TravelStream™ news feed for member lizandsteve on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lizandsteve en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Mon, 16 Feb 2004 23:39:00 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1076991240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1076991240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1076991240/tpod.html Mon, 16 Feb 2004 23:39:00 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Bangkok, Thailand

After 7 months of bussing, training, boating and biking our way around Asia, we've finally reached the end of the road and fly back to Sydney tomorrow. Since returning to Thailand from India, we've managed to fill in a month reaquainting ourselves with the little patch of paradise known as Koh Chang, and have spent the last few days in Bangkok which we're starting to know inside out after all our stops here!

Overall, it really has been the trip of a lifetime, as cheesy as that sounds - we've seen so many amazing sites, met great people who I'm sure we'll meet up with again some day, eaten excellent food and had many crazy adventures (not all positive experiences....but all certainly memorable!). It's too difficult to choose a definite highlight or favourite place as there are so many, but some of the many that spring to our minds are the motorbike trip through Vietnam's Central Highlands, snorkelling at the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia, the friendly people and natural beauty of Sri Lanka, seeing Angkor Wat for the first time at sunrise, and our unexpected love of everywhere we went in China.

Hopefully it won't take us too long to adjust to life at home - however, we may find we've forgotten how to cook after eating out all day every day. We'll probably find the prices of everything a huge shock to the system, but it'll be nice not to have to bargain anymore (and we can clean our teeth with tap water...and have a choice of more than three outfits to wear...you get the picture!). For those of you in Sydney, see you soon!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1074497820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1074497820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1074497820/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2004 03:27:00 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Delhi/Agra, India

We've just spent a week getting to know Delhi (well, mostly the restaurants, markets and the medical centre!). At first Delhi is a little off putting - it has the worst air pollution we've ever seen (you can barely see what's right front of you!) and it's nowhere near as attractive as Mumbai. It's reknowned for really dodgy scams and touts and of course has all the usual beggars, dogs and dirty streets. However, we managed to uncover many hidden gems and have ended up enjoying our time here!

On our first day we decided to head out to the Red Fort in Old Delhi, dating back to the mid 1600s and constructed out of red sandstone. Inside were royal baths and a mosque among other constructions - it was a really foggy and polluted day so we mightn't have got the most out of it, but it was mildly interesting!

We've done the rounds of the restaurants in Connaught Place (the area in which we're staying) and apart from yummy Indian have consumed many pizzas, bakery goods and even MacDonalds (shame!). We've frequented an excellent market area containing Janpath Market and the Tibetan Market, where there's temptation on every corner in the form of textiles, jewellery and other bits and pieces we don't really need but just have to have! Some of the shopkeepers even remembered us when we returned a few days later for more bargains, and of course they all remembered 'Mama'! For some reason, many, many Indian males all love calling out to mum and referring to her as Mama, for example "Special discount for Mama!". Funny at first, a bit disturbing after a while!

The unnamed Delhi Belly patient had a relapse and spent a day holed up in the hotel watching the Star Movie channel while the other two checked out some more Delhi sites. They went to Humayun's Tomb (the tomb of a Mughal emperor) and to a Ba'hai Temple which looks like the Opera House! Apparently they were both great!

Yesterday we went on a day trip on the train to Agra, to see the world famous Taj Mahal. It was absolutely freezing and really foggy, so when we first walked into the gate where we were supposed to be greeted with a breathtaking view of the long avenue with the huge Taj Mahal at the end (just like the photos!) all we saw was a blanket of white. Nevertheless, the fog eventually lifted (but the coldness didn't!) and we saw our precious Taj. It is a huge, domed, marble masterpiece and looks bigger and better in real life than in any photo. It is flanked by four minarets and houses the tombs of the Emperor Shah Jahan and his second wife Mumtaz Mahal (for whom he ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal as an expression of his love for her). There are semi-precious stones inlaid into the marble to form intricate floral motifs, and there is beautiful Arabic writing decorating some parts of the walls. We spent around five hours taking in the splendour of the place and attempting to pose for photos (no easy feat when there are hundreds of tourists vying for the same spot as you to stand!) and eventually headed back to Delhi after our big day out.

