South East Asia (Part 3)

Cambodia (A World of Treasures)
30/06/2008 - 14/07/2008

Crossing the Mekong by car ferry (i.e. an unstable wooden plate carrying vehicles secured by rocks lodged under the wheels), we made our way to Voen Kham on the Laos/Cambodia border. We had a slight disagreement with the Laos passport control when we each refused to pay a $1 admin fee for the exit stamp, they retaliated by refusing to stamp our passports. Our 2nd attempt was successful, incognito (we switched rain jackets and went singular) and a crisp $1 bill discreetly tucked in our passports, we were greeted with a smile from the official and each were punched with a fresh ink stamp. After a change of mini-bus and visas sorted, we were over the border and on our way to Kratie, where we were told we would need to change bus once again. This turned into a total mess as the bus company had overbooked, some American guys were having none of it and started a full blown argument with the bus driver. Eventually one generous guy gave up his seat and the Americans called it a truse. We got moving, roughly 30 of us squashed into a 25 seater bus bracing ourselves for another painstaking, limb numbing, back breaking 10 hours before we got to Phnom Penh. I don't think there's much rules or regulations in Cambodia for how many continuous hours one can drive, as towards the end of the trip the bus driver appeared to be fast asleep and swerving off the road. Several strikes to the shoulder by the front passenger seemed to do the trick and we were soon back on the road again!

It was about 1 in the morning before we got to the capital and were greeted by the usual toots I had by now become well accustomed to. "Hey Lady!", "Tuk-Tuk Lady?" or "Cheap hotel Lady?" are phrases you just cannot escape from in this part of the World! We eventually gave in to the toots and stayed 2 nights in a cheap hotel in the Boeng Kak area with a great view of the lake. Our 1 day sight seeing in Phnom Penh consisted mostly of familiarizing ourselves with the dark history of the Khmer Rouge. In Tuol Sleng Museum, once a school then turned into a Security Prison by Pol Pot's regime, you have rooms where only a rusty bed stands and hovering over it a disturbing picture of the torture carried out on a prisoner. You also have mug shots of the many prisoners and the security forces (men, women and more disturbing, young children). I read some testaments on why the people took part in the Khmer Rouge regime, lack of food and shelter were the main reasons. It was then onto the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek where most of the prisoners were executed. It can only be described as a mass grave! On the grounds there's a tall Stupa with glass windows served as a memorial. Through the glass you can see about 9,000 human skulls piled which were excavated from the graves.

To be honest I was not a big fan of Phnom Penh, I felt bad vibes! I have no doubt I picked up on it's dark history with the Khmer Rouge, I could not wait to leave the place. There were some good points to the city though, it's Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda are beautiful and the Khmer cuisine is pretty good. After our grim sightseeing we watched The Killing Fields movie in our Hotel and ended our evening by sharing a Happy pizza (An ingredient used in a lot of the Khmer cooking and all too often found on menus in Phnom Penh restaurants!).

The town of Siem Reap was up next! Housing The Eight Wonder of the World, seeing The Temples of Angkor was my main reason for coming to Cambodia. This is also the place where I saw the toots at their best! As our bus pulled into the local bus station, the tuk-tuk drivers and hotel reps woke from their midday nap and stormed towards the bus. If you've seen the movie I am Legend, I felt like Will Smith's character when he was trapped in his basement with nothing but glass between himself and the zombies! After wiping out 10 toots whilst swinging my backpack onto my back, we followed one guy who promised us "Cheap hotel"! From there we rented a tuk-tuk driver and a guide and spent two and half days exploring the vast area with it's countless temples. One stunning temple had to be Ta Phrom, with huge tree roots strangling it's structure. For the movie lovers, this temple was filmed in one of the Tomb Raider movies. The highlights had to be experiencing sunrise over Angkor Wat itself and seeing the temple of Bayon, a structure with 216 faces of Avalokiteshvara, a representation of compassion in Buddhism. We also caught a performance of traditional Cambodian dance while we were in Siem Reap, a beautiful mesmerizing and seductive show. It was at Siem Reap where I bid farewell to my Italian companions and made my way to Battambang.

