Postscript

As I sit here back in Auckland writing this it is hard to believe that our travels are over and we ask ourselves where did the last 9 months go.

Along the way we have seen some fantastic sights and have met some great people. For those of you who have followed our journey we thank you for your comments along the way. We were glad that we were able to share some of this incredible journey with you and should the opportunity ever arise again, we hope that we can again share the experience.

Thanks.

Martin and Tania
Two Kiwis Abroad

Vietnam

After getting Tanias passport sorted out it then enabled us to get across the border to Vietnam and finally meet up with her brother Andre. The trip took about 6 hours and the border crossing, even with an emergency passport, turned out to be one of the easiest that we were to encounter over the course of the next few weeks.

Andre and his girlfriend met us at the bus station and we then headed to the hotel which he had kindly booked for us. If we thought that the traffic in Cambodia was horrendous, then Ho Chi Minh was catastrophic. Motorbikes for Africa and crossing the road should be turned into an Olympic sporting event as there is much skill involved as well as share nerve.

Ho Chi Minh is the second largest city of Vietnam, Hanoi being the largest and the Capital. It has a population of just over 6 million with probably three times that amount of motorbikes. During the war, the city was largely used as a base for the US military when they weren’t fighting the North Vietnamese, or VC as they became to be known as.

We used this time to spend some quality time with Andre as most other times that we visited him in Australia, he was working. With his girlfriend Thuy (pronounced twee) being Vietnamese and he had been there several times before, they knew the lay the land, which turned out to be helpful to us, especially when it came to sussing out good restaurants etc. Over the course of the next 4 days we visited many markets and street restaurants and had a great time.

We wanted to make the most of the limited time we had left and once Andre had left bound for Australia, we caught the night bus up to the coastal town of Nha Trang, which lies 440kms north of Ho Chi Minh. The overnight bus is an experience in itself and consists of three rows that run the length of the bus and each row has a top and bottom bed. The bus sleeps around 24 people and it turned out to be quite comfortable, albeit a sleep interrupted only by the constant use of the horn by the driver.

We arrived in Nha Trang around 6 the next morning and it was here that we were to experience our first of many attempts to rip us off. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we were mauled by people wanting know if we needed a taxi or accommodation. We chose, what we thought to be a reliable taxi driver to take us to our home stay and soon discovered that a 10 minute drive turned out to be twice as long and cost three times as much. By this time of our travels, we had gotten used to paying a bit more than the locals and in most cases we would end up arguing over only a few dollars, but this guy was blatantly trying to rip us off. So after reluctantly paying the fare, we proceeded to settle into our room for the next few days.

By this stage of our travels we were over seeing any sights or tourists attractions and were hoping to just chill out on the beach and take in the best that Vietnam has to offer. Unfortunately, as with most best laid plans, mother nature doesnt always play with the same set of rules and throws in a bit of nasty cold weather, which was the case for the rest of our time in the country. We still did manage to enjoy the city, albeit under the canopy of an umbrella.

Next on our agenda as we headed up the country was the city of Hoi An which, amongst other things, is well known for its tailors that adorn every second shop throughout the city and many travelers, whilst there, get a variety of garments made at very reasonable prices. The city is made up of an old and new part which is dissected by the Thu Bon river which was used hundreds of years ago as the main passage for traders from as far as Japan and China. Whilst there we met a family from Australia who were on a Intrepid journey who we were to meet up with several times along the way, including the next town, Hue, where we were to spend Christmas Day.

Hue as Wikipedia puts it, has boiling hot days in the summer and ceaseless raining days in the winter. Guess which season we were in. Weather aside, Hue is a pretty little town with many monuments that have been recognised as world heritage sights. It does however have a darker side and during the war, with it’s close proximity to the DMZ, was bombed constantly by the Americans.

Christmas eve was spent having dinner with the Aussies I mentioned earlier and the theme was a traditional Vietnamese Royal Dinner. After dinner, we all headed to one of the many local bars in the area for a few games of pool and a couple of what was meant to be quiet drinks. Tania headed home early and Thomas, an Argentinean who had lived in NZ for 8 years and I carried on for a few more hours. The night ended up with Thomas and I forgetting where we were staying and banging on what we thought was the hotel door for several minutes before Tania popped her head out the window to enquire what all the noise was about. Too many lemonades will do that.

