TravelStream™ news feed for member andy_jillian on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/andy_jillian en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 01 Mar 2005 18:04:57 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1134952860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1134952860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1134952860/tpod.html Tue, 01 Mar 2005 18:04:57 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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Agra, India

The Taj Mahal - Wow!!!There is so much to write about the Taj Mahal, but nothing we say, or even the pictures that you will see will ever justify the feeling of being at and admiring this great building. Reading this you might think, yeah, here they go... forget everything we've said before, this is now the best thing we've seen or done, well, yes, ok you're right! No, we can't say it was the best thing, we've done and seen so much, but it was a really special experience. You also might say, oh here we go, boke, get over it, get a room, but honestly, it's a romantic place.The Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, a beautiful building in India made of marble. That's what most of us know about the Taj Mahal, but there's a sad beautiful and romantic story behind it:The Story of The Taj MahalShah Jahan had a few wives, like most Indian Moghuls, but his most favourite wife, the most beautiful, the one he loved and adored the most was Arjumand Bano Begum, more commonly known as the Empress Mumtaz Mahal. She was the love of his life. She fell pregnant, but while in child birth, she died and Shah Jahan was left utterly heart broken. It is said that his hair turned grey over night. He couldn't eat, drink or sleep without his love. He vowed, in her memory, to create the most beautiful building in the world, to reflect her beauty and elegance, and so that people forever would know of her beauty and of their love. He found the best and purest white marble from Italy, employed the best known architechts around, and at no cost spared, the Taj Mahal was built with great care, love and intricacy after about 30 years of workmanship.This was to be the burial place of Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan had her remains brought to the Taj Mahal through a grand procession, where he handed out jewels and money to people on the street, happy that he had created a beautiful resting place for his beautiful wife. Shah Jahan spent most days at the Taj Mahal, wandering in the gardens and admiring the great building, as he felt close to his wife there, and fearing that he too would soon die, his next plan was to create an identical building in black marble on the opposite side of the river, so that he and his love could lie alongside each other forever more.His son, though, the one who Mumtaz Mahal had died giving birth to, had different ideas. Outraged by his fathers extravagant plans for another costly project, and angered that Shah Jahan was spending all of his wealth on such ideas, meaning his son would be left with less, he imprisoned his father in Agra Fort, stopping this "waste" of money. Shah Jahan spent the rest of his days in a cell, unable to be close to his wife at the Taj Mahal and unable to fulfill his dream of an eternal resting place, opposite his love. The only mercy his son had given him was that from the window of his cell he could see the Taj Mahal from a distance. Poor Shah Jahan, totally heart broken again, did not live much longer after this cruel deed by his own son, whose mother he had loved so dearly. His son granted that on his death, his fathers body would lie beside Mumtaz Mahal's in the Taj Mahal, where they are now together again, forever.The story is lovely, the building truly spectacular, the artwork on every wall is so intricate and detailed. There are roses, heart shapes, writings of poetry and love, verses from the koran, all in black marble on the white marble, with some red and pink colours now and again. It is strange to say, but it is actually the most beautiful thing we have ever seen. It's size is overwhelming, and to think this was built as a tomb for the love of someone's life, aaah.What made it extra special for us, was that it was so misty the morning we went to see it, and the excitement was building every milimetre the mist thinned, until the Taj Mahal was revealed so mystically. We spent about four hours just looking at it, exploring the different art and entries, walking around the building, seeing it from different angles and of course taking loads of photos. It was so beautiful just to sit together and look at it, and then to promise each other that if the debts for this trip are ever paid off, we'll do the same tribute for each other when the time comes, a much smaller scaled one, though! Sentimental saddoes, but that's the effect the Taj Mahal has on you... or is that just us???Saved the best to last? It was the Taj Mahal!!!A&J x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1103247000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1103247000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1103247000/tpod.html Sun, 27 Feb 2005 06:25:11 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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Jaipur, India

