TravelStream™ news feed for member shelleypp on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/shelleypp en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:49:48 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205321820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205321820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205321820/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:49:48 -0400 Shelley & PP's Travels

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Kandy, Sri Lanka

So we arrived in Kandy via bus in some torrential rain and in the dark.  As we stepped off of the bus and into a foot of water at the side of the road, my flip flop was washed away in the fast flowing water never to be seen again, much to the amusement of the people watching from the shelter of their shop fronts, where we took cover.  After a crazy tuk tuk driver recommending an alternative place to stay (yes we still haven't learnt), we ended up at Prasanna Village Inn.  This actually turned out to be a nice little place, and the owner was pleasant although the second in command (Manuel - think Sri Lankan Faulty Towers) was not the greatest waiter in the world..... hovering while you tired to eat, playing with the other backgammon dice and wandering around with them in his hand, and generally hovering around every corner ready to jump out and assist you (or not).  By the end of the three nights I was ready to leave as he had really freaked me out on the last night... 'Madam' 'oooh Madam'... aaarrrggghhh!!!!!Anyway, Kandy was really nice.  Very pretty scenary and lots to do, so we took our Tuk Tuk driver (Sunil) up on his offer of a days tour, which turned into two days, in which we saw the main sites, tea and spice plantations, the elephant orphanage, lots of temples, tea museum, and the beautiful botantical gardens where we saw lots of huge fruit bats among the foliage. The Big Budda temple was great, and we were showed around by one of the monks there, who talked us through the temple and its history including the tree in the grounds grown from a cutting from the original Bohdi tree that Buddah found enlightenment.  We were both blessed and exchanged emails!  We decided (were persuaded, after lunch in the lions den of Sunil's house) to take our Tuk Tuk with Sunil to Nuwara Elia to head to Worlds End (a high plateaux) where you can see some great views over the plains below at sunrise.  Unfortunately due to some terrible weather we couldn't go up there that morning and so also missed out on the planned trip to Adam's Peak (a mountain with a temple on top, which covers Buddha's foot print).  So we instead headed to Ratnapura after Sunil trying to rip us off (of course), and stayed there for a night.  We stayed at Ratna Gem Halt, which had spectacular views for miles and served a mean Jack Fruit seed curry.  The next day we bused it to Hikkaduwa for a bit of beach life before we have to head back to the UK.....Hope all is well back homeShelley and Mike(sorry this is a real rush job!!)xxxx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205292900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205292900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205292900/tpod.html Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:58:17 -0400 Shelley & PP's Travels

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Colombo, Sri Lanka

So we finally arrived in Sri Lanka, after another day spent travelling, from Mumbai to Chennai, arriving with just enough time to make the flight to Colombo.  But problems with our ticket, that we hadn't actually been assigned seats although we had paid for them, and the plane already full, resulted in being upgraded to Business Class.  Excellent, and a first for me and Mike.  The leg room is great, the food ok, but I have to say it wasn't service with a smile, in fact the stewardess was genarally pretty pissed off if you asked her for anything, so much for Sri Lanka airlines Business Class (although we couldn't help but notice how much more helpful she was to the other - more aptly placed passengers).Shame we could only enjoy the luxury of in flight leg room for an hour or so, but we had arrived at our next destination, Sri Lanka.  Arriving in the evening, we opted to book a hotel room earlier in the day, so as to be sure of a place to stay on arrival.  The taxi was easy enough, and super helpful.  Lots of army and police presence on the way to the hotel, three stop and checks in the hour long journey into the city.  The hotel was nice, very comfy beds, soft pillows (two each), good TV reception, BBC world and news, and the cleanest bathroom we have seen on the trip (a seperate shower cubicule being a real luxury- rather than the wet room/toilet that you get in most places)....The following day we headed to the Indian High Commision to get a transit visa so we can get back into India for a night to get our flight home.  After some tooing and froing (due to inaccurate information from our Tuk Tuk driver) we found the right place (the VFS) to apply for our visa.  All in all it didn't take very long, about 45mins wait and form filling.  Assuring them they could contact me on the number we had given them, we should expect a call on Monday (now Wednesday, and no call).  We decided to head straight out of Colombo to Kandy in the Hill country, as we will be spending the last night in Sri Lanka in Colombo for Mike's birthday on the 25th.  After assuring our Tuk Tuk driver we didn't want a tour, and getting ripped off for the cost of his services that morning we headed by bus to Kandy - 6 countries in and we still haven't found a Tuk Tuk driver we can trust!Hope all is well back home, Shelley and Mikexxxx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205144640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205144640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1205144640/tpod.html Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:43:33 -0400 Shelley & PP's Travels

