11th December:- The trip to Leigh Creek

We were up early for the long drive to Leigh Creek. It's around 600km and is situated between the Flinders range of mountains and the Simpson desert. After checking out of the motel we stopped off at McDonalds for a latte and then made our way towards the outskirts of the city. Adelaide looks to be quite a nice city, tidy with some pretty suburbs and a fair number of very smart looking churches. All in nice pastel colours. We headed out through the wine growing regions of the hunter valley and surroundings. As we moved further north the landscape changed dramatically. Very soon we were in the outback, the little towns became further and further apart and less populated. Still quite pretty but some consisted of just a garage, a couple of shops, some houses and of course the pub with its bottle shop. Unlike the UK supermarkets don't sell alcohol. It is sold in bottle shops, drive through booze barns or pubs.

Despite the fact that I have been to Australia Several times before I have never seen a wild live kangaroo. I was beginning to think that would be the same as we drove past dozens of Roo's dead at the side of the road. Some quite recent, others little more than a skeleton with fur. We did spot some live emu though. Big buggers. We stopped the car to take some photo's as the looked menacingly over. Wouldn't want to set too close. Still no live kangaroo though. Apparently they are quite plentiful at dawn and dusk. Surprising drivers by hopping in front of cars and causing numerous road traffic accidents.

The flinders range of mountains were quite spectacular but it soon became clear why the middle of Australia is called miles of 'nothing' the roads snaked into the distance with nothing as far as the eye could see but red desert. It would be quite a query to break down as we went for hours at a time without seeing another vehicle.


At lunchtime we stopped for fuel and something to eat. The meat pie was delicious, not quite as nice as the Tesco Meal deal scotch pie but not far off.

Matt and I shared the driving, sticking to a sensible 120km per hour and eventually arrived at Leigh Creek. Not before I had unavoidably slaughtered a quite huge lizard which ran into the middle of the road and stood there. I was traveling at speed and it would have been dangerous to try and avoid it so I splattered it. I have seen a natural history programme that these lizards are monogamous and have a partner for life. When stage partner dies the other lizard will grieve for weeks by the side of the road. I felt very guilty.

Leigh Creek is a mining service town. It has a population of 500 ish and quite a lot of temporary accommodation for the miners. It was built fairly recently and has the look of a school campus. It has a hospital, school, post office and ridiculously high priced supermarket. We were to be living at Leigh Creek Caravan Park, just off the main road. Matt had to pick up the keys from the service station and once done we got ourselves installed in the mobile home which was to be 'home' for the next 6 weeks. After that we went for a look around which took all of 10 minutes and called in the 'tav' for a beer and something to eat. I was really looking forward to a steak. It was months since I had eaten proper meat so treated us to a couple of pints and a steak dinner. It was a huge T-bone. Delicious with egg, chips and gravy. Replete, we headed back to our caravan and had an early night. Matt was working the following morning at 7:00.

Location:Black Oak Dr,Leigh Creek,Australia

10th December:- A few hours in Sydney

The flight from Darwin to Sydney was long, that said, I did have two seats so got a bit of sleep. I was arriving in Sydney at 2:30 and would be flying out to Adelaide later that afternoon at 4:20 for a relatively short flight. I was getting quite excited looking forward to meeting Matt later that afternoon. I landed at the domestic terminal and then, after collecting my luggage made my way to terminal 3 which is the Qantas terminal. It's all self service and very smart. After dumping my baggage I made myself through security and then headed straight to the Hungry Jacks for some food. I was starving having not rated at all on Friday. I could have actually got an early flight but it was still only a couple of hours to wait.

It went quite quickly, I seem to have spend a disproportionate amount of time in airports just recently. Checking in I changed my seat to a window and emergency exit seat, a bit more room!

It was amusing to see the average age of the flight attendants, it must have been 60, quite possibly older than the ageing plane. We did get food though, and to my glee a nice bottle of red wine. The first real wine I had drunk for several months. It was bliss. We landed on time and as I made myself into the arrival lounge I was quite excited to see Moo. There he was, unfortunately he had not made a sign but never mind. He had arrived in Adelaide a few days before and had booked into a motel not far away from the airport. Despite this we managed to get lost...

It was quite a nice place, a kitchenette, a separate bedroom and quite large. We had a subway for dinner and a bottle of wine. An early night as we had an early start for the rather long drive to Leigh Creek which would be home for the next 6 weeks.

It was great to seemafriendly face after so long.

9th December:- Darwin - The worlds beer best drinking city....

The flight to Darwin was bang on time. So, here I was in the southern hemisphere. It is actually 21 years, almost to the day that I had last been in Australia. How things had changed. For a start it was much more expensive. The last time it was $2.50 to the £. Now it is similar to the American dollar at around $1.50 to the £ plus the prices have gone up a lot.

I had applied for an 'E' visa. I was a little anxious that things had gone through OK, despite the fact that I had the confirmation email and had boarded the Air Asia flight with no problems. On the website it suggested that you had to pay $20, but I got it for free. I passed through immigration with no problem, just a few questions around where I was going and had I planned to come to Oz. the 'e' visa gives me three months in OZ although I could leave the county and return for another three months within a year if I decided that is what I wanted to do (or if I could afford it)!
Immigration decided to follow the lead of the Bali immigration and stamp my passport from the back. Fuckwits.

In the airport terminal I got some cash from the ATM which gave me $50 notes. I knew that the place I was staying was not far from the airport but had no idea how much it would cost. I saw a change machine and without really reading it put in a $50 note. It was like winning the jackpot... I got $50 in $1 coins, not only that, the poured out all over the floor. Rather embarrassing to say the least.

I had to wait ages for the taxi, eventually though I was on my way. You can imagine my horror as the taxi meter spun round and I ended up paying $25 dollars for the short trip. Once again the taxi driver could not find the hostel. He was reasonable enough to stop the meter at $25 though.

The place I was staying was a youth hostel. As I was leaving at a ridiculous hour in the morning I had opted for a singe room. Even that had cost me $50 for the night. Well over my daily budget. At least when I met up with Matt we were getting free accommodation for a month and then the accommodation charges would be shared.

The room was very very basic, just a bed. No bathroom, that was shared. I had a quick wash a d the. Went out to explore. Darwin has the claim to being the biggest beer drinking city in the world. It was later afternoon and loads of Christmas parties were in full swing. Darwin seems to revolve around Mitchell street, it wasn't long before I was observing people staggering around pissed in the afternoon. I had a couple of beers, even they were significantly more expensive than in Asia. The weather was roasting, after a drink and a wander round ( stopping to purchase some nicorettes as I was going to make a concerted effort to reduce the number of cigarettes I smoked - for budget rather than health purposes).

I headed back to the hostel, fully intending to go out for something to eat later. I never made it....

My flight was at 7:30 in the morning so I needed to be up early. Rather than get a taxi, there was a bus that stopped at the hostel. Even that was $15.

I didn't sleep very well at all, it was so hot, unfortunately it was only about 3:00am when I realised that I had aircon as well as a fan and I was to be picked up at 5:15 for the short trip to the airport. I was up early and the bus was on time for the rather long flight to Sydney.

The bus driver was much too jolly for that time in the morning...

7th December:- Three days in Bali

Kuta is not my favourite place but I was actually quite looking forward to a couple of full days there. I had found some very reasonably priced accommodation in booking.com. So everything was just fine and dandy. The flight landed on time and I made my way to pay the extortionate $25 visa on arrival charge. For some reason the immigration officer thought he would start from the back of my passport this time. Annoying !

The last time I was in Bali was 12 months ago when I went with Lesley and the kids for Christmas. This time the weather was much better. No lashing rain and thunderstorms. It was hot and sunny. I took a taxi for the short ride to Kuta which is about 10 minutes from the airport. It looks as though they are updating the rather quaint airport and the surrounding area looked rather like a building site.

My hotel was good, in an OK area, had wireless access (yipee!) and served reasonably cheap food and beer. Bali is the holiday destination for Australians going overseas. Kuta especially is rather like Benidorm. Youngsters getting pissed cheaply and it was packed. I'm afraid I'd didn't spend any time in bars or nightclubs but still had a nice time. The beach was only 5 minutes walk from the hotel. I spent my first full day on the beach and the second day around the pool. Unfortunately the pull of cheap Bintang beer was too. And I was bintangoed twice waking up with a bintangover.

I met up with a Swiss backpacker and gave him some tips on his planned trip to the Philippines. He was planning to go there in the next month or so. I couldn't sell it enough. I'd loved the place.

I had booked a fan room in Bali, up to now I had not really felt the need for aircon although this place was probably the exception. It was roasting at night. Next time.

I only had three nights in Bali which, given the time of year was quite sufficient. I thought I had better get a few western clothes as most of my stuff was rather ethnic and I wasn't sure how it would go down in OZ.

I left the hotel at 7:30 on the 9th and headed to the airport. I was having a coffee in one of the many little caves and looked up to see a huge rat eyeing my Danish pastry. What is it with rats and me. They seem to follow me around.

The Air Asia flight once again had been changed. This was actually better for me as the flight now left at a sensible 10:30 and arrived in Darwin at 2:30 in the afternoon rather than the 2:00 in the morning. After my episode in Bangkok I decided to fuck the budget and booked into a hostel. I guess I had better get used to the prices in OZ. they are certainly more expensive than Asia. That said, I was a little in front of myself so no drama.

I boarded the plane, along with dozens for youths and headed for Australia and the southern hemisphere.

