Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Now in Technicolour!
Hi everyone. I have managed to get some pictures up, from the Egypt and Greece post until the end of Contili. Check 'em out! Click the images to see larger versions.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
...But who needs nails, anyway?
Well, I have made it to the Isle of Man! Just! In a series of close calls! I had to catch four different trains and one ferry, and I'm still stressed! Arrggh!
Hehe, not that stressed, but it was quite a day. I had between 45 minutes and eight minutes to get off one train, find the other and board it, so I was counting on the British Railways to come through for me, cause I couldn't afford to be late. Hence the stress.
It all started at 4.45am which didn't help. This was an especially strenuous wake-up call (just my phone alarm, although it turns out it has no alarm tone which is not irritating) because I hadn't really woken up at any time before 8.30 / 9am for the past two weeks. My excuse is that I was sleeping off the horrendously early mornings we endured during both of my tours (amounting to about a solid two months!). Failing that, my excuse is that Tony was doing it.
Anyway, I wake up at this ungodly hour, notice it is light (bizzarre, huh? I think they must only have dark from about 10pm till 4am. No wonder the farmers are so surly.), get dressed, try to put on my pack which seems to be 10kg heavier than it was when I last put it on (that, or I am 10kgs' worth of less fit), try again, finally get the damned thing on, and try to sneak downstairs while my footsteps resound like some mythical giant looking for food ("I smell the blud of an English-mun!") to wait for my taxi.
It is about 5.15 (still in the a.m.) when I make it in to the living room. I have time to remove my pack, wonder how on earth I'm going to get it on again, and write a note to Tony's lovely flatmates before the phone rings. I lunge for it, knowing it's my taxi and trying to not let it ring for too long - if my giant's feet didn't do it, I don't want an automated phone call to wake them. Downstairs, lock the door on the way out, look at the key in my hand... Hmm. Hopefully they found it - I did the only thing I really could do and posted it through the post-hole in their door.
The taxi was mind-blowingly expensive, but luckily they put it on my credit card so I can pretend it didn't happen. I got to the station in plenty of time, found my platform (who ever heard of a train station with platforms upstairs? Yeah, okay, but still...). I got on the train and looked around for somewhere to put my pack. Nowhere. A nice young man told me that it would be fine on the seat beside me as only mad people would catch a train at this hour of the morning. I heartily agreed, and we chatted for an hour or so until he arrived at his station, whereuopn I went and got some (neither fresh nor reasonably priced - stupid lying advertisements) breakfast.
It was all going quite well, I thought. We seemed to be going along at a reasonable rate of knots, so I decided I could have a little nap. About an hour later I was woken by the sound of some strange but rather lound and insistent beeping coming over the intercom. My heart sunk. "If it's anything like on the busses at home..." Sure enough, a few minutes later: "Ladies and gentlemen, this train is having some technical difficulties and will have to be resigned at the next station." Bugger. "Oh well," I thought, "Surely an exchange of trains can be accomplished with minimal fuss". Hahaha.
We swapped trains, after a lot of waiting around for some (undoubtedly important :p ) reason or other, and were underway again. We had one station left to go before I had a scheduled change for the first time, and I had only ten minutes before that next train left. I was clutching my seat and trying to reason with myself that jibbering aloud, or anything in a similar vein, would not make the train go any faster.
I got off the train with two minutes to spare and a slightly panicked look on my face. I ran (well, as much as running is possible when with every step you are wondering if the paving is going to crack under your massive weight, or if your joints will go first) to the conductor to ask him where I should get my next train. He smiled at me and said, "Yours is the next one to this platform". Oh, thank god. I wobbled happily over to a seat and waited for my first train to get on its way and my new train to arrive.
This one was fairly uneventful, except for the fact that the driver seemed to have an aversion to going at any sort of speed. I'm sure I wasn't the only one white-knuckled at the end of the trip. A nice, generous gap of 45 minutes had been eaten down to a mere five by the time I arrived.
Back on a platform somewhere in England, I looked at my ticket for the next train and noticed that my seat number was "OOC", or possibly "00C", given that I had previously been in seats called things like "42A". I wondered what kind of seat that was. I showed a conductor and he seemed to have no idea, telling me to just "find a seat anywhere". This proved to be easier said than done, so I ended up sitting disconsolately on the floor outside the toilet in a seatless non-compartment full of people whose fluorescent tabards proclaimed them to be 'Railway Police', and just outside the completely empty First Class comparment whose large, plush purple seats stared mockingly at me (oh yes, seats can stare). "Well, this is going to be a great two hours," I thought. When the man came throught to check our tickets, I decided to ask him where my seat was, pointing out that this was a ticket where I was meant to get a seat. He looked momentarily at a loss, then said to me, "Just go an sit through there for me, will ya loov?". He nodded toward the First Class compartment. W00t!
I knew that at the next station I only had eight minutes to find and board the correct train. I'd made it in less than that at the previous two stations, but I'd also been a lot later in arriving than that at those stations. I tried to rest and distract myself until we got there, which mostly worked. I still had five minutes when we arrived, so I was pretty happy. I found the train with two minutes to spare, found a seat, and grinned. This was my final train, and it was going to Heysham Port! I managed to stop short of jiggling in my seat and singing "I'm go-ing to the Isle of Maa-aan, I'm go-ing to the Isle of Maa-aan", but it was a close thing.
The only thing left to worry about was getting on the ferry. This wouldn't have usually worried me, because this train would get me to the port an hour before my check-in time. However, I didn't have a ticket. I had booked it - the previous October, acutally - but my travel agent (bless) hadn't managed to organise the booking until I had left the country. All I had was a confirmation email... and I'd forgotten to print it out. I had written down the reference number, but all of a sudden I wasn't sure it would be enough.
I was first off the train and first to the check-in desk at the port - possibly due to my having looked at a map on the internet before I left to find out where it was in relation to the train station. I find I tend to do a lot more homework when I'm travelling by myself - you get just that much more paranoid because you have no-one else to blame. I stomped heavily up to the check-in desk past signs asking you to present your ticket there, got out the page which my reference number was on, and smiled with all the confidence I could muster at the clerk. "Hi, I have a booking for the 2.15 sailing this afternoon. I have my reference number." I managed to look fairly confident, and not to add "but nothing else". I gave it, got a boarding pass, and nearly skipped over to the waiting room. I valued my ankles too much to actually have tried it with my pack on.
The boat left more or less on time (well, less really but I was in too bouyant a mood to care) and I arrived at the Isle of Man. A nice taxi lady took me up the hill to Mrs. Cartmell's house, whose name is Jeanette. I am her only homestayer, but Jeanette's four-year-old daughter and Tatiana, her au pair, make up the rest of the household. So far I have figured out how to get to the town centre and the racetrack without getting lost (mapmapmapgood), and I have walked the track from Quarterbridge Road, up Bray hill, through the Grandstand and up to where the Mountain Road finishes. Not that that will make sense to more than... um, dad, but still, this is a good thing. Learned cat agrees.
The races start on Saturday when I hope to be in the Grandstand, if I can get tickets. Until then I will be watching practices every evening at about 6pm. There are SO MANY cool motorbikes here. Squee.
So, I made it! It was a nail-biter, but who really needs nails, anyway?
Hehe, not that stressed, but it was quite a day. I had between 45 minutes and eight minutes to get off one train, find the other and board it, so I was counting on the British Railways to come through for me, cause I couldn't afford to be late. Hence the stress.
It all started at 4.45am which didn't help. This was an especially strenuous wake-up call (just my phone alarm, although it turns out it has no alarm tone which is not irritating) because I hadn't really woken up at any time before 8.30 / 9am for the past two weeks. My excuse is that I was sleeping off the horrendously early mornings we endured during both of my tours (amounting to about a solid two months!). Failing that, my excuse is that Tony was doing it.
Anyway, I wake up at this ungodly hour, notice it is light (bizzarre, huh? I think they must only have dark from about 10pm till 4am. No wonder the farmers are so surly.), get dressed, try to put on my pack which seems to be 10kg heavier than it was when I last put it on (that, or I am 10kgs' worth of less fit), try again, finally get the damned thing on, and try to sneak downstairs while my footsteps resound like some mythical giant looking for food ("I smell the blud of an English-mun!") to wait for my taxi.
It is about 5.15 (still in the a.m.) when I make it in to the living room. I have time to remove my pack, wonder how on earth I'm going to get it on again, and write a note to Tony's lovely flatmates before the phone rings. I lunge for it, knowing it's my taxi and trying to not let it ring for too long - if my giant's feet didn't do it, I don't want an automated phone call to wake them. Downstairs, lock the door on the way out, look at the key in my hand... Hmm. Hopefully they found it - I did the only thing I really could do and posted it through the post-hole in their door.
The taxi was mind-blowingly expensive, but luckily they put it on my credit card so I can pretend it didn't happen. I got to the station in plenty of time, found my platform (who ever heard of a train station with platforms upstairs? Yeah, okay, but still...). I got on the train and looked around for somewhere to put my pack. Nowhere. A nice young man told me that it would be fine on the seat beside me as only mad people would catch a train at this hour of the morning. I heartily agreed, and we chatted for an hour or so until he arrived at his station, whereuopn I went and got some (neither fresh nor reasonably priced - stupid lying advertisements) breakfast.
It was all going quite well, I thought. We seemed to be going along at a reasonable rate of knots, so I decided I could have a little nap. About an hour later I was woken by the sound of some strange but rather lound and insistent beeping coming over the intercom. My heart sunk. "If it's anything like on the busses at home..." Sure enough, a few minutes later: "Ladies and gentlemen, this train is having some technical difficulties and will have to be resigned at the next station." Bugger. "Oh well," I thought, "Surely an exchange of trains can be accomplished with minimal fuss". Hahaha.
We swapped trains, after a lot of waiting around for some (undoubtedly important :p ) reason or other, and were underway again. We had one station left to go before I had a scheduled change for the first time, and I had only ten minutes before that next train left. I was clutching my seat and trying to reason with myself that jibbering aloud, or anything in a similar vein, would not make the train go any faster.
I got off the train with two minutes to spare and a slightly panicked look on my face. I ran (well, as much as running is possible when with every step you are wondering if the paving is going to crack under your massive weight, or if your joints will go first) to the conductor to ask him where I should get my next train. He smiled at me and said, "Yours is the next one to this platform". Oh, thank god. I wobbled happily over to a seat and waited for my first train to get on its way and my new train to arrive.
This one was fairly uneventful, except for the fact that the driver seemed to have an aversion to going at any sort of speed. I'm sure I wasn't the only one white-knuckled at the end of the trip. A nice, generous gap of 45 minutes had been eaten down to a mere five by the time I arrived.
Back on a platform somewhere in England, I looked at my ticket for the next train and noticed that my seat number was "OOC", or possibly "00C", given that I had previously been in seats called things like "42A". I wondered what kind of seat that was. I showed a conductor and he seemed to have no idea, telling me to just "find a seat anywhere". This proved to be easier said than done, so I ended up sitting disconsolately on the floor outside the toilet in a seatless non-compartment full of people whose fluorescent tabards proclaimed them to be 'Railway Police', and just outside the completely empty First Class comparment whose large, plush purple seats stared mockingly at me (oh yes, seats can stare). "Well, this is going to be a great two hours," I thought. When the man came throught to check our tickets, I decided to ask him where my seat was, pointing out that this was a ticket where I was meant to get a seat. He looked momentarily at a loss, then said to me, "Just go an sit through there for me, will ya loov?". He nodded toward the First Class compartment. W00t!
I knew that at the next station I only had eight minutes to find and board the correct train. I'd made it in less than that at the previous two stations, but I'd also been a lot later in arriving than that at those stations. I tried to rest and distract myself until we got there, which mostly worked. I still had five minutes when we arrived, so I was pretty happy. I found the train with two minutes to spare, found a seat, and grinned. This was my final train, and it was going to Heysham Port! I managed to stop short of jiggling in my seat and singing "I'm go-ing to the Isle of Maa-aan, I'm go-ing to the Isle of Maa-aan", but it was a close thing.
The only thing left to worry about was getting on the ferry. This wouldn't have usually worried me, because this train would get me to the port an hour before my check-in time. However, I didn't have a ticket. I had booked it - the previous October, acutally - but my travel agent (bless) hadn't managed to organise the booking until I had left the country. All I had was a confirmation email... and I'd forgotten to print it out. I had written down the reference number, but all of a sudden I wasn't sure it would be enough.