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Mumbai (Bombay), India

The taxi fare from Palolem to the airport in Goa was pretty steep, but got us there on time. After having to faff around wth some tight airport security, and pretty much having to empty my bag out in th terminal so they could see the chargers and camera stuck deep down in my bag, we boarded th Air Indigo flight to Mumbai, which was short and sweet.After checking in to a hotel recommened by some other travellers we met in Palolem, we went for a walk around the sights of Colaba where we were staying, just behind the grand Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Unfortunately the Gateway to India was covered in scaffolding, and surrounded by men selling huge phallic balloons with the call, 'Want a big one, sir?'. After briefly loosing my rag wth a group of boys (in India, that means any male from age 8 to 80) taking pictures of Shell wth their camera phones and flipping them the bird asking if they'd like a picture of that, we headed off for a bit of culture at the Museum of Modern Art, where there was a great selection of photographic exhibitions. First and foremost was the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition which was brilliant, followed by local photographers original work, all of which inspired Shell to get out here with her camera and get some great shots of Mumbai.That evening, we decided to head to the cinema and have a relaxing couple of hours in front of the big screen. The Regal cinema was definietly nothing like the Siam Centre in Bangkok, more a quaint little cinema. The film was 10,000 BC, which I'm glad we saw - it's good to see a truly terrible film every now and again, they make you appreciate the good ones even more. Avoid it. It was made even more jarring by having the trailers in an interval in the middle of the film.The next day, we headed back to the airport, to catch our flight to Chennai and then on to our next destination, Sri Lanka. We were a little worried after the recent news reports of bombings and general trouble with the Tamil Tigers, but it was a necessity, as we were on the last day of our Indian Visa, and didn't realy want to confirm reports about outsyating your Indian Visa and prison food...So next stop Colombo, after a brief (very brief...) stop back in Chennai.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1204317600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1204317600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1204317600/tpod.html Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:25:10 -0400 Shelley & PP's Travels

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Hampi, India

Arrived in Hampi via the Paulo Bus company, 'holiday makers' as the slogan reads, more like 'holiday breakers'....The Paulo bus arrived looking like it had just come from a bus banger racing tournament, dented and scratched down both sides, and also pretty grotty inside.  After being shown to our coffin sized compartment we would (try to) sleep in for the night, our bags were shoved on the floor along the gang way with everyone else's so as more people boarded they had to climb and step over and on them to get to there equally small bed space.  After realising that this whole thing was quiet claustraphobic, head hanging out of the window to try and feel a little openness and get some air, we were off, break neck speed as usual, in hysterics at our predicament.... We arrived at Hampi around 9am after a few hours sleep here and there, to be greeted by a huge group of autorickshaw drivers, fighting (literally a bit of a scuffle between two of them), to get your attention and business.  After fighting our way off of the bus and finding a driver, we arrived at 'Rocky's Guesthouse'.  The central Bizzarre is the market part of the town and is very pretty, lots of little narrow allies and streets, with the back drop of the temple ruins and huge boulders.  The place had a nice chilled atmosphere with lots of cafes, and restaurants with comfy cushions where you can relax and escape the midday sun.Hampi is a small town in a valley surrounded by both disused and active temples and ruins of a once powerful and wealthy Indian era.  There are huge boulders, at times that defiy gravity, resting all over the valley, mythologically said to have been thrown down by the monkey gods in a show of power and strength.  Some of the temple ruins have been quite badly damaged over many years of invasions and power struggles, leaving a mixture of still intact and barely standing structures.  They are spread over a large area, so after a convincing sales patter from our driver, decided to take his 'tour' for an afternoon and a morning.  He was actually pretty good, and although he wasn't an offical guide, gave us some intresting snippets of historical information.  We met a group travelling together (Boo, Dan, Nick and Joana) at a riverside resaurant and together went to see a local wedding that was in full swing outside the central and active temple in the town bizzarre.  There were hundreds of guests sat in chairs facing the bride and groom who were sat throwns on a stage in front of the temple.  The bride did not look happy at all, if fact she looked pretty sour faced, and the groom, spent alot of time on his mobile phone, while the male guests and children danced crazily at the front of the stage.  There was kareoke and an impressive but seriously dangerous fire work display which seemed to come from the middle of the crowd. The huge explosions drew obligatory 'oohs' and 'aahs', but also rained embers down onto the crowd below, and of course the children were given the spent fireworks to play with, banging them on the ground just to make sure there wasn't a trace of gunpower left in them!!! Our group were pretty concerned, but the parents seemed to think these were appropriate play things....The following day we met up for lunch at the lovely Mango Tree restaurant, that is reached by walking through a banana plantation along the river, a beautiful spot, with delicious Thaili's for lunch.  That afternoon, as it was a celebration of Shiva, bang lassi was the drink of the day, needless to say we didn't make it out for dinner that night...!The following day we headed again via Paulo to Goa and Palelom Beach.Roll on Beach Life!!Love fromShelley and Mikexx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1204543380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1204543380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1204543380/tpod.html Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:15:36 -0400 Shelley & PP's Travels

