Snap back to reality

Saturday 29^th August 2015

This morning I left Vietnam! I woke up early and checked out. Annoyingly the breakfast wasn’t ready even though it was supposed to start at 6.30am so all I got was bananas.

I shared a taxi to the airport with another girl and checked in straight in and walked about the airport where I bumped into a guy I met in Cambodia we caught up for a while then I went and boarded my plane.

I slept most of the three hour flight but woke up to a swollen throbbing arm I had to wait for everyone to get off the plane as everyone was in a rush to get moving.

I got out of the airport and got on the bus into kl Sentral along the way we stopped a few times to watch the Bersih protest at the station I got the LRT (train) to Pasar Seni and came out in the midst of the protest and had to navigate my way to the hostel.

I checked in and was upset to find I had been allocated a top bunk and also that there was 6% GST on the cost as well making it more expensive. So I had to go out for more cash.

I found some food and chilled in the common area for a bit before going to bed to watch a movie.

Sunday 30^th August 2015

Today was a really lazy day I woke up and waited for ages hoping someone else would wake up so that I could get down from the top bunk without smashing my face. Unfortunately no one got up so I had to brave it and successfully landed on my feet.

I got ready for the day and then went down for breakfast and ended up chatting to a girl for several hours. Eventually I had to go back upstairs to move beds and ended up having a nap for a while when I came down I went out to get some food but it was a struggle to find anything vegetarian.

On the way back to the hostel I picked up some cookies and sat drinking tea and munching all evening whilst watching big hero six.

At about 10.30pm I went out and got some food and watched the end of the Bersih protest and the countdown to Merdeka which was an amazing experience it was like a carnival atmosphere which was really interesting. We spent some time talking to a really lovely family who explained everything and translated things the crowd was chanting etc.

By the time we got back I was exhausted and fell into bed tired.

Monday 31^st August 2015

This morning I woke up needing the bathroom and thinking it was the middle of the night so was surprised when I came out and it was really light and it was actually 8am so I got up.

I had a shower and had some breakfast and then around 10am went to the Merdeka (Independence Day) parade but it was mostly over which was a shame but we saw some huge balloons and lots of people cheering.

I walked through the central market to the train station and got a train to KLCC where I walked around and killed a few hours having a picnic for one in the park.

Back at the hostel I sorted the last of my Vietnam photos and chilled out for a while in the evening I went for dinner in Chinatown then watched a movie in the hostel.

Tuesday 1^st September 2015

I had a last lazy morning sitting around watching CNN news but began to feel a little depressed by all of the stupidity and doom and gloom of the media so headed out.

I got the train to KL Sentral with another girl and we had amazing pancakes at a place in the mall before walking to little India.

We spent the late afternoon strolling along looking in the many shops and chatting to people who stopped me to comment on my tattoo (and take loads of photos)

We weren’t really hungry but a really nice woman recommended a vegetarian Indian restaurant so we had an early dinner before continuing on our way. While we were eating it started to rain heavily and was still drizzling as we walked back to the train station.

Back at the hostel we sat about for a bit then walked to Chinatown to get some fruit then chilled out till it was time to seep.

Wednesday 2^nd September 2015

For some unknown reason I booked a haircut for 11am so had to actually get up and moving. I had a shower and some breakfast then got the train to KL Sentral and found the salon. The result wasn’t exactly what I had in mind but hopefully after a wash I can fix it how I want as currently it’s very sleek.

After the cut I walked around the mall a bit and then went back to the hostel to watch a movie. I sat in the common area and streamed a couple of movies interspersed with occasional conversation with other people hanging about.

In the evening a friend and I went to the mall at KL Sentral to get some food we ended up at a burger bar right next to Celebrity Fitness and stuffed our faces whilst watching spin and Zumba. I’m not sure I’d be happy to exercise while people stared through the windows some people were even filming the Zumba class on their phones…

We felt pretty stuffed so when we got back we took a walk around Chinatown arriving back at the hostel just in time to farewell another friend. I watched a bit of a movie on the TV in the common room and then retreated to bed.

Thursday 3^rd September 2015

So today was my last full day travelling and I spent it doing nothing so spectacular. This girl in my room woke up around 5am and spent an age rummaging around her bag and going in and out of the room only to finally take a shower and go back to bed! It was hugely annoying and I couldn’t really get back to sleep.

Eventually I got up and had a long breakfast before sorting through and packing my bags. Once that was done I sat about waiting for things to charge so I would have movies and books for the plane.

Around 2pm I went for a walk just to get some fresh air and ended up walking to Bukit Bintang which is s huge shopping area. The pavilion mall there is huge and I got lost in there searching for something to eat. I ate and then had to search for my way back out and walk back to the hostel. Along the way I encountered (yet another) literal wanker calming jerking himself off on a bench.

I got back to the hostel and chilled out in the cool ac before getting an early dinner the food was pretty good but overpriced and the place lacked atmosphere so we didn’t stick around long.

We walked through Chinatown and picked up some sacks as we were still a bit hungry and then went back to the hostel and spent the evening watching movies.

Friday 4^th September 2015

Last night it was a bit hard to sleep as I knew that today I would be getting on a plane back to the UK. I got up and dressed and went to meet my old KL flatties for breakfast. We were supposed to meet at 9am but due to traffic there was a bit of a hold up.

Emily and I had breakfast and then walked about ten minutes to the bookshop where she works (as she had to be back at work) and we met the others there. Mic arrived with a friend who is staying with her and a bit later Sidney arrived as well.

We walked to another café close by and I had tea while the others ate and we caught up on the last two years! Around 11.30am I had to leave to get back to the hostel in time to pack and check out. I checked out and then had a shower and got all my things together ready to go.

I spent my last few hours willing time to move a bit quicker and drinking endless cups of tea in preparation for England.

Now I have less than an hour before I leave or the airport! The last 291 days (yip that’s how long I’ve been on the road!) have been amazing! Huge thanks to everyone who has been a part of the journey I hope that our paths will cross again somewhere someday! See you all on the other side (of the world!!!) Peace and Love xxxx

Leaving India

Tuesday 30^th June 2015

The alarm went off at 6.30am this morning rousing us from our sleep. We packed up the last of our belongings and left for the train station. Luckily for us it was right across the road so we didn’t have far to go.

