Gili Trawangan

We got to the airport and booked an afternoon flight to Bali. We posted home a few Christmas presents and had a wee wander about airport. While reading the guide to Indonesia the plane we thought maybe we would go to an island with volcanic lakes that change colors several times a year. When we went to book it the flights were awkward and boat travel to the island would take hours/days.
We spent the night at Tuban and left the next day for Panganbai. We spent the night there and then got the ferry to Gili Trawangan for some diving.

It is a beautiful and relaxed island. Terry stayed at a café with the luggage while I went to find us somewhere to stay. We booked into Pesona, where we met the Louise and Lars who we hung out with for a while. I spoke to Evan at Blue Marlin about doing my advanced dive course. I decided to do two dives in one day and then see how I felt. Terry booked some fun dives also.

We also met Milva, our favorite Swiss person of all time. The other lovely lovelies that we met were Cheryl and Dave. We were all in the happy situation of going to Bali after we left Trawangan.

On our fun dives the visibility was good. We had never really dived off a boat into such a strong current. We did not do the fun dives together but saw loads of green turtles and terry saw another shark. After that I decided I would do the advanced dive course, as my anxiety levels were dropping.
I had to do a module on navigation and on deep diving. I choose to do the last three on buoyancy, night diving and multilevel diving.
My first was the deep dive to 30 meters, which took a while because my ears are a bit slow to equalize. I had to do a timed task on the surface and then again at depth. It should have proved how your mind becomes fuzzy the deeper you dive. I was faster at depth. Seems my mind is fuzzy on the surface!

Then I did my buoyancy dive and it was fun, I did underwater scuba limbo and then get my nose onto the tip of a snorkel in the sand. On my multilevel dive I saw blue spotted rays and a shark. My navigation dive was the one I was most worried about as I have difficulty using a compass and I associate it with maths. Usually Blathnaid or Terry acts as the navigator. But I did all the skills right first time, which rocked. I did the night dive off the beach at a project run by all the dive shops called bio-rocks. They are large structures mad out of like a wire and a small electrical current is passed through it to encourage reef regrowth. It was mad. After a while the visibility dropped and, of course, my anxiety level became raised and so did I. thankfully we were no deeper than 18 meters and at the time we were at about 10 meters. I was a bit annoyed with myself but I passed the course so that was good.

In the mean time terry did more fun dives and saw a manta ray, then he decided to do a technical diving course using nitrox so that he could do a deep dive to see a military wreck that still had its cache of weapons. Apparently it was brilliant and well worth it. There were depth charges and large rounds scattered around the place. The best part is its at 45 meters so its not recreational diving anymore for him.
Otherwise we did a bit of snorkeling, sunbathing, swimming and of course drinking. The island was great, beautiful and relaxing and full friendly people.

Singapore - Siobhan turns 30

We flew from Goa to Mumbai, (we had that one booked), and we went to the international terminal to get a flight our flight to Singapore. While we were in the airport we booked a nice hotel on Expedia as I was turning 30 while we were in Singapore.

We got to Singapore and it was a complete contrast to India. Even with all the traffic it seemed very peaceful and clean. The hotel sent us up to an unmade room by accident and they upgraded us to a suite for the inconvenience. This was very different to the service industry in India. It was the perfect place to go and catch our breath after the previous 6 or so weeks.

While we were in Singapore we went to National Museum and spent a few hours wandering around the wonderful exhibits.

We then headed to Raffles for the obligatory Singapore sling. The floor of raffles is covered with peanut shells which was weird to walk on. Then we headed back to the room so that I could have snooze before going out for my birthday.

Two staff from the hotel came up with cake and sang me happy birthday. It was nice of the hotel but it made it a little harder to be away from home on a day that I am usually around a crowd of people.

When I got up from my snooze terry has cake and a bottle of champagne waiting for me. We drank the champers as we got ready to go out.

We went to a centre called Chijmes, which had a few bars. We drank, we danced, and we chatted to strangers. We had McDonalds o the way home. We could only get breakfast as it was 5am.it was made though as there were a lot of runners in Maca’s as there was a marathon starting in the next few minutes.

