After six weeks living in Tegeta, a rural community on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania I am moving on. The volunteer work has not been all I expected and so tomorrow I move to Arusha in the North of Tanzania where hopefully I'll be kept busy and the volunteer experience will improve.
So, for a little bit of fun and to give a glimpse of life in this part of the world the following are a series of my personal observations over the last six weeks. Some you may think are a little harsh, but they are observations nothing more!
1) Blue band is the only butter, it doesn't live in the fridge and no matter how hot it gets it just doesn't melt. What's in it??!
2) Mama and Max the two crazy dogs that insist on walking with us everywhere. Who's taking who for a walk in this relationship?
3) The constant cries of "Muzungo Muzungo" i.e. white person white person....so annoying I miss being anonymous.
4) Chipsy Mei Ei (and when ordered sounds like you are saying "Chips in my eye" a strange food obsession sold in every restaurant and on every street corner. Basically throw a load of chips in a frying pan, crack an egg over the top and cook like an omelet!
5) Kids who just come running up to you in the street and say "Give me money" and the day it happened once to often and I told the young boy to "F**k off" really not my finest hour! Patience is a virtue :-)
6) How come Tanzanians (and Africans generally from what I've encountered before)have perfect whites even though they wash them in cold, often dirty water?
7) The mother and child I saw collecting water with a bucket from a muddy puddle which had gathered in the middle of the road due partly to the rain and partly to the burst water pipe which nobody has tried to fix.
8) Why to people on bikes always cycle towards you giving you no space to get out of the way?
9) The lack of customer service as we know it! Shop keepers, bar staff and waiters so often look at you as if they are doing you a favour.
10) How no shop, bar, restaurant, hotel ever has any change.
11) So often being charged "Muzungo price" i.e. being ripped off
12) The restaurants all around Dar es Salaam who don't have menus because they all serve the same; chipsy mei ei, fish, kuku, rice...the only thing that varies is the price and then not only from restaurant to restaurant but from day to day and sometimes from person to person eating together!
13) The common phrase you hear so often in bars and restaurants after you have ordered "xxxx is finished" and always so much of the menu is "finished" it really would be easier if they just told you on arrival what they actually have.
14) Not being able to tell where agricultural land starts and stops.
15) Nobody and nothing is ever on time. People are always late for meetings, events always start late and not just a few minutes often hours. And the phrase which always accompanies their arrival if you dare mention the lateness "This is Africa poly poly (slowly slowly) relax"
16) Power cuts happen nearly ever other day - where did I put the candles again?
17) People wearing T-Shirts with the most random words. One lady a few weeks ago was wearing a Thames Valley University T-shirt, others are from American colleges, football teams from around the world, phrases such as "you can have my sister", from fun runs completed in 1998 and new years parties from 2000. Its like watching the last ten years of history walking around on the backs of Tanzania's poorest. I often wonder if they know the significance the T-shirt might once have had to its previous owner? I'd love to track the life of the T-shirts; from raw materials to production to initial sales and then to their current owner. Maybe a website should be launched: T-shirt-tracker.com
18) The longest yet most friendly greeting on earth. "Jambo" Jambo "Mambo Vipi" Poa "Habari" Nsuri. And all that you've established is that you are both OK. Some days it wears you out and other days it reminds you just what a laid back friendly place Tanzania really is.
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Time and Transport
If there were two re-occurring themes to our 3 weeks in Mozambique they were Time: or rather nobody paying attention to time and transport: or rather the pain and hassle which seems to accompany all journeys by public transport. Most buses leave at 4:30am, well that's when they say they are going to leave, in reality it can be hours later and when I say bus what actually arrives is often a truck with far too many people squashed in the back between the sacks of rice, fire wood, live goats, chickens and even a bag of live crabs on one occasion!