5th December:- 28 hours in BKK Airport

I had not been looking forward to this..... There was a time where I would deliberately make sure my flights were at sensible times. Now budget management meant I couldn't be so choosy. I think this was going to be a world record for me. I arrived at Bangkok at 2:00am on the 4th and would leave at 6:15 on the 5th. I would see two nights in an airport terminal. Plus, i wouldn't be able to go airside till probably 3:00 .
The irony was that i could have changed the flight except the air asia desk didn't open till 6:00 which would mean making the flight pretty impossible. The seats in the airport check in lounge at BKK are particularly uncomfortable too, to top it all it was bloody freezing. Im all in favour of air conditioning but in the airport it was positively arctic, so much so that every couple of hours i had to go outside to get warm. Since I was last at the airport they have done some changing around and now the smoking area is i the middle of the carriageway so each time I wanted a cigarette I needed to try to avoid the speeding taxis who didn't seem to understand the meaning of pedestrian crossing.

One good thing about the airport, unlike airside and many other airports is the fact that you can get pot noodles for the equivalent of 10p. I did have quite a few to try and keep warm too.

It must have been the slowest 28 hours ever but it was eventually over and I checked in for the flight and made my way airside. I had a rather nasty pizza and chicken wings and boarded the flight on time. Next stop Bali. As we took off and headed over Thailand it became quite evident that the recent flooding had caused tremendous damage around the outskirts of Bangkok. It was still waterlogged. Let's hope they get things back to normal as soon as possible.

4th December:- Back to Delhi..... Again

I had arranged a taxi from Candolim to the airport which was about 50 minutes drive. Most things were cheap in Goa but the taxi cost me about £11 quid.
I had arranged things so I could stay near the airport and not have the hassle of going back into town.

I was flying with Spice Jet back to New Delhi. The airport and Goa is quite small although it does cater for international flights, indeed, quite a few flights from the UK come over for package holidays. While I was waiting in the departure lounge there was a flight back to Manchester. Strangely I wasn't even slightly homesick a ND certainly didn't wish I was on that flight. A slight delay of an hour but the plane took just 2:30 to get back to New Delhi. I was really pleased that I had decided not to go back to Delhi. The hotel I had booked through booking.com was ideal. Only 10 minutes from the airport. As usual, the taxi driver had some problems finding the place . There is a street not far from the airport that has literally hundreds of hotels, from budget to five star. I was obviously staying budget although it was slightly more expensive than the normal Indian experience. It was rather like fawlty towers. I paid my bill by cash and was also offered an extension for 200 rupees per hour. This was ideal as the flight from Delhi to Bangkok wasn't until 8:30 in the evening ( when I originally booked it had been 11:30 in the evening).

Just down the street was a restro bar. I had a bar meal which, after the delicious food in Goa was bothe forgettable and very expensive. As was the beer!!! I did have a good nights sleep and spent the morning watching TV before leaving the hotel at about 3:00pm . I deliberately tried to get a good nights sleep as I had the prospect of 28 hours in Bangkok airport. When I had first booked the flight it got into BKK at 6:00am. This was really too close for comfort as the flight on to Denpasar, Bali left at 6:30. With Air Asia changing the times of the flight it meant that I could have gone to Bali the day before. I did not think it would be too uncomfortable to stay at the airport rather than pay two nights in a hotel ( and only getting one!)

Indra Ghandi airport is very nice. I treated myself to a McDonald's and the flight left on time. I got a good seat and settled down for a snooze.. Next stop Bangkok...

3rd December:- Goa , I could see myself wintering here

Well, my three weeks in Goa has finally come to an end and I will be soon heading off to Australia, via New Delhi, Bangkok and Bali.
I have had a wonderfully relaxing time here. Indeed, I could follow the lead of many and spend the harsh British winters here. There is a huge collection of expats here from all over the world. It's a very relaxing environment and so cheap, for pretty much everything.

The food was brilliant, as I write The blog I can still taste the tandoori chicken that was served at Viva Goa. This roadside cafe did a very tasty chicken. The first time I ordered it the half a chicken was a proper "half a chicken". The second time I had it they gave me two legs. Now, call me pedantic but if my half a chicken had two legs, the other half was going to be pretty sad. This 'anomaly' continued throughout my stay, indeed, it so intrigued me that on the last day I ordered a whole chicken, just to see what happened. I guessed there could be one of two outcomes. 1:- the chicken would be presented and we know and love them. Or 2:- I would get four legs. I could barely contain myself as I waited for the meal to arrive, I was rather unsurprised when a large plate arrived with four legs. There you go. I am In the twilight zone where whole chickens have four legs. Needless to say it was delicious, washed down with the Cashew Fenny, Kingfisher beer and accompanied by the roti and raita.

It was amusing to watch the behaviours of the local dogs. If there is one criticism of Goa, it's the dogs. They hang around in packs on the beach. All very territorial and protective of their piece of the beach. They keep out of the sun by digging a small hole under sunbeds to get some cool sand and then lay down for the day. In the evening they tend to hand around the local restaurants. There were about three or four that had made Viva Goa their home and we quite partial to the chicken bones from the tandoori chicken. One of the dogs was the clear leader and any bones thrown were his. Even if you threw a bone to one of the other dogs they were stolen. There was one particular sorry looking dog, one of his ears had been chewed off. He was really cute but was clearly in awe of the 'leader'.

The usual evening finished a 'Bob's , around the big table meeting new people and toking on the numerous joints that were passed around. A couple of Fenny and cokes later I used to stagger back to the guest house, climb into my mosquito 'cage' and go to sleep.

I did indeed get into a rather lazy routine while I was there. Up early, breakfast of Masala omelette and milky coffee followed by a day under my shade on the sunbed, popping into the rather rough sea for a piss every now and then. I read loads of 'real' rather than 'e' books. Dona Forina had a veritable library and I must have read most of the English books before I left Goa. After a day on the beach I headed back, had a shower, a trip to the supermarket for my Old monk/Fenny and a packet of fags and used to have a small sit on the balcony enjoying the sunset and having a small aperitif. If I wintered there I guess that would be my life. Very appealing I think!

I met lots of interesting people while I was there. Ernst the German hippy, his mate Martin, the Aussie backgammon master, the Dutch photo journalist, the ex CIA agent, the couple from Coln in Lancashire. it was a fascinating time.

There were also some interesting signs. "please don't wash your legs"????

My landlady, Jessica was a gem, always smily and friendly. I will miss the place.
See ya soon Goa. Next time I will get somewhere with a kitchen though. The prices are so cheap. I was paying £8 but you could probably get something with a fridge and cooking facilities for less.

See ya soon Goa........

15th November:- Yet another day in paradise

I don't know that it gets much better than this! Goa, at the very start of the season. Not too crowded, but at the same time not too quiet. Thinking about it, a strange mix. Holiday makers who have taken advantage of the cheaper early season packages from Europe and Russia, the fairly well to do Russians and the wanna be yoga, meditation and escapees, here for a longer stretch, they are arriving almost daily. I'm trying (very hard!) to keep myself to myself. Despite the fact that there are loads of people who "want to be friends". The german eccentric is good company, but at the same time not clingy which is good. Some of the others, especially the British tourists are a little bit in your face.

I had a rather bizarre drama last night. I'd had a read and aperitif on the balcony and wandered down to pete's shack on the beach. It's great, cheap food and a wonderful location. Looking out to see. Ernest appeared and we had a drink, I tried the Feni, it comes in two flavours, coconut and cashew, I had one of each. I retired at a reasonable time, no later than 9:00. After laying on my four-poster, under the mosquito net and reading a couple of chapters of my book (there is a wonderful library here!) I got up to go to the loo. As I walked across the small room I became very light headed. The next thing I know I'm on the floor. I can only assume I passed out but in doing so hit by head, rather hard it seems, on the wall and quite possibly knocked myself unconscious. I can only remember coming too and struggling to get up. No blood was spilt but I suspect I gave myself a mild concussion as I've still got a quite severe headache and really had to take it steady today. I've wisely kept out of the sun, indeed, only straying out to get a spot of lunch, some rags and a coke for my sunset ritual a small drink on the balcony.

I'm glad I've stumbled across this place. It makes an excellent change from lugging a backpack around from one dirty tourist destination to another. My original plan was to head back to New Delhi on the 29th. I'm not sure why, it would have been a bit rushed to try and get to Amritsar and back and Delhi is not awash with things to do, plus it's quite expensive.

I suspected that to change my flight would be expensive. Not the case. I looked at travelling back on the early 4th December flight and it would have cost me 2600 rupees extra, the day before however gave me a refund of nearly 800 rupees. The deal is done. I will stay on Candolim till the 3rd. Get some accommodation by the airport and then jump on the flight to Bangkok on the evening of the 4th. While the timing is not brilliant for returning to Thailand, the flight leaves ND at 23:30 and arrives at 05:15, I do have a premium seat on row one so at least get an opportunity to sleep. My flight from BKK to Denpasar in Bali leaves the following day at 06:15. I'm even toying with the idea of staying in the airport as I have three days in Bali to recover from the travelling. I'll see how I feel. Being to be up early and at the airport for 3:00 is making a stay at the airport attractive!

The plans once in OZ have changed somewhat. Matt is starting work in Leigh Creek a week earlier than was originally planned. My original plan was to overnight in Darwin then fly to Sydney and on to Dubbo. That would have involved a 9 hour drive to Leigh creek. Not a huge problem as there would have been two of us to share the driving. Because of the earlier start date I will now fly from Sydney to Adelaide and Matt will meet me there. We will overnight there and then make the 3 or 4 hour drive to Leigh creek on the 11th. In some ways it is good as Matt will have settled in at work. He also has three days, albeit alone, to make the drive from New South Wales to Leigh Creek. I have to admit, I was quite looking forward to the 'road trip' but there is plenty of time for that when he finishes in the middle of January.

Apologies to those who like photos! I do have them and will post them on the site as soon as I get a decent Internet connection, hopefully in OZ.

For the time being, back to relaxing, great food and sun. Thank god I'm starting to lose the waif like appearance and look normal. I guess the danger, with another three weeks here, I could tip up in Australia being a fat bastard.. I'll try my best (he says swigging another mouthful of Old Monk rum and full fat coke, while shoving a handful of crisps into his gob).

