Darjeeling to Siliguri - 3 hrs (shared jeep)
Siliguri to Kakarbatti (nepal border) - 1 hr (shared jeep)
2100 rupees for one month visa - took 3 mins over the counter.
(took longer and had to fill in more forms to Leave India)
Kakarbatti to Kathmandu - local bus - 17 hrs and the reclining seats do not recline.
5pm depart - 9/10am arrive. Blinding lighting electic storm and wild rain -made the journey a little more exciting. As did the 6 turned over cars, vans, lorries between dawn and arriving - some people were still crawling out of the cars. A warning to our super speedy driver ? ignored - but we did get there in one piece without a scrape.
Few stops for nepali Tali / pee / drop of the mountainous load of vegetables on the roof at market.
Inevitable 3 hr walk around looking for a hotel. Nicest one is Ganesh Himal - it was full. Thamel lots of less pricey places Freak Street - cheaper but also darker.
It was a day for people around me to fall asleep on my shoulder or be sick. euuuh
First impressions - Nepal is beautiful - way more countryside than buildings - very nice to see - same same but very differnt to India... No too much harassment. Super friendly and genuinely lovely pepole - especially the gate men at hotel Ganesh Himal for some reason..
Nepal to Tibet - is 900 dollars for 8 days - sooooooooooo would like to go but just dont have that sort a money.. Imagine Base Camp Everest also pricey - but I dont want to trek for 8 days anyway.
Friday, 16 April 2010
Sikkim West
4 hrs by shared jeep from Darjeeling to the border and onto Pelling, West Sikkim.
Permit - free in Darjeeling - from Sikkim Tourist office opposite Gleanery's bakery cafe. Need one photo and copy of passport and visa.
Shared Taxi costs about 100 rupees or little more. Two people sit in the driving seat. two more in the front row also. So 4 front. 4 middle and as many as possible in the back. Sometimes 4 5 or 6 on the roof with the luggage also. Indian style.
Pelling - small - mainly hotels, safe to walk alone to monasteries, villages.
I met people in Kabur hotel and Garuda hotel and we formed a 5some and walked from Pelling to Pechupari Lake (2hrs down 2000m and 4hrs up 2000m) It was beautiful through the forrests, to the river, wild orchids hanging from the trees, few birds and lots of ferns, villlaages etc. Find the shortcuts otherwise its a long crawl up the road. My shaky legs after the first 5 minutes managed the further 6 hours Just.
I was just about crawling when I arrived at the sacred lake. Momos and a cuppa helped get me up the final hill to a Homestay - very very simple sheds on top of a building. Shared bathroom. Chalet style dinner for all - vegetarian luckily and then straigt to bed. Too many moths somehow winged their way into my room attracted to the light bulb.
Next day potatoes and chapati breakfast filled us up before the 5 hrs hike to Yuksom. again down up, across, down, up up up up ahhhhh the stiffness, the legs - how will i ever make it - but somehow we arrived in Yuksom. Shared some noodles and crisps before finding the main part of the village and settleing in for full blown 2 / 3 hr feast. About 6pm we thought we ought to start looking for accommodation.
Again simple but clean 200 rupees per room - more expensive available also. Saw some working Yaks (but these were cross between Waterbuffalo and Yak's me thinks).
Walks worth it - same same so no need to keep walking - Jeep back will be fine for me.
Pelling - Porridge and Paratha 70 rupees
Haircut and Facial 300 ruppees only
Lost hotel key - tired legs walked up and down to look for it - eventually found it hanging in my hotel room door. Oopse.
Pelling to Gangtok - about 4 or 5 hours - Not worth it..
Trekking in North Sikkim I imagine would be amazing but its minimum cost is 1600 per day per person for min. 3 days ....
This is to not upset the Chinese.... Who's running Sikkim? Tibet is no longer marked on maps now either - it just says CHINA. in huge big capitals.
Back to Darjeeling to take the Steam Train.
Took bus to Ghum and the train was waiting at the station - what timing... I jumped on, sat down, got comfortable and then a ticket inspector - very smiling - asked what I was doing.. That every seat was booked in Darjeeling except one - guess that one was set aside for me. 120 Rupees only for 20 mins on steam train.
Off to Nepal
Permit - free in Darjeeling - from Sikkim Tourist office opposite Gleanery's bakery cafe. Need one photo and copy of passport and visa.
Shared Taxi costs about 100 rupees or little more. Two people sit in the driving seat. two more in the front row also. So 4 front. 4 middle and as many as possible in the back. Sometimes 4 5 or 6 on the roof with the luggage also. Indian style.
Pelling - small - mainly hotels, safe to walk alone to monasteries, villages.
I met people in Kabur hotel and Garuda hotel and we formed a 5some and walked from Pelling to Pechupari Lake (2hrs down 2000m and 4hrs up 2000m) It was beautiful through the forrests, to the river, wild orchids hanging from the trees, few birds and lots of ferns, villlaages etc. Find the shortcuts otherwise its a long crawl up the road. My shaky legs after the first 5 minutes managed the further 6 hours Just.
I was just about crawling when I arrived at the sacred lake. Momos and a cuppa helped get me up the final hill to a Homestay - very very simple sheds on top of a building. Shared bathroom. Chalet style dinner for all - vegetarian luckily and then straigt to bed. Too many moths somehow winged their way into my room attracted to the light bulb.
Next day potatoes and chapati breakfast filled us up before the 5 hrs hike to Yuksom. again down up, across, down, up up up up ahhhhh the stiffness, the legs - how will i ever make it - but somehow we arrived in Yuksom. Shared some noodles and crisps before finding the main part of the village and settleing in for full blown 2 / 3 hr feast. About 6pm we thought we ought to start looking for accommodation.
