great, thought you'd like the observatory! Glad you hired a guide - I don't think anyone would have a clue what was going on without one (although it would make a great adventure playground!) Apparently travelblog isn't sending any emails about updates, which is irritating, but never mind.
Enjoy the Taj!
Rach
hi bro! I like the way you just throw that in there: "From there we'll head on to Agra, to see the Taj Mahal." like it means nothing.
I just got back from a little mni holiday to Slovinia with a few friends from uni. it was really impressive! (lol) we spent most of the time in the capital city of LjubLjiana wich has architecture reminicent of Prague or Vienna. its a really friendly place where watitresses are happy to chat. lolts of nice touches as well, like snacks being brought to the table when you enter a bar or cafe, or water being provided automatically.
We also went to the city of Protejne (pretty sure thats right) for a day to see an amazing cave complex. The second largest in the world they claim, it goes back about 30km into the rock or some equally impressive number. That night we headed to Kranj to see a band called terrafolk that Jo knew. They were amazing! They played both traditional and newer songs. They were sort of metal on folk instruments at times. They were also very funny, judging by the laughs coming from the crowd though we didnt get most of the jokes, just the musical ones.
Anyway, see you less than a month!
love you broXXX
Coo Cooo-er, well that's poetic. I can imagine someone saying that while under the influence of "wacky baccy" but you're so good with the English language while completely sober, so I'm sure you weren't. You'd be ace at writing song lyrics, I reckon. Keep having fun. :-)
Hi. Hello Sam. Wonder which beach you refer to here.. and which is this 'birthplace of trance'?
I was myself mesmerised by this band playing some kind of fusion trance music (Indian classical AND there was a didgeridoo) at Calangute saturday market - didn't catch its name but did make a 3 minute video..
By the way, guess who?
PS : when I mentioned Indian dress, I was referring to your companion's 'salwar-kameez'..
nice one! Thants fantastic. I assume its irony but hope it isnt! btw I've been taking photos a lot recently, theres a few uploaded onto bebo if you wanna take a look. i'm really pleased with some of them. Keep blogging!!
silly me Just seen this blog after complaining about the shortness of the other one! How unfair I was, this is really long, and the goan one I am sure captures Goa
Love to you and jen
well! Well! What can I say? You've pretty much summed up the real "travel" experience, as I mostly experienced it. Or were you being ironic? 'Cos I ain't goin' there, you hippy in spandex pants searchin' for conciousness expansion or whatever. Remember Lo Loby.
Seriously, I hope that was real.
Love you loads and loads,
Dad xxx
short & sweet Well sam, very poetic entry but not terribly informative - or perhaps it is!
AT least I can find out a bit more from Jen's blog, and it was great to talk to you last week, and you will be home before we know it
no elephants? we saw elephants when we were there, but no tigers. Did you get to bit of periya lake with the lake palace perched high on a wooded island? been there!
spice gardens very nice, i agree.
joss goes back to uni the day after tomorrow, we'll be on our own again, which isn't too bad; preparing for your return of course, making the mincemeat and the xmas pudding (NOT). the crackers are ready. nice to hear from you after that little gap, though i'm not surprised you have little yime to write blogs, given where hyou are and what's going on and all. we loved kerala and its people and the climate and the food - had a lamb byriani there yet?
later,
dad
ps much love xxxxx
periyar As I said in the email Periyar was my favourite place of all in India, becuase we were in the countryside as it would have been without man I suppose, and the lovely coolness. we didn't see any tigers or the ground squirrel , but we did see elephant and lots of birds and monkeys and pigs and buffelo and deer. Did you see our hotel on the lake? The lake palace? it was heaven, in a colonial sort of way, although actually it was only "colonial style" built by th local Raj as his hunting lodge, as indeed the Park was created because he feared to loose the hunting territory to the spice and tea plantations. WE approached the Park from Thekaddy, but that might be the same as kulimy as things have more than one name. We didn't go to kovalam either as it was too far, but stayed nearer Appelay before returning to Cochin. I think Kovalam is the resort though, really the only one in Kerela. I loved the journey from Munnar to thekaddy one of the most beautiful, but i thik you must have come from the other direc tion if you were going up to Periyar, we were coming down rom the tea platations. hope you like Kerela as much as we did
Love Mum
More!More! hi Sam! I know you've got more important things to do but please do keep the blog up, it was ages since the last one. tis my homepage and i check it everyday! Jen's blogs have been filling the gaps but it aint the same (no offence jen). I really like the idea you've had for a bit of creative writig everyday. I still reckon you should pursue the idea as more than a hobby when you get back. Do what you love.
Not *that* long left now. less than two months. :) :(
miss you bro!
XXXX
sprit ualism Sounds like an interesting guy you met, as long as you don't run off and join a cult! Would be good to see some pics soon. Seems like you are getting a bit sick of blogging despite the fact that everyone is so impressed with the standard. Saw Stella today and she said how literary they are too. Will email too love to yu both
Really glad to hear you are OK, and have arrived safely in India. Sounds like quite an overwhelming experience so glad you are enjoying it. I remember when we were in India people were very keen to talk to us and to welcome us. I don't think there was quite the same problem with the men in Kerela though, perhaps because of the communist rule, or very high literacy rates, or maybe because Caroline and I are rather older then Jen! And we were less on the streets anyway I suppose.