On the bus I found myself another great traveling companion, Jenn from The States! In Battambang we both took a course together at the Smokin' Pot. Aha not what you think my friends...it was a Thai and Khmer cooking class! Before sweating over a stove, we were brought to the local market where we had to buy our ingredients. Our tutor gave us some explanations on all the strange produce for sell. We also had the pleasure of seeing our fish being killed by several sharp blows to the head with the back of a knife and got to taste some fresh ants...yups Cambodia is not for the squeamish! I forgot to mention that while I was in Bangkok I tasted some fried crickets, they tasted like crisps to be honest...they were good! Jenn and I were then off to Sihanoukville to hit the beach and do some trekking in Ream National Park. Our day trekking was a washout as it rained the whole time but we did meet 2 more great traveling companions, Irish Paul and Dutch Amit. We pretty much chilled for a few days on the beach, eating BBQ fresh fish, drinking cocktails and being constantly bothered by locals selling bracelets, manicures, threading (a strange form of ridding leg hair with common sewing thread.) or massages. This place done nothing for your self esteem, their selling technique was quite direct by telling you that your nail polish was last season, you looked stressed or your legs needed a good seeing to. Nonetheless I did love the place for it's tiny little huts come restos/bars along the beach and it's stream of cheesy music. It was onto Kampot with Jenn from there to visit some Pepper plantations, the bat infested caves of Phnom Chhnork and also a reservoir built by the Khmer Rouge. Both of us done the whole tour on the back of one motorcycle with a guide who looked like he was part of Khmer Rouge regime. I think we got a little sunstroke after the tour as we were both glowing and drunk after 1 Angkor beer!

Sadly Jenn and I took different paths from there (We'd planned to meet up in Vietnam again), she moved on to Phnom Penh (there was no way I was going back there!) and I to the small town of Kep to get a boat to the desert Rabbit Island. This place is another paradise! Fantastic beaches with only 1 or 2 huts selling food and drink and hammocks dotted along the shore, my day was spent swinging and reading in the shade. From there I decided I had enough of Cambodia and it was time to move on again....Vietnam here I come!! It was like a motorcycle relay getting from Kep across into Vietnam. First it was a motocycle to just inside the border, there I transferred to another motorcycle to get across to Ha Tien. Once across I was put on my third motorcycle which brought me to a small dirt town called Ba Hon where I jumped onto a local bus to Hoi Chi Man City...I felt like I'd just been smuggled across the border!

TO BE CONT...

Some pix @ CHARMING CAMBODIA

South East Asia (Part 2)

Laos (Land of a Million Elephants)
17/06/2008 - 30/06/2008

I was on my way to South East Asia's most laid back and relaxing country to travel in. Befriending a great group of backpackers (Irish, Canadian, American & English) on the bumpy ride to the border and during a very quick overnight stay in Chiang Khong, we all got our passports stamped and visas sorted and then crossed the border into the Laos town of Huay Xai. The Slowboat bound for Luang Prabang awaited us, but not before a visit to the local shop to stock up on provisions for the bum breaking 2 day trip.

We were the last to board the long 'seen better days' wooden boat. With no seats to our avail, we made ourselves comfortable at the rear using the piled luggage as a lounge area. The deafening engine noise was filtered out by the iPod (speakers brought by a fellow Genius traveler) and of course by the consumption of provisions ;-) Going to the bathroom was a challenge to say the least. As the boat was chockablock, the only way to get to the charming hole-in-the-floor-restroom located in the centre of the boat was to do a Spiderman impression. The trick was to cling to the side of the boat as much as possible and pull yourself along the narrow edge..after a jug or 2 full of BeerLao, one's balance is a little off..from personal experience I wouldn't recommend mixing both alcohol and doing an extreme sport!

At the end of the 1st day we reached our overnight stop at Pak Beng. This place was a tiny little village with just a few guesthouses catering for the daring Slowboat passenger and with electricity for about 4 hours per day. We had dinner overlooking the Mekong river and as soon as the clock hit 11pm the power went out and we were left to drink our BeerLao in the dark. It was incredible how the dark night came alive, the moon peeking through the clouds, the croaking of frogs (at least we hope they were!) and the bombardment of insects (creatures I have never seen before!) whilst Ghost stories were exchanged around the table...I don't think many of us slept that night! The trip the following day consisted of much the same, consuming of provisions and several heroic visits to the bathroom. At 6pm we finally made it safe and sound to Luang Prabang.