The further we ventured north the more we realised that our ambition to travel the whole country overland including the notorious border crossing into Tanzania was just not physically possible in the 3 weeks we had and if we did attempt it our stress levels would sky rocket out of control, so we made a small compromise and flew from Beira to Pemba (the 1hr flight saving us 3 days of buses) and from Pemba to Dar es salaam (another 1 hour flight saving us the best part of 5 days worth of buses and boats). The experience we had on our last bus trip from Ibo island back to Pemba confirmed that this was indeed a very wise decision! About 10km out of Pemba the police patrol post stopped the truck we were in and insisted on seeing the passports of the two conspicuous white girls...they had soon found what they thought was a problem with our Visas and out of the truck we got following the policeman who had taken our passports. 20 minutes of argument later we were still without passports, very unclear what the problem was and the truck had to leave us...so there we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, no transport and 2 laughing policemen joking about us becoming their wives. With the last few seconds of battery I had left on my phone we called the only person we knew in Pemba, Peter the man who owned the accommodation we were about to go and stay at - hearing the panic in our voice he was with us in minutes along with a local staff member and they two tried to get the police to see that there really wasnt any problem. They insisted on taking us to the police station for the commander to resolve (although we had to drive said policeman as they don't have their own cars!) we waited and waited and then the police chief arrived, so totally drunk that he couldn't even cross the road, in fact he fell asleep on the pavement and so more waiting....Shelley and I were having visions of spending the night in a Mozambique jail (not an experience either of us wanted...especially as there was NOTHING WRONG!!) but Peter was our saviour and 2.5hrs later we left the station complete with passports.
There are so many other stories I could tell; of not being able to find food or drink on Ibo Island, the bar that had no drinks, the bus scam that nearly left us stranded, the crazy local Tipo Tinto rum fueled nights in Tofo and the constant waiting around in the early hours, but they can all wait so I have something to talk about when back in London.
The route for those interested:
Jo'burg - Maputo - Tofo - Vilankulos - Biera - Pemba - Ibo island - Pemba - Dar es salaam.....
Keep an eye out for:
The Times travel supplement featuring Mozambique and especially a photo of 2 slightly scruffy looking backpackers!
The further we ventured north the more we realised that our ambition to travel the whole country overland including the notorious border crossing into Tanzania was just not physically possible in the 3 weeks we had and if we did attempt it our stress levels would sky rocket out of control, so we made a small compromise and flew from Beira to Pemba (the 1hr flight saving us 3 days of buses) and from Pemba to Dar es salaam (another 1 hour flight saving us the best part of 5 days worth of buses and boats). The experience we had on our last bus trip from Ibo island back to Pemba confirmed that this was indeed a very wise decision! About 10km out of Pemba the police patrol post stopped the truck we were in and insisted on seeing the passports of the two conspicuous white girls...they had soon found what they thought was a problem with our Visas and out of the truck we got following the policeman who had taken our passports. 20 minutes of argument later we were still without passports, very unclear what the problem was and the truck had to leave us...so there we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, no transport and 2 laughing policemen joking about us becoming their wives. With the last few seconds of battery I had left on my phone we called the only person we knew in Pemba, Peter the man who owned the accommodation we were about to go and stay at - hearing the panic in our voice he was with us in minutes along with a local staff member and they two tried to get the police to see that there really wasnt any problem. They insisted on taking us to the police station for the commander to resolve (although we had to drive said policeman as they don't have their own cars!) we waited and waited and then the police chief arrived, so totally drunk that he couldn't even cross the road, in fact he fell asleep on the pavement and so more waiting....Shelley and I were having visions of spending the night in a Mozambique jail (not an experience either of us wanted...especially as there was NOTHING WRONG!!) but Peter was our saviour and 2.5hrs later we left the station complete with passports.
There are so many other stories I could tell; of not being able to find food or drink on Ibo Island, the bar that had no drinks, the bus scam that nearly left us stranded, the crazy local Tipo Tinto rum fueled nights in Tofo and the constant waiting around in the early hours, but they can all wait so I have something to talk about when back in London.
The route for those interested:
Jo'burg - Maputo - Tofo - Vilankulos - Biera - Pemba - Ibo island - Pemba - Dar es salaam.....
Keep an eye out for:
The Times travel supplement featuring Mozambique and especially a photo of 2 slightly scruffy looking backpackers!