The blog updates are likely to be less numerous and interesting than previously, who wants to know what flavour curry I've had today and how hot it is in Goa. That said, with another three weeks I may well do some excursions. I also may not......


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Location:Candolim, Goa, India.

12th Nov:- My little place in the sun.

I went to bed far too early. I guess that's what you get by going to bed early, and having an early bar! I was wide awake at 3:00am, indeed didn't sleep that well before that. I was productive though, getting the blog up to date. I must say, I am quite chuffed with myself. I have nearly caught up. I still need to upload quite a few photographs but as far as the narrative is concerned I've just got a few entries to finish. Even the three entries for Burma from last year are nearly done. Good for me! I'll wait till I get a decent Internet connection before even trying to upload any pictures.

I'm really quite looking forward to the next week or two. So much better than I thought. It looks like I will be spending my birthday in a similar way to last year. I has a fabulous 51st in Puerto Princessa, Palawan, Philippines. On a beach. It looks as though it will be similar this year.

I do appear to have stumbled onto India's little bit of paradise. It is a bit a a strange place. Ernest, my German hippy friend is a fascinating character. He's probably everything you would not wish to have in an employee, very anti establishment and anti capitalism and his value and belief system have probably prevented him from being an extreme successful and perhaps wealthy individual. His knowledge on such a breadth of subjects is absolutely fascinating and in many subjects he is right but, his views are so rigid that you can see how he had 'dropped out' unwilling to compromise his views which are so strong you can imagine why he doesn't fit it with the normal run of the mill person. He is quite complementary of my attitude and view that I have run with a lot of the corporate bullshit and made the most of it. We are probably at each end of the spectrum in that respect. I am doing what I am doing because of the 'system' be is doing what he is doing despite it.

We had a very I interesting conversation last night and I do think he is seriously thinking that a way out of his financial situation may be teaching English as a second language. He is going look into it. I hope he does. As I said he is very very well read and clever and it would be a shame if he is just 'existing' because of his financial situation rather than enjoying things. He Is planning on spending five months in Goa. He does this most years.
It seems, especially Candolim, to be quite. Cliquey. There are people who come here every year, sometimes twice a year. You can indeed see why people do return but that said, there are so many different places to visit. Apparently several British travel companies have package tours here.

There are many russian, all with the similar 'potato head, as Matt calls it, features. It always makes me smile remembering Cyprus several years ago...

I'm not going to do much here and won't add to the blog unless something happened. I may take my chances with a couple of the tours. They are not overly expensive, dolphin watching with a 'no dolphin, no money' guarantee sounds quite interesting...

As I dint need to be back in New Delhi till the 29th November I have decided to stay at the guest house. It is very friendly. When I originally arrived I negotiated a price of 1000 rupees per night. I approached Jessica and enquired if I could stay till the 29th and if the price could be reviewed and she came back with 850. Everyone a winner. I've even bought some sun tan cream!

The beach is nice, the sea is warm, there are not too many beach salespeople and those they are tend to be female and are charming. Today a group of girls came up he beach, sighing five minutes had set up a tight role and were walking across it with things balanced on their heads. Just waiting for the lion tamer to come out of the jungle with a parade of elephants and a couple of clowns thrown in and well have a full circus...

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Location:Candolim Beach, North Goa, India.

11th November:- it's a bit like being on holiday

A day in Panjim is enough! The evening of my arrival I had a wander around and something to eat. It is a very quaint town. Indeed you can manage to walk around it, even I managed to find my way back to the hotel.

My first whole day was spend checking out the local sights. Old Goa is not to far away and it appears to have some sights to see, mainly catholic churches. As an old portuguese colony (only liberated in 1961, which surprised me) it is fill of old colonial architecture, the names roads are in Portuguese and some of the older people actual converse in the language. I did decide that I may find some time later to visit old Goa but to or row I would head a little further north to a little village called Candolim. I had spotted what looked like an idyllic place to stay, an old Portuguese villa, not far from the sea. Happy days. I was hoping it wasn't booked ip as it was "our pick" in the lonely planet!

One day was enough in Panjim. I had something to eat, wander around and the. There was really nothing to do. It is noticeably hotter here. As I went out in the evening I checked out with a taxi driver the cost of getting to Candolim. It was 300 rupees. Although the bust was only 7 I did decide to take the taxi then I could get him to take me right to the door of the hostel rather than wander around looking for it. I also had to return a shirt I had bought the previous evening. I am probably a medium size now ( I have been extra large in my BT days) I had purchased a t-shirt and a long sleeved shirt the previous evening. It was extra large but still was too tight. I'm really not a fat bastard but I actually needed an XXL. Bizarre, I'm the skinniest I've been in many years.....

Dinner was good. It's funny, things tend to even themselves out. The biggest expenditure travelling is accommodation and food. In some places food is relatively expensive and accommodation cheap (Nepal) in other places, accommodation is relatively expensive and food cheap (India) the Philippines, both are cheap and for obvious reasons in Hong Kong and Singapore, both are expensive (although you can eat and drink quite cheaply in China Town)

I was in my bed quite early watching animal planet. For some reason the room seems hotter than outside. With just a fan it reminded me of the old days when going to Spain, before mass AC was standard. Sleeping in the uncomfortable heat on top of the bed. For some bizarre reason Panjim has a 9:00am checkout policy across the city. I have never come across this before. It doesn't apply to the rest of the Goan state, just the capital, and applies to guest house and top class hotel alike. For this reason I arranged for the taxi to meet me at 9:00 for the trip to Candolim. I had no idea what to expect but was in for a rather pleasant surprise.

It was only about 40 minutes by cab. Again, it looked very unlike the India I've come to know, very ordered. Actually, it looked rather like a Portuguese holiday village..... What a surprise!
The taxi driver had big problems finding my accommodation. He wanted to walk me to the door and insisted that I pay him at the side of the car.( their is no access other than by bike) I told him that I could manage, knowing he would claim to have brought me their and also claim the commission which would probably be banged on the room tariff. He was a bit of a pain anyway, his driving had been erratic to say the least and, sitting in the front I probably did more braking than he did. When he couldn't find my accommodation he kept snatching my notebook from my hand and thrusting it in front of the faces of locals he was asking directions. He did t get a tip....

The place I had spotted in the lonely planet was called Dona Florina and was just about as perfect as you could get.
It was secluded and I got a single room for 1000 rupees a night, less than I had paid for a pretty grim hotel in Panjim. The room had a balcony, I could see the sea. It was clean, a nice 4 poster with a mosquito net and fan. Just brilliant. And it got better. Just a 200 metre walk to the beach the were loads of places to eat and drink. After checking in for three days, I headed to get some shampoo and soap then wandered to "pete's shack' for breakfast of local hot bread and masala omelette. Then the day turned rather bizarre!!!!!

As I was sitting sipping my coffee a chap wandered up the beach. He greeted the waiter as though he knew him and came and sat at the table next to me. I got chatting. His name was Ernest, he was a 57 year old german, he had arrived yesterday and he was staying for 5 months. And had been doing the same for a number of years. He turned out to he rather an eccentric and alternative character. He excessively used adjectives such and disgusting, horrendous, treacherous to describe the Pope, the financial system, his family etc etc. And seemed to have tried any and every drug around. I spend the rest of the day chatting to him. He was extremely well read and a very interesting person. We had a drink together and he quite suddenly decided that the 40 hours travelling had taken it's toll and retired to bed about 6:30 after watching the sun set on the beach.

I like it here, tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get a deal by staying he till the 29th. I may even try and stay here till I'm due to leave Delhi although I may use the five days I have in Delhi to visit the golden temple in Amritsar. Then, other than Darjeeling I've done all, and more than I thought I would do in India.

My evening was complete with a couple of rum and cokes, a curry and nan looking out over the sea. Yes, I like it here, it's a bit like being on holiday.


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Location:Candolim, North Goa, India

9th November:- A going to Goa.

I returned to New Delhi for one night before heading on to Goa. The journey back was fine. I did get to the airport a little early but its actually quite a nice place. Once back in the domestic terminal of Indria Ghandi international airport paid my 25 rupees for the the shuttle bus into the main terminal and the took the metro express to New Delhi station. I had contemplated taking a autorickshaw to Karol Bagh but didn't and actually the in metro ride wasn't nearly as bad. Wander to the end of the platform is a good tip! Once on Karol Bagh I headed to the Amman hotel, the one I had first stayed at when I arrived in Delhi. Strangely I was able to negotiate a fan room for 1000 including tax. And also would get the same deal when I come back at the end of the month. The room was pretty grim but clean.

I had been dreaming of chicken tikka masala and a beer for several days. A whole week with very little meat was quite hard. I headed to the Market area and plumped for the restaurant I had used before on the road that runs parallel to the Market street. This time they did have naan so one chicken tikka, one naan, one rice and two beers later I was fully replete.

It's never a good idea to go shopping after a drink. With no alcohol for a week it went straight to my head. I needed some new flip-flops, mine had been used pretty much every day for 6 months and were looking decidedly grubby and after wading through the shit in Varanassi must have contained the DNA of hundreds of people! In my alcohol induced mood I think I may have bought some platform flip flops. !

I was in bed quite early although being quite close to reception I could pick up a decent wifi signal so did a bit of emailing and catching up. I sat in a 'comfy' chair by the side of the door and was scared shitless by a scratching sound and then a rat poked it's head under the door. When it saw me it decided to bugger off. Thankfully.

