Goodbye Delhi, Hello Bangkok!

So...there will be more on India and photos - I promise - but it is not easy from a cafe/hostel computer...It is funny, leaving Delhi yesterday for the airport in a taxi, I noticed how little it shocked me now having been there for two weeks. It felt cleaner and less chaotic. The culture shock was only temporary and everything had begun to feel like the norm as I had adjusted.

That said, Bangkok felt incredibly western in comparison. It was just starting to grow cold in Delhi so it was nice to be hit by the heat on exiting Bangkok airport. Getting around Bangkok also felt like a doddle and I have to say my friend gave a stella recommendation on the hostel - Lud D in the Silom district (I had had enough of touristy Khao San Road from the last two visits). For any of you thinking of coming to Thailand - COME HERE! It is lush and very clean and feels very safe and I think you'd meet lots of lovely people here.

So...I'm now faced with two more weeks before I return home for Christmas. I have a few friends to meet up with and I hope to meet some new friends along the way whilst enjoying the sun and sand...It will be a nice relaxing alternative to India I think in some ways. I think I planned the trip in the right order.

Anyway...don't worry, I will tell you all about the Taj Mahal, the bird park I visited and Shimla in the Himalayan hills...Just may have to wait until I'm back. And I will be eager to catch up with all of you soon too!

Lots of Love xxx

Hello from India!

Hey!!!
I've been wanting to post for ages! I have so much to tell and share with you and oodles of photos once again but my access to Internet is currently quite limited so you're going to have to be patient with me. India/Delhi is immense...so much chaos and noise. It is certainly not for the traveller who values his or her creature comforts...

The streets are littered with people, cars, autocars, motorbikes, dogs, cows, pigs, monkeys, rubbish, dust...just crossing the road here is no mean feat. Noise bombards the ears all around the clock - fireworks, barking, horns blaring, voices crying, singing...oh how I yearn for a little silence here and there (though fortunately I have found I can sleep through it - even if it does filter in to my dreams). Just begun reading Sara Mailand's A Book of Silence...I can see this will probably taunt me!

I've escaped today to Bharatpur where there is Keoladeo National Bird park. Millions of migrating birds flock here at this time so I thought it might be worth the trip as I already have plenty of snaps of temples and buildings and people. I had plans for Udaipur (where James Bond's Octopussy was filmed) but as I hadn't really thought out an itinerary before I got here, it has been difficult to book trains. As it was, I came here in second sitting class with the masses (I was alarmed to see some trains with men hanging out of open doors due to the crowding), which was fine but others had advised against such travel if going overnight (which would have been required for Udaipur) - for even Indian women don't travel on their own this way, so I am told. Plus it would be probably be cold... (ah well, excuse to come back again some other time to see the city...)

I was hoping for silence here, in Bharatpur, but no such luck either. It is wedding season so it is always going to be vocal and lively! Oh and the mosquitoes here are overwhelming. Thank god for coils and plug in perfumes that send them to sleep. My white tiled bedroom floor is now littered with little bug bodies now though... I just can't stand it when they buzz in your ear at night...fingers crossed they are all out for the count by the time I return.

My friend, who I am staying with, has been working so I have been left to explore Delhi a lot on my own and at first I was rather anxious but after the initial culture shock I have begun to get the hang of it. As soon as I get the photos up I'll talk more about it with you. I've also been down to the slums to help out with the kids which was fun - we drew robots together! Oh! So much more to tell but it will have to wait... Sorry about the lacking photos...soon! Soon! I promise! And I will catch up with you all shortly before Christmas. Lots of Love xxx

India...here...I...come?

Just got back from a beautiful wedding down in Devon at Huntsham Court and tomorrow I fly to India. I'm snuggled up in bed (it is frickin' cold outside!), uploading wedding photos to facebook and using Picnik to manipulate a few...With the help of Picnik I like to imagine I could be a pretty good amateur wedding photographer...and having eaten the wedding breakfast I've also been pondering if I could do better there as well...Clearly I am getting too big for my boots with such daydreams! Realistically...I honestly think I could have cooked tastier food but numberwise...yeah...I'm clearly getting carried away there with my own ego! Just the veg peeling alone would have required help!

