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Thailand & India 2019

novembre 2019 - mai 2024
Keen wedding 2019 in Pai and honeymoon En savoir plus
Actuellement en voyage
  • 34empreintes
  • 3pays
  • 1 651jours
  • 313photos
  • 8vidéos
  • 18,5kkilomètres
  • 14,5kkilomètres
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Date ascendante
  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 20

    Khajuraho Sutra

    5 décembre 2019, Inde ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Arrived at Khajuraho train station at 5 am. Tom booked in at Moustache Khajuraho, a guesthouse Z had shortlisted. Tuk tuk to Moustache w Tom, Sasha and Johnny 100INR. Sasha and Johnny decide they don’t want to stay at moustache..stay in tuk tuk to go to city centre. Staff member greets us and asks M&Z “what [we] want” and disregards Tom as he knew he had a booking. Told man to tend to Tom first and we’d have a chat w him afterwards. Had to insist on this a few times. Tom checked in and M&Z negotiate room that is available for 2 nights if needed as we are thinking of staying two nights but we are still not sure. 650 INR per night. Man tells us we can take brekky at their rooftop restaurant, has tours available etc. Told him we will take a rest and might see him for tea at the restaurant later. Settle in and told each other would nap for half hour... slept in until 9am. Resto for masala tea, no brekky - didn’t feel the vibe, not really a resto, man (staff) keeps trying to sell us on tours, says seeing one of the temples is “complimentary “ as if it came with the stay at their guesthouse. Gloated to other guest (Alex from Italy) that he read that we like hiking from our gear (boots, pants and fleeces) and explained that’s why he keeps trying to sell the tiger reserve tour and hiking tour to us. Not impressed with his manner of approaching us, no genuine interaction and all about non stop selling. Finished our tea and left. Saw free temples (2), had brekky at Guru Kripa Pure Veg Restaurant - Aloo Paratha x2 & masala tea. Then headed to UNESCO World Heritage Site (Western group of temples) - birthplace of karma sutra. Beautiful, ornate, detailed, well kept and well preserved archeological site. Z hungry and belly still sensitive so had western lunch - Margherita pizza. Tried to find a travel agent to enquire about trains to Orchha and booking train tix. Only one helpful agent, the rest kept dodging giving us train ticket pricing and instead tried to push for a private taxi hire to Orchha. Walked out on these shops, unhelpful and could not get anywhere with them. Went back to guesthouse for rest, Zinia’s belly still unwell. Touts are different in this town - very deceiving, disingenuous, annoyingly persistent (don’t respect you when you say no thank you like the touts in Varanasi) and more kids begging and ones that follow you a long way. Had to tell off one child that followed us almost all the way back to our guesthouse despite saying no and ignoring him for a long time. While resting, we decided we want to move on to Orchha tmrw so will stay only 1 night. Checked trains to Orchha and availability- train available midday tmrw. M chatted w man to help book train tix, tried to say this train wasn’t available when he realised we didn’t want to stay for 2 nights. Offered a private driver at an expensive rate. He did accidentally mention a tourist quota for train tix that get released at 6pm so M will check again later. Z feeling better, time for dinner. Will speak now with staff about tourist quota for train and confirm we are staying only one night. Man was very unclear about tourist quota and tried to say there was no tourist quota. Man was trying to say we had told him we would stay 2 nights and he agreed for us to stay in our room for 1300 for 2 nights. Argued this with him and he said “okay fine, I will give you 45 mins to decide if you want to stay 1 or 2 nights”. Z says “45 mins? How about we make it easier and decide now. We are staying one night only.” Heard Tom outside the room and chatted for a while - he too has had same experience with touts and locals and is planning on leaving to Orchha tmrw. Will leave with Tom tmrw and will discuss over dinner. Went to Guru Kripa again for dinner with Tom, met Naresh - lovely host keen to practice his English and to chat about cricket with Tom. Naresh asked if we could keep in contact with him to practice his English and so we can practice our Hindi. Added Tom and Z on WhatsApp. Headed back to guesthouse, got there and saw a group of guys with rifles out the front and started walking away as we walked closer. Went to rooftop and played cards with Tom’s Karma Sutra deck he bought today. President, then Tom taught us “Cambio” game. Talked about transport to Orchha tmrw, Tom mentioned bus to Chhatarpur then transfer bus to Orchha which leaves in the morning. Will do this tmrw instead of train. Meet at lobby tmrw for 8:30am.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 21

