Travel Location: Asia,India,Andhra-Pradesh,Hyderabad,New-Santoshnagar

29th September, 2009 – Saturday.

So far we have covered a distance of 2,014 km. On seeing a Maruti Authorised Service Station by the side of our place of stay, we have decided to give the car for servicing which has so far given untroubled service. We have spent the day in the Sankarmath only. This is a palace belonging to the princess of Kasi who has donated the same to Sringeri Sankarmath. A very big room on the first floor, of 15’ x 30’ with attached bath room three cots and 4 beds was given to us for our stay. We expressed our wish to stay for a period of 11 days. Shri Annapurna Prasad in charge of this palace is a devotee of Sringeri Sankaracharya and is doing very good service to pilgrims on behalf of Sringeri Sankarmath.

In the evening we visited Kedarghat on the banks of Ganges where there was a Shiva temple constructed by the Maharaja of Vijayanagar. The Shiva temple was consecrated by the Sankaracharya of Kanchi Math. The Ghat was also constructed by the Maharaj of Vijayanagar. This holy Ghat is placed in a scenic location and a pond known as Parvati Kund is there just down of the Kedar Ghat. We have witnessed the evening Aarati at Kedar Ghat and after spending some time there returned to our place of stay. Many Kings and Zamindaras constructed Ghats on the banks of Ganges facilitating easy dips in the Ganges by the pilgrims.

30th September, 2007 – Sunday.

Today we have decided to visit all the Ghats on the Ganges which were all side by side. We first went to Dasaswamedha Ghat and there we engaged a boat, at a cost of Rs.300/-, to take us to all the Ghats. Dasaswamedh Ghat is located close to the Viswanadha temple and is probably the most spectacular Ghat. According to legend Lord Brahma sacrificed ten horses in a yajna here and hence the name of Dasa
Aswamedha Ghat. We find that every evening a group of priests perform Agni Pooja wherein a dedication is made to Lord Viswanadha, River Ganges, Surya, Agni and to the whole universe.

The boatman took us to various Ghats known as Kedar Ghat, Harischandra Ghat, Raja Ghat, Asi Ghat,Manikarnika Ghat, Lalitha Ghat (built by King of Nepal), Tulasi Ghat, where Tulasidas written Ramayana Maha Kavyam known as Rama Charita Manas, etc. The boatman suggested for us to have a dip in the Ganges in Raja Ghat which is by the side of Kedar Ghat. In this Ghat water would be more cleaner because drains are let out into the Ganges after this Ghat. We had a holy dip in the Ganges and from there proceeded to the Manikarnika Ghat. Here also we had another dip in the Ganges. Manikarnika Ghat is the place where there is a Kund known as Manikarnika Kund. It is believed that the ear ring (mani karnika) of Lord Vishnu fell into the pit. According to another ledgend, Parvati hid her ear rings in this kund. According to ancient texts, Veera Bahu is the owner of this Manikarnika Ghat, who purchased King Harischandra as his slave and made him to work in this Smasana Ghat. Many a Hindu cremations customarily take place here and at Harischandra Ghat. It is the belief of Hindus that bathing in Ganga remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person’s soul from the cycle of births and deaths.

.
Ganga Harati every evening in Dasaswamedha Ghat – a wonderful event to be seen.

Many Purohits sit in this Ghat on wooden planks and perform Sraddha Karmas, sankalpams for holy bath in Ganges, etc., to the visiting pilgrims. There is also a ShivaTemple here partially submerged in the Ganges. After three holy dips in the Ganges at this Ghat, we slowly proceeded to the temple of Lord Visweswara through Lalita Ghat to have his divine darshan. Some how we missed to visit the Ganga Keshav wooden temple on the way constructed by Nepal King. This temple has an image of Pasupati Nath, a manifestation of Lord Shiva and also a Manmadha statue (a little erotic). Crossing the barricades and checking by Policemen at various places, (it is to be remembered by every pilgrim that Mobiles, Ballpoint Pens, etc. are not allowed inside the temple), taking the blessings of Sakshi Ganapati on the way, we had the darshanam of Lord Visweswara and at the first darshanam performed abhishekam with the water collected from the Ganges at Kedar Ghat. After visiting the temple of Matha Annapurneswari which is nearer to the temple of Lord Visweswara, we proceeded to our lodge and took rest for the day.

Pilgrims performing religious cores at a Ghat.
1st October, 2007 – Monday.

Today is the day of annual ceremony of my mother. Earlier we arranged with Shri Tulsiram Joshi, a purohit connected with Andhra Ashramam, and a permanent resident of Kashi and made arrangements for performing the annual ceremony in his house. He charged Rs.2,100 for performing the annual ceremony in his house. He arranged for three Brahamins, two as Pitrudevatas and the other for performing the Abdeekam. It is the tradition that for Abdeekam meals is to be separately prepared and offered to these Brahmins treating them as Pitrudevatas. A telugu Purohit from Berhampur who is on a visit to Kashi performed the annual ceremony of my mother very systematically and in accordance with our tradition. After this we returned to our lodge and took rest for the day.

2nd October, 2007 – Tuesday.

