A day of firsts

So... we left Sun Moon Lake and traveled back trough the central mountain peaks of Taiwan to Taipei, where we caught our train connection to Hualien City on the east coast of Taiwan. The train followed the coast all the way so the views were once again amazing.

We spent the night in Hualien City before setting off early to Toroko National Park. We found our hostel right in the heart of Toroko Gorge and settled in before heading out to explore our new surroundings. We hiked for about 4k accidentally taking a ‘path’ (and I use the term ‘path’ very loosely) up the mountain side and through the jungle before reaching Torokos Natural Hot Spring at 40 degrees it was steaming and we clambered down the hillside to get to it, after a quick soak (my first in a natural spa) we headed up the mountain again, so visit the temple and then back to the hostel to chill out for a bit. Whilst hangin’ around we felt a distant rumble at then the whole hostel building shook, upon enquiring we found out that we had just experienced our first Earthquake… yeah that’s right… EARTHQUAKE!!!

Back in Taipei again for our last night, before we head to Hong Kong, guess you’ll hear from me when I get there

From Taiwan…

xxx

'I didn't know that's what it was for?!'

So....

We left the bright lights of Taipie for a peaceful and luxaurias bus journey along the west coast and central peaks of Taiwan to Puli's, 'Sun Moon Lake'. It is a beautiful scenic area slap bang in the heart of Taiwan. Unfortunatly for us Taiwan experiences tropical climate and with that comes tropical rain, Our hike around the lake was amazing... amazingly wet! However we found an awesome room for the night in fantastic hotel! The owners were a lovely middle aged Taiwanese couple who didn't speak a word of English, but just smiled and nodded at everything we said!
This put us in a slightly tricky situation, when we aked them if the provided a laundy service, communicating as best we could with a basic phrase book, we worked out that if we washed our own clotes, that the hotel would dry them for us, what we didn't realise was what they actually meant was that they would hang the clothes out to dry for us... due to the rain this plane turned out to be rather flawed, and subsequently Matt and I spent the rest of our evening Blow Drying our clothes, with the hairdryer!!!

hmmm... slow but effective!

xxx

Mission Impossible

I forgot to mension…

Whilst spending my last couple of hours in India, I thought I would put my time to good use so, at Mumbai Airport, I went about trying to seek out a suitable husband for my younger sister, as older sibling, I thought it my duty…

As you can see from the photo, there was quite a lot of interest, but I managed to whittle it down to the final lucky handful… what do you think Pritz…?

;o)

xxx

‘Transfixing Taipie’

Taipie is big, and beautiful…
We had a full day of site seeing today, and when I get the chance, I’ll get the photos up. We did all the usual touristy stuff even though it was raining pretty heavy most of the morning. 3 weeks without a drop and this morning we must have had a years worth!!!

They say that the Taiwanese are really friendly people, and they are not wrong. Lots of people stopped and asked us if we needed help finding places, when we looked a little lost, and everyone seemed to be concerned about me being out in the rain without an umbrella, so much so, that at Langshan Temple one of the security guards gave me a brand new umbrella!!! You wouldn’t get that kind of treatment in London!

Anyway got another day in Taipie, then we head down the west coast, will try and give you updates whenever possible…

From Taiwan

Xxx

‘What day is it?!’

After a grueling 36 hr trip from Benaulim to Margoa to Mumbai to Bangkok to Hong Kong and finally to our destination airport Taipei only to find that our luggage hadn’t!!!

Whilst filling out the lost luggage forms we were told that one bag had been located but they couldn’t tell us who’s, and that they were trying to track down the other one… nice… it seemed as though someone had forgotten to transfer our bags from the Bangkok flight to the Hong Kong flight… woops!

It turned out that they had in fact been put on the next flight, which landed 20mins later, so we were actually reunited with them whilst still in the airport… phew!
After 36 hrs of straight traveling, I needed to change.

