Hey guys,
K im back in hampi after two days in Hyderabad.... um...not my cuppa tae!! I ont think i can find anything i like about the cities here. It really is beyond anything ye have ever seen, smelt or heard unless yeve actually been in India!! Im travelling with a London guy called Daniel at the moment till i hit goa again where im gona lie and chill for a week or two again! Poor Daniel was really sick one of the days we were in Hyderabad. When you get sick here you seriously get sick!! He seems to be doing much better now and since were in hampi we are a lot more relaxed!!
I booked the bus from Hyderabad to Hampi and that turned out to be an ordeal last night. We got to the travel agent with an hour to spare after about 45 mins stuck in Hyderabad traffic which included a five minute stint inbetween busses and exhaust pipes bellowing into the rickshaw. Then, with 15 minutes to spare we were told to get into a rickshaw and wed be taken to our bus. ( i had asked god knows how many times if it was outside that travel agent!) You can imagine how furious we were!! The rickshaw driver then decided he needed petrol and took forever pouring it from a plastic bottle he bought from a little sweet shop! After that we noticed he hadnt a clue where we were to go!! At this stage i was silently freaking! In the end we got to the travel agent that the bus belonged to and they informed us it would be there in an hour! I couldnt believe it! Daniel proceded to have a fag and i ate my way through a packet of chocolate chip cookies! (have i mentioned in India all the sweets and buscuits are gone off by at least two months! Its mad. Everyone still eats em and they are fine!! Im never throwing bikies out again! ;p )So anyway we got on the bus and there was a whole blow up about seats and beds and the difference between where we were supposedly booked and what i had asked for.(sounds pathetic but when your about to travel for 12 hours in a bus at night you kinda want what you asked for!) In the end we plonked our butts down and refused to move. A little stubburn i know but we were seriously at the end of our wits!
Anyway we are in beautiful Hampi now and Daniel has gone for an explore and ive decided to sit on my ass and read and email and eat and try get rid of this cold i got outta no where!!
Infairness the past few days havnt produced many gems for me but im on my way back to beaches so thats all good!! Hope yer all well guys.
Gem. :)
5 February 2008
India 3!
Helloooo,
Soooo i have abandoned Goa...no harm there. The whole beach babe/jock, everyone trying to sell you something way of life started to grate!! THe father of the family drove me an hour and a half to the town where i was to get my train to Hampi. The whole family was soooo sweet. They kept checking if i was ok and minding me while i was sick! Then on the way to the train the father told me to be "very careful" and he gave me a whole speech a father would give any daughter travelling on their own.
Goa turned up a few little gems once i was able to walk a few miles without needing the bog. One day i followed the guide book to this bookshop come cafe. It was in the middle of nowhere. Im sorry Aoif but this place was magical and blew the flower cafe out of my top spot. The place was like it had jumped straight out of colonial india. The white washed house was surrounded by beautiful palm trees and flowers and there were wooden tables and chairs dotted around the garden. Shaded by the scorching sun. You had to take you flipflops off going in to the um....it wasnt really a shop...it felt more like walking into someones private book collection.The room smelled on incense and was dull and moody. There were books lining the walls and two huge soft sofas in the middle where and indian woman was reading the paper. From behind a huge wooden desk a scottish girl said Hello. I wondered around and found what i was looking for. Harry Potter and the goblet of FIre. (yes i am hooked...im am actually going to kill you Faye...although it does get me away alot of the time. :) ) and then i found In To The Wild so thought since i cant see the movie ill read it. Then i discovered another room full of second hand books and beanbags!! Seriously the place was magical!!! i had to run then because i kept picking more books up!! I sat outside for hours reading and eating a hot chocolate brownie and downing green tea!!! Rocked!
I finally got a taste of music in goa too. I went to an art gallery and discovered they were hosting a music night. It was in a beautiful setting outside with moody lighting and palm trees casting shadows. The music was good. For those who are interested it was true Karnatak music. It was tabla, sitar and tempura and its arrangement was all North HIndustani. It was well played but i was a little disappointed i didnt get to hear the earthy Mrdangam.
Anyway, ive discovered a whole new wayof driving at night here. You drive with your full headlights on unless the person coming towards you actually dips....which rarely happens!! You actually do drive on what ever side of the road you want. Technically they drive on the left but i spent most of the time in the right hand lane on the way to the train station!! CLASS!!