We requested earlier Shri Annapurna Prasad, in charge of Shankar Math, to arrange for a comfortable Panchamrita Abhishekam to Lord Visweswara. Today he arranged for this (charged Rs.500 for this puja) and sent an young educated priest from Orissa, doing Ph.D., Shri Dayanidhi, who is also residing in a room in Shankar Math, for performing panchamrita Abhishekam to Lord Visweswara and Kunkuma Puja to Matha Annapurneswari. Shri Dayanidhi took us to the temple and after reciting Sankalpam arranged for our Abhishekam to the divine icon of Lord Visweswara in the Garbhalayam. After this we proceeded to the temple of Matha Annapurneswari and performed Kumkuma Pooja. By paying a sumptuous dakshina to the Pujari of the temple, we touched the feet of Matha Annapurneswari icon and obtained the rice biksha at her feet. We whole heartedly felt that the purpose of visiting Kashi is partly fulfilled with this Abhishekam to Lord Visweswara and Kumkuma puja to Matha Annapurneswari and obtaining the divine blessings. Ater this we returned to our lodge and took rest for the day.

Ganga Taranga ramaneeya jataakalapam
Gauri nirantara vibhushita vamabhagam
Narayanapriyam Ananga Madaapahaaram
Vaaranasipura patim bhaja Vishwanatham – Veda Vyasa.

3rd October, 2007 – Wednesday.

Today we have engaged an auto and decided to see as many tourist places as possible in Kasi. We have visited the following places:

Durga Temple : This is also known as Monkey Temple because of the presence of a large number of monkeys in the temple premises. According to legend, the statue of Goddess Durga was not made by man but appeared on its own in the temple. There is a rectangular tank of water called Durga Kund. It is said that earlier the Ganges water was directly coming into the Durga Kund but the channel was closed in later years. This is one of the beautiful temples in Kasi.

DURGA TEMPLE

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple: This is another famous temple in Kasi visited by many a pilgrims. It is said that Tulasidas had written Ramcharita Manas sitting in this temple. A huge explosion has taken place in this temple in March, 2006 and many pilgrims and worshippers died on the spot. Lord Hanuman in this temple is very popular with the local citizens.

SANKAT MOCHAN HANUMAN TEMPLE

Temple of Lord Shiva’s sister: There is a temple for the sister of Lord Shiva where gavvalu are offered. It is the belief that the kasi yatra is not complete until this temple is visited.

BIRLA TEMPLE: Raja Birla of Birla group of Indusries built a replica of the old Kashi Viswanath Temple in the premises of Banaras Hindu University. This New VISHWANADHA TEMPLE is very beautiful and a temple worth visiting. Banaras Hindu University was established by Madan Mohan Malaviya and the Viswanadha temple in the premises stands for national revival and the temple is open to people of all castes and religions.

After visiting these places and taking lunch in a Kerala Hotel, which provides delicious items of South India, we returned to our place of residence and took rest for the day.

I give here below an article written by me earlier taking into accoun the views of some of the tourists and my own.

OTHER SIDE OF GANGES AND KASI

Some of the people who visited Kasi and the Ganges, have a different tale to tell. The water in the Ganges is dirty, with sewage pipes dumping into river, and dead carcasses and garbage floating here and there. Above the flow of Ganges in Kasi, the chemicals and dirtiest smelling residue of leather factories are released into the Ganges. But people were dutifully bathing in the sacred river, brushing their teeth and even gulping the water.

It is said that Akbar used to drink the water of Ganges getting it from the far of places of his residence. It is also said that Britishers examined the water of the Ganges and found that even colora bacteria does not survive and the water has such an amazing power and properties. The Ganges does have miraculous capability of processing bacteria, but even it cannot withstand the kind of abuse it takes in present days. It is not the way to treat the Goddess Ganges. Of course, nowadays, there is some awareness and the people and Government are trying to reduce the pollution of water in the Ganges. But a lot remains to be done.

Shivalingam was described by some as an icon representing the masculine force of spirituality in the form of a conical rock symbolising the human penis. It fits in a yoni, symbolizing the female genital, and thus completes the pairs of opposite, generating the creative force of the world – the north pole and south pole of a magnet.

The level of filth that exists around Viswanath temple cannot be described. A place without adequate sewage facilities and choked with full of piles of cow dung. This is the kind of place where major diseases fester and it is a tribute to the immune system of the natives that they are not all sick. You have actually to work to find a relatively clean spot to stop and sit down, where there is no shit, urine, human spit, sewage water or rotting garbage.

Before our tour, when I talked about Kasi Tour, Mr.D.A.Narasimharao, who earlier undertaken the tour, advised me that whoever undertaken kasi yatra has fallen sick because of unhealthy conditions and strictly advised to drink only boiled water and not to trust even the bottled water. Of course, we managed with the bottled water without boiling the same and returned without falling sick.

But inspite of all the above, there is a spiritual magnetic force in the place Kasi and a divine power around the temple Kasi Viswanatha. Place of salvation is Kasi. So described our Puranas about Kasi. Kasi is mentioned in Upanisads, Puranas and all religious scriptures. Kasi is one of the oldest and holiest recorded city of civilisation, education and religious centre, where people thronged to live and die and worshipping Eswara. Every learned man’s wish is to visit Kasi and prove his merit there and get recognition. Every devotee’s wish is to worship Siva at Kasi and leave his mortal remains in the Ganges. Taking food there amounts to accepting the prasadam of Eswara with devotion. Bathing in the Ganges amount to shedding the sins of the body and mind. By the Grace of Mata Annapurneswari, nobody suffers the pangs of hungry in Kasi. That is the wonder of the city of Kasi, the place of residence of Eswara, the viswanadha. Many a residents, who follow sanatana dharma of Jambudwipa wish to visit Kasi, at least once in their life time. It is the belief of many a learned people that merging the ‘asthikalu’ (Is ‘bones’, a correct word of translation into English?, I doubt) in the Ganges leads to attainment of elated worlds (swargaloka, suvarloka, Goloka, etc).