I was first off the train and first to the check-in desk at the port - possibly due to my having looked at a map on the internet before I left to find out where it was in relation to the train station. I find I tend to do a lot more homework when I'm travelling by myself - you get just that much more paranoid because you have no-one else to blame. I stomped heavily up to the check-in desk past signs asking you to present your ticket there, got out the page which my reference number was on, and smiled with all the confidence I could muster at the clerk. "Hi, I have a booking for the 2.15 sailing this afternoon. I have my reference number." I managed to look fairly confident, and not to add "but nothing else". I gave it, got a boarding pass, and nearly skipped over to the waiting room. I valued my ankles too much to actually have tried it with my pack on.
The boat left more or less on time (well, less really but I was in too bouyant a mood to care) and I arrived at the Isle of Man. A nice taxi lady took me up the hill to Mrs. Cartmell's house, whose name is Jeanette. I am her only homestayer, but Jeanette's four-year-old daughter and Tatiana, her au pair, make up the rest of the household. So far I have figured out how to get to the town centre and the racetrack without getting lost (mapmapmapgood), and I have walked the track from Quarterbridge Road, up Bray hill, through the Grandstand and up to where the Mountain Road finishes. Not that that will make sense to more than... um, dad, but still, this is a good thing. Learned cat agrees.
The races start on Saturday when I hope to be in the Grandstand, if I can get tickets. Until then I will be watching practices every evening at about 6pm. There are SO MANY cool motorbikes here. Squee.
So, I made it! It was a nail-biter, but who really needs nails, anyway?
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Ticking boxes
While in London there are a certain number of things One Must Do. This is my list so far. If I don't have a 'box' for something you're going to ask me if I've done, do comment and let me know.
In other news, the Isle of Man's ferry compnay, the Steam Packet Company, have rather badly bollocksed their bookings. Luckily I read the website and found this out, because they had me booked for a ferry I could not have possibly caught as it departed before my train arrived at the port. Happily, they have now booked me for a ferry which it IS physically possible for me to catch, and it will take me five less hours to reach the Isle of Man. Yay.
Update 24/05/07: Went out in Soho! They have bars which are like... like cool things. And they have bars which play metal, and have garlic in their shots. Don't believe me? Let's ask Learned Cat.
There you have it folks. Last night was also Caturday. Do not click link, or it is can be caturday for you today.
- Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard
- Tower of London - check.
- Big Ben - check.
- Houses of Parliament - umm, sort of. I wandered past them...
- Westminster Abbey
- The Tate Modern - check, though there are still more floors I'd like to do.
- Tower Bridge and London Bridge - check - I've walked over both.
- Windsor Castle
- Hampton Court Palace and the Labyrinth
- British Museum
- Madame Tussaude's
- Go to that toy store with five floors - check
- London Eye
- At least one of the inner city parks - check. Done a few now.
- South Kensington museums
- Go out in Soho - check. What strange bars you have. "All the better to drinkify you with".
- Get rained upon - check.
- The Tube - check. I'm pretty good at the Underground now.
- Get your transport delayed by a suicide on the Tube - check.
- Take a red double-decker bus - check
- Take an above-ground train - check
- Catch a black cab
- Get lost - check, Mr. Pullar.
- Get into a conversation about communism in a dodgy-looking pub - check.
- Get mugged (might try to skip this one if possible)
- Camden Markets
- Slimelight
- Go to the Leon Paul factory shop
In other news, the Isle of Man's ferry compnay, the Steam Packet Company, have rather badly bollocksed their bookings. Luckily I read the website and found this out, because they had me booked for a ferry I could not have possibly caught as it departed before my train arrived at the port. Happily, they have now booked me for a ferry which it IS physically possible for me to catch, and it will take me five less hours to reach the Isle of Man. Yay.
Update 24/05/07: Went out in Soho! They have bars which are like... like cool things. And they have bars which play metal, and have garlic in their shots. Don't believe me? Let's ask Learned Cat.
There you have it folks. Last night was also Caturday. Do not click link, or it is can be caturday for you today.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
London Town
London is... hmm. Well, the overwhelming thing which London is at the moment, is damp. It's not raining constantly, but it has that cold (but not cold enough to have snow or anything cool like that), drizzly, constantly overcast-ness that makes me feel so at home! Honestly, why go to the northern hemisphere for summer? It's just like winter at home!
Anyway, I've obviously been here too long - I'm whinging like a pom. On the first day I was here I stayed with a girl from New Zealand called Lisa. She is a nurse and is living here. She took me to the supermarket, which, while it may not sound exciting to you, really was! Supermarkets here really are: you can get everything there. Including, it turns out, Vegemite!
On Sunday I was going to check in to a hostel when I got a text from Tony saying that I could stay at his, which is excellent. He has a lovely house, and his flatmates are really nice. That day we went for a little wander through the city. Well, it turned out to be a pretty big wander actually. We went to the Tate Modern Art Gallery, which was neat, and walked through Soho, Chinatown, and some other parts of the Monopoly board ("This is Leicester Square," says Tony. Oh, think I; That's a yellow one.) I saw the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Tower Bridge from a distance, along with the London Eye which I plan to go on at some point, just because I am a tourist. Hmm, maybe I'll skip that one.
Yesterday I went out to Holland Park, a very pretty park in the West (flash) end. I had some really good soup for lunch there. I told the girl "I'm not sure if I should get the soup or the bolognaise". She must have misheard me, or else she is very decisive because she immediately turned around and served me some soup. "Okay, soup it is. Thanks." Either way, it was a good thing, becuase it was fabulous soup.
After the park, I went to visit a friend of mine who is living here, called Jamie. We hung out for a bit, then caught this random overground train to Camden, then walked for five minutes in the wrong direction, but eventually found a pub where we had some food, and drinks. It was also drinks for a friend of his' birthday, so I met her, and so many Kiwi goths, some of whom I remember from way back when, that I wondered if I was really in London at all! It was cool though.
I have organised my rail ticket to the port where I catch my ferry to the Isle of Man. It is one way, because I'm going up to Scotland afterward, and it cost me 65 pounds! Eeek. I'm not quite excited about going to the Isle of Man yet - it still seems quite far away. I'm not sure exactly what will happen after that, but my rough plan goes Inverness - Loch Ness - Edinburgh - Newcastle, from where I will hopefully find a way to get to Ogle Castle which, it turns out, is in the middle of exactly nowhere (look at the satellite images by clicking the "satellite" or "hybrid" buttons here on a google map search for Ogle Castle) - and then either back to London or around to the West Country (the south-west, that is) to Cornwall, Stonehenge, Bath, Devon etc, and maybe to one or both University towns. I'm not sure how long I will be anywhere, or where - it will depend on a nujmber of factors, the major one being "when I feel like it".
The other is money. My funds aren't lasting as well as I thought they would, so there is a possibility that I will be home earlier than I had planned... Still, not having money will force me to do some things that I might not have considered doing, had I had plenty. I sense adventures ahead! Hehe.
Anyway, I've obviously been here too long - I'm whinging like a pom. On the first day I was here I stayed with a girl from New Zealand called Lisa. She is a nurse and is living here. She took me to the supermarket, which, while it may not sound exciting to you, really was! Supermarkets here really are: you can get everything there. Including, it turns out, Vegemite!
On Sunday I was going to check in to a hostel when I got a text from Tony saying that I could stay at his, which is excellent. He has a lovely house, and his flatmates are really nice. That day we went for a little wander through the city. Well, it turned out to be a pretty big wander actually. We went to the Tate Modern Art Gallery, which was neat, and walked through Soho, Chinatown, and some other parts of the Monopoly board ("This is Leicester Square," says Tony. Oh, think I; That's a yellow one.) I saw the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Tower Bridge from a distance, along with the London Eye which I plan to go on at some point, just because I am a tourist. Hmm, maybe I'll skip that one.
Yesterday I went out to Holland Park, a very pretty park in the West (flash) end. I had some really good soup for lunch there. I told the girl "I'm not sure if I should get the soup or the bolognaise". She must have misheard me, or else she is very decisive because she immediately turned around and served me some soup. "Okay, soup it is. Thanks." Either way, it was a good thing, becuase it was fabulous soup.
After the park, I went to visit a friend of mine who is living here, called Jamie. We hung out for a bit, then caught this random overground train to Camden, then walked for five minutes in the wrong direction, but eventually found a pub where we had some food, and drinks. It was also drinks for a friend of his' birthday, so I met her, and so many Kiwi goths, some of whom I remember from way back when, that I wondered if I was really in London at all! It was cool though.
I have organised my rail ticket to the port where I catch my ferry to the Isle of Man. It is one way, because I'm going up to Scotland afterward, and it cost me 65 pounds! Eeek. I'm not quite excited about going to the Isle of Man yet - it still seems quite far away. I'm not sure exactly what will happen after that, but my rough plan goes Inverness - Loch Ness - Edinburgh - Newcastle, from where I will hopefully find a way to get to Ogle Castle which, it turns out, is in the middle of exactly nowhere (look at the satellite images by clicking the "satellite" or "hybrid" buttons here on a google map search for Ogle Castle) - and then either back to London or around to the West Country (the south-west, that is) to Cornwall, Stonehenge, Bath, Devon etc, and maybe to one or both University towns. I'm not sure how long I will be anywhere, or where - it will depend on a nujmber of factors, the major one being "when I feel like it".
The other is money. My funds aren't lasting as well as I thought they would, so there is a possibility that I will be home earlier than I had planned... Still, not having money will force me to do some things that I might not have considered doing, had I had plenty. I sense adventures ahead! Hehe.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Contiki VI - Western Europe - the End!
On the way to Munich from Vienna we stopped behind this picturesque little village called Mauthausen and visited the concentration camp there. Mauthausen was originally a slave camp, taking people from Austria and Germany to work in a quarry there, before it became a death camp like others. It was the last camp to be liberated by the allies.
We arrived at the quarry, now a picturesque lawn with a lake, surrounded with white cliffs, and took the stairs that the slaves had to take whilst carrying these huge chunks of rock. Some of us had a hard time making it to the top despite the fact that we were all relatively well-fed (Eastern Europe notwithstanding) and not carrying huge blocks of stone. It was a sobering climb.
After the steps we went to see the camp proper, although most of it was chicken-wired off due to some recent storm damage. We went in to a room and saw a video about what had happened there - it was quite horrific, but there was some hopeful sides: the residents of the village eventually became aware of what was happening there and so, when there was an escape attempt, some of them hid prisoners and helped them to safety. Go good Germans!
After the camp we drove on through some stunning scenery straight out of the Sound of Music, to see some more good Germans at a traditional Barvarian Beer Hall in Munich. I ate this huge pork knuckle (haha dad - I have photos) and drank a massive two litre stein of beer. It was great.
The stunning scenery
The Beeeeer
The next morning we had a few hours free to wander around Munich. The first job on the list was to get a haircut! I had been hating my hair since India, as my short hair was growing out into one of those mullets that you get when you grow your hair. Eew. I found a place and got a reasonable cut, although the way he styled it I thought made me look like a German! Hehe.
After that I had enough time to see the church with the "Devil's Footprint" in it, and buy some Erdbeeren - strawberries - from a stall (they were nowhere near as flavoursome as the ones at home: we are so lucky!) before going to watch the famous Glockenspiel in the town square. For those who don't know, this is a big old clock (and when I say old, I mean before New Zealand was discovered) which has this funky little clockwork dancing figure parade when it chimes at certain times. They do a little dance representing the medieval wedding it was built to commemorate, or that is what I am told it is about. The chimes are out of tune and out of time, and the figures are somewhat weathered, but it is pretty amazing for something that old!
Back on the bus, we headed back to a beautiful part of Austria which is called Austrian Tyrol (hi Andrea's sister!). There some people went white water rafting while I sat warm and dry in a cafe and waited for them, along with the others who were too poor or too smart to do it (hehe). We picked up the drowned rats a couple of hours later and went on to our accommodations. This was not a hotel as it had been for most of the way since Rome; we were back to Contiki campsite accommodation. This was good because there was a book-swap shelf there! I left my Neil Gaiman book which I bought in Florence there and took a nice, big, generic fantasy book which kept me occupied until Amsterdam, our final stop.
Before Amsterdam we did the Swiss Alps, and St Goar, which is back in Germany. The Alps were fantastic - the scenery reminds me of the south of the South Island. Huge, snow capped mountains towering over skinny, glacier-melt-blue lakes or flat glacier-carved meadows. Fabulous. Only difference is in the South Island there are no rumours of submarines in the lakes, and no overhanging cliffs which are rigged to explode! Mad Swiss. Pretty cool though.
We stopped on the way at Lichtenstein (small, had bicycles, not much else), Swarovski, where I bought nothing (the cheapest thing I liked was about $NZ600, though there was plenty more which was much pricier... *sigh*) and then at Lucerne (nice bridge, cool statue or two) where I did spend money - I bought a Swiss (Longines) watch.
