meal, the food is burried on top of hot rocks in the ground and the steam is trapped inside so as to cook the food. And - Oh..My..Goodness...it tasted SO good!! bearing in mind Ive been back to living on peanut butter sandwiches and pasta with sauce, having meat again was a very welcome change. it was a bit of an odd assortment which included lamb (with mint sauce - not sure how traditional that was) chicken, stuffing, sweet potatoes, lots of salads and rice and even raw cauliflower which went down surprisingly well. I ate far too much, which I felt was expected and I was only happy to comply.

Went back to the hostel, full and content. Got chatting to some nice blokes in the hostel - yay company again!

I'm not sure if I'm going to do this next part of my time in Rotorua justice, but I'll give it a go. Just bear in mind that you kind of had to be there, and it will likely sound lame but was infact a real highlight of New Zealand, if not the year!!

It was a show about sheep.

I should explain...I'd got chatting to a guy called Daniel (hey Dan!) about how I wanted to go and see this show at a place called the Agrodome on the outskirts of town. The brochure didnt really sell the act so well and we weren't quite sure if the pictures of the sheep were models or actually real life farmyard animals. I decided to give it a bach anyway and Dan agreed (somewhat reluctantly) to some along. The bus pulled up alongside a giant sheep sculpture and I thought "hey, thats worth 20 bucks in itself surely". We went in and took our seats and suddenly, it started. There was no flashing lights or jazzy music but there was 19 different breeds of sheep, with a representative from each running onto the stage to take their place on a makeshift podium. One of them even jumped over a fence to get up there, prizewinning racehorse style. Well, I say that, I didnt actually see the jumping but the audiences 'Oohs' and 'Ahhs' were enough to convince me that it looked impressive. To be fair the bloke presenting the whole thing really made the show, he was hilarious, even when he took the mick out of my over enthusiastic solitary cheer when he asked who was from Scotland, and when he gave me into trouble ((-:) for not participating loudly enough when we had to demonstrate how we would scare away any sheep that may "charge" us at the end of the show. 

I learned alot about sheep that I didnt know, like why they dont get cold when theyve been sheared and are out in the snow. There was a sheep shearing demonstration (the world record is 45 seconds to do one - crazy!) and at one point the sheep dogs ruched on stage and jumped along the back of all the sheep. if that wasnt enough they sat for ages on the back of one of the sheep, just sitting there, happy as Larry, and the sheep didnt seem to mind either.

There was lots of audience participation ofcourse, some people got to milk a gigantic cow, others took part in a fake auction, and I GOT TO FEED THE BABY LAMBS!!! Having spoken to Calum, he assures me that this isnt quite as exciting as I thought, but I disagree - it was awesome!! Yay for sheep!

At the end you could go into the pen with lots of lambs, all of which seemed to develop a keen interest in my ties for my hoody and my bag, which now stink by the way! And there were even little tiny puppies which, combined with the sheep dogs from earlier made me miss Poppy even more (sob!)

I had a great time and would go again in a second, though Im not sure it would stop me going back for seconds at another hangi...

Spent the evening at the natural thermal spa. Basically its like a very hot swimming pool but with water full of minerals and straight from the ground. Oh, and its outside, it was lovely to be able to watch the sun going down over the bay but bearing in mind its still full blown Winter here, getting into and out of the water wasnt quite as fun.

We were going to watch 'Black Sheep' that evening but the zombie sheep movie is obviously a big hit over here as all the coies were out. Still, theres only so much sheep I can handle in one day and I fear the zombie nature of said film has the potential to scar my view of the ickle little lambs and my warm fuzzy memories of the day.

 


Decisions Decisions

2009-06-20

Where to start with this one?!

My plan for New Zealand had been very different to the eventual outcome. I've always said its best not to have a plan when travelling! But being here in Winter instead of Summer has certainly had an effect on my expierience of the place. I wouldn't change what i did in Australia for a second and there is something special about seeing NZ at this time of year. The scenery is spectacular and the snowy peaks just add to make it truly beautiful. However, the down side is that there are a lot fewer people around. Normally you have posters all over hostel walls asking people to share lifts and rent cars and what not to get around the place, but in my time here I haven't seen any. I've been in dorm rooms alone and even had a whole hostel to myself at one point which isnt really conducive to the whole meeting people thing.

Having said that, what is quite odd, is that i've found myself speaking briefly to a much larger amount of people than I did in Australia and Asia. Perhaps because all of us have so few other people to talk to! But mainly because i don't think twice about striking up a conversation with a complete stranger anymore. I like to think I was fairly outgoing before but somehow its much easier now, strangers are friends you havent met yet and all that cheese. But one thing i've learned is that while there are so many people from all walks of life that you can become great friends with, you also dont have to be great friends with everybody. Its ok to have 5 minute conversations with people, or a great chat over a pint and then never see them again as well as it being ok not to get on with everybody. This knowledge may, on a subconcious level be one of the reasons I will actively seek out people to have random conversations with now, but i do wonder what will happen when I get home and am sitting on the bus in Glasgow and turn to the person sat next to me to discuss what parts of Scotland they would like to travel to, and how long they've been travelling on this bus and what other places in the West of Scotland they would recommend visiting at this time of year. Hopefully I'll find that people are full of surprises.

Right, where was I going with this? Oh yeah - New Zealand being a bit different to how i'd imagined -

I've ended up cutting out places that I had planned on going to and as a result have been left with a whole load of extra days to play around with. One of the things counting against this beautiful beautiful country is that since I've been away, infact since I decided to come away atall, i've been set on India. its the one place I knew instantly that I wanted to go to, even though i don't really know why. Having it so close and having been in a recognisable culture for so long again now - Asia often feels like years ago - I've been constantly thinking about India instead of what i should be doing next over here.

And so, I figured: youre travelling alone, youre in control, there are no rules, sod it.

I am now going to India the day after tomorrow. And I. Cannot. Wait!


Auckland

2009-06-21 to 2009-06-23

I've got a bit behind with this and am now writing not only from a different country, but also a different time zone and continent! So you'll forgive me if the details are somewhat hazy.

Got an early bus to Auckland (this was last week and already feels like years ago). I walked the length of Queen Street (a very long and steep street as it turns out) then walked over hills and what felt like mountains to a lovely wee hostel as recommended by Daniel (of agrodome and sheep fame). He had promised it would take 10 minutes, after 30 minutes of lugging my backpack up a hill I reflected that he must have meant 10 minutes by bus. Ah well. The hostel, Im sure was lovely, but given it was fully booked (unheard of in my previous month in the country) i never got the chance to find out. (Though Dan - I did say hello to your friends for you so I didnt completely fail my mission).

So I caught the bus back to where I'd been on Queen Street, tried a few hostels, cursed myself yet again for not booking anything in advance, wandered through a park, sweating and cursing and attracting curious stares from the people sitting in the trees (yes you heard me right, they were giving me funny looks) and suddenly i stumbled across a rather pleasant and not too pricey hostel - result. I swore I would never be so silly as to go to a new place without accomodation atleast thought of if not booked, and smiled when i thought that I wouldnt have to for ateast some time as i wouldnt be daft enough to turn up in India with the same problem...

I didnt do a huge amount in Auckland though I tried to fit in alot to the couple of days I had there. When I wasnt searching for somewhere clean to repierce my nose (yes again and it hurt even more this time) and begging a nurse to give me my much needed last minute travel vaccinations (she did, but it cost me) and frantically trying to find an insurer that would cover me for an extended stay in India (if you cant be frantic and bored at the same time?) I was urging Auckland to reveal a final few morsels of New Zealand life to me before i set off for pastures new.

The first day, after my hostel searching adventures. I set off to look for 'the biggest wooden church in the southern hemisphere'. There was that promise again, everything in Australia and New Zealand claimed it was the biggest in that particular geographic location - see aforementioned Busselton Jetty, and...well...and...theres been lots I just forget right now.

ANYWAY...I walked for a long time and finally stumbled across a wooden white church with a tour bus outside it, so I took a photo and was pleased if a little surprised that it wasnt that big afterall. I wandered off down the street to find another church, bigger this time, also made of wood. Spotting my mistake I took a new photograph and continued on my way. This happened a further 3 times walking up the road. Each church slightly bigger than the last. When suddenly I turned a corner and found the church up ahead. You can understand why I was a little peeved when it turned out it was closed for renovations to the central heating. Still, the mahoosive cathedral next door may not have been made of wood, but the stunning floor to ceiling stain glass windows more than made up for it. It was gorgeous inside and made my impromptu and unintended tour of Aucklands increasingly large wooden churches all the more worthwhile.

I decided just to walk back to the hostel and given I had no real idea where I was this took some time. I ended up in the university district which was nice and was pleased that I got to see so much of the city on foot given I was there for such a short time. I also managed to fit in the art gallery, easily done as the big bit was closed for renovations so it only really took 10 minutes. I gave the museums a miss as I was a bit worn out from all the other ones over the past month. Te Papa in Welington exhausted my museum quota for a while I think.

Im sure I must have done a bit more in Auckland, it was a nice enough city but I just didnt seem to find a massive amount I wanted to do there. It may be that I didnt really give it a chance or my full attention given I had boring logistical stuff like jags, insurance and metal piercing torture to content with.

In many ways Australia and New Zealand makes up a completely different category of my trip. Though I will no longer class them in the same way together. I'd always lumped them as two but they couldnt be more different, not just in climate, scenery, size, atmosphere, sights, people, politics and attractions, but also in terms of my experience of them. In Australia I lived like I belonged to the place - in places like Dunsborough I mean. Whereas in New Zealand I met so few people and spent so much time alone in my own head that it was really quite different. Not that I didnt really like the people that i did meet, its just that unfortunately they were few and far between. I still feel bad that I cut New Zealand short, though in other ways I cant believe it was only 4 weeks. It wasnt what Id expected it to be but it was still a fantabulously stunning country and Im honoured to say Scotland looks even a little like it.

And so (da da daahh) I left the southern hemisphere (I have left the southern hemisphere right?!) and the moon facing the other way (did I ever mention that it does that? it wasnt till someone pointed it out 6 months into being there that I noticed - the crescent is indented on the 'wrong' side) and always understanding people and recognising my own culture within people and places, and being able to follow road signs and having to only eat peanut butter sandwiches and cheap pasta and sauce and working and having to think about bank accounts and phonebills and only drinking raspberry cordial and finding things pretty easy really. And I got on a bus, where the driver spent the whole way to the airport telling me about how he loves the pipes and has all the music and plays it loud at hogmanay to annoy people as thats what the music is for apparently. And I walked out of the freezing cold New Zealand night air wrapped in my month long outfit of jeans, rugby shirt and glasgow uni hoody and found a seat on a bench where I could pretend to sleep for the next 10 hours before everthing changed again.

Do i sound a touch over dramatic?!


Airports and Aeroplanes.

2009-06-23

It is only through writing this heading that Ive realised ive no idea how to spell Air-o-plane, but i think i got it right now?

My journey from one hostel to another went something like this...

Spend 10 hours on a couch in the airport, where periodically someone will come and look out of the window while standing right next to your head and conducting a conversation loudly next to your ears. They may not have noticed me so obviously trying to sleep, they may have just not cared. I was also so kindly kept awake by a bloke who stood about a foot from my head and crunched loudly on something for about an hour.

Got a flight

...im doing nothing but moaning at the moment - a day of being constantly taken for a mug in delhi has obviously taken its toll, therefore I will continue this tomorrow when i have something nice to say. If you cant say anything nice dont say anything and all that - sorry!

 

Ok,sorry about yesterday, having a few highs and lows at the moment so I sounded afully sorry for myself. I shal endeavour to do better as I continue...

The schedule went something like this:

Got flight out of Auckland at 8.30am (NZ time). Arrived in Brisbane 12.20pm (NZ time) which was 10.20am (OZ time) Left Brisbane 31/2 hours later after a man at the airport had exclaimed "shit youre game arent you" when I told him where I was headed. This was 3.55pm (NZ time) but 1.55pm (OZ time). Was squished in the middle of the 4 seater middle row so it was all elbows and excuse me's for most of the flight. Think I watched 3 movie backtoback as sleeping was pretty awkward. Arived in Singapore at midnight (NZ time) but 8pm (Sing time) and it was SO weird being back in exactly the same place I'd been almost exactly 8 months before hand. Left Singapoe after 4 hours at 4am (NZ time) but midnight (SIng time) and was pleased to find my fellow passengers from my row had all left and I got all that space to myself this time. Promptly fell asleep pretty much as soon as the plane was airborne even missing the meal  and everything! Touched down in Mumbai at 9.30am (NZ time) and 3am (India time). As you can tell I was more than a little confuddled by this point. 

Now before you freak out parents, in my albeit poor defence, I had tried to book somewhere to stay but in Singapore I had found out that it was fully booked. Id also read thatthe airport had a 24 hour hotel reservation desk so I wasnt to worried. However as he last time I'd had to rely on a airport hotel desk was in the backpacking centre of New Zealand I'd forgotten that hotels of the variety I was after probably werent on offer. All of the ones they had listed were for a small fortune, and not just by Indian standards. I decided my best bet was to wait until morning and catch a taxi into town when it was light. And so I settled down for another few hours in an airport chair. 

When it got light I caught a taxi into town and I couldnt help thinking how great it was to 'be back'. I felt almost exactly like I did when I first arrived in Bangkok, the exitement mixed with a little fear, trying to see everything around me but simply not being able to take it all in. On the way into town I passed women in bright colourful saris, men precariously balancing seeingly impossible loads onto the backs of ricketycarts, people asleep in the street, dogs everywhere, side markets selling flowers, vegetables,baskets and more, and an 'Indias Got Talent' billboard. And the noises, smells and sights just left me thinking I was really 'trvelling' again. Luckily Id watched a 15 minute video on the plane so Id taken its advic and asked to be dropped off at the Taj Hotel which was in the centre of the main tourist area of Colaba. I thoughtId just see how much it cost which was a mistake. I went up to the security gate and put my bags through the xraymachine. Suddenly there were 4 guards all shouting at each other and asking me questions about what I had in my bag. Then they called the manager out and it all got a bit embarrassing. Turns out the knife Id had for cooking in Australia and NZ was still in my rucksack You dont have to check it in when oure flying so I'd forgotten it was even there. I assured them hey could have it if they wanted it and that Id just had it for cookin and not as a dangerous weapon but it was all a bit ridiculous really. They let me in despite my big knife but I soon discovered the prices were way out of my league. So I wandered around a little, beginning to curse myself for not booking something beorehand I was directed to the Salvation Army hostel, which is actually for backpackrs. At 195 INR pernight - just over 2 pounds it was much more appropriate. I got chatting to a girl in the room and then had a much needed nap for a few hours. So after 41 hours and 4 countries and timezones and  flights and not muc sleep I had finally made it to India. Whoop Whoop, ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

After waking up and then being properly woken up by the cold shwers Id forgotte about from Asias hostels I went for a wander with Francisca. We mostly just wandered around the shops and stalls and down the aptly named 'fashion street'. I was just happy to look at everything and take it all in. One thing that will take some getting used to though is th staring. I often wantt o shou 'what are yu looking at' but ten Id have to be repremanding evey man in India it seem so it wouldnt really work. Went out for dinner that evening with some more girls from the hostel and enjoyed my first indian meal - chicken butter msala fry, so much for becoming a vegetarian!

 

This eyboard is proving temperemental and is more like using an old fashioned type writer. I'll try coe back and fix it all later but for nw you'll have to bare with me.

  

 


My Bollwood debut!

2009-06-25

So the day before Id been approached by this guy asking me to be an extra in a Bollywood film. Id assumed it was a bit dodgy but Francisca had assured me that her friends had done it previously and it was legit. So I figured it was worth giving a go and went along to the meeting point at 8am that morning.

I got chatting to a couple who had actually been on my flight from Singapore and who Id watched helplessly from the airport as the ATM worked for them and they got a taxi to the accomodation theyd obviously sensibly pre booked a few days before. Anyways, Tim and Laura were lovely and we chatted away on our way to the studio. The flming was actually a great way to meet people and most of us got on quite well. Turns out one of our fellow backpackers was none other than Boyd from Neighbours! Which was more than a little random but Boyd, sorry Kyle and his gfriend Charlotte were lovely too. Id brought tonnes of books and stuff thinking it would get quite boring but we all just chatted instead which was cool. But I was right about the waiting and there was quite a lot of it.

The theme of the movie was 'supernatural' and we'd all been brought along to be in the 'London nightclub' sene. They didnt give us the promised costumes and makeup etc so that we ended up having to 'dance' in our regular backpacker getup. I think some of us just felt a bit silly and then the crew would just shout 'dance' louder at us and it would get more ridiculous. The term 'dancing monkeys' springs to mind but it was still a lot of fun.

The main 2 characters came in dressed in some 'interesting' oufits. The guy, who so obviously thought he was 'the man' was dressed in cut up jeans, a skeleton chain and a waistcoat type contraption. He was CONSTANTLY fixing his hair or spraying water and baby oil onto his chest to make it, what shiny? And didnt so much as look at us lowly extras. The main girl wasnt much better. What I dont understand is that for a culture who totally frowns upon revelaing clothing to the extent that shorts or a strapped top are inappropriate for me to wear down the street, why it is ok for the girl to be dressed in a bikini top and the shortest, and i know I'll sound like a parent here, but the shortest tacky, faux leather/patent blue 'belt' youve ever seen. I guess its just the style for the films though.

What was also weird was that the rest of the main cast were made up of around 8 Russian girls, all similarly dressed in kneehigh boot/sock type things, PVC shiny skirt/belts and red leather halterneck croptop type outfts. Though atleast I wasnt the one being stared at anymore!

And this was the impression the Indian audience will have of a London nightclub, perhaps pretty accurate afterall?!

Neither of the main characters had been taught the steps for the dancing so each time a shot was filmed they had to learn and then pactice the steps first which took alot of time. The crew included over 100 men, Ive no idea what each of them was there for, it seemed more than excessive and given so many of them sat around for most of the day im not convinced they all knew what they were there for either. Still, it all added together to make a very bizarre experience!

After lunch things went a little downhill and the novelty started to wear off for some. We were supposd to finish at 8pm but this showed no signs of happening.

Earlier a few of us had been asked to do some more individual shots, whihc ended up with some of the couples being asked to kiss on screen. Most of them seemed to find it hilarious but you could tell Kyle had been there before for his nieghbours days as he appeared much more professional! I was asked to have a pretend fight with a pretend boyfriend while the main guy danced around behind us and opinted out the obvious drawbacks to relaitonships, so that was rather random.

When it passed 8pm some of us made moves to leave and were told that we couldnt becasue of the earlier shots and us leaving without doing another scene would mess up their filming becasue the shots would be inconsistent - not something they seemed to be bothered about the rest of the day. We eventually decided not to walk out when we were promised we'd be done no later than 9pm, but a few people got a bit carried away and accused them of running a sca and all this other nonsence. Given we didnt have to pay any money that seemed a little over the top.

But after we'd filmed our 'much needed' final scene, which involved a standard crowd shot and no 'much needed' individual ones we wrapped for the evening and said farewell to the set.

It may have been the cheapest days work of my life - did I mention we got paid 500 INR?! But given that paid for 2 nights accomodation I'm not complaining. It was a fun day, I got paid and fed, I met some nice people, I got to dance in a Bollywood film and we went for a beer afterward - can't say fairer than that.

 

Look out for SWAHA, coming to cinemas not near you in September!


More in Mumbai

2009-06-26 to 2009-06-30

The next morning I met up with Tim and Laura to go round the Prince Of Wales museum. I paid peanuts to get in with my student card which has since expired. It will be sadly missed. I invested in a snazzy headset and was welcomed by the rather over enthusiastic Johnny Patel - their name not mine. He guided us round the museum which included old indian minature paintings, a stuffed animal collection which we couldnt actually find, lots of old very delicate snuff boxes, many old religious sculptures and amongst other things; a landscape painting of Scotland.

The monsoon had well and truly hit Mumbai so we decided to take refuge in the pub until the rain calmed down. It took several beers for this to happen. We wandered over to a food market which was pretty much empty, Tim and Laura invested in some rather fancy full length rain jackets and then we took refuge in another pub again. The rain was really really bad,honest.

Next day we met up again and went along to the modern art gallery. It had some really intereting displays including one full of old indian war helmets, each intricately decorated, with designs ranging from gold and silver jewells to a giant crab type creature and many other variations in between. It reminded me so much of the Wearable Art Museum in New Zealand only this was war helmets from hundreds of years ago, Im telling you, some of the designs were almost the same, though no zimmer frame bra this time. Some of the exhibitions seemed to be very strangely put together though, with the life and times of Ghandi in the same space as all these old Z-list horror movie posters. Both great exhibits, just a little odd seeing them together.

We also spent some of the day tracking down the bright blue synagogue which was almost hidden in some of the side streets of Mumbai. Youre wandering around surrounded by shops and people and food endors and suddenly there is a bright baby blue building looming over you. Twas very cool. Id also managed to find a scottish church, though only in name and not design I reckon but I took a picture all the same. Im in the middle of Mumbai in India and Im standing outside the Scottish church of St Andrew - its a much smaller world than you'd think!

There wasnt as much rain this day so we only sheltered with some beer a little bit.

Id said farewell to Laura and Tim that evening so I spent the Sunday on my lonesome. I was supposed to meet someone else from the Bollywood filming but I got stood up so that didnt happen! I decided to brave the trains for the first time and went to visit the Dhobi Ghat.

Given it was my first time on the trains and this was the part of the Indian experience Id feared the most, I figured Id go for 1st class just to be on the safe side. Although there were womans only carriages which would probably have been fine, the other classes were just teeming with people after a couple of stops. I didnt quite see anyone sitting on the roof but there were people spilling out of the open doors and seemingly hanging on to the sides as the train hurtled along the tracks. The trains literally stop for about 5 seconds at each station so you need to know exactly where you are (difficult as there is no announcement or anything like that) and when to get off or you could end up in Timbuktoo (sp?!) which is more likely a possibility than it would be from Glasgow I think...? Ive met so many nice people in India though that, at first atleast, seem to just want to help. In my carriage I was sat next to a man who asked if I needed help knowing which station to get off at and he even gave me his phonenumber - he didnt ask for mine or anything sus, and said if ever I was lost, stuck or even just got a bit lost and needed directions I could call him and he'd try to help if he could. I doubt I'll actually call him but it was lovely of him to offer.

So off i set to the Dhobi Ghat, which is basically a massive outdoor laundry with 1026 outdoor troughs where people beat the dirt out of tonnes and tonnes of other peoples dirty laundry. It was quite a site. I didnt stay long though as from my place on the bridge I got completely surrounded by about 7 Indian men who stood right round me and just stared. Not feeling entirely comfortable I retreated back to the train.

Next stop was for the Mani Bhavan, a museum covering more of the life story of Ghandi and was actually where he used to live when he stayed in Mumbai. It included the letter he wrote to people like Reagan, and even to Hitler which was jsut facinating. The more I learn about the man, the more I want to hear more, truly remarkable. Afterward I managed to somehow find my way down to Chowpatty Beach. Again i was the only tourist in sight and as such attracted much attention of the starnig variety. the beach itself was quite nice, it was a bit dirty and stuff, not exactly filled with golden sand and you couldnt pay me to go in that water, but it was relatively calm and when you looked down the beach front and used your hand to block out the endless mass of buildings on the other side, you could alomst pretend you were only surrounded by a few million people instead of tens of millions!

i took the advice of the Lonely Planet and went over to a local stall to try some Bhelpuri which is a concoction of puffed rice, fried dough and lentils, chutney, potato, lemon juice and onions. It was pretty tasty and although I was sure it would make me ill I'm happy to report it didnt. In the evening I went out for a couple of drinks with some girls from the hostel - Megan and Ruth (yay a fellow Scot atlast!) we were joined by some guys from the hostel too and there ended up being quite a large group of us which was a bit of a change. Id forgotten what its like trying to please 8 people with the choice of restaurant instead of just going where you feel like. The guys were determined to try Bombay Duck - a fish dish, which makes perfect sense dont you think?! But when we finally found somewhere they served it and had convinced them to atleast turn down the cricket on the TV, their food arrived and was just 2 incredibly dry looking pieces of fried fish. the staff hadnt thought to suggest ordering a sauce or something with it so the guys were more than a little upset. But they managed to resist a trip to MacDonalds instead.

Next day I went along with 3 girls, also from the hostel (see dorms are great for meeting people) to go to the Dharavi Slum. Id been quite apprehensive about going and wasnt sure if it would be appropriate or how I would react etc, but I am glad I went. You get so many warnings about going to places like that and at first I did feel abit on edge but after a while I got over that and jsut walked around. Most people were very welcming and friendly and smiled or waved at us as we passed by. I like to think that I would haev known if people were offended or anything by us being there but aside from people seemingly wondering what we were doing there, most seemed quite happy. Im not sure exactly what I expected but there was such a turn over of business going on that I was quite peasantly surprised. People are obviously living in alot of poverty but everywhere you passed people had set up their own mini factories or shops, there was even 2 cinemas!! Apparently the turnover from the area is actually around $650 million US - crazy! But then 55% of Mumbias population do live in the slums. Though calling them that is actually seen as very offensive - one of the reasons 'Slumdog Millionaire' hasnt had the best reception from the average Indian person living there. They dont see themselves as living in a 'slum' and you can understand why they would see it as a derogative comment.

Im glad I went along though and it was good to see a different side to the country - not just the tourist areas, or the temples, or the places with money, but the areas where the majority of the real Indian population actually live.

Spent that afternoon looking around a few temples, one of which you have get to via this walkway which is inaccesible when theres a high tide. Judging my how wet the crashing waves made us as we scrambled there and back - we only just missed it! We also half found/half stumbled across/half were directed to (I know thats too many halves) this other bright pink temple set back from the road. We thought we'd found it next to the main road and werent that impressed TBH until we walked a little further back to the coast and there it was in all its bright pink disney like wonderfulness staring back at us - twas cool.

And so my final day in Mumbai was spent on a boat trip to Elaphanta Island. The trip opver was fine and the manmade caves and carvings on the island erally quite special - you just wonder how and why and really - how they did it all with no modern technology or anything. The monkeys provided some hilarity, though when one of them ran full force at Megan emitting some sort of viscious growling sound until she surrendered her juice to it you can understand why she didnt see the funny side.

The boat trip back was a whole other kettle of fish. Megan, Ruth and I were sat at the front and the waves were more than a little rocky on the return leg! They crashed over the fonr of the boat, and subsequently us too and we got soaked. There were some points, especially each time we sunk down into the bottom of a sea 'crater' that we wondered which side of the boat we should make for when it capsized. It took a while but thankfully we didnt actually die as we had ex[pected to and we made it back to dry land. Only having to negotiate the 6 boats we had to climb over to get back to the pier. Still, given that we had survived we were then able to see the funny side. I think Ruth has recovered now atleast.


Journey to Delhi

2009-06-30 to 2009-07-01

Given our boat took longer than planned to get back to the mainland I was in a bit of a rush to get my train. I said a soggy farewell to the girls and rushed downstairs to get a taxi.

My driver was an interesting guy, who'd like me to refer to him as 007 - his car was decked out accordingly. He was 21 and had been studying science at university in rajastan but then his father died and he had to come to mumbai to earn money to look after his family. He was saving up to pay for his 2 sisters to get married, he had found one man to marry one sister but was yet to arrange for the younger one. Although he would still have to put alot of money forward for the care of his mother and grandparents, he was looking forward to his sisters mariages so that he coud star to keep some money back for himself. At the moment, as he put it, his car was his car, job, sitting room, bedroom and living area. He was a really interesting and friendly guy and we had a good chat on the way to the station.

After about 20 minutes of sitting at one particular roundabout I asked him how far away the station was. It was not far up the road but would take atleast an hour to get there. I assumed he was joking but then I paid attention to the road. Imagine a disaster movie and the scene where the alien attacks or the terrorist shuts off all the power, the cars all grind to a halt in a haphazard fashion, all pretty much facing in towards a central point in a kind of spiral/labrynth type design. Now add some cows, lots of pedestrians winding their way through, some pushing carts overloaded with such items as long metal poles precariously balanced over the sides, and you get some idea of the picture in front of me. There was one policeman stuck in the middle trying to sort out the mess and directing every lane (and i say 'lane' in the loosest possible sense) but ours ahead. I realisd at this point that leaving only an hour for a normally 15 minute journey was a mistake. With 10 minutes to go before my train left and not a lot of time to get there, find the platform and board the carriage I was getting a litte concerned. But my taxi driver saved me and after frantically shouting at the policeman after my increasingly desperate pleas, he managed to wheedle his way through the 'just and no more' spaces to the other side of the impromptu roundabout. He assured me as I pulled up at the station with about 6 minutes to go that it was only becasue he had the 007, Bond cab!

I'd inadvertantly managed to book myself on a more fancy train than the norm and as such had AC and my own bed and didnt have to fight 10 people to get my seat. Id grabbed a bottle of juice and some pringles before hand as I flew down the platform looking for my carriage as Id had nothing all day and wolfed half of them down in one go, not realising they served on this fancy train. Whoops. They served me 3 meals in 4 hours, I dont know how many indian people are so thin, I was stuffed (sorry dad) by the end of it and just hoped there wouldnt be any such horrors as desert.

I had the top bunk of the 3 teired set and as if I wasnt attracting enough stares at it was, clambered very un-gracefully up to the top for the night.

In the morning, after more food, we arrived about 8.30am into New Delhi. I found my way to Paharganj which is the main backpacker area in the city. It was so different to Mumbai and it was certainly more overwhelming at first glance. The monsoon had hit the night before so the road had been turned into a muddy dirt track. It was early but there were still plenty of market sellers out to shout at me on my way along the path After about half an hour of walking through the mud past stalls, people sleeping and having to periodically jump out of the way to avoid being run over by screaming motor scooters I decided to try some of the side streets for some accomodation. There were loads of hotels but alot of them were out of my budget, afew people led me down other streets to hotels that were more expensive than they promised and it all got a bit much. Made a mental note not to arrive in a new city without prebooked accomodation ever again...Now where had I heard that before?!

At one point I was walking past another stall and a cow just popped round the corner up ahead and continued to wander happily down the street. It was at this point that I sadly realised the mud that I now had splattered all the way up to my knees and over my bags wasnt neccesarily just innocent mud...

I eventually found a hotel and collapsed, had a shower and took to the streets again.


Delhi - Part 1

2009-07-01

I decided to get a tuktuk to take me around the major tourist sights. My driver asked me to call him Mr Singh. He was lovely although he had a habit of repeating all the same advice/stories. He explained about the new generation of indians and how their behaviour and beliefs and relationships and so on differed to the old generation. Most of what he told me involved how whenever he had the sex with the beautiful wife he always wore the condom as he had 3 children and that was quite enough. He must have told me this about 14 times throughout the 3 hours and he often laughed at all these foolish people who didnt use the condom or who had more than 3 children. It was interesting learning about the new versus the old generation though I assume that talking so much about 'the sex' is restricted more to the newer side of things.

Aside from my lessons in sex ed he took me to some beasutiful buildings. First up we went to a Hindu temple and then a Sikh one. It was one of the biggest in India and was gorgeous inside. I spent a while just sitting there with him listening to the holy man reading from their holy book. Afterward he showed me round the big kitchen they have there. In any Sikh temple anybody from any country, religion, class or background can come and have some food for free. And members of the 'congregation' all shared their time to volunteer to make and serve it all. It was quite the operation and they even had a state of the art chapati making machine. It took lumps of dough, squished them into the correct shape and then fired them up and all of this happened on the same rotating production line. It was SO cool.

We also went to one of the nicest areas of New Delhi where the resident lives. There was his palatial residence at one end and India Gate at the other. So that when you looked through India Gate at one end you could see the long open road and the residence at the other. It was flanked on either side by neat green parks and was really quite calm and peaceful. It was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of the main city and just admire the view and chill for a bit. It actually reminded me of similar parades in paces like Wahington DC or London and I could clearly picture all the marches that take place there.

Next up was a visit to the excellent Ghandi Smriti museum, which is where Ghandi lived and was assasinated. The grounds were pretty and there was a lovely atmosphere inside. All of the guides were young people and there was someone to explain everything at each exhibit and answer any questions. It was obviously very proud of its interactive exhibits and seemed to have a computer show or touch screen feature for everything. There was the touchscreen newspaper articles and the fancy computer archive where you moved a computer screen in line with each year on the wall and it told you what happened when. The best bits though were those where you placed your hands on a wall or picture and held hands with someone else and a fairy-lit tree would light up or another installation would come to life in order to demonstrate how we are all equal and everybody is the same etc. Twas lovely.

Mr Singh then took me to a roadside stall where he bought me the nicest chai I have ever tasted. Ive always said that I thought liking tea, coffee and coleslaw meant you were a grown up and so far Im still a kid as I think theyre all 'orrible. Im pretty sure chai doesnt count though, right?   The reason for the tea became clear when a familiar expedition followed and I found myself being taken to Indias equivalent of all the tailors you are pushed into visiting in Thailand. (See previous entries!) Having promised myself I wouldnt end up in the same situation again, nevertheless there I was pretending to be interested in a shops goods for 15 minutes so that my driver could earn some commission. To be fair it was handicrafts aswell as clothes so had one up on the tailors in Bangkok that just plonk you infront of an old Next catalogue and ask you which outfit you want made.

Next up we went to visit the Jama Masjid - the biggest mosque in India. But they wouldnt let me in! The mosque is located in Old India though and the area couldnt be more different to the newer parts of town. It was much dirtier and dustier, the buildings were largely more decrepit and the people were dressed in more traditional clothing, spoke far less english and it just generally felt like you'd stepped out of one time and into another. 

I retuned to Paharganj and my hotel where I spent the evening reading the exellent but pretty harrowing 'we need to talk about Kevin'. Being back in my own room was certainly making it harder to meet people and there arent any dorm rooms around. Hence spending hours that evening reading depressing books!

 


Delhi - Part 2

2009-07-02 to 2009-07-03

I wasnt loving Delhi so much on Thursday. While ive had some form of hassle everywhere Ive been here so far, in Delhi its just taken to a whole other level. People are nice and I was happy to chat to all the people who came up to me on the street but it seemed that there was always an ulterior motive. Whilst in Mumbai a number of people had chatted to me and said it was just so they could practice their english, and had offered help with directions and trip advice etc, in Delhi it seemed it was always so they could get something out of me. So instead of directing me to the post office Id asked about, they would take me to a private courier company, I was contantly being led to independant tour operators instead of the information place when all I wanted was a map. When one tuktuk driver took me on a 2 minute journey and said I didnt have to pay I was pleasantly surprised, he helped me with the forms I was confused over but then wouldnt leave me alone and stormed off when I handed over the fare and refused to go with him to yet another tour agent. It was becoming really tiring.

I still loved the places I visited, it was just that it was never easy or straightforward to get to them. I went back to Jama Masjid and thankfully they let me in this time, the courtyard was  huge - it can fit 25000 people in at prayer time and the insides were lovely. They were nice and cool and you had to step over the many people who had decided to take a nap there. I went up the tower and the views of the city were spectacular. Definately a highlight of the day. The city just sprawled out infront of me with all of the boxy buildings and rising towers, some of them brightly coloured in purples, blues and greens,  the neon and half disintegrating billboards and the grand red fort in the background.

Next up I went over to the red fort which contains a mixture of previously grand buildings made of sandstone or marble. It was a vast area contained within 2kms of walls ranging from 18m tp 33m high. (Can you tell I have my LP in front of me?!) There were also lots of nice green grassy areas to sit. The buildings were great despite the wear and tear but it was shame that all of the gand thrones, precious stones and brightly painted ceilings and walls are long gone.

I got comandeered by a rickshaw driver who promised to take to me a special Jain temple located right in the heart of Old Delhi and then back to my hotel. We wound our way round the narrow streets and alley ways which were filled with amazing colours and smells, especially the section with all if the Sikh wedding materials, they certainly don't do things by halves over here. The temple was tiny and hidden down a tiny side alley but was absolutely gorgeous inside. Every part of it was completely covered in intricate paintings, many of them had begun to fade but there was a man who was painstakingly restoring all of them. You could really tell the difference for the work he had already done, obviously a talented guy.

I wandered into a jewellry store next to the shop (not realising my driver was making more commission for me going in there!) and watched them sorting out hundreds of teeny tiny gemstones for their handmade rings and necklaces.

My driver seemed to think dropping me off at the nearest metro station was the same as taking me back to my hostel. I politely informed him that it wasnt and manaed to find someone else who would take me though he got my hotel confused with the train station and refused to take me any further. As Id already paid him (the first driver gave him the half of the money id originally given him to take me there) I got left at the side of the road to find my own way there. Bah!

Bit of shopping to cheer me up and I retired to my hotel room once more.

The next morning I was typing away on the internet when the dulcit Scottish tones of a now familiar voice carried over and in walked Ruth and Megan from Mumbai. Yay!

I spent the day with them and aside from sitting chilling in a few, surprisingly starbucks-esque coffee shops we went over to a park that was filled with ancient sundials. Ive no idea how the ancient sculptures were used to tell the time, movements of planets or the altitude of the sun but they sure looked pretty. We sat and had a rather pleasant girly chat before we were interrupted by some more younger indian boys who wanted to ask us some questions. I didnt really mind as they just wanted to practice their english with us and we were happy to point out some issues that had got confused in translation, e.g. that a single guy may be called a bachelor but a single girl is not generally referred to as a 'spinster'.


Intrepid Strike 2, Delhi and Jaisalmer

2009-07-03 to 2009-07-06

How weird is it that the last 2 entries had exactly the same amount of words?! No? Just me then?!


I left the girls in another coffeeshop and made my way over to 'Hotel Perfect' (tad optimistic) to meet up with my new intrepid tour group. I felt so strange going to meet people in the same way I did all those months ago, right at the start of my trip in Thailand. When I left home I was sure that I would need a tour to help me get round India and was advised by almost everybody not to 'go it alone', but now that Ive spent time in the country and have 10+ months of travelling behind me I felt a little trapped walking into a ready-made group with a plan and a schedule and list of suggested activities. Plus the Megan and Ruth kept asking e just to go with them as theyre doing a pretty similar route over the same time and that was rather tempting. I was sitting there as we all introduced ourselves and I was telling myself over and over not to compare this to the thailand tour, that people are different and it wasnt supposed to be the same and so on. I wo't deny that I was freaking out somewhat. But I'm very pleased to say that I am back in the swing of it now and have stopped saying 'when i was on my thailand intrepid tour'. (Leah - now I understand how weird it was coming straight from Vietnam!) The group is getting on really well and we have a real good mix of different people. We've even established a new quotes page, though granted most of them have come from our trip leader Jeet, with such gems as 'cool people do cool stuff' and there hasnt yet been anything to rival 'me small money'. Fellow thailand intrepiders - I've used this phrase atleast 3 times since I got here and smile every time! So, yeah, being back on a tour again is different but different in a good way.

The next morning we met early and went along to Old Delhi, I'd already visited some of the sights we went to but it was good to learn some more history of the area and we also visited a large Sikh temple which was rather impressive. We finally found somewhere to have lunch back on Connaught Place; a kind of fast food MacDonalds style restaurant that sold curry instead of burgers. Nice. Didnt have a huge amount of time as we had to go get our overnight train toJaisalmer.

It was great to wake up in the morning and look out of the window to a completely different India. We were in the middle of the desert but there was still a fair amount of green around and so much space. The popn of Delhi is something crazy like 20,000 people per square ft and out in the desert it was 3, so a bit of a difference! It was still a bit manic at the station but once we got out of there and made our way over to the fort it quietened down a lot. We were staying right inside the old fort complex in a nice hotel that had a labrador with all her lab puppies outside the front door - soooo cute!

I really liked Jaisalmer, it seemed so chilled out, especially in comparison to other areas Id seen so far. Its also out of season though so people arent as in your face as they might be at other times of the year. We spent the first afternoon just wandering around inside the fort, there were cows walking around everywhere. I turned round at one point as someone barged into me nearly knocking me over, only to find it was a giant white cow wandering down the road, as they do! We visited a gorgeously carved 'haveli' (building with a courtyard) then had a gooood dinner on the rooftop of the hotel with fantastic views over the whole city. You looked out over more boxy buildings, temples and mosques, dusty open spaces and lots of cows and dogs.

The next day some of us girls decided to designate as a 'day of fun'. We left the hotel, walked less than 5 metres to the shop next door, and stayed there for 3 hours. It was full of amazing fabrics, clothes, scarves, bags, tapestries and wall hangings. The colours and workmanship were fantastic and we literally sat looking and going through them all for hours. At several points we had to dig group members out from underneath piles of bright red, green, blue, gold, yellow, pink and purple scarves. Each time we began to think about leaving one of us would spot something else and it would all start over again. The shop was ran by a lovely bloke who some of you may have met on trips to Glastonbury?! He wasnt pushy but offered us good prices for the items and told us the stories behind some of them. It was a thouroughly enjoyable and interesting morning and we were well on our way to achieving the days objective!

Next up we walked another 1 1/2 metres across the street to a little shop that did massage and henna etc. We all ended up getting our eyebrows threaded - use a simple piece of string instead of tweezers or wax. Apparently its common in fancy London beauty places but I'd never come across it before, still a bit of shared pampering is always nice, and it was likely considerably cheaper at a bargain price of 70p.

We decided it was time for lunch and walked...back 3 metres to the hotel. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around other areas of the fort and looking at various shops. I think in total we walked around 20 metres over 6 hours but it was certainly fun!

Ive just checked with Polly as my memory for the next day was somewhat blurry. Turns out that was the day I spent mostly sleeping, a combination of a late night and afew too many 'magic moments' (Indian vodka), fun indian stomach 'issues' and the main fact that it was 47 degrees outside!! The hottest place I have ever been in my life, it was far too hot to do anything, the contrast between that day and 2 weeks previously in New Zealand where I was wearing 2 pairs of thick socks, a tshirt, rugby jumper, hoody, jacket, leggings and jeans and wouldnt open my mouth as my teeth got too cold, well, it was quite different. Its changed again from finding shos for the sake of the heating to desperately seeing out a supermarket for the air conditioning.

Things picked up in the evening though as we set out on our overnight camel trek. My camel was called Cara and he was a boy camel. It was quite comfy though a few people had issues with motion sickness! We trekked for about 2 hours until we reached the camp. There wasnt much to it, just some camp beds and a cooking area but given I'd been expecting nothing but blankets and sand I was pleasantly surprised. The guides had made us a great meal, and I finally got some of the pakora I'd spent the last few weeks looking for. MMmmm.

We spent the evening just chilling and chatting mostly which was awesome and the full moon looked amazing. In the morning we awoke (forced half by the rising sun and half by the camel guides keen to get back on the road) in what i'm sure would be classed as 'still the middle of the night' and set off for another hour or so, on the camels of course, back to the fort in the centre of Jaisalmer. The car that had been carrying those not so keen on camels, got stuck in the sand atleast 5 times on the way back across the desert - theres a moral in there somewhere...

 **the horns, i forgot to mention the horns...the buses have a different 'horn tune' for every possible issue, theres one for turning a corner, one to get out of the way, one to get cows out of the way, one for stopping, one for picking people up, on and on it continues. and every one is more annoying than the last. It was bad enough being woken by them each morning at around 5am but the bus journey out of Jaisalmer was excrutiating, they actually sent us into insane hysteria at one point. how could I forget the horns...**


Jodphur

2009-07-08 to 2009-07-10

We got a long and very hot bus ride to Jodphur and arrived early afternoon. And the difference was quite something. We'd gone from the relative quite of Jaisalmer to what many describe as the 'real India'. It was loud, intense and dirty. There were so many children and adults around begging and asking for help that at times it was really quite upsetting. It certainly took some adjusting after the last place we'd stayed where the loudest inconveniance was the blaring bus horns, but this was really something else.

We went for an orientation round the town and then many of us got back to the relative sanctuary of the hotel. Once I'd got used to the crazieness of the place I found it much easier to deal with and didnt feel as out of my depth as I did when I first arrived. In some ways I'm glad I found it so challenging at first as the whole point of coming away, especially to a country like India was to experience new places and be pushed out of my comfort zone. India is supposed to feel different, because it is, in so many ways and in Jodphur that was incredibly clear.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the hectic main centre was the main fort, an impressive ancient building containing many interesting and often beautiful artifacts. Some of the rooms and the carvings and the detail was fantastic. We spent a good few hours walking round, listening to the somewhat eccentric headphones man explain a little about each thing we saw.

Afterward a small group of us went over to a grand palace, its been converted into a ridiculously fancy hotel but some of it was still open for viewing to us mere mortals and it was well worth the look. Even the displayed drinks list was beyond comprehension. For a while afterwards we sat on the wall outside and took turns to pour bottles of water down each others necks to the great bemusement of the locals. I reckon they were just jealous, it was so so hot.

We didnt do a huge amount for the rest of the day, it was just too hot. I remember ATMs, finding refuge in a great local restaurant with the all important AC and eating ice-cream.


Udaipur

2009-07-10 to 2009-07-13

Next up was Udapuir, a random sometimes contradictory place where we had a lot of fun. Its the place where some of the Bond film Octopussy was filmed and there are still many restaurants and hotels clinging onto that fact as a 'unique selling point' with each of them showing the film over dinner in the evenings.  

There is a majestic lake on which a fancy palatial hotel sits in the centre. Im told its majestic but given the monsoon is many weeks late this year the lake was more of a muddy field with water buffallos and young children competing for the small amounts of murky water in which to wade/splash. The pictures looked fancy though! The hotel itself had no surrounding water atall so the boats moored alongside were somewhat pointless, it probably spoils the effect somewhat when all the fancy guests turn up for the fancy hotel, only to have to climb into a jeep that will take them upon their merry bumpy way across the uneven, muddy and sometimes abit damp, riverbed.

There was lots to do in Udapuir and the tour stopped here for 3 nights so it was nice to be able to 'settle' in a bit more. I can't remember the order we did all the activites in but they did include some of the following: visited a large fort and former palace and had our guide Lucky show us round at length, went shopping with Jo and tried out some crazy new tastes in a spice shop including dry mango powder which was like letting a powerful bitter bomb go off on your tongue, still cant decide if i liked it or not! Went to a cultural show where we saw beautiful dancing, singing, puppetry and a woman balance 1 then 3 then 5 then about 9 large pots on her head which was ridiculously impressive, especially when she walked on glass and then stood balanced on another bowl and rocked back and forth a bit - amazing! Got stuck in more monsoon weather, witnessed a bit of a big ruckuss with the locals when some of them started trouble with some girls on our tour and it all got a bit out of hand, got rather drunk playing 'spoons' and then discovered the wonders of balancing spoons on our faces and took a stupid amount of photos of said activity, had another haircut - properly this time, for the first time in over a year (thanks Jo). I also went to a painting class and was pleasantly surprised to find that my minature elephant did actually resemble what it was supposed to, I was very pleased, even if it did take two hours!

So on reflection I rather like Udapuir, the group had a lot of fun there and there were lots of activites to do. We had a few run ins with the locals which escalated and showed me a side of India I really didnt like, though Ive still no idea how a crowd that big could gather quite so fast. the only down side really is that in the days that followed the rains finally started properly and now that big muddy field will be filled with water and I imagine will look all the better for it. Still, its always good to have a reason to return.

 


Pushkar

2009-07-13 to 2009-07-14

The hotel in Pushkar was perhaps the best thing about the place. it had a great little circular rooftop area where we ate great food and watched some films and just generally felt ridiculously relaxed. At one point I felt like I could have quite happily sat up there for days, though the rain put an end to that more than once. The only thing missing was a cold beer but given alcohol, eggs, meat and kissing is banned in Pushkar we didnt have much choice. Honestly, I dont know what they do for fun there!

We went on an orientation walk of the area but I got a bit of grit in my eye 10 minutes in so couldnt really see properly. Alas, that was all I would see of the town and shopping area as the next day Jo, Jeet and I went on a tour of all the cities hospitals instead.

Jo had been having major problems with bites on her leg and given some quarters had recently suggested her leg might fall off...we decided to go get it sorted out. In some ways it was quite a successful day out, we saw a lot of the city en route to the 5 or 6 hospitals and health centres - we had to go to so many because we arrived around 1pm and all the doctors had just left on their lunchbreaks. Turns out their lunchbreaks last for 3 hours!! Lewis maybe you should consider Pushkar as a future destination?! So we drove around, got a little frustrated, decided to stop for lunch and then go back to the hospital we'd been to in the first place. We stopped off at a local roadside stall and lunch consisted of...well Ive no idea what it actually was, a fried potato fritter type thing in a half curry, half mint sauce. it didnt look immediately appetizing but Jo and looked at each other then dived right in, it was gorgeous, one of the best things I'd tasted in a while. I just dont know how to get hold of it again. We also had a lassi (usually a milky yogurty type drink), which I normally like, though this one had big lumps in and theres just something disconserting about having to chew your drink.

Anyways, inevitably we saw the doctor for about 2.5 minutes after waiting around 4 hours for her - some things are the same all over the world it seems, and headed back to the hotel, passing a colony of monkeys on the way.

Many of the others had had an awful day and got totally ripped off by some local scam artists so it looks like our tour of Pushkars hospitals was more enjoyable than their day. So if we were going to choose a day to miss out on then I think we chose the right one, although it does seem like an awfully long way for me to go to only see the main part of town for 30 minutes out of only one eye...


Jaipur

2009-07-15 to 2009-07-16

I liked Jaipur, and out Jo and I had a tv and a fridge in our room - sheer luxury! We settled into the hotel briefly then went to set out on our orientation walk. The walk started with a tuktuk journey (...!) into the main centre of town, about 10 minutes in the monsoon hit Jaipur and within mere minutes the place was flooded. The water was splashing up into the sides of the tuktuk (luckily I was in the middle of Jo and Polly, teehee) and the whole centre of the twon was waterlogged. It was quite fun, there was much shrieking, laughing and splashing to be done. We all clambered out and rushed under the nearest roof for some shelter, it was around this point I was regretting wearing a white shirt...

We sensibly decided to take refuge in the nearest pub until the terrential rain calmed down, the nearest pub happened to be a rather dark, dingy and dodgy pub, but it served beer so what more can you ask? Photos were taken as for some reason we want to have us all looking like drowned rats on record, beer was drank and eventually the rain petered out abit. Some went onwards to a palace and a smaller group continued on the walk into the old part of the city. you can gt into the old city through various archways and it often felt like you were taking a step back in time. We walked along the vast streets and passed loads of people, stalls, cows and rubbish left lying. There was just so much to see, like so much of India so far all the different sights, smells and noises, a real assault on the senses.

We retired to a rather westernised and posh coffeeshop where the girls got quite excited about all the cake and caffine, though Jeet had the girliest drink out of all of us! Then we joined back with the rest of the group to go see a Bollywood film. It was on in the famous Raj Mandir cinema which was like something out of 40's Hollywood with grand seating and a big dramatic velvet curtain. The lobby was the best bit though and once you'd got past the rather tight security into it, the sight was quite something with statues and fancy paintings and basically a real feeling of grandeur. Then came the film and it. was. awesome! Granted it was in Hindi so I didnt get all that was going on but from the opening scene when the first main character walked into shot, there rose a massive cheer throughout the audience and we were hooked. Jo, Polly, Kirsty and I just looked at each other and joined in the cheering, it was great fun. At certain points new characters would come in or some slapstick comedy moment would occur and the audience, and us in turn, ould go crazy. It was a bit like the Snakes on a Plane premier only better. The story took place in LA and was based on the brother and sister of a couple who had just got married. The brides sister being against love because her father had run off and the grooms brother thinking being young, free and single was far better than getting 'stuck' in one relationship. I dont think it will surprise you that they ended up in love themselves but the plot twists along the way - Jeet translated enough of them for us to get the general idea - were hilarious. Even more so was the cameos by Denise Richards and Sylvester Stallone himself - COMPLTELY RANDOM!!! Then there was all the singing and dancing, man I loved it!! I'm getting the soundtrack so those of you lucky enough to live with me will be teated to the full wonder of it on repeat when I finally come home!

Afterwards afew of us went over to a rather swish cocktail bar, all quiet music and subtle blue lighting, i've not been in a place like that since I left the UK so it was a little weird and I felt stupidly underdressed. Though the cocktails soon helped me through it.

