Taiwan Week 3 20-27th January 2011

Week 3 involved 2 more teaching shifts that went well, came prepared with 2 crosswords for each class that kept them interested enough along with various games I devised to keep them quiet. The first lesson was on the continents and second on the solar system…. kids seemed to enjoy the classes and was easy money for myself.

Later in the week went to a house warming party where I met some other ex-pats who were teaching over here and got some good tips on travel in the rest of south east Asia. Also spent an afternoon on the Maokong Gondola in the hills to the south east of the city. A cool trip high over the hills with a glass bottomed carriage. Stopped off at the awesome mountain temple of Zhian that overlooked the city. Saw some amazing stonework carvings and temple ornamentation there. ( see photo).

The highlight of the week though, and one of the highlights of the whole trip, was a two day excursion to the Taroko Gorge a 3 hour train ride to the south. Headed off with Balloon city Rob and a borrowed tent. Only working in the afternoons had meant my daytimes had been flipped upside down and I was typically staying up until 3am and getting up between midday and two in the afternoon. Due to a extra long lie-in and a timing mix up, we almost missed out 5pm train from Taipei and had to run to the platform.
Have done a lot of travelling with Rob in the past and punctuality has never been our strong point……..

Once onboard the train all was well, for the 3 hour trip the price was around 15pounds, the leg room on the train was amazing and they served really good hot meals airplane style. We arrived at our stop at the town of Walien just after 8pm and negotiated a cheap hotel room near the station. Went out for a dinner and a few beers, unfortunately this was not as cheap as the accommodation, with the cheapest pint being around a fiver…nether the less enjoyed my pint and half of Hoegarden served in an extra large glass. With the seaside town being virtually dead in the winter off season had an early night and got up early the next morn to get up into the Taroko area.( see various photos)

The original plan had been to rent scooters for two days, but with the cheapest price in town being about a tenner a day, decided to just get the local bus. Managed to just catch the next service going from the station after a fortunate enquiry at the tourist information post we almost walked by.

After about an hour of driving through the Walien area we entered the national park gates and the road curved up sharply into the hills along a river gorge the likes of I had never seen before. The depth of the gorge was truly impressive with mountain tunnels running along the road and waterfalls falling into the river below. Rockfalls and landslides were common especially around the time of year we were there. The aftermath of previous rockfalls was clear to see along the road…..

After some confusion with the driver as to where we wanted to get off and an extra ticket purchase we left the bus at our campsite about halfway up the gorge along a beautiful meander in the river. The campsite was free with free facilities ( awesome). And sat on a shallow terraced ridge between the river cliffs and the road and mountain sides behind. The pitches were on wooden platforms that kept the tent floors dry. A good idea but pretty hard to sleep on. Luckily I had my trusted air mattress……Rob wasn’t so lucky and was in for an uncomfortable night’s sleep….

By the time we were set up it was around 1.30pm, we instantly set off on one of the longer hikes in the area. A 5km hill hike to a natural hot springs on the other side of the mountain. The trails were fantastic, although tiring. The first section was a steep set of wooden plank stairs that were hard work on the legs. Often the trail was so steep that you had to use a rope of chain to drag yourself up, with a hundred foot drop just a few feet away. The surrounding forests were lush though and every now and then an amazing valley view would appear out of the fog.( see photos) The second section was along a long ridge before we started to head down again. There were more ropes and chains to use on the way and we often had to repel ourselves down sections backwards. The recent rain had made the trail slippery and tricky, often the stairs would be made up of slippery slate type rocks, we both came close to stacking it completely on several occasions. A pretty dangerous and demanding trail, in fact the hot spring we were heading towards had recently been closed due to a rock fall killing 3 hikers while they soaked at bottom of the gorge.

After about 2.5t hours we reached a rope suspension bridge that crossed the gorge below us. To access it we had to use a vine that hung over a 15foot concrete wall…..the signs along the trail were pretty sketchy and there seemed to be no alternate route down.. so we climbed down cautiously. Safely on the side of the suspension bridge we were met by a group of 3 older Taiwanese hikers who were led by a ex military type in his mid sixties. He instantly showed us the way down to the hot springs. This involved taking the trail that had been closed following the rock fall incident. A set of stairs carved out of the cliff lead steeply down the side of the cliff to the spring below. The bottom quarter of the stairs had been eroded away by a stream that had run over them. Ended up skiing down the bottom section on our feet and then managing to land at the bottom without falling.

