Incredible India

When last I spoke to you guys I was in Khajuraho in India. This was a pretty cool place. Here you can find some 20 temples (from over 80 that were there originally) with most depicting the various elements of the Kama Sutra! Quite an eye-opener I can tell you!

From here, we travelled to Varanasi. This was more like the 'proper' India I was expecting in Delhi. In other words, absolute bedlam! We arrived at 1am and you would have thought it was London rush-hour at 5:30pm! Varanasi will certainly live long in the memory - although possibly for some not so good reasons. When we were there we floated on the Ganges river and watched some ceremonies taking place on the Ghats (stairs) that lead down to the river. They also perform cremations and stuff on the banks of the Ganges too - and, incredibly, people drink the water straight from the river!?! How they manage not to get sick I really don't know.

After Varanasi most of the group left for Nepal. So after a tearful farewell to Kat, Carrie and Bishal, Tracy and I continued back by sleeper train to Delhi. We were fortunate enough to catch the celebrations of Holi while we were in Delhi. This celebrates the end of winter and the start of summer (although, what kind of 'winter' has 35 degree celcius heat is beyond me, but, I digress) with a festival of colour. People buy coloured powders and either mix them with water or throw them dry over one another! Some of the people were just covered head to in a shocking pink or a dark green, or any other number of various hues! Really funny to see, and although we managed to avoid getting 'whacked' there were a couple of close instances in the back of our transportation!

So, after an afternoon of being ejected from the Claridges Hotel swimming pool and an evening of drinking with Tracy, I bid an emotional, fond farewell to her and India and made my way to Hong Kong.

Impressions of India are highly favourable (despite the hit-and-run attack of our Varanasi tuk-tuk driver on a cyclist, which was the only downside to the whole two weeks). I would definetely like to come back in the future here. The food was just incredible (I think a conservative estimate of one stone would be roughly the amount of weight I have put on in two weeks!). And believe it or not, my friends, I ate veggie (with the exception of one meal) for the entire two weeks - hope you are suitably impressed!

Right, thats all from me for the moment. From Hong Kong its on to Beijing. Looking forward to speaking to you soon.

Taj Very Much Like

Greetings,

Hopefully you are all fit and well and are looking after yourselves. I am just champion thank you very much - and enjoying India immensely.

When last we spoke I had just arrived in Jaipur. Jaipur, which is also known as The Pink City due to the buildings in the old part of the city, (although they looked more terracotta to me, but it doesn't have the same ring I guess!) was a quality place, loads to see there. First I rode an elephent to the Amber Fort which sounds kind of exciting, but the whole experience was not exciting at all and to be honest fairly nauseating! Still, the Amber Fort itself was very beautiful. Also, we visited a very famous site which is basically the facade of a building called Hawa Mahal. Although it was covered in bamboo scaffolding when we were there still it was good to see. Finally, we went to the observatory. This was absolutely fascinating. The largest sun dial in the world resides here and is accurate to 20 seconds! Pretty cool stuff!

Leaving Jaipur we travelled to Agra for what will probably be the highlight of this trip, and most probably my life: The Taj Mahal.

Seeing it for the first time was one of those moments in life that makes it so worth living. I felt goosebumps and the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight on end. The building itself was just to beautiful and perfect in every way that you almost felt reluctant to go up close to it in case its beauty was diminished. This was not the case. It is every bit as incredible up close as it is from a distance. An absolutely awesome building that now tops my list as the most amazing building I have ever seen.

From Agra we travelled to Orchha. This was a funky little place. Here there was a magnificent old fort that was quite run down (as if it had not been restored since it was built in the 17th Century) but it had a real character and was great for just exploring. While we were in Orchha there was a large Hindi festival going on and there were hundreds of pilgrims that had come to Orchha from the surrounding areas to observe this festival. We had a wander round the square next to the temple where all these people were. We got some stares from the locals I tells ya!

Now we are currently in Khajuraho having just arrived here earlier today. Take care of yourselves and I will update and speak to you soon.

PS. To those that have emailed, I will be getting back to you, but my Hotmail is playing up at the moment (for a change!).

Not So Smelhi Dehli

Greetings to all from India. I hope you are all well and looking after each other.

Last time we talked I was just leaving Sydney for Delhi. Everyone warns against Delhi being a complete culture shock, being constantly harassed and it being smelly and stuff like that - but I didn't experience that at all; which is a good thing I guess. I arrived at the airport expecting the absolute worst, but everything was cool so that was good. The ride from the airport was 'interesting' as the roads and more particularly the drivers there are not so hot! Although we did arrive in style in an Ambassador car which was a bit stylish!

