Hi All,
We are now in Langkawi and arrived here about 3 days ago. We have met some lovely people from all over the world already and are at home in this quiet paradise.
So far we have relaxed and relaxed and done some more relaxing.
Yesterday evening me and Saskia ventured away from our touristy backpacker and holiday resort area to town, in search of bargain shopping.
We got to the town after spending an extortionate 12 UK pounds to get there to discover it was full of crap although Sas did get a bargain cabin luggage suitcase for all our extra bits we have managed to gather.
We have been to a few cool bars on the beach and listened to lots of reggae music well the Malaysian versions of reggae. Everyone on our little stretch is so friendly and lovely, unlike the town were me and Saskia got stared up and down, mostly by women looking at us like we were porn stars for wearing shorts. Yet again women here like India go swimming in the sea fully clothed?!! I never will understand this!! And the men rock up in speedo's, NOT HOT!!
Also another reason why I am not so fond of the town, wanted to buy some jeans for New Zealand but no size would fit in my big butt!! Even XL was too small even though I have lost a tiny bit of weight!! :( Other than that the island is amazing and we are loving it, loving it, loving it!!
Today we went for lunch and tried some sweetcorn ice cream at cafe were we had our lunch! Surprisingly it was quite nice but tasted like vanilla ice cream mixed with a hint of sweetcorn!
Also on our little walk venturing down our road like intrepid (the word I learnt from Saskia) explorers we discovered a fruit shop. The man was so generous as are most we have found in Asia and gave us a couple of mangostein fruit to try for free. Was really sweet and delicious. P.S I don't know if I have spelt that right.
During our trip we have seen, tasted or smelt some weird things and my word for all these is Rancid!! I love this word!! It truly portrays the grossness of things. Although I am also not sure if I spelt Rancid right.
Me and Sas tomorrow are going on a tour of the neighbouring Islands, Island hopping!! 4 in a day! Not bad, although 7.30am wake up is not appealing especially since we live next to Babylon Bar on the beach which plays music till late!! So far we have had the attitude if you can not beat them, join them and been there every night! (We also now Love earplugs!! They rock!)- Sas said thanks Paul!!
During this trip me and Sas have realised we are such granny's, not like the normal backpackers who rock up looking hot with not a thing on them as everything is in their rooms. Oh no, we are far to sensible for that! We have our money belts, factor 50 sun lotion, tiger balm for after bites, mosquito repellent, wet wipes and the list goes on. We carry this backpack with us at all times, yes if we were at school we would be the geeks!! But hey ho, geek chic I say!
Lots of Love Hugs and Rancidness
Poonam and Saskia!!!
P.S Arghhhhhh we are home soon!!! Hope you all miss us!!
mwah!!!!!!! xXx
Monday 6 June 2011
Thursday 2 June 2011
Penang Island...
Since the last blog post we had a few more lazy days in KL then took a very fancy coach (the seats were really wide, had loads of foot space and had back massages in the seats!) to Penang. One of the nicest and easiest journeys we have had, no messing about just one straight coach to the bus station then a taxi ride to our guest house. Anyway we arrived here on the 31st May and have explored Georgetown where we are staying, had some really cheap Indian food (about 2pounds each) and found a couple of vege restaurants though neither were particularly tasty.
The Malaysians seem to love their fake meat, they even have fake fish which I have not seen anywhere else, unfortunately I can't tell you if its any good as I have never eaten fish to compare it with. We shared our table with two lovely local ladies because there was no room in the restaurant and they told me what I was actually eating as it was a buffet and Poonam and I had no idea what anything was, they even offered us a lift to one of the temples but we had already been.
Anyway today we took a tour of the island to see all the sites, we went to The Reclining Buddha Temple:
the famous Penang Hill which had some amazing views:
a temple with a huge Buddha on a hilltop:
the Snake Temple complete with real snakes:
The Snake Temple was a little disappointing as we were expecting snakes to be everywhere but there were only a few, our tour guide said that when it was first built it was grassy all around so the snakes came to the temple of their own accord but when the surrounding area was build up they stopped coming and only a few are left and they live in the temple.
We also visited a tea/coffee and chocolate factory where me and Poonam brought some coffee each, it was soo nice and we are still buzzing because we tried quite a lot of it! It was the first time Poonam tried coffee and she loved it...though it was all white coffee and very sweet so not so much like UK coffee. There were loads of flavours like honey, coconut, toffee, ginger etc. I brought some coconut coffee and Poonam got some Tiramisu coffee which was super sweet! We are not sure how we are going to fit all our purchases into our bags! Poonam already has an extra suitcase for gifts and I am going to have to buy one for mine as well soon! We are hoping we can put them on the plane as hand luggage hehe!
Tomorrow we are off to Lankawi - the next island along.
Bye from Saskia and Poonam xx
The Malaysians seem to love their fake meat, they even have fake fish which I have not seen anywhere else, unfortunately I can't tell you if its any good as I have never eaten fish to compare it with. We shared our table with two lovely local ladies because there was no room in the restaurant and they told me what I was actually eating as it was a buffet and Poonam and I had no idea what anything was, they even offered us a lift to one of the temples but we had already been.
Anyway today we took a tour of the island to see all the sites, we went to The Reclining Buddha Temple:
the famous Penang Hill which had some amazing views:
a temple with a huge Buddha on a hilltop:
the Snake Temple complete with real snakes:
The Snake Temple was a little disappointing as we were expecting snakes to be everywhere but there were only a few, our tour guide said that when it was first built it was grassy all around so the snakes came to the temple of their own accord but when the surrounding area was build up they stopped coming and only a few are left and they live in the temple.
We also visited a tea/coffee and chocolate factory where me and Poonam brought some coffee each, it was soo nice and we are still buzzing because we tried quite a lot of it! It was the first time Poonam tried coffee and she loved it...though it was all white coffee and very sweet so not so much like UK coffee. There were loads of flavours like honey, coconut, toffee, ginger etc. I brought some coconut coffee and Poonam got some Tiramisu coffee which was super sweet! We are not sure how we are going to fit all our purchases into our bags! Poonam already has an extra suitcase for gifts and I am going to have to buy one for mine as well soon! We are hoping we can put them on the plane as hand luggage hehe!
Tomorrow we are off to Lankawi - the next island along.
Bye from Saskia and Poonam xx
Sunday 29 May 2011
Fake designer bags, Vibrators and indoor theme park...Oh yes KL!
Hi All,
We are still in Kuala Lumpur as we are lazy bums...
And still staying in china town. (Right next to the market...so is good for shopping)...I have been taking full advantage of the free wifi and downloaded lots of books on my i touch! I can not remember what order we have done things or all of everything we have done so here goes...
Me, Kayleigh (a friend from home we met up with) and Sas ventured to one of the many malls near the golden triangle, every shop you pass, people are trying to sell the latest fake handbags or fake raybans (seen everywhere). I am easily sucked into shops and decided I was going to go in to this gadget shop dragging Kayleigh and Saskia with me. It was full of many massaging gadgets...one of which was a vibrator which they were trying to palm of as a face massager and put near my face to demonstrate. My instant reaction was "put that anywhere near me and I wont be happy". Me, Kayleigh and Saskia were in fits of laughter as they tried to get all three of us to try it. Hahaha, maybe they are more innocent than us in the UK?
We are loving the copycat fakes and have found it amusing how they even sell fakes in big department stores for about 10 times the price you will find in the market. I have bagged myself a pair of beautiful Dior sunnies! 2 pounds cant go wrong! And Saskia got a nice pair of D&G's.
Yesterday we went to a indoor theme park (Cosmo world) , it was fun but made us feel a bit sick and dizzy after a few rides. In the UK you usually have to queue up but here the queues were so short or non existent we ended up going on ride after ride so nearlly threw up by the end of it all.
It was very cool as the theme park is in a shopping center (Time square) which is hugeee and has a cinema, bowling and archery center within it.
People here make weird kissing noises when they are trying to get you attention here, freaked me out at first but now I am starting to get use to it.
Also KL is so multicultural me and Sas cannot figure out what the Malaysian people actually look like?
We have found a few yummy veggie places and also ate a a weird vegan place where I had spinach and passion fruit juice which was delicious. Me and Saskia did not dare try the desserts was some wierd mung bean pudding?! Sounded gross!!
This afternoon and last night in true backpacker style we went to reggae bar which was super cool and got some good home food and chilled to Bob Marley.
Rambutan is a cool fruit we had in Thailand (the landlady in our guesthouse gave us some) and when we got to KL we made Kayleigh try it too, you all should try...it is a bit like lychees but not as slimey and really nice. Durian fruit is one we dare not try as it is banned from most hotels and guesthouses as smells that bad. When we walk pass the stand that sell it I actually gag!
We also did a bus tour of KL...a hop on hop off tour which takes you around the whole city...to be honest I was soo tired I fell asleep for some of it...I know it is a shame but it was a really good nap!
Tonight me and Sas are meeting our friends Vish and Dipan for some drinks at Sky bar and some dinner and night market shopping in china town...
...and we had a lovely meal see above.
Hope you all are sparkly and well...
Poonam and Saskia...
p.s :( Only a month to go till we see all you beautiful people.
We are still in Kuala Lumpur as we are lazy bums...
And still staying in china town. (Right next to the market...so is good for shopping)...I have been taking full advantage of the free wifi and downloaded lots of books on my i touch! I can not remember what order we have done things or all of everything we have done so here goes...
Me, Kayleigh (a friend from home we met up with) and Sas ventured to one of the many malls near the golden triangle, every shop you pass, people are trying to sell the latest fake handbags or fake raybans (seen everywhere). I am easily sucked into shops and decided I was going to go in to this gadget shop dragging Kayleigh and Saskia with me. It was full of many massaging gadgets...one of which was a vibrator which they were trying to palm of as a face massager and put near my face to demonstrate. My instant reaction was "put that anywhere near me and I wont be happy". Me, Kayleigh and Saskia were in fits of laughter as they tried to get all three of us to try it. Hahaha, maybe they are more innocent than us in the UK?
We are loving the copycat fakes and have found it amusing how they even sell fakes in big department stores for about 10 times the price you will find in the market. I have bagged myself a pair of beautiful Dior sunnies! 2 pounds cant go wrong! And Saskia got a nice pair of D&G's.
Yesterday we went to a indoor theme park (Cosmo world) , it was fun but made us feel a bit sick and dizzy after a few rides. In the UK you usually have to queue up but here the queues were so short or non existent we ended up going on ride after ride so nearlly threw up by the end of it all.