With the increase in population, increase in awareness of our Sanatana Dharma, increase in transportation facilities, and easy access, people are thronging to the darshan of Kasi Visweswara. They are not bothered about the irregular puja performed by archakas or their demand for dakshinas. In the earlier days the adage is that kasiki poinavadu katiki poina vaditho samanamu. Because, the journey was so arduous and difficult, with full of dangers. When I had undertaken yatra, of course on LTC, to Himalayas in 1990, a choudary couple of business, with whom I have no contact earlier, hearing about my Himalaya Yatra, came to my house and requested me to allow them to follow me. With great reluctance, I accepted their request and during the yatra, they informed that their sons insisted on writing a ‘will’ before their departure on yatra and they had to oblige them unwillingly. Kasi is the seat of Indian philosophy, spiritual heart and the destination for proof of our Dharma Sastras (vedas and vedantas). Many a great Cities perished in the long history of world. But Kasi is the only City in the world continuously inhabited, since times immemorial. Unless there is some magnetic and divine power, do you think it is possible?

As usual, Aurangzeeb destroyed the temples in Kasi and appears to have renamed the city as Mohammadabad. Surprisingly while the names of other Hindu Holy Cities renamed continue their muslim names such as Allahabad for Prayag, Hyderabad for Bhagyanagar, Dhilli for Hastinapur, the name Mohammadabad for Kasi faded away into history with the rule of Aurangazeeb. Ninety nine per cent of people do not know that Kasi was renamed as Mohammadabad.

Though we have made Kasi Yatra, I feel it is not complete. We have missed several places of interest. Some of ancient maths and ashrams of reverred sages, and their spiritual teachings, their recitation of mantras and slokas, etc. These places are to be visited, to know the importance of Kasi. Of course, we are fortunate to have prasadam along with several Sadhus on the jayanti day of the previous Sankaracharya of Sringeri on account of our stay in the Sringeri math premises. The following places also appear to be places to be visited in Kasi, on the basis of information gathered subsequently. One is the sangamam place where Asi river meets river Ganga. Here is a temple known as Lolarka Surya Temple. Second is the place where River Varuna meets river Ganga. Here is situated Kesavaswamy temple. The third is pancha-ganga ghat. It is said to be the sangamam of five rivers – kiranghata, Papa, Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati (according to puranas). Here is the temple of Bindu Madhava Swamy. Fourth is the Dasa-Aswamedha Ghat, which we visited. Finally, the most important one is the Manikarnika Ghat. Re: Manikarnika ghat: Once Lord Vishnu made a pond with his sudarshan chakra on the bank of the River Ganga and doing penace. The sweat emerged from his body filled the pond and formed a small tank. Even then Lord Vishnu did not stop his penace. In appreciation Lord Shive bend his head when his ear-ring (mani karnika) fell into the pond. Hence, it is said that bathing in the Pond results in conferring moksha – it is believed. Though we had a dip in the Ganges in Manikarnika Ghat, but we missed the dip in Mani Karnika pond. I think, we have to make another Kasi Yatra to make good the omissions.

Even in puranic days also every sage, king and students of Vedas, etc., all visited Kasi, but do not appear to have chosen to reside in their Vanaprastha days awaiting the vimukti from Deha. Instead, they chose deep forest areas for vanaprastha life, far away from civic life and religious places, devoting to meditation and dhyanam. It is surprising that only in Kaliyuga, perhaps, vanaprasthas wished to spend their last days in Kasi, the earthly kingdom of Eswara, awaiting a place in divine kingdom of Kailas of Eswara. Or, perhaps, when renunciation has taken place, bahya-puja may not be necessary and manasika puja and meditation in serine and calm places appears to be what is required. Is there any other explanation?

OM TAT SAT OM TAT SAT OM TAT SAT

RAGHAVARAO, U.V.G.V. DUGGIRALA,

HYDERABAD, Dt.1st DECEMBER, 2009.

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Travel Location: Asia,Vietnam,Mekong-River-Delta

Off to Cambodia today to see my old best mate from school – Dave Harding. He has lived in Phnom Penh for about 10 years now and we haven’t seen each other since 1985 – 24 years! I reckon a few beers will get sunk tonight!

When I have an hour spare I’ll post a summing up of my experiences in Vietnam as there is a lot I’ve managed to leave out in my posts so far and some things need to be drawn out and made clearer.

Back soon folks.

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Travel Location: Asia,Thailand

We then were almost kidnapped who refused to pull over after he had told us how much the taxi fare would be. but in the end we made it to our guest house at around 11pm thai time (4am nz time) and got a good nights sleep.

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Travel Location: Asia,Philippines,Marinduque

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Travel Location: Asia

We got up the next morning n headed out for some breakfast and then had a stroll round, we are both still really tired n jet lagged so we are not doing much today just chillin out, we have been and booked our bus to Koh Samet for tomorrow morning so we can get a tan on the beach coz we are right pasty bastards at the min. Vicky was gonna right somert but shes a bit ratty when she hasnt had much sleep so it will be her turn next time.

