Adventures of the Fittons

Sunday 4th November 11, Sydney

graham-loes-fitton — Sun, 4 Dec 2011 20:26:00 GMT

We have travelled quite a bit since now, some 1400 km. Since Marlo we have spend the night in a place called Tura beach, to move on the next day to Dalmeny, where we stayed two days to do the laundry and have a shower. As there was a bit of surf for Grom so he could make use of his board and wetsuit while I could work on my tan (Have to arrive tanned for Christmas). There was a beautiful beach as well so we went for a nice jog and I finished with some yoga.

We try to stay at a free camp place every other day to keep the cost down a bit and as they are usually in a nature reserve, the only thing you miss out on is the power and showers. But it does pay back in scenery and adventure value. Unfortunately we are not very lucky with the weather and it seems to rain that it poor’s every other day, and great sunshine the other. So I walk around in my sweater with jeans and tights underneath them one day and the other bikini and little top. Mad I tell you. It doesn’t just look like Ireland, the weather is just as unpredictable. But that doesn’t change the fact that the scenery is very nice, with vast amounts of forest and so much wildlife around. The parrots come and sit on your door and the kangaroos hop onto the beach. While the people sell fresh fruit along the motor way, giving the whole a nice countryside town feel.

As we move on from Dalmeny we drove our campervan down to pebbly Beach and the day after in Shell Harbour. Where they had a very scenic beach in a nature reserve, our last stop before Sydney. The beach looked stunning again and there even was a little surf. This seemed to have lured out half of the Australian population to the water which did not improve the chances of the little waves that where there for Grom. But it surely gave a very nice atmosphere to the whole place. Really everyone surfs here. The old boy on his longboard with a long grey beard. Daddy out in the waves with his 5 year old daughter on her mini board, including leash. It’s a lot of fun just watching everyone. The sun here is incredible strong. It feels a lot more intense than in the other place we have been. I wonder if it had something to do with the thinness of the ozone layer here.

Today we arrived in Sydney and it keeps surprising me how easy driving around here is. They have good signs and not really busy roads. We parked the car at the zoo as you can take the ferry into town from there, which worked really well. The zoo is really cool, as I finally get to see all the animals that I wanted to see. Like Koala’s, some more kangaroos and the Tasmanian devil, which only lives in Tasmania. It looks like a mix between a really big mouse and a bear. As well as that we see some animals that looks so weird that we are a bit perplex. To name some; platypus( mix between duck and otter, Binturang; weird bear like creature which looked a lot like a cat, fishing cat and Emu’s, loads of deadly snakes, It was a lot of fun I can tell you.

After that we nipped on the ferry to go and see the Sydney Opera house. Which looked very nice from a distance and up close a little less impressive. A bit like it got a bit too yellow, as if someone smoke for to long next to it really. Sydney itself is a beautiful city though, build along a natural harbour, it has a lot of water and houses with great views. The many transport is the ferry and there is a lot of green in the form of palm trees and parks as well as some nice modern architecture. The botanic gardens next to the Opera house were nice as well as we strolled along Sydney.

Tuesday 29th November 11, Around Marlo, East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia

graham-loes-fitton — Thu, 1 Dec 2011 15:16:00 GMT

We have been touring around a bit for two days now as there was no surf to be found around Melbourne and we had to start making some distance. We stopped yesterday at ninety mile beach, at a free campsite for the first time and are happily surprised by the quality of the place. There are a number of different campsites you can just pull in and make camp, under the trees. You are allowed to make a campfire as long as there are no warnings for high risk for bush fire and there are toilets and usually a water tap with rain water. The only thing they usually don’t have are showers, so there are only so many days you can stay on those before the smell of one another drives you to a paId one(I’m joking by the way). It’s a really pretty place and the beach is very pretty and honours its name as golden beach by it’s beautiful colour. As we walk back behind the dunes we spot a gigantic porcupine , who is by no means intimidated by us as he just goes on with digging it’s hole while Graham pokes it, it is a very funny sight.