We made our way to our hostel, but after searching for an hour we decided to catch a taxi, we got in and explained to the cab driver where we wanted to go thinking that he was just tentatively listening, when her responded we realized he didn’t speak a word of English, nor could he understand it, (that explains the blank expression) and we ended up having to get out of the taxi and resume our search by foot… we did eventually find it, and it turned out to be a nice place, as you can imagine, we slept well.

xx

'Sticky Business'

Had another run in with the postal service today...
Wanted to post a book back home and found once again after spending 260 rupees on stamps, that none of them would stick!!!! The post Office did not supply tape, but they did however have glue, or that's what they called it anyway, which apart from make the stamps soggy and not taste very nice, did nothing else! I had a blanket of stamps on the envelop that wouldn't stay put, so I had to go and purchase some cellotape from the shop next door to stick them all down... took a while, but I got there... Check out the photo, to see what I mean.

p.s. - Ther's also a phot of us and our landlord from Palolem, and a picture of one of our new neighbours and our early morning wake up call who, was a little camera shy.

:o/

xx

'Hot Water Burn Baby'

Last night at dinner we were approached by a young Indian man, very well spoken, not so well dressed, he started asking us about what country we were from, and then the area we lived in in the UK, after speaking to some of the locals of the next table, it became apparent that the guy was almost like the character Dustin Hoffman played in the 'Rainman'. He could speak 11 different languages and he knew all the postcodes for all the areas and boroughs in the UK and probably a lot more countries than I cared to ask about?!!! The guy had never been to school 'cos he came from a very poor background, and had taught himself everything he needed to know from speaking to tourists & reading books (and then some)! I was gob-smacked. Anyone that has seen the film will know what I mean by the title of this blog, and if you haven't seen it, then you should!

;o)

xxx

Breathtaking

So yesterday we said farewell to Palolem & our lovely chilled out landlord Rupesh... (Our home for the past 9 days). We took the bus from Palolem through the Goan hill sides to Benaulim, just South of Colva. The route was awe-inspiring. I wish I could have taken a decent photo of the views that we saw (the bus was going to fast) because words cant describe how beautiful it was. India is surprisingly green and fertile, so much so that Water Buffalo can live as far in land as Margoa?! Television just doesn't do it justice.
We me a couple yesterday that warned us about saying in Colva itself and after doing a day trip there today, we realised why. Its pretty busy and was pretty much tailored to the Indian holiday making family... Not really our scene. Benaulim on the other hand is a lot calmer, with a few really nice restaurants and a secluded beach. We found somewhere nice to stay so have settled in for the next 2 days before heading back to Mombay.

xx

Cockroach in my pants

The driving force behind me adding another blog entry and the most exciting thing to have happened to me in Palolem.... This morning whilst rummaging through my backpack, trying to find a t-shirt I felt a little tickle against my leg, just around the rim of my short, shorts... I gave to obligatory brush, (as I am sooo used to doing now, seeing as how much the mozzies love me), to find that I had brushed a cockroach from my leg onto the floor.... eeeewwwwww.... Nice... Not!

It scurried under the bed, where I left it?! :o/

Just thought I'd share that with you.

Anyway to give you a quick update, we were going to head further south to a place called Gokarna but decided that the further we go the longer our journey back to Mombay is going to be, so we we're gonna stay in Palolem for another couple of nights and then head north to Colva, spend maybe 3 nights there and then start our journey to Taiwan, via Bombay, Bang Kok and Hong Kong!!!

Its going to be busy in Taiwan, we only have a week and there's sooooo much we want to do. I'll try and get online when I can, but I'm not sure when that will be, so you'll have to watch this space...

Take it easy

xx

Peaceful Patnem

Went for a walk yesterday, thought that it was about time that we actually did something, so we walked to the next beach... only took about 40mins....

The beach was peaceful and beautiful, but there wasn't really much to see or do there. We had a drink and headed back... in the blistering heat of the midday sun... not good. I felt the first tingles of sun burn on my neck!!!

After returning I thought I would treat myself to an Indian Head Massage... seeing as I was in India and all. It was going pretty well and I was feeling rather relaxed until the masseuse started hitting me round the side of the head. I couldn't help but grin to myself at the thought of her laughing her pants off after I had left by the fact that she had repeatedly and quite freely hit me... Maybe I'll have to get another one just to make sure that she wasn't just amusing herself at my expense... any comments?!

xx

HAPPY EASTER

I also just wanted to with everyone a Happy Easter... Don’t eat too much chocolate… especially you James… yeah you, you know who you are… lol
And I’ll collect all mine upon my return.