The ex army granddad insisted that we join them in the hot spring, which was cut into the rocks below the stairs and then flowed into pools near the river below. He also insisted on feeding us plenty of his fruit and these crazy but delicious beans that came in a shell similar to a peanut. The hot spring was about the depth of one and a half bathtubs and the size of a large hot tub. The water was seriously hot just on the edge of being bearable….I managed to stay in for a bout 20 seconds and emerged looking like Id fallen asleep under a sun bed. Then watched the drill sergeant pensioner float face down in the water for about 2 minutes…how the hell he did that without batting a eyelid I don’t know….hard core…

The springs were the perfect destination at the end of the hike and 20minutes or so steaming away around the sides of the pool warmed and recovered my aching muscles. After being force feed about 4 full handfuls of the peanut/beans each by the ex army guy, we said goodbye and managed to work our way back up the slippery downward section of the stairway with some difficulty. Once we got to the top we crossed the river on the bridge and found the only way to access the road on the other side was through a tunnel with a locked steel gate in the middle. Had to climb over a crawl space gap at the top of the gate and below the tunnel roof. Sharp rocks hung from the roof with jagged bits of metal lining the top of the gate. The tunnel was pitch black and wet , had to use my ipod as a flashlight and luckily we both managed to scale the gate without doing ourselves serious damage…..

Turns out that the whole trail we had walked had been closed due to dangerous conditions…however we had no idea about this until we had to break ourselves out. We passed the ex army pensioners S.U.V. on the side of the road further up the hill. How his party got into the hot springs remains a mystery although it wouldn’t surprise me if they had climbed over the gate also…..a good group of folks to have met, like most Taiwanese they were fantastically friendly…

By the time we hit the next town down the valley it was pitch dark and we had been walking down the road for an hour using the light of my ipod….this included heading through a few tunnels where there was no light whatsoever…..not the best place in the world to be walking down a road with no sidewalk…..

Stopped for dinner in a local restaurant and had an amazing beef noodle stew…food always tastes so much better after a hard day of hiking. After dinner another 30mins walking through pitch black mountain tunnels and steep sided roads brought us back to the campsite…..had an earlyish night after politely declining an insistent but friendly offer to join a group of locals who shared the campsite for dinner…..Fairplay one of the best hikes Ive ever done…the scenery was stunning and the trails were well maintained and offered a varied walk with just the right amount of danger to keep you concentrating.


Next day did another amazing day hike up an even steeper mountain trail….this time there were chain sections where you were pretty much rock-climbing….we were followed by a friendly local dog for the first half of the trip who pretty much ran up the tougher sections putting us to shame….A bamboo forest at the top of the first section lead to a steep sided and narrow path that curved round the mountain high above the valley floor below…..we then walked down a steep set of stairs to the valley bottom and an awesome waterfall ( see photo) following this there were a series of river tunnels some of which rained water on your head…..We eventually reached a section of the trail that was so badly damaged by rockslides it had been closed off…..a series of waterfalls flowing over the path above a deep drop was enough to deflate our bravado and we turned back and checked out a mountainside temple back in the closest village instead………


Had the tent packed up by 5pm and were waiting at the bus stop for the last bus back to Walien in time to catch our train….all the tourist info in the area was in Mandarin and our best bet after getting conflicting advice from the locals was that there should be a bus between 5-6. There was…….. and he happily drove right by us shaking his head as we tried to wave him down (curses !*&$!! )….still not sure if we were in the wrong place to catch the bus of if the driver was just being a jerk. In any case if it was the former the roads were quiet enough for him to stop and tell us…meaning we can draw the conclusion that either way that bus driver was a indeed a jerk!…..

After spending a few minutes discussing our options for catching our train back to Taipei, a taxi carrying one guy stopped and the driver offered to drive us all the way back to Walien station for the same price as the bus fair would have been!…. no need to even negotiate, what a result!

After another pleasant train journey got back to my room in Taipei and slept like a log. A fantastic short trip to one of the coolest natural landscapes Ive ever been to. Its not hard to see why Taroko Gorge is Taiwan’s number one tourist attraction……A longer hiking trip to national parks even further to the south is planned for my final week in the country….really looking forward now, esp. as there are more hot spring trails….a hot bath halfway through your hike really helps you endurance…(hopefully the next ones wont requires us to break into and out of them though).