We found our platform and the train was waiting there for us. We found our seats on the pretty much empty train and Mark went up to the top bunk to lie down while I sat and read my book. When we left Amritsar the sky was overcast and cloudy the sky looked dark and brooding but the closer we got to Delhi the warmer it became and the brighter the sky got. The whole way was a dusty mess though.

Our train left at 7.15am and arrived at 3.05p so we spent most of the day chilling out watching the countryside go past. I was reading a book on my tablet and was almost at the end when there was a plot twist and it turned out the killer wasn’t actually the killer however I turned the page to see what happened next and the story became a book about baseball statistics. There must have been an error with it and I never found out what happened at the end.

We got into Delhi Junction on time even though we had left slightly late which was a surprise. We wanted to be by Old Delhi station in Paharganj as we know the area somewhat so we got a rickshaw there and set about finding a hotel.

For our last two nights in India we decided to spring for something a bit nicer than normal we took the first hotel we found which was a cut above our normal dingy digs and even had a fish tank inside the room!

Despite not really eating all day neither of us was overly hungry and so we mucked about doing some washing and having showers before going out to eat dinner on a rooftop. Once our bellies were full we stopped in an internet shop to print out our flight details and then headed back to the room.

Later on we headed out for a pancake and a cup of tea since we had eaten dinner so early. It was nice to have a good room to relax in and we spent the evening watching TV.

Wednesday 1^st July 2015

We got up this morning ready to tackle the day it was our last day in India and we both had a few final things we wanted to get before leaving. We started the day off with an all you can eat breakfast buffet in the hotels restaurant before heading out into the wilds of Delhi.

Not long down the street we were walking past a public bathroom when Mark stood in a huge pile of human effluence that was bubbling out of a drain. It was a disgusting grey sludgy colour and smelt terrible luckily it didn’t get him too much and most of it could be rinsed off (the rest dried up and flaked off during the day)

We spent several hours on a wild goose chase to try and find a MicroMax store as Mark needed to buy his friend a new phone. We followed google maps and the first store it led us to was actually a house and the second store was a hotel. I’m not really sure how they ended up on Google Maps but they certainly weren’t MicroMax stores.

With two failures under our belt and several hours of walking in the dusty heat we decided to get a rickshaw to Sadar market to try our luck there. The street was rammed with all sorts but no phone shops. We did pass several stalls selling phone covers which I needed but they either didn’t have my model or the covers were horrible. After searching for an age through the market a few people had told us to try Chandni Chowk so we headed there.

We tried to get a rickshaw but they were all over priced so we just walked which turned out well as we found a tool street and Mark bought a whole load of tools he wanted all for about ten quid.

We got to Chandni Chowk but didn’t really find what we were after certainly no phone shops and the stalls that had covers all had the same ugly ones so we continued walking. 

Eventually we came to another market by Jama Masjid (the biggest mosque in India) they still only had the same tacky covers but at this point it wasn’t looking like I was going to find anything better so I got one and a couple of screen protectors.

Since there were no phone shops about we decided to head to Connaught Place to check there we got the metro which was only four stops and was a dream even if it was crammed full at least it had AC. On the way to the metro station Mark stopped to buy spices from a dude on the street who spoke no English. None of the spices were labelled and we had no idea what some of them were but they were only 10 rupees for a bag so he just bought a whole bunch.

We came out into the sunshine and checked out a few stores before Mark found a phone in the price range. Annoyingly we picked up some guy who insisted on helping us (“all free of charge”) despite us not asking him or needing him and making it pretty clear. Once Mark had the phone he wanted us to go with him in a rickshaw (that we paid for) to a government store so he could het “a gift” from the shop for taking us there. By this stage it was after 4pm and we had been walking out in the sun all day and I had no desire to go with him. He promptly packed a sad when we said no and stormed off.

We weren’t really fazed by his little drama and just got in a rickshaw back to the hotel, where we showered and basked in the AC and packed a little bit. It was lovely to be left in peace for a while as all day in the markets men had been gabbing my arse and brushing my boobs as they walked past. At one point a small child ran up and pinched my butt after a bunch of them followed us down the road for ages begging. (And they were all nicely dressed speaking good English)

Eventually I realised I was actually starving and so we headed out for food. Since it was our last meal we went all out and had a huge feast the food was amazing and there was a little ginger kitten hanging about attacking bugs which was entertaining.

We finished dinner and strolled along the bazar road getting the last few things we wanted. (a colouring book for me, some in since for Mark) once that was done we headed back to the hotel where I was up late trying to find cheap flights back to the UK (which I did)

Thursday 2^nd July 2015

We were off to the airport at 7.30am this morning after waking up and packing our last few things. The bin was overflowing with things that we had decided to sack off.

The drive didn’t take too long but when we got there they wouldn’t let me in as my flight was in the afternoon and I was too early. We pleaded with them to bend the rules for us but the security guy wasn’t having any of it so we had to say our goodbyes even earlier than anticipated. Mark disappeared into the terminal and I wandered down to the visitors lounge to kill several hours until I could get in.

The visitors lounge was pretty ok and at least I didn’t have to sit outside in the heat all morning. I started off reading my book, then did some colouring and generally sat about. A man reeking of booze came and sat right next to me despite there being heaps of space he kept talking to me time and time again asking questions and continuously touching my colouring book.

At one point he told me I was colouring it wrong and grabbed my pencils and tried to help at which point I was super firm and told him I didn’t want to talk to him. He went away but came back saying he was sorry for being middle class and not good enough to talk too as his English wasn’t good enough (his English was actually fine he was hard to understand as he was drunk and slurring his words) I ignored him and he sat too close for a while before heading off again

When he came back he had a print out of his flight he sat down and demanded I give him my phone I told him I didn’t have one and he just asked over and over wanting to call his wife as he had missed his flight. He showed me his flight info and he was very late his flight departed at 4am. He told me he missed it because he was drinking with his only son, he then told me his son was four years old which is a bit of a worry.

By this point I was trying to do some writing and he was all up in my face and I told him again I didn’t want to talk to him about anything and I wanted him to go away. By this time several other people were nearby and they were all staring he left and I didn’t see him again.

Time was passing slowly and I needed a wee but there were no toilets in the visitors lounge so I willed time to go by so I could get inside the actual airport. The security man had told me I could go in at 11am but when I tried he said I had to come back at 1pm. It was so frustrating as the visitors lounge was full of annoying men. There were so many available seats and yet I had a constant ring of men about.