Again simple but clean 200 rupees per room - more expensive available also. Saw some working Yaks (but these were cross between Waterbuffalo and Yak's me thinks).
Walks worth it - same same so no need to keep walking - Jeep back will be fine for me.
Pelling - Porridge and Paratha 70 rupees
Haircut and Facial 300 ruppees only
Lost hotel key - tired legs walked up and down to look for it - eventually found it hanging in my hotel room door. Oopse.
Pelling to Gangtok - about 4 or 5 hours - Not worth it..
Trekking in North Sikkim I imagine would be amazing but its minimum cost is 1600 per day per person for min. 3 days ....
This is to not upset the Chinese.... Who's running Sikkim? Tibet is no longer marked on maps now either - it just says CHINA. in huge big capitals.
Back to Darjeeling to take the Steam Train.
Took bus to Ghum and the train was waiting at the station - what timing... I jumped on, sat down, got comfortable and then a ticket inspector - very smiling - asked what I was doing.. That every seat was booked in Darjeeling except one - guess that one was set aside for me. 120 Rupees only for 20 mins on steam train.
Off to Nepal
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Brr-jeeling
27 hrs from Delhi to Siliguri
3 hrs mad jeep ride up to Darjeeling
end of March 2010
Not worth it - Mists, cold wild winds, no trees left - just concrete buildings, roads, pollution enormous, cold hotels, bit grotty... But at least no mosquitos. Cant say if bed bugs yet..But if you have money its probably worth staying in the pricey hotels with gardens. Some hotels have fires in the bedrooms for extra rupees.
The tibetan Momo's and soups are delicious and although the cheap accommodation is grotty the streets and hills are relatively lacking rubbish. No Indians pissing in the streets and remarkable millions fewer people spitting.
I haev no interest in Tea or Coffee and there's very little herbal tea here - a few organics white and Green are the only options. and only in certain tea shops for the same price as in the UK. Also if you've seen enough Tibetan Temples and dont need to hike around looking at these there's not much else to do but shop - in upper Darjeeling the market is more expensive than the lower Chowk, shops are hard to bargain with and there are loads of fake mountaineering things.
Dong Cheng Ding Dong mountain only showed a centimeter of twin peaks once in the whole week I was there - tho through very hazy mist.
Decided to head to Sikkim before I turned into a momo.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Brindavin
Brindavin is everything... I feel like im in the capitl spiritual city. everyone greets you with Hari Krishner, Hari Bol, Radhe Radhe - shopkeepers, beggers alike. -
Its like a tiny version of Varanasi but cleaner and less people - but there are very smelly areas - sadly along the road by the yamuna , which has been excavated - badly for a bridge - which is being fought by thelocals - if they kept the noisy cars and vehicals away it would be a really special place. There are over 4000 temples here not sure if all worship Krisna but I guess so. There are thousands of monkeys - you cant wear sunglasses or walk around with a plastic bag as they'll swip them. constantly see them with a sandal or a hat...
Revenge for the humans stealing their jungle.
So i'm staying in a very beauiful ashram / temple opposite the Yamuna - its like a palace but its freezing cold inside. i'm going to stay until Thursday when i meet the Pope of Krishna consciousnesss (he's 90) - Guru Dev.
I eat in the ashram but i'm permanently starving - breakfast is sweet so have to go without -andthere are no cafes near by - only street carts with deep fried goodies - but not good for my stomach. Its super hot outside and so many flies. and everyone wears sarees including the westerners - I cant believe I bought so many sarees in Mysore and didnt keep one whole one..
You cant wear sunglasses, hats or carry plastic bags around (let alone food) - the monkeys steal it - Its like being initiated into Brindavin - which I feel I now have been as I was stolen from by a naughty monkey who mustve been watching me buy my lotus snack - he followed me two steps out of the shop then snatched my carrier bag. Now i hide my goodies, get blinded by the sun and wear a scarf over my head for the heat. Ysteray I saw two people have their glasses taken by the monkeys - they have to buy biscuits or fruit and throw it to the monkeys who run around so excited - eventually they throw the glasses back.. its v funny but not ifyou cant see to get yr glasses back. !
THere was a time when the really handsome men all turned gay - now they're Bramacharyas - basically Krishna Monks. Travelling around the world preaching as single men (they're not all handsome but one or two are but it writes better that way).
Also now the next development in India to beat Terrorism is that you have to have ID to use the internet in a cafe!. what next.
I'm doing my divine service at the ashram today I assisted in the kitchen - which is great - cooking with the indians - we made parathas (stuffed chapatis with potato) but so many things were being cooked i've not quite got the recipe - few more times will be great. and i you dont have to wash up if you do the prep. we even have naughty monkeys sneaking into the shram and creating havoc - one walked up to us eating lunch on the floor and stole a paratha off someone's dish...
I was walking around the streets yesterday after going to the ATM (took 3 days to get some cash as they were always empty) I must have asked so many people the way and they all gave a different direction sending me round and round in cirles . 3x i walked past the same woman sitting outside her house. Eventually i had to ask Krishna to guide me and finally i walked down the right road - i was only 2 mins away from where I needed to be ! pah.
Today March 11th is Ekadasi - a fasting day - no grains, no green leafs -who makes up these silly Krishna diets had no dietary experience but anyway I tried to follow to see if i could do it apparently meditation is deeper if we dont eat so heavy foods!... so a few almonds for breakfast (and a few lotus puffs). potato stew for lunch. with buckwheat for pudding sweetened - but i decided to eat it - i was ravenous after a few potatoes - we were in an ashram in Goverdam - seeing the 90 year old Self-Realised being Guru Dev . He's a very special man - more divine that the Pope will ever be. evening meal was - ah for my hungry tummy -not until 8pm and it was yeah more potatoes but fried this time - i must have eaten a whole pan full and peanuts - not for me. i ate a tangerine and a few figs after - fruit is allowed.