In Delhi, I met the rest of my group (who are all cool, so thats good news) and we spent the day in Delhi. First off, I saw Humayun's Tomb which was built in the 16th Century by the emperors widow. That was good so see, although the pricing strategy was interesting: Local people pay 10 rupees and tourists pay 250 rupees! I tried to pass myself off as a local but the guy at the desk was having none of it. Still, 250 rupees is about 3 quid sterling so you can't really complain!

Then we went to a Hindu temple for a look around then to the war memorial India Gate, which is alot like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The park area around the India Gate was a real treat. Me and another girl in our tour group (called Tracey) were the only westerners in the entire park area, so we got some looks I can tell ya!

Then we saw the famous Red Fort which was spectacular.

After leaving Delhi on the train we travelled to Pushkar. The trains were not the classic, stereotypical image you have of Indian Trains that you will do doubt have in your mind - although some of the areas of absolute poverty that we travelled through were so sad.

Pushkar was absolutely excellent. There we visited the Hindu Brahma temple. According to this religion Brahma was the creator of the universe. This Brahma temple is the only one in the world as Brahma's wife promised to curse those that ever built one after a bit of a spat with her hubby.

Pushkar is built around a Holy Lake, and during my second day there I was fortunate enough to partake in a special Hindu blessing ceremony on the shores of the lake praying for my and my friends and family's happiness for my travels and for the rest of our lives and hoping that we have good Karma in the future. The ceremony itself was superb. We offered various things to the gods by casting them into the lake. Absolutely incredible - I felt so amazing after it.

So, after another couple of temples in Pushkar, sunset by the Holy Lake and being pestered constantly by two strange men on our way up a hill to visit another temple, we left Pushkar and travelled to Pachewar.

Pachewar was a 'proper' Indian village. Really traditional people leading their everyday lives. We took a walk around the village and witnessed the making of clay pots and the traditional food stuffs (which were very tasty!) all accompanied by an entourage of some 10-20 smiling, laughing kids that were obviously loving the attention and talking to the strange visitors to their town.

In Pachewar we stayed in a 300 year old fort that the King of Rajasthan used to live in that has been converted to a hotel. This was absolutely class, so many cool bits and bobs to explore, although one of the girls (Kat) sensed some strange paranormal activity in her room as we were arriving. Fortunately, I didn't see anything in the haunted fort, although I did get 'attacked' by a bat there!! (well, OK, it flew close to me and scared the crap out ot me!)

Right, at the moment I am in Jaipur having just arrived not too long ago. So, I will leave the impressions of Jaipur till the next time. Looking forward to it! Take care mes amis, and watch this space.

Australia-ving

Hello there,

Well, now that I am leaving Australia I thought I had better dash off another quick blog update with my thoughts.

Having spent just over the last week in Sydney I can say that I totally love it. Sydney is a fantastic city, its as simple as that really. There is so much to see and do here, and the sights are superb. The harbour area and the Opera House are incredible, I have lost count of the number of hours I have spent just gazing at the Opera House. There are wonderful museums and gardens and park areas that add to the fantastic feel of this city.

Actually, a few days ago I climbed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge which was excellent and thoroughly recommended. Don't do it if you are expecting an adrenalin rush as it is not that sort of thing - but if you want stunning 360 degree views of the harbour and city then its a must do, and great fun (apart from the ghastly grey jump suits that they clad you in!).

I have enjoyed my time in Australia completely. It goes without saying really (as you have read my thoughts on this subject already!) but my personal highlights were scuba diving, the opera house performance, skydiving, Uluru and Ramsey Street! All superb and must do activities I feel.

So, next to India. I am kind of nervous about it, as it is a few months since I was in a developing country, and after a relatively cushy time in NZ and Oz it will be a bit of a shock going back to another 2nd World Country. Still, thats what its all about I guess. Can't wait for my plane to land at two in the morning in Delhi!!

Watch this space.

Happy Snaps: Australia

Thought I would indulge you in a few Happy Snaps from the past couple of weeks.

Enjoy!

Here I am outside Harold's house. The more observant among you may notice a man on the roof of Harold's house erecting a new TV aerial. This is unfortunately not Harold himself, however it is the man that actually lives there. So, keep your eyes peeled on Neighbours over the next few months and see if you can spot the new aerial - but just remember where you heard the hot TV scoop about Harold's new aerial first!



Here I am on my way up the stairs at the Scully's house (that was as far as I got though, cos they don't like people wandering up their paths).



