Tuesday, 4 January 2011
The long awaited beach
Seeing the Sikkim trek was not enough punishment for the legs, we planned a milder one to a village called Nongriat where the living root bridges are situated. The locals have devised a way of growing the roots of trees to grow across rivers and brooks out of the ground one side and then back into the ground on the other. They are over a few hundred years old and it usually takes 15 years to complete one.
Nongriat village was almost untouched by tourism, there is one very basic guesthouse with 4 rooms but no electricity and running water. We would be the only tourists staying in the village for the next two nights!! We were greeted by a friendly man called Andreas in the first house you came to in the village and this would be the only time he was sober. The lady who ran the guesthouse was located after 20 minutes, in this time we took tea and stocked up on snacks and some of his rice beer for later that evening. The amazing thing about the guesthouse was the person who ran the place changed every year with the proceeds being split with them and the village.
Mary, whose turn it was to look after us was incredible, she spent most of her time cooking. Due to no electricity, she usually prepared 3 dishes with rice for lunch and dinner on a wood fire which we were amazed by as the food was so tasty. She educated us in Khasi cuisine and even the ingredients that she picked from the surroundings that grew naturally. We spent the days walking to the different root bridges and having a dip in the natural rock pools, it felt like we had the place to ourselves and we had found our gem of the trip so far.
Finding such an amazing place meant we decided to stay as long as possible and do all travel as late as possible, this turned out to be a tough journey. We had a 2 hr bus back to Shillong, a 3 1/2 hour jeep to Guwahati and then a 21 hour train back to Kolkata in the same day. The bad news for the train was we only had one bed due to India's stupid booking system so we took turns on the dirty floor! We definitely deserved our rest day and the next night went for 'date night' back at Ballygunge. We splurged on 3 prawn dishes, one being jumbo prawns and stuffed crab, then 3 desserts to finish!!
We won't talk much about our Sunderbans tour as it makes Jo too angry. This was our xmas present to each other to go see a tiger. Unfortunately, we got ripped off and didn't see a bloody tiger. You win some, you lose some. Jo's friend, Srabany and her parents took us out for a really nice meal once we returned to Kolkata. It was really good to see her but it's weird meeting all these people from home out in India. Jo's Dad next!
Sunshine and the beach was on our doorstep as we landed in Puri. The beach itself isn't anything to brag about due to the dirtiness but it's our first sighting, enough to get excited about. After tough times recently, we stumbled on the best hotel for the money yet. It had a cute garden, table and chairs on the veranda for breakfast, a four poster bed with fresh sheets and the softest pillow. Being friendly with the staff also paid off as they managed to get us 6 crabs for 200 rupees (£3), the second night for dinner which were divine.
Another excursion on a moped to Konark was squeezed in with a few pits stops along the coast for a sunbathe. We missed the sun temple Konark is famous for because of the 25 times mark up from locals to foreigner so we opted for a walk around the grounds. Seen enough temples to last a lifetime!
Vishkhapatnam was more of a stopping off place to break up the train to chennai for xmas. Unfortunately we arrived in at 4 in the morning and were struggling with information for a cheap hotel, even a map for the town. In the end, we found there was a hotel on part of the upper floor of the railway station building. The problem was, check out was 24 hrs so bizarrely we stayed there for the 2 nights. It felt really weird going back to a railway station to spend the night. Vizag as they call it, was pretty non-descript but had a few patches of decent beach to relax on, warming up for our NYE on a secluded west coast beach with some Havana 7 rum!!
Love Alex & Jo xx
Nongriat village was almost untouched by tourism, there is one very basic guesthouse with 4 rooms but no electricity and running water. We would be the only tourists staying in the village for the next two nights!! We were greeted by a friendly man called Andreas in the first house you came to in the village and this would be the only time he was sober. The lady who ran the guesthouse was located after 20 minutes, in this time we took tea and stocked up on snacks and some of his rice beer for later that evening. The amazing thing about the guesthouse was the person who ran the place changed every year with the proceeds being split with them and the village.
Mary, whose turn it was to look after us was incredible, she spent most of her time cooking. Due to no electricity, she usually prepared 3 dishes with rice for lunch and dinner on a wood fire which we were amazed by as the food was so tasty. She educated us in Khasi cuisine and even the ingredients that she picked from the surroundings that grew naturally. We spent the days walking to the different root bridges and having a dip in the natural rock pools, it felt like we had the place to ourselves and we had found our gem of the trip so far.