It was very cool as the theme park is in a shopping center (Time square) which is hugeee and has a cinema, bowling and archery center within it.
People here make weird kissing noises when they are trying to get you attention here, freaked me out at first but now I am starting to get use to it.
Also KL is so multicultural me and Sas cannot figure out what the Malaysian people actually look like?
We have found a few yummy veggie places and also ate a a weird vegan place where I had spinach and passion fruit juice which was delicious. Me and Saskia did not dare try the desserts was some wierd mung bean pudding?! Sounded gross!!
This afternoon and last night in true backpacker style we went to reggae bar which was super cool and got some good home food and chilled to Bob Marley.
Rambutan is a cool fruit we had in Thailand (the landlady in our guesthouse gave us some) and when we got to KL we made Kayleigh try it too, you all should try...it is a bit like lychees but not as slimey and really nice. Durian fruit is one we dare not try as it is banned from most hotels and guesthouses as smells that bad. When we walk pass the stand that sell it I actually gag!
We also did a bus tour of KL...a hop on hop off tour which takes you around the whole city...to be honest I was soo tired I fell asleep for some of it...I know it is a shame but it was a really good nap!
Tonight me and Sas are meeting our friends Vish and Dipan for some drinks at Sky bar and some dinner and night market shopping in china town...
Hope you all are sparkly and well...
Poonam and Saskia...
p.s :( Only a month to go till we see all you beautiful people.
Monday 23 May 2011
Over 24hrs of travel later...
...and we are in Kuala Lumpur! We both said that weirdly it feels a bit like home, they drive on the left here so maybe that's got something to do with it, or maybe we are getting to feel like Asia is home I don't know.
My new favorite thing is guava fruit, they prepare it in this weird stuff and soak it overnight, tastes like really fresh apples. Well to be honest I only had it once when a women I was sitting with on the bus to KL was eating it and asked me to try it but it was awesome and I am totally buying more :)
I love the way there is fruit everywhere on the streets, they have little plastic bags of all the different fruits freshly cut and for cheap, the street food looks so nice but there is nothing for veges so me and Poonam spent a fortune on food from expensive places today (well expensive for our budget not for UK) We also managed to find the only nice place in China town that is affordable (affordable to us is about 10pounds each a night), we know because we went all down the street asking about prices and rooms, the ones we went to out of lonely planet were proper dives...one looked like something I had seen in a Victorian horror film! Swear it! Poonam now thinks lonely planet is a FAIL! The bed had iron bars round it which reached to the ceiling, so weird! Also the drinks they sell on the street are often from the glass bottles they recycle so they put the drink in a plastic bag with a straw to drink from which amused me.
Anyway our journey to KL was epic! First we took a taxi then a boat from the Island, then 2 buses, then a tuk tuk ride where we met a mini van and got transferred to another 2 other mini vans then we grabbed an overnight sleeper train which reached KL at about 7am and grabbed a taxi to Jln Sultan Road (basically right in China Town.
Anyway in the afternoon we went for some impromptu shopping and spend loads of money but it was fun :)
Bye from Saskia and Poonam xx
My new favorite thing is guava fruit, they prepare it in this weird stuff and soak it overnight, tastes like really fresh apples. Well to be honest I only had it once when a women I was sitting with on the bus to KL was eating it and asked me to try it but it was awesome and I am totally buying more :)
I love the way there is fruit everywhere on the streets, they have little plastic bags of all the different fruits freshly cut and for cheap, the street food looks so nice but there is nothing for veges so me and Poonam spent a fortune on food from expensive places today (well expensive for our budget not for UK) We also managed to find the only nice place in China town that is affordable (affordable to us is about 10pounds each a night), we know because we went all down the street asking about prices and rooms, the ones we went to out of lonely planet were proper dives...one looked like something I had seen in a Victorian horror film! Swear it! Poonam now thinks lonely planet is a FAIL! The bed had iron bars round it which reached to the ceiling, so weird! Also the drinks they sell on the street are often from the glass bottles they recycle so they put the drink in a plastic bag with a straw to drink from which amused me.
Anyway our journey to KL was epic! First we took a taxi then a boat from the Island, then 2 buses, then a tuk tuk ride where we met a mini van and got transferred to another 2 other mini vans then we grabbed an overnight sleeper train which reached KL at about 7am and grabbed a taxi to Jln Sultan Road (basically right in China Town.
Anyway in the afternoon we went for some impromptu shopping and spend loads of money but it was fun :)
Bye from Saskia and Poonam xx
Friday 20 May 2011
Lots of Buckets.... Full moon Party!!
Hi All,
Me and Sas keep remembering we are missing so much of these blogs, we have done so much it is often difficult to remember or fit it all in a short blog.
For any of you that want to visit the orphanage in Cambodia it is called COFCO - Siam Reap.
So our last couple of days in Bangkok we relaxed and did not do much, for cheapness we ate our fave Falafel ladies stall, street food is cheaper and yummy but is rare to find veggie food!! Although I have indulged in pancakes and Falafel.
Me and Sas keep remembering we are missing so much of these blogs, we have done so much it is often difficult to remember or fit it all in a short blog.
For any of you that want to visit the orphanage in Cambodia it is called COFCO - Siam Reap.
So our last couple of days in Bangkok we relaxed and did not do much, for cheapness we ate our fave Falafel ladies stall, street food is cheaper and yummy but is rare to find veggie food!! Although I have indulged in pancakes and Falafel.
We also went to the cinema. It was crazy, like entering some luxury club with big leather seats and even couples seats at the back with big luxury sofas. Everyone really dresses up so me and Sas looked a bit skanky in our shorts and tee look. Oh well!
After the trailers, everyone started standing up...me and Saskia were well confused and then realised it was for the national anthem...You would not see it happening in the UK so found it very different. Through our trip we have realised every other nation seems to be more nation proud and we should be too. Many people at the full moon party were proudly decorated with the flag of their country. The only Brits who seemed to have our flag were the drunken idiots....ha-ha!!
We are currently in Koh Phanghang and got here after a long 20 hr journey. We have now recovered from the lead up to the full moon party on the beach...it was crazy and definitely one for the boys...all the women here are slim and beautiful, you don't see any ugly people?! Crazy!!! And drinks super cheap!! Me and Saskia adorned each other in florescent paint, full moon party tops and joined in with the fun. Fire throwers and slides were many of the crazy things we saw. They even had a mushroom mountain which we stayed well away from as you can imagine why it was named that.
To our amusement the next morning we woke up sleeping in a bed full of sand! It clicked in to us why there was a broom in our room, this must happen a lot, so Saskia had fun brushing up the sand on our bed and floor.
Today has been a lazy day chilling by the pool and sunbathing. I got teased by friends we made as I have my surname on my backpack...ha-ha!! It is cool to be geeky and plus people don't want to sell on or steal a bag with someones name on it! Clever I think!!
Next stop Malaysia, if we have time we may squeeze in another island visit in Thailand.
xxx Hugs and Love... Poonam and Sas
p.s I accidentally deleted my photos from past 5 days but I am in the process of recovering them after 4 hours of trying and think I have them back!! Woooo!!! So will update last few blogs with pics soon!
Sunday 15 May 2011
Lazy bums...
Well this is our third day in Bangkok and we have been shopping and that is about it! Brought some pretty things to wear though, my holey trousers were getting a bit of a joke! And we got some bargin Birkenstocks for about 5pounds each. We also went to the cinema to watch 'Something Borrowed' A rom com that we really enjoyed and yes the film was in English :P It had Thai subtittles.
We also decided to save some money by taking a tuk tuk across town for only 10baht (about 22p) but the 1 stop that he took us on....I should explain here that if you take a tuk tuk for cheap they always insist on taking a stop at a shop, you have to spend 10 minutes there and then the driver gets a petrol stamp and you don't have to buy anything. But anyway we stopped at 2 tailors because the first taylors kicked us out!! Because we said we just wanted to see designs and they said "Designs not important, cost important" To which I replied, "actualy thats the most important thing to a women!" Then he got really angry when we said his stuff was expensive. The next shop was even worse...
Poonam pretended she wanted to buy some dresses and wanted to see material and designs. He said "First you say you buy and then we talk about the dress" Which we though was odd. Then when we asked if he had anymore material or designs it was a flat no, he was so rude we couldnt believe it, kept trying to make us come back later and it seemed like he really didn't want our business. Anyway we managed to stay in the shop for 10 minutes so we got our stamp. He ended the consultation by calling Poonam a "Stupid girl!" Very strange people...the only unfriendly people we have met in Thailand.
On a lighter note we are now chilling waiting for 4 o'clock when we are heading to the train station to catch the overnight train then bus then boat to the full moon party woop! We wern't planning to go but then we were in Thailand at the perfect time to go and it seemed like fate. Managed to get the last two train tickets although we are not together, but we will mostly be sleeping anyway. I am not entirely sure what to expect at the party, I know from what other travelers have said that its on a beach and very messy!
We had an epic time booking the tickets, all the agencies said there are no train tickets left, and no sleeper bus tickets left (A bus with beds essentially) so we took it upon ourselves to go to the train station and get them and hurah we got some tickets! We also saved loads on the fare as the tuk tuks wanted 200baht and the taxi charged about 60baht. It pays to know the general costs of things.
We still love Thailand and our looking forward to seeing another part of it, we would also love to go visit the North but there is not enough time unfortunately. Oh yes a little random fact for you I forgot to write in before...kind of gross but whatever! The toilets on the trains...Poonam was pretty surprised to find that when looking down the toilet she could see the train tracks, people literally wee right onto the track!! I have seen it in old films but I didn't think they actualy still did that, its very weird, especially with the window open to watch the view as you go lol! Not so good if you pull into a station though!
Lots of love Saskia and Poonam xx
We also decided to save some money by taking a tuk tuk across town for only 10baht (about 22p) but the 1 stop that he took us on....I should explain here that if you take a tuk tuk for cheap they always insist on taking a stop at a shop, you have to spend 10 minutes there and then the driver gets a petrol stamp and you don't have to buy anything. But anyway we stopped at 2 tailors because the first taylors kicked us out!! Because we said we just wanted to see designs and they said "Designs not important, cost important" To which I replied, "actualy thats the most important thing to a women!" Then he got really angry when we said his stuff was expensive. The next shop was even worse...
