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Kav & Sara

20 Blog Entries
1 Trip
290 Photos

Trips:

Round the world trip!!

Shorthand link:

http://blogabond.com/Kav


Wasssuuupp!
Our Phileas Fogg expedition is coming to an end!! Arrgghh! So we've decided to extend our stay in America to 2 months, so we'll be back in July! Just kidding!
We've travelled to the centre of the earth and back. Our beards are now grey and longer than ever, and in 6 weeks we'll be heading back to British shores to release our newfound wisdom! So prepare yourselves! We look forward to seeing you all so free up your diaries and get ready for us!!

Much Love, Kav & Sara x


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Andaman Coast

Krabi, Thailand

We woke to the sound of hooting Gibbons at around 7am on the last day at the Khao Sok National Park . With our sexy scooter raring to go, we set off on a day long adventure to find the Dam. We arrived at the main viewpoint to find a huge lake with long tailed boats cruising from one side to another ferrying people around. The panoramic views were endless, and the tranquility of the viewpoint was made even more significant by the lack of tourists. In fact we were the only people there apart from the gardeners sweeping leaves! After taking in the views, we had done all that there was to do at the lake. Instead of sticking around looking at the same views, we decided to follow a signpost for some cool springs and a waterfall. We prayed that the hour long ride on the hottest day so far in Thailand (ever) would be well worth it, and after the road suddenly ended, we had to take a dirt track for the last 20 minutes. It was obvious that no one had been there in a long time, and the mosquitos were more than welcoming. The cool springs consisted of a large muddy bubbling puddle. And thats being kind. The waterfall was more of a stream falling from one piece of mud to another. So 10 minutes later, and about 72 mozzy bites, we were navigating our way back to the road. Once we were back on the tarmac, we cruised through small villages that used the surrounding forrests for the production of rubber and for harvesting fruit. Although the cool springs were disappointing, the views that lined the road were awesome-o! The limestone cliffs stood over 50 metres high and the caves were covered with stalagtites. This meant that we kept stopping on the way back for pictures! We finally arrived back at our jungle hut, just as it was getting dark and the toads were coming out. The rest of the night was just spent chilling before heading to Krabi first thing in the morning.
We arrived in Krabi and settled into an average hotel. As we didn't really know anything about Krabi, we just mooched about for the afternoon, checking out the cheap shops and food stalls. Krabi town lies beside a river which is used by longtail boats for tours around the mangroves. However, Krabi really comes to life at night, and one place in particular made us really like the town straight away! The night market by the river is a collection of small local food stalls, selling every Thai dish that exists and to a very high standard. The hardest part of the night is deciding which stall to eat at, as you walk past each one, the aromas are overwhelming! With the food being so inexpensive, the second hardest thing is limiting how many dishes we order. Both locals and tourists flock here in their hundreds for the good food. It creates a really upbeat atmosphere with everyone being there to try the delicious, although sometimes crazy, Thai food.
Aside from the food, the beaches of Krabi are even better than those on the Gulf Coast, with tiny islands rising up from the sea. Yeserday we vistited a beach with a small island about 50 metres from the shore, which could be waded to as the water never goes past the belly button! We spent at least an hour here looking for cowry shels, of which we only found 3 very average ones! We finished the day at a gastropod site, one of only three in the world. It consisted of slabs of snail fossils over 40cm thick that date back over 75 million years. It sounded great on paper, but it looked more like an earthquake site than a tourist hotspot!
Today we went on a trip to West Raillay and Phra Nang Cave Beach. Between the beaches of west and east Raillay lies a lagoon than can only be accessed by an extremely dangerous trek. Being the thrill seekers that we are, we headed up the vertical cliff faces with the use of ropes, and down 20metre drops, again using only whats left of our lean upperbody strength. Two and a half hours were spent getting to the lagoon and back, and being so exhausted, we hit the beach! With the sun being a bit tempremental, Kav went for a bit of snorkelling. He became really excited when he saw some coral about 20metres from shore, seeing tiger fish, clown fish (nemo's!) and squid amongst other things. His smile was a picture and summed up a good day on the west coast!