Finding such an amazing place meant we decided to stay as long as possible and do all travel as late as possible, this turned out to be a tough journey. We had a 2 hr bus back to Shillong, a 3 1/2 hour jeep to Guwahati and then a 21 hour train back to Kolkata in the same day. The bad news for the train was we only had one bed due to India's stupid booking system so we took turns on the dirty floor! We definitely deserved our rest day and the next night went for 'date night' back at Ballygunge. We splurged on 3 prawn dishes, one being jumbo prawns and stuffed crab, then 3 desserts to finish!!
We won't talk much about our Sunderbans tour as it makes Jo too angry. This was our xmas present to each other to go see a tiger. Unfortunately, we got ripped off and didn't see a bloody tiger. You win some, you lose some. Jo's friend, Srabany and her parents took us out for a really nice meal once we returned to Kolkata. It was really good to see her but it's weird meeting all these people from home out in India. Jo's Dad next!
Sunshine and the beach was on our doorstep as we landed in Puri. The beach itself isn't anything to brag about due to the dirtiness but it's our first sighting, enough to get excited about. After tough times recently, we stumbled on the best hotel for the money yet. It had a cute garden, table and chairs on the veranda for breakfast, a four poster bed with fresh sheets and the softest pillow. Being friendly with the staff also paid off as they managed to get us 6 crabs for 200 rupees (£3), the second night for dinner which were divine.
Another excursion on a moped to Konark was squeezed in with a few pits stops along the coast for a sunbathe. We missed the sun temple Konark is famous for because of the 25 times mark up from locals to foreigner so we opted for a walk around the grounds. Seen enough temples to last a lifetime!
Vishkhapatnam was more of a stopping off place to break up the train to chennai for xmas. Unfortunately we arrived in at 4 in the morning and were struggling with information for a cheap hotel, even a map for the town. In the end, we found there was a hotel on part of the upper floor of the railway station building. The problem was, check out was 24 hrs so bizarrely we stayed there for the 2 nights. It felt really weird going back to a railway station to spend the night. Vizag as they call it, was pretty non-descript but had a few patches of decent beach to relax on, warming up for our NYE on a secluded west coast beach with some Havana 7 rum!!
Love Alex & Jo xx
Friday, 24 December 2010
Our British Winter
We ended up spending a week in Darjeeling as the weather was so cold and misty that you couldn't see the surrounding mountains. One of the last mornings in town, Alex had an early morning wake up call from Jo who was like a kid at xmas because she had poked her head round the curtains to see a clear view of Khangchendzonga (third largest mountain in the world). Alex was ordered to dress and get on the balcony to appreciate it properly.
There were a few lazy days spent in due to the weather, making the most of the good food around town, especially the freshly baked donuts. There was an amazing little cafe owned by Tibetans that made an English Breakfast that would better most back home! Another Tibetan cafe was frequented which served the best noodle soups and Tibetan bread, we really didn't want to leave. To burn off the calories, we went for walks through some of the local villages which was really peaceful and picturesque.
The zoo proved interesting as they were breeding some himalayan animals that are becoming extinct, we caught sight of a Tiger which is hopefully a pre-cursor to our National Park visit to see them in the wild. It's such an impressive animal. There were all kinds of other animals including a red panda, tibetan wolves, snow leopards and black bears.
Heading North West into Sikkim for better views of Khangchendzonga, it remained elusive but we enjoyed some pretty hardcore trekking. The start point was Pelling where we spent a day visting an impressive monastary and ruins. An early start on day 1 of the trek, we walked for 6 hours up and down valleys, through local villages, across rivers and finally arrived at Khecheopalri Lake for an overnight stop. The next day to Yuksom was an even more challenging one, only 5 hours this time but the last incline up the mountain was a killer. There was a further walk in the morning to Tashiding but similar to others we met doing the same circuit, our thighs and calves had burnt out and were screaming out for a break. The scenery throughout the trek was incredible so we had a day to recover in Pelling before our descent back to Siliguri on the train ready for another adventure in Assam and Meghalaya.