Christmas in a foreign city away from family was always going to be difficult, but with technology the way it is, we were able to communicate with our friends and family via Skype, which was great.Christmas day itself was spent looking around some of the many North Face shops in the area before we were to catch the overnight train to Hanoi.

We arrived in Hanoi around 11 the next day and caught the taxi to our lodgings. This taxi ride turned out to be the second time in as many weeks that we were to be ripped off by the driver. However, the hotel staff came to our rescue and after much heated discussion, a price was agreed much to the disgust of the driver.

Hanoi was used as a base for us before we headed to Ha Long bay for a three day cruise on a Junk. It is the capital of Vietnam and has a population of 9 million. If we thought the traffic of Ho Chi Minh was something then we were in for a surprise. Hanoi is made up of many tight turning streets and alleyways where motorbikes and cars compete for the right of way, all the while constantly honking the horn. The end result is a cacophony of noise and congestion.

We spent two days in Hanoi and were picked up on the third day for our three day cruise. The Ha Long bay or as it translates ” Descending Dragon Bay” is made upon around 2000 inlets that rise out of the ocean and lies about 4 hours North of Hanoi and is a World Heritage Unesco site. We were escorted to the boat in time for lunch and it was here that we met a lovely couple Nick and Nickie. Nick lives and works in Sydney in IT and Nickie lives and works in Auckland and they meet up every couple of weeks, which seems to work for them. We then headed out to the area where we were to berth for the night. Along the way we stopped off at a impressive cave and then had around an hour to paddle around the bay in a kayak. Dinner was served later that night and as with all things Asian, Karaoke was brought out for those game enough. Needless to say that myself, Nick and a few of the others headed up to the deck to talk about, amongst other things, the problems of the world.

After breakfast the next day, we headed further out into the bay to one of the many islands where we rode around for an hour or two on bicycles and then we were dropped off to another island called Cat Ba where we were to spend the night. Now I must say at this point that up until now, 99% of the beds that we had slept in had been been pretty good, up until this one. This bed would have to have been the hardest bed we have ever encountered. I guess we now know what it’s like to sleep on the floor, which I think may have been a bit more comfortable.

The next day we headed back to Hanoi where we were to spend New Years Eve before we flew out to Thailand for the last leg of our trip. All in all our time in Vietnam was really enjoyable and we met some great people along the way. The Vietnamese, whilst not as open as the Cambodians, are still warm and friendly. They also turned out harder to deal with when it came to trying to get a bargain out of them. We hope to return one day where we would like to get off the tourist track to see more of the inner part of the country.

Andre, Thuy, Tania and I in Ho Chi Minh

One of the locals selling her wares on the street

Trying on the local fruit sellers bamboo baskets for size.

Taking a rest

Incredible Ha Long Bay

Cat Ba Island

The two Nicks and us in Hanoi

Cambodia

Its hard to believe, but as I write this we have less than 1 month to go before we are back home and after the week in Sri Lanka, we were hoping for better things from Cambodia, and I am pleased to say as I write this that we weren’t disappointed.

We were meant to fly to Bangkok and then work our way to Phnom Penh overland, but due to the flooding in Thailand, we decided to fly, thus allowing us more time in Cambodia. We arrived mid afternoon and were picked up by the guest house Tuk Tuk driver. The drive in from the airport took about 30 minutes and was an experience in itself. It seems that traffic chaos is an Asian thing as we have experienced this all through India as well. The one thing that blew us away as soon as we got out of the airport, was the amount of motorbikes. I must remember to invest in Honda when we get back.

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and has a population of 2.2 million. In the past the city was known as the Pearl of Asia and it’s not hard to see why. The city has a mix of modern architecture amongst beautiful old relics from the past and the mighty Mekong Delta, which is the 10th largest river in the world, dissected the city in half. Phnom Penh is the country’s financial and industrial hub and one cannot help but feel that this is a country, whilst still known as third world, as one to watch our for.

After settling in for the first night we decided to check out some of the sights that Phnom Penh had to offer and the most famous would have to be the killing fields and S21 prison.

After watching the movie The Killing Fields, I was led to believe that this area was a huge expanse of land outside of the city. I could not have been more wrong. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge liberated Phnom Penh and informed the citizens that they had three days to evacuate the city as the Americans were about to carpet bomb it. They would be able to return after these three days to their homes and were promised that they would be safe during this time. This was far from the truth. Pol Pots regime was to eradicate the country of anyone that were educated or skilled and from then on everyone was considered an equal. Time was also to start again and from then on the year was known was year zero.

