Malaysia_ Kuala Lumpur

Maya bedroom window view on the final night in KL

Our fave place to eat Thai food on Jalan Alor

KL Monorail, the only way to beat the endless traffic jams

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Got in v late last night, what a relief to get here! The contrast to India is welcome. A 24 hr city. Had dinner ar 1am on a street full of Malaysian and Thai street cafes. It was v busy. Lots of muscle cars prowling about the streets, lots of clubs and bars and an amazing skyline, its like being in a sci-fi film in comparison with Rajasthan!

The hotel is bliss after the last 4 weeks of challenge. 

Humidity here is about 90%, a walk across the street is enough to leave you soaking wet!
Food is amazing here, much more choice than India and so much lighter on the system, not to mention super clean.
People here are great, none of the haggling and harrasment of India and nobody staring like you just arrived from Mars!
Lots of afternoon rain and lightning in the evenings.

We have booked another few nights at the Maya ( just cant leave ) and we're thinking where to go next! Penang? Singapore? East coast? Borneo? We have over 2 weeks until we fly to Vietnam so quite a bit of time to explore Malaysia with the right planning.
Buses here are super cheap and roads are good, also internal flights can be v cheap so we have good options for getting around.
Still loving KL but the rucksacks will be packed again at the weekend. 

Great day out at the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park. 

Dont want to leave KL so we booked one more night :  ) Need to force ourselves to move on after this, lol.

Back in time this afternoon to watch a lightning storm reflecting off the Petronas Towers! We have changed room and we are now on the 21st floor with a birdseye view of the towers. Never tire of watching them change colour as the sun goes down.

Leaving iNDIA

Ive tried to keep any blogging text brief for fear of gibbering on too much about the trip but I can't leave India without some sort of summary of the experience.

I speak for us both when I say it's been emotional. India has demanded so much from our minds, hearts and bodies. The physical sickness is perhaps the easiest of the three factors to deal with.

The poverty here has been in our face since day one but its impact has sneaked up on us. 

Now we know we are leaving the experience has gained something. There's a relief to be moving on but an overwhelming feeling that India has really touched us.


Onto Delhi tonight and one final day in India before flying onto Malaysia on Monday.

 

Agra_Taj Mahal

Finally finished the Rajasthan part of the tour and now in Uttar Pradesh. We are now in Allahabad after Agra and the Taj Mahal. 
We had planned to see the Taj first thing in the day when it's at it's quietest but it's been quite foggy in this part of india over the last week so we went to see it at sunset. A good decision, the colours were fantastic.

Went to the Oberoi in the evening and saw some traditional dancing and music, what a place. It has direct views of the Taj Mahal from all rooms!

 

We have made some changes to the travel itinerary this afternoon! We are leaving India on Monday 28th for Kuala Lumpur. We've been here over 3 weeks and we are ready for a change of scene! We will miss Kerala but with so much beach time planned in Vietnam this seems like the perfect decision right here and now.

Jaipur_The Pink City

Saw our first elephant on the streets of Jaipur. The poor beast was still out in the full rush hour traffic when we headed home later in the afternoon with angry tuk tuks swarming about him blaring their horns, he didn't look a bit concerned though!

A hazy day today, walked to the ancient fort in the picture through steep zig zagging streets.

Accidentally gate crashed an amazing televised Indian wedding in the evening! We were looking for the Taj Rambagh Palace and the rickshaw driver dropped us off at the wrong entrance. We eventually found the Rambagh Palace! After a day tramping Jaipurs streets it was great to get some luxury ;  )

 Didn't want to leave!


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visited the Amber fort today at sunset, amazing. Then saw a Rajathani puppet show in the evening. They asked for Angela's assistance for the final act and a puppet cobra jumped out on her! :  (

Jaisalmer_The Golden City

Rolled into Jaisalmer at 5.30am after a long night and some madcap antics on the railway platform. First we got on the wrong train, then we left a bag on the train and had to storm the train just before it departed :  )


It was a relief to eventually be on the right train. Every berth of the train was occupied as ever.


Jaisalmer is popular for camel safaris and known as the golden city, its in the desert and only 40 km from proper sand dunes and Sahara style terrain!



Met my first Sadhu today, he spoke perfect English but wanted more ruppees for
enlightenment.

Went into a beautiful Pashmina shop where the owner was claiming to have proper Shahtush pashminas from Kashmir. He explained that the Antelopes that provide this amazing fur run at speeds of 200 kph. He had some amazing quality scarves but this place is quite "hard sell".


Off to try and find some Rajasthani folk music tonight and maybe a Bhang Lassi :  )

Saw a colourful Indian wedding last night, quite a big affair with lots of music, fireworks and a nervous groom hoisted into the square on a chariot. 

The absence of any wine here drove Angela to try a beer! She wasn't impressed! 

Excellent night skies over the desert here.


The Hotel here is called the Golden Havelli, it has two excellent hammocks upstairs suspended over tiled floors, there are big signs that read "use the hammocks at your own risk"

While I listened to my walkman on one of the Hammocks I watched 2 guys come along, one after the other and spin right round onto their heads! I couldn't believe it, they hit the tiles pretty hard, heads, elbows and knees!

Just back from town, bumped into this guy for a 4th time, every time we pass the centre of town he comes right up to us and says,

 "If you seen me in Jodhpur, buy me a beer!", Im sure its the only English he speaks but the same line every time delivered in the same way, brilliant.

Met the owner of the famous Bhang Shop, its been here 30+ years!

Jodhpur_The Blue City

Jodhpur fort is the greatest in Rajasthan and made for a great visit. However the city is also the most polluted and becomes suffocating after a short time. As ever the food here is amazing and the people are great.

 

 J

quote of the day

"Where are you from?"
"Scotland"
"Where is she from?"

Pushkar

We are a day late for the Annual Camel Festival where thousands of camels are ridden across the desert before being made into a giant curry!


Great to get a few days to relax after Udaipur. The weather is beautiful as ever.

Off to find a vegetarian restaurant on Lake Pushkar tonight after a day by the pool :  )

Our Hotel Ananta in Pushkar is righ in front of Snake Mountain!

As we walked through Pushkar main street we heard the common "excuse me" from behind, we ignored it twice before turning and seeing a man and his daughter. His daughter was desperate to say hello to Angela and have a short chat! We have never met freindlier people anywhere.

In Ahmedabad last week a whole family went out of their way to introduce themselves to us on the street and we chatted for a few minutes.

The wizard at work! A bit like Jeff Mills on the turntables only using chapatis instead of vinyl!

Found the best curry of the trip so far in Pushkar, an uber basic one man show with his son
doing the orders. The chef was amazing to watch with his 360 degree kitchen.

Seven hour train journey to Jodhpur next !

Udaipur

breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days

Udaipur is the home of the famous Lake Palace from the Octopussy bond film, Its also one of the dirtiest cities we have visited so far :  (  Lots to see here. But the dreaded delhi belly has finally caught up with me, the last 48 hrs have been quite a ride and I'm far from fixed. Tomorow we're off to Pushkar for 3 days and should be able to relax and recover there.
A little cooler in Rajasthan than Mumbai and Gujarat but its perfect.