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Published: February 10th 2007
Hogmany madness and not a bagpipe in sight...
Our new English pals Trudi (left) and Kate.....and some hanger-on at the back! The good news is that we are now a lovely golden brown colour (with tan-lines as well), the bad news is that you guys are no doubt still pasty white after all the gales, fog, rain and snow, bad karma we say! Hopefully you've only got to suffer it for another couple of months or so (for the London folks anyways). Besides, don't get tooo jealous, sure we'll fade to grey after a week back in sunny Scotland....
The biggest thing to happen to us since our last update was the arrival of our old pal Jac (aka the 'Gravy Train') on Hogmanay (for 4 weeks) the first person daft enough to pay us a visit. Hopefully, she's the pioneer who'll lead the way for many others - consider yourselves formally invited - anyone for Uzbekistan in July?? Or Rwanda in August?? Of course, we're sure Jac ventured out to India and Sri lanka solely to see us......or did she just want to 'turn' (her words) brown in the cold midwinter?? We'll give her the benefit of the doubt, this time! In fact, we were spoiled for top quality female company over the festive season, please see the lovely Trudi
and Kate to the right.....do they look a bit
chavvy to you??! We weren't sure....
Anyways, enough of all this boasting about our wonderful tans -
how shallow??! - and on to our arrival in the subcontinent. We found Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) to be actually rather pleasant - it didn't really live up to it's reputation as one of the most squalid, populous and hectic places on earth - rather it was chock-a-block with impressive victorian architecture, vibrant cafes and mobile phone-totting suits; and our ticket into Casino Royale only cost 60p, schweet. We did see pockets of real poverty but there was none of the chaos that Dom had witnessed in Delhi a decade ago: grabbing lepers, stray cows wondering through the traffic willy-nilly, anarchy at the railway station.....perhaps it's a north-south phenomenon (as many people think) or maybe things have become more ordered and civilised over the last 10 years.....although peeing in the street still seems to be a problem, India must have its fair share of
chavvs as well, there's no escaping them....
(Quick aside, if you get the chance, we'd recommend that you read a book called
Shantaram (by Gregory David Roberts)
given to us by our pal Nirupa before we departed: it's an uncompromising true story of an Australian fugitive on the run in Bombay and was well worth lugging around the Middle East, all 900 pages of it!)
Palolem is Goa's most idyllic beach - backed by swaying coconut palms and a smattering of trendy bars, miles away from the concrete resorts in the North - and was our home for three weeks over the festive period; we only actually left once and that was to walk to a neighbouring beach....but we were due some serious R & R after Djibouti et al! It's not easy finding enough time for volleyball, football, frisbee and swimming - not to mention sunset beers, reading and perhaps even a little sunbathing - and then you've got to fit in butter nans and tom sauce crisps whilst planning where you're going to have dinner, a tough job.....talking of which, Palolem was home to yet another first i.e. banoffee pie, naturally we soon became addicts.....
After bidding farewell to the
two chavvs (sorry gals but you knew it was coming), the three weegies caught a sleeper train down to Fort Cochin, though Jac
Gateway to India
The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay in December 1911. The last British troops to leave India passed through the gate in a ceremony on February 28 1948 wasn't overly enamoured with the in-house cockroaches, lightweight. Fort Cochin is home to the iconic Chinese fishing nets (operated by four man crews) and has a long history of European colonialism (Portuguese, Dutch and British successively), each nation competing to control the port on the Malabar coast and its lucrative spice trade. It was an interesting place to ramble round, soaking up the atmos and checking out the foreign influences.....whilst Jac n Jules were getting massaged ayurvedic style (in the bud!) and shiatso-ed left, right and centre, they're not backwards. It also marked the first of Jac's splurges on us two poor backpackers; we were wined and dined in style at the Malabar House Hotel (200 euros a room) - flip-flops n all - and Jom tried her first crab masala, hardcore.....the breakfasts at Kashi Art Gallery (see below) were verry tasty as well....
Fort Cochin was our jumping-off point for the Kerala backwaters - a labyrinthe network of waterways, sea inlets, river estuaries, lakes and natural canals connecting coastal towns - which support a unique ecosystem and a variety of colourful birds, including kingfishers and cormorants. We spent a lazy day travelling by both canoe and traditional houseboat
and saw local life as we floated by: women washing their hair, men climbing for coconuts, children playing games, the simple life.
Onwards to Varkala for five days, a cliff-top hangout with a slightly bohemian vibe, vicious waves that gave Jac a rather fetching 'Jimmy Hill chin' whilst body surfing with our new friend Ritchie, and top quality hammocks. Needless to say, we did verry little apart from catch up on the classics my English teacher obviously wasn't too fond of (1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm) and watch more sunsets over the Arabian Sea, perfect combo.....
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) is Sanskrit for "resplendent island" and Arabs used to refer to it as 'Serendib', from which the word Serendipity arises - "fortuitous discoveries made by accident" - we certainly wouldn't disagree with either of those sobriquets, Sri Lanka punches well above its weight. We spent our first night in Colombo chez Wikramanayake, that is with our friend (and Jac's bro) Dave's girlfriend's (i.e. Nirupa's) dad, Mohan. It was a strange sensation not having to padlock our bedroom door when going out to the Cricket Club for beers but verry nice all the same....
We caught the
train up to Kandy, stopping en route at the world's biggest Elephant Orphange at Pinnewala (established in 1975), home to over 70 elephants, many of whom first arrived as baby elephants after being abandoned, orphaned or injured in the wild. We were lucky to see a 5 day old elephant, mega cute but still 'finding its feet' as they say.....the adults are a noisy bunch, they sounded like roaring lions, and rather spikey to touch....
