Another night on a train

From one extreme to another. I have left behind the beautiful heritage hotel, with tiled floors and dark antique furniture for a night on a crowed train.   Spending my last afternoon in Varanasi taking a boat trip along the ghats allowed a different view from just walking through.  Here you could see the people bathing, praying, swimming and clothes washing.  Behind them were the splendid but crumpling palaces of a time gone by, when every maharaja had a palace here overlooking the Ganges.  Now they are guest houses, silk shops, factories and schools and they live on in an unkempt manner.  Luckily again  when I joined the waiting crowds on platform 8,  I stood next to a lovely couple who were catching the same train.  Chatting to them whiled away the two hour delay and then I joined the tourist filled air conditioned 3 tier sleeper carriage.

A Wonderful sunny Christmas day

Yesterday I visited nearby temples and was blessed and given a red dot on my forehead.  I counted that as the religious side of these festive days.  Today I slowly walked along the ghats in the lovely sunshine and did a lot of people watching, as this place is so fascinating.  I got a brilliant little printer for Christmas (thanks Mum) and last night printed off a few photos and distributed them to the local shop keeper, the guy  from the marker where I got my beads and lastly to the local auto rickshaw driver who took me to meet his family.  I love this, as here photos are a real luxury and now printing is accessible!!!  So Merry Christmas and I'm signing out now so I can tuck onto my Christmas meal of a vegetable Thai.   

No boat thank you !!!!

In a place so reliant on tourists not only from India but all over the world, being alone here is difficult. A quiet stroll along the side of the Ganges is peppered with people wanting you to take a boat, practice their English or throw them back their cricket ball back !!!! But it's so amazing to see life in such a holy place. Yesterday I visited the sacred burning ghat where the main cremations are held.  Tons of wood are piled high, ready to be used and bodies are lined up with their grieving companions and it truly is a sight, as we are so removed from death.  Walking along the streets here you are often passed by families taking their deceased relative to this site and often they have traveled for hours to get here.  Just to give the opposite to this there are so many new born puppies and goats wandering around the streets.  I read in the paper this morning that a co-operative  of boat men are supporting the stray animals here in town, so it's nice to see the supporting spirit is alive and well.  In india it is so difficult to turn away from the deserving as where ever you look people are living on the streets, have incredible illnesses to deal with and have nothing.  The debate continues as to whether or not you should give directly or donate, if you so wish, to a local charity. I have given money to a few people, but only when there is no one around as in previous experience if you give in a crowd you are swarmed!!! 

It's time for an upgrade

As it's the festive season I have treated myself  for my remaining four days here in Varanasi to stay in a heritage hotel at Assi Ghat, at southern end of the Ghats by the Ganges. Wow, I now feel fully refreshed and clean, which won't last long in these dusty streets, especially now I've ditched my boots and put on my sandals!!! I can even see the blue sky peeping through the clouds. 

Breathing through my mouth

So I now have a great room with a balcony overlooking the Ganges.  I quickly headed down to the river and walk along the Ghats, just people watching.  Luckily cameras only picture the view and not the smell.  This incredibly vibrant city stinks of piss !!!! Where ever you turn there seems to be a man weeing - and walking through the narrow streets presents a hop scotch experience of trying not to tread in the 'packages' left behind by monkeys, humans, goats or cows!! Life here really is base, but it is so colourful and spiritual. Walking through the streets next to people carrying their dead loved one to be cremated by the Ganges, passing a guru by the river side or watching devotees make offerings or pray by the river, Varanasi is a truly rewarding destination. 

Off to Varanasi and I've ditched the train travel

Not wanting to experience another train nightmare, I have taken the plunge and cancelled my train ticket and invested nine times more in having a driver take me across states from Birah to Uttar Pradesh.I Must remember this is a holiday and not an endurance test!!!  It's amazing that this is the peak season to travel in India, but up north it's covered in fog. A recent BBC documentary highlighted the alarming increase in pollution due to booming car sales. This is resulting in cities choking under the strain with a sharp increase in respiratory diseases. My fellow train traveller for the 22 hour trip said that when she was growing up there was never fog like this. 

