Andaman and Nicobar islands!!

Even though I have said that "Almost Pakistan" might be my last one, Im adding this one for one beautiful, sometimes very stubborn, but amazing lady, that has asked me to post something about Andamans. So this one is dedicated to you Elena.. ;)

The Andaman islands are islands in the bay of Bengal, considerably closer to Thailand then to India, but they are still under Indian influence. They were washed of during the 2004 boxing tsunami... Many people have died there, but the islands and the people have moved on and the tourism is back to the peak again.

We have spent amazing 5 days there, flying from Chennai, but there can be also other rout from Kolkata. The only entering airport is in the capital Port Blair. Non Indian citizens have to fill up a form on the arrival, which will give you a pass to move around Andamans. You have to get one (it is free of charge and takes only about 10 minutes) since few places in Andaman and Nicobar islands are very protected and nobody can enter there. This paper is allowing you to stay in many places around the Andamans and you better keep it with you all the time.

When we reached Pt. Blair, we made it straight to the jetty for the boat to Neil islands. Since Port Blair really dont have much to offer and the closest nice beach is around 10kms out from the city. So we have taken the governmental boat to Neil island, which took around 2 and half hours and cost 250 ruppies per person. What a coincidence that we have met another Czech family, travelling to Neil island also!!! :D :D

When it comes to Neil island and accommodation you have plenty options to choose from. I have made a booking for us before we even came through booking.com and it really was a good choice. The resort was called Symphony something, but it was really nice type of resort with restaurant and sometimes helpful staff. ;) (The only problem was that the hot water wasnt running, but it was constantly over 30 degrees Celsius so a little bit of cold water didnt hurt).

The other option is to look for the accommodation when you get to the islands. HERE BE CAREFUL with the rickshaw drivers. They are waiting for the Goras (white people) when they get out of the boat and offer cheap rides to places offering accommodation, but if they bring you, you will have to pay extra commission to the rickshaw driver, so always know where you want to go (find out on internet) and say that you already have a booking.. ;)

The best way to travel around the Neil islands is by a scooter. To rent the scooter it costs only 250 per day (without petrol that you have to buy in the village), but you have to pay deposit of 1000 INR and then they will give you the rest when you return the scooter. You rent it for 24 hours (day).
You have to travel around on the island, since the best beaches are not around the places of accommodation.

The most known and one of the best ones is the beach number 7. Its 10kms from the village number two and I wouldnt recommend to try to get there by bike. We have tried and mom almost died, since its quite hilly and the heat is horrible. The next day we have done it by scooter and it was great...
Another places "to see" is beach number 5. Its lower part, I would say 6 kms down from the village number 2 is amazing. I would say its the best place... The send is pure white and the sea changes color there in three different tones of blue... Absolutely stunning.

The food around the island can be cheap and good, cheap and horrible, extremely over prized and good or extremely over prized and horrible.
The best and quite cheap is La meridian on the right side while going down towards beach number 5 and close to the Wild orchid resort. They have plenty of choice and really tasty stuff for reasonable price, actually quite cheap. The bad thing is that sometimes it takes quite a lot of time.
On the other side, the restaurant in wild orchid is quite good, but not as good as what they charge for.
You can get cheap beer in the Symphony something bar, which is quite fancy, but as I have said, cheap. Nice seating and atmosphere.

The number one thing "to do" is the snorkeling on close to the light house on the way to elephant beach and then close to the elephant beach... It costs 3000 INR for couple and it is scheduled by the wild orchid. They will borrow you the needed gear and your own boat with a person sailing it. ;)
It is a 4 hour trip and it is absolutely stunning and breathtaking, sometimes literally :D :D :D
The coral and the extremely colorful fish are delight for the eyes.

One recommendation. You will get around a lot of seashells end coral that will be either bring up by the sea or that you will find in the sea. There is no point on taking those with you!!!
On your way back home your luggage has to go through the xray and they are looking for the shells more then for bombs. We had to open our suitcases and fight our lives just to leave the bags with shells there.

Andamans, if you can, go there, but dont forget, it is still India, so you will come around trash on the streets and sometimes not pleasant views around. But overall amazing time... :)

hope this satisfies you Elena.. ;)
Btw. the price of the fly ticket is around 14.000 INR from Chennai to Pt. Blair and back, and the flight from Delhi to Chennai and back around 10.000 INR... It is, next to the other costs, the biggest amount by a lot...