So in conclusion another highly enjoyable week in Taiwan. Enjoyed my teaching hours again, brushed up my Chinese history, and got some fantastic exercise…..cant wait to explore more of the city in the next few days then more of the island at the end of next week……………

Taiwan Week 2 Taipei 12-19 January 2011

After a couple more days relaxing and exploring the city I got my first work as a substitute English teacher in an evening school. My job was to teach two lessons, first to a class of 9 year olds, then after 11 year olds. Each class was an hour long and there were about 12 students in each class.

Being close to Chinese new year holidays, the kids had already finished their work for that term. My job was basically to baby-sit them while playing games and talking in English. Decided to take my guitar in and teach them a bit about it, play a few games and sing a song or two. I had also been told it would be a good idea to make a cross word for the kids as a fallback in case they got out of hand.

I sat in the school reception area, a staff member lined up the kids and then I marched them down the hall to the cramped class room. The lesson started okay, kids were interested in the guitar but before long I was struggling to hold their attention. Decided to have a round of the “quiet game” to buy myself sometime . Split the class into two teams and then had a competition see which team could stay quietest longest. Worked for 5 mins and the kids found it hilarious as I did my best to put them off and make them speak.

Next I decided we would sing a class song. Had been told by the regular teacher before hand that the kids had learned jingle bells recently. I wrote the words on the board and dove into the first verse. Was expecting them to sing along happily as was told they loved songs. However the first verse was met with silence and staring faces which seemed to be asking “ who the hell is this guy with his crappy xmas song”. Within seconds the kids were messing around and throwing drinks cartons at each other……

“abort, abort”….had to fall onto back up plan and whipped out the word search. This was met with rounds of applause and the class quickly got their highlighter pens out and quieted down. …(there is no music critic worse than a nine year old kid I realised, and twelve of them had just given me the thumbs down, one cheeky girl even holding her ears and making out like the sound had hurt her…hmmmm no Evstival invite for these kids )

“Phew” I thought after the calm had settled “rescued that one”. A glance at the clock though showed that we were only 20mins into the class and I had already used up all my material with 40mins remaining……shit!, .managed to wing the rest of the class by playing team games with a sticky ball and a target in shape of guitar on the blackboard, and getting the kids to draw pictures for the last 10mins…

The second class of 11 years olds went better and apart from having to stop one potential fight at the beginning managed to maintain the kids interest for the lesson. Overall teaching the kids was a good experience and good money…..you can make a decent wage teaching a 30 hour week in Taiwan and with food and rent being relatively cheap its nice to know there is work available here if needed……Anyway had a few beers that night to recover from the most responsibility I had had on my shoulders since April.

The next day was my housemate Shaun’s girlfriend Ting’s birthday party. The party was at a “Hot Spring Hotel” in the hills to the north of the city. Taiwan is a volcanic Island and is dotted with natural hot springs. In the Beitou area of the city there is a series of large hotels built around a series of springs. The party was in a private karaoke enabled dining room (see photo) and was attended by a mix of about 12 local Taiwanese and foreigners. Had an amazing Chinese meal ( definitely the best Chinese I have ever tasted but I’m sure there will be more to follow), drank the local beer and sang karaoke songs for a few hours……

After drinking enough to be merry and filling up on good quality food was time to go in the hot spring. The public pools were separated into male and female sections (as the local custom was to hot spring in the nude.) There were 4 pools of varying temperature a steam room and massage area. The first pool was about the temp of a hot tub, the second a hotter hot tub, and the third was so hot you couldn’t stay more than 3-4minutes. Jumped from the hottest pool into the cold pool, what an amazing sensation!…. could feel the benefits to my circulation and the massage jets in the largest pool sorted out a few niggles in my muscles left over from India.

After an hour in the springs went back to the party room for some more drunken karaoke, my duet with Rob on “Runaway Train” was met with jeers from the rest of the room. The perfect karaoke compliment. Ended the night in a local nightclub where the dance floor seemed to comprise of western males and the local girls they were trying to hook up with, ended up leaving around 430am and then getting lost on the walk home, eventually got back at 6am after stopping at various 7-11 convenience stores along the way to eat their moderately priced ( but devoid of nutrition) sandwiches.

Had a mild hang over next day and the 7-11 sandwiches had killed my stomach, but was a great night overall, met some cool people and got a good insight into the local culture.

