Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Dan&LJ RTW
First of all, the good news is that we have now booked all of our remaining train journeys in India, unfortunately this 'simple' task took an entire afternoon to plan around FIFA and James Bond - the Octop**** film location.....all I (LJ) can say is THANK GOODNESS Star Wars wasn't filmed here!!!! On the flip side, we still have the majority of the Bond franchise locations to explore over the next 11months, and don't even get me started on Lord of the Rings!
CHENNAI (MADRAS)
We had just arrived in Chennai when we last updated, which seems to us now like an eternity ago. In the end we didn't get to see an awful lot of the city due to LJ's first introduction to the monster they have named 'Delhi belly'. Most of our time was spent searching the city for western food, a search which initially proved fruitless until an afternoon trip to a shopping centre revealed, like a Phoenix from the ashes, a well known sight........"they've got a bloody Subway!" Needless to say our entire budget for the day was spent on 2 footlongs with extra meat. Our first meal in weeks not to come with rice or naan bread, just what the doctor ordered.
So the next day, feeling back to full fitness, we boarded our government run half day sightseeing tour bus for a whistle stop tour of the cities main sights. This was, in truth a bit of a disappointment, not least because of the ridiculous 2-tier entry fee system implemented by the Indian government at certain attractions. Non Indian visitors to said attractions are charged up to 25 times the amount that Indian citizens have to pay. As our bus was full of 'Indian Citizens' upon arrival at each destination, we were sent separately to queue for our extortionately priced tickets, while our co-sightseers waltzed in FOC. Another example of how we are exploited for cash because of the colour of our skin. If this system was introduced back home there would be certain bloodshed. The whole situation made us feel repressed. Further to this we also visited a temple, where as Non-Hindus we were promptly escorted off the premises and instead had to endure sitting on the bus waiting for our fellow sightseers whilst being aggravated by the bus drivers 2 undisciplined children (Dan actually has bruises).
So a draining and un-fulfilling day, never mind, at least we only opted for the half day tour.
BANGALORE
Just a stop off point really on our inland journey to Hampi and we hoped after the past few previous days exhaustions that we would be able to relax.
"Back of the Net", this place is exactly what we had hoped for, not Indian at all. Very clean, more orderly traffic and a park. Easily the most westernised place we have visited so far in India. Of course this isn't why we're traveling the world, but every so often home comforts are welcomed and Bangalore couldn't have arrived any sooner.
Basically we managed to fully recharge our batteries, relax and eat well. We even got to see our first Indian cricket stadium, something that Dan got incredibly excited about. Thankfully (for LJ) no game was being played, but we got to have a good look round anyway.
One slight hairy moment arose when LJ managed to lose her sunglasses (the only pair of prescription glasses currently in her possession after leaving her regular specs in the UK - as anyone who knows LJ, she is useless without the gigs!). The Gods were with us, and following a manic rickshaw race back through the city the glasses were lying on the top of the ATM where they had been left - very very lucky. Now Dan is asking at 5 minute intervals if the glasses are secure, something I'm sure will continue now until we get back to Mumbai where the regular glasses have arrived from the UK (massive thanks to Mrs. Raw for saving me with this one x).
HAMPI
We arrived very early on Wednesday (7/6) and realised immediately that we had messed up by only having time to spend 1 night here (FIFA's fault). This is the only place so far that we have found ourselves feeling quite spiritual. It's a real traveler's cliché we know, but it's the only way to describe the general feeling of the town.
The town of Hampi is basically a ruined city scattered around the most extraordinary landscape we have ever seen. Giant boulders perch precariously on hill sides as if they've been placed there purposely by hand, it feels as if you're walking around in Bedrock. A sacred river runs alongside the main town where elephants bathe alongside hundreds of villagers washing their clothes or just taking a dip - it's fabulous. As far as Indian history goes, Hampi captured our imagination much more than any other place we've seen so far.
As we were incredibly short for time, we accepted a guided tour from a guy at our guest house which really helped and was good as we could see things at our own pace as opposed to the rush of the government bus tours. The young tour guide, in his customised private rickshaw complete with sound system, 'treated' us to a fabulous selection of Euro pop, including an incredible danced up remix version of the Neil Sedaka classic, Oh Carol! When asked if we liked the music we both politely nod our heads and sing along.
We really can't say enough nice things about Hampi, we could have easily stayed for an entire week, but our increasingly tight schedule meant that we had to very reluctantly move on again. This time our destination was the East coast town of Puri, which would be found at the end of a grueling 48 hours of rail travel.
PURI
So, eventually we arrived on Saturday afternoon and set out with 3 prime objectives;
1/ Find a room - check
2/ Find some food - check
3/ Find the football - hmmmm??!
The first 2 were completed efficiently, but the task of finding somewhere to watch the England game was more difficult than we anticipated. After asking at numerous hotels and restaurants we were directed to a tree/shrine on the roadside where a group of locals had a telly hooked up and ESPN ready - result. It was the most weird world cup experience of our lives, not really the atmosphere we're used to, but Dan got to see the match and also succeeded in getting absolutely leathered on the strongest lager known to man!
It goes without saying that the next day was a write off.
Today we have had a good full day, it commenced with the hiring of our mo-ped (the hawk) which has been great fun and has helped to explore more easily in the sweltering heat. We have the bike tomorrow as well and plan to travel up the coast to explore further.
Puri is great, if a little hot, and we are enjoying the laid back atmosphere that it offers. We have a room right on the beach and we can hear the sea from our beds, relaxation at it's finest. Only one more day here and then we proceed north to Calcutta where relaxation will be a lot more difficult to achieve.
We've uploaded some more pics, sorry about the ones that are the wrong way round. We have tried numerous times to edit, but so far have had no joy.
Will be in touch again soon with the next installment.
Lots of love,
Dan & LJ X
- comments