And then we spot them, the kangaroos! I nearly missed them as they were grazing in the front lawn of a house in such a relaxed manner that I spotted them out of the corner of my eye, thinking; ah look some domestic house kangaroos in the front lawn. A bit like spotting a horse really. Before my mind comprehended the fact that it was very unlikely. They are massive and have this very human expression over them. They look a bit out of proportion like a women with giant hips and really small shoulders when they stand on their hind legs, with the front legs hanging a bit said to the side as if saying; I know, I’m only rudimentary. It’s a group of three and I guess a male and two females by their sizes. The male is about the height of me, but the females a lot shorter. They do look like they can get ugly if they don’t like you though, even though they are not aggressive animals, they are known for their strength in their hind legs. After having a mutual stare of about 5 minutes they decide it’s time to hop off. Which is the funniest thing to see really. I can’t believe I spotted kangaroos in the wild. Hopefully a koala will soon follow.

After ninety mile beach we head up to Marlo and camp in the bush, where we are soon joined by a family with two young kids, one is 1 year old and the other 2,5. They have a car and a campervan and have been touring Australia like that for 20 weeks now the dad tells Graham. Sounds like a pretty mad adventure.

Friday 25th November 11, Torquay Bay, Victoria, Australia

graham-loes-fitton — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:12:00 GMT

After a bit of a short night we arrive in Melbourne airport to be greeted by the sniffer dogs as we are the only ones who are being send for a check, I start to very much worry about my appearance. It must be the tired look, Grom’s tries to reassure me. We pick up the van in a lesser neighbourhood of Melbourne, where a bloke of about 25 asks me if I want to have a little teddy bear he had with him as he grins at me from behind the big scar on his face. I’m so happy I’m having my personal bodyguard walking next to me.

The van turns out to be a bit different then we saw on the photo, but they always do that I suppose and this one was a good deal. And it turns out later to have all we need and be quite comfy, so what more do you want. The road trip can get started!

So we head off from Melbourne to Geelong and then onto Torquay, surfing paradise, they even call the region like that there is so much surf. Unfortunately there is hardly any when we are around as people tell us it was great 3 days ago… rub it in boys. But at least it gives us time to settle in, get some groceries and find Grom a board. As you might remember he broke his old one in Mamallapuram in India. There are loads of surf shops around and even shops that specialise in second hand boards. We load it all up and head for Bells beach and Winkypops. It turns out to be quite small as predicted, but even so, there are 12 guys out at Winkypops and 3 at Bells, you don’t need a fortune teller to imagine how busy it gets when there really is swell. Groms goes for it anyway and even gets a little barrel. It’s really pretty out there, the rocks of the coast are sort of golden orange in a marbled fashion, with loads of green on top and winding roads. Loads of people turn up to look at the surf, hand out on the beach or go for a walk. This area is really one of the healthy people doing their outdoor thing.

I work on my cooking skills in the mean time as Graham gives me some instructions I managed to produce some pretty tasty dishes and that’s in a campervan. We both really enjoy the camping experience as you are very independent and bought really missed eating home cooked food.

We got a bit of a shock though going to the supermarket, everything is so expensive, 5 dollars for a small pack of cream? 5 dollars for a bread? My god, the euro most be doing bad and people must make a lot of money around here. But hey, shopping with some extra care will get us there as well.

Photos: Thailand & Malaysia

graham-loes-fitton — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:22:00 GMT

Wednesday 16th November 11, Koh Phi Phi, Thailand,

graham-loes-fitton — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:24:00 GMT

We arrive on long beach, said to be the nicest beach of Ko Phi Phi, paradise island. And boy is it pretty, the white sand, the clear turquoise water, the palm trees and the sun shine make me feel like I’m in heaven.