Speak to u all soon

Adam & Vicky

xxxxxx (they are for family and girls not u gay bummers out there)

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Travel Location: Asia,Thailand,Central-Thailand,Bangkok

On Friday, my Thai teacher took me and the other student in my class to see where the test was going to be held. She told us that we needed to take the number 4 bus, which is part of a new line of buses called the metro bus. All of the buses in this fleet are brand new, with air conditioning and even T.V.s. But they are also the most expensive buses out there. Some of them are 20 baht, some 30 and there are even some that are 40 baht. For comparative purposes a fan bus costs only 8 baht, while other types of air conditioned buses will run you anywhere from 12-18 baht, depending on how far you are going.

Getting back to the story at hand, on Friday I watched the land marks as we were going, so that I would be able to do it again on Sunday morning with no trouble. I picked out three major landmarks: First we passed the Fortune hotel, then we passed Victory Monument and finally we came to the Dusit Zoo. I needed to get off two stops past the zoo.

The bus ride on Friday took about one hour. The test started at 9:00am on Sunday, so I figured I would leave at 7:00am to allow lots of time for me to get there and not have to worry if we hit traffic or some other problem. I was very glad that I did that. The buses in Bangkok are different than in Canada. There is no schedule for them. And while the government is involved in how they run somewhat, buses are privately owned by the drivers. There is no such thing as a transfer here. So there are many different bus numbers that all run down the main street that I live near. When you want to go somewhere, you just walk to the bus stop and wait for the number you need. Sometimes, if it is a less popular run, you can wait for a while before your number comes along. So I was very pleased when just as I was getting to the end of my street, where the bus stop is, the very first bus I saw pulling up was the number 4. I quickly flagged it down and jumped right on, with out having to stand and wait at all. And much to my delight it was a 20 baht bus too.

Given that it was a Sunday morning, traffic was clear and we were making great time. We passed the hotel and came to Victory Monument (which is a huge traffic circle with the monument in the center.) I knew that in just a few minutes we would come to the zoo and it would be time for me to get off. So I was intently watching for the zoo and I waited, and I waited and I waited. I was starting to get worried that somehow I had missed us passing the zoo. I asked the driver if we had passed it already and he told me that this particular bus didn’t pass the zoo. It had a red sign in the front window of the bus that I hadn’t noticed in the quick events of me climbing on right as I was getting to the end of my street. He told me that I needed the 30 or the 40 baht bus to get to the zoo. I got off straight away and crossed the street to go back. I thought that we had passed the zoo, but what had actually happened was at Victory Monument, we had turned around and were heading back the way we had come. I waited for a fairly long time for another number 4 to come along, so I was feeling slightly edgy, wondering if I would make it on time. When I finally got back on another bus, I realised that we were back at the Fortune hotel! Then I was worried again, but we still made good time and I got there at about 8:30.

I quickly visited 7-11 to buy some breakfast, which I scarfed down (I had expected to have had lots of time to eat since I had left so early.) I checked in for the test at 8:45, where the first thing that they asked me for was my passport. I had left my passport at home. Upon reflection, I’m pretty sure that my Thai teacher had told me that I needed to bring it, but she told me months ago and I had forgotten. What had stuck in my mind of what she had told me was that I needed to bring a bunch of papers that I had gotten when I first registered for the test, which included a photocopy of my passport with my signature and the bank teller’s signature. (I thought that was enough, but apparently not.) I was a little flustered when I got to the testing room because of the passport fiasco. Then I had some difficulty finding where the test room was (I was one floor too low). Somehow I had also gotten the impression from one of the staff members that I was late (even though by my watch I still had 10 minutes.) When I got to the room a man was up front talking and I thought they had already started on me. But the staff in the room assured me that they hadn’t yet. I got to my assigned spot and relaxed.

The first section of the test was the reading section. We had 50 minutes for this section. This section was really tough. Not because I didn’t understand what I was reading, but because there was so much reading to be done, followed by just one question and then there was another long paragraph followed by just one question. There wasn’t enough time to read through it all. I only made it through half of the questions. At the five minute warning I went through my answer card and just randomly filled in circles without even reading the questions (it was a multiple choice where you colour in a, b, c or d with a pencil.) I was feeling worried, but after we were done, I could see that the others around me only made it half way through too, so that made me feel better, that at least I was average (even if the average was bad)

The next section was the listening section. This was also really hard, though perhaps not as bad as the reading. We were given another answer card with circles to shade in and that was all. We were not given the questions in written form. So we listened to the piece first, then we had to listen to the question and the four options for the answers. So, for example, they read an article then they asked the question what would be the best title for this article and listed off four options. But by the time they had gotten to the fourth option, I had a hard time remembering what the first and second options were. It was hard that way, and then it was also hard in that in several of the selections they used vocabulary that I didn’t understand. I have to confess that even after all of this time, I still feel like I am a far cry away from being fluent. I understand only about half of all that goes on around me. It’s a problem of just not having a broad enough vocabulary yet, but that will right itself as I continue to live here.

The writing section came next. This was the section that I was the most worried about going into the test, but as it turns out, I feel better about this section than the reading or the listening. There were two things we had to write. The first section was statistics. We had to look at a graph and write 10 lines explaining what it said. This was dead easy and I was able to finish it. The second assignment was we were given a statement and we had to write 20 lines on whether or not we agreed with the statement. I was concerned about the time limit as I have never been able to write out the full 20 lines in the time that they allot (the best I had ever done was 12 lines). Well the question they gave us was about the effect that adults have on the self esteem of the children that they raise. There were one or two keys words that I didn’t understand (I’m not positive that it was self esteem), but I grasped the question enough to be able to write 13 lines (a new record for me.)