Poonam pretended she wanted to buy some dresses and wanted to see material and designs. He said "First you say you buy and then we talk about the dress" Which we though was odd. Then when we asked if he had anymore material or designs it was a flat no, he was so rude we couldnt believe it, kept trying to make us come back later and it seemed like he really didn't want our business. Anyway we managed to stay in the shop for 10 minutes so we got our stamp. He ended the consultation by calling Poonam a "Stupid girl!" Very strange people...the only unfriendly people we have met in Thailand.
On a lighter note we are now chilling waiting for 4 o'clock when we are heading to the train station to catch the overnight train then bus then boat to the full moon party woop! We wern't planning to go but then we were in Thailand at the perfect time to go and it seemed like fate. Managed to get the last two train tickets although we are not together, but we will mostly be sleeping anyway. I am not entirely sure what to expect at the party, I know from what other travelers have said that its on a beach and very messy!
We had an epic time booking the tickets, all the agencies said there are no train tickets left, and no sleeper bus tickets left (A bus with beds essentially) so we took it upon ourselves to go to the train station and get them and hurah we got some tickets! We also saved loads on the fare as the tuk tuks wanted 200baht and the taxi charged about 60baht. It pays to know the general costs of things.
We still love Thailand and our looking forward to seeing another part of it, we would also love to go visit the North but there is not enough time unfortunately. Oh yes a little random fact for you I forgot to write in before...kind of gross but whatever! The toilets on the trains...Poonam was pretty surprised to find that when looking down the toilet she could see the train tracks, people literally wee right onto the track!! I have seen it in old films but I didn't think they actualy still did that, its very weird, especially with the window open to watch the view as you go lol! Not so good if you pull into a station though!
Lots of love Saskia and Poonam xx
Saturday 14 May 2011
Back in Bangkok
Hi all,
Arrived in Bangkok today and we are staying at Cafe Samsun again...feels like home :)
Anyway back to Cambodia...quad biking was loads of fun, they gave us a little practice run and then let us loose on roads and dirt tracks, dodging children and animals as we went! Poonam almost killed a chicken, swerved out of the way and into the path of a man on his bike then back again to the other side...it was so funny to watch. I almost killed some ladies dog, everyone screamed and I breaked in time to not squash it phew!! We went at sunset and watched the sun set a little bit then decided it was too scary to drive home in the dark so made our leader take us back before it set. The views were amazing, rice fields and real countryside houses and people.
In the evening we went into town and tried the fish massages. You probably know what I mean, when the fishes suck the dead skin from your feet, kind of grose really! It was so tickily, Poonam lastest all of 10 seconds with the women holding her feet in the water! She freaked out at the fish big time, I thought it was weird but worth the 1 dollar we payed for it for the experience.
The next day (yesterday) we did nothing, we got up at midday and layed by the pool all afternoon...I worked on my tan and its gotten a little better but its still laughable...incidently Poonams auntie is laughing at my none tan now over skype...I am so getting a spray tan!!
That evening Poonam and I were missing Indian food so we went to a restaurant and had a really nice food, the waitress was really sweet and when we asked for tissue they didn't have any so she went out and brought some for us!
I think the thing I will most remember about Cambodians is there sense of humour, everyone is a joker, always teasing and messing around...we don't always get it and that makes then laugh even more. It was really hard to leave Okay Villa in Siem Reap, the loveliest staff ever, so friendly and funny...I had great fun watching the boys teasing the cleaner and making her jump poor women, she thought it was funny too though.
Anyway I only have 2 minutes left of internet time so that is all for now! The rest of the update to come soon
Lots of love Saskia and Poonam x
Arrived in Bangkok today and we are staying at Cafe Samsun again...feels like home :)
Anyway back to Cambodia...quad biking was loads of fun, they gave us a little practice run and then let us loose on roads and dirt tracks, dodging children and animals as we went! Poonam almost killed a chicken, swerved out of the way and into the path of a man on his bike then back again to the other side...it was so funny to watch. I almost killed some ladies dog, everyone screamed and I breaked in time to not squash it phew!! We went at sunset and watched the sun set a little bit then decided it was too scary to drive home in the dark so made our leader take us back before it set. The views were amazing, rice fields and real countryside houses and people.
In the evening we went into town and tried the fish massages. You probably know what I mean, when the fishes suck the dead skin from your feet, kind of grose really! It was so tickily, Poonam lastest all of 10 seconds with the women holding her feet in the water! She freaked out at the fish big time, I thought it was weird but worth the 1 dollar we payed for it for the experience.
The next day (yesterday) we did nothing, we got up at midday and layed by the pool all afternoon...I worked on my tan and its gotten a little better but its still laughable...incidently Poonams auntie is laughing at my none tan now over skype...I am so getting a spray tan!!
That evening Poonam and I were missing Indian food so we went to a restaurant and had a really nice food, the waitress was really sweet and when we asked for tissue they didn't have any so she went out and brought some for us!
I think the thing I will most remember about Cambodians is there sense of humour, everyone is a joker, always teasing and messing around...we don't always get it and that makes then laugh even more. It was really hard to leave Okay Villa in Siem Reap, the loveliest staff ever, so friendly and funny...I had great fun watching the boys teasing the cleaner and making her jump poor women, she thought it was funny too though.
Anyway I only have 2 minutes left of internet time so that is all for now! The rest of the update to come soon
Lots of love Saskia and Poonam x
Wednesday 11 May 2011
The shocking past of Cambodia
Images below are disturbing so don't read look on past Love Saskia and Poonam if you can't bare to see.
Unfortunately Poonam forgot to put our day out to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields up so I am going to write it. It's not nice but I think needs to be told. We were really sad that day...
First we visited the Tuol Sleng Museum which used to be a school but was converted by the Khmer Rouge in 1976 into a torture, interrogation and execution center. It was pretty horrifying to see. They have kept the place pretty much as it was in 1977. The bottom floor rooms had just a bed in them, and some had photographs of the prisoners laying dead on their beds or on the floor as they were found by two Vietnamese photojournalists who first discovered S-21 in January of 1979.
There were also pictures of all the new prisoners in other parts of the building, some of them were smiling because they did not realise what was going to happen to them. The people who were kidnapped were accused of crimes against the regime, they were tourted in all manner of ways I won't go into because its pretty disturbing. There were also really small cells which were created inside the old classrooms with a bed and bucket and thats it. They put glass in the windows to minamise the screeming people could hear on the outside when they were tourturing people.
Well as you can imagine it wasn't a happy trip and walking around that place I felt really upset and emotional., it really brings it home standing in the same place as so many people were treated so terribly. I couldn't see it all, there was a film and another part of the building but it got to a point where I just wanted to leave so I sat outside on a bench for a while and waited for Poonam (we lost each other so saw most of it by ourselves)
I told you it's not nice! Anyway the second part was visiting the killing fields which is where they brought a lot of the prisoners to be killed and burried. There were about 20,000 mass graves with hundrads of people in each grave. The people in the graves were male and female, children, adults, high and low class. There was a video and a little museum with loads of information about S-21.
There was also a memorial to the dead, a building with all the bones which were found in the mass graves, in the buddhest tradition it is respectful to put the dead somewhere nice to be rested. It is on display to remind people of what happened and to have somewhere to pay their respects to the dead...it was not so long ago so many people have known someone to die in that time.
We were personaly shocked because to be honest we knew nothing aboout what happened until we came to Cambodia, and it was such recent history. It should not be forgotten so that it never ever happens again.
Love Saskia and Poonam
Unfortunately Poonam forgot to put our day out to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields up so I am going to write it. It's not nice but I think needs to be told. We were really sad that day...
First we visited the Tuol Sleng Museum which used to be a school but was converted by the Khmer Rouge in 1976 into a torture, interrogation and execution center. It was pretty horrifying to see. They have kept the place pretty much as it was in 1977. The bottom floor rooms had just a bed in them, and some had photographs of the prisoners laying dead on their beds or on the floor as they were found by two Vietnamese photojournalists who first discovered S-21 in January of 1979.
There were also pictures of all the new prisoners in other parts of the building, some of them were smiling because they did not realise what was going to happen to them. The people who were kidnapped were accused of crimes against the regime, they were tourted in all manner of ways I won't go into because its pretty disturbing. There were also really small cells which were created inside the old classrooms with a bed and bucket and thats it. They put glass in the windows to minamise the screeming people could hear on the outside when they were tourturing people.
Well as you can imagine it wasn't a happy trip and walking around that place I felt really upset and emotional., it really brings it home standing in the same place as so many people were treated so terribly. I couldn't see it all, there was a film and another part of the building but it got to a point where I just wanted to leave so I sat outside on a bench for a while and waited for Poonam (we lost each other so saw most of it by ourselves)
I told you it's not nice! Anyway the second part was visiting the killing fields which is where they brought a lot of the prisoners to be killed and burried. There were about 20,000 mass graves with hundrads of people in each grave. The people in the graves were male and female, children, adults, high and low class. There was a video and a little museum with loads of information about S-21.
There was also a memorial to the dead, a building with all the bones which were found in the mass graves, in the buddhest tradition it is respectful to put the dead somewhere nice to be rested. It is on display to remind people of what happened and to have somewhere to pay their respects to the dead...it was not so long ago so many people have known someone to die in that time.
We were personaly shocked because to be honest we knew nothing aboout what happened until we came to Cambodia, and it was such recent history. It should not be forgotten so that it never ever happens again.
Love Saskia and Poonam
The sunshine is starting to affect our brain cells...Cambodia we have arrived!
Hi All,
Today is going to be spent organising myself and putting up some pics for you all on the blog. I really should download them all of my camera, have been very lazy! (Herb your comment has given me the drive to get sorted)
We are now in Cambodia and love it, the people are lovely and it is a beautiful country with so much to see, plus we can get to most places for under 1 USA dollar so me and Saskia are happy as means more money to spend.
When we first arrived I was a bit offended at a man calling me a preshy girl, I thought he was calling me a freshy...later I realised Preshy means beautiful in Cambodian, this made me love the Cambodian people even more, haha!
There is too much to tell in one post so I will try and remember all the highlights so far...as the title suggests the sunshine is starting to affect mine and Saskia's brain...
Examples include:
* Me saying to Saskia ''we wont need to put our mosquito nets up soon as we are going to be in richer countries so they probably wont have mosquito's''...after 5 mins realising what I had said started to laugh uncontrollably at the stupidity of my comment.
* Saskia spelling her name wrong, me saying "Sas you have spelt your name wrong", her saying "no I have not'' then realising she had and laughing!
Ooops....plus my sun hat broke...so sunstroke is my excuse and I am sticking to it.
