Walking across borders. End of India and the beginning of Nepal!

On the train ride reading up on Nepal

Varanasi was a scorching 42 degrees and it showed no signs of relief until the odd hours in the morning. We decided it was enough and took the 8am train (when the heat was still somewhat bearable) to go to Nepal. This isn't as un-common as we originally thought. A lot of people do this trip. From Varanasi, we took a 4 hour train to Gorakphur. We were lucky to find an express train that stopped only twice, otherwise it would've been a 6 hour trip.

From Gorakphur, we found a bus that went to Sunauli. It wasn't hard. When we got off the train from Gorakphur, touters were coming up to us "You going to Nepal? Take our bus!" The bus stand, though, was right infront of the train station and it wasn't necessary to listen to touters. We asked a few people which bus went to Sunauli and they directed us in the right direction.  There were touters though, trying to get us to their private company buses that cost 1,000 Rupees. About 12 dollars. But instead, we found a bus for 80 Rupees. Just over 1 dollar. This bus though, really isn't that nice. We put our luggage on the roof and were literally crammed in the back corner of the bus. Leg space is non-existent. You literally sit up 90 degrees to give some room for your knees. And the Indians will just keep piling on the people and shove you futher into the corner of the bus. We were on that bus for 3 hours in the baking heat of 40 degrees of the day. Longest 3 hour bus journey of our lives. Fun!

Varanasi, holy burning Ghats!

View of the ghats from our hotel roof

It only took 14 hours on a train straight. We took a sleeper train, which provides beds. But it certainly doesn’t provide the quietness of a good nights sleep. We pull into some obscure train station at 7 in the morning and transfer trains and kept going until 11:30.

We get into Varanasi with 40 degree weather waiting for us. The rickshaw goes only to a certain part of the city and then we walked the rest of the way in. Varanasi is a very holy city with the Ganges running through it. In fact, Indians abroad order specially water from the Ganges for their different celebrations. Along the banks of the the Ganges are hundreds of Ghats (stairs leading to the water for whatever purpose, bathing, washing clothes, or what have you.)

The iconic images of India

Taj Mahal

You’ve seen it in pictures. You know it by name. And you know the country just by looking at this building. The Taj Mahal. And it was about time we finally saw it. This is pretty much the only reason to come to Agra. That and it’s lesser known things, like the fort and gardens.

Ian didn’t expect himself to be incredibly excited. After all, it’s just another monument. It was also reaching 40 degrees at the heat of the day. Not the funnest time to go wandering by any means. And to top it off, the crowds have dispersed, as it is low season, but by jove! if they’re still isn’t a huge line up to go through security.

Jaisalmer – Deserts, forts, and camel safaris

Jaislamer's desert ruins

The air force streaked across the sky more and more often the closer we approached Jaisalmer. Military bases litter the eastern side of the city, the direction in which we were coming from. Pakistan is on the west side of the city by a few hundred kilometers. But that’s close enough to have the military presence for a quick response in case Pakistan decides to strike.

We were warned about the very aggressive touts that were in Jaisalmer. And forewarned we were. To the point where we booked a pick up from the hotel, which turned out to be a good idea. As the bus pulled into the bus stop aka, side of the road, the rickshaws appear from thin air along with their drivers. I didn’t know rickshaw drivers were even on the bus until Neil was stopped by one before he had a chance to even get off.

Jodhpur. Recovery and hours of ziplining!

Looking back at the city to the fort

An agonizing 5 hour train ride from Jaipur proved to be disastrous, for our stomachs anyways. It was hot, stuffy, and the stomach provided no relief from the heat or discomfort. The sleeper trains that were seemingly comfortable for 15 minutes was very uncomfortable within 1 minute. We had 5 hours to go.

We get into our guesthouse in Jodhpur, eventually, and literally just exploded. Literally. We tagged team the toilet and beat the crap out of it. Or more accurately the crap was beaten out of us. Our friend from across the hall and up one floor could hear us. It was fantastic. We started our anti-biotics when we got into the guest house. We were smart enough to pick them up before we left Korea. Finally using them.

Jaipur. Holi and explosive toilets.

Fort for the Pink City

We flew into Jaipur from Goa 2 days before Holi. We came specifically to Jaipur to see an elephant festival on the eve of Holi. Spirits were high. A succesful booking of a flight into Jaipur, with a transfer in Bangalore, refreshed our wallets with ATM money from home and got into our hotel with no problems.

"The elephant festival is cancelled" says the hotel manager. That was the first thing about it we hear since entering Jaipur. The government cancelled it because of the animal cruelty. BOOOOO!!! We reconfirmed with searching for news on the internet. Sure enough, it was cancelled. Fair enough too, poor elephants. They're regarded as a holy animal but the ones that are "working" under the care of the owner, we don't really know how well they're being treated. Some of them are healthy (looking) and some of them are so sad looking.

Goa – need we say more?... Maybe...

Goa's Palolem beach at night

Goa, the holy mecca of Goa Psychedelic Trance music. The origin of it all. A small little state that was hill locked and inaccessible by land for the longest time was a Portuguese colony. Evidence of colonial rule is very evident through every corner and bend as we scootered around.