We leave India tomorrow - mum heads back to Oz and Steve and I to Thailand (yay!). Sun, surf and seafood here we come!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073380740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073380740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073380740/tpod.html Sat, 17 Jan 2004 06:18:53 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Udaipur, India

We've had 3 great days in Udaipur, exploring the narrow winding streets, eating on rooftop restaurants with amazing views of the lake and palace, and doing lots of sightseeing!

Udaipur is known as Rajasthan's most romantic city - not, I'm sure, due to the open sewers, mangy roaming cows, abundance of poo everywhere you try to walk and the odd incessant beggar - but because of the beautiful, palatial architecture and setting on Lake Pichola with the 'floating' Lake Palace Hotel in it's centre.

On our first morning, we visited the City Palace, which is the largest palace in the state of Rajasthan. It was so amazing - there were museum displays of old weapons and paintings depicting the history of the maharanas, beautiful courtyards, balconies and elaborate rooms of every description. There were some covered in mirrors from floor to ceiling, others with intricate paintings or mosaic work, and some rooms were furnished to look as they did when inhabited. Afterwards we went to a haveli (old house) with 138 restored rooms - these people had rooms for everything! Dressing rooms, a games room, a musical instrument room and the list goes on.

The James Bond film 'Octopussy' was largely filmed in Udaipur, and many of the restaurants here screen it nightly. We watched it one night and saw how they'd filmed scenes at the Lake Palace Hotel and other locales around town, right where we'd been! We took a boat ride around the lake past the posh hotel in the middle (it only costs around $300 US a night or more, bargain) and we stopped in Jagmandir Island behind it, home to yet another amazing old palace now turned into a hotel and restaurant. It really was another world after walking around the chaotic streets in town.

On yet another little excursion we caught an auto-rickshaw up a huge hill through a wildlife park to the abandoned Monsoon Palace. It's now owned by the government but they haven't really done much in the way of restoration or development. It was still quite beautiful though, and the view of the town, lakes and countryside below were great. We visited the Jagdish Temple (Hindu) in town, which has an Indo-Aryan style with carvings depicting all sorts of scenes from everyday life.

Once again it's time to move on..and once again mum will cry because she doesn't want to leave!!! Luckily she's still enjoying India and is very glad she came all this way for a few weeks holiday with us!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073890140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073890140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073890140/tpod.html Sat, 17 Jan 2004 06:17:17 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Jodhpur, India

In hindsight, our experiences in Pushkar were only the beginning of our dramas in Rajasthan! While the sick one crashed into bed upon checking into Shivam Guesthouse (which was lovely, if you ever find yourself in Jodhpur), the other two ended up getting stoned - no, not the kind you'd expect of travellers in India (and no, we haven't corrupted mum!) but had rocks pelted at them by feral little street kids. If that wasn't bad enough, mum managed to have a bag of water thrown over her by some maniacal little munchkins as she walked past them.

You'd think these events would be omen enough that we needed to get out of town and fast, but it was brushed off as just another day in good old India. The next morning, anticipating exploring the 'blue city' and it's towering fort, mum got up bright and early and ventured off down the street to buy us some bottles of water. She walked past two of the numerous street dogs that are everywhere in India without giving it a thought - they even appeared to be asleep. One of them slunk over to her and without provocation suddenly lunged at her leg and bit it. Mum came tearing up the stairs and burst into the room and showed us the horrifically massive dog bite which wrapped half way around her leg. At home a dog bite like this wouldn't be too traumatic, just painful, but in India where 30,000 humans die every year from contracting rabies from such incidents, this was a big deal. If you contract rabies, you definitely die, there is no cure and absolutely nothing you can do about it.

We had to get medical attention straight away, which is no easy feat in a dusty, dingy Indian town. Into an auto-rickshaw we all went, to do the rounds of Jodhpur's medical facilities in search of some rabies vaccine. First stop - a deserted, closed hospital with only a confused caretaker around who had no idea what was going on. Next - an evil, dirty hospital of 3rd world doom. This place had rows of 100 year old beds covered in filthy old sheets in the same room as the hospital reception desk. There were literally piles of rubbish on the floor and there was no way in hell we were going to stay there. They didn't even know what to do, they only wanted to give a tetanus shot which mum already had up to date, was this the world's worst hospital?!!

