Singapore Sling!

Wow ...

Coming to Singapore and wandering around I can't help but feel that I've somehow returned to the First World after a month of India. The streets are clean, there's no stench of sewers, there's an abundance of nice bars and restaurants, there are no hawkers or beggars waiting to harass you at the first chance, there are litter bins!

Yes, the affluence of Singapore is made all the more poignant after travelling around India. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to get into a rant dissing everything to do with India, but I must admit it's a lot easier being a tourist in a place like this.

We touched down yesterday morning after a shortish place trip from Mumbai (home of the world's least impressive international airport). Hotels seem to be at a bit of a premium here but we got ourselves booked into a very good 4 star place a short distance from the down town action. A pleasant walk down the river brought us later on to China town where we feasted on excellent food and cold Tiger beer. A little bit of a stroll around to check out all the shops and then we sauntered back to the hotel to enjoy the air conditioned luxury of the hotel bar.

Today's been a similarly chilled out affair only slightly spoilt by a torrential downpour that shows no sign of going anywhere for some time. Being the tourists that we are we've been to Raffles and had Singapore Slings ... not the best I've ever had, I'm waiting to get back to the hotel where the barman swears he can prepare a far more authentic version.

Tomorrow we've got an early flight to Perth and from there on in it's fun and frolics down under!

Yet again I've failed to find a PC with a USB port so I haven't uploaded any photos but I'm hoping to hog Rob's PC when we get to Oz, so hopefully the next blog entry will be accompanied by a feast of colour photos!

Farewell India

Well it's only a couple of hours now before we hop on a bus and make our way to Mumbai international airport to take a 5 hour flight to Singapore and then a couple of days later to Australia.

India has been a very interesting experience, we have chilled-out on beaches, seen a few temples, seen some pretty dirty and chaotic cities .... everything has been an experience!

Something however leaves me feeling a little disappointed. Perhaps it's me, but I seem to have failed to fully appreciated "the magic of India" that other travellers rant on about in bars and cafes. Sure, it's been very thought provoking but I can't honestly say I was "touched". Still, I don't regret a moment of the trip and who knows perhaps in different circumstances I'd return and be more open to the experiences of India?

Photos to follow.

Cities, Beeches and Elephants

Well, this is more like it ... We're currenty chilling out in a small costal resort called Varkala. It's in the south of Kerela and unlike the rather busy and ultra-touristy areas of Goa it's actually quite laid-back. We've been here for the last few days as the urge to continue travelling onwards, day-after-day has temporaily left us.





Yesterday was good fun, we got word that there was a festival at one of the local temples so we hiked it up the beeches for around 30 minutes and happened across a local gathering ...






These guys know what pleases the crowds ... we want elephants!

For the past few days we've done nothing except gentle walking, reading, eating and drinking. Being back near the sea has brought back a sense of calm after the madness of Mangalore and Bangalore.

So long Goa

Paradise??? Lost

Well, today I'm sitting in an air conditioned internet cafe in Mangalore. To cut a long story short the Goa experience was not quite what I had in mind. Now don't get me wrong I'm sure that if you had local knowledge and patience you could find some nice chilled out places but what we found was a bit too close to Costa Del Sol for our liking. Now if I were a surf dude or beech bum it would have been great but somehow something didn't push the right buttons. That said it was a nice place to hang out and relax for a while. Perhaps being in my early twenties and thin would have helped as well ...





So yesterday we jumped on a "local train" from Canacona (Goa) and headed 400 km due south to where we are now. The train journey was quite an experience given that it was a local service and had none of this 2nd class, 2-tier A/C, 1st class reservation stuff that gets you a reserved seat. So we went cattle class and spent 6 hours getting numb backsides on a wooden bench. Fortunately I didn't need to use the toilet which would have been an adventure too far ...

Interestingly although Mangalore is a busy city we haven't experienced any of the hassle we received in Goa. Rather than view you as source of easy cash they just leave you to yourself to get on with it.

Neither of us appear to have suffered the dreaded Delhi-belly yet but given the interesting places we're eating in I'm sure it's only a matter of time. It might just be me but I'm kind of surprise that nothing i've eaten so far has been particularly spicy. Perhaps the waiters just ask the chef to tone down the flavour for pale Europeans but there's definitely an element of vitamin Chilly missing from the diet.

South Goa

Well, it's been an interesting week so far ...

Shortly after arriving at Mumbai airport the overwhelming desire to get as far away from Mumbai as possible overcame the two of us. A quick flight later we were in Goa. We've drifted around this week and have started to get into the spirit of things.

One things for certain, you have to adopt a good sense of humor to get on as as a tourist you are somewhat of a magnet for everyone trying to make a few rupees. That said everyones been friendly so far and as long as you don't forget that they're trying to make a bit of cash then everything seems fine.

Of the more extreme sports we have engaged in is taking taxis. These taxi drivers have a very liberal view to the application of traffic laws. One cannot fault their bravery however as they constantly amaze us at their ability to overtake on blind corners and make it back onto the correct side of the road before oncoming traffic causes any nastiness.

Sorry, but no photos today ... next time I promise to upload some pretty Goan sunsets ... arrrhh