Those that didn’t conform or who were found to be educated or skilled were either killed there and then or taken to a former school turned prison, called S21. This is where they were to be tortured for anything up to a week and then shipped to the killing fields for final extermination.

The killing fields are an old orchard within the city limits. Within these grounds, mass graves hold over 17000 bodies which is only a fraction of the total 2.5 million that died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. These graves were discovered at the end of the Khmer Rouge regime when Vietnam help to liberate Cambodia and have been a pilgrimage for many locals and tourists alike.

Visiting these areas was extremely emotional for both Tania and I. The first thing you see when you arrive is a huge monument which houses all of the skulls, bones and clothing that were discovered. This has become a shrine for the people of Cambodia. We saw that many that were there on the day we visited showed an extreme sadness that came from visiting a place like this. To this day, even after heavy rains, bone and clothing fragments still are washed up to the surface. I won’t go into the gory details of some of the atrocities that happened on this place but it is needless to say that there were some very sadistic people that were in control of this place. For those that do want more information I would suggest you visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Fields

After here we then went to the S21 prison where and as I mentioned before, was a holding area for these unfortunate souls. This was a former school and housed 17000 prisoners before they were sent to their deaths. Whilst there we were fortunate to meet one of the seven survivors form the prison. Today he is only one of two living survivors. All in all it was an extremely draining day for both of us but at the same time we are glad we went, if only to see what these people had gone through only 40 years ago.

We spent a further two days in Phnom Penh and then headed up to visit the famous temples of Angkor Wat in Seim Reap. The one thing that we did notice in this area compared to the rest of Cambodia, is the prosperity. This is largely due to the amount of tourist dollars that are pouring into the area from people coming to see the Temples.

The temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia is widely considered one of the wonders of the world. Few realise just how many temples and palaces were build in this region. The iconic towers of Angkor Wat adorn most postcards and historical books but there’s a lot more to see here.

We were picked up from our home stay at 4.30 the following morning by our Tuk Tuk driver who we had hired for the day and taken to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat, the main temple. When we arrived we followed the many hundreds of other tourists from all over the world to see this beautiful event in such a magical place. After sunrise, we then headed in to explore the temples and spent the rest of the day being taken around many other temples in the area, including the one that would provide us with many photo opportunities, Ta Prohm. This temple, unlike the others, has been left as it was found with nature taking back what man had many years ago taken from nature.

That night, we were meant to meet up with a couple that we had met on the trip up to Seim Reap however I was struck down with some kind of illness that laid me up for the next two days. Once back in Phnom Penh, we spent another couple of days chilling out before we headed North to an Elephant Santurary in a town called Mondukiri which was set up by a guy called Jack Higgins around eight years ago. We spent the night in the town and were picked up the next day after breakfast and driven out to spend the day following these magnificent animals around in their natural habitat. There are a total of 9 Elephants which are split into two groups. One with 5 and the other with 4. We got to spend some time with the 5 and these are also split into two groups, one with the only male, Bob and his girlfriend Onion. The other three are kept separate as there seems to be a bit of jealousy between the four females over Bob. These Elephants were either rescued from a life as tourists attractions or are being leased from villages from around the area.

After a morning in the forest, we then spent the rest of the day helping out the other members of this organisation clear some weeds around the main of the camp. The money that one pays for this privilege goes towards the upkeep and maintenance of the park. It was then back to town for the night before we headed back to Phnom Penh.

We were meant to spend two more days here and then head over to meet up with Tanias brother in Ho Chi Minh city. The night before we were due to leave, we had dinner with the lovely lady we had met on the way up to Siem Reap, Olivia. We met at an Indian Restaurant and proceeded to have a great night until Tania realised that someone had swiped her bag from under her table which contained, amongst other things, her passport. Normally this wouldn’t be too much of a problem if there was a representative of NZ in Cambodia, but in this case there wasn’t. On top of this, it was on a Friday night that it happened which meant that after reporting the theft to the police, we had to wait until Monday until we could start the process of getting an emergency passport. To cut a long story short, it’s amazing what a little extra money paid in bribes can do to speed the process up. Three days later, we had passports in hand and were finally on our way to Vietnam to meet up with Andre.