We are over being homesick and not missing you all so much now, hehe.
Yesterday for me had to be one of the highlights of the whole trip.. Waking up at 3.30am was not as bad as I thought it would be...we got up super early to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, it was beautiful and definitely worth it. (Look at the beautiful pic we captured)...
In the evening we went to a local orphanage which was truly humbling, the kids basic needs were met and they were so happy. The children performed a show for us and a few other guests, it was amazing: something you would see in a theatre-true dancers and actors not in the making but already made!! Once the show was over we got to play and dance with the kids, they were all so loving and most just wanted hugs! Me and Saskia donated a small amount for food and to maintain the basic needs of the orphanage. The kids in the orphanage sleep 4 to a bed and the kitchen is nothing but a hut with a box with ice they call there fridge. On the way back to our Villa me and Saskia felt so touched we felt we wanted to do more and an evening spent with these kids was not enough, although all there basic needs were met we felt these kids deserved more.
We ventured into town shattered and picked up glitter pens, skipping ropes, balls, stationary and balloons...Tomorrow we are going to spend a day with the kids and donate some bad sweet treats and food. If anyone ever gets the chance to visit Siem Reap please spend an evening at the orphanage, they will entertain you and provide you with a lovely meal. You do not have to donate and you will not be pressured into giving anything but once you have seen the talent of the children I am sure you would want to.
Tonight we are going to let our adventurous side out and do some quad biking...I am really excited, hopefully will be lots of fun!
The night market of pub street is a great place for catching a bargain, but you have to haggle...if you pay anything over 40% of what they say then you payed too much. The atmosphere and Cambodian people make it even better.
Also tuc tucs are everywhere! It can be slightly overwhelming when 6 tuc tuc drivers approach you when you want to go home. In the end we could not decide who to go with so settled it with the lowest price and a game of rock, paper scissors between the two left at the end battling for our custom. The people are happy to play along and very carefree.
I have just seen the time and am going to have a dip in the pool and shower up before quad biking this evening. I will update the blog with a few pics tonight.
Hope you all are well and not working to hard.
We love hearing from you all and is nice to know you are all thinking of us, hope this blog gives you a feel of what we are doing.
Hugs and Sunshine.
Poonam and Saskia
xXx
Today is going to be spent organising myself and putting up some pics for you all on the blog. I really should download them all of my camera, have been very lazy! (Herb your comment has given me the drive to get sorted)
We are now in Cambodia and love it, the people are lovely and it is a beautiful country with so much to see, plus we can get to most places for under 1 USA dollar so me and Saskia are happy as means more money to spend.
When we first arrived I was a bit offended at a man calling me a preshy girl, I thought he was calling me a freshy...later I realised Preshy means beautiful in Cambodian, this made me love the Cambodian people even more, haha!
There is too much to tell in one post so I will try and remember all the highlights so far...as the title suggests the sunshine is starting to affect mine and Saskia's brain...
Examples include:
* Me saying to Saskia ''we wont need to put our mosquito nets up soon as we are going to be in richer countries so they probably wont have mosquito's''...after 5 mins realising what I had said started to laugh uncontrollably at the stupidity of my comment.
* Saskia spelling her name wrong, me saying "Sas you have spelt your name wrong", her saying "no I have not'' then realising she had and laughing!
Ooops....plus my sun hat broke...so sunstroke is my excuse and I am sticking to it.
We are over being homesick and not missing you all so much now, hehe.
Yesterday for me had to be one of the highlights of the whole trip.. Waking up at 3.30am was not as bad as I thought it would be...we got up super early to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, it was beautiful and definitely worth it. (Look at the beautiful pic we captured)...
In the evening we went to a local orphanage which was truly humbling, the kids basic needs were met and they were so happy. The children performed a show for us and a few other guests, it was amazing: something you would see in a theatre-true dancers and actors not in the making but already made!! Once the show was over we got to play and dance with the kids, they were all so loving and most just wanted hugs! Me and Saskia donated a small amount for food and to maintain the basic needs of the orphanage. The kids in the orphanage sleep 4 to a bed and the kitchen is nothing but a hut with a box with ice they call there fridge. On the way back to our Villa me and Saskia felt so touched we felt we wanted to do more and an evening spent with these kids was not enough, although all there basic needs were met we felt these kids deserved more.
We ventured into town shattered and picked up glitter pens, skipping ropes, balls, stationary and balloons...Tomorrow we are going to spend a day with the kids and donate some bad sweet treats and food. If anyone ever gets the chance to visit Siem Reap please spend an evening at the orphanage, they will entertain you and provide you with a lovely meal. You do not have to donate and you will not be pressured into giving anything but once you have seen the talent of the children I am sure you would want to.
Tonight we are going to let our adventurous side out and do some quad biking...I am really excited, hopefully will be lots of fun!
The night market of pub street is a great place for catching a bargain, but you have to haggle...if you pay anything over 40% of what they say then you payed too much. The atmosphere and Cambodian people make it even better.
Also tuc tucs are everywhere! It can be slightly overwhelming when 6 tuc tuc drivers approach you when you want to go home. In the end we could not decide who to go with so settled it with the lowest price and a game of rock, paper scissors between the two left at the end battling for our custom. The people are happy to play along and very carefree.
I have just seen the time and am going to have a dip in the pool and shower up before quad biking this evening. I will update the blog with a few pics tonight.
Hope you all are well and not working to hard.
We love hearing from you all and is nice to know you are all thinking of us, hope this blog gives you a feel of what we are doing.
Hugs and Sunshine.
Poonam and Saskia
xXx
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Vietnam
We arrived in Hanoi at night, looking out of the airoplane window we could see a mass of lights and sky rise buildings...a big change from the tiny little 'cities' of Laos, I use the term city very lightly! We negociated a fair and had a rather smart sporty car take us into the main city to meet Dan (our mutual friend from uni) who is living in Hanoi at the moment. He took us to his house which is typical Vietnamese, long thin and many stories high.
We rested at Dans for a few days as I was recovering from food poisning, I won't go into too much detail but I got ill the night before we were due to fly out and then the next day it took all the energy and will power I had left to get on the flight! (which got delayed 5 hours!) Luckily I had Poonam and our friends Gemma and Max to help me carry my bag and keep us company while we waited (they were getting the same flight).
So anyway we didnt do much for a couple of days except sleep and venture out to order food but not actually eat it! (Poonam wasn't feeling too well either) but worry not we are well now and back on the greedy sized portions! We have visited the Ethnology museum here and done some shopping and been to a few bars.
We also took a trip with Dan up to Ha Long Bay which is very beautiful. It was a two day boat trip and we saw the caves there which were pretty impressive but complete with steps carved into the rocks for us and STOP signs! We also tried out kayaking, me and Poonam were awesome, first time ever and we went all over the bay...okay we nearly got run over by a boat but apart from that we were wikid! Although Poonam doen't understand which way to paddle to go back or forward so there was a bit of shouting from me!
Dan tried diving off the boat but failed epically, he belly flopped in the water and we got a hilarious picture of him, he was red all over his face and body! We also shared a room with Dan because it was cheaper, he really tried to make up for being just one guy, boys from uni you would be proud!
The boat was luxary and didn't even break our budget, the views from the boat of the islands were pretty spectacular, it was very peaceful and the lights from the other boats threw reflections over the water, we sat on the top deck watching the sun set.
In the evening there was karaoke...Dan the dark horse is a really good singer! Well good at Oasis anyway :P While me and Poonam were shocking, I mean shocking! We couldnt even sing together because when one sung the other one peed there pants laughing! It was really fun though.
There were loads of people on the trip with us, we made friends with a couple from Sheffield, a couple from France, an American girl and a women from France who was great fun and she went in Dans kyak.
We are back in Hanoi now and have booked plane tickets to Cambodia, we have not warmed to the Vietamese people very much, or the place, so we decided to go straight to Cambodia and then try and spend a bit more time in Thailand if we can as we really loved it there.
Peace out Saskia and Poonam xx
We rested at Dans for a few days as I was recovering from food poisning, I won't go into too much detail but I got ill the night before we were due to fly out and then the next day it took all the energy and will power I had left to get on the flight! (which got delayed 5 hours!) Luckily I had Poonam and our friends Gemma and Max to help me carry my bag and keep us company while we waited (they were getting the same flight).
So anyway we didnt do much for a couple of days except sleep and venture out to order food but not actually eat it! (Poonam wasn't feeling too well either) but worry not we are well now and back on the greedy sized portions! We have visited the Ethnology museum here and done some shopping and been to a few bars.
We also took a trip with Dan up to Ha Long Bay which is very beautiful. It was a two day boat trip and we saw the caves there which were pretty impressive but complete with steps carved into the rocks for us and STOP signs! We also tried out kayaking, me and Poonam were awesome, first time ever and we went all over the bay...okay we nearly got run over by a boat but apart from that we were wikid! Although Poonam doen't understand which way to paddle to go back or forward so there was a bit of shouting from me!
Dan tried diving off the boat but failed epically, he belly flopped in the water and we got a hilarious picture of him, he was red all over his face and body! We also shared a room with Dan because it was cheaper, he really tried to make up for being just one guy, boys from uni you would be proud!
The boat was luxary and didn't even break our budget, the views from the boat of the islands were pretty spectacular, it was very peaceful and the lights from the other boats threw reflections over the water, we sat on the top deck watching the sun set.
In the evening there was karaoke...Dan the dark horse is a really good singer! Well good at Oasis anyway :P While me and Poonam were shocking, I mean shocking! We couldnt even sing together because when one sung the other one peed there pants laughing! It was really fun though.
There were loads of people on the trip with us, we made friends with a couple from Sheffield, a couple from France, an American girl and a women from France who was great fun and she went in Dans kyak.
We are back in Hanoi now and have booked plane tickets to Cambodia, we have not warmed to the Vietamese people very much, or the place, so we decided to go straight to Cambodia and then try and spend a bit more time in Thailand if we can as we really loved it there.
Peace out Saskia and Poonam xx
Monday 25 April 2011
Tubing in Vang Vieng... Now in Luang Prabang!
Hey All,
Sorry we have not had a chance to post for a while we have been having a blast in Laos...what a beautiful country!! Today we were due to get up at 5am to see the monks presession...we failed...I did get as far as putting my clothes on and going back to bed, Saskia was peacefully dreaming and mummbled no as I asked does she want to get up to watch the monks! We will try and go tomorrow but then have a flight to catch so will be whingey and moody on our flight!
