My last few days in India were really great. I spent a bit more time in Goa, reading on the beach and sampling every type of seafood available and then from there I moved on to Hampi, the former centre of the Hindu civilisation. The landscapes are really quite incredible, with huge boulders scattered everywhere like something out of Jurassic Park or the Flintstones. I saw enough temples there to last me a lifetime, and on the way there I got to have my tastier omelette in India made by some guy at a stand in a railway station en route from Goa to Hampi! There was one temple which was particularly amazing, which basically had thin stone pillars inside which would make musical sounds when you tapped on them.
From Hampi I headed to Bangalore to catch my flight to Thailand. Bangalore is definitely the most developed Indian city I was in, slightly more organised, big modern office buildings dotted everywhere covered with names such as Sun Microsystems and Siemens... You can feel it is a high tech centre. The strange thing is when I think about one day in Hampi, when we went biking around for a day, and arrived in this small village to find a blacksmith pounding away at some metal, making the machetes you could see the locals using in the fields. It was mad to think that this rudimentary scene was only 8 hours away from one of the world's hi-tech locations. I guess it is the typical sort of contradiction you get in India.
Getting to Bangkok was a real disappointment. It is quite a developed city generally, but one that is really overun with tourists. You can go to Boots, walk down streets packed with young foreignors and seedy looking men. It has certainly made me realise what an amazing place India is. Everyday there you see something literally unbelievable, just completely crazy, and it is just such a stimulating place to be in. In Hampi there was a sacred elephant which would bless you, (i.e. thud you on the head with its trunk!) if you put some rupees on the tip of its trunk. In Bangalore on one street you could see about 5 cars next to each other going in alternate directions. In Goa, you could sit on the beach and along would come the cows and the dogs to sit near you and provide some company! In India there is always something special to see, someone trying to talk to you, an overwhelming mix of colours to look at. Compared to that, Bangkok seems downright dull. If you head away from the tourist areas there are some nice spots, the food is generally very tasty and the people do smile a hell of a lot, but I'm looking forward to leaving Bangkok. I've got a night train tonight which takes me to Chiang Mai, and from there I'll be crossing into Laos.
From Hampi I headed to Bangalore to catch my flight to Thailand. Bangalore is definitely the most developed Indian city I was in, slightly more organised, big modern office buildings dotted everywhere covered with names such as Sun Microsystems and Siemens... You can feel it is a high tech centre. The strange thing is when I think about one day in Hampi, when we went biking around for a day, and arrived in this small village to find a blacksmith pounding away at some metal, making the machetes you could see the locals using in the fields. It was mad to think that this rudimentary scene was only 8 hours away from one of the world's hi-tech locations. I guess it is the typical sort of contradiction you get in India.
Getting to Bangkok was a real disappointment. It is quite a developed city generally, but one that is really overun with tourists. You can go to Boots, walk down streets packed with young foreignors and seedy looking men. It has certainly made me realise what an amazing place India is. Everyday there you see something literally unbelievable, just completely crazy, and it is just such a stimulating place to be in. In Hampi there was a sacred elephant which would bless you, (i.e. thud you on the head with its trunk!) if you put some rupees on the tip of its trunk. In Bangalore on one street you could see about 5 cars next to each other going in alternate directions. In Goa, you could sit on the beach and along would come the cows and the dogs to sit near you and provide some company! In India there is always something special to see, someone trying to talk to you, an overwhelming mix of colours to look at. Compared to that, Bangkok seems downright dull. If you head away from the tourist areas there are some nice spots, the food is generally very tasty and the people do smile a hell of a lot, but I'm looking forward to leaving Bangkok. I've got a night train tonight which takes me to Chiang Mai, and from there I'll be crossing into Laos.
Sunset in Goa
Overcrowded beach in Goa
My personal boat taxi
My tasty omelette served in newspaper
Famous temple in Hampi
Washing clothes by the river in Hampi
The sacred elephant going for its morning swim
Dodgy river crossing boats
Indian ladies crossing the river... 
The village blacksmith 8 hours from Bangalore, India's hi-tech centre
Procession cart turned banana market stall
Banana harvest
My final tasty Indian on a roof top in Bangalore with a German traveller I met
Park in Bangkok
Link to previous post:
The sites of Rajasthan and on to Goa...
1 comment:
Hey, hope the 'typical Indian road picture' made it to you. I guess I was just lucky to open your mail, directly went in the junk folder for some reason. Sorry for that.
Great time and good luck
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