Today lunch was a feast to make up for it. and I bought a long skirt - the first one ever.. i hope i wear it I think its quite cool and itll be ok in a cold place too.
Throat lurgy clearing up but defo need to move to a room with hot water.
Thursday, 4 March 2010
36 hrs in a Tin Can
Mysore - Bangalore - 3 1/2 hrs by train (2 nights and a whole day day)
Bangalore - Delhi - 36 hrs by train
Delhi - Mathura - 3 Hrs by train
(Could 've done the journey Mysore - Mathura - one train less time but train was full) you cant be spontaneous in India - unless you fly.
But My 3AC train journey was not too cold. Included breakfast, lunch adn dinner and afternoon tea (the worst meal of all). 3 adults 2 babies, one child, one young indian couple and a journalist (in my 8 berth area). And lena from Sweden at the other end of the carriage... We got the dog end seats by the doors to the loos - I wont go into too much detail about the stench at certain times of the day...
So glad i didnt travel ordinary Sleeper.
You dont get the beggars and peddlars of everything you can every imagine not needing to buy going up and down the carriage in AC.
Arrived after 2 days feeling fine - surprisingly. But Mathura is the first place i felt completely harrassed by the rickshaw men - every person i passed approached me... Luckily i found a bus and hopped on. too much of an assult at 9am after 2 days on a train..
Then Where's Krishna when you need him - Iskon guest house full (mind you just as well at 600 rs per night) MVT 750 per night (What)... Other places more and more or grimy or full , full, full..... what is this?? Decided if i'm going to have to pay a lot i'll stay at MVT - its v. colonial - with beautiful gardens, very peacful and the room is dark wood marble and blue and white bed linen.
QUick shower and into a rickshaw for quick tour. Bump into Sarva - gives me a tour of Iskon temple and I sit for Hari Krishna bhajans (singing chanting) in the glitsy v. expensive white marble temple - ALl of a sudden a very famous bhajana arrives and the place gets exctatic. All the Indian women dancing. everyone's clapping and singing - it was great to be in it.
Dinner at MVT is all chips n spagetti - but I did get some steamed vegetables so not complaining hurray... bed - the best night sleep i've had since i've been here 8 hrs sleep.
Brindavin reminds me of Varanasi (by the river with the tiny lanes - much cleaner and no people). but round Iskon temple its chaos.
There are no roads here - sandy, muddy sandy tracks and bumps - cycle rickshaws - disturb the colon too much for me so better off walking.
off room hunting again.
I know how joseph and Mary must have felt.
Hari Bol
Radhe Radhe
Jai Sita Ram
Bangalore - Delhi - 36 hrs by train
Delhi - Mathura - 3 Hrs by train
(Could 've done the journey Mysore - Mathura - one train less time but train was full) you cant be spontaneous in India - unless you fly.
But My 3AC train journey was not too cold. Included breakfast, lunch adn dinner and afternoon tea (the worst meal of all). 3 adults 2 babies, one child, one young indian couple and a journalist (in my 8 berth area). And lena from Sweden at the other end of the carriage... We got the dog end seats by the doors to the loos - I wont go into too much detail about the stench at certain times of the day...
So glad i didnt travel ordinary Sleeper.
You dont get the beggars and peddlars of everything you can every imagine not needing to buy going up and down the carriage in AC.
Arrived after 2 days feeling fine - surprisingly. But Mathura is the first place i felt completely harrassed by the rickshaw men - every person i passed approached me... Luckily i found a bus and hopped on. too much of an assult at 9am after 2 days on a train..
Then Where's Krishna when you need him - Iskon guest house full (mind you just as well at 600 rs per night) MVT 750 per night (What)... Other places more and more or grimy or full , full, full..... what is this?? Decided if i'm going to have to pay a lot i'll stay at MVT - its v. colonial - with beautiful gardens, very peacful and the room is dark wood marble and blue and white bed linen.
QUick shower and into a rickshaw for quick tour. Bump into Sarva - gives me a tour of Iskon temple and I sit for Hari Krishna bhajans (singing chanting) in the glitsy v. expensive white marble temple - ALl of a sudden a very famous bhajana arrives and the place gets exctatic. All the Indian women dancing. everyone's clapping and singing - it was great to be in it.
Dinner at MVT is all chips n spagetti - but I did get some steamed vegetables so not complaining hurray... bed - the best night sleep i've had since i've been here 8 hrs sleep.
Brindavin reminds me of Varanasi (by the river with the tiny lanes - much cleaner and no people). but round Iskon temple its chaos.
There are no roads here - sandy, muddy sandy tracks and bumps - cycle rickshaws - disturb the colon too much for me so better off walking.
off room hunting again.
I know how joseph and Mary must have felt.
Hari Bol
Radhe Radhe
Jai Sita Ram
Monday, 22 February 2010
Road Trip to SravanaBelagola
Got invited to join a couple of people riding to SravanaBelagola - one of the tallest statues in the world (questionable). Maybe from the bottom of the hill to the top of the statue but the statue wasnt so big itself.
I hired a scooter and slightly embarassedly drove the 3hrs behind the best Enfield Bullet - such a cool bike - i wish they'd make one for the ladies. Anyway it was sunny, light breeze, westly wind (joke). once we got off the main roads we had the country lanes to ourselves and the drive through the farming villages was unspoilt.