We finally make use of our brought over snorkel gear as long beach has one of the nicest snorkel spots of the island right in front of the beach. You have to be a bit careful not to be run over by a speedboat or long tail boat but when you swim over to the rocks it’s definitely worth it. There are so many different sorts of fish and the colours they have are so vibrant that you see something new every few seconds. My personal favourite is the parrot fish, who I find look a bit like a whale, but then small. And they come in lots of different but always very bright colours. Mainly fluorescent green with blue and purple. Some of them even have different coloured eyes, making them look even more goofy than the other ones. Some of them get quite big as well, 50 cm, and you can hear them eat the coral which is a very funny noise. There are the flat fish as well, who are black and yellow striped and have funky shapes. I think it was the buddy of nemo, who I haven’t seen yet unfortunately as I think they are very sweet. There is all sorts of coral here and anemone like things that close up when you come nearby. The occasional sea eagle keeps us on our guard where to put our feet and the sea cucumbers turned out to move, little did I know that they are actually a sort of fish, a very slow one mind. I have the time of my life exploring the reef and we even spot blowfish Hank the tank, who must have been the ugliest fish on the planet and we saw for the first time in Brazil, where we gave him his name after his robust looks. When we finally get out of the water we decide we indulge ourselves in the only other activity possible here, sunbathing, which in the end results in two crispy lobsters as we forgot that while snorkelling the sunscreen would wash off and result in a bit of a red back, woopsie. We have to wear a t-shirt tomorrow I’m afraid.

As we go out for dinner in the evening we come across to another interesting phenomena; the ladyboy. Graham waves a waitress over as he likes to order a beer and askes the lady in question’ which beers do you have? She seems a bit reluctant to answer but after repeating the question a very low ‘ tiger beer or chang beer’ came back at us. A bit taken a back Graham tells me’ my god that was the grates looking pair of men legs I have ever seen’. And to be fare to him he/she was a very well done one and as long as she didn’t talk you would think her an attractive young Thai girl, maybe a bit tall, but that was all. It’s just the weirdest thing that they have so many ladyboys around and they are accepted by society and have normal jobs like a waitress in a normal restaurant. They have to be taking massive hormone treatments as they look so feminine which can’t be great for them or cheap. What makes it that they have it so much but we don’t, is it that in Europe it’s not accepted but here it is? There is just such a big amount of them here that I can hardly believe that that is the proportion of men who want to be a women in an average society. Interesting phenomena.

Sunday 13th November 11, Phuket, Thailand

graham-loes-fitton — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:21:00 GMT

After a lot of flying and very little sleep due to a group of Indian men on the flight who thought it completely acceptable to yell repeatedly at their buddy’s at the back of the plane and in the mean time bang into our seats and keep the whole flight awake at 2 am. We finally arrive in Phuket and treat ourselves on a nice hotel. We are delighted with the standard of the room, with a hot shower and aircon and a pool downstairs. The beach is close by and as we are staying away from the main party place nice and quiet. It does take some adaptation to go from a society in which women hardly talk at all to one in which the lady’s of lesser virtue sit in front of the bars in their outfits that let little to the imagination in broad daylight and in the party town pretend to be massuses when showing off their legs as we drive by in our taxi. It always surprises me to see how many women are around and how little men in these places. You would almost start to believe that they have a lot more women here. But I’m afraid it has a lot more to do with the fact that a lot of men come here for less admirable purposes and the more elegant one are looking for a Thai wife and the women here are more then happy to full fill that wish. Either way they are not to be found on the beaches, they are either not allowed when unaccompanied, or want to keep their skin out of the sun to keep as light as possible. In Asia it seems impossible to buy face cream without whitening agent in it that promises you that you skin will go at least 3 tones lighter making you look like a European. It’s a funny world in which we do the opposite.

Either way, I’m happy to be in Thailand, where the streets are clean, they did invent the dustbin and you rarely get hassled. Plus they have nice food with loads of veggies and the weirdest and most tasty fruit ever. They go buy names as dragon fruit, which is bright pink and about the size of an orange and has weird sort of thorn leaves on them, when you cut them open they reveals either pink or white flesh with little pits and they taste a bit like a kiwi. Then there are the lychee like fruits, but here are covers in tentacle like fur, and of course Grahams favourite, the monkey fruit. Which is aubergine coloured and has a sweet flesh inside.