Our train to Guwahati, the capital of Assam was around 4 hours delayed when we arrived at the station. We initially joked that it's likely to turn up at the time of arrival in Guwahati 9 hours later, unfortunately this was true!! Not sure how we survived the boredom but at least we saved money on an hostel from our new overnight train. There was much confusion with our nationality around the town as India were playing New Zealand in a cricket test match and most thought we were the only kiwis that made the journey to the back arse of India. The game meant hotels were booked up and after half an hour of searching we found a room in a pokey little place only to be turfed out after they found out we weren't married!! Tiredness gave in and we settled on a decent hotel in the end 3 times our usual budget but were glad for a bit of luxury. Nothing else to report really as it was a bit of a dump except a quality Assamese restaurant where we tasted some local specialities.
Seeing our initial reaction to Guwahati was far from good, we moved on to Meghalaya with the prospect of exploring Assam more at a later date. Shillong was a good 3 hours jeep ride away but we turned up expecting a small underdeveloped town and we got quite the opposite. The most interesting time in Shillong was wandering the market which seems to be the most animated in Asia. In the North East states, there are still lots of tribes, which was detectable from the locals buying and selling their wares.
Not that much has been written by travellers in the North East so we were exploring territory off the beaten track a little and found an absolute Gem not far from a place called Cherrapungee. The town itself is very small and fairly non-descipt but their is a kind of eco-resort 14km out and this was where we headed. Rooms were expensive so we opted for a tent fitted out with the comfiest double matress and pillows!! Poking our head out the tent at night to watch the glittering starts, we definitely chose the right option. The view from the resort also looked out towards the plains of Bangladesh, seeing we are not going there now, at least we got a glimpse. The lady that owned the place was so hospitable and helped us prepare for a trek to the main attraction which are Living Root Bridges. We also discovered that Cherrapungee is the wettest place on earth, luckily this was their winter and the weather was sunny!!
In Chennai at present, meeting Jo's Dad in the next few days for xmas curry. Hope everyone has a great xmas and a happy new year!!
Alex & Jo xx
There were a few lazy days spent in due to the weather, making the most of the good food around town, especially the freshly baked donuts. There was an amazing little cafe owned by Tibetans that made an English Breakfast that would better most back home! Another Tibetan cafe was frequented which served the best noodle soups and Tibetan bread, we really didn't want to leave. To burn off the calories, we went for walks through some of the local villages which was really peaceful and picturesque.
The zoo proved interesting as they were breeding some himalayan animals that are becoming extinct, we caught sight of a Tiger which is hopefully a pre-cursor to our National Park visit to see them in the wild. It's such an impressive animal. There were all kinds of other animals including a red panda, tibetan wolves, snow leopards and black bears.
Heading North West into Sikkim for better views of Khangchendzonga, it remained elusive but we enjoyed some pretty hardcore trekking. The start point was Pelling where we spent a day visting an impressive monastary and ruins. An early start on day 1 of the trek, we walked for 6 hours up and down valleys, through local villages, across rivers and finally arrived at Khecheopalri Lake for an overnight stop. The next day to Yuksom was an even more challenging one, only 5 hours this time but the last incline up the mountain was a killer. There was a further walk in the morning to Tashiding but similar to others we met doing the same circuit, our thighs and calves had burnt out and were screaming out for a break. The scenery throughout the trek was incredible so we had a day to recover in Pelling before our descent back to Siliguri on the train ready for another adventure in Assam and Meghalaya.
Our train to Guwahati, the capital of Assam was around 4 hours delayed when we arrived at the station. We initially joked that it's likely to turn up at the time of arrival in Guwahati 9 hours later, unfortunately this was true!! Not sure how we survived the boredom but at least we saved money on an hostel from our new overnight train. There was much confusion with our nationality around the town as India were playing New Zealand in a cricket test match and most thought we were the only kiwis that made the journey to the back arse of India. The game meant hotels were booked up and after half an hour of searching we found a room in a pokey little place only to be turfed out after they found out we weren't married!! Tiredness gave in and we settled on a decent hotel in the end 3 times our usual budget but were glad for a bit of luxury. Nothing else to report really as it was a bit of a dump except a quality Assamese restaurant where we tasted some local specialities.