We stumble in at 4:30 in the morning. We love stumbling in when everything is closed because we like to get screwed in places to sleep. We stumble out of a sleeper bus. Max, our wonderful German friend that we’ve been leap frogging back and forth with already had our accommodation all sorted out for us. We trudge along a beach and shortly arrive in these simple wooden huts. We crash for the night and then wake up to see the beach front.

Monkey gods and boulders

Hampi

Boulders in Hampi

As much climbing as we’ve done, nothing prepared us for the limitless amount of boulders that Hampi provided. The bus ride in from Hospet (the closest big town to Hampi) provided us with a view with the extent of boulder problems that sniffed out.

We get off the bus and tried to find our way to a pre-booked hostel called “Goan Corner”. The first few rickshaw drivers we met explained to us that “The Goan Corner is demolished” – Seriously? Demolished? It was hard to believe. In our Lonely Planet guide book, they explained that rickshaw drivers would say something like that and take you to a “better and cheaper hostel” for you and they get a commission for it.

We shrug it off and truck our way to the ferry to take us across the river where the Goan Corner supposedly was. We march around a huge rice paddy field to find at the end of the rainbow and found *drum roll* the Goan Corner.

Running away from the heat

Ooty Hill Stations

Tea plantations in Ooty

We retreated back into Tamil-Nadu, the first province we entered in the beginning of our India chapter. We retreated to higher grounds, running from the hell fire that’s scorching the plains before the humidity comes to bake it into a sauna. At 3,000 meters, the night air drops to a very comfortable 19 degrees. An inviting change after suffocating 34 degree nights at the bottom of the mountain.

Ooty is the highest hill station in India and one of the most popular. Hill station started with the British trying to find a way to escape the killing heat of the South Indian summers and found that the high mountains provided ample relieve. As already a retreat for the rich, this area is re-known as a tourist area, however, surprisingly not completely destroyed by tourism yet. (thank goodness)

As a British safe haven, it also doubles as their tea plantations. And over the years, this area transformed into a tea plantation capital of South India, only next to Darjeeling in the North.

Forts, Martial arts and dances

Fort Kochin

Kelari Payattu

Arriving in the heat of the afternoon the bus drops us off and we pick up a rickshaw driver to our guest house. Fort Kochin is filled with guest houses. A ferry ride away is Ernakulam where most people are dropped for the train station and bus. Fort Kochin, though, is where you want to be. It buries deep nasty secrets of old European feuds and battles over Indian grounds, including Jewish, Portuguese and Dutch settlements. Most of the fort now are just remnants of a conflicted past, but kept alive with names like “Bastion street” or “Rampart street” – inviting discussion of 16th European fort and city planning.

The Eastern Venice

Alleypey – Mar 8


Not-so-deeply buried in the backwaters of Kerala we dig ourselves out of the Ashram refreshed from Darshan and a short spiritual awakening. We head into the town of Alleypey to find the inlet to the famous backwaters of Kerala. “Eastern Venice” as it’s often referred to as sits lower than sea level. Fresh and salt water mixes through the canals and through its estuaries. They provide romantic get-a-ways with house boats where your hire a personal chef, driver, and porter to satisfy all your luxurious needs. Yes, rich people needs. Which we apparently are now.

Getting stuck in Varkala with Bollywood casting calls, cheap buffets and free food.

Varkala Feb 27 - March

Nightly seafood markets

Wow, what a much needed getting stuck. We had originally planned to stay here for 4 days , but then shortened it to 2 because of the whole Kovallam situation. 2 nights became a "maybe 1 or 2 more nights" because we had lots of much needed catching up to do with our life that we left behind in Korea. Our contract has officially finished and so we must tie up all the loose ends. And our moving boxes that we sent to different countries have arrived or showing up soon.

For the most part it was sunny, hot, days of laying on the beach and eating water melon. For the other small parts it was freaking about the boxes that were shipped home.

Varkala's intoxicating beaches

Chasing beaches and innocuous trance music

Sunrise in Kanyakumari

So nothing from the previous post actually made it through. Dare I say, it all fell apart the moment we got off the bus. First and foremost, our time estimation was completely wrong. We entered, once again at 3 in the morning to some unknown city called Kanyakumari. We’re trying to wake up as were being ushered into a hotel that is ridiculously too expensive. A huge flag warning should've gone off when another tourist ran back shouting "No thank you, that's too expensive for me!"

We took our chances slash we were zombie-fied following our guide. Originally it was going for 2000 rupees, at least. That's about 40 usd a night. Nowhere in India charges that much for a mid range hotel. After much deliberation and Ian hesitating, the manager gave in for 600, about 12usd.

Madurai to Kanyakumari: Late night entrances and ghetto mobiles

Madurai to Kanyakumari: Feb 23 - 27

Beautiful intricate carvings of Southern Temples

In hindsight our journey to Madurai was one of our most comfortable and smoothest yet. It was still the beginning of our journey so we were still hesitant to tackle the estranged Indian public transport system. We opted for an AC bus with reclining seats as we did have a 9 hour journey ahead of us and it seemed like the best thing to do.We had a bit of a confusing transfer to another bus in the middle of the night, clinging onto our belonging heading toward a bus that was pointed out to us, praying that we have not just been scammed and that the bus would indeed accept us and take us to our next destination. We got in!