Sorry we have not had a chance to post for a while we have been having a blast in Laos...what a beautiful country!! Today we were due to get up at 5am to see the monks presession...we failed...I did get as far as putting my clothes on and going back to bed, Saskia was peacefully dreaming and mummbled no as I asked does she want to get up to watch the monks! We will try and go tomorrow but then have a flight to catch so will be whingey and moody on our flight!
We have made a little group of friends and have meet them all along our way, tonight we are planning to go to the beer garden with them. Yesterday we met with them in the evening and trecked across a river (don't ask which one as I can't remember)...to a lovely restaurant serving local food and good sangria! I think that is our tipple for the trip. We all sat down on the fall and was really relaxing and a great atmosphere. They also had a range of board games...I tried to convince everyone to play scrabble but they were having none of it, Sas said she would play the junior version as I went on for ages..(I have wanted to play scrabble the whole time I have been here, no idea why!?).
Ok so Vang Vieng...
We stayed on the river in a beautiful house on stilts...although there was a couple of cockroaches, we trapped them in glasses as we freaked out a bit! The highlight of Vang Vieng has to be tubing, we did not manage to go to the caves or lagoon as the day we were due to go it was raining all day so had a indoor day of eating and chilling with our holland buddies.
Tubing was a crazy experience and we did end up having a couple of buckets, each bar you go to they offer you free drinks...one bar they gave me 8 buckets of whisky cocktails which were distubuted to our gang! Me and Saskia ended up giving ours away as it was stupidly strong, one bar had alcohol with bees in it, some kind of delicacy...freaked me out, the man was doing shots like it was going out of fashion! We have also seen rice wine with cobras, scorpions and all other bugs and creepy animals in them...SCARY! During Tubing I was soo scared a fish was going to bite my bum, but forgot a few times and did not lift my bum up high enough and when you get to shallow bits you sometimes get stuck in the rocks or your bum gets scratched up! No wonder so many people get drunk not to feel it! A guy we spoke to said 3 people died when he went, due to stupidity probably, drinking too much and diving of the zip wires or monkey swings after a few too many buckets!
We arrived in Luang Prabang on the 24th after a 7-8 hour journey on a mini van..seeing the beautiful mountain sights along the way! In the evening we went to the night market which was really cool and I managed to bag a few bargain gifts as did Saskia! Was wierd haggling with a child though!
Yesterday we went to a bear sanctuary and Kuang Si Waterfalls...they were breathtaking and I braved swimming in one of them, the water was ice cold which was nice in the heat. Saskia was not as keen to get in though!
Today we will go to a local musuem and then head to big brother mouse were we take part in some voluntary work: proof read books or read to some local children.
In the evening we are going on a cruise along the mekong...I am really excited, can't wait!!
Tomorrow we will be flying to Hanoi- Vietnam to meet Dan, our friend from Uni who is living in Vietnam...we will write you all once we get there and keep you updated on our latest!
Lots of Love
Poonam and Saskia
Quote of the day: "Sabaidee" The only phrase me and Saskia have learnt on our travels, everyone says it in Laos everywhere you go, usually to engage you as they are trying to sell something- It means hello and sounds really cute! :)
xxx
P.S Happy 22nd Birthday for tomorrow Ravi... Hope it is really sunny for you!
Ok so Vang Vieng...
We stayed on the river in a beautiful house on stilts...although there was a couple of cockroaches, we trapped them in glasses as we freaked out a bit! The highlight of Vang Vieng has to be tubing, we did not manage to go to the caves or lagoon as the day we were due to go it was raining all day so had a indoor day of eating and chilling with our holland buddies.
Tubing was a crazy experience and we did end up having a couple of buckets, each bar you go to they offer you free drinks...one bar they gave me 8 buckets of whisky cocktails which were distubuted to our gang! Me and Saskia ended up giving ours away as it was stupidly strong, one bar had alcohol with bees in it, some kind of delicacy...freaked me out, the man was doing shots like it was going out of fashion! We have also seen rice wine with cobras, scorpions and all other bugs and creepy animals in them...SCARY! During Tubing I was soo scared a fish was going to bite my bum, but forgot a few times and did not lift my bum up high enough and when you get to shallow bits you sometimes get stuck in the rocks or your bum gets scratched up! No wonder so many people get drunk not to feel it! A guy we spoke to said 3 people died when he went, due to stupidity probably, drinking too much and diving of the zip wires or monkey swings after a few too many buckets!
We arrived in Luang Prabang on the 24th after a 7-8 hour journey on a mini van..seeing the beautiful mountain sights along the way! In the evening we went to the night market which was really cool and I managed to bag a few bargain gifts as did Saskia! Was wierd haggling with a child though!
Yesterday we went to a bear sanctuary and Kuang Si Waterfalls...they were breathtaking and I braved swimming in one of them, the water was ice cold which was nice in the heat. Saskia was not as keen to get in though!
Today we will go to a local musuem and then head to big brother mouse were we take part in some voluntary work: proof read books or read to some local children.
In the evening we are going on a cruise along the mekong...I am really excited, can't wait!!
Tomorrow we will be flying to Hanoi- Vietnam to meet Dan, our friend from Uni who is living in Vietnam...we will write you all once we get there and keep you updated on our latest!
Lots of Love
Poonam and Saskia
Quote of the day: "Sabaidee" The only phrase me and Saskia have learnt on our travels, everyone says it in Laos everywhere you go, usually to engage you as they are trying to sell something- It means hello and sounds really cute! :)
xxx
P.S Happy 22nd Birthday for tomorrow Ravi... Hope it is really sunny for you!
Wednesday 20 April 2011
Ohh it is snowing somewhere...oh no its just black and white, oops!
Hi Fellow Blog Lovers,
Wooo we survived the overnight sleeper from Bangkok and they gave us Visas to stay in Laos!! It was actually not scary at all and way fun, we met two old, cute little thai ladies...they looked after us and even offered us some wierd sweet thing for breakfast in the morning..It was gross though and we polietly scoffed it down...followed by a gulp of water!
We are now in Laos, Vientiane staying in Mixay Guesthouse..lonley planet recommendation...9 poundaroonees a night, BARGAIN!! Including breakfast (saskia made me change this from breakie to breakfast as she said breakie sounds lame) ...heart shaped eggs (not that i eat eggs, but all the rest was yummy) and AC, yes we are living the life of luxury and you all should be sickly jeaulous!!
We are loving Laos and our adventures are getting more and more exciting by the day! The people here put us Brits to shame...everyone is sooo friendly and helpful, but me and Sas are still ever soo cautious that they may have an alterior motive which so far they have not.
Today we have indulged in relaxing and eating...local cake shops (basically french patiseries) and little restaurants...5 meals a day...and Laogria (basically sangria named after laos) for under 2 pound a jug...me and sas are a little tipsy writing this...only our third time getting tipsy since we have been travelling...near enough once in each country. We realised this evening we should probably not have much more as I looked at the television screen in the bar/ restaurant and said "ahhh its snowing somewhere" to shortly realise afterwards it was a black and white film and not snowing...Also it took us about 20 mins to figure out how much we had to pay...damn confusing notes!...12,500 kip equals 1 pound, after a few glasses of the gria this is intense to work out if we have overpaid.
Tomorrow we are heading to Vang Vieng... on a coach and hoping to do tubing, depends if we have the guts...definetly will not be drinking if we do it..so those of you worried, fear not!
We have been looking into doing a few volunteering programmes in Luang Prabang and can not wait to get stuck in as they all look amazing...we will keep you all updated once we know which ones we will be taking up.
Keep on reading and commenting...we like to feel like you all are close to us!
Love, Hugs and Laogria!!
Pocky (look it up...you know how I like sweets) and Seaweed (Well it starts with S and they like seaweed!!)
xxx
Quote of the day from a sign in our guesthouse: "Prostitutes are not allowed to meet guests in the room". Made me and Sas laugh, hope it made you all laugh too!
Wooo we survived the overnight sleeper from Bangkok and they gave us Visas to stay in Laos!! It was actually not scary at all and way fun, we met two old, cute little thai ladies...they looked after us and even offered us some wierd sweet thing for breakfast in the morning..It was gross though and we polietly scoffed it down...followed by a gulp of water!
We are now in Laos, Vientiane staying in Mixay Guesthouse..lonley planet recommendation...9 poundaroonees a night, BARGAIN!! Including breakfast (saskia made me change this from breakie to breakfast as she said breakie sounds lame) ...heart shaped eggs (not that i eat eggs, but all the rest was yummy) and AC, yes we are living the life of luxury and you all should be sickly jeaulous!!
We are loving Laos and our adventures are getting more and more exciting by the day! The people here put us Brits to shame...everyone is sooo friendly and helpful, but me and Sas are still ever soo cautious that they may have an alterior motive which so far they have not.
Today we have indulged in relaxing and eating...local cake shops (basically french patiseries) and little restaurants...5 meals a day...and Laogria (basically sangria named after laos) for under 2 pound a jug...me and sas are a little tipsy writing this...only our third time getting tipsy since we have been travelling...near enough once in each country. We realised this evening we should probably not have much more as I looked at the television screen in the bar/ restaurant and said "ahhh its snowing somewhere" to shortly realise afterwards it was a black and white film and not snowing...Also it took us about 20 mins to figure out how much we had to pay...damn confusing notes!...12,500 kip equals 1 pound, after a few glasses of the gria this is intense to work out if we have overpaid.
Tomorrow we are heading to Vang Vieng... on a coach and hoping to do tubing, depends if we have the guts...definetly will not be drinking if we do it..so those of you worried, fear not!
We have been looking into doing a few volunteering programmes in Luang Prabang and can not wait to get stuck in as they all look amazing...we will keep you all updated once we know which ones we will be taking up.
Keep on reading and commenting...we like to feel like you all are close to us!
Love, Hugs and Laogria!!
Pocky (look it up...you know how I like sweets) and Seaweed (Well it starts with S and they like seaweed!!)
xxx
Quote of the day from a sign in our guesthouse: "Prostitutes are not allowed to meet guests in the room". Made me and Sas laugh, hope it made you all laugh too!
Saturday 16 April 2011
I LOVE BANGKOK
Hey all,
We are now in Banglampu staying in a cute guest house on samsen road...called samsen cafe...just off khao san road were most travellers stay. The decor is soo cute and a must try is the sticky rice with mango and homemade waffles! (Yes most of our Bangkok pics of us eating and more eating).