I did some more colouring in and read for a while once I had tuned out all the leerers I decided to just wait there until I could check in as I would just have to find a new place to set up camp inside the airport.

By 3pm I couldn’t hold out anymore I went into the airport and much to my relief I could check in and there wasn’t even a queue there was however an idiot of a woman who wouldn’t let me check in as I didn’t have a visa for Malaysia (which is a VOA anyway so its plain ridiculous anyway!) basically she kept saying I needed a visa and said I wasn’t allowed to transit in an airport via two different airlines. She held me up for an age while she rang a bunch of people and then finally was told that UK passport holders are entitled to a three month VOA. (Which I don’t need as I’m just in transit!)

She then stressed to me about 55 million times that my luggage was only checked in until KL and that I would have to collect it and check in for my next flight (well done sweetheart as if I’m stupid enough to think my bag will just magically make it on to another flight with a different airline)

It was quite a weight off to finally be checked in I then made my way through customs where the guy scrutinised my bag in the scanner for an age before letting me go with a smile. Finally I was in the airport I was absolutely staving having not eaten all day so used most of my remaining rupees to get a sandwich and a muffin with just enough left over to get a “cheap” bottle of water at more than double its regular price.

Feeling fed I found a charging point for my tablet as I had already ran most of the battery down reading and shoved my headphones in to watch some TV on my laptop for a while.

The flight to Colombo was pretty empty and I had an entire row to myself which was nice I ate the meal and watched a movie then went to sleep watching the full moon out of the window. Annoyingly due to weather conditions we arrived about 30minutes early which cut into my sleep time and also made the wait for my next flight much longer.

I got off the plane and followed the signs to transit found a board and looked at which gate I needed to be at, I’m not sure if it changed or I just completely misread it but at 12.30am when it was time to get on the plane and everyone was standing up to go through I looked at the flight number and the plane I was waiting for went to Singapore. When finally I found a board I realised I was on the wrong side of the airport and had to mission it getting to the gate in time to casually walk straight onto the bus that took us out to the plane.

As soon as I found my seat I put my headphones in and went to sleep but it wasn’t longer before I was being woken up by the turbulent landing.

Friday 3^rd July 2015

I got off the plane and followed the stream of people heading to the arrivals hall I had to collect my bags and clear immigration before changing terminals and checking in for my flight to Cambodia.

Getting out of the airport was easy but getting to KLIA2 was a pain in the tit there is no free shuttle but I think there must have been once as there are still signs down to it but once you get out to the carpark there is nothing and I was told the cheapest way to get there is by train which was fine it was only 2 MYR but it meant I had to go down ask how much it was then go back up change money then go back down again for someone who gets annoyed with lifts it was a lot of up and downing.

Eventually I had a ticket and was on the platform the train came shortly and only took about three minutes to get to the other terminal. Once there I followed all the signs to the Air Asia counter and checked in but I was too early to check in my bag so after getting a bottle of water I chilled out to wait 90minutes before I could drop my bag off.

Once I had got rid of it I headed through to the gate it was a huge disappointment to find that there were only two options for food past the security and at both the only vegetarian option was cake. I got a muffin the size of my head that tasted as though it was made with hair and glue with chocolate chips sprinkled on top and ate while trying not to fall asleep.

As soon as I could board I was on the plane in my seat and asleep which is how I stayed until my flight landed in Siem Reap. I got off the plane which took an age as I was right at the back and walked across the tarmac to the airport where I had to fill in a medical questionnaire and have my temperature taken before they let me through to the visa desk.

I filled out the paperwork and got in line for my visa despite being expensive (USD$30) it was easy to do and within minutes I had cleared customs and immigration collected my bag and left the airport where a tuk tuk from the hostel was waiting to pick me up.

I got in and took in the countryside as we drove into the city. It was much smaller and much quieter than I expected but I was pleased. Once at the hostel I checked in and had a shower once I felt a bit more human I walked down the road and got a sim card and then went back to the hostel where I spent the afternoon relaxing and googling things to see in Siem Reap

Around 7.30pm I ventured out and got some dinner it was a bit of faff to make sure it was all vegetarian but it was worth it as it was truly delicious! I sat and ate and read my book and then headed back to the hostel and crashed early.

The road back to India

Tuesday 28^th April 2015

We woke up early this morning ready to leave Nepal. While at breakfast the sky clouded over and became heavy with rain. By the time we were packed and ready to go the rain was falling hard. We checked out and waited in the reception for it to ease off but it didn’t. The ground was one big puddle as we made our way to the bus stop, but we didn’t get a bus we negotiated a decent price for a taxi to take us to the border and from there we would get a bus into India.

The drive took about 40mins and was comfortable enough we arrived at the bustling border town of sonauli and were immediately pounced on by taxi drivers wanting to take us to India we refused them all and went in search of the border office.

It took only a few minutes in the Nepalese border office to be stamped out the office was clean and tidy with two men working there. As soon as we walked across the Indian border things changed the ground was immediately full of pot holes and covered in rubbish, the streets were full of people and the immigration office was full of people all doing nothing.

They took our passports and then went back to watching TV. We had to fill in arrival cards and still no one moved to do anything or even give us the courtesy of telling us why we were waiting. Eventually someone said the computer systems were down and so he couldn’t scan our passport so we continued to wait as the office filled with more and more people and the sludgy water and rain came in through the door.

After a time it seems they got bored of waiting for the computes and with nothing more than a stamp in our passport we were sent on our way. We walked down the road careful to avoid the deepest grime filled puddles to the bus which seemed to be wetter than outside. The roof leaked and as such the floor was a puddle of water and most of the seats were wet. We found the driest one we could and settled in for the long journey to Gorakhpur.

It took about four hours to get there with many stops along the way. Thankfully the bus didn’t fill up too much so we could leave our bags on the seats where they stayed a bit dryer than if we had to put them on the floor.

The further south we went the nicer the weather became and so we arrived into Gorhkapur in sunshine and blue skies. We found the closest place we could to get food and then set off looking for an ATM somewhere to top up Marks phone and to find someone to change our Nepalese rupees.