The camp site was nice, nestled right near a waterfall. I didn't have time to investigate that though; most of us caught a cog railway train up a mountain called Jungfrau to a place called "the Top of Europe". The ride took about two hours, and required us to change trains once, but it didn't ever get boring. The scenery was stunning. Snow all over the place, especially high up, and cliffs and waterfalls and views over valleys... yeah, very cool.
The view from the campsite
Out the window of the cog train
We got to the top, and it was a) cold, and b) dizzyingly high up. Not from vertigo or anything; just from the lack of oxygen! I went to run up a set of stairs (I was feeling enthusiastic) and by the time I got to the top I was short of breath and dizzy. No, that does Not usually happen, thank you.
We took the lift to the top level of the building, and had some photos in front of a sign. It was like a viewing platform, but there were clouds over the mountain so we couldn't see much. I managed to drop my camera there so unfortunately I am relying on other people to send me their pics of the rest.
We wandered through caves carved of ice, with huge, fabulous ice sculptures (amusingly, there was one of some penguins and a guy was showing his family around and said "And look, here are some dolphins"! Hehe. He was from India, and I'm pretty sure they don't get penguins there, so fair enough I guess... still funny though ^^ ). We went outside, emerging into a sleet storm and I took two quick pics of one of the girls on her camera before rushing back in to the relative warmth of the building. We also went souvenir shopping - I bought, and then posted (they have post boxes everywhere now it seems!) a postcard which I sent to my Youthline peeps.
The next day we went to St Goar, stopping at the University town of Heidelburg for lunch. I was luckily able to find a couple of disposable cameras there, so I could click away at everything again. The drive was beautiful, along the river Rhine where there are castles all the way, which I am told used to serve as toll stations for the river. In St Goar we went and saw some traditional beer steins (yes, more enforced souvenir shopping - don't worry guys, I didn't get you one... evil dust collectors!) and then went to a wine tasting.
This tasting was much better than the one in Beaujolais - if you remember that one was "here, have a glass of wine. Now drink it. Okay, you've tasted wine". At this one we got little glasses of a few different varieties, and although there was no light to speak of to really look at the colour, it was a nice atmosphere and one of the five wines was actually quite good.
The next day we drove on to our final stop - Amsterdam! We went to Edam first, a suburb north of the city. It was a beautiful little place, all tulips and canals. We did a bike ride on these fabulous "granny bikes" - back-pedal brakes and everything - which I managed not to fall off. We took photos of a dyke and a windmill, and got heckled for doing so by one of the local kids. I told him that when he came to NZ and took a photo of the Sky Tower I hoped I'd be there to laugh at him, but he was walking away as I said it. Still, it made me feel better.
After the bikes we went to a "cheese and clogs" demonstration. The cheese was fabulous, so I bought a piece (cheese with ham - oh yeah. Not sure that it's better then the walnut cheese from Mercer though) and saw a guy make a clog from scratch which was pretty neat. Ten we piled, once again, back on to the coach and headed for Amsterdam.
Our hotel/hostel thing was cute, and not to far from the centre of the city where we headed after dinner. We all went for a walk through the red light district, and some of the people went to a sex show, but I was really not interested so I went out to a coffee house with some of the others and tried some of the local specialities. We then met up with the people who went to the show and went clubbing, which was fun. Home late, and slept late the next day.
The next day I ran a few errands, including buying something clean to wear out to the Final Dinner of the tour that night. We had, perhaps a little oddly, Chinese for dinner after going for a cruise along the river. It was raining heavily so we all got quite damp that night. After dinner I went out with some friends from the group and we sat in a bar reminiscing over the tour.
The next day we packed up in the rain and drove on for Calais. We left a few people behind in Amsterdam, one behind at the border (her visa had expired a year ago!) and then the rest of us parted in London. There were a few tears, but most people stayed that night at the hotel we arrived at so they went off to check in and I had to leave so I didn't get to say goodbye. I stayed my first night with Lisa, a Kiwi nurse whom I met on tour, and am now bludging off Tony, Kali's brother. I have seen a bit of London, but that will have to wait for next update!
We arrived at the quarry, now a picturesque lawn with a lake, surrounded with white cliffs, and took the stairs that the slaves had to take whilst carrying these huge chunks of rock. Some of us had a hard time making it to the top despite the fact that we were all relatively well-fed (Eastern Europe notwithstanding) and not carrying huge blocks of stone. It was a sobering climb.
After the steps we went to see the camp proper, although most of it was chicken-wired off due to some recent storm damage. We went in to a room and saw a video about what had happened there - it was quite horrific, but there was some hopeful sides: the residents of the village eventually became aware of what was happening there and so, when there was an escape attempt, some of them hid prisoners and helped them to safety. Go good Germans!
After the camp we drove on through some stunning scenery straight out of the Sound of Music, to see some more good Germans at a traditional Barvarian Beer Hall in Munich. I ate this huge pork knuckle (haha dad - I have photos) and drank a massive two litre stein of beer. It was great.
The stunning scenery
The BeeeeerThe next morning we had a few hours free to wander around Munich. The first job on the list was to get a haircut! I had been hating my hair since India, as my short hair was growing out into one of those mullets that you get when you grow your hair. Eew. I found a place and got a reasonable cut, although the way he styled it I thought made me look like a German! Hehe.
After that I had enough time to see the church with the "Devil's Footprint" in it, and buy some Erdbeeren - strawberries - from a stall (they were nowhere near as flavoursome as the ones at home: we are so lucky!) before going to watch the famous Glockenspiel in the town square. For those who don't know, this is a big old clock (and when I say old, I mean before New Zealand was discovered) which has this funky little clockwork dancing figure parade when it chimes at certain times. They do a little dance representing the medieval wedding it was built to commemorate, or that is what I am told it is about. The chimes are out of tune and out of time, and the figures are somewhat weathered, but it is pretty amazing for something that old!
Back on the bus, we headed back to a beautiful part of Austria which is called Austrian Tyrol (hi Andrea's sister!). There some people went white water rafting while I sat warm and dry in a cafe and waited for them, along with the others who were too poor or too smart to do it (hehe). We picked up the drowned rats a couple of hours later and went on to our accommodations. This was not a hotel as it had been for most of the way since Rome; we were back to Contiki campsite accommodation. This was good because there was a book-swap shelf there! I left my Neil Gaiman book which I bought in Florence there and took a nice, big, generic fantasy book which kept me occupied until Amsterdam, our final stop.
Before Amsterdam we did the Swiss Alps, and St Goar, which is back in Germany. The Alps were fantastic - the scenery reminds me of the south of the South Island. Huge, snow capped mountains towering over skinny, glacier-melt-blue lakes or flat glacier-carved meadows. Fabulous. Only difference is in the South Island there are no rumours of submarines in the lakes, and no overhanging cliffs which are rigged to explode! Mad Swiss. Pretty cool though.
We stopped on the way at Lichtenstein (small, had bicycles, not much else), Swarovski, where I bought nothing (the cheapest thing I liked was about $NZ600, though there was plenty more which was much pricier... *sigh*) and then at Lucerne (nice bridge, cool statue or two) where I did spend money - I bought a Swiss (Longines) watch.
The camp site was nice, nestled right near a waterfall. I didn't have time to investigate that though; most of us caught a cog railway train up a mountain called Jungfrau to a place called "the Top of Europe". The ride took about two hours, and required us to change trains once, but it didn't ever get boring. The scenery was stunning. Snow all over the place, especially high up, and cliffs and waterfalls and views over valleys... yeah, very cool.
The view from the campsite
Out the window of the cog trainWe got to the top, and it was a) cold, and b) dizzyingly high up. Not from vertigo or anything; just from the lack of oxygen! I went to run up a set of stairs (I was feeling enthusiastic) and by the time I got to the top I was short of breath and dizzy. No, that does Not usually happen, thank you.
We took the lift to the top level of the building, and had some photos in front of a sign. It was like a viewing platform, but there were clouds over the mountain so we couldn't see much. I managed to drop my camera there so unfortunately I am relying on other people to send me their pics of the rest.
We wandered through caves carved of ice, with huge, fabulous ice sculptures (amusingly, there was one of some penguins and a guy was showing his family around and said "And look, here are some dolphins"! Hehe. He was from India, and I'm pretty sure they don't get penguins there, so fair enough I guess... still funny though ^^ ). We went outside, emerging into a sleet storm and I took two quick pics of one of the girls on her camera before rushing back in to the relative warmth of the building. We also went souvenir shopping - I bought, and then posted (they have post boxes everywhere now it seems!) a postcard which I sent to my Youthline peeps.
The next day we went to St Goar, stopping at the University town of Heidelburg for lunch. I was luckily able to find a couple of disposable cameras there, so I could click away at everything again. The drive was beautiful, along the river Rhine where there are castles all the way, which I am told used to serve as toll stations for the river. In St Goar we went and saw some traditional beer steins (yes, more enforced souvenir shopping - don't worry guys, I didn't get you one... evil dust collectors!) and then went to a wine tasting.
This tasting was much better than the one in Beaujolais - if you remember that one was "here, have a glass of wine. Now drink it. Okay, you've tasted wine". At this one we got little glasses of a few different varieties, and although there was no light to speak of to really look at the colour, it was a nice atmosphere and one of the five wines was actually quite good.
The next day we drove on to our final stop - Amsterdam! We went to Edam first, a suburb north of the city. It was a beautiful little place, all tulips and canals. We did a bike ride on these fabulous "granny bikes" - back-pedal brakes and everything - which I managed not to fall off. We took photos of a dyke and a windmill, and got heckled for doing so by one of the local kids. I told him that when he came to NZ and took a photo of the Sky Tower I hoped I'd be there to laugh at him, but he was walking away as I said it. Still, it made me feel better.
After the bikes we went to a "cheese and clogs" demonstration. The cheese was fabulous, so I bought a piece (cheese with ham - oh yeah. Not sure that it's better then the walnut cheese from Mercer though) and saw a guy make a clog from scratch which was pretty neat. Ten we piled, once again, back on to the coach and headed for Amsterdam.
Our hotel/hostel thing was cute, and not to far from the centre of the city where we headed after dinner. We all went for a walk through the red light district, and some of the people went to a sex show, but I was really not interested so I went out to a coffee house with some of the others and tried some of the local specialities. We then met up with the people who went to the show and went clubbing, which was fun. Home late, and slept late the next day.
The next day I ran a few errands, including buying something clean to wear out to the Final Dinner of the tour that night. We had, perhaps a little oddly, Chinese for dinner after going for a cruise along the river. It was raining heavily so we all got quite damp that night. After dinner I went out with some friends from the group and we sat in a bar reminiscing over the tour.
The next day we packed up in the rain and drove on for Calais. We left a few people behind in Amsterdam, one behind at the border (her visa had expired a year ago!) and then the rest of us parted in London. There were a few tears, but most people stayed that night at the hotel we arrived at so they went off to check in and I had to leave so I didn't get to say goodbye. I stayed my first night with Lisa, a Kiwi nurse whom I met on tour, and am now bludging off Tony, Kali's brother. I have seen a bit of London, but that will have to wait for next update!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Contiki V - Eastern Europe and the east of the West.
As you might be able to tell from my last post, I was pretty tired after Gallipoli, so much of the last week and a bit has been a blur. From one Eastern Bloc country to another, staying only a night in each and seeing very little has left me dizzy! Luckily I have been keeping up with my travel journal notes so I can figure out what I have done in the last week for you.
The day of the Dawn Service at Gallipoli, we drove to Istanbul where we stayed the night, and then in the morning we did a city tour and went and looked at some carpets. I remember going to a place called the Spice Markets, which was cool. It was a big covered bazaar, much like I had imagined these things would look. There were some spices, but much more besides that. I had managed to lose this beautiful black pashmina I bought in India somewhere so when I found one which was exactly the same there, I bought it. It cost me heaps less than it did in India! I wish I could say that it was because my bargaining skills had improved, but he was offering it about five NZ dollars so I didn't have the heart to try to bargain him down!
The Haga Sophia and Istanbul
After the markets we went to see the Haga Sophia and the Blue Mosque, two mosques which sit right opposite each other. We got some good history on them, although I already knew that the Sophia was originally a church. Unfortunately I didn't have time to go and ask them to 'give it back' as Someone thought might be a good idea, as we were off to a carpet-selling attempt. I sat through that (it was cool, but these blatant attempts to get money off us annoy me), then I went and found some lunch. Everyone else went to see the Grand Bazaar, but I was exhausted so I went back to the hotel to do some washing and sleep. It was so nice to have clean clothes! I hadn't had a chance to wash since before Egypt, so you can imagine I was a little manky. After my nap and washing expdition, the others came back from town and we all got changed and went out to see a belly dancing show. That was great, although the belly dancers were better in Egypt. The male dancers were great though - knife throwing and all sorts of fun!