Eventually we went to the private hospital which was much better, and got a shot of a rabies vaccine. After all this trauma we decided to stay and rest for a few days rather than move onto the next town for more sightseeing. We even managed to drag ourselves up to see the fort, which was well worth it. 'Meherangarh' as it's known, is run by the maharaja of Jodhpur and has a long, detailed and interesting history of royal rulers and battles. It's absolutely huge and towers 125 metres above town, with strategically built entrances to help prevent being taken by force or being rammed by elephants. We visited courtyards, palaces, a museum, art gallery and Hindu temple all enclosed within the fort, and saw amazingingly intricate carved walls, balconies and elaborate rooms. The fort overlooked the town where we got the full effect of all the blue painted houses, which looked amazing. Apparently a blue house indicated that a Brahmin lived inside (India's highest caste), but now anyone can have their house this colour.

We then decided it would be best to head to Delhi so mum could get more shots, in case the other towns in Rajasthan didn't have what we needed, so it was off on yet another overnight train ride! This time we thought ahead and actually booked a hotel room and arranged for a driver to pick us up to spare us the drama!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073542860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073542860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1073542860/tpod.html Sat, 17 Jan 2004 06:12:20 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Pushkar, India

From the moment we disembarked from our overnight train from Udaipur in the non-descript town of Ajmer at the lovely time of 4am, our trip seemed to take a downward turn. Of course Ajmer was pretty much deserted, except for all the blanket shrouded homeless bodies covering the railway station floor, so we didn't have much choice but go with some old dude in his auto-rickshaw to the nearby town of Pushkar. It was pitch black dark and freezing cold, and once we began winding our way up the steep hills dividing Ajmer from Pushkar we broke down.

After about 10 icy long minutes we were on our way again, until we stopped just outside Pushkar at a ramshackle building manned by a dodgy old guy wanting us to fork over money for the 'Pushkar passenger tax', what a joke! Of course we weren't going to hand over a cent (or a rupee for that matter), and despite being yelled at, stood our ground, until the guy finally gave up on us when Steve asked to see his government ID which he didn't have an answer for.

On our way once more, we were soon ambushed by a bunch of young, over-enthusiastic guys demanding to know which hotel we wanted to stay in (in India, if anyone accompanies or leads you to a hotel they get paid commission and your room rate goes up to cover this). Why these guys were out and about at 4.30am in the dark and freezing cold waiting for tourists to hassle, I do not know. Get a life, people! After a bit of yelling then ignoring we managed to be rid of them. By the time we got to town we were so over it all and managed to bang on the door of a guesthouse and wake the owner sleeping in the foyer so he could let us in.

After our warm welcome into town, it was time to do some exploring. Pushkar is known as a pilgrimage site for Hindus due it's holy lake and rare Brahma temple, and also seems to be a magnet for hippy backpackers in search of...something. The lake itself is really picturesque as it's set in the middle of town with steps leading down to it, where locals wash clothes and pilgrims bathe. Ringed around the lake are many, many market stalls, a shoppers paradise! So yes, it's touristy, but in a fun kind of way as long as you avoid the various touts and 'pretend' holy men trying to press flowers into your palm for a holy offering (at a nice price I'm sure). Unfortunately, after not too long, one of us, who shall remain nameless, finally succumbed to the dreaded Delhi belly - noooo! So while two explored the town and circumnavigated the lake, one of us spent time doing a whole lot of nothing.

On our last night in Pushkar we went and watched the sunset over the lake, along with an assortment of other tourists, flute players, snake charmers, beggars and other annoying beings. The view was spectacular though and worth putting up with the surrounding circus. Armed with many newly acquired scarves, some priceless(!) memories and with one of us in a near delirious state, it was off on our merry way in a rattly, over-crowded bus to see what adventures awaited us in Jodhpur...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1072856880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1072856880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1072856880/tpod.html Mon, 05 Jan 2004 07:59:49 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Mumbai, India

We spent a few days sightseeing in Mumbai in anticipation of an important arrival - Liz's mum!! And what better place for her to arrive for her first ever visit to a third world destination than a city of over 16 million people!

Not long after arriving, we headed down to the harbour to see the famed Gateway of India, built to commemorate the visit of King George and now a must-see on any Mumbai visit. Across the road was the palatial 5 star Taj Mahal Hotel, so we had to go and have a peek in the foyer and at the posh poolside area out the back...and pretend we were rich enough to stay there! Once mum arrived we gave her a tour of what we'd seen and I think she was just as impressed as we were, if not more!