Tomorrow we're off to Ko Phi Phi, where The Beach was filmed. We've heard mixed reviews about this place, so we'll check it out and make our own minds up about this hood.

Keep it real x x x

P.S Pics will be on in the next few days, we have to go to the night market now! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM :-P we so hungry, we love you longtime!

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on January 24, 2009 from Krabi, Thailand
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Gulf Coast

Khao Sok, Thailand

After settling down in Ko Samui, we got another motorbike as its by far the easiest and cheapest way to get around. We did most of the usual tourist spots, which were pretty impressive! Our first stop was Samui Aquarium, where the marine life was spectacular. We fed some turtles some lettuce which was fun, but the sharks seemed more interested in us than the lettuce so we moved on! After seeing all the aquatic life, we headed to the small zoo, where a few animals were housed, such as parrots and a few mammals. We then sat to watch a bird/ tiger/ leopard/ otter show (they performed at different times) which was a demonstration of how clever and skillful each of them are. The birds bike race was highly amusing, and they were looked after so well in comparison to most of the wildlife places we'd visited. By far the greatest part of the day, and one of the highlights of the trip so far, was holding a 10 month old monkey called 'Pretty'. She was rejected by her mother and was attacked shortly after birth, and being hand-reared has made her so friendly to humans. She won't ever be able to return to the wild, but its far better than being orphaned alone and left to die. She was fascinated with everything, as all babies are, and holding her made it very tempting to take her home. We left empty handed, and headed to the beach for a dip then went to book a boat trip, as we had heard so much about the small islands off the coast of Ko Samui. The cluster of 41 small islands make up Ang Thong National Marine Park, and before we had even arrived, we saw a dolphin jumping out the water. We knew we were going to have a good day! White sands, turqoise waters, and great snorkelling! We even saw a monitor lizard as we kayaked past an island!
After the boat trip, we headed back to Ko Pha Ngan for the full moon party. Although it wasn't as busy as the New Year Party, we both had a few drinks and a good boogie, so we were happy! The rest of our time in Ko Pha Ngan was spent on the beach or in a hammock, until our itchy feet decided it was time to move on to Ko Tao, the smallest of the three inhabited islands on the east coast of Thailand. Before we had even stepped onto the boat, we were asked if we wanted to do a PADI Open Water scuba diving course. It was very pricey, and way out of our budget, but rumour was that Ko Tao was the best place for scuba diving in south-east Asia. so we decided to do it, and it was the greatest experience ever! After a crash course into the physical and bilogical limitations of the body, were found ourselves loaded with scuba gear and in a swimming pool for our first practical lesson. Hours later, after some academic work and an exam, we were preparing for our first of 6 dives. Each one was unbelievable. Words don't do justice to how awesome the marine life is here. Coral reefs full of psychodelic coloured fish made it very hard to concenrate on what we were supposed to be doing. After the first four dives we were qualified divers, and we decided to do another two just for the hell of it. Our last dive, at a place called Three Rocks (named after the three rocks where the coral reefs grow), was by far the best. Getting up at 5:30am to go became more than worth it, and the sight of a puffer fish nearly a meter long was more than exhilerating. To name a few favourites, we saw parrotfish, butterfly fish, banded angelfish, moray eels, stingrays, and triggerfish (have a look on google for pics, they're all amazing!).
After completing the PADI course, we decided to head to pastures new. We took a night boat to Surat Thani on the mainland, then heading straight to Kao Sok National Park.
We spent the last two days trekking in a rainforest, our base being in a jungle hut at the foot of the National Park. We expected to see a host of wildlife, although we've only managed to see some monitor lizards, some little lizzies, a preying mantis, some fish, a few toads, the odd bat, and a grasshopper. Hardly a jungle safari, but signs that TOLD us wild elephants and monkeys roamed the park made the 10km treks well worth it!
So now, we've got ourselves another sexy scooter and were going on a 3 hour road trip to see a lake, which lies on the edge of the national park. If were lucky, we hope to see a few monkeys! The only one we have seen was thanks to a Dutchman living opposite us who left his bananas in view, leading to a family of monkeys harrassing him to the point where he couldn't get into his room! He was amazed this could happen in the jungle, and called for the owner to get rid of them using firecrackers to scare them! Hopefully the next monkeys we see will be allowed to roam freely, and eat as many bananas as they want!