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Palolem, India

After a quiet afternoon, catching up with Dan an Boo (apologising for missing dinner the night before...) and saying our farewells, we prepared ourselves for the journey back to the coast to the beach resort of Palolem, apparently the best beach life you'll find in India. We were again lumped with a Paulo Travels bus having been just too late in booking the Island Tours bus. As we approached the bus by Tuk Tuk, from a distance it didn't look too bad, which was a relief after the nightmare of a journey from Gokarna. However, as we rolled passed the side, we realised that it seemed to be the bus that came off worst in the Paulo Travels demolition derby... our previous bus being the victor... At least this time we were prepared for the 12 or so hours of being stuck on what can only be described as the bastard child of a tumble dryer, a coffin and a rocket, not the best of combinations for something you're meant to get some well earned rest on. Ah well, we've got the beach to look forward to and that makes up for it.Not wanting to be stuck in a claustrophobic little coffin as last time, we opted fo the lower berth, which are fully reclining seats (in theory). Mine wouldn't stay down, whereas Shell's wouldn't actually stay up, great start... After a bit of pushing and shoving, we managed to get both of them down, and we bounced off in the direction of the coast, on one of the bumpiest roads we'd come across. A few bumps later, we also found out that they weren't just any old seats. Oh no, we were the lucky ones you see, we'd got the extra-special (and at no extra cost) ejector seats. A small bump, and we were propelled upwards, a large bump and we actaully hit the bottom of the berth above. Comical for about 10 seconds, then when we realised that we were in serious danger of ending up in the Hospital, and not on the beach. If you find yourself in the same predicament, just sleep the other way around, with your head at the feet end, and it's just your legs that get trown about.Eleven hours later, and after a few hours sleep (which is more than I can say for the trip there) we arrived at Chaudi, just a short Tuk Tuk ride away from Palolem beach, at around 4:30 in the morning... Thankfully we were able to share a ride with a group who had been here before and we ended up in the 24 hour bar on the beach. Still dark, and groggy from the lack of sleep, we sat supping water until we decided that we'd arrived, and all we had to do tday was find somewhere to sleep, sleep, and maybe eat something. So we decided that we should really be drinking beer, after all we WERE in 'Cocktail and Dreams'. Thankfully the midget Cruise was no where to be seen. A few beers later, and after an incident with Fran (one of the group we'd joined) and his infected finger (two holes, one gammy pussy clot...), the sun began to rise and we could see our surroundings a little bit better. Soon it was time to walk up the beach, a little pissed and very tired. Finding a place to stay wasn't hard though, and we fell in to our beachside bungalow, and relaxed, we were finally here!Palolem is a nice stretch of sand, more built up than Gokarna, but with a bit more life to it (not to mention 24 hour bars, which is strange after being in dry states where you have to hide your beer bottle under the table). Theres a fair selection of good restaurants, and it was great to tuck in to some fish again, which was strangely lacking in Gokarna. Not quite the catch that we saw down in Varkala, where every restaurant had it's own 6ft Merlin and array of fresh fish EVERY night we were there. The north end of the beach where we were staying was a bit quieter, but still only a few minutes walk from the main road with the Internet and obligatory market stalls.We made the most of our time here relaxing and topping up our tans, playing in the see, and avoiding the cow dung that inevitably covers the white sands with pock marks of brown and black. We did manage to get to one of the Silent Noise parties at the south end of the beach on our final night. DJ's and music until 11pm, and then because of the new laws on noise pollution, at 11, you get a pair of headphones and tune in to one of two channels. A wierd experence that took a little getting used too.  Met a sound group of people (Dan, Stuart, Iris and Hannah), and danced the night away.  Missed the flight the next day, so we lost a day in Mumbai, which after everything wasn't too bad. At least it meant we had one more day in the sun :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1203688620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1203688620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1203688620/tpod.html Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:15:57 -0500 Shelley & PP's Travels