Seeing our initial reaction to Guwahati was far from good, we moved on to Meghalaya with the prospect of exploring Assam more at a later date. Shillong was a good 3 hours jeep ride away but we turned up expecting a small underdeveloped town and we got quite the opposite. The most interesting time in Shillong was wandering the market which seems to be the most animated in Asia. In the North East states, there are still lots of tribes, which was detectable from the locals buying and selling their wares.
Not that much has been written by travellers in the North East so we were exploring territory off the beaten track a little and found an absolute Gem not far from a place called Cherrapungee. The town itself is very small and fairly non-descipt but their is a kind of eco-resort 14km out and this was where we headed. Rooms were expensive so we opted for a tent fitted out with the comfiest double matress and pillows!! Poking our head out the tent at night to watch the glittering starts, we definitely chose the right option. The view from the resort also looked out towards the plains of Bangladesh, seeing we are not going there now, at least we got a glimpse. The lady that owned the place was so hospitable and helped us prepare for a trek to the main attraction which are Living Root Bridges. We also discovered that Cherrapungee is the wettest place on earth, luckily this was their winter and the weather was sunny!!
In Chennai at present, meeting Jo's Dad in the next few days for xmas curry. Hope everyone has a great xmas and a happy new year!!
Alex & Jo xx
Friday, 10 December 2010
Diwali in Varanasi
Another stroke of luck, we got a tip-off to get on the tourist quota for the trains after accepting our fate of not getting to Varanasi for Diwali (biggest festival similar to our xmas). The last two tickets awaited and we managed to leave the day before the main event on the overnight train. The journey was an experience, imagine the rush before xmas day but people crammed into every bit of space on the train. There were people everywhere, we felt sorry for the Indian's who got the unlucky seat resting their head on the toilet door who were obviously disrupted every time it got used. Jo hardly got any sleep due to someone trying to join her on the same bed!
Varanasi is a hectic place anyway but for Diwali, it was absolute chaos. Strangely, both of us came here on a previous trip before we met and it was one of our favourite places then. This time round, everything was so much more intense, I lost count of the amount of times we were asked for a boat ride down the Ganges. We watched the ritual of puja, which is an offering to the river that takes place every day and then watched fireworks from our hotel rooftop. All over the city, people were setting off fireworks from their rooftops, it went on through the night.
Whilst booking our train from Delhi, we decided to book an onward train to Kolkata to save hassle in Varanasi. We didn't need to catch the train for 4 days but for some reason Jo was adamant that we left at 6pm from the time of booking. For this reason, Alex trusted her and accepted the train left at that time. On the way to the station, we pull out the ticket just before 5pm in the tuk-tuk and realise the train leaves in 5 minutes and we are stuck in a traffic jam! We arrive at the platform 20 minutes late and frantically ask people if our train has gone as it's not up on the board. Luckily for Jo, the train had come all the way from Amritsar and was running an hour late.
After visiting Delhi, Kolkata was a refreshing change for such a big city. Off the train, we took a ferry crossing across the river which was more like something you would do in New York. From a sea of black & yellow taxis, we hailed a cab that is the type of car that would escort royalty in the 60's, an ambassador. The buildings around Calcutta, as it was called, have a heavy influence from the British Raj era with some impressive architecture. There was also a Memorial for Queen Victoria that was a cross between the Taj Mahal and St Paul's with some interesting artwork inside and information on the history of Kolkata. The gardens were filled with Indian couple's canoodling with their lovers, no bench went unutilised.
We met Alex's friend, Debbie who has been working out here for almost a year who showed us Birla Mandir which is a Hindu temple and probably the grandest temple we have seen, it even had 3 chandeliers lighting the interior. The promise of prawns for the both us at Debbie’s favourite restaurant was pretty exciting due to our lack of seafood since July. Every dish was new to us and Bengali food didn’t disappoint, we already have plans to re-visit on our return to Kolkata for lots more amazing prawns and fish curry. After our trip round Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya, we will be returning to Kolkata so we only spent a few days exploring.
The common practice if you don’t use taxis for locals is to get pulled on a hand drawn rickshaw. We have been on tuks and cycle rickshaws but never been pulled by a barefoot man! Trying to flag a cab was proving useless at the time we needed to catch our train to Siliguri so after 15 minutes we decided to give in to the requests from the men with hand drawn rickshaws. After insisting it’s too far to the station, the responses were they were strong men and they go there all the time. We didn’t know whether to feel bad for carrying us or feel good for giving them a well paying job, we tipped them quite a bit which they seemed to be chuffed with. It was one of the calmest journeys through a big city as we got pulled through the backstreets, there was no noisy sound of the two-stroke engine from the tuk and it we got to see some of the real neighbourhoods.