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
From vine to Bottle
So this was the bit everyone (yes you!!) was excited about...in fact it was the bit I was excited about too. How cool to spend 3 weeks in one of the top wine regions of the world learning to make wine. Well, it lived up to every expectation and more. The Barossa valley is stunning, a truly beautiful part of the world and I was lucky enough to not only have the best guide of the area...yes the one and only travel buddy Shelley, but also to be staying with Chris and Dennis Canute in their home and at Rusden winery. My time was pretty much split between two wineries: Rusden and Massena, both small, boutique and reliant on old fashioned manual labour - ie everything is done by hand! Within a few hours I realised that I was gonna learn more than I'd ever imagined and what with full on long hard days at the winery and even more educational conversations over dinner in the evening, plus wine tasting at the weekends (in addition of course to more decent bottles on a Tuesday night than I've ever had in my life!) and you begin to get a picture of how the three weeks panned out.
The guys at Massena and Rusden were excellent teachers and by the end of the stay I had helped in every part of the process completed during vintage: grape picking, crushing, pump over after pump over after pump over during fermentation, testing temperatures and alcohol levels, cleaning and filling barrels and even labeling bottles for export. My old science teachers would have been shocked and maybe proud that I can use some bits of lab equipment at least and my PE teacher would never recognise the upper body arm strength or muscles I now have!! One afternoon thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend (yes this is Barossa life!) I had the amazing opportunity to see first hand how Penfolds make their wine. kitted out with hard hat and bright yellow jacket I got to see the equipment and processes of one of the worlds largest and most successful wineries - the process is very similar but its amazing how little is done by hand and how much is done at the press of a button - rock on the small wineries!
So, if you get the chance try a bottle from one of the following.... leave it until the 2008 vintage is out and you'll have to contend with my hands and feet being apart of the good stuff (well....not exactly but you know what I mean!) and me talking about it endlessly :-)
http://www.rusdenwines.com.au/mos/
http://www.massena.com.au/wines/
Top two tips for other Barossa wines that you really shouldn't go through life without trying:
1) Yalumba D.... such a great sparkling red. However if you can't find this just make sure you try a sparkling red - the good folk of the Barossa shouldn't be allowed to keep this to themselves any longer!!
2) Rockford basket press Shiraz - failing that anything from Rockford rocks the big one, including their winery and staff which goes down as the best of the best of my winery visits
The guys at Massena and Rusden were excellent teachers and by the end of the stay I had helped in every part of the process completed during vintage: grape picking, crushing, pump over after pump over after pump over during fermentation, testing temperatures and alcohol levels, cleaning and filling barrels and even labeling bottles for export. My old science teachers would have been shocked and maybe proud that I can use some bits of lab equipment at least and my PE teacher would never recognise the upper body arm strength or muscles I now have!! One afternoon thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend (yes this is Barossa life!) I had the amazing opportunity to see first hand how Penfolds make their wine. kitted out with hard hat and bright yellow jacket I got to see the equipment and processes of one of the worlds largest and most successful wineries - the process is very similar but its amazing how little is done by hand and how much is done at the press of a button - rock on the small wineries!
So, if you get the chance try a bottle from one of the following.... leave it until the 2008 vintage is out and you'll have to contend with my hands and feet being apart of the good stuff (well....not exactly but you know what I mean!) and me talking about it endlessly :-)
http://www.rusdenwines.com.au/mos/
http://www.massena.com.au/wines/
Top two tips for other Barossa wines that you really shouldn't go through life without trying:
1) Yalumba D.... such a great sparkling red. However if you can't find this just make sure you try a sparkling red - the good folk of the Barossa shouldn't be allowed to keep this to themselves any longer!!
2) Rockford basket press Shiraz - failing that anything from Rockford rocks the big one, including their winery and staff which goes down as the best of the best of my winery visits
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Kaka Uluru...