The next day was a waste cause I was a waste. We had breakfast brought to the room and I was eating morsels til about 6pm. We then went for a walk about. Singapore was in full swing for Christmas, it looked magical, as if santa had upchucked the substance essence of the season all over Singapore. It was lovely.

The next day we went to the airport. All we knew is that we were going to Indonesia. We had no flight, no guide book and no idea where in Indonesia we wanted to go.

Goa - Bogmallo

The quest for diving in India continued. Apparently there are three places to go diving in India, two are fantastic and one is ok. The two fantastic places are the Andaman Islands and Laskshadweep. Both take a bit of an effort to get to and we just could not manage it on this trip. So that left us with Goa, which is a bit hit and miss.

So we got to Bogmallo and we had not booked anywhere to stay. At the first cheap option no one answered the door, at the second cheap option, well it was horrible. As a princess I don’t do horrible. So that left us with the expensive places as there is no midrange in Bogamallo. Then we went to the dive shop and booked our dives.

The first was to a sunken steam boat S.S. Mary that was about a hundred ft long. We only dived about 9 meters but the visibility was very poor, (maybe3/4meters). We would be moving along and then suddenly there would be big hunks of metal looming up in front of me. My anxiety levels increased, my lungs expanded and I floated up too the surface. Bad scuba diver. I decided to end my dive and I swam the 200meters back to the boat. The lovely Terry kept me company. Terry did the second dive and he said the visibility was better but that that it was not a great, although he had fun messing with the surge.

We had to launch the boat off the beach and drag it back up using logs as the winch was broken. That was fun!

There was an overnight trip to a place called Pigeon Island, I did not want to do the trip and in the end Terry decided against it.

Otherwise the rest of our time was spent relaxing by the pool or on the beach, as there was little else to do in Bogmallo. We had no flights booked to anywhere but figured we might head to Singapore or Kuala Lumper.

Hampi

So we left the paradise of Karnataka and we spent a night in Margoa before getting an early train to Hampi.

Hampi is stunning. It is set in an area that has a river and is surrounded by boulders. It looks like s setting for a movie; in fact a bollywood movie was being filmed while we were there. The photos really do not do it justice.

Hampi was a very important place for Hindus and is the sight of over 800 temples. Many of them were destroyed by invaders and are not used for worship any more but they are still such an integral part of Hampi. As it is a place of such religious importance it is a dry town. So of course all Terry wanted was a beer. We were also looking forward to meeting with Mairead again, whom we had met in Boracay.

Hampi is a great place to just chill, wander around, find a place to read, it is lovely.

We met a couple in our guest house called Maura and Pontus and we hung out a lot with them. We got stuck in the rain at one of the temples. We were stuck for about an hour waiting for some break in the rain. We all booked to-do a cycling tour through the tourist office. It was great but we were all wrecked by the end of it. The first few hours was spent walking to the temples around the main town and we went on a small boat trip down the river. We then got onto the not mountain bikes and started the cycling part of the tour. That was another few hours of cycling. Poor Pontus stepped in some dank water and was fair miserable after that.

One of the locals told us where we could find a few beers so we all went for a bevvy which was nice.

I had to ring home a few times while we were in Hampi but it was very frustrating as the electricity kept cutting out due to unseasonal rain it meant that either the call cut out or I could not make the call at all.

We met up with Mairead and her friend, Brendan. We went to the main temple in the town and I paid a few rupees to get bonked on the head by an elephant. I think she had a cold. Then we went for a wee climb with them to a hill top which historically had been a watch-point. By wee hill, I'm underestimating the sheer cliffyness of the thing. If you slipped you were dead - no joke. We then went for some grub and then Mairead had to go get a boat back to her guest house. Hopefully we will see her in New Zealand.

Terry was still looking for some Indian diving so our next, and last stop in India, was to head back to Goa to a place called Bogmallo, which is apparently the most expensiveplace to stay in Goa.