If we've lost you with all these towns and cities over such a short space of time, sorry.The Blue CityWe'll start this entry with Jodhpur, The Blue City and home of the horse riding trousers of the same name.Jodhpur is known as The Blue City because, one of the old Maharaja rulers decided that all houses in his city should be painted blue. He was full of ground breaking ideas this fella. Our first stop in Jodhpur was its old fort, which overlooked the whole of the city. The fort itself wasn't as impressive as wer found Bikaner Fort, but we didn't spend too long there (as we hadn't paid and didn't wanna get caught out! :-)). Perhaps some people would've found Jodhpuir Fort amazing, but it takes a lot to amaze us after all we've seen so far, though the view over Jodhpur and seeing all the blue houses was quite spectacular. Jodhpur city, to be honest, wasn't very nice at all. It was like a mini Delhi with all the masses of people and vehicles, but without the sights. Maybe we should add here that this day we were both in a real mood because we'd had the worst journey with our horrible driver and had a bit of a fight with him, so maybe on a different day we would have liked Jodhpur more.The Holy CityOn our way to Jaipur, we stopped off at Pushkar, known as The Holy City because of its sacred lake where Hindu pilgrims come to bathe. Although it was touristy, complete with white plonker backpackers in full Hindu dress, called Sadhus apparently, not our way of calling them saddos or anything, really not ;-). Puskar was a very pretty little town with loads of different temple. The lake was so picturesque, and we just sat there taking in the views of the surrounding hills, the buildings around the lake were all white and it actually looked more like somewhere on the Mediterranean. Then, as usual, there were the scamsters, this time trying to "give" us flowers to throw on the lake, though we knew then we'd have to pay a small fee. Harmless, though annoying and hard to avoid.The Pink CityIn probably trying to keep up with the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Jaipur's Maharaja decided that all the houses in his city would be painted pink. The green eyed monster obviously got a hold of him. After having quite a few problems with our driver (the fine details of which we'll tell you another time) the manager of the travel agency put us up in a hotel for two nights free of charge (and we changed driver). So, happy we were getting a freebie, and the hotel was pretty nice, and having got rid of our driver, we were in really high spirits. Our first proper day in Jaipur was a full on sightseeing day. first was the Amer Fort - a very impressive building on top of a lush green hill overlooking a lake and beautiful mountians. There were actually a lot of different forts around the area and so we decided we'd just go and visit some more. One particular fort even held the world's largest canon. There we met two wedding parties who surprisingly and strangely, seeing as we were the photograp, aske if they could take our photographs beside the brides. We in due turn took a lovely photo of the young Indian women in their beautiful sarees. After having enough of forts, it was off to the pink Old City to see the Jaipur Palace, Astronomical Tower and Wind Palace. Then, to get the real experience, we asked our driver to kindly leave us to our own devices and braved the crazy market area and bazaar. he warned us against us, but you can't come to India without experiencing the real essence of the country, and that we did. After an hour and a half of it, though, we were crying out for our driver to come back. "Ma'am, you promised me you would come back to my shop", we thought, "oh, dear, flip, we better gop in then" before realising this was a shop we'd never even seen before - the vendors in India are somethign else altogether. Whatever we looked at, reluctantly or not, the next shop vendor would be sneaking a look in that shop, then as we walked past his shop, he'd display right in front of us the exact ware we had just been forced to look at! What an experience!After getting back into the car, we decidied we'd take it easy having had enough of all the madness. Another relaxing night in the nice hotel before up early the next day and off to what is possibly going to be the most marvellous sight of the whole trip, the eagerly awaited Tak Mahal. We'll no doubt send you countless photos of that one (if we ever find a computer capable enough to do so!)Yes, sorry for the lack of photos, but we have tried, in vain, to download them. You'll see them soon!A&J x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102474560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102474560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102474560/tpod.html Sun, 27 Feb 2005 06:24:41 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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Bangkok, Thailand

For the past 2 weeks, Bangkok has been our base. This is actually the 4th time we've been here, and although we'd gone to a Thai Boxing Match, ordered clothes in a tailors, sussed all possible modes of Bangkok public transport and experienced all the scams, tricks and cons of Bangkok, we hadn't really seen the city, not the sights, anyway.When we arrived back at our hotel from Cambodia, we spied Chantal and Nico sitting waiting on us (with beers) at our hotel (City Residence, hence the title), 3 hours late due to the journey from Cambodia. How brilliant was that! Chantal, a proud Dutchie, and Jillian met in Germany when Jillian was working there 2 years ago, and the two of them hit it off straight away, having many a drunken night, deep chats, giggles, sing-songs (Thooosand Miles being the favourite) and so much in common. Nico (who Andy describes as "as mad as me") is Chantal's German boyfriend who we first met when the 2 of them drove the whole way from Germany to come and visit us in France, again for drunken nights! Chantal and 2 others visited us at home last September and we also went to Germany for Chantal's birthday last April, so you can imagine how exciting it was for us to meet up again - and half way across the world too! And, I'm sure you can imagine that it was another pretty drunken night outside the City Residence Hotel. They were in Thailand for a 3 week holiday and so how perfect to all meet up in Bangkok before we both go our separate ways again. This has been a really great couple of days all being together again and laughing non-stop :-) Of course, they also knew the infamous "Mass-aaaaage" words, and Nico even added to the humour with words from a cookery course "You put the lice in the steee-maaaaaaaaa, yeeeees". Cheers, you two, it was great to see you! After sadly waving goodbye