My introduction to the Northern Territory set the scene for the next few weeks - a 36hour bus ride with vast amounts of nothing to look at and fellow passengers who were more interested in where their next beer was coming from and when the Pokies room opened than anything else. Whether its the hot humid temperature or the lack of people that does it I don't know, but there is definitely something a little odd about the people up north! One thing that hadn't changed was the weather and so I am probably one of the few people in the world that has seen Kakadu National park in the rainy season...and boy did it rain! The park lived up to all expectations, the scenery is stunning with creeks, bilabongs and rivers loosing their boundaries and flowing as one massive expanse of water. There were crocodile warning signs everywhere but the closest I got was seeing charlie the stuffed buffalo as featured in the film crocodile dundee behind the bar of a local roadhouse! All the locals I'd spoken to said that the little known and off the tourist track, Litchfield national park was well worth a visit, and I would now totally recommend it. the mighty Wangi falls, the prehistoric wilderness of Tolmer falls and the intriguing magnetic termite mounds with their incredible design; its amazing to think that the knowledge of which direction to build them for optimum light and heat is passed down from generation to generation - clever little species!
A further 22 hours later and I arrived in Alice springs where travel buddy Shelley reappeared as if my magic (at least using one of those big metal birds...) and our outback adventure began. Uluru is one of those icons which you grow up seeing pictures of and have a clear idea in your mind of what it will be like - well, it was better, much much better than I'd expected. It is a massive rock in the middle of the dessert, but it is so beautiful and contains so much history and memory. For the local aboriginal people it is a sacred site and as a result each cave, every watering hole, each crack and bend of the rock tells a story. Walking around it you appreciate the details, its not smooth as I'd imagined, there are jagged edges, caves with cave paintings, visible layers in the rocks geology and a whole lot of vegetation close by. Watching the sunset behind the rock and the colours changing before your eyes was an awesome site, seeing that massive rock illuminated red is an experience which will be hard to forget.
Last stop in the outback was the crazy opal mining town of Coober Pedy. The town is weird! It looks and feels like the end of the world, its crazy hot , dusty and you rarely see a sole above ground. The majority of the population live in underground houses, as did we for our nights stay and that is where they seem to hang out during daylight hours at least. Sleeping 6 metres below ground was an odd experience, although its cooler the atmosphere is very flat - but I think it gives the biggest clue as to why the town folk are the way they are!
Missing: For those who were wondering if this travel lark is taking its toll here's my list of 5 things I'm missing
- Towels that dry you
- Internet access freely available whenever I want it
- Having ingredients to cook with
- Curry
- Never running out of books to read
A further 22 hours later and I arrived in Alice springs where travel buddy Shelley reappeared as if my magic (at least using one of those big metal birds...) and our outback adventure began. Uluru is one of those icons which you grow up seeing pictures of and have a clear idea in your mind of what it will be like - well, it was better, much much better than I'd expected. It is a massive rock in the middle of the dessert, but it is so beautiful and contains so much history and memory. For the local aboriginal people it is a sacred site and as a result each cave, every watering hole, each crack and bend of the rock tells a story. Walking around it you appreciate the details, its not smooth as I'd imagined, there are jagged edges, caves with cave paintings, visible layers in the rocks geology and a whole lot of vegetation close by. Watching the sunset behind the rock and the colours changing before your eyes was an awesome site, seeing that massive rock illuminated red is an experience which will be hard to forget.
Last stop in the outback was the crazy opal mining town of Coober Pedy. The town is weird! It looks and feels like the end of the world, its crazy hot , dusty and you rarely see a sole above ground. The majority of the population live in underground houses, as did we for our nights stay and that is where they seem to hang out during daylight hours at least. Sleeping 6 metres below ground was an odd experience, although its cooler the atmosphere is very flat - but I think it gives the biggest clue as to why the town folk are the way they are!
Missing: For those who were wondering if this travel lark is taking its toll here's my list of 5 things I'm missing
- Towels that dry you
- Internet access freely available whenever I want it
- Having ingredients to cook with
- Curry
- Never running out of books to read
Monday, 25 February 2008
Stranded in 1770
The Australian leg of the journey began in Brisbane and after 3 months in Asia I was looking forward to a change of scenery and a change of culture, so it came as somewhat of a surprise when I got off the shuttle bus and the first thing I saw was a Chinese temple - and yes, it was definitely Chinese I am now well versed in these things! Without realising I had booked myself into the only hostel in China town! Since then its been Ausie "culture" all the way. Probably the biggest surprise has been just how wet rainy season can be....the picture I'd had of bright blue Sky's, sunny days lazing on the beach and dry landscapes has been well and truly shattered. Queensland is experiencing its wettest rainy season in decades and the floods have been as extreme as those seen in England last summer.