The train journey was long and boring....only helped through by Harry Potter and Cathy Davey!!
Hampi is stunnning!! its full of temples, shrines, little ruins, mad monkeys and free roaming cattle. The whole towns smells of incense which is a wonderful change from the weird dirty disinfectant ( i know that doesnt make sense but i really cant come up with a better description!) smell that seems to be everywhere!!! Unfortunately as i reached Hampi my rickshaw driver informed me that i have to be out of hampi before the 2nd!!! I nearly died!! all tourists are basically being shunted from hampi town for three days and aren't allowed anywhere near till the Prime minister has visited on the third day!! All you can hear around the town are tourists freaking out and panicing over what to do. After ages of debating with myself ive booked an over night bus (12 hours!!) for tomorrow night to Hyderabad and thankfully ive even got a room booked!! Here im staying in this little guest house for the night. Its painted PURPLE!!! my rooms PURPLE!!! heeheeeee!!!!! with green trims.....totally up my alley!!! Anyway im going to take pictures tom and go back and eat in this amazing rest i found thats in the middle of a banana plantation over looking the river. You just sit crosslegged at stone tables munching your food, and instead of watching life go by it seems to stop and smile at you. (which was a nice surprise at the time as my heart was still stuck in my throat as i didnt now what i was going to do over being kicked out of heaven.)
So thats it really. Oooo i got a farmer burn in goa!!! state!!! i tried to balance it out the last few days but it didnt work and now im back to wearing respectful longsleeves or tshirt which means more defined farmer tan!! ;p Lol!!!
Ok im gona head to my little purple room...which i cant see since hampi is pitch black due to a power cut!! That reminds me...im now a dab hand at doing everything, EVERYTHING in the dark due to having a power cut nearly everyday. I think its a great skill...all i need is night vision so i can read!!
let me know any news guys...i like hearing about homely things!! Keeps me sane.
Later guys.
Love Gem.
Soooo i have abandoned Goa...no harm there. The whole beach babe/jock, everyone trying to sell you something way of life started to grate!! THe father of the family drove me an hour and a half to the town where i was to get my train to Hampi. The whole family was soooo sweet. They kept checking if i was ok and minding me while i was sick! Then on the way to the train the father told me to be "very careful" and he gave me a whole speech a father would give any daughter travelling on their own.
Goa turned up a few little gems once i was able to walk a few miles without needing the bog. One day i followed the guide book to this bookshop come cafe. It was in the middle of nowhere. Im sorry Aoif but this place was magical and blew the flower cafe out of my top spot. The place was like it had jumped straight out of colonial india. The white washed house was surrounded by beautiful palm trees and flowers and there were wooden tables and chairs dotted around the garden. Shaded by the scorching sun. You had to take you flipflops off going in to the um....it wasnt really a shop...it felt more like walking into someones private book collection.The room smelled on incense and was dull and moody. There were books lining the walls and two huge soft sofas in the middle where and indian woman was reading the paper. From behind a huge wooden desk a scottish girl said Hello. I wondered around and found what i was looking for. Harry Potter and the goblet of FIre. (yes i am hooked...im am actually going to kill you Faye...although it does get me away alot of the time. :) ) and then i found In To The Wild so thought since i cant see the movie ill read it. Then i discovered another room full of second hand books and beanbags!! Seriously the place was magical!!! i had to run then because i kept picking more books up!! I sat outside for hours reading and eating a hot chocolate brownie and downing green tea!!! Rocked!
I finally got a taste of music in goa too. I went to an art gallery and discovered they were hosting a music night. It was in a beautiful setting outside with moody lighting and palm trees casting shadows. The music was good. For those who are interested it was true Karnatak music. It was tabla, sitar and tempura and its arrangement was all North HIndustani. It was well played but i was a little disappointed i didnt get to hear the earthy Mrdangam.
Anyway, ive discovered a whole new wayof driving at night here. You drive with your full headlights on unless the person coming towards you actually dips....which rarely happens!! You actually do drive on what ever side of the road you want. Technically they drive on the left but i spent most of the time in the right hand lane on the way to the train station!! CLASS!!
The train journey was long and boring....only helped through by Harry Potter and Cathy Davey!!
