India to Indonesia via Singapore

- Our final leg home -

In Em's last post she said we might have been the only people not to get a stomach bug in India. Maybe that is true - we didn't get upset tummys - but by the time we left India I was suffering a sickness of another kind. We discovered when we arrived in Singapore that I had contracted a Denghi Fever type of virus during the three day wedding, which knocked me around like an angry bull in a rodeo. During the wedding I was feeling pretty fluey, as was Em, but by the time we left Baroda to get to Mumbai I was convinced it was more than a flu for me. Em was convinced that I was being my usual hypochondriac self and was really fine. This was until our flight from India to Bali. We flew out of Mumbai to Chennai then on to Singapore for 8 hours and then we were supposed to continue on to Bali. While waiting for our flight from Chennai to Singapore my body exploded in a wild fire like rash from head to toe. There was not much I could do about it so we took our flight to Singapore. There the rash seemed to have died down but a fever soon replaced it. I tried to sleep in a few different spots around the airport but couldn't get comfortable and then my breathing started to go on me. By now Em was thinking that maybe there was something a bit more wrong with me then just a flu so we went to the airport doctor. He took my temperature, looked at me and said that to fly in my state could be fatal. So instead of catching our next flight to laze about on the beaches of Bali, Em and I caught an ambulance to the Raffles hospital in Singapore. Now this - like the name would suggest- was no run of the mill hospital. It's owned by the Raffles Group, which owns the famous hotel, and was probably the nicest place we stayed during our whole trip! Once I was hooked up to the drip and had my mask on to breathe it was time to sit back, relax, and play with the hi-tech electric bed. Bed goes up, bed goes down, bed goes up.......and so on. You know how it is - the simple things and all that. After a week in there suffering from blood poisoning, and the denghi type thing, I was told I was able to fly again. Wicked. We checked out of there, said goodbye to all the great nursing staff and the doc and went looking for a cheap backpacker style place to stay. Our mate Grant who has been living there for years took us out and showed us around and made sure we were looked after properly. Great guy. Then before we knew, it was time to get back on schedule and head for Bali.

Bali.....well Kuta actually, was a bit of shock at first after seeing the rest of S.E. Asia. It was so not like Asia to me. More like one big shopping mall spread out over many kilometers. But as we did many times before we met some great people and soon found our groove with the place. Kuta takes some getting used to if you have just come from India or anywhere else that's so poverty stricken. Everywhere you look it's designer boutiques, 5 star hotels and extra trendy cafes and bars. It was a real culture shock at first. However Kuta is only a small part of Bali as we found out. In Kuta we would spend our mornings around the pool then go for a motorbike ride and go shopping. Then at 5:30 we would head down with our mates to the beach to get a cold Bin Tang and watch the sunset at one of the many beach bars (guys with big eskys full of beer and fold-up chairs). It didn't really take us to long to get used to the place. The funniest thing about Kuta is hearing Aussie accents agian. They are everywhere. It's a pretty wierd thing hearing your native accent after going without it for so long. Very amusing. Everyone there sounds like they have just walked off the set of Kath and Kim.

The main beach at Kuta

Sunset at the beach

Bol won the drinking competition at this bar ... surprise, surprise!

After seeing much of what Kuta had to offer we decided to ride up to the hills of Bali to the artists town of Ubud. The two hour ride to Ubud was great. Riding on the highways with packs of locals on their bikes. Trying to get to the front of the pack got the adrenalin going - a lot of fun if you are up for it. Once off the highways the gently sloping winding roads take you up to the greener lusher parts of the island until you hit Ubud. Ubud has a really laid back, alternative feel to it. Very relaxing with no hassles. It's a great place to go and chill for a while. We arrived mid arvo and spent literally hours looking at different hotels and bungalows until we found a place that was absolutly perfect for us. For about $12 a night we had ourself a two story bungalow with all the trimmings. Downstairs was an elevated lounge area, a groundfloor dining area with our own fridge, (very handy) and a tropical graden style open air bathroom complete with bath and HOT WATER!!!!! Now you might think that hot water isn't that special but when you have been having cold showers for the past 3-4 months, trust me, having a nice warm open air bath on a rainy asian day is one of the most luxurious things a traveller can do. Anyway - to finish off the tour of our "home" in Ubud, we head upstairs, where we had our private balcony complete with comfy lounges which were great for reading a good book or just to do a bit of daydreaming. Inside was our bedroom which had a hand carved four post bed and even a proper writing desk complete with lamp. To top it all off, for $12 a day (between us) we even got breakfast poolside every morning. You can't beat that!