In Bulgaria we just basically stopped at the hotel (which was nice), slept, and then went again. I saw very little apart from fields, a nuclear power station, and lots of those communist flats.
Bucharest in Romania was great. There was this whole street which was basically a fountain... it's hard to describe but there was like a big fountain in the middle of the road, then down the length of it in the middle was a long pool with jets spraying into and above it in all directions. Very cool! They also had a building, at the end of the street, which is worth mentioning. It is apparently the second biggest building in the world, after the Pentagon. It was built under the communists and was made, like so many buildings in Europe, to rival Versailles. It is so huge that they still can't find uses for all the rooms, despite housing Parliament and a number of other government departments there. The logistics of heating and air conditioning the behemoth are such that it is still damp and cold in many rooms, too. Yay for communist dictators who have no-one to tell them that they are being ridiculous! I like follies. Except when it's my folly.
One end of the Street O' Fountains
In the same city, we stayed in a hotel that looked like it was a converted lunatic asylum, probably haunted, and if not then definitely a hollywood supernatural horror film set. So cool. Well, I liked it. Some of the other girls were a little less than impressed. Hehe.
The next day we stopped at the castle of Vlad Tepec, also known as Vlad the Impaler, Vlad Dracul, or "Dracula". Apart from the name and the bloodiness he has very little in common with the fictional vampire (see Erzebet Bathory for that stuff), but the castle was cool anyway.
I think this is a living room or something. I have many more impressive
pictures, but they are all in the wrong orientation...
From Romania we went to Budapest in Hungary, where we went for a cruise on the not-very-Blue Danube and saw the illuminated sights - lots of cool buildings. There was free wine, which was not disgusting, so the next day I was nursing my only hangover of the tour so far. I rather liked the city, and will have to go back and drink less!
Ooh, look at the prety liiights
And some more scenery, in the cold light of day. It was still pretty, even though I didn't feel so well...
My next stop was Vienna. We arrived in the evening and went out to see a concert of Mozart and Strauss music, which was great, despite my apprehensions of it being a bad orchestra. The women's dresses were awful (peach and poofy, like some 80s brisdesmaid nightmare), but they were very good at what they did.
The next day I got to meet a friend of mine whom I work on the Santharia project with, by the name of Christian, though we call him Art. We wandered around Vienna together and he showed me the sights. Thanks so much for the awesome day, Art! We went on this massive ferris-wheel thing (which I wasn't at all nervous about...) and into this massive Versailles-style palace called Schonbrunn Palace, and walked around the centre of town. There were some amazing builldings, but one of the highlights I will mention was the statue of the baby elephant which is outside the natural history musem. Soo cuute! We also ate heaps of traditional food: sausage, Sacher torte, Vienna coffee... it was a fabulous place and I had a great day out! After I left Art I went and had some... oh, I forget what it's called, but it is a traditional dessert - pancakes with plums and stuff. It was very good, so thanks for the tip, Art!
A sphinx presides over the dusk outside Shonbrunn Palace in Vienna
Well, that's as much as I have time for today, but tune in next time for Germany and the West!
The day of the Dawn Service at Gallipoli, we drove to Istanbul where we stayed the night, and then in the morning we did a city tour and went and looked at some carpets. I remember going to a place called the Spice Markets, which was cool. It was a big covered bazaar, much like I had imagined these things would look. There were some spices, but much more besides that. I had managed to lose this beautiful black pashmina I bought in India somewhere so when I found one which was exactly the same there, I bought it. It cost me heaps less than it did in India! I wish I could say that it was because my bargaining skills had improved, but he was offering it about five NZ dollars so I didn't have the heart to try to bargain him down!
The Haga Sophia and IstanbulAfter the markets we went to see the Haga Sophia and the Blue Mosque, two mosques which sit right opposite each other. We got some good history on them, although I already knew that the Sophia was originally a church. Unfortunately I didn't have time to go and ask them to 'give it back' as Someone thought might be a good idea, as we were off to a carpet-selling attempt. I sat through that (it was cool, but these blatant attempts to get money off us annoy me), then I went and found some lunch. Everyone else went to see the Grand Bazaar, but I was exhausted so I went back to the hotel to do some washing and sleep. It was so nice to have clean clothes! I hadn't had a chance to wash since before Egypt, so you can imagine I was a little manky. After my nap and washing expdition, the others came back from town and we all got changed and went out to see a belly dancing show. That was great, although the belly dancers were better in Egypt. The male dancers were great though - knife throwing and all sorts of fun!
In Bulgaria we just basically stopped at the hotel (which was nice), slept, and then went again. I saw very little apart from fields, a nuclear power station, and lots of those communist flats.
Bucharest in Romania was great. There was this whole street which was basically a fountain... it's hard to describe but there was like a big fountain in the middle of the road, then down the length of it in the middle was a long pool with jets spraying into and above it in all directions. Very cool! They also had a building, at the end of the street, which is worth mentioning. It is apparently the second biggest building in the world, after the Pentagon. It was built under the communists and was made, like so many buildings in Europe, to rival Versailles. It is so huge that they still can't find uses for all the rooms, despite housing Parliament and a number of other government departments there. The logistics of heating and air conditioning the behemoth are such that it is still damp and cold in many rooms, too. Yay for communist dictators who have no-one to tell them that they are being ridiculous! I like follies. Except when it's my folly.
One end of the Street O' FountainsIn the same city, we stayed in a hotel that looked like it was a converted lunatic asylum, probably haunted, and if not then definitely a hollywood supernatural horror film set. So cool. Well, I liked it. Some of the other girls were a little less than impressed. Hehe.
The next day we stopped at the castle of Vlad Tepec, also known as Vlad the Impaler, Vlad Dracul, or "Dracula". Apart from the name and the bloodiness he has very little in common with the fictional vampire (see Erzebet Bathory for that stuff), but the castle was cool anyway.
I think this is a living room or something. I have many more impressivepictures, but they are all in the wrong orientation...
From Romania we went to Budapest in Hungary, where we went for a cruise on the not-very-Blue Danube and saw the illuminated sights - lots of cool buildings. There was free wine, which was not disgusting, so the next day I was nursing my only hangover of the tour so far. I rather liked the city, and will have to go back and drink less!
Ooh, look at the prety liiights
And some more scenery, in the cold light of day. It was still pretty, even though I didn't feel so well...My next stop was Vienna. We arrived in the evening and went out to see a concert of Mozart and Strauss music, which was great, despite my apprehensions of it being a bad orchestra. The women's dresses were awful (peach and poofy, like some 80s brisdesmaid nightmare), but they were very good at what they did.
The next day I got to meet a friend of mine whom I work on the Santharia project with, by the name of Christian, though we call him Art. We wandered around Vienna together and he showed me the sights. Thanks so much for the awesome day, Art! We went on this massive ferris-wheel thing (which I wasn't at all nervous about...) and into this massive Versailles-style palace called Schonbrunn Palace, and walked around the centre of town. There were some amazing builldings, but one of the highlights I will mention was the statue of the baby elephant which is outside the natural history musem. Soo cuute! We also ate heaps of traditional food: sausage, Sacher torte, Vienna coffee... it was a fabulous place and I had a great day out! After I left Art I went and had some... oh, I forget what it's called, but it is a traditional dessert - pancakes with plums and stuff. It was very good, so thanks for the tip, Art!
A sphinx presides over the dusk outside Shonbrunn Palace in ViennaWell, that's as much as I have time for today, but tune in next time for Germany and the West!
Friday, April 27, 2007
ANZAC Day, Gallıpolı, Turkey.
It was a dark and freezıng nıght. The sound of thunder, whıch was really just the wınd ın a mıcrophone whıch they forgot to turn off, was ın our ears. Any attempt at sleep was obstructed by boomıng voıces from above (where the speakers were) exhortıng us to 'move up, there are more people comıng ın'. Any complaınts were stıfled wıth the admonıshment from the pulpıt that the ANZAC spırıt ıs all about endurıng hardshıp and makıng sacrıfıces for others. So we moved up, stayed awake, and froze.
Unimpressed at Anzac Cove
Before I go any further I wıll mentıon that no, ıt ıs not your eyes - my 'ı's really don't have any dots. Crazy Turkısh keyboard.
'But ıt was worth ıt, rıght?' you ask. Well, at the Dawn Servıce we had Wınston Peters talkıng about somethıng or other, and no fırıng of guns ın salute. We then struggled out of our sleepıng bags (more aptly named frostbıte protectors) ınto the freezıng Gallıpolı mornıng and hıked for half an hour or an hour up to Lone Pıne for the Australıan Servıce. Thıs was the best part of the day. Theır MC was some cartoonıst guy and, as we were early, he kept us entertaıned. He was very amusıng - I know thıs even though I fell asleep a few tımes whıle he was talkıng. The Australıans had organısed theır area so that there was enough room for everyone, so I could lıe down. I am now much better dısposed toward my trans-Tasman cousıns!
After the Aussıe servıce was over we had to really boot ıt to get to the Kıwı servıce on tıme. It was about the same dıstance as ıt had been from the Dawn Servıce to the Aussıe one, although thıs tıme we dıdn't have to clımb a hıll - thankfully, ıt was only a gentle rıse the whole way, as opposed to a clıff. We got there and there was nowhere to stand or sıt. Chunuk Baır, where the NZ memorıal ıs, ıs a tıny, rocky, monument encrusted hılltop so there wasn't anywhere near enough room. We peered over people's heads at the bıg screen they had up, whıch was ok. The Aussıes put on a much better servıce though.
After the Kıwı Servıce fınıshed, we trudged back to the coach. I had run out of water so the hour and a half-ısh walk was not very good for me - by thıs tıme the sun had come out, so I got burnt and a lıttle heat-struck. I was nauseous and headachy and exhausted by the tıme we got back to the coach, and I slept the whole 4.5 hours to Istanbul.
Was ıt worth ıt? Well, put ıt thıs way: I'd do ıt dıfferently next tıme. I'd waıt untıl the mornıng to arrıve, lıke some people dıd, or just waıt untıl I can get VIP seats. I dıdn't enjoy ıt; the servıces were dry and I was too exhausted to really lısten anyway. However, I am glad I can say I have been to Gallıpolı, and seen what our soldıers went through. My dıscomfort and lack of sleep wıll be forgotten ın a few days as I get back ınto sıghtseeıng. Theırs...
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Unimpressed at Anzac CoveBefore I go any further I wıll mentıon that no, ıt ıs not your eyes - my 'ı's really don't have any dots. Crazy Turkısh keyboard.
'But ıt was worth ıt, rıght?' you ask. Well, at the Dawn Servıce we had Wınston Peters talkıng about somethıng or other, and no fırıng of guns ın salute. We then struggled out of our sleepıng bags (more aptly named frostbıte protectors) ınto the freezıng Gallıpolı mornıng and hıked for half an hour or an hour up to Lone Pıne for the Australıan Servıce. Thıs was the best part of the day. Theır MC was some cartoonıst guy and, as we were early, he kept us entertaıned. He was very amusıng - I know thıs even though I fell asleep a few tımes whıle he was talkıng. The Australıans had organısed theır area so that there was enough room for everyone, so I could lıe down. I am now much better dısposed toward my trans-Tasman cousıns!
After the Aussıe servıce was over we had to really boot ıt to get to the Kıwı servıce on tıme. It was about the same dıstance as ıt had been from the Dawn Servıce to the Aussıe one, although thıs tıme we dıdn't have to clımb a hıll - thankfully, ıt was only a gentle rıse the whole way, as opposed to a clıff. We got there and there was nowhere to stand or sıt. Chunuk Baır, where the NZ memorıal ıs, ıs a tıny, rocky, monument encrusted hılltop so there wasn't anywhere near enough room. We peered over people's heads at the bıg screen they had up, whıch was ok. The Aussıes put on a much better servıce though.
After the Kıwı Servıce fınıshed, we trudged back to the coach. I had run out of water so the hour and a half-ısh walk was not very good for me - by thıs tıme the sun had come out, so I got burnt and a lıttle heat-struck. I was nauseous and headachy and exhausted by the tıme we got back to the coach, and I slept the whole 4.5 hours to Istanbul.
Was ıt worth ıt? Well, put ıt thıs way: I'd do ıt dıfferently next tıme. I'd waıt untıl the mornıng to arrıve, lıke some people dıd, or just waıt untıl I can get VIP seats. I dıdn't enjoy ıt; the servıces were dry and I was too exhausted to really lısten anyway. However, I am glad I can say I have been to Gallıpolı, and seen what our soldıers went through. My dıscomfort and lack of sleep wıll be forgotten ın a few days as I get back ınto sıghtseeıng. Theırs...