    Orchha... "Mini Hampi"

    6 décembre 2019, Inde ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Pack, meet Tom & checkout at lobby of Moustache Khajuraho at 8:30am. Tom tries to arrange his transport/train from Orchha to Mumbai as he fears Orchha might be too small a town to arrange this from. Was not a quick task - junior staff gave him run around trying to get Tom to do a private taxi hire. Tom was meant to have brekky W us but stayed back to sort - will meet him at bus station for 9:30am. M&Z get brekky at Gura Kripa again - Aloo and paneer paratha...big serves, got rest for takeaway and lunch for journey to Orchha... will share W. Tom in case didn't have time for brekky. Walked to bus station and met Tom. He explains he relucantly had to pay 4000 INR for moustache staff to arrange his transport from Orchha to Mumbai and believes he's been scammed but felt he had to take a risk cause not sure how small Orchha is and has to be in Mumbai 2 days from now. He will meet his gf there and they will go back to the UK for christmas then onwards to South Africa. Got on bus - pay onboard 50INR ea and + 50 INR for our 3 backpacks to take us to Chhatarpur. Drop off - man takes M’s bag down and takes it straight to bus instead of handing to M... Man was trying to be helpful but almost lost M's bag because of this as we JUST caught bus to Jhansi as it was driving away. 150 INR each. Very dusty journey and felt pollution/smog getting to us. Dropped off at Orchha turn off, man asks for additional 50 INR ea for luggage last minute, Tom tells him to F off as it was clearly an afterthought. Man wanted to argue but his bus started driving away so he had to get back on. Tuktuk to Orchha 100INR for 3 but shared with 3 other adults (domestic tourists) and one child. Orchha looked very much like Khajuraho except it had a beautiful fort and temples. Checked in at Hotel Sunset. Such a lovely host who is studying tourism (has exam tmrw). We all meet Guillome (Fr France) and Anisha (Uzbekistan) who were already staying at the hostel and headed out to explore. Lovely couple.Tom will scout out a homestay and decide where he would like to stay. Add him on FB so we can meet up for dinner. M&Z settle in and decide will stay only one night so research transport to Agra. Train available early afternoon tomorrow so plan to check out temples and fort tmrw. Ready for dinner and hear Tom’s voice - he’s decided to stay at hotel sunset also tonight. Head out for dinner W Tom to No-Mads Cafe recommended by host. Touts still similar to Khajuraho, more children and teenagers that talk to you as if they're genuinely interested in your company but then show their true intentions after you’ve invested some time in them. If you look at a toddler, they will suddenly stop playing, run to you with hand out saying "chocolate?" And follow you around. Saw a tractor towing a tray full of ppl arriving at a wedding venue - they were all so smiley and amused that we were so intrigued by this. Walk further and a girl says hello and Z & Tom chat to her... She then told us to have a look at her shop, so we amused her and went. She grabbed a bracelet and grabbed Z's arm to tie it around, Z pulling away and saying no thank you. Girl insisting she doesn't want money and that it is a “free gift” and insisted on giving Tom one too. Once bracelets on Tom & Z , she quickly revealed that it is a free gift but we "have to come to [her] shop after dinner". Walked away and found No-mads. Met Udeshya, the lovely cafe owner. Learnt he grew up just east of Varanasi, went to Uni in Varanasi, worked finance in New Dehli, quit his job to travel India on his motorbike and to start a small business in a small town like Orchha. His cafe is new and has only been open for 14 days. Had Thali, coke and lassi to share. Best Thali we've had in India so far. Tom brought his deck of cards - played 2 rounds of cambio. Tom had to be somewhere to sort his transport to Mumbai by 7:30. Head out, and on way back to hostel, separate from Tom as heard ceremony host told us about at temple. Had a look and enjoyed for a bit. Headed back to hostel to chill. M&Z discussed that if Orchha is a snippet of what we would expect out of Hampi (which many travellers we met along the way and had been to both have told us), we would much rather spend the rest of our 4 weeks where we can find some nature, get fresh air, and experience the country's culture through meaningful interactions with locals without having to fight for it. Brainstormed countries we might like to visit... Looked on Skyscanner for places we can fly out to from New Delhi at a low price. We will spend 1 night in Agra, and reassess. Heard Tom back at guesthouse, chat W him for a while. Booked 3:30pm train with help of host to go from Jhansi -> Agra tmrw (2S class) and a private tuktuk from hostel to Jhansi (250INR) at 1:30pm tmrw. Guillome and Anisha arrive back at hostel and we all play Cambio until the end of the night. Early night for everyone - G&A leaving in morning for Khajuraho, T leaves in evening for Mumbai, we leave on train tomorrow afternoon so will get up early to explore Orchha.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 22

