Chiang Mai

My first day off the bus I intended to explore the city straight away. I got around a bit of it but I really underestimated how big it actually is. It feels like a small town but Chiang Mai is Thailand's second biggest city. That combined with the heat forced me into a shady bar for some cold water.

In the bar I bumped into a Northern Irish guy called JP who'd been on my bus up, and later Mikhaila, a New Yorker. We spent the afternoon playing pool, having a few cold beers and watching a really bad movie. In the evening we moved onto a Reggae bar for some live music in the company of a diverse group of characters ranging from a group of Irish girls to an assortment of Thai Rasta's!

The next day I arranged to meet my second-cousin Jez who is living in Chiang Mai for 3 months. We met in the only bar I really knew which was where I'd spent the previous afternoon. It's called 'The Local' English pub! Not exactly embracing a new culture I know, but I should point out that it is abolutely nothing like an English pub (apart from some very good sausage and mash which is a nice occasional change from noodles and rice!) and is just like most other Thai bars. Anyway, I met Jez there, although we didn't recognise each other at first! We were joined by Mikhaila and headed down to see 'Rasta Street', a whole street of reggae bars that look just like the beach shacks in Goa. Now I have to admit I'm not a massive fan of reggae outside of Bob Marley but live music is always more interesting than a sound system, and I think there's something about being on holiday in a hot place that makes it more appealing. It was an interesting little street. I never realised there were so many rasta's in Thailand!

Saturday is of course football day. And this Saturday more so than most. Spurs v Arsenal. A 12.45pm kick off in the UK gives me an absolutely ideal 6.45pm start. I watched the match in - can you guess? - The Local, with JP and Mikhaila, then met another Irish guy called Tim (who unfortunately supports Spurs!). I guess for the neutral the match was a bit of a thriller but it was a complete kick in the nuts for me. We were 2-1 up with only 5 secs to go of a ludicrous 4 mins of injury time. There were lessons to be learned for all so I hope you're listening Mr Wenger. The first one is don't buy Baptista. He is a donkey. The second is stop bringing Senderos on with 2 mins to go as it cocks up a stable side who are holding out against a team pushing forward.

Sunday was spent milling about in the day time, followed by a few casual drinks with the group which turned into clubbing til 5 am. Oops. Not good for JP and I as we had to get up at 9 am to go on a big game fishing trip to a local lake. We made it up OK though and had a really good day. It was much nicer sitting by a lake rather than in the middle of a hot city. Although, we didn't do too much sitting! Our guide was really knowledgable about the lake and had us catching massive Mekong Valley Catfish from the first cast. They are so strong it takes ages to reel them in sometimes. I had the biggest of the day which was 22.5 kilos (49lb) and JP wasn't far behind with his biggest at 21 kilos (46lb). Both those fought for over 40 minutes and left us needing a long rest afterwards. I'll post some pictures up as soon as I can find a card reader. Of course we had to toast our catches in The Local last night!

In summary, Chiang Mai has been great. Having some good friends and a regular place where we hang out has made it feel very homely. I also think there is less pressure to see and do everything as quickly as possible now that I've decided to stay here or hereabouts for a couple of weeks.

It's Tuesday now and I'm just pondering what to do with myself. I want to be in Chiang Mai in a week's time when my friend Kristian is arriving from home, but I may go off somewhere and come back. There are lot's of places in the north that I could get a bus to for a couple of days. Watch this space.

Bangkok

Holy sh*t. What can I say about Bangkok? This place is a shock to the system. It's so very different to India. It's madness.

I arrived right in the middle of Thai new year so you could say I arrived in the craziest city on Earth on it's craziest weekend. Thai new year is not just one day, it's celebrated mostly over 3 days called Songkran, but it seems to officially go on until the end of the month. And Songkran doesn't just involve going out boozing, it is a 3 day, city-wide water and talcum powder fight. All the streets are literally jammed full of people who go around with super soakers and buckets of water throwing them at any and everyone. They also carry bowls of talc mixed with water which they spread over people's faces. It's great!

I had got the bus from the airport with 5 or 6 other solo travellers so we all went to hunt a hotel together. However this is easier said than done in the middle of Songkran! The people were very respectful though and could see we weren't ready to get into the action just yet. We eventually got somewhere after only a minor soaking and a light dusting of talc. After that it was straight out and into the thick of it. An unarmed westerner is a prime target so most of the night was spent drenched and talc-ed.