The next day was quite productive for a change. I'd been taking full advantage of having a big group of people around and was often just chilling with them instead of seeing as much as I might have otherwise done if I'd been travelling there myself, but it was fun so its all good. Anyways, we all decided to get up relatively early to go see some sights. We got up pretty late...and headed straight to the Albert Museum, apparently built for the prince to stay in on his 2 day visit (!) and then turned into a museum to display various artworks and in turn encourage the local artists themselves to produce works of a similar quality. There was lots to see, from more minature paintings (quite the thing over here) tapestries, armoury, jewellry and so on. As in many places though the local boys who were there seemed to take more interest in us and inn trying to rather unsubtly take photos of us when they thought we weren't looking, I really don't get it.

After the museum we sat for a while in the gardens, then walked for a bit back to the old part of town. The shops seemed to be in sections with furniture, then electronics, then hardware, then bicycles, it was a bit odd. We stumbled across some bangle wholesalers and spent a while oening lots of boxes and trying on various items. The boxes and sparkling jewellry was piled top to botteom and crammed into every space possible - it was a bit like an indian girly version of Ollivanders wand shop! We went looking for some fancier jewellry for Polly and I enjoyed window shopping in some rather posh shops, that and the fact they had aircon as a big plus point for me. The temperatures may be interrupted by all the rainy spells but its still mid to high 30's every single day.

That evening we had a rather special meal in a tandoori BBQ place. Well, my order didnt end up looking that special but everyone elses was nice. People seemed in much higher spirits after their first meal of meat in a while too!

Afew of us decided to go back to the bar from the previous evening for more cocktails. But the walk to the bar had a pretty sobering effect on me...Every day in India you are faced with the never ending poverty, theres just no escaping it. Atleast there is no escaping it for those trapped in its clutches. I can walk away, and I do, I have to. you are told not to give money to anybody, often the small change you give to a little girl or boy goes straight to the adult thats meant to be protecting them, we've each seen it happen. I'm finding it pretty difficult turning away from children and adults who beg at you for help when I keep saying one of the main reasons Im here is to help and that I want to volunteer somewhere and try to help in some way. So saying that on one hand and then turning somebody else away on the other seems very at odds with each other. That said you have to find some ways of blocking it all out and becoming more 'numb' to it sometimes. It doesnt mean youre completely shut off though and as a result sometimes, often when youre least expecting it, it hits you like a kick in the stomach. Like when we were walking to that bar. We passed so many people who were settling down to bed for the night, their beds werent like ours though, they were under a plastic sheet propped up against the wall, or on the raised paved ledge in between the roads. People were scavenging next to the dogs in the rubbish piles and it just seemed insane to me. I think of the problems and moans and groans we all have and then you see these people coping and getting by with the way their lives have turned out - man it gives you perspective!

Ive said all that and then the rest of the night shows just how contrasting the two worlds of India are. I felt pretty shit after our walk but in the bar everyone was having fun and it soon rubbed off on me too. At the end of the night I commandeered a tuktuk and decided it would be a good idea to cram all 7 of us into it. Cory and I squeezed into the boot compartment, Jenny, Jeet and Lorena sat on the seats, Greg perched on the edge and Kirsty kind of hung out of the window. There was much screeching hilarity, all of which was caught on Lorenas video camera, we got stopped by the police, so we were all deathly silent until 2 seconds after they let us on our way when we started the drunken laughing again, we got lost and when we finally found our way back to the hotel we were locked out so Cory scaled the wall and let us all in for a game of pingpong. Quite a contrast to the other part of the evening then and its sometimes difficult knowing where you should find a balance between the two. But I guess thats India and its something that I'll be a lot closer to over the next few months.


Bharatpur

2009-07-17

Onwards out of Rajastan on a relatively short busride to Bharatpur, an amazing hotel (typically we were only there the one night) and a bird sanctuary.

I got a tuktuk round the sanctuary with Lorena and we did indeed see lots of birds, and lots of monkeys, and lots of cows, and some deer, and some water buffallo, and some more birds and some pigs too I think. It was amazing how peaceful it was, just by cycling away from the road and into the park, it was a lovely change. All you could hear were the birds tweeting and an occasional screech from the monkeys. I can't believe Im so used to seeing monkeys, the novelty hasnt exactly worn off but its just crazy that seeing monkeys is pretty much an every day occurence for me now. You see them wandering around the towns and railway stations if you look closely enough. This is the kind of thing Im going to miss!

Had a nice meal and enjoyed being in a mahoosive, air conditioned room.

can't believe how fast the trip is slipping past but next up baby - Taj Mahal!!!!!!


Agra

2009-07-18 to 2009-07-19

Jeet organised cars for us instead of buses so that we could stop off at a number of sites on the way to Agra. The main one being another fort with some fantastic carvings and a huge concrete raised platform that used to be the Maharajas bed. I managed to climb up onto it, despite being strongly advised it 'wasnt an advised activity' and there was certainly room for a fair number of his many wives up there.

I think this is also the place we went for the traditional thali lunch (someone correct me if im wrong...) Thali is almost like your own small personal buffet. It normally consists of rice, chapati, dal, a vegetable dish, raita, sometimes another type of curry and a sweet. Its a great way to try out a selection of food instead of just sticking to the one dish and although you only get small amounts of each you always end up feeling like youve eaten loads. This one was particularly good though Jeet did end up with about 6 loads of stuffed eggplant as few of us found it that appetizing.

We arrived in Agra and had to walk a short distance to our hotel, then decided to get a rickshaw to the local shopping centre so that we could all catch another Bollywood film. Agra was particularly bad for people hassling you which was expected given we were a mere 20m away from the main entrance to the Taj Mahal. However the local 'police' tactics seemed overly harsh...rickshaws and tuktuks etc arent allowed that close to the Taj complex and the main road is blocked off to vehicles. As we left our hotel gate loads of rickshaw drivers appeared and ran towards up with the usual shouts of 'rickshaw rickshaw', suddenly the 'police' turned up and started shouting and whacking them all with big sticks. The drivers seemed to find it funny, I found it rather shocking. They were literally just whacking them on the backs of the legs with big sticks like they were naughty children or misbehaved dogs or something, it was quite bizarre.

Anyways, the cinema wasnt really showing anything at the right times so Jo, Polly and I got over excited by the pic n' mix instead and for some reason spent the next 20 minutes spinning round in circles while the others spent far too much time trying to decide what to do and where to go. The spinning theme continued for the rest of the evening as a small group of us spent hours pretending to be Mr Potato Head, accosting me with toilet roll and trussing me up like a mummy and various other shenanigans. I guess you kind of had to be there...

In Udapuir I was eaten alive by mosquitoes and counted 64 bites over my legs alone. The next morning I lost count of the number of times little b**tard bed bugs had attacked me in their all too familiar straight lines of red dots up and down and over all of my legs. I was covered in them. Very attractive!

But the day soon improved. It was Taj Mahal day! We'd risen early to find out that if we waiting until the afternoon we wouldnt have to pay the rather large entry fee because of a local festival so being a backpacker on a budget I ofcourse went for that option. We spent the morning at another fort (I really should find out the names of them all) with a fantastic guide who showed us round while not going on and on in a boring fashion.

Then, after lunch, and the compulsary buying of a Taj Mahal snowglobe, it was time. We queued up for a while, during which time Polly smacked her head off a large spike sticking out of the gateway, which spoiled the experience for her somewhat I think. Soon though we were walking through another gateway and their it was, in all of its splendid symmetrical (sp?!) wonderfulness. There are many extravagant adjectives I could use here including, magnificent, awe inspiring, fabulous etc. It was all of them and more, one of the best things Ive ever seen and I could have quite happily sat there and stared at it for hours. We took a tonne of photos and walked around for a while. The famous reflecting pool turned out to be quite a narrow strip of water that you have to practically lie down in front of in a little cramped space between the wall and the water to take a proper photo of. Thats what I did though I think falling into the water like I did is an optional extra.

Some of us decided to queue up so that we could go for a look inside. Given it was free there were loads and loads of people there so we had to queue for ages but that in itself was quite fun. It was blaring hot in the sun and there was very little shade but we were kept distracted by the sheer audacity of all of the people trying to skip the queue. Not to be outdone we took it upon ourselves to keep order, much to the amusement of the locals. Leo was the best at it in her stern outraged 'teachers voice' but it was certainly effective and just one look and sharp word from her turned many away with a tail between the legs. It was quite hilarious.

We werent inside for long and some of it was actually quite eery. Its basically just one large tomb. The only part of the entire building that isnt symmetrical as the husband ended up havign to be buried there too becasue he was ousted by his son, so the addition of his tomb messed with the symmetry a little bit. downstairs was quite dank, dark and smelled a bit musty but the perfectly mirrored rooms throughout the rest of the building were quite something.

We walked around a little more, took yet some more pictures, tried to avoid being snapped by gangs of boys and headed back to the hotel. Im so happy to have seen it and its definately been a highlight but for a while I really didnt want to walk away!

The same festival that had allowed us to get in free was also going to cause some crazy traffic issues. All Indian traffic is crazy but if youre describing it as crazy it means it will be absolutely insane. So we had to head to the train station 5 hours early in order to miss the rush. It passed by relatively quickly as we just sat and made friendship bracelets! Finally - i havent been carrying around hoards of coloured thread for no reason! Their was even a bit of hair braiding, it was very 90's girly sleepover but it was also fun. We attracted plenty of interest and stares from everyone waiting for their  trains, including 2 local Indian boys. We offered to make them their own little bracelets which they seemed quite pleased about and while we were doing so Jeet got chatting to them about their lives. They were ages 12 and 13, the first lived with his mother and father and worked in a restaurant for 30 rupees a day (about 40p) and the second didnt have a father and 'worked the trains' i.e. begged each day for whatever he could get. They both wanted to go to school but they couldnt afford it and their parents needed them to go out and try to being in what money they could. They were the sweetest kids, both looking much younger than they actually were and werent pestering us but just sitting smiling and facinated by the whole braiding thing. It was really good to learn a bit more about them instead of just trying to block out another kid who is asking for something. I wish we had time to speak to and learn about every child in the same way. Seeing how they were though and hearing them talk about their lives was incredibly humbling. We don't always know what we have do we?!


Being moved at Varanasi, in more ways than one.

2009-07-20 to 2009-07-22

We arrived in Varanasi a little later than planned and set off in pairs in a bunch of tuktuks. About 10 minutes in we got stuck in traffic and remained in it for around an hour and a half. Turns out it was a special month long festival where, on each monday, thousands of pilgrims dressed in orange (saffron) arrive in Varanasi to bathe in the Ganges and collect water from it to take home. Many of them have walked from their villages, though some do get the train! As a result we were held up in this jam having to give way to cart loads of pilgrims, taxis, buses, tuktuks, bicycles, cars and the inevitable cows. Cows are sacred here and nowhere more so than Varanasi it seems, they were everywhere. I'm not sure if water buffalos have the same sacred status but theres a lot of them about too.

Anyways, we made it to the hotel eventually and had a well earned shower before heading out into the city for another orientation walk. We were about half an hour away from the main centre so walked through the incredibly busy town, stopping en route to sample some local delicacies in the sweet shop. I think Jeet was just hungry!  

After about 30 minutes we arrived at one of the main ghats where there were hundreds of people all buying and selling offerings to give to the river. (Hindus believe it is a source of great hope and is actually an incarnation of the godess Ganga and by washing in the waters you are washing away your sins). It was overwhelming. We continued along the ghats (in this context - the bathing steps) and just as I thought things seemed to be getting a bit quieter we rounded the corner - to a timely great crash of thunder - and stumbled across the Manikarnika Ghat, one of the 'burning ghats' where people go to be cremated. It was a lot to take in, the sights of the fires, the smoke and the smells drafting towards us in the wind were over powering and I felt extremely moved by it all. Hindus believe that they shouldnt mourn at the place of the cremation as it can hinder the soul leaving the body but despite these people inviting us to go and stand amongst them none of us felt comfortable doing so, it was intrusion enough just being there. But it was also a priviledge to be. Throughout Varanasi you are aware that what you are seeing has been going on for thousands of years. The rituals and ceremonies are the same and there is something remarkable about seeing things in the same way people thousands of years before you did. There are 4 groups of people who don't get cremated including pregnant women and babies or younger children. So when we saw a sombre boat sailing out into the middle of the river with a small bundle wrapped in cloth I knew what it was, emotional and moved would be the words here.

That evening we went on a boat ride down the river and set off some floating prayer candles. You were supposed to make a wish with each one, but after about 10 of them I kind of ran out! We stopped for a while next to the Dasaswamedh Ghat where the main evening ganga aarti (river worshipping) ceremony takes place. Some of the group found it a bit boring after a while but I thought it was facinating. There were hundreds of people sat out on the steps and the chants of the leaders and the crowds were quite something.

I wouldnt say the next day was a completely lost cause but we didnt do a huge amount. Polly and I somehow slept in ridiculously late - perhaps something to do with staying up into the small hours with another bottle, well few bottles, of magic moments (lovely tasting indian vodka that so far doesnt seem to give you a hangover).  We did venture out eventually and found an amazing fixed price shop, so no hassle. Wanted to buy everything but resisted and compromised with a pair of Aladdin pants and a 'thankyou for cutting my hair' present for Jo. Which unfortunately was the only one or I would have got one for myself too - pah!

Another late-ish night which was a bit of a mistake given we had to get up at 5am the next morning. But the reasoning was completely worth it...

Turns out we happened to be in Varanasi for the total solar eclipse! Turns out Varanasi was the best place on the planet to see it too! We sat out on our hotel balcony and watched the endless flocks of people just pouring out from every road and side street on their ways to the banks of the river. Apparently the eclipse is judged unlucky so there was even more incentive than usual to have a dip in the Ganges. Although we could tell that it was busy and we could see thousands of people lining the ghats the whole way along the river I dont think any of us appreicated just how busy it was. We found out later that estimates were around 100,000 people, there were so many that atleast 2 people dies when they were crushed or knocked into the river and couldnt get back out. we'd been advised to stay away from the ghats as they were just too busy and it looks like that was good advice. The eclipse itself was great though, once in a lifetime and all that! Seeing it in that setting really made it though, the cheer that went up when the moon blocked out the sun and the eery feeling when darkness descended over the city coupled with the sudden silence and then the big cheering again when the suns diamond appeared once more was amazing. Talk about lucky coincidence. Im just glad Greg was there though to tell us all about it orwise I for one would have been in my bed snoozing, none the wiser!

After a nap I set off for a walk along the ghats, not wanting to repeat the lack of activity from the previous day. I hadnt got far when I got chatting to a young girl who coaxed me into getting some henna done. her name was Poonam and she had just finished her day at school. her english was pretty good and she said that she did henna for people so that her mother could use the money to send her to school. The result was a little splotchy but I liked the air of authenticity it added so I was quite pleased. I wandered further down the ghats as far as the 'burning ghat' again and then decided to walk back via the town. Afew minutes in the heavens opened and the monsoon hit again. The monsoon has been really late this year and its causing problems all over the country. Apparently in Varanasi its the lowest the river levels have been for years and years and the steps we stood and sat on were normally completely submerged by this time of year. You wouldnt have thought there were any problems if you'd seen the state of me walking along that road. I couldnt have got a tuk tuk or rickshaw if i'd wanted to as all of the drivers were far more sensible than me and were staying out of the rain. I was pretty much the only one walking down the street and was constantly met with laughing locals sheltering in doorways and behind their stalls. I guess it was kind of funny, kind of.

I finally got back and the others took one look at me before bursting into laughter and exclaiming how much of a drowned rat I looked. As if that wasnt enough I was wearing my new trousers - gutted!

 

Varanasi is the place I'd been most...nervous about visiting. I'd only heard good things about it but I also knew to expect to see some things which might haunt me. As it turns out the place was incredibly moving and I'd go back in a heartbeat. The people were largely exceptional and friendly, there was a lot of beauty there and there was just something incredibly moving about the whole place. If you really appreciate what the place is about and understand that you are basically taking a step back in history to see thigns that have been occurring for centuries, its hard not to be affected by it all.


Farewell to intrepid-ers in Kolkata

2009-07-23 to 2009-07-25

Another overnight train journey though getting onto this one was a bit more awkward. One of the things that I was most nervous about in coming to India was having to deal with the trains. The horror stories people told me and the tv clips Id seen really didnt fill me with confidence. So far the overnight trains had been ok and it was more the local ones that were overloaded and teeming with people. You see everyone squashed in and hanging out of the open doorways, sitting on the roof and all sorts. Our train to Kolkata was delayed and the platforms were full of people waiting to board. When our train eventually turned up there was a mad rush of people. Our carriage pulled up at the far end of the platform so we all had to scramble down there before the train pulled away without us on it. Thats the thing about the trains here, they only stop for the shortest time at each station, blink and youve missed them most of the time! There were just people everywhere, throwing their stuff aboard to claim a seat and pushing past everyone, including us, to try and get aboard. It wasnt too bad as we had Jeet to follow but the thought of having to navigate all that myself isn't the most comforting...

 

Needless to say we made it to Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta for those of you Im confusing!) a little behind schedule and were greeted by millions, well not millions, but definately hundreds, of yellow taxi cabs. They are everywhere here and no more so than outside the train station. We clambered into a few of them and set off (slowly) to our hotel. The traffic once again was a bit mental so we ended up having to get out and walk some of the way to our hotel and it was roasting but we made it in the end and collapsed happily into the blissfully cool air conditioned lobby.

Later that day we walked over to the Victoria Memorial, a gorgeous marble palace in the heart of Kolkata. It was really stunning somewhere between a mix of the Taj Mahal and Buckingham Palace, kind of.

It was ridiculously hot and given I was going to be around here for some time we retired pretty quickly back to the hotel.

It was the last official night of the intrepid tour so we all went out for a fancy meal in a local Bengali restaurant. The food was fantastic but the portions were somewhat teeny tiny. Jo and I ordered a chicken dish and a prawn type concoction. The chicken arrived and disappeared within minutes and then we nibbled on a mustard type side dish while waiting for our fancy, expensive prawns. Well, turns out the mustard side dish was the prawns so that was a bad news for our hungry stomachs! Luckily we resisted the requests for a trip to KFC and just filled up on these puffed chapati type things instead.

Perhaps the minimalist meal in the reason I dont remember all of the rest of the night, but I could be wrong.

We'd decided to have a bit of a 'shindig' to celebrate the end of the tour and all that so Jeet, Leo and I went on a hunt for some alcemahol. We ended up spending ages looking for the black market instead as all the shops were shut, which was...an experience.

Making do with what the hotel had to offer instead we proceeded to spend the rest of the evening drinking rum, and some 'magic moments' ofcourse and generally having a ball. I fell asleep at one point, people were kind enough to try to keep the noise down until someone fell on top of me, i didnt wake up, and they figured that the noise levels obviously didnt make much difference. Which is why I awoke sometime later to some incredible shapes being thrown across the dancefloor AKA my bedroom. ('throwing shapes' = dancing for those of you not 'down with the kidz') Much hilarity ensued (thanks to Leo mainly) and it was a fantastic end to a really great 3 weeks.

A few of us were still around the next day though unfortunately Polly and Jenny had left us (come back to me Polly!) so a group of us spent the day chillaxing in the hotel. We weren't all that fit for much else really! Leo and I braved the outside world at one point to go and find another hotel to stay in in the (cheaper) backpacker area on Sudder Street.

Sudder St is very much like Khao San Road in Bangkok or The main bazaar in Paharganj in Delhi - full of backpackers, touts, travel booking agents and little shops. Its not as big an operation as somewhere like Khao San but the idea is the same. Its perhaps this point that I should mention the strike that was happening across the city...A strike was happening across the city. Every single taxi and rickshaw and many other forms of public transport were out of action. This was rather worrying as my main plan of action when travelling in a city is to wander around for hours, taking everything in and then get a taxi or tuktuk back when i realise how lost I am. Twas not to be that day. What was really odd about the whole thing though was that during the strike all of the 35000 (I just googled it) taxis had disappeared. I have absolutely no clue where they went as they werent on the streets and Im pretty sure there arent 35000 parking spaces or garages hidden within the city in a secret grotto somewhere. It remains a mystery to me.

Anyways...Leo and I rocked up looking for the Salvation Army hostel and got pretty confused when everyone kept telling us "No, hostel broke, cannot go, hostel broken". Well, turns out "broken" actually means completely demolished! We struggled with our bags for a bit up and down the street and then got coaxed into Hotel Ashoka. Hotel Ashoka was up 4 flights of stairs (bearing in mind we'd already walked most of the way over from the first hotel on the other side of town due to the strike - oh yeah, thats why I mentioned the strike btw) and as you walked down the dark and narrow hallway you passed a doorway leading onto what can only be described as a building sight. It was full of rubble where the walls had been knocked down, there were gaping holes where windows used to be onto the outside world and there was also a tonne of rubbish amongst the bricks and mortar. Our room was only slightly better. It had one bed with suspicious stains over it and the bathroom was, well lets just say the toilet was hanging off the wall and you wouldnt want to take your shoes off when having a shower and leave it at that shall we?! For some reason we checked in. And then went promptly back to the first hotel for a bit.

A short time later Jo left and I freaked out. Largely about being on my own again, Id gotten far too used to being in a group and being able to just follow someone and ask them how much I should be paying and have them argue with tuktuk drivers instead of me having to do it and it had been a nice change. Everyone was also heading home after their travels and there I was with another few months atleast ahead of me. I was a bit of a mess.  

We went out for a delicious indian meal at the not so indian sounding Peter Cat restaurant and I felt a bit better. Then I had to say goodbye to almost everyone else and Leo and I had to wander back to our horrible little room with the strange man who stands and stares at you whenever you go into or out of the room until you shut the door (and Im pretty sure still stands there anyway) and I felt a little worse again!


a long time in Kolkata.

2009-07-25 to 2009-07-31

The next morning we awoke pretty early, rather keen to move into a different hotel. I found a dorm room without too much bother, the single they showed my was the closest thing to a prison cell Ive ever seen, aside from an actual prison cell that is and with my current state of mind I decided against it. But the dorm room was only 140INR which is about 1.90 pounds (I still havent figured out how to do the pound sign!)

Leo and I spent most of the day wandering around Calcutta, we went to the Mother Teresa Mission House which has an interesting display about her life story and her tomb is there too. We walked round the BBD Bagh area which is basically where all the old and colonial buildings. Alot of white marble etc whats crazy though is the way you have a building like the General Post Office on one corner and then you turn around and see a buildign literally crumbling in front of you. The money and the grand buildings are right next to the poverty and decrepit ones ands a bit of a bizarre mix. Apparently the government passed a law back in the 40's or somewhen that put a limit on what landlords could charge. Many of the tenancies have been passed down between families with the result that landlords havent been able to increase the rent in the past 50 or so years. Allegedly landlords are refusing to do any maintenance on the buildings in order to encourage the current residents to leave so that they can put up the rent when the new tenants move in. Crazy.

We also went along to one of the oldest markets in Kolkata, confusingly called 'New Market' and then as we kept getting caught in the monsson decided to take refuge in the cinema. This ended up resulting in a tour of Kolkatas cinemas - of which there are many, because none of them were showing the film we wanted to see. We found one in the end and settled down to view 'Luck'. My second experience of Bollywood in India was somewhat different to the first. This time the plot centred around a group of undesirables who had been assembled by some half goody half baddy (I couldnt work out which) and had to compete to stay alive. It was all about their luck i.e. whoever had the most would presumably survive and win lots of money, and I think, an American visa! There were lots of 'bigwigs' (not used that for a while!!) placing bets on them. The 'games' included a king of russian roulette in a circle formation and picking a parachute then jumping out of a plane, those who didnt have enough luck obviously picked a broken parachute - glad I saw this post skydive! I was just thinking how there wasnt really any gore despite the subject matter and being quite pelased about this when the remaining handcuffed contestants were lowered into shark infested waters and had to find the right key to set them free before they A) drowned or were B) eaten by sharks. Alas the token 'hotty' got eaten by a shark and although the FX were pretty awful there was lots of blood etc and I have to confess I hid behind my bag. There was a big twist at the end but we didnt have Jeet there to translate this time so goodness knows what that was about. So, not as much singing and dancing as last time but I reckon Im well and truly hooked on Bollywood now - theyre just so much fun!

Came back to hotel, Leo left for the airport and for the first time in 3 weeks I was all on my lonesome again.

Since then I have largely been on the internet looking for volunteering work. A tonne of people are staying here to volunteer at the Mother Teresa Mission but I just didnt feel that it was for me. I found a great wee centre called New Light which looks after children and works with women from the local area. There was just such a good vibe about the place. I can't really explain it but there was some sort of different level of self pride from the women there that often seems sadly lacking in other areas of the city. Just visiting was a positive experience, they already had a lot of volunteers though and ideally I wanted to go somewhere and live and work full time instead of staying in a backpackers and only having to turn up a few hours a day so I decided not to commit to there. If youre ever in Kolkta with a few months to spare though...!

In terms of other activites over the last week...I went to see Harry Potter - bit disappointing but seeing it in a great oldfashioned retro cinema with an Indian audience was quite a different experience, they all laughed hilariously at anything remotely slapstick and lapped up any Ron/Hermione moment. I found myself reacting in ways I never normally would but it was good fun and an interesting insight into the indian sense of humour. What else? I changed to another hotel, dorm room again but this time only 80INR a night which is a pound - I love this country! I ate a lot of food from the street and enjoyed it all, theres something about a samosa only costing 4INR - a few pence that makes them taste even better! I spent hours on the internet looking for volunteering and agonising about where to go and waht to do - I really am awful at makign decisions. Ive recently been told its becasue Im a libra and we have to weigh up each side of the issue before making a decision. I dont know the reasoning but I know it takes me ages!

I also went walking and stumbled across a park that reminded me so much of the meadows in Edinburgh, it was really weird. I sat down to read a book when a young guy came and stood behind me. I said hello and asked what he wanted. he just continued to stare. I asked him to kindly go away as he was just standign staring at me. He said yes and continued to stand there. I tried to ignore him and he continued, then he moved 5m infront of me and continued, then 10m, then 20m and so on and so forth. It erally was quite strange.

I went to the kali temple which is the holiest place in Kolkata but it was shut and was in the middle of a built up area so you can't really view it from a distance with any real appreciation. No offence to Kali or to the temple but it wasnt all that great. (Does that sound terrible?!)

In terms of other activites, Ive largely just avoided the monsoon - crazy crazy rain time. Though Ive started keeping record of a fad across India that has me quite intrigued...

I think its because of confusion with grasp of the english language, and ive seen it elsewhere in Asia but the slogans on Tshirts and billboards are highly entertaining. Here are just a few morsels Ive spotted recently:

BILLBOARD:

*Doing business without outdoor advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but she doesn't.

TSHIRTS:

*They call it PMS because mad cow disease was already taken

* Indian food, hotter than the women who make it.

* Weather is here, wish you were beautiful

* What day is it so I know not to leave the house next year (catchy!)

*Once a word has escaped, you can't capture it again (well, quite!)

More gems to follow!

*


My next journey

2009-08-01

So Ive got some volunteering. I leave on an overnight sleeper train in a few hours to go to the 'mission for the rural people'. Its an orphanage in Andraha Pradesh in Southern India that looks after 80 children.

Its great to finally have something sorted out and I get to live there and get fully involved in lots of aspects of the place which is what I really wanted so Im excited to go. Im also a bit nervous, im not really sure exactly what to expect. Ive spoken to the Pastor in charge and he sounds lovely, and he's picking me up from the station tomorrow night so thats lovely too, but aside from that Im not really sure who works there, what the place is like, the facilities, the town, if there is a town...

But its an adventure and its one Ive been looking forward to for a while. Hopefully I'll learn about myself but more importantly, hopefully I'll be able to help some people even in the smallest possible way. I don't know if I'll have internet access and I don't know how long I'll be there but I'll keep you posted when I can, mum wouldn't forgive me if I didnt!

First up is the 24 hour train ride, then the journey really begins. Wish me luck!


Mission for the Rural People, Vellatur, Andhra Pradesh, Middle of nowhere, Southern India. Day 1.

2009-08-02

OK. I have no idea where to start with this. I didn't keep this updated while I was at the orphanage for a number of reasons. Now that I've had some time to reflect I imagine the next entry will be a mumble jumble of emotions, memories and incoherant ramblings, so you'll have to bare (bear?!) with me.

I guess atleast trying to start at the beginning is the best idea...

The train journey from Calcutta to Tenali seems like a lifetime ago. I had arranged to get a sleeper train instead of 3rd or 2nd class. I didn't have a choice as all the other seats were full but the reaction or all the other travellers I told had me somewhat nervous that it would be a nightmare. As it turns out it was absolutely fine, a little warmer than 3rd class and you are not provided with any food or blankets or anything but I managed just fine and it was 300INR instead of 1000INR so that was good enough reason for me. I got chatting to a couple of people on the train including a Belgian guy who has been in India many times and always travels to the most random of places to learn more about Hinduism. He had some interesting views on Ghandi, Evangelical organisations and Indian culture, not all of which I agreed with but he gave me an extensive list of books he thought I should read so that was nice of him.

And then, I was there. I got off the train and looked up and down the platform, not really seeing anyone. Suddenly a young Indian girl rushed up to me with the biggest smile on her face and gave me a huge hug. She was ridiculously excited, which ofcourse rubbed off on me. She grabbed my hand and rushed me down the platoform where the Pastor and another man greeted me, another girl appeared (I have since found out that she was off chasing another white person she had seen as she was worried it was me and I was going the wrong way), put a big flower garland round my neck, grabbed my other hand and we all left the station.

The car journey to the orphanage took around an hour, but it felt like 5 minutes. I was vaguely aware of the scenery around me, and the fact any resemblance to a city or town was quickly disappearing. I spent the entire journey talking about my favourite animal, colour, game, sport, what age I was, what brothers and sisters I had and so on. I made the faux pas of asking the two girls what their favourite food was. They paused for a while, looked confused and then said fried rice. First sign of things to come.

We pulled up at the gates to the Mission and I was surprised to see a small group of kids lining the path. They put more flowers round my neck and sang me a 'welcome song'. I was completely overwhelmed.  We went into the church building and I couldn't stop smiling at them and they were all smiling back. I was just trying to take it all in, knowing even as I stood there that I wanted to remember as much as possible. The kids sang some songs and then each came up one by one and said hello and told me their name, I'm not sure I remembered any of them at that point.  I was asked to make an impromptu speech (turned out to be the first of MANY), think I said something along the lines of, 'I'm very happy, you must all be very tired, you're singing was very good, im from Scotland, im happy to be here' etc etc.

They promptly went to bed afterwards which was just aswell as they were surely up well past their bedtime waiting for me. As it turns out most of the younger children had already gone to bed so that was something. Although at the time I didn't know that so felt a bit guilty for leeping them all up. Then they gave me some dinner - I wasn't really hungry so I struggled a bit but the food was lovely.

I was given my own room with a double bed, which I hadn't expected and tried in vain to get some sleep. My head was buzzing but I was determined to get up with the all at 5am the next morning and eventually I fell asleep to a multitude of thoughts and feelings about everything I'd just experienced.

 


There's just so much to tell you, I don't know where to start. - 'normal days'.

2009-08-03 to 2009-09-07

I spent the next few days just getting used to the place and trying to take it all in.  I suppose one of the problems with writing this now is that all of the things that would be classed as different or perhaps strange became very normal to me very quickly. So when I have to think of things to say about the place that may be of interest I really have to think about what might be classed as different. 

Is it weird that I didn't wear shoes, use a western toilet, a shower or even a tap for 6 weeks? Is it strange that I helped cut up tonnes of vegetables with a bit of metal that sticks out of a wooden plank instead of a 'normal' knife? I suppose its different that I got all of my water from one of the pumps that were located around the compound. But none of that seems out of the ordinary for me now, its just the way we did things. 

In a normal day I would get up and watch the girls plait each others hair. It was quite the operation. They would stand in lines and plait the girl in front of them, and she would do the one in front of her and so on. They all wear their hair in two plaits tied up into bun type things. Apart from Keranmy who had a short bob, but she was the only one who varied from the norm. Over the first few days I attempted to help and initially I was in high demand. Pretty soon they all realised that I am officially, a rubbish girl, and after many of my attempts being 'rescued' by the older girls half way through, I quietly withdrew my offers of assistance and they didn't seem to mind one bit.

Next I would sit with the younger kids and drink my first daily cup of chai. Having thought I would never be a tea drinker I am now obsessed and cannot go long without a small tin cup. MMmmm. They would be doing their homework and I would 'supervise'. They kept bringing me their Telugu books (main language in Andhra Pradesh) to check, not that I could be of any assistance with them atall!

I would often help serve breakfast after that. The kids get 3 main meals a day. One is provided by the school they go to and the others they get at the Mission. Every meal involves rice. And then a variation of a few different curries with that. Sometimes egg, sometimes 'lady fingers' (a main vegetable over here), sometimes beans, and occasionally 'leaf curry'. It costs alot of money to feed everyone meat so it rarely happens. They all eat with their hands ofcourse, as does everyone here. Something I'm still getting used to. They all get a fairly large portion of rice but theres not much variation, and they always drink water, never fruit juice or fanta like we could have. No complaining here though, everyone has to finish their platefuls and there was very little grumbling about not liking particular meals. They all ate what they were given with no 'I don't like that' or 'can't I have something else', so a bit different to us at home then!

I'd spend a lot of my time over the weeks working on communication for the Mission. So I wrote alot of emails and letters, edited the website, finished work on a sponsorship packet, contacted other volunteers, started a facebook group, all that kind of thing. It was good for me as it meant I had something to do all day while the kids were at school. Thats when the electricity lasted ofcourse, which could be quite unusual after about 11am each day.

I'd spend the rest of my time playing with the kids. I played 'Carron Board' so many times that my fingers felt like they would fall off, but I'm still hopelessly crap at it. I played 'hand clapping' games a million times because they NEVER got tired of it! I watched them doing dances and then taught them the macarena when they insisted I teach them new ones. I read stories and introduced a host of new fans to wordsearches and 'Wheres Wally'. I admired pictures and colouring books and had to improvise by drawing them pictures to colour as we kept running out of materials. I made friendship bands and played hopscotch and introduced them to naughts and crosses. I learnt that toys can be made out of the simplest of materials, that they don't have to be brightly coloured or plastic or come from shops. That rocks or chalk from the ground have endless uses and broken pens with elastic bands are not just fit for the bin but can make pretty cool rockets.

In the evenings after dinner there would be an evening meeting. Sometimes there would be songs. At other times the pastor would ask for any 'complaints or problems'. The kids would take it in turns to stand up and report and issues they were having. I kep changing my mind about how I felt about that. In some ways, and especially in an environment with so many children its a good thing to give them an opportunity to get things off their chest, a space where they can say they have a problem with something and have it dealt with there and then. I sometimes felt that doing it in front of other people wasn't ideal but the pastor always dealt with things in the best possible way. When serious issues came up, like why the kids shouldn't play on the road on the way to school, they were all there to listen and see a boy receive a stern warning as he's nearly been knocked down. It always ended up with a joke too which was good, though more often than not any humour was certainly lost in translation for my part.

Often there was a birthday, so on those occasions the birthday girl/boy would gert to sit at the front and then give out chocolates or sweets to everyone. Sometimes they got presents though not always, sometimes a few of the kids had saved up a few rupees and got their friends something, occasionally a sponsor had sent a present. More often than not it was just the sweets though. With some things - its easier to remember what was so different about living there.


More musings from the Mission.

2009-08-03 to 2009-09-07

When I first arrived at the Mission the fields had been largely dry and brown looking. This was due to the monsoon being incredibly late. Infact a number of farmers throughout the state had reportedly committed suicide because they had taken loans out when they could get no money from their crops, only for the rains to be even later than expected and them not being able to raise money to pay the loans back. Everywhere people were going hungry A) because they couldn't grow their crops to sell and B) because they couldn't grow anything to eat. Plus there was no grass for the Bufallo to eat - it was all a pretty big nightmare really. And the problem is, theres not really anything you can do about it. The people were just on hold until the rains finally started.

Eventually though, they did. In a big storm that shook the house we stayed in and had me panicked that the roof od the church would fall in or the big tree would crash through it and hurt all the boys sleeping inside.

The arrival of the monsoon brought about a few changes.

Firstly, the majority of the children had been sleeping upstairs on the second floor when I arrived. The second floor has a ceiling but no walls and therefore no shelter from any rain or mosquitoes. So the rain brought them all downstairs. Which meant a space that normally slept around 15 girls was now filled with more than double that. I bought them a couple of matresses but what they really need is more space. They all sleep lined up, practically on top of one another on the floor of these 2 small rooms because the building upstairs hasn't been finished. Nightmare. After a while I managed to convince the pastor and Suneetha to let some of the children sleep in my room with me. It was ridiculous that I should have all that space when the children had to squeeze onto the available matresses in the room next door. Apparently volunteers don't normally do this and they were reluctant to do it at first as they were so concerned with me being comfortable but I was insistent so I got my own way in the end!

However the change in the season combined with the sleeping arrangements meant that alot of the kids caught fever and quickly passed it amongst each other. To the extent that at one point we had 20 children off sick from school. All lining up to have their temperature checked and receive some medicine. - Luckily we had enough left from a recent medical camp to have some cough syrups etc on hand. It's when the kids are sick that you really see how their lives are different. At home whenever I got sick as a child, infact whenever I get sick now, I'm lucky enough to have my parents undivided attention. I get special treatment and spoiled a little bit. But these kids don't have their own parents. Suneetha and the pastor are wonderful with them and ofcourse, are like their parents in many many ways. But there are nearly 80 other children to contend with and theres simply not enough time to give each one as much individual care or attention as perhaps you would expect at home. Having said that, these times also brought out the best in some of the children, in the way they cared for each other. They are like one big family altogether and you would see them giving hugs, fetching water, arranging blankets, just generally supporting and caring for each other. It was truly lovely to see.

The medical care is the other thing that makes it clear things are not the same here. I had to remind myself more than once that it is a third world country and as such, things are going to be different. But some of the methods of treatment shocked me, not in anything that the pastor or Suneetha did, just in the accepted ways of dealing with cuts or infections etc. Basic doesn't even come close.

The monsoon also changed the landscape. Practically overnight the dry brown fields had been replaced by miles of green rice paddies. As far as you could see there were neat, brightly green rows. It was absolutely stunning. Especially with no interuption from roads or buildings, it was just so rural with nothing but green fields, a few trees, a couple of mud huts and colourful people working in them, beautiful.

 

 


some not so 'normal' days and other thoughts

2009-08-03 to 2009-09-07

Sundays were a little different! For a start it was the only day the kids didn't have school (yup - Saturdays too) so there was always a nice vibe to the day. They would all have Sunday School for an hour or two and then would all get ready for church. Most of tehm would put on their better clothes if they had some and they would insist on dressing me up in a sari. I'd love to bring one home but A) they are insanely complicated to put on and B)I'm not convinced I would actually wear it.

Church is somewhat different at the mission. People would be piled in, often some sitting outside as there wasn't enough room and all the women would be on one side sitting on the floor in gorgeous colourful saris. The kids would all be crowded into the front some with hand bells, others with drums and a few would take it in turns to lead various songs through the crackling microphone. It was LOUD! Quite a sight to witness though and i won't forget it in a hurry. There was a sermon which I would sit through but as I couldn't understand a word I would just take the opportunity to sit and look around and try to take it all in, not make the kids laugh, and try not to smile gleefully too much at how lucky I was to be there.

In the afternoons there was more time for playing,once we made pakora - messy but delicious, aslong as you ignore how much oil they used. Another day I spent a surreal hour talking to the kids about Michael Jackson. They had pictures of him from the newspapers and Issac did impressions of the dancing. It was hugely weird to be sitting in a village in the middle of nowhere discussing the moonwalk with kids who had limited english but knew all about MJ and his lifestory. I guess thats what world famous really means. ((on a side note did I tell you that a few weeks after his death I was walking in calcutta and a big procession came round the corner. I assumed it was another religious ceremonial festival parade and there was the usual music, saffrom clad pilgrims and stopping of traffic. Only on the wooden platform they were carrying was a statue of Michael Jackson!!!! I was reminded of this when someone asked me what the weirdest thing I'd seen this year was - that was definately up there))

 

 this isnt finished yet - but i need to go cram myself onto a bus...

 

finally coming back to this (its saturday the 5th December and I fly home in 3 days!!)

Teaching English was a lot of fun. I started off with the younger class which I taught with Lavnya and thoroughly enjoyed. I tried to come up with different ideas to teach them new words and phrases and used pictures, games etc to do so. (Theres a girl behind me talking to her mum on skype really loudly and its quite distracting - I hope I don't do that!) I taught the older kids later too and that was challenging but also enjoyable. It became apparent that although I was still doing ok after 6 weeks I would run out of new ideas soon which made me realise how important doing something like TEFL is before people go off to random countries to teach English, just because we speak it does not mean we can teach it. It wasn't until near the end of my time there that Monica mentioned normally volunteers just teach them songs and play games and stuff. There was me trying to take it all seriously, she assured me this was better but I included more games after that!

'Teaching' was a great oportunity to re visit some unexpected delights from my own earlier years. Namely the book 'there was an old woman who swallowed a fly' and 'the hungry caterpillar' both of which the kids (and I) adored. I got a little confused as they kept telling me the Hungry Caterpillar was called Harry Potter but once we'd got over that confusion (I'm still not sure how it arose in the first place) we read it atleast once a week. I also found some 'Wheres Wally' books that a previous volunteer had brought and that was a lot of fun. It was easier to get across the idea of WW than it was some other books and games I'd brought with me. Especially UNO, the kids always looked a little horrified when I tried to explain how the rules worked so eventually I gave up and left them to using them as 'pairs' which they seemed to enjoy more anyway.

We had a waterfight one day. I'd worn my white shirt again which seems to attract water whenever I put it on so I guess it was to be expected.

I had another experience while I was sitting with some of the older people which firmly reminded me I 'wasn't in Kansas anymore'. I was sitting quite happily when 2 of the chickens that normally run around the place were brought past tied together at the legs. I stupidly asked what was going on. It was like one of those moments you get on reality tv shows when the 'contestants' or 'stars' etc are all shown in distressed states while dramatic voice overs and music plays in the back ground. All to show that 'things are getting serious now'. Surprisingly although I didn't love the idea, as I didn't have to be involved it didn't bother me as much as I might have expected it to. Though I was a little quieter at the next few dinnertimes.

One event which will be hard to forget is the one that happened fairly close to my departure date. The Chief Minister for the state had gone missing and a few days later his helicopter was found. It had been a really awful crash and all those involved were killed. The reaction to the news was over whelming. One I can't imagine any British politician receiving. The minister was out of the ordinary everyone said, for his work to improve the lives of poor people all over the state. There was nothing else on television or in the papers for days. The schools closed, the shops closed, everyone was overcome with grief. A large number of people even committed suicide across the state. The day of the funeral all of the children were crowded round the small television in silence. The only comparison I have is with the funeral of Princess Diana but this was almost bigger I think, certainly in Andhra anyway. There were millions and millions of people at the funeral, lining the streets. Sometimes it was completely controlled and people were rushed past the coffin during the viewing with barely a second to pause in front of it, then at others it was more like chaos. When they went to bury the coffin there were people tripping over themselves to get closer I had a horrible feeling someone would actually fall into the grave but then people were actually in it helping to lower the coffin into the ground. It was certainly tragic what happened but I guess if I'm honest I was watching it all on tv, not able to take my eyes off it all for slightly different reasons to the rest of them.

This is all rather disjointed, part of the problem with writing this now in Goa of all places and not when I was there. Though I still remember it all so clearly. I don't know if I've said much about the surrounding area really. I had a few chances to go round it on a  motorbike, when we went to visit nearby villages or to try buy wood for some windows. But it was really beautiful, especially when the rains finally started and the rice fields were covered in green. One thing I don't think I'll truly appreciate until I get home though is just how poor it was. I know it was poor and I know it was rural, but people there really did have so little. It might not have been the slums of Delhi or Mumbai but the level of poverty was the same. People lived along side the roads in ramshackle huts, walls made out of bags and plyboard. I visited one couples home, they worked in the orphanage, and it was just one room with a bed on one side and a make shift kitchen on the other, old plastic sacks as walls no proper door etc. I just don't think thats its really hitting me how different things are here, the levels of poverty people live in and deal with every day. Perhaps because its so normal to them as it is to me now too. I think you have to re think the way you define poverty here and the standards you would set have to be readjusted. But the reality of the situation when it rains or someone gets sick, thats when you realise its not all put up with and make do, or atleast it shouldnt have to be. I think that I'm so used to this way of life now though, of seeing this most days that it seems normal to me now and I can't process it properly until I've had some time out at home and some distance to figure it all out properly.

Some times things happened which did force me to face up to the differences though, like when a wee boy called Alexander Ragava hurt his hand and the third world nature of the treatment he got for it. Or when Lavnya, a woman who worked at the orphange and who lived there with her two daughters, and a woman who we had started referring to as my 'Indian mum' showed me her wedding pictures. I learned that day that Lavnya was actually the same age as me, older by just one month. I also learned that she had been 14 when she got married, to a man who was about 10 years older than her. She just looked so young in the wedding photos. She wasn't sure of the exact ages at the time, or how long they'd been married. What was perhaps most surprsing to my western mind was that she was happy and excited to be showing me and telling me this, she didn't think it was unusual atall. This was from a different time and culture which the orphanage was trying to move away from, the pastor and his wife ave no intention of letting the younger marriage traditions of the nearby villages come anywhere near the kids I was with. But it just showed how different things can be here, outside of the cities, and how naive you can be if you think you can understand it all without spending years, not weeks there.

 


Leaving on a...car, train, bus, another bus and an auto-rickshaw.

2009-09-07

I pulled myself together in the car (just about) and reflected on my time at the mission whilst we made our way towards Tenali train station. Missing all the kids made me think about how lucky I am with my family and friends and it made me miss you all even more than usual!

The journey to Tenali was a reverse of my arrival. It was dark but got lighter as we approached the town so it was so similar to when I first arrived that it all felt a little surreal.

We waited briefly on the platform and then the pastor and Mani helped me board the train. Someone was sitting in my seat so there was a bit of a ruckus and confusion over this. Being India, the train wasn't about to wait for more than  45 seconds so it started to pull off. The pastor and Mani had to jump off save making the journey with me. He looked a little distressed at having to leave me sorting out my seating arrangements and I didn't have time to say a proper goodbye which I was sad about. I did manage to find another seat though and squeeze my bags underneath another so all was well in that regard.

The train to Chennai took around 6 1/2 hours and was fine really. I got to look out of the window and try and adjust to being back in 'civilisation' with big buildings and roads and cars etc. I really began to appreicate how quiet Vellatur had been in comparison. The only downside to the window seat was the lovely farmers tan I now sport on my right arm only, after having it resting outside the window all that morning and getting sunburnt - nice.

I got off the train and with relative simplicity and minimal hassle/walking/confusion somehow found my way to the bus stand. This is highly unusual for me as I normally go the wrong way atleast 3 times, so I was pleasantly surprised.

I balked slightly at the thought of squeezing on to a local public bus with all of my luggage and with the passing of each jam packed full people carrier this only intensified. As my bus pulled up the same happened but for some reason as I approached it a lot of the people got off again and there was enough room for me to perch on the top step and wedge my bag into a small crack behind the door - result! I even got chatting to 2 girls already on the bus - one of whom had spent last Summer in Edinburgh!

After a while we reached the main bus terminal. Unfortunately I had to experience Chennai bus stations toilets at this point. And here is where having a fellow traveller makes all the difference. Picture going into a public toilet where all the other inhabitants are gingerly picking their way across the floor on their tiptoes as to avoid all of the 'water' on the floor. Then imagine looking down and seeing a backpack strapped to your front, a rucksack to your front and a handbag over the top of both. Then picture squeezing into a cubicle with all of these bags, and wondering how to use a 'squat toilet' without having to put them on the manky floor. I am sorry to say that after a trial, it is impossible. I tied my handbag to the door handle, rested one bag ontop or another and tried hard not to think about it.

After this rather unpleasant Indian experience I once again found my way to the bus stop with minimal fuss. Things were going far too simply I thought! I only waited at the wrong stop for about 15 minutes, and it didn't cause me to miss the right bus so I was equally happy with this.

I set off on the local bus to Mamallapuram. I'd managed to get a seat so that was great but as the bus filled up with more and more people I got more and more squashed. largely because I had to sit with both my backpack and my rucksack squished onto my knee and 2 other passengers wedged onto the seat beside me. I spent a fair deal of time wondering how I was going to de-wedge myself from the space and manouvre past all the other passengers to get off the bus, and when exactly it was that I was supposed to do this. Luckily one of the boys next to me told me he was getting off at the same sto and just to follow him.

As my bus neared my distination, alot of the people got off. Once I again I was pretty overjoyed as it made getting off myself much easier too. My fellow sitter announced this was my stop so I got up, kind of chucked my rucksack down off the bus, stepped off and promptly - fell, flat on my face.

Indian buses wait for noone. If you are not on or off the bus when you need to be then it moves with or without you anyway. The bus chose to move as I stepped off and given I had a heavy bag on I lost my balance. Unfortunately as I turned round amidst the newly gathered BIG crowd of Indian men, I saw that not only had the bus caused me to fall on my face in front of an ever increasing crowd of strangers, it was also proceeding to reverse OVER MY RUCKSACK!! I am ashamed to admit that I swore very loudly (which didn't help with the crowd I'm sure). The driver looked confused but eventually my frantic waving hands and shouting added to the (more coherant and understandable) instructions from members of 'my crowd' caused him to reverse back off my bag and continue on his way.

I'm not sure what came over me at this point, I grabbed my bags, hoisted them onto my back and pretty much ran off. The fact that I didn't actually know where I was going, what direction I was heading in or where the town was, or that I had a schoolboy injury on my knee, my bags weighed a tonne and I had just ran away from a massive crowd of onlookers, didn't seem to be on my mind as I stumbled down the road whimpering and trying not to cry. Looking back at it now, and even a little at the time actually, it was hilarious - I don't know where the hell I thought I was going, but I was determined to go there fast.

A very lucky auto-rickshaw driver saw me and offered to take me to a hotel in the town. Which was of course in the opposite direction. I went against my personal rule of not just jumping in a tuktuk with the first driver who wants to take me to a hotel where he will so obviously charge a large commission, and jumped into the tuktuk. We set off passing the remnants of the big crowd I'd just ran away from and made our way to the Hotel Lakshmi.

On closer inspection I was amazed and relieved to find that although my battery chargers were bent beyond recognition and my poor old trusty alarm clock had ceased to exist, my camera and ipod charger were in tact. I was gutted to find some of my jewellry broken but amused at how squished some of my bangles had gotten. I was over the moon to discover that my photos had been at the other end of my bag and were therefore all ok, and I was bemused to find just how flat bottles of toiletries can become when ran over by a large bus full of Indian passengers.

But you know what? The bus could have ran over me, so all in all it was a pretty good journey.


Mamallapuram

2009-09-07 to 2009-09-10

After spending a boring but quite pleasant evening sorting myself out and half enjoying/half hating being completely alone for the first time in a month and a half, I was all set for an activity full day on Tuesday.

After a 3 hour breakfast in a beachside restaurant I figured I had better get back to the plan. ON a side note - did you know that people eat jellyfish?! I didn't but there were lots of men on the beach carrying up crates and crates of the smelly stuff and loading it into a big van, apparently it was bound for places like Japan and Indonesia. Not to judge them but it looked disgusting just sitting there wobbling and jiggling away, bleurgh! I met a guy called Zak at breakfast so he introduced me to his friend Evan and we spent the day cycling round the local area and visiting some rock carvings and temples. Mamallapuram is famous for its carvings and it was clear to see why. Everywhere around the town there are people at work, hammering away on some incredible pieces everything from jewellry to temple statues for across the country. There were shops full of rows and rows of all these stone Gods and elephants and all sorts. At one point I was walking in the street and passed the usual pile of rubbish piled up at the corner, on closer inspection I noticed a small stone carving, about a foot high just sitting there amongst the rubbish. If I wasn't already having issues with my bag I would have adopted it as my own but for some reason I forsee some problems with carrying round a big rock in there.