    Goodbye Orcha, Hello Agra

    7 décembre 2019, Inde ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Woke early, packed bags and brought downstairs (stored in staff room while we go out) and paid for accommodation. Went to see temple on hill, doors closed, too early. Went to first temple - beautiful and barely anyone around! Many narrow stairs that open up to massive rooms/paths. Walked to No-Mads for breakfast, mixed veg paratha brekky x2 - great chat w Udeshya. Got leftovers for takeaway snacks on train journey later. Went to fort to get ticket giving us access to all other temples. Explored fort. Construction going on outside but inside the architecture was beautiful inside. It was a shame however because there was rubbish everywhere, plastic wrappers, tobacco spit, people carving their names on this historic building, paintings poorly preserved. Next went to temple near guesthouse. Had two young boys who approached us asking for selfies, but we could see they were obviously touts so said no. They seemed to report to a guy pretending to be an attendant of the temple, and sent these boys to us again to give it another try and so they kept following us and repeatedly asked for selfies. When we refused and walked away, the boss told us we had to take off our shoes as it was a temple (no one else had shoes off). At this point we were no longer able to enjoy this temple without being followed by these two boys so decided to head out. On the way out, the boss ran after us and told us never mind about the shoes cause we can explore upstairs where we didn’t need to remove them for that. Said we had to pay to get up there - told him that was bullshit as the ticket we bought allowed for unlimited access to all temples in town. He grabbed hold of our ticket and said “okay okay okay” and ripped off a corner pretending he was allowing us to proceed. We said forget it and walked out. He sent the two boys to follow us down the stairs to ask for selfies again, told these boys to leave us alone. As we walked down, a vendor saw what was happening and yelled at these boys to stop bothering us. Told us to let him know if this happens again and he would call the tourist police for us. Now disheartened with this experience, we reluctantly visited the closed temple we visited this morning. Barely anyone there. Not as grand as the fort but underlying architecture was beautiful- again rubbish, spit and carvings everywhere, very poorly kept. Headed back to guesthouse to book our guesthouse in Agra and wait for our tuktuk to arrive at 1:30pm. Guesthouse booked at cc YOGA Homestay in Agra as well be arriving late. Tuktuk to Jhansi train station 250INR. 3pm train delayed 2 hrs. Got on 2S class, we had reserved seats for this 5 hour journey. More ppl arrive on train w unreserved seats so they jussi stand where they can - gets packed, people sitting on tables and overhead baggage compartment. 3hrs into journey hear a man behind us asking something and getting denied/ignored, makes his way to us where people are sat on a table in front of us. Man asks ppl on table if he could please rest his toddler child on the table so he can sleep. People just stare at him and ignore him. M&Z shocked at the lack of empathy..He starts to walk back and M gets up to give seat but ppl weren’t moving - when we started calling for him to come back he had just put his toddler son on overhead baggage compartment. Managed to call him over, M gave his seat, man very thankful. Ppl start praising Marty and one man shakes his hand and says loudly “you’re a good man”. M tells him not to call him a good man because this is simply what you should do for your fellow ppl, he tells them anyone could have done it, starts pointing and says “you could’ve given their seat, those ladies on the table could’ve done it, you all could’ve done it and been a good person but you chose not to do it”. Ppl now wanting to talk to Marty and shake his hand. Father very thankful, 3yo boy very tired. Arrived in Agra, got tuktuk to moustache Agra and walked to cc Yoga Guesthouse. Host was not there and paper saying to call him on WhatsApp. Called on WhatsApp, couldn’t hear so hung up & texted. Host says he is at wedding and will be back in 30mins, Z&M can enter their room. Man not there (didn’t message) so went to bed. Will spend one day tmrw then leave the next morning.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 23