My flight to Goa wasn't toll the afternoon but I checked out of the hotel at around 10:30. Every time I had wandered towards Karol Bagh previously I had been pestered by auto rickshaw drivers all the way to the market. This time I had to actually stop on. Foolishly I asked for a fate to New Delhi Station rather than the Metro Line at New Delhi Station. As we arrived, through an area that look similar to Karol Bagh, I asked which way to the metro and realised my mistake. I'm sure in could have walked through the station but I decided I take the advice of the rickshaw driver and he took me to the next negation on the line and charged me 200 rupees. As usual the airport express was empty, I'm really not sure how it makes money. The fare is only 80 rupees (£1). I don't think many people know about it.

I could check in straight away. Passed through security and the spotted my lighter in my bag. I have to say one thing. On the metro and in the airports the security is second to none. You are not even allowed in unless you have proof you are travelling. There are armed soldiers everywhere too carrying an assortment of automatic weapons. There are even sandbags with a soldier and huge gun at strategic places throughout the airport and transport systems. You do feel quite safe. After giving up my Iighter and a record of my misdemeanour being recorded in the 'naughty book' I preceded to have a KFC meal. They are nothing like the ones in Malaysia, the chicken pieces are dry and small and a bit scraggy. But it filled a hole.

The flight from New Delhi was about 2:15 minutes. I was sitting next to a couple of kids from an Indian family, they were lovely, except the couldn't stop fidgeting for the the whole journey. I got chatting to the young boy. He was 15 but looked much younger. His parents were taking them on a family holiday to Goa. I suspect they were reasonably wealthy by Indian standards. He was full of questions, the usual ' am I married also came up'.
As we landed, it was starting to get dark. I said my goodbyes to my travelling companions and headed to the prepaid taxi as Panjim, the capital of Goa was about 29 km from the airport. I was pleasantly surprised that it was only 800 rupees. Once again I had written down the name of a place from the lonely planet and off we set.

It turned out to be a bit of a drama. The place I had picked was nice but a tad expensive. With hindsight in should have gone for it though. After about an hour of calling at loads of places I finally got one for 1200 a night. It was pretty ropey. I tipped the cab driver 200 rupees as he had been very helpful. Although one of the places he took me to wanted 6,000 a night! The reception guy said he could give me a discount, it would need to be a fucking big discount I thought!

After checking in I went for a walk, bought a couple of T shirts and then went for some food. I planned to stay in Panjim for a couple of nights then head a bit north to the beach area and hopefully get a bit of a tan!



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Location:Panjim, Goa, India.

8th November:- People Watching.

Varanasi is one of those places you just wander, sit, watch, wander,sit, watch and do it all again. That is what I have done pretty much all day. It is just great for people watching. Non Hindus can't go into most of the Hindu temples, one of the monks in Nepal told me it's because they have something to hide. He was convinced (quite seriously) that they performed human sacrifices there.

All I have done today is wander up and down the ghat's, stopping from time to time. It was very relaxing. I still can't get my head round the number of buffalos, cows and goats there are wandering around. They do look well though. Well fed and constantly getting a pat on the head by passing Hindus.

I had breakfast early, it's amazing how early things start here. There was lots going on. Most of it by the side of the river. With the monsoon just recently over the river is quite low. Technically you should be able to walk right along the riverside from Assi Ghat to the most southerly Raj Ghat. I say technically because the river gets quite high during monsoon and brings with it silt and debris from the river. At some points it is about 30ft high. Obviously quite a lot of work has already been done but at two points the work is still going on to get rid of the silt. This involve es sucking water from a pump and power jetting the silt back into the river. It is fascinating watching it. Even the highest build up is moving at a rate. Kids in charge of the high power hoses are lethal. I saw at least a couple of incidents where they completely drenched a passer by. In the debris are remains of people. The chappie who owned one of the burning ghats has told be that before the remains are pushed into the river, a piece of body is put in an urn and then tossed in the river. The were literally hundreds of urns mixed in within the silt. Besides that there was also the clothes that covered the bodies. As I walked past the burning ghat this morning there were about 10 cremations going on. A fat leg was poking out of one fire. At the side of the ghat were a number of bodies waiting to be put on the log pyre.

I sat at Assi ghat for an hour just watching what was going on. A cow wandered up the steps (they are pretty agile) one of the traders on the steps had a load of Hindu stuff and tried to shoo the cow away. The cow promptly turned around and pissed all over his stuff. Brilliant!!

By the way, on the way back to the hotel I spotted my washing. It was hanging in the street! I do suspect it's been washed in the Ganges. Will that bring me good luck ? I can't wait to see the colour of the white shirt.....

In actual fact the clothing came back quite clean, certainly the White shirt was still white.

I liked Varanasi, the touts were not as annoying as many other places, they did take no for an answer, which was a change. The food was a but rubbish in the old town. Pretty much always veg although I did fine a nice Nepali cafe which did chilli chicken and chicken pizza. I found a new drink. Half the price of a 'sprite' fresh lemon and soda. Served with sugar cane syrup. Very refreshing.

The place that I had pizza the first night was very good although I did have a fall out with the waiter when I dared to ask for some onion on my brochette. Without looking at me he said no, when I asked why he said it was not in the recipe. I thought fuck you. I would have eaten there every day but if he couldn't be assed to think about his customers he could fuck right off. It's a pity actually. Even without the onion the brochette was very tasty. The apple pie and ice cream was good too.

Five days was enough time in Varanasi. I had a good time. It is a very interesting and colourful place, great to watch the world go by. What will I remember? The number of people who piss in the street, the futile sweeping of the ghats and small lanes, the number of cows and goats wandering around without a care. The impressive ceremony and the sheer number of temples everywhere. There do appear to be an awful lot of westerners who want to be indian though.
Indeed, a fascinating city.

I've decided, there is just something about the atmosphere in India. There seems to be this haze here, Delhi, Agra..... It's like the day after bonfire night, every day. Maybe in Goa it will be different.



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Location:Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

4th November:- First Day in Varanasi

After bed at 7:00, and quite a good nights sleep despite the fan, was awake early. No wireless but there is Internet. I have made a decision to get my act together with the blog, it's not as though I'm working now! I have actually done a lot of work on it. There are now 14 entries ready for photos and to be uploaded but I need to wait till I have a decent Internet connection before I even try.

This morning I have walked pretty much the whole length of the Ghats by the side of the river. This is a strangely spiritual place. All sorts of folk, the tourists, the pilgrims, the touts, the snake charmers, and the religious Hindi men, painted and dressed in orange. It's a photographers dream.

The ghats run all along the west bank of the Ganges, some are in good shape, some not, but all along on the steps leading to the water people are bathing, washing clothes, repairing boats and selling stuff. Literally hundreds of people are bathing in the river. It does nit look particularly clean, indeed it isn't, but that does not deter people from stripping yo their underwear, putting on a sarong and getting in. They even bring soap and shampoo. I took my washing in this morning, I hope it doesnt find its way down here !

It is a great place for people watching. I got as far as the ghat where bodies are burned. It was very unlike Pash******** where it seemed ordered and there was a little platform for the burning, here it was just done on the ground. No photography is permitted, not even of the area. Stacks of wood are piled high for the burning. It is weighed and sold. Sandalwood is the most expensive. Touts are here too, trying to persuade you to stand in a viewing area and then asking for a donation. It was a fascinating to watch. The bodies are brought down on bamboo stretchers, washed in the Ganges and then just enough wood is bought to burn them. There are different coloured robes for men and women, and even different colours for young and old. The touts, some of them purporting to be holy men probably don't use the money (required in US dollars) to buy wood, but pocket it.

Bruchetta and fruit juice at the cafe I'd had my pizza yesterday and then back to my room to have a look at the photos.

Later in the afternoon I set off again along the banks. I bought a couple of candles and just sat and people watched until dusk. It is not long since the monsoon finished and there is a lot of work going on to clear the sometimes 20ft of silt that has covered some of the steps. They do it by sucking water from the river and then using hoses to wash the silt and rubbish back into the river.

I did wander to the first and the smaller burning ghat called Harishchandra Ghat. I got chatting to the owner of the ghat and he told me that they have 50 or 60 cremations a day. There were a few in full flow. It takes about three hours for a body to burn. He explained that the the caste system determines where you are burned. The Bramhin, the highest caste are burned on the top. In fact there was a lady ready to be cremated. This is only the second dead persons face I have ever seen. She was piled under a load of wood but her face was uncovered. There were loads of relatives sitting around watching. No one seemed to be that upset. They believe that the body is just a shell. The people tending the fire were not being particularly respectful, one was bashing a body to break it and the other had a bamboo pole what looked like up the bodies rear end trying to turn it over.....

Each evening at the Dasaswamedh Ghat there is a ceremony called the Ganga Arti which is the celebration of sunset over the Ganges. It is quite elaborate with hundreds of people watching from the ghat and the same again on boats. In the background there are thousands of candles floating down the river. Holy men wander around giving Tika and people are selling things. I got talking to a young lad. We discussed Varanasi and that, like many other places people are always trying to rip you off all the time. It was an interesting conversation, even at such a young age he appreciated that if you think you are going to get ripped off, you are less likely to talk to the people that approach you. That's no good for anyone. Talking of which, my 10 rupee head massage nearly cost 600. It so pisses me off when they do that. When I worked out what was going on I also worked out what he was getting and that was it 150 rupees and lucky he didn't get a smack in the gob....

The ceremony was quite spectacular. I, going to make a point of seeing it from the river before I leave Varanasi. Wandering back to the hotel, I stopped for dinner. Again, I was tucked up for 9:00. It's been a busy day.


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Location:Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

3rd November:- Varanasi

Today, I will be mostly going to Varanasi. This is one of those places I've always wanted to visit, a bit like Kathmandu. I hope I'm going to be a bit more impressed!
I had only 4 hours sleep, after that "pilgrimage" yesterday I was a bit jaded. I was quite pleased I'd decided on flying rather than the train. The plane was leaving at 2:40, I had plenty of time but I maybe needed it. The domestic airport is a bit like the LCCT in KL. Quite a way from the main one and not that straightforward to get to. It did have a shuttle bus but I'd heard it was unreliable. For this reason I aimed to leave at 10:00am.