A couple of days later I went on a day trip to a Taoist temple in the north of the city at Guandu. One of the coolest places I’ve ever been. The huge temple complex sat on a hill between the town and the sea. A large main temple building with a heavily ornamented tile roof was surrounded by terraces with smaller temples and gardens. I entered the complex through a long tunnel at the rear of the building that lead to the main court yard. Was blown away by some of the stone and wood carvings and the tile dragons on the roofs were incredibly intricate . ( see photos ) Spent a good couple of hours in the temple grounds, enjoying the calm and view of surrounding sea and mountains, thinking deep thoughts and feeling the warmth of the rarely seen sun on my skin….A great day, felt touched by the spirit of the east and made plans to brush up on my Chinese history in the next couple weeks.

Finished the week off with a day trip to the Ynagmingshan National Park in the mountains on the north of the Island. We set off on a scooter in great weather but by the time we hit the mountains the clouds had closed in and rain was drizzling down. The walk itself was about 2 hours over a mountain ( unfortunately no view whatsoever ) by a series of gas fumaroles ( giving the whole walk a smell of rotten eggs) to a hot spring on the other side.
Despite the weather a good walk, the landscape was scarred by volcanic activity and the bright green colorations around the sulphur vents compensated for the egg smell. Also the vents seemed to raise the surrounding temperature dramatically. The mist on the hills gave the trek and eerie but cool backdrop.

Realised after 30mins how out of shape I was, although walking a lot in India I had lost a lot of muscle weight, that combined with a week and a half of super vegetating in Taiwan had left me breathless and stiff at the end of the walk…..However that’s not a problem when there is a natural hot spring you can use for free. Absolutely the best way to finish a tough hike is to soak in a hot tub for 20mins…awesome. Got chatting to some locals while soaking, but their English wasn’t too great and the only common theme most could discuss was Baseball. Still the friendliness and politeness of the Taiwanese people always impresses me.

Ended up having to walk back to the scooter along a winding mountain road in the dark for an hour or so without being sure where we were. The fog and rain had really closed in by then, eventually made it back to the car park after one of those “this could go one of two ways “ walks. Luckily it went the good way instead of the spending a night lost on the mountain way …….A good bit of exercise and good training for two more hiking trips in the south of the island planned for the next couple weeks….

So week 2 was a success; got some work, played guitar, met some cool people, saw some cool stuff and learnt about the culture of the island while getting a bit of exercise…..more updates same time next week.

Taiwan Week One 4th-11th January 2011

The flight to Taipei from Chennai was easy enough. My seat was at the front of the aisle so had extra leg room, however the Indian guy sat next to me was so fat he took up 1.5 seats…(the .5 was part of my seat!!!) ….felt sorry for him at first as he was given a seat belt extension to buckle in……however after 3 hours all sympathy had evaporated…I knew first hand how Steve Martin felt on various occasions in “trains planes and automobiles“. Luckily the flight was only 3.5 hours into Kuala Lumpur, where I would catch n onward flight to Taipei, so all in all the extra leg room made the seat invasion bearable…

KL airport was modern and clean and quiet ….a breath of fresh air after the bustle of Chennai . Had to wait 3 hours or so for my flight but the free wi-fi made it fly by. Got a couple of hours sleep on the next flight and before I knew it we had landed in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital and biggest city. The weather was cold and overcast , very British. Got through immigration quickly, got some New Tai Dollars from the atm and jumped on an hour bus ride to the city centre…..

Apart from the Chinese signs and the odd mountain temple on the way in, the city seemed very western. It was a relief to see that everyone was driving in the correct motorway lanes at a reasonable speed!! I got off at the main railway station and then got a tube (MRT) to an area of the city where I would meet a friend of my friend Rob ( who I would be staying with for the next 5 weeks) called Steph who would put me up for a few hours until Rob finished work.

On the way over I caught a glimpse of myself in the MRT window and realized how much weight I had lost recently was easily the skinniest person in the cabin decided I would spend the next week gorging on meat based products.

I met up with Steph was from the UK and was offered a nice cup of tea in her flat and a good chat about her experiences in Taiwan and festival experiences in the UK. Later we met up with Rob ( my oldest friend of 28years) who was living and teaching in the city. Had a good meal in a local eatery and then I went back to Rob’s place where I had a room for the next month. The apartment wasn’t the Ritz( had a real student vibe,) but was much nicer than the places I had been staying in India + the quiet and privacy of my room was an enjoyable change….