The phone turned out to be the easiest that was a struggle as the man didn’t really speak English we got there in the end and I changed the Nepalese rupees with some taxi driver on the street after no money changer would take them I got a shit rate but luckily I didn’t have too much so only ended up losing about NZD $2

By this stage I was flagging heaving my bag around so we went to the station and I found a nice little spot to sit with the bags while Mark went and found an ATM. When he came back we sat for a while but soon the mozzies were tormenting us so we put our bags in the cloak room and went to explore the city.

We went in search of the local market and found streets and streets of shops Mark was looking for a watch after his got lost in the crash so we stopped off at all the watch stalls, the search was a success and he got a cheap thing that lights up all the colours of the rainbow. Before leaving the station we had a look in the lonely planet and it said there was a Tibetan market in town so we also searched for that but when we found it it was all closed up.

After walking around for ages I was tired and wanted to sit down so we went to find food. I wasn’t really hungry and felt quite bad that I left most of my thali as they guys running the shop were so kind and attentive I think they thought I didn’t like the food but it was delicious.

With nothing else to do we went back to the station and got our bags we found a waiting room and camped there for the rest of the evening. There was a bathroom which gave us a chance to clean our wounds and brush our teeth. Thankfully our tickets were finally confirmed an hour or so before the train arrived as we had been wait listed all day and the thought of spending 14 hours in general class wasn’t happy.

The train came and we got on, as usual there were people in our beds that we had to kick out we pretty much went straight to sleep although it was hard for me as the guy one bed up and opposite just stared at me when I asked him what he was looking at he told me not to worry but continued to stare. Thankfully I was so tired I just fell asleep.

Wednesday 29^th April 2015

I tried to sleep as long as possible on the train but it soon became hard as it was so noisy. I sat up and turned the bed back into a seat and we watched the world go by for the next few hours. The most exciting part was when a small herd of some sort of large deer ran alongside the train for a while.

By the time we arrived into Delhi later than scheduled we were hot and tired and hungry. We left the station and headed across the road to Pahagang a horrible horrible place but somewhere that would do as a bed for the night.

We found a place to stay and dumped our bags then headed back to the station to try and get a train to Rishikesh for the following night. We went to the tourist booking office in the station and took a ticket we were number 263 and they were currently serving number 80. In true Indian fashion the room was full of staff sitting around eating, talking or watching TV while only two or three people actually served the growing number of people waiting.

We soon gave up and ended up booking Tadkal tickets online. With that done we went looking for food. We found a cheap local place and ate while the rest of the restaurant craned their necks to stare at us. Feeling fuelled we got some water and walked to Connaught place in search of an ATM and to have a wander about.

We got cash out and then walked around the huge circular shopping street looking for jandals and an ice-cream shop but we didn’t find either. Mark did get his ears cleaned by the creepy arse ear cleaning touts I was so disgusted I went to look in the markets while I waited and was soon being followed by a beggar child who kept poking her snot covered fingers into my cut up arm and didn’t seem to understand that I had no money despite turning my empty pockets out for her several times. Eventually someone told her in Hindi I had no money and she shot me a disgusted look and left.

The sun was burning down on us as we walked back towards the guesthouse. We checked our ticket status and it hadn’t changed we ended up cancelling those tickets and buying ones for the early hours of the following day as it seemed more likely we would get those ones.

We went back to the station and found someone to ask about stations as it wasn’t clear where we needed to be for out new train (annoyingly it was Old Delhi Station meaning we would have to get a rickshaw there)

With tickets sorted we went and found some dinner at a rooftop restaurant. Neither of us were very hungry but it was entertaining to sit up high watching the comings and goings on the street.

Back at the guesthouse we finally had a shower the first one since leaving Nepal! I crashed out pretty early as I could barely keep my eyes open.

Thursday 30^th April 2015

We woke up at 4am feeling like we hadn’t even been to sleep. We dragged ourselves out of bed and threw on some clothes and packed up our things before heading downstairs. We had to wake up the hotel staff who were all sleeping on the floor of the lobby to let us out. Outside the street was a fair bit different than the hustle and bustle of the day but it was still strangely busy with tons of rickshaws about and loads of stray dogs roaming in packs.

We got a rickshaw to Old Delhi Station where our train to Haridwar departed from. The rickshaw took about 20mins and we got there in time to find out platform walk to it and pretty much step straight onto the train.

We found our beds, dumped our bags and went back to sleep for the next few hours until other peoples chattering became too loud to sleep through.

For the rest of the journey we read and chatted and before long we had arrived. Haridwar is one of the holiest places for Hindus as it’s the start of the Ganges as it flows out of the Himalayas and as such it is a pilgrimage destination. Luckily we didn’t come in the pilgrimage season and so finding a place to stay wasn’t hard.

We checked in and had a shower with the idea that we would go and find some food but we both sat down and before long it was several hours later and we woke up sweltering. We roused ourselves and went in search of food both still feeling heavy lidded and heavy limbed.

We didn’t go far just a few doors down we found a cheap local place and had a delicious thali. Feeling full we stopped off for water and then headed back to the room where we put on the AC and spent the evening near comatose in bed in front of the TV.

Jaffna - the last few days of my Sri Lankan adventure

Thursday 2^nd April 2015

I woke up early today and fannyed around for a bit packing and double checking train times. I read on trip advisor that it was best to book ahead for Jaffna but since booking.com and the rest charge a fee (and then here the hotels add an extra tax and service charge if you use a website) I decided to wing it.

I got to the train station early as I wanted to chill out and get some food and relax but the ticked counter didn’t actually open until 10am meaning I had to stand in line with all my bags until it did. When I got my ticket I had about 15mins to spare so went and grabbed a couple of samosas and some water and chilled out on the platform.

A train was called but it was to Colombo 10.25am came and went without a train so I asked what was up, the train was delayed by 40mins. I read my book and kept an ear out as I didn’t even know what platform it was coming in on (neither did anyone else staff included)

The train came and was pretty empty I found a seat and settled into my book but was soon nodding off so I gave up and put my music in and went to sleep. When I woke up the carriage was empty except for the seats in front of me behind me and across the aisle from me all occupied by men watching me sleep.

I tried to ignore them and looked out the window. The train ended up arriving in about four hours late after continuously breaking down and sitting between stations for long stretches of time.

I got out to the front of the station (which was beautiful and new) and had a look at the lonely planet for places to stay my search this morning had indicated that a lot of the top picks (also the cheapies) were actually rubbish according to reviews so I was a bit lost.

