TravelStream™ news feed for member bennetto on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/bennetto en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 03 Jul 2006 12:25:36 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147857720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147857720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147857720/tpod.html Mon, 03 Jul 2006 12:25:36 -0400 Why live to work, when you can work to live? For now my work is done and its time to live. Watch out India, 'ere comes Bennetto!

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Kathmadhu, Nepal

Five hours in Nepal and its time to sample the public transport, this time a night bus bound for Kathmandu. Kathmandu is a mere fifteen hour journey, sounds painful but the magnificent views in the morning were enough to override the pain from sitting in the same cramped position on the so called roads.

*********************************************

After a couple of nights in Kathmandu we head for the hills, well, you could call them mountains! Took a bus to Jiri, the nearest road to Mount Everest, not realising the nearest road was 150km's away! Not really sure what I had let myself in for we set of on the longest walk of my life, a total of approximately 300km. Wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the elevation of 10,000 meters, not to mention the below regulation footpaths!



**************** NEWS FLASH **********

For now I am just going to put some photos on the site for you viewing pleasure, time is of the essence as always. Got a feeling the whole website thing is coming to an end as its getting painful, have diagnosed myself with writers block. That and the fact I could buy a samosa for every two minutes i'm sat in 'ere! Should be out looking at Nepal but instead I'm sat in an internet cafe, hmm, watch this space.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147422120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147422120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147422120/tpod.html Mon, 03 Jul 2006 12:21:31 -0400 Why live to work, when you can work to live? For now my work is done and its time to live. Watch out India, 'ere comes Bennetto!

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Calcutta, India

OK, so I finally made my break from Paradise and am back in real India, only for a couple of days though as I have an appointment with Everest Base Camp and as per usual I'm late!

Calcutta is a massive contrast as expected, much like any other Indian city its is filthy, overcrowded, very hot, packed with food stalls and beggars, yet somehow remains charming and full of good energy. Am only in Calcutta for one night as Rob is already in Nepal waiting for my good self. Spend some time wandering the streets in order to book a train to the Nepalese border and to post a parcel, that's pretty much two days gone, nothing happens quickly in India. Noticed a lot of the locals were having a laugh at my expense throughout the day, as it turns out, it was because I wearing a sarong and a vest. Apparently this is what the Indian men where when they get out of the bath or when they go to bed, I guess I still thought I was on the beach, seemed silly to wear anything more in such heat! Not to worry, got plenty of respect for my handlebar moustache, tis coming on nicely and will soon be long enough to plat!

Took a night train to the Nepalese border, as always sleeping on an Indian train was a great experience with little sleep! Short ride in a taxi and I'm in Nepal. Couldn't believe how different the people were, I was expecting the Nepalese to be stuck in a time warp just like the Indians, how wrong I was! Nepal is a great example of East meets West, full of culture, old traditional values and religion not unlike India, yet the people are sane and seem aware of the ever changing world around them!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1146312060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1146312060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1146312060/tpod.html Mon, 03 Jul 2006 12:12:03 -0400 Why live to work, when you can work to live? For now my work is done and its time to live. Watch out India, 'ere comes Bennetto!

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Port Blair - Long Island (Andaman Islands), India

Finally arrived at the capital shanty town of Port Blair, home to the famous Cellular Jail, built by us Brits to lock up all those heroic Indian freedom fighters who fought for nothing other than the rights to their own country! Funny thing is the jail is the only building in India which is not falling to pieces. Feel kinda embarrassed to say i'm from England when people ask, especially when I was having a look around the jail itself. At least they kicked our ass in the cricket which is pretty fresh in their minds!

Wasted no time in setting of to Long Island, one of the five hundred or so Islands in the Andaman’s. We were in search of paradise, at least somewhere the ridiculous heat might actually be appreciated, four hours later paradise was exactly where the boat dropped us. Picked up some supplies from the only village on the island which was basically a few huts, which when combined could be passed as a shop. Another short boat ride, this time on a little fishing vessel and we were dropped on a deserted stretch of the island, nothing but white sandy beach, coral reef, coconuts, a well, not forgetting the mass of cows! Thieving buggers that they are, wasted no time in relieving us of the majority of our food rations, oh well, a mere 8km trek through the jungle and you would find a shop!