After getting some rest and recovered from our Indian adventures we travel onto Kho Phi Phi,

Photos: Khajaraho - India

graham-loes-fitton — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:27:00 GMT

Photos: Agra - India

graham-loes-fitton — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:25:00 GMT

Tuesday 8th November 11, Khajaraho - India

graham-loes-fitton — Tue, 8 Nov 2011 21:12:00 GMT

Thank god this place is nice and clean. I don’t think I could take another day without becoming utterly obsessed with cleanness and hugging the hand disinfectant bottle every 5 minutes. Strangely enough Graham seems to cope reasonably well. He hated Agra none the less, but does not show any of the ‘ I’m about to lose it symptoms that I have’. My stable rock in the storm.

Khajuraho is so nice that the temple tiredness that we had developed and caused us not to take the effort to go and see Fatapur Sikri just outside of Agra fade away. Around the temples they have nice tarmac roads and footpaths. Rickshaws are not allowed, creating a tranquil atmosphere and the peace and quite that we have been craving for. The group of temples of the Western group is located in the town and surrounded with nicely kept grass fields with flower beds and the occasional tree. It’s like a nice park, with some incredible temples in it. They are build around 1050 AD by the Chandela dynasty, who were mainly at war and very fond of women. Two things that they depict in detail on the temples. Making them famous for the 3 D depiction of Kama Sutra poses. In cases the 2D versions were not explicit enough for you. It surely looks like all those people were very enthusiastic yoga practitioners as arms and legs are in positions that make you wonder if those people had cartilage for bones. And the women are of such a voluptuous shape that Lolo Ferrari would get jealous. I have yet to spot the India women meeting this ideal so I wonder where they got their idea’s but hey all men are the same I guess. I can imagine that this would ensure the men to turn up for the rituals every day a bit more than seen out the life of a saint.

Besides those particular carvings, the rest of the buildings are beautifully done and most of them have gone through some form of restoration of some sort. I guess the sandstone wears away to fast.

Graham turns into a bit of a celebrity as he is been asked to have a picture with the various men walking around there. I categorically refuse, or more accurate, Graham does for me as they usually address him. I still don’t want to end up on some boys bedroom wall.

Our little cycle though the area is entertaining as well as some very needed exercise, as we wave at the passing kiddies with their cute school uniforms, complete with knee high socks(seriously, it’s not British climate here you know) and Ariel the mermaid school bags.

On the way back we nip into one of the many great places to eat. It’s about twice the price you pay here for food as in other places. But the quality is equally higher and we both feel like we’re in heaven when we find out that the Italian place does amazing fresh Italian food. And the Raja café has a mean chocolate brownie and ice coffee with scoop of ice-cream. It’s better for us that we leave today as this would not benefit our figure.

Monday 7th November 11, Agra - India

graham-loes-fitton — Mon, 7 Nov 2011 21:07:00 GMT

So beautiful are the buildings, yet the streets so filthy. We have not yet seen it like this and are a bit in shock. I feel I’m in the middle ages walking on the streets, trying to evade the dirt everywhere and trying not to breath when walking past the numerous latrines along the road spreading there odder. The sewer system is open and as to be expected does not add to the odder. There seems to be no system in place for waste as dustbins, or people cleaning the streets, except for them once in a while burning the waste on a pile. The street where our guesthouse is located is a little better, causing us to mainly stay indoors our remaining 2 days in Agra. It’s shocking that there are so many extremely badly kept houses and dirt in such a close proximity to the Taj Mahal, as our guesthouse is so close by, we walk there in 2 minutes. As you walk around the outer wall of the Taj Mahal the waste is knee high and on the waterside you need to be careful how to shoot your picture as the beach in front of it is so covered in waste that we don’t dare walk there. Let along take a boat ride on the river. You must surely get dysentery if you fall in there. We normally eat out at different places, but the couple we walk into we leave again to eat in our hostel restaurant as at least the food is reasonable here and we didn’t get sick yet.