to our friends and sorting a few things out - picking up our tailor-made clothes (Jillian wasn't 100% percent with hers unforunately), chasing up money from scamsters (we got 1,400 Baht back from the travel agency for ripping us off on our trip to Cambodia) and finally getting our clothes washed, we had time to do some proper Bangkok sight-seeing.Trying out yet another of Bangkok's transport, we took the river boat to the Democracy Monument, which like most things in Thailand is adorned with a gigantic picture of the King in a gold frame - they love their king here, he's actually done a lot of wonderful things for the country, and personally oversees projects which he comes up with himself for the benefit of the poor etc. We visited a few Wats (Buddhist temples), took photos of the tallest Buddha in the world (since the Taliban blew up the world's tallest Buddha in Afghanistan, Thailand lay claim to this record), saw The Grand Palace, and grand it is, deliberately went with scheming tuk-tuk drivers to tailors and jewellery shops so that he got petrol coupons for bringing us there - it's a Bangkok thing, just have to do it, though we weren't prepared for him driving off after saying he'd wait while we saw a temple! Walked way up to the top of a hill to see another temple, which had great views of the city, even if it did look a little hazy due to the desperate stinking smog, then decided we'd finally had enough of Bangkok. Templed out and with sore throats, stingy eyes, dirty skin and feeling exhausted from the disgusting smog and pollution of the city, we opted for the cinema (Alexander), which was really good. We are loving travelling, no doubt, but sometimes it can get tiring, and believe it or not, doing something "normal" is a welcome relief!So, finished with Thailand, with a hell of a lot more life experiences under our belts, to say the least, we're off to pack our bags (filled with pressies :-)) and get ready for the final chapter of our dream... India. And what a way to finish it all off - with the great Taj Mahal, Rajs and Palaces of great slendour, our favourite food, exotic wildlife and beaches, and PROFESSIONAL scamsters who'll make Thailand seem like a breeze, but we're prepared and looking forward to eat, sleep and breathe India, in all its glory. Yep, it'll be another jam-packed couple of weeks, but that's the way we do it! Actually, we're thinking of going to Goa for a whole week to totally chill out before we go home and reflect on the best thing we've ever done in our whole lives... on the beach. Almost, but not quite the end...A&J x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1104705960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1104705960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1104705960/tpod.html Sun, 27 Feb 2005 06:10:33 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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Belfast / Portaferry, Ireland

Well, we're back. The end of an era, the end of a dream...Yes, it's nice to be home, it's been a long time away from everyone we love and everything we know, and being home for Christmas is lovely. It's great to see everyone again and tell all our stories. When we arrived at the airport there were loads of our family there to welcome us back home and they even had a Welcome Back banner which was brilliant. However, we're itching to get back on a bus or plane or boat and go off somewhere again. It's so sad about the horrific event that tragically happened to the lovely people of Southeast Asia, people we met will have lost their friends, family members, livelihoods and even lives. Of course it's shocking for everyone who has heard about it, but for it to happen to somewhere we'd just been, it's unimaginable. Every day we hope and pray for all those suffering.So, was it worth it, some of you may be wondering, did the trip we called the dream live up to all our hopes and expectations? Well, there's no doubt that this trip is the best thing we have ever done. We are still in awe as we look at all our photos and watch our many videos (almost every day) that we really did it, we really did do all those things, see all those different places, travel the world.Would we do it again? Without a second thought - we just have to pay off the credit cards and loans!!! Watch this space, our travelling days are far from over! "The Big Trip" is just a taster...Thanks for following our trip and taking the time to read our adventure stories and if you're thinking about doing something similar, don't think twice... Just go for it!!!No regrets,Andy and Jillian x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1135205040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1135205040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1135205040/tpod.html Sat, 26 Feb 2005 12:01:08 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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New Delhi, India

After our tour of Rajasthan, it was back to Delhi to book our tour to the Corbett Tiger Reserve. When we got there, we found out a few things about Corbett Tiger Reserve that we'd misunderstood and even having tried to book it, it turned out we'd have to do it all privately again because there were no other bookings. We himmed and haa-ed for ages, then decided to forget about it and live the experience of Delhi for 3 days - HELP!!!Well, we were scared, but after being in India for 2 weeks, and already experienced the culture shock of Delhi, it was actually a really enjoyable stay. We found a really cheap hotel in the Karol Bagh area of Delhi, where we had stayed our first night. We found our feet around the area and swore we'd enjoy every last minute in what may turn out to be our favourite country, but where we could also eat our favourite food in abundance and authentic glory, mmm.ShoppingWe hit the shops of Connaught Place, bought quite a few more souvenirs, a few Christmas presents - proper cds for a fiver isn't bad at all! Delhi was so hectic, but we actually grew to love it, there