We broke for lunch at this point. I walked to a stand on the street. While I was sitting, waiting for my food to arrive, I saw one of my old Thai teachers walking with a student that she tutored. She used to teach at my school, but she had left the school over a year ago. They joined me for lunch and we had a nice time talking. The student told me that she had only made it halfway through the reading questions too.

After lunch we all met back in the testing room to wait for our turn to have our ten minute oral interview. We had been assigned numbers based on when we had registered for the test. I was number 39 out of approximately 130-150 students. So I only had to wait about 30 minutes for my interview. While we were waiting, the staff members passed out a survey on what we though about the test. There were one or two keys words on it that I didn’t understand, it was just like another test. But since this was optional, I opted not to fill it in.

When my number was called, I was surprised to see that there were two interviewers. I had one lady and one man. When I first sat down the lady asked me to tell them about myself. That was easy. I told them my name, that I was from Canada and that I was a missionary in Thailand. The man asked me where in Canada I was from. I told him that I was from St. Catharines, which is close to Niagara Falls. There are a fair number of Thais that have never heard of the Falls, so I always ask if they have heard of them. This man had not only heard of them, he said that he had visited them and gone to Toronto too. They asked me how I came to be a missionary in Thailand and then they asked me where I lived in Thailand and how I had come to the test. They were surprised when I told them that I had come by bus. Then I told them the story of how I had been on the wrong bus. Then they asked me if I rode the buses often and I told them I rode them every day. The final question they had for me was how buses were different in Thailand from buses in Canada. These were all subjects that I had spoken about before and I did great on this section. The man in particular seemed to really like me. He even said two or three times that I was fun to talk to.

They used to mark the tests on a percentage basis and you passed or failed grade 6, but starting last year, they have changed the format of the test. Students aren’t given a percentage grade anymore, but are rather told what grade level they are at. So, for example, I might be told that I am at a grade 3 level in reading and a grade 7 level in speaking. But if I were to give my opinion of how I feel I did using percentages, I would say that I feel like I’m hovering around a 50% for both reading and listening (with listening being slightly better), about 75% for writing and 90% for speaking. So hopefully the two strong sections will balance out the two weaker sections and I’ll average out somewhere in the middle.

I have one more cool experience to share with you. On the bus ride home, I pulled out my cell phone to call a friend here to try to set up a trip to Swenson’s for ice cream sundaes to celebrate that I was done my test. I saw when I pulled out my phone that I had missed a call (I had the phone on silent during the test). It was my Thai teacher. She had called to see how it had gone and to see if how she taught me had prepared me for the test or not. We were speaking Thai to each other and I talked to her for about 5 minutes. I could see the lady in the seat in front of me turned around to look at me a couple of times. I wondered if I was speaking too loudly. When I was done, she looked back one more time then she addressed me, commenting that I could speak Thai. I told her I could and then she shifted to the seat beside me and asked me if I would mind answering a few questions about the new Metro bus line. I said that would be fine, figuring she would take a survey on paper. (She did have a lot of official looking papers in her lap). She pulled out her cell phone and I assumed she was talking to her supervisor sharing the news that she had found a foreigner who could speak Thai. She kept talking to someone one her cell phone off and on, in-between asking me questions about where I was from, where I had gotten on the bus and where I was going to get off. I was beginning to wonder why she wasn’t writing anything down, or asking me about my thoughts on the new bus line, when all of a sudden she started speaking into her cell phone and I could tell she was introducing me on a radio station. She then asked me about where I had gotten on the bus and put the phone up to my mouth. I answered and then she asked me about where I would be getting off, why I had chosen the metro bus that day, and how I enjoyed riding on the bus. Originally, when I thought it was going to be a paper survey, I had planned to say that I didn’t choose this bus very often because it was so expensive. But given that I was live on Thai radio, I figured it wouldn’t go over well for me to say that I thought it was a rip off. So I said complimentary things, but I did say that the reason why I was on the bus that day was because it was the only line that would take me to my destination, way across the city. Then she asked me about how Thai buses were different from Canadian buses too. I thought to myself, I just answered this question less than an hour ago. After she had hung up I told her that I had misunderstood what she meant and that I was surprised to be put on the radio. She told me that it was an all news radio station and that we had indeed been live.

I then made the call to my friend to set up the ice cream date. Seven of us went and it was delicious!

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Travel Location: Asia,Thailand,South-West-Thailand,Ko-Pha-Ngan

Sorry for the lack of updates recently!

We spent quite a few days in Haad Rin after arriving on the terrible boat. Seeing as it is a party town we quickly fell into the day of fun / day of recovering flow.

We decided to have a look around some other parts of the island before heading back for the full moon party (tomorrow) in Haad Rin. We spent 2 nights on the almost deserted Bottle Beach (Haad Khuat) in the North and had a lovely beach front bungalow. Then yesterday we came up here to Thong Nai Pan Yai on the North East coast and we’re in another amazing bungalow with a great view across the beach. We’re actually in Thong Nai Pan Noi at the minute, a beach a bit further round, as we fancied a bit of an explore.

The only thing we need now is our advent calendars!

Pictures will follow eventually!