Mumbai is fast paced, packed with people heading in every direction, home to many beautiful British style buildings and a great place to spend a few days. We met up with mum in her hotel, which she bravely navigated her way to after arriving alone in the middle of the night! Luckily she wasn't too traumatised when stepping outside to face the big bad world of cows, beggars and out of control taxis!

We spent the next couple of days visiting several art galleries, a cathedral, Malabar Hill (apparently home to Bollywood movie stars!) where we went to a Jain temple (haven't quite figured that religion out yet) and some bathing ghats, several markets areas and more! We took a taxi down to Chowpatty Beach at night which is apparently the thing to do, however we were harassed by heaps of dodgy guys wanting to 'massage' us, and left not long after! Apart from a few incidents, we weren't really hassled that much considering the size of the city and huge number of homeless people.

Before heading to the train station for an overnight journey to Udaipur in Rajasthan, mum actually cried as she didn't want to leave Mumbai - who said she wasn't going to like India?!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1071257280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1071257280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1071257280/tpod.html Wed, 31 Dec 2003 02:45:31 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Pondicherry, India

After all the serene little villages and beach towns we'd frequented in Sri Lanka, it was back to the big smoke, namely, Chennai (which used to be called Madras) in India! As far as arriving in India goes, it must be one of the better cities to do so as it wasn't as traumatic an experience it's made out to be! Luck may have been on our side though as we managed to share a cab into town with some India savvy Brits of Indian origin, our saviours!

We didn't stay long in Chennai, but we managed to overdose on dosas, became accustomed to drinking chai all the time, and saw the craziest, most colourful wedding procession winding its way through the streets. As well as several hundred men, followed by a hundred or so sari clad women, there was a marching band, a decorated truck, a turbaned man on a decorated horse, and people dressed as animals (like sporting team mascots) dancing amongst everyone! It was such an amazing sight to see, and so different to anything we'd seen before.

We then spent several days in Pondicherry, which was once a French colonial town. It's set by the sea, and apart from the usual Indian mayhem on the streets, there were actually some really nice areas of town, and really beautiful restored houses painted in all different pastel colours. There were several churches and cathedrals dotted around, and some really colourful Hindu temples which we visited. I don't think we'll ever come close to understanding all the different gods and goddesses associated with Hinduism, it's really confusing!

One of Pondicherry's most well known places is the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, which was founded by Sri Aurobindo and an old French lady known as 'the Mother'. We visited the ashram which really was kind of creepy and cult like - perhaps our first and last ashram?! Heaps of shops and restaurants around town had framed photos of the Mother above their counters - she looks pretty scary, and we still can't figure out why a hippy backpacker was down on his hands and knees at the ashram worshipping her shrine!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069653900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069653900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069653900/tpod.html Wed, 31 Dec 2003 02:37:18 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Kandy, Sri Lanka

After our 'holiday from our holiday' on Koh Chang, it was time to get back in travel mode again (no more laziness!). Arriving at the airport near Colombo in the middle of the night was much less scary than we envisaged. Thankfully we'd arranged for someone from a guesthouse in the nearby beach town of Negombo to pick us up, so we were whisked away without any problems. Straight away we realised how laidback Sri Lanka is and how friendly the people are. Considering they've endured a very recent 20 year civil war and are still experiencing political instability, they are more hospitable and generous (and smiley!) than people anywhere we've been so far!

We stayed for 2 nights in Negombo, which had a fairly dirty beach complete with shanty town looking shacks and baskets of drying fish everywhere. Apparently it was the place to be about 30 years ago but is now a bit faded and decrepit. We soon learnt to appreciate Sri Lankan food - beautiful vegetarian curries and rottis, walked around town a bit, saw old churches and the Dutch fort (and accidently wandered into the entrance of a prison!).

Next, we headed to Kandy which is set amongst hills with a beautiful lake in the centre of town. It's a cultural centre and attracts lots of tourists, so was quite a fun, interesting place to visit. We went to the famed Temple of the Tooth, which suffered some damage from a car bomb in 1998 and now has a huge security presence (you get body searched several times before entering). The temple apparently houses one of Buddha's teeth, taken from his funeral pyre. The tooth isn't actually on display, so it's hard not to be a little sceptical! It was a beautiful temple anyway, with monkeys running around outside and an elephant out the front.