Spent the next couple days recovering from India (mentally), being very jet lagged ( had got 2 hours sleep in 40 during the journey from India), eating fatty foods, and exploring the city. The weather hadn’t improved much, still overcast cold and raining. ( I had come during the coldest part of the year ). The city itself was really impressive, modern , clean, efficient transport and lots of cool shops selling gadgets. Saw some interesting temples and Chinese style buildings….checked out Taipei 101 ( see photo) although haven’t been up yet and found some great ( although expensive) English title bookshops. Also there are no end of good cheaply priced restaurants in the city, although a 24 hour stomach bug I picked up on the third day meant I wasn’t eating much for a while. ( seem to be paying for my good health over the summer at the end of the year )

On the whole the people in Taipei are good natured, friendly and helpful but not intrusive….a definite contrast from India, was going to be harder to pick up the local culture. A public festival I ran into did give a good insight though, after listening to a terrible Chinese yodel band for 3 minutes saw some amazing traditional drumming and then a good martial arts display from local students ( see photo). This was a totally novel experience to me and felt like I had really arrived in the far east……

One of my missions for the first few days in Taipei was to find a new travel guitar ( was going into withdrawal symptoms after having no real musical outlet in India) The first few days involved getting ropey instructions on how to get to music shops off the internet and then walking around in the cold and rain for ages trying to find them. The first 6 I went to were either overpriced, poor quality or both, began to curse myself for not picking up a cheap mini electric in Mumbai when I had the chance. When I had just about given up on the idea found a great little half sized semi acoustic in one shop and managed to get a fantastic price after some sub continental style bartering .( about £88 pounds) was well happy after…somehow life always seems easier when I have a guitar strapped round my shoulder

So week one was basically spent easing my way into the city and culture, catching up with old friends and making new ones while recovering from India…..Some highlights were:

* A trip to the City Palace Museum that housed a great collections of dynastic artefacts from China past, (see photo ) The museum was moved from Beijing before the Communist Government took over in China.

* Eating in a restaurant where you cooked you own meat, Basically the middle of the table was a small grill with extractor fan…when you ordered food you were brought raw meat that you cooked to your own preference.

*A visit to the art museum where interesting local art installations were displayed alongside a Gauguin exhibit,

* ( for the Cardiff guys) Catching the above opportunists photo in a Chinese bookshop not sure who the unsuspecting victim was or why the English language travel literature was contained in the “Mook” section….

and generally relaxing, eating good meat and coming home to my own room with a decent internet connection, good books and new music I had acquired….have really been enjoying my small pleasures in life this week. Basically living a student lifestyle again at the moment but without the added minor guilt of sleeping through lectures.

The first week here has been a crazy contrast from India in terms of culture, infrastructure and weather conditions….feels a bit like I have been transported to a totally different planet. Apart from the weather being constantly bad, really enjoying the simple routine of my days at the moment, and nice to come back to own space at end of every day and relax without worrying about check out times or bus journeys the day after .
Week 2 promises to be more active, possible work on the horizon and am determined to check out the local music scene and get back into doing some recording while finding out more about the local culture. …..so far so good in Taiwan…………

Chennai January 2-3rd 2011 and India Summary

Got out of room 101 and Pondicherry ASAP on the morning of the second as my clothes were beginning to develop a fine layer of mould due to the permi-damp. Got a state bus to Chennai…the best bus I got in the entire leg…basically as good as any bus in Britain..a pleasant surprise.

Once at Chennai bus stand got into some negotiations with some rickshaw drivers for transport. I was trying to get to the Egmore area of the city where I could find cheap accommodation ( there was a salvation army hostel there) and get the train to the airport the next day. The cheapest the rickshaw men would go was 150 rupees and when I told them I would just get the bus they said that would be 100 rupees…..I don’t think so fella …got the local bus for 10 rupees and was at Edmore station in about 20mins…..had read in the guide book that the rickshaw drivers in Chennai are amongst the most hard core barterers in the country and had been prepared for the encounter.


On the way out of the station got talking to a local guy who collected money from around the world and was asking me if I had any Uk currency he could have….( its usually the other way round people persistently wanting to trade you euros for rupees even though you explain they are useless in the uk) anyway this dude was laid back and insisted on giving me a ride on his motorcycle to the salvation army…….Indians are generally really good with stuff like that another reminder of the hospitality in the country.