Asian Taxi

Another form of taxi

The killing fields

Meeting one of the two only survivors of S21 prison

Siem Reap at dawn

Angkor Wat

Nature taking over

Onion and Bob

The three other girls in the group

Sri Lanka

After 5 weeks in India, we weren’t too sure as to what to expect whilst in Sr Lanka and given that we hadn’t schooled ourselves with too much information, we decided to, as with most of this trip, to go there with an open mind.

We arrived early morning and had intended to take the bus to Colombo, being the major city, then head down to the Southern city of Galle. This plan was firmly put on hold due to the fact that we were informed by the tourist office as soon as we landed that with it being a Sunday, the buses running from Colombo and even the airport, were few and far between.

So after talking with the same tourist agency on the best way to see as much of the country as possible in 7 days, we decided to be a bit extravagant and go with the option of hiring a driver for the week who in turn would take us to the most populous places along the tourist trail. Up until now, we had winged it and to date this has worked pretty well. This option, however did turn out to be a good option when one has limited time in a country and you still want to fit in as much as possible.

We proceeded to meet our driver, Melan, who after letting him know that the first thing we wanted to do was to get a coffee, then ended up taking us to his house, which was about 10 minutes from the airport. After coffee and meeting his entire family, including his 3 week old baby boy, we hit the road for our first stop, Kandy.

The first thing we noticed about Sri Lanka compared to India, was how clean it was and the second were that the roads were of a much higher standard as well. Whilst this may be case, the standard of driving seems to be pretty much the same as in India. I am sure there are road rules, however what is apparent is that nobody follows them and what eventuates is organised chaos. In the time spent in India and the subsequent time here, we didn’t see one accident, even though there were several close calls.

Before arriving in Kandy, we stopped off for lunch and then headed to an elephant orphanage who had just been bathing for the afternoon. There were around 30 elephants who had been rescued from various zoos and other tourist attractions around Sri Lanka and India, however this has also become a tourist attraction in itself. We would rather see them in the wild and would get the chance later in the week.

In Kandy, we took in a cultural show and visited the Tooth Temple. It was at this stage that we discovered that Sri Lanka’s attitude towards tourism is one of charge them as much as possible whilst showing as little as you can.

The next day we proceeded to head on our whistle stop tour of the South West and headed into the high country where most of the tea is made. We visited one of the many tea plantations before we settled in for the night in a lovely guest house overlooking a beautiful valley high in the hills. This area is lush with tea plantations and makes for some great photos.

From here it was to the East of the Island where we were to take in the Yala National Park where it was hoped we would see our wild Elephants along with Leopards. This is also where the standard of accommodation was to drop dramatically. We checked in around lunchtime and were picked up around 2 to head to the National Park.

Entering the park reminded us of the movie Jurassic Park as there were these huge gates in and out surrounded by large fences everything else in. The first thing we encountered were Wild Boar followed by a couple of Jackals, which according to our guide was good luck, so things were looking up for the afternoon. We then came across several varieties of birds and deer as well as a couple of Crocodiles lazying around in the swamp. We the drove around a bit before we spotted a couple of Elephants roaming around, which turned out to be the highlight for the day as we weren’t lucky enough to see any Leopards. As it was raining for most of the afternoon, most of the wildlife head into the jungle for cover. We did, however see a Sloth Bear on the side of the road but it proved difficult to capture on film as there were around 20 other tourist vehicles all looking to do the same as us. A good day was had despite us not seeing any Leopards.

After a restless sleep, we headed down to the coast, where we were hoping that we could chill out on the beach for a few days. Mother nature can be cruel sometimes as on this particular day, she decided to throw a tropical storm at the island which lasted 2 days and ending up killing 14 people and having a further 30 missing and we watched the entire thing unfold right in front of us as the hotel was situated about 20 meters from the beach.

After spending two nights here we headed towards Colombo and spent the night in a town just to the north called Negombo, which was reported to have pristine beaches. However, due to the storm, these were not suitable for swimming so the week ended up with us not even dipping our feet in the water.

We were to fly out late the next night to start our final leg of the journey and to be honest it couldn’t come fast enough. It was a long week and we ended up leaving the island disappointed, especially after having such a great time in India. On the whole, Sri Lanka is a beautiful country but I think it is still not geared up for tourism. Bearing in mind that it’s only been 10 years since the civil war and over time, I’m sure that tourism will improve. Having said this, we did hear from other travellers that the government is looking to introduce a entry fee for tourists which is aimed at allowing only wealthy tourists into the country. If this happens, then backpackers will just avoid coming which would be a shame as it is so close to India, where a lot of budget travellers already go.