Now here is where the bravado stops because I have something to admit...

I'm a little bit terrified of getting on that plane tomorrow.

I've travelled ALOT, but...

This is INDIA (imagine twilight music and creepy letter font) we are talking about!!!

I imagine it might be scarier than CHINA (and boy did CHINA batter me over the head with the adrenaline stick when I was there for one day in transit). I'd always said I'd never go to INDIA unless I went with a native or a man (and possibly with a wedding ring on my finger)...and yet...here I am, practically going there on my own.

I know I will be staying with a female friend BUT...she's going to be working during the week and I'm blonde...

...and I hear people stare with no shame there at white skinned girls on their own...

...and I'm not Miss Assertive (well it doesn't always come naturally)...

...and I still need to deal with crazy scamming people when I get to the airport who might try to drive me in their taxis to the middle of nowhere in central Delhi...

...and (shudder) leave me there....

ARGHHHHH!!!!

It will be okay. It will be okay...Just a little bit of pre-travel apprehension...nothing I can't handle...

I keep rechecking my suitcase...I'm clearly quite nervous...

If you don't hear from me in a week...assume I am lost, wandering the streets of Delhi...

Yeah, I know I'm being totally dramatic...it will be fine! (She says with a forced smile.)

Take care, WISH ME LUCK! (no seriously...I mean it) xxx

Corrag by Susan Fletcher

I've already mentioned Susan Fletcher before to you - when I was reading Oystercatchers - see here on my Enid Blyton post. I will have to mention her again because she is just too good to keep quiet about.

I'm currently reading her latest novel: Corrag, and it is such a delight. If I could write like anyone...I'd want to write like Susan Fletcher. She reminds me a lot of the Brontes. I'm not sure if I have said this before but sometimes for me...writing is not about just relating a story. It is creating an atmosphere...it is how the words work together in an almost poetic fashion so that they leap from the page and form a vivid landscape around you - or pull you head first into the pages. When I read a sentence written by Susan Fletcher, I often think: 'Gosh! I love that sentence.' The words work so wonderfully. I can see the image she is describing so clearly and it is beautiful - and she writes about nature in a way that truly celebrates it, with all its little details...I think many in the blogosphere would enjoy her - especially if you enjoy Dawn's blog or similar ones... here is a small passage that I think will give you a better idea of what I mean, maybe...

Just so you understand the context, Corrag is about a 'witch' who lived in the 16oo's. She witnessed the massacre of Glencoe and here, in this passage, she is thinking of her mother, who was also tried as a witch, but the young Corrag has escaped the same fate (for now) by fleeing on a horse...

'Here is what I think. That a rope was placed tenderly over her head, by tender hands - like the hangman half-loved her, and did not want her to be gone. Her hair blew around her. Her thumbs were tied neatly behind her back, and in the last few moments she looked up at the sky and thought it is so beautiful...I also looked up. I saw the swaying trees and the grey clouds rolling by. I breathed in, as she breathed in. I closed my eyes.

Mr Leslie, I sent all the love I'd ever had to her. I sent it to England, wanting it to find her so she might die on the scaffold feeling loved. By me.

Tell her I am living. Tell her I am safe.

That night I saw her ghost.

She came into the clearing with her thumbs untied, and her red skirt rustled as she came. She was in the realm, where no harm is. She looked across, and smiled.'

Hmm...I'm sure I could find other passages to build a stronger case but I guess I'll just leave it to you to pick up the book next time you're in a bookshop to see what you think...When I read her writing I promise myself I will work harder at mine...

Whose writing inspires you? Not their stories as such...but their writing...? And why? xxx

Marley and the candy corn...