Our bungalow
Around Ubud

During our time in Ubud and surrounds we would spend our days riding the motorbike, looking at all the local art and furniture stores or just seeing where the particular road we would be on at the time would take us. We had heard about a big active volcano which was not too far from Ubud - no more than an hour ride away. So one morning we decided to go and have a look. It was such a great ride, up the winding roads through the forests and bushlands until we encountered a police roadblock. "They won't stop us", I thought naively - "we are just backpackers". Yeah right. "Pull over sir" - said the smilling officer. There was something about his smile to this day that I still don't like. "Where are you from?" blah ... blah ... blah ... "Bike rego, licence and passport please". So I handed over my doccuments. He noticed that my licence didn't have the stamp for motorbikes but I argued that we weren't really riding a motorbike but rather a scooter. "Yes but it has gears and is 125cc's blah blah blah". By this time I was thinking that we might be in a bit trouble as he explained that he could confiscate the bike for 5 days, fine me a few hundred dollars payable at the nearest bank straight away and end up having to go to court. Then he asked me what I wanted to do about it. Strange thing to ask. But my reply was that I'd like to get on the bike with Em and keep on riding. Well - he said that can't happen so what do I really want to do about. I wasn't sure so asked him what he wanted me to do about it and his repy was: "It's up to you, what do you want to do about it?" The conversation was going in circles and getting us nowwhere and he never once broke that disturbing smile either. After 5 or so minutes of this backwards / forwards conversation Em stepped up and asked him if he wanted money? I was shocked as I was trying to delicately get around to the same question but in a more subtle way. I certainly wasn't going to just asked him out right "Hey mate do you want a bribe?" I was sure he would turn on us for trying to buy him off. However, his reply was "Well you could give me a present!" I aked if 50000 rupiah (about 6 Aussie dollars) was a good "present". He frowned at me and told me it was up to me but he didn't look too happy about it. So I pulled out another 40000 rupiah - handed it all to him (in all about $10 which is a lot of money over there) and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. "OK" - he said - "this is good ... now be on your way and enjoy your day ... oh and don't worry, there won't be any more police around. I am the main police officer for this region, you'll be fine enjoy yourself."

The volcano

Yeah right. As soon as we reached the volcano there were more police checkpoints. But with these ones we didn't stop or even look at them. We just gave it full throttle and sped on past. Upon getting back to Ubud I found out that 20000 was the standard tourist bribe and that it happens all the time. Well at least he would have had a good night out on our naiveity.

We spent about five nights in Ubud in total and really got a feel for the place but it was time to return to the bright lights and sunset beers of Kuta. Most of our mates in Kuta were surfers so we would follow them out to some of the lesser known surf beaches like Uluwatu, and Impossible Beach, and swim the reefs or bodysurf the smaller breaks while they surfed the big waves. These untouristy places really capture the imagination and the hearts of travellers who go there and show a quieter and gentler side to Bali.

Uluwatu

In all Bali was a cool place to go to. It is diverse, the people are beautiful and friendly and there is something for everyone. It is also very easy on the budget.

Bali was our final overseas destination and we left there feeling excited to be going home and to see everyone who we hadn't seen for so long, but also we felt sad. Sad that the trip was over and that we were going back to reality and routines. Sad that now all that would be left of our 22 month trip would be memories. Sad that it would be such a long time until we see all the people and places that we came to love so much along the way.

If you ever get the chance to travel and see so many different cultures, people and places - then do it. Don't let it pass you by. Travelling has no age, sex or racial limitations. So go on, put your pack on your back and get out there.

After 33 flights and 22 countries - look out Adelaide.

Balazs Varga and Emma Graham are back.

INDIAN ADVENTURES

Southern Kerala and Northern Tamil Nadu

India is somewhere that was added and then cut out of our itinerary probably 20 times before we made the final decision and booked our flights. Our apprehension came because of all the horror stories we had heard about the country. It has a reputation as being somewhere you either love or hate, and from our experience speaking to friends and travellers who had been there, about 30% of people love it and the rest, well, they describe it as something akin to hell on earth. Because of these reviews we weren’t exactly excited about our trip there, but at least we had our expectations set low to avoid disappointment. And we had extra incentive to go to India because our good friend Dave (met in Vietnam the previous year) was flying there to meet us and travel for a few weeks before attending an Indian wedding. So it was late September when we finally left Bangkok, which as always had become our home away from home, and boarded the NokAir flight to Bangalore in the centre of southern India where we arrived at 2am with little cash, no hotel booked, and 16 hours to kill before a domestic flight further south.