    Taj Mahal, Agra

    8 décembre 2019, Inde ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Wake before sunrise to head to Taj Mahal. Touts waiting outside building saying we had to buy tickets at the building they were standing in front. Us and other tourists didn’t trust them so walked to the entrance of Taj Mahal thinking the true booking office would be there. No desk there, just a line with ppl who already booked tix. Asked them where booking office is - where the touts were. Bought tix, got water bottles and shoe covers with tix. Taj Mahal was beautiful. Cleanest place we’ve seen in India. Walked back to cc Yoga House and got cash on the way back. Will have brekky at guesthouse thinking it would be convenient. Got there, host just woke up, told us to just text him on WhatsApp when we’re ready to order from their menu. Messaged him shortly after for 2 omelettes and 2 masala chai - he replied to confirm he received the order. At 30 mins still no food. At the 45 min mark, saw a guy with groceries in his hand going into the kitchen. Texted host to ask how our food was going as it’s almost been 1 hr and just saw a guy with groceries, hoping that wasn’t our food. Guest from Malaysia came up with pack and sat with us. No reply from host - he came up, didn’t acknowledge us and went into the kitchen to help that guy with the groceries. Came out with our tea at 1 hr mark and said our food is coming, reminded him it’s been over an hour since we ordered. He didn’t apologise and instead explained how the Malaysian guy missed his train this morning and had to help him so that’s why our food is late. We said it’s not his fault and that he could’ve simply told us that our food would’ve been delayed and we wouldn’t have had an issue. He again tried to explain the guy missed his train and that if he didn’t miss his train our food would’ve been on time.. he had to arrange a private taxi for him to get to airport. Reminded him it is not this guest’s fault and he reluctantly said sorry and went back to help the guy in the kitchen. Guest from Malaysia had been in Agra for 5 days only to see Taj Mahal and Red Fort as he would like to see the 7 Wonders of the world. He is now taking a private taxi (run by host’s friend) to the airport. Finished brekky and went into our room to plan how we will get to New Delhi tmrw and to discuss where we would like to go from there. Early train available from Agra to New Delhi tmrw, early morning or midday. Reassessed countries we can fly to from New Dehli - shortlisted Philippines and UK. Decided we will go to the Philippines, mainly due to time of year and type of travel we would like to do this time around. Got help from host to book train tix to new dehli - comfort class, leaving 5:50am tmrw. Host says this train is always on time as it is a commuter train and starts it’s journey in Agra. Went back to room booked flights - no flights from New Delhi to Manila, have to fly from Bangkok to get to Manila. Will need to stay one night in Bangkok. Booked 1 night at an apartment style guesthouse by international airport. Tomorrow will be a traveling day. Rested until lunchtime. Went to Bedweiser Backpackers hostel for lunch - egg biryani to share + 1 coke. Asked staff how much tuk tuk would be to Red Fort, told us it would be 150 INR and they were about to tell us about a private taxi but we stopped them and told them that made no sense when a tuk tuk to the train station which is a lot further only cost us 100 INR. Said goodbye and walked towards Red Fort to catch a tuk tuk on the way. Caught one for 70 INR. Went to Red Fort but it was PACKED so didn’t go in, appreciated it from the outside. Tuktuk back for 70 INR. Dropped off at Moustache Agra and walked back to guesthouse. M stopped to chat with men he saw fixing a motorbike - they were very intrigued and impressed he knew what repair they were doing and what they needed to do. Chilled at guesthouse until dinner time. Z calls Zeni - had a lovely chat, showing her our room in Agra and a video of rats we saw on the train tracks yesterday. Found out her surgery will take place on Thursday morning - will try to Skype her beforehand. Went out for dinner at Bambino Cafe. Great service and genuine host. Special Thali to share, Coke and plain lassi. Really struggling to breathe through pollution in Agra today, both of us have had headaches almost the whole day. Went back to guesthouse to get an early night - settled our accomodation fees at guesthouse, we’ll get up early tomorrow.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 24

    Travel Day

    9 décembre 2019, Inde ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Wake early, no shower, walk out to hail a tuktuk to Agra Cant - 100INR. Get on train... pollution visibly getting worse as we get closer to New Dehli and need to wear scarf and buff over nose the whole journey - M&Z both have headaches, M constant runny nose, Z blowing out black gunk out of nose. Naughty child behind M and kept shaking m’s seat - mum or dad weren’t doing anything about it so had to remind parents what their child was doing. Later child watching kids show wit that had a song “sugar, sugar, why are you so yummy? Chocolate chocolate, please get in my tummy!” .. get to New Delhi Cant at 10:20am, get on LRT transfer to airport. Cleanest transport we’ve been on in India, looks very new. Can’t check in for our 16:20 flight to Bangkok -grab breakfast. Check in, have lunch then board flight. Arrive Bangkok at 21:40, grab cab & check into apartment guesthouse. Took guesthouse bicycles to get dinner at nearby street vendor. Ka pow moo Krop x2 and Coke .Take long showers, sleep.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 25

    Travel Day 2...Hello Philippines!