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Contiki III - Greece and Egypt
Well, it seems like so long since Rome! What's that? It is, and I'm a slacker for not updating? Well, you try blogging when you're in Egypt, geting up before dawn and going to bed after 10pm! The pace was absolutely hectic, but it was awesome. Anyway, I'm geting ahead of myself again.
We drove from Rome to Greece, stopping in Pompeii for a little tour. It was cool, though not as fabulous as I had imagined. Probably because we had a tour guide who was all information and no free time. I think it really makes it when you get a chance to sit down and absorb the atmposphere, letting your imagination fill in the full picture of what it was like then. We drove past Naples, which I think is a good thing!
From there we caught the ferry to Corfu, an island off the Greek mainland, near the border with Albania (if that tells anyone anyhing!). I got some beautiful pictures of the sunrise over the coast from the ferry. We had a toga party one night we were there, which was fun until I got tired and went to bed early. I am so old! Hehe.
Corfu is a typification of Europe in one way. It has two forts on the island. One is called the new fort, and the other is called, imaginatively enough, the old fort.
The new fort was built in 1538. That is older than my country! Real new.
The old fort was was built in 2000BC.
What can you say?
The next day, still on Corfu, we did the infamous "George's Boat" cruise. I was great fun - I went parasailing! It was basically just a relaxing day on the water - apart from the parasailing, of course :p
We arrived in Athens, did a quick tour of the Acropolis (Parthenon, Charybdids etc. - cool but covered in scaffolding), then we were off to Egypt!
The Charybdids, on the Acropolis in Athens
I found Egypt to be much like a cleaner, friendlier, richer India. I enjoyed it immensely. Highlights were the sandstorm that blew in a window of the museum we were in ('What was that? Terrorists? A vandal? No, a sandsorm! Cool!'), going INSIDE the second pyramid (!), seeing the pyramids after the sandstorm stopped, having my butt touched by my 15 year old camel guide (ew!), getting an actual good deal in the markets in Aswan (you knew there had to be shopping!), flying in a rust-bucket aeroplane to see Abu Simbel (temple with colossi - pretty sweet), taking an early morning hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings in Luxor (more dead dudes - also cool) and going out on a yacht / launch thingy for the day on the Red Sea off the resort town called Hurghada.
I'm in Egypt! At Abu Simbel
Something else worth mentioning is the armed escort we had to and from Hurghada. If you remember, they had some trouble with exploding people there recently-ish, so to reassure the tourists they make heavily armed police babysit busloads of us. If you ask me, five coaches of tourists with an escort with outmoded weapons and a fixed, publicly available time to leave makes a better target than one coach. Eh, luckily I'm pretty sanguine about these things *vacant happy smile*.
Early morning balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings (with the tombs and stuff). No head-turning required - thanks Gus!
We got back to Athens and I caught the last six laps of the MotoGP, which was a highlight of the week for me, if not for you! I'm now waving the Casey Stoner banner as well as the Valentino Rossi one. "Vale" will always be my favourite though. ^^
We are now in Kavala, and tomorrow we see Troy and then camp out (in the loosest sense of the word: no fire, no caming equipment or tents, no alcohol - just a sleeping bag and your toilet roll) to wait for the dawn service at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. Awesome.
In other news, I am well; I finally got rid of that cold, at least for now, and no Delhi-belly in Egypt. The only problem is I am going stir-crazy! The scenery and culture and stuff is amazing, but I'm geting homesick for meaningful work which occupies my mind! I've been through so many books, but I really miss using my brain. I found a New Scientist at a magazine shop today (don't ask how much it cost - all English language reading materials are vastly expensive here) so hopefully that will keep my brain occupied for a while.
I hope everyone is well. Hugs to all, and do write or comment - keep me up to date!
We drove from Rome to Greece, stopping in Pompeii for a little tour. It was cool, though not as fabulous as I had imagined. Probably because we had a tour guide who was all information and no free time. I think it really makes it when you get a chance to sit down and absorb the atmposphere, letting your imagination fill in the full picture of what it was like then. We drove past Naples, which I think is a good thing!
From there we caught the ferry to Corfu, an island off the Greek mainland, near the border with Albania (if that tells anyone anyhing!). I got some beautiful pictures of the sunrise over the coast from the ferry. We had a toga party one night we were there, which was fun until I got tired and went to bed early. I am so old! Hehe.
Corfu is a typification of Europe in one way. It has two forts on the island. One is called the new fort, and the other is called, imaginatively enough, the old fort.
The new fort was built in 1538. That is older than my country! Real new.
The old fort was was built in 2000BC.
What can you say?
The next day, still on Corfu, we did the infamous "George's Boat" cruise. I was great fun - I went parasailing! It was basically just a relaxing day on the water - apart from the parasailing, of course :p
We arrived in Athens, did a quick tour of the Acropolis (Parthenon, Charybdids etc. - cool but covered in scaffolding), then we were off to Egypt!
The Charybdids, on the Acropolis in AthensI found Egypt to be much like a cleaner, friendlier, richer India. I enjoyed it immensely. Highlights were the sandstorm that blew in a window of the museum we were in ('What was that? Terrorists? A vandal? No, a sandsorm! Cool!'), going INSIDE the second pyramid (!), seeing the pyramids after the sandstorm stopped, having my butt touched by my 15 year old camel guide (ew!), getting an actual good deal in the markets in Aswan (you knew there had to be shopping!), flying in a rust-bucket aeroplane to see Abu Simbel (temple with colossi - pretty sweet), taking an early morning hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings in Luxor (more dead dudes - also cool) and going out on a yacht / launch thingy for the day on the Red Sea off the resort town called Hurghada.
I'm in Egypt! At Abu SimbelSomething else worth mentioning is the armed escort we had to and from Hurghada. If you remember, they had some trouble with exploding people there recently-ish, so to reassure the tourists they make heavily armed police babysit busloads of us. If you ask me, five coaches of tourists with an escort with outmoded weapons and a fixed, publicly available time to leave makes a better target than one coach. Eh, luckily I'm pretty sanguine about these things *vacant happy smile*.
Early morning balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings (with the tombs and stuff). No head-turning required - thanks Gus!We got back to Athens and I caught the last six laps of the MotoGP, which was a highlight of the week for me, if not for you! I'm now waving the Casey Stoner banner as well as the Valentino Rossi one. "Vale" will always be my favourite though. ^^
We are now in Kavala, and tomorrow we see Troy and then camp out (in the loosest sense of the word: no fire, no caming equipment or tents, no alcohol - just a sleeping bag and your toilet roll) to wait for the dawn service at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. Awesome.
In other news, I am well; I finally got rid of that cold, at least for now, and no Delhi-belly in Egypt. The only problem is I am going stir-crazy! The scenery and culture and stuff is amazing, but I'm geting homesick for meaningful work which occupies my mind! I've been through so many books, but I really miss using my brain. I found a New Scientist at a magazine shop today (don't ask how much it cost - all English language reading materials are vastly expensive here) so hopefully that will keep my brain occupied for a while.
I hope everyone is well. Hugs to all, and do write or comment - keep me up to date!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Contiki II - Italy
Well, the weather has finally cleared! I had to wash my shoes because they stunk so badly from getting repeatedly soaked in Paris, Barcelona and Nice. Oh well, at least it was exotic European soggyness.
Since my last post I have been to Aigues Mortes (a short stopover), Nice on the French Riviera, Monaco for an evening, Venice, Florence, Pisa, and today I am in Rome. Aigues Mortes was super cute, but touristy. Nice was nice (heh, sorry), though I had to find a dress for Monaco so the whole day was spent on errands rather than enjoying it, so it was less cool. Florence was unmemorable, Pisa had a tower and many street hawkers (lookee-lookee, good price) but nothing else of note.
Monaco was awesome. I would have liked to have spent a day there rather than just the evening watching people gamble, as fascinating as that was. When I get home, however, you can all touch the hand which has touched the hairpin of the Monaco racing circuit. How cool is that?
Venice was indescribable. I'll describe it anyway though, just for you ^^ It was a beautiful little Italian town with winding cobbled streets and window boxes with flowers and washing out the windows, but with no cars at all. Only pedestrians! I was quite surprised to see this. In addition to being all that you think of when you think of picturesque Italian villages, it also has canals - little winding streets made of water. SO cool. And the food! All of Italy wins on the food thing. Sorry Paris. Though Paris wins everything else.
Today... well, Rome is awesome. We arrived last night and did a bit of a walk around, some of it guided. The Trevi fountain is the coolest thing ever - I want one. I never knew it was so big! I really want one. The P....on... - um, the place with the columns which is not in Greece - is cool. I saw the Vatican, complete with listening to the pontiff pontificate and recieving the benedictions of Benedict. I also looked at the Sistine chapel, and ate gelato. I will miss Italy. But mostly for the food.
Oh, and the Pope sends his blessings. Apparently he blessed me, and through me all my friends and family. So if you want 'em, consider yourself blessed. Sweet, huh?
Since my last post I have been to Aigues Mortes (a short stopover), Nice on the French Riviera, Monaco for an evening, Venice, Florence, Pisa, and today I am in Rome. Aigues Mortes was super cute, but touristy. Nice was nice (heh, sorry), though I had to find a dress for Monaco so the whole day was spent on errands rather than enjoying it, so it was less cool. Florence was unmemorable, Pisa had a tower and many street hawkers (lookee-lookee, good price) but nothing else of note.
Monaco was awesome. I would have liked to have spent a day there rather than just the evening watching people gamble, as fascinating as that was. When I get home, however, you can all touch the hand which has touched the hairpin of the Monaco racing circuit. How cool is that?
Venice was indescribable. I'll describe it anyway though, just for you ^^ It was a beautiful little Italian town with winding cobbled streets and window boxes with flowers and washing out the windows, but with no cars at all. Only pedestrians! I was quite surprised to see this. In addition to being all that you think of when you think of picturesque Italian villages, it also has canals - little winding streets made of water. SO cool. And the food! All of Italy wins on the food thing. Sorry Paris. Though Paris wins everything else.
Today... well, Rome is awesome. We arrived last night and did a bit of a walk around, some of it guided. The Trevi fountain is the coolest thing ever - I want one. I never knew it was so big! I really want one. The P....on... - um, the place with the columns which is not in Greece - is cool. I saw the Vatican, complete with listening to the pontiff pontificate and recieving the benedictions of Benedict. I also looked at the Sistine chapel, and ate gelato. I will miss Italy. But mostly for the food.
Oh, and the Pope sends his blessings. Apparently he blessed me, and through me all my friends and family. So if you want 'em, consider yourself blessed. Sweet, huh?
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Contiki I
I fell in love with England as soon as I caught my first sight of it. It was the middle of the day, with clear skies, so I could see Dover heading towards us over the curve of the earth. Flying into Heathrow, beautiful green patchwork quilts of land which reminded me so much of home gradually resolved into small, modern but still picturesque towns huddled around ancient looking churches. And then we flew over a castle. What can I say?!
I caught the tube in to London, managed to navigate that and the streets to find my way to the Royal National Hotel (a place with the most uniformly terrible service service I´ve ever encountered - I was only there for one night though so it was not a problem), texted Tony and realised I didn´t have Jamie´s mobile number, then checked in and had a shower. My roommate for that night arrived while I was in the shower which was a bit of a surprise...
After the shower I had the meeting where we met out tour leader and driver (both awesome people) and met the people we´d be on tour with. I met some people and went out to dinner with them, at a pub around the corner. Dinner was ten pounds, but I got my steak! Holy cow it was good. Hehehe. There was salad, too, and chips! With no spices on them! Oh man. It was awesome.
Anyway, after that we all went to bed to be rested for our 6am leaving time. I was pretty excited so I managed to stay awake until then, but it was four hours later than I was used to (because of the change from India) so I slept through my alarm in the morning! There was no problem, though - I just packed a little haphazardly and got downstairs in plently of time.
Met a few new people on the drive to Dover, but mostly listened to Michael (our tour leader) talk about all the basic stuff (no hot food on the coach, double-bag if you´re going to throw up, etcetera). The ferry across was cool, though I was sad to be leaving England so soon after arriving.
Calais, the French port across from Dover, is nothing really to look at. We drove on through and were in Paris for that night, doing a night tour of the illuminations before bed. Our intrepid driver, Kim, even managed to drive us on the uninsurable roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe not one but about three times (!) , and into the Louvre with about an inch of clearance for the coach on either side. Go Kim! Girlpower and all that.