Elephants from the orphanage

Botanical gardens in Kandy

Our first Sri Lankan lunch

Workers in the tea plantations

One of the 3 wild Elephants we saw in the National Park

Crocodile

Tractor used in the rice fields to help turn the soil or in this case mud

Showing the locals how to play cricket

Fishing Sri Lankan style

Our driver for the week, Melan

Mysore, Cochi, Alleppey and Varkarla

Mysore is well know for two things, silk and the Mysore Palace. Apart from that there wasnt much else on offer. After getting off the bus we had to find the guest house and the one thing that screams louder to a Rickshaw driver louder than anything else is backpacks. We were accosted by at least half a dozen drivers all wanting to take us to our destination. We settle on on old fella and after we had argued that we wanted him to use the metre as opposed to a fixed price, we quickly realised that we were being taken on the scenic tour and the price ended up being not too far off the original fixed price. As I said, white people+backpacks=easy targets.

The guest house was situated what should have been a 10 minute drive as we found out the next day and was in a quiet suburb of Mysore. It was here that we met a nice Dutch couple who were on a three week cycling tour of Southern India. After taking many buses and Rickshaws along our travels, I’m not so sure I would want to be cycling with these crazy drivers. Whilst here we sampled the local cuisine which is largely vegetarian and enjoyed every bit of it.

The following day we took in the Mysore Palace which turned out to be our Taj Mahal, as we never made it to the north. There will be those of you reading this that have seen the Taj and perhaps this Palace and may disagree, but to us it was the closest thing we were going to get. The Palace was built around in the 14th century but was demolished and rebuilt in 1897 and is the prominent landmark of the city. It is also the second most visited tourist attraction on India, the first being the Taj Mahal.

That night we headed back to the palace to watch what we thought was going to be an amazing light show where they would have lasers etc around the palace. What eventuated was the palace being lit up by different colours and the story of the palace being told in Hindi with no English translation. This was to go on for the next hour, which was about 45 minutes too much for us so we decided to take a couple of photos and head off. We did however catch the very end where they lit up the entire palace for about 5 minutes which look amazing. During the local Muslim festival, which we had just missed, the entire grounds along without the Palace are lit up for the entire week which, as we were shown, makes for some great shots.

Whilst in Mysore, Tania got herself a couple of silk scarves and I treated myself to a silver bracelet, another thing that Mysore is famous for.

From here we were to head to Cochi on the coast via Bangalore.

Cochi
Cochi is a fishing village on the South West corner of India which thrives on tourism. We were staying at a place called Fort Cochi, where by the way there is no fort, which had been settled by the Portuguese, Dutch and of course the English. The area is in the Kerala region and one of the big differences between here and the rest of India is that it is a communist state. Everywhere we went we heard political broadcasts over loud speakers and we could only assume that they were purporting how good the system was.

We stayed here for three nights and over the course of the next few days we spent our time ambling through the many tourists shops and trying to find a decent coffee place, which we did find after a bit of searching. Whilst we were wandering around an Indian family came up to us with their baby and wanted to take photos of Tania holding her. It did make for a nice picture and I was even thinking of charging them for this service as it wasn’t the first time that this had happened. Needless to say Tania saw sense and stopped me before I could make up the appropriate sign offering our services.

One of the many tourists attractions are the Chinese Fishing Nets. These are normally owned by a collective and are a sight to see. When you look at these, it is as if you have stepped back in time. The nets are unique to the area and operate on a counter lever system and require at least four people to operate at high tide. One of the other attractions of the area is the Jewish synagogue which unfortunately was closed at the time.

From Cohci we then headed down the coast to Alleppey. This is again a major tourist destination due to the backwaters which are a series of canals running between Alleppey and Kollam. Most people will hire a house boat for a night or two and complete a round trip from the point of departure, through the canals and back again. We chose not to due to the many reports that we had received from fellow travellers who said that they got bored with quite quickly. Since tourism has taken off, many have capitilised on this and have got into the house boat market. As a result there are hundreds of boats on the water at any one time and what is portrayed as a peaceful cruise ends up being a race between each of the boats for the best spots on the canals. What we did do, however is a two hour cruise which took in the same sights for a fraction of the cost. The back waters are the lifeblood to many people and is used for bathing, washing and I would assume cooking. There are many villages dotted along these canals and the water is also used to irrigate the man rice fields that the villages rely on for, not only food, but income.