was always something happening, and as long as you kept your wits about you and were careful as to who you could trust, all was well. Our most vivid memory of Delhi has to be the sounds. The autorickshaws brroming about, the lorries, all the different cars - they all beeped non-stop, just because. It was brilliant. Beep, beep, beeeep, beeeeeeeeeeeeeep! We laughed when we noticed "NO Beeping" signs which of course were totally ignored, then the holy cows wandering around the busy streets in the middle of it all, India is so enchanting.At times, though we felt a bit guilty because of all the poverty and begging in Delhi, well it was all over India, but it seemed to be magnified in Delhi. You sort of become immune to it, though because it's an impossible task to give to everyone. It was the children who got to us, though. There was one night we came out of a restaurant and a family were begging. Andy gave them some money, and then the woman proceeded to show us her naked baby boy under a thin blanket. We were shocked, but rather than give more money, we found a shop that sold baby clothes and bought the wee boy some clothes and the parents some food from a stall. It was so sad, but that's the way most of the people in this world live. We'd also some beggars in Agra who'd had their legs broken and had to crawl with their knees turned backwards. Your heart really melts.SightseeingWith all the craziness, we thought we should maybe book an organised tour to see the sights of Delhi in one day rather than vicimise oursleves to the scamsters. The tour was a bit disorganised, but we got to see loads of Delhi's sights, like the Red Fort, built by Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal, Quwwat Al Islam, the oldest mosque in India which also has the highest minaret, many diffeent weird and wonderful temples and watch the world go by from the comfort of a bus. When we were on this tour, we'd just been saying how disappointed we were not to have seen a snake charmer - we thought there would have been loads in India. We'd seen camels, holy cows, the dancing bears (which we didn't agree with), parrots, killer bees, deer and monkeys etc etc etc but we were going to leave without seeing a snake charmer. Then, after leaving a temple, were so thrilled when we came spied a snake charmer on the street near our bus. It was brilliant. It wasn't actually as enthralling an experience as we'd first expected, but we were so happy to see one. the poor King Cobra, though looked a bit drugged up, but it didn't stop it going for the charmer - all on video as usual, folks!The EndSo, after seeing the sights, stuffed on the delicacies and having breathed (the stinky fumes and) essence of India, it was off to pack our bags before one last meal together to celebrate the amazing, wonderful trip around the world that we'd just undertook. We went to a gorgeous restaurant at Connaught Place where we tasted the best food yet and had a few cocktails. maybe we should explain that we hadn't drank a lot during our trip, and so we were pretty drunk! We had a right giggle and the best fun in the back of an autorickshaw, sticking our heads out the side of it and shouting beeping sounds at the streets of Delhi and reflecting on our fantastic experiences. A&J x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1093643280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1093643280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1093643280/tpod.html Sat, 08 Jan 2005 13:27:10 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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Belfast, Ireland

So, it's only a week away...As the first entry of our brand new internet diary, we feel we should explain all.On 18th May, 2004, Andy and I decided that, what the hell, let's do it, don't wait any longer, let's just go... We called into the wonderful people at STA Travel in Belfast and told them we wanted to go travelling for 4 months and showed them our list. Now, our list has been accumulating since the first few months of our relationship - 5 years ago. We even went as far as to buy a globe and plan a route with thread and cellotape, which I'm sure you can imagine took a lot of thread and was a zig-zaggy mess around the globe.Talking to the experts, we realised we should really try to keep to a straight line because of the mileage and that to go to Japan was gonna cost us a fortune. So, the decision was made. Not willing to compromise South America, we paid the little bit extra and decided Rio de Janiero was definitely gonna be our first destination. Needless to say since that day on and probably right until we actually set foot on Copacabana Beach, we were singing that famous cabaret song "Down at the Copa, Copacabana..." - constantly.Yes, we're squeezing a lot in to only a few months, but we know with a lot of organisation it will be doable, hopefully. The hardest part was deciding exactly where we would go and how long we'd stay there, knowing there'd be so many destinations we were gonna miss. So, mark our words, the final list was a completely well thought out one!The Final List:Rio de JanieroParatiLimaCusco and the Inca TrailPunoCopacabanaLa PazSantiagoAuckland - ChristchurchSydneyCairnsSingaporeMalaysiaThailandCambodiaIndiaThe first half of the trip was to be meticulously planned, with the second half in Asia left open, in the hope that we'd be experienced travellers and knowing we'd probably get fed up at our own plan and want more of an open aadventure.So, there it is, the dream.We bought our walking boots, rucksacks, malaria tablets and the rest, though didn't pack as much as you might think, those who know us, we promised ourselves we'd travel light.All that remains now is getting the Indian Visas which we're having great trouble sorting out, packing up our belongings from the flat and saying goodbye to our loved ones. The excitement is really setting in...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102725000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102725000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102725000/tpod.html Sun, 02 Jan 2005 17:29:38 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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Deshnok, India