I loved Paris! I was prepared to be unimpressed, but the Eiffel Tower was really very cool, as was the Arc and the two islands in the Seine. So was the Champs Elysees, so was the Rue St. Honore, and so was finding out that I still speak enough French to be able to get around. I am SO going back there. The Moulin Rouge was pretty average though. Meh.
After a three nights we moved on to the Beaujolais region, where we stayed in this fabulous old Chateau. We had a party night that night with another group that was staying there; the theme was ¨come as something starting with P¨. I bought some fluffy white fabric in Paris and went as a panda. It was cool.
Well, my time is running out, but I am now in Spain which is less cool, but still pretty sweet. The wine in Beuajolais was not to my taste (vinegar never is unless it´s on chips). We are off to see flamenco dancing tonight, but until then it´s museums, shops, and tapas! Whee!
I caught the tube in to London, managed to navigate that and the streets to find my way to the Royal National Hotel (a place with the most uniformly terrible service service I´ve ever encountered - I was only there for one night though so it was not a problem), texted Tony and realised I didn´t have Jamie´s mobile number, then checked in and had a shower. My roommate for that night arrived while I was in the shower which was a bit of a surprise...
After the shower I had the meeting where we met out tour leader and driver (both awesome people) and met the people we´d be on tour with. I met some people and went out to dinner with them, at a pub around the corner. Dinner was ten pounds, but I got my steak! Holy cow it was good. Hehehe. There was salad, too, and chips! With no spices on them! Oh man. It was awesome.
Anyway, after that we all went to bed to be rested for our 6am leaving time. I was pretty excited so I managed to stay awake until then, but it was four hours later than I was used to (because of the change from India) so I slept through my alarm in the morning! There was no problem, though - I just packed a little haphazardly and got downstairs in plently of time.
Met a few new people on the drive to Dover, but mostly listened to Michael (our tour leader) talk about all the basic stuff (no hot food on the coach, double-bag if you´re going to throw up, etcetera). The ferry across was cool, though I was sad to be leaving England so soon after arriving.
Calais, the French port across from Dover, is nothing really to look at. We drove on through and were in Paris for that night, doing a night tour of the illuminations before bed. Our intrepid driver, Kim, even managed to drive us on the uninsurable roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe not one but about three times (!) , and into the Louvre with about an inch of clearance for the coach on either side. Go Kim! Girlpower and all that.
I loved Paris! I was prepared to be unimpressed, but the Eiffel Tower was really very cool, as was the Arc and the two islands in the Seine. So was the Champs Elysees, so was the Rue St. Honore, and so was finding out that I still speak enough French to be able to get around. I am SO going back there. The Moulin Rouge was pretty average though. Meh.
After a three nights we moved on to the Beaujolais region, where we stayed in this fabulous old Chateau. We had a party night that night with another group that was staying there; the theme was ¨come as something starting with P¨. I bought some fluffy white fabric in Paris and went as a panda. It was cool.
Well, my time is running out, but I am now in Spain which is less cool, but still pretty sweet. The wine in Beuajolais was not to my taste (vinegar never is unless it´s on chips). We are off to see flamenco dancing tonight, but until then it´s museums, shops, and tapas! Whee!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Indian Impressions
Well, India has been great. It is a country of so many conflicting things and stories that I hardly feel I have scratched the surface, despite having had a month here. Still, I have experienced so much since arriving.
One of the most amazing things I have seen here, the usually reported contrast between abject poverty and mind-blowing riches aside, has been the way people use motorbikes. No helmets, and a family of five can fit on a single 250cc Suzuki-type machine! The dad drives, two kids sit on the tank in front of him; mum rides pillion - side sadlle (side-sadlle!) because of her sari, whilst holding the youngest in her arms. Often along with the groceries. It's amazing. And not a helmet between them! Because of the traffic they rarely get about 20km/h, but still. I would never ride pillion without a helmet. Especially not when drunk in a strange town in India.
Anyway, another amazing thing has been shopping. Not just how much I can do of it (three saris, four salwar suits, three pairs of earrings, deoderant, other sundry items, and no pashminas), but how confronting an experience it is.
"Madam, madam! Please come, look at my shop."
"Yes? Please come."
"You are looking for pasmina shawl, silk scarf, bangle... beautiful punjabi suit, silk saree, please madam..."
"Sister, sister, yes"...
At first it made me not look anywhere, but I am used to it now. I think I will feel quite unloved in a western shops now! Especially if I try to tell them the price they are asking is ridiculous...
The people have been by turns both horrid and fabulous, the politics and culture has been fascinating, the beggars have been successfully ignored, and the food is better at home (it's true! Better for my western tastes, at least). I rather like India, and look forward to spending a bit of time in one place in it at some time in the future, to get a little deeper under it many layers of skin.
One of the most amazing things I have seen here, the usually reported contrast between abject poverty and mind-blowing riches aside, has been the way people use motorbikes. No helmets, and a family of five can fit on a single 250cc Suzuki-type machine! The dad drives, two kids sit on the tank in front of him; mum rides pillion - side sadlle (side-sadlle!) because of her sari, whilst holding the youngest in her arms. Often along with the groceries. It's amazing. And not a helmet between them! Because of the traffic they rarely get about 20km/h, but still. I would never ride pillion without a helmet. Especially not when drunk in a strange town in India.
Anyway, another amazing thing has been shopping. Not just how much I can do of it (three saris, four salwar suits, three pairs of earrings, deoderant, other sundry items, and no pashminas), but how confronting an experience it is.
"Madam, madam! Please come, look at my shop."
"Yes? Please come."
"You are looking for pasmina shawl, silk scarf, bangle... beautiful punjabi suit, silk saree, please madam..."
"Sister, sister, yes"...
At first it made me not look anywhere, but I am used to it now. I think I will feel quite unloved in a western shops now! Especially if I try to tell them the price they are asking is ridiculous...
The people have been by turns both horrid and fabulous, the politics and culture has been fascinating, the beggars have been successfully ignored, and the food is better at home (it's true! Better for my western tastes, at least). I rather like India, and look forward to spending a bit of time in one place in it at some time in the future, to get a little deeper under it many layers of skin.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Last days
Well, Jaisalmer was great! It is my favourite place in the entire tour - my favourite that I've seen in India, actually. I loved the walled town with its small windy streets - similar but cooler than the other places I've been to. It also helped that I had an excellent night out there, even if the morning after was a little less than excellent...
I had my palm read at the fort in Jodhpur, but didn't see much else of the place due to said self-imposed Delhi-belly. I am now in Udaipur, which is nice, but nothing amazing really. I would have like to go to Ajmer and Pushkar - apparently they are a lot of people's favourites, but my tour doesn't go there! Ah well, I'll just have to come back in August. If I think I could stomach the heat...
So in a few hours I am catching my final sleeper train back to Delhi, where my tour ends in a couple of days' time. Then I get about a day either side of my flight before I start my Contiki! I knew I was mad...
I had my palm read at the fort in Jodhpur, but didn't see much else of the place due to said self-imposed Delhi-belly. I am now in Udaipur, which is nice, but nothing amazing really. I would have like to go to Ajmer and Pushkar - apparently they are a lot of people's favourites, but my tour doesn't go there! Ah well, I'll just have to come back in August. If I think I could stomach the heat...
So in a few hours I am catching my final sleeper train back to Delhi, where my tour ends in a couple of days' time. Then I get about a day either side of my flight before I start my Contiki! I knew I was mad...
Monday, March 19, 2007
Backroads of Rajasthan
Okay, so it's been ages since I've had enough time on the internet to do everything I've wanted to, so I'm way behind on keeping everyone up on the tour I'm on. I'll try and get something up to this effect now. Maybe we'll just stick to the highlights though...
On the 10th, the day on which the tour started, I met my room mate for the tour. She's pretty cool, so we went to the red fort in Delhi on their metro, which is always fun because the cleanliness inside dramatically contrasts with the dirt outside. Red fort was cool too, I think, though all of the forts have kindas melded into one now... Soomaanyfooorts... I've still taken pics of them all though :p
Day two we went to Agra and saw the red fort there (most of the forts are red, too!). We also saw the Taj Mahal, which is pretty cool. I have the requisite million photos, which I will make anyone foolish enough to ask sit through ^.^
Day three I saw some birds and stuff, day four we got trapped in our hotel in the middle of nowhere by a protests which got a bit nasty. Turns out Rajasthan (the state we were in) had some really bad, highly unseasonal hail and it wrote off all their crops. Our guide, an Indian from this state called (of all things) Paddy, said that they were demonstrating because they were worried they wouldn't get compensation for their lost earnings and be destitute. The farmers have it pretty bad here.
Anyway, the next day we went to Jaipur, which was the place I was in the next day for my birthday. That was fort number... well, I dunno. Soomaanyfoooorts...
The next day was, of course, Camel Day! It was fun, and much more comfortable than a horse. They have more padding, I think, though I may have got lucky - a number of the other girls say they are missing some skin... ouch! I was just strting to find it really uncomfortable at the end of the five hours. We stopped for lunch under a tree, had vegetarian curries cooked for us and then had a siesta in the sand. It was pretty sweet. We then finished our 5hrs after the nap, and got in to our desert camp - all set up for us, with tents and a table with tablecloth and lamps! - in time for the sunset. It was so cool.
A short 1-hr ride out in the morning ended the camel safari, and we went to transfer to our new hotel. We were all very excited about the prospect of a hot shower and some form of toilet apart from a patch of sand, so you can imagine how excited we were when Paddy (the guide) said we'd been upgraded! We stayed in a Palace! It was so cool - from one type of traditiional Indian life to quite another. It was called the Lallgarh Palace if anyone wants to google it.
Last night we caught an 8 hour bus to Jaisalmer (no toilet stops so no drinking anything that whole day in preparation!) and I am now in an internet cafe in "the golden city" which is a gold-yellow sandstone walled city in which people still live! It is the first inhabited fort we've been to, so it's pretty sweet. It's my favourite place so far.
Well, you are more or less up to date, and I am tired of writing so I'll leave it there. Eight more days until I can eat steak!
On the 10th, the day on which the tour started, I met my room mate for the tour. She's pretty cool, so we went to the red fort in Delhi on their metro, which is always fun because the cleanliness inside dramatically contrasts with the dirt outside. Red fort was cool too, I think, though all of the forts have kindas melded into one now... Soomaanyfooorts... I've still taken pics of them all though :p
Day two we went to Agra and saw the red fort there (most of the forts are red, too!). We also saw the Taj Mahal, which is pretty cool. I have the requisite million photos, which I will make anyone foolish enough to ask sit through ^.^
Day three I saw some birds and stuff, day four we got trapped in our hotel in the middle of nowhere by a protests which got a bit nasty. Turns out Rajasthan (the state we were in) had some really bad, highly unseasonal hail and it wrote off all their crops. Our guide, an Indian from this state called (of all things) Paddy, said that they were demonstrating because they were worried they wouldn't get compensation for their lost earnings and be destitute. The farmers have it pretty bad here.
Anyway, the next day we went to Jaipur, which was the place I was in the next day for my birthday. That was fort number... well, I dunno. Soomaanyfoooorts...
The next day was, of course, Camel Day! It was fun, and much more comfortable than a horse. They have more padding, I think, though I may have got lucky - a number of the other girls say they are missing some skin... ouch! I was just strting to find it really uncomfortable at the end of the five hours. We stopped for lunch under a tree, had vegetarian curries cooked for us and then had a siesta in the sand. It was pretty sweet. We then finished our 5hrs after the nap, and got in to our desert camp - all set up for us, with tents and a table with tablecloth and lamps! - in time for the sunset. It was so cool.
A short 1-hr ride out in the morning ended the camel safari, and we went to transfer to our new hotel. We were all very excited about the prospect of a hot shower and some form of toilet apart from a patch of sand, so you can imagine how excited we were when Paddy (the guide) said we'd been upgraded! We stayed in a Palace! It was so cool - from one type of traditiional Indian life to quite another. It was called the Lallgarh Palace if anyone wants to google it.
Last night we caught an 8 hour bus to Jaisalmer (no toilet stops so no drinking anything that whole day in preparation!) and I am now in an internet cafe in "the golden city" which is a gold-yellow sandstone walled city in which people still live! It is the first inhabited fort we've been to, so it's pretty sweet. It's my favourite place so far.
Well, you are more or less up to date, and I am tired of writing so I'll leave it there. Eight more days until I can eat steak!
Okay, let's try that again...
Man, that was so annoying. I spent like half an hour writing that birthday post, and it didn't go up! It said it had published successfully, too >.< Oh well, I will try to write the abridged version.