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Gokarna, India

So last time we left it we were heading to the Wayanad Wildlife Reserve.  Our jeep arrived and after a lot of faffing with forms etc (as usual) we had our 'tracker' and headed into the reserve.  We saw some of the working elephants as we entered, a wild boar, two types of deer, some Languar monkey's, and the endangered flying squirrel, but unfortunately no wild elephants.  From there we headed to breakfast and then onto Edakkal Caves, which were quite a climb but well worth it, with fantastic views into the three states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.  There were also so impressive carvings on the walls from around 3000 years ago, which the friendly and super smiley guide briefly talked us through.  From the hike up the hills and boulders we were ready for a break so headed back to meet our driver, who took us for lunch and tour of a local tea, coffee and spice plantation.  The plantation was beautiful, the guest houses the nicest we have seen on the trip and the staff super helpful.  On arrival we were greeted by the owner, who gave us a low down on the overall plantation and our itinerary, a guide to show us around the grounds, lunch and then a guide to take us to the waterfall.  Unfortunately our first guide didn't show so we had a wander around ourselves before lunch.  We didn't go to the waterfall, as he categorically told us not to without our guide, thinking maybe it's a bit tricky to find or perhaps its a long way etc.  We actually ended up with two guides, one of whom also had a length of rope with him, perhaps for something other than our little excursion to the waterfall; nope.  So a bit of a slope down to the first waterfall, fine and a pretty sight at the bottom. Then onto the next one, the first guide starts to tie the rope to a tree and we clamber (practically abseil) down this steep slope, in the jungle, with our other guide (our waiter from lunch still wearing his trousers and shoes) guiding us down with a little rope at a time.  The waterfall was well worth it, the nicest we have seen yet, however the climb up was pretty brutal, the dense jungle is super hot, Peeps was even sweating at the knees...Due to a transport strike across all of Kerala, we headed into nearby Karnataka that night by bus. On the way out of town we finally saw wild elephants, a small family in the woods near to the road.  Another manic bus journey, on the back seat which we both lifted off at least a couple of times by about 2ft. We spent a day and a half in Mysore, and took in the main sights, as well as treated ourselves to decent-ish accommodation for the night - ideally comfy pillows, hot water and no mosquitoes... From Mysore we decided to take the super super deluxe bus to Mangalore, as it was an 8 hour journey and I don't think my back or nerves could take the government bus for that long.  We spent the morning in Mangalore then caught the train to Gokarna.  Overall a pretty painless journey considering the distance covered.  Gokarna is a beach town in the north of Karnataka.  We are staying on Om beach in some basic but nice enough huts on the hill side.  The beach is lovely, the atmosphere is super chilled and everyone is friendly and relaxed.  We have spent the last three days, reading and relaxing on the beach and topping up the tans.  The sea has pretty strong currents and can have quite big waves, and apparently a family of dolphins often come and play by the rocks at the edge of the bay, although we have yet to see them.  Yesterday Mike was a real hero, with a baywatch moment on Om beach temporarily breaking the serenity.  A group of local lads were out swimming when one got into trouble, caught up in the currents and flailing in the sea, his friends shouting for help.  Mike swam out and supported him until another tourist; Sylvan from Canada, came and helped Mike to get the lad out of the currents and waves.  The lad was pretty shaken up but was okay.  Mike was a bit of a local hero, with the whole family thanking him, shaking his hand and taking pictures of the group.  We were introduced to the whole family by name and relationship, there was a flurry of picture taking with Mike, Sylvan and the family, before the lad thanked them for saving his life!!! What a hero. David Hasselhoff eat your heart out!So thats us up to date again, its been a relatively chilled day, in fact super chilled, reading, relaxing and a spot of swimming.  Think we are going to do the same tomorrow, then think about heading up to Goa to Palelom beach in the next few days....Hope all is well back home, lots of loveShelley and Mikexx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1203105120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1203105120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1203105120/tpod.html Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:52:17 -0500 Shelley & PP's Travels