In order to save money, I had decided to travel ontge metro rather than get a auto rickshaw (tuktuk) or taxi. It was still early so not hot and the metro station is only about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. My deal at the hotel was reasonable, 1100 rupees per night. Pissed off about the Internet though. When I'm back I think I'll go to the other hotel and negotiate a better price.

There is one thing that really pisses me off about the metro in Delhi, the pushing. This time I decided to bite back. What would probably get you a smack in the gob in the UK, or any other European city goes here. When someone pushed me, I pushed back. And even got a sorry or a smile.
The security in Delhi is very thorough. Metro stations have the same sort of security as airports, with the added soldier behind a pile of sandbags with a mounted automatic gun. I'll check out the price of a auto rickshaw next time, it is a hassle with a back pack. One a new Delhi train station it's easy. The airport metro express is never full and it's quite a relaxing journey. The total door to door price is just short of 100 rupees. That's about £1:30. Compare that with the tube to heathrow!

Even when I was at the airport it was easy and convenient to get to terminal one and the domestic air terminal. The buses ram every 20 minutes and were free if you were taking a connecting flight. 25 rupees if you were just flying domestic. Once again, I was amazed at how nice the airport was. It was nothing like the experience of four years ago. I was travelling with spice jet, one of the low cost carriers in India. It's not as cheap as air Asia but ok. I had a coffee and a chicken pasty before check in. Some of the Indians in the service industry, especially the younger ones are just unhelpful, miserable fuckers. No smile, throw your change at you. I hope it's not flooding the UK.

Once I had got airside , I wished I had waited for something to eat and drink. The chicken pasty I had eaten was not nice at all. Here there was plenty of good looking food. Indian and western. I sat down and waited for the flight, enjoying the people watching. The flight left on time. It was only an hour to the east of Delhi and we actually landed ahead of schedule. Again, very impressed with the airport, very modern. The commonwealth games had certainly done the trick.

I had written the name of a hotel on my pad, conscious that the taxi touts will probably take you to the one they know. I got a price of 400 rupees for the 22km ride, it was about 200 rupees below the going rate but I shared it with a soldier. Both India and Nepal seem to have no problem with blokes just stopping in the street a d having a pee. I had noticed it in Nepal, especially at the side of the highway, here they do it in the city too, despite the fact that there seems to be plenty of urinals. On the way to the city I must have seen about 10 people, men and women just equating in the field by the side of the road having a shit. I'm really not sure about this!!

I had asked my taxi to take me to Assi Ghat. This is the most northerly of the ghats in Varanasi. The hotel I had chosen to write down was in the lonely planed and did look quite smart, but perhaps at the top end of what I was willing to pay. It did recommend that you booked. When I arrived they did have a room but it was 4000 rupees per night, granted, it had a view of the Ganges but it was way over what I wanted to spend. The taxi driver told me he knew of a good hotel, just around the corner. It was OK, basic but clean and only 700 per night. Including taxes. I had mentally prepared myself to pay in the region of 2000 rupees per night so this was a bargain.

Before the taxi left he gave me his number and said he could take me back to the airport on Tuesday. He told me that it would be 600 rupees and it wouldn't be a share. I'll think about it. The hotel had Internet but not wireless, that's not a huge problem. After leaving my stuff in the room I had a little wander, this time remembering to take a card so at least I knew where I was staying. The hotel did have a restaurant but it was all veg (I love the way meat eaters are called Non Veg). Today I was a non veg. There are couple of things unusual about Varanasi. One is the non veg restaurants are In the minority, the other is that there is no alcohol close to the Ganges. If you like your meat and like a beer with it then you are in the wrong place. I guess it won't hurt for a few days! Given I've got a cheap room, the veg food is obviously cheaper than the non veg and the is no alcohol this is probably going to be a cheap few days.

Each evening the is a puja on Assi Ghat to prey to the sun going down on the Ganges, it's apparently not as impressive as one of the bigger ghats but nevertheless it was an atmospheric first night in Varanasi as I ate my mushroom. Pizza and sipped my 7 up. It had been a long day and given the previous journey to Agra I was knackered. I was bed for 7:00. A pillow was provided but no cover apart from the bottom sheet. My sarong would do. It has come in very very useful...



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Location:Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.

2nd November:- A pilgrimage to Agra.

This was a cheap trip, a very cheap trip. I wondered why, I soon found out....
Actually, that's not quite true, I didn't find out till around 11:00pm when we were still visiting things Hindu.
I was up at 5:00, the tourist bus was leaving at 6:00. I didn't get that much sleep. I was awoken at about 3:30 but some Indian man, banging on my door and ringing my bell. I was not amused and made that point with the look on my face as I opened the door. As I boarded at 6:30, (Nepali time!) still half asleep, I wondered if, once again I would be with a bus fill of Indians. I was, or nearly, there was a very nice Indonesian lady in front of me and also a guy from Korea. As we got chatting it turned out that the lady from Indonesia had paid 1800 rupees and the Korean guy had paid 5,000 (although he was going on to Jaipur by train- it did sound terribly expensive). Maybe I got a bargain!

The journey wasn't too bad although well in excess of the 5.5 hours advertised. It didn't start particularly well. A small child was sat In the front seat of the bus (unlike ours, the buses have a cab which is sectioned off. As the driver braked heavily (it turned out to be a feature of the journey) the small child flew off the seat and his head made heavy contact with the glass panel of the cab. He didn't stop screaming till well after 9:30. After leaving at 6:00 (although we didn't actually get out of the city till turned 8:00am) we pulled into Agra at around 1:00pm. We had stopped off for something to eat about half way, nevertheless, it was a long journey, and I was to return the same day. Fuck!

As we pulled into the city the Indian guy in charge of the bus told me I could get off and led me to my own personal guide and auto rickshaw. My first question as a savvy traveller ( ;-)) is how much?
" nothing sir, it is included in the price of the ticket. Just tips"
"ha ha, ok" I said. "but no silk shops, no art shops and no carpet shops" I added.
"no sir, of course"
So off we set to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world.
It would be 750 rupees to get in and then another 500 rupees of you wanted a guide, you will need a guide my man said. OK....!!!

We arrived , around the temple the a no-go zone for vehicles of 1km. I was introduced to my guide and we jumped into a motorised vehicle and off we went. It was a great place, I have to say, of all the "things you must see before you die" things, this was one of the most impressive. With hindsight, I would have been better off without the guide. I felt rushed, I would have liked to have spent a few hours there, it was busy (apparently about 30,000 visitors every day) but at the same time it is so spacious that you don't notice it. The grounds are nice and green with park benches to sit on and enjoy the experience.
Within an hour we were out of there, much to my disappointment. I met up with my "other" guide and we made our way to the Red Fort. This was another 250 rupees but no guide necessary. This time I did get some time to just hang out and people watch. It was a fascinating place, where the Bloke who built to Taj was actually imprisoned. At least he could see the building from his cell window. I met a charming Italian woman who was from Oxford. She was doing her Phd in tourism and just hated India!

Back to the guide, we now had about 90 minutes so I'm afraid I did have to visit some of the shops, didn't buy anything though. I spent the last 45 mins in a rooftop cafe drinking sprite. It had an unusual feature. A shotgun was just laid on a table.

At the end the guide asked me if I had a good day, I had, was I happy? I was, would I make him happy, probably not. I did give him 250 rupees and the driver 150rupees though to be fair the "guide" had not done a great deal more than sit on his arse all day.

Although we were due to set of back to Delhi at 5:30 it was actually 6:30 when we finally set off. I had wondered where the rest of the bus had been all day (except the Indonesian lady who had actually had the same treatment as me) it turned out that this was a pilgrimage tour and both of us had been added as an afterthought because there were a few seats free. The tour was far from complete, we were now going to the birthplace of Krishna and then to some sort of religious ceremony. We worked it out that if we got back in New Delhi for 2:00am we would be lucky. And we had the same driver !!

Just before we left Agra a (quite large) family got on the bus. All the way to Agra I had two seats and at first it was looking that way for the trip back. A young girl of about 15 sat by me and a young boy of about 6 sat on her knee. She was fascinated to be sat by a westerner. She had come to Agra with her family for Diwali and was now on her way back to Delhi. From there it would be a two day train journey home. She asked me if she could have her photograph taken with me and her father obliged. The youngster, thought he would impress by counting. He counted on his fingers, 1-11, he did this twice. I wasn't really paying much attention but after he had done it twice I showed him five fingers and five fingers saying 'five plus five is 10' and then counted them one by one. He then did the same and to my ashtonishment and embarrassment, he had six fingers on one hand. Hmm what do you do???

Indonesian woman was charming. I think she was quite wealthy. She was a Prof. Dr Wila Chandrawila Supriadi, was a lecturer in something or other in Bandung, somewhere near Jakarta. We chatted about things and she gave me her card saying if I was in her neck of the woods to call her up. I told her I would email her the next time I was on line.

The journey home went on and on and on. Even when we got to new Delhi it didn't end. First we had to start looking for some accommodation for a family, then the driver couldn't fine a particular place he wanted for a drop off. I'd had enough. I recognised where we we're and decided to walk the remaining half mile. It was 4:00am. Getting to the hotel, I had to wake the staff to let me in. They were all asleep on blankets in the reception. On the bus ride through the city I was amazed at the number of people sleeping by the side of the road. That is something that has not changed since I was last in Delhi.
Tomorrow Varanasi.....




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Location:Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

29th October:- First day in New Delhi.