Sacred rats, strange but true.Deshnok was quite a small town in the middle of nowhere, but the Hindu temple attracts many visitors, Indian and tourist alike.The story goes that the rats that live in the temple hold the souls of local nobles who have passed away, and are held sacred because of this. Before we entered the temple we had to take our shoes off of course, thankfully I'd socks on but Jillian was now barefoot, not ideal :-)When we both finally plucked up the courage to go in, we were confronted with hundreds and hundreds of rats freely running about, it was actually an amazing sight. The temple was crowded with lots of Hindus trying to find the elusive white rat, which apparently will bring you good fortune if you see it. If a rat runs over your foot, this is also considered good luck. A few rats ran over my feet, and good luck was the last thing on my mind when that happened. We did manage to spot the white rat, and caught it on camera. That brought us a lot of attention from the locals, who practically begged to see the photo of the white rat. When we did they were so grateful, thanking us for letting them see it.The Hindus in the temple really did treat these rats as if they were something special, like they were human. There were large bowls of milk laid out around the temple, and people brought food for them. It was all a rather bizarre experience, but so enjoyable to see. India is just so culturally different, and we see something totally new here every day.Jillian left before I did, she couldn't stick it any longer, that's the rats not me :-)When I eventually left, I found her surrounded by Indian women. They'd been asking, more like interrogating, her about how long we'd been together, why we weren't married yet and when will we be getting married. It was all in good nature, though we made a quick exit as soon as I'd my boots back on.Desnok was only a stop on the way to Bikaner, where we'd stay for the night. Bikaner was lovely, and our hotel had a fantastic rooftop view over the whole town, including the fort. We'd a gorgeous meal in the rooftop restaurant, and were treated to some traditional Rajasthani music and dance, and also a western tourist getting up to dance and making a complete prat out of herself. How embarassing, but God loves a trier :-)J & A.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102611960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102611960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102611960/tpod.html Sun, 02 Jan 2005 17:15:31 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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New Delhi, India

Well folks, here we are the last country on a now completed list of 13, unlucky for some, but certainly has not been for us.Our first impressions of India were petrifying! We got off the plane and got our bags, then knowing to avoid scams, asked a government tourist stand where we could get a legitimate taxi. We followed their instructions, but there were several booths, and of course the one we went to... well, it was government approved, but the way they sneakily charged us double the money (which we found out from the hotel later) was that we "hired" a car and then "hired" a driver!!! Even when we were being escorted through the airport, obviously taxi sorted, there were still hands everywhere yelling at us to take their services, it was mad! Then, the very nice man who escorted us through stood waiting angrily with the car door open because we wouldn't give him a tip - we thought this was part of the deal, and heh, start as you mean to go on. The driver asked all the questions we'd been warned about in Lonely Planet, so in due course, we lied about previous trips and cleverly when we spied something relatively new looking, enquired, "oh when did they build this, it wasn't here the last time we visited". Hehe, he believed us!After convincing the driver we had already paid for our hotel, he reluctantly took us there. Although it was late and dark, we still got a taster of crazy Delhi and the mad traffic, then not knowing if she was dreaming or not, Jillian looked out the window down a side street to see a massive cow with massive horns just wandering around beside parked cars - this is a familiar sight in India, we have now come to get used to, but are still flabberghasted every time we see it :-)After a deserved lie-in, it was time to brave the streets. Our guide book described Delhi as "an assault on the senses" and this is the most fitting description possible for this crazy city. Already, just stepping out of the hotel door, we were attacked by beggars and children, rickshaw drivers, other hoteliers, travel agents and every Sanjeev, Sanjay and Abdul in Delhi, all wanting something off us. It breaks your heart to see it, but you just have to try and ignore it and get on with what you're trying to do. What a culture shock indeed! We both just felt it was time for our mummies to come and get us and wrap us up in a big blanket of cotton wool and tell us everything was going to be ok. Never in our lives have we felt so vulnerable and even after all the travelling we'd done already, nothing could have prepared us for this! Despite what we've just said, though , India is enchanting! Totally unwesternised, it's the most culturally different and exotic place we've ever seen. Despite the frustrations and paranoia, it is such a buzz! Indian women wear brightly coloured sarees, the memn wear robes and birhgtly coloured turbans. The people work the land, use camels to transport hay and other materials, sit by the road drinking chai and smoking from a long pipe, their way of life is different from what we know and it's so captivating to watch.For the next ten days our plan is to go from Delhi to Agra, through Rajastan, but rather than brave the trains and buses (which people sit on top of), we opted to hire a car and driver (knowingly this time) - less hassle, though a bit more money, but hopefully worth it!We'll update you soon on more stories of what is turning out to be our favourite place yet!A&J x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102952940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102952940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102952940/tpod.html Sun, 02 Jan 2005 16:40:40 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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Jaisalmer, India