Tim

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Travel Location: Asia,Laos,West,Vang-Vieng

On est donc arrives dans un endroit vraiment deconcertant : Vang Vieng, ou il est facile d’oublier qu’on est au Laos… Plein de touristes, jeunes, fous, saouls et pas tres respectueux des coutumes locales, se promenent en robe-soleil (s’ils en ont une, sinon c’est carrement en bikini !) ou torse nu, mangent des sandwichs au bacon (du vrai !) et au fromage (pas juste de la vache qui rit !) ou du steak ou encore des crepes au nutella ou au Skippy (beurre de peanut), qui sont affaisses dans des bars qui jouent les saisons completes de Friends ou Family Guy et boivent comme des trous… Etonnant et un peu choquant, mais oh combien amusant apres pres de deux mois en Asie a manger du riz et des nouilles et a faire la courbette pour pas deplaire a personne.
Les locaux le disent, ici, c’est pas le Laos. Ca nous donnera l’occasion de faire un peu la fete sans se sentir trop coupables et de prendre une petite pause de la culture prude de l’Asie du sud-est, mais sans exagerer comme certains quand meme.

Je suis personnellement pas encore “top shape” apres ma gastro de Vientiane, mais j’arrive a apprecier le moment et mets au defi mon estomac le premier soir, affamee apres deux jours de presque jeune, avec un gros cheeseburger au poulet et bacon pour souper. Ca passe bien, je suis rassuree pour le lendemain, on a prevu d’essayer l’attraction principale de la place, celle qui a fait de la ville un endroit de debauche, le tubing !
L’activite est maintenant encadree par la region qui a mit fin a toute concurrence (tant pis pour nous) en en faisant une cooperative dont toute la population profite en redistribuant les recettes… on se sent deja moins coupables. Autrement, ca n’a rien des bonnes oeuvres ! Ca a commence par n’etre qu’une descente peinard en tube de tracteur souffle (une trippe comme on dit) sur le cours de la riviere Nam Song qui borde le village et qui offre une vue magnifique sur les montagnes karstiques (un peu comme celles de la Baie D’Halong, mais la c’est pas des iles, juste une grosse chaine de montagnes, mais vraiment superbe !) sur notre droite. Une descente d’environ deux heures (tres lente donc a la saison seche presentement) et deux fois plus rapide en saison des pluies avec une belle vue. Ca a vite attire les occasions d’affaires pour les locaux qui ont installe 1-2-3 bars sur chaque rive jusqu’a ce que la riviere en soit bordee des deux cotes sur environ 300 metres (une bonne vingtaine de bars en tout je croirais). Ces petits bars servent evidemment de l’alcool, parfois des shooters gratuits pour attirer la clientele, se rattrappent un peu sur le prix de la biere, ont installe des cordes de tarzan pour se jetter dans l’eau (la ou c’est assez profond, faut pas s’en faire, Ben a adore), quelques glissades, des nattes pour s’etendre et se faire chauffer au soleil, terrains de volley-ball (dont un en boue ou on a eu ben du fun, mon bout prefere de l’activite) et du gros boum-boum occidental pas mauvais du tout pour mettre de l’ambiance (quel soulagement apres des semaines a endurer leurs balades sirupeuses en karaoke !). On est debarques au premier bar avec nos tubes… premier shooter, premiere corde a tarzan pas mal haute ou je me laisserai finalement convaincre de sauter, premier regard sur le paysage a couper le souffle et on est deja conquis, ca va etre une belle journee. Malgre que la descente devrait durer deux heures, on en passera beaucoup plus en prenant chaque corde qui nous est lancee pour rejoindre presque tous les bars sur notre route… On boit pas a chacun quand meme, faut rester prudents sur l’eau, on sait ca. Mais on s’amuse bien ! Les montagnes sont tres belles et tres hautes, seul desavantage, le soleil s’y cache des 4h pm alors on s’aide en pagayant avec nos mains pour descendre la riviere plus vite parce que ca devient frisquet a l’ombre. On est surpris et on pense bien faire quand un petit bonhomme court pour embarquer avec Ben. Ca c’est du pouce ! qu’on pense jusqu’a ce qu’il fasse signe un peu plus bas a sa collegue, une autre petite puce qui a une grosse chaire de poule et qui grelotte a t’en serrer le coeur, qui nous remorque dans la riviere rendue trop peu profonde. La on commence a comprendre qu’ils font pas ca pour le fun et ils nous demandent de l’argent… oups, on a deja tout depense, dommage peanut ! Le gars qui ramasse nos trippes a pas l’air trop content en apprenant ca, c’est pas reglo je crois.
On se rechauffe avec une bonne douche et on ecoute quelques episodes de Family Guy apres une bonne bouffe grasse et un petit tour chez Jaidee’s. Maudit qu’on est ben en Amerique !

Le deuxieme jour on est plus sages et on va explorer le paysage avec un groupe qui nous emmene visiter une grotte qui a juste assez d’eau pour nous rassoir dans des tubes pour admirer les parois le nez en l’air. On en a pas vu beaucoup de grottes depuis le debut du voyage, c’est pas la plus belle, celles de la Baie d’aHalong sont dures a battre, mais ca fait changement. On visite aussi la Elephant Cave nommee ainsi a cause d’une stalagmite en forme d’elephant, lieu de culte important qui abrite une cloche en bombe recyclee (cette industrie, par ailleurs nee de la necessite, tue malheureusement beaucoup de laotiens qui recuperent les engins non exploses que les americains ont laches sur le pays a l’epoque de la guerre du Vietnam…) que les moines du monastere voisin cognent pour annoncer l’heure de la quete qui assure leurs deux repas quotidiens (ils soupent pas).