After a good nights sleep I was up at 6 o'clock. Down in the lobby I checked out potential plans and got myself in the swing... I would go to Varanasi for a week, come back to Delhi and then go to Goa for a couple of weeks and spend my birthday on the beach... I found some (especially given the distance to Goa) quite reasonable return flights with spice jet. After mentally sorting that out I had a wander to the ATM to get some cash and called in at a few hotels on the way back. If I was going to stay in Delhi fir a few days I wanted something a bit cheaper and with WiFi in the room. I found just the one, I had to haggle a but but got a good price of £12 Inc tax and wifi.
I checked out of the hotel, not before I experienced Indian honesty, I had been looking up some flights in the lobby of the hotel earlier. I had left my wallet there, no idea I had lost it but later, 10 minutes in the room the bell rang and my wallet was presented.

I checked out, got the difference back between what I had paid and what I should have paid and walked up the road to the hotel. I checked in, tried to log onto the WiFi and no signal. When I enquired, I was told they did not have WiFi!!!! for Fucks sake, "could I wait in my room for an hour and the owner would explain". I did point out that one of the main reasons for booking in the hotel was that they had WiFi, If they didn't have it that was an issue. I really couldn't be bothered to wait in my room, I would deal with it later. I love the Indians, it's broken, means it probably doesn't exist. I did however need to find an Internet cafe and book those flights.

While I wandered down the road just getting my bearings I was stopped a couple of times by tuktuk drivers offering to take me to Connaught place for 20 rupees. I don't know why, but my first day in any new city I must walk around with a sticker on my forehead saying, I'm new here, come fuck me for some money. I got in one and guess what, it was the same sort of scam that goes on in Thailand, they take you to a shop and they get petrol vouchers. When I got this (it didn't take long) I went along with it. After the first shop I got out as soon as possible and lo and behold the bloody tuktuk driver stopped me again. I told him I didn't want to be taken anywhere when all he would do was take me to sone place he got commission. I would make my own way, and thank you! I was actually not that far from a metro station so I grabbed myself a ticket to the New Delhi station. It won't happen again!

I needed to get myself familiar with the city, the rough guide is just too big and each time I pick it up I never get to fine what I want. I'd decided this time I'd just take a tour of the city landmarks rather than try and do it myself. While the metro seems very efficient and cheap, it is also very crowded. And the pushing, as soon as the train pulls into the station it's like a scrummage at rugby.

I caught the metro back to Karol Bagh and wander down the the main road. It was quite interesting, loads and loads of shops. I needed some new clothes and here they were cheap. The only shirt I had was decidedly grubby, I'd been wearing it for two days now. And.... They had a McDonalds, I had not had 'fast food' in months so ventured in. Chicken wrap, fries and a coke..

After an afternoon out I got back to the hotel at around 4 o'clock. It was actually only 5 minutes walk from the Market. I enquired about the trips and was surprised that the cost of the trip around the sights by bus was a mere 300 rupees. They also did a trip to Agra for just 700 rupees. That was a good deal... I would do that Monday and Tuesday and then hopefully book the flight to Varanasi for Wednesday. Try as I might I could not find an Internet cafe. Why is it, they are everywhere when you don't need one.

I was knackered, had a brief snooze and watched TV. At least that worked.


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Location:Karol Bagh, New Delhi, India

28th October:- The journey continues. A passage to India.

Today I leave for New Delhi. Roberto is carrying on his house hunting (rather him than me) so I said my goodbyes last night and was ready to pack up and check out. I had made my decision, apart from the fact at I already have a new wardrobe - due to the fact that you never get back what you send to the laundry - to start again. To be fair, most of the stuff I brought was cheap anyway so I ended up leaving most of it in the bin, I do have visions of coming back here and seeing the hotel staff in my clothes....

Once packed, my backpack was about half full and most of the was the books and teaching material I had accumulated over the months. It was hard, but it had to be done, I also finally agreed with myself to leave the Thailand and Nepal lonely planet books here. I'm sure someone will find use for them. So, on leaving the hotel my luggage pretty much consisted of what I was wearing, some books, my iPad, passport and a toothbrush.....

Checking out the owner was so sweet, he had already knocked off the 'loose change' and as I was trying to sort out getting rid of the plethora of small NPR notes, he thought I didn't have enough money and was quite ready to further discount me. I told him I did have enough money, I just wanted to get rid of my small notes. He then told me I was a very kind guest. I'd given some of the kids that were in the hotel the previous night some money and left all my 5's and 10's to the guy that cooked cleaned and bottle washed..

He did be a further favour by getting me a 'local rate ' taxi to the airport and stood outside and waved me off saying please come back soon... It was quite moving.

If cheapness is commensurate with experience of competence then I got a good deal. In the 20 minutes it took to get to the airport we must have had about 20 'near misses' . I did try to tell the guy I had plenty of time but that went completely over head. We even ran over a dog! ( it was already dead I hasten to add!) .

I will forever remember my impressions of Kathmandu and the noise before spitting as they bring a phlegm up the throat, the incessant (and unnecessary) use of the horn, the mad drivers and the dead dogs. Oh, and I almost forgot the Kathmandu valley dogs chorus which entertained and kept me awake most nights.....

Getting into Tribhuvan airport proved more problematic than anticipated. To get the security the check inn area you need to show your booking details. I didnt have the paperwork, I had written the details in my notebook but that didn't appear to be sufficient. I had not received a confirmation mail from Indigo and as I'd booked it on the IPad, had not been able to print off the details. I did have the forethought to take a snapshot of the web page, a brilliant feature and is saved as a jpeg in the photos. I showed the guard at security and I was enough.

Indigo check-In was a mass of balloons. This was the first flight from India to Nepal for the airliner, we were amusingly held back from check in while a fat cat from indigo cut a ribbon. I think al, the ground staff were new as they didn't appear to have a clue. The check in person took my book with the reference number and that seemed to be sufficient. When he put it into his computer and it brought up the correct numbers you would have thought he had got 6 numbers on the lottery. So excited was he he forgot to give me my little notebook back and that has the details of future flights etc. Bollocks. Clearly, on this occasion, the computer didn't say no! I was given my boarding pass and a little badge and off through passport control. Once in the grubby departure lounge it was utter chaos. In fact, it was just chance, on going to the loo that I spotted that the plane was boarding. The view from the right hand windows of the plane wars nothing short of spectacular as we Rose above the clouds and headed west. The Himalayas were beautiful, stretching for miles. I got to see what was very often hidden above the clouds, this time top side.
As a reward for being on the first flight we were given a metal tin with a little indigo airplane in it, very useful. I just put it in my bag.

The plane arrived on time, I still cannot get over how different New Delhi airport is from the first time I came to India. The new terminal is very modern and now there is a metro express into New Delhi railway station. Cost little more than £1.00 for the 20 minute journey. Like the new terminal, this should have been completed fir the commonwealth games last October but was only completed and opened in April.

As expected. No one was at the airport to meet me. I had booked the first nights accommodation on Booking.com and the place at Karol Bagh offered an airport pick up service. This is often the case. I have yet to experience a situation where this actually materialises into someone being there with a placard with your name on it.

Given the metro express existed I decided to at least get it to ND railway station and then see how easy it was to get to the area I was staying. It was actually easy peasy all the way. I had to get another train to Karol Bagh but it was no problem. The security is very strict as you go into the stations, you are frisked and luggage is searched through xray. Once there, I jumped in a rickshaw who had agreed 50 rupees (70p) to take me to the hotel. It was a bit if an experience as he sets off down a dual carriageway, the wrong way. Fortunately, thus was for a matter of 200 yard before we turned onto the side road and 5 minutes to the hotel.

The hotel was ok. It was budget, albeit a little on the wrong side of my budget but I had only paid for one night. I checked in, again, I didn't have my details other than an email and ref number. I paid cash but mentioned I may be staying a couple more nights. Shown to my room it was OK. The wifi gear was right outside my door so I got a great signal but that's where it ended. It was not connected to the outside world! There was wifi in the lobby though so I wandered down to check out a few things on e-mail and Facebook. At this point I noticed I had been overcharged. I challenged the guy and he told me I had been given a deluxe room (fuck knows what a standard one was like). I explained I didn't want a deluxe room, I wanted the room. At the price I had been quoted. He ummed and aghhed then agreed to move me but saying I could have some food with the 500 rupees he now owed me.
I moved my stuff just across the hall to what i thought was a better room. Still grotty!

One of the guys offered to get me sone food. I said I would like a beer,
' that will be extra sir, we have to go out and get it'
'But you owe me 500rupees, take it out of that Rip off'
'better you give me cash sir'

By this point exasperation had gotten the better of me and I waked how much it was.
'130 rupees sir'
I gave him 300 and told him to get me two.
He arrived 15 minutes later with two cans of tiger, and no change......
I ordered dinner of chicken masala, rice and nan and went to bed early. I would try and find something better. In the morning. I slept very well........



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Location:Karol Bagh, New Delhi, India

25th October:- A reunion.

My friend from Chiangmai, Roberto had been threatening to leave Italy and come and get a job in Kathmandu for few week, he had even got to the stage of booking flights twice but discussions with his german girlfriend had cased him to cancel them. In the middle of Tuesday night I got a Skype message to say he was in the Qatar business lounge in Italy and would be arriving in KTM at 9:00am the following morning and would I sort out a room for him at the premium. This I did. It would be great to see him. We had a good month doing the TEFL course in Thailand and I have to admit i was missing a friendly face here.

True to his word, I was having my breakfast on the roof of the hotel and I heard his Italian accent behind me. We chatted for a couple of hours and the arranged go meet later for dinner and a few beers. This was the first day of Divali and the town was dressed up with pretty lights and all the trimmings. The first day of the festival ( it does go on for several days ) was supposed to be the biggest.

Spend the afternoon in the garden of dreams, dreaming. It was a lovely afternoon. Who would have imagined this could have been in the centre of KTM, quiet and really pretty. Only 160 NRP too. I stayed there a few hours till the sun went in and it got cold, hatching a plan.