Karnataka

From Baga beach we went on a two day trip to Karnataka. We spent a night chilling on a house boat. It was lovely slowly winding our way along the river, watching the world go by. We read, we played board games and we ate the wonderful food the chef sent to the boat. We had some form of custard dessert every night and terry became addicted.

We were so relaxed we were nearly horizontal. It helped that the only other traffic on the river was locals gathering sand from the river mouth and transferring it on over laden tug boats (while bailing for safety) to building sites up river. The contrast between the passing boats was gargantuan.

The next afternoon we were dropped of at an island resort. The resort was set in a woods and the accommodation was all log cabins spread through the woods, with hammocks set up on the trees. You wandered through the woods to the most beautiful empty beach, apart from the crabs. The first day and night we were there we meet absolutely nobody else (except staff) – It was heaven. Terry was in his element, a whole gorgeous beach to himself.

The next evening the resort set up tables by beach and we ate our dinner watching the waves and looking at the stars. It was beautiful. We spent the next morning strolling along the beach, watching some fishermen and then we relaxed for a while and terry had a swim and then we were brought back to the real world.

Goa - Baga Beach

It turns out Terry really likes the beach.

For weeks all I heard was “when are we going to the beach?” up to 10 times a day. So imagine how happy he was that we were finally going to one. Baga beach is one of the most touristy beaches in Goa with loads of package tours going there.
We decided on Baga beach because we could go diving and drinking. We had only really been able to drink in Darjeeling while in India.

After checking into a hotel with a really great pool, we hunted the internet and asked the locals where the dive shop was after we wandered up the appointed street multiple times and could not find it. Taxi drivers told us where it was but they too could not locate it. We found out later that the shop closed due to owners splitting it seemed like diving was not going to happen in India. Between looking for the dive shop we hung at the beach, ate and drank. Oh, and talked about where we might go after baga beach. We hoped to be able to go to the backwaters of Kerala but it was very expensive to fly there and I was unwilling to spend 3 days on the train.

We did a small tour of the south of Goa which was nice. We also went to a night market on the Saturday night. That was really cool. The market was bustling with the typical stalls as well as food and bar stalls and there was a band playing. There was a great atmosphere and we hung out there, doing some Christmas shopping till about 11pm.

So, when we realized that we would not be able to make it to the back waters of Kerala we booked a two day trip to Karnataka.

It was strange being able to wear shorts and swim wear after so many weeks of making sure I was covered up. Seeing the difference between how European and Indian women are on the beach was mad. Indian women swim and hang out on the beach fully dressed. Big gangs of Indian men go on holiday together and watch the European women while wearing orange thighty whitey’s. We even noticed the men using their phones to take secretive video and photo footage of any and all women on the beach. Every time went into to water Terry made be keep walking until I was neck deep in the sea! Baga and Goa are pretty much a European sun holiday in India.

Mumbai

So we were dumped in the suburbs of Mumbai off the nightmares bus, miles from the city, in the early morning on a Sunday with an unconfirmed hotel reservation. We were not worried. We really did not do justice to Mumbai for the few days we were there, as we were recovering from the bus.
We saw the new James Bond movie, ate a lot, wandered about and watched lots of DVD’s.
One of the restaurants we ate in served brains but Terry was not allowed to get any as it freaked me out too much.
That was it really for Mumbai, we headed of then on a train to Mumbai.

Udaipur (octopussy country)

For the first time we meet a lovely tuk tuk driver from the onslaught at the train station, he offered to take us on a sunset ride and a city tour. We had breakfast and a nap asap- night trains are never good for sleeping, but Terry also choose not to sleep on the train and to read Into Thin Air (about the tourist tours and a disaster on Everest – READ IT). After waking we went walking about to find our bearings.

We went to a café called Lotus for a late lunch. They had a thing on the menu called a 'Special Lassi', so a conversation ensued about what made it so special. So of course Terry had to try one. It turns out that a special lassi is laced with special Indian dope called bang. Apparently it was actually very tasty. We headed up to a sunset point up a mountain; the scene was set for a lovely rosemantaic evening until terry started to be very paranoid…

So basically we had to head back to our room and stay in our room while terry questioned me for about two hours about the lassi, his health, time and relativity, Einstein, God, comas, and of course he thought I should write everything he was saying down. He is still upset I did not. It was very funny. They should have bang lassi’s at home.