The reception at the Salivation army hostel was empty when I got there and a quick look around some of the vacant and run down rooms on my own convinced me I didn’t want to stay there. The original plan was to stay in a dorm room with other pasty foreigners like I had in Mumbai ( although by now I had regained the healthy tan I had over the summer). Got the impression there was hardly anyone staying there though, so decided to walk back to the station and get a cheap room opposite so as to facilitate a simple exit the next afternoon.

After relaxing for a bit headed out to check out the sights of Chennai…have to say I was pretty disappointed….the areas I went to didn’t seem to have many redeeming features apart from the odd temple dotted about here and there ( photo) and the fact that it was Sunday afternoon meant most of the shops eateries etc were closed. Effectively got a local train for ten minutes to walk round in a traffic jam for 30 mins, did get a chance to see close up many of the shacks surrounding the station that were occupied by rickshaw drivers and their families ( see photo) felt a bit less put out by their hard bargaining earlier in the day…..

I did find a really good vegetarian restaurant back near the hotel and would spend most of my time the over the next day or so ( photo) …that evening it started to rain …reminded of how bad Indian streets get when there wet from my time in Jaipur ended up watching movies and test cricket in the hotel room for the rest of the night.

Next morning I was awoken by a sharp knock on the door at 630am. Ignored it…another knock again at 7.30...WTF my check out wasn’t until 2pm…opened the door to see a dwarf like man with a broom asking if I wanted the room to be cleaned …….“NO dude I don’t..its way to early and im leaving today anyway…..”

In a way I had brought the early morning disturbance on myself…had been tipping a lot in the last few days to use up surplus small bills and had tipped the porter who carried my bags into the hotel quite nicely…word had obviously spread around and the sweeper man was desperately looking for a tip……a few hours to early wondering if he had been waiting from first light till 6.30 to try his luck . Constant noise from hotel has been a constant theme in India I think by the end of the 7 weeks I had got used to it ( apart from when it knocks on your door) . Even managed to sleep through the constant public service announcements from the adjacent train station all night.

Didn’t do much the next day just got my affairs in order for the transit to Taiwan that evening…checked out of the hotel at 2pm and left my bag with them…wandered around the city for a couple of hours trying to squeeze the last drop of experience out of India.

I got the local train to the airport around 5 and then read and listened to music until check in….before I knew it I was on a plane heading to Kuala Lumpour and then on to Taipei….

Hadn’t done much at all in Chennai but was glad of some chill out time before getting myself jet lagged . Had mixed emotions in the departure lounge about leaving . Was sad to be going in a way, as you always feel like there is so much you cant see in such a big and varied country. I also felt relieved in a way too. I had survived India again , infact more intact this time than last ( no Amoebic dysentery this time!) felt like I had finished a long race, also excited about new experiences in the far east…

India Summary


What a country ..first time I came to India I described it as an assault on the senses…and the same can be said of this visit too. Each area offered a different vibe and set of challenges. Rajasthan and Goa were the highlights but also really enjoyed my extended stay in Mumbai as got to a great deal of the city I wouldn’t have got to if I hadn’t had such a great local guide in Kaveri. Kerala didn’t live up to expectations but that was in part due to bad planning by myself. New years in Pondicherry was hilarious…….I feel like the best thing I did on this trip was spend as much time as possible with Indians rather than other travellers. Where as my first trip to the sub continent was largely based around the historical sights and spiritual philosophies, this time round was much more interested in modern Indian culture and all its varieties…..At times it frustrated the hell out of me and there were moments when I thought I would break down and cry in desperation ( the 3 night back to back night bus marathon and forced imprisonment at Trivandrum station being examples) but there were also moments when my heart was filled with joy and awe at the sights and people I encountered…..Despite all its problems Indian people seem to know how to enjoy life, even though it is an exceptionally tough one for the majority of them by western standards.

So there it is…. my experience of India remains that you get all aspects of life good and bad in one sweet and foul smelling breath. Love or hate the place I would say it gives anyone who travels there from the west a heightened awareness of life. It is a country of extreme contrasts but just like the masala dishes I enjoyed so much there it is that different blend of spices that make the end meal so enjoyable…..