Definetly would recommend for the personal service offered by bow and her family , breakfast included and a/c ...cant not go wrong! Plus lots of veggie restaurants close by...saskia even ate shitaki mushroom stalk without even realising it was mushroom...The owner did not tell us and to our surprise Saskia loved it and I hated it...Saskia being the mushroom hater and me loving mushrooms!! For those of you who know us this will be a big surprise!
Tomorrow we are off to the floating market which means an early morning start, today we went to the chatu chak market were we got a few bargains...we do love to shop!
I will get my new mobile tomorrow as my last one died during songkran due to having a bucket of water poured over my head....hahaha! I am no longer using my india number and back to my traveller number...those that have texted me or asked for my number!
We are missing our lizard buddy...u know who you are!! xxx
Sunshine...veggies and mushrooms...
Poonam and Saskia! :)
Quote of the day on the menu of a restaurant we ate at...In siam paragon shopping plaza...The restaurant ''grey h o un d''...yummy food!
"Life is a journey, full of pleasures, places, stories and good tasting recipes''.
Thursday 14 April 2011
Happy Thai New Year!
Went to explore some other parts of the city today and found ourselves a nice little guest house under our budget, basic but pretty and very clean, above a nice stylish little cafe too. Also on the same road as a vegetarian restaurant we found from a Bangkok lonely planet guide Poonam brought yesterday...really yummy food and so healthy too! I don't think we are going to loose any weight in Bangkok either hehe!
A guy in the tourist informatin place didn't believe I had been traveling for so long because I have no tan..I am tanned damn it! Well for me anyway :P
We went shopping in a shopping mall yesterday, and are going to go shopping in another big mall tomorrow, unfortunately all the other smaller shopping places are closed until the 16th so there isnt much around, but it is nice because the city is not too crowded...apart from all the water throwing parties that is!!
Today we also got an epic soaking, we walked around a different part of the city which wasn't too bad, a few water pistols and buckets but we dried fairly quickly from it. We decided to get the BTS (skytrain) back to Nana and then walk the short way down our road to our hotel...such a mistake!! The road was FULL of people with water pistols, buckets of ICE water, hoses etc. We didn't stand a chance, everyone rides around in the back of trucks with water as well, getting the people on the street, at one point we could not see because of the water being poured on our heads! See picture below...
They also put chalky plaster of your face as well...fun times! Though I was drying money in the room and Poonams phone broke from water damage so we are off to buy a new phone and new shoes also tomorrow as they will take days to dry oops! We will be better prepared tomorrow...everything in plastic bags...triple wraped and water pistols at the ready.
Much love from Saskia and Poonam xxx
A guy in the tourist informatin place didn't believe I had been traveling for so long because I have no tan..I am tanned damn it! Well for me anyway :P
We went shopping in a shopping mall yesterday, and are going to go shopping in another big mall tomorrow, unfortunately all the other smaller shopping places are closed until the 16th so there isnt much around, but it is nice because the city is not too crowded...apart from all the water throwing parties that is!!
Today we also got an epic soaking, we walked around a different part of the city which wasn't too bad, a few water pistols and buckets but we dried fairly quickly from it. We decided to get the BTS (skytrain) back to Nana and then walk the short way down our road to our hotel...such a mistake!! The road was FULL of people with water pistols, buckets of ICE water, hoses etc. We didn't stand a chance, everyone rides around in the back of trucks with water as well, getting the people on the street, at one point we could not see because of the water being poured on our heads! See picture below...
They also put chalky plaster of your face as well...fun times! Though I was drying money in the room and Poonams phone broke from water damage so we are off to buy a new phone and new shoes also tomorrow as they will take days to dry oops! We will be better prepared tomorrow...everything in plastic bags...triple wraped and water pistols at the ready.
Much love from Saskia and Poonam xxx
Tuesday 12 April 2011
Bangkok...
Hi all, just a quick post to say that Poonam and I reached Bangkok early this morning. The city is buzzing at the moment because it is new years today, everyone is throwing water at each other (and us) on the streets. We are soaked through, I think running away provoked them even more!
First impressions are that it is very different from India and Sri Lanka, for example along with the usual water and snacks in the minibar we have condoms too!! And there are quite a few 'massage parlours' here, loads of old men with young thai women "cringe" its a party place. It is very modern, everyone here is really fashionable so we feel a little trampy!
Lots of love and hugs from Saskia & Poonam x
Saturday 9 April 2011
Socks and sandals...
Hi all we have been in Sri Lanka for 9 days now, very hectic so this is the first chance we have had to post anything. From the start then...
We arrived in Colombo in the afternoon on the 1st of April, we met Riten there (who has joined us for two weeks in Sri Lanka) and after inspecting all the necessities he brought from the UK (ie cream eggs, wet wipes, foam burst shower gel etc) we went to explore the city a bit, there were fires lit on the pavements everywhere, we still haven't worked out why.
Highlights of Sri Lanka so far have been:
Going to an elephant orphanage in Pinnawala - although me and Poonam were too wimpy to toutch them (our driver said 'There wild animals, keep away') That didnt scare Riten and he gave the elephants a stroke.
Climbing to the top of Sigiriya rock which was so high and hard work in the sun but so worth it for the views and the sense of achivement when we got to the top...we also made a friend...a dog followed us half the way much to the distress of Poonam! You all should know about her love for dogs by now!
We arrived in Colombo in the afternoon on the 1st of April, we met Riten there (who has joined us for two weeks in Sri Lanka) and after inspecting all the necessities he brought from the UK (ie cream eggs, wet wipes, foam burst shower gel etc) we went to explore the city a bit, there were fires lit on the pavements everywhere, we still haven't worked out why.
Highlights of Sri Lanka so far have been:
Going to an elephant orphanage in Pinnawala - although me and Poonam were too wimpy to toutch them (our driver said 'There wild animals, keep away') That didnt scare Riten and he gave the elephants a stroke.
Climbing to the top of Sigiriya rock which was so high and hard work in the sun but so worth it for the views and the sense of achivement when we got to the top...we also made a friend...a dog followed us half the way much to the distress of Poonam! You all should know about her love for dogs by now!
Riding an elephant through marches
and water, Riten also rode on its neck...again me and Poonam wimped out... although getting on the elephant on the first place was an achievement for us! We also saw a crocodile going through the water, one of the guides was taking pictures of us in the water and wasnt scared at all, though me and Poonam put our legs up so it couldn't bite out toes!We have visited many places and sacred temples..too many to mention all of them...though we have a new found respect for sandals and socks...all of the sacred places you have to take your shoes off and socks are a must if yo
u dont want to run around like a headless chicken due to burning feet! And we are too lazy to remove socks before putting on sandals again...soo much effort in the heat, Poonam upped the game by putting socks with flipflops..she is certain it will be in fashion next year...traveler trends don't you know.Dambulla rock temple - we climed loads of steps with our aching feet from the Sigiriya climb and saw a beautiful temple with over 150 images of budda and the largest figure of budda carved from rock which was over 14 metres long.
Saw a variety of traditional dances, costumes a bit weird but the stunts and skill was amazing.
Went to a gem museum and could not resist buying some bargin priced rings, real gems and all!
Went to a tea factory and saw some beautiful waterfalls and dodged the sellers, one of which climed up the hill to meet us on 3 seperate roads, Poonam was so impressed she wanted to give him some money for his effort!
Went on a cool safari in Yala National Park, we saw wild elephants, boars, a leapord, spotted deer, crocodiles and load of different birds. The elephant was a tad scary, it charged at our jeep! The driver was laughing like a mad man and our tour guide was freaking out and shouting at the elephant haha! That was definately an experiance..with only a metres distrance from us and the jeep.
We now understand why the people on the news in the desert with guns have scalves over their mouth and nose...its not just to be scary and anonymous its to keep from inhaling tons of dust! We were covered in it from head to toe...white clothes turned red (red sand).
Although we would like to tell you everything we did there is too much to mention in just one post. Those were the highlights. We are now in Ahangama in a beautiful resort by the sea..we have the whole place to ourselves apart from about 4 other people, which is cool when you want to lay on a sun lounger by the pool but can get a tad lonely. We have decided to venture out to a local club tonight to get our grove on..listning to Rihanna and Sean Paul by the pool side has got us in the mood for some dancing.
Honorary quote of the day from Riten "You look like a lizard, man" Doesn't sound quite the same when written down but has kept us amused the whole trip so far, we have decided he should be an impressionist if he ever loses his day job.
Love, hugs and sunshine from Saskia, Poonam and Riten x
p.s A lovely picture of me saving Riten from drowning...Baywatch watch out!
Thursday 31 March 2011
Goodbye India...
To all our fans...we have had over 1000 hits you know!
Yes India did get to the finals of the cricket world cup...do we care?? No...as we find the sport utterly boring!! Everyone here is obsessed wth it, they play it everywhere, rice fields....beaches any where with any open space. This time tomorrow we will be in Sri Lanka another obsessive cricket nation...And they have also reached the finals!! GREAT!
Anyhow since our last post we have been up to many wonderful things...
The houseboat was one of the highlights to the trip...it was amazing and in the most tranquil setting. It was just what we needed, a relaxing luxury experience on a private deluxe houseboat...although doing all these romantic things for couples- hope people are not getting the wrong idea. (In our current hotel we got a romantic red velvet heart bedspread for two--hmmm at least we give people something to talk about).
We met some a lovely Swedish couple who ended up spending the evening on our boat, there boat parked next to ours for the evening. (Our boat was way better!) Allepey backwaters are soo beautiful and we would definetly recommend anyone visiting Kerela to experience them on a houseboat and not a speedboat!! Yes we did go on a speedboat in Kumarakom...we thought it would be an experience and that it was but not a pleasant one !... I pretended to be brave as I knew saskia was bricking it but by the end of ti she was telling me don't worry!! We will not be trying that again in a hurry...water being splashed into your face as you travel at a ridiculous speed, tell me why do people enjoy this?
In Kumarakom we also went on a sunset cruise which throughout we could hear annoying children screaming and our butts got numb, but it was really pretty and we did have a giggle (Everywhere we go for some reason people seem to laugh at us, in a way this I suppose is good as laughter is contagious...although I don't know if we should be worried as this also happens in the UK.) The highlight of the sunset cruise were two men saying to me repeatedly tour guide?? They assume as me and Saskia are together it cant be as we are friends, we have got use to the staring and now find it odd if people don't stare! We had decided we were going to start charging for photographers but since us deciding this nobody seems to be asking us, its defiantly a conspiracy and they are on to us!
