All I've Missed So Far (kinda)..

having heard mix reviews of the rail system in india i had already formed a picture in my mind what to expect on arrival at the station - an overcrowded, dirty, uncomfortable carriage. this was a daunting image as we were very aware that we would be spending a decent amount of time on the train (aprox. 17 hours) and so were preparing for the worst. surprisingly the train was quite the opposite of my thoughts not unlike trains i had been on in other asian countrys (eg thailand). it had large compartments seating 6 people, 3 on either side facing each other, with fold out beds above the main seating. our 17 hour train ride turned out to be an extremely confortorble and enjoyable experiance. not long after getting seated we got chatting to a local man who was sitting across from us. we talked about alot of different things and told him all about australia and australian life in exchange for information about india.

on arrival in jaisalmer we herded ourselves out of the station and into two large four wheel drives which drove us into the city and up into the fort where we would be staying. the windows were super low in the car which made it almost impossible to see anything without straining a neck muscle. when the engine stopped and we stepped out into the beautiful fort we were in awe. the amazing buildings surrounding us were all made from yellow sandstone with intricate carvings adorning the rock. as we began to make out way to the guesthouse we walked through small ally ways with many doors on either side leading into various abodes. all the buildings here were made of yellow sandstone (hence the name the golden city) most of which was cut and carved by hand. it wasnt long before we stumbled across one of indias most famous and revered animals. comfortably seated directly in the middle of one of the small walkways in front of us was a large healthy looking cow. our approach didn't seem to bother it at all and we had to go out of our way and walk up along a small ledge to move around it. this cow was the first of many many more and i soon realized why the animal hadn't moved for us - these cows run this town :P. being sacred animals in india preventing them from being eaten or harmed they had a very strong sense of entitlement and seem to roam the streets as they please doing whatever they please! more often than not they can be found walking or sleeping in the middle of busy roads with the traffic having to swerve and move around them with no apparent affect on the cow whatsoever.

our next stop was jodhpur, a large bustling city not unlike the capital delhi. not meaning to sound critical in any way but this place was most probably my least favorite so far. this could be due to the fact that we spent very little time in the city (about a day) so i didn't really get to see alot or maybe because it was by far the most polluted place we'd been and breathing the air felt like inhaling glue orrr maybe because our fellow travellers had a encounter with a very unplesent man (probs to inappropriate to write about what happened.. if that gives you any clues as to what happened :P). despite saying all that the main attraction of the city, a fort high atop a local hill, was actually quite stunning! there seem to be alot of forts here in india and all are very elaborately constructed with many beautiful carvings and paintings decorating the walls throughout.

sorry for the increasingly brief descriptions of whats going on here! im finding it alot harder than expected to keep up my blog entrys :// but im still trying! i still have to catch up on 3 more places that we ve been buuttt my internet time has almost run out :P ill do it as soon as i can! ohh and tomorrow at 5 am we re going to see the taj mahal!!! thought that was worth mentioning haha

Fun With A Tout

after having a good nights sleep which aided in shaking off most of my jet lag i felt refreshed and ready for the day ahead. after grabbing a bite to eat in our hotel we set off on a little adventure. with no particular aim in mind we decided to catch a train into the city center. fortunately for us the train station is only a short walk away from our accommodation and we reached it with little effort. in the short time it took to get there we were confronted with many people trying to sell their wares as well as little beggar girls holding babys (a tactic used to promote sympathy) asking for small amounts of money. inside the station we joined a small queue in front of the ticket booth and waited our turn to be served. as i got closer to the front more and more people began to join the line, but not at the back. they cut directly in front of us, straight to the beginning of the line. at first i figured id just wait my turn and make my move once they'd been served but people just kept on coming in and cutting us off. in the end i decided that the only way to actually get served here was to do as the locals do. so i did exactly that and cut a group of people off as they attempted to gain access t the front of the line. finally reaching the front i asked the lady behind the counter for three one day tourist passes. on hearing what i wanted she shook here head and pointed over to another counter across the other side of the room which had a whole new line of people. i had obviously come to the wrong place - just my luck. after being cut off many many more times in this new line i finally got served and we were on our way! before entering the main part of the station where the trains are boarded we had to pass through a security search where we were patted down on the stomach and back for what i can only guess to be explosives they may be attached there. that to me was very unexpected, i didnt think that india would have measures such as that in place to protect its people, maybe ive been underestimating the country a bit in terms of security and safety. after we'd passed through the security check we waited patiently for a train to come. it wasnt long before we heard one approaching and so we prepared to board. as the train pulled into the station i was supprised by the amount of people in each carriage. it looked as though if a door opened people would explode out of the train due to the build up of pressure of squeezing them all in there! i was seriously doubtful that we'd actually manage to fit in and as the doors opened there was a surge forwards as people attempted to jam on the the train. at the same time there were people wanting to get off and they were pushing forwards into the people getting on creating a very difficult and almost comical situation. joey being in front was the first on the train and as knipler and i began to push our way onto the train the doors began closing! there wast much we could really do about it so i tryed to tell joey through the window that we'd meet him at the next station. the train set off leaving knipler and i behind on the platform. after much laughter we calmed down and prepared to board the next train. not wanting a repeat of last time we stuck close together. the train arrived and i jumped on quickly. looking back i saw the doors begin to close.. with knipler on the other side.. it had happened again :P