Hampi is stunnning!! its full of temples, shrines, little ruins, mad monkeys and free roaming cattle. The whole towns smells of incense which is a wonderful change from the weird dirty disinfectant ( i know that doesnt make sense but i really cant come up with a better description!) smell that seems to be everywhere!!! Unfortunately as i reached Hampi my rickshaw driver informed me that i have to be out of hampi before the 2nd!!! I nearly died!! all tourists are basically being shunted from hampi town for three days and aren't allowed anywhere near till the Prime minister has visited on the third day!! All you can hear around the town are tourists freaking out and panicing over what to do. After ages of debating with myself ive booked an over night bus (12 hours!!) for tomorrow night to Hyderabad and thankfully ive even got a room booked!! Here im staying in this little guest house for the night. Its painted PURPLE!!! my rooms PURPLE!!! heeheeeee!!!!! with green trims.....totally up my alley!!! Anyway im going to take pictures tom and go back and eat in this amazing rest i found thats in the middle of a banana plantation over looking the river. You just sit crosslegged at stone tables munching your food, and instead of watching life go by it seems to stop and smile at you. (which was a nice surprise at the time as my heart was still stuck in my throat as i didnt now what i was going to do over being kicked out of heaven.)
So thats it really. Oooo i got a farmer burn in goa!!! state!!! i tried to balance it out the last few days but it didnt work and now im back to wearing respectful longsleeves or tshirt which means more defined farmer tan!! ;p Lol!!!
Ok im gona head to my little purple room...which i cant see since hampi is pitch black due to a power cut!! That reminds me...im now a dab hand at doing everything, EVERYTHING in the dark due to having a power cut nearly everyday. I think its a great skill...all i need is night vision so i can read!!
let me know any news guys...i like hearing about homely things!! Keeps me sane.
Later guys.
Love Gem.
India 2!
So in Goa further down south from mumbai at the moment. The train ride was 12 hours long. I was a bit apprehensive cause i hadnt a clue what you were supposed to do with your backpack. I found out that 3ac (three tierd air conditioned) was safe enough and you could stowe your bag under the bottom birth. there were there births facing each other. I met a belgium girl first when i found my seat (which was easy, each carriage had a number and you name was on a list outside the carriage reminding you of the birth you had.).
Then a french, Scottish and two red faced Londoners arrived and we all hit it off straight away. One of the Londoners had us in stitches the whole trip. We all slept for a while every couple of hours but it wasnt a deep sleep cause every minute there was someone running up and down the carriage shouting "coffee coffee coffeeeeeee" "Chi chi chiiiiiii" "chicken lollipop chicken lollipop you want chicken lollipop madam?" (we called it chicken lollipop cause we cudnt work out what he was saying.) The lunch and dinner they gave us was better than anything youd get on Irish trains or at the stations and 50 times better than plane food.These guys were selling everything. It was really entertaining. Mia worked out that if she asked a coffee guy for chi three times shed get chi the next time around.
It took us an hour and a half to leave mumbais outskirts. That place is bigger than anything i could have imagined. Once out the scenery was unreal. I saw so many rice fields and women toiling away in them. Passed loads of shanti towns and got waved at by all the people when they say our white faces hanging out of the train. That was great fun (so know someones gona give out to me for this but its done..heehee!). They had all the doors open so you could sit in the door way with your legs on the steps watching the world go by. It was fantastic and also warmer than inside the train. We asked for AC i know ut by the end we all had fleeces on and blankets wrapped around us.
Myself and Thomas (french guy) got off earlier on the line and headed to Calangute cause he had a room booked.I wanted to see if i cud get one and thankfully i did. Its right next to the beach and the beach were at is the quietest around. Sunday we headed to anjuna to see if we wanted to stay there but where we are is really nice so decided to stay here but we were really entertained by anjuna. At the end of the beach we sat and watched the sun set but also the people on the beach. I couldn't believe the diverse people on that beach. People were tripping out next to some westeners 3 year old child. Colourful hippies swaying around the place next to a pile of stoned old men. The music blazing from the bar hut beside us was all the trance and dance music we had 5 years ago. It was brilliant!