Another favorite of mine so far has to be the UNESCO protected World Heritage town of Luang Prabang. A charming place with French influence, where one can stroll along tiny old streets and admire the French Mansions and buy local items from the Handicraft night market. The little town is also dotted with many beautiful Wats, my favorite being Phu Si. It took a little effort to climb to but the views of the town and it's surroundings were well worth it. I done a day biking in the countryside around Luang Prabang and visited a local hand weaving silk factory and went to the multi-tiered waterfall of Tat Kuang Si with it's many shades of turquoise pools.

From Luang Prabang I made my way to Phonsavan by local bus where I met a great German couple (Eva & Martin from Berlin). My reason for visiting this place was to see The Plain of Jars. I was not expecting to step into the twilight zone and feel like I was living in a kind of warzone! Every restaurant and hotel in the place were decorated with war scraps, be it shells, bullets, grenades, mines, tanks, guns or missiles..you name it, they had it! My hotel was even located at the edge of an old airfield. I came to know that this province has the most UXO's (Unexploded Ordinance), gifts left during the secret war. About 30% of the whopping 260 million ordinance dropped between 1964 and 1973 failed to explode and still scarily threaten to detonate, maiming and killing many of the local people. MAG (The Mine Advisory Board) still work hard to clear the land to make it safe for locals to cultivate and live off it.

Thankfully MAG had already cleared the area of The Plain of Jars and walk paths were well marked out. It was incredible to see thousands of huge jars scattered around the countryside. Their true origin and purpose are unknown, some say they were used as ash urns and others say they were used in the brewing process of the local rice whiskey called Lao-Lao..I prefer to go with the brewing story myself! Not only is Lao-Lao lethal but I also tried the Snake and Gecko drink. How can I describe it..it's a drink with a terrible sting to it!!! A delicacy with snake, gecko and scorpion stewed in the alcohol..I was grateful for the BeerLoa at hand to wash the nasty taste away...definitely not for the faint-hearted.

By local night bus it was onto the capital of Vientiane. I did get a bit of a fright as I woke up on arrival to only see a local disembarking holding a machine gun! It was a quick 1 night stop with a stroll around the Wats and to see it's Arc de Triomphe, Patuxai. The victory monument and it's surroundings which commemorates the Lao people who died in pre-revolutionary wars, make you feel like you're on The Champs Elysee in Paris. That evening Martin, Eva and I enjoyed a few BeerLao's on the riverbank and the cocktail Happy Hours in the centre of town. Yet another local night bus (onboard karaoke inclusive) took me south to Savannakhet where I enjoyed sitting by the riverbank and visiting the Dinosaur Museum. A strange place to have such a museum I thought but apparently the Savannakhet province has 5 dinosaur and archeological sites. Then it was on to Pakse and from there to the once capital of Lao, Champasak. On my way I met another great couple from Italy, Eleanora and Marco. We hired bikes and cycled to Wat Champasak for the day. The Wat, once Hindu and was later converted into a Buddhist temple. It was a great taste of what was yet to come in my travels, the mother of all temples...Angkor Wat.

From Champasak, together we made our way to Si Phon Don (Four Thousand Islands) in the hope of catching a glimpse of the rare Irrawaddy dolphins. After many debates with the locals and fellow travelers about it being low season and whether we would get to see one or not, we decided to take our chances nonetheless. While we stayed on the main island Don Khong (where we always had to wake the locals to get any service!), we rented a boat for the day to take us south to Don Khon to do some dolphin spotting. It was incredible how many different colours of butterflies we saw hovering over the Mekong, it felt like we were in a fairytale. And the amount of kids on the banks waving to the tourists, I read somewhere that nearly 50% of the Lao population is under the age of 15. On Don Khon island, we cycled around and then jumped into a small (and may I add leaking!) boat to take us further south and across the water to the Cambodian border. Luck was with us that day, we were only 5 seconds in the area when our captain pointed and shouted 'DOLPHIN!' and there they were popping up for air...it made our day! That night was a bit of a late one with the local BeerLao, while we watched the Euro 2008 final with some French and Spanish. With miraculously clear heads early next morning, we were mini-bus bound to a new country, The Kingdom of Cambodia, home of Angkor Wat.

TO BE CONT...