after all the drama on the train we found each other at different stations and after having another good laugh we set off the explore the center of delhi. on exiting the train line we were almost instantly approached by seemingly innocent young men just wanting to practice their english on foreigners. we had read about these people in the lonley planet guide book and were only too aware of what their intentions actually were. these men were touts whos sole purpose was to lead you to their shop by any means necessary. there main tools are lies and manipulation which they have become very good at through practice. anyway there was this young man who claimed her was from Australia and as we walked he talked to me about lots of different things. claiming he was a student who went to Australia on a scholarship he followed us a fair distance claiming he was meeting friends for a game of cricket and had to come in the same direction as us. once we reached his shop he very subtlety suggested we go inside and take a look around. trying to seem like he couldnt care less if we did or not he said he had to go or he'd be late to his game. in the end we did have a little look around, there were many beautiful things inside and plenty of other tourists who were fooled into going there. we didnt end up buying anything, we only looked and as we left the shop we saw out tout on the street corner talking to some other men, as soon as the saw us he jumped behind a wall, not wanting us to suspect anything was up. a man from the group approached us and tryed to get us to hire a took took back to the city center. they had a pretty good setup here - lead tourist a far distance, get them to buy things and then pay more money to go back instead of walking the long distance on foot. we were having none of it and so ignored the man trying to setup transport. along the way back there were many more touts each trying to take us to more shopping locations (they get a commission for anyone they bring in). deciding to have a bit of fun with these men we all began to weave elaborate lies to the questions they were asking us. eventually we realised if you told them you'd been in the country for a longer time they tended to leave you alone because they know that you know and have see all their dirty little tricks already :P after all that excitement and walking we were tired and so headed back on the train (no dramas this time) to our hotel where we prepared to meet our group members the next day.

sorry i havnt posted in a while but we ve been pretty busy doing stuff here in jaisalmer, im going on a camel safari in the dessert tonight sooo when i get back ill wirte a massive blog on all the things which have been goingon here for us annnddd the train ride from delhi. just everything ive missed so far :P  

Strangers in a Strange Land

we arrived in the capital city of Delhi at the unreasonably early time of 4:54 in the morning. having not slept alot on our flight over we were super keen to go straight to our accommodation and just crash out in our beds. as we cleared customs and made out way from the airport foyer to outside a mix of unfamiliar smells and sounds bombarded us from all directions. cars and bikes continuously blared there horns as they moved through the congested traffic directly out front of the arrivals building and smells which are indescribable filled our noses, not all of them pleasant :P with my sharp eyes i saw a taxi stand through the throng of people and so we headed towards it. we knew from the lonely planet guide book that we should be looking at paying around about 300 rupees (i think thats aprox. 6 $) to get from the airport into the city. with this information in mind i confidently approached the counter to inquired about the price of a taxi fare. as i reached the counter i noticed a small indian man away to the right eyeing me off, ignoring him i focused my attention on the man at the counter and asked how much it would cost to take us to hotel perfect (our residence for the next four days). the man replied saying that the price of a fare would set us back 550 rupees, almost double what the book had advised to be the normal price.after hearing this i had a little laugh to myself, after being in the country for less than five minutes someone was already trying to squeeze a little extra cash out of me, a supposedly unwitting tourist. i decided to try and barter the price down a little before looking at other possible options for transport into the city but before i could respond with a counter offer to his first proposal  the man on my right who i saw watching us before piped up and said "550, private taxi. 300, local taxi".

