http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Adventures-of-a-Travel-Addict/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Adventures of a Travel Addict en-us Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:28:38 +0000 Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:28:38 +0000 PIFF is one of the biggest film festivals Asia has ever seen. It's on par with most popular film fests of the world such as Cannes and Toronto yet I had never known this till I attended this film fest this year for the very first time.This event is what puts Busan on the international map. This year it took place from October 818th and many guest appearances were had including Josh Hartnett. Th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Busan/blog-448528.html It's been about 7 weeks since I arrived in Busan and it's been a whirlwind. I had great plans of hiking sightseeing and exploring the city but so far all I have accomplished is lying on three beaches and getting to know the nightlife areas.The expat community in Busan is a lot smaller than Seoul somehow everyone knows each other no matter what part of Busan or greater Busan you live in. It make http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Busan/blog-440606.html Coming home is always something to look forward to but this time I didn't get that anxious feeling in my stomach as the plane landed and I saw my hometown after 15 months. In that moment I knew that my love for Toronto had changed forever.Before leaving home I knew I didn't belong. Every time I leave to travel and come home I always feel like a different person and that Toronto just doesn't do i http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Toronto/blog-425359.html I've read and heard tons of stories of people setting foot in India and being totally mystified. Until I came here myself I found it hard to believe. Now I can't imagine someone not feeling the mystical mist that is this country and everything it embodies.Like any other major country with a population it can barely support India as well has it share of great problems. But at the end of the day http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-424254.html If there is one thing I have learned from being in India for a month that is to never underestimate the diversity of its cultures and people. I went from living in a town where we got daily power outages to Banglore the IT capital of India. This city is like no other I have seen in Asia let alone India. The IT parks are designed in the American fashion giving you an outer body feel while you dr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Karnataka/Bangalore/blog-399320.html Mumbai is the new face of India. It's a cosmopolitian city in which 55 of the population live in slums. Contrast survives side by side with the most expensive properties in the world next door to aluminum boarded shacks. It's crowded multiethnic humid and crazyI stayed with a friend here who has been living here for a few years in a suburb of Mumbai. As with all big cities Mumbai is also mad http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-396217.html I took a train in sleeper class from Virdhunagar to Mumbai. The journey took 36 hours and is the quintessential Indian experienceAt first 36 hours seems like a lot of time... a day and a half but it didn't not feel that long at all. I had a seat right by the window which was very lucky. Because I booked the ticket only a few days before I had been on the waiting list until the day before I was d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-396202.html I've spent 10 days in Virdhunagar and have mixed feelings about the whole ordeal. The teachers I've met at the school are very sweet and kind. They have really left an impact on me. But being a foreigner sometimes just means money and I've been put in some awkward situations regarding the subject that has added a sour note. Being immersed in a real town atmosphere made me feel more strange at time http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/blog-396057.html Kanyakumari is the southern tip of Tamil Nadu very close to the Kerala border. It's most known as the spot where three seas meet Arabic Bengal and Indian. It's best to see it during sunset or sunrise. Unfortunately I missed bothI did a day trip to Kanyakumari taking the train early in the morning at 3am with a local girl I met while in Virdhunagar. We could only get unreserved tickets since we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Kanyakumari/blog-396056.html My adventures with David in India have come to an end as David returned to Germany a few days ago and I have moved on to Virdhunagar a town about 40 minutes south of Madurai. I am volunteer teaching at a local private school for the next 2 weeks. Although the school is private it caters to the underprivileged offering free education to those that can't afford and also charges very low class fees http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/blog-396055.html Rameshwaram is the eastern most tip of India the closest to Sri Lanka I can ever get. A lot of Tamil refugees come to Rameshwaram on small boats sailing through the gulf of Mannar. It is actually an island which is now connected to the mainland by a bridge that was completed only 20 years ago. The people who live here are mainly fisherman who reside in straw houses in sandy little villages.We wer http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Rameswaram/blog-396054.html We couch surfed in Madurai for 2 days with a guy who let us stay at his guesthouse even though he wasn't there to meet us. I've come across surfers like this before in my travels but this was a little bit different because not only did we have a place to stay without the host we also got full use of his personal driver It was the real royal Indian experience.At first David and I felt quite uncom http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Madurai/blog-396053.html Spending a night on a houseboat is one the list of 10 things to do before you die. Of course it all seems a little over rated right WRONGFor 4500 rupees David and I got a one bedroom houseboat equipped with 3 men for 24 hours. These men drove the boat cooked us food lunch tea dinner and breakfast and took care of us as if we were royalty. They also took us to the toddy shop on the banks o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Allepey/blog-396052.html The state of Kerela is known as God's own country due to its lush greenery and beautiful backwaters. The first change I noticed was the language I was lost yet again amidst the signs in Malaylam which are just as curvy as Tamil yet so different. The plan was to only spend a night in Cochin but somehow it turned into two mainly due to laziness and the fact that we somehow managed to gain an ext http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-396051.html It was due time to escape the heat I have been immersed in it for over 6 weeks Like all Indians do in the summer time and as the British Raj used to do we also headed to Kodaikanal a hill station close to the Kerela border 2000 and a bit more feet above sea level which took the bus over 2 hours to reach the top.You can notice the change in temperature instantly The air is fresh and hills ar http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Kodai/blog-396050.html After a night in Mahabalipurum David and I headed down the ECR towards Pondicherry which is a former French colony and is considered an autonomous state where French is actually an official language.We had planned to take the state bus to Pondicherry like we did from Chennai to Mahabalipurum and it cost a whole of 1 for 2 people but you really need to know how to jump onto buses to do that si http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Pondicherry/blog-396048.html David met me in Chennai to travel the south of India together for the next 2 weeks. After a couple of nights in Chennai doing absolutely nothing but hanging out with couchsurfers we headed south on the East Coast Road towards Mahabalipurum. It's a small fishing village that seems to be quite popular with the hippie backpackers. The entire village caters to the tourist but on a very laid back note http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Mamallapuram/blog-395949.html I flew into Trichy from KL yesterday and rathar than explore the city I chose to find a hotel and crash. I spent last night at the KL low cost terminal which is not that great of a place to sleep and knowing I had to take an overnight train to Chennai the following night I felt that sleep was definitely the priority.Believe it or not but traveling can be exhaustingMy idea of India has been creat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-395946.html Malaysia wasn't on my list of places to visit on this trip but it just so happened that the cheapest flight to India was out of Kuala Lampur Air Asia. Now that I have spent a couple of days here I'm really glad that I had the chance to explore KL which seems to be the Toronto of Asia due to its diversity in cultures languages and cuisine.As soon as I stepped into the airport I felt the assimila http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-395942.html Phomn Phen is a small capital city which has heaps of character. It has loads of colonial French architecture and people from all walks of life. There are streets lined with beautiful giant houses as well as half dressed street children trying to sell you books and covered in filth.Contrast seems to be a key theme in Asia.Corruption is quite common so anyone can basically get away with anything. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-395940.html