Stayed for just over a week, not doing much as intended. Sleeping on the beach in a mozzi net, five feet from the high tide line, cooking in the jungle five feet from the mozzi net. Twas everything I have ever dreamed of and more, apart from no surf of course, that would just be greedy! The beach seemed to double up as the Garden of Eden for the majority of the up and coming spiritual residents, with the exception o the fig leaves. Not wanting to put all the blokes to shame, I left me shorts on at all times!

The local village was anything but mundane, with the exception of the shopping facilities of course. On our only nocturnal excursion we stumbled across some freaky brightly painted Indian folk in the process of being posessed by God himself. For some unknown reason this encouraged them to pierce there faces with oversized knitting needles, dance like they were auditioning for the loony asylum and walk on hot coals.


**** LIVE UPDATE! ****

Sorry about the lack of photos guys but if you look on the map you can probably imagine the internet connections round these parts aint to high tech, this place is even more backwards than Cornwall! They will be coming soon don worry. Am absolutely loving live so its hard work trying to sit at a computer typing away wishing I was somewhere else, which explains why I’m typing about stuff way back, its feels a little like doing homework to be honest!

Anyway I hope your all cool and those back home are coping without me, i’m sure you are, at least that’s what I keep telling myself to ease the pain. Gotta cruize now, off to Calcutta tomorrow if the plane decides to turn up this time round. The other day they didn’t bother because there wasn't enough people to send it this way, of course being India they told us after they had check in all the baggage, dont get it sometimes!

See ya xxx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147683300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147683300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1147683300/tpod.html Thu, 15 Jun 2006 06:23:12 -0400 Why live to work, when you can work to live? For now my work is done and its time to live. Watch out India, 'ere comes Bennetto!

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Andaman Islands, India

Oh dear, am now pretty far behind on the news so I have no choice but to be brief about my escapades, then again you know my Idea of brief! Its now the 15th of June so its a good couple of months since my last entry and my memory is up to its usual standards so here goes...

As you can see from the photos i'm still cheating and spending most my time on beaches, this one however has perfect uncrowded surf just incase I should get bored! Luckily I had previously bumped into an English guy (Tristan) with three surfboards, which was obviously too many for one man, he just so happened to be looking for a surfing companion. Of course being the considerate chap I am I offered my services, at a cost of a surfboard of course! We arrived once again by boat to a very remote stretch of the Islands, inhabited only by Ongi tribes (don't quote me on the spelling), a well and of course, coconuts. As it turns out we are the only people on the 10 mile stretch of beach, which means we are the only people surfing on the perfect reef, which means Heavan! Dont think I have ever been so happy, in addition to which it was my 27th birthday and I was spoilt rotten, banana kitkat pancake, coconut and rum and even a birthday cake, lets not forget the perfect surf. What more could a man want!

Spend about a week in total camping on the beach, cooking on the fire, talking in loud slow English with hand signals to the occasional tribes man, as you do! A week was enough to trash the board I was lent, this would be Tristans treasured first board which was a good 10 years old and still hanging in their, now dead and buried, sorry Tris! Luckily we were not to be their much longer, as what was once heaven, turned to hell without a surfboard, just sulking watching perfect waves reeling in all day long. Bye now the monsoon was having its say and resulted in a couple of sleepless nights squeezed under a tarp in a bid to stay dry, very cosy! Only problem being we weren't the only ones seeking shelter, the sleepless nights were mainly due to the sand crabs having a nibble no sooner than you fall asleep, then there was the sand flies, the ants, the mosquitoes not to mention the other species which I couldn't name!

We headed back to the mainland, if you can call it that, and then onto another paradise island where we got stuck due to a cyclone. The cyclone was a little to much for the locals, absolute panic struck the island as they live in fear of another tsunami. There were no boats for a few days which was a little inconvenient for Rob as he had a flight booked and his visa for India was spent, thanks to which Rob had a crash course in Indian polotics, apparently very unnecessarily painful!

Did a bit of sightseeing, visited the prison which the English built to retain the Indian Freedom Fighters and squirmed every time a local asked me where I was from. Certainly wasn't proud to be English on that tour! Renetd a motorbike and managed to keep it on the road, most of which were a mix of loose rocks and mud with road workers that could teach the English a few trick about leaning on shovels, now thats saying something!

