Hey guys,
Just said id email this as well as put it on my blog.
Im in a tiny place called Agonda in Goa. Its tiny and beautiful. Palm trees, green hills each side of the beach. Im in a beach hut which is fallin apart really but its cut and im right on the beach. I fall asleep and wake up to the sound of the sea and i can kie in bed looking out at it......sorry i know this is kinda rubbing it it but God its good!!!! :D
Myself and Dan headed down here on a sleeper bus two nights ago from hampi. (seriously everyone should experience Hampi once in their lives) 10 hours. At first i was up for the trip. Sitting on my double bed, looking out the bus window, being bounced out of it every now and then (i was at the very back!). When i lay down , and discovered id have to hack my legs off to my knees to fit in the bed lying down, i could see the stars! But as the night went on i discovered i wouldnt be sleeping!! The beds mattress (like all here) was as thin as a sheet so every time we went over a pothole or one of the millions of speed bumps along any Indian road my spine got smashed. At one stage i was lying on my right side and what ever the bus driver went over i flew up out of my bed and came smashing down on my ribs! I was winded for a few minutes! After a while i just accepted the lack of sleep and watched the stars while trying to relax over every speed bump. I do think the bus driver was on LSD tho cause after a few hours i know he sped up and instead of kind of slowing down to give you warning a speed bump was coming he just roared over it!!!! I know we went around a few corners on two wheel too!! In fairness im giving out but looking back on it it was some experience!! Im def a train girl tho and since it turns out trains are cheaper then some buses i think ill be going the posh way from now on. ;p
Ive a feeling my emails are gona get shorter and shorter as the days go by due to the fact ive decided to stay in a few places for long periods of time. Im getting lazy (and annoyed!) with all the travelling and planing and my budget keeps getting a bit ...m...stretched, so im gona follow the sun and karnatak music down south and see where i end up. Probably Thailand if things stay going the way they are!
10 February 2008
5 February 2008
India 4!
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. :)
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. :)
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.
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