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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Mar 02, 2007 07:00 PM Why I am flying to Kosovo?....
Before I boarded the plane to Pristina an UN worker flying the same route said: - You made the worst choice of the arrival date. They announced for today the demonstration and I even do not know if the guys from KFOR will allow us to go from the airport to the city... Wow!
Two hours later we landed in Pristina airport. Without any extra questions I got a UN stamp in my passport. I am in Kosovo - the province administrated by UN/NATO forces since 1999. Before and later there were heavy fightings betweenMuslim Albanians and Serbs here...
Why I am here? Because it is one of this strange places on the globe. No tourists here. How does it look like? Nobody knows...
I shared taxi to the city (sorry, no bus from the airport...) it cost 15 euro after bargaining... Euro is official currency here.
There were police check posts on the road and the centre of the town was completly blocked by the cordons of KFOR and local police...
I found place to stay out of the centre: Pension Professor. 4-34 Velania St. Charming old professor speaks english and offers rooms in his villa for just 13 euro. I hope that tomorrow the city will be already calm and I shall visit local attractions...
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Mar 01, 2007 07:00 PM 4.5 hours on the runway...
Bye-bye Asia! I am flying to the old Europe! Five planes one by one... It was going well as far as Delhi.
In the middle of the night I boarded there KLM b777 to Amsterdam. Delhi is not my favourite airport... We were already sitting in the plane with fasten belts when they announced: fogg on the runway... Can you imagine 4.5 hours waiting in the full, crampy airplane for the better weather?
We started at 6 am... So I spent in total 13 hours in this 777... Of course I missed my connection in Amsterdam... No compensation, no hotel... KLM says that they are not responsible for the bad weather...
They sent me to Budapest. Waiting there I found nice pension close to the airport (3 km walk or 180 forint for no. 200 bus):
Sarokhaz Panzio - Ulloi ut. 845 ph. 355033.
I am resting and getting ready for the tomorrow's flight to Kosovo...
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Feb 28, 2007 07:00 PM Port Blair - capital of the Andamans...
I stay in the little family hotel - not mentioned in Lonely Planet book: you will find "Shah-n-shah" in the side street behind the bus station and the market. They charge 400 rp per fan room with bath and if you will ask they will give you even a towel...
The main attraction of Port Blair is... the jail. The former jail of course - built by British at the end of 19th century... Now it has a status of museum - only 3 of 7 huge wings remained but it is still very impressive. They charge 5 rp entry fee plus 10 if you want to use still camera (but nobody care...).
I took also a boat to Ross Island - historic place - British headquarter till 1941. Private boats from Water sports Marina will take you there for 60 rp /round trip. You will pay additional 20 rp entry fee on the island. It is worth to go there to see wild beach and the remains of the buildings covered by lush vegetation. It looks like little Angkor Wat...
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Feb 27, 2007 07:00 PM Walking around the tropical island...
Neil Island in comparison to Havelock is still very silent and sleepy... I like that... I took a long walk to the Baratpur - one of four little settlements on this tiny island. People are very hospitable... Do not hesitate to enter the courtyards, greet them, smile and they will be happy to talk with you and to show you the details of their everyday life. I took great photos...
They offered me free of charge coconut drinks, tomatoes (Neil is known as the island of vegetable gardens) and nuts...
I went by rickshaw to the distant (5 km each way) Sitapur... There is the nicest beach on the island in the little bay. Sorry - no accommodation around so you can go there only for the day visit... No, they do not allow to camp here...
It is completly deserted and beautifil place. No single shop here so bring with you plenty of drink. The rickshaw cost 50 rp each way, but at 8 am there is a school bus going from main settlement and it cost just few rupees.
Enjoy! There is limited number of places like that in the world!
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Feb 26, 2007 07:00 PM Neil - Island in the sun...
Beautiful and hot Andamans... It is not difficult to get from Port Blair to Neil Island. Every day at 7.00 little byt fast ferry is departing the jetty in the capital of Andamans. I was there just 20 minutes before sailing... The hot sun was rising... Some people bought the tickets the day before but they allowed me to board the ferry and sold "lower class" ticket for 150 rp. Most of the people onboard are locals so you have 2 hours of time to chat with them, to lough and to take your pics...
At 9 am we landed at the long jetty on Neil Island... Malwelous landscape around - emerald warer, green mangrove trees, white beach with little fishing boat just at the jetty.
What to do now? There are few guesthouses with huts along the beach - just turn right from the jetty or call the rickshaw... I decided to walk on sand... After few minutes I got sweaty, the weight of my backpack in the strong sun seems to be not 20 but 40 kgs.... First guesthouse: Cocon Beach was full... Second - "Tango Beach" also full.. They offered me sleeping in the hammock fo 50 rp - but you must have your own hammock. Sorry! Third GH - Pearl Beach has really the best beach on this side of the island - one hut cost just 100 rp - but all of them were full!...
They advise me to come back to the maim settlement at the jetty and call the government GH. It is not on the beach (5 min walk) but they had a space for me in 4-beds dormitory with fan and bath outside. It costs 150 rp. I found my bed in the paradise... Uff! Good night from the South Seas!
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Feb 25, 2007 07:00 PM From Andaman Islands...
Old, junk buses go along narrow and bumpy roads on Havelock Island. The fare is only 3 - 5 rp but sometimes you must for the bus up to one hour... In the village no. 3 there is little vegetable bazaar to buy inexpensive vegies: papaya cost 10 rp, bananas 1 rp each, mangoes and eggs: 3 rp each. In the guesthous you will pay more - they offer the meals - 30 rp for omlette, 45 per fried rice with vegies...