After soaking up the sights of Brisbane: The South Bank beach, Botanical gardens, City hall & the XXXX brewery tour, I headed up the sunshine coast, stopping in Noosa for a few days of walking in the National park and meandering around the Euumundi markets before heading over to Fraser Island for 3 days of luxury camping and the most amazing tour of the island. The island is full of lakes , rain forests and sand dunes and is completely made of sand (apparently more sand than the Sahara) which is really hard to believe when you see the scope and variety of vegetation and the speed in which the landscape changes from rain Forest to transitional Forest to desert. The lakes are stunning; green, yellow and blue. Several are fresh water which is purely from rain and gets stored by a thick layer of vegetation on top of the sand - they are some of the only lakes of their kind in the world. As well as swimming in lakes and creeks, we walked through forests and went on a bush tucker walk with two aboriginal guys who introduced us to some of the local delicacies and gave us an insight into some of their beliefs through dream time stories - listening to them was fascinating and their creation story particularly is very similar to that of many world religions. Their name for the island is K'guri after the goddess who gave up the spirit world to become the very essence of the island and means Paradise, a much more apt name than Fraser island named after the woman which many say was the catalyst for the brutal slaughter of the Aboriginal people across Australia (today there are zero full blood aboriginals remaining).
In a bid to get off the main tourist route for a day I hopped off the bus at a small town called 1770 (yup - only town in the world with a number for a name...prizes for guessing which year Captain Cook first arrived??) other than a beautiful beach, which is the furthest north you can surf without a stinger suit, there is nothing there and I mean absolutely nothing.... which would have been fine, except the rains kept coming and the waters kept rising and the only road in/out of town flooded so badly that I ended up stuck there for 7 days! After watching every DVD Greg the hostel manager owned and drinking him out of tea, he drove us to see the extent of the flooding...and I think to prove he wasn't telling porkies to keep us longer at the hostel! Well, the road was indeed flooded, the bridge was under 12 feet of water and you could just see the tops of some of the road signs poking up above the water. In several spots massive sections of the tarmac road had been lifted by the water and now made their home on the grass banks - truly a sight seen to be believed. There were 7 of us girls trapped in the same position, so although dull and frustrating at times we had a lazy few days and big celebrations when greyhound finally rang to say the bus out of town was running!
The other true highlight of the Queensland coast is the Great Barrier Reef and the day I picked for my sailing trip was hot and sunny and perfect conditions for sailing and snorkeling. The reef was spectacular, more amazing than I could ever have imagined. At low tide especially you are close enough to touch the reef when snorkeling (extra care needed so you don't!) the coral is awesome, so many vibrant colours and textures and fish of every colour and size, including several reef sharks, which although not dangerous look pretty scary! swim all around you. A truly awe inspiring day and a fascinating insight into life below the waters.
Next stop (after a 36 hour bus ride) Darwin and the Northern Territory....
The Queensland route: Brisbane, Noosa, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island, 1770, Airlie Beach, Cairns, Townsville..... and into the Northern Territory....
After soaking up the sights of Brisbane: The South Bank beach, Botanical gardens, City hall & the XXXX brewery tour, I headed up the sunshine coast, stopping in Noosa for a few days of walking in the National park and meandering around the Euumundi markets before heading over to Fraser Island for 3 days of luxury camping and the most amazing tour of the island. The island is full of lakes , rain forests and sand dunes and is completely made of sand (apparently more sand than the Sahara) which is really hard to believe when you see the scope and variety of vegetation and the speed in which the landscape changes from rain Forest to transitional Forest to desert. The lakes are stunning; green, yellow and blue. Several are fresh water which is purely from rain and gets stored by a thick layer of vegetation on top of the sand - they are some of the only lakes of their kind in the world. As well as swimming in lakes and creeks, we walked through forests and went on a bush tucker walk with two aboriginal guys who introduced us to some of the local delicacies and gave us an insight into some of their beliefs through dream time stories - listening to them was fascinating and their creation story particularly is very similar to that of many world religions. Their name for the island is K'guri after the goddess who gave up the spirit world to become the very essence of the island and means Paradise, a much more apt name than Fraser island named after the woman which many say was the catalyst for the brutal slaughter of the Aboriginal people across Australia (today there are zero full blood aboriginals remaining).