Almost in Pakistan!!!

So here it is, our last trip before heading back home...
And as people say, the last, but the best...
Amritsar, here we are!!!

When I was deciding on how to get here, I was playing in my mind with two options. Either train or plane.
To be honest, I didnt really want to "risk" another flight with domestic cheap airlines, so I have booked the highest class in the Amritsar express, leaving from Delhi at 7:20am.

I think, overall, it was a good choice. Even though we have spent 6 hours in the train, the trip was nice and comfy. Who knows how the lower class will look like, since we are taking it today to go back.
They serve water, proper meal and also daily newspapers and coffee/tea and you can plug in your computer or cell if you want to. Unfortunately, they dont have wifi, but that would be too much for Indian railways.. ;)

SO we got to Amritsar at around 1pm and had the taxi ready for us at 3:30pm to go to the Pakistan borders.
The city of Attari and its borders at Waghai or something like that. What is going on there is hard to explain. I would say that the split countries are showing their respect to each other as they also show their strength in a one and half hour long "ceremony".
On each side of the border are spectators sitting, standing, sitting and standing and shouting and chanting for their country. It all turns in a surreal picture of two groups (even though men and women are separated) screaming at each other.

What is going on on the road that is normally used for passing the border is also somehow surreal and hard to capture in a text. The chosen soldiers are marching there and back, kicking their legs high, either with the knees or straighten up, kicking the leg so high that it often ends up over their head.
The purpose is to lower down the flags of both nations and exchanged them as I have said with showing the power and pride of the nation, but also respect to each other.

As a white power here, you are being sent to a "VIP" lounge, that is exactly the same as Indians are sitting at, but a tiny rope is separating you from them...
The mistake comes, when there is no room for the Indians, but the officials keep sending the Indians into the over crowded stands and there is just few white people sitting on a huge empty space. You can see and hear the angry Indians, with their eyes poking you... ;)
So what happens is that they get pissed and go over the rope and stand in front of you.. so you find yourself not being able to see something, with officers jumping and whistling around you, trying to get rid off the Indians who jumped over to the "white" side... :D

 Overall it was a very nice experience though. Its hard to believe that I was so close to Pakistan. Its scary and amusing in the same time...
Maybe I will be able to go there once...

So after that we have traveled back to Amritsar, sleeping over in Raj Continental Hotel... and we went to see the Golden temple today...
It was amazing!!! I liked it a lot. Only thing that I have found annoying was the fact of the fact that you have to take of your shoes (that would be fine), but ALSO your SOCKS...
With the temperature dropping down really low during the night now and the marble paths, you find yourself sometimes shivering... But when the sun hits you, you get hotter and hotter with the sun rising higher and higher.. ;)

I have to mention one thing. We have spent around 2 hours in the temple and surrounding areas and met only one white guy. We were being eyed on like some kind of strangers and we were also almost yelled at, when we sit close to the holy pond without crossing our legs...
The strange thing was, that there were plenty of people sitting without crossed legs, but we were the only one who was yelled at... (so we crossed them and the problem was solved) :D

 After getting done there, we went through the city to do the final shopping.. ;)
If any of the ex TLs are reading, they will get something very nice. We will see, who of them are reading my blog, so they would know, that they are supposed to get something... :D

So right now, we are sitting in the hotel lobby, waiting for our train to go and we are going to spend 6 hours travelling back to Delhi.
Tomorrow we have our last day in Delhi and we are leaving the next day early morning...

I have to say, that this might be my last post here, so I hope that you have enjoyed my posting and Im sure that I will not stay home for long and spam you with a new blog from different country.. ;)

Keep happy and hopefully see you soon in Czech republic!!!
The best thing would be to see you over goulas!!! ;)

CHANGES... (travelling and such...)

Oh wow!!! It will 2 months in 5 days from my last post.. :(
Sorry for not updating, but things started turning so quick and time started passing by even quicker.

So to update you on my life...
I have finished my job...
My mom has arrived...
And we are travelling together through India!!!

My last day at work was the 7th of November, which I will be probably celebrating for the rest of my life, next to other important days, such as birthday, Xmass and the day of invention of electricity.. ;)
Since then, I was just being very lazy, spending my time mostly by sleeping, that I didnt get during my work in here and I also think that I got hit by the stress that was piling up from my work. I wasnt feeling good, my body was aching and I couldnt eat that much. Just really shitty two weeks.
I have actually managed to plan the trips with my mom and was just waiting for her to come.

