Week 5+6 Southern Thailand

Hello again devoted readers! Some of you may have noticed it's been a while since my previous post. This is on account of two reasons. First, I wasn't sure whether to do a blog about Thailand when every man, woman and ladyboy has already been here. And two, I was just mega busy lying on various beaches...

Bangkok

I started my Asian adventure in Bangkok, as did everyone else it seems. I absolutely loved the city. Not just because you can graze on delicious street food all day long, but because the city is so diverse and interesting. It's also super easy to meet other travellers; I even bumped into two people I'd met once before back in England.

Having a roof top coconut in Central Bangkok

Fooling around in the shopping centers

 Wats this then? (Barely funny joke, requiring the preliminary knowledge that Buddhist temples are called Wats)

The famous Khao San Road - backpacker party central

 If you like Buddhas this is the place for you

Koh Phi Phi

Even though I enjoyed Bangkok, I must admit I was in somewhat of a rush to get to the beaches. Naturally being a huge fan of the film "The Beach", my obvious first choice was Koh Phi Phi. It is astonishingly pretty, but it does suffer from an over influx of tourists.

Life's a beach right?

I'd say about 30 minutes after arriving in this paradise I was getting pretty bored. The island has a number of grossly over priced things you can do, but instead I found myself a German friend and we decided to try swim from one pinnacle of the island to the other (about 1km I guess). It was great fun on the way out, but to our misfortune the tide went out as we tried to return. This left us "swimming" in about a foot of water above sharp rocks, coral and dozens of sea urchins. Two hours later we finally made it back, cuts all over our ligaments and backs badly burnt, but never in higher spirits. 

In the evening we rewarded ourselves with beers as we watched the Thai guys play with fire. There is also a boxing rink where tourists are encouraged to beat the living day lights out of each other for a free drink. I must say I was heartily tempted, but didn't fancy it with all the ailments I'd accrued that day.

I want to be these guys!

An hour trek in the 38C heat to bring you this beauty

Koh Tao

Perhaps the thing I wanted to do most on my travels was learn to scuba dive and I was told Koh Tao was the best place for this. So I hooked myself up with a night ferry to do just that. It was really fun to rock on the waves and chat with other travellers.

My bed for the night

Getting my Padi Open Water Scuba Diving qualification was honestly one of my favourite travel experiences ever. It's another world to be weightless, surrounded by thousands of fish. The only thing you hear is the sound of your breathing and bubbles. 

Super excited for my dive!

Koh Tao was one of my favourite places so far. It is just incredibly beautiful and relaxing (during the day at least). At night there are parties all along the beach, with yet more fire shows. I tried my luck at skipping on the fire rope and predictably was rewarded with a nice burn all down my arm. It was almost as painful as the Thai massage I'd had earlier!

Not too bad right?

Koh Phangan

And then we get to Koh Phangan, the legendary home of the Full Moon Party. For once the hype was justified. The atmosphere of thousands of people dancing on the beach was just incredible. I am now completely covered in fluorescent paint, having only had a few hours sleep last night.

There was a different party on the island each night. My favourite was the "Pool Party" where hundreds of people splashed away, while the sea and stars provided the back drop. The "Waterfall Jungle Party" was also not without its charm, albeit the waterfall was dry. I have been super lucky to share these experiences with three Canadians, who I'm travelling with at the moment.

 The view from our room

 

Trying to get me a coconut

Super pleased  with myself when I finally got some

All in all, I absolutely adore Thailand and can't wait to explore up North!

Week 4 - India

If you wanted to experience Indian culture and could only visit one city, I would recommend Varanasi. Many travellers proudly proclaim it as their favourite place, while still others describe it as "overwhelming". I am sympathetic to both view points. On the one hand it is immensely intriguing; being the birthplace of Buddhism (530BC approx), the holiest of pilgrimage cities for Hindus and supposedly the oldest living city in the world (3000 years) all at once. 

A cruise on the Ganges provides a view of the prettily named Puja ceremony

On the other hand, Varanasi is an assault on the senses. As you walk through the dusty streets, heat pricks your skin, acrid fumes burn your throat and the sound of a hundred horns deafen you. Everywhere there is colour and movement. Your nose might delight at the scent of a sweet pastry one moment and the next revile at that of rotting rubbish. It is a strange moment when you realise the sweetest scent of all is that of a passing perfumed corpse.

