Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Sabai di from Laos and Namaste from India
4th - 13th January Tamil Nadu, India
My last week or so in India was fun... managed to get to the tip of the India - Kanyakumari which was pretty cool -dipped my big toe into where the 3 seas meet (Arabian, India and bay of bengal) didnt fancy swimming as pretty rough and full of rubbish!!! There was an amazing statue of a Tamil saint on an island out to sea - it was huge. Got a ferry out to it along with thousands of other tourists and Indian pilgrims. Its a cute little fishing village just unfortunately smells like a public toilet and full of plastic everywhere.
Next stop was Madurai - few hours north by train - famous for the Sri Meenakshi Temple - a maze of underground corridors, halls with amazingly carved pillars and beautifully carved and colourful temples. There was also an elephant and his mahout being very patient whilst people took photos. Oh and a temple full of hundreds of stalls all selling exactly the same very tacky plastic souvenirs!
Had my last South Indian thaali on a banana leaf - so tasty.
Had a day in Pondicherry (east coast Tamil Nadu) - very french colonial town full of french expats selling croissants, baguettes and steak! No cows here - what a surprise!
Couple days in Mamallapuram en route to Chennai - amazing place full of 7th and 8th century rock carvings and temples - beautiful and right by the sea with a clean beach - although too rough for swimming.
Last day in India in Chennai.
Felt very strange leaving India - after being here for 4 1/2 months and feel like just as i am starting to get my head around this crazy country its time to go.......
13th January - Chennai - Mumbai - Bangkok
Long flight - sat on tarmac at Chennai for 3 hours due to fog (fun n games!) arrived Bangkok late in the evening. Wow wow wow - what an amazing city - an absolute world apart from India! Its clean, organised, quiet(ish) no beeping of horns! and proper pavements! although it is full of westerners! cant all be good!
Had great couple days here wandering around the streets - full of street sellers selling everything from t-shirts, jewellery and massage to coconuts and strange looking meat on a stick!
Temples here are beautiful - am back here when Jen meets me in a few weeks so going to leave the sightseeing till then.
Over night Train up to Nong Khai - border of Laos - very comfy bed but freezing as ac on full blast (maybe not as cold as back home!!) and very loud as right by the end of the carriage and also lights on all night. Indian trains much quieter and darker - just not so clean!
In Vientiane at the mo in Laos - lovely quiet town - saw this place (in the pic) today - That Louang (buddist stupa) beautiful. Eceryone is so friendly and smily..its lovely. Off travelling around Laos then Cambodia then back to Thailand before heading home...
Hope everyone well xx
- comments