Wednesday 27 March 2013

Week 1: India

So after my night flight to Mumbai, i arrived in India and received a mozzie bite on my arm before i'd even left the terminal! You need to buy the local mozzie repellent as DEET doesn't seem to work on Indian mozzies. I withdrew some Rupees from the ATM (£1 = 75 rupees) and got a taxi (which was involved in a minor collision in the airport car park...more amusing than dangerous) to the Mumbai main train station terminal. This was my first experienced of the mental traffic that is the norm here in India. The traffic rules are a bit like skiing, whomever is in front, you have to avoid....including cows! Oh, and don't forget to beep your horn every 5 seconds.

Top Tip: Look for the government regulated Pre-Paid tuc tuc and taxi booths. Tell them where you're going and they'll print off an official ticket and appoint a driver for you, all for the sum of the princely sum of 2 rupees! This is to stop your driver ripping you off as they even do it to the locals too! Alas, every tuc tuc driver seems to have a broken meter when i'm around....grrr!! Barter, barter, barter!

So, i got my train from Mumabi to Pune. Outside Pune station, after managing to get 2 taxi drivers in a fight over my business, the police intervened and took me over to the pre-paid tuc tuc booth. See above top tip! As all the buses to Mahabaleshwar had left for the day, i got a tuc tuc to a private travel company where i booked a taxi to take me up to Mahabaleshwar. Mahabaleshwar is 4,700ft above sea level, so therefore, not as hot as typical India. The British Raj founded Mahabaleshwar as one of their very first Hill Stations, places they would go to escape the heat in India. It's about 3 hours from Pune, so it was quite a long drive to cover the 120km, but not too expensive at £30. This meant that i got to sleep and wake up in my first destination after 24 hours of travelling. I wasn't expecting to be woken up by the local mosque at sunrise though for morning prayers! It turns out that even though the majority of the Indian population are Hindu, there is also a large percentage of Muslims too, so if you're travelling to India, be prepared for an early morning wake up call!

Due to the altitude of Mahabaleshwar, the views are fantastic.....
Old Mahabaleshwar is also home to the spring of the Krishna river...so they built 3 temples there....
And they're famous for their Strawberries too!!!
Friday night is party night in the town, and people come for miles to visit the Bazaar.
Being the only white guy in town, it was great to bump into Tim and Lidia on my second day. They'd been travelling India for 8 weeks and gave me loads of great tips. The next day, it was back to Pune, to catch my night train to Hyderabad. AC1 class (Air Conditioned 1st Class) is the top class you can get on Indian trains. This means, you share a 4 bed birth.....i say bed, i mean cushiony fold down seat. Locals wonder up and down the train selling water and snacks or you can order a meal from the pantry car. You get a choice of curry or curry. I went for the curry. As 2 of the people in my berth were heavy snorers, combined with the non existent shock absorbers on the trains carriages  sleeping was patchy at best. It's wise to buy a chain at the station and lock your case to the bed too, everyone does it, but i haven't seen or had any issues on my travels as yet.

Once in Hyderabad, i went on a day trip to the Ramoji Film City. This is the world largest sound stage and filming complex as recognised by Guinness world records!
It's basically a cheap copy of universal studios, but nowhere near as fun. Still, a good day out none the less. They film about 900 Bollywood movies a year at the complex, but still use Hollywood to help draw in the crowds....
It may not have any roller coasters, but it does have a butterfly farm!
After Hyderabad, it was back onto another sleeper train. This time, i was headed for Chennai. As soon as i arrived, i headed off on the bus to Mahabalipuram, a little town on the east coast. By now, temperatures were a good 33-35 degrees. This town is geared a lot more towards the tourist trade which meant i got to meet some fellow travellers again! Alas, like most of India, it's very dirty, including the beach which looks out onto the Bay of Bengal. It still attracts tourists though because Mahabalipuram is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Shore Temple.
After a night of drinking some bootleg cocktails and hiding from the new local police chief with my fellow traveller Dave from Auz, i got a good nights sleep and awoke to a fresh shower, albeit a cold one! Not that it matters when it's 25 degrees at 9AM! So, back to Chennai i went and stayed at a really cool old skool hostel called Broadlands. Full of other Europeans, we hit the council run hold in the wall alcohol stall to grab a few beers and sat on the roof watching the sun set over the city. I was up early today though and after a day of travelling, i'm now in Mysore.......let's see how i get on here!!

Monday 11 March 2013

The Route

Well, first off, where do i plan on going? This is the current idea so far. Everything is flexible though, including the flights! Feel free to suggest some places for me to visit if you've been there before.....i'm in no rush!


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