Peace out from PADI 1 and PADI 2 x x

P.S. Sorry about the lack of blogs and briefness of this one, revising for tests (a task we thought we'd said goodbye to) and underwater activity has taken up most of our time lately! We'll try and be more punctual and frequent in the upcoming weeks!

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on January 19, 2009 from Khao Sok, Thailand
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Thailand

Ko Samui, Thailand

After saying bon voyage to India, we said sawadee-ka to Thailand! We arrived in Bangkok at midday on the 27th to the sight of tuk-tuks and multicoloured taxis. Bangkok was another very busy city, which can only be expected for a capital city. Although the busyness was reminiscent of Delhi, there was a much more relaxed pace about things. Our first experience was a one hour city tour for free, the only drawback was that we had to go to a few tailors for them to sell us overpriced suits. After conquering the art of being sold little for alot in India, the Thai's didn't stand a chance! We stayed on the busiest street in Bangkok in terms of shops, markets, bars, and tourists. It seemed to have a more western atmosphere than India. Even though we had been warned about the street food, it looked too delicious to keep ignoring it. So we indulged in a slap up meal for two, for the equivalant of about 60p! From kebabs and corn on the cob to noodles and thai curries, street stalls sold the lot from morning till night. This meant the 24/7 Mcdonalds and Burger King weren't put to good use!
On our second day we visited the city zoo, which was awesome! An acrobatic show, with elephants was very entertaining!
The temperature was about 30 degrees, which made staying out in the sun all day a difficult task. But spending a few hours at the Grand Palace was well worth the four litres
of sweat we shed! The attention to detail was unbelievable on every part of every building, which we found far more aesthetically pleasing than we had found the city palaces in India.
After finding out that there wasn't much going on in Bangkok on New Years Eve, we decided to head to Ko Pha Ngan, the South-East Asian rave capital! After an 8 hour VIP coach journey and a short ferry trip, we arrived in Ko Pha Ngan, where tourists had arrived in droves. This meant that hotel prices were doubled, and we had no choice but to pay! We soon found that it was well worth it! The New Years Eve party on the beach of Hat Rin was by far the best New Years Party ever. With every type of music played, from reggae to drum n bass, and over 20,000 ravers sporting glow sticks and glow paint, we busted a million shapes and the lunges were second to none! 5 hours of jamming later, and we were pooped, so after a taxi back to our room we crashed out smiling and ears ringing!
The next few days were spent with our pink scooter! We could ride round the Island in an hour, and it gave us the freedom to visit waterfalls, beaches, and even the Masons Arms, a very English pub serving John Smith's and Guiness. Good times!
We then headed to the larger Island called Ko Samui. We arrived here yesterday where we found a room for the same price as a pint, so as we find our bearings and explore this island, take easy and keep checking for our next update!!

Thinking of you all!

Kav and Shoey x

P.S Pics will be on soon after we conquer some technical difficulties.

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on January 3, 2009 from Ko Samui, Thailand
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Bon Voyage India!

Bangkok, Thailand

After spending Christmas at the zoo and having a Chinese for dinner, our trip through India had come to an end. So we think we should close this trip with a reflection on our experiences in India.