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Ootacamund, India

Another afternoon with nothing planned, so one more hit of the blog just to get everything up to date, and it's hot outside so it's nice to be somewhere cool for an hour or so...After our trip to the back waters finished earlier than we thought, and our huge tip had gone almost unnoticed by our cook - it was 2 nights acommodation for us and he didn't even blink an eye... we decided to carry on up the coast to Fort Cochin, our stop off point before heading back in to Tamil Nadu, and up to Ooty, a hill station and former British retreat.A pretty painless bus journey meant we arrived at around noon, checked in to a hotel near the ferry port in Ernakulam, one of the districts of Kochi. Based by the sea, Kochi consists of Ernakulam on the mainland, Willourghby(sp?) Island and Fort Cochin, another island just 15 minutes away on the ferry, which costs about 3p. We spent the afternoon doing some actual sight-seeing for a change (after some exceedingly good cakes from a bakery on the way to the centre). Fort Cochin has the oldest church in India, St Francis Church, built around 1500 and renevated a few times since then, so it's still in pretty good shape. There's also Santa Cruz Basilica, which was closed for lunch when we passed by. Down to the harbour and we walked passed the large cantilever fishing nets which are used at high tide to catch shrimp. Unfortunately high tide was at 11am the next morning, and we were heading off for Ooty, so we didn't have a chance to see them in action although we did see some dolphins playing around in the bay while we had a drink.To emphasise the fact we were taking in some culture for a change, we went in search of the Kerala Kathakali Centre to try and book some tickets for the 'theatre' later on that evening. Having found it, we saw that there was a traditional Indian martial arts demonstration for an hour, so we figured, bring it on, the more cutlure the merrier :) apparently founded over 5000 years ago, it (and I'm afraid it'll have to remain 'it', I haven't got the flyer on me to tell you what it was actually called...) was the original martial art. Four young guys aged about 10 - 25 each came on to the stage, showing warm up techniques, blocks, attacks, holds etc to a crowd of about 7 people. From the second row, it all seemed pretty dangerous and frighteningly real from the expression on their faces when they were being bent over backwards in a double handed no release hold that could break your arms and knees in several places. Next came the weapon fights, bamboo sticks, knives, and swords, again, all pretty hairy stuff when you see it close up with the sparks flying over your head. None of it really prepared us for the finale though, when the trainer produced a 2m long weapons made up of a few razor sharp metal strips (that they had to have a police license for). It was pretty terrifying when he started to spin it around as fast as he could, over the heads of the audience, we'll have to put the video up on Facebook so you can experience it for yourselves. The original weapon used to be 3m long and have 4 blades, and if you had 25 men charging you from all angles, this would be your weapon of choice. Sorry Pryce, they wouldn't let us have one, but I'm sure you'll be able to get one off eBay. Oh, and Shelley's just informed me that 'it' is Kalarippayat.We followed the matial arts with a drink next door just to clam down, and then we wer back in the same place to see a Kathakali performance, which is an elaborate 'silent' theatre with just music, facial expression and gesture to tell the tales from the famous Ramayana. All in all it was pretty silent, apart from the actor who played Shiva disgused as a forest hunter who made Punch and Judy noises. The costumes and make up are all part of the spectacle and are really impressive. The make-up itself takes about an hour and a half which you can watch before the show. We saw just one part of one of the stories, and it went on for about 2 1/2 hours, which when you're sat on garden furniture in a boiling room, watching people flap around making silly faces going 'ooooooOOOooo ooooo' is about all you can take. The full renditions of the whole Ramayana can go on for over 9 hours, I think you get a medal for sitting through the whole piece.That pretty much wrapped up an entertaining (although painful in parts) day on Fort Cochin, and we caught the ferry back to Ernakulam, to get ready to head up to either Coimbatore or Mettupalayam the next day on the way to Ooty. We chose to get as far as we could in a day, so that we could catch the morning train up to Ooty at 7am. However, our 4 1/2 hour bus journey turned in to 6 hours, and the next 1 hour journey ended up being closer to 2 hours, so we finally arrived in Mettupalayam extremely knackered, and we managed to sleep through the alarm, and a hotel wake up call the next morning. We got the bus a couple of hours later, so all was not lost, it's still a very scenic route up through the hills, with lots of waterfalls and tea plantations on the way.Ooty (short for Ootacamund) is a very chilled hill station around 2000 meters up in the Nilgiri hills. There seems to be a much more sedate pace of life up there, a far cry from the cities of Tamil Nadu. We'd already decided to do a horse trek, so Fernhills Palace was our first port of call, where we could book for the next day. the place is filled with men hanging arond the bus stand with varios horses and ponies, but some of them looked a little worse for wear, so we wanted to use somewhere reputable, so that we knew the horses would be well looked after. The two we had ended up being former race horses, and our guide a race horse trainer (apparently...). After asking the day before that the guide was included in the price, we started off with the guide walking along beside us after leaving his pony behind... Turns out that although the guide IS included in the price, his pony isn't... that would be an extra 350 rupees for the 3 1/2 hour trek. Best case of 'read the small print' we've had since being away. Horse riding was excellent, the scenery around Ooty is a great mixture of rolling hills, forests, rivers and plantations, with a hint of the English countryside in there with gorse bushes and other flora and fauna introduced by the British. We passed through a number of Toda villages, with lots of smiles and waves from the locals along the way. We also managed a few trots and canters, which Shell loved, however, after we stopped for lunch I had to double check that everything was still present down below. However, we both felt the effects this morning, and the bus journey down the other side of the mountain on the most potholed and bumpiest road in India didn't really help with our saddle sore... The bus journey was a bit of an eye-opener as well, but not for Shell, she couldn't look out the front window for fear of seeing the driver take another blind corner on the wrong side of the road, while narrowly missing a heard of goats and their shephard. Who needs rollercoasters when you've got maniac government bus drivers and a fricking great big twisting mountain road to tear down, all for only 36 rupees each (about 50p), bargain!The torture bus left us here at Sultan Battery, where we are going to explore the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctury from tomorrow. We've hired a jeep and driver for the day, and will be packing in the sactury, some caves, a water fall, a mountain, some tea, coffee and spice plantations, and maybe some more Kathakali... or maybe not.Anyway, that's us up to date, and seeing as we're the only Westeners in the village, we're going to have a wander round to the amazement of the locals, and see if we can have a few staring matches while tring to find somewhere tohave a relaxing drink. I have a feeling we might end up back in our hotel room with Star Movies for an early night as we've got a 6am get up tomorrow. Take care, lots of lovePeeps and Shellxxx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1202763540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1202763540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shelleypp/abitofado07/1202763540/tpod.html Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:30:55 -0500 Shelley & PP's Travels