The next day we were all in various states so went out at separate times. I thought Songkran was far more interesting than sightseeing so I just wandered about though the streets. I came across the actual festival site in a park and bumped into Sarah, one of our group of bedraggled travellers from the night before. We had a look around the festival and then strolled around the Royal Palace as it was free to get in that day because of Songkran. As the heat of the day approached we went to chill with a drink, which is not easy when a water-fight the size of 3 Notting Hill carnivals is going on around you! We were totally soaked to the skin by the time we'd walked through the crowds. But by this time I had bought a powerful super soaker rifle so I was giving as good as I was getting. I'd also discovered a neat little trick. A blonde western woman seemed to be much more of an appealing target than a dark haired man. Fortunately I had one with me, so I let her go in front to take a lot of the flak!

That evening I went for food and drink with Daniel, a French-Canadian member of our little troup. We had some lovely Thai green curry - which I can see becoming my staple diet. We decided to go and see some kick-boxing the next day as it's Thailand's national sport. However, after a long trek up to the stadium it turned out to be ridiculously expensive. I don't know how Thai people can afford it at all.

To find an alternative we had a quick look in the guidebooks to see what other evening activities there were to see [please note, those of a sensitive disposition may want to give up reading here!] and only one thing really stood out - the ping pong show! Daniel assured me his french guidebook said you can't leave Bangkok without seeing it, of course I argued (yeh right!) but in the end we took a taxi to Patpong, the notorious red-light area and started to walk around. Instantly there were Thai people everywhere trying to sell us everything from socks to sex! These people really put us off and it all seemed decidedly dodgy. We went for a walk around the area and saw go-go bars and ping-pong shows on offer everywhere. We tried to work out how they could possibly scam us and how to avoid it. They were telling us the show was free and we only had to pay 100 baht for each beer. We checked our wallets and didn't have much in there to be scammed out of so in end we took the plunge and went in. It soon became apparent how they make more money as, as soon as we were seated for the show some scantily-clad women joined us and after about 30 secs of chit-chat asked us to buy them drinks. We refused and they left while we waited for some burly bouncers to come and beat the money out of us instead! Fortunately the bouncers never came so we were left to nurse our beer and watch the show. We didn't actually get to see the original ping-pong trick in the end but there were some variations involving egg-breaking and horn playing that went down well with the crowd!

It's the next day now and we survived to tell the tale. Just as well really as today is my birthday! On the down side Daniel was the last of our little group to leave early this morning so I'm on my own for the moment. But on the plus side I'm spending my birthday in the Khao San Rd - woohoo! I'll be heading down there in about 3 hours so I expect to have a group of fellow revellers within, oh about... 3 hours and 5 minutes! Tomorrow night I should just be able to get up in time for the bus to Chiang Mai at 6pm!

[UPDATE] My birthday was a great night out. I hit the Khao San Road and met up a couple of people straight away. The night is a bit of blur due largely to the cocktails which come in buckets like the ones you build sandcastles in! They come with a load of straws and everyone shares. Everything went smoothly with the bus so I'm in Chiang Mai now just about to go and explore.

Mumbai (Bombay)

As I sit writing this on my 4th day in Bangkok it's occurred to me that my memory of Mumbai is already a little hazy! Nevertheless I shall try and describe it.

By the time I had cleared the terminal and caught a taxi nightfall was approaching. After dumping my stuff in the hotel I went straight out to hit the town. My first port of call was Cafe Montegars (Monty's) which I'd heard about from Riz in Hampi. In there I got talking to a Bollywood choreographer who gave me the lowdown on the cool places to go, and where I could spot the stars (not that I would recognise any of them). He told me a lot about Bollywood which meant nothing to me but it was interesting listening nonetheless.

The next day I got up (a bit bleary eyed!) and headed out for a nice big walk around some of Mumbai's most famous sites. I first went to The Gateway of India, the huge colonial archway looking out to sea to the west. It was quite interesting for approximately 2 minutes. After that I realised it isn't that old, isn't that beautiful and doesn't do anything - so I moved on. Next stop was the Oval Maidan which is an oval shaped park lined with some lovely old colonial buildings like the university and courthouse. Cricket is played there constantly every day at all different levels from a local league match down to a few kids with a bat and a tennis ball. After that I walked further down to the coast where you can find Chowpatty beach. I walked along for a bit but the time was getting on and the heat was getting a bit uncomfortable.

A nice meal and an early night left me refreshed again for the following day. I got up earlyish (well, early for me!) and got the 11am ferry over to the Elephanta Island Caves. Now, I had to be back to go to the hospital at 4pm to finish having the inoculations I started before I left. I guessed 20 minutes on the ferry, a couple of hours sightseeing then back and 20 mins to the hospital. After 1 hour 10 mins on the ferry to the island I started to suspect I might be cutting it fine!