Speaking of elephants, we also went to the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage just outside Kandy. There are 60 or so elephants there, ranging from cute babies to enormous adults. The only thing scarier than being so close to such enormous elephants was the abundance of tourists sporting bumbags and sandals with socks - aarrhh!!!! The elephants are fed, bathed and washed in the river and you can get as close to them as you like, so in that way it was much more exciting than seeing them in a zoo. They each have a keeper called a mahout who try and get 'tips' from you if you pose for a photo with one of their elephants. We're a bit over that kind of thing from Asia so luckily managed to avoid it! Feeding time seemed a little cruel as they were all chained up in a row, but when in the river they were more free to roll around by themselves.

Back in Kandy we spent time at 'The Pub' (yes, that's what it's called!), consumed many more curries, saw an enormous monitor lizard in the lake and met lots of interesting people. Overall, we're really impressed with Sri Lanka so far - it's a really beautiful, easygoing place and not really touristy compared to other places in Asia. The scenery, food and people are fantastic, and I don't think we're going to see enough in 3 or 4 weeks!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069665360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069665360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069665360/tpod.html Wed, 31 Dec 2003 02:22:58 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

If we paid a bit more attention to the good old Lonely Planet, we would have known that the tourist/surfing/sunshine season for Arugam Bay on Sri Lanka's east coast was well and truly over. Instead, with visions of seaside fun we headed all the way over there to find the beach overtaken with fishermen and their boats, nets, and shanty huts. It was overcast and raining, and we were the lone diners at the rooftop cafe that night - the loud techno music just didn't seem right at a dinner for two! We got to see wild elephants out in the rice paddies on our way there, so all was not lost!

The next day we headed all the way back to Kandy on three different buses, in time to catch the Australia vs England rugby final. 'The Pub' was the place to be, and was packed with mostly English and Sri Lankans, with about 4 or 5 of us Aussies, hoping so much that we'd be victorious! There was a beer sculling competition, and along with another couple and a Sri Lankan guy we were talked into participating. All fun and games - until we lost the rugby! We then ended up going on a mini Kandyan pub crawl with an Australian couple and an English couple we met, and then on to dinner which was a fun night.

The next morning we visited the botanic gardens just outside Kandy, which were amazing. There were gardens of every type under the sun, and some really unique trees, like a huge Javan fig tree with tangled roots everywhere that you could sit on, swing off or whatever! We later visited a Hindu temple back in town, and had dinner at the Olde Empire Hotel with friends made at the rugby final. We were really glad we returned to Kandy to see and experience more of what it had to offer..and not just the pubs!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069656600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069656600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizandsteve/asia_india/1069656600/tpod.html Wed, 31 Dec 2003 02:13:45 -0500 Liz and Steve's Asian odyssey 2003-4

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Ella, Sri Lanka

We headed south east from Kandy to see more of the beautiful hill country in Sri Lanka's interior. We stayed a night in the hill station town of Nuwara Eliya, but unfortunately it was really rainy so we didn't get to go an any walks. Regardless, the town had gorgeous British style houses and gardens in the area, and there were many waterfalls dotting the tea plantation covered hills.

From there we caught the train to Ella which was a great trip - there were really nice Sri Lankan families with cute kids, and we saw really beautiful scenery (including lots of waterfalls!). Ella itself is gorgeous, it's a fairly small village and the main thing to do there is to go on walks. We're staying at Lizzie Villa Guesthouse in a section that's a family home with a few rooms for guests. It feels a bit intrusive at first staying in these places, but you get to sample home cooking, and it's a really friendly, relaxing atmosphere. There are fruit trees and spice gardens surrounging the house which is an added bonus.

Yesterday we walked to Ella Rock, a huge rock faced mountain with views looking down on villages, hills, and tea plantations. We got a bit lost at first and ended up in a tomato farm and a few peoples backyards (!) and then ended up going up the really hard way. It took about 2 hours to reach the top but the amazing view of the whole area made the hard slog well worth it. We didn't realise the area was leech infested until we met a guy at the top with blood dripping down his legs, thankfully we didn't get any on us but now we know to look out for them!

This morning we walked the opposite way out of town to a hilltop called Little Adam's Peak. It was a much easier walk but was also very beautiful. Tomorrow we're leaving the mountains behind and heading to the east coast to Arugam Bay...
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