One of the few streets without fear of being run over

Most of the sites lie along the River Ganges. The most obtrusive of which is perhaps the Naga Sadhus - the naked holy men. There were more genitals than you could shake a chapati at! Followed closely by the cremation sites where bodies were burning for all to see. I found myself strangely calm as I gazed upon a charred foot.

This lady squashes poo for a living - let no man or women ever complain about a Monday morning again!

A mercifully distant shot of the cremations

In the evening the city comes alive (as if it weren't already!) with lights and boats and music. 

It's kinda like Glastonbury Festival really - loud, smelly and lots of weed everywhere

I was waiting for a song I knew to join in...

After the hectic atmosphere of Varanasi nothing could be more welcome, or more different than the quaint town of Darjeeling. There are magnificent views of Kangchenjunga and Everest on a clear day. It was not a clear day when I did the 4.30am pilgrimage to watch the sun rise... Still there was tea a plenty to console me afterwards. 

I have now had the world's best tea (apparently) - they sell this stuff to Harrods

Let's just say that's Everest in the background

So that's it, one hectic month in India almost over. A month ago I would scarcely have believed how diverse, beautiful or infuriating India could be. As much as I have enjoyed my trip and will no doubt laugh when recalling its difficulties, I must confess I am now looking forward to some relaxation in Thailand!

Trip Stats

Distance Covered: 4100km

Places Visited:10 (Delhi, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ranthambore, Jaipur, Agra, Varanasi, Darjeeling, Kolkata)

Chunder Count: 0

Delhi Belly Count: 0 (sort of)

Scams fallen for: 2

Scams avoided: literally dozens

Week 3 - India

Week three already and I'm growing somewhat accustomed to the many resplendent forts and palaces. At first I tried heartily to soak in their individual histories and stories, but inevitably they were always built by Maharaja something something Singh (insert random number) between 1400 and 1800. Instead, I have taken to amusing myself in other ways...

Filming monkeys in Amer Fort (Jaipur) - he looks cute now, 

but in 5 seconds it's like a scene from Planet of the Apes

 Just when I fort I'd seen em all! (Sorry :P)

I had heard mostly negative reviews of Jaipur from fellow travellers and so I went with low expectations. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the cities unique personality and tourist attractions. I was mightily impressed that it had both the world's largest cannon, Jaiwana (capable of firing 22 miles no less) and an intriguing collection of astronomical instruments at Jantar Mantar.

They call Jaipur the "Pink City" - looks kinda orange to me (Hawa Mahal View)

Yep looks about right... (Jantar Mantar)

Next up it was time for something different, a safari to Ranthambore National Park to find me a tiger! Even though I knew our odds were slim (I estimated 20% from park facts), I couldn't help but point excitedly and have the group agasp at a rock or common deer more than once.

Unfortunately taking pictures of the wildlife proved difficult, either because they were hiding, running, or in the tiger's case, did not exist.

No ideer why they couldn't all be this friendly (again, trully sorry :P)

Yep, so these are women, they tend to run or hide less often

This is where we waited for the tigers. Saying "here kitty kitty didn't seem to be working"

Perhaps the grandest landscape I have ever seen - masterfully I have managed to completely not capture it on camera

Next up was the woeful train of the night. I had foolishly allowed myself to be booked a SL. class train to Agra (I believe it stands for slum). After a short four hour delay, I was finally able to board and find my bed. I flicked a cockroach off it and jumped from a passing rat before making myself uncomfortable. This was going to be fun. I was of course the only western face out of several hundred people on the platform. Even my mp3 player seemed to mock me. "The day I caught the train" came on and then another song chided "there's no place I would rather be, there's no place I would rather be". 

Still, I think I took the news that the train was in fact now going to be going to another city very well. Details, details and 13 hours later at 3am I collapsed (clothes still on) into my hotel bed.

I've had worse, but not often

Right as rain I sprung at 7am to see the almighty Taj Mahal. What blog would be complete without a picture of one of the wonders of the world. 

Simply stunning - we do not mock the Taj