I finally decided on my plan. It was getting cold at night and you could tell winter was drawing in. I lay on a mat on the grass and decided that I would head to India but not as my original plan which was to head east and cross the land border into Sikkim,. It was going to be even colder there as it was further north and much closer to the mountains. Another factor that influenced me was the fact that the travel agents couldn't seem to sort out a flight, I was really reluctant to book a 17 hour bus journey as at least one went over the cliffs each month. In addition, I had seen the mountains, the choice of getting there was one of the worlds most dangerous roads or one of the words least safe airlines. It was a bit of a no brainer really....

I had looked on the sky scanner app in the mooning and noticed it was the inaugural flight from Delhi to KTM of an airline called Indigo. The price was ridiculously cheap. When I got back I booked it. I would leave on the Friday afternoon.

Met Roberto as agreed at 7:30 and we headed out for something to eat and a couple of beers. As we were walking towards Thamel an extremely loud fire cracker went off about 5 feet from my foot, I nearly had a bloody heart attack. Once recovered my composure, I defiantly needed a beer. We found a nice local restaurant and managed to quaff a nice local meal and a couple of beers. Momo and chicken chilly with a couple of beers. Happy days.

It seems somehow sacrilege to have been in Kathmandu for so long, almost three months and still not have visited that Icon of the city, nay country, Bouda. Roberto and I walked onto the to grows and jumped into a microbus for the 30 minute trip. It was a fine day, quite hot in fact.

The place is quite stunning, it is supposed to be the biggest stupa in Asia. I'm not sure that is quite true, from what I remember the Swedagon pagoda is bigger. Nevertheless it is certainly impressive. Some years ago Roberto had a girlfriend in Nepal who lived actually next to the Stupa. When he was seeing her they had both rescued a dog they found nearly dead in a field close by to Kathmandu. As we were there, we decided to visit the family. Without doubt the dog had a good memory, when it saw Roberto it went absolutely berserk. We had a cup of coffee with the family, the ex girlfriend was not there but it was really interesting to meet her mum, dad and sister. The house was a typical Nepali although the family were Tibetan. The father was a retired doctor and ex Tibetan monk. He was well into his 70s but was still working, making herbal remedies in his house. It was fascinating.

In the afternoon Roberto had a meeting arranged with an "estate agent", I use the expression loosely because he was absolutely useless. We took a micro to Boudankanta which is a village, well off the beaten tourist track but a really nice little village right on the edge of the Kathmandu valley. After much confusion (the estate agent had run out of credit on his mobile) we managed to catch up with him. The first place we looked at was not furnished (despite the fact that furnished was a pre-requisite) the second was on a 1 year lease (despite the fact that short term lease was a pre-requisite) and the third was 50,000 NRP (despite the fact that 30,000NPR was a pre-requisite) it was actually getting to be quite funny. Roberto had not quite got into the Nepali mindset and you could see was looking a little bit stressed. He once again pointed out the requirement, making it very clear that this was non negotiable and if he turned up again as unprepared then we might as well just sit and drink tea. A very entertaining afternoon.

Today is yet another festival day in the never ending Diwali, I am actually getting confused about it all. It's actually Nepali new year as well, the years in Nepal are different. It's now 2067.......
Anyway, as it's new year quite a lot of the local places to eat (the ones in Thamel that are reasonably priced) were closed. We did fine a place and as we sat down inside, (it's defiantly quite chilly at night now) I asked if it was OK to smoke. The response was that it was fine and an ashtray was brought. The chicken curry was great, the everest was great and the ciggie after the meal was great. As we were eating a group of people had come in the restaurant. They were westerners and obviously a tour group with tour leader. One of the women was looking at me, almost as if she wanted to say something, and giving me a sort of snarl. Next thing she got up, went to the bar and said something. A couple of minutes later the owner came up and asked if we could put out our cigarettes as one of the group had objected. I perfectly understand this but we did ask. it is actually not allowed to smoke inside restaurants in Nepal but they just ignore it. Anyway, we went and sat on the patio before heading back to the hotel and grabbing a couple of bottles of beers and some nuts to spend my final night in Nepal chatting and looking over the Diwali festooned Kathmandu. A nice end to a perfect trip.....

Tomorrow I leave.....



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Location:Kathmandu, Nepal

23rd October :- Pokhara, and so it continues

So my 12 days in Pokhara is coming to an end. Despite the fact that the most energetic thing I've done is a leisurely walk in the park I've chilled and had a good time.

I'm probably the only person here who hasn't been (or intend to go trekking). I have spent my time reading, gentle walking and unashamedly stuffing my face 10 steak dinners and 11 American breakfasts later I'm feeling much 'fatter' my face has filled out quite a bit and I've lost that 'jowly' look.
I've been particularly unadventurous food wise, sticking to the same restaurant and the same meal. My objective was to get some weight on. I now know how those film stars do it, it's quite easy!!!

Pokhara is so unlike anywhere else in Nepal. It is unashamedly touristic. It doesn't pretend to be anything else. Thamel in Kathmandu is very touristic but pretends to be a bit 'bohemian' and 'mysterious' Pokhara on the other hand is not pretending, it's got nothing to hide. A brilliant location. When the clouds are up the view is wonderful. There is plenty to keep you busy if you like walking. I'm sure there are much more spectacular views to be had if I could have taken the trouble. For once I was holidaymaker, not traveller or explorer.

So tomorrow it's back to Kathmandu. 8 hours on the rickety bus. I'm not particularly looking forward to that aspect of it although I do look forward not having to force feed myself with that American breakfast at Once Upon a Time........


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Location:Pokhara, Nepal

23rd October:- The last few days in Nepal

The bus journey back from Pokhara was quite painless... In fact it went much faster than the journey there, despite the fact it took exactly the same amount of time. Perhaps the most amazing part was the view of the mountains from the bus park. It was outstanding. I had arranged the bus ticket with the hotel, for some reason it was 800NRP rather than the 600 outbound but to be fair, the people that owned it had been so nice I didn't bother mentioning it to them. When I came to pay the bill it was a little less than expected and they didn't charge me for my laundry...



I got back into KTM at around three o'clock and the bus dropped me just around the corner from the hotel. There was the usual melee at the dropping off point with taxi drivers wanting a fare and getting in the way. It really pissed me off. After a relaxing 12 days of doing absolutely nothing, hear we were again in KTM getting stressed by the incessant noise and pollution.

It was Sunday and just coming up to yet another festival, this time Divali, the festival of light. Thankfully the Premium Hotel was not full and I got a room, albeit on the third floor which has crap WiFi access. That evening I had dinner and a few beers with Michael, the dutch volunteer who had just come back from yet another trekking trip. He did tell me a story which made me smile. He had done the EBC (Everest Base Camp) trip earlier in the month. I had told him the story of Julia. She had booked a 14 day Annapurna trek, decided after 2 days that she didn't want to do it and returned to Pokhara. She'd then proceeded to hole herself up in town, not telling anyone that she wasn't actually doing the trek. The fact that she didn't like it may be something to do with the fact that she had decided not to have a porter and was intending carrying about 12k on her back for the whole 14 days.
Michael's story was just as funny, he'd done the EBC, on the day before reaching base camp one of the porters had got sick with altitude sickness and had to go to a lower altitude. The guide had decided to go with him as he was coughing up blood. One of the other porters took them for the last day. They arrived at the old base camp (apparently it is about 3 hours from the existing base camp and there is nothing there) photographs were dutifully taken. They only stayed there 20 min and then were off down the trek again. On meeting up with the guide, Michiel showed him the photos, the guide said, "that isn't Everest" fuck knows where they and been.
Another friend had done the trek three times and seen the famous mountain for a total of 10 seconds. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea nit to spend the 1000 USD and do it!

It was getting close to the time I had to leave KTM and I had still a few 'must do's on my list. I had still, despite living opposite the glossy place for 2 months, nit visited the Monkey temple at Swoyanbhu , I had also not visited the stupa at Bodanauth. Both needed to be done.

I got a phone call from one of the girls on Saturday saying that the VIN office would be holding a party on Monday afternoon to celebrate the festival of light. I wasn't that keen as most of the people I knew had gone back but decided to go anyway. I would do my sight seeing on Tuesday.
The party was in the afternoon on Monday and the only person from the VIN office that I had any time for, Sumapd, was actually going to be away. For only tube second time I had been in Nepal I got TIKA'd and went through the Hindu ceremony of Laxmi. As expected, the party was a bit dull, in the main, with a few exceptions i find volunteers are a bit cliquy and dull. Non of the new volunteers were interested in talking. Bhupi, the executive director was off in Dubai and Ela, my so called co-ordinator was as rude as usual.
She had pissed me off after I finished by just forwarding an exit form to me,no explanation at all so I was being difficult. When she sends it to me personally I will fill it out. She wanted me to do it there and then but I said I couldn't. We arranged that I would go into the office on Sunday and do it. The party was a bit a dull and I left after a couple of hours.

On Tuesday I had planned to go and see the guys at the Swoyanbhu cafe, call in at the monastery and then visit the temple. It was quite a nice day. After breakfast at the cafe I went over to the temple. Ram, the guy I was coaching for the IELTS had gone home to the village for a few days but as soon as I walked through the gates I was met by loads of the little monks who wanted a high five." when are you coming back sir" was the questions from quite a few of them. They didn't seem to want to acknowledge that I wouldn't be going back.

I finished the day with my favourite, a couple of beers and a chicken curry at the premium. I still had to organise what I was doing next. That was my task for tomorrow.


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Location:Kathmandu, Nepal.

11th October :- Pokhara

Having finished my teaching I had decided to get out of Kathmandu and head up to get some mountain air in Pokhara. On the Monday I had popped into the monastery to see Lodehayer and went for breakfast with him. I also popped into the Swoyanbhu cafe to say hi to Ladpat, they had been closed for several days and this was the first day back. Unfortunately none of the staff had returned....