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Alleppey, Kerala, India

Actually got some time to update the blog in a bit more detail, well, as long as I can sit in front of this computer anyway... This blog is brought to you by the letter S. As in sunburn, spiders and save me!From the most southern tip of Kanyakumari, we stuck to our guns of using the bus over the train - you generally have to reserve your train tickets a day in advance and even after 3 months traveling, we're still really not THAT organised... Although there are certain things to remember about the buses. Sitting at the back can make for a bumpy ride, although the roads are usually pretty good, it only takes a couple of slams to the privates before it looses it's charm. If you can, dump your bags at the front of the bus and sit as near as you can to them - some buses reserve the front few rows for women only. Although the further forward you can get, the better, as it gives you front row seats to the constant game of 'chicken' that the buses play with each other, around blind corners, hills, wherever, as long as they've got the loudest horn, or the biggest screw loose, they seem to come out on top.And so started our trip up the west coast and in to Kerala, which we'd heard was going to be great. A bus up to Trivandrum, and then another up to Varkala saw us reach our first bit of real beach life in India :)Varkala is another sacred place for Hindus, but it's also a tourist hotspot, and after Tamil Nadu it was strange to see so many foreigners around the place. The main area for sun seekers is a strip of hotels and guest houses on a cliff top overlooking the long sandy beach - and the sand isn't the reddy brown we found on the east coast, it's actually closer to the white we'd become accustomed to/spoilt with in Thailand, despite it being totally black a couple of inches down. A short tuk tuk ride from the center of town where the bus stops, and we arrived at Kerala Bamboo House, which is a small cluster of bamboo cottages just off from the cliff, about 5 minutes walk from the beach. After setting our bags down and heading to the nearest bar, the cool beer, familiar faces, sea views and some decent music ( I think I am missing my stolen ipod as much as my stolen camera) and for the first time in nearly two weeks, we actually started to relax. A couple of beers and cocktails later and we were very relaxed, albeit absolutely knackered after the day on the bus. Although beer is legal, not many places have a license to sell it as the excise on it is so great. Apparently a large bottle of beer costs about 12 rupees, but excise means it's around 80 rupees to buy, although most places it costs between 100 and 140 rupees, which means it's a luxury as it can cost about the same as a meal for 2. Even though, at a glance about half the places on the cliff top have huge Kingfisher (the brand of beer you're most likely to find) posters and banners alongside their restaurant banners, you have to stick your bottle under the table and cover your glass with a napkin, if it's not being served to you in a teapot. The next few days were spent on the beach soaking up the sun, where I managed to burn my back about as much as I could have done, and I've been walking round with a flaky map of the world on there ever since. The weather was all in all pretty good for tanning (or in my case burning) on the beach, and in the evening temperatures would dip slightly and it would drizzle, which was a nice change from the sweltering nights we'd had so far. That was until the third night, when it poured down, and after a great pizza from Clafoutis Bakery, we headed back as normal, started readying ourselves for bed. Having brushed our teeth like good girls and boys, I turned to head out of the bathroom and noticed something by the door, or rather, edging round the door frame, and I think that after the whole ordeal, that is the vision that will stick with me the longest, sending shivers down my spine. Not wanting Shell to run headlong through the bathroom wall, I gently grabbed her arm and politely asked her to 'GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM, NOW! NOW!! JUST DO WHAT I SAY!!!' and with a gentle push she made it. The following orders for her to get under the mosquito net, close her eyes and stick her fingers in her ears were pretty well received and executed rapidly.I think it's fair to say that both myself and Shelley are terrible, terrible arachnophobics, and although I'd not seen the whole of what was lurking behind the door frame, or told Shell what the hell I was shouting orders at her for, it's safe to say that we both knew that it was either 'it' or us that would be staying the night in the bamboo hut. And my god 'it' turned out to be the biggest spider I ever, EVER want to see in my life, I would have taken a photo of it if I wasn't paralysed with fear for the first minute or so. After picking up my flip flop, and realising that it would probably chew through it making chuckling noises rather than be actually harmed by it, then on to my trainers, nope, not enough weight behind them, then finally, thank god for my walking boots, I thought I was well equipped to deal with the thing. I'd still not seen the whole of the beast, as I thought it was sitting in the cavity between the bathroom wall and the bedroom wall, just under the door frame, although it actually turned out that there was just one wall, and it was on the bedroom side, with just 2 legs sticking out waiting to be whacked... THUMP, nothing happened, didn't even flinch... THUMP, and out it came, up the door frame and underneath the shelves. That's about the time that I started feeling physically sick, it's strange what a phobia can do to you, I don't think I've ever had so much adrenaline running through my body, especially when I finally saw the whole thing in the torch light, and also how fast it could move...It was about the size of a saucer, about 12-15cm wide, and with an abdomen the size of a chunky tea spoon, and with dark grey  hairs that shone silver in the torch light. Although it was the size of a tarantula, it didn't have their nice lumbering motion, it was fast, Speedy Gonzalez fast, just without the 'arriba, arriba'. A bit more psyching myself up and whimpers from Shell and I aimed the heal of the walking boot at it again, THUMP, and it was gone, but not gone as in 'gone to a better place' but gone as in 'aaaaaaaargh, I don't know where it's gone, it could be anywhere' gone... I finally located it back in the bathroom behind the toilet, and by now, the size of it was some how absurd, you only get spiders that big in films don't you, I'm not actually having this one-on-one in the bathroom, isn't it all just a bad dream? After a quick count to five, the walking boot finally hit it's mark, and managed to spray spider gunk half way across the bathroom, thankfully none of it landed on me, or that probably would have scarred me for life. Thankfully the drain in the bathroom was just a hole in the ground, so it slipped down with the help of a bucket of water, and after filling the bucket and putting it over the drain, it was finally safe to hit the hay, even though I was still just a little bit jumpy.That little saga finished our days at Varkala, even though I managed to come out victorious, it hasn't cured my arachnophobia, although I know that anything I come across in the UK with eight legs is going to get laughed at. The next day we headed up to Alleppey, entrance to the Backwaters of Kerala, where we were going to hire a house boat for 24 hours, which had been recommended by a few people we've met along the way, and it definitely is worth doing. It's very expensive when you're on a budget, around $120 for 24 hours, meals included, but the scenery and serenity you have for the 24 hours is great. We also had a great cook, and felt like royalty floating around the canals and lake, being served drinks and food, while just soaking up the place. We moored up in the evening and watched the colours change, sipping a beer. Later on we went with our cook to a precession at the local temple which was great to see, and followed by a huge elephant with an elaborate head dress. The next day ended a little sooner than we'd expected, we were moored up just around the corner from where we started, not at the other side of the lake as we'd thought.Kerala so far has been excellent, it's a lot more relaxed than we found Tamil Nadu, and the scenery, especially around the backwaters is great, something not to be missed. That almost puts us back on track with the blog, just Fort Cochin and up here in Ooty to fill you in on, which I'm sure will come some time next week as we're heading in to the jungle tomorrow morning, for some trekking and jeep safari's, hopefully we'll be able to spot some wild elephants, and if we're really lucky, a tiger :)Lots of lovePeeps and Shellxxx
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Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India