There was also a huge round boulder precariously and strangely balanced ontop of a hill next to the temples. After the necessary photostop we were sitting chilling and trying to avoid the blokes trying to sell us stuff when a Tollywood (Tamil Nadu's version of Bollywood) film crew began setting themselves up around us. We tried to ignore them but after the cameras, set director and lights were in place it got a little crowded. When they put some massive white screens up right in front of us so that we were temporarily blinded we figured it was time to take the hint. We watched for a while as they 'stars' made their entrance and the crowds gathered to watch. Film crews in India are quite something - we think the London industry is mental?!  

We had some local lunch - still can't quite get used to the whole eating with your hands thing. I have to sit on my right hand so I avoid using it and causing everyone offence, am thinking about buying a spoon for emergencies!

In the evening the boys and I got a bus to the 'Eagle Temple'. Apparently 2 eagles fly over from Varanasi every day, we didn't see them.  

We had planned on being there for sunset but as you have to walk about 500 steps to get to the top we were a bit behind schedule. Deciding to go for a wander around the town instead, we ended up stumbling across another temple round the corner. I loved it. It was really quiet and the carving work was exquisite, there were vast corridors filled with all these intricately carved pillars and every so often a bearded man would walk past wearing only a lungi and beads  with powder all over his forehead. One of them would be carrying a plate filled with some sort of offering or food and another had incense. Walking around with the unusual lack of noise and people made it very peaceful, that combined with the rapidly fading light gave the place an eery feeling but it all just made me feel like I'd taken a step back in time and just standing watching the rituals and ceremonies they were quietly performing was really special.

After another wander round the town we eventually found our way back to somewhere we could hail the bus from - I'd say bus stop but that would be overly generous. We squiched aboard with Zak hanging on for dear life with one hand on the bar above and afew toes on the botom step - gotta love Indian buses! Unfortnuately there was a bit of an incident with getting off a litle early - not my fault, hoenst! But some friendly truck drivers took pity on us and let us squash into their cab for the quick drive back to town.

After a quick detour to watch an outdoor church service, all lit up and very pretty, we grabbed some dinner and got chatting to two dutch girls, Eva and Hanneka. And that was the end of Tuesday.

On the Wednesday I got up and had another lovely morning sitting in a beachside restaurant doing nothing but drinking banana lassi's and eating pancakes. I was finding it increasingly difficult to get my head around the change of scene. Coming from a village in the middle of nowhere to suddenly being in a beachside touristy town was messing with my head and I was missing the people loads,

I was sitting there in a little beach hut looking out at the sea and it didn't feel like India atall. I really felt like I was on an island in Thailand somewhere (amusing as thats exactly where I was a year ago). On closer inspection though there were still some signs that this was India. For a start I wasn't in summery Thailand clothes, but a big T-shirt and trousers - my 'farmers tan' arms are coming along nicely!! There were women in saris (must have been roasting) and men in lungis up and down the beach and fishermen hauling their boats onto the shore using nothing but some rope and big sticks. All of the cows milling around on the sand was a bit of a giveaway too!

Afterwards I used my bicycle some more to explore more of the town. The roads in Mamallapuram were so quiet that it was really nice just to cycle around and enjoy the view, especially without the constant threat of death from rickshaws, motorbikes and big trucks. they were still about, its just that there was room enough on the roads to avoid them for a change. I went along to the 'Five Ratha's' temple complex. Lonely Planet describes the elephant sculpture as one of the finest in India...it was certainly very big.

Went back and met the others for a second attempt at sunset over the Eagle Temple. We seemed to have boarded the party bus for the trip there. There was a bunch of young guys on their way somewhere and they spent most of the journey cheering and playing Michael Jackson/Eminem songs really loudly on their mobiles and singing along, really badly too.

The hike up the many many steps to the temple was well worth the incredible views from the top. The temple itself was quite small and covered in bizarre red and white stripes, like a circus tent. Since then I have seen them around religious buildings everywhere, all looknig like the circus has set up shop - I should really find out why. Anyways, the view was awesome and the monkeys who stole our water (and proceeded to unscrew the lids and drink away) and attempted to take our bags and various other personal belongings helped us pass the time until the sunset. As did Zak and Evan attempting handstands on the wall at THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF. Mum, I can already picture your reaction when you see the photos! Unfortunately it set behind a really big mountain. What we did see atleast looked very pretty - a luminous red sun, but then it hid behind some clouds and then the mountain so it wasn't quite what we'd expected.

That night we sat for a while and played Carron Board - a cross between checkers, tiddlywinks and pool. The kids used to play it all the time in the orphanage and it was really strange to be sitting in such a completely different setting playing the same game. A few days before I'd been sat on the floor of a shed with a group of small children, plus many others climbing/hugging/trying to play other games with m, now I was in a comfy bar sitting on cushions with music playing and 4 other backpackers drinking beer. It felt strange!

The next morning was yet another pleasant breakfast before us girls bade farewell to the lads and set of for a bus to Pondicherry.


'Life of I'

2009-09-10 to 2009-09-12

Next stop, Pondicherry - of Life of Pi fame. And if I thought mamallapuram was a culture shock from Vellatur, Pondicherry was like stepping out fo the country. It was much bigger that I'd been expecting but its French influences were obvious throughoutm, in the buildings, the street names and the food.

We found a lovely Ashram right on the sea to stay in. An ashram is basically a religious or spiritual retreat centre type place. There are certain rules you have to follow and lots of places to meditate, do yoga and basically reflect. It was so peaceful and had a lovely garden to sit in, there were signs all over the place with various meaningful philosophical ramblings and it was just generally a very nice place to stay. lus our room had a balcony overlooking the ocean, it was all just ridiculously good and I felt like I was on a luxury holiday instead of in the South of India. Infact the complete change in accomodation, noise, sights, smells, food, lack of rubbish and so on had me almost convinced that I wasn't even in the same cpuntry. Even the roads were completely different, not just because they had cars on them instead of tuktuks but because they were wide and open with no big holes, and...they had pavements!!

I spent the first day chilling on the balcony and trying not to get too used to how nice it all was. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE India, and everything about it, but having a break from the crazy lifestyle and eating some really good western food (I had pizza for dinner - though still tried to be different by having fruit pizza! Not just banana but apple and grapes too - still can't decide if I liked it!) was a welcome and pleasant change.

The next day was far more adventurous. We had an amazing breakfast - yoghurt then toast and jam. It may not sound like much but the yoghurt didn't taste sour and the toast was frshly baked bread and the jam was not just sugar syrup. Somewhat worried that I am enjoying this a little too much?!

Next up we seemed to think it would be a clever idea to take the hottest part of the Indian day, and hire bicycles and cycle 30km, so thats exactly what we did. Now, although the streets in Pondicherry were nice, they weren't as quiet as Mamallapuram. Cycling through the town with the threat of big trucks, multiple tuktuks etc was well and truly back. In fairness, they blare their horns at you when they want you to get out of the way, but I was pleased on more than one occasion to not have realised just how close big trucks and buses had pulled up behind me before overtaking with about 1 1/2 centimetres to spare!

The reason for our 30km cycle - and yes, there was one, was to visit Auroville. I'd like to tell you more about Auroville but the visitor centre complete with audio video guide didn't really tell us anything. Bascially, its an experiment in international living where everyone gets to stay for free but has to do their share of the work. Its for people from all over the world so that they can all live independantly - as citizens of thw world, not a particular country.

What I did learn - and this was from talking to a woman in the cafe who lived there, was that all the communities are different. They don't have much communication between them and many of them have problems like you would in 'normal society' like with power struggles etc. The journey was worth finding out more from her, and the gift shop was good too! As was the lok of lunch - are you spotting a theme here?!

The other big thing to see there was the giant meditation centre - a giant golden golfball/sucker toy sat right in the middle of a big field. It was very alien and apparently inside it is just white with lights and no noise etc. I would have loved to see inside but its only for permenant residents, which is fair enough. They are very closed off to visitors in many ways and you have to go through all osrts of hoops to stay there. Not really my cup of tea though the idea of the place is certainly interesting,

After the cycle back (thats always the problem with long bike rides - the return leg) we fell asleep, not surprising really, then got some dinner - 20 rupees for biryani (about 25p) and fell asleep again.

The next day, aside from a short walk on the beach, cut short by a security lady who told me it was closed, I sat on the internet pretty much all day while we waited for our overnight bus. As such I do not have anythign interesting to day about that particular Saturday.


Madurai

2009-09-13

I spent 2 nights in Madurai which is strange really given I really didn't like the place and only spent 1 day there. We arrived off our overnight bus earlier than planned (see - its really not like India!) and fell into the nearest hotel. It was ofcourse, an overpriced sh*thole! But at 5 o'clock in the morning, after very little sleep on a constantly horn blaring bus we didn't really care. After a few hours sleep and the with the realisation that those noises were coming from the toilet which was pleasantly flooding all over the floor, we cared a little more but it was too late.

We left our lovely (yuk yuk yuk) room and headed to a flower market, via some complicated ticket issues at the train station. The smells that greeted us from the market were not exactly what I would have expected from a place chockablock with flowers. Next up was the Ghandi museum, we had to wait for half an hour for it to open but a friendly cycle rickshaw driver let me have a go riding round the front garden so that was pertty cool. He also showed me postcards and pictures people had sent him from all over the world, most of them were of other randoms who, like me got a chance to cycle about. They were pretty interesting seeing the messages people had sent him and from which countries. He was pretty proud of his collection.

After lunch Hanneka and I went to the Sri ?? temple. It made the trip to Madurai completely worth it. It was fantastic. It was a mass of sprawling temples and gateways and courtyard areas all within the one compound. It was so bright and colourful, the 4 main entrance ways had a kind of tiered tower absolutely covered in carvings of various gods, animals and people. They were all painted in bright colours and towered high above you as you stepped through them. You really have to see it to get how impressive it was but until you do you'll just have to take my word for it! There were loads of people about including some kids who kept wanting us to take "just one photo" of them. We weren't allowed into some areas as they were only for Hindus but we did get to see the temple elephant. Not knowing much about elephants it was hard to tell whether it was a very happy one or not but watching it take coins from peoples hands and then bless them by tapping their heads with its trunk was really quite a sight.

Back to our luxury -5 star hotel room via some even more complicated train issues and it was farewell time to the girls, crappy film on tv (Virtuosity - Russell crowe, what were you thinking??!) and sleep before being back on my lonesum again for the trip to Kerala.


Kumily and Periyar National Park - atleast I think so...

2009-09-14 to 2009-09-16

Wasn't loving being back on my own again, combination of missing home, family, friends and the kids from the orphanage, plus being on my lonesum again plus some health issues made me feel rather sorry for myself. Note to self - listening to a certain Mr McCrae on my ipod always makes me worse! Still, I've done afew things today that have begun to cheer me up - namely washing an elephant and spending lots of money on present shopping, but more on that later!

I woke up pretty early as the hotel wanted me to check out at 5.20am - exactly 24 hours after checking in, you think they'd have made some sort of exception for a couple of hours. Having said that 24 hours in that room was probably long enough, especailly given the other reason I woke up so early was because I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes, my back looked horrendous with the bites - not good. I left Madurai without too many problems mainly because a nice man at the bus station took me right up to the door so that I couldn't possibly get on the wrong bus. I had to sit for most of the journey with my rucksack squashed onto my lap again but I'm beginning to get used to it now and I can use it as a pillow so thats nice. Plus the alternative i.e. standing with it amongst the chaos of the other 'hanging onto the door by a thread' passengers isn't so appealing. In some ways rush hour on a bus in Glasgow is similar but atleast at home the doors close so theres some sort of limit on how many people you can stuff in there. That and I don't tend to carry round over a years worth of luggage on the number 57!

I found a lovely homestay pretty easily and settled in, had a nap then went for a walk around the town. In the afternoon I went on an expedition to a tea plantation and factory. It was quite bizarre drivnig round as it was just so like the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia - Julian and Emma I thought of you two! The hillsides covered in tea bushes were just the same, which I guess is to be expected as both are covered in the same plant but even the winding roads between them were similar and I couldn't get over how long it has been since I was seeing the same things in Malaysia. We went for a tour round the factory after an incredibly boring video about the tea making process. It was definately more interesting seeing it in action rather than watching photographs of machines, and the smells were fantastic. In Malaysia I still didn't like tea but after being fed it continuously in Vellatur its a different story so it had a lot mre relevance this time! After some tea tasting (still not loving it without sugar and milk) we set off to the spice plantation.

Since arriving in India I've been waiting to see mounds of brightly coloured spices in markets and street stalls. I'm still waiting.

It's not that the Spice Garden wasn't interesting, its just that I wouldn't class flowers and coffee beans as spices. It was basically a pleasant tour around somebody's garden as they pointed out lots of pretty flowers, herbs, pepper and coffee trees. I'm assuming somewhere in India there lies fields and fields of aromatic spice plantations, I just haven't come across it yet.

I had dinner in a restuarant alone. Its not just that I didn't have a companion, its that the restaurant was completely empty. Just me and the waiter. It was the weirdest place, it wouldn't have been in Italy or France but in a small town in India it was quite odd. There was spanish/italian/french piano music playing in the background and flickering fairy lights adorned the walls, plus the solitary candle sat on my table added a romantic/sad atmosphere to the meal. I made the fatal mistake of ordering western food. Maybe I was fooled into thinking it would be ok because of the European setting. How wrong can you be. My rule of no western food in non-western countries exists for a reason. My soggy spaghetti avec tomato mush was quite disgusting!

The next morning I was awoken by knocking at my door. I'd asked someone to wake me up as my alarm clock had been smashed in aforementioned bus incident. I have since learned the poor guy was there for ages knocking politedly away and was about to fetch a ladder to hammer on my bedroom window instead. I'm kind of glad we didn't get to that stage.

I was up early for a trip into Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary - I was going Tiger Spotting! The jeep picked a small group of us and we headed into the park via a tea and parotta stop. (Parotta is like a cross between a chappatti and a roti but is intentionally broken up so that it is all flaky - delicious) There was a man with rows and rows of dough balls and he would toss them up like a pizza base then roll them back up for later when he would squash them and cook them on a hot plate, they make it look so easy! The total bill for all 5 of us was 40rupees - about 50p. I love this country!

We spent a few hours driving round the park trying to spot some animals amongst the gorgeous hillside. The fact that our jeep had the loudest screeching brakes whenever it slowed down or stopped didn't help our cause me thinks. We did see a bison on a far off hill and some black monkeys which were pretty cool. I have become ridiculously used to seeing monkeys and they are everwhere in the centre of Kumily where I'm staying justnow. The other day I passed some sitting on top of a shop sign jumping up and down tomake it rattle as hard as they could. So thats where the term 'cheeky monkey' comes from...it's not that I don't think monkeys are still cool but its almost like seeing pigeons or something now! So it was great to see some different breeds in the park all swinging about and jumping on the trees - mucho coolo!

We arrived at a fancy lunch place in the middle of the park where you can stay if you have lots of money.  don't have lots of money so I was just there for breakfast. Next up was a few hours hike through the jungle. Unfortunately despite seeing lots of evidence of wild elephants - namely lots of big piles of poo and trees that had been trampled or used as rubbing posts, we didn't actually see the animals themselves. I got a little miffed when our guide spent the whole way up a hill talking on his mobile phone - it kind of spoiled the effect a little.

After that was lunch in the fancy place again then a boat ride round a lake, no animals again aside from the biggest tadpoles I have ever seen - honestly they were as big as my hand - yuck! We did get to see a waterfall though so that was nice. 

Then a nice drive back in the jeep. We spotted a little more wildlife, a bison and some deer - again though they were so far off in the distance that I couldn't tell the difference, they both just looked like tiny brown blobs to me. We did see a gigantic spider, it was as big as the tadpole! Then a snake, because the jeep behind us ran it over - whoops. Oh, and another bright green snake that was trying to hide from us - bonus points if you can spot it in the picture!

That evening I got chatting to the lovely bloke who owns the homestay I'm at. he invited me onto the roof to share a beer - first one since final intrepid night in Calcutta - it went down pretty easy! He told me a bit about the area and how it had changed and then proceeded to tell me that I hadn't actually spent the day in Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary afterall!

Apparently the tours take you into the park - I know this because I paid the entrance fee and saw lots of signs, but then they take you out again into Gavi Park. So in some ways I was scammed, I think the main issue is that youi are on an artifical lake so there isn't much chance of seeing animals around that and the chances of seeing elephants etc are higher in Periyar. I didn't feel too bad though as there are still chances of seeing them where I was - we saw enough evidence of that, still I do wish he'd told me before I'd booked the trip instead of after! Though he is kind of held to ransom as the guys who organise the tours arrange most of the accomodation so if he bad mouths them they will do the same for him and ruin his business. Seems a little harsh.

The next morning I got up late which was nice and decided it was a good day to wash an elephant. so I did! I went along to the centre and was the only person there which was a little sad but it did mean I was spoiled with attention. I went for an elephant ride for a while and the guy who had my camera took around 70 pictures of me. He got a little carried away and even started picking flowers and then holding them in front of the camera as he took my picture - very artistic! After the trek they showed me some 'communication and commands' that the mahoots (elephant trainers) use. Pretty impressive - did you know an elephant can learn a new language in 3 months - if he gets moved then the language of the commands changes and they adjust to this in 3 months! So now you know. They can also climb onto and off the elephant using its trunk (amazing!) tail, and legs - who needs a ladder?

Then came the elephant bath, although they don't have a river so it was more like a shower, for me aswell as the elephant as it turns out. It was alot of fun and a pretty awesome new 'first' for me. Then I sat on his back and he returned the favour - i.e. showered me with tonnes of water from his trunk! I did feel like a bit of an idiot but it was fantastic fun!

later on I went window shopping which turned into real shopping. Is it not always the way?! But retail therapy is always good and none of it was for me so I didn't have to feel too guilty! I walked back to the homestay, but as it turned out I got lost - I really honestly have no idea how I do it. I stumbled across a big sign that said welcome to Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary - hmmm it wasn't the one we had used the day before so the guy wasn't kidding when he said I'd been taken for a ride.

Now it is today and I am sitting on the internet until I get a bus to Alleppy (Alephuzza). I had a nice breakfast of Parotta and toast - weird combination but it was all good.

Missing you all loads but I'm getting my groove back - seemed to have lost it at the start of this post - so that's good!


Alleppey

2009-09-17 to 2009-09-19

I had a thouroughly enjoyable bus journey to Alleppey. It really took me back to all of the journeys round Laos that I did. Rolling hills - the corners of which we took at rather fast speeds, incredible scenery, lots of green, we were in the clouds at one point, passing auto rickshaws, people, cows, motorbikes, carts, and twice - a truck trailer crammed full of ox that all had their horns painted different colours. I had a seat to myself for most of the way so that made a big difference as my bags were stuffed at my seat instead of on my lap which was a nice change. Plus I had cheesy music on my ipod including the whole Hairspray album which kept me amused for a good hour or two, I just had to remember not to sing along too loudly. - Girly reunion hairspray night is on the cards me thinks! I'd been driving alongside a river for about 10 minutes when I realised I had reached the famous Kerelan backwaters.

Arrived in Alleppey and was again commandered into going to another homestay but it had been a great success in Kumily so I went with it again. Not so much of a success this time. The first night was fine, apart from the big rat that ran along the floor while I was talking to one of the owners, who assured me it was fine as they didn't go into the rooms... I had a room for 4 people to myself which was, well actually it was a little sad, but anyways...got back from breakfast the next morning to a massive infestation of ants all over the bed. Luckily it was the other bed I'd not been using but they were everywhere. I'm used to ants and have shared many a room with a large number of them over the past 13 months (13 months that day infact!!) but the 525,612 of them were enough to make me complain and then luckily bunk up with Sung Ja - a lovely Korean girl I'd met the night before.

One of the main reasons people head to Alleppey is to experience the 300+km of backwaters. So we went off in search of a boat. One thing I'd really wanted to do was get a houseboat - its listed in Lonely Planets '20 things to do before you die' list, but it was the recommendations of other travellers that made it sound so appealing. Basically you live on a boat for a couple of days and get all your keralan homemade food cooked on board for you. It sounded great, alas it was not to be. Sung Ja had already done one elsewhere and its too expensive/sad to do it by yourself. I thought about just approaching other people but I was limited in how much time I had to camp out in the tourist office and the only group I approached looked pretty horrified - though to be fair they only really spoke Italian and were in a group of 2 couples so I wouldn't have wanted me joining them either!

I'm not sure why I just spent a paragraph telling you all about something I didn't do - maybe so you can remind me to come back here again to do it in the future. Only next time some of you will have to come with me - anyone fancy spotting a Rowerdennan weekend for one in Kerala? Its probably cheaper! Though theres likely less cider!

Anyways, it wasn't a complete loss as Sung Ja and I hired a canoe for the day. it came with its own rower though so we got to lie back and relax and eat crisps(!) for 5 hours. The backwaters really were stunning and at this time of year so so quiet which was lovely. We headed out and were soon gliding down some of the many small and narrow canals and rivers that link the backwaters all up together. They were lined with rice fields, a small number of small businesses and little houses where people have set up their homes on the thin and narrow strips of land that sit between the waters. It was bliss and over all too soon. Morrison family holiday next year M&D?!

In the evening we went to see a truly terrible film. In Kerela its not the normal Bollywood films that are popular. You can tell the difference from the language - well if I spoke Hindi I would know this wasn't it, and the fact that all the actors look like normal people which was refreshing and should be commended but also leant a strangely amateur (?) look to the film, or maybe that was just the dodgy editing. It all started off ok with singing and dancing but all of a sudden turned into a horror film where the young central character became possessed by the evil spirit of a female stick figure. Enough said.

Today we got up and left Alleppey pretty quickly.


Kochi

2009-09-19 to 2009-09-20

We got the public bus to Kochi easily - don't you love it when that happens? Sung Ja had already found us some accomodation, recommeded by another friend and it is lovely, even more so when you consider the last place we stayed. We have the place to ourselves, a balcony, a sitting area with a working television. And a fridge. Its just like being at home...kind of.

We walked around a lot and had a pretty horrible lunch. but thats ok because now I am off to a cooking class. I'm quite excited but wish I hadn't filled myself up with the Indian equivalent of kettlechips an hour ago. I'll let you know how it goes...!

...

The cooking class was good, only it wasn't so much an interactive class as a lecture. Still, it seemed fairly straightforward and it all tasted awesome so now I just need to find some guinea pigs at home - any takers?

The next day my plans for touring Kochi were a bit postponed due to the terrential rain outside. It was quite a nice excuse though - I sat in my pjamas and watched crap television for a few hours. I haven't done that for over a year and as much as it wasn't very 'Indian', it was absolute bliss! In my defence I then braved the rain and went down to the ferry port where I saw the fishermen pulling up the chinese fishing nets. they are massive old fashioned wooden contraptions that are lowered into the water using a rock and pulley system and then hauled back out again when they are full. In the right season they can pull them up every 5 to 10 minutes and have 30kg of fish in each load. The monsoon isn't the right season though and when I was there they pulled up 1 big fish, 2 smaller ones and a lot of jellyfish. I did get a chance to try my hand at the pulley system though after I got chatting to the guys who worked on it so that was quite fun. Glad I only had to do it once though.

I then walked along to 'Jew Town' to see the synagogue, which was closed. There were lots of interesting antique shops to wander through instead though so that was good. Afterwards I picked up some local lunch to takeaway - wrapped in banana leaves and newspaper, and ate that with Sung Ja infront of more crappy films (-:

That evening I went for a traditional Kerelan Ayurvedan massage. That was nice. They used a tonne of oil so I was a bit slippery afterwards but it was a nice treat. Not quite the relaxing experience I was going for though given the women chattering, horns blaring and dogs barking outside. Sung Ja and I went for another wander along the water edge afterwards which was nice, it was so busy with Indian families and tourists though it was a nice change to have more people to share the 'hassle' with. Then we ate ice cream - a good end to a good day.


Ooty

2009-09-21 to 2009-09-22

Worth going here for the name alone surely? Though with my accent I have to pronounce it "wooty" before anyone could tell me how to get there.

I was quite sad to leave Kochi, Sung Ja and the lovely homestay but I wanted to try and catch Eva and Hanneka up in Ooty. The best way of getting there from Kochi is a gorgeously scenic route on a small train up through the mountains. I hear its scenic - the train is fully booked until October so I can't say from personal experience. Instead I was faced with a walk to the ferry port - which turned into a 3km walk avec all my bags. Then a short ferry trip, a tuktuk ride to another bus station, a bus to Coimbatore and then another bus to Ooty. The final bus was packed sop I was wedged in with all my bags on my knees for a few hours. But atleast I didn't have to stand the whole way like some people did. I arrived quite late to find the place absolutely freezing. It was really dark and although it was very busy I didn't feel all that safe so I promptly got a tuktuk to take me to a hostel from the Lonely Planet. Nobody would answer the door so after an argument with the tuktuk drivers (there were 2 for some reason) as they were trying to fleece me for lots of money as I had no real choice but to go with them, they dropped me off at another big hostel. It had large english style rooms with a library and piano room and everything. I don't know if it was the freezing temperatures that made me feel like I was somewhere in the South of England, but added to the furniture, something certainly did. The bedroom was ok but it was the cold that really got to me. Ooty is South India's main hillstation and it is pretty high up, but dthat didn't stop me being surprised when, despite pjamas, socks (!!), and 3 layers of blankets I was still too cold to sleep.

The next morning (Tuesday) I got up and put on loads of layers, only to discover later in the day that it only got really cold at night. So I was pretty warm, plus had had to make do with an odd assortment of clothes as I'd previously chucked out everything warm assuming I wouldn't need it. My socks and sandals were a really good look I think.

It was a good day though and I saw, amongst other things - a thread garden. Sold as a 'miracle' of the finest artistic display in the world, it was - well it was nice I suppose. A full indoor garden made entirely by hand with individually dyed strands of thread. It took 12 years to complete. The wonder of it was also its downside in a way as it looked so realistic that until you saw a specimen close up at the end of the display, you just thought you were looking at a regular garden.

Then I walked down by the lake which was teeming with Indian tourists, many of them crowded onto paddle/rowing/peddle boats. That was the other thing about Ooty - all the young Indian men. They were absolutely everywhere and it was difficult to get any peace. More than every second group of them would shout out to me as I passed, the constant jeering got really irritating after a while but there was no let up from it the entire time I was outside.

Next up was a tribal cultural museum. Which was really interesting and had some fantastic photos. Unfortunately the bloke running it wanted to go for his lunch, so after taking my time to look at lots of bits of old pots, I only had 10 minutes to look at everything else. Still it was a good chance to see a different side to the country and the walk down the hill afterwards took me past a delicious tea shop with homemade chocolates, so I was happy.

ooty is meant to be great for trekking but the weather, lack of time and lack of proper clothes/shoes turned me against the diea. I decided to compromise with a walk up a nearby hill that was meant to have stunning views. My book advised me to go early to avoid the mist. Apparently early finishes very very early. I went up at lunchtime and half way up the hill I turned round to see - nothing, it was all covered in mist. I figured I could contine with another 6kms of walking or just admit defeat, so I admitted defeat and caught another bus back to town.

I walked back to my hotel but got lost. To be fair the directions to the YMCA instead of the YWCA where I was staying were to blame. But it was dark and it was cold and I didn't have a torch and though it was only 7.30pm it wasn't so much fun. The rest of my time in Ooty was ok. The rat in my room that kept me awake for half the night, then the blaring unexplained siren, the dog fight and the people shouting that prevented sleep for the other half, were not.

Needless to say the idylic spot I'd been expecting didn't quite materialise and I was pretty happy to be leaving the next morning.

But the name is still cool!


Mysore - really not painful atall.

2009-09-23 to 2009-09-24

The bus journey to Mysore was a nice one. Especially when we passed forrests of impossibly spindly trees stretching high into the air, and when I looked up from my seat to realise we were actually above the clouds. More and more of my bus rides in Southern India are reminding me of the trips I took around SE Asia, and Laos in particular. Theres something really nice about having nothing to do but look out of the window for a few hours at some stunning scenery and listen to music. Its always on journeys like these that I think of people and home but given I actually have a return date now its more happy thoughts than homesick ones. Its funny how many things that I'[m doing at the moment spark off memories of other things I've done and seen since last August. Sometimes they are completely unrelated and sometimes, like in Kumily (when I saw tea plantations just like the ones in Malaysia) I'm amazed that places and cultures so far apart can still have many similarities.

I arrived in Mysore where the hustle and bustle was in overdrive. It was the middle of the 10 day Dasara festival and there were people EVERYWHERE. When I finally got out of the traffic chaos I found myself a room which I'm happy to say was a huge improvement on the last one, though granted that wasn't hard and decided to go for a wander.

Now everybody assumes that India is this massive country with nearly a billion people in it. That may be true but then how come, for the 3rd time in as many months I have 'bumped into' people completely unexpectedly in random parts of the country?! It happened again in Mysore, I was walking around the market and was extremely pleased with myself as I had finally come across the so far elusive 'sign of India' - the pots filled high with coloured powder. Up ahead were Eva and Hanneka, of all the little streets, in all the markets in all the areas of the city, we happened to be in the same one at the same time. Small world? Sometimes it seems so.

We had a nice afternoon wandering around the market, lazing in an AC coffeeshop (I still can't get used to them and have never actually gone into one of my own accord. There's just something completely surreal about stepping off the manic street into cool, calm, westernised comfort. Chilling for a bit with a fancy drink or pastry - overpriced ofcourse, and then stepping over the edge into crazyness again - mental.)

We headed to the Palace, a fantastic building which is illuminated every night of the Dasara festival. It was closed for the evening but we joined the excited crowds, tried to avoid the constant stream of street sellers and had a look around, admiring how pretty it was lit by the lamps from below. The girls had to head off for their bus and about 2 1/2 minutes after they'd left they turned the real lights on. I think I'd been fiddling with my camera when the area infront of me was illuminated by 97000 lightbulbs. And we thought it had been pretty before?! It was stunning luckily managing to completely avoid looking tacky and instead being quite mesmerizing. I must have taken about 60 photos of it, none of which do it justice ofcourse.

Then I headed back to my room, realised it was a bit sad just sitting there at 9.30pm so went for another walk around the busy crowded streets. I finally tried 'jalebi' which is a traditional Indian sweet - basically deep fried sugar from what I can tell. It was sooooooo (and those extra 'o's are justified beleive me) sweet, kind of crispy with a syrupy centre. I think I managed to eat about half a centimetre before admitting defeat. Then I went back to the hotel, getting lost en route ofcourse and fell asleep, book open, lights on - just like at home!

I'd planned on staying in Mysore for a few days but had decided to catch up with E and H in the next town instead, which meant I had all the sights to cram into just one day. But I had a great time. I visited St Philomena's church, a gorgeous building with fantastic purple stained glass windows. Which I was admiring up close at the front of the church when I realised the reason it was so busy was because it was in the middle of a wedding ceremony - I hastily made my retreat.

I'd been followed for most of the day but this guy (that sounds more sinister than it was) who wanted to show me around some of the sights 'just as friends, no commission'. He ended up showing me round an older market, a small house where they were making incense sticks, 'beedees' (small Indian cigarettes which everyone smokes here) and oils. Then we ended up in a handicrafts emporium where I spent too much money about 4 seconds after saying I didn't want to buy anything. The guy was actually pretty decent and kind enough to wait for me and then show me where some other sights were, I was just about to offer to get him a drink or something when he bumped into his friend, shook my hand and ran off. No demand for money or pushyness or any obvious ulterior motive - what a welcome change. I was about to use the phrase - nice young man, but surely I'm not old enough to be uttering such things quite yet?!

I stopped off for a fantastic thali then hit the palace. The lights were fabulous lit up at night but the inside was equally fabulous. Sometimes, after travelling for this long, things begin to bleed into each other and become a bit samey, but this one really stood out. I got an audio guide which ofcourse drew even more stares than the fact I was the only white person amongst the mahoosive crowds filing past each exhibit. There was also something highly amusing about my shoes apparently, though I've no idea what was making them all laugh so much. But it was a perfect balance of information without overload. It also helped me learn that the huge domed ceiling I'd been admiring was designed and manufactured in Glasgow, Scotland!!! I was chuffed - a little bit of home in the most unexpected of places.

The rest of the palace was equally enchanting, from the huge paintings on the celing to the solid silver door in the regal meeting rooms, it was all rather impressive.

Afterward I went back to the coloured powder market so I could add to my 500+ photograph collection and then headed to the bus station.

I really liked Mysore, the excited celebratory atmosphere made the place really lively and the festival seemed to be bringing out the positives in people. I was aware of a huge number of children working at it though, either selling in the streets or serving in the restaurants and that made me sad.

I boarded the bus for what would become one of the not so awesome evenings of my trip...


Not sure why I'm telling you this...

2009-09-24

Not sure why I'm going into detail about this, but its all part of the journey I guess, and what a journey it was...

Hanneka had forewarned me the bus ride would be pretty bad in an email I'd received earlier that day. She wasn't kidding. I'd known to expect a public bus instead of a coach with comfy seats etc so that probably helped.

I got chatting to the man beside me who seemed nice enough, aside from when he kept trying to stroke my side. I wasn't sure if he was asleep or not so I just half nudged/hald elbowed him until he stopped it. When he attempted to take over more than the half of my seat he was already occupying, it was a definate elbow he received that time.

The journey would have prehaps been ok. If I hadn't desperately needed to pee. I kind of expected it so psychologically that probably made it worse. After a few hours I could think of nothing else. At one point a little earlier we had stopped at a roadside restuarant hut. I had got off the bus and stupidly asked where the toilet was. She pointed at the road and told me incredulously that 'there was the toilet'. Being the only white person who was already receiving her fair share of stares I wasn't keen for such a public audience. As a massive truck came towards us, its headlights illuminating 2 women crouched on a strip of thin grass in the middle of the road I promptly got back on the bus.

An hour or two later I was beside myself and was contemplating how and where and when to ask the driver to stop. My attempts to drown out the sounds of my own thoughts by playing incredibly loud cheesy music on my ipod were failing miserably. Suddenly, I realised we had stopped. I jumped up and was relieved to find that the old woman ahead of me was alighting for the same reason. I took comfort in the fact I wasn't alone, put her between all the men who were stood at the other end of the bus, ignored all the trucks apparently using their headlights as spotlights on my star performance and thanked my lucky stars I was wearing a skirt.

After what is possibly the longest pee in history - I was worried the driver would get sick of waiting and drive off to Hospet without me, I got back aboard a whole new woman. The old lady had stood by my side - probably wondering what was wrong with me or if every white western woman peed for soooo long, and waited with me. I'm guessing so I wasn't alone with all those men, or maybe she sensed my discomfort but regardless, I was touched by her thoughtfulness.

I sat back on the bus and didn't give a monkeys that I couldnt sleep, or my neighbour was slowly crushing me sideways or that the road was possibly the bumpiest I've ever been on so that I often felt like I was stuck inside a tin can being shaken and rattled violently to see who cracked first - the bus or the people inside. I didn't need to pee anymore and that made me smile.


Hampi

2009-09-25 to 2009-09-27

And so to Hampi. (Well, via Hospet where I sat on a bus, got told to move, the first bus left, and then 30 minutes later, finally so did we).

I hadn't slept the night before so expected just to crash when I reached my (lovely) hotel room but found I couldn't sleep so went for my new favourite breakfast - parotta. Its a kind of soft flaky indian break, that is cooked in a spiral shape and then purposefully bashed around a bit so that its easier to eat. Its not fried like most chapattis etc are and its delicious. If you get it in a local restaurant with a little sauce or potato curry it costs about 30 rupees. That's about 40 pence.

Eva came by (I'd checked into the same hotel as the girls) and we went to the Mango Tree. A restaurant with tiered seating, some cushions, a relaxed vibe, and a view of the river.

We stayed for 8 hours.

The next morning was far more proactive. Especially given that by 7am we were walking along the road towards a big hill we were about to climb. And climb it we did, we clambered up and over massive round rocks and boulders and ancient stone steps balanced impossibly upon each other. At the top we found an OK temple and a fantabulous view. It was lovely and cool because it was so early and we had the place wonderfully peaceful and silently to ourselves. Hampi has some incredible scenery, I don't understand all the geo-whatever reasons for it, something to do with large areas being underwater for years or something. Basically, as far as the eye can see it looks like God has taken handfuls of gigantic, perfectly round boulders and had a game of marbles. Everywhere there are just piles of rocks, some big ones surrounded by smaller, some solitary, some precariously balanced but cemented on top of each other. And it just goes on for miles.

I was sat on the outer rim of the temple, around the corner so that I couldn't see anything but the view of this landscape infront and almost directly below me (I was quite near the edge). And I sat, and I marvelled at how, in the manic chaotic world of India, there will be still be spots that you can find yourself secluded, quiet and pretty much alone, and they are always places of great beauty. India - it's full of surprises.

We climbed back down the other side as we were getting hungry. We avoided the Mango Tree just incase we had another case of 'the mango tree and the missing day incident' and hired bikes instead. We cycled briefly but we'd managed to choose the hottest time of the day to set off in so we decided just to chill for a bit in some temple rules we came across instead. I found a rock, in the middle of a river, finished my book (Chasing the monsoon by Alexander Frater - excellent) and lay in the sun for a bit.

Then we cycled round some more temples, is it bad that right now - I can't really remember any of them? It was a good afternoon though. It got a bit too hot so we went back to the hotel via another thali lunch, chilled and then went for dinner in an amazing italian restaurant. Almost unheard of in most of India, Eva's pizza was one of the best I'd ever tasted, Hannekas soup was delicious, and my pancake - chosen because i was so full after the thali was...well it was a dry pancake and a slice of lime so actually it was a little disappointing! (It's ok though, I went back the next day and made up for it!)

On Sunday morning I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. So I decided to get up and do my laundry. Then I realised I didn't have any washing powder left. Then I woke up again 2 hours later to Eva knocking on my door for breakfast. (yes - at the italian place. turns out Hampi's version of hash brown is roasted sweet and sour vegetables - misinformed but tasty!)

After breakfast we met our pre-arranged guide who was going to take us round another temple. As it turned out we had to refer to him as our 'friend' as he wasn't an official guide and then he wasn't even allowed into the temple with us. So effectively we paid him 100 rupees to walk with us for 2km, but he was young and quite sweet so we didn't mind too much. Though his requests for 20 rupees as a gift were a little cheeky!

We'd come to see a famous stone chariot, though I have to confess I'm not certain I'd ever heard of it. It was cool though and the temple was amazing, quite different to any others I've seen. There were all these columns that were made out of thinner, smaller ones all bunched together into one. Its hard to explain but it looked pretty. The carving was fantastic and aside from the concrete and brick monstrosities propping up the crumbling ceilings there were large parts in a good condition.

We met a man from Mumbai who walked back with us to the town where we sat for a while and watched a big show they'd put on for the Dasara festival and for the government minister that had come to town. Apparently they had spent a shed load of money on it all. But during the show I couldn't help staring at a young girl seated a few rows in front of us. She, unlike most of the audience and incidentally, all of the performers, was obviously from the local area. She was looking after a young baby girl until an adult male came and carried her away. The older girl was in dirty clothes, she didn't have that sparkling smile that so many of the other children I see or speak to here, her hair was matted and tied up in a straggling ponytail and she was just sat slumped in her chair. And I just wished that some of that money, that had been wasted on this pompous politician had gone into changing her life instead, or atleast back into the community there.

Then an even younger girl, whose dress zip was broken and open all the way down the back came and sat with us. She was lovely and full of smiles, when we left she followed us down the road. At one point she took our empty water bottle, ran away and came back with it filled up for us. Later on she asked for biscuits. She hadn't been begging atall and it didn't feel like it was what she was doing now, plus she was asking for food not money. I looked around for a fruit stall but there were none so I bought her some biscuits. Ofcourse then a small group of children materialised and ran towards me as I'd known they would. But unlike elsewhere they weren't persistent and carried on playing as we walked away.

I hadn't really given anything to beggars before that point and had tried to ...ignore it isn't the right word, but I hadn't given anybody anything really. My attitude to it is changing though. I know giving money encourages people to keep begging but is there really another way out for them? You are advised to support a charity instead, which I do, but the people living on the street or begging on trains aren't getting that help or they wouldn't be there. There are just too many for these charities to be helping them all, and, unlike in Kerela, it doens't seem like the government is doing much to help them. I guess in many ways the problem is just too big. I know there are often adults behind the scenes capitalising on using little children for financial gain. And that's why I didn't give anything to the wee girl and boy on a recent train journey, dressed up as a circus act, complete with a big ringleaders painted moustache, who were quite literally jumping through hoops (or doing a trick where they squeezed through one together) for people's spare change. But seeing them like that, they were so small, broke my heart.

Maybe it's what Alexander Frater said in his book, 'Chasing the Monsoon'. He didn't give money to someone as the smallest note he had would have fed her family for a month and giving her that amount would have been obscene. Then he instantly regretted it though it was too late to go back and find her. I'm not sure how I feel about it now. Sometimes I say yes, and sometimes no. I keep thinking of a woman in Calcutta who sat on the street with her young children, one of them screaming and the other playing on the crazily busy main road. And of the other woman who followed me and Leo around the same city. She wouldn't leave us alone for a good 10 minutes as she came after us with her tiny baby. How much did she need the money that she followed us that far? And how could I continue to refuse, blindly soldiering on despite wanting to help becasue thats what all the charities and guides tell you to do? I want to gather up all these little children who wander the trains and stations and streets, some dressed up to look cute, some performing tricks and others just looking desperate, and give them some food and some clothes, and a toy. And just let them be children.

 

I didn't mean to go off on one there and sorry that it got a little heavy. Someone said to me the other day that they loved India, but sometimes they really didn't like it. I know just what they mean.

 

The rest of my time in Hampi was nice. The nice guy from Mumbai bought us each lunch and we all had a good chat about India and its movies and music etc. I sorted some travel plans, Hanneka got attacked by a cow - it actually charged her and headbutted her and could have really done some damage. Then the girls left, I was sad to see them go as we had a good time together and it had been reassuring having a few weeks where I knew I'd probably catch up with them again. Then I did some shopping, went back to the italian place, got scared each time I had to pass by a cow, packed and went to bed.


Bus, bus, Bijapur, bus, auto, train, train, auto.

2009-09-28 to 2009-10-01

In the morning I got up and caught a bus. Then I caught another bus, longer this time (6 hours) to Bijapur. I'm pretty sure I might have been dying for a pee by the end of that junrey too but I can't really remember!

I found a hotel and quickly came to the conclusion that this wasn't really a tourist town. My first impressions of Bijapur weren't great. Coming from the relative tranquility of Hampi into the noise, traffic and muddy/cow shit combination caused by the previous nights rainfall was a bit of a shock to the system. I had a greasy lunch in a different local hotel and then set off for some sight seeing. I'd only given myself a day in Bijapur, and was doing a 12 hour detour to go there so I didn't want to waste any time.

First, I found the giant lion headed canon which was good. Largely thanks to a helpful woman who directed me and told me the top 5 sights to see in Bijapur - "thats all, see those ones then leave". Then I got followed up the watch tower to see the views by a young man (there's that phrase again - you can tell I'm a quarter of a century now can't you!) who I'm pretty sure demanded a kiss on the way back down. "Please madam!?" ... "No way!"

I visited the Ibrahim Rouza, a fantastic building. A bit like the Taj Mahal that made my 12 hour detour totally worth it (thank goodness!) There were two structures, each really big, one with a tomb and the other with grand archways and pillars thorughout. Some men gave me some leaves which they'd blessed (not sure what I was supposed to do with them but it was nice) and some young architecture students showed me around and took me down into the basement where the criminals used to be kept. It was pitch black though so I didn't stay down there for long.

On the way back to town some delightful kids asked me to take their picture. After, as I walked away and many people added to the countless others with their "hello, what countrys", "whats your good name" and"welcome to Indias" I realised something. Bijapur had some of the friendliest people I'd met. Maybe in other circumstances, or a different mood, the constant country enquiries would have got annoying but for some reason they didn't here. And it just got better. I loved the market, it was manic, bright, colourful, busy, loud, chaotic, full and lively. And everyone wanted to talk to me. Then one shopkeeper insisted on giving me peanuts and sweets, then another a piece of coconut (after he's blessed it). It was lovely, and there were practically no shouts of 'madam, buy this' etc. Everybody asked me my 'good name' or my country and though not everyone stopped to hear my answer it felt nice and welcoming instead of pushy or irritating.

The next morning I had a few hours to see the rest of my sights list so I headed off for the Golgunbaz (sp?) It was one of the reasons I'd come to Bijapur - it apparently has the second biggest dome after St Peters in Rome. (Not Paris, Rome ;-p )

The outside was very nice, though if they had finished the carving, instead of stopping it halfway through when the main dude died, it could have been truly stunning. The inside though, didn't disappoint. Especially when you climbed the 7 flights of stairsso you could walk around the inside rim of it. It was huge, incredibly high and any noise made inside it repeated itself almost 10 times. Like clapping, or whistling, or saying 'echo' (I had to, atleast once). A guy started singing and it sounded brilliant reverbating around the inner sanctum of this colossal building. It was a little surreal too but I loved it. Then another man did a little demonstration showing what it could repeat - like shaking a handkerchief, rubbing paper on the floor and lighting a match.

I sat there for a while, admiring and whistling then I went to another Jama Masid - mosque. It was fine, but I didn't need to stay there long as there wasn't really much to see.

And then my next round of travelling began. Sigh. I'd phoned the man who I'm supposed to be volunteering with in Delhi. I should have phoned him before I booked my ticket. I was now due to arrive in Delhi on the 1st October but he didn't need me there until the 11th. Drat. I needed more time than that to see what I wanted of Gujurat (the main bit I haven't been to thats between where I was and Delhi) but I was not going to stay in Delhi for 10 days just waiting. I decided to catch my (6 hour) bus to Hubli and take it from there.

I was ecstatic to reach Hubli bus station, more accurately the toilet in Hubli bus station (!) Do you see a pattern developing here? On entering I found potentially the worse toilet I have ever seen. I didn't breathe through my nose once after that first mistaken time. I decided to opt for a cubicle rather than one of the squat urinal contraptions. I only paused momentarily at the hole in the door - what difference did it make when things were this disgusting? - and quickly accepted that I had no choice but to put my bags on the floor. There are two things that I actually need a travelling companion for (obviously having one would be nice for lots of different reasons) but generally it is possible for me to handle things myself. But navigation and having someone watch my bags while I go pee, I cannot do alone.

I caught an auto rickshaw (apparently its only called a tuktuk in SE Asia - my bad) to the train station. There I learned that they couldn't change or cancel or refund my ticket. I couldn't decide if I should just forfeit the money (and in turn, miss the volunteering) or get the 36 hour train to Delhi (I'd been pleasantly getting used to the idea I wouldn't have to) and take it from there.

I was a bit stressed. I found a restaurant that was local enough to be relatively cheap and tasty without being dirty or crowded or full of Indian men staring at me. The meal and the restaurant were perfect. I had a great curry that tasted really like a coconut korma from home (but a bit better ofcourse!) and I even had a beer (my first in ages btw). It was just what I needed.

I relaxed a bit and considered my options. I'd come up with 2 possibilities and despite it meaning the timing and eventual end route being ridiculously messy I went with Plan B. Well we come up with them for a reason right?

Then I caught a train for 37 hours to Delhi. I had a top bunk in the sleeper class and there were no women or other tourists and I didn't feel quite as comfortable as usual - largely because, unlike usual, noone talked to me. So I sat/lay on my bunk for about 36 and 3/4 of those 37 hours. I travelled from the South of India to the North and I couldn't even look out of the window!

I arrived in Delhi, bought a ticket for a train to Chandigarh. Got confused by the unhelpful ticket staff. Learned my train departed in 10 minutes time. Ran down the platform. Jumped on the train. Jumped off the train when the carriageful of men helpfully advised me to go to the womens carrriage. Squeezed myself onto the mentally overpacked womens section (people lying, standing and sitting everywhere). Got help from a girl who asked a staff member to help me. Got off the train again. Moved down to the practically empty sleeper section and sat down. Phew.

I still have no idea if I was sat in the right place, the inspector kind of stared at my ticket for ages then handed it back to me without a word. But it seemed crazy that I was sitting in a deserted carriage when 2 minutes previously I had been faced with squiching into an overloaded, hot, crowded section with all my bags, where all those poor women were still sat. It was like I'd witnessed something real and was then quickly whisked back to my sheltered version of the train journey.


Chandigarh

2009-10-01 to 2009-10-02

I got an auto to a hotel (all of them in Chandigarh were horribly expensive) and had a well earned shower. Then I watched Harry Potter. For the millionth time in the past few days I wished I could have made some phonecalls and spoken to people at home. But the rain and the lack of phones made it a bit difficult.

((Happy Birthday Poppy!))

On Friday, refreshed and still happy to not be on a moving vehicle I went out to see Chandigarh. Unfortunately I had to catch a local bus first. I was crowded at the station, again I don't think Cahandigarh sees that many tourists, and certainly not ones waiting on the public bus. Atleast thats what it felt like, I really don't get whats so fascinating! There was one guy who didn't really speak any English and just kept grinning at me. He didn't really speak to me but ended up getting off at the same stop and then 'accompanying me' to the Rock Garden I was there to see, despite having suggested he was going somewhere else beforehand. Then his friend joined us out of nowhere.

The rock garden was really good. Lots of waterfalls and sculptures made out of all types of household items, from bangles and bottle tops to electrical sockets and scrap metal. I have to admit that I 'lost' my two new friends about half way through. Maybe I was too rude but when the only English the guy really had was 'please give me a kiss' I decided I wasn't really up for company.

Next up was the High Court. I walked around a lot but didn't really see anything that special though I did meet a friendly bloke in the small museum. He asked me to explain the Scottish government system which I tried to. And the Scottish legal system which I couldn't. Mhairi - I told him if you ever came to India you would go and explain it to him!

Then it was to the artifical lake for a spot of lunch. It was nice enough but not as amazing as the guidebooks all make out. Then I rickshawed it to the art gallery. I'd been really looking forward to it but it was closed for Ghandi's birthday, typical!

There was a school photography exhibition on next door though so the afternoon was salvaged a little bit by that. Especially given there were some pictures of a couple walking though a park in Glasgow!!  - like I said, in the most unexpected of places!

My plan had been to go book an overnight bus then spend a few hours doing this blog. As it turned out the bus journey was shorter than I thought and there was one leaving 2 minutes after I got to the station. So for the numerous time in 24 hours I found myself on another flipping bus. It was an AC coach though so that softened the blow.


Amritsar

2009-10-02 to 2009-10-03

For the record, so far today I have written 5615 words on this blog (yes, I added them up). Thats like 1/3 of a dissertation. I'm tired. And its dark outside. And I really hope that you come online soon mum so I can stop blogging for a while and speak to a real person!

I didn't arrive into Amritsar until close to 11pm and I was anxious that everything would be closed for the night. I needn't have worried. The place was absolutely buzzing. When the auto dropped me off at the Golden Temple (Sikhs holiest shrine) I was met with crowds of people all moving around and talking as if it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It wasn't though, it was 11.30pm and I still hadn't really recovered from the last few days travel so I found the free backpackers dorm, with some help from another backpacker chap who was just leaving the temple and collapsed onto my new bed.

In the morning I was woken by Sikh men coming into and out of the dorm room shouting and women turning on all of the lights and sweeping around the beds. I got chatting to 2 girls, one aussie called Claire and an Alaskan named Ryann who had arrived even later than I had. It's just so much easier to meet people when youre in a dorm room. We decided top go and grab some breakfast. Alas my favourite parotta doesn't seem to exist up here and we were presented with what looked like a fired chapatti instead - gutted!

After breakfast we had a wander round the temple. It was great. The main attraction is obviously the golden building in the middle of the central lake but the surrounding white buildings were impressive in their own right. We were beckoned over by an older Sikh man who proceeded to give us an hours education in Sikh history and culture. He was joined by another couple fo men but every time they tried to talk - even when he had asked them to - he ended up cutting them off with a 'no, no, no, let me explain properly'. It was highly amusing. It was an interesting chat and they gave us some chai too which was lovely.

Then it was lunchtime. A common feature in any gurdwara (from my limited experience) is the communal kitchen. (Remember the chapatti machine in Old Delhi?!) But the sheer scale of the operation for this place was tremendous. For 24 hours a day people file into the large dining hall to receive their free meal of chapatti and dhal. Its open to anyone and we were among them. The food was actually pretty good - maybe they can teach the NHS a thing or two about mass catering? Though you don't get much time to eat it. The emphasis was definately on fast food; sit down in your place in line, get your food, eat and go, so the next shift can come in and do the same. If it was impressive inside the dining hall, it was also something else outside. Men and women were say peeling humoungous piles of onions and garlic, everyone pitching in together to create a remarkably smooth operation.

