andreas30

In stark contrast to the moderness and buzz of Saigon, Hanoi is the Old City. This is for sure. Many people who I had met had mixed views of which they preferred. As for me, I was unsure. After a few days, I found Hanoi a little more boring than Saigon but then my routes are embedded in the buzz of city life so this is unsurprising. Hanoi however does have much more of a traditional Vietnamese feel and I felt more comfortable with the people than in Saigon. One thing for sure however is that the food in Saigon was much better. Not sure about which one cooked the best dog though!!! Yes they love their dog and it is a sight to behold when you see a moto pass you on the road with ... read more

So off to Phnom Penh we went. What can I say. Before I went to Cambodia, I had little general knowledge of the country itself aside from the usual Gary Glitter stories and little much else. What is it really like?? Phnom Pehn is the capital and anyone who is anyone pretty much lives in the Capital. If you are someone in this country, you drive a 4x4. You are likely to have on you or have easy access to a gun. You probably have bodyguards. You/ Your parents money almost certainly comes through/came from illicit ways i.e corruption/backhanders. You may even drive your car around with no registration plate and blacked out windows. This is quite common and you may well have blood on your hands in some form. This is the way the Khmers ... read more

The story continues. So sorry to everyone about lack of regular updates but I fell behind as expected in my 3.5 weeks in Nepal and the planned webblog recovery time in Thailand somehow did not transpire . I sit here now in a Internet Cafe in Cambodia and update the blog as follows: Hello Nepal. What can I say, I leave India to go to visit one of the poorest countries in the world and what greets me is one of the nicest countries in the world. The scenery and the mountains as you would expect are stunning, the people polite and friendly and the city clean. Katmandhu which has been a very popular destination for trekkers for a long time for obvious reasons is certainly oriententated towards tourists but this is ok as the locals ... read more

Greetings all This is now my last entry in India before I move onto Nepal and the mighty Himalayas. After leaving the lovely Andaman Islands, I travelled back to West Bengal, Kolkatta where I stayed for 2 days before heading to Varanassi and onward from there to Delhi, my final destination in India. West Bengal is apparently the culture capital of India and true to this, it was yet again another altogether different experience of Indian culture and life. I had been warned that Kolkatta, the capital of West Bengal was quite a brutal place even by Indian standards and true to these words it was indeed. The stench and pollution in Kolkatta, and again the general hygiene evident everywhere in the capital was just another repeat of what I had seen in many of the ... read more

Hi all, The relaxation of Goa is just a distant memory of the past and since then I have covered some serious ground on the wonderful train network here and currently reside in Upaipar, Rajasthan district after having crossed through Maharashtra and a brief stop in Gujurat. The daytime train journey from Goa to Mumbai was a pleasure. I was in first AC sleeper which is extremely comfortable and has quite literally non stop room service, with chai, lollipop chicken, samosa sellers just traipsing up and down the train for the whole 12 hour journey. You cannot just admire their regularity and enthusiasm.An unforgettable experience. Entering into Mumbai was nice, and despite numerous horror stories and warnings about Mumbai, I had absolutely no bother whatsoever there and can only recommend the city as a great place ... read more