Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Premature return of Wanderlust

Thanks to the freezing and birdless Nor-westerlies that are ravaging Portland at the moment, i've got a terrible case of itchy feet, going through the trips pictures really doesn't help, so to try and cure me i'm going to write a list of all the stuff about India and travelling in general that I really am not missing now i'm home.

Everything being spicy, even Ketchup, what the hells that about!

Crappy/different beds: After leaving Goa, for the final 2 weeeks of th trip we spent every single night at a different hotel, thanks to the sheer number of sites we were trying to visit. It's exciting at first but soon gets to you, so it is quite nice to have spent a few consecutive days in my own cosy bed now.

Asiopop: I guess that whats its called, whatever, its total shit, and its blaring out of every single teashop, auto-rickshaw and bus in the whole bleeding contintent.

The smell: Anyone whos been to any vaguely urban part of Asia will understand this, it stinks, a less than salubrious mix of rotting or burning rubbish, human excrement and car fumes. Once I got back to Portland spent most of the afternoon stood up on the West Cliffs gulping in the fresh sea-breezes trying to cleanse my lungs (and failing to spot the first Sand Martin of the year of course!)

Buses: Nuff said. Stagecoach South-west, all is forgiven.

Being English: Well, being any nationalit other than Indian. Entrance fees for museums/forts/National Parks etc. are massively fixed to rip-off foreigners, usually something like 10rs for an Indian, and 250rs for a foreigner, plus extra charges if you want to take in a camera, or breathe during your visit. Ok, its still ridiculously cheap, but if your on a long trip it royally buggers you.

Insects: I decided to be 'ard and not bother taking Malaria Tabs (using the crappy new-age excuse of not liking to ingest artificial toxins into my body, rather than just admitting that i didnt want to cough up for them). So far it looks like i've gotten away with it, fingers crossed!

Lack of Real Ale: Kingfisher is a decent short-term substitute, but 2 months without a pint of Champion. Tribute or Broadside, i'm not sure how I managed!

Has that helped, has it bollocks!!
If the blog suddenly doesnt get updated for a couple of months, its cos i've got bored and buggered off somewhere more interesting.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Joe - itchy feet, yeah, tell me about it. I have the same affliction and am now planning a trip to SE Asia next winter.
It took me about three weeks after returning from Ecuador to get itchy feet.