It's been a while since the last blog entry, so it's hard to figure out where to start... although the logical place would be Pondicherry...After a few days chilling in Mamallapuram, we moved on to Pondicherry, a French-Indian settlement on the coast in Tamil Nadu, quaint place by the sea, where you could almost forget you were in India due to the architecture, cafes and relaxed atmosphere down on the promenade. Head to the bus stand, however, and you soon remember that you're in the middle of a manically busy country, where noise, dust, and the fragrant smell of human and animal pooh constantly bombard your senses. After a hugely disappointing wander around the 'botanical gardens' (read couple of nice trees and a contraption in a big concrete hole that was supposed to be something along the lines of a fountain... with no water, and a brilliant rose garden... with not one single rose) we decided to head down to Thanjavur to see one of India's best temples.After checking out of our hotel, and a quick ride to the bus stand and we found out there were two buses a day, either 4 in the afternoon or 4 in the morning... which didn't really fit in to our plan for moving on afterwards. On to the train station and things didn't get any better, no trains, but we could get a sleeper train down to Madurai which left at midnight from Villupuram, 40km to the west. As there's not a lot to do in Pondicherry, an extra day spent wandering from cafe to bar, reading our books dragged on somewhat as we whiled away the hours until our connecting train to Villupuram at 10pm. When 10pm finally came around and we waited at the train station. 10:15pm... 10:30pm... No train... We couldn't afford to miss the train down to Madurai as it would have cost us about 3 days budget holding up one more night in Pondi and our tickets were non-refundable, so we HAD to get to Villampuram. After a dicussion with the tuk tuk drivers outside, one said he could get us a taxi, even though it was about double what it should have cost, we had to agree. We bundled in to his tuk tuk, and sped off in to the night, at points I think we actually hit lightspeed, because it was all a bit of a blur, and I don't think I've ever seen Shell so scared (that is, up until then...) Luckily, we didn't have to hang on for dear life all the way, we were just being dropped off at the awaiting taxi (his mate's car) and then after setting off again, we stopped down the road to change drivers (his other mate who knew the way...) Thankfully we made it there with time to spare, and also in time to see the train we were waiting for in Pondi pull in to the platform opposite... After a sort of quick hobble/bounce down the platform (it's a bit difficult to run in flip flops with a 20kg rucksack on your back and a back back in your hand) we climbed aboard a train full of sleeping passengers, made it to our top bunks and then lay there for the next 5 hours, never really falling asleep.We arrived at Madurai just before 6am, and headed for the first place in the book. Thankfully most places in the cities have 24 hour check in/out. We stayed at the Supreme Hotel, although unfortunately it didnt live up to it's name, unless Supreme is Tamil for 'theres another cockroach', or 'its a good job we always remember to lock the doors because the staff don't knock'. Not recommended. Madurai itself is a big bustling city, with another massive temple in the centre, with garishy ornate gateway towers about 60m tall. The temples are bizarre structures, like Disney meets Chucky meets Religion. After the psychadelia of the temple, we browsed the Ghandi museum, which was an interesting account of the British invasion and subsequent struggle for independence. Really worth the visit.We spent pretty much all of Sunday in our room with a slight feeling of, 'we're not in South-East Asia any more, Dorethy...'. It was quite a culture shock coming from the cool climate of Vietnam, and the smiling faces of Sapa and Hanoi, to the heat, humidity, and general starey disposition of people in Madurai. It's a real attack on the senses and although it's been just over a week since we arrived, it's been amazingly tiring. Just a matter of acclimatisation though.Next, on to the most southerly tip of India, Kanyakumari, which turned out to be a pretty painful 6 hour bus journey through the sweltering heat. Oh, and if you ever pass through Madurai bus station and a small Indian man who looks destinctively like Joe Pesci trys to help you, just tell him you can manage yourself. You'll save yourself a lot of bother arguing over the exorbitant rates they want you to pay for a 'super-deluxe' bus, which is actually one of the state buses, and the extra 40 rupees he wants for you to put your bags on board, which is free... And don't give his fat friend anything for showing you the way/following Joe Pesci. He's clearly not starving despite the hand to mouth food gestures. Thankfully the bus didn't have a TV, hooray, although it did have a CD player, boo, which managed to blear out music for pretty much all of the 6 hours. I could also have done without being almost man handled off the bus by the conductor while I was waiting for two pensoiners to carry their bags off the bus. One thingh I've found so far is I've met some of the friendliest people here in India when you get the feeling you've been mistaken for a film star, and also some of the most amazingly rude people who you're pretty sure want to rip off your head and spit down your neck - mainly found on buses and working in restaurants.Kanyakumari is pretty much a destination if you're a devoute Hindu on pilgrimage, or just want to say you've been to the tip of India, although we also ended up there because the bus times seeme dto be a bit more palatable for heading up to Varkala, our beach stop off in Kerala...More to come when time permits,.Hope everyone is well, love to all.Peeps and Shellxxx
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Mamallapuram, India

