Travel Blog Posts
August 6th 2007
Hello everyone, big apologies for not writing for months, just have been getting carried away with life and stuff but no excuse really. So since I last wrote the biggest adventure was Sri Lanka and what an amazing time I had. The flight over was good, met a lovely guy who is originally from Sri Lanka but now lived mainly in the US but was visiting his family for a few weeks. He insisted on buying me some sweets etc from the duty free as a welcoming gift to his country, living in India for sometime I have learned rarely to trust anyone you don’t know, and in my experience any act of good will usually has repercussions, however by the time I left Sri Lanka I knew this was their culture and they enjoyed it ... read more
June 4th 2007
So the girls (Helen and Amy) arrived in Bangalore very early Thursday morning, around 1.00am. I quite enjoy my time spent waiting at the airport, I get a nice cup of hot chocolate and watch the plethora of people come and go, business travellers from Europe and America arriving in the chauffer driven cars from the 5* hotels, Buddhist monks peacefully just sitting around waiting for their plane, rather large Indian families watching their cousins daughter's husband's uncle move to the US, and this time was a real treat as the Indian Taekwondo team arrived, it was something very special. Anyway we got a taxi home, 10 times the price of the auto I had arrived in, and already the problems had started. We stayed up pretty late, me excited by actually having more than ... read more
May 21st 2007
Apologies for the lack of blogging lately, the last couple of weeks have been taken up with the departure of many of my friends. Most of the internships here are only for 4 or 5 months, therefore the people I first arrived alongside are in the processing of leaving. First to go was Selmene, my dear friend from Belgium. Two weeks ago on Wednesday we held a little surprise party for him, he has gone of to travel up north and I think is due to return back to Bangalore in a few months. Following Selmene’s departure was Rob from Holland, last weekend we all held a huge BBQ for him, along with a club, followed by a huge party. The following morning we all went for brunch at the Royal Orchid Hotel. Sunday brunches ... read more
April 30th 2007
Hello! Sorry for the delay in posts, I now have some interesting things to share with you as have just come back from holiday with Mum, Dad and Steph. They arrived early Sunday morning, we spend few hectic days around Bangalore, showing them my flat, offering them the chance to see the cultural delights of Bangalore, or more accurately the shops and restaurants and the polluted filled air. I think they got a good taste of what Bangalore has to offer. Avoiding another day haggling with rikshaw drivers and dragging Dad around the shops we opted for a day in Mysore, one of the major tourist hubs of South India, it’s main attraction being the huge palace and markets. We arrived there around 11am, after a three hours coach journey. After having some food we ... read more
March 20th 2007
Hello home! Just to let you know I am fully recovered, I have indeed overcome a killer disease in a few weeks, which therefore makes me super human, so not sure what it was. Anyway, last week was pretty standard, worked, met friends, worked some more, and then on Friday went to Goa. We left Friday evening, as per usual, looking ahead to a 15-hour coach journey, it felt like a school trip as we pretty much took over the bus. All 16 of us arrived in Goa late Saturday morning, followed by 2 more on Sunday. This time there was a more eclectic mix of interns, rather than the normal man Dutch invasion of our usual weekends. There was a few Germans, one French, three British, some Dutch, one Hungarian, one Indian, one Canadian ... read more
March 6th 2007
Just as I thought my weeks would become routine, that the trips would become seldom and life would become a bit more ordinary I was shipped back to the east coast on Tuesday night, to tsunami hit Nagapattinum in Tamil Nadu. Another 10 hour bus journey, I received little sleep and had two very long, hot and hectic days. We had a meeting with Action Aid over a proposal we submitted, the outcome wasn’t too agreeable as they cut the budget by half, but I made a few good contacts on a more positive note. I travelled back to Bangalore on Thursday night, alone and by train for the first time, but was far more comfortable than coach, which was lucky as I was off again on my travels the following evening. Around 10pm on Friday ... read more
February 26th 2007
Hello!!! Well what an eventful week I have had! Returned from Gokarna Beach early on Monday morning. Shortly after arriving at work I found out that I would return to the comfort of the overnight bus to Prakasam in Adhra Pradesh to visit one of our projects. This is on the east coast of India, the complete other side of India to where I had been at the weekend. Attempting to sound thrilled yet feeling disgruntled with the prospect of the journey, I reminded myself that I would finally get to see the real India and what I am working for. Myself, and two of my colleagues arrived in Ongle, one of the larger cities, around 7am Tuesday morning. It was clear straight away that Prakasam was going to be far cry from the western opulence ... read more
February 19th 2007
Hello everyone, just a quick catch up as have to get on with some work today as boss is back in town. Last week I only managed a few days at work, Monday was strike day and Friday much to my delight was a holiday, only realised after being in work for a few hours that no one was coming in, I was led to believe it was a celebration of Shiva so the temples around the city was pretty crowded. During the week we all went to Taika, a club on Church Street in central Bangalore, for no reason whatsoever I won the valentines prize which is a day in F-Spa at Le Meridian 5* Hotel, so have that to look forward to at the weekend, On Friday night we set out for another Indian ... read more
February 13th 2007
We left around midnight on Friday to travel overnight by minibus down to Nargahole, a national park in southern Karnataka. There was twelve of us altogether, six Dutch, guys, one Belgium, one Romanian, three Germans and myself representing the mighty UK. Being the only Brit didn't work in my advantage as I obtained the duty of English teacher, and defendent of UK politics for most of the weekend, pretty difficult when the rest of Europe seems to know more about it than I do, but we had some pretty interesting discussions. My Hindu and Kanada language skills have not improved since i've been here, but I have aquired the 'International English' vernacular pretty well, so apologies if my writings sounds a bit odd at times. The bus journey was all we had organised, and kind of ... read more
February 6th 2007
Hello all…just a brief update about my week of moving, parties and future plans. Last week my boss returned from Sri Lanka, again we drank lots of beer, discussed my job, and decided to find me a new apartment. Within about 3 days it was signed and I moved this weekend gone. My new apartment as I like to call it, or shall I say bedsit, as it is only a room with a bathroom, is wonderful. By western standards probably not, but I have purchased a fridge, I keep looking at it with admiration, it provides me with nice cold pasteurised milk so I can finally have cornflakes! This morning I had toast, I don’t own a knife yet so had to use a spoon to butter it, bizarrely I have very limited cutlery, just ... read more
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