After only a week in India, we were questionning why we came here. It seemed like a smelly, dirty, and beggar infested country. Although the city palaces and grand forts were beatutiful, it seemed that that was all India had to offer. A lack of knowledge became our downfall and resticted us from appreciating India. Without knowing the history of each monument, palace, and fort, we found it hard to appreciate their importance as integral parts of Indian culture, and how they have shaped modern India. We both agree that India, or at least the northern provinces are nowhere near ready for tourists yet. The people of India try to take as much as possible for as little as possible, although this made us extremely angry and sometimes hostile, we also appreciated that they don't understand any other cultures apart from their own, and why should they? Afterall, we were visiting their country. The point were trying to make is that, in comparison to western cultures, we felt that India can be far less welcoming.
With so many negative experiences crammed into our first week, the good times were totally eclipsed by bad times. After waking up every morning with a renewed sense of hope for good times, we began to give up. We learnt that to expect the expected in India is about as likely as finding a meal without chilli. So when we expected the south of India to be the same, India had another surprise. It was as if all the bad things that had happened were to balance out the good times that laid ahead over the next 24 days in the south. From Goa onwards, stunning landscapes, smiling people, and an abundance of wildlife both on land and in the sea turned India from a nightmare into a tropical paradise. We woke up each day smiling and couldn't wait to see what was in store for us. We couldn't believe how we were still in the same country, as the north and south are so significantly different.
As we reflect on India as a whole, and what we would say if we were asked "what is India like?", we'd say its the most beautiful country we have ever been to, and perhaps if Indians were a little more welcoming in some places, India would be be the trip of a lifetime. Would we go back? Definately! After 5 weeks, we started to learn how to communicate effectively with Indians, and both admiring and appreciating the difficulties Indians face in what appears to be a very poorly run country.

Although we thought India was the wrong choice after a week, we don't think we could have picked a better place to start our trip. We've learnt so much and experienced so much in terms of culture, that we've become so wise we have grown white beards and smell like mouldy cheese. The more we think of India the more we miss it, and the culture shock we experienced at first made it very hard for us to open ourselves to India. However being away from it makes things much clearer, and as the song says, ' you don't know what you've got til its gone'!

Bon Voyage India!

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on December 28, 2008 from Bangkok, Thailand
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Kerala- God's own country

Kollam, India

Ola Seniors and Senioritas! Hope all is well!!

We've done a little bit of nomadic travelling recently, followed by a bit of a lazy stretch! After going Goan, we headed to a small town called Alleppey, which lies on the south west coast of India. We had heard so much about backwater trips we thought we would give it a go. Not only did we escape the constant request for money, but we were in one of the most beautiful places we've ever been. The backwaters of Alleppey have become known as the Venice of the East, and it probably wouldn't be overshadowed by Venice. The views are spectacular. The rivers branch off in all directions, straddled by paddy fields and small huts in which families live. After finding out that the people of Alleppey don't eat, and having no restaurants or cafes anywhere, we were pleasantly surprises with the food we had on the house boat. Fresh fish served with rice, chappati's, and an Indian potato salad was just the ticket! We watched the sunset as we floated on the still backwaters.
The escape from reality was short lived as we only spent one night on the house boat before we had to head to Trivandrum. We decided to do this in style and travel like a local on one of the state buses. Not for the faint hearted! Aside from the heat and the sweatiness, some bright spark had fitted the loudest horn in the world INSIDE the bus, approximately 3 foot from our ears. This would be ok, but Indians use the horns more often than they spit, and thats alot! But hey, for 50p each to travel 200km, we shouldn't complain, but we will, cos we can :)
After getting annoyed at the sparsity of food on the streets of Alleppey, we were grateful to find a few restaurants in Trivandrum. No sooner did we find them did we find out that we couldn't order anything without chilli's! Even the plain scrambled egg was served with chilli. But wow, they know how to make ice cream!! The ice cream cost twice as much as the meal, but absence of the chilli's was immense!! As our flight to Thailand is on the 26th from Trivandrum, we wanted to stay pretty close. We were desperate to see some wildlife so we got on another state bus and headed to Vithura, a small town close Peppara Wildlife sanctuary. Big mistake! This town had never seen tourists, and one and a half white people was enough for over one hundred school kids to stop and stare and point and laugh. The one thing we realised was that in small villages that aren't used to foreigners can be very unwelcoming. With them not knowing any English, and us not knowing any Indian, we were stuck. So after an hour of milling around trying to find food without chilli's in, we became so frustrated and angry, we paid a large some to head to Neyyar Dam Wildlife Sanctuary. We arrived in the dark and went to one of the only hotels there were, which was right near the dam. Shortly before going to bed, we heard some strange growling, we joked that it was a lion or a tiger outside our room, but settled thinking that they were playing it through speakers around the hotel. When we woke up, we realised how close we were to nature. An excited little girl shouted "Oh my god the view is amazing!", although at 8am a tired little boy replied "go back to bed". The balcony overlooked the lake, which was surrounded by what looked like a rainforest! Not knowing where to go, or what to do, we headed to the wildlife tourist information centre. Here, we met a few other travellers who were also a little confused about what to do, so we all stuck together. Once we had a group of ten, we headed over to the lion safari park, via boat as it was enclosed on an island. Once we arrived on the island, we all piled in to a small bus, which was covered in bars to protect us. Although several safety precautions were put in place, the one thing they forgot was to lock the door!!! As soon as we entered the enclosure, the door flung open and we screamed! They had no way of keeping the door shut, so kav jumped to the rescue with a shoe lace! A few reef knots later...and we were on the move again. Because of the tiger safari in Ranthambou, with no tigers, we weren't really expecting to see much. How wrong we were!! This was one of the best experiences ever, we were within touching distance of a family of three lions.....WOW! The excitement didn't stop there either, as we got a free lift with some people from Middlesbrough to the elephant rehabilitation centre. After riding and feeding an elephant, we came away feeling very content and privilaged.
After seeing what we came to see in Neyyar, we headed further south to Kovalam, a coastal town with more tourists than Blackpool Pleasure Beach! We decided to stay here for a few days as the amenities were great: swimming pool, crystal clear sea, sand, and last but not least excellent food, fresh seafood every night mmmmmmm. We are now staying here till Christmas day, which we'll be spending at the zoo :0).