And off to Varanasi - ditched the train and got myself a driver

Not wanting to experience another train nightmare, I have taken the plunge and cancelled my train ticket and invested nine times more in having a driver take me across states from Birah to Uttar Pradesh.I Must remember this is a holiday and not an endurance test!!!  It's amazing that this is the peak season to travel in India, but up north it's covered in fog. A recent BBC documentary highlighted the alarming increase in pollution due to booming car sales. This is resulting in cities choking under the strain with a sharp increase in respiratory diseases. My fellow train traveller for the 22 hour trip said that when she was growing up there was never fog like this. 

A sea of saffron coloured robes

Bodh Gaya is amazing!!! As one of the four most spiritual sites for Buddhists in the world, Thai, Japanese, Bhutanese, Tibetan temples are scattered around the city. The real gem is the main temple in the centre of town, marking where Lord Buddha attainted enlightenment. Thousands of people flock here everyday, especially in this season when Tibetans escape their harsh winter.  Also the Dalai Lamas' second in command is in town, I saw his heavily guarded car sweep through the main street this afternoon.  The Dalai Lama will be visiting at the end of the month and hundreds of thousands will head here for the chance to see him.  I caught up with the guy who guided my auto rickshaw driver to the hotel when I arrived late at night.  He also leant me the money to pay him, as i didn't have any change.  The price was to listen to his tale of setting up a charity for the homeless. LP alerts you of this scam, but my prize was a trip round town on his motorbike, stopping at the various temples.  It's so hard that you have to keep your guard up just in case.  My fellow train traveller offered me the wise advice of trust no-one, harsh but true.  However it is great to chat with people along the way, just as I did with a family in the restaurant when I first arrived.  The woman was amazed that I was travelling alone, as she said that she couldn't even go to the market by herself.  That really puts things into perspective.... 

Patience is a virtue

Eventually the train started 7 hours later than scheduled. Luckily after a late dinner on board I slept and slept and slept. You couldn't even see the landscape past by, as it was covered in fog, resulting in the train just creeping along. No one knew quite how long our delays were and we just sat and dozed and drank tea from our flasks.  I was so glad that I had reserved the bottom bunk, as I could stretch out and relax.   Eventually after midday  disappeared then by three we knew we were so far behind.  I eventually got to Gaya junction at 8pm, stretching an 11 hour overnight trip to     a numbing 21 hour marathon.   Arriving at Gaya brought the usual chaos, a surge of auto rickshaw drivers wanting my custom. I took the one offering the quoted price by my hotel and sat for 40 mins for the cold and windy journey to Bodh Gaya. Upon Arrival  I felt that I deserved a medal! 

You are too bold

What I love about travelling is that the people that you meet take on equal significance to the things that you see.  Heading to the train station after 10pm was an experience, with so many trains delayed the platforms were jam packed, but I quickly found some fellow passengers to while away the time with. An older gentleman was quizzing me on my trip and after hearing my plans he turned to me and said that I was too bold!!!! Given that our lives as western women are so different, full of choice, opportunity and freedom, in his view I am too bold and given that on all of the hundreds of people at New Delhi Railway station I was the only westerner perhaps at that point he was right. 

India time consists of a lot of waiting

As I'd slept too much in the day and eaten some amazing tandoori chicken late yesterday evening, I eventually drifted off to sleep at 4 am.  Given that my room didn't really have the luxury of daylight streaming through a window, luckily I was woken at 11.30 am by a call from reception checking my check out time.  Thank goodness for the call.  After a leisurely breakfast I wandered down the road to the station just to check the  train departure time,  as when I rang to confirm my room booking at Bodhgaya I was told that the train is often delayed.  Great advice, as it had moved from 4.30 pm back to 9.10 and I had a whole afternoon in Delhi - not the best bonus in this crazy chaotic city!  However i took the opportunity to head out to jamil masjid, the largest mosque in India and enjoyed the unexpected quietness and tranquility of the mosque and chuckled when a family insisted that I was to take centre stage in their photo.   Then off to one of the fifteen world heritage sites in India, Humayun's Tomb. An  Amazing 16th century tomb built in marble and red sandstone, so the day was not completely wasted.  Now have to wait even more as the train is now departing at 10.50.  India time is always full of a lot  of waiting....,