A sudden awakening at 3am by the bus driver mumbling “Madurai, Madurai” with the accompanying head wobble indicated that we had reached our destination. We get dropped off at the bus terminal, grab the closest tuk tuk and mosey into the late night dead streets of Madurai. The tuk tuk driver tells us that there aren’t many hotels open at that time of night and takes us to a hotel that he recommends to be “open and cheap”. With the first offer of 600 rupees (12usd) with stained sheets and water hose for shower head, dingy dirty hole in the wall hotel we kindly decline, thank him for his help and walk into the dimly lit streets. I must admit, we did both feel a bit sketched, especially after the tuk driver advised us not too. Very soon we spiked the interest of nearby lurking touts and eagerly they starting banging on various hotel’s tressil doors until one finally opened. (Seriously, they’re up at 4am looking for tourists!? That’s a bit sketch) We ended up settling for 750(14usd)room with fresh sheets, no hot water (its ok, it was 26 at night) and 3 beds at  "Hotel Surapi", along one of the budget hotel streets of Town Hall rd.

Puducherry - Old French colonies and hippie communes

Pondicherry, 21st - 23rd February.

Remnants of old French colonies

First things first. Cheaper than Mamallapuram, "backpackistan." We stayed in a heritage house based off French Colonial era with high ceilings, wooden pillars, antique furniture, wooden staircase and roof patio (where we enjoyed our breakfasts in style). And we paid just as much for our room here as we did in Malla. Real luxury! We had free wifi, a large comfy bed in a stained class window room and got a full breakfast of toast, eggs, coffee/tea/ fruit juice and what have you, for less than 3 usd.

Food in Pondi is at half the cost than in Malla. And there are loads of little gems of restaurants to be found where we got an extra-ordinary amount of food for what otherwise would've been a meagre meal in Mamallapuram. Food so far in south India has been incredibly savoury. No dish has disappointed and everything has been so incredibly yummy!

Backpack-istan

So, we started by flying into Chennai and heading straight for Mallahapuram, or otherwise known as backpakistan. Malla is a small, slow paced port town that seems to run on tourism. The little town consists of a few streets notorious for budget hotels and restaurants serving delicious local and foreign cuisines, specializing in freshly caught seafood. When dining at any of the street or sea view restaurants, watching other travelers wondering by while you wait for your meal, it becomes inevitably clear why this town is known as "backpakistan." The city itself used to be huge port that enabled trade with many parts of the world, including china, Persia, Rome, and other nations, but the main attraction in Mallahapuram is the Archaeological site that surrounds the outskirts of the little town. It consists of amazing monolithic carvings of temples and sculptures carved out of a single piece of rock (apparently the second biggest of its kind in the world with the first being in Cambodia). Here you also find Krishnas butter ball (a big circular boulder seemingly balancing on a slanted slab.) It is said that the British thought the positioning of the boulder was dangerous and tried to move it with 10 elephants, but still it didn't budge.There is also a magnificent temple at the shore(aptly named the shore temple) that really is a spectacular site to behold at either sunrise or sunset.

When North and South meets in the East - Finally the plan revealed!

Here we go folks! To our friends and family, here is a brief summary of who we are (for those in South Africa and Canada who don't know us yet!). And finally, what we're doing! This is incredibly exciting for us to tell you!

Who we are

When Christa, the South African, from Kwazulu-Natal stepped off the plane into Korea for her second round in Korea and when Ian, the Canadian, from Ontario signed for his 2nd year teaching in Korea, they didn't know what the future had planned for them.

Deep intertwined with an almagamation of South African and Canadian Chinese culture, the two are pounding out and exploring each other's cultures in a completely different country; Korea. Adventure travellers at heart, they start with their host country, climbing some epic peaks!

Collectively, they have visited some of the most off-beaten track places shared experiences across numerous countries. The list includes downhill biking descents in Switzerland, biking 2,000 kilometers in Canada, sailing down the Atlantic coast of America, visiting North Korea, ascending peaks in South Korea, trekking up volcanic mountains in Indonesia, climbing in Vietnam, scuba diving in Indonesia, snorkelling with whale sharks in Phillipines, and skiing in the most Northern Japanese island... just to name a few adventures!

The plan!!

With their smiliar mindset and personality, the dynamic duo plans a 6 month long journey deep into India and Nepal and more! A rough itenerary includes:

• Exploring and volunteering in India
• Trekking and climbing the Himalayas
• Mountaineering expedition, a peak marked at 6,110 meters, higher than that of Everest Base Camp
• Ian exploring Christa's home in South Africa
• Safari expeditions
• Finally landing in the Middle East to continue the world's exploration

With this set out, they will document their trials and tribulations, review places and equipment, and of all - share their life changing experiences so we can all see more of our playground that is the world. Stay tuned!

Love you all!

Christa and Ian