(picture not relevant to story) a warning from intrepid

the man at the counter looked seriously put off and what sounded like harsh words began to fly back and fourth between them. suddenly the man from the counter jumped up, still loudly expressing his anger at losing customers and approached the other man grabbing him by his shirt collar all the while shouting what must have been profanities at him. it looked as though there was going to be a fight as the man shook free backed away being pursued. while this was going on men were approaching us and asking where we wanted to go. one man, large and balding, took a look at the address of the hotel and said he would take us there for 400. still determined to get the normal price of 300 i bluntly said we would pay 300 or nothing (strongly implying we could easily walk away and find someone else if he declined). after a brief pause in which he seemed to be considering his next move he lowered his price to 350 which we thought reasonable enough and so agreed. he led us to another man who was obviously the driver and we threw our stuff in the back of his small vehicle. as we drove he began to chat with us in a very thick and almost uninterpretable indian accent. he asked all the usual questions like where are you from and how long are you staying but also threw in a few comments about the cricket which im ashamed to say, as an australian, i know nothing about in the slightest. after driving for about 5 minutes, in which time i swear we almost crashed about 10 times as our driver kept driving in the center of two lanes (no seat bets were available by the way), the driver pulled out his mobile phone and talked briefly to an unknown person before pulling the car over and stopping on the sideof the highway. not sure what to think i asked him what was going on. he replied wth "im waiting for a friend" as he watched his side mirror intently for this mystery mans approach. it wast long before we sae who we were waiting for, it was one of the men who we had talked to about the price of the taxi. he came up the the drivers side window and after saying something in hindi to the driver said in english "350 we cannot do". miss hearing what the man had said joey began to ask knipler to produce the address and he thought the man didnt know where to go and was again asking for our destination to check it with his friend. luckily for us ur driver was a kind man and after a quick discussion outside of the car with his friend he came back and said "350 no problem". so we set off again along the highway. i observed many construction sites along the the way as well as plenty of already completed (although derelict looking) apartment blocks which seem to be the main source of housing in this area. our driver took us a little way into the city before asking for the address again, obviously not 100% sure of where to go. he pulled up next to a few people and asked about the location of the hotel but strangely he was met with unfriendly disconcern and none of the people he asked were willing to give directions and shook their heads when he asked about it. i am still unsure of why that was.. anyway after a little time he found our accommodation and we checked ourselves in.

me in my single hotlel room :) (the other two are sharing)

later that night,  after a much needed sleep, we went for a brief walk around our area. i have never seen so many people in my life! they covered the streets, most seemingly heading home from work along the road with cars and bikes driving around them in very close proximity. there were stalls everywhere selling everything from shoes to electronics all at what appeared to be quite reasonable prices. being tired, and myself slightly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people, we headed back to the hotel where im now sitting now typing this blog :P this has been a very interesting introduction to this strange but wonderful place, i can see myself really enjoying my time here aslong as i dont let anything like the poverty of lack of cleanliness get to me in a big way. im gonna go find the guys now and maybe grabs some food! (i havnt eaten all day as ive been feeling like shit but i think i feel a bit better now). ill take some pictures and post them up when my camera is all charged up! :)  

Animal Antics!

in the ele-fun zone :P

the singapore zoo is located approximatly 45 minutes drive out of the main part of the city and is a major tourist attraction. it has available on offer two options for viewing animals, one being just a general admission to the regular day zoo and the other a night safari where visitors come at night to view the activities of partially nocturnal animals as they go about their business. being our last day in singapore we didnt have the option of going on the night safari, something that i wasnt too unhappy about as id done it before on my previous visit. however we figured that the regular zoo would be just as interesting to see and so using information given to us by a helpful employee of our hostel we caught a bus out to the zoo area. upon entering the zoo the first very obvious thing is that some animals are not actually confined to cages and have infact been set at liberty in the zoo grounds. tigers, lions and other large and small dangerous animals dotted the walkways.. well not really (:P bad joke.. my deepest apologies), animals of that calibure had there own enclosures BUT there were alot of free roaming moneys swinging in the branches above out heads. potentially these animals could have come down to lower levels and interacted with humans but im sure the zoo wouldn't want or risk such contact and probably chose to only let specific species of monkey out who seem to just observe and not interact with humans. during our time at the zoo we saw a large variety of animals, great and small, all in very well maintained enclosures and looking quite happy in their fabricated environments. all except the white tiger who when we first past his encloser was pacing up and down his enclosure in a kind of boredom induced trance.

riding a turtle, like a boss :)

on our second pass though he seemed to be having a great snooze next to his partner in the shade of a tree. other highlights included the rare species of crocodillian (the name escapes me, as does the spelling of that word :P), the so very human like orangutans, the leopards who we saw being fed and many more which i care not to name. we stayed at the zoo for 3 hours until the bus came to take us back to our china town hostel where we packed our bags and prepared to leave for the airport at 11pm for our flight at 2am. it was going to be a long night and infact ive only really been off the plane for a few hours (hence the crappy writing, im like half dead from the flight :p.. :/). anyway ill upedate everyone on the happenings of today tonight once ove had some prepper rest and my brain has a chance to begin functioning properly at its usual levels :P... (pictures are coming!)     