Obviously a donation is preferred but they are basically providing hundreds of people with free food, and many others with free accomodation. I've always found the Sikh religion to be incredibly generous, open and welcoming and it was all present in bucketloads at the Golden Temple.

I did feel a bit uncomfortable at times though because everywhere in the accomodation complex and surrounding the temple itself - all around the entrance and on each side of the water pool, were people sleeping. I'm not sure if they had tried to get accomodation indoors, there were certainly always crowds around the reception area. Many of them seemed to prefer to sleep out there in the open anyway, it was cooler and perhaps sleeping in the grounds of their holy temple meant more to them than getting a bed in a dorm room for the night. But I did feel a little guilty sometimes when I walked past them all into the backpacker dorm.

Next up we joined with Stephan, a nice German bloke and Yana a Londoner from Russia, to go get a jeep to the Pakistan border.

Going to the Pakistan border sounds dangerous. It wasn't, but it was hilarious. Thousands of people, largely Indian tourists but with a fair whack of us westerners, crowded into stadium type tiered seating lining each side of a small road that leads up to the gate between the two countries. Suddenly some of the Indian soldiers start to yell, more like one long droning yell than actualy shouted words. At various points the yelling stops, changes or starts again. And at other points different guards do the craziest marching I've ever come across. It was all fast striding half run/half walk combined with chin smacking high kicks that would have made the most flexible of ballerinas proud. It was bizarre, surreal, crazy, and exellent.

Watch this video if you want to get the idea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC9NeJh1NhI and thats not speeded up!

We didn't have the best view and despite some seriously stern looking Indian soldiers doing what they could to keep everyone ordered and seated our view was normally blocked by the hundreds of people stood up to see over the tops of the people who were stood up in front of them. But we saw enough to get the idea.

What was really interesting was looking over onto the Pakistan side. The crowd on that side was much smaller, and I didn't spot any tourists on their side of the gate. The women were also dressed very differently, covered largely head to toe and sitting on a seperate side form all the men. But they were giving it just as much welly with the air punching and cheering. From what I could tell at that distance anyway.

We got stuck in a traffic jam or people and taxis on the way back but eventually made it back to the temple where we went for dinner in a local restaurant. The food was ok. The mouse constantly scurrying back and forth between and under the tables was not. We went back to the room, I got told I had lovely skin (the predeeding words mumbled quietly, the word 'skin' said much louder into my face) by a decidedly creepy passer by. Then Ryann and I decided to have a look round the temple in the nighttime. It was still crowded with people at that late hour, many of them beginning to settle down for the night on the cool marble inside the temple complex. The temple is only closed for a couple of hours each night, for cleaning but we managed to get inside and just sat watching the people around us for a a while. It was great. The place is kept impeccably (sp?) clean. There were even some men on the domed golden roof polishing it under the (full)moonlight!

We sat for a while and spoke to some younger boys. One of whom informed me that he was going to come travelling with me and that he didn't need a job to pay for it because I was 'his money'!! Kids these days....I'm definately not old enough to say that yet?!

Up the next morning, I had cornflakes for breakfast. maybe mediocore news to you, but it was a big deal for me. First time I'd had cereal in as long as I can remember and it was great. Stale mind you, but still good!

Then it was back to the bus - I knew it was too good to last!

 


McLeod Ganj

2009-10-04 to 2009-10-07

The bus was longer than we'd expected and we had to get two of them but we arrived in Dharamsala eventually, and after another quicker bus, we were in McLeod Ganj.

We were greeted by the usual barrage of guys telling us of the 'best hotels in town'. It was pretty late by this point so we spoke to afew of them and decided to check out a hotel for only 250rupees that was "just five minutes away"...oh how i laugh now!

It wasn't the timing that was the problem so much as the hill we had to climb to get there. Then we were told it was "just down some steps, not far, not far". Hmmm. I kid you not - 240 downward, rickety, crumbling and often steep steps later we reached the actual hotel. Which by the way included some more up and down flights of stairs till we saw our room. If I had been alone I'm not sure I would have gone that far, each time we stopped for breath and I asked/whined "are we nearly there yet" I was met with a "yes, yes, just one minute". I was more than a little peeved. It wasn't just that I felt like I was being taken for a mug, it was that each step I took downwards was another I would have to hike myself and my bag up later. And I didn't like the idea of that at all.

Really, its quite a clever technique, get people so exhausted that the mere thought of having to do it all again on the way up is enough to make them take whatever room you offer them so they can delay that pain for as long as possible. Luckily, for us (and for the hotel owner too I reckon) the room was actually quite nice. There weren't enough beds but he gave us an extra matress, it was large and clean and we really were paying pittance for it. So it could have been worse.  My fuming began to subside. Atleast the hike up the steps (I'm really not exaggerating when I say hike you know) each day would be good for me.

The next morning, after our hike (am I going on about those steps a little too much?!) we had breakfast in an amazing little french type place. All fresh fruit and juice and homemade jam. We sat there for a while and chilled really. Then we headed for a walk, had a chai stop in a little hut at the edge of the mountain which was definately sloping towards the edge. I could feel myself involuntarily sliding backwards with each sip! Then Ryann and I took it upon ourselves to do a spot of shopping.

McLeod Ganj is the home of the Tibetan government in exile and most of the population are from Tibet. The culture, the food, the people, the atmosphere and the shopping are all completely different, I felt like I'd stepped off the bus into another country.

There were other things which set it apart from the rest of India too, the scenery was incredible for starters. I'd woken up that morning to open the door and be greeted my fabulous mountains right on our doorstep (it had been too dark to see them by the time we arrived the previous night). Some of them even had snow! - A novelty for Claire whose never touched the stuff, being from Perth and all that. It actually felt like we were right up amongst the peaks. It was all so green and every path we went down looked over onto views that dropped away beneath us over more hills and little waterways. It was pretty alright really! McLeod was also much quieter. There were so few vehicles that whenever one did toot or blare its horn behind me I felt quite outraged that it just be so rude as to disturb the peace and quiet! Yup - very different to the rest of India! The food was all about momos, tingmo (steamed bread) and thukpa (steaming hot tibetan noodle soup - MmmMmm) though there was a lot of western stuff too. The main reason for that is also the other reason McLeod felt so different - all the tourists!!

In some ways it was nice that there were so many people around, but in other ways it was just plain weird. It started on the bus on the way over there. While Amritsar had been quite touristy I'd expected that for its obvious star attrtaction in the Golden Temple and its proximity to Delhi but when I got on the local bus to head towards McLeod I was shocked to find it full of white people! I've gotten so used to being the only tourist on a bus, indeed I don't normally see anyone on the bus, in the bus station, or anyhwere near all the other ones I pass on hours and hours of journeys so finding more tourists than local people on that bus journey was a bit of a shock to the system. That only increased the more time I spent there. We went for dinner that night and as we were eating a crowd of Americans and Europeans flooded in having just come from an open mike night across the street. It was like being in an American campus bar or something. And I felt really out of sync for a while. It was like being forced into a party you don't want to go to where everyone is talking but you're not taking any of it in. And i felt old. Which is ridiculous as many of them were probably older than me (maybe, actually, probably not...)

At the start of this trip I probably would have welcomed that many potential people to talk to and while one of the best parts of travelling can be the people that you meet, that many westerners, in a bar with western music, food and drink, felt like a violation somehow. Its probably just that it took me by surprise but its also that after all this time travelling, being somewhere authentic, even if that means being there alone, seems more important to me now.

 

Oooh - I forgot, that same night Claire and I had gone along to a local community centre to watch a Tibetan movie. It turned out to be a kind of student film about trying to preserve the old traditions. There was some singing and dancing, a wedding, a love story, family drama and a sad story about a grandmother. It was pretty basic with some dodgy camera work and questionable editing. It was all...completely random. - I loved it!!

The next day was my birthday. So much for reassuring myself last year when I was all homesick that atleast I would be back home for this one. Still, I was with people, instead of being along, on a flight, and the only person I talked to all day being an 80 year old Swedish man.

We went for a walk up a hill to a pretty waterfall, then up further to a little cafe where anyone who feels like it can take a slap of rock and paint it. The garden area was full of big and small pieces of artwork. Most of them quite fantastic, people had obviously spent ages on some of them and some were 3 and 4 feet high. There were religious paintings and cartoons and fabulous portraits and lots of others besides. Well worth the walk, plus we were above the clouds too at one point so that was pretty special, pretty cold too actually.

We went to a little temple afterwards that was almost as bizarre as the gold and silver ones I saw in Chaing Rai in Thailand (the ones with the Matrix murals on the wall...) It was quite small but even now I'm still not sure if it was actually a fully functioning temple or merely intended as some sort of fairground attraction. It was bright and colourful on the ground floor which was nice, and fairly normal. But then you squeezed through this lions head shaped doorway onto a narrow cramped staircase that took you upstairs into a half shrine/half amusement arcade. It had all these shrines but without meaning to be disrespectful they just seemed comical. It was just like a tunnel you would get in a themed house at a themepark and was more than a little odd. Then you clambered back down another staircase and through another animal shaped gaping mouth to the bottom again. Like I say - odd.

This is perhaps the first birthday I have actually eaten (and thoroughly enjoyed) cake. So thanks to Claire and Ryann for supplying it. Granted it was basically biscuit with chocolate mousse on top but it was called Bhagsu CAKE so thats all that mattered. Alas you can only buy it in that little town of Bhagsu so it will be back to the dairymilk again next year. When I should be home for my birthday... ... ...

For a special treat for dinner we went to McLeods fancy restaurant (read: expensive). But hey, if it was good enough for Pierce Brosnan (theres a pic of him eating there on the wall) then it was good enough for us. We had a bottle of wine. First wine in months and months, longer if you don't count the goon. Happy Shona.

-Thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes, I can't wait to celebate all of the birthdays etc (mine and yours) that I've missed together when I get home.

The next morning we went back to that lovely french place for brekky then headed to the Tibetan museum. One thing Ive liked about travelling has been learning more about places and cultures while you're actually there, in the place you're reading about. Granted I wasn't actually in Tibet but being surrounded by all the people whose lives have been directly affected by what is happening over there made what I was reading about all the more moving. Afterwards we went up to the main temple complex, surrounded by monks like I hadn't been since SE Asia. It was nice inside and we each took our obligatory turn of each of the prayer wheels lining the walls. I'm still not sure I get the deal with all the offerings they leave at the shrine though, not that I don't like oreos and snickers (well actually, I don't like snickers) but I'm not sure I understand the religious significance of them...

Then it was time for a rush round trying to get a lastminute bus ticket for that evening - see the problem when there are so many more tourists to compete with?! Then lunch - fantastic tibetan soup, full of vegies and noodles, I was well and truly stuffed by the end of it (sorry dad). Then it was time.

Time for the pain. Time for the slog. Time to take on what I'd been dreading. Time for the hike. Time, for the climb back up the steps. All 240 sometimes crumbling, often steep, always upwards of them.

Only we had spotted a car make its way somehow to the previously thought blocked off bottom of them, so we hopped in a taxi and paid too much money so that we could get a lift up there with our bags instead!!

It was here I left the girls - and forgot to give them my share of the taxi fair (sorry again girls) - and went off for my bus. I had to get a jeep first which refused to leave for the station until it had fitted 4 more than was possible into the back of the boot. Upon arrival at the station, and by station I mean a fair old walk down a path and some more steps away, the driver got my bag off the roof and promptly let it fall pretty much on top of my head from a great height. Nice.

So although the journeys to get to and away from McLeod Ganj weren't the greatest, the bit in the middle was good. It was relaxing, and quiet and chilled and full of lovely people, nice food, gorgeous scenery, a fascinating culture, a welcome change of scene and pace and a good time to have some girly company.


Rishakesh

2009-10-08 to 2009-10-10

My night on the bus didn't involve much sleep but it did involve me snatching reading time whenever the bus stopped long enough to justify turning its lights back on. I had been trying to read under the faint glow from the reading light of the monk sat in front of me but then he turned it off to go to sleep. Incase you're wondering my light was broken.

And yes, this was on the expensive tourist bus that in addition to broken reading lights, had electrical sockets to charge ipod batteries etc but no power and AC that didn't work. See, I still maintain that you may as well just get the cheaper local one anyway.

The bus dropped me in the transit town of Dehra Dun at about 5am. Alot earlier than I'd expected. There was a group of Israelis on my bus but they seemed to want to do their own thing so after a quick realisation that a share jeep wasn't going to happen with them, and probably wasn't going to happen atall at 5am in the pitch dark I wandered over to the bus station. I was advised there would be a bus by 6am. Nice one. I sat where I was told to and waited. 6am came and went. As did the 3 other times I'd been told a bus would too. I asked 2 more people, including the man sat along the bench from me if I was in the right place and they both told me that I was.

I wasn't.

At around 7am I moved to the right busstop and 5 minutes later was aboard a bus, granted i was sharing it with about 20 half built dining chairs, but still. I wasn't actually that bothered about my 2 hour wait. It meant I would arrive in Rishakesh when the hotels were actually ready for people to check in and not too early. And I got to finish my book.

I got off the bus but was still a ways away from Rishakesh centre itself. There were no more buses it seemed and nobody around to share an auto with again. Unfortunately for me, all the drivers knew this. After hiding in a cafe to have a drink and escape the swarm of them that were following me the second I steped off the bus I braved the throng. I didn't have much of a choice but to get completly overcharged for the brief journey over to the centre. The drawbacks of travelling alone. I'd decided I wanted to stay somewhere nice again and not just go for the cheapest or the first place as is so tempting after a long journey. I found a lovely, big, clean room for 150rupees - 2 pounds. I love this country!!

I slept for a bit, hampered by the fact my room happened to be directly above the town jeep stand - bring back the quiet of MG. Spent the rest of the day online but somehow am still not caught up on this flippin' blog yet!?

Next day I went up the massive temple in the centre of Rishakesh. To be honest it was quite disappointing. The view from the top was fantastic and the spiral type design (LP describes it as a tiered wedding cake which is kind of accurate) was cool. But the temple itself is like a crappy shopping centre. Its basically loads of little booths and some of them have shrines and then some of the are selling jewellry, watches, pens and the like. It just didn't feel particularly holy.

Next up, time for a walk over to the Ashram that the beatles made famous for their 'White Album'. I was tricky to find given its pretty much hidden in the undergrowth. There was still an entrepreneurial indian man there though who refused to open the gate until I'd given him 100 rupees. I compromised at 50. I'm not sure the gate was even locked and the makeshift sign he'd posted up there wasn't fooling anyone. But you gotta give him credit for trying.

I'm not even really sure which songs are on the White Album but still there I was scrambling through overgrown bushes, tree roots and over rocks to check out the ruins of where they made it. Ridiculous really. It was a pretty eery place, all hollowed out buildings and broken windows. As I ventured further down the deserted path I considered how safe this might actually be. For some reason I continued. I think it was because there was literally noone about, you couldn't even hear anyone else, again f\very unusual for India. But then again, the fact there was nobody around to hear my scream would probably have counted against me should anything of happened. I know this sounds dramatic but its becasue it reminded me so much of the set from a crappy teen horror flick, an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere in a far off country...

I took a peek inside a bigger building and tiptoed down a dark corridor which opened out onto a huge hall, with high ceilings and a large stage and windows that went from floor to ceiling. I don't know what it was used for in the past but it was freaking me out completely. As I tiptoed back down that dark corridor to the outside world again I bemused about how surreal the whole place was. Then I heard rats down some of the pitch black corridors that ran off of mine and I walked much faster.

There was a small Indian man on the path outside who looked at me with an amused smile as I hurried on past him.  Then I saw 2 European tourists who were scrambling through a large hedge being led by some guide infront of them shouting encouraging "its just through here, nearly there" as they obviouslty wondered what the hell they were doing there too.

In the afternoon I went to a yoga class, as you have to do in Rishakesh really. The town is full of slim people carrying yoga mats and making me feel unfit. The realisation during the class that I am no longer able to touch anywhere near my toes made me feel worse.

I had dinner with 2 lovely Americans I met in the class and then joined them in the morning for another one. We're a bit keen! I actually felt pretty good after them, more energised and bendy. Though I'm just not sure I believe myself when I say I'll do this 3 times a week when I get home.


Haridwar didn't go exactly to plan...

2009-10-10

Hmm, yes..Haridwar...

I was nice and relaxed after my yoga class in Rishakesh and set off for Haridwar. I walked across the large bridge, up the steps and through the village towards the auto stand. I knew that all I had to do was jump into a shared auto and I would get to Haridwar nae bother. Hmm.

There was nobody heading to Haridwar at the time I needed to and nobody seemed willing to take me for less than a small fortune. My sense of what constitutes a small fortune has adapted dramatically for the purposes of India you understand!? Being my stubborn self I said I would wait until some more people showed up. As had worked so well for the boat trip to DonDet in Laos. Alas, it wasn't happening this time. But I was adamant I wasn't going to pay so much to an auto guy when I knew he was totally ripping me off, out of principle you understand. So, being rather too stubborn probably, I grabbed up my bags and started walking off up the road. I was beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea as the bus stop was miles off and no other autos were stopping, and I was dreading having to go back, tail between my legs to ask for a lift anyway, when an auto pulled up and offered to take me for a fraction of what the others had been charging. Result! I did have to share the auto with atleast 100 other people but that was ok.

I got dropped off at the bus stand and an hour or two later was in Haridwar. I couldn't decide how long to stay as there were only a few sights that I wanted to see so figured I would dump my bags somewhere and then failing the train, get a night bus into Delhi later. I walked to the train station and waited for forever in the "queue" for the ticket counter. It was all downhill from there.

I waited in the queue with all my bags. Eventually I gave up and found a man in an office further down the station who told me I could get one but I'd have to go and book it at that counter. I walked to the cloakroom to leave my bags so I could just look around the town. They wouldn't let me without a train ticket. I went to another counter to get a cheap ticket. I waited there for atleast 3 years. I gave up on that counter. I felt myself going slightly demented so went and sat down quietly for a while. I decided to try once more for a train ticket. I waited at the first counter again. This time it was even worse. People shoving, nobody being served, me with all my bags trying to edge a little closer. I gave up. I stormed off thinking I'd just get a room for the night and worry about a train later. I carried my bag round a number of hotels and even checked out a few rooms. All were over priced or pretty disgusting. I walked a bit further.

Then an idea came to me...I walked back to the bus station. Thought sod this for a game of soldiers and got on a bus. I said sorry to Haridwar, and went to Delhi instead.

 

As an aside - if we happen to ever have a conversation about this day, please do not ask if I could have saved myself the bother and just got a direct bus from Rishakesh to Delhi instead. Because I could have done that but I prefer not to think about it. Plus - where's the adventure in that?!

 


Delhi again, this time with extra shops, scanning, convents, fireworks, filming & possible parasites

2009-10-10 to 2009-10-23

My arrival in Delhi demonstrated how much I seem to have developed as a 'backpacker' since I got to India. things just went so much smoother upon arrival this time. I got off the bus and followed by lots of auto men shouting at me to get in their autos. I took my time, asked some people and discoverd a stand that got me an auto for a fraction of the price the guys had been shouting at me.

Then, on arrival in paharganj I looked around for hotel and managed to find a lovely room complete with tv (oooh, fancy) and got the price right down. So i was rather pleased with myself really.

I spent a couple of days in...its now 3 weeks since i last updated this so im all set for some major blogging. the keyboard here is crap though so please excuse any mitsakes! oh, that doesnt account for spelling though does it?!

On my first morning back in Delhi i tried to go on a street tour, led by former homeless kids that id heard was excellent. it was one of the reasons id come back to delhi earlier but ended up being shut that day - bah. got a rickshaw - it took me round the corner then said (the driver, not the rickshaw itself) that he wasnt allowed to go any further and demanded 60 rupees! again having a little more exerience than last time I refused and was in the middle of a 'heated exchange' when a younger guy came up and tried to help. He ended up waiting with me, putting me on the right bus, paying my ticket and showing me which stop to get off at so that was lovely. I found my way to the dolls museum - one id considered going to back in June. It was...full of surprises. It started off well but, and im not sure why i didnt consider this before, after a short while it got a bit creepy. Lots of dolls lined up in glass cases staring at you. It was like a horror film, especially the ones that had missing eyes or the ones where you could tell you only had to sneeze in their direction and their precariously balanced heads would come rolling off their lifeless (and sometimes mismatched) bodies. Shudder. There seems to be have some confusion though as some boy dolls were dressed as girls and viceversa and some face colours didnt match the rest of the body, some had broken necks, there was a beautiful female puppet but someone had colored her face in, there was just alot of weird stuff going on!

The museum collection was endless, with collections from around theworld, including I am pleased to report, a scottish section complete with kilts and bagpipes etc. It wasnt all because they were made in that country, and some of the stereotypes images were hilarious. Some seemed a little off. There were dolls with huge mustaches from Argentina, cool looking dudes from Cuba, 'lederhosened' (sp?!) up dolls from Germany, bullfighters (complete with bull) from Spain, nuns from Ireland, royal queens from England, sporty types and a GWB lookalike for America, it was fantastic. Loads of them were doing activites you might associate with their country like sports, weaving and dancing. Some were simple, some were absolutely beautiful and some, well as i said they were just creepy, the Goldie Hawn Zombie for example. I think the weirdest activity i spotted was the Hungarian doll that was breastfeeding, educational i guess but definately a first for my eyes! There was a section which showed all the different types of dress across India and one display showed you exactly how to put on and wear a sari (ridiculously complicated for your information).

Every kind of situation and country seemed to have a representative, many reminding me of places ive been this trip, like the floating market set up from Thailand. As you can see from my extended rambling on the subject, i really quite liked the place, once id gotten over the creepyness ofcourse. It was an excuse to act like a big kid again though i'll be honest in that is much more fun when you havesomeone there to share the high pitched giggles and exclamations of shocked surprise with. For some reason the 'made in Tiawan dolls' from Taiwan amused me quite a bit.

After the dolls I went to a crafts museum. Largely because it ws free. Its stopped being free since my guidebook was written. There were some lovely pieces including a reconstructed beautiful wooden haveli (courtyard) and some fabulously detailed (though boooooo) ivory carvings. A village had been set up outside with fake houses and market stalls so that was also cool. I followed it up with a visit to the Ghandi Smriti museum Id been to before. Its such a lovely museum with helpful staff, nice peaceful gardens and interesting displays. Information overload caused me to give up a little prematurely though.

The next morning I got a horribly long auto ride largely involving sitting in traffic inhaling pollution. But I got to Noida eventually. Noida is a suburb just outside Delhi and I was going there to do some voluntary work for a Scottish charity called 'Mary's Meals'. (If i was more technically minded like Yvonne I would make that a link but I crap so google it if youre interested - they do good things). I spent most of the day chatting to Joson (the lovely man who runs the India side of things) and getting to grips with the office and the organisation. In the evening we went for a walk around the area and ended up in a fancy shopping centre. I found myself in a supermarket instead of at an open air stall, and then before I knew it we'd wandered into a fancy cross between Ikea and habitat for 'a quick look'. It was air conditioned, quiet, neat and expensive - even by UK standards. And it completely freaked me out. i know most countries have a fair amount of divide between their richj and poor (just look at Pollokshields) but knowing I was in India but standing in the middle of what is now such a foreign setting to me, well I didn't like it much. It may be because I'm well aware that im approaching the end of this trip and I didnt expect to be in a shop like that until I was home or maybe it was just the sheer contrastg between that and the India I have gotten used to, the other side to india that is often overlooked becasue of the Indian stereotype. What i love about travelling, and India expecially, is that its a culture that is so completely different to my own so being abruptly taken out of that and plopped into Delhi's answer to Silverburn did not sit comfortably atall!

Afterwards we got momos and tghe next day i spent the whole day throwing up. here I was in a modern, clean, westernised house for the first time since I got to India and its the first major incident of stomach bug that I've had. I won't go into more detail than that you'll be pleased to hear.

Ovedr the next few days I recovered and got to work on some mary's meals stuff. One day Joson and I went along to a school that they had set up in a nearby slum. It was set up with money from Tesco India (largely to impress their UK colleagues I think). There were lots of Tesco UK bigwigs there and i'm pretty sure they wondered who on earth I was. The kids were really sweet and sang them a song and presented them with some flowers and stuff. It was nice to be on the other side and not the one being spoiled with gifts this time. The school was partly ran by nuns, in the evening we went to visit a local convent for a cup opf tea and I met some more nuns there. Nuns are lovely and welcoming, I'm not sure ive ever met so many of them in one place or at one time before but they were all lovely.

I spent afew days working on the newsletter I was making for them, filing, scanning photographs and doing general office/communication stuff. Sitting in an office for most of the day was very odd but in some ways it was a nice change from the usual non stop travel - not sure i'll feel the same way about it when its back home in Glasgow right enough...

We went to see another Bollywood film called 'All the best'. It was good but I'll save you the plot this time. I'm not sure i could explain if I wanted to.

It was Diwali while I was there. And it was insane. We covered the gates and walls of the house with tealights (bought in Glasgow!) and hung some fairy lights from the balcony. It all looked really pretty but you should haev seen the other houses in the area. many had fairy lights pouring over them from the roof to the street like waterfalls. Then we set off a tonne of fireworks, all over Noida people were doing the sme. There were flashes and bangs everywhere, not just in the sky but a heap of them littered the street, firecrackers and spinning whizzing things that just spun round for 10 seconds veering dangerously close to cars and people before the fizzled out. Then there were the ones that shot out jets of pure white light and sparks (abit like the natural gy\eyzers in NZ). We even had SPARKLERS!!

What was unnerving though was the safety situation, or rather the lack of it. There were people, and children too i might add lighting fireworks all over the place, walking up to them if they didnt go off properly, kicking the spinning ones so they would whizz faster - it was completely bonkers. And I thought holding a sparkler at arms length with no gloves on was a punishable offence! I commented that the safety levels were a bit different to home and was niformed 'yes, there will be lots of accidents, just see tomorrows paper'.

The other side of it was the noise, deafening, bangs, cracks and claps in surround sound. They kept letting off big bangers next to me so that i would scream as loud as the banger had been, jump a foot back into the air and run back into the huose, which of course everyone found hugely amusing.

After a lovely Keralan meal (thankyou to the girls!) Josno went up to the roof to watch more of the show. We even climbed up the precariously balanced rickety wooden ladder right to the top so we could get a 360 view. It was woth it because no matter where you looked the sky was alight with glittering stars and sparks. Each time it seemed to cease all you had to do was whip your head round to catch more of the sme to your left, right, back again. I kept waiting for th levels to dip, it ws like a huge finale that just kept going. The air was full of smoke and the grund was covered in the cardboard remains, eventually i went to bed and somehow managed to fall asleep to the bangs and wizzing of the glittery ones that sparkle as they fall down (my favourites). That must be what war sounds like.

I think this post is getting too long - part two coming up...

 


part 2

2009-10-10 to 2009-10-23

...

I took a day off from the newsletter stuff to go into the centre of delhi to post a parcel. Ah, the joys of the Indian postal service once again.

On the way into the centre it was like a whistle stop tour of 'been there done thats' of all the sights Id seen when I was there back in July(?). Needless to say when the auto driver found the post office, he had considerable difficulty in doing this, they didnt have anyone to pack the parcel for me (you need to get it sewn up into this fabric stuff or they wont send it for you), i walked back to the one I'd used before. the same wee man was there but he refused to do it because it was 4.40pm and he said he didnt work after 4.30. My pleas for help were ignored until someone appeared and said he would, he marched me across the road to behind a small drinks stall and out appeared cloth, boxes etc, so random. thats the thing about India, its frustrating and if you have a plan things will rarely work according to it but there will always be a wee man or an alternative route to sort it out for you. You may reach your goal by unexpected means but somehow (normally) it just works. I had another palava as they wouldnt send it, despite being open for another 3 hurs, then i walked back to the other one, and they wouldnt either, unless by extra expensive special post, if this sounds boring to listen to, it was more boring actually doing it all.

The night didnt exactly improve when I got the metro back towards Noida, got an auto and asked for the address for Josons house. It may have been the same number but it wasn't the one in Noida he took me to. I asked him to please take me to the right one and then we both argued with each other in languages neither of us could understand. I ended up walking away, looking back that may have been overly harsh but thats the danger, particularly in Delhi, in getting on your high horse abut not being ripped off you do create a danger of misjudging situaions by a criteria that doesnt necessarily fit everyone.

Anyways, there I was stood in the middle of a pretty busy main road with loads of traffic, but no dylight. I hadnt a clue where I was, I was pretty calm for someone who was lost in Delhi at night but i didnt feel threatened or at risk or anything. A young guy came over to offer assistance, including chasing off another drunk guy who was being a pain. No auto wanted to take me to the right place, and certainly none for less than a small fortune. This all atracted a large crowd of people who wanted to stand round in a circle and stare at me - as they do. There were about 15 at one point - I counted! I caught an auto eventually and made it back to noida safe and sound, later than planned and still carrying that bloody parcel with me! I do wonder how many people at home, on seeing a foreign girl standing struggling to get a taxi, would stand wih er, ward off drunken eejits, wait with her and try to help her get a cab, try and negotiate a fair fee and see her safely on her way?

My next bit leads onto a bit of a rant so that can be part 3...


part 3

2009-10-10 to 2009-10-23

Having spoken more to Joson we had decided it could be a good use of my time there to make a short documentary about one of the projects Marys Meals runs to show people back home the kind of work they do. So it was an early Tuesday morning I found myself in a taxi headed to a convent in Faridabad to visit a slum school there. I was greeted at the convent by Sister Reshmi who was absolutely lovely. The convent was attached to a small hospital so it was pretty fascinating seeing a facility like that. the door to the operating theatre was open as we passed. It was just a regular and basic room with a guerney in the middle and a spotlight heading over it. We had tea and then headed to the slum.

First up I did some filming in a small makeshift classroom. It was a little room in a rented house, no windows or doors in the frames, the children were all sat sweetly infornt of their teacher who was sitting on a regular kitchen chair, no desk or blackboard or anything like that. They recited some ABC's in English and the Hindi equivalent. Then we moved over to the second bigger classroom in an adjacent building. There were more ABC's and some impressive numerical knowledge! There were more children in here and some of them were bigger. They sang some songs and one kid did a kind of disturbing dance along to one of them, then another demonstrated the magic show he used to do in the streets for cash. Some cheeky tricks involving disappearing coins! I won't go into the logistics of how the filming went, needless to say it was a bit awkward with the setup of the room, the lack of impartial translator for the inteviews and the fact that every available doorway or window was full of people and inquisitive parents staring in wondering what I was doing.

Then we headed across the road to the residential areas of the slum. I think it was largely what I'd expected in many ways, especially after visiting the big Dasari one in Mumbai and seeing the poverty people live in both in Andhra Pradesh and other areas of the country. It was small, dark, there were loads of flies, it was basic and cramped, there were dogs and goats all over the place, and people including naked children sitting and standing around, though to be fair my presence attracted a lot of them i think. There were more individual huts, unlike the cubicle like shacks leaning against each other in mumbai. I interviewed some of the kids and a grandmother, really interesting for me but not ideal conditions for the video.

Then they performed one of the monkey shows for us. I wasn't too keen but it would have been rude to refuse. It was pretty cruel by animal rights standards and I didn't enjoy it. Regardless of what you think of that side of it though, the fact remains that if anything, the kids should be watching and enjoying it, not performing it for others. At the end the monkey comes up to you and pretends (I think) to bite you so you give it money, they aren't called cheeky monkeys for nothing it seems. I did more interviews with some of the kids who are rag-pickers - the ones who trail through rubbish all day looking for things like plastic bottles which they can sell on.

I was meant to stay in the convent with the sisters for the night (no sarcy comments needed!) but it wasn't necessary so I just had lunch with them instead. They'd put on quite a spread. It was difficult to switch from seeing the kids being served their Marys Meal of dal and rice (which actually looked and smelled really good) to being presented with all this sumptious food that had been made just for me. Plus I hadn't really eaten for a week because I'd been ill but they'd even mae western food as they were worried stuff would be too spicy for me so I was very touched.

It was a humbling experience being welcomed into the slum like that. You get a real insight into peoples lives away from the media spin thats put on it, or just seeing people in the street, and being welcomed into their homes so people can tell you their story and show you around was an honour. I've been thinking alot about the job I want to do and where I can go next and while I was sat there I had more romantic notions about learning Hindi properly and coming back to work in India at a deper level. My future plans are a discussion for another time and while I know I'll return to India at some point soon, to see the kids in Vellatur if nothing else, that isn't what they need here. What they need is role models from their own lives. Because thats something that might make a bigger difference than providing sticking plaster aid, the kind that helps the symptoms but doesn't heal the underlying problem. And its that underlying problem that I, with my assumptions and westernised beliefs about peoples lives taken from stereotyped media coverage, had no real understanding of before. I believed, as I've written elsewhere that everyone living in a slum would be unhappy. I knew from other visits and hearing people etc that people were offended if you actually called it a slum and that not everyone was necessarily absolutely miserable. But I had simply assumed that anyone in that situation would want out, that if they got a chance to break free of that life that they would want to grasp it with both hands. But thats wrong, to believe it is to miss the point, its simply not the case. Yeah people who are rag-pickers do not enjoy it, because its dirty work and they have to work under the beating sun all day and its a hard life, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll jump at the chance to get an education or dream of working hard to escape that lifestyle. they're not desperate for a proper house or putting food on the table without panicking if they wil be able to di it the next day. I'm not saying if you asked them that they wouldn't want these things but its almost like its not on their agenda or they can't be bothered. I'm not trying to tar anyone with a 'lazy' brush, its just that the focus is so strongly on the day to day existence. The people I met didn't seem to think past putting food on the table that evening or finishing work for that day. Ofcourse one day does not give me an insight into how they all think and maybe many of these observations are assumptions that are also incorrect, just in the other direction. But I do know, from speaking to the sisters and observing and listening to the experiences of others who have tried to help, that people cannot see the value of education. They don't seem to appreciate the cause and affect of taking steps to (without wanting to sound incredibly patronising) improve themselves can in turn improve their lives. I'm not syaing that everyone should be highly educated, thats a western world belief and its not the case for everyone but even being literate wasn't important to alot of the people there.

Theres no thought about the future and who will provide for them then, its ALL about the here and now. They might not like rag-picking, but some of the kids do enjoy going out to work. They don't know that millions of other children throughout the world get to wake up each day and learn or play, most of them don't know any differently. What's more its not all about pennies and scraping together a bare existence. Some of them earn enough money to get by, not as much as they would if they achieved a proper job etc but they're not thinking of that when they are able to contribute 500rupees towards the family kitty every month. And thats another reason the parents don't let the kids go to school, because they need the money in their pockets now. Even if, with an education they could bring in many times that in the future, that doesn't matter for the here and now.

I'm beginning to ramble now but the main point I'm trying to make is this, people aren't all desperate to learn, they aern't all miserable living in a slum because they get by, and they make do with their lot, and they don't knwo any better. They can't see the obvious benefits of education and how, by investing in it now and taking advantage of that opportunity they can have a 'way out'. And that's why they need role models. They need hard real life examples from their own real lives who can show them explicitly what is possible. What is available to them if they want it. I'm not saying it would be easy, or its guaranteed or foll proof but at the moment they don't even seem to want to try. Maybe its incredibly patronising of me to assume or believe they should want better but regardless of everythign else, I can get on my high horse for a couple of things because of experience - It is better to have enough food to feed your family properly. It is better to have proper accomodation so when it rains you haev decent shelter. And it is better to be able to afford medicines if someone is sick. Education doesn't solve these problems, especially in India but it sure as hell helps and atleast means there is a chance that its possible instead of not even trying.

Thats why anything charities like Mary's meals can do to bring people into the classroom, to make them aware of how education can help is vitally important. When role models begin to come through as they undoubtably will, thats when the changes may really start. Because until the imbedded cultural attitudes begin to shift, it may be a constant battle of wills.

Ofcourse some people could just work and make money by illicit means or otherwise. but I'm not talking about them, I'm on about the ones living in desperate poverty, whether they know it or not, who currently aren't even trying or aware that there is a potential way out.

I'm writing this all in a bit of a rush on the page (I have to go get a bus soon) and some of it may have become contradictory. I am learning here though and I'm pleased that my understandings are being challenged. Its so much better for trying to properly understand a culture and country that, in its underlying nature atleast is so entirely different from my own and not just assuming what I know or think is right.

OK, rant over.

Final Delhi instalment and the rest of the updates coming soon once I'm in Gujarat. Providing thy cyclone there hasn't knocked out all the power...

 


part 4

2009-10-10 to 2009-10-23

Spent the next few days on the documentary. I had some boring issues with editing software and capturing problems that made me feel like i was arts editor in the gust office again, and not the good parts. My hopeless luck with technology strikes again. That was interspersed slightly with another trip to the post office, an explanation of the scottish political system - they promised they were interested!

Looking back I really did meet a whole host of lovely and welcoming people in Noida. I did feel a little frustrated and flat when things werent working but that was largely due to being ill while i was there too. Being in a worklike environment was really different and I'm lucky i got to experience yet another side to the country. I also got the chance for an invaluable glimpse into another world I knew nothing about.

So I got into the taxi to head to the train station  on my last night there and felt rather sentimental about it all. Probably because I was leaving people and experiences behind but also because this was almost like the beginning of the end. Despite having the same amount of time left that I was originally supposed to have in total I knew it was going to fly past. But if I think about how much I crammed into the previous 6 weeks I knew I could fit tonnes into the next 6.


Whit a palava man!

2009-10-23

The following is largely adapted from my personal diary...

'Ok, so what just happened?! Got picked up late by the taxi at 10pm and arrived in plenty of time for my 11.55pm train - all good. Stood briefly looking at the screen, was going to wait until my train details came up, after all I had plenty of time but ended up in the massive queue for the enquiry desk. A security guy called me to the front - there are some perks to being a single white female over here! Then the guy behind the desk told me my train had been cancelled. I thought he was joking. Surely? He wasn't.
(The guy lying on the floor to my right just stretched his legs out under my luggage trolley which is unfortunate as I was planning on moving somewhere else because the guy lying on the floor to my left is snoring pretty loudly. Meanwhile Im pretty sure the guy sitting on the chair to the right just stretched up out of his seat to fart...)

I was directed to the tickets and cancellations counter. There wasnt much of a queue thank goodness but I could hardly hear the guy over all the announcements. I think he could tell I was beginning to dispair as he called me round and let me sit on the other side of the counter with him while he explained all my options. The train had indeed been cancelled, he didnt know why. I could only get my refund back from the agent who had booked the ticket back in Noida, regardless of the fact I wouldnt be going back there - that was all my own problem apparently. The next train was at 6.20am the next morning, but it had been delayed by 11 hours en route. He didnt know if it was still delayed or by how long, everything would be confirmed in the morning. He didnt know if there were any seats available, I would have to confirm by going back there at 5am the next morning. If there were non e available I could try go to another counter and get a general ticket, board the train and wait in the sleeper coach until a cancellation led to another seat being available, if indeed that ever happened. I felt like I was on the verge of tears. Just the thought of all that extra waiting. I pointed out I was by myself and was there anything he could do to get me a ticket nopw etc - may aswell attempt to take advantage of the single white female thing by playing the damsel in distress. It kind of worked in that he told me I could come back to him in the morning and ask him to try for me. There was another train but from a different station I didnt have time to get to. He advised me to go and sleep in the womens only lounge.

I dont know if this is common here, Ive certainly not come across it before I just wonder because there was nobody standing screaming or seemingly freaking out and personally, if a trainful of people had just found out that their 24 hour journey to get them across India was simply not happening, id have expected a bit more of a ruckuss.

 

ARGHHHH - THE SECOND HALF OF THIS DELETED ITSELF...

 

I left and checked out a couple of tourist places but after the guy in delhi tried to charge me 3000 for another train ticket that I ended up getting forn 400 I was more than wary. I found an internet place that was open and found a flight for the next day. The thought of spending all that time waiting for a train that I might not get a proper ticket for and that would potentially be delayed for another 11 hours before Id even startd the 24 hour journey, well lets just say it didnt fill me with much of a warm fuzzy glow inside!

I walked back to the station to get some food before heading to the airport. A polish man who certainly wasnt high because he was standing on a chair decided to accompany me. He had wild dreadlocked hair, covered in tatoos, had intensely staring eyes and over the top hand gestures. Im not one to judge appearances but it was more what he said that was irritating. All banging all over the table and swearing loudly about what he didnt like about India and Indian people. Eventually he wandered off and I tried to show I wasnt actually with him.

I headed back to the station with the intention of sleeping for a while in the waiting room but somehow ended up in a tuktuk to the airport instead. I got dropped off at the wrong door and then the wrong terminal but then a free golf buggy type contraption gave me a lift along the pavement so that made up for it.'

So then I slept and ate junkfood in the airport until my flight left for a tiny airport called Bagdogra via an even smaller airport in a place Ive never heard of with a name I cant pronounce. Headed atlast for Darjeeling...

 


The road to Darjeeling

2009-10-24

While Id been waiting in the airport Id got chatting to a man from Mumbai who was a scientist specializing in pollution. Figure he must have been pretty busy in Delhi. Anyways, on his advice I looked out of my window half way through the second flight and saw Mount Everest!! So, you know, that was pretty awesome!

I got a couple of shared jeeps to get me up to Darjeeling and in the second one I was crammed into the back corner like a sardine. But one of my favourite things to do when travelling is sit in a bus or car and drive round the mountains listening to music, more often than not Jackson Browne and thats exactly what I proceeded to do. Until that is, they cranked up the volume and started playing Michael Jackson full blast over the stereo. I know Im not good with music but even i recognise thriller when its blaring out of speakers that were conveniantly located about 5mm behind my right eardrum. It was like a nightclub in there!

Until it got too dark the views were wonderful. Though I was a little upset at the complete lack of anything remotely representing a barrier between me and the ever increasing vertical drop below us. I couldnt help but smile as the MJ music though and thats the kind of time when it would be so nice to turn to someone and share an 'isnt this bonkers' moment. Thats why its so good to have this blog I guess, to share the little random things with people in a way Id like to be doing face to face with y'all but can't. And there will be plenty of the 'big stuff' to talk about when i get back but its all the little moments, some of which are in my blog and plenty of which probably arent that I'll miss.

We arrived to Darjeeling in the dark but I did notice how the streets seemed so narrow with all the buildings stacked up on top of each other. There were colourful prayerflags everywhere, crisscrossing over the streets from building to building. When I got off the jeep it was pretty disconcerting not to be greeted by the usual barrage of auto drivers and touts all jostling to drive me somewhere, preferably their chosen hotel. In fact nobody was interested. It was cold, it wasnt that late but it was pretty dark, I wasnt sure exactly where i was or where all the hotels were hiding. I asked for directions and made my way up some winding roads and steep narrow staircases, not loving that part so much. Eventually I commandeered a jeep and got dropped off at a lonely planet place.

I had arrived in Darjeeling despite all the obstacles and was there 4 hours earlier than my original train had been due to arrive in a town 6 hours away from where I was now sitting. Result!


Darjeeling part 1

2009-10-25 to 2009-10-27

The next morning I was in the hotel restaurant getting breakfast when i spotted something behind the blinds. I walked over, pulled them apart and was suddenly staring at the most gorgeous views of Kanchenjunga - the worlds 4rd highest mountain. It was absolutely stunning and I hadnt even realised it was there! Arriving in the dark meant I hadnt been able to get my bearings which led to this lovely surprise in the morning. My late arrival was also the reason Id completely misjudges darjeeling, in size atleast. Id thought it was tiny, Id expected another McLeod Ganj and in some ways it was similar but it was spread out over a much bigger area. But, while McLeod was pretty, it wasnt a patch on darjeeling. In McLeod we were almosat too close-up to the mountains to be able to really appreciate their beauty, whereas here - because they were that bit further away, you could really appreciate them in all their gigantic glory. The fact I was staring at mountain number 3 in the world helped matters too of course.

I tottered down what really was quite a steep hill to the town centre (so I was right about some aspects of the place), tried to sort a Sikkim visa and went to find out about the toy train - one of the main reasons Id come to darjeeling. Alas it was full with no available seats for a few days. I pleased with the guy for an alternative and he said I could try going to the next town to board the return leg though there were no guarantees. Figuring it was worth a shot I headed towards the jeep stand.

Now, I know what public transport is like in India, I should do by this stage anyway. But maybe because I got a ticket for my last shared jeep and had boarded in a civilised manner I thought things would be different. I was not prepared for the mad scrum that erupted as the required jeep pulled up. Which is why I was pushed aside like a rag doll because I hesitated for a millisecond before trying to get aboard. In these share jeeps they squeeze 4 people into the back row, another 4 in the middle and 2 or 3 in the front seat. Bearing in mind most of these are men, who are not small and definately not small bottomed! If there are any children they dont even seem to count and they just get sqeezed on in addition to the already overpacked sardine tin. There are occasionally people hanging off the back and those with the most room, albeit with the AC a bit too high - on the roof.

The second jeep pulled up and it was pointless even attempting to get aboard that one. By the lucky third I was ready. I was nearly run down by the front wheels but I refused to budge and managed to elbow my way to the main passenger door. No sooner had I opened the door and made to move in when I was shoved from behind and sent practically sprawling over the front seat. but I was in!! The seating arrangement went something like this - woman, woman, child kind of top of them, my upper half at a weird angle, the gear stick, my legs, the driver. Which meant that he had to reach across my lap whenever he wanted to change gear. It was a bit like the jeep ride from Laos to cambodia again. And I kinda liked it! Unlike that journey, this one only alsted 30 minutes.

I got off in Ghoom and was told the train would be a few hours and they didnt know if I could get a ticket. There wasnt a whole lot to do in Ghoom to be honest so I largely just sat on the platform and listened to music, ate crap junk food and drank chai.

Eventually after multiple trips to the ticket counter/food stall the train arrived and they let me board. I had basically got a jeep, sat on a platform for a few hours all to get a train and go the same way back. Exactly the same way back as the tracks literally ran alongside the road. So close in fact that peopls washing blows in through the windows and cars have to stop and wait if the train is turning a corner. But - it was totally and completely worth it. The conductor inexplicably made the man sat at the window (wh looked like he'd been there some time) swap seats with me. Although Id come the same way in the jeep afew hours before, the view was different from the train. It was also slower so you had more time to take it in. And it was spectacular.

I met a lovely Scottish girl called Yvonne (atlast its only taken me about 15 months to find a fellow Scot!) (Apart from the lovely Ruth ofcourse - sorry Ruth!) and we arranged to meet for sunrise in the morning. I broke the news that we would have to meet at 23.30am and said goodnight!

So there we were in the middle of the night- infact, before it was even the middle fo the night, creeping through the hotel and walking down that hill in the dark. The night before I had been advised that it would be safe but to watch out for the dog at the end of the road (very comforting!) Luckily it didnt giv e us any problems burt I was glad not to be alone. We caught a jeep up to Tiger Hill and decided to opt for the 'ultra luxury delux' viewing suite. I'm not sure Ive ever been 'ultra luxury delux' in my life but alas that level was full. So we went with plain old 'luxury' instead. Which turned out to be a room full of people, chairs all pointed towards some smeared glass windows. Avery surreal way to watch the sunrise I feel, we exited pretty sharply and went to find a spot outside. The place was mobbed with almost every available surface and staircase filled up. For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to scramble up the vertical wall that held up the railing and perch precariously there, much to the amusement of the Indian tourists who all started taking photos. I was very surprised to not see loads of other people doing the same, especially given people were out on window ledges and everything by this point.  But it was just me and Yvonne hanging there and you know what? - we had some oif the best views in the house! 

And what a view it was, one of the most beautiful sunrises Ive seen and Ive seen it over Angkor Wat, Ayres Rock, a couple of different oceans, Dunsborough beach and Varanasi, plus the salt desert, loch lomond and the Nullabor Plain (shit - thats not bad!) What made it particularly Indian was the loud cheer that erupted when when this neon red circle appeared on the horizon. As it rose it lit up the top of Mt Kanchenjunga which we hadnt even noticed as behind us, and that was pretty special too!

We went back to the town via a nice enough Monastery and had breakfast. It was still ridiculously early.

end of part one!!!


Darjeeling part 2

2009-10-25 to 2009-10-27

Headed on a round about rambling trail to find the office to get our Sikkim permits - yay another stamp in the passport! Then wandered up to the ... ZOO!!

I'm always a little dubious about the zoos over here but this one was great. In fact, it holds some great records, like having the largest stable population of snow leopards and (wait for it Nicky-) red pandas in the world! Its also the only zoo in Asia to have released zoo-bred red pandas into the wild (thought you'd like that one!) We saw tonnes of animals and aside from the Singapore Night Safari and the koalas on the west coast, its the most active ive ever seen zoo animals been before (Nicky and Neil - How would you feel about a Zoo Tour Sequel?!) The bears and snow leopards were particular favourites. It took a while but I insisted that we had to go and see the red pandas on behalf of Nicky. And they didnt disappoint. Well, actually, Yvonne was a bit disappointed to discover that they werent so much regular pandas that happened to be red, but infact more like racoons. (Is this a common misconception?) But once she had seen them playing around all was forgiven.

Then we went to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute which had quite an interesting exhibition about all the Everest attempts. I'm not sure I understand why anyone would put themselves through that for fun. I'll never complain about having to carry my backpack again - the amount of stuff they have to lug up there is insane. I was thinking, well they got to see a view of the top of the world that nobody else gets to but, and I know this sounds terrible - you can see even hgher from a helicopter!

Then we went for pakora, then dinner - with desert! I liked this.

During the day I'd had a chance to see inside Yvonnes room and Oh how I laughed. I'd had to! For a mere 100 rupees more she had a big double bed, complete with colourful covers, a large room and a fabulous view iof the mountains through a gigantic bay type window. Where as I had little more thana cupboard with a small pane of glass that looked out onto a grilled fire escape and an obvious smell of damp. I don't think she fully understood my laughing until she saw my room for herself. She laughed too then.

On the uesday we decided to visit the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre. So we did just that, via a long, steep, 'not entirely sure this is really the right way' walk down a hilly path, over a school playing field, then actually through the school itself, and some back gardens. Finally we reached it, and ahem...the massive car park at the end of the alternative 'proper road'. Still, we got to have a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people who live there as we were on our way down so it was totally worth it. The centre was quite interesting but on the way out we got accosted by a group of small children who started off by pointing and shouting and soon descended into wanting to be (no comments dad!) A) picked up B) spun around C) turned upside down or ) a combination of A, B and C. They were so cute but we were eventually rescued from their demands of 'one more miss' by a parent. Probably just as well or I might still be stood there.

Mum had menioned she liked Darjeeling tea, shame she wasn't more specific - theres thousands of different ones here btw mum! But it called for some tea tasting. Yvonne tasted I watched. We had some fun hiding the names and guessing which were the most expensive, teh go up to thousands of rupees for 100g. Luckily we had cheap tastes!

Had some issues with getting a jeep to Pelling so I couldnt head there until the next morning. Headed off bright and early and before long had crossed into Sikkim and was arriving in the small town of Namchi.

 


Namchi

2009-10-28

On first impressions Namchi was a nice little town. The hotels left a little to be desired - one i checked still had all the dirty dishes and unmade bed from the previous inhabitant. Aside from that it was a nice little town on second impressions too. There was a little town square with a big fish tank and little benches all the way around. All of the buildings were a pale pastel green colour, it was like a little holiday town.

I got a taxi and headed up to see a massive Buddah. There were colourful prayer flags everywhere. Next up we drove across to the top of the opposite hill where the half completed giant Shiva temple complex is. We could see across to the Buddah and vice versa from each side which was cool.

I'm not sure if i was supposed to be allowed in or not but we got to walk around the building site. It was really interesting as normally you assume these temples have all been around for hundreds of years but this one was two years off even being completed. The Shiva statue itself was hugely impressive, remarkable the skill involved. I don't get how the manage to make something so smooth and spectacular out of stone. My taxt driver Gunga (who for some reason had accompanied me around all of the sites) insisted I come back in 2 years when it is all finished. Don't know if I'll make it but if any of you reading this do be sure to take me a picture so we can compare!

