Baker
Carole Baker Joined: May 4th 2006
Logged in: October 31st 2010
Logged in: October 31st 2010
Having said that, on my trip around South America I managed to more or less ignore my planned itinerary, going in and out of Argentina three times, missing out huge parts of Chile and swinging through Columbia.
Hopefully this travel-blog will keep you up to date with my adventures as and when/where they happen.
I've posted a picture of myself before leaving to remind myself of what life is like with hair straighteners. From here on in, I expect to look more like Monica in that episode of Friends when they go to Hawaii (though sadly the resemblance will stretch to the wild hair only!)
Travel Blog Posts
it's a small world
Delhi was a good temperature - 25 degrees during the day, with the evenings cool enough to warrant a long-sleeved t-shirt but back down on the south-west coast in Varkala it's a sweltering 38 degrees and slightly humid with glorious sunshine and a beach - bliss!! Varkala is definitely a tourist resort - not particularly Indian and just what I wanted for a few days relaxing! The beach sits at the bottom of beautiful red sandstone cliffs and the sea is just lively enough to provide waves to play in when you need to cool off. Each morning and afternoon you can sit and watch the fishermen bring in their nets using a guy on a flat-bottomed canoe ridden like a surfboard to direct it in as up to about 30 guys haul in the heavy ... read more
Shiva on the Ganges at Rishikesh
So, here at last in Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela - actually not in Haridwar, but up the road some 30km in Rishikesh - the world capital of yoga. I thought it wise to keep a little distance from the main activities in Haridwar. The festival itself runs for about 4 months but 12th Feb has been identified as one of the most auspicious dates on which to cleanse away sins in Mother Ganga and the place is expected to be bursting at the seams with pilgrims. Whilst bathing in the Ganges is the main focus of the event, there are also a number of famous Guru's appearing here - and these are world famous not just India famous - these guys have followers from around the world who come to hear their thoughts on life, ... read more
Best Room
On leaving Pushkar we were headed to Jodphur - the Blue City - so called because many of the houses are painted indigo blue - originally this was to signify the home of a Brahmin (high caste Hindu) but now everyone joins in - apparently the colour is thought to repel insects. We went by train and shared a carriage with a load of guys from the Indian Army who didn't say a word to us for the whole trip (about 4 hours) and a lady who was enormously tall and had massive hands and feet - she could easily have passed for a man but I think she was a woman. She kept talking to me (presumably in Hindi) and offered to share her vegetable pakora - bless her. She eventually gave up when she ... read more
Chaotic Paharganj, Delhi
Just a final note on Nepal... as the flight took off from Kathmandu airport I was lucky enough to be seated on the right hand side of the plane and as we rose through the smog and then the clouds I had a perfectly clear view of the Himalayas stretching across the horizon above the cloud. Now I know because I've been told, that one of them was Everest but I'd be lying if I said I could have pointed it out, because I had no idea which it was, but they all looked pretty damned impressive. So it was back to India and on arrival in Delhi I was shocked to be told by Immigration that according to the conditions of my Indian visa I wasn't actually allowed back into the country for 2 months ... read more
January 15th 2010
Phewa Tal, Pokhara
So the trip to Nepal on the Indian side was very smooth - train to Gorakphur, bicycle rickshaw to bus station - the guy was about 70 bless him, felt like I should offer to give him a lift, then a minibus to the border town of Sunauli. The mini-bus was about a 30 seater but obviously carrying at least 40 people! I was squeezed into a gap about 6 inches wide on a seat that ran alongside the driver - who didn't get away scot-free either because he had to put up with my backpack balanced on the back of his chair for the 2 1/2 hour trip - there was every chance it could snap his neck clean if it fell on him at any great speed, but all was well and we arrived ... read more
Mother Ganga
So, alone at last.... Hugh had headed off for Darjeeling and I was on my way to Varanasi on the overnight train from Calcutta. Usual overnight trip - pretty noisy, vendors constantly up and down the train offering food and drinks, "Chai Chai, Coffee Coffee" is the constant background noise! I was in a 'cabin' with an Indian guy and his mother on their way home after a break in Calcutta. He's a teacher and explained that it had been so cold in Varanasi that they'd had to close the schools - didn't sound great to me! So we arrived early the next morning and Varanasi was blanketed in fog and feeling pretty nippy! I settled in at the Elvis Guest House - couldn't resist it with that name and was told that the weather was ... read more
Let the train take the strain...
Leaving Hampi was the start of the trip north - and heading to the colder climates. The first leg was to Chennai by train - a nice relaxing 11 hour cross-country trip. Everytime you get off a train you manage to forget the tiny details that make it special - the smell of poo and wee whenever the train is slow-moving or stationery (because it goes straight out of the toilets and onto the tracks and sits steaming in the sun), the constant stream of unfortunates waving their various disabilities or very evident poverty under your nose begging for a few rupees, the fact that it doesn't matter if you've been allocated a seat, someone will inevitably be sitting/sleeping in it and will look horribly offended when you ask them to move, the way that Indians ... read more
Kudroli Temple, Mangalore
With a day to kill in Mangalore before getting the train to Goa for Christmas we decided to visit a couple of local Hindu temples and what a contrast they were... The first, Mangaladevi Temple, is very famous in Mangalore and we arrived at around midday as many people were giving pujas (offerings and prayers) in the temple. It was pretty rundown from the outside but as you went in (shoeless - and offering up a little prayer myself that no-one decided to trade in their knackered flip flops for my Birkenstocks) there were about 3 or 4 separate altars / temples - each with a different deity. Each was attended my some 'monks' (not sure what they're actually called, but you get the picture). These guys accept the offering - often flowers or food, sometimes ... read more
Jew Town
As we've moved down the country we've seen a big change in landscapes and crops. From cotton to rice-paddies, to hillsides of tea bushes and coffee, and crops of root veg and now the more tropical outline of banana plants and palm trees. Finally we arrived at the coast and first stop is Kochi in Kerala and we opted to head for Fort Cochin which is one of the small islands just off the mainland. It doesn't feel very much like India with it's blend of Portuguese, Dutch and English heritage. India's oldest European style church is here along with a Synagogue, a thriving Jewish community (all centred around a place called Jew Town, which doesn't sound very pc to me!) and a port with cantilevered Chinese fishing nets - it's a right old hotch-potch, but ... read more
Perfect Boobs
before an update, including some missed from the last blog now that I've been here over a week I just want to make a few observations: a) on the subject of boobs! I've seen some really stunning cave art (both paintings and carving) at Ajanta and Ellora and there is a common theme on the ladies featured... they all have the most amazing breasts. I don't mean huge as in Pammy Anderson, but perfectly round like a half a coconut and always perfectly proportioned. Clearly these carvings were made by men who had little experience of real women and were just working to their idea of how a breast should be. I wonder if this was the start of the current obsession and indeed if it was where Victoria Beckham's plastic surgeon got his inspiration.... Also ... read more