It's great to be back

How civilised, I was met al the airport by a driver with my name displayed on a board. My how my travelling has changed, as I used to revel in the chaos of local buses and trains to get to my first destination.  So, back in Delhi and its brilliant!!! Checked in and slept for seven hours before heading out to old Delhi. There's never a dull moment on the streets; cows, kids, rusty old ambassador cars honking their horns and just hundreds upon hundreds of people everywhere you look.  It feels that everything is bursting at the seams.   An old man came up to me and welcomed me to India .... What a great way to start the trip. Within minutes another guy stopped me to ask if I wanted to take his picture and drink some whiskey ..... It's great to be back!!!!

Greetings from Helsinki !!!!!

Just completed the first leg of my journey and am settled in a cafe in the airport. I've already been in every shop, seen every Moomin souvenir and brushed my hand across the reindeer fur rugs for sale.... Ummm still three hours to go until I head off again, so there's plenty of time for more walking, as my poor back is still sore and there's no chance of an upgrade. I think I will just savour the calm here, as it's all going to change in India. 

Just a couple of weeks to go....

Still to pack, get visa, confirm accommodation and print off itinerary

But counting down the days till my next amazing adventure in India

Must not fall asleep

Back in Doha again and my travelling adventures have come to an end. 
It's Been an amazing trip- I've been blessed by monks, chartered boats, visited the commercial long neck village and headed back to Luang Prabang after fourteen years.  
As always you realise how small the world is and that wherever you go it's full of people like you. The only chance is that we have no say in our destiny of location at the beginning.  Throughout the world today there is so much unrest, so much corruption and so much hate. Travelling rekindles the spirit of wonderment, opportunity, accomplishment and hope. From beer drinking with the street vendor in Bangkok, to helping the lad in the English class in Laos, to catching up with old friends in Chiang Mai, so often a trip is not so much about what you see but how you experience it..

Boiling in Bangkok

Just doing the touristy things in Bangkok, grand palace, wat po and of course walking down the Khao San road. Even popped into boots this morning to get some tiger balm and to escape the heat. Trust me never come to Thailand in may, it's the hottest month!!! Also the heat of the streets increases with all the food stalls with boiling and bubbling vats if hot oil frying whatever they are cooking.
Have a sore head this morning as I headed back to the same street vendor where I had great spicy salad the night before. Well I ended up staying five hours, joining in someone's birthday bash!!! Cake and flowing beer made for a great celebration - you've got to love Bangkok !!!!

Smashing back in Bangkok

Hurrah it's my first night in Bangkok, but have had a rather traumatic journey which involved three different buses and a journey of 19 hours. I feel my journy into bangkok each time is doomed. After we crossed the border I was smugly thinking how lucky I was sitting at the top, at the front with masses of leg room and the view and all this space all the way to Bangkok!  After watching a film on the VIP bus's flat screen I was dozing off when I noticed that the log baring lorry in front had slowed down considerably. We didn't have time or room to stop so scarily we hit it. It all seemed to slow down and I took the brace position ( well trained from the Demos in the plane) and was frightened that the logs would come through the window.  Luckily the driver swerved at the last opportunity and the widow just smashed. We all got out and the front of the bus was really smashed in, all windows caved in, but luckily no one was hurt. Then after waiting to gone midnight another bus came, but disappointedly the engine died so it wasn't until 7am that we got on our third bus Bangkok bound!  
Still I've now consoled myself with some great street prepared BBQ chicken, sticky rice and a spicy papaya salad with a beer!! 

