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ninabailando

waiting for anything but the expected



Travel Blog Posts


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ninabailando
November 14th 2008

At the train platform inside of the airport: delays of five minutes are announced. Everything seemed so empty/ very few people compared to India. Modern buildings (especially in the state-of-the-art airport of Frankfurt). Nobody is sitting or sleeping on the floor doing nothing, just looking around/ everybody busy (if waiting at least working on the laptop). Liquid on the floor can hardly be something ugly but just coffee. Construction sites inside the airport are as well as lots of real houses in India (wood as windows and walls because the windows were not fit yet). There are marked areas on the train platforms where the smokers can smoke (since very recently it’s prohibited in India to smoke at all in public places - very good if you ask me!). The doors in the toilet open automatically ... read more



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ninabailando
November 8th 2008

DELHI The air pollution is so extremely high! First I thought it would be a shame not to have an exterior window in the hotel but to the staircase. Then I was just happy about it - at least it wasn’t dusty in my room! Just after leaving the hotel immediately my throat started rasping and my skin was soooo itchy! So I mostly put my scarf in front of my mouth. In the morning time during having on the rooftop I couldn’t see clearly the sun and not very far... too much smog! I remembered the pictures of Beijing at the Olympic Games. It was nice to notice that I’m finally used to the chaos - no how it works. AGRA I had a nice day with a Polish group that I met at morning ... read more



Backwaters in Kerala - paradise on earth!

Published: November 17th 2008Asia » India » Kerala » Munnar
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ninabailando
November 8th 2008

Backwaters/ Kerala One of the places I liked most in India! Most of the travellers in Kerala want to stay for some days on a houseboat - driving through the backwaters (water channels that were built because of a tsunami hundreds of years ago). I didn’t do so because first it’s quite expensive compared to what I did and furthermore just too touristy for my taste! Luckily the guidebooks also mention home stays in the middle of nowhere, quite far away from the main touristy villages. So I called them several times - telling them the price I’m willing to pay - so the guy phoned some friends and told me how I would find that place. So in Allepey/ Allapuzha I searched the governmental boat (transport medium) that would bring me there - a 2 ... read more



Westghats: Periyar National Park and Munnar

Published: November 17th 2008Asia » India » Kerala » Alleppey
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ninabailando
November 8th 2008

Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary I stayed in an amazing accommodation in a bamboo hut with view on the national park - in the morning time I saw some huge brown animals from far away - wow! It was so difficult to find a cheap tour to the national park - I just couldn’t get it that there doesn’t seem to exist competition but a cartel. But anyway - the trip to the national park was worth it! We saw a lot of monkeys, elephants from far away, birds and followed the steps (in the dung) of a huge animal. Leaving Periyar was not that easy… the owners of the hostel didn´t organize a rikshaw even though I asked them to do so. As there wasn´t another rikshaw just next to the house an owner of a shop ... read more



The very South end of India

Published: November 17th 2008Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Kanyakumari
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ninabailando
November 8th 2008

Heading down to the very South! First of all I´ve to add s.th. to Cochin (my last entry). After publishing that entry I went to the seaside to have my last seafood dinner in India. So I choosed and bargained it right next to the sea and went to a restaurant with an open kitchen - that was great because when I was watching how they prepare my lobster they invited me to cook with them, teached me more and in the end a Kerala style head massage - great ending! Kanyakumari On the train station in Cochin I booked a train ticket to Kanyakumari - as I had to wait some hours (it was already sure in the morning that the train’s going to arrive late) I left my baggage in the train station - ... read more



Kochi/ Kerala, South-West India

Published: October 27th 2008Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi
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ninabailando
October 27th 2008

On the way to Kerala: It was the first time I saw cockroaches that close - on my upper bed in the train… but there was no way out: 14 hours overnight train and a full train - I had to sleep there. Luckily I didn’t see them anymore. Currently it rains a lot in Kochi - it's because of the second monsoon of the year, called North-East-Monsoon. Origionally it should only rain at nighttime - but because of the climate change it also rains in daytime. I had a very relaxing time there and was a little bit ill so I slept a lot - and - attention - bought 6 books - it's not me, isn't it? I read a lot in this very nice village (Fort Cochin) and felt a little bit back ... read more



Hampi and Bangalore, South India

Published: October 27th 2008Asia » India » Karnataka » Hampi
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ninabailando
October 26th 2008

HAMPI After Goa I headed with a night bus (sleeper) to Hampi - it seemed there’re more road holes and sandy streets than asphalt on the streets… but there’re only two trains a week to Hampi. For sure it was even bumpier because my bed was located in the very back of the bus - sometimes I jumped with my whole back some centimetres :( It was so hot in Hampi although it was 9 o’clock in the morning… I had to take a riksha, a boat to get to the other side of the river where was supposed to be the hostel I made a reservation for a room. When I arrived they told me it’s the double of the price - there’s another hostel on the other side of the river with the 100 ... read more



Goa, South-West India

Published: October 27th 2008Asia » India » Goa » Palolem
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ninabailando
October 13th 2008

Palolem/ GOA The bus from Mumbai to Goa arrived 1 hour too late (unless it starts in Mumbai) - then we drove 2 hours through Mumbai until we left the city (there doesn’t seem to be big high ways or tunnels to cross the city…) - that drove me crazy because I had a cold, the Air Conditioning worked 180 %, I couldn’t switch it off, lots of curves and bumps in the street but at least a deluxe bus so I could sleep a bit…. Until I finally arrived in Goa! The landscape became more and more beautiful - I love it when everything is sooooooo fully green and tropical! I found a great room in the house of a family and stayed there for one week - the toilet was 50 meters away from ... read more



mumbai

Published: October 19th 2008Asia » India » Maharashtra » Mumbai
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ninabailando
October 13th 2008

After publishing the last entry (Mc Leod Ganj and Rajastan) I just put some further fotos to that blog entry - feel free to have a look at them! The link to see them is: http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-332189.html Just arrived in Mumbai … I was looking forward to be in a big city since such a lot of time - especially to go to Mumbai, a town people told me that you hate or love it. After my train journey with very nice Indian students and the first impression of the slums of Mumbai (55% of the citizens of Mumbai are living in slums) we arrived a little bit away from the city centre in Bandra. So I talked to a Portuguese group if we can share a taxi to Colaba - the area where most of the ... read more



Mc Leod Ganj and Rajastan

Published: October 11th 2008Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaisalmer
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ninabailando
October 8th 2008

Donna and me took the 4 o’clock bus from McLeod Ganj to Amritsar… we wanted - that day there was no bus but then we met a nice Israeli couple we went to Amritsar with. So we shared a taxi to Dharamsala to make sure to get the bus to Amritsar. As it was the first bus that left on that day the only thing we could hear at the bus station in Dharamsala was the snoring of the people that spent their night there. It seems that Indians sleep everywhere - it’s still so strange for me to see them sleeping everywhere. The backpacks had to go on the top of the bus - it was the first time we made that by ourselves - I had some doubts it would stay up there… but ... read more






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