I ended up going with a driver to see a place it sounded really good and was within my price range but when we arrived it was fully booked. This was the point the lying started tomorrow is a Poya day and apparently the whole town is full because of it. I asked my driver to take me to a few places but he just did his own thing taking me to places that were out of my price range or cheap but really shit and full of shirtless fat smelly men.

In the end I caved and agreed to pay more than was fair the rickshaw driver tried to get more money out of me but I told him we had agreed a total price and I wasn’t paying more.

I went up to my room to chill out for a while and the guesthouse owner kept turning off the wife “to save power” in the end I got so mad at him he put the router in my room.

About 530pm I walked down the road to try and find some food it was a lot further than the 200m the guesthouse man told me but it was Indian (even if they were only serving Dosa) I sat and tried to enjoy the delicious food but was being annihilated by mozzies.

Back at the guesthouse I read my book and watched a movie and kept the door locked after people kept coming to check on me. Quite late there was a knock at the door followed by the door handle being turned. Thank fuck I always lock myself in. it was late and I was barely dressed and the guy wanted me to come have a pot of tea. I declined by yelling through the door and made sure everything was locked and dead bolted

Friday 3^rd April 2015

At a little after 6.30am this morning there was a knock on my door followed by the door handle turning followed by furious pounding on the door when the person realised it was locked. I called out to the person and the same as last night they wanted to know if I wanted tea (it was free as if that made a difference) I wasn’t sure what the time was an thought maybe I had slept late but when far too early to be drinking tea.

Alas once I was awake I could fall back asleep despite being hugely tired. I went back to bed and read a bit but was up and ready for the day far earlier than I had planned to be or needed to be. When I went downstairs I asked if they had a map of the city as I was told yesterday they would get me one however the manager hadn’t arrived for work yet and was going to be at least another 30mins and I was ready for action so I decided to just wing it.

My first stop was Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil Temple it’s the biggest Hindu temple in town and really is quite spectacular. The grounds are huge with lots of Bodhi trees here and there. When you get close there are huge signs saying photography is prohibited but of course that didn’t apply to the two busloads of foreign tourists snapping away completely oblivious to all the angry stares they were receiving.

I went inside and was happy that by chance I had arrived in time for the morning Puja. As I wondered about the huge complex prayers and music rang out through the huge speakers. The inside walls are painted with fabulous murals including one beautiful wall of Shiva repeated over and over in different poses.

I spent some time in the temple before walking through the grounds and back out onto the street where a perfectly healthy well-dressed man stopped me and asked me for money his exact words being “give me money for something to eat” while pointing at a closed restaurant. I did not give him money. Not having a map was a bit of an annoyance so I asked someone which way to Jaffna Fort and he pointed down the road and said to just follow the road. After a while I came to a bunch of rickshaw drivers and asked them they told me it was 7km away and that I couldn’t walk that far but I knew it was only 2km from the guesthouse then they changed it to 4km I asked if I was going the right way and they said yes. A little while further I asked someone in a shop and they said 1km. along this road I saw several ruins I went in and had a poke about since the gate was open but there were no signs so I didn’t know what the building was I later learned it was Manthri Manai which was the ministers quarters of the royal palace. I kept walking but as I was heading out into the countryside not into town I felt I was going the wrong way so I flagged down another rickshaw driver who told me I was going the wrong way every single person since the temple had put me wrong! The rickshaw driver was very friendly and understood that I didn’t want to go with him and put me on a bus heading to Jaffna town from there it was a short walk to the Fort.

I got off the bus and wondered into a shop to pick up a veggie roti I also got a samosa they were probably the best food I’ve had since arriving in Sri Lanka both spicy and full of flavour and not cold for once! I ate them walking along the road towards the fort I could see it but not how to get in and on my wander I passed a vehicle testing site where learner drivers where weaving in and out of cones (all quite badly) I also passed a cricket stadium which had seen better days although I wasn’t sure if it was war damage or under renovation.

A bit further along the road I came to the public library which was one of the first building to be built after the 2002 cease fire. It’s a really impressive building with a beautiful statue of Sarawaswati out the front. Unfortunately it was closed as its Good Friday (I think it’s also a Poya day despite the full moon actually being tomorrow) the security guard at the library pointed me to the fort entrance and I walked there getting glimpses of the sea as I went.

The Fort is pretty cool and even though there are multimillion dollar restoration projects in place it is free to enter. The Fort sustained a lot of damage during the war when the LTTE forced out the government troops who were using it as an encampment during a 107 day siege. It’s also very old (in its present form it’s been there since 1792, but there has been a fort on this spot since 1680)

I went in and had a look through the display at the start which shows agrological excavation and talks about the history of the Fort after which I walked through into the main courtyard and sat under a tree for 30mins or so to rest from the sun for a while and read my book. Unfortunately I didn’t get much peace as a young guy started peppering me with questions I told him its rude to ask if a girl is married and how old she is he laughed it off and stared asking me if I liked kissing and what did I like doing with a man (this last question was asked with a wink) at that point I decided to move on and explore.

The Fort is mostly empty and after the creepy guy asking creepy questions I kept looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was following me but the only people I bumped into were couples getting it on in the ruins. I walked around the perimeter of the walls and then back out to the road.

After almost a month of using it I figured out how to zoom in on the maps on my e-book version of the lonely planet and mapped out a little tour for the rest of the day. I started walking along the main street every now and then I would see the sea but I couldn’t get close as there was razor wire fence blocking it off.

I walked along and interestingly stumbled across the town’s prison a grisly looking affair topped with barbed wire and armed by a huge military presence. Across the road from the prison was St James School for girls…

Further along the road I came to St Marys Cathedral a pretty impressive affair with a corrugated iron roof. I stopped inside for a rest in the shade the place was huge and there was a small congregation saying Good Friday prayers. Along this street were man churches, a convent, a retirement home for priests and several catholic schools despite the pre-war population of Christians being as low as 12% and nowadays being much lower.

After the churches I went to see the ruins of the former kachcheri which was the administrate office before the war I’m not sure if the building I saw was the one I was looking for but either way it saw some trouble in the war as told by the pockmarks of bullets.