And the thing is that it’s not like this in the rest of India, Mamallapura, was clean, with people sweeping the streets every morning. The beach was a mess, but hey, you can’t have it all. Hampi was clean, like Goa. Delhi surely wasn’t, but I would say not as bad as Agra still. I truly understand my younger self now, arriving in Delhi, getting sick and then going to Agra, being in a bus accident and then not liking India. It’s not the best way of seeing India really.

Anyhow, our time in India is coming to an end and it’s right on time.

Saturday 5th November 11 – Taj Maha,l Agra – India

graham-loes-fitton — Sun, 6 Nov 2011 20:47:00 GMT

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Known as the one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, said to be all that is good and pure, the Taj Mahal still lives up to her name. and being one of the most impressive odes to Love only makes this architectural wonder extra enchanting.

As we walk through to gate, which keeps the main building of the Taj Mahal out of view, we see more and more of it through the Oman shaped windows as if we were peaking through a semi see through chamber divider. And then there it is; the Taj Mahal in all its glory, rising up through the haze, created by the river behind it and surrounded by the light blue sky, the building looks milky white and gives it an extra mysterious look. It is still as impressive as I remembered, as we take our time simply admiring it while sitting on a bench. In the mean time trying to block out the noise of ‘official photographers’ giving instructions to clients and trying to keep other people out of their photo. The way the garden and the waterways were constructed only add to the beauty, as do the 4 minarets surrounding the Taj Mahal, being slightly leaning away from the main building so in case of an earthquake not to damage the Taj.

The Taj Mahal has been design by emperor Jahan San for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631 giving birth to his 14^th child. In honour of his love for her he ordered the build of the Taj Mahal, to be her tomb and is said to be designed by him personally. Her death left him so heartbroken that he is said to have gone grey overnight and he his kingdom almost went bankrupt over the whole affair, resulting in his son seizing power and locking his father in Agra Fort, where he died, overlooking the Taj mahal in 1666. He was buried next to Mumtaz under the main structure of the Taj Mahal where the public can’t visit. On top of this are two sarcophagus inside the Taj, shielded by marble fencing, beautifully inlaid with the most delicate stone work in complicated patterns and polished until it felt soft. The Taj Mahal is truly a masterpiece.

Visiting Agra fort can only stand in the shadow of the Taj Mahal, but it has to be said is a very interesting example of smart defensive tactics. The fort is surrounded by water, which contained numerous crocodiles (then, not now as it’s dry), If you would manage to cross that and get the bridge down you would have to brake through four gates with very big and strong doors, in which case the road leading to them are in a curve, and up hill making it hard to gain speed with your battering ram. After which you would have to walk up a road surrounded with high wall, from which they could pour oil and water and if that was insufficient, they had a huge bolder at there disposal they could unleash to thunder down that road to crush anyone unfortunate enough to get in its way, and seal the entrance again. How they managed to take the fort four times if a mystery to me.

The fort contains many beautiful buildings, carved and laid in with the same semi precious stones as the Taj Mahal, as this fort was also adapted by the great emperor. It’s intriguing to stand on the same spot as where he was held captive for 8 years, looking at his masterpiece waiting to die and be re-joined with his beloved wife.

Thursday 3rd November 11, Delhi, India

graham-loes-fitton — Thu, 3 Nov 2011 20:45:00 GMT

After a long travel by train from Hampi to Bangalore and then by plane from Bangalore to Delhi, we arrive somewhat tired in Delhi, the capital of chaos. We are armed with a face like thunder and a equal amount of lack of politeness which in absolutely necessary in this place if you do not want to end up in one of the numerous scams around here, which they seem to have develop into the regional sport. As we want to take the taxi from the train station to the airport, we are being assured by the group of ‘taxi drivers’ that the sheet of paper he has state the official government rates, like they exist in India, and we have to pay 1250 rupees. Don’t make me laugh Graham answers, as we are told by a local India we met on the train that the rate we should pay is somewhere between 400 and 600 RS. After a lot of haggling and walking on our account, we find out that the dude does not have a taxi at all himself but just tries to get commission by arranging a price with us and then call over one of the taxi drivers standing at the and of the road. As we get into the taxi that does look like one, we ask the dude ourselves as always, on which he reply’s 450. That is a very interesting answer as we just a agreed 600. The poor guy gets a lot of verbal abuse until he pays the guys their commission and they leave. Unfortunately this is not the only encounter we have as we get on the bus that runs between the two terminals on the airport the dude tries to get us to pay the double amount per person. And when I’m going to the toilet on the train station the dude tells me I have to pay 4 rupees instead of the two that it says on the sign above his head. That’s for pee he answers me. Then that’s all I have to pay I answer him. As that is not a good enough answer for the guy I ensure him it’s only a number 1. My god, seriously, am I actually needing to tell this guy on a train station to specify for what I need the restroom? Of course he claims to have no change, only 6 rupees he has. After some more waiting and keeping my leg stiff, the other two rupees suddenly appear like magic from his drawer.

Anyhow, we arrive safe and sound in our hotel that turns out to be one of the nicest place we have been until now, which is a nice change and escape of the immensely busy streets, which aren’t the cleanest either.

The red fort looms up in front of us, it’s incredibly big and build by the same king as who build the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately he was never able to fully use it as his son put him to prison in Agra fort as he almost made his kingdom go bankrupt by spending all the money and resources on building the Taj Mahal for his deceased wife as a honour of their love. He allegedly died, looking at the Taj from his chamber up in the red fort, and was buried next to his wife.

The red fort is more an enclosure of a city than anything else, and as everywhere in India, security is high. With metal detectors and scanners at the entry and guys looking unfriendly gazing over their AK 47’s in their bunker. I never know whether to feel more or less safe when seeing this.

Within the fort there is a welcoming sense of serenity, walking along the grass fields, looking at the beautiful buildings, terraces and pavilions. The palaces were being cooled by an ingenious system that involved pumping up water from the river and distributing it through the fort to cool it all down. Unfortunately all the water ways are now dry but using your imagination you can see that this would have been a magnificent site as they really knew how to landscape there. But then again, what can you expect of the guy who created the Taj Mahal. The buildings are all made of either red sandstone, or white marble, with carved in flower patterns, filled with half gem stones, to give a spectacular view. When you touch them you notice that the stone feels very cold and the surface feels soft and perfectly smooth, as it’s polished to perfection.

I’m really looking forward to see the Taj again, not long to go!

Photos: Hampi - India

graham-loes-fitton — Thu, 3 Nov 2011 03:06:00 GMT

Monday 31st October 11, Hampi, India

graham-loes-fitton — Tue, 1 Nov 2011 23:52:00 GMT

Beautiful Hampi, the AngkorWat of India, what a great site you are. Such a welcome escape from the hustle and bustle of Indian life, to just walk among the 500 year old ruins, with no-one around, to listen to the silent words the walls of these places speak. The vastness of this place is incredible as we cycle around the area, true this bizaar landscape formed by the forces of erupting volcanoes. Making it look like a couple of angry giants started to throw rocks at each other, resulting in these huge boulder mountains as far as the eye can see.

The temples are made of the rock excavated from the lava rock using a technique where they would chisel squares out of the rock and place wood in it. They wet the wood which then would expand and split the rock. It then is carved into the most amazing stone figures varying from lion-dragons, elephants, horses and temple maidens, forming the pillars and walls of these immense buildings. Most of the temples are Hindu temples and the main one on the square next to our guesthouse is still an important Hindu temple where people from all over the country come to bring their offerings. Most of the other temples have their shrines removed. We are told that happens after the reign of the great king who build all these structures after the Moors took over in 1565.

They themselves build the Islamic quarters, which is an amazing sight as well, with some astonishing architecture. It’s a huge premise of 59,000 sq.m and it was fully surrounded by two double wall, about 3 meters high. And if that wasn’t enough, they had a zenana enclosure within that, to keep the queen extra safe. The walls are 6 meters high there. But boy, her palace does look like it just left the story of Aladdin and Jasmine. She had a private bathhouse the size of a swimming pool, with again beautiful shaped windows and carving inside. And at the back side of her private asteate we can admire the royal elephant stables, wordy of a king. It’s great to just cycle around this beautiful landscape and visiting temple an route as we please. Most of them are for free as well and not crowded at all.

On the end of the day we visit the Vitalla temple, 2 km down the river from where we are staying, to see yet another crown jewel of architecture and craftsmanship. The tops of these temples are covered in very detailed stone work, made out of brickwork, covered in plaster, which in some places you can see. It just doesn’t last as long as the stone carvings. I wonder if they had to, because of the sheer weight. The pillars of the temple are made in such a shape and hollow that they vibrate when you tap them, producing a sound. The top attraction is a stone carriage, which is said to be able to move on its stone wheels at some point in time. I wonder how many elephants they needed for that though.

This is a really cool place to visit and shows a different side of India, we conclude as we enjoy our vegetarian food, sitting under the mango tree, overlooking the river, with some water buffalos crossing.

On to our next adventure in Delhi and Agra.

Sunday 30th October 11, Train Goa to Hospet

graham-loes-fitton — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:48:00 GMT

We are on our way to Hampi, which is said to be really beautiful , known for it’s vast amount of temples and I’m really looking forward to see it. We are taking the train as we speak (well write really, but you know what I mean) And it strikes me again that it is like getting on a long city, slowly moving through the country side, giving you the opportunity to take in the amazing scenery, varying from farmer land, to mountains covered with rain forest.

The lovely lady and her family we are sharing our seat with explains to us that this is the slow section of the trip and that the train needs two locomotives to pull and push the train through the mountains. She is on her way to her relatives as her sons have a three week holiday from school they go to visit them. The train is nice and cool even though we only managed to book a sleeper ticket as the rest was booked out, but the fan and the open window creates a nice breeze.

We had to growl a bit at the guys trying to steal seats and were obviously standing in the walking path to stare at the other European girl and me, but the other people in the train back us up, so we get a bit of privacy. Other than that, the train is comfortable and a great way to get in contact with the normal Indian people that would otherwise not bother you. There a lots of people walking in and out of the train selling lunch, samosas, water, lays crisp and chocolate cookies. All you could want is catered for. I might even go for a snooze on my upper bed. You can’t even do that in Holland. But then again, the train doesn’t take 7.5 hours either.

Thursday 27th October 11, Baga, Goa, India

graham-loes-fitton — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:44:00 GMT

Goa, You made me fall in love with your beautiful appearance, but boy, you don’t have a very nice character. The beaches are very pretty and the area has everything it needs to be an amazing holiday destination, being drenched in culture and having great food. If not for the men. As Goa is a Christian province in India and touristy I decided to take a chance and go for some sunbathing as I did not even try in Mamallapuram as Graham was in the water all the time. It kind of ended in tears. I have never felt so intimidated and insulted in my life, when Graham went for a 10 minute swim groups of men walked up to me and the other girls sunbathing there in our bikini and went pass us standing on 2 meters of us looking at us. As I told them to go away as this was very rude, they merely smiled and said, ‘I know’ with a sleazy grin on his face. The three other groups that followed were armed with camera’s and took photo’s of us, after our abjections and obviously not caring, I had it with so much rudeness. And the best of all was when I was on my way home, I walked into a guy masturbating in the not so much hiding bushes, I mean seriously? In broad day light? Kids walk pass there. My god! The women are really nice here and there are very friendly men as well. But there is a group that obviously got the wrong idea from the media about western women and how you can behave towards them. Then again, there is a big group of Russian tourist here on package holidays who obviously didn’t got the memo on how to dress appropriately either. Walking around shopping in town in their bikini barely hiding the bare essentials. They would be stared at even in Europe. Anyhow it’s time to get a move on again.