Our first day in India was certainly an experience. We spent our first few hours at the Bangalore airport trying to get snippets of sleep on the brick ground outside as they wouldn’t let us indoors. We had countless people come and stand little more than 1m away from us for up to half an hour at a time, just staring in amazement at our pale skin. And when I say stare, I don’t mean a discrete sideways glance. I mean full on, in your face, staring competition style intensity. We ate the most amazing masala dosa (thin, crispy pancake filled with spicy potato mixture which soon became our staple breakfast whenever possible for the next month). And we polished off half a bottle of whiskey while playing cards, trying to will away the hours. Finally, we caught our domestic flight to Trivandrum in Kerala on the southern coast, where Dave flew in to meet us and our holiday began. Needless to say we were exhausted when Dave finally arrived and we made it to our hotel: by this point, we had been awake for 36 hours straight. But the excitement of the three of us catching up in this foreign land prevailed and we stayed awake until 5am drinking more whiskey and laughing like children, as we always do when together.
Trivandrum is the capital of Kerala and we didn’t find a whole lot to do there, but after a good sleep and an extremely spicy breakfast we made our way about 10km out of town to Kovalam – the area’s main beach. Having spent a lot of time on beaches in south east Asia, I have to say the beaches in India are completely different. Locals flock to the beaches each evening and stand waist high in the water gazing at the sun as it sets, fully dressed in their shirts and saris. Many of the beaches are black and set against the colourful clothes it creates an amazing image.
From Trivandrum we headed further south to Kanyakumari – the “Land’s End” of India where the Bay of Bengal, Arabian sea and Indian Ocean meet. Kanyakumari – at the northern tip of the state Tamil Nadu - is a pilgrimage destination for Hindus and contains an island rock memorial to the Indian Philosopher Swami Vivekananda as well as several important temples. After getting our dose of culture and a night of great food in Kanyakumari, we set our sights north again and re-entered Kerala, heading to the gorgeous cliff-top town of Varkala.
Varkala is probably one of our favourite places in India because of its relaxed, travellers atmosphere, rough sea which is great for body surfing, fresh seafood restaurants and views from the cliff out to the open ocean. We could easily have spent several weeks just chilling out there but because of our time constraints we only had a couple of days before it was time to jump on one of India’s crazy trains again and head slightly further north to Alleppey, where a little houseboat awaited us for a night’s journey through the famous Kerala backwaters.

One of our many "waiting" positions at the airport

Streets of Trivandrum

The first Indian beach we visited - Kovalam

The "Land's End" of India: Kanyakumari

After our visit to the Kumari Amman temple (idiots, we know)

The three travellers unite

From our balcony, Varkala

The town on the cliff-top

Bol getting into boogie boarding in Varkala
You can't get much fresher than that

The boys just after sunrise in Varkala

Backwaters of Kerala
Kerala is known as the Venice of the East because of its 900kms of canals. We covered barely 10km of them during our overnight trip, but even so it was such an amazing experience. The three of us hired a houseboat, which is a tube shaped bamboo structure with two bedrooms, bathroom, an outdoor lounging area and a kitchen. We had three staff to manage the boat and all the cooking for us, and we literally just sat back, drank beer and watched the world go by.

Our little beauty

Our captain was sun smart!

Enjoying our "welcome drink"
The chef on our boat was amazing


One of the canals

View from the windowYou can't beat these sunsets

Hampi
After our relaxing cruise we had a manic 24 hours which included travelling up to Kochi by public bus (not recommended) and then flying to Bangalore (sometimes the 17 hour train trips are worth sacrificing the budget to miss) and finally catching an overnight train to Hampi, in the state of Karnataka. Hampi, often called the City of Ruins, is quite spectacular with its clusters of temples, ancient monuments and boulder strewn landscape. We hired a rick-shaw driver over two days and visited countless temples which are like a smaller scale of Angkor Wat. It is a very religious place and amongst the ruins lie many important Hindu temples which are still used for worship today. The town of Hampi itself also has a great relaxed travellers vibe, making it a great place to spend a few days chilling out. The only set back is it is a "dry" town and so an ice cold beer at the end of a hot, temple viewing day, is only possible if you taxi it out of town (which we admit, we did do one evening :)

The view from the outdoor Mango Tree restaurant where we feasted on talis
Peak hour traffic in our rick-shaw
The cows and oxes are all decorated with paint and bells in Hampi

One of the many temples we visited
Amazing scenery - reminded us a bit of Central Australia
Dave and Bol amongst the temples