The trip over to the island was a bit cramped but the sea breeze was nice in the heat. I was definitely glad of the chance to cool down once I arrived as there was about a mile walk to the caves, mostly uphill. To be honest it wasn't really worth it. It was ok as caves go and there were some impressive carvings on the wall but I think perhaps I've seen as many carvings, statues and pictures of Hindu gods as I need to see in one month! I'd say its a good place to go if you've got time on your hands in Mumbai, but I wouldn't make a special effort to squeeze it in.

Once I'd seen it all I headed back to the boat to wait. It wasn't leaving for another half an hour so I bought my way onto a bigger and better boat for only Rs 20 and headed back to the mainland to try and get my jabs. The hour ferry turned into 1 hour 20 mins on the way back, then the taxi took 50 mins instead of my estimated 20 so all in all I arrived over an hour late. However it wasn't a problem and I was still seen. I soon found out why as the doctor was very keen to see me. She has only quite recently started the clinic and has had hardly any patients. She gave me a consultation and when she'd finished she wanted to know how I thought she'd done and how she compared to the UK service! I was impressed with everything except maybe her bedside manner as when I pointed out the needles were a lot wider than the one's we used in the UK, she flatly said "yes, they are less painful if they're thinner". I'm still not sure if she was trying to compliment UK medical supplies or admitting to being a masochist!

After such a hectic day I felt I deserved a drink, so I headed to Leopold's which became my favourite bar in Mumbai. I settled down to watch the cricket at the bar when I noticed there was a middle-aged Canadian guy next to me trying to chat up a young English girl. I was laughing to myself at his corny lines and totally sleazy approaches when the girl saw me looking at them. She came straight over and asked if I wanted to join them. Now three's a crowd but I was absolutely certain this guy was going to get nowhere anyway so I agreed. It turned out she was desperately trying to get rid of him because, as I soon discovered too, he was a complete and utter knob.

He soon realised he'd failed and we watched him go around to about 4 or 5 other women while we finished our drinks (which didn't take very long!). We moved on to a very posh bar around the corner and had a fun night drinking in an establishment that wouldn't even have let us near the doorstep at home!

The next day was very chilled. I just loafed around Colaba, the nice part of south Mumbai where I was staying. I meant Anna again for an hour or so for a quick drink in the evening and then I headed to bed so I could get up at the ludicrous time of 5am to go and get my plane.

My Indian adventure had come to an end and it was time to open up the Thai leg of my world tour of Asia.

Goa

A nine-hour train journey brought me back Goa for the first time in a year and a half. The train itself was interesting. I was in a berth with 6 pharmaceutical sales reps from Andhra Pradesh, who had already been on the train since the previous night. It was fascinating watching them get off at each stop where they would go and gather a collection of parcels, jars and packets which they somehow constructed into a delicous looking meal. When I tried it the only thing I could find that vaguely resembled food was a packet of biscuits!

After bidding them farewell I jumped in yet another rickshaw and headed 4km for Benaulim, the same small village where I spent 2 weeks in 2005. It hasn't changed much, except for the addition of a few more beach shacks and a Cafe Coffee Day (the Indian equivalent to Starbucks). I found a lovely room in a guesthouse for only Rs 250 a night. After a quick shower I headed down to a beach shack for a much needed cold beer. Here I met 2 fellow backpackers (something of a rareity in this charter tour heartland), Andy das Englander living in Berlin, and Steff, from Holland.

I spent three days with these guys and we had a fine old time downing Kingfishers on the beach in the evenings. The third night stood out more than most. We were sitting in our 'local' when an old man with a guitar gave us a flyer for live music by 'Kenny' that evening. He assured us he was Kenny and would be playing, however when we arrived there was some kind of crooning, Robbie Williams wannabe (and when you're not even as good as him you really are bad). Steff was not happy and went up to the waiting staff asking where 'Kenny' was. They pointed to the young guy on the stage, so he clarified it by asking for 'the Kenny who sings but also gives out flyers'. Once they'd found him Steff went on to inform them we'd come to see him and he should be playing instead! We laughed and didn't actually expect this to happen, but after about 5 minutes the singer sounded a bit upset and announced that from now on the evening would be an unplugged acoustic set! With this his music stopped and our preferred 'Kenny' appeared with his guitar and came over to our table to play to us! He turned out to be called Louis and was very good on the guitar, playing a load of old songs. He told us all about his philosophy on life and what Benaulim was like in 1972 when he first came here. He also told us of his love for Cliff Richard because he is a 'bachelor boy; like himself and played us a couple of his hits from the fifties!