I had organised a bus ticket with the Premium and need to be at the Kandipath for the 8 hour bus journey. Having already done the 5 hour Chitwan journey I had somehow got it into my head that it took 5 hours, consequently was a bit surprised when we stopped off for a second break at 5:00 hours. I thought we should have been there. Obviously others were having issues with the long journey. I think I have worked out why the buses have sliding windows, a woman at the front of the bus puked through the window. Unfortunately the man in front of me had his window open too and the vomit sprayed him on the way back in the bus.

Yesterday afternoon in KTM the cloud lifted for the first real time and gave a spectacular view of the mountains. If I was impressed with that, I was going to be impressed today. There were some amazing views of the Annapurna range as we drove towards Pokhara. I wax picked up at the bus station by the hotel owner. ( maybe it's an Indian and Nepali thing but when a hotel offers a 'pick up' service, you are expected to pay. Maybe it's something to get around the numerous touts that always hang around the bus station and lie that the hotel you want to go too has closed or burnt down...
Kier, one of other volunteers had arranged my accommodation. It was a place that she had used the last time and was a real good deal at $10 per night. It was very comfortable, clean and run by lovely people.

I was going to take Pokhara as the opportunity to feed myself up. It was going to be three meals per day. I started as soon as I got there at a lovely restaurant called 'Once Upon A Time' . The staff were really friendly and I ended up eating there every breakfast and every dinner time. Full American breakfast with.... Bacon and a fuck off steak, veg and chips in the evening.
Three meals a day!
After a beer and some lunch on that first day Kier tracked me down and we had a nice chat. She had some shopping so declined an drink and we arranged to meet in the evening with Julia and have dinner and drinks in the bamboo bar which is on the lakeside. ! It was a fun night. A couple of happy hour cocktails and bed.

On the way to Pokhara the weather was wonderful, lovely views of the mountains. Now, it's shrouded in mist and low cloud. Bugger!
Still, I'm in no rush to get back. Kathmandu and particularly Thamel is not beckoning just yet!
Pokhara is just like a holiday resort. Very nice, pricy by Nepali standards, disco's restaurants, lots of souvenir shops and western travellers. Many of the travellers, wisely bypass KTM and either fly up here or take the bus.

Despite it's obvious commercialism there is a sense of the serene here. So much quieter traffic wise, the occasional honking horn but none of the driving on the footpath and incessant noise of the capital.
The bars are just like the strips of Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. Local cover bands playing western rock music, often badly although there are the occasional good ones.
After a couple of days with Kier and Julia, a couple of Aussie girls who had been working with VIN and had travelled up independently , they have left, Julia to Bandipur and Kier back to KTM before she heads back to OZ and Adelaide. They were good company. Kier had been travelling for three months on her own in Asia. Julia, came to teach in the monastery, mad as a box of frogs.. Only 19 and I wonder how she survives. She had me in fits when she relayed the story of her trek. I had heard while back in KTM that she had headed to Pokhara to do a 2 week trek and obviously when I caught up with here here, asked about it. She looked suitably embarrassed. It turns out she'd only done 3 days, on her own with a guide but fir some unknown reason, no porter AND a 13kg backpack. Not surprisingly, after 3 days of 22 hr day trekking, she was struggling. Not so much with the trek, more to do with the luggage...
I asked why she'd taken all her luggage, "I didn't." was the reponsr, most if it was at the monastery in KTM. " I just brought the stuff I thought I needed".
Even funnier was the fact that she didn't want to tell her friends she had given up on the trek and was holed up in Pokhara till it was safe to cone out. She was concocting her trek story from snippets from other travellers . Priceless....

On the afternoon of the second day i was having a bite to eat and kier caught up with me. She asked me if i was doing anything in the afternoo . Julia had a new 'friend' and he had a boat. We spent a lazy afternoon on the lake with Guy, an Israeli guy and his two mates. His boat wasn't actually big enough for the five of us so Kier, Julia and I hired a pedlo type affair. Guy had his guitar and spent a couple of hours singing and playing. I also got a bit of welcome exercise on the pedlo.
It turns out I was becoming bit of a local legend as the Nomad who had been travelling Asia for 18 months. A number of people had heard of me. Later that evening we had big night out at the bamboo bar and then to busy bees. I must have acquired a low tolerance of alcohol as after a couple of cocktails and a beer i was pissed. I got chatting to Liverpudlian with Nepali accent! He had a business in Nepal and was married to a Nepali woman. It was certainly an odd accent.


One of the things that really gets my goat is getting ripped off. I like to think after all this time I'm very much more savvy than I was when I first arrived . It appears not!
I had been having a shave at a local Swoyanbhu barbers every couple of days when I was in KTM. The cost, 30 NPR, about 20p . I thought I would do the same here. On the way back from dinner the barbers shop across the road from my guest house shouted 'shave sir' I told him 'tomorrow' so I tipped up before breakfast. 'How much'
'150' was the reply, a bit steep but I agreed. After a very nice shave he asked I'd I wanted a massage, I agreed. It was average, no more than 15 minutes. How much????
1200 NPR. For fucks sake. That is over 10 quid. I cursed myself for being so stupid. Told the bloke, that was ridiculous. I gave him 600, still way too much but told him he would have got money from me every day if he hadn't been so greedy. Now, I will go elsewhere. Robbing bastard!

So today, low clouds, warm and fresh I have had a lazy day. A nice breakfast, a snooze and some reading. It's Friday night. I may yet go out. For the time being, it's an everest beer by the lakeside. I hope the cloud lifts soon. I would really like to do the sunrise 2 day trek to watch the sun come up over the mountains.

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Location:Pokhara, Nepal

7th October:- There are some things money can't buy......

I've had great two month teaching in Karma Samten Ling Monastery. Sadly yesterday was my last day. I have been made so welcome and have really got close to quite a few of the boys. The monks are just like any other young boys. Energetic, fun, happy..... They also show the "normal" traits of fighting, cheating at the games we play and tying to convince me they haven't. You'll have to get up earlier boys!!

As a leaving gift I went to the local shop to buy 80 "ChocoPies" they are like wagon wheels, but bigger. Now I had to come up with a plan with class one on how I could get away with giving them one each. One of the previous volunteers had given me a box of small sticky stars. I knew I had about 36 boys in the class so I wrote numbers 1-40 on the little stars. At class I handed them out. Guess what, I ran out, little hands stretched out, "me sir, me sir" the older monk in the class looked at me, very clever he said. I'd still been foxes though, quite a few had more than one star.

"Simon says, hold up your star" gotcha, I was right , four of the little buggers had got two stars. I recovered these and the. Shouted out numbers 1-38 and handed out the "ChocoPies" class two and three would be easier. I did notice that Tenzing D from class 2 had been sitting at the back of class one though. In class two's lesson, he thought he had got away with it.
"Tenzing D"
"Yes Sir- no chocolate"
Honesty prevailed!

As it was the last day, I gave the kids the opportunity to decide what they wanted to do. Games, video or lesson. Class one had chosen games and video, class two surprised me, they wanted me to play music and dance. Now this was funny. Monks doing break dancing to Waka Waka.....

Dishain is one of the main Hindu festivals in Nepal, it goes on for some days. On one of these days in the first week there is a mass sacrifice of animals at various places in the city. It is said that the river runs red with blood. In the days running up to the festival it was amazing to see the literally thousands of animals being brought into town from the villages. There were goats, chickens, ducks. Obviously not cows but pretty much everything else. I had intended, more out of morbid curiosity to go and watch. In the end I stayed at the monastery and went to Puja with the monks to pray for the souls of the animals.

The day of my leaving was a big puja, the 'fire' puja. It was held in the open air and preparation were made during the morning. It was fascinating. Together with most of the youngsters. ( the monks don't actually start going to Puja till they are in class 4). The whole ceremony tool around two hours and involved putting about 20 different foods onto a fire so the gods could smell them. It was done twice and throughout this the monks were chanting, blowing horns and beating drums. They also wore the colourful headdress that is supposed to symbolise the woman. One of the monks was making me laugh as he put the tassels that were supposed to symbolise hair in front of his eyes and grinning. Even in something as serious as Puja sone of the monks still play about. They were 'observed' by a couple of the older monks and some were 'caught out' by being in the wrong place in their prayer books.

My last night should have been spent going for dinner with Lodehayer and Ram. Unfortunately because of the festival pretty much everything was closed. Ram was meeting me at 7:00. When he didn't turn up I just thought "Nepali Time". It happens a lot. He was actually looking around to find somewhere to eat. When he couldn't he turned up at my room with a tray of chicken MoMo and sauce, explaining that there was nowhere open. We agreed to meet for breakfast the next morning.

My last morning I headed out with Ram for breakfast. There had been a bit of a drama the night before. Fighting is not exclusive to the youngsters. A couple of the older monks had an altercation and one ended up with a huge gash on his head and concussion. Lodehayer is the nominated 'first aider' and had the responsibility to take the injured party to hospital. He made his apologies and we agreed to meet after the weekend. He presented me with a Kama Samten Ling pen as a thank you gift.

Again, due to the festival we were limited where we could go to eat. I took Ram to the place I used to go to on a Sunday when the Swoyanbhu cafe was closed. Coffee and Masala omelette for me and tea and omelette for Ram. There is something odd eating in a restaurant with a monk, I don't know why....
On the way back up the lane to the we stopped many many times, it had been raining the previous night. Ram picked up pretty much every work that was on the lane and put them back in the grass. There was something so nice about that. He is a lovely bloke, even after two months of 2 hours of lessons a day he still insisted calling me sir. As I collected my stuff he gave me a hug, even though we would catch up on Monday. I called in to see the principle who gave me a silk scarf and we said our goodbyes.
Leaving was incredibly sad. I had a tear in my eye as I headed down the lane with my back pack back to Thamel.

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Location:Paknajol Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal