Catch Up Photos

Captain Gore-Tex, ready for a mountain.


Downtown Kathmandu.


The road from the border to Kathmandu followed this river for about 4 hours.

Standard Nepalese landslide clean up operation.

The surly Nepalese lady to my left was totally hogging the seat, so I ended up having a gearstick on my butt, which was less than comfortable given the number of gear changes required on these roads. It could've been worse though, the two guys on my right are sharing the drivers seat, and yes, one of them was driving. The driver is the one with the hash reefer on the far side.

Motorcycle anyone?

Public burning ghat on the Ganges River, Varanasi. The body is wrapped in gold foil at the water's edge.

Varanasi to Kathmandu

38 hours, 5 government buses (79 Indians, 1 Aussie per bus), 1 Mazda 121 (2 Indians, 2 Koreans, 3 Nepalese, 1 Aussie), 1 6 hour sleep in a train station waiting room, 1 suspiciously easy border crossing, 1 dodgy travel agent, 1 4WD (7 Indians, 4 Nepalese, 1 Aussie), 6941 near death experiences, 2 bottles of water, some deep fried somethings from the side of the road to eat, and some wicked body odour later, I made it to Kathmandu. Into a 2 hour traffic jam. It was awesome.

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Nightime celebartion for Shiva on the waterfront.

'Autorickshaw'

Varanasi, the city of Shiva, is one of the holiest cities in India. Hindu pilgrims come from across the country to wash away their sins in The Ganges River, and it is regarded as the best place for a Hindu to die, as it offers a chance to escape the cycle of rebirth. The burning of dead bodies is an everyday occurence along the riverfront, with the creamtion process in full view of everyone, including me this morning. I don't think I'd ever seen a dead body before this morning, but today I saw 5, in various states of decomposition, washed up on the shore, metres away from others bathing and swimming.

The thing is, the whole place kind of smells like poo, which takes away from the holiness a touch. The smell isn't surprising though when you look at the stats on the river. Every day around 60,000 people take a dip along a 7km stretch of the river, with around 1.2 million people living within that area. Along this same distance, 30 sewerage outlets spew their contents into the river all day, every day. This results in the Ganges water being so polluted it is septic, ie no dissolved oxygen exists. Water samples from the river show that the river has 1.5 million faecal coliform bacteria per 100ml, compared to Sydney's reading at less than 500!

Agra to Varanasi

This leg was supposed to be easy. Leave Agra at 9:30pm to arrive in Varanasi at 9:30 am. I had my own bed with air conditioning and everything.

After enjoying a home-cooked dinner on the train platform with an Indian family, I boarded the train and fell asleep within an hour. I awoke to pouring rain, and the train standing still, in a vast green countryside that I had yet to see in India. Apparently we had been that way for 4 hours due to a tree falling over the tracks.

We arrived in Varanasi at around 4:30, making the trip a luxurious 19 hours in duration. The trip included 2 interesting meals, (no idea where they came from), and about 15 chai.

Agra, Uttar Pradesh

It has been a very interesting 24 hours.... Some things you would expect on a journey to India, others you would not.

Yesterday's travel from Jaipur to Agra was my most death defying journey yet. Considering how popular the road is as a tourist link, my assumption was that it would be at least bitumen. It was, kind of, but it was moreso a dirt track complete with divided road (your choice which side you drive on), all forms of livestock, burning vehicles, and people just generally hanging out on the highway. The soundtrack of Ricky Martin, Vengaboys, Backstreet Boys and multiple Indian dance anthems made the trip fly by though.....

This morning I visited the Taj Mahal, the world's greatest monument to love, which certainly lived up to the reputation. I always thought it was a palace, but it's actually a mausoleum for the wife of the 17th century Emporer Shah Jahan. Mumtaz Mahal, the bride in question, died whilst delivering the couple's 14th child. Who could blame her for taking the easy option.

Old Mr Shah must've been pretty under the thumb though, as he employed 20,000 labourers to build the Taj, taking a total of 22 years. At the completion of the building, he cut off the right hand of all the skilled tradesmen so they could never build another structure of the same quality. Heavy.