 


Pelling

2009-10-29 to 2009-10-30

Onwards again the next day and arrived pretty early into Pelling. Had a bit of a wait to check into my dorm as some guy had padlocked it and gone off with the key.

I set off to walk to one of the towns monastery's. I took potentially the wrong path but for a change is was partly intentional so that I could have a bit of a walk and explore. It was just so quiet, apart from when I passed a group of around 20 suspected Americans who were there on a sponsored walk. They just appeared in the road out of nowhere and crowded past in a burst of loud chattering noise, quite surreal in that setting.

I made my way down this random narrow, trodden, overgrown path and came out upon a cow stood in the middle of someones farmland. It was munching happily on what looked like broken sugarcane stems, though not being a farmer thats probably not what they actually were. It looked at me without much interest. The woman and child sitting next to the house seemed a little more confused by my appearance through a gap in the hedge but helpfully pointed out another narrow scraggly path up a hill that I could take to the monastery.

I came out onto a road that led to a hotel and figured I'd take a quick peek at the highly recommended view. I got chatting to the lovely manageress as she supervised the building of a greenhouse. Over the last 3 years her and her husband have completely done up the place and it is amazing. The rooms - which they let me look at are beautifully grand and the lounge area was sheer luxury and elegance. I sat outside in their beautiful garden and wondered at this INCREDIBLE view. Ahead of me was Khanchenjunga, about 40km away. I was surrounded by other hills, its hard to explain just how stunning the surrounding view was.

When I'm a bit older and have some more money (if i haven't spent it all on more R-T-W tickets) I'd love to go back and stay there. I ordered a lime soda, the most expensive i've had in India (but still less than a pound!) I maybe shouldn't advertise this (sorry if you two are reading this!) but then they gave me complimentary tea and fancy homemade biscuits. They were unbelievably nice to me and we got chatting about the area and the hotels renovations etc. They said I could come back and work there if I wanted to, I explained my mum might not like that, but you know what, one day, just for a few months I might just do that!

I sat there for hours, just enjoying the view and writing and generally being on another 'I'm travelling and its amazing' high. The next part of my personal diary is a bit too gushing to be replicated in any way here but needless to say it was all about how lucky I am, and how travelling is amazing and how much I love it and how everyone should try to do it etc etc!

I eventually dragged myself somewhat reluctantly away from the hotel. The view had largely been masked by some incoming clouds anyway. I visited the monastery avec one massive prayer wheel and loads more coloured prayer flags. On the top floor there was a 7 tiered model of one lamas representation of the 7 stages of enlightenment. It was incredible, so much minute detail, no wonder it took him years to finish. It reminded me a bit of a 'Where's Wally' picture. Not that I'm comparing the two but the way that the longer you looked at it, the more aspects and little scenes you hadn't noticed at first appear before you.

The next morning I got up at 5.30am to watch the sunrise. As it turns out it rose from behind the other side of the hotel so I didnt actually see it rise. The main thing I'd wanted to see though was Khanchendzunga (I'm aware I spell this differently every time btw!) and it didn't disappoint. There were no clouds in the sky and it was highlighted against the other mountains. Its snowy peaks were starkly different against the other darker hilltops that were so much further below. It looked amazing, the cloudless view also showing the jagged line of the other mountains lining its side which I hadn't even really noticed before.

The streets were empty and there was no noice, in the gloomy light it made it all a bit eery. Part of me wanted to stay standing there and watch the town spring to life for the day. But another part of me wanted to leave all that so that I could just remember the moment for what it was, just me alone in the peace and quiet observing the dawning glory of that mountain (too much?!)

The second idea also meant I got to go back to bed quicker so it won out in the end. It was worth the early rise though as when i got up second time around the view was largely obscured by clouds.

I walked up to the other monastery which had some nice views and was really colourful inside. Every surface seemed to be covered in paintings and there were paintings on silk hanging all round the place.

On the walk back to town I decided I'd just go to my next place that day so I rushed back and then had some confusion over buses etc. Its all very boring but the end result was that I was stuck in Pelling for another night. Though there are far worse places to be stuck I think.

The thing about Khanchendzunga is that it is so high that when you look up to admire it, you think you've missed it behind the clouds, or youre looking in the wrong direction. you have to remember to look up, significantly higher than the line of 'normal sized' peaks and there you'll see it, standing clearly aside from the others because A) its white with snow and B) its just so much taller. The clouds often obscure the very top but that makes you appreciate the lucky glimpses youre awarded when they part all the more.

That evening I had a hilarious and immensly enjoyable phonecall with mum, Calum and Mhairi, who, through a fault in skype, all sounded like they had inhaled a tonne of helium. It was made even funnier when one of the would shout or say something serious. I think they should make it a regular feature of the program!


Gangtok and a teeny tiny bit of Siliguri.

2009-10-31 to 2009-11-01

Had some issues with arranging travel to Gangtok but as it turns out I needen't have worried. (Always the way is it not?)

I got aboard the bus and managed to balance all my bags on top of/around me, harder than it sounds as there wasn't an inch of spare space going.Turns out I'd taken a seat some other guy had booked but another passenger reasoned with him that 'I was their guest' so he let me stay put thank goodness. To be fair I was only on the bus for 20 minutes and we were all so wedged in there I'm not sure we could have stopped places if I'd wanted to.

Gangtok started with a trip on the cable car which had cool views over the city, when I could see them over other passengers heads that is. I hadn't expected the stomach lurching height we were swinging over but I got used to it quickly enough. Gangtok is a nice city, bigger and louder and busier than the rest of Sikkim but then it is the capital, and its still clean enough to seem different. The main centre was a promenade type area largely free of vehicles and all the buildings were that pale pastel green again.

Sikkim is like a different country from the rest of India and I liked it alot. The difference to the rest of India did make me think about how completely different everything will be when I get back to Glasgow. The reverse culture shock! I reckon its the harder one. With the uneasy feeling of that furniture store in Noida still fresh in my mind I realised that a trip to Silverburn or something will really cement the 'I'm back and its all over' feeling. Is it all going to be that overwraught consumerism of stressed out Christmas shopping? It's so hard to get my head round any of that right now.

I wandered some more, and ended up in a fancy restaurant with some nice food (Im guessing as I had a cold so couldnt taste any of it) and one beer, which turned into two, which turned into me wandering in a not quite straight line back to my hotel which turned into me falling asleep at 8.30PM - what a saddo!

In the morning I got chatting to an American writer who told me about a big walk you can do through France and Spain, it sounds amazing - anyone got a spare month and fancies a bit of an adventure?

It turns out the things I'd come to Gangtok to see were largely closed but its good to have an excuse to come back and I like to think I will some day. If to work at the hotel in Pelling if nothing else! I walked what was supposed to be 15 minutes but ended up being an hour more than that to the jeep stand - thank goodness it was all downhill. The jeep dropped me off in Siliguri where I found an expensive crappy hotel and after some fiddling about involving a paper clip and safety pin I got the tv to work and proceeded to spend most of the evening with disaster movies.


A brief stop in Delhi

2009-11-02 to 2009-11-03

After faffing about for a considerable portion of the next morning I caught a rickshaw to the airport. I've been in gridlocked traffic jams that went quicker than this welded together, slosh a bit of petrol in the wee box at the front, have to lift the seat and hold the engine together to start it, hunk of tin. But it didn't explode in a horrible dodgy wiring accident as I had come to fear so I can't complain.

I got into Delhi without any dramas, caught up with Grier (YAY!!) got some takeaway food for my hotel - rice in a plastic bag - classy and chilled for a bit.

In the morning I got up early to brave the train station, I'd tried the night before but to no avail. I wasn't loving the queue and decided just to walk and try to find the station master or something. It was then that I stumbled across the foreign tourists ticket centre. Having not been in a big city for a while I'd forgotten about these little gems. It was the easiest time I've ever had trying to book a train in India. I asked for a train in the afternoon, they said 'nae bother' (well the Indian equivalent) and in about 2 minutes I was done - fantastic! Why can't it always be like this?!

Met up with Grier, breakfasted it up, went to visit India Gate then sat and had a drink for a while. It was so good to see her and just chat so much about everything. I love meeting new people but when you're only with people for a couple of days at a time it can be difficult to get into anything with a bit more weight. So I had a thoroughly enjoyable morning before heading to the station to catch a train out of Delhi (sorry Delhi but whoop whoop!)

Grier was flying home that evening and instead of freaking me out like it normally does when I hear of people going home I felt a calmer acceptance of the fact that soon enough, I will be too. Though I wish I could stop thinking about it and having this internal countdown to that moment. It seems to be in everything I do, at that point I still had 5 weeks left and if I think of how much Ive crammed into any 5 week period before, its incredible. Ofcourse it is rapidly vanishing away but I'm lucky to have so long. 5 weeks is more than some people have in total, hell originally I was only going to be here in India for 6 weeks altogether. In a way its good to be so aware of it as it makes me make the most of everything and appreciate all that I'm still doing and seeing before its too late!


Gwalior

2009-11-03 to 2009-11-04

"Why can't it always be this simple?"

Because the guy sold me the wrong ticket, same journey but for March next year. While led to me being threatened with a fine or removal from the train. So my beautifully simplistic ticket was valid for entirely the wrong month. Everyone in the gathered crowd around me was discussing it, though I've no idea what they were saying though I heard one guy argue that good old 'but she is our guest' so I think he was on my side!

In the morning I met up with Daniel (a German actor I'd met getting off the train) and we headed to the fort. There were some huge and impressive carvings on the way up to the gate and the fort was cool with some great views of the city. I had discovered that the other main thing that I'd come all the way to Gwalior for - the crazy oppulent museum was shut on Wednesdays - who closes on Wednesdays?!?! So I was in a bit of a dilemma about what to do. I met an Engligh couple who showed me it on their camera which was not quite the same but I figured it would do as it wasn't worth staying another day in Gwalior for.

We walked towards a hotel for lunch and ended up getting a lift from a young guy when we asked him for directions. I now have a better understanding of how 3 people can fit onto a motorbike, but even less of how a family of 4 or 5 can do it.

We went to a truly minging bus station and I got chatting to a nice french bloke called Nicholas.

The bus journey was ok, the seats had 500 years of dust on them - cue clouds billowing out from under you whenever you shifted position. The window didn't open and we got stuck for ages while a parade went past. As a result we didn't get to Jhansi until it was already pretty dark. It was teeming with people so we got an auto pretty quickly towards Orchha.

 

I've just noticed this particular entry doenst really say anything. I probably should have written that at the top before you wasted any time reading it - apologies. Too many entries for one day.


Orchha

2009-11-04 to 2009-11-06

Orchha is a lovely little town really and a good opportunity for a break from the chaos and intensity of 'normal India'. It sits on a little river and has some nice temples that the 'posh tourists' get bused into and out from each day. It's not that I didn't like the place but I think as I'd just had a 'bit of a break' in Sikkim I wasn't in need of it so much and as a result wasn't that keen on staying there too long. Its actually a place I nearly came to to do some volunteering and as nice as it would have been I'm sure, I'm really pleased I went with my village location in Andhra. Orchaa is just too touristy for me.

That said I was enjoying having some porridge for breakfast instead of curry. Until that is I got distracted by the multiple rats that were running behind the drinks fridge into and out of...the kitchen. I don't understand how I was the only one that noticed them but eewww.

To be honest my first day in Orchha was a bit of a lost cause. It was just one of thse days really. I woke up to ants crawling all over my room, then the rats in the restaurant, then some Indian guy being quite insulting, then getting followed down the street with shouts for coca-cola from some of the kids. I ended up back in my room thinking i'd just write it off and start again tomorrow.

But then I wandered out for some food and bumped into Nicholas again. Well I heard my name being shouted and he was running in the street behind me trying to get my attention (Hey Nicholas!) We got chatting to some kids in the street and before I knew it I was sitting outside their house drinking chai, declining their offers of chapatis and wearing the reddest lipstick youve ever seen with a bindi on my forehead. It was completely random and certainly improved my mood. They were so welcoming and friendly towards us and the fact we couldnt speak each others language didnt really matter. See India sometimes wears you down a little and then a little experience like that pops up out of the blue and reminds you why you like the place so much.

Nicholas and i visited another open air temple which was cool and then had some dinner with a Canadian couple who were off to Kerela for a few months as they do every year - its alright for some!

The next day I went round to visit some of the temples - there really were loads of them. I went along to one of the main ones and thought I'd managed to sneak in for nothing when I realised it was free for everyone. The views were great and the carving really impressive. I got a pretty close view of it when i smacked my head off one of the doorways anyway! Next up was a hilltop temple with loads of ancient painted ceilings which were largely still intact. The thing about all the temples in India is that you get to a saturation point where even if its incredible you just aren't as interested as you'd have been if you saw that one first. Which is why its great to see something totally different and these paintings were. I liked them a lot.

On the way back to town I was accompanied by a girl with a shopping list of requests. First she wanted money, then school pens, cocacola, chocolate, shampoo, crisps etc. Given she was already half way through a big bag of crisps I thought that was a little cheeky. But to be fair, when I pointed this out and asked her for some instead she obliged!

Met up with Nicholas and we headed to get a shared tempo to the bus station. Turns out a tempo is really just a normal autorickshaw but with a lot of people in it. So a vehicle the same size as the one we'd had 3 people in on the way into Orchha now had 13, including a small baby. It really was completely overloaded. But you see this everywhere here and it was interesting to see an overflowing rickshaw from the inside for a change instead of outside wondering how on earth they managed it.

After a lot of confusion at the bus station which involved unloading and offloading ourselves from different buses and traipsing after people trying to get the right information we were finally aboard and on our way to Khajuraho.


Khajuraho : over 18's only

2009-11-06 to 2009-11-08

Khajuraho is famous as the place for the kamasutra temples, or carvings of 'night activites' as someone described them to Nicholas. There are 3 groups of temples located around the small town. On the first morning we set off to the main Western group.

In addition to the often mind boggling kama sutra elements, the carving work itself was hugely impressive. Granted that was sometimes masked by the reaction to carvings depicting that actually it is horse not dog that is man's best friend.

The carvings were fantastic though and they just seemed to dance out from the walls like they had a life of their own, again so different to other carvings I've seen elsewhere. There were a lot of grand spires which all brought to mind those wooden puzzles you get that are designed to compact into themselves and then out again into different shapes.

In the afternoon we went to the Eastern temples via a wander through the old town. Two boys followed us/waited for us for most of the afternoon. At first I didn;t pay much attention - you get followed EVERYWHERE in Khajuraho but I took more of an interest when I realised some of the stuff they were actually saying was pretty interesting. Like the caste system in the village and how members of different castes have to stay within certain boundaries and people can't even hold hands between them. The eastern temples were nice enough but by this point they all were looking a bit samey. The walk through the village was the most interesting part. You could see a difference between the caste accomodation and I always find it more interesting seeing how people live in a natural setting than exploring it through a tourist spin.

The next morning was the Southern Temples, it may sound bad but they were just more of the same really only this time less impressive. Don't get me wrong they were still fantastic but this is what I mean about saturation point. I've seen so much culture thoughout this trip now that I get to that tolerance level more quickly than before. Which is one of the reasons i'd started to consider more of a holiday at the end than trying to squeeze in more places to visit. I wasn't sure how much I'd appreciate them if I rushed round them and after nearly 16 months I was getting a bit tired. Despite what people think backpacking isn't one long holiday. I wouldn't change any of it but it can get exhausting after a while.

We ended up traipsing across farmland to find the road, accompanied ofcourse by 2 of Khajuraho's required teenage boys trying to sell us stuff to get commission. Mum keeps saying she's worried about people asking me what I'm going to do when  I get home (pressure!) but what about the people here!? Every question other than school pen or what country is what do you do at home, what is your job, are you married, why not? Including yesterday when there was utter shock that I was 25 and not married, and I quote "but, you're so old!"

In the afternoon we went to the waterfalls for something different. The rocks were cool but they would have been so much more impressive if there had actually been any frickin' water! Everybody failed to mention that during the dry season it gets so dried up that theres less of the water and more of the fall. Shame that.

Then it was time for my overnight bus and to get out of Khajuraho. I really did love the temples but the town (as you may have been able to tell from the tone of this entry) brought out the absolute worst in me. For the people and the town I have to say it was my least favourite place in India. In that town everyone wants a piece of you. I've been nowhere else where its been so constant, from the second you leave your hotel people don't leave you alone until you walk back into it. They literally just follow you for hours. Its all about the commission and after a while I just became rude towards people. Any pretense was gone and i was quite open about the fact I knew they were just trying to rip me off. Of course this leads onto you feeling down about other stuff and it all has a knock on effect on how youre feeling generally. With the result that I was pretty miserable on the bus out of there but also couldn't have been happier to be escaping.

Nicholas stayed an extra day - did you make it out alive?!


A bit mental in Bhopal

2009-11-09 to 2009-11-11

The following is an exert from my diary from my first morning in Bhopal...

"OK, so this really is completely insane, mainly because I am, I must be. Where to begin?! - I'm currently sitting in what is pretty much darkness save for some handy flourescent street lighting. On a bench, just inside the main gate of the Taj-ul-Masjid. In Bhopal. There are enough people around for me not to feel at risk or threatened or anything, there are a couple of people up at the mosque who i can see walking around. What must they think of me? A single white girl sitting in the dark just inside a gate surrounded by nothing and nobody, all because the onely Planet says the call to dawn prayer is not to be missed. I rushed here from the train station expecting sunrise at 5.30am but now I learn it doesnt start until 7am. Which explains why I'm sat here like a lemon, though as long as im not causing any offence (and the mosquitoes stop biting) I don't really mind. Honestly, I wouldnt do something this bonkers when i'm at home in Scotland!

I got here via a bit of a palava but as has become the norm it didn't really bother me. My bus arrived in Bhopal at 4am and I quite liked the idea of spending the day here and then leaving tonight i.e. not checking into a hotel which all seemed a bit pricey anyway. I sat myself down in the bus station amongst all of the homeless people who live there who were lying al over the place. Upon checking the Lonely Planet I discovered I was a moron. The museum I'd come all the way to Bhopal for was actually shut on a Monday!! No - ofcourse I didn't double check before coming all the way here to see it. So after trying to decide what to do - I really didnt want to stay another day here, I figured I really should check into a hotel. I got an auto to take me there - round the corner! I galled a bit at the prices but they wouldn't budge them. The guy on receptino told me the museum was actually open, he even called someone to check - though who answers their phone at 4.45am I'm not sure. He also told me the reason the hotel price was so high was because of the commission for the auto driver, even though I insisted I'd picked the hotel myself. He said I'd have to come back later to get the proper price. <then came a bit of a fould mouthed rant about commission agents and the like> So I left the hotel and walked to the train sta-there are mosquitoes EVERYWHERE-station, found out the train I wanted was at midnight, walked down the platform to find the luggage room, went back to the opposite end of the platform and found it. Then dumped my bags and caught an auto here where the dawn call to prayer and the people I'd been expecting are nowhere in sight."

The next paragraph largely involved me rambling about trying to get a train and being pleased that someone came over and gave me some chai. I also commented on how I hoped that noise I'd heard while I was at the train station wasn't actually the call to prayer.

It had been.

The mosque was really cool when I finaly made it inside. This was still about 7am and I attracted a fair number of stares from people. The inside was really impressive and I spoke to a number of students who aside from urging me to convert to Islam threw rapid spitfire style questioning (whatever that is) at me.

The day went a bit downhill from there. It went something like this - and feel free to skip over as I'm bored just thinking about it...

Walk all the way back to the train station, confirm museum is indeed shut on Mondays, enquire about trains (LOADS of tooing and frowing between different counters involved here) go to bus station to enquie about buses (there were none) go back to the (most unhelpful ever) "tourist desk" and the train enquiries counter more than 3547 times. Fortunately there were lots of trains that left when it suited me. Unfortunately none of them had available seats. Picked up bags, walked back to hotel, was told cheaper rooms had all gone, checked in, watched tv, slept, watched tv.

I am aware this was all largely my fault as I hadn't booked anything in advance but this situation occurs so rarely that I still maintain making it up as you go along is worth it. Planning things in advance just doesn't work for my style of travelling. It did create yet more incentive to ignore the state of Gujarat and go straight to Goa again though.

The next day I felt a bit brighter and set off for the tribal museum. It was really good but abit of information overload. It was in parts a little confuding to follow, like in the exhibition on Indian traditional art when they threw in some random aussie aboriginal artwork.

I met a young German couple over my ("not great but whose complaining for 15 rupees") lunch and talking to come fellow travellers again made me feel much better and I endeavoured to put and keep my 'travellers hat' on.

In the afternoon I walked around the complex of village huts the museum has replicated. I could almost picture myself when I was inside them as being on one of those documentary's where someone goes and lives with a remote tribe for a month, which would be pretty awesome I reckon. That or getting to build your own shelter - shipwreck style.

The museum complex went on for ages and covered alot of kilometres, I walked all the way to the coastal and desert villages then headed back until, rather conveniantly a couple on a motorbike appeared and asked to take my picture so I managed to get a lift back to the top in return.

 I wanted to see the rock paintings but I just couldnt make them out in the caves. Given theyve been there for millions of years it seems unlikely they would suddenly fade the week before I turn up, but I really couldn't see them anywhere. Unless those funny water marks were something more...? 

Next morning it was time for my next train ride. Where absolutely nothing of note happened. Aside from being told I had an hour before I had to get off and then suddenly that no actually that was a mistake and we were at it, which caused a mild panic for about 30 seconds or so. - Indian trains tend to stop at the stations for a horribly short period of time so if you dont jump off in time you either have to take a running jump for it or wait until the next one.


Jalgaon to Ajanta to Aurangabad to Ellora to Aurangabad

2009-11-11 to 2009-11-13

On disembarking the train (is disembarking a word?) I found I had to pick my way in slow baby steps through the station and negotiate the stairs all made slippy because...of the terrential rain!! What the...?! Quite unexpected and I wasn't entirely sure how to handle it. I have since learned that it was a tail end of a cyclone that was passing across Gujarat and Goa (my next 2 destinations). Looking for somewhere to spend the night in the dark with a backpack is not always fun. Doing this in pouring rain with no waterproof clothing is even less so. I found a really nice hotel though and the manager gave me lots of helpful information, and a map. As anyone who knows me will know (especially you Andy Mat), through no fault of the manager, the map was somewhat less helpful. I seemed to be on a run of good accomodation which was nice but I was sure it would be back to the budget budget places soon enough. (that second budget wasn't a typo!)

I chilled in the room and watched Calendar Girls on the telly (- not long now mum! Maybe that can be the next girly movie night Elaine?) I took an umbrella to the restaurant for dinner. I can't think when the last time I used an umbrella was, booooooo to the rain!

Luckily the rain was onlt threatening the next morning so I caught a bus to the Ajanta caves which were very nice. To be honest I didn;t really appreciate them at first and was feeling a little negative about having some all this way to see them. I had been prepared and brought a torch with extra batteries to help see them, only it broke on the shuttle bus to the caves, it did not bode well. At first it was difficult to see the ancient paintings the caves are famous for. In the next few though it was much lighter and I began to appreciate how old they all were and the story behind them and I felt much better. My favourite cave was the last one. It had some awesome paintings, they used to line most of the inside but now only had patches on some of the pillars and walls, there were also some awesome carvings and an enormous domed stupa ball statue thing. (I'm not sure thats its official description).

I met a new friend in the form of Andres the Mexican and we headed up to the viewpoint where you can see the horseshoe shape and how all the caves really are just carved out of the side of a mountain.

Had some good chats over lunch, journey to Aurangabad, dinner and multiple cups of chai and then headed for Ellora the next morning. They were very impressive and again, its when you actually stop and think about whats behind them - how and when they were built, that people literally just had the vision to take 200,000 tonnes of rock (for one cave temple alone) out of the side of a mountain and carve away at it in such a way as to make it a beautiful temple, and this without any of the machinery or technology etc that I assume gets used today. Think about that side - cue being gobsmacked.

Moving round very quickly at this time so after a brief evening in Aurangabad it was time again to head for a nightbus. 


Ahmedabad, all because of a bridge.

2009-11-14 to 2009-11-16

I'd been told in the bus station that I could get a bus to a small town of Surat and then go across a new bridge to get to the little island of Diu. I was pretty chuffed about this as it meant not having to travel all round the coast of Gujarat to get there.The bridge wasn't mentioned in Lonely Planet but they said it was built since the book came out.

Upon arrival in Surat I quickly discovered that the bridge didn't actually exist. I don;t really understand why the guy lied as he could have just sold me a ticket to somewhere else instead. At first I was convinced it must exist and spent a considerable time trying to find someone who would confirm this for me. Which was difficult as you know, it really doesn't exist.

Nobody in the bus station spoke English, the platform numbers weren't recognisable and the fancy hotel over the road couldn't help me either. Normally going to somewhere upmarket for directions etc proves quite succesful, the staff tend to have more English etc but it was not the case in Surat. I decided to get a train to Ahmedabad. The train got delayed. I cancelled my train to Ahmedabad and caught the bus. More thoughts of 'sod this, i'm going to Goa creeping in again'.

After searching Ahmedabad for quite a while I found an OK hotel and headed into the city. I visited the kite museum. No explanation needed really. And then the city museum where I saw another world record, this time the worlds biggest incense stick. It lost a bit of its glory as it was held together by aging sellotape. It was about 20ft high though so was pretty cool regardless.

I found the tourist office which was closed then went in search of a famous ice cream shop. Found it but largely because a girl I asked for directions gave me a lift. Can you do map reading courses? I need one.

Next up was the night market which was really good. I ended up spending lots of money on things I can't carry. Namely a painting, small but will get squashed, a bed spread which is too big and a wicker bag which can;t be folded. Finished the evening off with hot corn on the cob - they cook it differently here with spices and lemon but its sooooo good. And then fell asleep watching Enchanted on TV so it was a pretty sweet day really.

The next day, after really struggling to find anyone who spoke English again, I set off for the nearby city of Ghandinigargh (that is definately not how you spell it!)

The temple I'd gone to see turned out to be a massive complex with loads of different exhibitions. The temple itself was really nice, it was made of pink sandstone and had gorgeous carvings inside. It all made you feel like you were inside one of those intricately carved ivory sculptures. Spoke to a helpful wee man who told me all about the similar temples they have all over the world, including one in London - anyone fancy a visit?

There was a number of really good videos, all in Hindi but I got the idea and everyone was really welcoming so it was a good day out in the end. Set a new record for the jeep back to Ahmedabad. It was full to bursting before I even got in, there were five (five!!) people in the front seat alone. More of the driver was out of the window than actually in the driving seat. There were 19 people in total - ridiculous.

Had a bit of a nightmare start to the Monday. It involved lots of walking, nobody who could help, and no rickshaws that A) stopped B) didn't have people in them or C) understand where I wanted to go. I couldn't for the life of me figure out where they had all gone as there were hardly any on the street, then I found out there was a strike on. The next few hours were spent tooing and frowing between people and bus stands in different ends of the area to try and find a way out of the city.

One of the people who did offer to help ended up showing me to the two mosques I'd wanted to visit which was nice of him. He had perfect English and bizzarely - an American accent and I ended up spending the day with him and his friend, ate some great local food, played air hockey and went to the cinema. So not quite the cultured day I'd planned but a lot of random fun anyway.


Living it up in Diu.

2009-11-17 to 2009-11-21

The night bus was incredibly bumpy. I was on a sleeper so after I shut my little curtain I felt like I was inside a coffin that was inside a large washing machine, on top of a bouncy castle being jumped on my numerous excited 3 year olds. If I lay down I got thrown from side to side - as the bruises on wither side of my body can attest to. If I sat up I nearly bounced straight out of it, via smacking my head on the roof, elbow on the window or arm on the metal guard. I actually found all this quite amusing until the novelty wre off around 4.30am. Opened the curtains in the morning to find 4 guys staring at me from the opposite bunk. Got chatting to a lovely Welsh girl called Laura as we collected our bags so went with her to find a hotel.

After checking in we took a walk down to the fort, well we went for a walk and just seemed to end up there but it was nice enough. We just kept stopping and staring out to sea chatting and admiring the view - so nice to be by the sea again. We even saw some dolphins. Went to a local bbq that night and met a bunch more lovely people. So far so good in Diu.

The next few days just blurred into each other really. We just chilled, ate, drank and chatted. We did hire some motorbikes though. Well, they were scooters but they looked like motorbikes and said 'Heavy Duty XL' on the side so I felt like a proper Hells Angel. Once we'd got the hang of it (which took a fair while) we drove around the 12km island exploring and had a great time. I was a bit nervous driving around at first but aside from one (or two) moments of confusion between the brake and the accelerator - in my defence theyre both on the handlebars - it was fine.

We also spent two mornings at the fish market which was just awesome. It was so lively, busy and colourful and it was a great change to see so many women there. Often they are conspicuous by their absence - in almost all areas it seems but here it was the women who ruled the day. All gossiping - it was in Hindi or Gujarati but I could still tell! - and arguing over the prices, carrying pots of fish on their heads, cutting it up, smashing ice blocks with wooden mallets - it was fantastic! We saw so many different fish etc, including hammerhead sharks, eels and 2 giant stingrays which really should have been in seaworld, not dead on the floor of a market. There was an indoor area where they cut up alot of it, chopped off the heads etc, it wasn't too bad though seeing one woman hack apart a large stingray, spine and all was a bit of a gorefest. Noo (another welsh girl), Jay (Holland), Laura and I all headed for a wander through the streets at the back of the market. A kind of narrow maze but the people were so welcoming, all peering out of their doorways and windows asking us to take their photographs.

After a leisurely breakfast, ahh leisurely, we went to the beach. We had to clamber through some sort of Cactus plantation to get to it mind you which turned out rather painful. I haven't felt like I've missed the beach in India and wanted to fit in as much of the cultural and personal side to India as possible but it was nice just chilling and relaxing for a few days. In the end I cut out the other places in Gujarat I'd planned on seeing (on advice of most people I asked who'd been there) and just enjoyed being in the one place for a while doing nothing with good food, good beer and good people.

The fish market was so good that we went back a second time - even though we had to get up REALLY early! This time we took Brad a nice American bloke we'd met at the bbq. I gave him a lift on my bike. Initially it was all a bit messy really (mum close your eyes) involving an interesting loss of balance which was not helped by me grabbing the accelerator - being on the handlebars really is not the most helpful place in my opinion. Brad only shouted a little in a somewhat shocked and concerned manner as I did a little swerve - I'm very very sorry Brad! That all makes me sound like a moron and I should point out that there was no traffic around anywhere, the whole incident lasted less than 10 seconds and once I knew what I was doing it didn't happen again. I felt a little less like a Hells Angel at that point though. 

This second day the market was atleast 4 times busier than the day before. It made it a bit harder to just walk around it all but people were great for just letting us observe as they got on with it all, instead of stopping and staring at us which would normally happen elsewhere. Here they paid us no attention and that was great! The first thing we saw was huge swordfish type creatures, loads of them being loaded onto the back of a truck - who even eats this stuff? I do wonder if they have quotas here, like they do in Europe. I just don't understand how there can be anything elft in the sea when they catch so much, and that was just 1 day! Stingrays, piles and piles of shrimp and prawns all lined up perfectly in rows, sharks, small fish, spiky fish, huge fish, cat fish, dad - you would have loved it.

After atleast 5 hours eating breakfast we went to the shell museum. I'd been trying to motivate myself to go there for about 3 days and to be fair it was exactly what it says on the tin - a museum about shells, so I probably shouldn't have been disappointed but I was expecting something quirkier, like the shell house in the museum in Oz. Not to worry.

Evening was spent driving round to Sunset point to see the sunset. There was a bit of confusion about which place we were all meeting and it came down ridiculously fast so in the end Brad and I just stopped the bike and watched it from the side of the road - didnt make it any less beautiful though. Very pretty, if a little speedy.

I'd had a dangerous converstaion with Noo about possibly visa extensions and flight changes but after some emails from home I decided that enough was enough and I really shouldnt do it a 4th time. Not long now!

It seems that every time I find what I think is the worlds worst toilet, another one pops up and takes its crown. This happened again in Diu. That was without even being able to properly see it. I had to force open the door, which let in just enough light to highlight the rat scurrying across the floor towards my right foot. I could just make out these kind of female urinal blocks. Luckily I'm pretty good at not breathing thorugh my nose now, I do it automatically - infact I'd been at the fish market for atleast an hour before I noticed the smell and that was only because someone pointed out how bad it was. As I left I passed the mens toilet where there was now a man sat who called out to me to use that one. So theyve obviously become unisex and are actually maintained. Damn.

At the bbq we all just spent ages talking about travelling and I was going on about how amazing this trip has been, And it really has. Met two french guys who are just at the start of their travels, largely similar to what I have done - lucky sods have it all ahead of them.

Had to drag myself away from Diu eventually, but I had to make one last trip to the...post office (Nooooooooo!) It wasn't actually too bad this time but I had to go to a tailors to get it packed up. He was a lovely man but he was SO slow. He kept putting the box down, walking around the shop, picking it back up, disappearing out the back, then appearing again and measuring the material a bit more. I got it done eventually and the posting part was surprisingly simple. Which was a thoroughly lovely change.

The sites I'd come to Diu to see were largely forgotten as I chilled away the hours over chai so I tried to fit in some the morning I left. I drove round to the first one, which turned out to be the wrong one so I looked inside for about 5 seconds (nice, blue and white paint), drove past the second one (also white, quite big, nice looking building) and then gave up on the third when I couldn't find it on the map.

I had splurged out on a flight again and the airport was really funny. It was a very small building, the food services consisted of a typical chai stall outside and there were only two small desks inside. Being India there were still about 15-20 people working there, one of them even brought me a glass of water when I started having a coughing fit - the personal touch when the ratio of staff to customers is basically equal!

They said they would give me a shout when it was time to go to the departure gate (walk through the door). They x-rayed my hand luggage then started going through it. The man took out my photo playing cards and started looking through them, then showing them to people - I'm not sure what threat to security they posed but they seemed amused. Then another woman did the same, she got me to demonstrate the personal safety alarm I've got (which freaked quite a few people out I think) and then asked me to put it in my hold luggage. So they just fetched it back off the plane, watched me put it in, put it through x-ray again for some reason and then put it back onto the plane. Bizzare.

Just before I boarded the plane, someone came up and ran off with my boarding pass. So I just stood there on the runway being blasted by heat from the engines and not really sure what was going on. She came back eventually and let me get on. So random - I'd call it quirky, smallest airport I've ever used and it had a nice island feel to it. It must have been  a posh airline though becuase on the second flight they served a snack with REAL cutlery. I may have had to take it as a souvenir.


Mumbai a teeny bit and Kolhapur

2009-11-21 to 2009-11-23

It was crazy flying over Mumbai. The last time it had been in the dark and seeing such a huge city again was strange. You can't appreciate how huge the slum area is till you fly over it like that, it just seemed to go on for miles. A big mass of shacks leaning up against each other over a huge area.

I got a taxi straight to the bus station, at first I thought I recognised the places but soon we were driving through a Mumbai I hadn't see the last time.

After a bit of a delay we were off. Not being able to move more than an inch or two on the packed bus didn't seem to impinge my sleep thankfully, nor did the blasting of the movie they played around midnight. Hmm.

Kolhapur was another of those random towns that I'd liked the sound of even though most other people don't seem to have even heard of them, and taken a detour just to see. I started off in the Mahalaxmi Temple which was nice but the huge queue, even that early in the morning, meant I couldn't go inside. I enjoyed walking around in the area outside the temple though as it was a Sunday a lot of the shops were closed. Still, the atmosphere was there and there was enough people and things going on to have a great time just people watching and taking it all in.

Next up was the museum - the main reason I'd come to Kolhapur. The first thing I saw was a ginormous 20ft portrait of an overweight maharaja sat akwardly on a horse. He looked like in reality he'd never sat on a horse in his life, he was dressed up in an uncomfortable looking brown suit and it seemed such a conflict of images - it made me smile alot. There was a pretty eclectic collection of stuff. One of the best photos they had was of the wrestling group (a big deal in Kolhapur), it was like a serious old fashioned group photo, everyone lined up formally but then you looked closer and saw they were all in wrestling poses, flexing muscles and clasping various poses WWF would be proud of (Is it WWF or is that the wildlife one?!) and all of them in tiny pairs of pants!

Most of the collection was hunting related, so I guess that maharaja bloke had ridden horses after all - it was a bit sick actually, animal hooves from tigers, elephants and zebras that had been used as lamps and ashtrays and a skull that had been turned into a cigarette lighter contraption. There was also loads of stuffed animals that he'd shot. The usual birds and deer then scary, ugly looking wild boar, HUGE bufallo heads, lions, bears, zebra, and so many tigers. In one case alone there were 10! That explains the lack of anything than bison on the safari I did then. Seriously though - what a waste. I spotted one certificate on the wall bestowing the Agricultural Shows Gold Award to the maharaja for 'Dead Work' - well, quite!

After a fair amount of delays I got a bus towards Goa. I'm going through so many mixed emotions about coming home at the moment and this particular journey was full of them. I love being immersed in a completely different world and just looking out of the window for 5 minutes I could easily list 10 things that you wouldn't see at home: 1) general scenery - flat, different colours etc 2) palm trees 3) me being the only white person on a bus full of Indians 4) huge ox pulling carts overloaded with sticks down the road 5) women in colourful saris everywhere 6) signs all in Hindi 7) little huts people live in at the side of the road 8) stray cows and dogs everywhere 9) largely naked children jumping and splashing into a river and 10) people all sat crouched around the place that way they do sat back on their heels (the way that despite practicing in my room I can't do without falling over). It goes without saying that its not that I don't love Scotland and I CANNOT wait to see people again but I do wonder how I'm going to not do this anymore?!


Panjim / Paniji, capital of... GOA!!

2009-11-22 to 2009-11-23

Eventually arrived in Panjim. Had some hassle trying to find out where I was and how to get to the town for accomodation, largely resulting from being dropped off at the side of the road and not the actual bus station. I wasn't loving this particular 'arrive with no idea where i'm staying for the night' challenge - that now familiar feeling of trying to suss out from the final 5 minutes on the bus where I'm going to stay and how difficult it will be to find somewhere - a challenge I'll also miss!

I started off my next morning planning on doing the Lonely Planet walking tour. I began at Our Lady of Immaculate Conception church, very big and very white, also very covered in scaffolding and dust sheets on the inside due to a paint job, which spoiled the effect somewhat. Didn't take long for me to sack the tour and just go for a wander of my own instead. (I couldn't follow the map anyway). It was all narrow streets with european style houses, windows and balconies, alot of colour, alot of atmosphere, I really liked it. I was in 'regular India clothes' but everyone I saw had dresses and shorts on  so I decided to join them. It took some getting used to, walking around in a dress again. I'm not very tanned at all but there are definate threats of farmer tan lines involved! I walked alot and just enjoyed the feeling of being on holiday a bit, sat on a beach for a while and thought about all I've done etc (this is happening ALOT at the moment!) 

I found a local market and went inside but immediately felt really uncomfortable in the dress and grabbed for my scarf as quickly as possible. There were other tourists in there walking around but I just didn't feel right not being covered up like usual.

As it turns out I was in Panjim at the same time as the Indian International Film Festival and the town was all decked out in the required posters and film related stalls etc. I did make a half hearted attempt at getting a delegate pass and although I had missed the deadline did consider making a James Cheyne-esque attempt at coaxing my way in there but I think its time to admit what I've always know - I'm just not a very good 'film student'. It would have been good but I wasn't in the mood to spend my now limited time sitting in a cinema watching films I couldn't understand when I can watch them at home when I'm unemployed and skint, with subtitles. The best bit of the festival for me (sorry FTV department) was all the food stalls lining the street serving cheap and lovely Indian delicacies and snacks. That was awesome.

The atmosphere was really cool and there were fireworks and lots of music stages etc. There is something special about watching someone whose first language is not English sing classic western songs in a heavily accented voice. One guy was belting out 'we don't need to education' and asked the crowd if they could sing along - well to be honest, no we couldnt because youre particular version I had never heard before. Then another dude was singing something along the lines of 'evey moooooove oooooooo make' which was interesting. This isn't meant to be critical, don;t get me wrong, it was fantastic and I loved every second of it! Although it certainly would have been better to have some company to share and laugh about it all with.


Old Goa.

2009-11-24

I went to Old Goa. It looked lovely. The one church I saw inside of was impressive and was full of giant paintings. There were large churches all over the place. I regret to say I only saw the first one.

Because I got robbed a little bit.

Then Old Goa became more about the little police station and less about the gorgeous buildings outside of it.

It was only a limited amount of cash and my bank cards. It wasn't my passport, or more importantly - my camera. Disaster was largely avoided. So after nearly 16 months of travel, 2 weeks before the end sod's law kicks in.

But the 16 months thing is whats important for me. I've talked a lot to people about travelling in India and what people back home think about it. When I left Glasgow many people said 'good on ya' for travelling and especially for travelling alone. When many of them heard it was included India the reaction was more mixed, and when people heard I was going to India alone many people seemed to think I was mental.

But in my opinion, this reputation India has is so out of proportion to the country itself. Ofcourse, maybe I've just been lucky but the reason people think its so dodgy here is because the bad stories are always the ones that make it back. Nobody is going to tell you about the 46 times they got on a train and had no problems, theyre going to tell you about the one girl they heard about who had a train nightmare involving chai, a strange old man and some shoelaces. (Thats not actually a real story - I honestly can't think of a bad real example Ive heard while Ive been here). Thats fine, its the nature of stories, those ones are more interesting. But it does mean that India has developed this reputation as some big scary place to travel to and in my experience atleast, its just not the case. Yeah there is staring and the Indian postal service/train booking offices make me want to jump out of a plane with no parachute, but its no worse than somewhere like Thailand and often easier to get round than some place like Laos.

As long as youre not an idiot, things are more than 9 times out of 10, perfectly fine.

Ofcourse now that I have said all this I'll leave here, get hit by a rickshaw, trampled by a cow, have my bag snatched by a runaway man clutching a chapatti and my camera pickpocketed by a taxi driver with an incredibly bad mustache.

C'est La Vie. Or as we say here in India 'Shanti Shanti'.


Anjuna

2009-11-24 to 2009-11-26

Several buses later I was in Anjuna. Abit of a walk up and down the beach and some lunch later I had found a room and was taking an unexpected nap. Saw that Slumdog Millionaire was on and figured I should finally see it so went up and bumped into Laura and Tim of Mumbai then Calcutta fame. Watched the film (excellent) had dinner and that was that.

Anjuna was freaking me out a bit. I think its because its in India but the same rules don't apply there. I was still wearing my 'India hat' but in Anjuna/Goa I can take it off (and several other layers of clothing - I hadn't seen my legs for about 7 months!) and it was taking some getting used to. Its like my time travelling in India had ended and I wasn't ready for that. It was just a bit of a conflict I guess. At lunchtime I was sitting with a sleeveless top on, looking at a beach and gorgeous ocean, surrounded by bikini clad europeans, eating curry and nan by hand.

Wednesday in Anjuna is market day. Its probably just aswell I got robbed! It was the only way my shopping and spending spree was limited. There were tonnes of stalls, alot of them selling the same handicrafts, jewellry, clothing and bags, hammocks, sunglasses and drugs paraphanelia (sp?) and loads more besides. I was there for hours getting lost amongst the narrow alleyways between the stalls. I don't think I even stopped to eat. It was awesome!

Was still feeling a little uneasy in Goa as its so far removed from what I'm used to (can't imagine what the culture shock coming back to Scotland will be like) but all that shopping certainly helped.


Pallolem so far

2009-11-26 to 2009-12-01

I was told it would be "oh, very long, about 3 hours" from Anjuna to Pallolem. Hah! I laugh in the face of a piddly 3 hour journey now. 4 hours and 5 buses later I was Hah-ing a little quieter and will a little less oomph. It should have been 4 buses but the last guy told me he took me to Pallolem and he was a big fat liar!

I'm living in my own little hut which is made out of plyboard and a blue tarpaulin. But it has a little deck and its own bathroom and I can see the sea if I lean out a little bit so I absolutely love it. I felt like I'd constantly been wanting to settle in Goa but always looking for something better and I was a bit worried I'd come all the way here and then want to go back to Anjuna or something. But thankfully this wasn't the case atall. The vibe here is much more chilled. You don't have to run the gauntlet of shops and touts every time you go to the beach. I really feel like I'm on holiday now.

I spent the first couple of days by myself which was nice if a little sad, but since then I've met tonnes of people. I've been in a bikini during the day and partied several times until dawn. (This can't be India right?!)

I've eaten some more evil pinapple (it really does burn away the inside of your mouth, but its 25 rupees for a whole fresh, juicy pinapple that you can eat while sitting on the beach watching the ocean so its worth it).

I've chatted away and drank a fair bit and ate lots of fresh fish - dad I picked it out of a tank and everything, you had better be proud! I've sunbathed and discovered that using fake suncream leads to incredibly painful sunburn. I've been on a boat trip to see a gorgeous sunrise and dolphins (really far away in the distance). It was also sold as including trips to two pretty little beaches, they failed to mention at the time that they would be submerged because of the tide so that all you could see would be the rocks and the sea.

I've thought lots about my trip and everywhere I've been and not a lot about the fact that, all going well, this time next week I'll nearly be at Glasgow airport.

Thats pretty much the first time I've written that or even formed it as a complete thought and its a strange feeling. I think the denial I had on the lead up to leaving is back. The thought of seeing everyone again is wonderful. The thought of leaving all this behind is difficult. But for now, there's only so much you should tell people about the fact you're living it up on holiday if you want them to still be talking to you when you come home.

On that note.

 


Sun, Sea, Sand and Strange

2009-12-01 to 2009-12-06

The rest of my time in Paolem largely consisted of the 4 S's sun, sea, sand and strange. Sun, sea and sand being obvious. Strange largely as a result of being in India with the other combined 3. 

Packing was the strangest part though. Throwing out stuff that each had a memory attached to it but that I really shouldn't have still had in my bag, let alone taken home with me. Examples include a wrist guard from when I sprained my wrist in Malaysia and a train ticket from the Indian Pacific. 

I met up with Brad and Noo of Diu fame which was nice. We did try to go to another headphone disco, which happened to be on the other side of a beach which happened to be hidden underwater as it happened to be high tide. I've always said I wanted this trip to include a new experience every day. Well, I've never got to a club by wading through the sea before. Alas, I've still never actually been in a club that was reached by wading through the sea because they'd run out of headphones so no sooner had we dried off than we were back in the water wading back to shore again.

And then came the next part of my journey...

 


The Indian Railway is the largest employer in the world, with over 1million employees.

2009-12-06 to 2009-12-08

Before I knew it I was heading to the train station. I got dropped off outside a building that really didn't look like a place where trains stopped but I was assured if I just climbed up all the steps I'd see the platform. Oh Joy.

My train was a bit delayed, it was the smallest station I'd been to in India. There was only about 4 staff which is pretty much unheard of. As it was a small station I knew the train would only stop for about 30 seconds so I headed up to find the right section to stand and wait for my compartment. I walked all the way down the platform looking for 'number 10'. The lack of any lighting seriously hindered this exercise. The fact that the ground was overgrown with weeds made things a little tricky also. It was all a little spooky actually. But I found it evenutally and jumped aboard for what I wrongly assumed would be my last train ride in India.

I loved being back on the train. I'd missed the India that I'd come to know and love and no matter how much I try to accept that Goa is part of India and that by default it is Indian, i'm sorry but its just not the same.

My arrival into Mumbai went quite smoothly. I got a local train pretty easily to the CST which is the main and central station in Mumbai - a gorgeous Victorian looking building but anyways.. and found somewhere to store my bags.

The rest of the day basically involved 5 local trains, lots of walking, finding shops that were either closed or didn't have what I was looking for, lots more walking and increasing stress that shops were closed or didn't have what I was looking for. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my last day but it did mean I was completely immersed in 'the real India' again, as I traipsed through all these very untouristy parts of the city, so that was definately a bonus.

I finally gave up/stopped around 9.30pm and went to get some dinner in the restaurant I'd been to on my 2nd night in Mumbai. I couldn't quite get my head round all that had happened since I last sat there. I'm not sure I'll really appreciate it all for some time yet either. I had a nice meal and headed to the train station to get my luggage.

Some people may think I'm a little mental but the best part of my day came next. I collected my bags, now weighing a tonne from some last minute shopping, and went and sat down in the train station. And there I stayed. It seemed like the perfect way to completely submerge myself in the country before I had to go. I was surrounded by people and noise and a mix of cultures and sometimes poverty and the different languages and so many aspects that stand out about India were apparent as I sat there. It was just how I wanted to spend my last few hours.

Midnight came all to quickly and I had to stand up and pick up my bags, walk out of that environment and after an altercation with a rickshaw driver who wanted to charge me double and via giving the rest of the things I was leaving behind to a man sleeping next to the rickshaw line I got into my taxi and drove to the sterile, modern, clean, scentless cocoon of the airport. And left Mumbai behind.


Caledonia youre calling me, now I'm coming home

2009-12-08

The rest is a bit of a blur. Of feeling sleepy, excited, numb, happy, emotional, confused, numb, excited, eating 2 breakfasts, some ice cream, being in Mumbai and then before I knew it Dubai, but only for 20 minutes to rush between planes so that I'm not even sure I can count it on my 'countries I've been to' list, a weird mood arising from watching High School Musical 2 and the Transformers 2 with no break between, being pleased with my first flight seat because I got the one with leg room at the front, feeling a little guilty about my first flight seat because I got the one with leg room at the front, being a little sad about my first flight seat because I was as close to first class as you can be without actually getting the hot towels and posh drinks and blankets before the rest of the mere mortals were even aboard, having 4 seats to myself on the second flight so that it was basically a bed, somehow being able to tell I was surrounded by Scottish people without having to hear anyone speak, hearing people speak and being very concious of my dormant accent returning, and liking it, writing in my diary every 20 minutes about the crazy weirdness of the situation and generally getting closer and closer to home.

And then, after customs and a friendly man at immigration and collecting my bags and 3 false alarms of walking through a doorway expecting to see people and it actually just being another checkpoint, I walked through the 4th one and there they were.

Dad cheering with his arms in the air, mums face hidden behind her hands (but I could still hear her (-: ) Calum struggling to pick up the bags and leaving it for dad, Lewis, so tall...and then running and hugs, and crying, and laughing, and hugging and a Lewis/Calum sandwich and happy, happy, happy!

And now here I am, sitting at a computer in my dining room. I'm normally inside it on a little skype screen looking out. But somehow I'm here and the strangest thing is that it doesn't feel strange atall. It's all so familiar, after 16 months it hasn't freaked me out as I had expected it to. I have random moments when it suddenly hits me but so far its weird because its not weird. I can't wait to see Mhairi and for Poppy to remember who I am because so far she's...pretending...that she doesn't. And to see friends both that I've missed since I left and the new ones I've made.

I guess there may be another entry or two in here about how I'm adjusting over the next few weeks. Or when things that I've seen and done finally sink in and I begin to appreciate just how much they may have changed me. I have one orphange update to give you for now and then a little something as a bit of a recap.

I'm not quite sure how I got here. If I think back to that first entry, or any of the ones in between, its just crazy. Thankyou to those of you who have followed this. Thankyou for your support and encouragement and apologies in advance for going on too much about photos and stories and basically how much of a truly incredible, amazing, lucky, fulfilling, varied, exciting, fun time I've just had. Because it was all of those things. And a thousand more besides.

 


Orphanage update

2009-12-09

This feels a little out of context here but its never left my mind and I feel like i should mention it before I sign off from this blog. I wanted to thank all of you who responded so kindly to the email I sent out from the orphange in Vellatur. I got such a positive response and felt very honoured, and a little self concious (!) about the number of people who said they were following this blog, it was completely unexpected. The response to the issues I was talking about though and the request for any willing sponsors was wonderful. Again I didn't expect anything from anyone and I know I was asking alot but those of you who were able to commit to it and those who showed an interest for the future, thank you so so much. I completely understand that there are different reasons for each person in being able to become a sponsor not and again I just wanted to say thank you for your messages of encouragement and support regardless.

For anyone I may have missed I've included the email below here anyway, theres no need to read it again but figured it was one last way of reaching as many people as possible.

I've been in touch with them all over the months since I left and they still have a lot of needs. Least of which are a whole set of new problems that the local area are dealing with because of some recent terrible flooding in the area. I'll likely be doing some fundraising over the next few months but if you want to learn more about it and are on facebook, there are some more details about what happened on the orphanage group there or you can just ask me too ofcourse. 