It's been all go-go-go since I got back to the UK so I haven't had much time to blog. I've had plenty of ideas and urges to write...just no time. I haven't even shared any photos from Las Vegas yet and I'm beginning to wonder when I ever will get the chance! Soon India will be upon me and that will take over. Plus I need to actually relax a little, I can feel myself running into the ground - my body feels tense all the time at the moment.

Bonfire night has come and gone (I was so busy I even missed the fireworks) and here I am dwelling on Halloween still in this post...We bought some new Halloween holiday stuff to jazz up our annual Halloween dinner (which we had on Nov 4th - a little out of date...a little jet-lagged... but oh well). Behold the cheap but chirpy owl plate - just one of the many purchases to add to our table. I put a load of candy corn on it the night before the dinner....
But the next day the candy corn was er...surprisingly...moist...!!

We were led to draw our own conclusions...and I ran a test just to confirm suspicions...
Sniff sniff...
What is this?
My candy corn!

Yeah...I reckon he'd been licking them...xxx

The Grand Canyon

Ah a rare photo of me this time! I quite liked this last one so I've blown it up to hang on the wall one day when I have a place of my own again...Don't be fooled by the colours though...Picnik.com had a hand here.

You see...we expect Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon to be warm - hot even. We had heard that it was always like that.

WRONG!!!

So we packed rather inadequately...It rained on the way to the Canyon. We had to run into the nearest tourist shop on route and grab these hoodies (see my attire above) to keep us from freezing our socks off (talking of socks I bought a pair of those too).

Anyway...despite this, the place was stunning. If I had to name just one thing I loved about the US - just one thing - it would be the scenery, the land. It just strikes a chord in me. The dirt, the air, the smells, the foliage...the rocks. It sings out a song that resonates through my bones. It is then that I ask longingly - why am I not American? I think of that old US song we used to sing in grade school: 'This land is my land, this land is your land, from California to the New York Island...This land was made for you and me!' Well, being a UK citizen it isn't my land...The kids warped version of the song is probably more appropriate: 'This land is my land, it is not your land...I've got a shotgun and you don't got one! If you don't get off, I'll blow your head off - this land was made for me, not you!'

Only kidding...

Anyway...when we got back to Carlisle, our host had a dvd collection all about the national parks of the US and I watched a chunk of one. It was really interesting to learn about the role President Theodore Roosevelt had in preserving these parks.

Originally his interest stemmed from his worry that if he didn't get over to the west quickly enough and shoot a buffalo, then there would be no more left to kill - so rapidly were they being hunted down. He was a massive hunting fan. Not the ideal candidate you'd expect for conservation but it was his passion for hunting that lead him to take note of the dwindling animal population and the destruction of habitats. He didn't want everything to die out because if that happened there would be no sport left.

What I found also rather fascinating was this attitude back then of the pioneers. The wilderness was regarded as 'ungodly' -something that needed to be tamed and put in order. They thought that by taking control of the land, they were civilising it. Thank goodness this idea eventually shifted...otherwise we would not have such wonderful parks that we have left today.

However, there were a few wise ones back then, like John Muir who believed the opposite. Like William Wordsworth he believed that nature redeemed man. It was his meeting and discussion with Roosevelt that led to proper management and control of the Yosemite park.

I really am just scratching the surface and I'd like to read further on this piece of history. I am fascinated with the idea of nature being a form of salvation and how attitudes have developed and formed over the years. I particularly like the quote of Roosevelt, who said about the Grand Canyon: 'Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, only man can mar it. What you can do is keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you as one of the great sights which every American if he can travel at all should see.'

Well....today, with travel being cheaper than it was back then, everyone worldwide can come to see it. Our tour guide told us that allegedly it is the number one tourist destination of the world and that if you take the top nine other big tourist destinations and added the visitor numbers together, you still would be about a million visitors off the number that flock to see this place every year...

Pretty remarkable.