Pondicherry New Years 31 December 2010 -1st January 2011

Well the train ride from Trivandrum was fine in the end sorry if anyone was expecting more nightmare journey anecdotes …luckily managed to get a randomly positioned seat in one of the sleeper compartment hallways and made it over halfway through the trip before the conductor came to check tickets and kicked me into the general seating area. I had expected this cabin to be rammed full of people but it wasn’t that bad…..had to sit on my backpack near the toilets for a couple of hours and then got a seat around 2am and managed to get a couple of hours sleep….had make a connection at 630am and was in Pondicherry by 7 in the morning….Overall more comfortable than the bus journeys I had been doing lately on account of the extra leg room…..with all the trains so booked out I was expecting the cabins to be like livestock trucks…guess I used up all my bad luck during the Trivandrum 3am platform fuckup…

Next hurdle was that every room in town seemed to be booked out for new years ended up having to take a double room in a hotel that had a wall that leaked water into the room. It didn’t seem that bad when I looked at it although slightly mouldy, and the price was discounted so I took it. After sleeping for a few hours with the windows shut though I awoke in a the climate from an equatorial rainforest. Not great there was enough dampness in the walls to make my cloths moist. On the way out for that afternoon noticed the room number: “room 101” …hmmmm not great.

Walked down to the sea wall and stared out east across the bay of Bengal,. Was quite moving to realise this was as far east in the world as I had ever been and the ocean seemed to be calling me towards the orient.

Pondicherry is a former French colony and the streets are laid out in the French style its also one of the cleanest places ive been to in India ( despite above photo of ignored public notice). Explored town for a bit that afternoon then found a good café with free wifi, ate a burger and listened to Radio 6 while catching up on some personal admin.

Went to the local park around sun set and chatted to some people then back to the hotel to chill for a bit before heading out for new years. Opening the door of room 101 was like opening the door of a tropical greenhouse…… Got the staff to mop up a bit and watched TV for a bit trying my best to ignore the damp.

That evening had a beer with dinner in an excellent Pizzeria and then wandered through town looking for a drinking venue.....cover charges were really steep, 1000 rupees upwards and, looking at some of the dance floors, there only seemed to be men dancing no sign of girls …not a cool scene. Walked along the promenade for a while taking in the carnival atmosphere lots of people enjoying the holiday cheer. It seemed quite a lot of the population were pretty drunk already by 10pm ( Pondicherry has cheap booze due to an exemption on certain taxes because of its former independence, meaning a lot of Indians come here to party at New Years).

I eventually ended up back in my hotel bar, where the cheapest beer in town seemed to be. Drank in the new year with some local university students and chatted to most of the guys in the bar during the night ( again no females on the premises) One guy who had stayed some time in the UK spent about 20minutes shaking my hand and telling me how much he loved British people…over and over and over again in true drunken fashion, when I after I could take no more hand shaking and started talking to a different group I could hear him telling me to Fuck Off in the background…hilarious!……the students I met were really good guys though, had a good laugh and a good chat about football ( they were all Man U fans, tried to convince them of the merits of supporting Spurs).The scene by the end of the night resembled a sat night on St Mary’s street in Cardiff. Broken glass and semi digested curry spewed onto the floor, people passed drunk out all over the place and a few surly swearwords being thrown around…..a hilarious night though, everyone was hammered by the midnight fireworks display, including myself…eventually crashed in room 101 around 4am. (In true Ben Woolhead bunk-barn style was the last one drinking that night._

New years day was very chilled, had a good lie in and relatively small hangover. Spent most of the day preparing for the next leg to Taiwan online, and then went back to the seafront where the party carnival atmosphere continued. That evening chilled in the hotel and enjoyed the peace before heading to the Big city hustle and bustle of Chennai (Madras) the next day.

Overall a great time in Pondicherry (despite Orwellian bedroom) New years eve was interesting to spend drinking with Indians rather than other travellers and hilarious to see so many drunken locals.

What can I say about 2010 though …what a hell of a year! 12 months ago I was trapped in the finance department of an insurance company managing dull accounts with no hope of escape, but a fortunate redundancy and a then hell of a lot of travelling and new experience have meant I can honestly say 2010 has been the nest year of my life!…met some amazing people along the way and seen some amazing things! lets hope 2011 turns out just as good…super excited about heading to the far east next week to begin the new year but first a couple of days saying goodbye to India in Chennai …..