;o)

xx

‘Hello Sailor’

Just a quick note about that photo in particular…
All over India we have noticed guys holding hands… especially in Bombay…. We didn’t realize India was so liberated… It gave a new meaning to ‘Gay Bombay’, if you know what I mean…?!

Anyway upon further enquiry we found out that it is just a public show of affection and it doesn’t necessarily mean that the men are gay… bizarre to say the least… Don’t think it would go doesn’t so well as home… what do you think!

Anyway I spotted these 2 sailors walking down the beach hand in hand, and I couldn’t help but take a photo… lol
xx

‘Boat Trip’

Went on a boat trip down the river in Palolem with some of the people we have met… was very pleasant, and quite funny... You can check out the pictures using the link on the left.

xx

'Chill out time'

Let me see, what did I get up to yesterday...
Well, pretty much nothing...
Slept in till late, ate, read and ohhh, cut my nails... lol. Have made some friends here that are also traveling so I'm sure we will bump into them at other points during our travels. Haven't really been doing much except chilling out, which is what you'd expect from a holiday really. Apparently they do some good boat trips from here (Palolem) so may check some of those out. This is by far the best beach we have visited in Goa and is a happy mix between the madness of the City and the quiet of Anjuna.
Went for a swim in the sea this morning, it was surprisingly warm, think that's gonna have to become a bit of a routine. Guess I'll give you the next update when I actually do something worth writing about. We've decided to stay here for a while seeing as our train back to Bombay doesn't leave until the 22nd of April and we don't fly out till the 23rd April. We've seen all the places in Goa that we really wanted to visit, may possibly spend a couple of nights in Colva on our way back up to Margoa where we catch our train from, but we'll see...
Till then
xx

‘Perfect Palolem’

After a 2.5hr bus journey through the forests and mountains surrounding Margoa, we finally arrived in Palolem…. It’s beautiful. There’ quite a few tourists here, considering its low season, but not too many. After scouting about for a couple of hours we found a nice beach hut to stay in and made friends with the neighbors.
Went to a beach party last night with our new found friends, and even bumped into Barry… the crazy Dutch guy from the sleeper train from Bombay to Anjuna.
The party was good, busy and hot, but good. Sat around chatting for most of the night and then walked back to our beach hut, on the moonlit beach…. Words nor photos will be able to describe how beautiful it was… you’ll just have to come and see it for yourself!!!!
xx

With Our Packs on Our Backs

We had to move hotels yesterday. Our Hotel ran out of water and we couldn’t do without that…. So we jumped ship and found somewhere for the same price, but which was far better… Guess we better get used to it.. roughing it, and moving around… felt like a proper backpacker, especially after the rickety bus ride through the mountain forests today.

xx

‘Spice Up your Life’

Went to Ponda today where we went to see Goa’s largest temple (Shantadurga Temple), and to visit a Spice Farm… both were awesome. Learnt a lot about all the different spices in the world… bar Saffron as apparently it is too warm in Goa for Saffron..?!
Any way its about 3.30pm and almost time for my siesta… I didn’t get much sleep last night as I have been bitten quite badly by something… that’s something… not someone…. Will try and get some pills for that later.

See ya

xx

'Turtles... where?!

Forgot to mention... went to Turtle Beach... also known ast 'Chapora', via 'Vagator'. Lots of hippies... not a turtle in sight... apparently they only come out during a full moon.... oooooowwwww!

Keep 'em Coming

I'm getting all your comments guys, so thanx a lot... It's nice to see that you haven't all forgotten about me... although it has only been 8 days.... We reached our first mileston yesterday... 1 week!!!! Another 51 to go!!!

xx

‘Panjim Heat’

Arrived in Panjim yesterday morning … visited the main Church here, had some very cheap food and just chilled out...
This is where the first Portugese settled in Goa and there is a lot of their influence around, from the beautiful buildings and churches to their way of life… I could easily get used to having a siesta everyday.
Met some locals last night who bought me a beer… they were intrigued to find out about our way of life back at home… I told them that they are not missing out on much!!!
p.s. – I am very poorly today… went to Old Goa to check out some more chapels and churches and was violently sick… I’m not quite sure if it’s the food, heat, or possibly alcohol…. Nah… couldn’t be that… could it? ;o)

Anyway I’ll try and upload some photos for you guys to check out some time this week.