Some pix @ LOVELY LAOS PICTURES

South East Asia (Part I)

Thailand (The Land of Smiles) 05/06/2551 - 16/06/2551

Next up was South East Asia, first stop Bangkok, Thailand! It was great to be back in a city with a western feel after a long crazy month in India.
In The Land of Smiles, the moment I landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport I felt the warmth and positive energy of the Thai people. Wherever I went I was welcomed with a heart warming smile, whenever I needed help with directions people were more than happy to stop and assist.

During the few days of acclimatization in Bangkok and finally realizing I hadn't time traveled 540 odd years into the future but that Thailand lived by the Buddhist calendar, I set myself another challenge! That being to explore 4 countries (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam) within the 7 weeks I had roughly planned for SEA, this continent was new and unknown territory to me and I wanted to squeeze as much as possible in. Once I'd seen The City of Angels countless extra-ordinary Buddhist temples, it's fast skytrain, mammoth shopping malls, curiously good looking women/men (still very confused about that one!) and not forgetting the notorious backpacker area of Khao San Rd, I packed my freshly washed clothes and headed north, to Chiang Mai.

I had no idea how I was going to accomplish my given challenge but with the Thai positivity rubbing off on me, I was pretty sure it could be done.
I tasted the real Thailand once I arrived in Chiang Mai. In the old city surrounded by a medieval moat, I spent hours getting lost in the many markets and the night Bizaar, tasting different types of Thai food (BTW, their pineapples are to die for!!) and getting off on the friendly and hospitable atmosphere. OK I'll be honest, I did spent some time in the UN Irish Pub as the weather was a little rainy at times ;-)
I visited a native Karen village, a Hmong village and sat and spoke with the natives and watched them weave scarfs. I also done some Elephant riding (nearly feel off several times) and bamboo rafting..now this was an experience! Some of you may or may not know that I am not the World's strongest swimmer and won't be winning any Olympic medals in this lifetime! I nearly cr@pped myself when I first caught glimpse of the semi-floating vessel and it's incredibly hyperactive captain! Expecting to die a very wet and suffocating death, the whole experience was a total blast! Our captain/rower who was just plain crazy, kept looking for trouble with passing rafts by splashing and crashing into them whilst heading down stream on mildly strong rapids. I survived the whole thing but not without been drenched to the core.

I was then on the Hippie trail, to the Hippie town of Pai...what a buzz man ;-) This place had to be my favorite in Thailand. Surrounded by mountains and a haven for trekking, I was hypnotized by the laid back make love not war atmosphere and the countless little bars selling cheap beer ;-) My accommodation however had to be the most "challenging" yet! My bed for the night was in riverside hut on stilts (2 euro/night) made entirely of bamboo and leaves. I had to drink that extra bottle of Chang Beer to drown the thought of being rudely woken by a late visit from a reptile of the long and slithery kind. I done well to do a day's trekking along rice fields and waterfalls with a guide who was just the grooviest, by preparing our lunch in the jungle and serving it to us on plates freshly made out of Banana leaves. I also treated myself to my first Thai massage, a totally far out experience, Dudes they really do stand on you!! :-)

A friend and keen traveler had given me a hint about getting into Laos from the North of Thailand the hard way...yups am a glutton for punishment. I headed further north by minibus through the windiest, steepest and bumpiest roads yet to the small town of Chiang Khong were I was to cross the Thai/Laos border and board the Slowboat which would take me to Luang Prabang via the Mekong River...TO BE CONT...

Some pix @ A TASTE OF THAILAND

Werchter 2008 - The ultimate debauchery (!?)

Hóigh Dudie,

How are thingies ?

After weeks of working day and night, at last found some time to post a (small) report on this years Werchter party.
As the Werchter line-up was a bit disappointing for us, we decided to put the stress on beer this year ....

OK, here we go !
An early assembly was sounded on Thurs (7am) at Frans's place (yearly tradition).
Although my little girl was joining for one day, did not stop us from another tradition ... stop at the first petrol station to knock down our first booze
(Peter is lacking on this pic as he joined on Fri eve).









Traffic jams and slurping beer was effective ....