Oh Jaisalmer, we will return again and again and again.This is the stuff that dreams are made of. Jaisalmer, as it says in Lonely Planet, is a place which should exist only in the imagination. It is so surreal being here. It's all too much to take in, we don't know where to start with our travelogues of India, no words will ever be able to describe what we are experiencing here, this is the essence of travelling and discovering the world. India is truly amazing.We drove form Bikaner to Jaisalmer and as soon as we saw the fort, we were so stunned. It just looks like a big sandcastle rising out of the desert - and don't mistake this as being an insult, for it is the most wonderful sight, something you wouldn't believe really exists in our day. Of course, we had to stay inside the fort, and wow, what an experience! It's like being transported to another world, another time, where anything can happen, where the sights and sounds and smells just take you away. All of India, well the little we've seen so far, is the same, so exotic. It's magical, it's so rich in everything wonderful. We really love it - saved the best for last without a doubt.Our first night in JaisalmerAfter organising our adventure for the next two days(more on that later), we strolled around the narrow streets of Jaisalmer Fort, inside which we were staying, just had to! and dodging cows and rickshaws, promising vendors we'd come back later, shouting hello back to children, the normal things we're getting up to in India :-) Our hotel was lovely, brand new, and overlooked one of the old narrow streets and also a sandstone Jain Hindu temple, then on the roof, there was a most amazing view of the whole city and the fort. We went to a rooftop restaurant for sunset and again were blessed with the most magnificent colours which made the sandstone fort turn a bright gold colour, before a silhouette and finally when the sun disappeared, the fort was lit up with orange lights. We tried to take it all in while we ate our favourite food to the sound of traditional Indian love songs and a song calling for a monsoon (it hasn't rained for 4 years in this part of Rajasthan). It was a truly beautiful evening in what is without a doubt our favourite place in the whole world (well, from everything we've seen so far!).The AdventureWe got up early and went to Ganesh Travel to meet the rest of our group. After breakfast in the German Bakery, we were squished into a jeep while trying to avert our eyes from the shameless dogs who were seemingly confused of their roles ;-/. So, where were we going??? Into the Great Thar Desert, no less! After 40 minutes in the jeep along dirt tracks, we met our next mode of transport. Andy's was called Calu and Jillian's was called Papu - camels! This was so exciting! Jillian's camel, Papu, decidied it would be leader, and so, off it went ahead of the rest, followed in suit by Calu and Andy and then 3 English folk behind us. It was really great to have such a small group, and we were all able to relate to each other's travelling tales of India! On top of a camel is such an experience, no, the best part of it is getting up or down. Think of how a camel stands up and gets down - yes, we were on the top while it was doing this - waa! Trotting along, bouncing about with the desert all around, the sun beating down and the smell of our flatulent camels wafting with the cool breeze :-) it was really brilliant.We stopped off at a few villages and this was quite sad. The children, pretty much in rags, begged for anything we would give them - pens, creams, clothes, even a piece of fruit. Jillian had 7 children swarming her, all fighting over an orange, whic she had to peel herself and share for fear that some poor soul wouldn't get a bit. There was this one wee boy, who was the one that asked her first, who cried his eyes out because she shared it and he didn't get a bit, but Jillian had kept a whole banana for him. It was quite heart breaking to see, but we don't think the kids were actuallt starvingm, it's just that they don't have much and so anything tourists might give them is a real treat. In return, a beautiful village girl in her bright ornage saree trailed Jillian into a yard and painted her nails red and put a hindu decoration on her forehead. So, Jillian gave her a lip liner and a blusher, then took out her perfume and gave them all a spray, but the clever little village children thought the perfume was so much beter and tried to swap the blusher for it - what an experience!!! We visited another village where we played with the children again, who are so street wise and well beyond their years.Lunch was prepared under a huge tree in the desert by our lovely guides, our favourite being Naju. It is amazing what they concocted out of a few ingredients. Well fed, we took a siesta in the shade before trotting off again on our adventure into the desert.As sunset approached, we could see our resting place for the night - isolated sand dunes with the softest golden sand. It was lovely to run up to the top and just look over the desert watching the sun go down. But, we hadn't even seen the best of it yet. As night fell, one by one the brightest stars we have ever seen appeared right above our heads. We could see the Milkyway as clear as in a science book, and the constellations we all know, but sort of see in our sky, were as clear as day. This was a wiondrous sight. Andy and me even got a bit of the Jingle Bells, sittin