Headed back and got some food then but what makes me laugh is we sat down and i started humming a Ronan Keating song. I suddenly realised what i was doing and thought "what the fuck?" An Indian couple beside us had a phone on the table playing music. I couldnt stop laughing because ronan was followed by boyzone! theres an irish bar here town so i realised Ireland never really lets you go. ;p
Monday than myself and Thomas got guilted into buying something at this womens stall. She chatted to us for ages and then said "can i ask you something....cud u come in and just look at my shope...you dont have to buy" This i have learnt is a very common saying. :) we felt we should...i walked out with two cds and an anklet and thomas walked out with 3 t shirts! Lol!! I couldnt stop laughin! Then somehow we ended up in some resort near by being given a tour and promised a free gift. (supposedly i have a 7 night holiday in bali now). They tried selling us a timeshare thingy which isnt really a time share but its along those lines. I really hope the guy that caught us does get 2000 rupees for his effort! It lasted 2 bloody hours and the last half hour was them trying to get us to sign up. We had been acting like a couple the whole time which had been fun because we had to get our stories straight on the spot...which didnt always go right but we were still fairly good at it! By the end i was crippled with cramps and really wanted to go to bed so when the girl dealing with us wouldnt stop saying "what wrong with the offer? You shouldnt need to think about it. Tell me what you dont like?"over and over i snapped and sneered "i dont know if ill be with this guy next week so im signing nothing with him and unless you want me to throw up on your carpet we are going!" Thomas threw in "where are our prizes?" The girl was russian so just got up and did the whole prize thing and called us the free taxi we wanted . Heehee! I wasnt laughing yesterday but now i think its funny.
In the end i stayed in bed the reat of the day and night in bloody pain. Delhi belly is worse than they describe and i think i got a mild version. Thankfully thomas is a doctor so had meds i didnt and ran out to get me antispasmodic drugs. I read the majority of my harry potter book ,which i was trying to spread out over 3 months, and finally actually listened to some music so in the end it was good i was bed ridden!
Today we went to old Goa........there really isnt anything to report about that place except its the size of a real Irish village but full of churches. White plain churches. I liked one of them...the most plain actually, and i got to see a dog giving birth on the dock and its was not going well for her se we basically legged it out of there.
So right now im trying to decided will i move further down south, stay here or try anjuna again for the next 7 days.
Well right now im going to get something to eat!!!
Hope everyone is well.:)
Love Gem.
Then a french, Scottish and two red faced Londoners arrived and we all hit it off straight away. One of the Londoners had us in stitches the whole trip. We all slept for a while every couple of hours but it wasnt a deep sleep cause every minute there was someone running up and down the carriage shouting "coffee coffee coffeeeeeee" "Chi chi chiiiiiii" "chicken lollipop chicken lollipop you want chicken lollipop madam?" (we called it chicken lollipop cause we cudnt work out what he was saying.) The lunch and dinner they gave us was better than anything youd get on Irish trains or at the stations and 50 times better than plane food.These guys were selling everything. It was really entertaining. Mia worked out that if she asked a coffee guy for chi three times shed get chi the next time around.
It took us an hour and a half to leave mumbais outskirts. That place is bigger than anything i could have imagined. Once out the scenery was unreal. I saw so many rice fields and women toiling away in them. Passed loads of shanti towns and got waved at by all the people when they say our white faces hanging out of the train. That was great fun (so know someones gona give out to me for this but its done..heehee!). They had all the doors open so you could sit in the door way with your legs on the steps watching the world go by. It was fantastic and also warmer than inside the train. We asked for AC i know ut by the end we all had fleeces on and blankets wrapped around us.
Myself and Thomas (french guy) got off earlier on the line and headed to Calangute cause he had a room booked.I wanted to see if i cud get one and thankfully i did. Its right next to the beach and the beach were at is the quietest around. Sunday we headed to anjuna to see if we wanted to stay there but where we are is really nice so decided to stay here but we were really entertained by anjuna. At the end of the beach we sat and watched the sun set but also the people on the beach. I couldn't believe the diverse people on that beach. People were tripping out next to some westeners 3 year old child. Colourful hippies swaying around the place next to a pile of stoned old men. The music blazing from the bar hut beside us was all the trance and dance music we had 5 years ago. It was brilliant!