So here we are, what was supposed to be the last leg of our trip - although that isn't the case anymore after our Visa complications - in the sweltering heat of India! We left the cold and damp of Hanoi with a strange sense that we were going home, however, after our stop off at Kuala Lumpur (surely one of the nicest airports in the world) and boarding the plane to Chennai, we were reminded that we weren't heading back to the big smoke, but onwards to the land of masalas and chipatis. The plane ride was like a three hour stint in kindergarten, filled with rawkous Indian men, who's attention was held mainly by the female air stewards, with constant staring and covert (although not all that covert) picture taking. We took this as a small introduction to the way of life we'd be experiencing over the next 6 1/2 weeks.After landing late in Chennai (Madras) we found a cash point, which brought us our 6th curreny conversion rate to deal with, at least this time without the obligatory 000's, and another trip back to primary school to try and remember our 7 times tables. After a hectic taxi ride in the brilliant Ambassador taxi, we plotted down in Paraside Hotel down the back streets of Chennai, which didn't really resemble paradise, but did have the most friendly porter in the world who made us feel at home before we drifted off to sleep as it was around 2:30am Vietnam time.After a short walk to the local shopping plaza the next day and Shell's first trip to a Subway for a aloo patty sub (yes, our first meal in India was a Subway sandwich - softly, softly, catchy monkey, or Delhi belly as will probably be the case) we decided that we'd had enough of city life after the last few weeks and would head down the coast to the beach resort of Mamallapuram, a town renound for it's stone carving. Not quite ready to brave the public buses, we hired a taxi to get us down, which on reflection was the best thing we could have done. We passed numerous packed buses on the way, and found Mamallapuram mobbed by local visitors, as it was a public holiday and the last day of a dance festival held here every year. Thankfully the taxi driver had a 'friend' with rooms available, and as we were born yesterday, we agreed to take it without looking around.We've spent the last couple of days seeing the sights of Mamallapuram (or Great Warrior Town), which consist of a 1400 year old shore temple, and a park area with huge bas reliefs carved in to the rocks and a huge gravity defying rock called Krishna's Butter Ball (there'll be pictures on Facebook) and some other huge monolith temple structures carved out of single mounds of rocks.First impressions of India are brilliant. The people are amazingly friendly, and we've been stopped loads of times by people just wanting to say hello and shake our hands. It takes a bit of getting used to at first, as does the staring. Shell, being the beautiful, blonde, blue eyed girl that she is, draws a lot of male interest, which includes general staring and the odd covert picture being taken by adolescent men (and men who should be old enough to know better.) Although so far, I'm doing a pretty good job of jumping infront of the camera and pulling stupid faces, which is a perk as far as I'm concerned :)The climate is very different to what we've been used to in Vietnam for the past two weeks, reaching about 35 degrees in the midday sun, which we always seem to be trapsing about in. Although it's nice being by the sea as the breeze makes a big difference.And last but not least, the food. After an amazingly dissapointing curry on the first day here in Nautilous (I'm sure it does great western food, but it was the most bland curry I've ever tasted) we've had some great dhal's, aloo gobi masala's, biriyani's, chipati's... the list goes on even after just 4 days :) We're back to our $30 dollar a day budget each including all accommodation, food and transport, and things aren't as cheap as we'd expected, but last night we treated ourselves with two of the biggest prawns we'd ever seen for about $11. They were about the size of a lobster, and absolutely delicious. Some of the best food we've had, and it's at The New Cafe within our hotel complex, so nice and close to roll home after stuffing our faces with some great Indian food (and not so much booze from now on, it's about $3 a bottle, so no more than one a night!)Tomorrow we're going to try and head to Pondicherry, a French-Indian settlement just south of here, were we've heard there's some of the best food in southern India... we shall see about that :). Hope this finds you all well.Hope you have a great birthday Dominic, hope you have fun, lots of love. Peeps and Shellxxx
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