After we pitched our tent (for the first time since human rememberance, we managed to rope this thing together in less than half an hour), it was more than time to have our first Werchter beers. The place2b is our Werchter local : 'bij Valère'. Man, man, man, was this guy glad to see us ! Hist first and famous words 'den iesten is van maai hé' (English translation : the first one is on the house). Not so very surprising as the half of his turnover in the morning depends on 'de mannen van Kortrijk' :)

After levelling up the alcohol in our blood (or what's left of it), we headed for the holy ground to see 'Air Traffic'. My little girl was overwelmed by the atmosphere.

Apart from having beers and gorge ourselves with the gastronomical delicacies (aka burges and fries with mayo), we watched (as far as I can remember) :
- Air Traffic : disappointed this time ... but I was happy with my 'pintje'
- Mika : I do not know if alcohol had to do with it, but the pasture (including me :s) went crazy on the tones of 'Big Girl' ... sorry for that !
After this ordeal the next couple of hours were devoted on reinforcing ourselves (read : we had a couple one's ;).
- Lenny Kravitz : been there done that
- REM : same applies
- Chemical Bros : No thank ya, last year was enough .... BEEEEEEEEEEEER !

For some guys the drinking pace was too fast .... poor Mario


















Day 2 :
Major hangover ... SOMEONE must have put something in my beer last night ! :@
Oh well, after our traditional 'Bacon and eggs' spiced with coffee and a 'pintje', I reached the status 'NORMAL' again.
Will not bother ya with a report on all bands I've seen and how may beers we 'chopped' ... only 2 things
- Duffy : surprise, surprise, I rub my eyes ... Barbie lives and really can sing
- Slayer : Man oh man, they ROCK !!!!

Unfortunately Frans had some problems with his foot, and after mistreatment ... hehe.. of the Red Cross (thanks B. ), he had to leave us :(
In the meantime Peter had joined us, so the real 'swinery' started, beer fights included.














Day 3 :
Did not sleep ... too much noise : Who started shouting 'OERE' ?!? :@
Anyways : a shower, breaky and a fruit juice .... fruit juice .... NO, to healthy man : beer and nothing but ...

Saw 'Gossip' : Cruella Deville in XXXXXXXXXL version














Apart from the fact that the Hives think they are God and the 'Editors' and 'Kings of Leon' were TOP (!), we met some old skool Kortrijk guys at Valère's in the eve. Major bender ... and despite this we managed to attend the Radiohead act (headliner on Sat).
Only one word for this exciting band : BOOOOOOOORING !

Peter emphasizes this on the next pics





















Day 4 :
Ok, let's throw ourselves into the last day of major fun ...




















Counting down again ... only 11 months left ...

Hope to enjoy your company again next year !!! :)

Ahoj from the beer garden

Ahoj duderino

How's it hanging ?

Just a short message on yer blog to let ya know I'm having an absolute blast in Prague and it just seems to be getting better and better !
Man, I'm not even gone yet and I already miss this city.
And I sure do love the Czech beer, lighter than the Belgian beer so I can just keep going on the stuff. Haven't needed a shandy since I arrived here, haha.

May was wicked football-wise : Sparta Prague messed up completely in the end so Slavia needed just 1 point in their final game to win the league. Luck would have it their new Eden stadium (wich will also be used for international games) had just been officially inaugarated and they got special permission to use it for the decisive last league game (oh those Czechs : on matchday there were still guys working on some outer sections, cables and wires were hanging around, ...). I queued for almost 2 hours the day sales started but got me tickets and boy, was it worth it ! The game was crap but Slavia got the draw they needed (2-2) and I joined the celebrations in style after the final whistle : on the pitch ! Wicked :-)

Actually, June has been pretty mad football-wise as well : watched tons of Euro08 games with mates from all over the globe on the big screens in the big beer garden in the park a 5 minute walk from my place. Telling ya, was almost living there at certain points, had I brought me tent, they'd 've charged me rent :-)
But what can ya expect : hot weather and lovely cold beer at roughly a Euro a pint !

Not sure if you saw a lot of Euro08 but it's been pretty ok. Turkey became known as the comeback kids : scoring 3 times in 15 minutes when being 2-0 down against the Czechs (the last 2 goals in the final 5 mins) and kicking out Croatia with penalties (the Croats scored in the 119th minute but the Turks equalized in the 121st !).
Holland impressed but were surprisingly halted by new Russian stars Arshavin and Zhirkov (commonly referred to in the beer garden as Arse Shavin' and Jerk Off).
As for the final : Lineker once famously said something like 'football is a game of 90 mins and then the Germans win'. I had a sinking feeling I'd have to say : football is a game you watch in the beer garden for 2 weeks and then the Germans win. But nope, Spain finally pulled it off.