 

Hello All and Greetings from India!


First up I hope I don't offend anyone by sending this email. I've thought about it for a while but I figured the best thing was for me to send it and then you all can decide what to do with it.

Now that I've raised the level of intrigue I'll give you a bit of an update. Those of you who have been following my blog (shameless plug alert - www.getjealous.com/shonahmorrison) can skip this part down to the last 4ish paragraphs if you so choose, and save yourselves a considerable part of your day!

Its now a year since I set off from Glasgow Airport without much more than a backpack, a few pre-booked flights and no real plan of what on earth I was doing. I started off in the backpacker world centre – Bangkok in Thailand. Within a few hours I had ventured outside my hotel, was sitting on the kerb eating some noodle concoction from a roadside vendor and watching two elephants walk down the road! I had arranged a three week tour of Thailand to get me started and hopefully as a way of meeting more people. It took me all around the country and I got to experience some truly amazing sights and activities. Thailand was filled with lots of incredible temples, palaces, streets, foods, markets, artwork, beaches, scenery and people. I could go on for many pages but this email is going to be way too long as it is! I would like to give a mention to my favourite place though, a tribal village in the middle of the jungle in Chaing Mai. We had to trek through humid, overgrown, slippy rainforest for 2 days to get there but it was worth every uphill step! We stayed for 2 nights in a village where we got to visit the school, try our hand at ‘rice pounding’ and generally learn about their lives there. The village was completely self sufficient, even growing their own cotton to make clothes and it really made me stop and think about how many ‘things’ we have and never use or even need at home. I fell in love with the place and got quickly used to the different way of life – bathing in the river, sleeping on floor mats etc, though eating a deep fried cricket was more of a challenge! It was here that I first thought about volunteering, when we were helping teach English to the school children I thought what an honour it would be to help with something that is so easy for us but can make a real difference to them, and also to experience a completely different way of life in the rural part of a country.

My travels took me forwards through Laos and Cambodia. I loved both and my time was filled with insane journeys, 4000 remote and wet islands, new friends, bobbing down rivers on inflatable tires, world famous sights and a new knowledge and understanding of these country’s histories. Whilst certain areas were touristy, like travellers hangout Vang Vieng in Laos and ‘temple central’ Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the rest of the country was largely underdeveloped. There is so much beauty in both of these countries, both natural and manmade but it is often juxtaposed with the poverty of the people living amongst it. It’s difficult enough to see but it’s when you get speaking to the people that you gain a deeper understanding of the issues. Many of the children challenge you to question and answer sessions which involve betting money that the child will know e.g. the capital city of France. If you stop for a minute you suddenly appreciate that their surprisingly vast amount of general knowledge gives tale to the potential they have to do so well in education. Their circumstances and lack of opportunity mean that instead of using this intelligence to improve their quality of life they are forced to impress tourists into giving their spare dollars instead.

Onwards then to Malaysia and Singapore, in my limited opinion, two quite different countries. In Malaysia I felt an obvious difference in the way I was viewed as a single female travelling alone. I spent a lot of my time trekking through jungles, staying on islands, walking along treetops, eating in floating restaurants, snorkelling with turtles, sharks, ‘nemo’ fish, sharks, jellyfish, and did I mention the sharks?! Singapore was incredibly different; I got off the bus to a big, bustling, modern and rather expensive city. There were skyscrapers, shopping malls, posh bars and hotels and an ultra sleek subway system. As much as I liked Singapore and enjoyed exploring the city for a few days, visiting all the sites and stumbling across some gorgeous churches and mosques, I found myself missing the noises, smells and organised chaos of the other parts of SE Asia that I had come to love. Still, it was good preparation for the next part…

Australia, the only country that is also a continent. Having already decided to extend my original 3 month stay into 8 months, which was the original planned duration of my entire trip, I had a great time working, living and travelling there. It was fantastic to be able to really get to know the people there and spend time with them for more than just 2 or 3 days along the way and gain a better understanding of this different way of life. I picked tomatoes and planted trees in Queensland, tried and failed to search for a job in New South Wales and made salads, washed dishes and stuffed/cooked ‘chooks’ for 3 months in Western Australia. I was also lucky enough to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge, visit Uluru (Ayres Rock), do a road trip up the west coast, spend 4 days on a train across the centre of the country, sightsee in Melbourne, sunbathe in a place appropriately called ‘Surfers Paradise’ and avoid crocodiles at Steve Irwin’s zoo.

My next destination, New Zealand, was very beautiful, very cold, very quiet and very Scottish! Especially Dunedin – a New Zealand version of Scotland that is more Scottish in many ways than areas within Scotland itself. The main square had a Rabbie Burns statue, there was a Scottish shop selling shortbread, kilts and…Irn Bru – woohoo! I even went to a ceilidh, though the haggis was a little different. It was so cold that I had to wear shoes and socks for the first time in 10 months! Infact it was the first time since I left that the weather in Glasgow was hotter than the weather where I was! Though mum - I'm still not sure I believe you that it was hotter than Miami?!

In the past 6 weeks I’ve had plenty of time to thaw out though. To set the scene for you now; I’m in India, sitting at a small desk in an orphanage that houses 80 children and several elderly people. I have just finished drinking a small tin cup of India’s national drink – chai. There was a big storm last night so the temperamental electricity has just been restored. There are noises of children playing outside, men chatting indoors and the fan is whirring overhead.

I had a fantastic time travelling around the north of the country. India is a real assault on the senses; sights, sounds and smells! It is also an extraordinary country, the colours, people, food, scenery, buildings, markets, roads…you get the idea. It is wonderful but it can be terrible at the same time. At times throughout my first month here the poverty I thought I had got used to would suddenly hit me like a brick and fill me with questions about how people are still being forced to live like this. My travels over the year exposed me to people facing difficulties in many places and while it made me appreciate how lucky I am to have the chance to travel the world in this way I also felt the need to try and give something back. That’s why I’ve ended up here, in a small village called Vellatur in Southern India. My days tend to include playing with the kids and teaching them English, working on the Missions communication needs and trying to make them let me help with the cooking! All of the children are very happy here, some are here because their families simply could not afford to keep them, some have lost parents to HIV/AIDS, others have parents who are alcoholics and cannot look after them. Despite this they always seem positive, they are living in a loving, caring and safe environment where they get food, shelter and an education. They still have a lot of needs and the main priority is securing more consistent support; only 36 of the 80 children have a sponsor.

And that brings me back to the other purpose of this email. If I'm honest one of the reasons I 'umed and awed' about sending it was because I've seen so much poverty over the year, and especially here in India that I've wanted to help everyone and its hard when there are different 'levels' (for want of a better word) of need. But the bottom line is the kids here do need our support. The work of this mission relies upon the help of people who are more able to give it.

I could go on about how £12 isn't a lot of money and all that but it is a commitment you're making for (hopefully) each month so I know it's asking a lot. Though I should point out that if your circumstances ever change they are very understanding and accept that you may have to cease being a sponsor at some point. I realize that the way the 'packets' are put together may be uncomfortable for some people and if you do feel you want to sponsor one of the kids here but not pick one individually then that's no problem. Just let me or the pastor know.

Again, please let me stress as much as I possibly can that there is no pressure. And I really hope none of you see it as emotional blackmail or anything! I'm sending this email to tonnes of people, family, friends and addresses I don't recognize and have for reasons I don't remember! (Are there laws about not doing that?!) I will be happy for you just to read it for information or interest about why I've not come home yet! I know many people who receive it won't have the cash spare and lots of other valid reasons. But the chance that some of you may take time and be able to consider it properly is reason enough for me to send it. Equally, if you know of a friend or family member who may be interested feel free to pass on my details or send them the attachments.

As is the way with me, I have no plan about how long I'll be here or where I'm going next. I am here for the next few weeks atleast though and it may be easier for all if I'm here at the time if you do want to set up a sponsorship.

In the meantime, I look forward to hearing from any of you who want to drop me an email. I love to hear about what's happening back at home, it makes me feel closer somehow.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. I hope I didn't catch you in the middle of something and that you managed to grab a cup of tea beforehand!

Missing you all,
Lots of Love,
Shona xxx

Shona Morrison

Volunteer - Mission for the Rural People (english teacher, hair braider, picture drawer, communications coordinator, sponsor finder, hug giver, occasional nurse, cook and waitress, games player and face paint applier)

email: missionfaithbank@yahoo.com or shonahmorrison@hotmail.com

website: www.missionfortheruralpeople.org

facebook group: Good Samaritan Orphanage, India


The wanderer returns

2009-12-10

Now it feels like years ago, since I said goodbye to them.

Bid farewell to family, waved cheerio to friends.

With wishes so carefully thought of, and a party that made me smile.

You were all so kind and lovely, though I was still firmly in denial.

And I still didn't feel I was leaving, as I said goodbye, walked the dog, packed the car.

It was only for a short trip, I couldn't be going far.

And then it finally hit me, in the airport, saying final goodbyes

And I still remember so clearly, looking back, having tears in my eyes.


But can I remember as far back as Thailand, and that first night with pad thai in the street?

Elephant on my left, all the shops to my right, for a first night it was all pretty neat.

I met some great people, saw some great sights, trekked through the jungle, partied all night,

I ate noodles and pancakes and chicken fried rice aside from the legs that cricket was nice.

I saw cities and temples and buddahs galore and the most gorgeous beaches, I couldn't ask for more.

 

Next onto Laos, my first time on the road alone,

but with tubing and caving that didn't last long.

I rushed around the country in not alot of time

and then chilled in Don Det which was really quite fine.



I learned to love the journeys, with good music all the way

But the road trip to Cambodia? Well, it was mental and insane.

It wasn't just the hours, of which there seemed no end,

but the mud and road and detours, we got driven round the bend.

But it got us to Cambodia, and what a range of sights.

Some incredibly moving but tragic, while others a pure delight.

It was here I spent my birthday, or my fake one anyway

On the real one I flew to KL, it was a bit of a crappy day.



But Malaysia was lovely, I had a great time

the jungle treks were awesome, the beaches sublime.

Singapore came after and what a shock to find,

a real life high rise city, I'd forgotten about this kind.

And all too soon I was leaving, and I really felt quite low.

South East Asia was amazing, I think everyone should go!



And then onto Cairns and what a change of scene.

It was party, party, party, goon, piercings and the reef.

I didn't want to leave, but the budget said 'you must',

and so I found a picking job and caught the morning bus.

The hostel was disgusting, the fruit was past its peak.

I'd planned on staying a month, but lasted just the week!



A little more fun was called for, before Bundaberg called my name,

It was picking fruit and planting trees, every day was largely the same.

Aside from the upturned tomato truck, both unique and a lot of fun.

And that night spent waiting for turtles, who didn't bother to come.



Brisbane and Surfers were cool, Christmas not quite the same.

The dinner of white bread and lettuce, made me want to be at 'hame'.

Then it was time for Sydney, but the job hunt was just too slow.

So after a train ride across the country, it was time to give the westcoast a go.

 

I fell in love with Dunsborough, the beach, the vibe, the town.

I made salads and filled shelves,even rodding chickens didn't bring me down.

Then a whistle stop tour of Australia, including Uluru, the bridge and whale sharks.

This country with so much to offer, I can't wait to get back!



New Zealand was freezing and quiet, but beautiful none the less.

I jumped out a plane and hiked up a hill, but the sheep show was still the best.

There's already so much I've not mentioned, when there's so much to try include,

Like the Scottish town or Glacier, both were really good.



Next after 60 hours of travelling, with 5 flights and 2 nights slept in a chair

I found myself walking in Mumbai, I couldn't believe I was finally there.

But how do I sum up India? A country both extreme and diverse.

It's not just the scenery and culture, the language changes each time you get off the bus.



I did a tour through Rajastan and had a wicked time.

It was cities, forts and camel treks, and quite a lot of...

well, beer actually.

Let's not forget the Taj Mahal, and Varanasi too.

A highlight of the trip thus far, though ofcourse there's been afew.



Then I made it to Vellatur, for something completely new,

I taught, I played, I volunteered, and made some good friends too.

Then a trip round the south, it was a bit of a change

through the towns and backwaters, it first felt quite strange.



Before long I was back in Delhi, helping out 'Mary's Meals'.

I saw new things and learned so much, that it really changed my views.

After as you may see from my map, my route went a little crazy.

I went east then west then down a bit, but who cares - it was all amazing!

 

I ended things with a trip to the beach, which really freaked me out.

But once I was used to sun, sea and sand, it got rid of any doubts.

And now I'm sitting in Mumbai, with just a few hours to go.

I'm all set, I've packed my stuff, I'm still in denial though.

 

I'm not sure if I can sum it up, if words can really explain.

So why I've written a soppy poem? The emotion of the moment's to blame.

But, man I'm going to miss it. There's nothing quite the same.

Just pack my bag, pick a place and jump aboard a train.

It shows, it was supposed to be eight months, then it doubled to sixteen.

But how do you say 'enough's enough', when every day you're living the dream?

So I think I should end this bit here, and call it quits...for now.

I'm out of enthused adjectives. All you need to know is 'WOW'!


A bit of an update. Being home.

2009-12-11 to 2010-06-16

Hello Everyone!

It is lovely to be back! Especially as its because that means im off on some travels again!

This time to Africa! Kenya to be precise! This makes me happy!

 

So I got home in December and had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. I really missed you lot you know! After an initial few weeks of massive culture shock (it was stranger coming home to the UK than leaving in the first place) thoughts began to turn (or be encouraged to turn) in the direction of some sort of constructive activity. Apparently it is not socially acceptable to sit in pjamas all day for months at a time. Who knew?!

I really couldnt decide between looking for a "proper job" which would inevitably mean I got stuck for a while and just getting whatever to get some money together to set off again (sorry mum!) I applied for a few things. I got a job as a Scottish tour guide with haggis tours which would have been immense but it involved large sums of money if I learned how to drive a proper big bus coach (yup, the kind normally driven by like big grown up men with facial hair and beer bellies) and didnt stay for 2 years. I regretfully declined. I applied for a couple of communication jobs but a bit half heartedly (or atleast thats what I tell myself when I try to reason why I heard nothing back) and then I applied for a call centre job. This, you understand, was simply to tell the jobcentre I had applied for a job. Big mistake. The conversation went something like this:

Shona: Oh, and I applied for a job with (insert bank name here that Im not allowed to repeat on public forums) (the one with the horses) a callcentre, but I dont think Ill take it if they do offer it to me

Consultant: If they offer it to you, you have to take it

Shona: But its not what I want to do and I dont want to...

Consultant: Tough cookies sweetheart (or words to that affect - the buzzing in my ears was replacing all normal sounds by this point)

Now, let me point out that I dont think there is anything wrong with working in a callcentre and when i worked for DirectLine for 4 years I enjoyed it. But thats the point, I felt like I did my time with that and callcentre work just isnt what I want to do anymore

Anyways, one thing led to another and I found myself outside the XX banks office, pen in hand, fake enthusiasm in place and shocked at the fact Id managed to make it there for 7.10am!!

The hours allowed me to do a lot of volunteering, both with ChristianAid and SOLAS festival. That was great fun and Im hoping it continues in some form when I get back.

The job was fine and the people were lovely but I think it was about a day before I started looking for something else.

And that begins to bring us onto the next part of the story. I saw a job advert for a position in Kenya. An assistant student coordinator, looking after students as they volunteered in various projects with the charity Kenyan Orphan Project (KOP).

The first interview was in Bristol and I had planned on doing a blog entry about that. I figured travelling stories should include any trips within the UK. I was going to talk about the immediate buzz I got when I went through departures in the airport, how comfortable it felt slotting straight back into "traveller mode". I was going to detail how I loved the cathedrals and the canal with the pretty little boats and how I had never really considered living elsewhere in the UK but that Bristol would be a good place to start. I was going to mention the (apparently famous) bridge that was really really high and had stunning views and a sign from the samaritans advertising their phone number and how I figured if you needed them and were on the bridge then it was probably too late. I was also going to make a note about the art galleries (more modern art which made me feel unintelligent) and the museum and the weather and sitting in the park reading a book, leaning against a tree and then wondering what that funny smell was and going to sit inside the hostel instead. I was going to say a thankyou to Nick (from thailand) for letting me stay in his flat and how it was so nice to see someone from my trip but that it was a bit odd being in a home context instead. There were probably other musings I was going to mention too and I may have thought of writing something about the interview and how Dan and Ted (interviewers) suggested I go to Bath and so ofcourse I said that was a great idea and went. Then I may have gone on to discuss bath and the baths themselves and the lovely big church and the atmosphere and how I thought I should really try to see more of the UK as it turns out theres actually a lot to see.

But as it turns out I didnt write any of that. I went home and liked that it was only 24 hours but it felt like longer. And I particularly liked that it was so easy to get home and see people and that not having to wait months for that was pretty awesome. Then I had a second interview, this time on skype - probably the only type of interview I could take Poppy to (shes my dog btw!)

Then I got the job! You probably figured that out for yourself given Im writing this from Kenya right?

And now Im two weeks into 3 months(....) of living in Africa. The job is mental (good mental), the hours long, the people are fantastic, the weather is hot, the food is good, the tusker beer is cold, the culture is fascinating, the challenges are aplenty, the learning opportunities are vast and the experience is amazing.

Im in Kenya. The blog is finally back. And life is good.


Nairobi

2010-06-17 to 2010-06-18

Calum and Lewis always had plans for this Summer. Mhairi and I kind of added ours at the end. But it meant that mum and dad have had to wave cheerio to the various Morrison siblings on 4 separate airport trips which caused mum to question whether or not it would be more practical to just move into the airport! Calum seemed a little distressed at being the last to leave, commenting that there wouldn’t be many of us left to see him off on his departure date and somewhat concerned that as mum would have done the same 3 times in the previous 10 days she was probably inclined just to drop him off in the carpark!

Luckily for me I was only Morrison sibling numero 2 to set off so didn’t have to worry. After a few sobs and the traditional (can it be traditional after 2?) ‘Shona travels doorstep photograph’ and a discovery en route that I’d left my KOP hoody at the bottom of the stairs everything else about the journey went smoothly.

The following entry from my diary maybe sums up how I felt about the whole thing…
“How on earth did I get here again? I couldn’t quite believe it as I stood on the doorstep with my bag posing for pictures. And then, as I chucked my (pleasingly light) rucksack in the boot, it really hit me that I was about to set off all over again! And here I am, on my own, sitting at another departure gate, in my ‘traveller wrap-around pants’ with hours of flights ahead of me and months in a totally foreign country – mental!! As much as I said I would keep traveling and I was determined it would happen, and soon, I don’t think I quite expected to be away again only 6 months later, and to such a hugely different country – Africa!! – I’m going to Africa!!”

I flew to London, on a ridiculously overheated BMI plane, who’d have thought you needed air-conditioning in Glasgow? I couldn’t believe how incredibly busy Heathrow was. After a couple of hours I was taxi-ing down the runway getting rather excited about the prospect of being surrounded by another culture again, as we climbed higher the sunset from my wee rectangle of plane window was stunning, and this was still lower than the height I jumped from! The inner dialogue that became a running commentary for my travel blog last year started up pretty quickly and some of the emotions and feelings that had become so familiar when I was away began to sweep back in. It didn’t take long for silver cloud philosophy and enthusiasm for meeting and speaking with as many fellow travelers as possible to return. After a number of hours we began our descent into Nairobi and as I looked out of the window for my first view of Kenya I found myself looking straight at an ostrich. Now that doesn’t happen just anywhere!

I’d agreed to get a taxi with the woman sitting next to me on the flight and spend a few hours with her in Nairobi but we got separated at immigration and I never saw her again! Initially I was disappointed but it was actually quite nice to have the time to myself to acclimatize and think through everything. I negotiated a reasonable enough taxi fare and headed into the city.

Now, I know I’m not the best at organizing travel plans in advance and a plane ticket is often as pre arranged as I get, but in my defence my Lonely Planet hadn’t arrived until the morning I left and I’d been mega busy until the day before. Reading the Nairobi chapter as the plane had been hurtling towards said destination I wasn’t exactly filled with confidence. The chapter opens with:

"One of the most vilified cities in Africa, nairobi has a reputation amongst foreign tourists as being an incredibly dangerous place racked by violent crime and extreme poverty. Indeed the city has garnered the unfortunate nickname of 'Nairobbery'."

Right then.

I had a full day to spend in Nairobi and although it was all going to be in daylight hours I began to get a bit nervous. The first Kenyan I met was called Alex and was pleased this was also dads name. As the taxi drove towards the city centre I got the feeling I needn’t have bothered with the nerves, the taxi driver Lawrence taught me some Kiswahili words including Hakuna Matata, (no worries), which absolutely made my day! We drove down the Uhuru Highway (Freedom Highway) so named because people marched down there when they wanted their freedom from being a British colony. I looked eagerly for signs that ‘this was Africa’ and was met with a couple. Funky printed shirts, women carrying baskets on their heads and some impossibly sculptured and amazing hairdos. But the main sign that caused a big grin was the trees. You know when you see a film or documentary about Africa and they have those trees which are like an upside down triangle and kind of flat on top and usually have a bird or two amongst the branches and a pride of lions resting in the shade below? Well, those trees were dotted around the roadside fields and that made me very happy - seeing them I knew I’d really arrived.

Nairobi itself was OK. I got dropped off at the conference centre and took a lift to the top to see the stunning 180 view of the city. Having Harson McGauchin (surely wrong spelling but how his name sounded) with me pointing out all the sights of importance made it much more interesting and had me wondering about all the times I’d climbed up to viewpoints and admired the view without really knowing what I was looking at… After that I decided Nairobi didn’t seem all that scary afterall and went for a proper wander. I got cornered pretty quickly by a guy talking about Edinburgh who I had a reasonable chat with before his friend turned up and they started talking about their lack of working visas and their need for money to get to a different city where they would be allowed to work. That may sound overly harsh but I’d been briefed by others and had just read pretty much the exact same story in the Lonely Planet so was pretty clear that it was a scam. Doesn’t have to take away from the pleasant chat beforehand though.

The rest of the day I largely spent walking around and taking in all the new sights and sounds etc. I bought a packet of crisps that looked like wotsits but tasted of, well, nothing and had the texture of overly stale wotsits that just kind of evaporated into nothingness as soon as you put them into your mouth.

Part of me felt like I should be making more of an effort as I was in a new country for the first time but I was knackered and after a while all the streets in Nairobi looked a bit samey. I was surprised at how clean everything was and that there weren’t any obvious signs of poverty, not a bad thing I guess but my expectations of my first Eastern African city so far seemed way off.

The Lonely Planet had scared me a bit but after a few hours walking around I was pretty confident that I could handle public transport to get back to the airport. It’s always the best way to travel, you meet people, you see the authentic local way of doing things and its way cheaper. In this case 40 shillings instead of 1200, numbers aren’t my strong point but even I know that’s good maths. (Right Nicky?!)

The bus journey was absolutely fine with none of the horror stories that I’d read about popping up, though granted I drifted through unconsciousness for most of it so maybe I just missed them all?!

I checked into the airport again behind a guy trying to squeeze 3 huge truck tires through the x-ray machine and tried to get some more sleep spread rather awkwardly across 3 plastic chairs until it was time for my next flight. I fell asleep before the safety presentation had finished (or perhaps even begun?) and 45 minutes later was touching down in Kisumu.


First few days.

2010-06-18 to 2010-06-20

I climbed down the steps from the small plane to another wave of hot air and a large group of school children all peering through the fences. Kisumu airport was slightly less high tech than its Nairobi counterpart with a little shed at the arrivals gate and all us passengers stood by the gate until a wee truck brought over a pile of bags and a couple of men handed them round to everyone. Who needs a carrousel (sp?) anyways?!

Marti and Odambo (known to all the students as The Commander) arrived in The Beast (the KOP car) and we drove through town to the Duke of Breeze Hotel. I have since learned its named that way as the ‘DU’ is for Dutch (the managers are from Holland) and the ‘KE’ being for Kenya. I think the ‘Breeze’ is in reference to the rooftop bar but more on that delightful spot later (and all Summer probably). It was odd seeing Marti again in Kenya after only having met in Leeds before and having spoken to her about seeing her in Kenya as a far off abstract concept for so long. It was good odd though. And it was awesome meeting the (in)famous Odambo for the first time. A force to be reckoned with!

After a majorly needed shower and dumping my stuff in my new room (huge – 6 windows! Shutting the curtains takes bloody ages!) we settled onto the roof for my very first Tusker, some food, some chat, many many introductions and…the England game!

There were so many mizungus around (white people) which I hadn’t really expected. Turns out that Kisumu is a bit of a hot bed for volunteers and NGO’s and so there are loads of other people from all over the world doing charity and volunteer work here. It’s a really interesting bunch of people.

When I went to Dharamsala and there were so many Europeans and North Americans everywhere I remember thinking how much it was like a university campus at home and wasn’t ‘the real India’ and how much I really didn’t like it. But now that I’m living here for a few months I have a totally different attitude. I love all of the new friends that I’m making that are actually from Kenya but it’s equally nice to have such a strong community of people here who are largely interested in the same goals and of a similar mindset where we can all learn a lot from each other. Loving it!

I crashed pretty soon after the England game and was woken the next morning at about 6am by horrendously loud coca cola trucks rattling past my window (there is a bottling plant next door). I have a vague recollection of stumbling out of my mosquito net, looking out of my window to see what the noise was, thinking the sunrise was pretty nice and stumbling back to bed again. When I got up properly an hour or two later I checked my camera – apparently you can take photos of stunning sunrises when you’re 60% asleep. Result!

I spent that first full day in Kisumu exploring the town with Marti. She took me to the Laughing Buddah for lunch (not the little or the dancing or any of the other variations I’ve been confusing it with so far) and then for a wander round the centre to try and get some sort of bearings. We also went along to the fruit and veg market which was piled high with unrecognizable produce I’d never seen before, including yellow passionfruit which a woman gave us for free. Tasty. We also passed an impromptu health lecture going on outside the market. It was fantastic to see a crowd of people all learning about important health issues (in this case the female reproductive system by the look of the pictures) while they were doing their shopping. We had been on our way to find some chicken for dinner but as they were all still very much clucking and you know, alive, we decided not to bother.

We headed back to Marti's for dinner where I met her flatmate Stuart and Fred, Betty and Shaun who own the place she is staying. Awesome bunch of people and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them all better over the next few months. I sank lower and lower into her couch and ended up crashing their for the night before heading back to the Duke in the morning to get ready for the students...

 


KOP Imperial and Notts

2010-06-20 to 2010-07-03

Below is the following I wrote for the official KOP blog. It covers a lot of stuff but my next entry will cover all the bits this missed out! Namely the shindigs we had without the students (sorry guys) the stories that werent really appropriate for public consumption and afew other musings on the side. Whats difficult is that unlike my own trip last year I cant just write about everything because this involves lots of other people and this is my job. There are some stories which will just have to wait till I see you in person - the ones Im talking about, Im not likely to forget!

 

 

Perhaps I should introduce myself first. My name is Shona Morrison and I’m the new assistant student coordinator for KOP’s Summer programme in Kisumu, Kenya. From June until September I’ll be working with Martina on location in Kisumu and will be endeavouring to keep you posted on all of the goings on as we welcome new students and returners to work with our project partners, observing, volunteering and all playing their part in the important work going on here.
We’ve just reached the end of the first two weeks and said cheerio to the students from Nottingham and Imperial Universities. It was a fantastic start to the Summer with 34 students giving all they had to make it a real success. There was building work, teaching, hospital rounds, reflection, an immense football match, socialising, dodgy stomachs, outreach, balloons and bubbles, digging holes and cement mixing, karaoke, late nights and early mornings, new people, new sights, new food and new friends, there was ugali and there was an alpha male baboon...
The guys arrived only slightly later than planned which is impressive given they were now working on ‘kenya time’. After a few wrong turns the bus made its way to the Duke of Breeze Hotel, and the students’ home for the next fortnight. Waiting on the steps for them, I had felt a real buzz of excitement, it was hard to know what to expect, and with 34 students anything had the potential to happen. And then they were here, all 34 of them, 7 girls from Imperial College and 27 from Nottingham University. All piling off the coach, all looking to us for keys, instructions, room allocations and lost wallets (bad time for me to drop and break my phone then...)
After dinner we held a welcome meeting for everyone to go over the basics, introduce ourselves again and explain the programme. Then it was up to the rooftop bar (a very welcome addition to the hotel from last year) for well earned cold tusker beers and banter.
No rest for the wicked as it was straight into the programme schedule first thing the following morning. Everyone was down for breakfast bright and early (not a trend that continued I may add...) and on board the matatus for the journeys to the various projects that KOP support.
PROJECT DAYS
As, like many of the students, this is my first time in Kisumu, my first two weeks were a bit of a crash course in all things KOP and I tried to fit in as many project visits as I could. I went along with the Kochogo group for the first couple of days.
Kochogo is a 3 day project visit where students alternate between the Kochogo Feeding Centre (KFC if you will...) the Kadinda Health Centre and both Kagimba and Disii primary schools. The extended time spent there really allows students to get to know the staff and students and gain a comprehensive understanding of how the projects there work. At the feeding centre the first group got stuck in with washing dishes and preparing lunch while those at the school taught subjects such as malaria and schistosomiasis. The activities at the health centre varied from day to day with some students helping in reception and the pharmacy, others sitting in on consultations or assisting with basic medical tests and one group helping to deworm over 100 children!
Each day the groups joined each other for lunch at the feeding centre with the children. With those on the allocated feeding centre day serving meals such as rice and beans and giving many of the students their first taste of ugali.
Ugali is one of the main staples in the Kenyan diet. Made simply from maize flour and water it has an unusual texture and no strong taste. It’s something everyone should try at least once and goes down well when you mix it with sauces. I won’t say too much more about it here but let’s just say there is some division of opinion when it comes to ugali.
After lunch there was always time to play with the children which was a hugely popular activity. They entertained us with songs and dances and the students returned the favour with activities as varied as bubbles, ball games, art and musical statues.
Kochogo was also the sight for the artistic members of the group to don their VanGogh hats and reach for the paint brushes. Marti had set all KOP students a challenge to design a mural for the walls of the feeding centre which were noticeably bare and uninteresting. Zainab and Colleen from Imperial College led the way with a design for teaching the children about what to eat as part of a balanced diet. Over the two weeks a number of students helped with the painting and added more designs such as handprints and alphabets to the other walls. The difference was remarkable and it has made the place so much brighter. Seeing the kids gathered around the paintings each day learning from them makes it all the more worthwhile – good work guys!
KOP students also each spent a day at two of the local hospitals; Provincial Hospital in the morning and District Hospital in the afternoon. While I haven’t been on these visits myself the students often shared their experiences with one another each evening. I think it is fair to say that these were not always easy days for the students and many saw things that they struggled with. With facilities, availability of medication and care provision so different to that in the UK, there was a lot to take in. Despite this, the overall impression that I got from hearing the students discussions, was a positive one. There were so often tales of how people were making the most of what they did have. I lost count of the numbers of students I heard swearing they would never again bemoan the NHS. The strongest sense was that the medical staff were incredibly resourceful with the little that they had and while it’s not always possible to give all the medication, time or treatment that the huge numbers of patients need, people ultimately receive the best possible care under these difficult circumstances.
The other site that I did have a chance to visit in these first two weeks was Alendu Primary School, where students are assisting with the construction of the administration block for this rurally based school on the outskirts of Kisumu. This is the other project that students get to spend three days on and as a result have more of an opportunity to really get to know the staff and children well and get stuck in with the building work. I went along on the third day of ‘Team LAD’s’ visit. Lots of work appeared to have been done over the first two days and I was told that moving all those bricks and pieces of stone from one area of the school to the giant pothole they had filled in on the entrance road took all day... apparently it was a lot deeper than it looked. (-;
There was lots of digging holes and hoeing and preparing materials for the roofers at Alendu. As the work progresses over the Summer then the jobs that KOP students will be able to do will also vary. Digging holes and fetching water may sound like mundane tasks but they are just as important in constructing these buildings as plastering or painting the walls will be when we get to that stage. As for the student who shall remain nameless who chose to dig his hole separately from the rest of the group’s rather tidy line formation, I couldn’t possibly comment. Pointing and laughing is probably also an inappropriate way to respond to the female student who fell into a ditch…three times.
While at Alendu students also got a chance to teach at the primary school and visit and interact with the older pupils at the adjoining secondary school. And then there was the football match. There had been a few kickabouts over the first few days, largely involving 100 children chasing the KOP boys for the ball. On the final day Willus, the head teacher of the primary school organised a proper match against the 12 KOP students and it was game on. I can report that there were nerves a plenty over lunchtime and serious talk of tactics before the kickoff. As official match photographer I was exempt from play, which was probably just as well. Out came 12 Kenyan school children, many with no shoes on and the match began. In fairness to Team KOP, they weren’t as used to the heat, the long grass of the pitch or the lack of sidelines which meant an extra large space to play on.
I won’t pretend that I am a qualified sports commentator but I can confirm that the match was a blinder! There were some stunning saves from Vicky in goal, outstanding kicks from Viola and a number of elegant tackles from Kerry (aside from that one time she fell over..) The boys also played their hearts out which wasn’t easy in the heat or with the huge numbers of children in the audience all cheering for the opposing team (and some of the girls!)
Half time was called and there was just enough time to grab water for drinking and pouring over heads before the second half resumed. With the first half lasting about 10 minutes we’d expected more of the same but 25 minutes later the KOP side were definitely lagging. There were distinct groans to be heard when the referee blew the whistle for a foul and not fulltime. With Kish retiring to goals for a rest and signs of heat exhaustion on the horizon we called it a day. Score: Team KOP 2 – Alendu Pupils 3. The ball was given to much delight as a prize for the wining team and team photos were snapped to immortalise this historic event.
The match was a lot of fun and certainly put the evenings World Cup game between England and Germany to shame (if I’m allowed to say that as a Scotland fan). It was a fantastic end to Team LAD’s time at Alendu and left everyone in very high spirits, albeit sweaty ones. What really made the moment special in my view though was the comments Willus made at the end of the day as the KOP students were leaving. He took a moment to explain that with the help, fundraising and support of the students the school had gone from the derelict shells of buildings we could still see outside to a comfortable and professional environment the pupils were now sitting in, more conducive to their education and learning experience. After the highs of the football game Willus’ words really hit home about why the students were there, it brought us back to the reasons for all their fundraising over the previous months and the difference they are actually able to make to the children of Kisumu. It was the perfect conclusion to the students’ time at Alendu.
There will be more to report from projects such as VIMA, Ombeyi and HOVIC over the next few weeks and months. For more information on these, and all of the projects that KOP supports you can check out the website or look out for testimonials and comments from the students who have been here on the facebook group. Name-XXX
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
It wasn’t all work and no play either with a number of trips to the market, nights sampling tuskers on the rooftop and evenings partying at local hotspots such as Laughing Buddah (gooood dessert) and proper Kenyan style nightclub – Sunspot. Only in Kenya can a remix of My Heart Will Go On and Who Let The Dog’s Out go down so well.
There was also a quiz hosted by Nat with some really tricky questions (do any of you know what a squirrel’s home is called?), an evening spent at Kiboko Bay (AKA Hippo Point) watching the sunset, splashing (loudly) in the pool and hippo spotting. Then there was the karaoke night, with everyone dressed in makeshift school uniforms. Sometimes groups like to build up their confidence before nominating themselves for a song. Not this group, they were straight in there with requests for Disney, Boyband and other classics such as Madonna. Then someone got completely carried away singing Buttercup by The Foundations. But we won’t talk about that…
The trips social schedule culminated in a party hosted by project partners at HOVIC. There were speeches, excellent performances from some of the kids with skits and singing and dancing, some of which involved audience participation (check out facebook for the evidence). This was followed by a great meal and some fabulous dancing to round off the evening. HOVIC put on a great party, the children and students alike seemed to have a ball and it was a huge success. There was certainly something about all the students, children HOVIC supports and project partners dancing together to blaringly loud music, outside under the stars in Kenya that made the night a special one which I don’t think anyone involved will forget in a hurry.
OUTINGS
There were a few smaller ‘outings’ to local places of interest such as the museum. The museum is an interestingly eclectic mix of stuffed animals (including a lion in full ‘attack mode’ and a large vulture hanging from the ceiling like a freakish children’s mobile), a reptile house, a fascinating exhibit on Luo culture, including a reconstruction of a typical homestead, complete with an individual hut for each of the husband’s three wives… The boys were impressed by this, the girls less so. To top it off there were tortoises and crocodiles to keep visitors entertained. Not in the same pen I might add, but I had a horrible feeling the crocodiles enclosure was probably less restrictive than the one for the tortoises. Chicken wire and ideas of petting zoos spring to mind, not what I’d go for with a crocodile enclosure. Perhaps one of the reasons some of us stood well back in a state of mild panic when the guide tried to ‘encourage’ the male croc to move. Or was that just me?!
Some of the girls also attended a local church on the Sunday morning which was a very welcoming experience. For those coming over the next few weeks and months there are a variety of places of worship located in Kisumu and all denominations and religions seem to be covered. On this particular Sunday there was a lot of great singing and many members of the congregation encouraged the students to get involved.
Trips that went a little further afield included Nakuru and Kakamega National parks.
Nakuru came first with a very early start and a three hour bus journey to deal with first. By all accounts this was completely worth it though with the group seeing a variety of animals including giraffes, buffalo, the famous flamingos and hyena. There was also an incident with a large alpha male baboon. Inside the bus. Note to self: don’t open a bag of food when near wild animals…
Kakamega was the trip for the second week and despite some typically Kenyan ‘ticket issues’ and some high pitched screaming in the bat tunnel (and that was just the boys), students seemed to enjoy the trip. Was the view from the top of the hill that we sweatily staggered up worth it? It was stunning.

I’d certainly say my first two weeks with KOP was a baptism of fire. There was always going to be lots to learn, but what was great for me is that for a lot of it I got to learn with the students, who were patient with me when I knew very few of the answers and had to use them as guinea pigs for ironing out any first week kinks and teething problems. Before all of the students arrived the hotel owner Machiel gave me a kind of knowing look, he wished me luck and advised me to get my last good nights sleep of the Summer. After numerous project visits, market days, hospital introductions, nights out, nights in, social shenanigans, dodgy stomachs (and there were quite a few), sprained ankles, and more hospital visits of the unplanned variety I now fully understand that knowing look. If I may I’d like to give a personal thank you to all of the students from Imperial and Nottingham. They really were a great bunch who got a fine balance between the social and more serious reasons for why they were here. On a number of projects, you get out what you put in and the students went over the call of duty to make the most of their time here. It wasn’t all plain sailing but it was a great start to the Summer. Marti and I can’t wait to see the rest of the students over here for their chance to see where their fundraising has gone, have an opportunity to learn about a different culture and the medical situation in a country and society so different to the UK and make their own bit of difference to the lives of the people that they meet here, whether it’s a friendly chat, medical advice, cultural exchange or support.
Asante Sana everyone. Oriti for now.


First two weeks - extras!

2010-06-21 to 2010-07-04

As I said at the start of the previous blog, theres only so much I can actually write on here because a lot of the stories or tales I'd like to tell aren't about me. There are certain ones some of you may have heard about in emails and others that will just have to wait till I'm home in person. However, there's a fair amount we can still share...

I was pretty excited (and a little nervous) before the first set of students arrived and given they were working on 'Kenyan time' Marti and I had a moment to mentally prepare as we sat on the steps of the hotel waiting for them. It was all a bit crazy when they first arrived (not helped by the fact I dropped my phone about 3 minutes aftterward and had to shout up and down the stairs for the next hour or so while we got people sorted).

The day to day stuff can be followed in the official KOP blog I'm trying to keep and which is also the entry before this one. As for the other stuff...

The first thing that springs to mind was the (first!) emergency trip to hospital at around midnight in the first week. A girl had got something nasty in her eye and so we took her in to get it checked and washed out etc. (She later had to had it scraped out with a needle - the foreign substance, not her eye. BRAVE!!) it all went ok but as Machiel (hotel owner - awesome man in a crisis!) turned the car into the street the tyre exploded. OK. To be fair it was just as well it happened there and then and not 5 minutes later when we would have been driving down the street alone but still! All this happening while 3 med students, 2 doctors, 3 security men and a graduate (me) tried and failed miserably to change a phone simcard so that I could tell Marti that we were all still alive. I had to laugh though, it doesn't rain but it pours!

I also had my first proper Kenyan night out and went for it in style with Fred, Linda, Marti, Irene, Paul and Stuart. Not one for starting things gently it seems Fred took us on a crawl of about 7 different bars and clubs, some with live music, some with awesome dancing, some with cuku (sp) choma (barbequed chicken), and all with a drink in hand and a spring in step. Until the end in Tammy's (??) where at 5am I really needed a bed and not a table to fall asleep on. Wicked night though and so nice to be out in local places with local people and (as much as I love the Imp/Notts group), not on duty.

On the Saturday (26th) Fred had organised a surprise party as a leaving do for Stuart. It was a double celebration though as Fred and his wife Betty were bringing home their newly adopted baby girl Sereni the same day. Apparently adoption is a controversial topic here in Kenya, regardless, giving a loving family home to a little girl who would otherwise have nothing doesn't seem wrong to me. She is an absolute sweetheart and her and big brother Shaun seem to be getting on like a house on fire...so far!

The party was a lot of fun and we had Ibrihim along who played guitar and sang for most of the evening. I sat and listened to him for the most part and just felt totally chilled out (and pretty knackered from the previous night tbh) but I got more than a bit over excited when he sang a song (Im sad to say, I'm on my way) I have only ever heard at Morrison family parties. AWESOME!! And a little bizarre!

The party drew to a close, after an incredible spread, with a big round of speeches from many of the guests all saying thanks etc go Stu. It was a really lovely day/evening and gave an insight into the Kenyan way of doing things (lots of eating and speech making), not bad for a bloke from Northern Ireland! The night ended with a trip to the club from the following night, too much food for dancing and a lime green hat (see facebook for the photos) called a pretty swift end to my evening!

The next morning was an early start for church. I'm glad I went and I've covered some of what happened in the KOP blog entry but lack of sleep didn't help the concentration levels which were being stretched for the bilingual sermon as it was. The singing and the welcoming people made it pretty special though.

There's another story i can't really go into for lots of reasons but needless to say I got an interesting (if unwanted) insight into another side of Kenyan culture, pride, police corruption and powerful family politics. Which involved lots of stressing, not very pleasant situations and me being called a violent racist! (I'm not!) All in a day's work!

The end of trip party really was a special night. It was hosted by HOVIC (Hope for Victoria's Children) and took place outside the night shelter they provide for 30 boys who have nowhere else to go. There was great food, fantastic company, entertaining dancing and dramas from the kids and really just a great buzz about the whole evening. I've talked about those moments when things suddenly hit you and you think 'I'm really doing this and it's amazing' well this was one of those moments. Dancing out under the stars to blaring music with children who are there because of the projects KOP support and a bunch of students who I now count as friends, yup - I'm really doing this and it's amazing!

The next morning it was time for a sad goodbye and almost as quickly as they had come, the first student group had left. I'm not sure I expected to get on with people so well and just have so much fun. I also couldn't of imagined half of the challenges that came up within those first 14 days. The late nights and early mornings coupled with the extra stresses of the recent 'violent racist' saga meant I was absolutely exhausted.

Still, there was only enough time to read over the feedback forms and inhale some lunch before the next group arrived. As they had booked their flights a day early we had only 3 hours between the first group leaving and the second arriving. Luckily Marti had explained in advance that we would need to meet and greet and then scarper which is pretty much what we did.

Despite the onset of a sleep coma we still made it out to local Kenyan club Sunspot to hear MusaJuma - live Kenyan musician who people were very excited about. It was a fun night and the music was great but I faded pretty quickly and retired to collapse at Marti's house. The next morning was spent in a bit of a daze of crappy american tv, topgear and sleeping on the couch. And a lunch of sausages. (Thanks Stu - we assumed it was you who left them in the freezer?!) It couldn't have been more perfect (and surreal - were we really doing this in Western Kenya?!) But it allowed us to recharge the batteries and get back in the right frame of mind for the next group and the next morning, when everything was due to start, all over again!


KOP Southampton and Barts

2010-07-03 to 2010-07-17

Jambo/Sa Sa/Idinade/Nang’o. If there’s one thing I’m learning about Kisumu, it is that there are many many different ways to say hello. Not only do you have pronunciation to deal with but there’s the added complication of deciding if you should go for the Kiswahili option or the local Luo dialect. Honestly, the amount of times I think I’ve got the hang of it only to be introduced to a completely different word or informed with a laugh that the reason the kids are looking at me like I’ve got two heads is because I’ve just been shouting ‘cloth’ at them for 10 minutes. (“Nango” being cloth, “Nang’o” being hello – you can see my problem).

Not to worry, Hello did just fine for the arrival of the 2nd batch of 15 KOP students from Barts and Southampton universities. With only 3 hours between the Imperial and Notts guys leaving and the new group arriving there wasn’t a whole lot of recuperation time. In order to be on top form for the official start to the programme on the Monday we welcomed the 14 girls and 1 boy to the hotel and confessed the need to go and sleep in a corner for 24 hours. As Southampton’s group leader Jade had been in Kisumu the previous year we reunited her with minder Thomas and she took charge and it sounds like the group had a great first day. They went to Kiboko Bay and not to be deterred or disheartened by the fact it was shut, proceeded to local hotspot the Grill for lunch and the market for some shopping. While Marti and I proceeded to curl up in a corner and sleep for a few hours.

It seemed to work as on Monday morning we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to commence with the next round of project visits. I joined the Barts girls as they went to teach at Ombeyi and Kiliti primary schools. Not that I didn’t respect teachers before this trip but there is something about standing in front of children trying to keep them entertained/under control for several hours at a time whilst also trying to teach them something worthwhile that makes you realize just how challenging a job it can be . Add to the mix the fact that there are 50+ children, limited paper, pens and other learning materials, the fact that English is often not their only or even their first language and that the teachers are from a different culture and country and therefore just opening their mouths and speaking can be met with giggles and you have a rough idea of the added challenges the KOP students are met with. The guys did a sterling job though and after initial shyness from some of the pupils, they came out of their shells and by the end of the lesson were happy to answer the questions posed to them. The sweets may have helped slightly with this.

I also had a chance to visit the feeding centre and health centre at the Ombeyi site. The feeding centre has a similar set up to the Kochogo site and the Southampton students got stuck in with washing dishes and preparing the days lunch, with some top class ugali stirring from Adam! Don’t worry Adam, I’m sure it’s harder than it looks…

As before the students on the Ombeyi project days all had the opportunity to come back to the feeding centre for lunch and interact and play with the kids. Balloons, beach balls and bubbles seemed to prove a big hit. Though the unexpected balloon bursting seemed to startle some of the younger kids, much to the delight of the older ones!

The health centres represented to me the biggest difference between Ombeyi and the Kochogo sites. While they are both in rural settings and serve a vast amount of local people, the Ombeyi centre is miles ahead in terms of care provision. They have a fully functioning laboratory, a larger number of well trained medical staff and students, more beds, medicines and general medical equipment. It seemed like an excellent facility and an invaluable resource for the local community. It struck me that with more investment, support and development, this is what Kadinda health centre at Kochogo has the potential to become. It makes me hopeful though, seeing facilities available like the Ombeyi health centre, that prove with support and development people in these communities can receive the best possible health care they need and deserve. This won’t happen overnight in Kisumu but with the commitment of the people here and the support of organizations like KOP it is hopefully, only a matter of time.

I accompanied other students on some more project visits over the next two weeks and had an opportunity to learn more about HOVIC and VIMA.

I’d seen the HOVIC centre most days when I dropped the students off in the morning but I had the chance to go along to the night shelter one day with Monika. The shelter provides a safe space for 30 boys to sleep and spend the night when they have nowhere else to go. Various activities also take place during the day but in this case, the girls rule the roost. When we went along they were in the middle of a tailoring class and were learning how to make clothes by practicing on Singer sewing machines with makeshift paper clothes. We were impressed enough with the complex designs and skilled workmanship (or should that be workwomanship?!) but this only increased after my dismal attempts at sewing a straight line onto a square piece of paper. Fail! The girls spend a year or so doing the course until they are ready for their tailoring exams and they are supported in this whole process. They also take part in life skills classes and learn about everything from health issues to business skills. There is a demand for other classes such as computer skills and the ever popular beauty therapy course which will hopefully be introduced and available in the future. With pressures from family, friends and general circumstance tied in with a high rate of pregnancies amongst the girls, the support and counseling available from HOVIC staff and local healthcare professionals is vital in keeping the girls involved.

The other project I visited with this group was VIMA. VIMA is one of the only organizations that KOP works with that only receives support and funding from KOP and not other external bodies. It helps children whose families cannot afford to send them to school by providing either uniform and stationary for those they support ‘halfway’ and uniform, stationary, school fees and food (for the whole family) to those they can afford to support fully. It’s a fantastic organization that is making a huge difference to the lives of the people they are helping. I am constantly meeting people in Kisumu that have started with nothing and through sponsorship and opportunities from charities etc have been able to reach their full potential and are now hugely successful themselves, often putting large amounts back into the communities they have come from. The opportunities that VIMA are offering to these children are providing them with a real shot to make more of their lives and not be trapped in a cycle of poverty that they otherwise simply would not have. Now that’s pretty awesome in my book!

VIMA’s Edward took Aoife, Adam and I to visit two of the homes of children they provide uniform and stationary to. First up was Tyson, he lives in Obunga which is the 2nd biggest slum in Kisumu and is home to 70,000 people. To get to his home we had to pick our way over a rubble and rubbish strewn road and step over a stream of open sewage flowing right beside peoples homes. There is something incredibly humbling about being invited into someone’s home in Kisumu and allowed a glimpse into the other side of the children’s and families lives. You are always aware here that people have less than we do. Signs of the poverty are always around you, in the holed clothing that the children wear to school, in the desperate states people wait for until they allow themselves to visit the hospitals, in the numbers of children who visit the feeding centres or turn up at HOVIC because they have nowhere or no-one to turn to or can’t afford to go elsewhere. However, it is easy to be distracted from this when you have so many people being so incredibly positive around you, making the most of what they do have in the hospitals or with the singing, laughing and smiling children that greet you at the other projects. When kids are delighted with the toys and sweets you give them or just seem happy to spend time with you it is easy to forget that things aren’t always that simple and comfortable at home. There is something about being in someone’s home that takes it back to basics and offers a window into their lives that only being there first hand can provide.

Tyson lives in a small two roomed hut in the middle of Obunga slum. There was no electricity or provision for water or sanitation at his house. We were met by his mother who kindly invited us in and spoke to us about Tyson, who was still in lessons at the local school. He sounded like an incredibly bright pupil who is a keen and committed student. The family home is located next to some buildings that are used for local breweries and so there is often lots of noise and people fighting outside in the evenings. She told us that sometimes Tyson will get up in the middle of the night when it is quieter so that he can study in the peace and quiet. We were shown his school books and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such meticulously neat handwriting, and this on subjects and topics I’ve never even heard of including some battle in America that came as news to me!

The second home we visited was for a young girl, also at primary school who lives in a one room hut with 6 other family members. In many families the costs involved mean that a choice has to be made about which children will be sent to school and which will have to be kept at home. Although primary school is supposed to be free in Kenya there seem to be a number of hidden costs involved and this added to the costs of things like uniforms and school books can often keep children at home.

After a bit of an awkward attempt at driving out of the slum – the bottom of the car got kind of wedged on a rutted stone on the road, which was inexplicably solved when the 3 of us alighted from the vehicle and were told we shouldn’t have eaten so much at lunchtime! – we headed towards Vincent’s house. Vincent was one of the founding members of VIMA and set up a kind of half way house for children VIMA support that also need somewhere safe to stay when they are not at school. Wherever possible children are encouraged to stay at home with their families but this extra level of support provided to those who really need it is an important resource in place to help those who would struggle even more to attend and continue with an education.

As always though there were times for the students to relax, socialize and see another side to Kenyan life and culture. First up was Kitmakye, basically a tonne of rocks piled on top of each other that you climb up to watch an incredible sunset from. And then continue to climb over, seemingly dangerously close to the edge and consequently freaking Shona out until she has to close her eyes, lie down on a rock and pretend it isn’t happening. We attempted to sign out K.O.P with various people’s arms, legs and other limbs, I’ve seen the photos now – is it harsh to say it just looks like we are doing misshapen star-jumps while attempting simultaneously to do those bunny hop things they made you do in P.E at primary school?!