And back to Vientiane

Another mammoth bus journey, ten hours in a VIP bus heading to the capital through the spectacular mountainous region of southern Laos. With enchanting mountains similar to those in northern Vietnam near the Chinese border we slowly headed south climbing the sweeping roads ageing clinging to the sides of the mountains. 
A friend joked that this could be my trail for the tv programme coach trip. Well the bus was full but I only made travel bus friends with those sitting near me; a chatty girl from Jersey, the Aussie couple siting in front who reclined their chairs the moment we got on almost causing dvt in the first two hours of the trip as space was tight, five monks, a few who smoked! And and older Aussie guy travelling around SE Asia.  After ten hours with them I would vote myself off!!!! 
So now to my first day in town. I have now escaped the afternoon rain in a bar and am having a burger and beer Lao, having been to Buddha park and two major temples so far today.  I can see that the dusty streets of Vientiane are now lined with shopping centres and tourist shops and there's of course a travellers district just next to the Mekong river. It's great as it all makes travelling much easier to do. Of course I'm sitting here sipping beer and using their wifi to post this. This is progress! 
And I watched some of the wedding highlights this morning whilst having breakfast on the hotel.  Although the news was too dominated by it before hand, I must admit it was amazing.

And back to Vientiane
Another mammoth bus journey, ten hours in a VIP bus heading to the capital through the spectacular mountainous region of southern Laos. With enchanting mountains similar to those in northern Vietnam near the Chinese border we slowly headed south climbing the sweeping roads ageing clinging to the sides of the mountains. 
A friend joked that this could be my trail for the tv programme coach trip. Well the bus was full but I only made travel bus friends with a chatty girl from Jersey, the Aussie couple siting in front who reclined their chairs the moment we got on almost causing dvt in the first two hours of the trip as space was tight, there were five monks, a few who smoked! And and older Aussie guy travelling around se Asia.  After ten hours with them I would vote myself off!!!! 
So now to my first day in town. I have now escaped the afternoon rainy in a bar and am having a burger and beer Lao, having been to Buddha park and two major temples so far today.  I can see that the dusty streets of vientiane are now lined with shopping centres and tourist shops and there's of course a travellers district just next to the Mekong river. It's great as it all makes it all so easy to do. Of course I'm sitting here sipping beer and using their wifi to post this. This is progress! 
And I watched some of the wedding highlights this morning whilst having breakfast on the hotel.  Although the news was too dominated by it before hand, I must admit it was amazing.

English classes

This morning I headed out to the big brother mouse club. No it's not some strange singing dancing group with Britney Spears lookalikes, but an English club held every morning for two  hours where local students can meet with travellers to practice their English. What a fantastic idea! So I chatted away to a lad who was doing a mathematics degree.  Two hours flew by for all, as this club had travellers of all ages wanting to give a little back to the community they were staying in. They should have this club everywhere where young students can actively practice speaking English, or just get help with their homework! 
Spent the day visiting temples around town and was lucky enough to time an  evening visit with prayer time. Sat behind the novice monks who had to have books to follow the chanting.
As you can imagine I am busy snapping away, but my favourite picture of the day is two monks sharing a computer in an Internet cafe!!! 