The overnight train to Siliguri was a formality and after a bit of breakfast we headed to a small town called Kurseong which is supposedly like a smaller Darjeeling. We had just entered Ghorkaland which was being protested by locals near the station the day after we arrived. We think the population is predominantly Ghurka and they want their own state, obviously called Ghorkaland. Darjeeling was the next dot on the map, we took afternoon tea in an old colonial hotel which was spiffing. You can already see the change in features as we encroach on the Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan border.
Will update you on our adventure towards the state of Sikkim soon.
Alex & Jo
Varanasi is a hectic place anyway but for Diwali, it was absolute chaos. Strangely, both of us came here on a previous trip before we met and it was one of our favourite places then. This time round, everything was so much more intense, I lost count of the amount of times we were asked for a boat ride down the Ganges. We watched the ritual of puja, which is an offering to the river that takes place every day and then watched fireworks from our hotel rooftop. All over the city, people were setting off fireworks from their rooftops, it went on through the night.
Whilst booking our train from Delhi, we decided to book an onward train to Kolkata to save hassle in Varanasi. We didn't need to catch the train for 4 days but for some reason Jo was adamant that we left at 6pm from the time of booking. For this reason, Alex trusted her and accepted the train left at that time. On the way to the station, we pull out the ticket just before 5pm in the tuk-tuk and realise the train leaves in 5 minutes and we are stuck in a traffic jam! We arrive at the platform 20 minutes late and frantically ask people if our train has gone as it's not up on the board. Luckily for Jo, the train had come all the way from Amritsar and was running an hour late.
After visiting Delhi, Kolkata was a refreshing change for such a big city. Off the train, we took a ferry crossing across the river which was more like something you would do in New York. From a sea of black & yellow taxis, we hailed a cab that is the type of car that would escort royalty in the 60's, an ambassador. The buildings around Calcutta, as it was called, have a heavy influence from the British Raj era with some impressive architecture. There was also a Memorial for Queen Victoria that was a cross between the Taj Mahal and St Paul's with some interesting artwork inside and information on the history of Kolkata. The gardens were filled with Indian couple's canoodling with their lovers, no bench went unutilised.
We met Alex's friend, Debbie who has been working out here for almost a year who showed us Birla Mandir which is a Hindu temple and probably the grandest temple we have seen, it even had 3 chandeliers lighting the interior. The promise of prawns for the both us at Debbie’s favourite restaurant was pretty exciting due to our lack of seafood since July. Every dish was new to us and Bengali food didn’t disappoint, we already have plans to re-visit on our return to Kolkata for lots more amazing prawns and fish curry. After our trip round Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya, we will be returning to Kolkata so we only spent a few days exploring.
The common practice if you don’t use taxis for locals is to get pulled on a hand drawn rickshaw. We have been on tuks and cycle rickshaws but never been pulled by a barefoot man! Trying to flag a cab was proving useless at the time we needed to catch our train to Siliguri so after 15 minutes we decided to give in to the requests from the men with hand drawn rickshaws. After insisting it’s too far to the station, the responses were they were strong men and they go there all the time. We didn’t know whether to feel bad for carrying us or feel good for giving them a well paying job, we tipped them quite a bit which they seemed to be chuffed with. It was one of the calmest journeys through a big city as we got pulled through the backstreets, there was no noisy sound of the two-stroke engine from the tuk and it we got to see some of the real neighbourhoods.
The overnight train to Siliguri was a formality and after a bit of breakfast we headed to a small town called Kurseong which is supposedly like a smaller Darjeeling. We had just entered Ghorkaland which was being protested by locals near the station the day after we arrived. We think the population is predominantly Ghurka and they want their own state, obviously called Ghorkaland. Darjeeling was the next dot on the map, we took afternoon tea in an old colonial hotel which was spiffing. You can already see the change in features as we encroach on the Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan border.
Will update you on our adventure towards the state of Sikkim soon.
Alex & Jo
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