Oh, by the way, a little fait-divers : that Burj tower in Dubai ? It's being constructed by the same company that's building my flat in Brussels ! How cool is that, huh ?

Right, matey, I'm off for now.
You keep enjoying your trip, yeah, and keep the posts coming (backpacked in some of the places you're going as well, so some of yer posts bring back memories).

Incredible India (05/05/08 - 05/06/08)

My first stop in India was Karol Bagh, New Delhi. Even though it was a whopping 35 degrees at 1 o'clock in the morning, I was never more happy to have 20 kg on my back with my feet firmly on the ground. My flight from Dubai to Delhi was a little traumatic to say the least. Due to stormy weather we circled the airport for over 1 hour, making 3 turbulent attempts to land. After listening to 60 minutes (it felt like a lifetime!) of most of the cabin screaming for their lives, the captain calmly informed us to brace ourselves as we were about to attempt yet another "safe" landing. Only after we finally touched ground did I truly know the meaning of the all too familiar phrase "I wanted to kiss the ground!!!"

Once that feeling and the terrible fear of flying had worn off, I caught a Kingfisher flight north to Srinagar in Kashmir. Kashmir's scenery and landscapes just took my breath away, it's heaven on Earth. My accommodation for the first few days was a houseboat on the Dal lake, where I befriended a charming Kashmir family, owners of many houseboats and other touristic establishments around India. The days were spent chilling on the roof with fellow backpackers and watching locals and tourists pass by in what they call Shikaras. It was amazing how many species of birds we spotted, especially birds of prey (Scott, you would have loved it!!), circling over head in search of dinner. I loved Dal lake with it's lotus flowers, water lillies, it's floating vegetable garden and many little islands where you can stop off for a picnic. I took a trip or 2 in and around Srinagar to see the 14th century Shah Hamadan Mosque (made entirely of wood) and the many surrounding colourful Mughal gardens.

After lounging around doing hardly anything for a few days I felt impelled to do something active so I signed up for a week's trekking in the Himalayas. The first night at base camp was with most of the backpackers from the houseboat, sitting around the fire playing cards and watching shooting stars. On the 2nd day I set off by myself with 2 young guides, 2 horses carrying all our gear and Abdul my chef for the week. This incredible man really made an impression on me. An elderly gentleman full of energy, able to function on 2 hours sleep a night, stamina of a young mountain goat skipping his way up the side of steep mountain faces (whilst chain smoking the entire time), and being able to cook a mean Kashmiri curry on just a tiny hob fueled by kerosene. Whilst trekking I froze when out of the blue, from no where a black bear appeared and walked straight across my path! Another incredible sight to see, I think my heart and lungs stopped functioning until it had scrambled out of our view. Some people do these treks for months on end, a week out in the wilderness and being cut off from the world was more than enough for me. This is something I would recommend anyone to do, the beauty and experience itself is mind blowing! Not only does it challenge your physical fitness, your mental strength is also put to the test.

I returned to Karol Bagh, New Delhi to see some of the sights but more to savour being back in civilization again. During those few days I found a good drinking buddy (coffee as well as beer) named Hannah and I also met another fellow traveler named Guillaume. Most evenings were spent in the QBA on Connught Place where we made good use of their Happy hour. One evening we had the opportunity to gatecrash a promotional party in a 5 star Hotel! What can I say but I could not pass on an opportunity to drink free vodka and orange by a pool and talk to drunk rich people for a whole night.

Once the recuperation process was once again complete I set off to Rajasthan (Including Agra) for 10 days with my own personal driver called Sunil. Sunil became another good friend along my journey. 2 nights were spent in Jaipur with a lovely Chilian lady called Sol, we done the City Palace and Amber Fort and we also had the opportunity to experience a true Indian Wedding and watch our 1st Bollywood movie (Taskan, recommend watching it, if only for the random burst of song in between some great action shots) in the local cinema. Next was Udaipur, a fairytale city full of marble palaces and lakes surrounded by hills. It has the largest City Palace in Rajasthan, built and added on by 22 different Maharanas. I also took a stroll through the Saheliyan Ki Bari, an 18th century queen's garden full of roses and lotus pools.
Then it was on to Pushkar, a pilgrim town of lakes and 400 temples where I got some henna done on my hand and then my final Rajasthan stop was Ranthambhore National Park where I done 2 safari's and saw a Tiger in the flesh from about 300m, give or take a few metres!