Goa
From Hampi it was time to hit the beaches of Goa, known as India's real tourist hangout and to Indian purists "not the real India". Real or not, we aren't people to turn our noses up at fresh seafood, cold beer, palm trees and beaches. Our first stop in Goa was Palolem, near the very southern tip. Our entire trip was several weeks before the tourist season really started, which in many ways was great because there were less people everywhere and cheaper places to stay. However in Palolem it also meant the beach shacks were still being built for the season and so we had to stay a street back from the beach. Apart from that, we absolutely loved Palolem. A gorgeous beach filled with local cows - we absolutely love the cows everywhere in India: so gentle and cute with their lovely long lashes! And we got to spend time hiring a motorbike to check out the area with some other travellers we met. We had a really great few days.
From Palolem we headed two hours north to another coastal town called Benaulim where Dave's aunt and uncle live. We stayed with them there for a night and his auntie took me sari shopping in preparation for the Indian wedding we were heading to. So much fun! She also gave me bindis to wear for the wedding, as well as bracelets and a lesson on how to wear the sari. One night wasn't enough to spend with his lovely family but unfortunately, with time against us again, we had to head off further north the next day to another coastal town called Calangute, where a group of Dave's other mates from England met us, as they too had flown over for the Indian wedding. Calangute was a bit more built up than other places we visited in Goa, but even so we had a fun few days eating amazing curries, swimming and even dabbling in a little late night karaoke. Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody never sounded so good!
By the time we left Calangute there were six of us in our little travelling group: everyone but us was from England with an Indian background. It made the trip so much more meaningful because they could speak with the locals wherever we went and so we got so much more insight into the place, rather than just being treated as tourists. Our last stop in Goa was Arambol - right at the northern tip. Much like Palolem in the south, Arambol is a relaxed travellers hangout with bungalows and beachside cafes. Another place you could easily spend a few weeks just hanging out, but we had other pressing engagements: namely an Indian wedding to get to!

Palolem beach

Love those cows!

We found this stunning spot on our day trip on the motorbike
Bol and our bike
Dave with his auntie and uncle
Sunset at Calangute

Our matching beach huts in Arambol
Front of our guesthouse, Arambol
The bay to the north or Arambol's main beach

The Wedding
Dave's best friend Neel, also from London, was holding his wedding in Baroda in the state of Gujarat and kindly said Bol and I were welcome to attend even though we had never met him. Nice guy! So we had the amazing experience of attending a two day Indian wedding filled with feasts, dancing in the street, the most decorated horse drawn cart known to man and crazy ceremonies involving face paint. Bol borrowed an Indian suit for the Sunday (main ceremony day) and I of course had my sari all ready to go (thankfully the hotel's housekeeping could help me put it on). So we fit in pretty well and were not too shy to get up there and dance as if we were changing the light globes. They really do dance like that in India! It was an amazing weekend and we were so lucky to be able to experience and Indian wedding in India. Neel and Asha's families made us feel so welcome and we know it is a weekend we will never forget. I, especially, will not be able to forget it for a while because it is custom for all the female guests to have a henna tattoo painted on them the evening before the wedding. So for the next month or so I have some pretty full on designs covering the front half of my feet in a bright shade of orange. All part of the experience :) We were also in Gujarat at the same time the Navrati Festival (Nine Nights Festival) was being held and so we got to attend parties filled with 250,000 people (40,000 of which dance in the centre of a stadium). Amazing to watch.

Samir, me, Dave, Neel, Paz, Mike and Kate at the Saturday evening event
Getting the henna applied
Dancing in the street at the Navrati Festival
The main arena for the Navrati Festival
All dressed ready for the wedding day

Top and Bolow: Wedding cermony rituals

Dancing in the street in the lead up to the main ceremony

At the ceremony
Neel arriving at the wedding in style

We are now in Mumbai for two days before we jump on a plane headed for Bali. Thanks to us both coming down with the flu we haven't managed to see much of the city yet, but will try to get a glimpse before our flight tomorrow. All in all though, I can say we fall into the "lovers" category of India. We only had a month here - far too short - but I know we will return to explore the north of the country in years to come. We found the people extremely hospitable, the food absolutely amazing (the extra kgs is proof of that!) and the scenery spectacular. The cities can be a bit full on but if you limit city stays to a couple of days and then get out to the countryside, India needn't be the hassle that many people find it. Amazingly neither of us got stomach bugs while here. We could quite possibly be the first travellers to India to say that (touch wood - still 24 hours to go). And who can fault a place which has such cute cows and such a crazy driving style where leaning on the horn is the only way to get around!