Saturday, July 30, 2005
meanwhile in the himalay
right now i am living with a farmers family in the himalayas, 2300m high up, ogling their beautiful 19 year old daughter day and night. if i am not careful might end up having to marry her. hmmm, have to think about this one, people have been killed here for less.
sometimes i come down to manali, an hours walk, to get some social life, and type away if the power or internet is working.
sometimes i come down to manali, an hours walk, to get some social life, and type away if the power or internet is working.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Saturday, July 16, 2005
ah india
arrived in india 2 days ago. this is the ultimate country for travellers. everything is an assault on your senses. the colours, smells and sounds are just unbelievable. good and bad. india is like life itself. i just love this country. there is no other place like it in the world. i am already thinking of changing my flight ticket and staying longer. we will see. right now i am in delhi, but probably will go tomorrow into the himalayan mountains to manali, a place i have been before. from there maybe to leh (near the chinese tibetan border) and then to kashmir. life is great and india is a buzz. you really feel alive here. the whole country should be declared a world heritage site.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
taking the slow bus to hikkaduwa
SRI LANKA, should i laugh or should i cry?? marco polo found it the finest island in the world. well marco, things have changed. war in the north, tsunami in the south. now its just a bizarre place with the logic of a monty python film. as for being a buddhist country, i have seen more compassion in a hen house. its survival of the fittest all the way.
what a place!! the first 2 days total culture shock. was ready to leave straight back to thailand. caught the 3 hour train, first class for around 2 dollars us, from colombo to kandy. k is a 100 000 people town. second largest in sk.during the day a rush as there is no tomorrow, inclusive pollution. after 7pm the place is absolutely dead. i wonder where they all go. conmen everywere with wonderful stories
how they lost their money and please could you help them. sometimes i hand out some small change if the stories are good. but you cant feed them all. mother theresa would have been happy here. its a bit like india but more relaxed in a way, which of course doesnt help the poor bastard who is lying on the side of the road starving. as this is the no1 tea producing country i enjoy some wonderful cups of tea in the afternoon with a piece of cake, while outside the beggars try to kill each other for a few rupees i give to them. very civilized indeed.
next stop was ella, beautiful views to the coastal plains, 1000m below. got lost in the rice paddies and was saved by a farmer. nimal spent the next 5 hours with me climbing ella rock and being disturbed by a cobra. as he was walking in front i didnt see the 2m snake until he suddenly stood still. his whole body shaking. in front across the path was a beautiful looking snake standing right up. luckily it
decided to move on after unending minute. for the next 2 hours he told me over and over how lucky we had been not be attacked by it. with the adrenalin pumping the rest of the walk was peanuts. was happy to leave ella as the locals seemed to be bent to add a service charge to anything they sold. a genuine tourist rip off.
next it was tsunami country, with the destruction still visible after 6 months. tent cities and temporary wooden huts everywhere along the coast. i wonder if there are any tents left for the oktoberfest this year. looks like every government and ngo had sent some help after the disaster. you still see their presence with young self important westerners everywhere, "volunteering" instead of letting the sri lankans get on with it. never met a more stupid bunch in my life. any
religious group you can think of made their way into tsunami country, proselytising while they give help. fucking missionaries should be shot on sight.. saw some bizarre sites, like a lonely toilet bowl, next to a palm tree with a sign: closed for renovation. half washed away buildings which were "approved by the sri lankan tourist board". whole villages and towns have been swept away, thousands of people
dying. luckily some lighter moments happened in between, like the 2 middle aged toothless prostitutes at the matare busstation, next to the urinals (just in case you are interested), rolling their tongues in desperation to get my attention.
for all you cricket lovers: the galle international cricket grounds are still closed. thank god for small mercies.
anyway for the last 10 days i found some peace in hikkaduwa, sitting on the verandah watching the waves smash against the beach and enjoying beautiful sunsets. as the season does not start until november i have the whole place just about to myself, except last weekend when the "volunteer" hordes arrived. tomorrow its time to go to colombo and catch a flight to india, the himalayas are waiting.
what a place!! the first 2 days total culture shock. was ready to leave straight back to thailand. caught the 3 hour train, first class for around 2 dollars us, from colombo to kandy. k is a 100 000 people town. second largest in sk.during the day a rush as there is no tomorrow, inclusive pollution. after 7pm the place is absolutely dead. i wonder where they all go. conmen everywere with wonderful stories
how they lost their money and please could you help them. sometimes i hand out some small change if the stories are good. but you cant feed them all. mother theresa would have been happy here. its a bit like india but more relaxed in a way, which of course doesnt help the poor bastard who is lying on the side of the road starving. as this is the no1 tea producing country i enjoy some wonderful cups of tea in the afternoon with a piece of cake, while outside the beggars try to kill each other for a few rupees i give to them. very civilized indeed.
next stop was ella, beautiful views to the coastal plains, 1000m below. got lost in the rice paddies and was saved by a farmer. nimal spent the next 5 hours with me climbing ella rock and being disturbed by a cobra. as he was walking in front i didnt see the 2m snake until he suddenly stood still. his whole body shaking. in front across the path was a beautiful looking snake standing right up. luckily it
decided to move on after unending minute. for the next 2 hours he told me over and over how lucky we had been not be attacked by it. with the adrenalin pumping the rest of the walk was peanuts. was happy to leave ella as the locals seemed to be bent to add a service charge to anything they sold. a genuine tourist rip off.
next it was tsunami country, with the destruction still visible after 6 months. tent cities and temporary wooden huts everywhere along the coast. i wonder if there are any tents left for the oktoberfest this year. looks like every government and ngo had sent some help after the disaster. you still see their presence with young self important westerners everywhere, "volunteering" instead of letting the sri lankans get on with it. never met a more stupid bunch in my life. any
religious group you can think of made their way into tsunami country, proselytising while they give help. fucking missionaries should be shot on sight.. saw some bizarre sites, like a lonely toilet bowl, next to a palm tree with a sign: closed for renovation. half washed away buildings which were "approved by the sri lankan tourist board". whole villages and towns have been swept away, thousands of people
dying. luckily some lighter moments happened in between, like the 2 middle aged toothless prostitutes at the matare busstation, next to the urinals (just in case you are interested), rolling their tongues in desperation to get my attention.
for all you cricket lovers: the galle international cricket grounds are still closed. thank god for small mercies.
anyway for the last 10 days i found some peace in hikkaduwa, sitting on the verandah watching the waves smash against the beach and enjoying beautiful sunsets. as the season does not start until november i have the whole place just about to myself, except last weekend when the "volunteer" hordes arrived. tomorrow its time to go to colombo and catch a flight to india, the himalayas are waiting.