So have a jolly Crimbo Chaps,
get stuffed and eat as much as you can!

P.S. Don't forget to tune in for the queens speech, we wouldn't miss it for the world!! hehe
xxx xxx xxx

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on December 22, 2008 from Kollam, India
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Goin Goan...

Goa, India

Hey! Long time no speak!
Apologies to all for not writing sooner, its been random to say the least (thanks to everyone for comments as well!)

We haven't been as busy as we were in the first two weeks although we still have alot to report! After letting all the trouble pass in Mumbai we got a sleeper coach from Udaipur to Mumbai. If you've never seen an Indian sleeper coach, think of it as row of chicken cages full of squashed people, but not laying eggs! We left Udaipur at 4pm expecting to arrive in Mumbai at 7am, with our train booked from Mumbai to Goa at 11:40am. But in India, time is irrelevent to everyone. Nothing runs on time and everyone just takes life as it comes. Which is great, if you don't have a train to catch!! So after stopping at every service station between Udaipur and Mumbai (all of which had no lights in the toilets) we arrived in Mumbai at 12 midday. However, whilst almost everything in India ignores the relevance of time, trains leave exactly when they're supposed to. So, our first dilemma in Mumbai, how to get train tickets in an Indian train station with no air con unveiled itself.

We spent a very long 4 hrs or so in Mumbai station before finally managing to get some reserved seats on a train later that day. The train was actually quite pleasant compared to the battery farm we had just been travelling in. As we had originally planned to get to goa that night, we had a hotel booked already, but by the time we got to goa it was nearly 4am, we were suffering from lack of sleep and starvation and just desperately wanted a bed lol! So, we got straight in a rickshaw from the station and said 'hotel saaj please', only to find that when we got there, it was closed. We coudln't even get in. Luckily the driver knew another place where we could rest our weary heads! We were now in the centre of a busy town in central goa called Madgaon.