We also went along to Laughing Buddah again for dessert. People ate sizzling hot chocolate brownies. Sizzling hot chocolate brownies. No more comment is needed.

Nakuru was another excellent day out with lots of animal spotting and photo snapping. We were lucky enough to see zebra, giraffes, a family of white rhinos, a hippo (I’m still not convinced it wasn’t a rock), a mass of pink flamingoes, monkeys, pumba the warthog (there’s a chance that wasn’t his name), birds, lions (though only if you took a picture and zoomed in on it), and the infamous baboons. Despite trying to ban anybody from eating all day just in case of crumbs and taking the careful precaution of stashing all the food we did bring in the other groups matatu the baboons still gave me the heebie-jeebies (I was wondering if that was just a Scottish word but Microsoft word has recognized it with no squiggly red line or anything – this makes me smile!) Not that any actually jumped into the vehicles on this trip but I did whimper slightly and reach for the door handle whenever one came close.

On the way back to Kisumu we had to make an impromptu stop due to an overheated engine. Some of us girls used the opportunity as an unscheduled toilet stop. Only we were at the side of the road and there weren’t exactly many local toilet facilities. The alfresco/behind a hedge approach could have worked well were it not for the hoards of children surprised to see a bunch of UK students walking along the road and therefore taking great delight in following us wherever we went wanting to see what we were doing. By the time we got on our way again there were around 50 children crowded around the bus singing ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’. There’s nothing like an unplanned stop at the side of an African road with Kenyan children trying to follow you while you simultaneously try to hide and pee discreetly followed by a singing lesson to add that little bit extra to your day on safari!

Kiboko Bay was well received again and after a lovely morning service at a local church one of the hotel staff had invited us to or pedicures and manicures as the alternative option, we all settled down for an afternoon of sun soaking, swimming and hippo spotting. This time I am pleased to say they definitely weren’t rocks, though the guys fishing mere metres away surely mistook them for this. We enjoyed another tremendous sunset and then the first group headed back to the hotel. Five minutes later a family of hippos actually climbed out of the waters and made their way up onto the banks where we had previously been sitting. A mummy hippo, a daddy hippo and a little baby hippo. Marti will have to tell you all about this wondrous event though as I’d already left with the first group and didn’t get to see any of it. Not that I’m bitter… Hmphh.

Local Kenyan club Sunspot once again provided an opportunity for the letting down of hair, one or five tuskers, over enthusiastic dance routines (that one may just be Marti and I…) and important muscle observation exercises, didn’t it Martha and Sophie…?!!

As a fitting end to the fortnight we had another project party, this time hosted by VIMA. We were treated to a series of impressive and mature performances from some of the children with many poem recitals and speeches being made. The adults got their chance too with some moving words from each of the project partners. With a thank you to all involved from Marti it was time for a fantastic dinner and an opportunity to dance the next few hours away with the children that VIMA support. I always seem to get a bit emotional at these events. As I said last time there is just something special about the students who have worked hard all year and all fortnight dancing together with the children they help support when everybody is enjoying each others company that makes you forget about the differences that separate them and instead lets the evening just be about having fun.

It was a great fortnight and another fantastic group of students. Having only 15 students led to a completely different experience as there was more opportunity to get to know people individually and things weren’t quite as manic as they had been for the first 2 weeks. The smaller group allowed more time for things like a (rather American sounding) ‘reflection circle’. In the first week we got together to discuss what people thought about their experiences so far. Personally, I think that being able to talk about and share experiences can help you process and understand the things that you have seen. However, for many I think you won’t be able to really comprehend or appreciate it all until you’ve been at home for a while. You’ll be sitting at home in the UK or doing something completely ordinary and it may suddenly hit you. Certain first impressions remained though and I thought I’d share some of this feedback with you now:

“I loved the Ombeyi Feeding Centre – truly a wonderful establishment and the children are so lovely – I am glad they are receiving some support. The health aspects were fascinating. VIMA is one of the most amazing organizations and I was overcome with the amount of love that goes into it.”

“It is hard to see the poverty and the level of medical care available to these people – a very humbling experience.”

“I love seeing the kids, seeing how the fundraised money is used in the different projects. I loved playing and teaching the kids. I just loved it!”

“Well I can’t begin to explain all what I’ve learnt but I’ve had one of the most amazing, eye opening experiences of my life.”

“I learnt how much of a difference even one person can make. Meeting these children and seeing how they live and yet are still so happy has been an incredible eye-opening experience. I would really like to continue to contribute to these projects in the future – thank you so much for this experience.”

“Healthcare in Kenya is better in some ways than expected. Far too much to have processed it all yet!” (Told you!)


It’s almost impossible to cover everything that happened in one blog entry. I haven’t even begun to include details of Kakamega, nights spent on the rooftop playing Mafia - a cardgame that involved lots of shifty eye glares and people being murdered in the night (or, just for Aoife – Werewolf). I haven’t mentioned the evening of great food and live music at Marti’s house (thanking you!) or coke floats and random Rotary club parties spent dancing outside as Kisumu was in powercut induced darkness. And I’ve said nothing about one group shoveling poo for days on end and a certain Jigga flea infection…But facebook photos and students own stories can update you on the rest. I’m off to sleep in a corner for a few hours…


Second 2 weeks - extras!

2010-07-05 to 2010-07-18

First of all, I forgot to mention the 3 things I learnt in the first fortnight.

1) The nickname Notts/Imperial gave me - 'ShoSho' means grandmother! Though atleast they didn't know that when they named me it!

2) I saw a large Scotland falg painted on the wall of a local building. Then I noticed it was next to a larger picture of a man cowering under an umbrella in heavy rain!

3) In some medical circles, when a baby is born with sever facial deformities caused by having an alcoholic mother, it is known as a 'Glasgow Face'!

Infact 4) - I also had it confirmed (after having to record 50 feedback sheets) that medics really do have atrocious handwriting!

 

So what else?

Well the first group departed and I was truly sorry to see them go. There were hugs a plenty on the bus and last minute photos and promises to stay in touch (I'm keeping you all to that!) And then they were gone. We had 3 hours (just 3 hours!!!) to have a read over the feedback forms, get some lunch and prepare for the next bunch. The events of the last few days had really taken it out of both Marti and I and we welcomed the students with open arms and then promptly left to go and recuperate!

We went along to Musa Juma on the Saturday night which was a lot of fun but ....yeah so I've already written about this haven't I?! But I don't like wasted effort so I'm not going to delete what I've just written...

Though I will add in that we spent some of the Saturday evening chewing on sticks. They were suppsed to be a natural way of walking you up. Honestly, how gullible does that make me? Everyone said it worked for them but there was something concerning about somebody saying to me, "here, chew on this stick" and me going, "sure, pass it over, why not?"

Most of the shenanigans from the fortnight can be found in the official KOP blog that comes before this entry but there are a few bits and pieces I'd like to add in...

Like being on Kitmakye for sunset and admiring the view and enjoying the realisation that this was the same gorgeous sun that I've seen setting and rising over so many sights and places all over the world. I've always thought that about the moon, the same one I see is the one you will be looking at at home etc. But one of the Barts girls, Maddy told me about 'Lunar Love'. Where you look at the moon and send a message of love via it so when they see it the message will always get through as it is the same moon we are all sharing. A bit cheesy I know but I thought you might like that one mum. Who needs email eh?!

As always, there are some things I can't discuss in this blog but lets just say my medical knowledge and experience of different ailments and the like is ever increasing. Another way of putting it is that I bought an incident book to record any hospital visits, serious illnesses and significant other issues. There are only 4 blank pages left!!

I didn't mention karaoke in the KOP blog but i got completely carried away again! Neil - you would be so so proud of me! Though I haven't attempted summerlovin' yet I think we should find somewhere to go in the UK. I'm not sure what I'll do without my weekly fix! At one point (and remembering that this is without any alcohol excuses) I found myself dancing around the room holding the mix up to various people trying to encourage them to sing, at this point I accidentally smacked Adam in the mouth with the microphone. I got distracted by the words on the screen and only realised when the sounding of his teeth knocking against the mic rang out across the room...Ooops!

I'm sure there must have been other happenings but I can't recall them at present. After managing to cram suitcases (how did they bring SO much stuff?!) into any available matatu space, often through the windows, the 2nd group bid us farewell and headed back to Nairobi. And we were left with a whole 24 hours-ish to play with. Thoughts of nights out vansihed as we had a nice big lunch with Machiel (one of the hotel owners) at Laughing Buddah went back to Martis and promptly slept/went online for the rest of the day. We finished off the evening with leftover lunch pizza and a movie. And I marvelled at how this was happening in Kenya not Glasgow and couldn't quite get my head round it.

And the Sunday was spent sleeping in (wooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooo) reading magazines and Bill Bryson books (I want that mans job! I want to be him!! Only female, and younger, without the beard) and watching, quite randomly, the last episode of Friday night with Jonathon Ross. As you do.

 

 


KOP - BartLeeChester

2010-07-18 to 2010-07-30

I’m not entirely sure I know where to start with this group’s blog. I could mention fun and inappropriate chat (and singing - Laura!) and banter and sunsets, and outrageous characters and hospital feet issues and moving VIMA homevisits and fancy dress and digging holes and karaoke madness and marriage proposals and emotional hospital trips and awesome HOVIC kids and a party matatu and skint knees and school lessons and awards and TOES and tilapia fish and temperamental showers and a controversial quiz question, but that’s not even the half of it!

Marti and I should have guessed things were going to be different with this group when they turned up early!! They obviously hadn’t got the memo about Kenyan time and so were waiting for us on the rooftop as Marti and I rushed back from the other end of town. It was ‘hakuna matata’ though as the students sorted themselves out into rooms and made the most of the rooftop bar before gathering for dinner and our initial welcome meeting. Only a few concerns were raised about the future of the medical profession when some girls reported broken fans (they hadn’t turned the switch on) and some guys mentioned having no mosquito nets (turns out they just didn’t realize what those big white net things hanging above each of their beds actually were…).

With 39 students from 3 different universities we figured some ice breakers and getting to know you games were in order and started off with a round of human bingo followed by ‘speed dating’. It was an absolute racket but above the noise we did manage to learn some interesting facts about people, such as who can lick their own elbow (demonstrations required), who thinks Scotland is not in the UK (ahem…) and who might call the Queen ‘Auntie’.

After a quick Monday morning stop off at the airport to pick up a student who had forgotten a passport and therefore missed a flight…cough…Emily…cough, the students got off to a fantastic start, going out to build at Alendu, teach, play and observe at Kochogo and get involved with a variety of activities at HOVIC. The hospital group seemed to have an interesting and insightful morning which was topped by seeing a baby being born as they toured round the labour ward. There was great discussion about the lack of noise made by the mother and the difference between the facilities in the UK versus Kisumu but all in all it seemed a very moving experience. Not to be out done the VIMA group took the hospital baby delivery and raised them one new born by visiting a home of one of the children VIMA support. A new born baby didn’t have a name and so the family opted to name her after Leeds student Sophie. For want of a better phrase – how cool is that?!

The reviews of the hospital visits were different to the last few weeks. While District Hospital is seen as having poorer facilities than Provincial there were reports that both seemed less crowded than previous trips. To a certain extent the impression you have of a hospital will vary dependant on the day that you attend and whether it meets or is far from your expectations. One group earlier in the fortnight reported quite distressing scenes as they witnessed an autopsy while another student who had been in a previous year reported that things seem to have improved and were less crowded than before. One thing that does strike me is how important it is for medical students to have some experience and opportunity to witness how different medical care can be in other parts of the world. On a visit (of the unplanned variety) to the private Aga Khan hospital I spoke with a doctor who was a locum there in the evenings but worked in the Provincial hospital during the day. I can only imagine the frustration he feels when treating daytime patients and knowing that the equipment or drugs that they vitally need are only 200 yards down the road yet completely out of reach. If a student gets sick or injured it is the Aga Khan hospital that we visit and I have been getting a rather unexpected in-depth look into their facilities with students who have needed some medical attention. It is a rather swanky hospital and they have all the usual, up to date equipment and services that you would expect from any UK based hospital. However, this is not the norm for most Kenyans as it is far too expensive for them to even contemplate having treatment there. Seeing the differences between the two vastly different levels of care really makes you appreciate how much we so often take for granted at home.

Programmes are in place in Kisumu though to help improve people’s health and KOP are increasingly incorporating this into the student programme. I’ll write more on this in a future blog but I’d like to take a moment to say something about the work of a certain Dr June.

Dr June is a leading researcher in the field of HIV and AIDS prevention and the students were treated to a talk by him during their time here. To give you a very brief and non medical explanation of his latest incredibly important findings: he has found that male circumcision can significantly reduce the rate of female to male HIV transmission. This is particularly interesting in this area as the local Luo tribe is one of the only tribes who do not have male circumcision as an automatic ‘right of passage’ imbedded in their culture. When you look at the rates of HIV and see that they are around 15% in Kisumu compared with the 9% approx rate in the rest of Kenya you begin to understand why this research and consequently the free male circumcision programme that Dr June is running here in town is so important. Our two returnees Pip and Naresh had the opportunity to visit one of the clinics and despite a little queasiness and likely not the most comfortable experience for the male member of the duo, they both seemed to get a lot out of the opportunity.

As a returnee, Pip also had the chance to work more at HOVIC and spent a full week there helping out with medical issues and health education. From all accounts this went down well and both Pip and the team at HOVIC benefited from the chance to spend a bit of extra time getting more involved in depth with the programme there.

With such a large number I didn’t have as many opportunities to visit the projects with the students as with previous groups but from what I heard everybody both enjoyed and learned from each of them. There was a tremendous amount of intense hole digging at Alendu, tied with more than a hint of sexual innuendo, mammoth sports matches against the kids, lots of productive teaching at the schools, this time on subjects such as HIV/AIDS and child rights, emotional home visits with VIMA and fun, games and ugali stirring at the feeding centres.

It would be misleading to say there wasn’t a large amount of socializing with this particular group and while this never took away from the important work that was being done day to day and how seriously everyone took the projects they were working on there was a good balance of fun and banter thrown into the mix too. And all this on top of happy family card games and Harry Potter reading sessions!

In the last blog I gave you an insight into some of the feedback from Southampton and Barts universities. In this blog I thought I’d share with you a different kind of comment. Each group has a quotes page where they are free to record funny, insightful or downright stupid things people have said during the trip. BartLeeChester (as Barts, Leeds and Manchester became known) had three pages! I’ll leave them mostly anonymous but some of the culprits are easy to guess. The following may give you a snippet of what I had to deal with:

“I’m so hungry I could kill a man and eat him alive”.

“I need to use an ATM, because I need shillings…but my card is from home, so won’t the ATM give me pounds?”

“Nothing kills a party more than homeless people”.

“Someone told me hippos were the biggest killer in Africa.
So it goes 1)Hippos 2)Malaria 3)AIDS?”

“Did you see John dancing last night? His hips certainly didn’t lie!”

“I’d rather you didn’t do that, I’m about to have diarrhea”.

In reference to a highly infectious round of love bites after the first social night:
John: What’s that on your neck Ed?
Ed: It’s a bruise…I got my neck stuck in a door.
John: OK, because I have seen almost every student with one.
Ed: We’re very careless…it’s a drinking game.
John: Right…

On arrival at local nightclub Sunspot:
“Shall we go for a walk about?”
“OMG, there’s a walkabout?!”

“I’m from the hood…well, a cul-de-sac”.

TOES, Mount Nav, schweffing, sharking, an unknown comment regarding me, my job and Zebra’s and too numerous to record inappropriate mentions of chief hole pokers, holes being filled in and variations on this theme were also noted. I sincerely apologise if any of these offended you, rest assured this is the VERY edited version – I am scarred for life I tell you!

In addition there was the usual trips to Kitmakye for an incredible sunset, Nakuru for a safari which I luckily didn’t have to get up early for…did I Kate?! Apparently the baboons particularly enjoyed themselves – they liked seeing the monkeys too! (sorry – Dad joke!) That’s not forgetting Kakamega and the equator which were all squeezed into one weekend but certainly seemed to be a bit hit with everyone enjoying themselves, despite the bat cave! We also went along to Kiboko Bay for hippo spotting and sunset watching. Both activities took a backseat somewhat once the intense round of water volleyball started. Despite distraction from some interesting sunburn and several ‘LOOK, A HIPPO’ moments, it was a close match which I couldn’t possibly report the score of, even if I thought it was a good idea.

There was also a quiz. I like to think it was a good quiz. This is a fact that is met with some debate. Without wanting to give too much away for future groups I would like to point out for the record that in reference to the Bonnie Prince Charlie question, that Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir Stuart was born on December 31, 1720 in Rome. Charles Edward was also called the Young Pretender, the Young Chevalier, Charles 3rd and later, Bonnie Prince Charlie. He was not, at any time, known as James 1st. I cannot explain how much it pains me to be wrong about Scottish history to a group that includes someone who thinks Scotland is not in the UK. But alas, I admit it, I was wrong. My dad is not going to be happy!

There were a number of other social shindigs both within and outwith the hotel, highlights included karaoke at Mon Ami, Sunspot and a safari-animal themed fancy dress party on the final night.

Karaoke is becoming a regular spot on the KOP social calendar, not only because I have recently become obsessed with it! Once again it took no time at all for the students to scramble for the songbook and put their requests in for their favourite cheesy tunes. This time only a few ‘unique’ voices could be heard above the din as everybody stayed singing for nearly every number. We could have done with a return from Nott’s Viola as choir master as the KOP choir took to the floor and pretty much refused to give it up again. Something went right though as amongst the renditions of Circle of Life, Wonderwall and boy band power ballads, BartLeeChester received the first ever 100 points score! Congratulations guys, your hoarse voices, sweat and tears certainly earned it!

Local Kenyan nightclub Sunspot once again proved a big hit with a great night of African music including some skills from the DJ (!) some superb dancing with a special mention to ‘hips don’t lie’ John and matatu-driver-dancer-extraordinaire Ambilla, good chat with the locals and only one case of mistaken identity – right Emily?! I would tell you all about the continued party back at the hotel where things were reserved and kept to a respectful noise level. But I missed it as I was sound asleep and not involved at all and besides, my potential noise pollution arrest prevents me from doing so…

The project party which marked the beginning of the end for the BartLeeChester 2010 crowd was this time hosted by Omega. We were treated to a lovely meal and a live local band which was fantastic. Despite the onset of heat exhaustion for some there were a number of great movers and shakers on the dance floor, throwing some shapes and all that jazz! A number of kids from VIMA joined us and seemed more than a little bemused/amused by our attempts at African dancing, spinning and a wee bit of highland fling thrown in for good measure. The project party was topped off nicely by a giant conga line. Again, maybe not the most serious of activities but there is a time and a place for fun and being able to share the evening with children, colleagues and students from such different cultures and backgrounds was truly special.

The evening finished up with a final calm and quiet get-together and took the form of a fancy dress party. Most of Leeds were dressed as Limas (or Zebra’s or crazy convicts as some hotel staff members remarked) and Ed was the lion in honour of his birthday. There were a few other animals represented too from ‘BartChester’ with some caped tigers, a secretary bird, Rafiki the baboon (after some awesome painting skills from Pip) and many others beside. Despite no plans to dress up so that I could maintain my professionalism… there was also an appearance from a leopard or 3, or were we cheetahs?! We were also treated to a surprise guest appearance from a fully kitted out Masai warrior in the form of the hotel manager Steve. What. A. Legend! It was a great night filled with awards, dancing, regrettable photo taking, tuskers, facepaint, an orange and mango sewn onto a small tree, banter and good fun with good people.

The departure of Barts 2, Leeds and Manchester marked the half way point for our time here this Summer. I swear it flies past quicker with each day that passes. As an organization we have seen so much over the past 6 weeks and I personally, have learned a great deal; about KOP, about that the work that we do here and about the future direction of the organization.* It has been an honour to meet and work with all involved, both those based here in Kisumu and those who call the UK home. The difference that has already been made both throughout the year thanks to the incredible fundraising efforts of the students and during the fortnightly visits that take place is astounding and the impact KOP is having is a hugely important one. I’m not sure what I expected when I first heard I would be spending the Summer in Kisumu or even over those first few days I spent here but it has certainly surpassed anything I could have dreamed up. Times have not always been easy and this job is certainly no walk in the park but it is an honour to be involved and I can’t wait for the challenges, experiences, new friends and new opportunities to make a difference that are ahead of us, just around the corner and over the remaining 5 weeks.

Before I get completely carried away I would like to end by saying the following - One of the best parts about my job is meeting all of the students. But it can be bittersweet and with every group that we have to say goodbye to it gets that little bit harder. Now that I have settled into this role properly I find that I have more and more time to really get to know the people that are coming out here and making such a difference to the work that KOP does. And for that reason you guys may come as students but you leave as friends. I encourage all of you from all of the different university groups to stay involved in whatever way you can. The connections that you make and the positive impact that you have will simply strengthen with continued involvement, so stay in touch and don’t be strangers – to KOP, to Kisumu and (on a more selfish and personal note) to me!


weeks 5 and 6 - extras!

2010-07-19 to 2010-07-29

I don’t know how it got to this point. I swear each day passes quicker and quicker as the summer goes on. The more I get used to this job the more I enjoy it. One of the best things about this job is getting to meet so many new people on a regular basis. Now that I know exactly what I’m doing here its possible to relax more and that extra time saved from running around in a state of confudlement can be spent getting to know people properly. Perhaps I’ve just been really luckily but I genuinely feel like I’ve gotten on really well with nearly all of the students I’ve met here. I’m looking forward to seeing some of them back in the UK when I’m not in any position of responsibility and can finally partake in a shandy or two!

I spent most of the first week with the students and so there isn’t much to add ontop of the previous entry. I did however go out for Nyama Choma (basically barbequed meat!) with a bunch of people to a local restaurant. It was so nice to be out somewhere local and not too westernized again. That’s something I’ve really missed from India and haven’t had as much chance to make use of over here. There certainly aren’t as many street food vendors here and I often have to take the students to more fancy restaurants but it was great to be back eating local food amongst local people. And it tasted goooood! We ended up in Laughing Buddah again for some interesting chat and a few more beers. Marti and Kelsie went out for a dance and I retired to bed at midnight like an aging Sho-Sho!! (grandmother!)

A few nights later we joined Graham and Jess (volunteers from the UK) again for a dinner party! Again it was an eclectic mix of interesting people and I learned a lot from them. Also, the food was so good you didn’t even notice it was vegetarian! It’s not ideal not being paid to do this job but I’m certainly seeing it as an investment and I am able to pick up so much just from talking to people that hopefully it will pay off in the future job world instead.

I could have sworn there was more I had to write here and that it wasn’t all going to be about eating out. But apparently not.


Masai Mara!

2010-07-30 to 2010-08-01

So, I’m a little miffed as I had written 700 not too shabby (if I do say so myself) words about my safari weekend. And I’ve lost my pendrive. I’m also miffed as it has 5 years worth of uni work (including my dissertation), photos, all my SRC work and election stuff, CV’s and so on and so forth. This is more than a little annoying, plus writing the same blog second time around never seems as good.

However, I am in Africa. Life is good. Nine times out of ten my prayers are answered and so, I’ll get over it!

I’m sure it went something like this…

When I was nearing the end of my big trip last year I began to think about where to go next. China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, Shetland and Indonesia were certainly up there and Africa was a biggy. I loved the idea of going on a proper safari but figured it would be years off before I had the time, opportunity or money. This Summer I’m in Kenya and this weekend I went to the Masai Mara on SAFARI!!

After an emotional farewell to the latest student group (miss you guys!) Marti and I, along with some rather awesome Barts students; Saira, Naresh, Adam and Gurdeep, were joined by our guide who would become known as Linus the Legend and started our journey. After a not so brief detour to megacity for supplies, namely crisps, vodka, cookies, water and vodka we picked up two fellow volunteers, Graham and Jess (Graham is from Scotland!! Yay – well done Graham!) and finally got on our way.

Our temporary home was a safari bus with 2 seats spaced out in each of the front two rows and 3 at the back which left space for us all to stand when the roof popped open and we started animal spotting. However on this first leg it was filled with bottled water, lunch, rucksacks and all that vodka (oops). It reminded me of Morrison family holidays where we had suitcases behind our heads, a dog bed under one arm, the dog under the other and the kitchen sink at our feet. You would eventually unfold yourself from the car and only straighten out properly half way through the second week i.e. 3 days before you had to get back in the car and do it all over again!

Anyways…

The first half of the journey was fairly chilled and so I offered to sit in the front for the remainder of the journey. Just as the rest woke up, cracked open the vodka and started with the games and the singing. I was stuck in the front in a huff and so I turned up my ‘eyepod’ (!) full volume and consoled myself with Jackson Browne/Calum Morrison tunes for the next few hours on what has to be one of the most potholed roads in Africa – you know its bumpy when even your tonsils are vibrating!

We arrived in the dark and after a quick dinner went to check out our new homes for the weekend. I was sharing a tent with Marti but the fear of flimsy-festival-style-wouldn’t-shelter-a-badger-type tents were not realized as we entered the semi permanent army style tents complete with bricked bathroom, electricity, windows and a flushing toilet – result! The rest of the evening was spent pretty much sitting outside our tent under the stars, laughing and taking daft photos until someone ‘encouraged’ us to reduce the noise levels ever so slightly.

It was an early start the next morning as we set off for a full day on SAFARI!! Within about 5 minutes we found ourselves face to face with a gorgeous male lion. He just appeared and walked alongside our vehicle. Having been in Kenya a number of times Marti had never seen a lion here and as she perched (rather dangerously) halfway out of the front window and gave an involuntary yelp of pure delight, the look of complete and utter joy on her face could not be spoiled by our shouts to get back in the vehicle before she got eaten. While I was pretty ecstatic to see him sharing the experience with Marti and seeing how totally happy it made her added something extra special to the occasion.

It wasn’t a bad start to the day and it only got better. We saw giraffe, buffalo (including a hairy little baby buffalo) secretary birds (AKA Zazu from the Lion King) some lionesses and zebra. Then we saw it; number 2 of the big 5. The leopard! How we saw it I’m not so sure given it was sitting beneath a tree in the shade but I’m so glad that somebody did. One word – mesmerizing! I liked the leopard!

Now as much as big cats are cool, elephants are impressive and hippos are fat, my favourite animals of the weekend had to be the wildebeast. Not what I’d normally go for I grant you but we were in the Mara for the migration. Every year in July and August what appeared to be thousands of wildebeast start walking (largely in one big line) to where we happened to be sitting. They are pretty large animals but with spindly legs and ‘fugly’ faces that I found quite endearing (is that a really odd choice of word for describing a wildebeast?!) But there were so many of them and they were just walking/running in a big line and they were just so…so…so dumb that I kind of fell in love with them. If the number of pictures I shot of them is anything to go by!

The migration also brings with it herds of zebra. It reminded me of that scene in Madagascar 2 with the zebra all thinking and chanting as one! I don’t know how to describe all the zebra, it was just so awesome seeing so many of them in the one place that you knew you couldn’t just be in a zoo or a safari park. Many photos were taken here too, allowing for more than one joke about zebra crossings. The markings were so clear and they all looked pregnant. I liked the zebras!

We stopped for lunch next to a big river, complete with a family of hippos. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a proper hippo up close before. There are pygmy hippos at Edinburgh Zoo but after this weekend I can now attest to the fact that they are just not the same! They were huuuge! I couldn’t get over the size of them all, just rolling in the water and wallowing on the riverbank. Apparently they are the biggest killer in Africa (as in biggest animal killer – not that I got confused with this notion at all…) and so we should have been pretty wary of them. But they were just so fat! I liked the hippos.

After lunch we set off on a walk to see the crocodiles. And yes – there is something very wrong with that idea. For some reason my fellow safarees (?!) did not seem to see the SCREAMING DANGER in this plan and led the way happily AKA naively and with no thought to my safety, over to the edge of the river. I like to think I am a reasonably brave person, I have dealt with scary situations and handled them with a relative amount of composure. BUT THERE WERE CROCOSILES NEARBY!! And so I became a dribbling wreck and jumped at every rustle of the trees. Even if I hadn’t been turned into the biggest sissy ever for the duration of the walk I still wouldn’t have ventured out onto the rock island that some of the others did to pose as if scared a croc was coming….yes you are right – I was on safari with a bunch of crazies!!!

On the way back to the vehicle we were informed that the little stream we were passing over was the exact point of previous crocodile attacks. I may have been mid stride over it as I heard this calming news. I lost it a little at this point. It was every man for themselves. I’m happy to say we managed to avoid being eaten but it wasn’t for lack of trying! Have you guessed yet – I didn’t like the crocodiles!

We’d been told we were heading over to the elephant side of the area after lunch but spent quite a while without so much as a trunk. Apparently, despite being one of the biggest animals they are often the hardest to spot and often take the guides by surprise. I wouldn’t have believed elephants could sneak up on anyone until we were driving along one dirt track and Marti shouted “It would just make my day if we got to see some…ELEPHANTS!!!!!” And there they were, pretty much hiding behind a particularly large hedge. The vehicle in front of us hadn’t even spotted them and had driven right past. But we did see them and to top it off nicely we discovered, also hiding in the hedges, a 3 day old baby elephant! Our guide Linus informed us that it was incredibly rare to see one this young as the parents normally keep them out of sight and sheltered for most of the first year. Sure enough we only got glimpses of baby Babar through the adult’s legs as they walked past and almost as quickly as they came, they were gone again, swallowed seemingly impossibly by some overgrown hedges. To see such a young baby elephant in the wild felt like an honour. I liked the elephants.

But there was more to come, we started to head back towards the campsite but stumbled across another herd of elephants complete with a few ‘young uns’ taking a dustbath. Linus seemed pretty intent on showing us a sausage tree instead – “look, the leaves are like salami” but despite his preoccupation with it and his insistence on telling us the story of the sausage tree we finally managed to convince him that the elephants were pretty interesting too and went back to just sit and watch them for a while. Awesome!

It seemed like the animals knew we were in our closing minutes as next up on our route home came the lions again. Namely a male lion having a wee rest in some tall grass. Such a beautiful creature who, like the elephants was surprisingly good at the disappearing act. First you see him, then he lies down and has completely vanished. It was time to go home. First full safari day was awesome = TIA!!

The evening was a lot of fun too. After dinner the Masai guys set up a campfire for us and we were joined by Elliott and Laura from KOP Leeds. The only thing missing was a guitar. It was an evening of banter, stars and elephant horror stories. With Linus the Legend telling us tales about elephants being wronged by villagers and them coming back the next day to pull people out of their windows, throw them into the trees and, now let me remember the exact phrasing here, “chapatti-ing” them! Things remained pretty chilled until I spotted some flames, and smelt some smoke and noted in that way you do before you’ve fully processed something, that I thought our tent might be on fire. I have to confess that it was only on the run over and the look of panic on Marti and Naresh’s faces that reminded me we’d left Saira in the tent sleeping off a bad cold (and a headache likely caused by me sitting on it…). I think she was more pissed that we’d woken her up than concerned she was about to be set alight but all’s well that ends well!

We set off pretty early the next morning, determined to fit in as much safari as we could and we were not to be disappointed. Before the sun had fully risen we were gazing upon a pride of lions complete with cute little cubs. The daddy lion strolled back from his night on the town and for a while it looked like him and the missus might ‘get it on’. Alas, despite our prompting and suggestive singing of everything from Barry White to ‘Kiss the Girl’ (from the Little Mermaid – worth a try right?!) there was to be no lion love action on this particular visit.

Aside from the wildebeast migration which I’m pleased to say we saw a lot more of that morning, the other thing I’d really wanted to see was big cats hunting. I figured that way there could be no doubt that you were actually on the Mara and not in some elaborate safari park. I guess there is something somewhat hypocritical about admiring zebra and wildebeast one minute and wishing them dead the next. We spotted some jackal who apparently hang around after recent kills and followed them for a while to no avail. Then we came across 2 mean assed lionesses. They were certainly on the prowl of something and seemed to be following the scent of 2 wild dogs we had seen earlier. It was funny to see all the zebra stood to attention, barely blinking (I’m assuming zebra can blink?) as they watched the lionesses every move incase they suddenly changed direction and came for them instead. It was not to be though and we had to settle (more than happily) with seeing them saunter past and then go right up to one of the other vehicles half terrifying the people inside!

Once again, it seemed as if fate was on our side in the closing minutes of the safari as we kept stumbling across more and more animals on our way back to the gate. We heard a large group of elephants before we saw them. Linus said one of them was trying to mate with the other which she wasn’t too happy about and it was also freaking the baby elephant out. (No wonder!) They were all trumpeting really loudly and some of them were running around the trees. Have you ever seen an elephant run? It’s quite something!

We passed Laura and Elliott again en route for their full safari day (jealous much!) and after an epic-cross-vehicle- hi5 with Elliott we headed back to camp.

Not to be outdone the impala deer (correct me if I’m wrong there guys) demanded one last piece of our attention as they all started fighting and chasing each other as we drove past. I hadn’t taken a single photo of them to be fair and it did feel as if they were saying ‘hey, look at us, don’t forget about us too’ so I happily obliged and with one last look back at the plains, said cheerio…till next time!

The journey back to Kisumu was reasonably uneventful. I spent the first half sitting listening to the Circle of Life on repeat as we drove past a few straggling wildebeast and zebra at the side of the road. There was just something about each time that ‘AaaaaawwwZeeeeeWennYaaaaaaaaa’ burst through my headphones that left me sitting with a tremendous grin across my face and one or two happy tears rolling down my cheek.

We said an emotional farewell to Naresh, Adam, Saira and Gurdeep half way back as they set off to Nairobi. After a relatively painless bus ride we swapped into a public matatu and continued in significantly less comfort to Kisumu. If I’d thought the journey to the Mara had been a tight squeeze that was nothing compared to this leg of the journey. With Marti’s suitcase, my backpack and some leftover vodka (oops) in the space normally reserved for peoples feet we were left with no option but for Marti to hang her legs out of the window and me to lie almost horizontally with my feet on the dashboard. Comfy!


It was a weekend of friends (and thank you to them for making it so special), banter, new experiences, snacks and vodka, casual racism, cramped journeys, baby animals, gorgeous animals, scary animals, hidden animals, enchanting animals and sausage trees, endless photography, TOES (you know who you are!!) 4 out of the big 5, starry nights and beautiful sunrises. It was an experience I never dreamed I would have at this point in my life but one I will treasure for the rest of it.


KOP Official Blog - Week 7. Part 1.

2010-08-01 to 2010-08-08

The seventh week started and ended with human bingo.

Well, actually that’s not strictly true. It started with a welcome talk that may have been more than a little incoherent given Marti and I had returned only 7 minutes previously from a (fantastic) weekend safari on the Masai Mara.

Hopefully the first impressions were forgotten when we joined the new group from Warwick, Cardiff and Lucia from Manchester at breakfast the next morning.

The groups got stuck in right away, making the most of their time on projects as this was more limited due to the imminent referendum. The feeding centre seemed a definite favourite with the students helping to prepare and serve the food in the morning and then playing games with the children in the afternoon.

We managed to fit in a variety of extra curricular activities before becoming hotel bound during the referendum with some students visiting the museum (remember – the one with the crocodiles help back by chicken wire?!) There was also a trip to Tilapia Beach restaurant, which has become a firm favourite over the Summer. Laughing Buddah for their ‘veggie burgers that taste like chicken’, Green Garden for their steak and samosas away from the hustle and bustle of Kisumu’s streets, Mamba’s for their traditional Kuku choma with ugali (barbequed chicken) and Mon Ami for their pizzas are also up there. Sorry for that somewhat random tangent into the culinary options of Kisumu – a bit of a recap for those of you who have been already and a taste (geddit) of what’s to come for those of you setting off soon. Anyways…I was talking about Tilapia Beach – the delicious fish place, right on Lake Victoria where you pick a fish or a chicken and have it cooked straight away and served fresh 30 minutes later. The chicken option not being so popular given they are so fresh that they are still running around the yard when you arrive. This particular trip involved Pete attempting to eat the head in true ‘Luo man of the household style’ and ending up dissecting the whole thing while I was trying to eat my lunch. Bloody medical students!

It wasn’t long before the first major social of the trip with a celebration for Katie’s birthday. It was a pirate themed surprise party. The party being a surprise for Katie and the sheer enthusiasm for children’s party games from a group of young adults being a surprise for me. It was a fantastic night though with a vicious game of musical chairs, intense rounds of the ‘balloon game’ and a quick fire round of human bingo. A prearranged (Dave?!) limbo pole brought a twist to the evening and an impromptu lesson from KOP’s very own strictly dancing extraordinaire Dave followed.

The programme was quite different for the Cardiff and Warwick students (sorry, you too Lucia!) and I would personally like to thank them all for their patience and understanding. With Kenya’s referendum taking place on the Thursday we were advised to stay within the safe walls of the hotel as a precaution on voting and results days. This meant that the students had to prioritize more with what they wanted to see.

However, that also meant that there was lots of time for other activities and the group certainly made the most of the time that they had to fill. We started off the day with a workshop to sort out the next weeks teaching plans. As I mentioned briefly in an earlier blog, KOP is hoping to introduce a more in-depth element to next years student programme. University groups would be spending more time at an individual school to work on health and nutrition teaching which would culminate in a community health education day. The more time I spend here in Kisumu the more I see that one of the best ways to affect real and sustainable change is to concentrate on education and to have a positive influence on people’s lives while it has the chance to make a lasting difference. This will mean students need to more thoroughly prepare for the time they will spend out here over the year. We would really appreciate any thoughts or feedback you have on any of this which you can email direct to Marti or leave on the facebook page.

Over the two referendum days we were also treated to talks from the leaders of HOVIC and VIMA. Both were really interesting and gave a fascinating insight into the lives of some of the people KOP is trying to help and an opportunity to learn more about how these organizations work and the impact they are having. We were also delighted to be joined by two of the boys from HOVIC who came over to give us a language lesson. Despite some very ‘interesting’ attempts at spelling from our KOP scribes it was a great chance to pick up some Luo and Kiswahili phrases to use while staying in town and working with the kids. I can now count to 10 in Kiswahili but as I posted before, I maintain that there are about 17,000 different ways of saying “hello, how are you?”

There were plenty of chances to chillax too, although the kickboxing lesson from Pete certainly put a stop to that! Spending an afternoon kicking students was not something I expected to get out of this Summer but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t great fun! The press-ups that came half way through the lesson not so much. This time I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hiding behind a pillar during those particular requests.

Happily I can report there were no issues over the voting in Kisumu and with a huge majority a ‘Yes’ vote was cast for accepting the new constitution. Many people had actually left the city to make the most of the public holiday and go home to their villages to vote and so everything was very quiet. It was fantastic to see so many people so committed to and enthusiastic about democracy and using their vote. Perhaps another difference between here and home? In fact things were so peaceful that we left the confines of the Duke of Breeze and visited the local masai market to purchase a variety of necklaces, bracelets, earings, keyrings, paintings, soapstone carvings, sandals, bags and a rather large giraffe.

Friday saw a return to normal (i.e. coca cola trucks rattling past my window at 6.30am…) and it was another positive day at the projects with people visiting the hospitals, Alendu and VIMA. With an early start planned for the next morning we decided to have a quick bite of cake at Laughing Buddah and then head back to the hotel. With the smell of sizzling chocolate brownies drifting through the air it wasn’t long before everyone was tucking into cake, sundaes or kitkat milkshakes. The early night seemed forgotten as we found ourselves in local Kenyan nightclub; The Grill for a spot of dancing. Not sure the locals were convinced about our salsa and ballroom steps but we certainly had fun!

Saturday was another Nakuru day and once again proved a big hit. Zebras, giraffes, rhinos, baboons, warthogs, monkeys, buffalo, birds and flamingoes were in abundance. Having now done my own I can say with more authority that there is certainly something special about doing a safari in Africa. Note to self: playing ‘Circle of Life’ from The Lion King really loudly can only add to the experience – there’s just something about that first AaaZeeeeeeeWennnnnnnYaaaaaaaa that can’t help but bring a smile!

A group trip to HOVIC started off a Sunday crammed full of activities. It was a chance for everyone to meet the boys who use the day centre, talk with them, play some games, share in a soapstone lesson and of course, pass on our new found dancing moves! After a group lunch at Tilapia Beach it was time to don the shorts and trainers and head to the playing fields for a football match against the boys from HOVIC. There was quite a crowd there to see the boys pretty much destroy us… To be fair, there were some sterling performances from the KOP team and full marks would be awarded for enthusiasm. However, once again, despite a lack of shoes, it was the younger boys team that came away victorious.

A rather sweaty matatu load of students next headed off to see the equator. It was a case of drive to the equator sculpture, get out of the matatu, take lots of photos, attempt the water experiment, attempt the water experiment 10 metres further down the road, and another 10 metres down the road, and another 10 – do you see a pattern here? There were opposing views as to how successful this was - at the equator the water is supposed to spiral in opposite directions depending on which hemisphere you are standing in. Then we got back in the matatu and returned to the hotel and to meet the new students from Leicester and Bristol universities.

The evening was pretty chilled and gave people the chance to get to know each group a little better. There was another round of Human Bingo complete with yet more outstanding one time only, exclusive prizes…! The evening closed with a mammoth game of mafia which had become a regular fixture on the Warwick/Cardiff/Lucia schedule. It was pretty intense, not just because I was finally a killer instead of a normal villager, but mainly down to the fact that we played with 39 students. As villagers were killed off and the mafia were uncovered it all got a bit much for some students and they retired with a tusker to recover.


KOP Official Blog - Week 8. Part 2.

2010-08-09 to 2010-08-13

The next week was quite different for each of the university groups with Leicester and Bristol seeing a return to the normal student programme with visits to Alendu where they taught lessons, played sports with the kids and dug a lot of holes, and to Kochogo feeding centre, health centre and schools.

Students also got stuck in with more artwork at Kochogo feeding centre with Leicester adding designs covering diversity and a rather dashing ‘height giraffe’. At the start of the Summer Kochogo feeding centre had dull bare walls. Now there are bright paintings on everything from health and nutrition to the alphabet with some sun inspired clocks for learning the time and a pair of Mr and Mrs friendly condoms! It’s amazing how much of a difference it has made to the whole centre so a huge thank you to all of those who have painted, designed, mixed paint and coloured in.

On the other side of Kisumu the Warwick/Cardiff/Lucia group was trying something abit different by spending 4 full days at Kunya Primary School. They did a variety of activities here including gardening, teaching the lessons they had prepared the previous week and using the additional time to get to know some of the pupils better. At the end of the 4 days a generous donation from a UK based school allowed the Warwick girls to purchase over a hundred new plastic cups to give out to some of the children which seemed to be a big hit! Kunya also gave some of the students an opportunity to experience the more traditional types of food that the local people eat. This was met with mixed reviews but overall people seemed to appreciate the chance to see a less touristy side to Kenya. Even if they were looking forward to their home cooked meals back home.

After another talk for the new group from the project partners that evening we headed out for a couple of hours socializing time. An outing for pudding was replaced with an outing for beer to local bar Kingellis but people seemed ok with the change of plan!

Tuesday was another project day followed by a trip to see a gorgeous sunset in the evening at Kit Mi Kye. Marti and I were as judges as sober to welcome the students back for dinner that evening. This continued throughout the evenings quiz and was only called into question when screams of ‘my door handle, my bed, my windows, the mirror, my toothbrush, the toilet roll, my shoes, my bag, my shower, my jewelry, everything’s COVERED in tinfoil!!!” could be heard coming from my room! And with that, Warwick, Cardiff and Lucia cemented their place in the KOP 2010 history book as the jokers of the Summer.

The “New Life Orphanage’ is a facility housed in nearby Milimani and Marti and I had the chance to visit and meet the staff there later that week. It was an excellent centre and it was so positive to see those facilities available in Kisumu. It really showed what a difference the right investment and the right staff can make to the lives of children who need that help the most. Many of the children have been abandoned or have lost their parents to HIV but with the treatment and care they receive at New Life are able to lead happy and healthy lives and have a real chance at a new start. While I wish that the access to a facility like this was available as a right to any OVC (Orphan and Vulnerable Children) the fact that this orphanage exists was hugely encouraging.

Our visit was made all the more special by the remarkable reunion between Marti and Seth; a boy she had meet while in Kisumu the previous year. Marti had first seen him on a hospital visit with some of last years students where he had been abandoned and was very weak. With the involvement of VIMA they had managed to find him a place at New Life and it certainly looked like he had gone from strength to strength since his arrival. One can only imagine what might have happened without that intervention but seeing how happy he was brought home how important organizations like VIMA and New Life are to the children of Kisumu. A small number of the students were able to spend the afternoon at the orphanage to interact with the children and help out the staff and from all accounts it was a very positive experience for all involved.

With the cross over of the student groups we had to have the project party in the middle of the (self titled) Brester fortnight. However while it was a fond farewell to Cardiff, Warwick and Lucia it was also a good opportunity for Brester to meet with more of the project partners and think about what was upcoming in the week ahead. Ogra were our charming hosts on this occasion and offered up some great music, fantastic food, lively speeches and groovy dancing! This was also a final opportunity for us to practice our strictly style dancing steps, much to the amusement of the local Kenyan staff and children. There were a few personal twists added from Brester with a Wurzel inspired jive routine. Classic!

After the party it was off to karaoke for some more classic moments with some good tunes made all the more classic by the rather drunken performances. It was a chilled night for some and a large night for others but in general everyone seemed to enjoy. Then it was back to the hotel where Cardiff, Warwick and Lucia squeezed the most out of their final night and took the last chance to talk about Macualay Culkin, cotton cloud catchers, the inequality with men’s chip portion sizes and pterodactyls. Don’t ask!

Friday evening was a much more chilled affair with another sad goodbye to Cardiff and Lucia in the morning, a day at projects for Brester and Warwick and a relaxed evening on the rooftop bar to make the most of the sunset, reflect on the past week, play mafia and get an early night before a bus to Nairobi (Warwick) or Nakuru (Brester) the next morning.


KOP Official Blog - Week 9. Part 3.

2010-08-14 to 2010-08-21

The 17 remaining students from Bristol and Leicester spent Saturday at Nakuru with each of the buses having a somewhat different experience. Namely one group saw lions and the other group turned their vehicle into a party bus on the way home. Hmmmm, vodka or lions, vodka or lions?!

Once people had recovered from their safari…we set off on Sunday for Kiboko Bay. Sunday’s are in the schedule as rest days but with the variety of activities available and the numbers of students wanting to do different things relaxing isn’t really the word I would have used for them so far this Summer. However Brester played the day of rest card well and we spent the whole afternoon chilling by the pool at fancy pants resort Kiboko Bay. Aside from the hippo boat ride that is, which Marti and I “advise against” but which was apparently a great little trip. Aside from some delay with the food (honestly, I’m over it…) a bout of jumping photos into the pool and an intense round of new KOP card game favourite; Irish Snap (I hate it and love it all at the same time!) it was one of the most relaxing days I’ve spent since I got to Kisumu and that was really rather lovely!

Despite some delays over the following mornings (and thank you again to the students for being so patient and understanding that T.I.A) the rest of the project days went well. The hospital visits were largely met with approval and people, while often shocked by the differences seemed to value the experience and learn a lot. Some visits to see the girls at HOVIC night shelter were met with great response. After initially slow starts in talking to the girls, some patience and encouragement led to some interesting discussions and when the Indian style dancing started there was no looking back!

I was pleased to be spending some time out in the field again this week and went along to Kochogo Feeding Centre (KFC). It was great to be back and see the staff and children again. As I said earlier the difference the painting has made is quite remarkable but I did get rather emotional looking over all the hand prints from the Summer. Over the past few months students that visit the centre have been adding their mark to a KOP mural and it was so nice to recognize all the names and reflect on some of the experiences from this Summer. I am warning you now that this is only going to increase over the last couple of weeks!

It was an eventful day at KFC with the Bristol girls adding to the artwork with a Kenyan country map/flag design while the boys washed up. We then prepared the maize by removing all the kernels so that they could be pounded into flour. I have the blisters to prove it! Not that I went on about this at all of course… After lunch there were a few hours left to play the parachute ballgame, ladders and football, have a round of hokey cokey and heads, shoulders, knees and toes, cover each other in stickers, learn the names of all the parts of your face in Luo (with a variety of success) and just enough time for the boys to pick people up and give piggy backs…to Joe and Josh!!

There was a lot of fun to be had in the evenings during the week too with trips to Sunspot, Laughing Buddah and Marti’s house for a rather special party…

Sunspot had dancing, the afterparty had alcohol that seemed to appear from nowhere (a bit of a theme from this trip eh RASH?!), Laughing Buddah had cake, Wednesday had threading and henna painting and the 19th of August had Marti’s birthday! It was a great night with good food, good people and good music. There were party games like pass the parcel and pin the trunk on the (rather stunning) elephant, complete with prizes and the earned respect of your fellow man. There was guacamole and satay sauce and a big chocolate cake (laden down with a particularly heavy amount of candles…JOKE!) There was banter, there was singing, there was fun and there was a guitar. There was also an extra special birthday present for Marti as we learned that the nurse from Kadinda health centre had just given birth and named her new baby Martina, beats perfume doesn’t it?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTI!!

Leicester left us pining for them early the next morning when they headed back to Nairobi. Later that same morning we realized we were obviously refusing to process this properly when we sat on the steps waiting for them for half an hour before we realized they wouldn’t be coming for projects that day.

A relaxed evening of fruit salad and ice cream (whoooop!), a never-ending round of Irish snap and a game of ‘Who am I?’ brought another week, another group and another trip to a close. In many ways it felt like this group had just arrived but before we knew it we were downstairs again waiting on the matatus to take them back to Nairobi. My job description never warned me about how sad it would be to keep having to say goodbye to people. But then it also didn’t make it exactly clear how truly fantastic this Summer would be.

And now I’m sitting in Steve’s office waiting for the King’s group to arrive. We have two weeks left and I’m not sure I quite believe that. The Summer so far has been fantastic. The project visits have been truly worthwhile, the numbers of people positively affected by KOP students involvement quite huge and the fun had by all involved pretty immense.

No pressure Kings!


some stuff wot i've been up to

2010-08-21

2ND AUGUST - 24TH AUGUST

It's been a funny few weeks here in Kisumu. Not helped by the fact that its cloudy today so I woke up thinking I was in Scotland. Also not helped by the fact I'd just had a dream me and mum were skydiving.... anyways..!!

There was a referendum on the 4th August and while I couldn't say too much on the KOP blog, we were very very pleased that it was such a strong YES vote for accepting a new constitution. Meaning more rights for women, poor people, education and lots of other good stuff that I like.

 

The referendum meant that we were under hotel arrest for a few days though. Initially I thought this would mean a bit of a break, not thinking about the fact this meant the students would be in the hotel all day and need activities, entertainment etc. Everyone chipped in though and it was a couple of days full of new activities. Who knew kicking students could be so much fun? (kickboxing lessons btw!) And I learned to dance a jive. Regardless of how 'barn dance' it became it was a lot of fun.

We had a few social shindigs without the students too. Namely a leaving night for Becky (sob!) at Laughing Buddah followed by a 'risque' (sp?!) night at Quorum. I even got a lapdance but thats another story!!

*disclaimer: thats not as bad as it sounds! i need to remember who me or my mum has given this web address to!

While I am it in terms of telling inappropriate stories to my parents and our friends... Why is it that the unplanned nights always end up the best/most drunken? There I was, all set for the gym (Marti even had her shorts with her!) when Marti asked if we should go for a beer instead. She was joking. I didn't realise. Then I remembered the vodka. And it was all downhill from there!

It was a wicked night though, we kept trying to tell the students that this hasn't happened for the rest of the Summer but I'm not convinved they believed us. All they knew was that we waved them off to Kitmikye and 2 hours later they returned to giggling student coordinators. Always the professionals ofcourse.

This was also the night that I ran a quiz, leant my bedroom key to Marti and then got pranked. Big Time. The Cardiff/Warwick/Lucia lot tinfoiled me goooood! EVERYTHING was covered. You can see a pic of what my bed looked like on here but it really was incredible. Made all the more surreal by the fact I was slightly intoxicated for the first time in 3 months! The attention to detail was magnificent, my bed, mirors, windows, lights, the ceiling fan, all 4 chairs, my toothbrush, shoes, shower, toilet, toilet roll, sink, fruit bowl, toiletries bag complete with toiletries inside, bottles complete with straws inside. I was in awe. Until the next morning when I woke up rather groggy and completely confused. I was tempted to leave it there for a while but the rustling of sheeted metal foil as the wind blew through all 7 windows in my room was a little too much to handle with a (slight) hangover.