Halfway through the visit, I realised I had eaten my first dodgy curry. Lets just say it was a dead heat.

Last night was the interesting part. I had arranged with my driver for a 5:30am pickup to go and see the Taj. I awoke at what I thought was 5:30 to some loud banging on the door. 'A little over-enthusiastic for this hour?' I thought to myself. I checked my watch and it was in fact 3:30am. I opened the door, covered in a mear scrap of Bonds undies, to find 7 Indian police officers brandishing very big, very aimed, very scary looking guns. A million thoughts rushed through my paranoid head as to why they would visit me, but before I could pinpoint one they were in my room telling me very loudly to sit on the bed with my hands up. They looked in the bathroom, under the bed, in the cupboard, out the window, then left, slamming the door behind them, leaving me a little perplexed to say the least.

Once I was dressed, I asked the manager what it was about. He said it was a 'tax problem'. Yeah buddy, and I'm Krishna. I later found out 2 Japanese girls who were supposed to be staying at the hotel were missing. I don't know what has happened since. But don't worry, I'm fine.

I also saw a couple of impressive forts.

Indian Scaffolding

Yep, sticks and bamboo.

Jaipur, Rajasthan

Last night Mack and I went to the local theatre to see an indian film, 'Chak De India'. Mack neglected to inform me the entire film was in hindi, but it turned out to be twice as much fun trying to figure out what was going on. It was kind of 'Mighty Ducks/League of Their Own/Remember The Titans', but the funniest part was the cheering, booing and mid-film standing ovations for the various characters. The theatre itself was an incredible venue, made more special by management insisting that I be seated in the 'special guest' balcony viewing. Stephen 1-India 1

exotic animals

not so exotic animals

Cows rule in India. They have right of way in all situations (and you can't eat them here either!)

Jaipur is a shoppers delight, and the indian people are incredible, if not persiatnt salemen. Never before have I been so interested in buying a pashmina, rug or loose precious stone.

New Delhi, Northwest India

I finally arrived in India, land of cricket, cows and curries full of excitement and ready to immerse myself in a whole new world. Wrong. India is definately winning after kicking my butt last night. A late arrival withou a prior accommodation booking was a bad idea (I tried without sucess from Bangkok), so I ended up in a travel agent at 1am (why was he open I asked?) booking a tour for the next week to ensure I had a place to rest that night.

It turned out to be blessing in disguise, as my driver/tour guide/bodyguard/ all round nice guy, named Mahesh Kumar (I'm calling him Mack) has been fantastic. He took me too his home for breakfast, which was delicious, and I met his wife and two children. The photo here was taken on the roof of his building, which has a 360 degree wiew of Delhi.

Delhi was a bit much for me, too busy and smelly, so we left this morning and are now kicking back in Jaipur, known as the pink city. 200 years ago the entire city was ordered to be painted pink by the guy in charge, and it remains that way today.

Back in Bangkok

Would you let this guy into your country?

For a long time I didn't think India would either, but today, 9 days after submitting my application, I finally got my tourist visa for their country. Just in time, as I fly out tomorrow afternoon!!! Relief...

That was enough excitement for today. After 14 hours on a bus yesterday (who knew it was the wet season?) from Phnomh Penh to Bangkok, I needed a day off today.

Final views of Pnomh Penh...

Favourite Signs Of Cambodia

Vote for your favourite in the comments!

Sihanouk Ville

Best $5 lunch ever!

Sihanouk Ville is Cambodia's little secret answer to Koh Samui or Phuket. The town's tourist population doubled last year, so it won't be that much of a secret for too long. Fresh seafood on the beach, and water around the 25 degree mark make it a nice place to relax.

Around 7pm that relaxing turns into a big beach party, which was still going when i left at 3am.

Other highlights for the day included putting my leg through a floorboard in my bungalow, and I'm pretty sure I broke my finger playing volleyball. It doesn't matter where I am, I can still hurt myself if I try....