As I was close-ish I decided to head into the train station and enquire about trains back to Colombo on Sunday when I was just around the corner the rickshaw driver from yesterday went past on his motorbike and insisted he take me there. Once there I was no clearer as when the trains would be as what the guy told me differed to what the board said and to what it says online. All three say there is a6.30am train so it sounds like that one is defiantly a goer.

I came out of the station and the rickshaw dude had replaced the motorbike with his rickshaw and insisted he take me where I wanted to go to for free I said no and he followed me along the road until I went with him so he wasn’t following me. Stupid idea. I told him I wanted to go to the archaeological museum but he wanted to take me to the beach finally after I got angry and he had pointed out several temples I had already seen walking about this morning and last night he declared we were going for ice-cream, again I tried to protest but he pulled in and short of running away there wasn’t much else I could do but have an ice-cream (which was actually pretty fucking fantastic!)

We came out and I told him I was going to the museum on foot but he wouldn’t let me walk. We got there and it was closed because it was Good Friday. At this point he kept asking me to dinner and telling me he would take me to the beach tomorrow I was very firm and told him I wanted to be left alone to spend some time by myself eventually it sunk in and he left me to do my thing.

Back at the guesthouse all I wanted to do was have a shower and read my book for a while before dinner but there was no water and since I have a thing about being clean in bed I sat on the floor and read for a bit.

When I got hungry I headed out to a local Indian place I didn’t have high hopes since most of the Indian restaurants here have just been Sri Lankan curries with Indian names. I walked there which took about 15mins the restaurant is part of a hotel and when I walked through the hotel bit to get to the food out the back I had to walk through a room that went silent as all the men stared at me I almost walked out but was glad I didn’t as the atmosphere in the restaurant was a lot less hostile and the food was to die for. I was still the only woman about but the guys that worked there were friendly and everyone who was eating seemed to be doing their own thing. I ordered a veg curry and a naan bread and got just what I wanted the food was spicy the naan bread huge and I was in a cosy corner reading my book. It was a perfect evening of solitude.

The walk back to the guesthouse was a bit hairy, the street lights were all off and other than the occasional shop front being lit up or the headlights hurtling towards or past me the road was in darkness. There were also a lot of dogs about but thankfully they all just did their thing. I almost missed the turn off to the guesthouse the road was so dark I was worried about falling in a pothole and never been see again.

Back indoors I cranked the aircon and had a shower (thankfully the water was back!) and chilled watching a movie which I fell asleep watching.

Dogs sleeping in Jaffna Fort

Ruins of Jaffna Fort

St Marys Cathedral

War Ruins in Jaffna Town

Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil Temple

Ruins of the royal Palace

Two Beautiful boys i met by the water front

Saturday 4th April 2015

Today I was going to take a bus and see the Jaffna peninsula but it was ridiculously hot (37 degrees!) and I didn’t feel up to being groped on the bus so I skipped that idea. I mooched about in the morning and then walked towards the fort which took about 40mins I decided to go and see the library since I missed it yesterday but when I got there was told foreign visitors are only allowed to visit between 4.30pm and 6pm the security guard tried to make it out that no one could visit except during these times but his argument was proved a lie when time and time again he had to let people past to go in or out (with books I might add!) another ridiculous rule of Asian bureaucracy I also had to purchase a ticket when I returned at 4.30pm (worded as a mandatory donation) I decided that I wasn’t worth waiting around all day and I didn’t have the energy to walk back and forth so I gave up on that idea.

Feeling a little lost I walked along the waterfront and took a look at the causeway that joins some of the islands to the mainland it’s a thin stretch of road that just seems to disappear into the water. Along here I found a shady spot and rested and read my book for a while before continuing on my way.

I was going to check out the museum but decided that actually I couldn’t be bothered and that all I wanted to do with the rest of the day was eat and relax so I walked back to my guesthouse and past it to a pure veg restaurant and had a thali for lunch. I lingered their reading my book and having a cold drink before heading back to the guesthouse via the supermarket for some supplies.

I spent the afternoon sorting out my photos of Sri Lanka and sorting out my bag and final travel arrangements for my last two days in Sri Lanka and then relaxed to finish off my book and watch a movie.

While chilling out this evening the guesthouse owner once again tried to gain access to my room I defiantly won’t miss Jaffna.


Sunday 5th April 2015

This morning I woke up early and packed up the last of my things ready to leave. I somehow managed to knock something off a high shelf and slice my thumb open which was not a great start to the day. I was ready to leave but there was no one to give the keys to, I was about to just leave when the guy showed up trying to get me to go with him in his rickshaw but I decided since I had time I would walk.

The train schedule for trains to Colombo is messed up the 6.30am train arrives at 3pm the 9.10am train arrives at 6.20pm and the 10.10am train arrives at 4.35pm. I opted for the 10am one and turned up to the station I had already asked about trains and had been told I could get a second class ticket on the day but when I showed up they said it was all sold out and I had to get third class.

Next I tried to get some breakfast I asked for two vegetable rotis went into the station and sat down on the platform to eat, I took a bite and the thing was full of chicken despite me asking repeatedly for NO MEAT! I took them back and the guy tried to tell me the meat was egg… eventually after much yelling he gave me back my money and put my half eaten roll back into the cabinet.

I went to the shop next door and got some freshly made roti. Back at the station I got chatting to a German girl and we spent the train ride chatting. Unsurprisingly the train moved ridiculously slow and got in two hours late. From the station I got a bus to the hostel and once I had checked in and organised a rickshaw to the airport I grabbed some food and chilled out for the evening.

Sri Lanka - My first taste of the sea!

Thursday 19^th March 2015

After such a late night last night I thought it would be a struggle to wake up this morning but actually it was so hot that I was awake before my alarm went off which was good as it meant I could relax until we needed to leave (I headed to Hikkaduwa while three others in the hostel went on to Galle on the same train)

When we were all ready we walked down the road to the bus stop and it wasn’t long before we got on a bus, it was a tad busy so we had to stand for about half of the journey but I was just grateful it wasn’t a can of sardines full because that’s awkward with big bags!

We got off the bus across the road from the station and had to walk up an overpass to cross the road. At the station we had about 15mins until the train left we bought tickets.  Mine was only equivalent of NZD $1.60 (train tickets seem to be the only really cheap thing in Sri Lanka)

We made our way to platform five which was a hive of activity clearly the coast is a popular destination. When the bus came everyman and his dog crammed on and we had to walk through several over flowing carriages until we found one that was virtually empty. (By the time the train pulled away it was full) we dumped our bags in the overhead compartments and settled in for the ride.

