Hi Seems like you'll choose to remember the nicer parts of the trip however being Indian, I do feel disappointed when I read that people were rude and arrogant.
I know much cant be done about poor infrastructure and train delays but I'd expect people to be nice, warm and more friendly.
Btw, nice blog - enjoyed reading about your journey here and hope the next time you'll are here, you'll have a great experience with people too!
re: Everyone loves a groin rub Well it's certainly a 'hands-on' approach to tourists! You know we had heard India was 'touchy-feely' we just never expected Neil to be the one being felt up! hahaha!
Reminds me of home The pictures remind me so much of the many different beaches in our great state of florida. It's like having miami, west palm, st.pete, and daytona beach all rolled into one. I don't if this part of India that was hit by the tsunami, but if it is it's made a major come back.
Sorry your view has changed ..... ... but in many ways I have to agree.
I've lived here in town for over 12 months now and have been visiting Sihanoukville for over 2 years previous ..... it's changing.
Theft, to some degree, you expect in any third world country, you just have to be 100% aware and try your best to prevent opportunities ...... however, the scamming (more often than not from Western run businesses) is getting worse and is definitely spoiling the town for many.
Re: Nuddie guy hahahaha, we never saw him doing yoga on the beach...good job by the sounds of it - that loincloth wouldn't hide anything when doing yoga stretches!
Definite bonus! Yes, we agree Mel...sexism aside it was a bonus for Donna not to have to talk to creepy men but not so good for Neil as they turned all their 'attentions' to him instead and he got a bit fed up of having to talk to all these people!
Passing houseboats in the night indeed! Hi Bob and Vik, yes it seems we were passing houseboats in the night. We are sure we will bump into you somewhere along the way! The best way to confuse the touts and annoying people is to speak in your own made up language...so funny and great to see the look on people's faces when they can't make out what you are saying! Stay safe and happy travels x
Taxi drivers We have definitely developed an allergy to taxi drivers, they seem to be the same everywhere in Asia! We were shocked with how lax the security was all over India - apart from at the Taj Mahal strangely where the whole of the Indian army seemed to be!
Yay, friendly travellers! Good to see there are friendly travellers out there. It just annoyed us so much we had to put it in the blog!
We'll look forward to meeting up with you (Liz and Adrian and Sophie and Dale) if we can...hopefully we will be in the same place at the same time!
Happy travels xx
''Most of the time though Donna was ignored in these conversations as if she didn’t exist and Neil was expected to answer for both of us ''
If I disregard the sexism aspect, I would call this a bonus for women travelling with men. ;)
White Lies The interrogation gets to me as well. I've reached the stage where I tell my interrogator that I'm from Congo and that Vik is one of my wives. This makes the dynamics of the conversation that follows much more interesting and gives you room to elaborate on your profession - for example monitoring the migratory habits of Gazelles. I don't even know if gazelles migrate (unlikely I suppose) but that's the beauty of travel - you can be who you want and the truth rarely matters. That's also why I've changed my name to Flex Banner. By the way - we must have been like passing houseboats in the night as we appear to have been in Alleppey at exactly the same time as you, Ross and Stacey. If we'd known we coud have gone for a lassi or something. Still, another country another time. Bob and Vik.
oh no another disappointment I loved Kochi but then again we didn't stay in town. We stayed on Vypeen Island which was a little piece of heaven, complete with delicious food and alcohol. I hope your time in Kerala got better.
nuddie guy i was in goa 2 years ago I cant believe that guy is still knocking around in his flap. for gods sake put some dame pants on. each to their own etc but why does he always have to do his stomach turning yoga routine each day where there seems to be the biggest crowd gathered or outside the most packed restaraunt? theres lots of quiet places to go where no one is around to have to see it. i hate him.