    10 décembre 2019, South China Sea ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Sleep in and take taxi to airport to catch 11:35 flight to Manila. Breakfast at airport. Arrive in Manila at 16:00, take a Grab taxi to Red Doorz apartment in Legarda, checked in and walked to Jolibee for dinner. Street food bbq skewers, sleep.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 26

    First Full Day in Manila

    11 décembre 2019, South China Sea ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Sleep in, breakfast at cafe at bottom of apartment, chill. Take the train to SM Mall of Asia to check if M’s screen can be replaced w an apple screen and to find bikini for Z. See a Timmies on walk from EDSA station to mall. M’s phone screen swap would take a week, too long - not done. Dinner at a resto at mall. No bikini for Z but found a Deuter store - buff replacement for Z. Walk around mall to find skating rink, couldn’t find. Stumbled across awesome marching band playing Christmas songs & watched for a while. Kept walking and walked along bay... great area with street vendors and bars/restos! Walked to bus port to catch a jeepney to train station cause Z has blisters from flip flops. Line super long! Walked slowly to EDSA train station instead... stopped at timmies for a Boston Cream doughnut. Got to station, took train, home then sleep.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 27

    Philippine History and Heritage Day

    12 décembre 2019, South China Sea ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Breakfast at cafe downstairs, walked to Intramuros, went into San Augustin Church and museum, saw a couple getting married. Z got her first “dirty ice cream” of the trip. Went to print hall (forgot name) and got a coffee, walked to Fort Santiago. Went into Jose Rizal Museum - a really good museum! Lunetta park, lunch with the locals at vendors set up in parking lot then went to National Museum of the Philippines. Really tired now so walked back, went for dinner at a little vendor by apartment, sleep.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 28

    Walking Down Memory Lane

    13 décembre 2019, Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Wake early, have breakfast at same place we had dinner last night. Silog for M and Embosilog for Z - 61 PHP. Back to apartment for wifi, get a Grab taxi to go to Z’s old house in Marcelo Green Village, Parañaque. Jay is our taxi driver - really nice and inquisitive guy. Walked around old house, Jay waited to take us back. Got Jay to drop us off at Lunetta Park. Go back to National Museum of the Philippines. Shared a Turon which M really liked, M tried Taho for the first time and not a big fan. After museum, got into a tricycle to go to Chinatown. Not much there. Tried to get a tricycle back to our apartment but drivers were asking too much so we walked back...ended up finding some cool streets with many vendors! Had some fishball on our way back (one guy tried to c barge 50PHP each when they’re normally 5PHP each! Lol)...M liked these. Got some baked goods (hopia, mamon, chocolate cake, Spanish bread) and his first pop in plastic bag 😂. Back home and chilled at apartment, napped until dinner time, went out to vendor on street we walked earlier for dinner, then back to sleep. Early morning to catch flight to Batanes tomorrow.En savoir plus

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  • Thailand & India 2019
    Jour 29

    Batanes Islands - Basco

    14 décembre 2019, Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Awake at 3:30am and check out of guesthouse. Order Grab taxi and arrive at Manila domestic airport for 4:45. Taxi driver didn’t use meter and tries to charge 400p for trip. We argue and pay 200p. Check in for flight at 5am and depart for Basco at 6am. Arrive basco 7am and walk from airport into town. Check out a couple of guest houses and have breakfast at Shanedels inn and cafe. Check out a couple more guest houses and check into Rlpuriran Leave bags at guesthouse and walk into centre of town to hire a scooter (1000p/24hr) and get a SIM card (100p). Ride anticlockwise around southern part of island. Have a light lunch at Honesty Cafe and meet ? While checking out lighthouse and spend some time chatting to him. Head back to guesthouse and use nice room to relax and get cleaned up - shave etc. late by the time we head out for dinner and only place still open is pizza. Get takeout and eat back our guesthouse.En savoir plus

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