Anyway love to you both
Mum
PHotos Love the photos, really great, especialy the symbiosis of tree roots and archecture looke like a fantasy set for a film - even I would quite like to see tomb raider now, perhaps with the sound turned down!
Jealous Angkor sounds really fantastic, great place to play in, if a bit hot. I would love to see it for myself some time. Think I will ahve to do SE asia sometime, love Jen's dscription of it being like Narnia too. I always like these sort of hidden places and trying to work out what it must have been like in its glory, but I bet the jungle adds to it really
k. fields hi sam,
nice to "talk" to you today, as you probably sussed i found the intermittent converstion a little disorientating, like you were there on the phone but you weren't, if you see what i mean.
cambodia, the name is fearful to me from the contemporary accounts of the murders. made vietnam seem tame by comparison. i was once in munich (early 70s) and could have (should have?) gone to dachau, it then being only 30 years after the holocaust. couldn't do it. even in northern france where we saw the eclipse in 99, the first world war killing fields were a bit too much, barbed wire and human bones lying about in the ploughed fields.
still i'm sure cambodia is a completely different place now, hope you have a great time there, if this message hasn't depressed you too much!
plus side of things: bridge is retiring in the summer and mr tomsett is coming back to be the new head! good news all round, i think. reading a biography of philip k dick, what a nutter but waht a genius. still haven't seen A Scanner Darkly, but apparently it's v. good.
speak/type to tou soon, much love,
dad
terrible to loose our pics but it could have been worse- you ahve memories and of course camaras have got a lot more sophisticated in the last 2 years so you will probably end up with something bettter!
moonshadows moonshadows, don't get me started.
sam, you have a fantastic style of writing, both sardonic and enlightening at the same time. I feel like I've been to these places, even if only for the few minutes reading it. Glad that your sense of humour is still going strong. Keep on keeping on!
News from here: Joss is home for 2 days, mainly to get his washing done, partly to stress about his girlfriend going home at the same time to tell her parents that the guy she's seeing isn't a "nice Jewish boy".
After 4 weeks I'm still only "nearly" better, this virus is a pig to get rid of. Back at work though, and managing it all. Mum has become a born-again non-smoker, with all the moral high ground that that implies.
15,000th episode of the Archers came down on the side of marital harmony, for which I'm thankful. Moses has fleas. Good fireworks at Kate and Max's last Sunday, Woolly doing the fire and the blowtorch job. Hope you enjoy Vietnam, it must be better than the 60's anyway (as in it's not quite like "Apocalypse Now" any more!). American mid-term elections seem to have dissed the Republicans fairly comprehensively, fuck off Bush you warmongerer/murderer/torturer.
The autumn leaves are turning brown, all the ducks are swimming on the water and Sinister is back in Downlode!
Much love,
Dad.
AS USUAL GREAT BLOGGING. I cansee why you are starting to feel superstitious about your travelling. If it was me I would be wearing my lucky travel earings for every trip by now, but of course you can't do that! It's proabably just the way things are in SE Asia! sounds like you are having a great time though, and seeing soem interesting things, having great experiences - even if not always comfortable - meeting good people and probably learning a lot
Love MUM
wow I know that moonlight. we had it at dartington a few nights ago (probably the same night, sort of). it was great we did the forest path all the way to totnes at about 2am and didnt use the torches! out in the open our shadows were so defined. i kept looking at my watch to check i hadnt lost a few hours and the sun was about to rise. never seen it so light at that time. it was like that the next nigh on the way back from the Rat as well!
keep writing, bro. i love reading these. you should consider writing as a career path when you get back. seriously.
JossXXX
Great to read abut your interesting journeys and finding a little piece of heaven. We have just come back from s weekend in the Dales. Lovely hotel with great food. Lot more expensive than we usually go to but I think it was worth it for a birthday treat. Weather was aweful yesterday, rained all day so it was good to have a nice place to hang out. Today we woke to beautiful sunshine that was warm too, and had a little walk up the dale and back. Dad is still not right, we had a walk on Friday too,about 6 easy miles but it wore him out completely so its a good thing we didn't do one saturday. he just about managed today, and intends to go to school tomorrow so we will see. Strahge thing happened when we got home. I had 2 cards that I hadn't opennned waiting for tomorrow on the kitchen table and they have gone when we got home! Drew who was feeding moses says we left the door open but we don't think we did, nothing else seems to be missing though! Hope they turn up as I won't have many tp open
Anyway loeds of love, and Loas looks lovely
Mum
Wow! Hi Sam - came across your blog from your MSN sign-in, and looking forward to reading some of the entries properly when I get time. Looks like a fantastic trip and you seem to have met lots of friendly people. The trees here in Nottingham are in their glorious autumn colours, but otherwise it's a grey weekend back home. Love to you and Jen - Michael.
justmakebelieve
Rach
great, thought you'd like the observatory! Glad you hired a guide - I don't think anyone would have a clue what was going on without one (although it would make a great adventure playground!) Apparently travelblog isn't sending any emails about updates, which is irritating, but never mind. Enjoy the Taj! Rach