Alleppey will be a place that I will always remember but unfortunately for the wrong reasons. This is because it is where I received a nasty dog bite to the hand and had to go and get an additional two rabies shots over the course of the next couple of days. This where I was to discover that the Indian health system needs some working on. Luckily we had the foresight to get our initial jabs back home otherwise I would be up for 5 shots and not the two.

Varkarla.
Varkarla is a very nice area about 4 hours South of Alleppey and was to be our last stop in India. We chose this place mainly for the fact that we wanted to do nothing more than chill out by a nice beach away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities and towns. What we didn’t know was that this was the same idea that many other tourists had and there were more Europeans there than there were Indians. Still it turned out to be a great four days.

This is where I was to experience my first Indian Ayurvedic massage. Now I’ve had Thai massages before and at least with these you still have some dignity in that you have a towel over the nether regions. This isn’t the case with a Indian massage. I was unceremoniously stripped and worked on for an hour by a bloke that would probably be able to make most of the All Blacks scream in pain. After the hour both Tania and I walked back to the unit in a very relaxed state. A must do to get any kinks out of the body but I’m not sure about the birthday suit idea.

We were sad to be leaving India and really enjoyed the month we had. We came here with mixed feelings and are leaving with a fondness of both the country and the people. They are warm and welcoming and their smiles would light up any room. We have met some great people along the way and each and every one of these will remain dear to us and we hope to keep in contact with them. We look forward to returning someday to continue our Indian experience.

Water colour paints for sale in Mysore

This smile cost me a bunch of bananas but it was worth it

Mysore Palace

Mysore Palace at night

The laundromat in Fort Cochi where they use 9kg irons filled with coconut fire for heat.

Our homestay hosts in Fort Cochi

Chinese fishing nets

Our new addition to the family.

The Kerala backwaters

Varkarla beach

Madikeri Coffee Plantation

After Goa, we had three days in Mangalore but with me still being quite sick, only two days were realty spent here looking around and there wasn’t much to see in all honestly. We had wanted to spend some time at one of the many coffee plantations in the highlands of the region and we managed to book three nights at a organic farm in a place called Madikeri, which was run by Botanist and a Microbiologist.

We arrived late in the day after a 4 hour bus trip on roads that had recently been washed away with the recent heavy rains that the area had succumbed to. The farm had arranged for someone to pick us up and we arrived around 5pm to a long awaited cup of Indian Chai, by which time we were getting accustomed to. We then proceeded to our unit which was situated about 500 meters into the coffee plantation. This is also where we were to discover that after the rains, leeches come out and they took a fancy to both Tania and I. These leeches aren’t big and we didn’t even feel them take hold as they inject a anesthetic as they bite. The only reason we knew one was on me was that it had dropped off it was about 10 times it’s normal size, full of my blood. The location of the unit was great in the fact that, not only was it quiet, but whilst walking back after dinner we got to see an awesome display of light by the fireflies. We also had an escort all the way from the dining area to the unit by one of the farm dogs, who also stayed there for most of the night keeping guard.

The next three days were spent exploring the farm and seeing how the coffee is grown. We also were to visit a nearby farm who roasted some beans but prior to that, the trek took us to small village where we were treated to some local hospitality. This is where we met a local who was about 5 foot, if he was lucky, 90 years old and had a smile that would light up any room and he the posture of a school boy. The trek took about an hour each way and again we were subjected to the leeches, but this time we had a secret weapon, lemon juice. If you spread this over the areas that they are likely to try and take hold of, they won’t latch on.

The farm had also started producing Civet coffee. The Civet Cat eats the ripe berries of the coffee bush and then passes the bean out undigested. As the bean passes through the cats digestive system, the enzymes take out a lot of the bitterness of the coffee and the end result, once the bean is roasted, is a much smoother tasting coffee. Due to the fact that gathering this particular bean is very labour intensive, the end result is very expensive and only the finest coffee houses around the world sell it. The farm also produce cardamon, pepper, vanilla and kokam.

Next stop Mysore

The 90 year old we met outside the tea house.