Headed back and got some food then but what makes me laugh is we sat down and i started humming a Ronan Keating song. I suddenly realised what i was doing and thought "what the fuck?" An Indian couple beside us had a phone on the table playing music. I couldnt stop laughing because ronan was followed by boyzone! theres an irish bar here town so i realised Ireland never really lets you go. ;p
Monday than myself and Thomas got guilted into buying something at this womens stall. She chatted to us for ages and then said "can i ask you something....cud u come in and just look at my shope...you dont have to buy" This i have learnt is a very common saying. :) we felt we should...i walked out with two cds and an anklet and thomas walked out with 3 t shirts! Lol!! I couldnt stop laughin! Then somehow we ended up in some resort near by being given a tour and promised a free gift. (supposedly i have a 7 night holiday in bali now). They tried selling us a timeshare thingy which isnt really a time share but its along those lines. I really hope the guy that caught us does get 2000 rupees for his effort! It lasted 2 bloody hours and the last half hour was them trying to get us to sign up. We had been acting like a couple the whole time which had been fun because we had to get our stories straight on the spot...which didnt always go right but we were still fairly good at it! By the end i was crippled with cramps and really wanted to go to bed so when the girl dealing with us wouldnt stop saying "what wrong with the offer? You shouldnt need to think about it. Tell me what you dont like?"over and over i snapped and sneered "i dont know if ill be with this guy next week so im signing nothing with him and unless you want me to throw up on your carpet we are going!" Thomas threw in "where are our prizes?" The girl was russian so just got up and did the whole prize thing and called us the free taxi we wanted . Heehee! I wasnt laughing yesterday but now i think its funny.
In the end i stayed in bed the reat of the day and night in bloody pain. Delhi belly is worse than they describe and i think i got a mild version. Thankfully thomas is a doctor so had meds i didnt and ran out to get me antispasmodic drugs. I read the majority of my harry potter book ,which i was trying to spread out over 3 months, and finally actually listened to some music so in the end it was good i was bed ridden!
Today we went to old Goa........there really isnt anything to report about that place except its the size of a real Irish village but full of churches. White plain churches. I liked one of them...the most plain actually, and i got to see a dog giving birth on the dock and its was not going well for her se we basically legged it out of there.
So right now im trying to decided will i move further down south, stay here or try anjuna again for the next 7 days.
Well right now im going to get something to eat!!!
Hope everyone is well.:)
Love Gem.
India 1!
So im in india!!
Sitting in an internet cafe after just eating something. What ever it was it was nice....just hope my tummy agrees!!
Seriously Mumbai is everything and nothing youve heard about. The taxi driver i got from the airport to my hotel was so calm in the maddness! It was soo much fun!! You dont use your indicater you just blow your horn for a rediculous amount of time.They even have "horn ok please" written on the back of most vehicles or "stop" in big red letters! No one gives out to each other tho. There are huge dumper digger things driving around painted stunning colours so im thinking theyre not actually used for dumping stuff!
The markings on the road dont exist on most roads and if they do they arent obayed. At one stage we were on a 3 lane road but there were four lines of traffic and motorbikes and mopeds creating about another 3 lanes!
The slums are everywhere. Its so bad that some people are living under sheets of plastic and they dont even have room to stand up but you can see a whole family in them cooking. I dont know what they do during monsoon.Its a serious wake up call!
Otherwise im still floating and soaking it all in. Need to go and work out where im going next and go book the train ticket tom.
Think ill go to sleep in a while too since i havnt actually slept in 24 hours.
Take it easy guys and ill be in touch again soon.
Love Gem.
Sitting in an internet cafe after just eating something. What ever it was it was nice....just hope my tummy agrees!!
Seriously Mumbai is everything and nothing youve heard about. The taxi driver i got from the airport to my hotel was so calm in the maddness! It was soo much fun!! You dont use your indicater you just blow your horn for a rediculous amount of time.They even have "horn ok please" written on the back of most vehicles or "stop" in big red letters! No one gives out to each other tho. There are huge dumper digger things driving around painted stunning colours so im thinking theyre not actually used for dumping stuff!
The markings on the road dont exist on most roads and if they do they arent obayed. At one stage we were on a 3 lane road but there were four lines of traffic and motorbikes and mopeds creating about another 3 lanes!
The slums are everywhere. Its so bad that some people are living under sheets of plastic and they dont even have room to stand up but you can see a whole family in them cooking. I dont know what they do during monsoon.Its a serious wake up call!
Otherwise im still floating and soaking it all in. Need to go and work out where im going next and go book the train ticket tom.
Think ill go to sleep in a while too since i havnt actually slept in 24 hours.
Take it easy guys and ill be in touch again soon.
Love Gem.
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