In a bid to get off the main tourist route for a day I hopped off the bus at a small town called 1770 (yup - only town in the world with a number for a name...prizes for guessing which year Captain Cook first arrived??) other than a beautiful beach, which is the furthest north you can surf without a stinger suit, there is nothing there and I mean absolutely nothing.... which would have been fine, except the rains kept coming and the waters kept rising and the only road in/out of town flooded so badly that I ended up stuck there for 7 days! After watching every DVD Greg the hostel manager owned and drinking him out of tea, he drove us to see the extent of the flooding...and I think to prove he wasn't telling porkies to keep us longer at the hostel! Well, the road was indeed flooded, the bridge was under 12 feet of water and you could just see the tops of some of the road signs poking up above the water. In several spots massive sections of the tarmac road had been lifted by the water and now made their home on the grass banks - truly a sight seen to be believed. There were 7 of us girls trapped in the same position, so although dull and frustrating at times we had a lazy few days and big celebrations when greyhound finally rang to say the bus out of town was running!
The other true highlight of the Queensland coast is the Great Barrier Reef and the day I picked for my sailing trip was hot and sunny and perfect conditions for sailing and snorkeling. The reef was spectacular, more amazing than I could ever have imagined. At low tide especially you are close enough to touch the reef when snorkeling (extra care needed so you don't!) the coral is awesome, so many vibrant colours and textures and fish of every colour and size, including several reef sharks, which although not dangerous look pretty scary! swim all around you. A truly awe inspiring day and a fascinating insight into life below the waters.
Next stop (after a 36 hour bus ride) Darwin and the Northern Territory....
The Queensland route: Brisbane, Noosa, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island, 1770, Airlie Beach, Cairns, Townsville..... and into the Northern Territory....
Monday, 28 January 2008
A fling with a Sling...
14 countries, 2 continents, 14 nights spent on trains and countless train & bus journeys later and I've made it from London to Singapore overland - Its been an amazing experience and a real privilege to see the changes in landscape, cultures and communities as I've crossed each boarder. But, tonight the over landing ends for a while as I board my first plane and make the 7hr 50min journey to Brisbane - finally I get to go to the land of Oz and see what all the fuss is about!
Being in Singapore is like living in a real life Vegas...the streets are perfectly clean, tall trees line every street, the MRT (underground train) runs to time, the platforms are spotless and people walk in an orderly fashion and it is impossible to walk for 5 minutes without coming across a shopping mal which would rival any you've ever been to anywhere in the world! It's a far cry from the other countries I've visited in Asia and although I admire their prosperity and indeed the amazing way they integrate the various people groups resident in the city, it almost feels to clean, to pure, to perfect and as a result lacks the interest or intrigue of its neighbours. however, the biggest reason for needing to limit my stay here to a couple of days is more practical - Its soooo expensive!! Yes, on my first night I did the obligatory trip to the raffles hotel long bar for a Singapore Sling, but at S$24++ a time, one was enough before heading back to the hostel for cans of tiger on the roof!
So, having done the city bus tour, river boat cruise, spent time meandering my way through the botanical gardens, rode the cable car across to Sentosa Island and visited the famous landing site of Sir Raffels and the British East India company, its time to bid farewell to Asia and reflect on the amazing journey which started at Waterloo Station back in October and has been a rolercoaster ride which is maybe best described as the longest but most informative history/geography field trip I've ever undertaken.
Now its time to click those shiny red shoes, avoid the lions, tigers and bears - I'm off to see the Wizard....