Arriving in the town we parked at a hotel - got a room - 3 sharing - all beds right next to each other - to save money - but it was ok for one night. We went for awalk - i think it was about 2pm - hot hot hot - sun high and we're walking 2kms back to a lake - it was worth it - not a sound (save a man on a microphone full blaste talking talking talking about what /???? a wedding perhaps ?). At about 4pm we start walking back through the swampy , bouldery, overgrown land to get back to the road and we decided to go back a slightly different way through the bushes. We ended up blocked in with a thorny bush to cross as the only way out - so we laid our rucksacks over the thorns n climbed over - me first - A woman was yelling and screaming at us so i was trying to go fast and i got an inch long thorn stuck in my leg - i was trying to balance on one leg and pull out the thorn in the end it ripped my leg and blood was gushing... Dan (driver of the bullet) had some white powder (arsenic. no i mean, something like iron cant remember what but the blood stopped immed). They hopped over the fence and the woman by this time had caught up with us. no idea what she was so upset about.
We walk round the side of the house we've just scrambled into and theres a slum and 4 rabbid seriously not alive dogs and kids n woman and a whole community staring at us... mmmmm what to do. We wave and walk on up to the road - as you do. My leg is a little sore but ok. Dan stood on a thorn which we tried to pull out of his foot but he thinks a little bit got stuck in .
We start the 600 step climb to the Sravana statue of Gomateshwara (some saint of something but i cant remember what sorry folks). Good climb. and good view of flat lands. We see the statue, and then sit on the top of the hill to watch the sunset.
Its full moon also so we walk around the other side of the hill to see the full moon and discover that we 've been locked in . There's a 10 foot high wall all around and the gates are metal -no way out. We scour the wall for a good place to try and climb up and see how far down it is on the otherside - its a hill sloping down. Anyway we find a place to climb up and clambour down the other side - bit scary for scraping the elbows n knees but we all made it - then we have to walk 'off piste' like to the stair case for the 600 steps down. It was like walking on the moon but no Police. ha ha... get to the steps and its got a metal banister all the way down so we all slide down the bannister - it was so much fun and made the decent quicker and easier...
Dinner - Hysterical. Dan had been here before and said he knew a restaurant with a roof terrace or garden at least. He prepared us to not expect anything smart. And we walked in through the front entrance - same as any typical road side masala dosa type place and out the side we ended up in a part of thebuilding not yet built / finished - or like the side alley - with plastic tables n chairs - wooden scaffolinding holding up the ceiling above us and corrugated iron wall in front shielding us from the road - it was great. 3 veg fried rice. and a masala dosa. mmmmmmmmmmm the food was very good. Bed i was looking forward to as i was super tired - but i didnt sleep a wink.
When riding bikes in India there are a few things good to know. 1. Dont stop if police try and stop you. 2. Definitely dont give them the keys to your bike. 3. Dont pay the fine - or only pay 100 rupees anything more you are being ripped off.
Driving back into Mysore / Gokulum - we didnt have helmets on and there was a police roadblock. Dan ahead of me drove straight through as he was asked to stop - so i increased me throttle and followed - i had to swerve hard onto the grass as a huge police man tried to grab me - hah! he couldnt catch me although he did whack me on the arm but I managed to drive past. Triumphant . We raced back the last 5 mins - luckily they didnt chase us... They just wanted our rupees.. How exciting is that!
I hired a scooter and slightly embarassedly drove the 3hrs behind the best Enfield Bullet - such a cool bike - i wish they'd make one for the ladies. Anyway it was sunny, light breeze, westly wind (joke). once we got off the main roads we had the country lanes to ourselves and the drive through the farming villages was unspoilt.
Arriving in the town we parked at a hotel - got a room - 3 sharing - all beds right next to each other - to save money - but it was ok for one night. We went for awalk - i think it was about 2pm - hot hot hot - sun high and we're walking 2kms back to a lake - it was worth it - not a sound (save a man on a microphone full blaste talking talking talking about what /???? a wedding perhaps ?). At about 4pm we start walking back through the swampy , bouldery, overgrown land to get back to the road and we decided to go back a slightly different way through the bushes. We ended up blocked in with a thorny bush to cross as the only way out - so we laid our rucksacks over the thorns n climbed over - me first - A woman was yelling and screaming at us so i was trying to go fast and i got an inch long thorn stuck in my leg - i was trying to balance on one leg and pull out the thorn in the end it ripped my leg and blood was gushing... Dan (driver of the bullet) had some white powder (arsenic. no i mean, something like iron cant remember what but the blood stopped immed). They hopped over the fence and the woman by this time had caught up with us. no idea what she was so upset about.
We walk round the side of the house we've just scrambled into and theres a slum and 4 rabbid seriously not alive dogs and kids n woman and a whole community staring at us... mmmmm what to do. We wave and walk on up to the road - as you do. My leg is a little sore but ok. Dan stood on a thorn which we tried to pull out of his foot but he thinks a little bit got stuck in .
We start the 600 step climb to the Sravana statue of Gomateshwara (some saint of something but i cant remember what sorry folks). Good climb. and good view of flat lands. We see the statue, and then sit on the top of the hill to watch the sunset.
Its full moon also so we walk around the other side of the hill to see the full moon and discover that we 've been locked in . There's a 10 foot high wall all around and the gates are metal -no way out. We scour the wall for a good place to try and climb up and see how far down it is on the otherside - its a hill sloping down. Anyway we find a place to climb up and clambour down the other side - bit scary for scraping the elbows n knees but we all made it - then we have to walk 'off piste' like to the stair case for the 600 steps down. It was like walking on the moon but no Police. ha ha... get to the steps and its got a metal banister all the way down so we all slide down the bannister - it was so much fun and made the decent quicker and easier...