Madgaon was a world away from the north of India, it seemed to be full of smiling faces and was much cleaner than everywhere we'd been so far. After catching up on sleep and doing some much needed washing, we thought we'd treat ourselves to a decent meal in an actual restaurant rather than a shack. Kav expressed that he thought it would be really cool if there was a storm and a blackout, so we would be stranded in the restaurant and forced to eat all the curries on the menu, untill the storm had passed. Famous last words!
No sooner than leaving the restaurant, the rain came with a vengence, and its not even supposed to be the monsoon season. It rained so hard and so fast that the roads turned into rivers, causing a massive blackout (which kav found very exciting- he even started taking pictures of the darkness). By the time we got back to the hotel, we were a see through pair of drowned rats, soaked to the skin. But the strangest thing was that we were laughing about it and really didn't care! We even had a litle dance in the middle of a road! Since we arrived in India we had constantly been rushing to get from one place to another and not really taking the time to just take it all in and have fun. So with all the bad things about the north of India put behind us, the south was very welcoming to a couple of weathered travellers!

After getting the journey out of our systems and feeling less like chickens, we headed to the north of Goa to see some of the beaches. We stopped in a place called Anjuna, which was a quiet beach resort, where the clear water was lined with Palm trees and candle lit beach huts that served local seafood. After noticing most of the people around us being extremely relaxed, we smelt something more than just fishy! We later found out that the beach was nicknamed "Hippies Paradise" for its easy access to drugs and glow in the dark pictures of Bob Marley!

Our next stop was one of the main beaches in Goa called Callangute. It was an Indian version of Blackpool. So we made a very swift exit south to Colva, near to Madgaon where we initially started. This was another very busy beach, so we begain trekking down the beach with our 15kg rucksacks on in a 38 degree heat looking for a quiet beach. 15 minutes and a bucket of perspiration later, we arrived at a small restaurant that had a few rooms going cheap, so we booked in for the 3 best nights of our lives... not! In short, we had severe food poisening that resulted in fluid loss in all directions and we only left our room to get more loo roll and water! All we kept saying was "I want my mummy's stew and dumplings!" or "I want my mummy's home-made leek and potato soup!".

Which brings us to today! After almost a full recovery, were going to have some fun in the sun with the abundance of cool sea creatures! There's starfish and hermit crabs everywhere, woop woop!

We'll try and put some pics on later today after we've been to the beach. Well even put one up of Kermit the Hermit, our new travel buddy!

So for now, its goodbye from your brave travellers, we'll be in touch sooner rather than later :-)
xxx

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on December 6, 2008 from Goa, India
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Day 3-10. A messy week in Northern India!

Udaipur, India

Ok, apologies first for not updating the blogs, we've been in places where the internet is about as popular as a clean street in Delhi. Anyways, we left Delhi to head to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The place is amazing from the outside but the inside isn't anything special. We were there long enough to get photos then we set off on a cool 7 hour drive to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. It was pretty much another Delhi but hotter. Although the Palaces are amazing, once you've seen the Taj Mahal everything else is fairly average! So we spent the evening in a local restaurant which was an oasis, as our hotel was like a crack den from trainspotting. As quickly as we got there we left, heading for a Tiger Safari in Ranthambou, which was awesome, although we didn't see any tigers. We saw some pretty scary animals though, an owl, deer, a kingfisher, wild boar's, stalks, monkeys and other scary creatures.
So after getting over not seeing any tigers, we left for Pushkar. A place described as a peaceful holy town surrounded by mountains. We were originally set to stay here for one night, however when we saw our room and found out we had hot water (for the first time since we got here) we wanted to stay an extra night. Another perk of the hotel was an empty swimming pool, lush (i.e. no water in it)! The first night in Pushkar was spent chilling out accompanied by silence and the sight of stars (a rarity in India with all the smog!)
The following day, after a nice pancake, we set off into the town to find the 'holy lake' (the main attraction in Pushkar). Almost immediately we were given flowers by a strange man who said we must take these to the lake. As soon as we got there, we were separated because we're not married. So we were on our own from here, sat down at the edge of the lake, each of us with our own priest.
The priest began by praying for our families to have good health and good Karma, and even though I'm not were not that religious, one of us felt very spiritual, and the other felt uncomfortable from the start. After about 5 minutes, we both felt exactly the same. The feeling of happiness came to a swift end as the priest stated that unless we gave money per family member, they would not be welcomed by God. We were furious that both priests were using religion to make money out of us, and as we tried to get out of the situation, they became very hostile and pursuasive. Stupidly, we gave 40 dollars and 1000 rupees and said we would go to the bank and get more to cover the other people in my family. It wasn't until we left that we realised we'd been shat on from an enormous height. Both of us spent the rest of the morning upset and angry, and needless to say we didn't get any more money! We suddenly realised that 99% of the Indian population seem to be only after money, from the local kids to the priests. This is most likely due to how overcrowded the country is, and the absolute lack of jobs. But an element of greed seems to be ever-present, and unfortunately we've ended up clutching onto our money whenever I see an Indian walk our way, which is every 0.5 seconds!