Because of the Gujjar situation going on in Rajasthan, Sunil and I had to turn back (while making our way to Agra) and stay an extra night in Ranthambhore. Our first attempt to escape was unsuccessful due to a burning truck in the middle of the road. Whilst hanging back (from a fair distance) to see if it would clear we befriended yet more local people looking for a free cigarette. Sunil & I made the most of the situation and took a spin back to the nearest town to grab a beer and past the time until the road cleared...we were out of luck that day...it didn't! Our second attempt the following day was a 200km detour on mostly dirt roads. Sunil was on a mission, he would not let me leave India without seeing the Taj Mahal..bless him! With Sunil's expertise is blind corner overtaking and playing chicken with on coming traffic, I think I had my fingernails in the car dashboard for most of the 10 days. The amount of funny stuff I seen on the roads...Indian buses with bodies hanging off everywhere, one hand hanging on for dear life and the other used to talk on a mobile phone, The Indian Spidermen as Sunil called them. Traffic going the wrong direction on motorways, cyclists catching a free ride off the back of speeding trucks and I even saw a guy on the back of a motorbike sitting on a huge milk drum...just comical! The detour was well worth the adventure and stress as I got to see India's most admired masterpiece, another thing struck off my list!

On my return to Delhi Sunil invited me back to meet his family and have some homemade food...again I could not resist! I found his family (To be honest my experience with all Indian people) to be so welcoming and warm, the wedding album was even taken out at one stage and I was given a full rundown of the Happy couple's special day.

Last stop was a trip to Bangalore to see my good friend Jose and his wife Carrie. I was pampered a little and even got my laundry done. It was so great to see them again and to see them happy with their move to India. No sight seeing was done apart from going to the Leela Hotel for their cheap (massive) buffet and of course I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. I was sad to leave India after a month of madness, I was very tempted to extend my stay but my schedule is tight as it is..best to leave on a good note and on to discover new people and cultures.

To see just a few of the thousands of pictures I took you can click on the link below:

Incredible India Album

Hope you enjoy...I certainly did! :-)

Jordan and Dubai (28/04/08 - 05/05/08)

A brief post for 2 brief visits to Jordan and Dubai.
My main reason for stopping off in Jordan was to visit Petra, one of the new wonders of the world known as a rose-red city half as old as time. I took a 3 hour mini bus ride from Amman where I met 3 American students studying in Cairo who were traveling the Middle East on their mid-term break. An entire day was spent exploring the archaeological site, admiring each rock-cut structure and trying to figure out how each temple and cave came to be.






While in Amman I visited the Roman amphitheatre, a huge theatre which once could seat 6000 people. On the amphitheatre's grounds are 2 interesting museums: the Museum of Popular Tradition and the Folklore Museum. I found it an oasis of peace with not many tourists but plenty of people sitting down and reading a good book.

Dubai I experienced thanks to a very hospitable friend named Sara, who drove me around this crazily rich place which could also be described as an entire construction site. Imagine my horror when I was told that you had to have a license to buy alcohol, I soon calmed down after my friend informed me that she lived right next door to The Irish Village where alcohol was easily purchasable and plentiful. We drove out on one of the 3 man-made Palm Islands, a huge project to be finish within the next 10-15 years. A spin was taken down Sheikh Zayed Road and several strolls along Jumeirah beach admiring the many huge and expensive properties, only in my wildest dreams could I imagine myself living here!


I got a great glimpse of the Burj Dubai, tallest man-made structure on earth. The building is expected to be at least 162 floors high and at a height of 2,684 ft.
A few things I found amusing about Dubai were the lower your car license plate number and the stronger your window tint are the richer you must be! Oh and even the bus stops are air-conditioned!
The only thing that disappointed me about my visit to Dubai was my failure to meet any of the rich Sheikhs! ;-)