Loved your blog on Palolem. Have decided we got 2 go back there. Just wanted to know the name of the place where u stayed and how far it was from the beach. lol
grumpy guts travellers just wait until we cross paths on the road - no more grumpy unfriendly travellers.
okay so it may be a few months but drinks are on us.
its a shame on us all hey guys,
was interested in your article, as my parents are both from goa, and i have recently finished travelling around the world.
It brought a smile to my face to hear about th eIndian men. They are pervs, and when my partner and Iwent ther, we also had the same experience (even though i am a part local).
As for talking with other travellers, i am very surprised. Travelling is suppossed to be about seeing new things, experiencing new things and meeting new....people! If there are people that are looking down at others, or not willing to engage in conversation about travel stories and the like, it is a real shame. Part of our adventure was meeting new people, and we have made several new friends on the way.
I Hope that some others read this, and agree with me, that this attitude is just soo wrong, and that you miss out on loads of information about places. sometimes, its just nice to talk to someone who speaks your own language!!!
Have a good timeguys,and don't come back to England too soon!!! Its FREEZING HERE!!!!
Ah, this brings back memories. You have photos of a bunch of my hangouts from my last trip to Mumbai. I am going there again next May.
Not much security in Mumbai! They must have put all of them in N. India then. Everywhere I went in December they were resting their heads on their gun nozzles and sleeping or drinking chai behind their sand bags. :D
I hate taxi drivers too. One sort of developes an allergy for them after travelling for a bit.
LOL That waiter! That is just way tooooo much service. :D
loving your indian entries! just followed your advice and googled "mumbai toilet roll", this travelblog entry came up at 8th! but not much else. you mean there are lots of police still in the muslim area because of the terrorist attack?
hope you're feeling better already donna!
9H2K, !K(> 0 (@2 (Hello, Donna and Neil) Hey Guys, Just catching up on your latest adventures. India looks fab, and after reading an amazing book called the Shantaram, it is a place i certainly want to visit.
Me and Kim are still in sydney, working hard to top up the travel fund so we can continue to Asia for a while....and hopefully follow your footsteps to india (Kim says no, as its a little too extreme for her, but i say bring it on) I have a belly of steel so no delhi belly for me!
Anywho, I hope you are both well and had a good xmas and NY. We spent most of it chilling on the beach and drinking too much.
Take care, James and Kim.
The adventure continues... First off, I would like to know what you guys do for work because I need to have a vacation time and a salary to match to take me to all the places you guys have gone and are going to... Secondly, great blog, as always! It's comical but factual. Wish all travel books are written this way. Third, seems you guys are enjoying India so far. Planning to go there myself for, yes, a spiritual journey. Should I go? Of course, I'd be eating pizza and pancakes still...
True Blogger In the past couple of days I had read u r blogs, they are simply amazing.
U guys are true traveller.
U write a blog in a such a way that as if u r narrating a story or a fairy tale.
Keep the good work going and enjoy ur journey.
Always sleep on the top I learned after my first indian train ride that it's best to sleep on the top bunk. Not only are you not accidently trod on by people climbing up and down or knocked by folks walking down the narrow walkway but you're also far away from the animals that call the train home.
Hope you're feeling better Donna.
And Happy New Year to both of you.
We saved for 3 years and then went Hoff to travel the world. Chris Columbus and Magellan eat your heart out...do you reckon other people will have already discovered the places we are going to? You bet!
About Us
Neil, originally from Hartlepool, UK and Donna, originally from the Wirral, UK have known each other for 19 years. We bought a house, got cushy jobs in Nottingham and always had a passion to travel and see what more was out there in the big wide world (sounds corny or what?). The opportunity came when we were both made redundant and given nice r... full info
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Tanya
Hi
Seems like you'll choose to remember the nicer parts of the trip however being Indian, I do feel disappointed when I read that people were rude and arrogant. I know much cant be done about poor infrastructure and train delays but I'd expect people to be nice, warm and more friendly. Btw, nice blog - enjoyed reading about your journey here and hope the next time you'll are here, you'll have a great experience with people too!