We both wanted to get as far away as possible from everyone, so we got our walking boots on and headed for the mountains. After about 10 minutes of walking, we found a completely unspoiled spot, where a river had once ran from the mountain. We decided to sit here for a few hours and watch the sunset. After a short while, we had some very good company! A clan of monkeys were running around, completely content with our presence. This really calmed us down and slightly changed our perception of India. The landscape here is vast to say the least, and its sheer size and beauty is breathtaking.
When we arrived back to the hotel we were ready for a curry a beer, and bed, but we saw our driver who invited us to the Hindu temple he was staying at. Curiosity overcame our hunger and we set off into the mountain towards lights that darted up the mountain. Once we got out the car, we were nearly halfway there, with steps that looked like the path up Mount Everest, we took a deep breath and plodded on. At the top, our driver left us in the hands of an old spiritual man who guided us around the temple, explaining each of the Hindu gods. Unlike the priests by the Holy Lake, this man was honest, welcoming, and oblivious to the object of money and material objects. He asked us, "who are you?". He explained that, although you can see your body and your physical presence, you have to question your who you are mentally and spiritually. He also said that the only thing that matters in life is believing in yourself and that you are a good person, if you do this then money is irrelevant, and you will live a long and happy life with good Karma. He invited us to eat with him and the other Hindu's who lived in the Temple, and said if we wanted to donate to the temple, that's ok, if not, we could eat for free, as money means nothing. His refreshing perspective of equality and respect for everyone made us feel like we finally met a true Indian. And although the day couldn't have started any worse, it ended as the most enlightening and touching day so far.

So after our time in Pushkar, we headed on a 7 hour journey to Udaipur, where we are now. Similar to Pushkar in terms of scenery, Udaipur has a sincere friendly aura about it. Everyone says hello and smiles, which is what we hoped to experience in India. We realised that every place in the world has its good parts and its bad parts, and in the wise words of our very friendly driver Mr Singh "Not everyone Mr Singh!". He also said "if you look, you see, if you no look, you no see". And I think we looked at the bad in everyone because of what we had experienced so far, and if you look for the bad points, you'll find them. So from Udaipur onwards we've learnt our lesson, to look for the best in everyone but still be careful!!

We'll be in Udaipur for the next few days until the trouble in Bomb-Bay ends or we find another route!

Stay cool kids- don't do drugs...

Kav and Sara x x

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on November 27, 2008 from Udaipur, India
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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Day 2 - Delhi in a Day