From Kandy the Gravy Train took us (and a new pal called David) to Sigiriya (in a chartered car with driver). Sigiriya is an ancient rock fortress used by the 4th century King Kasyapa, the hardened magma plug from an extinct and long-eroded volcano rising 370m from the surrounding plain, sheer on all sides; Jac had to hang onto David's back whilst making the steep descent (as I captured the moment on video!) and then change her knickers at the bottom, better than sleeping at the top mind you.....
Naturally, after all that exertion, it was time to hit the beach again, so off we jolly well popped to Unawatuna on the south west coast. On a more sobering note, as we sat
on the train from Colombo to Galle, a fellow passenger recounted the day when a 60 foot wave hit the train called the 'Queen of the Sea' (sick or what?), knocking eight carriages crammed with 1,500 passengers into a bog; at least 802 died and hundreds remain unaccounted for. We saw three of the battered carriages sitting in Hikkaduwa station (what a mess) - the plan is to make them into a memorial museum - but despite over 2 years having elapsed since the disaster, it'll be a very long time before the people of Sri Lanka recover from such a nightmare.
Unawatuna was very chilled - i.e. hardly any tourists - due to recent tamil tiger violence compounding the effect of the tsunami, it never rains eh? We opted to stay in verry plush digs (12 quid a night inc a yummy breakfast) but our three room hotel was gorgeous: four-poster bed with tempura mattress (according to Jac), mini-bar, cable TV, power shower and a stunning view from our 'penthouse' balcony. Could life get any better you ask?? Well yes actually, cos Jom was a tad poorly all week - floored by a mysterious virus said the Doc(s)
- so it was early nights and cold flannels galore. Thank our lucky stars, the bug didn't take hold til after Jac had decided to splash the cash again by taking us to perhaps the Island's best hotel - The Lighthouse - for some fine dining and a spot of pool, Jom always did have impeccable timing!
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and on 25th January the Gravy Train finally hit the buffers - in other words Jac flew home - but only after adding one more big experience to 'the portfolio': somehow we got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the way to the airport, quickly eroding any breathing space in our journey time, so Jac proceded to try every trick in her repertoire to cajole/bully/pretrify the poor old driver to forget about (and break) every road-rule he ever learned: crying, shouting, window banging, gesticulating (to everyone and their granny inc other drivers), clapping, pleading with the police for an official escort (they had a wee chuckle)....and finally, throwing our rucksacks out the door at our drop-off point in Colombo, before we'd even come to a halt! Still, there was method in her
madness as she just made her connecting flight to Mumbai (and thus on to London), nice and relaxing way to end your trip eh?
So, onwards (and upwards) we continued to Ella, high in the hill country - which offers an inspiring amalgam of crisp mountain air, hillside tea plantations and British colonial bungalows - to feast on some glorious vistas and home-made Sri Lankan cooking, probably the highlight of our time on the island. The view of the Ella Gap from our peerlessly located hotel was simply stunning, especially when combined with complete silence - birdlife and waterfall excepted - and several cold Lion beers and cashew nuts, a supreme combo. It was fun strolling up and down the railway track without a care in the world (only five trains pass through per day), spotting banana plants, being greeted by the umbrella-totting locals - who use it as the quickest route to town - and interesting to see volleyballs courts and kindergartens sited within feet of the unfenced rails; not sure the Health and Safety Exec would give that the green light in Scotland....
A train was then supposed to deliver us Haputale but it went and
Magic Italy, our fave restaurant in Palolem, host to Christmas and New Year's dinner
Pizzas were superb, spaghetti out-of-this-world (or certainly India!), comfy cushions as well, gimme summa that.... got itself derailed somewhere up the line, rather inconvenient, so we bussed it to the heart of the tea country instead, skirting several large gaps in the road from recent landslides, another entry for 'the portfolio'. Haputale (1600m) clings to a long, narrow mountain ridge with the land falling away steeply on both sides and is home to the Dambatenne Tea Factory, built in 1890 by Sir Thomas Lipton (who hails from Glasgow no less!), one of the most famous figures in tea history. Grocer and entrepreneur, Lipton revolutionised the retail grocery trade, developing many of the marketing techniques which are used by supermarkets today and also started the World Cup in 1910, you live and learn. He left a substantial benefaction to the City of Glasgow and is buried in the city's Southern Necropolis, maybe we'll pay him a wee visit on our return....
Following another brief stop at Mohan's in Colombo, we caught a night flight to Bangkok - the first destination on our previous trip a decade ago, we're defo getting old! - to let an agent organise our Burma visa whilst we spent five days chilling on Rai Leh beach on the Andaman Sea, tanning
is like a part-time job you know. Rai Leh was beautiful with karst rock formations jutting out of the sea....but Thailand has definitely changed for the worse in the last ten years: the traditional traveller hangout area in Bangkok has turned into a circus - we even saw a large tour group, with leader holding umbrella above their head cruise-ship style, walking down the road last night! - and the multi-nationals have moved in in our absence (two Boots, a Starbucks, a McDs, a Burger King and a Subway), shocking....but perhaps the most dispiriting thing is the noticable change in attitude of the locals, who've become (at times) rude, intolerant and dismissive, we're afraid that the 'Land of the Smiles' is a less happy place these days, suffice to say it actually reminds us of Egypt.....but then, we're the ones to blame, tourism ultimately corrupts after all....
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Kate
non-member comment
Chavtastic
Well, well, well, I'm glad to see that the "Chavs...." left a lasting impression on you wee scottish lads and lassies!!! Since we left you in Palolem your trip looks amazing, seriously what an amazing time! See you in June! xxx