Same same but different

After deciding to cook my own Lao style bbq on my first night I sweated by the heat of the charcoal in the hot pot, where I sizzled the meat and heated my soup. I knew I was somewhere quite  special.
I'm a millionaire!!!!! no my lottery numbers haven't come up, I just changed £100 to kip with the exchange rate of 12,800. Prices here are still really reasonable, having spent the grand total of £4.50 yesterday (excluding hotel), which included lunch and dinner, two large beers, a large water and a return trip across the bamboo bridge!!! Needless to say, those who know me well,  I never made use of my return ticket, as crossing it took me about 20 mins, probably 15 mins longer than everyone else. After heading to nearby temples and the paper making village,  I walked the longer way round to the old  bridge, where I followed a couple of monks as we headed across on the side of the bridge on planks and a slightly wobbly hand rail. Of course the monks that I followed soon became dots in the distance! 
 So to differences: long gone are the dusty roads, it's full tarmac through town and beyond. I've booked my 8 hour VIP bus to Vientiane, including lunch and hotel pickup and I've splurged out on a central boutique hotel, that fits into the top end of the lonely planet guide!  A local restaurant on the bank of the Mekong has 419 things on the menu and the night Market stretches the length of the main street. 
Luang Prabang has moved with the times of course, as tourism has increased this gem of a destination keeps its charm and remains so special. At 6 this morning I was watching the daily morning procession of the monks collecting offerings of rice from the devout across town. This truly is a special thing to see.  Later I chartered a boat to take me to a couple of villages up the Mekong and saw villagers make their own whiskey, weave and others collect the local water moss, making a local delicacy. 
Progress has brought more prosperity to many more people. From high end boutique hotels to local guest houses, from local food stalls to craft producers, there is always a steady stream of customers. I was reading earlier that the head brewmaster of beer Lao trained in the Czech Republic and wants to ultimately take this lager across the globe, emulating the incredibly successful business model of Corona, once unheard of outside of Mexico. Given its difference of using rice as malt and a 50% company ownership by Carlsberg, keep an eye out on your supermarket shelves!
One question - where does all the rubbish go? A strange thing to ponder on but when I visited a Lisu village near the Burmese border the reality of modern purchases enhancing a basic subsistence living meant that just outside the village of 15 houses,  daily fires tried to get rid of the paper and most notably plastics that come with a 21st century  way of life. Rubbish was taking over. With the necessity to consume bottled water across Asia and most developing countries I have only seen one set of recycling units which were in the grounds of a Thai temple. I won't lecture on our carbon footprint as my carbon footprint of air travel and hiring a long boat just for me isn't great - but I do use energy saving light bulbs!!!

A city revisited - the past meets the present.

Fourteen years ago I travelled through Laos and really wanted to return, to see how much things have changed, but more importantly gauge how things have remained the same, given Luang Prabang, Lao's second cities UNESCO world Heritage City status.  
I remember dusty streets, local restaurants and street markets all feeling more real than commercial and there was a very limited range of places to stay. I was there for a few weeks and had many incredible experiences in such a short space of time. One night I popped to the local store and was invited by a fellow shopper to his sisters wedding. Within half an hour I was dancing with the family and partaking of a beer or two. A real money can't buy experience. 
I also spent time wandering around the many temples and was invited to spend some time with the Monks to practice their English, another priceless experience.  Later in the week I then was invited to an ordination of one of the monks, a truly special and memorable occasion. 
When I then travelled to the capital on a highly memorable but never to be repeated eighteen hour journey in a truck, sitting on wooden planks with an armed guard perched on the roof to ward off bandits, I felt that the journey would never end. But on arriving in Vientiane to coincide with the amazing annual tat luang festival I  later bumped into these monks again. Needless to say they recognised me, as I cycled across the city, all I saw was a sea of orange robes and some one excitedly shouting Sarah!!!! They invited me to their private ritual of getting their heads shaved for this special occasion. Incredible.
Will I have any similar experiences when in those years hundreds upon thousands of tourist have visited this amazing city?......... I doubt it as when I was here before this was an exotic and untouched destination, but if I have a fraction of what I experienced before I will still be a truly blessed traveller!!!!' 

Long necks

The winding  road clinging to the mountain sides  opens the journey to Mae Hong Son and has 1,000 curves. I have this on the highest authority, well from Bea's friends' cook.  There is nothing I can say to dispute this as at the start of the journey in the small mini van all the locals took a sleeping pill. 
So to the long necks, no it's not a Thai branch of fat face but a hill tribe just outside town still practicing the controversial and now tourist fuelled undertaking of women wearing heavy metal coils around their necks. Through years of tourism their stalls are now adorned with long neck carved mobile phone holders and fridge magnets. Is this progress? Even the sleepy picturesque town has a Kentucky fried chicken! 
After visiting a Hmong village, a Chinese settlement just next to the Burmese border and a Lisu village I felt like I'd had a whistle stop Bruce Perry style  'tribe' experience.  These people have no Thai citizenship and as in most cases villages are populated by the old looking after the very young, whilst the middle generation flock to the large cities in search of employment opportunities. Life is simple,  but life is hard and marginalised, with permission needed to work and no access to education and health care. These people are a million miles away from the upwardly mobile city slickers riding the sky train to work in Bangkok.