Here is me in Sydney with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the background.





PS. I have also updated the Opera House post below with a photo of the performance.

The Fan-John of the Opera (House)

A tenuous blog post title at best, but still not the worst there's been I would argue!

How is everyone doing? I'm absolutely on top of the world thank you very much. Major reason for this update is that I had one of the most brilliant nights ever last night, and thought it prudent to inform you lot exactly what I have been up to.

Last night I went to the Sydney Opera House to enjoy a classic concert. Now, as anyone that knows me will know , I have a passion for classical music (you don't play the piano for over 18 years without getting a liking for at least some of the music you play I guess!). And, as some of you will also know, I absolutely detest opera music. Now this left me with a dilemma - I really wanted to go to the Sydney Opera House while I was here, but given my distaste for said genre of music, I didn't want to see an opera. An alternative or Plan B was required.

Plan B took the form of a classical concert featuring solely the works of Beethoven (I suppose you could say B for Beethoven and my favourite composer to boot!). I was expecting a fairly short performance or a couple of hours maybe featuring excerpts of various popular works (incidentally, the programme that was played at the concert was identical to one that Beethoven himself gave highlighting his greatest achievements). However, I was totally blown away to find that it was not excerpts, but a full programme featuring two symphonies, a piano concerto and choral singing works. In total, well over four hours. A Bumper Beethoven Bonanza I'm sure you'll argee.

Almost everyone will recognise the two symphonies that were performed, although probably not by name. The Fifth which goes dum-dum-dum-dummmmmmm, dum-dum-dum-dummmmmmm very loudly set my hair on end such was the emotion involved. As did his sixth symphony, the Pastoral, which although I can't describe adequately using the universal language of 'dum' everyone will know if they heard it.



The evening itself was absolutely incredible, the acoustics in the concert hall were absolutely incredible. You could hear everything from the softest pianissimo to the roaring fortissimo with complete clarity and without an echo that you might expect from such a large venue.

And, when I awake the very next morning I discover that overnight Newcastle beat Liverpool in the League - does life get any better than this!?

Can-do-berra

Greetings from Canberra. How are things with everyone, hope you are all fit and well.

So what is Canberra like then? Well, as it is the capital city of a major country of the world you might think it was a bustling vibrant metropolis full of exciting goings on and such things. If you thought that, you, my friend, were sorely mistaken.

Canberra is...what is the word...'boring' is slightly harsh, I think lacklustre fits the bill. Canberra is lacklustre. For a capital city, it is such a quiet place, with no real centre to speak of, few shops and few attractions in the city centre.

Having said that its not all bad. The main reason I have spent the past week or so in Canberra is that I needed a few visas for the various other countries that I will be visiting later on, and like, every nation in the world just about has an embassy here. This was pretty cool as alot of them are in the styles of their various countries. Like the China embassy is in the style of a Chinese Pagoda and loads of other countries maintain this trend too which was cool to see.

In Canberra there are also the Houses of Parliament so I had a mosey around there which was OK, the building was pretty modern in design so that was good with all stylish and marble interior. Unfortunately, they were not sitting when I was there as it would have been kind of interesting to see the cogs of democracy turning in the flesh.

After that I had a look around the National Gallery of Australia which was massive, but had too much modern art for my liking (although there were some good photography exhibits). One particular piece of modern art caught my eye in particular, the work of one Jackson Pollock. Now whether the surname of this particular man is rhyming slang for a description of his 'work' is open to debate, certainly I think it could be.

Take a look at this picture below:



You might be mistaken for thinking that the above painting was done by my seven year old niece Chloe, perhaps something she made during an art lesson at school. But no, this is not the work of Chloe. Perhaps it is the work of my other, five year old niece, Abbie who maybe thought it fun to throw paint upon the walls of my brother and sister-in-law's house. But no, this is not the work of Abbie.

The above painting is that of famous artist Jackson Pollock, who created this when he was 40 years of age! Unbelievable! It is not the greatest travesty that this man made it famous for this sort of thing and no doubt got tremendous amounts of money for doing so. What is more alarming is the fact that in 1973 the National Gallery of Australia saw fit to spend $2m Australian Dollars (over 800,000 Sterling for the folks back home) to acquire this painting!

That said, thats pretty much all to report. One thing I will remember Canberra in particular for was that I watched my first live Newcastle United game in months here on TV as we beat Bolton 2-1 at St James' Park on Sunday gone.

So my over all feeling of Canberra is that (as the post title has revealed) it can do better.