Dinner - Hysterical. Dan had been here before and said he knew a restaurant with a roof terrace or garden at least. He prepared us to not expect anything smart. And we walked in through the front entrance - same as any typical road side masala dosa type place and out the side we ended up in a part of thebuilding not yet built / finished - or like the side alley - with plastic tables n chairs - wooden scaffolinding holding up the ceiling above us and corrugated iron wall in front shielding us from the road - it was great. 3 veg fried rice. and a masala dosa. mmmmmmmmmmm the food was very good. Bed i was looking forward to as i was super tired - but i didnt sleep a wink.
When riding bikes in India there are a few things good to know. 1. Dont stop if police try and stop you. 2. Definitely dont give them the keys to your bike. 3. Dont pay the fine - or only pay 100 rupees anything more you are being ripped off.
Driving back into Mysore / Gokulum - we didnt have helmets on and there was a police roadblock. Dan ahead of me drove straight through as he was asked to stop - so i increased me throttle and followed - i had to swerve hard onto the grass as a huge police man tried to grab me - hah! he couldnt catch me although he did whack me on the arm but I managed to drive past. Triumphant . We raced back the last 5 mins - luckily they didnt chase us... They just wanted our rupees.. How exciting is that!
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
chai n charras
I'm starting my blog from after 4 months in Mysore - having lost all my writings so far.
1 February 2010.
I'm off to Hampi and Go Karna for a holiday.
I've left my shishi apartment with all my belongings and am travelling with a guitar and a small back pack only - oh and my yoga mat - and this is travelling light!
5.30pm ish - say bye to a few pals at the coconut stand in Gokulum and Dev whisks me away in his rickshaw for a mere 60 rupees (rip-off) to Mysore bus station. I find the local bus to Bangalore (about 3 hrs) and get comfy. 138 rupees for this journey. Its dark when i get to the bus station, i've had a little snooze and a couple of bananas so i may even make it through the night on the train. Where's the station? Past the urine stench, exhaust pipes of 20 stationary buses, and through a sub-way. (SUBWAY ??) am I sure. ok here goes. in the dark its about 9.30pm but the subway is fine - light - everyone 's setting up underground stalls selling anything they can sell.. India is one big shop. The train station appears round a corner and I even manage to find someone to tell me that i have to go to platform 8 - so glad I'm not carrying my big back pack ... its about a 5 min walk - the stations here are huge. I wander up the platform - no idea where my carriage Sleeper 1 will be but take a guess and i have to wait about 40 mins. Perfectly lined up... My name is even printed on the piece of paper on the oustide of the carriage. No numbers by my end of the carriage so just pick a bunk (i'm Upper luckily - as I forgot to ask). Up i go luggage and all and just put my head down.... India is very funny - there's no respect if you are asleep - they'll just wake you up with a yell or a tug - 3x - first - to check my ticket. 2nd. cos someone has just boarded and technically i'm in their bunk. but the woman on opposite bunk has gatecrashed so luckily she's pulled down and he takes her bunk. Back to snooze mode again. Full sleep not possible. when the train is moving - it feels like its going to derail. when it stops you can hear everyone snoring, eating, chatting, mobile phones etc.... lucily i'm in india mode of only half a mind so nothing phases me... Arrive in Hospet 6 ish in the morning and its light and cool. Take a rickshaw the 1.5km to the bus stand although the walk would have warmed me up and been good for me.. the bus drive is beuatiful - nature. nature nature. lake sky open space... I already have a great feeling for Hampi. Get off at the bus stand and find my way through the Bazaar to the ferry and cross over all of 3mins in a motor boat, motorbikes, people, luggage, altogether - to 'the other side'... supposedly quieter at night - its only huts / cafes / bars for tourists but there are some movies showing at some of the cafes so it makes it easy getting home late at night for me. I think i chatted to a few people, smiled to a few and followed some guest house to guest house checking out the most basic rooms i've seen on this trip.. EEk... ok deep breath, 200 ruppess fora stinky bathroom and room with holes in the wall (but with apattern) as a window. But i have a hammock ! and i have a pathway up to the most beautiful hill for sunset - there's even a man selling chai and water up there and an old temple ...
Dump my bag. clean my teeth wash my face and get out to the sunshine - hire a scooter - no dial to say if I run out of petrol , no helmet - freeedom.. - head off to the find the lake - guitar on back - to find an empty space to practice , relax etc. Cant find the lake. I do find two very young and very very tall and very handsome german guys out riding their bikes - looking for the lake - i follow them - but after 5 kms realise they have no idea where they're going also.. so i head back. and go to the Hanuman temple - up 600 steps. wasnt sure i really wanted to stop the bike as i have to kick start it and its not so easy - left foot side. Anyway the view from 600 steps up was more than worth it. The baba at the top was quite cool and we had a chat - he lives in the tiny temple on a bed - probably lives on chai n charras (this is a vast assumption but it appealed to me). Back to touriststrip - Hungry with a capital H. give scooter back.