in sand, watcihng the bright stars with camels roaming about in the background - almost a nativity setting :-)At a campfire, we ate well again, and then listened to hilarious stories about other camel trekking trips our guides had been on, heard about hteir lives, and some macho jokes about each others wives. They then sang some traditional songs, improvising by using a water cannister as a drum, and even threw in a couple of western songs with their own words, of course:(To the tune of the annoying "Barbie Girl" by Aqua)I am Camel Man,In the bloody sand.Imagination,Trekking my creation.Come on camel, let's go desert, uh uh uh.We laughed so much and had such a warm-hearted lovely evening around a campfire in the middle of the desert, under the stars. As I write this, I'm asking myself "Was it real???" After deciding it was time for bed, we all dispersed a few metres to where our guides had lain out blankets - no tents for the hardy camel trekkers. How wonderful... sleeping beneath the stars in sand dunes in a desert. We just lay there amazed, then all of a sudden we began to notice the amount of shooting stars - no joke there were so many we lost count. This little adventure was something else, we were looking forward to our camel trek, but just couldn't have wished for it to be as amazing as it was.Next day, our new English friends had to leave early to catch a train, so it was Andy and me all alone with Calu, Papu and our guide Naju. Even better :-) There was no rush today, the adrenaline and pure excitement of the previous having calmed down a bit, we could properly relax and just take in what we were doing - appreciating the beauty and tranquility of the desert. As Jillian's camel Papu had assumed the role of leader much to Jillian's approval, because at the front, you see nobody else, only the vast desert in front of you. You could be alone, just you and your camel in the wild and dry desert. As you climb hills, it's empty untouched ground you see, nonbody in front. So, to allow Andy the same experience, she asked Naju to make Papu stay behind, so Andy led the most of the second day and was able to experience the same honour. Lunch again was in the shade, then another siesta under a tree listening to the birds. What an amazing time. Although sad our adventure on the camel safari was over, we parted ways with Naju, Calu and Papu and back in a jeep, but it wasn't hard returning to Jaisalmer, the fort as impressive as when we first set eyes on it. We spent another great night inside the fort, before it was back in the car the next morning and off for some more of India, whatever will be next??? I swear, we'll burst with happiness and excitement before it's all over at all the amazing things and places this trip has enabled us to experience.A&J
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102260780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102260780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/andy_jillian/globetrotters/1102260780/tpod.html Fri, 10 Dec 2004 10:43:23 -0500 "Around the World in 110 days" 5 Continents, 4 Months, 3 Bags, 2 People, 1 Dream... which starts here...

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

Hmm, what another adventure we've had! Such a mixed experience, because on the positive side we've just seen the most amazing temples, one of the 7 man-made Wonders of the World, no less, but on the other side, we have totally reached our limit with Thailand. Land of smiles??? Land of scams...Maybe, though, we should begin our story with Siem Reap and the spectacular ruins of the ancient city of Angkor:Siem Reap which was our base for visiting Angkor, though the main tourist area of Cambodia, was quite small and fairly poverty stricken. Most of Cambodia, what we saw anyway, was actually worse. The country is probably still recovering from the effects of Pol Pot's evil, communist Khmer Rouge regime in the late 70's.After a long, long journey from Bangkok and a lot of messing about by our guides, we finally arrived in Siem Reap at 10.30pm, we'd left Bangkok at 7am. The guides had pretended about 6 times that there were breakdowns and things wrong with the bus - all a ploy to get us to stay at the hotel which gives them comission! We'd read about such scams and so vowed to go to the government registered TAT office, book it there and pay more money so as to avoid scams, however, such was not the case. The bus, oh, you have to hear about the bus... it was a ramshackle of a thing to say the least - how that thing moved an inch is a miracle! The engine had to be started by banging a screw on it, and the engine wasn't where a normal engine would be, but right beside Jilian's seat, and when the engine conked out due to overheating and the sparks started to fly, we were scared! There was of course, no air conditioning and so the windows had to be opened, until a passing something approached (be it motorbike, banger, cow or donkey) we quickly had to close the windows before we'd be once again covered in dust. Anyway, after refusing point blank to stay at their hotel, we found another one, a brand new hotel called Rithyrin - pretty flash and not too expensive, checked in right away, had a quick shower to wash all the dust and dirt off us and went straight to bed, we were absolutely shattered. Before hitting the sack we organised a taxi to take us around Angkor for the next 2 days, it's far too big to get around by yourself when you've just a couple of days to do it. Next morning we were still exhausted, so we decided just go to Angkor for sunset that evening and to properly explore it the next day, starting first thing in the morning at sunrise.Sunset at Angkor was beautiful, but naturally the place was crawling with other tourists, it's the main reason people visit Cambodia. We walked up a steep hill with high steps and then some more steep steps up to the top of the temple and strolled around the first main site Phnom Bakeng for a couple of hours, just taking in the magnificence of what we were looking at and trying to