So, the next day we were supposed to go on a tour with the tuk tuk driver from previous night but it was cancelled as he was sick so we went shopping and bumming about getting tickets to the next destination instead. We are getting a bus to Mumbai.

We took that tour of the city and environs with the tuk tuck driver. He took us to a spice market and then told us not to buy anything as the spices were crap there. He took us to the handmaid’s garden, the cenotaphs and to one of the man made lakes. Then of course the obligatory offer to take us to a shop he knows, so we went to a tailor and did buy a couple of bits.

The next day we were all plans to visit the Royal Place but these plans were scuppered when all the ATMs were empty. We took a tuk tuk drive to the other side of the city but they too were out of cash. Inside the bank they are unable access bank accounts and seem only to be able to cash cheques and do corporate banking, which apparently does not involve actual money. As the bank run didn’t turn up any cash we decided to wait it out by getting the cheap ticket for the palace (we had planned on a boat trip with lunch on an island palace in the middle of the lake) and to sneak in the camera as that costs more too. The ATM’s were still out when we finished. At this point we had almost no Rupees left so we go back to get our reserve dollars even though the exchange rate is really bad. We headed to the shop to collect our new clothes and on the way back the ATM was back in order.

Next day we had the worse trip of my life an overnight bus to Mumbai. We were in this small cabin with all of our luggage at the back of the bus. We had no light; with the window open it was cold and with it closed it was too hot. The bus had no suspension. Terry was close to having concussion when we got off, on the outskirts of Mumbai. People were sleeping in the aisles, how I don’t know, and I still cannot talk about the rest stops. Please don’t make me! According to terry the worst part was it didn’t have the IRE vs NZ game and he had to rely on his sisters to send him updates (he thanks both Jennifer and Susan very much).

Agra

So we once again boarded the night train, this time headed to Agra and the legendary Taj Mahal. We arrived in the morning and decided to have a snooze and have a look about. We were planning on going to see the Taj early in the morning, rather than in the afternoon heat, when it it is very busy - following a few tips from Ronan and Fiona in Darjeeling.
So we had some food and then had a nap. We decided to stroll out to a market mentioned in our guide book, Shilpgram Market it was pretty empty of shops and stalls although there seemed to be lots of tour buses, camels, elephants and sellers about.

We feel as if we must have missed something but we are not sure what.
We then headed to the uber fancy Oberoi Amari Villa Hotel for a few drinks while looking over at the Taj Mahal. The hotel and the drinks were lovely and a nice break from the hustle, bustle and horn rule of daily Indian life.
But it must be noted that for such a plush hotel they didn’t offer wifi to people that were not guests although it was freely available everywhere else around Agra.
The next morning we were up at 5am! Will the early starts never end? We were first in the queue for the Taj and we basically legged it in when the gates opened at dawn which was about 6.20. A guy working there made us run along and took some of our photos and then demanded a tip mentioning figures in the hundreds for the excellent photos.

We then ran up to the crypt and after that we went at a more leisurely pace, wandering into the other buildings and watching the sun come up over the monument and the mist roll in.

(twenty mins after the place opened its mobbed)
When we went to breakfast we bumped into Paige and Trevor, a couple I had annoyed while drunk in Darjeeling (‘painting and drinking’ could replace the last bog post) we were happy to see them and spent a while chatting over breakfast and we arranged to meet for dinner that evening.
They told us about their time in Nepal and being charged a fake fee when they got on a bus again in India. They felt robbed by the scam but would have been kicked off the bus if they had not paid. That evening we went on a small trip to see the Taj Mahal from the back. It was quite lovely as it reflects in the river.
The next day we went shopping and I bought my first Sulwar suit and contemplated buying a sari but I would have had to be fitted for the blouse part and we did not have time as we were booked on a train to Udaipur. Terry bought a Taj Mahal t-shirt;)