Kumarakom was really relaxing and our room was lovely! (Thanks Dad)....Balcony view with our own hot tub, cant be bad...After Sri Lanka the roughing it begins, how will we cope?
We are currently in Kovalam and have visted Kunyakumari and Trivandrum while we have been here. We went right to the lands end...Half way through our last day of touring we decided we needed some R&R and faked illness to cut our last day of touring in half as not to offend anyone! S0 basically we have been spending our last two days in India relaxing by the pool, going for long beach walks (In which I hyper ventilate when I see the wild dogs, seriously nearly wetting myself each time.) and getting harassed by sellers- best line we have heard so far 'You have beautiful eyes....come see my shop''. They try anything, you cant blame them for trying...our response now to hi, is no thanks!
Saskia is still trying to get a tan, from white she is now beige... I have got from medium brown to very very dark brown, you can almost mistake me for a local..well almost!!
Funny things that will hopefully make you laugh as much as they have made me and Saskia laugh:
* They put cherries on everything, we like cherries but now we pray that our food does not come with cherries...
It is like some weird garnish on top of everything, god why?
* Guys holding pinky fingers and acting way too friendly for my liking, we are all for a bit of man love but come on!! Their intimate displays are more on show with their friends then their girlfriends.
* Saskia still has not tried chai and it only dawned to her this afternoon on our last full day...it was like she had a revelation.
* We can easily stomach a dosa for breakkie now, no problem!
* The obsession with were we come from is getting annoying now, people asking if we are sisters? Really!! We have decided saskia is my white uncles illegitimate love child in which my father adopted and my mother was a Russian refugee. As the trip goes on the lies will get more interesting, they want a story we will give them a story!
* Women don't wear swimming costumes in india, or if they do its very rare and a bikini well that is a scandal, so me and Saskia have been stared at and oggled a a little with our tankini's on...we are half considering buying a wet suit. The funniest thing is they all wear full clothing when they swim but the men love wearing little speedos! One woman had a long cardigan, jeans and SOCKS on in the pool, no wonder me and Saskia look like whores!!! To be honest all American and British shows broadcasting here don't really help our plight or image, they assume we are all hookers!
* The school girls giggling and compliment Saskia for her fairness is lovely, the kids here are very innocent and friendly.
*The lorries on our long journeys do make us laugh, our driver did think we were crazy, but they say BLOW HORN OK PLEASE on the back of them all! Quite ammusing!!
That is all we believe to say from India, well all we can be bothered to put into a blog, you will have to wait till we get back for a little more detail..
Love, Hugs and Sparkle
Poonam and Saskia...
Write to you all from Sri Lanka..
p.s The weather is hitting over 40 degrees c now and we melting like witches! mMmHAHAhahaha!!
Yes India did get to the finals of the cricket world cup...do we care?? No...as we find the sport utterly boring!! Everyone here is obsessed wth it, they play it everywhere, rice fields....beaches any where with any open space. This time tomorrow we will be in Sri Lanka another obsessive cricket nation...And they have also reached the finals!! GREAT!
Anyhow since our last post we have been up to many wonderful things...
The houseboat was one of the highlights to the trip...it was amazing and in the most tranquil setting. It was just what we needed, a relaxing luxury experience on a private deluxe houseboat...although doing all these romantic things for couples- hope people are not getting the wrong idea. (In our current hotel we got a romantic red velvet heart bedspread for two--hmmm at least we give people something to talk about).
We met some a lovely Swedish couple who ended up spending the evening on our boat, there boat parked next to ours for the evening. (Our boat was way better!) Allepey backwaters are soo beautiful and we would definetly recommend anyone visiting Kerela to experience them on a houseboat and not a speedboat!! Yes we did go on a speedboat in Kumarakom...we thought it would be an experience and that it was but not a pleasant one !... I pretended to be brave as I knew saskia was bricking it but by the end of ti she was telling me don't worry!! We will not be trying that again in a hurry...water being splashed into your face as you travel at a ridiculous speed, tell me why do people enjoy this?
In Kumarakom we also went on a sunset cruise which throughout we could hear annoying children screaming and our butts got numb, but it was really pretty and we did have a giggle (Everywhere we go for some reason people seem to laugh at us, in a way this I suppose is good as laughter is contagious...although I don't know if we should be worried as this also happens in the UK.) The highlight of the sunset cruise were two men saying to me repeatedly tour guide?? They assume as me and Saskia are together it cant be as we are friends, we have got use to the staring and now find it odd if people don't stare! We had decided we were going to start charging for photographers but since us deciding this nobody seems to be asking us, its defiantly a conspiracy and they are on to us!
Kumarakom was really relaxing and our room was lovely! (Thanks Dad)....Balcony view with our own hot tub, cant be bad...After Sri Lanka the roughing it begins, how will we cope?
We are currently in Kovalam and have visted Kunyakumari and Trivandrum while we have been here. We went right to the lands end...Half way through our last day of touring we decided we needed some R&R and faked illness to cut our last day of touring in half as not to offend anyone! S0 basically we have been spending our last two days in India relaxing by the pool, going for long beach walks (In which I hyper ventilate when I see the wild dogs, seriously nearly wetting myself each time.) and getting harassed by sellers- best line we have heard so far 'You have beautiful eyes....come see my shop''. They try anything, you cant blame them for trying...our response now to hi, is no thanks!
Saskia is still trying to get a tan, from white she is now beige... I have got from medium brown to very very dark brown, you can almost mistake me for a local..well almost!!
Funny things that will hopefully make you laugh as much as they have made me and Saskia laugh:
* They put cherries on everything, we like cherries but now we pray that our food does not come with cherries...
It is like some weird garnish on top of everything, god why?
* Guys holding pinky fingers and acting way too friendly for my liking, we are all for a bit of man love but come on!! Their intimate displays are more on show with their friends then their girlfriends.
* Saskia still has not tried chai and it only dawned to her this afternoon on our last full day...it was like she had a revelation.
* We can easily stomach a dosa for breakkie now, no problem!
* The obsession with were we come from is getting annoying now, people asking if we are sisters? Really!! We have decided saskia is my white uncles illegitimate love child in which my father adopted and my mother was a Russian refugee. As the trip goes on the lies will get more interesting, they want a story we will give them a story!
* Women don't wear swimming costumes in india, or if they do its very rare and a bikini well that is a scandal, so me and Saskia have been stared at and oggled a a little with our tankini's on...we are half considering buying a wet suit. The funniest thing is they all wear full clothing when they swim but the men love wearing little speedos! One woman had a long cardigan, jeans and SOCKS on in the pool, no wonder me and Saskia look like whores!!! To be honest all American and British shows broadcasting here don't really help our plight or image, they assume we are all hookers!
* The school girls giggling and compliment Saskia for her fairness is lovely, the kids here are very innocent and friendly.
*The lorries on our long journeys do make us laugh, our driver did think we were crazy, but they say BLOW HORN OK PLEASE on the back of them all! Quite ammusing!!
That is all we believe to say from India, well all we can be bothered to put into a blog, you will have to wait till we get back for a little more detail..
Love, Hugs and Sparkle
Poonam and Saskia...
Write to you all from Sri Lanka..
p.s The weather is hitting over 40 degrees c now and we melting like witches! mMmHAHAhahaha!!
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Periyar Wildlife reserve
We are now in Perriyar which is right in the centre of a wildlife reserve, we went for a 'boat safari' which was relaxing (I almost fell asleep) and the views were really nice but unfortunately the only wildlife we saw was a few birds! Our driver said, "You have to fill out a form before you go on the boat as 6 months ago one of the boats tipped over and loads of people died" Really not the thing to say to us just before we get on!!!!
We have recently noticed that all the shop keepers chuck water on the road outside their shop, we asked them why and apparently it is to keep the dust away. But with 40 degree heat the water doesn't stay long. I have a sneaking suspicion that its just because they are bored and want something to do.
Tomorrow we are off to Alleppey to catch a deluxe houseboat for an overnight stay. I am really looking forward to it as the backwaters are supposed to be spectacular.
We are now getting used to sharing the streets with cows, horses, chickens, goats,cats and dogs etc...though the dogs still scare us and we do skirt round the animals as much as possible! We are also trying to work out why they sell dog food in the shops as no one seems to have them as pets they just roam around the streets...hmm.
Bye from Saskia & Poonam xx
We have recently noticed that all the shop keepers chuck water on the road outside their shop, we asked them why and apparently it is to keep the dust away. But with 40 degree heat the water doesn't stay long. I have a sneaking suspicion that its just because they are bored and want something to do.
Tomorrow we are off to Alleppey to catch a deluxe houseboat for an overnight stay. I am really looking forward to it as the backwaters are supposed to be spectacular.
We are now getting used to sharing the streets with cows, horses, chickens, goats,cats and dogs etc...though the dogs still scare us and we do skirt round the animals as much as possible! We are also trying to work out why they sell dog food in the shops as no one seems to have them as pets they just roam around the streets...hmm.
Bye from Saskia & Poonam xx
Monday 21 March 2011
Hilltops of Munnar...
Hi beautiful and not so beautiful family and friends...
We are now in Munnar...the remote scenic view and simple villages make the real world feel unreal... I can not believe how quickly the month is flying by, before I know it will be a month and our time in India will be finished... :(
I accidentally managed to break a tap in our last hotel in Cochin and me and Saskia ended up arguing with management for over an hour...I could not believe it even Saskia was haggling them down so we had to pay less for the damages...the man started at 1500 rs, we ended up only paying 500 rs...all be it only because of guilt of them telling us they would take it out of the wages of the staff if we did not pay!!! What happened to maintenance cost allowances?? Only in India... Yep we are becoming hard asses!! GO us! We even haggled our washing costs down to a 20% discount due to being slightly damp!!
We are addicted to Dexter...it has been our 10pm mon-fri ritual before bed to watch Dexter (A show about a serial killer).....Evenings are spent indulging in US sitcoms...yes you can not beat home comforts wherever you are in the world!
Our journey of spiritual enlightenment and to lose all material value is not really happening, hahaha (well it is me..I am struggling without my lippie and straighteners..and all the shops seen to have some kind of magnetic force that draws me and Saskia to them, but every so often our desires come in, we look around and we soon snap back to reality and feel a bit guilty for our vanity.)
From Ooty we went to Cochin and saw lots of random churches (to be honest we were a bit bored)...so decided to ditch most of it for Shopping!
In the evening we went to a traditional Kerla dance show (Katchakali)..It was kind of cultish and surreal..we were not sure at the end of the show weather we found it amazing or really weird...definitely a must see just to take you out of your comfort zone...