imagine what it must have been like in its hay day. Most of the tourists there all congregated at the one spot to watch the actual sun set, but it didn't set over the temples, only at a field, we couldn't understand that they didn't realise what they were missing. As the sunset, the colours of the sky became beautiful and made the temple appear magical, with different colours everywhere, bringing life to what was ruins. We've some amazing photos of Phnom Bakeng, the sunset making it seem somewhat mystical. After our memory card was full, we ascended the many steps, then returned to our hotel for an early night - up the next morning at 4.30am to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, and to spend the whole day visiting all the different sites of the ancient city.Sunrise was just as beautiful than the previous night's sunset, with more amazing colours and different light. We watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat, which was Angkor's centre of power when it was populated. Next, we set off for Angkor Thom which consisted of Bayon, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. Bayon was spectacular, it was a large temple-like structure topped with massive granite strucures of faces of different kings of the Khmer Empire, of which Angkor was the capital. All over the stones were so many different carvings, and we spent so long simply in awe at how they were made, how long it must have taken them to do it and how wonderfully intricate the whole thing was. The Terrace of the Elephants had hundreds of carvings of elephants all around it, some with 3 heads strangely - we're sure this has a meaning, but as yet, we haven't read the whole book. The Terrace of the Leper King was a similar structure, though much smaller than that of the Elaphants and was dedicated to a Khmer king who died of Leprosy.Bantaay Kdel, our next stop, was similar to Bayon but not quite as spectacular. Apparently the king had died before finishing it, so there weren't very many carvings or anything too spectacular really. To reach the top of the structure, we had to climb what must've been the steepest set of steps ever constructed. On the top of Bantaay Kdel were small Hindu and Buddhist shrines, and a great view of the whole of Angkor.After Bantaay Kdel, we had some lunch just outside Ta Phrom and tried to appease the little kids as much as we could, who were desperately trying to make a living so they could pay for school - we did believe this because our guide said thay have to pay for courses and explained they work in the mornings, then off to school in the afternoon. Cynical us not sure to believe it, but the kids were certainly needy, so we bought a few souvenirs. Ta Prohm was the strangest of Angkor's sites. The place was very run-down, most of the buildings crumbling and a lot of rubble lying about, but we actually really liked this because it's how it should be naturally and really lets you know that it's now ruins - what was once great, though in ruins can still be beautiful. Some of the other buildings were somewhat too preserved, which looked slightly unnatural, and stepping into Ta Phrom felt like a new world, lost to time. To top the experience of this temple off were the massive trees that grew up between the cracks in Ta Prohm's walls, which gave the place an eerie look. Andy also saw what looked like a pretty large black snake crawling through some of the fallen stonework. King Cobras, with enough venom in one bite to kill an elephant, are known to inhabit some parts of Angkor, and we were warned to stay out of dimly lit places - was it? - we'll never know, but happy we didn't find out!From Ta Prohm, where we stayed for quite a while, mystified and puzzled by the ruins and trees, we returned to Angkor Wat to have a proper look around the massive complex, and weren't disappointed. The giant towers that adorn the top of Angkor Wat are spectacular in their own rite, and the inside of the palace complex is just what you'd imagine the centre of power of an ancient empire to look like. There are giant rooms and the walls are adorned with intricate carvings of past battles of the Khmer Empire, and of Hindu and Buddhist legends. It just makes you realise how young our civilisation is compared to those in this part of the world, us Europeans were living in mud-huts while in Asia there were grand empires. There were a lot of tourists aroud Angkor Wat, but again they all seemed to congregate together in specific areas, and we really feel they must've missed out, because we explored the whole temple and found so many peaceful quiet places, where you could follow the stories on the walls in solitude and spy monks having peaceful moments in their sacred temple, without some tourists trying to join them in their travelling quest of "all things new and different". So, totally satisfied with everything we'd seen at Angkor, and deciding too much of a good thing can destroy the experience, we thought it was time to leave, amazed by yet another great beauty of the world.It's so hard to do justice to Angkor by writing about, you'll see what I mean when you see our video and photos of it.In our guide book, we read that when you first set eyes on the Temples of Angkor, particularly Angkor Wat, you will see that they are as impressive as the Great Pyramid at Giza and as intracate as the majestic Taj Mahal. Not to undermine the wonder of Angkor, we weren't as impressed as the time we saw the Pyramids and I suppose in a couple of weeks, we'll be able to comment on the Taj Mahal - yes, we're showing off now!- but with the long journey and such terrible roads, it is debatable whether it's worth it. No doubt the temples are spectacular, but if you're thinking of going, make sure you chose the best route and know what you're in for - we didn't! Possibly our bad experience with the bus has clouded how worth it it was to come see Angkor, but the pain of the bumpy dirt track is still too easy to remember. Oh our poor bums!A & J.
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