GJSS
Graeme S Joined: May 23rd 2008
Logged in: October 3rd 2008
Logged in: October 3rd 2008
Herein lie the brief ramblings of a traveller documenting his progress, updated as and when time permits.
Travel Blog Posts
Hot Air Balloons
The bus journey to the region of Cappadocia was unfortunate because of my spectacular miscalculation in travel time. I first travelled to the large city of Antalya with its multi-story, 150+ platform bus station but could only get a connecting bus to the village of Göreme (central in the Cappadocia region) at 16:00 that afternoon. That seemed feasible and I figured that we should arrive at around 23:00 which was late, but there would still be enough places open to get a room for the night. Instead I was dumped at a petrol station outside of Nevsehir at 02:30. It was also suddenly cold - at this higher altitude it was about 10 0C and I was compelled to dig out my jumper for the first time. I later read a warning in a guidebook I ... read more
View Over Fethiye
I mentioned before that the Turks like to travel in style and I can report that this extends to the bus companies too. Mercedes Benz appears to have had a field day here with almost all the bus companies using new luxury air conditioned Mercedes Benz coaches. I guess it’s a kind of arms race – first one company ups the ante by buying a luxury coach and soon all the others have to do the same to compete. You get a comfortable reclining seat and shortly after departure complementary refreshments are served (water, coffee, tea, cola, cake, biscuits) and again several times during the trip. As we headed south I watched the outside temperature on the onboard thermometer steadily increase … 28 – 30 – 32 –34 – 37 degrees. It certainly made you feel ... read more
Ferry
You can take a bus to just about anywhere in Turkey – buses are to Turkey what trains are to India – it is how this nation travels. However, I learned of a rail route that would take me in a similar direction and after my mostly pleasant rail journeys in India, I decided to give this one a go. It wasn’t going to be straight forward though, but that was fine; it would just make the journey more interesting. My destination was Selcuk (pronounced Sel-chook), near the western shore of Turkey. I first needed to catch a ferry and from my map I deduced that it was easily close enough to walk to the terminal from my hotel. The ferry departed at 07:00, so I checked out at 06:10, swatted the eager taxi drivers away ... read more
Topkapi Palace
Istanbul was a real surprise, especially after a few weeks in India. Istanbul is large, busy, modern and wealthy. It felt strange to see modern cars again; luxury German brands like Mercedes, BMW, Audi and VW. And clean, the streets were so clean. People dress smartly, yet conservatively and the shoes (especially the men) are smart pointy Italian leather shoes. Elegant spires of mosque minarets add to the fantasy landscape of the urban centre surrounded by water - it seems that there’s one mosque at least every few blocks. They lend (to my ears) an otherworldly soundtrack to the city as calls to prayer ring out several times a day simultaneously from these mosques. My taxi dropped me off in the old city suburb of Sultanahmet which is on the Western side of the Bosphoros Strait ... read more
Behind the Taj Mahal
From Jodhpur I took an overnight train east to Agra to visit that most iconic of Indian monuments, the Taj Mahal. It was going to be a couple of long days now as my time in India drew to a close. We left Jodhpur at 19:30 and I settled into my top berth in 3AC class (three bunk beds with air conditioning). The good thing about the top berth is that you can lie down whenever you please as the lower two bunks are used as seats during the day. I didn't sleep very well, but then I rarely do on these journeys. We arrived in Agra just after sunrise and after stowing my larger pack in the cloakroom at the train station, I climbed aboard an autorickshaw + guide who would show me the sites ... read more
Temple on Mountainside (Mount Abu)
The bus climbed a steep winding road as we left the hot plains of Rajasthan and headed towards my next stop, a village called Mount Abu. A place completely different from anywhere else I’d been in India and I’m very glad I decided to visit. Mount Abu is the highest point in Rajasthan and as we climbed the temperature steadily dropped to a comfortable 22 0C. The hills were covered in tall trees and black-faced monkeys sat in groups along the roadside. Before long it started to rain and then we were in the clouds, misty swirls everywhere and the edge of the cliff disappeared into grey. Once in Mount Abu a short damp walk had me booked into a room and fed with a good lunch at one of the restaurants in town. This place ... read more
Pushkar
The short hop on the train to Ajmer was fine, but I wasn't planning on staying there. Ajmer was merely a staging post to get to Pushkar. I caught a government bus from the bus station and we took a mountain pass into the valley next door. Government buses are extraordinary vehicles. I’m not entirely sure what holds them together but the bottom half of the bus appears to be independent of the top half which sways and rattles with each bump and turn. They’re very full too, only leaving when all seats and all standing room is occupied. Pushkar is a tiny town crowded around a lake. Hindus believe that the lake is holy and come from all over India to bath in its waters. There are hundreds of temples and shrines in this town ... read more
View Over Jaipur
I walked from my hotel early in the morning (05:00) towards the main road to flag down some transport to the railway station. Before long a small van pulled up and after some haggling on the price whisked me to the station. The train journey to Jaipur was good. The train arrived right on schedule (06:00) and I settled into a comfy chair (like a basic aircraft cabin chair complete with fold-down table) in an air conditioned coach. As soon as we set off an attendant came around and served everyone mineral water and a pot of tea and later we received breakfast (I’ve no idea what it was but it tasted good). I didn’t realise that these meals were included in the ticket price so it was a welcome surprise. Green countryside scrolled dimly past ... read more
To fly from Bangkok to New Delhi takes a mere 3 hrs, a pleasant flight with good entertainment and food aboard Jet Airline’s Boeing 737-800. It would however be a further 6 hours after landing at a wet Delhi International Airport before I arrived at my hotel at 03:00 in the morning … welcome to India. First impression from the plane before landing at 21:05 was how dark the city was. After the bustling metropolises of Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Saigon which are lit up like Christmas trees, Delhi only had a few isolated pockets of street lights emitting a dim orange glow. After collecting my bags and clearing customs I joined a queue to hire a pre-paid taxi into Delhi city. The line was not moving very quickly, in fact the line was not moving ... read more
Instead of flying straight on to India, I delayed my flight to Delhi and headed towards some islands off the coast of Thailand. First stop was Ko Samet, a small island about 6hrs drive by minibus & 40min ferry from Bangkok. I also later visited Ko Chang, a much larger island further east. First though a few days spent in Bangkok where I visited the Chatuchak market. An amazing spectacle attended by around 200 000 vendors and customers every weekend (they hand out maps to tourists when you arrive). There was a dizzy array of goods for sale from live animals to paintings to food. I'm not much of a buyer though, but if I had a house and could imagine where to put all those carvings and paintings, I'm sure I could spend a lot ... read more