Delhi, India

After a night of torrential rain we woke up at 8:30am feeling as though we hadn’t even been to bed, think the jet lag had taken its toll! After breakfast though, we were ready to set off for the sights!!
First port of call was the Indira Ghandi Memorial Museum. It was pretty much five rooms of front pages of the national newspapers, and you kind of had to work out what had happened over the last 100 years. Apart from the fact that weren’t even in chronological order, heavy brain tasks were not what we wanted at 9am. After the museum we visited the Qutub Minar, the world's tallest brick minaret dating back to 1193. The minaret was pretty impressive, although the huge eagle we saw trying to pick up a dog was awesome. Although a part of me is glad the dog escaped, I can’t help feel a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see a hardcore lesson into the hierarchy of the food chain!
The next stop at a Kashmir and Silk carpet makers is quite difficult to describe. It was like driving a Lamborghini with no breaks- fantastic to start with then just one big catastrophe. Pressured into buying a 2 x 4 foot rug for 120 quid we made a very rude getaway leaving a fat Indian man and his tash somewhat livid.
Next up was the Lotus temple, which looks similar to the Sydney Opera House. We had to take our shoes off for this one as it was a giant prayer room, but it was pretty average inside so we came straight and looked at it from the outside!
At dinner, we went to a restaurant where Sara and I decided to opt for mild curries as we were feeling a little tender. However, Sara’s curry was like eating lava with extra chillis’! So in good faith and being the gent I am, I sacrificed my delicious chicked Jal-Frezi for the curry that burnt a hole in my pants every time I passed wind.
The next trip on our one day mission through Delhi was Humayun's tomb, a breathtaking memorial tomb built in Mughal architecture. As well as bright green parrots and huge eagles that circled the tomb (the same ones that tried to eat a dog), we found a litter of 6 puppies, which were the most adorable things we’d ever seen. Our favourite was the little brown one, who Sara named “The Cute Little Brown One”.
Although we were due to visit a few more places, we were pooped, so only visited the Gate of India to take a quick snap, as well as the Presidents house and a Hindu temple!
Anywayyyyy… were off to get a curry (again!) so were gonna have another go at finding a mild one, if they exist.
Peace out……..holla x

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on November 20, 2008 from Delhi, India
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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First day in India

New Delhi, India

Mental. Thats the only word I can think of to describe Delhi. After a mahoosive sleepless flight from London to Delhi, we were ready for bed. But the taxi ride from the airport soon woke us up, and I'm not sure if that was a good thing. To start with, I realised that drivers in India drive on the right hand side, which was fine, until I realised a car coming straight towards us. We were supposed to be on the left. No problem though, the driver just swurved into the midle of the road and created a new lane. Sara and I were squeezing eachothers hands so tight with cars going past us on both our left and right, and we were straigh down the middle. And that was only the start. In 20 minutes, we saw horses, cows, stray dogs, monkeys, not to mention an 8 strong family of Indians piled on a little 50cc scooter!

When we arrived at our hostel in one piece, happy to be alive, we were pleasently surprised with our first nights accomodation. The only negative came when I realised that what I thought was the button to flush the toilet was actually a jet powered ass washer which conveniently sprayed me from the groin down. Everything else was fine though!

After 40 winks we got ourselves out into the streets. They're filled with the most random things. From colours that I never knew existed to smells that I've never experienced. Everyone was asking for money without exception, the "hello, where are you from?" conversation was echoed down the narrow streets. If you answered or even made eye contact you'd be sucked in to the Indian cash grab vortex, the only way out is to pay a ridiculous amount of money for something you never needed. But its not all bad. By the time you get used to ignoring people the things you see and exprience are extremely moving and mentally challenging. Which is kind of what we were hoping to go through.

Just as we came to the end of the road after being unable to find something to eat that didn't contain rat or pigeon, a well dressed young man saw we were slightly lost. He was in like a shot asking what we needed, as if he could make some money out of us. When I asked him for places to eat he told us to follow him. He took us to a small eat in curry house that only had two walls. The food was awesome and it cost about a quid for both of us. He sat with us whilst we ate and told us, in broken english, what we should see and where to go. I was preparing myself for the scam. Instead, he told us he worked for the government dealing with income tax and he was waiting for hs father, a local police officer, to finish work, and he just wanted to help. It was a huge juxtaposition with the past 5000 people I had brushed past down the dirty streets. He soon sent us on our way after flagging down a rickshaw for us, and even haggled the price for us! It was by far the most refreshing episode I'd experienced for a long time.

permalink written by  Kav & Sara on November 19, 2008 from New Delhi, India
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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