It seems I mis-calculated: I wasn't on the camel on my birthday. I was in Jaipur, and that evening was an overnight train to Bikaner where the camels live. It was a good day though, despite the lack of wine etc. I was woken up by txts at 4am, 5am and 6am from dad, Col and Kali respectively (I think that was the order - I was asleep), then a call from dad at 6.30. When I finally got it through my sleeping head that I could probably talk to people despite the cost seeing as it was my birthday, it was great, if a bit tear-inducing.
I then took a couple of my cohorts and went to see the Hawa Mahal ("Palace of the Winds") and the rest of the City Palace, and had some (fairly sloppy) mendhi (henna-hand-decoration-paint-thing) done. It was a cool expreience though.
After that, a lot of us had decided to go to Pizza Hut (!) in town for my birthday. It was so nice to eat western food again, which actually tasted like it does at home! Hehe. While I have enjoyed the Indian food, the novelty was beginning to wear off after eaing it twice a day for so long now.
After lunch we went shopping and I bought some earrings, which are forever to be known as my birthday earrings, according to one of the girls. We then made our way back to the hotel because a palmist was supposed to be there and I thought it sounded like fun. By the time we arrived, however, some people had had theirs done and said he sucked, especially for the price, so we decided against it. I am now on a mission to find a proper Toothless Crone to do it. Hopefully there is one who speaks English...
Thanks for all your comments everyone, it was nice to get birthday wishes from you all. Will try to look in on Santharia soon Art, though I'd like to catch everyone up on the tour so far so I will try to write that first. Internet here is few and far between so I'm trying to use it when I find it. Hope everyone is well and having fun - I am!
It seems I mis-calculated: I wasn't on the camel on my birthday. I was in Jaipur, and that evening was an overnight train to Bikaner where the camels live. It was a good day though, despite the lack of wine etc. I was woken up by txts at 4am, 5am and 6am from dad, Col and Kali respectively (I think that was the order - I was asleep), then a call from dad at 6.30. When I finally got it through my sleeping head that I could probably talk to people despite the cost seeing as it was my birthday, it was great, if a bit tear-inducing.
I then took a couple of my cohorts and went to see the Hawa Mahal ("Palace of the Winds") and the rest of the City Palace, and had some (fairly sloppy) mendhi (henna-hand-decoration-paint-thing) done. It was a cool expreience though.
After that, a lot of us had decided to go to Pizza Hut (!) in town for my birthday. It was so nice to eat western food again, which actually tasted like it does at home! Hehe. While I have enjoyed the Indian food, the novelty was beginning to wear off after eaing it twice a day for so long now.
After lunch we went shopping and I bought some earrings, which are forever to be known as my birthday earrings, according to one of the girls. We then made our way back to the hotel because a palmist was supposed to be there and I thought it sounded like fun. By the time we arrived, however, some people had had theirs done and said he sucked, especially for the price, so we decided against it. I am now on a mission to find a proper Toothless Crone to do it. Hopefully there is one who speaks English...
Thanks for all your comments everyone, it was nice to get birthday wishes from you all. Will try to look in on Santharia soon Art, though I'd like to catch everyone up on the tour so far so I will try to write that first. Internet here is few and far between so I'm trying to use it when I find it. Hope everyone is well and having fun - I am!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Final Sight Seen
Today is my last day in Kolkata. It's kind of sad, but also quite exciting because that means my tour of Rajasthan starts in a couple of days! I have to check out at midday tomorrow, but my transfer doesn't come until 3.30pm for my train at (theoretically) 4.55pm so I shall be sitting in the garden bar drinking water or tea or Pepsi (they don't seem to have Coke as much in India) for a few hours. It's not really a problem though - that's probably pretty much what I would have been doing anyway!
Today I finished my sighteseeing of West Bengal (the state Kolkata is in, and is the capital of) with a visit to the Raj relic called the Victoria Memorial. It's basically a museum of British rule, although it has a display of modern art on at the moment, and is in a fairly similar style to our museum in the Domain. Perhaps it is not surprising then, given my proprietary-ness of said building, that I have decided that it will do nicely as a bach for me in India. Once I rename it and fix up the plumbing (I had my first experience of Indian-style bathrooms there today, and had to pay a rupee for the dubious pleasure) I think it will do quite nicely.
Today I finished my sighteseeing of West Bengal (the state Kolkata is in, and is the capital of) with a visit to the Raj relic called the Victoria Memorial. It's basically a museum of British rule, although it has a display of modern art on at the moment, and is in a fairly similar style to our museum in the Domain. Perhaps it is not surprising then, given my proprietary-ness of said building, that I have decided that it will do nicely as a bach for me in India. Once I rename it and fix up the plumbing (I had my first experience of Indian-style bathrooms there today, and had to pay a rupee for the dubious pleasure) I think it will do quite nicely.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
One day in Kolkata
So yesterday I spent the day on a little tiki-tour of the city: me, a driver, and a tour guide to take me cool places. It was organised by the man who provided my transfers to and from the railway station.
It got off to something of a bumpy start: I had organised it for Friday but when the car turned up, there was no guide! Apparently there was not one available, so I told them where they could put that, and that I'd do the tour on Monday if they could guarantee me a guide. On a side note, it has been quite shocking how badly people have tried to rip me off here. I guess they all think I'm rich or something. I suppose, compared to them, I am.
Anyway, the driver and guide picked me up at 9.30 on Monday. We went first to the Temple of Kali called the Kali Ghat. I saw where they sacrifice the goats every day; apparently they use the flesh to feed the poor which I thought was very nice. I also got a little glimpse 0f the Goddess, but we didn't go in... I'm not really sure why. *Shrug* On the way out we saw what looked like a dead tree, which my guide informed me was actually a cactus, to which people tie little blocks of what look like stone with red thread to wish for a child. As we left, the guide slipped a seemingly random guy some money. When I asked what that was about he said it was to ensure we didn't get hassled! Touristy destinations, eh?
After that we had some of the worst chai I've ever had in a stall outside before he took me to see Nirmal Hriday next door: Mother Theresa's Home for the Destitute and Dying. It was quite embarrassing really; he took me in and kind of left me to have a look around while he went outside to have a smoke. So here I am, all clean and touristy, standing around in a place where people are either very sick or very working. I left pretty quickly.
Next we drove to the flower market, which is apparently a must-see. It stank of crushed rotting greenery, but if I had wanted to buy strings and strings of marigolds or a neat little crown made entirely out of flowers, that would have been the place! It was also very crowded and I think I got "accidentally" brushed up against a number of times. People always seem to complain about this but it didn't really bother me, apart from the principle of the thing. There's nothing I find very shocking about having a hand brush your leg as you walk through a crowded area, but I know that the men were doing it with sleazy intent so I guess I felt like I ought to be at least a little annoyed. I didn't spend much energy on it though.
We then went to see the Old Howrah Bridge, a massive construction of steel cables which spans the huge wide branch of the Ganges which flows through Calcutta (called the Hooghly River when they don't just call it the Ganges) from the city Calcutta to the city/district called Howrah, which incidentally is where you find the station my train departs from and arrives to. There are two bridges across the river, the Old and the New. You can't always see the one from the other because of the atrocious amounts of smog here, but later on we went to see the ghats on the riverside at a point between the two and you could see both from there. The Old bridge is fairly similar to the new bridge except that the Old has lanes where massive streams of people can and do walk across it (and it looked like quite a walk! It's a long way across, perhaps twice or three times the straight length of our Harbour bridge), and the New bridge is formed of symmetrical wires holding it up, whereas the Old one looks very much as if it had been cobbled together.
The next two stops were the highlight of the tour. The Kumar Tolly is an area where artisans craft the idols for festivals and, one assumes, temples. They are made of straw tied into the required shape then covered in clay a few times, then painted and decorated. We saw them in all phases of creation and I was very impressed with how a few bits of string and some mud can turn a lump of hay into a goddess!
After this was the stunning Jain temple, a confection of marble and mirrors and mosaics. It's difficult to describe, so you should all go look it up - I think there's only one in Kolkata. I wish I could get some of the photos I've taken up here, but I think that's a bit of an ask for the speeds of the computers here! As we left the guide encouraged me to give a small donation to a priest for a little red-and-yellow wool bracelet. It was for protection, he said, although it was immediately after this that I noticed feeling sick (see previous post) so perhaps it is not so good! I am still wearing it though, just to prove to myself how not-superstitious I am ^.^
They took me back to the hotel for lunch and then at 2 o'clock we headed out again. This time we went to the Old Park Street Cemetery first, which was rather neat. Massive monoliths from the 17- and 1800s, memorialising British men and children from the East India Company are crowded in to a small section of land which is amazingly quiet for this city. The light had a lovely green quality to it from all the ancient towering trees, which was echoed in the green of the moss on the ground, although not on the graves: these were scrupulously maintained.
After seeing the riverside and bridges and a quick stop at a souvenir shop where I bought three postcards and they tried to sell me yet another pashmina (I haven't bought one but it seems to be what all the touts think western women want so I swear if I hear that word again...!) we made our last stop at St Paul's Anglican Cathedral. They had some beautiful stained glass there, and the guide told me (a number of times - perhaps I wasn't suitably impressed) that it was where Princess Diana visited when she came to Calcutta. I was, however, impressed when the guide told me that one of the priests or whatever-you-call-'em said that when he saw me he thought Diana had come back to visit! Hehe, I am easily flattered. Apparently she wore a very similar salwar suit with her dupatta (scarf) over her head the way I was wearing mine, when she visited.
So quite a good little day's outing really, though exhausting. I feel now that I can say I have "done" Kolkata, apart from my one outstanding sight which is the Victoria Memorial. Maybe tomorrow.
It got off to something of a bumpy start: I had organised it for Friday but when the car turned up, there was no guide! Apparently there was not one available, so I told them where they could put that, and that I'd do the tour on Monday if they could guarantee me a guide. On a side note, it has been quite shocking how badly people have tried to rip me off here. I guess they all think I'm rich or something. I suppose, compared to them, I am.
Anyway, the driver and guide picked me up at 9.30 on Monday. We went first to the Temple of Kali called the Kali Ghat. I saw where they sacrifice the goats every day; apparently they use the flesh to feed the poor which I thought was very nice. I also got a little glimpse 0f the Goddess, but we didn't go in... I'm not really sure why. *Shrug* On the way out we saw what looked like a dead tree, which my guide informed me was actually a cactus, to which people tie little blocks of what look like stone with red thread to wish for a child. As we left, the guide slipped a seemingly random guy some money. When I asked what that was about he said it was to ensure we didn't get hassled! Touristy destinations, eh?
After that we had some of the worst chai I've ever had in a stall outside before he took me to see Nirmal Hriday next door: Mother Theresa's Home for the Destitute and Dying. It was quite embarrassing really; he took me in and kind of left me to have a look around while he went outside to have a smoke. So here I am, all clean and touristy, standing around in a place where people are either very sick or very working. I left pretty quickly.
Next we drove to the flower market, which is apparently a must-see. It stank of crushed rotting greenery, but if I had wanted to buy strings and strings of marigolds or a neat little crown made entirely out of flowers, that would have been the place! It was also very crowded and I think I got "accidentally" brushed up against a number of times. People always seem to complain about this but it didn't really bother me, apart from the principle of the thing. There's nothing I find very shocking about having a hand brush your leg as you walk through a crowded area, but I know that the men were doing it with sleazy intent so I guess I felt like I ought to be at least a little annoyed. I didn't spend much energy on it though.
We then went to see the Old Howrah Bridge, a massive construction of steel cables which spans the huge wide branch of the Ganges which flows through Calcutta (called the Hooghly River when they don't just call it the Ganges) from the city Calcutta to the city/district called Howrah, which incidentally is where you find the station my train departs from and arrives to. There are two bridges across the river, the Old and the New. You can't always see the one from the other because of the atrocious amounts of smog here, but later on we went to see the ghats on the riverside at a point between the two and you could see both from there. The Old bridge is fairly similar to the new bridge except that the Old has lanes where massive streams of people can and do walk across it (and it looked like quite a walk! It's a long way across, perhaps twice or three times the straight length of our Harbour bridge), and the New bridge is formed of symmetrical wires holding it up, whereas the Old one looks very much as if it had been cobbled together.
The next two stops were the highlight of the tour. The Kumar Tolly is an area where artisans craft the idols for festivals and, one assumes, temples. They are made of straw tied into the required shape then covered in clay a few times, then painted and decorated. We saw them in all phases of creation and I was very impressed with how a few bits of string and some mud can turn a lump of hay into a goddess!
