TravelStream™ news feed for member benabroad on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/benabroad en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:43:52 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1239174720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1239174720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1239174720/tpod.html Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:43:52 -0400 Ben In South East Asia 2007

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Windsor, England, United Kingdom

Hello all, Well its been nearly a year since i came home (my god), my blog still isn't finished [sorry :-(   ] and i am back in Windsor. Not that its anywhere near as interesting as my traveling was, but i thought I'd update you on whats going on with me now.I am living back in England for the time being, I was originally planning on doing a stint of English teaching in Japan for a year or two, but that has now fallen by the wayside. The reason being that i am training to be a mathematics teachers of children ages 11-18 here in Ol' blighty.                I am thoroughly enjoying it ( i think), although i am finding it hard and i do at times have doubts as to whether or not its what i want to do, especially when i am up until 1am in the evening and then waking up at 4 am the next day for days on end. Still its the Easter holiday now so at least i have some sort of a break from that for 2 weeks, though my assignments are keeping me stressed as always.              I still have the travel bug and am debating where to go for the summer holidays providing i qualify. I still keep in contact with Jijo which is fantastic but i cannot seem to get hold of Farah, which is very upsetting. If anyone reading this (you never know) knows her or how to get in contact with her then any info would be much appreciated. Leona and Ciara from Dublin invited me over to visit them one weekend, which was one of the most drunken and memorable weekends I've had in a long time, due to their fantastic hosting! I did have to spend one night in bed though when they were out clubbing because i was too much of a 'boy' to handle it. Have met up with Beata in London as well, another memorable evening and was great to stay in contact, which we still do ( unlike all those experiences everyone has when they exchange contact details then do the whole 'oh yeah we have to meet up when we get home', knowing full well it'll never happen).             My main hobby from traveling, (eating!) still features strongly in my life and i am frequently eating and seeking out the foods i adored whilst i traveled. Que images of me standing by my microwave eating sticky rice dipped in sweet chilli sauce and slaving over the chicken curry in my balti pan (that was yesterday!) well, i say slaving, i don't work nearly as hard as anyone i met in my travels, and i was in my dressing gown (sorry for the imagery!)             Haven't had much contact with people back home to be honest, purely because i have been rather busy and lazy on my part getting in touch, so if anyone is reading this I'm sorry for that and I'll buy you a beer next time i see! you ( a pathetic compromise i know).                          So thats pretty much all I've been up to in my sad, now very boring life. One day i do hope to finish this blog, but at the moment the joys of my assignment and of assessment for learning are calling me.See you soon Ben
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1202976120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1202976120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1202976120/tpod.html Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:16:21 -0400 Ben In South East Asia 2007

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Hampi, India

Arriving late in Hospet, i met Loda, a Tibetan travelling around India after finishing his lengthly studies in Dharamsala. He was also travelling to Hampi, so we boarded the bus together, eventually getting to Hampi and due to the late hour having to settle for a shockingly expensive room and a bad nights sleep.       First thing next morning me and Loda went to check out the Virupapur Gadde, the area on the other side of the river. There is a 15 Rupees fee for the boat crossing to the other side (or 10 Rupees with no bags) which is handy for when you have your packs, but for those regularly making the crossing there is an easy crossing point a little way down from here to the right, which anyone can handle provided your prepared to roll up your trousers (though in India in the heat, your probably not wearing trousers!). For the budget conscience like me, this takes  away the annoyance of having to pay every time you want to go back to your room. Also note that the accommodation on this side of the river is much more laid back (if thats possible), generally quieter as its further from festival activities occurring round the main temple and is also more comfortable and much better value for money (the cheapest rooms in Hampi are also on this side!) See, not all the information i provide is boring!       After moving room, the monkey temple was our first point of call. Whilst the temple is unimpressive in terms of its architecture, the location provides fantastic views of the surroundings and would be a nice sunrise/sunset viewing point, which would make the mammoth set of steps leading up to it more enjoyable no doubt! After visiting here we decided to try to cut to the Vitthala temple by a route which led us through banana fields, peoples houses and random plots of land before we encountered the river crossing. An Indian man nearby told us that the river wasn't crossable at this point and we would have to go back and take the boat, but me and Loda thought to ourselves 'yeah right, of course it is, just like the guest house we want is closed or the train has left or there is no bus' like everyone always says in this country, so we politely acknowledged him and carried on along the same path.           After crossing what we presumed he had classified as the uncrossable parts of the river with little difficulty we began to get cocky, commenting amongst ourselves ' they always tell you its not possible!' etc. Oh how we tempted fate, and fate didn't like it one bit, for we were soon presented with a much more formidable challenge; a fast flowing, deep stretch of water.          I had a decent (take decent to mean long and fruitless) attempt at crossing it bag-less, before we had to admit defeat and accept we simply weren't going to get across with all our stuff intact. The fact that there were locals crossing there who couldn't do it without submerging up to neck height and still being swept off their feet several times by the current confirmed this. Luckily a fishing boat was nearby and the cocky little boy agreed he'd take us across (after we paid him of course!)         Decided we'd not go into the Vittala temple today, as the ticket is only valid one day and we would have time to see the Lotus Mahal as well, which is included in the ticket price, so made our way back along the scenic riverside path, taking in the many temples on the way. Of those we saw, i was most impressed by the Tiruvengalantha temple.        After a cheap meal we returned to the guest house for the typical traveler's evening of movies in the guest house restaurant!         So what do i think of Hampi? Its very much a 'travelers place' and this is visible as soon as one arrives due to the sheer number of restaurants offering English menu, backpacker staples and signs more suited to a goan beach. That being said, it is also a very beautiful place, the rocky, desert like landscape unlike anywhere else in India. This being Interspersed with the remains of the Vijayanagar empire (an empire that ruled southern India from 1336- 1565AD) makes it an attractive place for all. As a direct result of this, it is also a pilgrimage spot for many Indians and therefore there is a comfortable relationship between domestic and foreign visitors here. The atmosphere here is one i found far more enjoyable than most places so touristy, Everyone seemingly bearing no grudge to anyone else's presence here, whatever their reason for being so, and i found it one of the few places i felt i could settle and relax for a while. (Note though, Hampi is firmly on the 'backpacker route', i.e many a traveler will be seen here spending the vast majority of their day asleep or smoking drugs of some kind in their guest house, which is fine if thats what your here to do, but personally is not my 'cup of tea'(god I'm so English!)). Oh yeah, the mosquitoes are terrible here.    next day i proceeded with a thorough sessioning of the temples, finding a little 3 walled enclosure which had previously been home to a drinking session of some sort i presumed, judging by the presence of empty bottles. Here i decided, after a little cleanup, would be an excellent spot for my meditation and a nice break from templing. Templing resumed after this, the Ganesh statues most impressing me, mainly because such statues are less common to me but probably like most foreigners in India, i have a bit of a soft spot for the elephant headed God (like a big Dumbo isn't he?).       The Lotus mahal was not worth waiting for at all, i felt it was simply a plain 2 storey structure, though the Vittala temple is quite impressive, i wouldn't say t justifies its entrance fee (though bear in mind i am rather sick of temples now, why I'm still visiting more i don't know).         Feeling rather poorly and suffering a lack of energy due to the decrease in quality of my food intake since i left the Vipassana centre (i want some fresh vegetables!) i struggled up the hill near the Vittala temple with 2 Indian guys, who annoyingly kept shouting to other foreigners to come up and talk to them, before returning to the guest house and eating too much food (ah, the comfort of food, where would i be without it).          I felt i had seen enough of the temples in town that day, so the next day was a lazy one, before me and Loda were off to Badami. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1202797020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1202797020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1202797020/tpod.html Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:24:43 -0400 Ben In South East Asia 2007