Think i ate some momo's steamed dumpling things with veggies inside - ok. shame about fried veg inside but guess that's what they are. Gonna stay and watch the film : Pineapple Express - supposedly v. funny. - Sit with an English man (cant remember his name) ol timer and his Indian wife - both funny and easy to chat to. Home - its pitch black chanting Om Namah Shivaye - to keep me safe. it worked. My room is pitch black and has a concrete table with a matress and mossie net - I put my bag under the net so nothing crawls into it and collapse into bed - exhausted. Waking up its about 7am - cant bear the thought of my cold bucket wash yet - so get some yoga togs on and walk up the hill - half hearted self practice and sitting meditation for hr and half - the scenery and place to practice make it worth while. shivery cold wash. Breakfast - sit wtih Connie in Mowgli - good view of paddi fields - but fruit salad is not good - so i complained - gave a few rupees and left for some decent food at Mango Tree - across the river . Sight seeting day . Mango Tree is beuatiful - in a circle shape on th eedge of a hill - its like it has a huge glass window 50 ft high - but no glass - just open - asked for a Parotha - like a chapati with veg / potato inside - but euh I got a huge pastry puff (again) . This happened in another cafe once before... its ok tasty but just not what i was expecting. I have to say its about 12pm by now - i'm sitting next to Steven from USA - who lives in teh Parvati Valley - he's 60 and Fragile for 60 but sooooooooooo utterly beautiful soft (from the inside) i didnt want to leave - he had such nice energy - Dad, As he was called Steven I had you in mind as I chatted away to him - as if i was having some wise banter with you in a cafe in India... I left as my sightseeting really needed to begin. I bump into a young austrian couple that i saw on the bus, the ferry and just before I got to the Mango Tree adn we agreed to share a rickshaw and have a look round. They didnt want to pay the entry fee to go inside the elephant stables and the ruins with the stone chariot so i agreed- it turned out a good partnership as the misses had been to Hampi before with an NGO and she knew the walk home via the river and via a further 600 step high temple - with a better view than from the Hanuman temple. amazing beuatiful fantastic... We met Tim - a lovely American cycling round India he just happened also to be a biologist and told us about the rock formations adn why they were possibly the way the were (granite bolders)... The next day i took a bicycle out and just pootled about village to village , temple to temple getting my third eye pressed with orange, red, dyes. Ate lunch in a cafe in tourist strip and was joined by Hans? I think from Amsterdam - he was an art dealer - had sold up and was running a B&B - shd've taken the name of it as he was really very nice / cool into meditation and was going to spend the night with the baba in teh Hanuman temple - i was tempted to gatecrash but then thought they'd be sipping chai n charras and as i dont drink caffeine, dont eat sugar and dont eat dairy - nor smoke - it wouldnt be my ideal night out. Instead i decided to pack up and head for Gokarna - 3 nights with cold water, stinky bathroom and concrete shed were enough. Book a ticket on the sleeper bus - mmmmmmmm. 5pm I'm on the ferry . Then on the local bus to Hospet - sitting next to ???? I never did know her name even after a week in Gokarna - from Franch. Takes a while to find the sleeper bus in Hospet - Indian directions are wonderful.. - Little left . No right side . up up up ... adn after all - its just across the street.. I did request a single berth - notreally wanting to share a minute space with a stranger - in the end i had to forgot my luxury lower deck bunk (as it was a double) and take a double upper - cheaper space - but i got it all to myself - next to the french girls. Get my saree out and snooze. 10.30pm we stop at a cafe for a wee n dinner. I think i had dhal n hard crispy chapateee but not much choice here. Bought a metal cup from the cafe and took a cuppa tea back on the bus. Sleeping on a bus is worse than the train - or maybe the upper feels worse than lower - i felt like the bus was going to tip over every time it swung round a corner or past someone ... Suddenly we were all kicked off the bus - its only at 4am - middle of no where - lorry park. One english girl was travelilng with a native mmmm wink wink nudge nudge... but luky for us - he let us know that another bus would pick us up and take us to GoKarna. some time... We just sat in the cool air watching the traffic pass and pass and pass and pass.... Listening to the loud israelis. and watching a completely off his trolly french man who looked like he'd been sleeping in the dirt road for a week- he had a sleeping bag on the pavement waiting for him jsut by our bags... no idea where we were .
Bus comes and we arrive in Gokarna by the rickshaws - not in town - handily for the rickshaw drivers - I share with the two french girls to Kudlee Beach - we have to walk about 15 mins down hill to the beach - sea sand, its light now - everything is closed but we find SunSet guest house claim a banana frond hut with sandy floor mostquito net n matreess - unpack - and get into the sea... its warm, clear and aaaaaaaaaarhrrhrhhhhhhhhhhhhh tastic. Eat, Sleep, swim, splash, eat more eat more chat ... chat. Cold outside showers - mosquitos. pooh. Flat guitar - needs tuning and i'm not able to do it . But Man from near Liverpool in a band tunes it in 3 secs flat- have a chat - he's importing clothes from shop in GoKarna. Meet Gulu and Gautama from Zurich to 45 ish Indian men - .. Then i bump into Pepe, Jay Krishna, Ganga, andDevi Dasi.. lovely hugs love hugs love all round. bhajans on the beach. All the travellers come out at sunset . juggling, fire dancing , violins, all instruments. beautiful. Next day walk to Om Beach and bump into Pepe, Ganga, and Mahendra and Ula.. and the Dutch woman, sorry i ve forgotton yr name already also... chat , cafe, eat, swim, chill out - really peaceful gorgeous day . Not as nice at Kudlee beach. Well that's not true its different the sea is nearer the cafes - one cafe particularly good as it has hammocks. otherwise Om Beach is made up of two small beaches. Never made it to Half MOon or Paradise but I heard they were also both small so i dont mind - i prefer personally long long long stretches of beaches so you can get to be by yrself.. not here.
eve eat, bhajan on the beach sleep . guitar practice. Next day look around Gokarna - nice shops. really lovely little town - all preparing for ShivaAtri - two huge carts take up almost the entire road getting ready for the festival 12 Feb. All days at Gokarna spent like this. easy. little sunbathing and swimming relaxing. Til Friday 12th - walk over the hill 30 mins with guitar and bckpack heading for the sleeper bus to Bangalore (only other way back to Mysore would be the local bus 12 hrs during the day). Wait and wait adn wait and no sign of the bus. then someone arrives on motorbike - checks my ticket and says the bus is 1.5 km away - i ask for aride on his bike and he agrees... instantly - just in time. Get on bus - just me and Mathias - a german metal head banger with longer hair than me - good condition mind you. Anyway 2 mins after we set off he wants a pee and needs distracting so we play cards - he teaches me two games and i beat him at both... preparing for my next sleepless night on the skiniest of beds with one bar to stop me falling off. power cut... back soon. xs
1 February 2010.
I'm off to Hampi and Go Karna for a holiday.