After this was the stunning Jain temple, a confection of marble and mirrors and mosaics. It's difficult to describe, so you should all go look it up - I think there's only one in Kolkata. I wish I could get some of the photos I've taken up here, but I think that's a bit of an ask for the speeds of the computers here! As we left the guide encouraged me to give a small donation to a priest for a little red-and-yellow wool bracelet. It was for protection, he said, although it was immediately after this that I noticed feeling sick (see previous post) so perhaps it is not so good! I am still wearing it though, just to prove to myself how not-superstitious I am ^.^
They took me back to the hotel for lunch and then at 2 o'clock we headed out again. This time we went to the Old Park Street Cemetery first, which was rather neat. Massive monoliths from the 17- and 1800s, memorialising British men and children from the East India Company are crowded in to a small section of land which is amazingly quiet for this city. The light had a lovely green quality to it from all the ancient towering trees, which was echoed in the green of the moss on the ground, although not on the graves: these were scrupulously maintained.
After seeing the riverside and bridges and a quick stop at a souvenir shop where I bought three postcards and they tried to sell me yet another pashmina (I haven't bought one but it seems to be what all the touts think western women want so I swear if I hear that word again...!) we made our last stop at St Paul's Anglican Cathedral. They had some beautiful stained glass there, and the guide told me (a number of times - perhaps I wasn't suitably impressed) that it was where Princess Diana visited when she came to Calcutta. I was, however, impressed when the guide told me that one of the priests or whatever-you-call-'em said that when he saw me he thought Diana had come back to visit! Hehe, I am easily flattered. Apparently she wore a very similar salwar suit with her dupatta (scarf) over her head the way I was wearing mine, when she visited.
So quite a good little day's outing really, though exhausting. I feel now that I can say I have "done" Kolkata, apart from my one outstanding sight which is the Victoria Memorial. Maybe tomorrow.
Betting: End! No more bets!
I have succumbed! Delhi-belly has finally got me.
I was on a tour of the city (to be described in a later post) during the day, and at about midday I began to get a sore neck. Then I started to cough, then to feel hot, then a little dizzy... I went out for dinner and had a fabulous Chicken Tikka at a place called Jojo's (which is so far not implicated), and when I got back I had to go straight to bed. I woke up a couple of hours later burning up but freezing cold. I managed to get back to sleep for a bit before... well, I shall omit the details but suffice to say I started taking my rehydration salts. They're not too bad actually - Simon says they taste awful but the ones I have just taste like a slightly salty orange cordial, which was a nice change from the straight bottled water I've been drinking almost exclusively (apart from the ever-present tea here) for seven-plus days straight.
I felt much better by the morning, and even managed to get to the market down the road after lunch to pick up the saris I bought a few days earlier. I shan't elaborate on those though; I think my shopping will have to have a post of its own!
I was on a tour of the city (to be described in a later post) during the day, and at about midday I began to get a sore neck. Then I started to cough, then to feel hot, then a little dizzy... I went out for dinner and had a fabulous Chicken Tikka at a place called Jojo's (which is so far not implicated), and when I got back I had to go straight to bed. I woke up a couple of hours later burning up but freezing cold. I managed to get back to sleep for a bit before... well, I shall omit the details but suffice to say I started taking my rehydration salts. They're not too bad actually - Simon says they taste awful but the ones I have just taste like a slightly salty orange cordial, which was a nice change from the straight bottled water I've been drinking almost exclusively (apart from the ever-present tea here) for seven-plus days straight.
I felt much better by the morning, and even managed to get to the market down the road after lunch to pick up the saris I bought a few days earlier. I shan't elaborate on those though; I think my shopping will have to have a post of its own!
The Fairlawn
When I first arrived at the Fairlawn Hotel I was a bit shocked. It looked a lot less cute than on the website, and my room was somewhat nasty - the shower is over the bath, which is on blocks, and there is no shower curtain! The air conditioning duct runs through the bathroom too, which is something of an eyesore. There was no soap provided in the room, no flannels and the paper in the loo (a nasty, public-toilet styled room) is as cheap as it comes. The bedroom itself is a masterpiece of floral history, with matching blue rose-covered beadspread, drawer-covers, and curtains over the entryways to the convenience in lieu of doors. All this, after the rather palatial marble-and-wood surrounds at the Bajaj Indian Homestay in Delhi, seemed simply too crude to bear. I considered asking to be transferred to another room but was quickly dissuaded from that course by a lady who stays there frequently - apparently it is wiser not to do anything to upset the owner, the tempestuous Mrs. Violet Smith.
I've been at the Fairlawn for five or six days now. The floral patterns have grown on me, I'm getting to know the staff, the guests are nice to talk to and the lights outside (which masquerade as tacky plastic fruit hanging from the doorways and eaves by day) look so beautiful at night that I am quite comfortable here now, despite the food, which is *looks around hoping that the redoubtable Mrs. Smith never sees this* lacklustre, to be kind. Although the best parts of the hotel - like the lounge and that fabulous carved bannister - are upstairs (where my room is not - it's off the dining room), that only makes me think "if I come back to Calcutta, I'll have to ask them to book me in to an upstairs room"... Once you have stayed here, I doubt you could really think of staying anywhere else.
I've been at the Fairlawn for five or six days now. The floral patterns have grown on me, I'm getting to know the staff, the guests are nice to talk to and the lights outside (which masquerade as tacky plastic fruit hanging from the doorways and eaves by day) look so beautiful at night that I am quite comfortable here now, despite the food, which is *looks around hoping that the redoubtable Mrs. Smith never sees this* lacklustre, to be kind. Although the best parts of the hotel - like the lounge and that fabulous carved bannister - are upstairs (where my room is not - it's off the dining room), that only makes me think "if I come back to Calcutta, I'll have to ask them to book me in to an upstairs room"... Once you have stayed here, I doubt you could really think of staying anywhere else.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Indian Rail, first class style.
Well, I have a bit of time to write up something now. I'm in the internet cafe across from my hotel and it's 15 minutes until lunch is served. I seem to have been given all-inclusive accommodation, so I am eating all the meals they try to feed me at the moment.
So, the rail journey. I boarded at Delhi two and a half hours late, because the train before mine was running late. The guy who was doing the transfer from my hotel helped me board, which was brilliant because otherwise I would never have found my berth! Apparently you have to find your name on a board of passenger lists to find out which seat you are in, rather than having it printed on your ticket. Hurdle number two (after the train being delayed 2 1/2 hours) was that we couldn't find my name on the lists! I managed to remain pretty calm about the whole thing - I guess I was so far out of my depth I just couldn't stir myself to worry about anything! When the train finally pulled in we had to run to the front to find the right conductor (one for each carriage) to tell me where my seat was. As I sat down in my carriage I looked out the window and saw a board which said something like "upper class passenger lists". I figure that was why we didn't find my mane on the board we'd been looking at - because I was in first class (I'd decided to pay more and keep my luggage :p )!
So I got all settled in. The compartment had a long bench-type seat on either side, the back part of which folded down to convert into a bed. As I waited, a man came in and sat down. He was obviously very important because he read about three newspapers in the time I was in there, and kept taking cellphone calls during which he had to shout down the phone in Hindi to be heard, repeating what he said at increased volume each time. It was really quite comical and I had a very hard time not cracking up into fits of hysterics! Poor man, just trying to make a phone call and some stupid foreigner finds you funny!
Anyway, the ticket inspector came in after about an hour and offered me to move to the next door compartment which was a single room. I was relieved because, as funny as I found him, I
didn't fancy sleeping in the same room as the man. So I moved, and they brought me dinner: a cheese sandwich, what I thought was a sausage roll nut was actually some herby curry paste stuff wrapped in pastry; a really nice strawberry drink, some sweets and some cashew nuts. Oh, and the ever-present tea.
A little while later they came in and asked me what I wanted for dinner. "Wait, what? What was that I just ate then?"
"That was snacks, madam."
Snacks! Perhaps unsurprisingly I wasn't hungry at that time, so I said I didn't want anything and asked for the bedding they supply, and went to sleep after being sternly admonished by the guy who brought the bedding to lock the door. I got up at 11pm to do what needed to be done (they have western-style loos in 1st class, thankfully), and they offered me dinner again. Never being one to turn down a free meal, I got roast chicken with veges, potato wedges and some of these excellent fish cutlets which were dome in a spicy shell. I hope they have those again when I go back to Delhi in a few days.
After that I slept quite well, to be woken at about 6am by the sunlight through my curtains. I tried to sleep longer but I had to give up at 7am when the Hindi music they were playing when I got on the train started up again. Not long after there was an announcement that the train was now 5hrs late, sorry for any inconvenience! Still, I was in no real hurry. Breakfast came (with as many different courses and as much food as dinner), followed by lunch. Soon after that we stopped at a station where some little beggar kids came up to the window and begged for food. I don't know how they thought I was going to give it to then - my window had no opening as the carriage was air-conditioned! I locked my door in case they came inside, which turned out to be fortunate. As we pulled out of the station I heard this thump, thump noise from my door. I pulled the curtain back and saw this guy I'd never seen before trying to wrench the door off its hinges! I was a bit freaked out, and although, I reasoned, he might just have got the wrong compartment number, I kept my door locked the rest of the way there just in case.
I arrived without any further excitement at the Fairlawn and have, more or less, been there ever since. I shall update further later but for now I am late for lunch, which is not really done, so I shall have to run. Hope everyone is well; as always do let me know, by email or by commenting below.
So, the rail journey. I boarded at Delhi two and a half hours late, because the train before mine was running late. The guy who was doing the transfer from my hotel helped me board, which was brilliant because otherwise I would never have found my berth! Apparently you have to find your name on a board of passenger lists to find out which seat you are in, rather than having it printed on your ticket. Hurdle number two (after the train being delayed 2 1/2 hours) was that we couldn't find my name on the lists! I managed to remain pretty calm about the whole thing - I guess I was so far out of my depth I just couldn't stir myself to worry about anything! When the train finally pulled in we had to run to the front to find the right conductor (one for each carriage) to tell me where my seat was. As I sat down in my carriage I looked out the window and saw a board which said something like "upper class passenger lists". I figure that was why we didn't find my mane on the board we'd been looking at - because I was in first class (I'd decided to pay more and keep my luggage :p )!
So I got all settled in. The compartment had a long bench-type seat on either side, the back part of which folded down to convert into a bed. As I waited, a man came in and sat down. He was obviously very important because he read about three newspapers in the time I was in there, and kept taking cellphone calls during which he had to shout down the phone in Hindi to be heard, repeating what he said at increased volume each time. It was really quite comical and I had a very hard time not cracking up into fits of hysterics! Poor man, just trying to make a phone call and some stupid foreigner finds you funny!
Anyway, the ticket inspector came in after about an hour and offered me to move to the next door compartment which was a single room. I was relieved because, as funny as I found him, I
didn't fancy sleeping in the same room as the man. So I moved, and they brought me dinner: a cheese sandwich, what I thought was a sausage roll nut was actually some herby curry paste stuff wrapped in pastry; a really nice strawberry drink, some sweets and some cashew nuts. Oh, and the ever-present tea.
A little while later they came in and asked me what I wanted for dinner. "Wait, what? What was that I just ate then?"
"That was snacks, madam."
Snacks! Perhaps unsurprisingly I wasn't hungry at that time, so I said I didn't want anything and asked for the bedding they supply, and went to sleep after being sternly admonished by the guy who brought the bedding to lock the door. I got up at 11pm to do what needed to be done (they have western-style loos in 1st class, thankfully), and they offered me dinner again. Never being one to turn down a free meal, I got roast chicken with veges, potato wedges and some of these excellent fish cutlets which were dome in a spicy shell. I hope they have those again when I go back to Delhi in a few days.
After that I slept quite well, to be woken at about 6am by the sunlight through my curtains. I tried to sleep longer but I had to give up at 7am when the Hindi music they were playing when I got on the train started up again. Not long after there was an announcement that the train was now 5hrs late, sorry for any inconvenience! Still, I was in no real hurry. Breakfast came (with as many different courses and as much food as dinner), followed by lunch. Soon after that we stopped at a station where some little beggar kids came up to the window and begged for food. I don't know how they thought I was going to give it to then - my window had no opening as the carriage was air-conditioned! I locked my door in case they came inside, which turned out to be fortunate. As we pulled out of the station I heard this thump, thump noise from my door. I pulled the curtain back and saw this guy I'd never seen before trying to wrench the door off its hinges! I was a bit freaked out, and although, I reasoned, he might just have got the wrong compartment number, I kept my door locked the rest of the way there just in case.
I arrived without any further excitement at the Fairlawn and have, more or less, been there ever since. I shall update further later but for now I am late for lunch, which is not really done, so I shall have to run. Hope everyone is well; as always do let me know, by email or by commenting below.
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