L’apres-midi on descend la riviere en kayak a partir de plus haut que d’ou partent les tubes, ce qui nous donne d’autres vues de la chaine de montagnes et d’autres occasions de s’obstiner. Pas facile le kayak en couple On arrive a la section occupee par le tubing, on arrete presque une heure a un des bars pour quelques drinks au soleil et on finit de descendre. Ce soir-la, on succombe et on se paye un steak sauce au vin rouge. Il n’est ni epais ni tres tendre, mais ca fait la job et on est tres satisfaits, on est bons pour recommencer a manger du riz, ca nous a defoule. On va faire notre tour au Jaidee’s et on se couche assez tot, on a eu notre dose de debauche occidentale, on est pres a retourner a notre voyage asiatique.

On a un crochet a faire : retourner a Vientiane pour aller chercher nos visas pour le Myanmar et nos passeports. Ca fait qu’on rembarque dans l’autobus en sens inverse. On arrive en debut d’apres-midi et pour une fois, le mini-bus nous debarque pas loin d’ou on va. On trouve une chambre pour moins cher que la deniere fois, toilette sur l’etage, mais pas si pire, et on va voir les quelques attractions touristiques de la ville qui s’apprette a recevoir des delegations de tous les pays de l’ASEAN pour des jeux regionaux qui mettront le pays “sur la map”. Plus pauvre que ses voisins, le pays qui a tenu a tout faire comme un grand et a reussi a ramasser l’argent necessaire a la construction des stades et aux amenagements en vendant des droits de coupe de ses belles fortes du nord aux chinois… triste l’economie et ses aboutissants des fois.
On va donc voir la Black Stupa, la plus vieille de la ville, sans grand interet, on va voir une fontaine qui marche meme pas, on passe devant Patuxai (victory monument) et on va visiter le Pha That Luang, tout peinture dore (en beton en dessous), temple hautement sacre pour les laotiens (bouddhistes a 99 %) qui est aussi represente sur leur monnaie. J’avais des attentes qui seront decues, c’est pas si gros ni si beau et on peut pas y entrer malgre qu’on doive payer un droit de passage pour la voir de plus pres. Bof, finalement, c’est pas une mauvaise chose qu’on ne traine pas dans la capitale, c’est pas tres excitant tout ca ! On a deja achete notre billet pour Luang Prabang pour le matin, un trajet de 10 heures… encore de l’autobus, mais on a pas trop le choix, faut bien se rendre !

On vous fera part de nos impressions de cette ville classee patrimoine mondial et hautement touristique la prochaine fois.

Et dire que Noel est dans un mois… on est loin de tout ca dans nos tetes !
Ici c’est ” l’hiver ” aussi, les locaux mettent des gros manteaux le matin… alors qu’y doit faire 15 ?! C’est drole quand meme ! C’est vite rechauffe, quand le soleil sort y tappe fort. Je me fais encore manger par les bibittes qui epargnent toujours Ben… pas juste ! Je ne bronche meme plus quand il y a juste des toilettes turques. Je cherche a me debarasser de plusieurs morceaux de vetements que je traine depuis le debut sans porter et qui font juste allourdir mon sac et me faire passer pour une princesse qui a traine toute sa garde-robe, je les donnerai si j’ai l’occasion quand on croisera un village pauvre. On prend moins de photos qu’au debut, on est plus rodes et on commence a realiser qu’on est presque rendus a la moitie du periple.
On a su qu’on sera obliges de voler pour entrer au Myanmar, les frontieres terrestres impossibles pour nous. En voyant le prix des billets d’avion, on y repense, on hesite, on verra. Pour l’instant, on pense surtout a descendre du nord de la Thailande jusqu’a Bangkok, c’est de la qu’il faudra voler… ou pas. Si on y va pas, ca nous liberera 2 semaines pour les passer aillleurs et les fonds qui vont avec, mais ca nous fera une experience unique de moins en tete, on pesera les pours et les contres.

A bientot XXXX

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Travel Location: Asia,Cambodia,North,Siem-Reap

The next day, we were picked up at 8:30 by our tuk-tuk driver, who took us on the “Grand Circuit” of the Angkor Wat complex.
Angkor Wat was essentially a kingdom that was built over 800 years ago. Millions of people lived there, and the temples that remain were built in the name of each of the kings of the days. Each king wanted to one-up the last, and so each temple built was grander than the one before it. The civilians, their shops and other official buildings were made of wood as stone was saved for the “king-gods”, and so disappeared centuries ago. All that remains are the temples made of stone, brick and limestone. There’s a bit of history for you.

There are hundreds of sites around the area, and we decided to buy a three-day pass (for $US40 – apparently ticket sales to Angkor Wat make up about 25% of Cambodia’s GDP) and take the larger circuit first, and the smaller circuit the next day- the idea being that if we saw Angkor Wat itself first, all the other temples would look unimpressive by comparison (which turned out to be a good move).
The temples were breathtaking. The detail in every carving and brick is so intricate, and the fact that they were all built in the 11-13th centuries makes it even more amazing.
We spent the day exploring 5 temples, with a long lunch break at a delicious Khmer restaurant in the middle.
That night we went to the night market with Wocco and Dim again, and out for dinner at a Khmer restaurant where MICK JAGGER once ate. So, we’re pretty much famous now.

We decided the next day to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat itself (along with about 100 buses full of Japanese tourists – surprise surprise). It was well worth the 4am start – we sat down by a pond just in front of the temple, and saw the sun rise over the 5 towers. A Cambodian man was singing traditional songs as the sun rose, and the moment one we’ll remember for a long time.