This snake was seen whilst waiting for our ride into town

Blood sucking Leech

Rice grown on the neighbors farm

Roasting machine

Goa

We had originally decided to take in the experience of taking the overnight train from Mumbai to Goa, which is about a 12 hour journey, however on the day that we tried to book the tickets, the ticketing office was closed due to it being Diwali( refer to Mumbai blog). We were then approached by a guy who claimed that he could get tickets for the train,so it was with much trepidation that we followed him. After being led down several back streets we finally arrived at a booking office which turned out to be legitimate. After looking at the travel times and costs of the train verse by air, we decided on flying, as it only took an hour and the thought of not getting any guarantee of seats didn’t appeal to us. After booking the tickets, the guy who approached us then asked for a booking fee, to which I promptly gave him our reply. I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to what was said.

Goa is situated on the South West coast of India and was a former Portuguese colony. The region is known as one of the richest areas of India and it’s GDP is two and a half times that of all of India, yet it is the smallest state. The area is famous for tourism and cashew nuts, amongst other things.

We were picked up from the airport by a driver sent by our host and as we were soon to find out, this guy like, most other taxi drivers in India, was a wannabe race car driver. There doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast road rules here. He was overtaking on blind corners at break neck speeds, constantly on the horn, even in traffic jams, which there were plenty of, and generally doing a bad job of trying make his passengers feel relaxed. After a stressful 90 minutes we arrived and were shown to our home stay for the next three days.

Goa, as we were to find out is a popular hangout for hippies and the like. There also seemed to be a lot of Russian tourists and several bars were in fact owned by them. The beaches that we had been told about, being pristine and beautiful, turned out to be far from it. Certainly not a patch on what we have back home. To give the area credit, we only stayed in North Goa, and the nicer beaches are in the South so I can’t rule out the fact that the southern beaches were probably a lot nicer. Whilst heading to Mumbai, we met a lovely Indian couple by the names of Luque and Marusha who we got in contact with once we arrived.

The next day we rented a scooter and made our way to where they lived where they proceeded to entertain us by taking us out to one of the more famous restaurants in the region. This restaurant is right on the beach and the food was pretty good. After spending a great day with these guys, we had planned to meet up the next day whereby they were going to show us around the rest of Goa. Unfortunately this is where I became quite I’ll and didn’t move from the bed for the entirety of the following day. The next day we were booked to head to our next destination but before that Luque picked us up form our home stay and showed us a small bit of the area. Again with me not feeling the best, not much was seen and what was, was done at a very slow pace. They then dropped us off at the bus station and it was with some sadness that we said our goodbyes. Thanks to them, the memories we took away from Goa mad up for the fact that I was sick for most of the time we were there.

Next stop Mangalore.

Luque, Marusha, Mikhail and us on top of Pula Dona.

Elephant outside a Hindu Temple

Scared cows in the streets of Goa

Mumbai India

From Athens we flew to Mumbai and arrived around 4 in the morning. Flying over the city prior to landing we saw several, what looked like motorways, which were already gridlocked, so we could only imagine what it was going to be like during the day. We had mentally prepared ourselves for this leg of the trip but even that wasn’t enough.

Our host had arranged for a driver to pick us up and after waiting for around 2 hours, he finally turned up. This was our first experience of Indian time and wasn’t to be our last. The place that we were to stay for the next three nights was in the suburbs and was located about 30 kilometers from the city centre, called Malard. Once in the apartment, which was on the 13th floor, we were able to get an idea of what we were in for.

Mumbai is an attack on your senses. It’s noisy, smelly and extremely dirty, yet it has a heartbeat, and one that never stops. They say the New York is the city that never sleeps, well I think Mumbai is that and a bit more. Horns are constantly sounding, there is the ever present smell of either cooking and other foul smells like rubbish and some not worth mentioning and masses of people everywhere which meant we were always fighting to get to places. Most of the people speak English which is a great help and if at first you don’t succeed then try again and you will eventually find someone that does. The people are more than eager to help out wherever they can.

We spent the morning catching up on some sleep and awoke to the sound of fireworks somewhere in the local vicinity. These fireworks carried on well into the night and in fact lasted the next three days. Unbeknown to us, the Hindus were in the middle of celebrating Diwali, which is the equivalent to our New Year, and it’s all about light and sound. The more noise one makes, the better the year is supposed to be. Over the course of the next three nights, we were subjected to what can only equate to a massive amount of money being spend and and incredible sound and light show like we had never seen.