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Hassan, India

My first meal in Hassan, and i overate, typical Ben style, and it was now that the benefit of meditation hit me, for the pain in my stomach was soo much sharper and stronger than ever before, it felt as though my stomach was trying to fight through my skin and out of my body. Remember the scene from Alien in the canteen? Its how i imagine that guy felt! Definitely made me think twice about eating more than i need to do in the future.       Hassan was my base for visiting the nearby tourist towns of  Halebid, Belur and SravanBelagola, my first stop for the following day. It is here that there is a 17m high statue of the Jain god Gommateshwara, making it a noteworthy stop on any Jain pilgrims tour of India (or for anybody else interested in seeing a giant stone penis!) I was informed by a guy on the bus that there are actually still people who live and follow the lifestyle rules that this god supposedly followed, which include the following: Not wearing any clothes, getting all food from begging only and only eating once before 11am, retaining no possessions, no sleeping in beds, no consumption of anything of anything grown under the ground, no use of transport and causing no harm to any living beings, amongst other rules. You try living like that in your country, makes the Vipassana look like a cakewalk!      Accompanied by a group of students from Maharashtra, i made it up the 614 steps to the temple everyone is here to see, taking the obligatory photos of the statue to illustrate its excessiveness, then wandered down and across the street, before ascending the stairs there for the Chandragiri, although feeling rather templed out by this point in my travels, there was little to keep me here long in the blistering midday sun, so i quickly departed for buses to Halebid.       Halebid is home to the Hoysalesvara temple, which quite frankly blew me away, despite me feeling sick of all temples by now. The sculptural detail and diversity of the images was unlike anything i had seen so far, with no two sculptures being alike. The temple is well preserved and well worth a visit by anyone in the nearby area. Within the town itself i felt there was little else to see, the Kedaresvara temple paling in comparison to this one. The highlight of my visit there was the security guard insisting i eat some of his 'special Karnataka coconut', unique to this state he added. If your reading this Mr security man (which i doubt) I'm sorry, but it tasted like any old coconut to me, thanks though.         The Bus to Belur was next on the itinerary, but unpredicted monsoon style rains made me give up on the idea of wandering around outside looking at a temple, so i returned to Hassan, meditating again (yay, still keeping it up, the meditating that is!) before bed.Departed the next day, deciding en route to Jog falls that they wouldn't be worth seeing in the Dry season (based on a locals advice) making my detour in that direction pretty pointless and adding about three hours to my journey to Hampi. Oh Ben, when will you stop being so indecisive?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1211443500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1211443500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1211443500/tpod.html Wed, 14 May 2008 04:06:20 -0400 Ben In South East Asia 2007

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Windsor, England, United Kingdom

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New Delhi, India

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Dharamsala, India

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Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India

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Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

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Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1209398400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1209398400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benabroad/se-asia2007/1209398400/tpod.html Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:01:23 -0400 Ben In South East Asia 2007

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Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India

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