Bye now am getting tired of the islands, everybody has left and am waiting for my flight to Calcuttta. The day arrives, and I make it too the airport in plenty of time, I know, very out of character for myself! Turns out after checking the baggage onto the plane, the plane isn't actually their, in fact the plane wasn't coming today as their wasn't enough people on the inbound flight to warrant sending it. Only in India would you check your baggage onto a plane which isn't even there, if I ever grow to understand this country then I will be seriously concerned about my mental state!

I manage to rebook the flight for two days time, this time the plane actually turns up, two hours later I am in Calcutta, a drastic change of scenery to say the least.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1146523920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1146523920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1146523920/tpod.html Mon, 15 May 2006 07:47:59 -0400 Why live to work, when you can work to live? For now my work is done and its time to live. Watch out India, 'ere comes Bennetto!

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Andaman Islands, India

After splashing out 20 pounds (1500 rupees) for a three night cruise on the Bay of Bengal, we set sail for Andaman Islands on board HMS Health & Safety Hazard. It was a great experience to say the least. We had purchased local Indian style bunk accommodation fare, 'cheapest and best' as the natives would say! Perks included a bunk-side view of a sick local woman coughing up blood and spitting it directly on the floor, 24hr flood lit dormitory style accommodation which slept approximately 150 people to one room - no windows of course and non stop chanting which peaked between three and five am, accompanied by tone deaf (yes, brave coming from me I know) drumming on pots, pans and anything else which was capable of keeping me awake!

The bathrooms doubled up as not so pleasant paddling pools and smelt about as clean as they looked. On the plus side there were no mosquitoes, probably due to the fact the cockroaches had scared them all off!

All in all it was a great journey and the locals were great fun and there usual over friendly selves, a little tiring if anything, its hard to relax when even a game of chess draws a crowd of double figures! Made friends with all the local forces, army, navy, and air force who all traveled on the same boat and held hands which is, uh, different! Very civilized bunch, can you imagine the English Army, Navy and air Force on the same boat and not getting blind drunk and tearing each other apart. Me neither!

Three days later we were finally there and were greeted by dolphins who escorted us into the harbor, ahh!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1143100020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1143100020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bennetto/fine_n_ghandi/1143100020/tpod.html Fri, 31 Mar 2006 01:49:46 -0500 Why live to work, when you can work to live? For now my work is done and its time to live. Watch out India, 'ere comes Bennetto!

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Chennai, India

Well, I'm sure you will all be glad to hear I have arrived safe and sound. My plane was cancelled so it was not a good start to my ventures, however I somehow arrived in Chennai (South East India) two hours before I should have!? That's Indian airlines for you, nothing ever makes any real sense out hear, probably why India and me get along so well!! Rob turned up at the airport to meet me although we had not actually made any arrangements, the first thing I noticed was he has adopted and perfected the Indian head nodding movement.

Settled back into the land of Chaos very quickly, jumped straight onto the train achieving instant celebrity status, you know me, I don't mind as bit of attention now and then, so I am coping! All the locals are super friendly (unlike the Israeli chick next to me who wont stop moaning about the speed of her internet!), everything takes time out here - shanty shanty is the local term for this, it means - slowly slowly.

Gave up on city life pretty quickly, booked some tickets to the Andaman Islands and headed south to a kinda spiritual type vegan community a few hours away. Rob has spent much of his time here (Saddanah Forest) in the past few months helping to plant trees on land which England had defrosted and destroyed under their rule! Slept in open bamboo huts, was nice to get some sleep without thinking a big steel fan was going to fall from the ceiling onto your head!

Spent a few days here chilling in the mud bath, reading and drinking Chai - not all at the same time! Got some great photos but managed to erase my entire memory card whilst having one of my regular careless moments. Some pretty interesting dry composting toilet action, am pretty glad I had to leave before they needed emptying. Apparently you need to go shoulder deep in a whole in the ground - uugh I'll leave the rest to your imagination!

Am now about to endure a three nightlong boat ride, 750 miles across the Bay of Bengal, destination - Andaman Islands. Apparently it's as close to untouched paradise as it comes, cant wait to get their, something like 535 islands to choose from. I'm sure it's going to be an interesting boat ride; India has yet to discover Health and Safety so I've got my fingers crossed!

As bugs bunny would say.... That's all folks!
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