After Cochin we made our way to Munnar...4 hour drive
There are tea plantations everywhere..it is soo scenic and pretty, we have taken lots of pics but they really do not do the place justice...If only you all could see what we are seeing!
Saskia thinks the views are better than Ooty but I think they are on par...Perhaps I am bias to liking Ooty as we had an amazing time there!
If you are into country walks and photography you could easily spend a month here even though we are in the middle of nowhere and the area is very remote...well hey they have Internet!!
Next stop Periyar...only a four hour drive not too bad..we will be staying in a wildlife sanctuary which will be interesting (those of you that know me will know how I feel about animals!)
Mosquitos are the bain of my life...They seem to give me stupid bruises which sucks...although besides one hotel we have not really seen any, touch wood!!
Our addiction to Miranda (kind of like a sweeter fanta)...makes us slightly crazy and hyper...caution: Do not have before bed!!
Hope you all are well...we send smiles and sunshine from Beautiful Munnar!!
Quote of the day .... ''Spitting causes TB''...EVERYONE HERE SPITS AND IT IS GROSS!!...Me and Saskia abuse people who spit by shouting errrrr!!!!
xXx Love, Hugs and Sparkles!
We are now in Munnar...the remote scenic view and simple villages make the real world feel unreal... I can not believe how quickly the month is flying by, before I know it will be a month and our time in India will be finished... :(
I accidentally managed to break a tap in our last hotel in Cochin and me and Saskia ended up arguing with management for over an hour...I could not believe it even Saskia was haggling them down so we had to pay less for the damages...the man started at 1500 rs, we ended up only paying 500 rs...all be it only because of guilt of them telling us they would take it out of the wages of the staff if we did not pay!!! What happened to maintenance cost allowances?? Only in India... Yep we are becoming hard asses!! GO us! We even haggled our washing costs down to a 20% discount due to being slightly damp!!
We are addicted to Dexter...it has been our 10pm mon-fri ritual before bed to watch Dexter (A show about a serial killer).....Evenings are spent indulging in US sitcoms...yes you can not beat home comforts wherever you are in the world!
Our journey of spiritual enlightenment and to lose all material value is not really happening, hahaha (well it is me..I am struggling without my lippie and straighteners..and all the shops seen to have some kind of magnetic force that draws me and Saskia to them, but every so often our desires come in, we look around and we soon snap back to reality and feel a bit guilty for our vanity.)
From Ooty we went to Cochin and saw lots of random churches (to be honest we were a bit bored)...so decided to ditch most of it for Shopping!
In the evening we went to a traditional Kerla dance show (Katchakali)..It was kind of cultish and surreal..we were not sure at the end of the show weather we found it amazing or really weird...definitely a must see just to take you out of your comfort zone...
After Cochin we made our way to Munnar...4 hour drive
There are tea plantations everywhere..it is soo scenic and pretty, we have taken lots of pics but they really do not do the place justice...If only you all could see what we are seeing!
Saskia thinks the views are better than Ooty but I think they are on par...Perhaps I am bias to liking Ooty as we had an amazing time there!
If you are into country walks and photography you could easily spend a month here even though we are in the middle of nowhere and the area is very remote...well hey they have Internet!!
Next stop Periyar...only a four hour drive not too bad..we will be staying in a wildlife sanctuary which will be interesting (those of you that know me will know how I feel about animals!)
Mosquitos are the bain of my life...They seem to give me stupid bruises which sucks...although besides one hotel we have not really seen any, touch wood!!
Our addiction to Miranda (kind of like a sweeter fanta)...makes us slightly crazy and hyper...caution: Do not have before bed!!
Hope you all are well...we send smiles and sunshine from Beautiful Munnar!!
Quote of the day .... ''Spitting causes TB''...EVERYONE HERE SPITS AND IT IS GROSS!!...Me and Saskia abuse people who spit by shouting errrrr!!!!
xXx Love, Hugs and Sparkles!
Thursday 17 March 2011
Freezing our bottoms off in the beautiful mountains of Ooty...
We have now reached ooty and are currently staying in the mountains... am wearing 3 layers (resembles British spring)..it is crazy to think just a few miles down and we have plus 40 degrees Celsius temperatures mid day.
To bed yesterday me and Saskia have been even wearing winter socks and hoodies... hehe!
So far from our last post we have been all around Hampi, Hospet, Hassan, Bangalore, Mysore and now are in Ooty...All in just over week...with about 20 plus hours of travel...
We have seen...
in Hospet: Virupaksha temple, Ugra Narasimha, Lotus Mahal and queens bath- which me and saskia imagined being the queens...I am planning to be a millionaire so I can build one of these in the UK, although not sure how it will go down having an open air bath during the winter seasons...
in Hassain: Belur and Halebid- Hoysaleshwara temple, Shantaleshwara temple and Belur which is located on the banks of river yangchi... Many of the locals call Belur the vanaras of south.
in Banglore: I went to visit some family and me and Saskia got a good home cooked meal, my auntie had cooked enough to feed a small city. we also visited the botanical gardens called lal bagh which means red garden., the banglore palace and the fort and palace of tipu sultan (a muslim ruler who very nearlly defeated the british). I'm sure we must have seen more but I can not remember it all at the moment.
in Mysore: The amazing mysore palace- the largest structure of its kind in the whole of India, Brindavan Garden which we saw at sunset-beautiful fountains and colourful lights....
in Ooty: The beautiful blue mountain view, peak, botanical gardens, tea factory, chocolate factory (yes me and saskia did pig out)...and otty lake.
The mysore palace was my favourite....it was beautiful and the architecture is genius...they have taken best of each from all over the world and combined it to create a wonderful palace that by no means looks out of place...Although many of the structures throughout India are damaged due to cultural or political differences by Hindus, Muslim's, French British etc...this palace remains as it is as celebrates each...the floor tiles are Portuguese, the beautiful lamps Czech...the carvings and mural work Islamic or Hindu, the pillars from Scotland yard, I could go on!!!
We have not had much time to breathe and have been constantly on the go, the constantly getting ask to pose for photos is starting to wear thin, we feel a bit like celebs being followed by paps! Although the children are adorable and the school kids are charming.
Ooty is very relaxed and people keep themselves to the themselves...
Ok this has been the hardest post to write due to using the oldest, slowest computer in the world,(imagine acorn computers) so all you that have been moaning we don't post enough i hope you appreciate this!!
Love to all... xXx signing out from India...Poonam and Sassy!
To bed yesterday me and Saskia have been even wearing winter socks and hoodies... hehe!
So far from our last post we have been all around Hampi, Hospet, Hassan, Bangalore, Mysore and now are in Ooty...All in just over week...with about 20 plus hours of travel...
We have seen...
in Hospet: Virupaksha temple, Ugra Narasimha, Lotus Mahal and queens bath- which me and saskia imagined being the queens...I am planning to be a millionaire so I can build one of these in the UK, although not sure how it will go down having an open air bath during the winter seasons...
in Hassain: Belur and Halebid- Hoysaleshwara temple, Shantaleshwara temple and Belur which is located on the banks of river yangchi... Many of the locals call Belur the vanaras of south.
in Banglore: I went to visit some family and me and Saskia got a good home cooked meal, my auntie had cooked enough to feed a small city. we also visited the botanical gardens called lal bagh which means red garden., the banglore palace and the fort and palace of tipu sultan (a muslim ruler who very nearlly defeated the british). I'm sure we must have seen more but I can not remember it all at the moment.
in Mysore: The amazing mysore palace- the largest structure of its kind in the whole of India, Brindavan Garden which we saw at sunset-beautiful fountains and colourful lights....
in Ooty: The beautiful blue mountain view, peak, botanical gardens, tea factory, chocolate factory (yes me and saskia did pig out)...and otty lake.
The mysore palace was my favourite....it was beautiful and the architecture is genius...they have taken best of each from all over the world and combined it to create a wonderful palace that by no means looks out of place...Although many of the structures throughout India are damaged due to cultural or political differences by Hindus, Muslim's, French British etc...this palace remains as it is as celebrates each...the floor tiles are Portuguese, the beautiful lamps Czech...the carvings and mural work Islamic or Hindu, the pillars from Scotland yard, I could go on!!!
We have not had much time to breathe and have been constantly on the go, the constantly getting ask to pose for photos is starting to wear thin, we feel a bit like celebs being followed by paps! Although the children are adorable and the school kids are charming.
Ooty is very relaxed and people keep themselves to the themselves...
Ok this has been the hardest post to write due to using the oldest, slowest computer in the world,(imagine acorn computers) so all you that have been moaning we don't post enough i hope you appreciate this!!
Love to all... xXx signing out from India...Poonam and Sassy!
Wednesday 9 March 2011
Touring Hampi
So today we spent over 7 hours looking at temples and architecture, very interesting, we learnt a lot but it was very hot. The views were spectacular and it felt as if we were in ancient Rome. All day we were getting stopped by the local people to have their photo taken with us...we felt like celebrities! The people in Southern India are really friendly and did not even mind us crashing a wedding, they invited us to throw rice (like confetti) when the wedding rituals were completed.
Hampi is the second biggest archelogical site in the world after Rome. We also saw The Sisters which are two rocks leaning on each other. The interesting aspect of these Sister Rocks (popularly known as Akka – Thangi Betta) is they lean against each other and touch each other only at the top tip. Local legend has it that two sisters were walking towards Hampi and the were very tired and the weather was very dry. As a result they insulted Hampi and they were cursed to become rocks. Later on in the day our tour guide got a phone call and the rocks had broken! We were lucky enough to see the before and after! We have photos of the after which we will download but we can't be bothered at the moment...we would rather have a hot shower!
Tomorrow we are going on to Hassan, we have a long journey ahead of us so early to bed.
Bye from Saskia & Poonam x
Hampi is the second biggest archelogical site in the world after Rome. We also saw The Sisters which are two rocks leaning on each other. The interesting aspect of these Sister Rocks (popularly known as Akka – Thangi Betta) is they lean against each other and touch each other only at the top tip. Local legend has it that two sisters were walking towards Hampi and the were very tired and the weather was very dry. As a result they insulted Hampi and they were cursed to become rocks. Later on in the day our tour guide got a phone call and the rocks had broken! We were lucky enough to see the before and after! We have photos of the after which we will download but we can't be bothered at the moment...we would rather have a hot shower!
Tomorrow we are going on to Hassan, we have a long journey ahead of us so early to bed.
Bye from Saskia & Poonam x
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