I've left my shishi apartment with all my belongings and am travelling with a guitar and a small back pack only - oh and my yoga mat - and this is travelling light!
5.30pm ish - say bye to a few pals at the coconut stand in Gokulum and Dev whisks me away in his rickshaw for a mere 60 rupees (rip-off) to Mysore bus station. I find the local bus to Bangalore (about 3 hrs) and get comfy. 138 rupees for this journey. Its dark when i get to the bus station, i've had a little snooze and a couple of bananas so i may even make it through the night on the train. Where's the station? Past the urine stench, exhaust pipes of 20 stationary buses, and through a sub-way. (SUBWAY ??) am I sure. ok here goes. in the dark its about 9.30pm but the subway is fine - light - everyone 's setting up underground stalls selling anything they can sell.. India is one big shop. The train station appears round a corner and I even manage to find someone to tell me that i have to go to platform 8 - so glad I'm not carrying my big back pack ... its about a 5 min walk - the stations here are huge. I wander up the platform - no idea where my carriage Sleeper 1 will be but take a guess and i have to wait about 40 mins. Perfectly lined up... My name is even printed on the piece of paper on the oustide of the carriage. No numbers by my end of the carriage so just pick a bunk (i'm Upper luckily - as I forgot to ask). Up i go luggage and all and just put my head down.... India is very funny - there's no respect if you are asleep - they'll just wake you up with a yell or a tug - 3x - first - to check my ticket. 2nd. cos someone has just boarded and technically i'm in their bunk. but the woman on opposite bunk has gatecrashed so luckily she's pulled down and he takes her bunk. Back to snooze mode again. Full sleep not possible. when the train is moving - it feels like its going to derail. when it stops you can hear everyone snoring, eating, chatting, mobile phones etc.... lucily i'm in india mode of only half a mind so nothing phases me... Arrive in Hospet 6 ish in the morning and its light and cool. Take a rickshaw the 1.5km to the bus stand although the walk would have warmed me up and been good for me.. the bus drive is beuatiful - nature. nature nature. lake sky open space... I already have a great feeling for Hampi. Get off at the bus stand and find my way through the Bazaar to the ferry and cross over all of 3mins in a motor boat, motorbikes, people, luggage, altogether - to 'the other side'... supposedly quieter at night - its only huts / cafes / bars for tourists but there are some movies showing at some of the cafes so it makes it easy getting home late at night for me. I think i chatted to a few people, smiled to a few and followed some guest house to guest house checking out the most basic rooms i've seen on this trip.. EEk... ok deep breath, 200 ruppess fora stinky bathroom and room with holes in the wall (but with apattern) as a window. But i have a hammock ! and i have a pathway up to the most beautiful hill for sunset - there's even a man selling chai and water up there and an old temple ...
Dump my bag. clean my teeth wash my face and get out to the sunshine - hire a scooter - no dial to say if I run out of petrol , no helmet - freeedom.. - head off to the find the lake - guitar on back - to find an empty space to practice , relax etc. Cant find the lake. I do find two very young and very very tall and very handsome german guys out riding their bikes - looking for the lake - i follow them - but after 5 kms realise they have no idea where they're going also.. so i head back. and go to the Hanuman temple - up 600 steps. wasnt sure i really wanted to stop the bike as i have to kick start it and its not so easy - left foot side. Anyway the view from 600 steps up was more than worth it. The baba at the top was quite cool and we had a chat - he lives in the tiny temple on a bed - probably lives on chai n charras (this is a vast assumption but it appealed to me). Back to touriststrip - Hungry with a capital H. give scooter back.
