Some more Pictures from Calcutta and Thailand
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008Hey All – I’ve posted up another batch of photos on my facebook.
Should be able to see them here
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The End of the Affair
Monday, March 31st, 2008I set here in the middle of a sudden and pretty scary thunderstorm in calcutta. Its my last night in india. Time to look back, time to sum the last 4 months up. They have been just simply incredible, a really wonderful experience. 4 months ago seems like such a long time ago, I was so nervous walking out of the departure gates of mumbai international airport in the wee hours of the 30th of november. I cursed myself for picking such a notorious place to start off the adventure but in hindsight I couldn’t have picked a better place. If you can survive mumbai you can survive absolutely everything else that I have seen in this country, to take it even further than that I actually enjoyed that sprawling mess of a place. You need to take your time and give yourself a chance to adjust.
Goa was a let down I have to admit and anyone that I have gotten on with that I have met her agrees wholeheartedly with that assessment. The beaches of Kerala are much better, much friendlier places. Hampi is an amazing place, the landscape there is awesome. It is also well set up for lazy buggers like myself 🙂 After there it was xmas by the beach for spending the guts of january hunting down the best temples that tamil nadu has to offer. From there it was a trip up the land of kings, Rajasthan is an amazing state. There is so much there for everyone. After a week in the capital and a trip to the taj with diarmo I headed north to the mighty himalayas before returning back to the capital where my journey has been cut short. A quick dash over to calcutta and I am now ready to leave india. It feels weird to type those words. I am going to miss so much of the place, the food, the chai, the silly chats with shop keepers, the train trips, the mountains, the forts this country has so much to offer. There are elements which I will not miss, in my opinion the country needs to clean up its act on a lot of things that we take for granted in the west. The caste system needs to go, its fcked up. They need to install a proper system to ensure that every kid has a access to an education, its the only way out of poverty. Begging needs to be made illegal, it fosters a horrible element in society. Giving to these people very often that not only serves to perpetrate the situation. They need to introduce a waste management system, you can walk for days without seeing a bin. You can arrive at the most beautiful waterfall only to see that its base is destroyed by peoples careless littering. In the cities it only serves to feed the horrible sanitary conditions where vermin and disease amongst the poor is rampant. Its these fundamental things that stop alot of people coming here and it is a pity because as I have mentioned before it is a wonderful place.
Right I am going to sign off this now, this is the last of the wobble. I am off to thailand tomorrow – I don’t really have a clue what I am going to do there because it has come on alot quicker than I anticipated. Having survived 4 months here I reckon I should be okay…
Over and out,
Phil
Calcutta
Monday, March 31st, 2008
I stood there in disbelief, the words coming out of her mouth.
'Its over, you have to leave....'.
So after 4 months a divorce is on the cards, the lady at the desk in the FRRO office in dehli informed me that ... [Continue reading this entry]
Rishikesh
Saturday, March 29th, 2008After the stress and strain of having to deal with irish and indian bureaucracy (please note that very difficult word to spell) I took off for the yoga capital off the world, Rishikesh in the state of Uttaranchal. Rishikesh is ... [Continue reading this entry]
Manali – This post has got nothing to do with steven seagal!!
Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
I woke up in Manikaran to some perfectly blue skies. All off a sudden I questioned my desire to leave the town, I felt myself wanting to know what was beyond where I turned back the previous day. But despite ... [Continue reading this entry]
Manikaran
Monday, March 17th, 2008
Before heading to the main tourist attraction in Himachel Pradesh I decided to take a little trip up the Parathi valley which is a tributary of sorts than runs off the main Kullu valley. The town that tweaked my interest ... [Continue reading this entry]
Mandi
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
Mandi lies at the mouth of the aforementioned Kullu valley. The valley is probably the most visited site in the state. Reckoned it was a good one to leave till last. More about Kullu later. I had to get up ... [Continue reading this entry]
Dalhousie
Friday, March 14th, 2008
And so to Dalhousie - about a week later than I had planned but surely once you get there thats all that really counts. A quite enthusiastic reception committee welcomed me off the bus - it probably ranks just behind ... [Continue reading this entry]
Just some Photos from Chamba
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
I have posted a selection of my photos of the Chamba valley up on Facebook. For those not on facebook you can access them here.
Oh and I finally got my arse ... [Continue reading this entry]
The Chamba Valley
Friday, March 7th, 2008
And so to the chamba valley. Where? Exactly! I didn't have a scooby doo about the place more than 1 week ago. I needed to get out of mcleod ganj, its not that I didn't like the place. It ... [Continue reading this entry]
Phil Gill