ARussell
Andrew Russell Joined: January 7th 2007
Logged in: January 18th 2011
Logged in: January 18th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Well... the time has come again... It's time for me to go home. I think about my last day on my previous trip and the way I was feeling... I was 100% ready to go home, no doubt about it. But now things are different, I am excited for home, to see everyone and all that, but at the same time I don't really want to go back to the "real" world. I have enough money left that I could spend another 4 months here, but I guess "all good things must come to an end". I've had the time of my life here, I've done things I'll never forget, seen things I'll never forget...ate things I'll never forget.... I've had some pretty low points, particularly in Laos after the accident, and I've had some pretty ... read more
After a 32 hour train ride, I'm back in Kolkata (Calcutta)... After the last blog entry I spent a few days in Pondicherry, nothing too eventful happened.... However, I was walking down a busy busy street crowded with local Indian people past a few stray dogs and all of the sudden one starts barking, I think to myself that surely it can't be barking at me with all these people around. But just my luck it was barking at me, not just barking... growling, as soon as his other stray dog friends heard the barking they all rushed towards me. The main dog, that started the barking had to be one of the most mangy looking things I've ever seen, and only had one eye so he was walking at me sideways, leading with the good ... read more
Alright, I guess it's about time I updated this, since I know some of you enjoy reading it. I spent a couple days in Fort Cochin, got a bike and took a ride around the city, was nice to get some excersise but the bike seat was as hard as a rock so wasn't the most comfy ride. After Fort Cochin I got on a Local Bus to Varkala, bad idea... the Local bus looked like it was from 1925 and smelled a lot like a urinal. I was the first one on the bus so I thought I'd be smart and sit at the back and get a row of seats to myself. This was working out great until the bus hit it's first bump and sent me about a foot off of the seat ... read more
Well I wish I had something exciting to share with you all... but I don't. I've been taking it easy a bit the last few days, I left Mumbai the night of my birthday for Goa. Goa is a state in India with lots and lots of beaches, I went to Arambol beach, which was nice, but not a whole lot to do, good to relax for a few days though. After that I went to the capital of Goa, Panjim where I spent a couple days just wandering around. Then I had a long journey of train/bus to get to here, Fort Cochin. I only just got here this morning so I can't tell you too much about the place, Lonely Planet describes it as laid back, which sounds like my cup of tea. I'll ... read more
Okay, haven't updated in a few days so I will tell you all what's been going on. I took a train from Delhi to Agra (3 hours) saw the Taj Mahal then waited in the train station for 5 and a half hours... late train... got back to Delhi... waited 4 hours in the train station, then got on my 26 hour train to Mumbai. That was a long couple days... And then I arrived to Mumbai with a mission, I had heard about studios always looking for extras for Bollywood movies, and as soon as I stepped out of the taxi a man asked me if I wanted to be in a movie so I said yes, of course. That night I saw a Bollywood movie to prepare me for what was to come. The ... read more
Okay...okay... I'm here in New Delhi now, I spent a day and a bit in Varanasi, which is the most holy city in all of India. Many Hindu people come there to die, and I witnessed human bodies being burned. Varanasi is next to the River Ganges which is what makes the city so holy, don't ask me what makes the river so holy, I was just glad to get out of there. It was very very interesting but every corner I turned someone was trying to get some money out of me, fair enough... it is a very poor country like a lot of other places I have been but it does have so many people that it feels like every second of the day someone is trying to screw me over. But I won't ... read more
Here I am in Calcutta, India. I heard from a couple people that Calcutta was the worst place to start my travels in India, yes it is dirty, yes it is crazy, yes it is overcrowded but I imagine all other big Indian cities will be the same. I got here mid day yesterday (August 10th) met a Swedish guy in the airport and split a hotel room for around $1.85 Canadian each.... And I'm off tonight on a night train to Varanasi, 700km's north of here. Train travel is one big advantage India has over a lot of other countries, although I only have a month in such a big country I won't really lose any time traveling if I always go at night, which I plan on doing. I have been enjoying some Indian ... read more
Okay, well I've been in Bangkok for quite a while now getting everything ready for my next destination, not doing anything too exciting, looking around the city, trying to keep busy. But now everything is in order for my next destination... flight... visa, I'm ready to go. And I guess it's time to tell everyone where I'm going.... This country will test me more than any other country... It will be hard but very rewarding... Where? India I fly out of here the day after tomorrow to Calcutta, I'll only have a month in India, it seems like a lot but it's a huge country so I may have to go back some day. Wish me luck... read more
Well as you can see from the title... I'm back in Bangkok now, didn't stay as long as I wanted to in Chaing Mai but another plan popped into my head... which I will let you all know about soon enough. Anyways today I had a busy day, woke up bright and early to go to the floating market just outside Bangkok, it is a cool concept but... was very very touristy and with hundreds of boats all trying to get down a narrow channel we got in a bit of a traffic jam, so I was glad to get back on dry land. After the floating market we headed to the Tiger Temple, which is a sort of sanctuary for tigers run by monks, they are raised around humans so they behave well.. for the ... read more
Rarely in life do you do something you will never forget, whatever you're doing the world just stops, for however long you are doing it you are truly happy, you forget about all the problems you might have and you just have fun, today, for me was one of those days. The day started off early, we got in the back of a pick up truck and drove for about an hour, the ride was bumpy so I felt a little sick after it was all done. The guide whisked us off to the house where we changed into our "mahout" suits... not the most attractive of outfits but it was practical I guess. We were given some instructions on how to control the elephants and here they are... "Kwa" was right "Si" left "Pai" forward ... read more