Being in Singapore is like living in a real life Vegas...the streets are perfectly clean, tall trees line every street, the MRT (underground train) runs to time, the platforms are spotless and people walk in an orderly fashion and it is impossible to walk for 5 minutes without coming across a shopping mal which would rival any you've ever been to anywhere in the world! It's a far cry from the other countries I've visited in Asia and although I admire their prosperity and indeed the amazing way they integrate the various people groups resident in the city, it almost feels to clean, to pure, to perfect and as a result lacks the interest or intrigue of its neighbours. however, the biggest reason for needing to limit my stay here to a couple of days is more practical - Its soooo expensive!! Yes, on my first night I did the obligatory trip to the raffles hotel long bar for a Singapore Sling, but at S$24++ a time, one was enough before heading back to the hostel for cans of tiger on the roof!
So, having done the city bus tour, river boat cruise, spent time meandering my way through the botanical gardens, rode the cable car across to Sentosa Island and visited the famous landing site of Sir Raffels and the British East India company, its time to bid farewell to Asia and reflect on the amazing journey which started at Waterloo Station back in October and has been a rolercoaster ride which is maybe best described as the longest but most informative history/geography field trip I've ever undertaken.
Now its time to click those shiny red shoes, avoid the lions, tigers and bears - I'm off to see the Wizard....
Friday, 25 January 2008
They say things happen in threes....
Malaysia is definitely a beautiful country, rich with jungles, tea plantations, strawberry farms and even the motorways are bordered with trees and blooming flowers.
I could tell you all about the beauty - the amazing trek through the jungle in search of the elusive rafflesia flower, which we did find; its only in flower 3 weeks a year and hides deep in the jungle, mind at a metre wide its worth the walk! -the BOH tea plantation with its traditional methods of growing, harvesting and producing Malaysia's top brand - The full moon in the sky above the Cameron Highlands stunningly illuminated by a mighty lightening storm and glistening with 5 different coloured rings circling it - The man made wonder which is the Kuala Lumpur skyline - and the Dutch/Chinese/british influenced architecture of Melaka....
...However, Malaysia for me more than anything has been a string of accidents: First I got hit by a bus (no laughing please!) resulting in a rather nasty bruised left arm (actually I'm very lucky it wasn't broken) Second I slipped in the bathroom and went flying across the hotel room landing on my right knee (also now sore and bruised!) Third I had a bit of a fall resulting in my left ankle being bandaged up (and no walking for 3 days), an infection in my left leg and I now have one less toe nail than previous.... so all in all I crossed the boarder into Singapore happy to be leaving but looking rather less fit than when I'd arrived in Malaysia 10 days ago!
For those who enjoy lists - here are my top Malaysia spots:
1) Proton cars & car dealerships are two a penny
2) Tesco is everywhere
3) A pint of ale costs a rather off putting three pounds eighty three pence!
4) Buddha is never alone, there are always multiples, usually thousands plus plus
5) Buses are always full of random packages
6) English football is on every TV screen
7) All vehicles are potential death traps!
I could tell you all about the beauty - the amazing trek through the jungle in search of the elusive rafflesia flower, which we did find; its only in flower 3 weeks a year and hides deep in the jungle, mind at a metre wide its worth the walk! -the BOH tea plantation with its traditional methods of growing, harvesting and producing Malaysia's top brand - The full moon in the sky above the Cameron Highlands stunningly illuminated by a mighty lightening storm and glistening with 5 different coloured rings circling it - The man made wonder which is the Kuala Lumpur skyline - and the Dutch/Chinese/british influenced architecture of Melaka....
...However, Malaysia for me more than anything has been a string of accidents: First I got hit by a bus (no laughing please!) resulting in a rather nasty bruised left arm (actually I'm very lucky it wasn't broken) Second I slipped in the bathroom and went flying across the hotel room landing on my right knee (also now sore and bruised!) Third I had a bit of a fall resulting in my left ankle being bandaged up (and no walking for 3 days), an infection in my left leg and I now have one less toe nail than previous.... so all in all I crossed the boarder into Singapore happy to be leaving but looking rather less fit than when I'd arrived in Malaysia 10 days ago!
For those who enjoy lists - here are my top Malaysia spots:
1) Proton cars & car dealerships are two a penny
2) Tesco is everywhere
3) A pint of ale costs a rather off putting three pounds eighty three pence!
4) Buddha is never alone, there are always multiples, usually thousands plus plus
5) Buses are always full of random packages
6) English football is on every TV screen
7) All vehicles are potential death traps!
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