Mumbai is a mixture of rich and poor which in most cases the divide is only separated by a main road. On one side there is either a flash 5 star hotel or office block and on the other is a slum which can house up to 1 million people in and area of less than 2 kilometres. The main slum in Mumbai is the Dhavari slum and this is the one that Slumdog millionaire was filmed in. Ever since then, the slums have become a major tourist attraction, one that we didn’t take up as we felt it was exploitation of those that were less fortunate to others. It is reported that there are over 500,000 businesses inside the slum are, most of which are cottage industry and even some large brand names get their goods made here.

Over the course of the next couple of days, we visited the Gateway of India which was built in 1911 to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary, where we too were to become a bit of a tourist attraction. Over the course of the day, we had several people asking us to have their photos taken with us in them, which was quite strange. We then had our most expensive cup of coffee on our travels at the Taj Hotel, which had been recommended to us. $25 NZD and it wasn’t that great, so I can only imagine how much the rooms cost. The next day we decided to get into the city by using the rail system. After buying a first class ticked and not knowing where the 1st class carriage was, we ended up in the 2nd class carriage. The only difference between the two is the 1st class carriage has less people. The 2nd class is packed in like sardines and even then some. There were people hanging outside the door just to make sure they got a ride. Getting out was also to prove difficult as the people trying to get on don’t want to miss the train as it only stops for about 30 seconds, so they pile on as the people are trying to get off. Needless to say, we soon found out where the 1st class carriage was, not that there was anything first class about it, and enjoyed being able to breathe again without getting pushed and shoved from all angles.

On our last night, we were taken by our host, Suchir, to experience Indian food at it’s best. This was a street cafe where you are able to drive up and park, they then bring a menu where you order and they deliver the food in under 5 minutes. And the food was awesome. After that, Suchir drove us around the city to show us the different places of interest, including Indias richest man’s residence and then we finished off the night with something called Pan, which is a sweet digestive.

All in all we really enjoyed Mumbai and wouldn’t hesitate to come back. Next stop, Goa.

Diwali festival in full swing

The Gateway of India

The Taj Hotel

Making the most of the transport you have

Indian Rickshaws

Dhavari Slum

Skopje, Macedonia

In order for us to get to Athens, we had to pass through Skopje, which is the capital of Macedonia. The last time we were here was 22 years ago and we didn’t spend any length of time as we were passing through. This time, however we were to stay 3 nights and it proved to be quite an enjoyable time.

Skopje is the home to Mother Teresa who was a nun that devoted her life to God and did remarkable work in the slums of Calcutta. She was recognised throughout her life by many dignitaries including Pope John the second. She stood all of 4 foot and yet seemed taller than most with her enthusiasm for life and her humility towards others, especially those that were suffering.

Whilst here, our host, Arif, and his girlfriend took us around the old city at night which is a Muslim area inside a walled confinement and during the next couple of days we spent just walking around and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the city. Skopje is a nice city and the people are very friendly, however this was our last stop in the former Yugoslavia. In the past each of these countries shared many customs and traditions, however since gaining their independence, each is very different to the other. Many traditions may have remained yet most if not all are getting on with their own way of life and most are wanting to join the EU which will enable others to cross the once forbidden borders to taste these hospitable lands.

Tania with the statue of Mother Teresa

The church dedicated to Mother Teresa which is located not far from her birth place.

Montenegro

From Bosnia we headed to Montenegro to a small town on the coast called Budva. Montenegro is a small country with a population of just 631,000 and due to its location on the Mediterranean sea, is visited by many locals and tourists alike. None more so than Russians. In fact, due to the influx of Russian visitors, many street names have the local language as well as the Russian language along with menus in many restaurants. The Hostel was owned and run by Russians, the local restaurant we frequented, owned and operated by Russians and the hairdresser that Tania went to was owned and operated by Russians. Some say that this area is a haven for the Russian Mafia and whilst I’m not an expert on these matter, there seemed to be a lot of super yachts parked up in the marina. I counted 12 in fact.

Putting this fact aside, the town itself is quite quaint and has a walled city on the water front and as with most tourist spots in the area there are many shops and cafes inside the wall willing to take your money. The time of year that we were there was towards the end of the tourist season which meant it wasn’t nearly as busy as it would have been and many places were starting to close down for the Winter period.

Whilst here there was a massive bush fire behind the town which at times was to threaten parts of the town. Whilst it made for a good spectacle, it took fire crews several hours to get it under control.

Next stop Skopje in Macedonia.

Budva town

Bushfire behind the town

Super yachts in the harbour