On a totally different note...a more morbid one. I picked up and browsed through a book focussed on deaths in the canyon whilst I was in the gift store...oh boy! People just don't learn. Seriously people, stay away from the edge - it is a long way down - and you won't survive it. My friend kept insisting I took photos of her as she perched on a rock near the drop. When it came to my turn I literally crawled and clung to the rocks and felt somewhat light headed and giddy. It is that lemming feeling. You feel it pretty strong there....and if you don't....well I would worry - if the book is anything to go by it was those who took it light-heartedly that inevitably went over! I recall a passage in the book where one man's famous last words to his kid as he ignored the safety barrier and stepped out onto a ledge of snow unsupported by rock was something like: 'sometimes you gotta take chances...' I shake my head at this in disbelief.

Anyway...if you ever get a chance -go! Don't let this last bit put you off. It is AMAZING. AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING. Do it.

Enough said for now...time to go to bed! Ciao for now. xxx

A small bite of the Big Apple

So I'm finally back home and resting... Flew in last night and didn't get to sleep until late due to jet lag and then I was required to get up at 5am to get down to London to queue up at the Indian embassy to submit my visa application form... (fingers crossed there are no hiccups!)

Yawn...it is nice to be still for a little while, still on a soft double bed with two duvets (dad is away so I stole his bed). I have a long to-do list sitting beside me and one of those tasks is to catch up with some blogging. So here I am!

In an ideal world I would have blogged immediately after Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and New York but this simply did not happen...so I'll try and cover some ground these next two weeks before I hit India and also catch up with some of you too.

Today I just wanted to share a few New York snaps. I would have done the Grand Canyon first and Vegas (sticking to chronological order) but I have some thoughts and ideas that need researching a bit there first so it will have to wait.

NYC was wonderful. Two days certainly wasn't enough. The place is HUGE. We literally got a small taster by doing a downtown bus tour, going up the Empire State Building and doing some general walking.

I need to go back there with some extra cash really to full appreciate the place. I was quite astounded by the price of hotel rooms in the city. Not cheap -nor were some of the restaurant menus I happened to glance at here and there as we ambled...

It was funny being there...I'd always imagined I'd go with my ex before we split and Mr Moorish had also invited me to go with him back earlier in the summer so I'd always had it in my head as a 'romantic' destination. Interesting how life turns out. Instead it was girls, girls, girls all the way. I went with girls and I met up with some friends who were girls. No men...though unlike Vegas the place wasn't short of a fair few attractive ones to admire...must be something to do with men in suits heading to the office...oh dear!

Anyway enough of that - I got sidetracked - not on the agenda right now! Low and behold the colours of this wonderful capital...
Times Square...every tourist must have snaps of this place...makes Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus look tame with all its lights and billboards...noticed the new film by the makers of The Hangover advertised with Robert Downey Jr starring...that man is HOT (especially liked the billboard photo).
Grand Central...met up with two friends here and had a lovely glass of wine whilst admiring the view...so much fun in NYC to recall the places where famous film scenes have been shot...this place comes up in my mind for many a film...I'm sure one of my favourite kid's films Visa Versa was shot here for instance...
And then there is the beautiful, iconic Chrysler building...memorable from always being shown at the beginning of all the Sex in the City episodes...
Views from the Empire State Building... It was a windy day up there but still marvellous!
More Times Square at night...even more vibrant than the daytime...
Ground Zero moving forward... (now referred to as The World Trade Centre once again). Rather surreal to be here. We went into St Paul's Chapel and the tributes there were deeply moving...even now, almost ten years later, this awful piece of American history has the power to knock the breath out of you.
The glorious Statue of Liberty seen from afar at Battery Park. One for next time we come...And the yellow cabs prevalent everywhere...

So there you have it...our little taster...NYC is often covered in blogs as it is a popular tourist destination...I hope my entry was amusing and interesting enough...if not, I hope the photos at least captured something of the magic :) xxx