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Published: September 22nd 2006
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Train Ride through the hills
As we encouter another tunnel carved through the hills Greetings all, hope you are all not working too hard and the weather is nice there. Thanks for all your messages which brighten up my day no end.
I am having a great time here and I believe that after 2 weeks of India in the raw, I am now finally getting used to being here. I am getting used to the noise, the peoples way here, walking in the road and dodging cars, all the things the guide books tell you but you cant appreciate until youve really seen it.
So after eventually leaving Ooty
, I travelled to Coimbature. This involved 2 scenic railway journeys through the 'gaits' and a very crazy bus journey.
The railway journeys were awesome. We travelled for 4 hours through virgin rainforest/tea plantations, over narrow railway bridges and through tunnels which had been cut through the hills. The journey was on an old rack and pinion coal powered steam train which thankfully travelled very slowly. Break time
Break time for coffee and to pee. The train signal to move on was a hoot of the horn and a 10 second wait. This route was where the scenes of passage to India were filmed and it was even more fun as I travelled 2nd class with all the locals who would got very excited when we went through the dark tunnels and over the narrow bridges which had drops of 100s of feet below.
En route and as you do, I met a large number of ambassadors of the 'Laughter Club International Movement committee' who were on the way to a conference in the North and this cheared me up no end! They of course took a right shine to me as is clearly evident on the photo.
After the train trip, I jumped on a bus to Combaiture from Connor which was in true Indian style totally rammed. Fortunately I did get a seat, however I am convinced that the bus drivers here must continually try to break their personal best times for each and every journey. The fear on this jouney for me and anything in our way cannot be explained and I can hand on heart say that the only way anyone
Steam Train
The rack and pinion steam train warming up before the journey can ever know what it is like to be on one of these journeys is to actually be on one.
After a couple of days in Coimbature, I travelled to Pondicherry which is an old french colonial state. The jouney was a not too bad 9 hour bus jouney but my little Indian friend who sat next to me on our semi sleeper did get a little on my nerves when he kept using my shoulder as his cushion. This village was stunning in its French Architecture and history which was clearly evident on one side of the town. The other side of course being in true Indian style. The promises of Cappuccinos and Bagguettes were met to a satisfactory level on the French side of course, however not half as much as finding out that it was a tax free area and the cost of a beer was just 25p for a large Kingfisher. Saying that, the beer drinking establishments sure here sure do make up for the cheapness of the drink. Think of that toilet scene in Trainspotting, make the cubicle the size of a big room and hey presto you have
Laughing Society and Me
These guys were so good at laughing I can now see why they are ambassodors of the laughing club based in Gujurat. the bar that I was drinking in..smells as well.
Pondicherry which is situated on the bay of bengal was affected by the Tsunami, although not too badly, however if I were to travel further south by as hour, I would encounter many areas which did get severely affected. It was nice to see quite a few aid workers here and in a nearby village to which I travelled after Pondicherry.
Next I will be heading to Madras and after that my tour of South India will be drawing to a close and I will be crossing over to Goa and from there heading North.
I hope that you all well and I will keep thinking and laughing about many of you as I work my way through.
Best Wishes
Andreas
ps.still not sick.
pps. Have had some of the best Indian food .. EVER..
ppps. Be grateful of the Country and Cleanliness where we live because here, you aint seen nothing like it.
WEVhttp://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/andreas30/
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marv
non-member comment
Excellent
Hi poppy Good to see you again looking well and sharing your experiences with us all. It all looks fantastic and look forward to seeing more in your next update. Not much happening Richard hammond from top gear had a mega crash in a jet powered car and is in hospital pretty shitty state but recovering, Ryder cup has sarted Tiger woods first shot of the tournement went in the water. First day finished Europe up 5 to USA's 3. Berbatov is out for at least two weeks, lennon out for 6 looking a bit glomy at the lane. Liverpool on Saturday im sure you will be watching where every u may be. Take care poppy keep safe and enjoy. Marv PS Is the food really better than Polashi LOL