Think i ate some momo's steamed dumpling things with veggies inside - ok. shame about fried veg inside but guess that's what they are. Gonna stay and watch the film : Pineapple Express - supposedly v. funny. - Sit with an English man (cant remember his name) ol timer and his Indian wife - both funny and easy to chat to. Home - its pitch black chanting Om Namah Shivaye - to keep me safe. it worked. My room is pitch black and has a concrete table with a matress and mossie net - I put my bag under the net so nothing crawls into it and collapse into bed - exhausted. Waking up its about 7am - cant bear the thought of my cold bucket wash yet - so get some yoga togs on and walk up the hill - half hearted self practice and sitting meditation for hr and half - the scenery and place to practice make it worth while. shivery cold wash. Breakfast - sit wtih Connie in Mowgli - good view of paddi fields - but fruit salad is not good - so i complained - gave a few rupees and left for some decent food at Mango Tree - across the river . Sight seeting day . Mango Tree is beuatiful - in a circle shape on th eedge of a hill - its like it has a huge glass window 50 ft high - but no glass - just open - asked for a Parotha - like a chapati with veg / potato inside - but euh I got a huge pastry puff (again) . This happened in another cafe once before... its ok tasty but just not what i was expecting. I have to say its about 12pm by now - i'm sitting next to Steven from USA - who lives in teh Parvati Valley - he's 60 and Fragile for 60 but sooooooooooo utterly beautiful soft (from the inside) i didnt want to leave - he had such nice energy - Dad, As he was called Steven I had you in mind as I chatted away to him - as if i was having some wise banter with you in a cafe in India... I left as my sightseeting really needed to begin. I bump into a young austrian couple that i saw on the bus, the ferry and just before I got to the Mango Tree adn we agreed to share a rickshaw and have a look round. They didnt want to pay the entry fee to go inside the elephant stables and the ruins with the stone chariot so i agreed- it turned out a good partnership as the misses had been to Hampi before with an NGO and she knew the walk home via the river and via a further 600 step high temple - with a better view than from the Hanuman temple. amazing beuatiful fantastic... We met Tim - a lovely American cycling round India he just happened also to be a biologist and told us about the rock formations adn why they were possibly the way the were (granite bolders)... The next day i took a bicycle out and just pootled about village to village , temple to temple getting my third eye pressed with orange, red, dyes. Ate lunch in a cafe in tourist strip and was joined by Hans? I think from Amsterdam - he was an art dealer - had sold up and was running a B&B - shd've taken the name of it as he was really very nice / cool into meditation and was going to spend the night with the baba in teh Hanuman temple - i was tempted to gatecrash but then thought they'd be sipping chai n charras and as i dont drink caffeine, dont eat sugar and dont eat dairy - nor smoke - it wouldnt be my ideal night out. Instead i decided to pack up and head for Gokarna - 3 nights with cold water, stinky bathroom and concrete shed were enough. Book a ticket on the sleeper bus - mmmmmmmm. 5pm I'm on the ferry . Then on the local bus to Hospet - sitting next to ???? I never did know her name even after a week in Gokarna - from Franch. Takes a while to find the sleeper bus in Hospet - Indian directions are wonderful.. - Little left . No right side . up up up ... adn after all - its just across the street.. I did request a single berth - notreally wanting to share a minute space with a stranger - in the end i had to forgot my luxury lower deck bunk (as it was a double) and take a double upper - cheaper space - but i got it all to myself - next to the french girls. Get my saree out and snooze. 10.30pm we stop at a cafe for a wee n dinner. I think i had dhal n hard crispy chapateee but not much choice here. Bought a metal cup from the cafe and took a cuppa tea back on the bus. Sleeping on a bus is worse than the train - or maybe the upper feels worse than lower - i felt like the bus was going to tip over every time it swung round a corner or past someone ... Suddenly we were all kicked off the bus - its only at 4am - middle of no where - lorry park. One english girl was travelilng with a native mmmm wink wink nudge nudge... but luky for us - he let us know that another bus would pick us up and take us to GoKarna. some time... We just sat in the cool air watching the traffic pass and pass and pass and pass.... Listening to the loud israelis. and watching a completely off his trolly french man who looked like he'd been sleeping in the dirt road for a week- he had a sleeping bag on the pavement waiting for him jsut by our bags... no idea where we were .
Bus comes and we arrive in Gokarna by the rickshaws - not in town - handily for the rickshaw drivers - I share with the two french girls to Kudlee Beach - we have to walk about 15 mins down hill to the beach - sea sand, its light now - everything is closed but we find SunSet guest house claim a banana frond hut with sandy floor mostquito net n matreess - unpack - and get into the sea... its warm, clear and aaaaaaaaaarhrrhrhhhhhhhhhhhhh tastic. Eat, Sleep, swim, splash, eat more eat more chat ... chat. Cold outside showers - mosquitos. pooh. Flat guitar - needs tuning and i'm not able to do it . But Man from near Liverpool in a band tunes it in 3 secs flat- have a chat - he's importing clothes from shop in GoKarna. Meet Gulu and Gautama from Zurich to 45 ish Indian men - .. Then i bump into Pepe, Jay Krishna, Ganga, andDevi Dasi.. lovely hugs love hugs love all round. bhajans on the beach. All the travellers come out at sunset . juggling, fire dancing , violins, all instruments. beautiful. Next day walk to Om Beach and bump into Pepe, Ganga, and Mahendra and Ula.. and the Dutch woman, sorry i ve forgotton yr name already also... chat , cafe, eat, swim, chill out - really peaceful gorgeous day . Not as nice at Kudlee beach. Well that's not true its different the sea is nearer the cafes - one cafe particularly good as it has hammocks. otherwise Om Beach is made up of two small beaches. Never made it to Half MOon or Paradise but I heard they were also both small so i dont mind - i prefer personally long long long stretches of beaches so you can get to be by yrself.. not here.
eve eat, bhajan on the beach sleep . guitar practice. Next day look around Gokarna - nice shops. really lovely little town - all preparing for ShivaAtri - two huge carts take up almost the entire road getting ready for the festival 12 Feb. All days at Gokarna spent like this. easy. little sunbathing and swimming relaxing. Til Friday 12th - walk over the hill 30 mins with guitar and bckpack heading for the sleeper bus to Bangalore (only other way back to Mysore would be the local bus 12 hrs during the day). Wait and wait adn wait and no sign of the bus. then someone arrives on motorbike - checks my ticket and says the bus is 1.5 km away - i ask for aride on his bike and he agrees... instantly - just in time. Get on bus - just me and Mathias - a german metal head banger with longer hair than me - good condition mind you. Anyway 2 mins after we set off he wants a pee and needs distracting so we play cards - he teaches me two games and i beat him at both... preparing for my next sleepless night on the skiniest of beds with one bar to stop me falling off. power cut... back soon. xs
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