I was hungry but it seemed all the touts wanted to overcharge and so I didn’t end up getting anything. As the train left Colombo the scenery became more and more stunning the train soon hit the coast where for the most part ran parallel only a metre or so from the breaking waves.

The city was soon left behind replaced by the ocean stretching as far as the eye could see and the occasional hotel or restaurant built right onto the sea front (in a move that is damaging the coastline and also a huge risk if ever there is another tsunami as they would all be washed away) I stared out the window listening to the sound of the sea and being dazzled by its brilliant blue. I was shocked to see at one point a ruin of a building about 20m out to sea with just its crumbling roof peeking out from the waves.

The train was hot and a bit dark (nowhere near as nice as 2^nd class to Kandy!) and the rocking motion soon had me nodding off like a baby, I woke up feeling I had only been dozing a few minutes and was surprised to see that it was after 12pm and that the train was due to arrive in Hikkaduwa in 10-15mins.

When I pulled up to the station I wished the others happy journeys and jumped off looking for the exit. There was a throng of rickshaws competing for the tourists attention and all spouting rip off prices I tried as hard as I could but still paid more than the journey was worth which was even more frustrating when the driver got lost and was driving around aimlessly asking people and then when we did arrive asked for more money (which he didn’t get)

I checked in and the guy at the guesthouse carried my bag up to the room. The guesthouse is a beautiful villa with stone walls and exposed timber and wooden window frames. The room has a huge four poster bed and a big bathroom and a weird changing room space. Just outside the room on the balcony are comfy chairs and a little table. The place is set back about a 10min walk from the beach so is peaceful and quiet.

It was a sweltering day so I decided to get my washing done and head out later to avoid the midday heat, once it was all on the line I grabbed what I needed and headed to town.

First stop was the beauty saloon (I love that spelling mistake that is all over India as well!) to get my eyebrows threaded. With that done I wondered along the main road looking in all the shops trying to find some cheap trousers and a summery dress for the beach. My search was unsuccessful despite finding things I liked the prices were outrageous and so I gave up.

On the way back to the guesthouse I stopped at the beach and went for a paddle the water was really refreshing and so clean and blue I just wanted to dive straight in fully clothed! I walked along and grabbed a popsicle and ate it as fast as I could as it was melting faster than I could eat it.

I spent the remainder of the later afternoon waiting for verity to arrive in a comfy chair with my book. Her bus should have taken six hours but was the local bus and ended up taking nine so it was close to 7pm before she arrived.

By that time I was starving so we headed into town to an Indian restaurant I had seen earlier. Unfortunately it was a Sri Lankan interpretation of Indian food so although tasty it was extremely oily and not really the curry we were after.

The restaurant was right on the beach and while we waited for our food we watched the waves lap on the shore which was when I noticed something moving, it was a hermit crab! And on closer inspection there were heaps of them running here and there all over the beach. They were so cute! Earlier in the day walking from the guesthouse to the town I had seen three huge lizards so I felt it was a good day for wildlife.

It was only about 9pm but both of us were shattered to we walked back stopping at the supermarket for more popsicles along the way. Once back we showered and climbed under the mozzie net onto our huge king sized bed and zonked out.

Friday 20^th March 2015

Despite being so tired we woke early this morning but lounged about and took our time getting ready so that it was almost 10am before we got going. We both fancied eggs for breakfast so stopped at the first place we saw that had them. The food took its sweet time coming but was pretty delicious.

Feeing full we headed to the beach stopping a few times along the way to look at the shops but not buying anything as the prices were just too high.

We got onto the beach and started walking along, there were local woman selling Kurtas on the beach in beautiful bright colours their starting price was 1500 LKR (about NZD$15) they asked what we wanted to pay and we said 300 LKR they said 500 we said 400 they said no and we walked away. We were about 50m down the beach stripping off to head into the sea and they appeared again and so we both got one for 400 LKR each.

With the sale finalised we put on sun screen and headed into the water. We were about knee deep in the sea when we saw a giant sea turtle it swam right up to us, a few metres away was another one being hand fed seaweed by a local guy we then saw a third one. They are huge and beautiful and so majestic especially when they raise their heads out of the water to breathe.

As much as I loved how close they came I was a bit upset by the crowds of people petting them and grabbing hold of their shells, they are obviously used to humans and I think they must get fed often to allow people so close constantly. We didn’t touch them we just allowed them to swim around us as we grinned ear to ear and occasionally squealed like the girls we are.

We stayed in the water quite a while, even without a snorkel it was possible to sea tropical fish darting about and we were absolutely awestruck by how beautiful the place is (even if it is a bit over run by package holiday tourists)

Out of the water we found a place to lounge on the beach, in the sun for me and the shade for verity. We spent the next wee while tanning napping and reading and every now and again we would pop into the ocean to cool off.

Eventually I needed to move into the shade as even for me (sun worshiper extreme) it was getting too much. After several hours on the beach we needed to hydrate so headed off the beach to find a cool drink. At that point we realised that despite the sun cream we were both a bit burnt.

We had a spot of food at a beach front restaurant where the waves were crashing right against the building. It was decorated like a tired old English sea side village in gaudy colours with tacky Knick knacks made out of shells on the tables.

On the walk back to the guesthouse we stopped at the supermarket for aloe vera gel and snacks while we were there I found an entire range of ayurvedic medicines and spent a good deal of time reading all the labels quite intrigued by them all.

Once we were back it was about 4pm and the day was still pretty hot. The garden was all in shade and there was no one about so I took advantage of the peace a quiet and spent a bit of time on my mat enjoying a bit of yoga (even if I did slide about in my own sweat and got bothered by a million crawling insects)

I then found my new favourite chair on the balcony and breathed in the peace and fresh air while reading my book.

When we got hungry we walked into town for food earlier in the day we had scoped out an organic Indian/Sri Lankan curry restaurant and so we headed there the food was pretty great but was still a bit oily for my liking. We both ordered the set menu but the guy thought we only ordered one portion to share which worked out great for us as it was huge and we didn’t even finish it and was half the price we expected to pay so it was a winner all around.

Back at the guesthouse we flopped into bed ready for a super early start in the morning.