We then explored the temple, stopping every now and then to just sit and look – the place is so so peaceful.
Breakfast followed (at a particularly dodgy “restaurant” – aka a shack with chairs), so we took the lowest risk option of jam and bread.
The next few temples were all so different to each other – Bayon (our favourite) looked more like something you would see in South America at Maccu Picchu – amazing.
And of course, Ta Prohm – the temples used for filming Tomb Raider. These were the most stunning – the temples were mostly in ruins, but over the years the roots of massive strangler figs grew over them, and the result is seriously beautiful. Plus, we’ve pretty much met Angelina Jolie now.

By the end of the day, we were officially “templed out”. The last temple looked just like the ones on our first day, and we pretty much walked straight through it to get back to our driver. We can see why the term “Same Same but Different” is used so much over here!

A massive part of the Angkor Wat experience is saying “No thank you” about 150 times an hour. Every entrance and exit to each temple is covered with little kids selling bracelets and trinkets – they look at you with their big sad brown eyes and just repeat over and over “3 for one dow-ler”. It’s so hard to say no, because we both know how much a dollar would mean to them, it’s hard not to get emotional about it. Some of the kids ask where you’re from and then say a spiel that they’ve all rote-learned about the country. It’s possibly the cutest thing ever. The Australian one went something like “Capital Canberra. 20 million people. Kangaroo. G’day mate!”. Very impressive, especially when five kids say the whole thing in complete unison. The women yell out “Hey lady you want scarf for your sister?” or “Sir you buy somesing sir?”. Saying no looks like it will be a pretty prominent part of our trip. Megan did give in and buy a bracelet though (children are her weak point). The saddest part is that primary school in Cambodia is free, and still these families can’t afford to not have their children selling bracelets all day in the hope of getting $1.

The afternoon was spent sleeping in preparation for our countdown to Lewis’ birthday (Wocco’s idea). We went back to the Mick Jagger restaurant (the food was amazing) and began with our $2 cocktails and $0.75 beers, then moved onto Angkor What? – a pub run by British expats. It was like walking into Third Class (except more of a bar), and it was full of Westerners (and thus clean toilets – bonus!).
There were $5 buckets, and when you bought two at once you got a free t-shirt. Lewis said as a joke that we should aim to get everyone a t-shirt, aka drink 8 buckets….we decided after a shot and two buckets that that would be the aim of the night… And we did it!! The countdown to midnight happened, and Megan forced a table full of New Zealanders to come over to sing to him. Awesome awesome night!
The night had a sad end though- on the way out at 3am we were bombarded by children begging. First they said they wanted food, and so did we so we went to buy them some, then more came, then more, then their mothers, and we all had no idea what was going on – they were climbing all over us and hugging us (not stealing though which is what we thought might be happening – don’t worry mums and dads, we kept a tight hold on the zips to our bags the whole time!). These kids were literally staving, and wanted $US money from us, which we didn’t have and couldn’t possibly have given to all of them. After a massive night, the magnitude of the situation really hit home. We left these children crying on the street because we couldn’t give them $1. Horrible.

BUT apart from that, the night was seriously awesome. Although our drinking games may have killed the Dutch! It’s 3pm and they haven’t come out of their room….

So today we’re just resting, maybe having a massage and going out for dinner for Lewis’ birthday (Happy Birthday Lewis!!)
Tomorrow we set off by bus for Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

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Travel Location: Asia,India,Maharashtra

It must be morning 9 am. There were 7 levels in the treck. Each level would take around 15-20 minutes to climb. The view was getting more and more beautiful. The guide told me that Mahuli fort was an important village earlier. Modern villages, towns and cities are settlements which are established near the Highway route or Railway line. The places where people used to stay 1000 years ago have become jungles now and places which were jungles 1000 years ago are cities now. We were climbing the steps created at those times and which were mostly in the wrecked conditions. We could see some Locals taking their cattles to top for grazing which made us wonder.. Dont these cows and buffellows get tired climbing such height..??

In later stage we reched the place where the path was really in a bad shape. As i climbed higher i was in entering in the clouds. I was midist green valley and mist covered, with sudden droplets of fresh rain waters.. I mean that is what we mean when we say about natures beauty. This also makes me think that even a simplest of man in those olden days was getting a basic right from life to enjoy such beauty of nature and be with it for months and days. Months and days because the place is not the same all around the year. If you visit the same place during summers then you may find it a treck in valley of golden-yellow dry grass. Thats why i prefer trecks during rainy season.

While climbing down we wanted visit the water fall nearby. The guide dint understand what we ment. He took us to place from where we could see water falling deep down. He said that its not advisable to get beneth due to some earlier casualties. Let me clear it here that i personally found it a quite safe place. And with the number of trecks being organised at such location its really really safe to visit such place. Even girls and womens make it to top. For the guide its no difficult anyways to climb as he can do the same trek for whole day without getting tiered. But for villagers of shahpur which is a near by village this must be a dangerous place. So please ignore what the villagers have to say about the place. Its a really safe and nice place.

While climbing down I saw a stream flowing downwards which crossed our path. I asked guide if there is any place where we can enjoy swiming. To my surprise he replied yes. Now this is what i wanted after such a treck. I prefer a good swin after a treck. This is one more reason why i prefer trecking in rainy season. We reached down and lunch was waiting for us. As usual i was on my diet of fruits and biscuits. Before the lunch started i went with the guide through the farms to the small dam where i had a nice floating for around half an hour.

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