From Panjim…. Over and Out

xx

The Colour Doesn’t Run!

Note to self… Never buy brightly coloured clothing from a market stall… After being told by the push sales lady that ‘the colour wouldn’t run’, I found that everything that the red material of my new top touched turned pink… including my hands!!!

‘Do I speak Indian?’!

Well after a harrowing 3 day stay in Bombay, we departed for Goa on a sleeper train. We, it seemed had been bundled together with all the other travelers. There were 6 of us sharing sleeping quarters, 3 guys and 3 girls. We all got along quite well, and just as everyone was settling in for the long haul, a sudden high pitch screaming disturbed the silence. One of the other girls just started freaking out as it happened a cockroach had flown in through one of the windows and on to her bag... she started flicking it and managed to flick it directly between one of the other guys legs, he fumbled around his groin area trying to retrieve the creature the whole time this girl screaming... It was rather amusing to say the least and a good icebreaker, even the locals were laughing. Aside from that and me being asked if I spoke Indian by another traveler... really... ?!... (is it just me that seems to know that there is no such language as ‘Indian’?) the journey was pretty uneventful, had my first traditional Indian toilet experience and had uncomfortable nights unrest.

Arrived in Thivim and managed to secure a gang of travelers that didn’t seem to have any direction so just followed Matt and me to Anjuna taking 2 buses and a bit of a walk with our packs.
It’s beautiful! It’s peaceful and has a beach... a real one, not like in Bombay, and the people are friendly. They speak a different dialect of Hindi, but still understand what I’m saying, which is a bit of a result ;o)
Went to the famous Anjuna flea market yesterday... its vast. People selling all sorts of seemingly useless trinkets. Matt bought his first pair of flip-flops and I bought a couple of tops, and ‘yes’ we haggled... would be rude not to... probably still got ripped off... hey ho.
Gonna stay here another night then head to the Capital Panjim.

Guess I’ll give you an update from there...

From Anjuna..

Yours Sity
xx

Bombay… The beeping City (Final Day)

Its our final day in Bombay and I have to admit, the City and its quirky ways has grown on me. The people although seeming to forever be in a hurry, are polite and friendly. Every inch of the City is covered with people trying to sell something… its crazy… I don’t know how anyone can survive.

Apart from someone trying to stick their finger in Matt’s ear, and me kicking some dirty street water at him, the stay so far has been relatively painless.

We visited ‘Chowpatty Beach’ and … (yes that’s right… beach… Bombay has a beach?!) ‘The Hills’ yesterday. Bombay’s version of Hollywood. Its supposed to be where all the Bollywood stars live and I can understand why, it’s a different world. No beggars, police presence and beautiful buildings.

Today we went to Elephant Island, its one of the World heritage Sites. The caves were lined with statues carved into the stones of some of the Hindu gods. It was beautiful, but hot.

We head out to Goa tonight, on a 10hr train ride. We have a sleeper carriage, but I fear that this is gonna be as comfy as I think, and will end up being one trip that I ill not be forgetting in a hurry, especially after seeing a train yesterday with people hanging off it.

Until Goa…

Over and Out Kidz

xx

Bombay

Hey Guys...

How you doing... this is the first chance I have had to get to an internet café, so apologies for the delayed update.... it took ages to find too...

Bombay is manic.... Its hot, crowded, colourful and no one seems to have any purpose to their day. We are staying here for 3 nights then off to Goa, where things should be a lot easier.

Speaking Hindi has really helped.... I don't think we would have been able to get our Goa tickets or even food and drink in some places without it....!!!

Me... without food... can you imagine.

Anyway... will try and stay in touch as much as possible. Make sure you log on to MSN at any opportunity so if I'm on we can chat.

From Bombay...

Over and Out

xx