Photos: Goa - India

graham-loes-fitton — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:15:00 GMT

Monday 24th October 11, Goa, India

graham-loes-fitton — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:46:00 GMT

One of the nicest views I’ve seen moves by around us as we drive true the Goan countryside around Baga. We went on a little adventure on the hunt for yoga lessons and silk for our future house’s curtains. And the colonial buildings we see on the way, surrounded by sky high palm trees and green lush bushes makes it look like the perfect holiday destination. Grom has never done much scooter driving before, but proves to be a natural as he wizzes along through the traffic getting good at the old beep beep, that everyone uses to warn the other people on the road, making it sound like a constant sound symphony on this continent.

A lady in a shop tells us where we can find the nicest silk, so we end up driving to Mapusa, not realising that it’s a city. Thank god when we arrive, the market is on the outside of the city, so we don’t have to keep driving in the busy city traffic. We find great silk at this shop where this local lady guides us. Not without asking us to come and look at her shop of course. But as she has nice stuff, we buy a shawl from her.

As we wizz back from Mapusa, proud on our buy, we go to Anjuna, to find out it’s a bit of a stoner vile really. In the 30 min we are there we get three Marihuana offers, which is a record really. Unfortunately there is no yoga going on, so I guess itsgonne be some more home training for me. But that’s Ok, because my present awaits me when we get back.

Graham got me the most gorgeous, double string, engaging, pearl necklace with matching earrings from Hyderabad, the place to be for pearls in India. It looks amazing and I can’t wait to wear it at dinner. I feel like a little prince today in my own eastern paradise.

Photos: Mamallapuram - India

graham-loes-fitton — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:32:00 GMT

Friday 21st October 11, Mamallapuram, India

graham-loes-fitton — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:23:00 GMT

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India, the country of extremes. Where you see the women walking down the street, dressed in beautiful silk saris, with flowers in their hair, spreading an intriguing perfume. You stumble over the holy cows on the street, laying in the doorway of a shop for some shade, after eating plastic bags, that are spread along the roads. Where you see a little girl beg with her sister as her parents have died. You nearly got run over by a pryus car, but jet the dude down the street had a tiny shop where he irons clots with an iron that runs on coals. The again, there are so many power shortages happening here that that probably works better. After which they think it’s absolutely fine to start poking the electricity lines on the poles some 3 meter’s above the ground with a wooden broom. It’s the country of rich and poor, development and the feeling of being 60 years back in time. Where showing your shoulders is downright porn and haggling a form of art. As a women, you can better let the men do the talking ore they think you have you period. And the first is definitely hard for me.

But after having gotten used to a more ore less similar culture in Sri Lanka, we both surpsingly like it here. The people seem to hassle you less here and the prices are more reasonable. Plus the men leave me alone a whole lot more here which makes a big difference.

It did help of course that there was some good surf for Grom, who got barrelled a couple of times and caught some nice waves. It was a hot ordeal dough as the water was about 30 C and the sun shining brightly. And then to think this is winter time here. They have a lot of nice shops around here with beautiful stone work and shawls. And a great restaurant called Le Yogi, run by an French-India couple, resulting in very tasty food you can eat while sitting on your cushion on the floor from you Chinese stile low table. And I haven’t even mention the beautiful temples around here. The carving is very detailed and is made in the 7^th century. They created a lot of different temples carved out in the rocks as well as the shore Temple and the 5 Rathas. The big bolder called Shiva’s butternut seems to balance dangerously, which inspired the Indian government to try and remove it using 7 elephants in the 60’s. With no result as you can see.

With other words, we are happy we are here.