Saturday 21^st March 2015

This morning we awoke at 5.45am ready for some sunrise yoga on the beach unfortunately for us we were actually on the wrong side of the island for the sunrise to be over the ocean but it was still a beautiful morning doing Surya Namaskar facing the breaking waves.

Despite the early hour there were quite a few people about so it wasn’t the deserted quiet we were after but it was still pretty peaceful and an invigorating start to the day. I practiced my handstands for a while and managed to hold one (slightly wonky) for a few seconds before crashing (gracefully) back to earth.

It wasn’t even 7am and we had worked up quite the sweat so decided a swim with the sea turtles would be just the refreshing treat we needed. I had my camera with me so we took a bunch of photos and I even managed to get quite a few good underwater shots.

We were relaxed and didn’t touch the turtles and in turn they rewarded us by following us about, to the point where I was standing about waist deep looking out to sea when the biggest turtle swam between my legs knocking me off my feet. For a few seconds I was sitting on top of a giant sea turtle it was rather magical (although it also scared me half to death and from that point I was always aware of where the turtles were!)

We came out of the water when it started to get a bit too crowded with tourists and walked along trying to find a quiet patch. Unfortunately for Hikkaduwa there are restaurants and guesthouses built right onto the beach for most of its length meaning you can’t really find a secluded quiet patch. Along the way we past a huge section of dead coral it has formed rock pools and we stayed a while looking at all the tiny fish and crabs swimming about in it. 

Finally we found a good spot and sat on the beach to meditate. I made it to 28mins before the insects crawling all over me finally broke my concentration completely.

We ate breakfast on the beach with an uninterrupted view of the sea there was a lone surfer right in front of us who managed to catch most of his waves which were pretty big. We left as the sun was beginning to get really hot and headed back to the guesthouse to relax and nap for a few hours.

About 2.30pm we set off for Galle. The sun was beaming down strong so when we got to the main road we sheltered in a little patch of shade watching out for a bus. They come hurtling through town at such a speed they barely register people actually wanting to get on!

The bus was crammed and we didn’t get a seat luckily it was only about 30mins down the coast and the scenery along the way was pretty stunning. We got off just before the bus station and walked towards the fort. We passed the cricket grounds where a match was on and the stands were full as well as people pressed up against the fence and on the fort walls looking down, we later learnt it was a two day match between two universities (Richmond and something beginning with M that sounded like Mahindra but wasn’t. in case you care Richmond won)

We walked into the fort and browsed some ridiculously expensive shops full of beautiful things before making our way to Crepology for a late lunch. We went a bit nuts in there and ate all the pancakes as well as having delicious cold drinks. It was stiflingly hot and lounging on sofas seemed lie the best way to spend an hour or so.

As the day wore on and it got a bit cooler we made our way through town to the fort walls. We walked around watching the sunset and taking pictures. We saw some mad local dive off the wall into some very shallow rock infested sea in an extreme busking stunt and then continued on our way.

Verity stopped to watch the sun go fully down and I walked right around I had read in some very unreliable place that the walk took one to two hours so I was marching along and taking in as much as I could and got right around in about 30mins! Along the way I picked up a follower who I couldn’t seem to shake he stayed with me while I waited for verity and consistently asked for my number (I don’t have a phone so good excuse) my Facebook (I lied and said I didn’t have one) my email (I told him “my husband” wouldn’t be happy for me to give it out) eventually when Verity arrived we gave him the flick and ran away.

We had another wonder about the shops and made our way slowly out to the main road to get the bus back. I managed to get the last seat but we didn’t move until it was rammed with people despite being almost 8pm it was still a hot sweaty day so it was good when the bus got moving and a little bit of air was coming through.

Back in Hikkaduwa we passed the supermarket and got popsicles and headed back to the guesthouse where we chilled out for a bit before I crashed after such an early morning.

Swimming with sea turtles at sun rise.

Walking around Galle Fort

My Follower!

Sunday 22^nd March 2015

This morning I woke up in a strange mood after having very strange dreams. We had a slow morning in which are brains were also a bit slow.

We paid for our guesthouse and had to have quite a debate about the price after they added on 11% VAT and 10% service charge to the total bill after we had already confirmed the total bill price with them. Needless to say we weren’t overly happy as it wasn’t the cheapest place to begin with.

We walked into town and grabbed breakfast on the beach I also had a wee paddle before we headed back I wanted to swim but there was a huge undercurrent and the waves were rather monstrous so I settled for a waist deep wade to cool off.

Back at the accommodation we showered and packed up and then lugged our things downstairs we were going to leave our stuff there but decided to just take it with us which ended up working really well.

We got a rickshaw to the Tsunami photography museum we left our bags out front while we wondered about. The museum is a bit tired and could do with a revamp but the overall effect is still powerfully strong. A lot of the images are extremely upsetting and the stories to go with them are even sadder.

We spoke to the woman who runs the place, the museum now stands on what used to be her house her and her entire family survived the disaster by running as soon as they saw the first wave. When they could come back they lived in a tent on the site until a house could be built the floor of the museum still has the bolt holes used to tie the tent down.

The woman was lovely the only thing that put us off was when she blatantly lied about how much we should pay in an auto back to Hikkaduwa (the museum is about 2km out of town) turns out her husband is a rickshaw driver…

We got the bus back with all our stuff and from there got the bus on to Thalpe we were going to take the train but it didn’t leave until about 4pm and it was just after 1pm. The bus didn’t take too long about 45mins (Thalpe is just the other side of Galle) and dropped us off right outside the guesthouse we wanted to be at.

We went in and had a look and agreed a price then walked along the road looking for a place to eat. Along this stretch of beach is mostly luxury hotels so finding a cheap option on a Sunday proved a bit hard but we got there in the end and had an ok curry and rice.

After eating we walked back to the main road and hopped on a bus to Unawatuna. It’s the closest tourist town and also where Verity is going to do a Padi diving course in the next few days. We went in and checked out her booking as well as wondering around the shops and the supermarket and then having a (disgusting) pancake while watching the (beautiful) sun set.

We got the bus back (and they charged us half of the price of the way there!) and went straight to the guesthouse where I tried in vain to find some sort of schedule for Sri Lankan buses. Then packed a bag ready to take to the hill country tomorrow (I’ll leave my big pack with Verity while I go climb a mountain)

With everything organised it was time to relax and get a good sleep before my long arse day tomorrow.