I enjoy the beauty of the island. It is time for swimming, snorkeling and taking pictures of the picturesque spots.
In the afternoon I board the inter-island boat again...
Only limited public boats are cruising beetween the islands so if you want to move from one island to the other you must often wait few days or to come back to the capital - Port Blair. That's what I did today - tommorrow in the morning I plan to sail to the next paradise island - Neil. Greetings from the hot and humid Andamans!
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Feb 24, 2007 07:00 PM Havelock Island - my tropical Paradise
It is the archipelago of 572 tropical islands - but only 36 of them are inhabited... Incredible corals and color fish, great diving and snorkeling. Deserted beaches and still limited acommodation and tourist services... Andamans became famous... More and more people come here - that's why it is not easy to find a bed in the guesthouse...
The beach next to the camp where I spent my last night was called by TIME magazine "the best beach in Asia". Out from my hoprrible tent I was laying there on the sand at 4 am looking into dissapearing stars.
The beach is really wide and nice. And I did not see there any destruction caused by the famous tsunami - two years ago...
I moved to the opposite side of the island - to The "Eco Villa".
It was also full but friendle fellow from Israel invaited me to share his hut (thanks a lot Guy!). They charge here 300 rp per hut - 10 m from the lovely beach, under palms and mango trees. I was swimming in the crystal-clear water. The I took a walk - visiting villages, taking pictures of the local people... They are very nice...
Yes, this is one of these marvelous places on earth...
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Feb 23, 2007 07:00 PM I reached legendary Andaman Islands
Since a long time it was my drem to see the Andamans... Today in the morning in Madras airport I boarded a flight to the capital of the Archipelago of Anadaman - Port Blair. It is not popular destination - half of the plane was empty... After two hours over the blue ocean I saw in the window couple of green islands... Soon we landed in the little, empty airport. It was hot and humid. Foreigners nee special permit to stay here - but it is now just the formality - we filled the form and got the permit printed on the computer printer in 5 minutes. I reachech one more destination of my dreams...
I was reading that Port Blair is just one of Indian Provincial towns - nothing special - so I decided to take a moto-rickshaw from the airport to the jetty - it cost me 40 rp after bargaining... At the gate of the port they said: yes there is ferry departing to the Havelock Island at 2 pm but all tickets are sold... What should I do?
Somebody said: go to the ship and ask the crew! I went there - in the little space of the share there was waiting more people hoping that they will convince sailors to take them anyway!
It works! I paid 200 rp and they allowed me to board the ship... We departed soon... After 2.5 hours sailing in the blue ocean we reached Halelock Island jetty. Police checked our permits... Rickshaw took me to the to the GH. It was full! Next also full and the others also!
It was dark around when I found the only available accommodation: little tent on the campsite
at no.7 village (villages have no names here but numbers). It was horrible night in the hot, crampy tent without the materass, with mosquitoes... No water at all in the campsite - sea water at the beach only!
Sometimes have you pay high price to make your dreams true!
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Feb 22, 2007 07:00 PM The great temple of Madurai
Tourists are coming to Madurai for the famous Hindu Temple of Sri Meenakshi. You will set its 12 highly decorated towers - gopurams from the distance... The highest rises to 45 - 50 m. If you will come closer you will see that each tower is adorned by thousands of carvings of celestial and animal figures. It seems like a big "kitch" - but it Hindu art and is hard to see other such a place in the world...
Entering you must leave you shoes at the gate. It is free but the "donation" of 5 rp will be apprecciated... Socks are not allowed, so you will go barefoot to the wide courtyard. There is a "hall of 1000 pillars" converted into museum (entry fee 5 rp only) but much more interesting is to go into the inner temple to watch how the people pray there and do offerings. Regarding the atmosphere it is one of the most impressive temples I saw in my life... Flowers, candels, priests, smoke in the dark corridors and the sculptures of the Gods...
I spent in The Sri Meenakshi Temple more then 3 hours...
In the afternoon I visited other interesting place: Tirumalai Nayak Palace built in 17th century. They charge from foreigners 50 rp for entry here (10 rp from locals). The courtyard of the palace with giant colums is enormous - it is one of the most imposing palaces in Asia... Sorry - it requires restoration...
The museum of Mahatma Ghandi lies on the other side of the river - quite far - so I took the cyclo rickshaw to get there - it is free with interesting display of Ghandi life and the history of India...
Tonight I took again the Indian train to get to Chennai - and I believe that tomorrow I will catch my flight to the Andamans!
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Feb 21, 2007 07:00 PM South India by bus...
Train gives you here more comfort then those junk buses. But sometimes the choice is limited. This is a long way around the mountains by train from Cochin to Madurai. There is only a road climbing the range of West Ghats and there are 3 buses per day departing from Cochin-Ernakulam station to Madurai. The ticket cost 162 rupees.
This is semi-deluxe service - it means there is no a/c but there is glass in the windows (it could be hard to close or to open some of them). It took me 9 hours to move by such a semi-deluxe to Madurai. The landscapes on the route are beautiful. And when you reach the pass it is very pleasantly cool there. Is you are overheated it is possible to stay there in the little guesthouses... There are plantantions of the tea and spice gardens.
Before we reached Madurai I saw also many interesting rock formations. When the bus landed at the new bus station on the outskirts of Madurai I found motocycle rickshaw to take me to the center of this provincial (more then 1 million people) city. I can recommend TM Lodge close to the railway station - they charge only 200 rp per clean single room with fan and bath and 340 for twin... But there are no mosquito nets in the windows so I found my very useful... Bring your with you!
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