And relax ....

After a haircut, a rather tense Thai massage, where the poor woman took ages and all her strength to release the tension in my shoulders and a few more evening beers,  all the stress of London feels a million miles away. Hilariously met up for a beer last night with a colleague from work, who we only discovered last week just before we left that we would be in Chaing Mai at the same time!
I have now embarked on the Sarah solo adventure part of my trip, as my Bangkok friends flew back yesterday and I have just spent five hours in a mini van today heading north west to the small town of Mae Hong Son, near the Burmese border.  It's 35 degrees now in the summer sun, so I keep seeking shady  temples to escape the heat. Just heading down to the lake to watch sunset. 

Chiang Mai Revisited

 
Thank goodness for being able to lie down on my bunk on the train, considering that the previous two nights have been spent on overnight flights. After consuming a strange western breakfast and pondering on why they always have to beautify a sausage into a flower shape, we are ready to disembark. 
Ou had booked the most amazing hotel, set around a leafy tropical garden with birds offering hellos and whistles as you walk past.  For three days we are the only guests, as Thai new year has just finished and many travellers have left. We lap up the luxury and breakfast daily in our own veranda, raised up in the middle of the garden and not having to share the facilities with anyone. 
We Head off to the usual haunts, the ever expanding night market and escape the heat in the vast array of coffee shops that have sprouted up across the city.  Now new boutique shops cater for the high end Bangkok visitors and more malls are springing up. 
Still many things stay the same; visiting amazing noodle shops by the road side, following the devout up the steep 300 steps to Doi Suthep temple and drinking beer at one of the lovely riverside restaurant and listening to live music ... Chiang Mai has it all. 

How I know I'm in Thailand.....

It's suddenly 25 degrees
I've seen a monk
And I'm no longer stuck in Doha airport.
So my adventure begins.After successfully meet Ou at the airport and spending the day in Bangkok my holiday has officially started. Interesting cuisine highlight of the day was eating a deep fried duck bill at a local Market. When we met up with Match in the evening to get the overnight train to Chaing Mai the hottest venue was the 'disco' restaurant car, where of course we spent most of the evening. Catching up and drinking over priced beer with our voices drowned out by the Thai disco versions of classic madonna hits made for a memorable first night.
In Thailand I soon remembered - it's  all about the food ....

The terminal

I Have never wanted to see the film the terminal and I now feel that I have stared in it. Spending 13 hours in Doha airport was certainly not the first adventure I anticipated, but at least there was another plane the same day. There's only so many times you can wonder through duty free but with free wifi I could easily send the message of my revised Bangkok arrival time via Facebook. How simple the world has become. 
Still had to be on standby on the flight, as it was overbooked by 15, so there was a lot of tense pacing around in the final hour before departure, but at least I was awake! 

An unexpected day in Doha airport ......

And this is a first..... Was so tired when I arrived at Doha I relaxed for a nap and fell asleep. Then like a scene from a movie I woke  up with all the chairs around me empty and my flight had gone. No-one woke me up. I now have a 12 hour wait for stand by on an already overbooked flight to bangkok on Friday night!!!!! In all my years of travel I have never missed a flight, so all my joking of scouting around potential football sights here has come back to haunt me. My free food voucher has got me egg and chips and a cup of tea. Wow I can't wait for lunch and dinner :( 

It's time to pack.....

And I have dusted down the back pack, spent a fortune at Boots and organised my 2011/12 annual travel insurance.  Just four days of work and then a travellers life it will be for me !!!!!

Countdown to lift off

tick - Ticket - and of course it's an e-ticket!
tick- Lonely planet guides got
tick - sorted out amazing travel ops with Thai friends
just a matter of waiting for the tock, as I feel I definately don't want to peak too soon.  Still just over three weeks to go......