That was my goodbye to Benaulim and I think perhaps twice is enough now so it may well be a permanent one. The next day I headed 75 km to Arambol, one of the northernmost points in Goa. It's a beautiful little place. Just a few beach shacks and hippy hang outs. Very cheap too, I finally found the holy grail of a Rs 150 room - less than 2 quid a night. I spent 5 nights in Arambol, but the best was probably the one I spent with 2 nurses from London. I thought my 3 days in Benaulim had been a bit of a laddish booze up but these 2 put those nights to shame. We consumed enough vodka to knock out a ship full of Russian sailors and partied until 4 am. It was fortunate that the next days 'schedule' involved nothing more taxing than staying horizontal on the beach.

After a day of rest I headed back down south to the airport and boarded my flight to Mumbai (Bombay), the last leg of my Indian tour of duty.

Hampi

I got here in the end! And I'm really, really glad I did, this place is amazing and I've met some really good people.

I was expecting a nightmareish bus journey from Bangalore but it turned out to be absolutely fine. I slept most of the way and it only took 6 hours instead of the advertised 8. The quick journey time meant I arrived at Hospet (where the bus station is located) at 5 am. Ouch! I struck up a conversation with Katie an American and Riz an Indian, friends who met at college in the US. We squeezed ourselves into one rickshaw and headed for Hampi together.

I picked a guesthouse from the Lonely Planet and it turned out to be a good choice. We arrived before dawn and ate breakfast on the rooftop, watching the sunrise over our jawdroppingly beautiful surroundings. The landscape is almost indescribable. Ancient ruins and temples are interspersed with giant boulders naturally piled into eerily artistic formations. I wondered for a moment if I'd managed to miss the interstellar warp drive fitted to the Bangalore bus.

I was brought back down to Earth as the sun started to rise over the rockpile mountains and the village around us woke up. Seeing the sunrise as we ate scrambled eggs and drank chai filled me with a small sense of achievement at starting the day so early. Katie and Riz were only in town for the day so, with 49 sq km of ruins to cover, we set off to explore straight away.

The logical first stop was the main temple in the centre of Hampi Bazaar. It towers over everything around and it's image that appears on a million postcards. At over 500 years old it is not ancient compared to much European architecture, but in many ways it's equally impressive. And unlike historically important European buildings it is not treated as a relic. Instead it is still the centre of town-life, even housing the local police station! We wandered aimlessly, received a blessing from a priest and fed the temple monkeys, who looked ominously angry when the cashew's went back in my pocket.

On leaving the temple it was tough to decide what to do next as Hampi is literally filled with tourist 'must-see's'. We wandered up a hill of smooth granite, which I think is perhaps where much of the rock has been cut from. The hill was dotted with smaller and older places of worship that looked like mini-parthenons. The view from the top of the hill was spectacular. The whole of Hampi Bazaar was visible, as was a series of large and important monoliths spread out among the forest of banana trees.

We clambered through rocks down dusty slopes and over artefacts before reaching the road to the next group of ruins - the Royal Centre. Since it was still before 10 am the decision to walk the 2 - 3 km seemed a good one. In hindsight paying 50p each for a rikshaw tour might have been a better one. The 3 km seemed like a conservative estimate, especially as the day heated up, our feet started to drag and our brisk walk became a lumbering march. Around lunchtime after a good five hours of sightseeing we decided we were 'templed-out' or 'ruined'. It was then a flaw in our plan revealed itself - we were in the middle of nowhere with no rickshaw's and had yet to walk back.

Fortunately a kind Danish girl took pity on us and let us in her rickshaw. She turned out to be a wealth of knowledge and recommended a nice cafe in which to spend the heat of the afternoon. We headed over for veg thali and fruit juices in the picturesque surroundings of 'The Mango Tree'. The stepped cafe terrace overlooks the river valley, which combined with the piles of boulders in the distance made it reminiscent of a scene from Jurassic Park. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in a state of exhausted relaxation before it was time to say goodbye all too quickly.

The next day continued in much the same vein as the previous afternoon. I rented a bike around 11.30 intending to see some more ruins but its just getting too hot now to do anything in the middle of the day. Instead I used it to cycle to The Mango Tree where I bumped into Jeni the good samaritan Dane and Peter, a Swede I'd met the previous night. After I said "I'll just stay for another half hour" for the 5th time I resigned myself to the fact that I was unlikely to be seeing any more ruins! I'd seen plenty the previous day though, including all the important stuff and its impossible to see everything unless you stay for a week or more.

After dinner and an earlyish night I was speeding in a rickshaw towards the train station once again. I was headed for the place that spawned my love affair with India, I was headed back to Goa...