Took me 3 bloody hours to clear it all up!!

On a completely different note, I went along with Marti to the New Life Orphanage in nearby Milimani. Milimani is where the rich people of Kisumu live. Or as Ambilla (one of our drivers) translated it for me - "place for posh people on a hill!" I've already written about it in the KOP blog but it really was an incredible place. The facilties were fantastic, including special provision for children with severe learning difficulties and it was just such a delight to see something like that available in Kisumu. It's the way any child affected by such tragic circumstances as the loss of parents or through being abandoned (in truly disturbing ways) should be treated. It sadly is the exception, not the norm but regardless, it was so encouraging to see such a fabulous centre and an honour to meet the children and staff that work there.

 

What else, what else? I got some skirts made. Badly. I'd asked for one to be different lengths at the bottom but it ended up being pointy and looked like a peter pan costume. Neverland anybody?!

Marti's birthday last week allowed for a day of celebrations and what better way than to start the day with a pedicure. Having never had one before it was quite the experience. I'm not sure youre supposed to giggle and yelp in quite the same ways that I did but I honestly couldn't help it - so ticklish! The rest of her birthday was a great night. We went a little crazy at the municipal market buying fruit and veg and made a tonne of food for the party in the evening. It was good to be back in a kitchen cooking and I now make a mean guacamole - youi have been warned! There was party games, good food, lovely people, fun chat, a little romance (not me!) and a guitar. What more do you need?!

I did feel somewhat ridiculous walking around the kochogo feeding centre the next day with scarlet toenails though!

The departure of the students meant I fulfilled one wish I've had since getting to Kisumu - the hippo boat ride. Early in the morning (though not quite as early as planned due to a broken alarm clock (again-not me!)) we headed down to meet our guide and set out on the lake. Once I got over my crocodile fear and was assured there wouldnt be any in these parts it was lovely to relax on the boat ride and enjoy doing something different again. I was slightly nervous about seeing the hippos - apparently they are the biggest killer in Africa. Here I should be clearm, they are the biggest ANIMAL killer. Which is different to the biggest general killer. Not that I got confused with that atall...

Nerves were cast aside when we saw them though. If I hadn't seen them on the mara safari I'm not sure I would have appreciated just how huge they were. But as we only really saw their heads and ears it was more difficult to appreciate here. We saw quite a few though, their ears really are quite cute! They didn't seem to fussed by us and let us snap away (Marti more so with her new shiny beeeutiful camera).

We stopped off at a fishing village called Donga to see the market. It was already over for the day but Ibrihim our guide managed to conveniantly find us a bucket of every kind of fish you can think of and go through them one by one with us. I wasnt hugely enamoured by the fact some of them were still flapping around and breathing. But then we witnessed the chicked being killed for our lunch at the feeding centre the previous day so maybe I should just man up? Either that or become a very reluctant vegetarian?

The other thing of particular note from the last few weeks was my visit to meet a self help group of incredible women. They are the parents of some of the children that VIMA supports (KOP project partner that help and support OVCs living in Kisumu). They are trying to organise their own business and I am currently trying to research income generatoin activities to help them with this. I was honoured to go along to their weekly meeting.

***The woman who works in this shop just asked me if the mzungu (white person) who just walked in was my sisiter. She finds it hilarious that I've never met this girl before. Apparently all us mzungus look the same...?!***

Sorry, random off topic digression there...

The meeting was held in the home of one of the women in a local slum. It was about 2 metres by 6 metres if that and there were 12 of us in there. Some people were sitting half way out the door for obvious reasons. They are all so committed to making the lives of their children and themselves better but they can't do it alone. It's so unfair that one can have so much while another so little but the pride of people here and their positive outlook and optimism always impresses me tremendously.

There was a moment when I was sitting there for this meeting and it just suddenly hit me. Where I was and what I was doing and all the things I have had the opportunity to see and witness over the past few years. It keeps cementing for me that this is the area I want to work in but sometimes if I stop and actually think about it, it really is quite overwhelming. To be in these countries, visit peoples homes and meet these inspiring people....perhaps this time, saying less is saying more.

 


KOP Official Blog - Kings University

2010-08-22 to 2010-09-04

I can’t quite believe we’re here, at the last blog of the Summer. But what a way to go!

Kings’ bags arrived before they did but the students followed soon enough and we had our introductions, room sorting and welcome meeting to be getting on with.

Monday morning saw a return to normal for the project days with a group heading off to teach, play and observe at Ombeyi schools, feeding centre and health centre and the second headed off to get their hands dirty at Alendu. By all accounts the students had a great time and there was very positive feedback from the schools in particular. It can be a nerve wracking experience getting up in front of large numbers of school pupils where anything has the potential to happen. However while it may be one of the scariest project activities, it is often one of the most rewarding. Students frequently report a great sense of achievement when they have encouraged initially quiet pupils to fully engage in the lessons and having begun the class in whispers are shouting out the answers by the end.

Meanwhile I was having my very own project visit with VIMA. I had been invited to attend a self-help group, made up of some of the VIMA children’s caregivers. The name of the group is ‘Reopache’ which means ‘unity of minds. The women have set up the group in order to organize some income generation activities so that they can guarantee their own income to support themselves and their families. I went along to the chairwoman’s house where 12 of us sat in on 6” by 3” room talking about investments and business plans. They are quite the bunch of inspiring individuals and it was an honour to join them for the afternoon.

The end of King’s first day saw a surprise birthday celebration for Sita with “interesting’ balloon displays, crepe paper decorations galore and of course – those cakes! Happy Birthday Sita!

The group also spent some time sorting through the masses of donations that they had kindly brought over from home. There was a great variety of items from stationary and clothes to toys and uniforms. I have been constantly impressed by the generosity of students this summer. On top of raising cash all year so many have brought over extra items that they can either use within their project activities or donate to the projects beneficiaries. A little goes such a long way here in Kenya and the amounts of additional donations this summer has gone even further.

The next few evenings were jam packed with activities. We had kitmikye for an impressive hike up to the sunset point, including a few nerve wracking (for me) jaunts up and onto the edges of precariously perched boulders. Unfortunately the sunset was hiding behind clouds for most of the evening but it was nice to spend time with each other and chill out for a bit up there anyway. After a quick bite to eat back at the hotel the previous evenings birthday cakes had built up the anticipation and we went to Laughing Buddah for sizzling hot chocolate brownies and smoke rings…

Then there was the quiz. Now this is the same quiz that I have been running all Summer and while it has been met with general enthusiasm (aside from Cardiff who were distracted by the tinfoil episode…) (and the dispute over the Scottish question that I don’t like to talk about) the Kings group took this to a whole other level. Maybe it was the passion fruit prize that so encouraged peoples participation, maybe it was the promise of glory and pride that was at stake, maybe it was the tuskers, but the excitement throughout and up until the nailbiting ‘2 points in it’ ending was intense. The triumphant winners did backflips and breakdancing for crying out loud – enough said!

Thursday night brought the final (sob) karaoke. Some people seemed slightly reluctant at the start of the evening but the drinking games put a stop to that soon enough and there were fabulous renditions of all sorts of songs. Special mention should be made here to Marti’s version of ‘Like A Prayer’. While we have sang this a few times this Summer she seemed to save the best till last and the adlibbing vocals went down a treat. Look out Madonna, Marti has your number! 2 become 1, buttercup and I just can’t wait to be King were some other favourites from the evening. The only let down was that they played the wrong version of 500 miles but we sang over the top of it anyway and that seemed to go down well. Me hogging the mic? Never! As it was our last night a quiet word with DJ.P himself (no comments needed) led to an impromptu mega mix of everything from ‘who let the dogs out’ to ‘waka waka’. Cramming 50 people into a space that normally holds about 7 is always a sure fire way to get people jumping and dancing. Note to self: when dancing crazily in small places after a tusker or 2 – must.drink.water.

We had a bit of a difference with the Kings group in that we have had 4 extra volunteers staying and working with us. Chris and Adam have been helping out with impressively speedy painting, interacting with the delighted kids at the feeding centre and Adam has been teaching classes at a nearby school. Meanwhile Jen and Lucie have been working on the girls programme with HOVIC in a variety of useful, insightful and productive ways. Sadly Chris had to leave us half way through the fortnight but having the others here has leant a new dynamic to the trip and everybody has loved having them around. Thanks for all your work guys, it wouldn’t have been the same without you – the students and me all expect to see you at the ball. Sawa Sawa?!

After a day at kakamega rainforest with hill hiking, monkey spotting and bat cave shrieking, there was a chance to chill on Friday evening as we had an early Nakuru start the next morning. I’ve managed to avoid these 5AM wakeups for the past few weeks but Jen, Lucie and I tagged along so that we could visit the nearby Waneri (sp?!) crater. We waved all of the students off at the park and left to the sights of monkeys and the sound of screeching. The monkeys made a bit of a racket too! The crater and the walk around town was good fun but it sounds like the students had somewhat more of an adventure with one group getting stuck in the mud. Getting stuck in the mud is one thing. Getting OUT of the matatu to grab onto a rope and pull the vehicle out of the mud while there are potentially lots of WILD animals about is quite another. Haven’t you guys seen those youtube videos?! The girls managed it though and they all went on to have a great afternoon full of animal spotting and general safari banter. Plus it was Helen’s birthday and being on safari strikes me as a pretty awesome way to celebrate it. Infact I’d go so far as to say it could only be topped by being serenaded by a certain ‘Shobit the Singing Sensation’ - Happy Birthday Helen!

I seem to have covered a lot of the social aspects from this group and I don’t want to neglect the project days as so much valuable contributions were made here too. With almost everyone saying that they wish they had more time at HOVIC the impact the Kings students made here was fantastic. Some students also had the chance to spend more time at the night shelter with the girls. The experience at the night shelter is often similar to that in the schools in that the girls can be quite quiet and shy when you first meet them. Considering what they have been though this is understandable but a variety of activities has brought them out of their shell over the Summer and they have got really involved in certain tasks. One such task was decorating the night shelter over the past few weeks. It looks like a completely different building now and, like Kochogo Feeding Centre, is just so much brighter and more inviting. Good work to everyone who picked up a paintbrush or pair of scissors! Lucie and Jen have also been doing some art work with the girls in terms of painting and getting them to design Christmas cards. Look out for yours coming to a KOP webstore near you soon!

Sunday morning saw the different groups visiting various places of worship; all of which were incredibly welcoming to their foreign visitors. After a tasty lunch at Mon Ami we all headed to Oasis of Hope secondary school. A corporate KOP donation allowed for the school to be built and the students had moved in just the week prior to our visit. As the student programme doesn’t directly fund this particular school it has not been part of the programme for the Summer. We may have only visited for this one day but the impact the students (both KOP and school pupils) had on each other was quite remarkable. We started off with an intelligent and enlightening debate from the students on issues raised in the new constitution. Some of the pupils could certainly stand their own in the House of Commons! This was followed by a variety of presentations from the children. There was a hilarious sketch which created laughs while still managing to portray a serious message. We were also treated to a variety of songs and dancing and one or three of us got up to join. I’m not sure they were convinced by our dosydoes (sp?!) but everyone seemed to have fun. A kind donation from Danone in the UK meant that we were able to supply the teachers with a number of textbooks to put to good use in the school. I’ve never heard a cheer for a physics textbook before but it makes you question how much we take for granted our access to education and the necessary materials.

Later on in the day we split up for some football games with the boys sizing up their opposition for a male match and the girls taking it in turns to run at the ball and kick it off the pitch in our own female match. A slight confusion about who was on my team led to me tackling the ball away from Marti on several occasions but in the girls game atleast, nobody seemed too bothered with the score. The boys who had split up and were on the losing side may have wished nobody was bothered with their score but everyone took it in good spirits and it was a great end to the afternoon.

There was something special in the atmosphere at Oasis of Hope School. There was a sense of pride amongst both the staff and pupils which just seemed to create a positive ethos around the people teaching and learning there. The school motto ‘never ever give up’ certainly rubbed off on many. That the aspirations of such bright and engaged pupils may have a real chance to be realized was incredibly encouraging and once again was a sign that with the right support, investment and care people have more of a chance to achieve what they should be entitled to. It was a real honour and pleasure to spend the day with staff and children alike and our KOP students were pretty reluctant to leave.

The next week brought more visits to Alendu, HOVIC, VIMA and the hospitals. While the first two proved fun and hands on the latter two in particular were more humbling, eye opening and sometimes shocking experiences. As has been the case all Summer the chance to witness more than one side to Kenyan life and to see a variety of organizations at work in Kisumu has led to a well rounded and balanced experience.

There was time to reflect on all of this at Kiboko Bay where we more than made up for the cloud covered KitmiKye evening with one of the most stunning sunsets of the Summer. There may not have been any hippos but the sky was spectacular, the company lovely and the atmosphere chilled and positive. There were further chances to chat and share experiences at a second Laughing Buddah visit. Just can’t stay away from those chocolate brownies! As people have been returning home one thing I often hear is that they find it difficult to really get across the whole experience to friends and family back home. While people are interested and care about the work that is being done over here it is often difficult to fully understand what it is like unless you have been here yourself. Which is why having the chance to discuss things you have seen and done out here with people who have also been through the same thing is so important. Keeping networks alive back home is vital to this too and I for one am looking forward to numerous reunions and get-togethers over the year. Glasgow anyone?!

The fortnight ended with the final project party. This time hosted by the Commander himself. While the evening got off to a somewhat dark start the generator soon kicked in and there was time for talking, eating and then, dancing. Some boys from HOVIC joined us and after an impressive fire dance show the students got in on the action too and the dancing ensued. Once again it was the perfect end to a fortnight full of wonderful experiences. It was quite an emotional night with far too many goodbyes for my liking.

I’m not sure if the atmosphere was different because it was the final group of the Summer or if it would have been the same saying goodbye to Kings at any point over the past few months but there was a definite feeling from me that this would be the final goodbye. However, even now, as I sit at Manager Steve’s computer desk I’m not quite sure I believe it is over. It is 3.30AM and I have finally finished packing and have to catch a flight in about 4 hours but something in my brain is telling me another group must be arriving soon. We’ve had our final sunset in the rooftop bar, said farewell to all the project partners and the boards have now been wiped clean of university names but I’m pretty sure I’m still in denial about the whole thing!

King’s, you really helped create the perfect end to a fabulous summer, you’re enthusiasm, commitment, sensitivity and fun were all terrific and it was a joy to be part of it. People keep asking me which my favourite group has been but I am being honest when I say that each group was so different with such different dynamics that you can’t really compare. Maybe we’ve just been lucky but each group has genuinely been fantastic and brought something special to their time here. We’ve seen 11 universities and 146 students, we’ve had over 50 project days, 7 days at Nakuru, Kakamega and KitMiKye and atleast 37 trips to the Aga Khan hospital! You’ve had 3 drivers, 3 minders, 2 coordinators and have helped far too many people than I can count up here.

It’s been interesting keeping a blog this Summer. With so many students it can be difficult to make sure you’ve covered everything that has happened. As I’ve said it can also be tricky to capture everyones experiences as it is so personal to each individual. However I hope you have enjoyed reading about the Summer as much as I have enjoyed laughing and smiling as I remembered and wrote about all of the exploits. KOP are always keen to hear your version of events so if you do have thoughts or comments, think I’ve missed anything important out or just want to share with us your experience now that you’ve had a chance to reflect then please do so. We’d love to hear from you.

In the mean time, I wanted to say thank you once more to each and every student that I’ve met this Summer. You truly are a bunch of characters and each brought something unique and special to this trip. Being involved with KOP means that you are part of the community that keeps it going, making a real and important difference to the lives of all of KOP’s beneficiaries. It has been an honour to be part of your Summer. I think I can honestly say I’ve loved every minute of it. Aside maybe from that time I tripped over my own trousers…

And one person who has really made this summer happen is a certain Miss Martina Gant, AKA: Marteasy/Boss. To say she works hard is an understatement. She works tirelessly over the year to put together a student programme which I hope you agree is a comprehensive, organized and insightful opportunity to experience Kenya and Kisumu in a way that few others have the chance to. I’m not quite sure how she did it alone last Summer but the care and attention she puts into the activities here on the ground is what enables you to have such a fantastic time out here. I’ve been lucky enough to have most of the fun parts of the student coordinator role and her job is not always an easy one but the amount I have learnt from her over the past few months has left me quite inspired. Marti, thank you for being a great teacher, colleague and friend.

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened? I’m pretty sure a few tears will be shed when I leave tomorrow regardless. It’s been a rollercoaster ride of emotion, fun, laughter, eye opening experiences, chances to see things you never thought you would; good and bad. There has been sunsets and sunrises, matatus, dancing, singing, digging holes and falling into them, theres been lions and baboons and the occasional hippo, there has been sunspot and chocolate brownies and there has definitely been karaokAY. There has been teaching, hospitals (planned and not), dodgy stomachs and grazed knees. There were quotes and ugali and football matches. Lasting friendships have been made both here and at home. It has been a pleasure, rarely a pain and now it is time to say Asante Sana and Oriti Uru.

KOP 2010 – What A Summer!


KOP Summer 2010

2010-09-04

The Duke of Breeze is empty now

It doesn't feel quite right

The students have gone, the last group left

The hotel is quiet tonight

 

The morning holds no project visits

Students to see off or matatus to call

There'll be no more Nakumatt water stops

I'm not sure I like this atall

 

But it's better to look back with a smile

And thoughts of leaving be met with a frown

It proves what a top Summer it's been here

It reflects all the friends we have found

 

Group one was a baptism of fire

And a crash course in all things KOP

Imperial started with style

And Nott's reputation saw no reason to stop!

 

At HOVIC, VIMA, Kochogo

The students gave their all

Plus Alendu's epic game of footy

And paintings that changed more than a wall

 

Southampton and Barts I came next

And there seemed more time to chat

But with 14 girls and only one boy

Noone could have predicted that!

 

It was a great 2 weeks of projects

with a lot of fun thrown in

With everything from ugali stirring to pedicures

A jigga and lost shirt (!) caused a few grins...

 

BartLeeChester arrived with a roar

Our biggest group thus far

They were at the hotel before Marti and I

So made a quick beeline for the bar

 

Now working hard was the aim of their days

But they certainly knew how to mix in some play

 

And they made the most of their hospital trips, though not all of them were planned

Despite dodgy showers and fancy dres, the noise never got out of hand...

 

Cardiff, Warwick and Lucia

had a somewhat different week

With a referendum to deal with

new activities they did seek

 

So it was kickboxing and dancing

though not at the same time

And a special language lesson

though our spelling was a crime

 

And then there was the tinfoil

Yes, this group had some cheek

They wrapped around my room

Cleaning up took nearly a week!

 

With combined names Brester came next

where the vodka seemed on tap

There was digging holes and hippo tours

and that frickin' Irish snap!

 

It wasn't all just fun and games

Everyone worked hard at projects too

But with a party bus and a certain birthday

You may need photos of the blisters as proof

 

And then it was time for Kings

To finish the Summer in style

They brought donations of everything from pencils to socks

They brought enthusiasm and smiles

 

With commitment and care from everyone

And a passion that was hard to miss

They gave their all, they gave their best

And that was just for the quiz!

 

There's so much more I could mention

Though little space for it all to be told

Each student will have their own take on things

Your own memories to treasure and hold

 

You worked hard to help so many

You raised a tonne of cash

You came here to make a difference

Then these weeks flew by so fast.

 

So here's to you who made it

A special Summer of learning, fun and friends

With new experiences, adventures and people

Thank you all involved in KOP 2010.


Uganda

2010-09-05

Missing blog about Uganda and last days in Kisumu and travel round Kenya will be posted eventually!


Kenya Land round 2

2011-06-17 to 2011-06-18

I have to say, I rather like this whole having a laptop while travelling malarkey. It does make things a lot easier. Instead of having to find an internet café and sit there for hours while I tap out my latest ramblings, I am settled down for the night, on my bed, in my pyjamas and under a (refusing to sit without lots of gaps) mosquito net. It’s really rather civilised. Which makes me feel like a bit of a cheat but I’m here working so I reckon it’s allowed.

Here being Kisumu, Kenya. I’ve returned again with KOP this time as a fully-fledged, official, permanent and paid (!) employee. I’ll be keeping a somewhat more professional blog for my ‘day job’ some of which will no doubt end up on here, but for now I wanted to share the beginning of my journey, the start of my latest adventure and the launch of my most recent rendezvous with Africa.

I left Glasgow in somewhat different circumstances. Mainly because no family members could take me to the airport. A series of incidents had led to Lewis being scheduled to leave Glasgow airport at 2.15pm. The exact same time I was due to depart 100 or so miles away from Edinburgh airport. Mum and Dad were faced with having to choose which of their children they loved the most and alas they chose Lewis. (Just messin’!) Dave did a rather sterling job as airport dropper offer and more than made up for my family abandoning me in my hour of need.

(Please note the following disclaimer: my parents do not have favourites and have taken me to the airport on all of my meanderings without complaint) (Apart from at the parking charges) (Which, by the way are waaaaay more expensive at Edinburgh airport).

Edinburgh airport was fine and dandy, as was the flight itself, as was the wait in Heathrow. In fact there isn’t really anything of note from the journey itself. Perhaps my ease and comfort in writing this is making me ramble on even more than usual?!

It was a night flight to Nairobi and I hid behind an eye mask for most of it, trying to fool myself into thinking I was actually managing to ignore the migraine, sudden unexplained hunger and sleeping soundly. They helpfully woke us up for breakfast at 2.45am. If you work for an airline, please put this into your suggestion box – if you are going to wake people up for breakfast, 4 hours after you’ve served them dinner and at the equivalent of TWO FORTY-FIVE IN THE MORNING, please serve them more than a miniscule croissant and a short arsed strawberry yoghurt. Thank you.

We landed a lot quicker than I had anticipated and so I didn’t even look out of the window to see if I could spot the giraffes (sorry Neil) or the acacia trees that so strongly told me I was in Africa last year. However, the queue at customs and the hours wait for the baggage brought it home. T.I.A!

That’s not supposed to sound negative. It was nice to slip back into that general acceptance that, while things may not happen on time or to schedule, they will happen and so you just have to bow to the inevitable and relax about it all. I love that attitude, there is just NO POINT getting stressed about it because there is absolutely nothing you can do. Which is why I found myself sat crossed legged on the floor at the side of the baggage carousel smiling to myself at 7am.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been so busy with my ‘day job’ or concentrating on the general KOP work I’ve got to do while I’m out here this Summer or because I’ve been thinking about missing people and all that that entails. But I really hadn’t thought much about actually being back here. About seeing people again, getting to spend afew months in sunny Africa, eating different foods, shopping in different markets, visiting all the projects, meeting new people and being reunited with friends. I always find denial works best when I’m gearing up to leave home for a while and I end up feeling quite numb about it all before I go. However, the excitement began creeping round the edges on the plane ride into Kisumu and it began to hit me again. Then, as I walked across the tarmac and looked around at the people, looked over at the little shed that it Kisumu airport and looked up at Kisumu ahead of me, that feeling of ‘eeeeeeeeeeek, I’m here and it’s amazing’ came rushing back. I’m in Africa, I’m here for the Summer and this is my job that I get paid to do. I don’t ever want to take that for granted, I am a lucky, lucky girl and to be frank, it’s frickin’ awesome!!


Return to Kisumu

2011-06-18

Being back was bizarre. The journey to the hotel was a short one but gave me enough time to figure out my bearings and spot familiar sights; men in bright coloured African shirts, children playing in the street and African women carrying impossibly large and precariously balanced loads on their heads. I got such a warm greeting from the staff at the hotel which was really lovely. In fact I got taken straight past a group of mzungus (white people) who were waiting at reception and up to my room which I think they were a little bemused about.

What’s strange, really strange is that it doesn’t feel like I’ve been away. Everything is so familiar; the rooms, the décor, the hotel, the streets, the supermarket, the boda boda drivers, the matatus, the blasts of noise from the sports ground – it doesn’t feel odd at all. Which is odd.

After a welcome catch up and rooftop drink with Marti I settled into my temporary home and slept away most of the afternoon.

Then I got my package. Normally when I go away travelling mum gives me a card and we write letters to each other. We didn’t do it this year, mainly because I’m going to have email and such like every day and also, well, I’ve done this quite a lot now! Last year she sent me a parcel with a KOP hoody (that I’d left on the stairs) and a card from her and from Mhairi. It never arrived. I went to the post office (argghhhhh – every time in every country!) ******* and they could never find it. Then out of the blue it apparently got dropped off here 2 months ago and they’ve held onto it for me. I know I’m rambling now but I opened it and there are these cards with good luck messages of encouragement for my time in Africa and good luck messages for the job. The opening line of the postcard is ‘here is your KOP hoody, I hope it doesn’t take too long to reach you’. It was all dated the 18th June 2010. Exactly one year ago today. It’s a funny old world.

So now I’m tucked under my epic fail of a mosquito net and I’m getting used to the whirring fan above my head. I’d forgotten it would be so warm here (despite the torrential rain that’s just started). I’d forgotten about the sleeping under nets and the drinking of bottled water and the fact it gets really dark at 6.30pm because we are on the equator. But it took less than 5 minutes to remember it all and now it feels like I was here yesterday. It’s fantastic to be back.


Has it really been a year?! Official KOP Blog.

2011-06-19 to 2011-06-25

I can’t quite believe we’re here again, at the start of a KOP Summer. Did the last one not finish 2 seconds ago?!

Apparently not.

Marti and I pondered over this as we sat on the steps of the Duke of Breeze and waited for KOP Nottingham students to arrive. There was a definite feeling of it being the calm before the storm.

Despite broken down buses (in England, NOT Kenya), extra luggage (generous donations from Festival Republic) and delayed baggage the students finally turned round the corner on their (luxury?!) bus.

And it’s been nonstop since!

As always, the first evening was spent settling in, going over some housekeeping and making best use of the rooftop bar.

Monday morning and it was all go! I cornered every student for ‘one word to describe how you’re feeling’ filming. Aside from one ‘psyched’ and a ‘tripping’ everyone opted for “excited”. There was a general buzz around the group as each matatu load of students set off for their first day of projects.

The student programme has seen some changes this year, there are now 3 modules; building, rural and HOVIC with each lasting 3 days.

Following the completion of work at Alendu, the building module now takes place at Oasis of Hope Secondary School. It’s already a hugely popular addition to the student programme. The students didn’t hang about and got stuck into building one of the walls for a new library. At the start of the day there was no wall, by lunchtime they’d laid 4 rows of bricks (no mean feat given they didn’t know one end of a trowel from the other a few hours before) and by the end of the day there were 10!

Oasis of Hope truly is an inspiring school which offers heavily subsidised education to children from the nearby slum who would otherwise be unable to afford it. Watching one of the popular school debates demonstrates just how much of a waste that would be. This week saw the two sides fiercely battle over issues surrounding education and the subjects pupils should be allowed to study. It’s uplifting to come across young people who take such a pride in their education. The pupils are encouraged to get involved with the school and speak up when they think things could be done differently. Can you say the same for your school in the UK?

We listened to the feedback from last year and as a result have increased the HOVIC module to 3 days instead of the original 1. It gives students an opportunity to get a more in depth understanding of the centre, how it works, the services it provides and of course, more time to interact with the great bunch of kids they have there. The students were full of enthusiasm on their first visit. Especially Vinay who jumped straight up when the staff asked for a volunteer during assembly. Unfortunately he hadn’t heard them say the volunteer was to lead a prayer…

Monday night gave students the opportunity to hear from all of KOP’s project partners. We’ve also changed the format from last year which gave the students more opportunity to ask questions. So those of you coming out over the next few months – start thinking of some now!

The rural module is taking place in Kochogo and Ombeyi this year and will see students spending the majority of the 3 days at the feeding centres. On Tuesday the rural group stopped off at Alendu Schhol, which some of you may remember from the blogs last year? KOP Students have been working at Alendu for 2 years and helped with the building of several new classrooms and an admin block. This year’s contingent seemed to really value the chance to see another school and the difference KOP Students have made to it. Seeing what the finished product can look like gave an even bigger incentive for shovelling that cement at Oasis!

Another new element of this year’s programme are the student presentations. At the end of each module the students are asked to speak briefly (and informally) about their experience at the projects, what work they have done there and what the next group should do to prepare. The presentations proved useful, interesting, informative and at times hilarious!

All that talking meant people were a bit parched though so off we went to local bar Kingellis. Tuskers were enjoyed, Kenyan whisky was sipped and there were even reports of various spirits in small measures being consumed. These I shall neither confirm or deny. Which is the same for the rest of the evening as we retired back to the rooftop for the Summers first rendition of ‘Waka Waka’, dancing, chatting and absolutely NO pole dancing…. How’s the bruise Simon?

The night ended somewhat abruptly when Nottingham continued in their age old tradition of having the first group party of the Summer that results in police attendance!

It was slightly more subdued the following evening with a trip to Laughing Buddah for hot chocolate sizzling brownies. And milkshakes. Anyone else feeling hungry?!

On Friday I spent my first day out on project visits and went along to Oasis of Hope to meet the (fantastically awesome) director, Kadiri. I managed to squeeze in some time to drop in on lessons the students were leading. Kadiri has been encouraging students to teach classes in the afternoons of the building module and they’ve been going down incredibly well with staff, students and pupils alike. It was ‘First Aid Friday’ (I just made name up but I think we should keep it…) with KOP students teaching everything from the Heimlich manoeuvre, how to bandage a wound and what to do if someone faints. This required some willing participants to help demonstrate the techniques which saw James, Stephanie and Sheena (amongst others) lying on tables and the classroom floor. I think they were quite glad of the lie down!

I donned my (somewhat reluctant) MC hat for karaoke in the hotel on Friday night. I could go into detail about the fab singing from enthusiastic warblers but I think the less said about it all the better…

Saturday was an epic day. We had 2 hours of football in a wicked tournament organised between Oasis of Hope, HOVIC and Team KOP. I’ll leave you to guess the score lines but needless to say there was fun, sweating, running, a few cuts and bruises, some over enthused Rooney wanabees and some very happy Kenyan children (AKA: the winners!)

A lunch at Mon Ami (chicken burger anyone?!) was followed by more epic-ness at the craft market. I said I wasn’t going to buy anything and I did well. I only got 7 bracelets. Not to be outdone there were a few others who got carried away with the beaded jewellery, soapstone carvings and painted fabrics. No oversized giraffes yet I don’t think though.

The first week ended with an evening at chill out spot Kiboko Bay. Hippos were spotted, sun was lain under, nachos were bought and fun was had by all. And there were absolutely no boat trips. At all. Nope none. Nada. Not one. Absolutely not. (KOP advises against this activity, strongly).

And so concluded week one. We sure know how to cram a lot into the Summer programme here at KOP. I could swear I’ve been here a month!


Where does the time go?! Official KOP Blog.

2011-06-26 to 2011-07-02

And then like that, they were gone.

Sitting in the rooftop bar without 36 Nottingham students feels very different. It’s SO quiet. I can’t quite believe that the first group has finished. As many of us discussed this week the first half went rather slowly and in many ways it feels like Nottingham had been here for months, not days. However this past week has flown by and I was quite surprised to wake up today and find them no longer here!

Timing is somewhat relative though, what you might do, see, learn or achieve in 2 weeks at home is in stark contrast to the ‘crammed full to the brim’ weeks that KOP students have here in Kisumu. And this past week was no exception.

Last Sunday in the dark of night (it was 5 o’clock!), 35 students crept downstairs onto waiting safari buses. I say crept, they woke Marti and I up so they can’t have been all that quiet. There may have been complaints about the early hour and university letter issues and a bumpy bus, but they seemed long forgotten when we heard tales from the day. Baboon encounters, flamingos aplenty, epic bus driving skills, rhino, giraffe and a close call with a tree climbing pride of…LIONS(!!!!) led to smiles all round!

It was a return to “normality” on Monday for a day of projects followed by group presentations. Once again they seemed to go well and people learnt a lot about what to expect when they changed to a new module the following day.

Monday night saw a trip out to what is fast becoming the infamous Sunspot. Sunspot is a local nightclub that everyone should experience once in their lifetime. I was rather disappointed to miss out on the ‘Who let the dogs out/My heart will go on’ mix but there’s always next time. It was an…entertaining night. I’ll leave it at that.

I reckon people were rather thankful for the slight lie in the following morning (remember when 9am sounded early?) as we boarded the matatus and headed towards Maseno University. A new addition to this year’s programme is the Academic Day which gives students the chance to see a Kenyan university and meet with Kenyan students. It’s also an opportunity to tour around the areas very first Medical School and meet inspirational dean of medicine Professor Aluoch. A great team met us at the university and we had a really interesting discussion, followed by a tour and a rather tasty lunch. Then it was all aboard again for a trip to the equator – we tried the water experiment again (the water is supposed to spiral in opposite directions on either side of the equator). I’m still not convinced to be honest, though I have seen it work once. We gave it our best shot though and have the grass stains, scratches and attached plant life to show for it.

We ended Tuesday with a stop off at KitMiKayi to climb some rocks and watch the sunset. The weather had other plans for us and we ran down, passing a traditional Kenyan dance display, just as the storm clouds, thunder and torrential rain rolled in.

More project visits, sports matches, school lessons, playtimes, arm wrestles…, building activities, ugali stirring and cultural exchanges progressed throughout the week and all reports were very positive.

Thursday night was Nyama Choma night on the rooftop followed by a return to Laughing Buddah – people just can’t get enough of those chocolate brownies, or the milkshakes, or the cake.

It was a day of mixed emotions on Friday. A fun day at projects was followed by a return by all students to Oasis of Hope at the tail end of the afternoon. As the school pupils had offered presentations to KOP students all week it was our turn to repay the favour. ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘Akuna Matata’ were the songs of choice. You can decide for yourselves how they got on when I post the videos on our KOPafrica youtube channel. Full points for trying though guys!

Before we all knew it, it was time to head off to the HOVIC night shelter for the trips project party. An evening of speeches (thanks for that Marti) really summed up the KOP experience with votes of thanks for and from project staff and some moving words from Simon to the HOVIC kids. A fantastic feast was served up for all and the night continued with dancing and music.

The project parties are always my favourite evenings of the KOP student programme and this was no exception. In many ways it feels like no time since KOP Nottingham descended from their ‘luxury’ coach onto the road outside the Duke of Breeze Hotel. In 2 weeks I’ve seen them come back from projects excited, happy, inspired, enthusiastic, interested and moved. 2 weeks ago almost all of these students had never been to Kisumu, let alone visited the KOP projects here. Yet here they all were, dancing at HOVIC, people from all backgrounds having made some genuine connections with the children they have worked so hard to support throughout the year.

The night continued into the wee small hours back at the hotel with people refusing to go to bed as they didn’t want to the trip to end. I can understand why!

It was a fantastic 2 weeks with a committed, enthusiastic and conscientious group of KOP students who gave their all and had a brilliant time. Thanks guys - what a way to start the Summer!


Monkeys, Murals, Mafia and More. Official KOP Blog.

2011-07-03 to 2011-07-09

An AWOL bus wasn’t enough to deter the next bunch of KOP students. Having located the illusive vehicle hiding behind the airport, students from Imperial, Edinburgh, Manchester and Southampton made their way to Kisumu and arrived safely ready to make Group 2’s mark on the Summer Programme.

With a real mix of students from 4 universities there was lots to chat about and ‘getting to know you’ time needed so Sunday night was spent doing exactly that.

Monday was the first day on projects with Imperial students starting the indoor painting at Ombeyi Feeding Centre and the ‘best of the rest’ getting their hands dirty at Oasis of Hope. The introductory talk from project partners was followed by an impromptu ‘big night’ in the rooftop bar. I swear I heard YMCA filtering down to my room at some point..?

Last year Kochogo Feeding Centre got a facelift with KOP students painting a number of educational designs on the walls. This year it’s Ombeyi’s turn and Imperial wasted no time in coming up with a series of fun and educational designs. The biggest of which being a world map which now covers a whole wall. Complete with desert areas, Kenya mapped out in the colours of the flag and a wee KOP boat it looks fantastic – well done guys! Bringing your pencil case, ruler and even your protractor all the way to Africa with you certainly paid off, eh Dave?!

Over the week all students played their part in jazzing up the inside of the feeding centre and there are now nutritional designs, alphabet pictures, fun healthcare murals, song lyrics, KOP handprints (students and children) and lots of lovely little butterflies. It really does look great!

There were a number of other evening activities throughout the first half of the week. With a trip to local outdoor bar Kingellis, late night mafia sessions and full advantage being taken of the rooftop bar. After braving the mud (caused by the previous night’s torrential rain) during a day at new projects, Thursday saw a trip out to Laughing Buddah in honour of Lucy’s birthday. It was a really fun night, what with milkshakes, infamous hot chocolate brownies, small… quantities of alcohol and not to mention THAT birthday cake. I’m still not sure I understand why Lucy’s ‘friends’ insisted on having ‘Happy Birthday Sweaty Bruce’ written in pink icing across the top but I’m told it tasted excellent!

Friday was the second day at HOVIC for Imperial and Ombeyi for the ‘best of the rest’. After a more chilled start to HOVIC with lessons in Swahili, KOP Imperial made the most of the afternoon by soapstone carving, interacting with the HOVIC kids and heading down to the sports ground for football and volleyball. Meanwhile the students at Ombeyi were finishing off some painting (the detail on those butterflies..!) helping out the staff and playing with the children from the centre. I’m told they spent a fair amount of time learning to Jambo Bwana song to perform to the children. I think the fact they promptly forgot all the words inspired the idea to write the lyrics on the wall!

Friday night saw a return of MC Shona (oh dear) to host karaoke at the hotel. It was a lot less manic than last week with some great hits being belted out/sung/destroyed over the course of the evening. Personal favourites included a song about the rain, All By Myself, It’s Raining Men (complete with choreography) and of course the ‘let’s finish on a high’ Bohemian Rhapsody. We scared the other customers and cleared the bar but we had fun!

How the students managed to get up in time for Nakuru the next morning I’ll never know. This group certainly have some stamina! Up but not necessarily fully conscious though – given 2 of the group were left behind! Cue knocking on Marti and Shona’s door at 6am in the morning. Forfeits for this coming later! By all accounts a great day was had though with all the park had to offer being out on show; giraffe, black rhino, white rhino, baboons, gazelle, LIONS(!!) zebra, flamingos and monkeys. I don’t think Becks liked the monkeys. Though to be fair, if a monkey lunged at me, scratched me and then proceeded to chase me round the carpark, I don’t think I’d like them much either!


Couldn't cram more in if we tried! Official KOP Blog.

2011-07-10 to 2011-07-16

Sunday - the day of rest? Not this week!

We started the day with a trip out to VIMA. It was a chance to meet some of the children that VIMA support, interact with them and the staff, have a meal together (ugali eating competition anyone?!) and get our dancing shoes on. It was also a chance to play some party games with the kids. Now, I know musical chairs, musical statues and musical bumps are fun, and I know that part of the point of the game is winning. But when you have twenty four 20 (ish) year old students and a large number of small children you don’t expect the game to be so competitive! Without pointing any elbows (David!!) there were some ruthless tactics involved! Still, the generous donation from Mothercare was enough to distract the children from their crushing musical chairs defeat at the hands of KOP students.

(Please note: No children were harmed during the playing of musical [insert option here].

The party was followed by a shopping, haggling and bargaining extravaganza at the local Masai craft market. Followed by a well-earned rest at Kiboko Bay. Lazing by the pool, in the pool and on some (UN-ENDORSED) boats was the order of the evening and it seemed to go down well.

The perfect chilled evening to set everyone up for week 2 of project visits. I took the chance to go out to Omen Feeding Centre on the Monday and it was a real delight to see the results of the hard work the students had all been putting in. I know we discussed the murals in last weeks blog but the additional details jazzed the centre up even further and it is now a bright, fresh and vibrant place to be which matches the ethos of the whole place so much better.

I also got the chance to hang out with the students and children while they played games in the afternoon. Unfortunately I had my camera and was taking photos so I couldn’t play. Fortunately I had my camera and was taking photos so I couldn’t play ‘Drip, Drip, Drop’; a game that involves pouring cups of water over each other’s heads.

(Please note: No children were harmed during the playing of afternoon games). (The matatu window on the other hand…)

Monday night saw a trip out to Sunspot. The local nightclub was a tad quiet when we first arrived but soon livened up and the dancing began! ‘Party Boy’, which involves dancing around selected unknowing individuals with a sardine sandwiching effect also proved a hit.

We’ve covered so much already and yet we’re only on to Tuesday! Which was Academic Day. A slightly new structure meant the students had more opportunity to ask questions which they took advantage on and the reports suggested it was a very interesting, insightful and informative day. It was ofcourse followed by a trip to the equator and the evening rounded off nicely with a visit to KitMiKayi for the best sunset of the summer so far. Or so I’m told – I missed it!! Gah!

The project work continued well over the rest of the week with fantastic sporting events with HOVIC at the local sports ground and lots of building and maintenance work at Oasis of Hope. I think it’s safe to say that a lot of our students are learning new skills they didn’t expect before coming out here. If their chosen career doesn’t quite work out then a fair few would make a good job of building work I reckon.

Evening activities carried on too, though somewhat controversially. The fortnightly quiz went down well; until we had to count up the scores! A contentious recount led to a new team being crowned the winners and receiving the hotly contested special prize. I’m sure having KOP’s director Andrew (visiting Kisumu for the first time this week) on their team had nothing to do with it….right guys?!

We had Nyama Chom Chom Choma on Thursday evening which gave the group plenty of energy to stay up late completing their (fantastic) section of the KOP Student Project. It wasn’t an easy topic; Kisumu, as they couldn have gone in lots of different directions but they took it all on board and came up with some great ideas. Covered issues ranged from the economy and tourism to transport, complete with MOVING BOAT and MATATU with WORKING DOORS!!!

Friday’s project party got off to a slightly rocky start but all was soon forgotten as we had listened to the project staff thank the students for all of their hard work, watched some of the kids from Omen Feeding Centre perform songs and poems and had Sian bring a tear to many an eye talking about the groups KOP experience. A great meal and some better dancing followed before it was time to wave farewell and head back to the Duke of Breeze for an after party.

Imperial, Manchester (1), Southampton and Edinburgh brought creativity to every activity they did, which led to a brand new game – ‘Kenyan Ring of Fire’. Luckily what happens during ‘I Have Never’ stays within ‘I Have Never’ but needless to say it was a fun, late and raucous night which left me surprised to see so many people bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.

And so we said ‘oriti’ and ‘asante sana’ to Group 2. I wish people would stop leaving, I like having them here! The summer is well under way and by all accounts and testimonials is proving as popular as ever. Group 2 added a fantastic amount of commitment, enthusiasm, talent and passion to their work at the projects and made a real impact on the people involved. Thank you guys, it was smashing!!


Week 5. (How did that happen?!) Official KOP Blog.

2011-07-17 to 2011-07-23

T.I.A was on the lips of the students of Group 3 before they’d even arrived in Kisumu. A puncture leaving them stranded at the side of the road from Nairobi for an hour or two. Despite this they still made it to the Duke of Breeze earlier than any other trip so far.

We spent the first evening or two playing games of ‘two truths and a lie’ (awkward revelations) and a semi violent round of ‘everyone move who has’.

Socially wise things got off to a flying start. Literally flying – which is what happens when you dance ON TOP of the bar, unbeknown to Marti and I until we saw the photos (post trip!) and all following a jaunt to Laughing Buddah in honour of Shaneil’s birthday. Fun was had, drinks were bought and hot chocolate sizzling brownies were most certainly enjoyed. I heard the party continue rather than seeing it but just as I set off to advise the students that ‘perhaps staying up screaming and singing until 3 in the morning on day 2 wasn’t the wisest idea’ the police stepped in and beat me to it!

Projects wise things went very well with students reporting great new experiences all round. At HOVIC, the morning assembly was particularly inspiring with many students commenting on the singing and many of the boys taking obvious pride in their chance to read aloud for the KOP students.

Oasis of Hope saw one of the first victories for KOP students this Summer. In football that is. And great delight was taken in beating the girls team 2-1. I’m not sure the girls had shoes, but apparently the KOP team won fair and square, or so they told me. Seventeen times.

The presentation at Oasis also went well. For those still to join us this Summer – start preparing for your party piece now! So far we’ve had – ‘God Save the Queen’, ‘Akuna Matata’ and ‘In the Jungle’. Group 3 added ‘Rise and Shine’ and ‘Reach for the Stars’ to the mix. Who would have known a popular hymn and SClub7 remix could go down so well. (Sunspot would be proud!)

We had a nice chilled evening at Kingelles on the Thursday and then a slightly less chilled quiz night on the Friday. For the first time ever there was a highly contested and hugely controversial tiebreak. Luckily Shona had her laptop on hand to frantically search out a last minute question and it was left to Shaneil and Pippa (I think) to guess how long the Nile was. It was tense. It was emotional. It was epic. And Shaneils team won.

Saturday saw a return to Nakuru National Park for a day’s safari adventure. Animals were seen, baboons were avoided and photos were taken. I’m reliably informed that a great day was had but the biggest part of the ‘adventure’ was the journey home on the bus; thunder, lightning and traffic jams do not a good mix make but I reckon it sounds like fun!


Fantabulous Week 6. Official KOP Blog.

2011-07-24 to 2011-07-30

Sunday morning started with a visit for some to the local church and temple. This was followed by a rather epic trip to the local craft market, where students donned their haggling hats to brave market stalls and sellers offering their wares. I thought I was bad but I’m surprised the extra weight from all the soap stone carvings, wooden animals, handmade jewellery, paintings and other gifts didn’t cause the matatu more problems!

A quick stop at Mon Ami for lunch was had before everyone set off for Kiboko Bay for a well earned relaxing afternoon by the pool. Not so relaxing for Tom; who on sight of the pool got over excited and jumped straight in. Forgetting his wallet was still in his pocket. Oops.

The students had brought over a number of items to use on the projects, toys and games, arts and crafts and so on. But none more popular than the full sized parachute! It had been making the rounds over the previous week and once again proved a massive hit at HOVIC, the feeding centre and at Oasis of Hope.

I’m surprised everyone wasn’t knackered but they all pulled out a ‘can of man-up’ (!) from somewhere to find extra energy for the trip to Sunspot on the Monday night. Marti’s imminent departure and my temporary friend Mr Amoeba (bleurgh!) meant we couldn’t join. However, this seemed to encourage all sorts of shenanigans at the local dancing hotspot. I think they had fun!

There was a whole host of ailments, injuries and random illnesses with this group but whenever the time called they rose to the challenge and found extra energy. Whether for the project activities or with the social events. None more so than the karaoke/Marti’s leaving night. Fancy dress was the order of the day and the Sports Bar of the hotel hosted all sorts of weird and wonderful safari animals. Full marks awarded to those with some serious face painting skills. If the various medical and other careers don’t work out then make up artistry could well be for you. Singing on the other hand…. Aside from a lovely impromptu round of ‘Amazing Grace’ (I keyed in the wrong number) and a rather good rendition of – a song I’ve suddenly forgotten the name of – (Possibly ‘No Woman No Cry’?) we scared away half of the bar. Still, it was all in good spirits and loud, ear splitting fun was had by all.

Nyama Chom, Chom, Choma on Thursday evening was followed by an epic night of Student Project-ness. The plan this year has been to have each group work together on a chosen topic and produce a number of pages detailing stories, pictures, interviews, quotes and more. Students all Summer have taken to it really well and produced some excellent work that has far exceeded our expectations. The plan is to print off the book for students as a keep sake and also to provide it to project partners and staff on the projects so that they have a record of the work this Summer. ‘Feeding Centres’ was the topic for Group 3 and the creativity, enthusiasm and commitment to the cause was fantastic. Well Done guys!

And then suddenly it was Friday! A shortened day at projects meant we could head over to the VIMA offices for a party with the younger children from their ECD Centre. There were games, snacks, school achievement awards, dancing, chatting and music. People were exhausted by the end but it was just the beginning for the main event – the Project Party! Speeches, an incredible feast of a meal, good music, great dancing and more interacting with some of the older children that VIMA supports all led to a really fantastic night. The fears over the thunder and lightning that threatened a power cut were short lived and it was, once again, a fitting end to a fabulous two weeks.


The road back from Nakuru. 31.07.2011 - 06.08.2011 Official KOP Blog.

2011-07-31 to 2011-08-06

I find myself writing this as week 7 draws to a close. Though it can’t officially be over until the students get back from their safari at Nakuru and unfortunately, they’re more than a little delayed. It will have been a long day to end a jam packed week. I’m expecting yawns mixed with excited tales of lion spotting…

Group 4 is made up of students from Manchester, Barts, Bristol, Cardiff and Warwick Universities and there has been a great deal of (clean) cross university bonding going on from day 1. Some of the students arrived into Kenya a few days early and busied themselves with trips to traditional villages, tourist centres that allowed you to (insanely) hold small crocodiles and dinner at world famous restaurant Carnivores. Where you can eat a whole host of weird and wonderful meats, infact you keep eating until you lower your flag and admit defeat.

First night here in Kisumu for most though and a relaxing evening was spent shilling on the rooftop at the bar, sipping Tuskers and making friends/temporary enemies over an intense round of the card game ‘Happy Families’.

With 30 students, Group 4 make up the second biggest group of the Summer and so we have a contingent at each project every day. All were a roaring success on Monday and there were great reports of new people, experiences and discoveries. Students were all kept busy with cleaning the walls of Ombeyi Feeding Centre, digging holes at Oasis of Hope and making new friends at HOVIC.

A somewhat delayed Project Partner Presentation meant there was plenty of time for questions and a generous serving of dinner was followed by another night of chattage on the roof.

Tuesday saw the first of 4 (!) birthdays for this group and so we headed to Kingelles to celebrate Roisin’s 21st. 30 of us gathered round a table led to a slight feeling of being round The Apprentice boardroom but fun was had nonetheless. Plus the chocolate birthday cake helped!

Wednesday saw the final day at round one of projects which almost came round too fast. Emotions were high, especially for those saying goodbye to the kids at HOVIC but not before an epic round of games with the parachute. I hear reports of a highly popular activity involving HOVIC kids sitting on the parachute and being lifted into the air. Although I questioned the health and safety (and was rightly assured that it was fine) – it does sound like lots of fun!

Wednesday also gave the rural group a chance to visit Alendu school. KOP students have been helping with the building work at Alendu for the past few years and with some returners in this group it was a great chance to show them how it all looked completed. It was also a welcomed opportunity to see a finished building project and gave an idea as to how Oasis might look over the coming months.

Time for Thursday and yet more cake (we’d had another in honour of Ffion’s birthday the night before) so we headed off to Laughing Buddah. No surprises that the brownies once again proved a huge hit, though the milkshakes and sundaes came a close and tied second! The impromptu fitness session the students ran for each other earlier in the evening obviously creating plenty of room for multiple desserts!

The students have been getting really involved with the projects and have been working really hard this week. The feeding centre has been completely repainted on the outside and as well as plastering the bottom section of the wall they even found the time to paint the external kitchen. It looks fantastic and makes such a difference. Not to be outdone, students at Oasis have risen to the challenge caused by a late delivery of building materials by digging all the holes needed for the assembly area, sports pitch and school garden.

Despite all of that they still found the energy to hold a games night in the hotel on the Friday evening. Mike played the role of games master and the next thing I knew people were taking it in turns to pick a cereal box up with their teeth. Now this sound relatively straight forward but remove the chance to do so with either your hands or knees touching the floor and a quickly decreasing size of box and the game becomes much harder. I sat for most of the game open mouthed at how, for want of a better word, bendy people were!

Another round of verbal charades, where we had one minute to describe everyone from George Bush Senior and Britney Spears to Ron Weasley, David Bowie and Manchester’s Graham Clarke. Fun was had, laughs were guffawed, shouts were exclaimed and everyone retired happy to rest up before Nakuru’s early start.

And here we come full circle for this blog entry. Alas the group are not back yet but whenever I speak to our minder June on the phone, it sounds like they are having a great time regardless. They’ll be hungry and sleepy when they get back but they saw lions on safari today and that can’t be bad!