Singapore, A History

national museum of singapore

this being my second time in the country of singapore you would think that i would at least have a vague idea of its past history and happenings. this however was not the case as i knew almost nothing about the history of singapore on arrival here, that is until we paid a visit to the interesting and informative national museum of singapore. the beautiful building the museum is housed in is a mixture of the old and the new as 9 years ago in 2003 it was closed for 3 years and major renovations and refurbishing was undertaken. in this process large modern extensions were added to the back of the old building combining the original architectural of the museum with a more modern, open look. we were fortunate enough to arrive 20 minutes before a free guided tour began and so walked through a small section of an exhibition dedicated to post world war two singapore. the tour started with only our group of three and one other person, we practically had our own private tour of the museum! the tour guide was outstanding. there seemed to be no limit to her knowledge of singaporean history and because of her i now have a much clearer understanding of the general history of singapore. in fact she was so good that she went 40 minutes overtime (it was a one hour tour) and still said that she was cutting back on alot of information to "save time". overall an outstanding experience because of our amazing guide!

cheers!

later that day after our afternoon relaxation time and a skype call to my girlfriend we headed out for dinner. this however was no ordinary meal as this was our last full night in singapore and so we had planned to go all out and try of on the country signature dishes chili crab! many places advertised this dish on big signs out side of the restaurant but one in particular caught our eye as we made our way through the bustling street as it claimed to have won awards for that particular dish. we seated ourselves at a table on the street and ordered  3 plates of crab and a beer each. it wasn't long before the fabulous dish was set before us in all its glory. none of us had tried crab (in living memory) so this was a first for all of us. we got stuck in straight away and to our great delight it tasted fantastic! it took us a while to fully grasp the ropes of crab eating but once we did the meal was an enjoyable and messy experience. by the end of our feast our hands were covered in the chili sauce the crab was cooked in but the restaurant waitress was kind enough to let us wash our hands in a bathroom out the back. we left that place extremely satisfied and happy with our choice of last meal. for dessert we decided to try a few different types of moon cakes - a sweet glutinous cake made only 2 times a year in celebration of chinese cultural events. we brought 3 from a stall out the front of the hostel, cut them into thirds and shared them between ourselves. they were very rich in flavor and we only managed to eat two thirds of our cakes before feeling slightly sick and deciding to save the rest for later. feeling content with our food trying we headed to bed for much needed sleep.  

our meal :)

Our Sentosa Adventure

sentosa island!

after a late rise and a leisurely breakfast the three of us set out to explore the touristy island of sentosa. we are all starting to become very confident in our ability to get around using the MRT system and luckily for us the stop for sentosa was located at the end of the purple line, the same line that our local china town station is on, so no switching of lines was required. there were three options for us to get to the island: the sentosa express (a monorail), the cable car or the board walk which allows access to the island via walking. being young, fit, strong and attractive men ( ;) ) we decided that we could save a few dollars by taking the latter option of the board walk as it was free to use and only required us to pay a 1 dollar entry fee to island. upon entry we immediately began our trek to the other side of the island where the beaches were located. being in singapores hot humid climate was taking its toll and we wanted nothing more than a relaxing swim in the cyan blue waters that surround the island. we walked past one of the famous casinos located on the island as well as the recently built universal studios. as we walked a large shape in the distance loomed before us. it was the giant statue of the merlion - singapores national symbol. we paused and took our photos before continuing onwards towards the beach.

me at the beach :)

This part of the island was actually quite stunning with palm trees lining the beach and azure blue waters shimmering in the sunlight (it was the only day where we ve seen sun so far). unable to resist we quickly changed and were soon swimming through the warm and very salty water. after a quick shower and a change we headed inland to see what other activity's were on offer. unfortunately, sentosa being the tourist hotspot that it is, had nothing available that didnt cost an absolute fortune so we ended up just going on a bit of a jungle walk around the island which was just about the only free thing left to do. we did a big circle around the island and accidently ended up back where we started. faced with the long walk back in the smouldering heat of the afternoon we opted for a different approach and caught the free sentosa bus back the the board walk from where we headed back the MRT and then the hostel. after our routine afternoon chill session at the hostel we went for a walk around clarke quay, the busy and buzzing pub/club area on the riverside. we all had a drink while watching a bit of a soccer game before slowly making our way back to the hostel and crashing for the night

Turtles, Turtles and More Turtles!

tower in the chinese garden

we arose after a great nights sleep in our dorm to a free breakfast provided by the hostel of over sweetened cereal and toast - a perfect meal for replenishing the energy lost in our previous days excursions. our food stood no chance and was demolished rapidly as we were keen to get out and explore some of the sights singapore has on offer. after a quick discussion of what the days activities should be we all decided that the chinese gardens and the har par villa ( aka tiger balm gardens) were places of interest and after getting apoximate directions for the china town information centre we headed off!  

feeding the turtles!

the MRT (train) system in singapore and public transport system in general is really top notch and we arrived at our first destination with ease. the chinese gardens is a really beautiful place with many oriental looking towers spread out across the small island on which the garden is situated. we strolled around the strangely empty grounds only passing a few pairs of tourists as we went. after much searching we stumbled across the thing that we had all been so eager to see - the live turtle and tortoise museum; home to the largest display of turtles and  tortoises with numbers of the creatures running into the thousands. in fact the place has actually won a guinness world record for the largest collection of live turtles and tortoises in the world! we paid our five singaporean dollars at the door and entered into what can only be described as a turtle lovers paradise. I myself have never seen anything like it, turtles and tortises were everyware in the small complex scattered across the ground and through the water in uncountable numbers. some lay sunning themselves on the boardwalk while others swam through the murky waters of their elaborate pond. the tortoises, being land animals, looked content grazing on vegetation around the waters edge and in the grassy spaces provided for them. this place was great and we entertained ourselves by taking photos with some of the larger animals. we noticed that there was an option to actually feed the turtles and so brought some of the pellets to have a go ourselves. as soon as the first few pellets hit the water turtles rushed into the pond from everyware with surprising speed. they formed a large mass in the water in front of us, all egar for a chance at a feed. when the pellets ran out and the excitement died down we went inside to view the rest of the turtle collection. overall it was a magical and enjoyable experience, one which im sure we will recall as a fond memory in time.

sinner being condemned to hell 

next stop was the har par villa otherwise know as the tiger balm gardens. id been to this extremely odd place before on my previous trip to singapore but the other two had no idea what to expect (besides the images they conjured up in their minds of my various descriptions of the place). as soon as we entered strange statues began to pop up all over the place. weasels in bloody battle with rabbits and gods of hell were a few of the first things that we saw. without the knowledge that this place was trying to explain through these creations the many different folk stories of chinese culture it would be very baffling and even still it was an unusual sight. we visited the hall of hell where grotesque statues acted out the punishments received in hell for various different crimes committed in life. there were many other statues in the garden some which were explained by stories inscribed on places next to their particular event. we left with alot of odd pictures and took the train back to the hostel where we rested up until later that evening.

marina bay hotel at night

before leaving to go to the marina bay hotel i wanted to give my girlfriend Emilie a quick call to update her on the happenings of our trip so far. to make that call i needed an international phone card and so i went off on a walk by myself through the city on a quest to find one. after much searching and almost getting lost several times I returned triumphant! after briefly talking to my beautiful girl we set off. the bay isnt very far from our hostel so we decided walking wasnt a problem. after paying our 20 fee to go to the observation deck we ascended to the top floor 57 stories in the air. the view of the city was stunning! the sky was lit up by the city lights provided a great photo taking opportunity for tourists such as ourselves. looking out behind the hotel and away from the city we could see the new development 'the garden by the bay' and were intrigued by its colourful lights and intricately designed towers rising up out of the surrounding trees. after some trouble we made our way across to the garden. it was a pleasant place as the temperature was lowering and the lights created a peaceful ambience. tired from a long days march around the city we began heading back to the hostel to rest. unfortunately due to lack of light we managed to get ourselves lost in the expansive city. after consulting with a friendly local we realised we had wondered far off our desired path and so hailed a taxi to take us home. glad to be back we all quickly had showers and were soon fast asleep in our beds.