She has landed to international terminal on the 20th of November and then the fun has started.
She brought me some Czech treats to make me feel better, such as Studentska pecet and Salam and we were ready to start travelling...

First two days we were just running around Delhi. I was trying to be a good guide, but it was also a first time for me in many places. We didnt cover everything, but we still have few days left when we get done with travelling and finish our Delhi sightseeing.
I have to say, that temperatures in Delhi dropped quite a lot, so my mom wasnt that shocked by the weather, but she was obviously shocked by the lifestyle and dirt around the city.

To let you know about our travelling plans, I have came up with 3 trips. The first one covered Rajasthan, going to Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur, which was amazing.
The second one is still in progress and consists of Mumbai, Cochin, Alleppuza, Chennai and Andaman islands. (we are currently in Chennai)...
And the last one is just overnight trip to Amritsar in Punjab.

So we have pretty much covered a lot of places in really short time.

The first trip to Rajasthan started horribly. We were taking the famous and comfortable train from Delhi to Agra. It was scheduled for 6:15, so we got up quite early to jump in our pre ordered taxi and catch the train in time. PROBLEM number one: The taxi didnt show up, so I was ordering a different one last minute. PROBLE number two: the train didnt show up. First it was supposed to be delayed by one hour, then two, then three. In the end, we were leaving Delhi at 9:55, 3 hours and 40 minutes late.
To mention really scary thing, we were approached by probably 5 guys trying to scam us. First one before we even entered the train station, that we have to exchange our internet printed tickets for normal ones. (Mom was starting to be really mad). I knew though that this was enough and waved the guy away. He was sending us somewhere in rickshaw to make us miss the train and then probably helping us by hiring a taxi for us to Agra in "great" price...
Then other 4 were trying their luck when Goras, or in English white people, were sitting on the platform, waiting for the delayed train. Many were saying that the train will not come, to go with them and that they will help us finding another train. That always turned out to be an offer for a taxi or bus, since there were no other trains.
After finally arriving to Agra, we have seen our ordered taxi driver, but he wasnt alone, he showed up with a guide, that we havent ordered. But he came with us. Just like that.
We had a great time in Taj Mahal and Agra fort and to be honest the guide was worth the 1000 ruppies that I gave him in the end of the day.
To finish the horrible travelling during the first day, we havent stayed in Agra, but drove to Jaipur right away. It was supposed to be 3 hours drive, BUT there was such a thick fog, that we were able to go only 30km/h and honestly, the driver didnt really look fresh, so I was speaking with him, trying to understand his HORRIBLE english and laugh to his Indian jokes. Not pleasant!!! Finally we arrived to our hotel in Jaipur after 4and half hours.

The rest of the Rajasthan trip was amazing though, covering the Jaipur-Udaipur 450kms by another taxi, 6 hours, which drove me mad, but we made it. The cities were amazing and it was totally worth it.
In the end we took a plane from Udaipur to Delhi in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
From 30-35 degrees in Rajasthan, we were back to 20 and less in Delhi that night, very chilly!!!

We have recovered by spending one day in Delhi and left to Mumbai the next day. Mumbai is huuuge!!!
We have managed to cover only the old part with Gateway to India and some church and Marina drive. We have also decided to take a "short" walk to hanging gardens on the other side of the bay, but we found ourselves, after hour and 30 minutes still climbing up the hill, totally exhausted in the heat and humidity. Finally, after 2 hours, we made it. Not really worth it, but we sat and drunk and ate... :)
The way back took 15 minutes in taxi and 100 ruppies... :D :D
Oh totally forgot to mention a great flight to Mumbai from Delhi with Air India.. huge plane with entertainment  on board. 2 hours flew by so fast!!

The biggest disappointment came the next day, flying to Cochin, Kerala and then driving to Fort Cochin. We have found out that the airport is 45 kms away from the city, so it took good 90 minutes to reach. Then after getting into the desired hotel the taxi driver started yelling at us, wanting a tip and some other money that he didnt explain what they were for. Since we were using a Pre paid taxi stand I told him he will not see more money from me and waved him away. He started yelling even more and I got in to a big verbal fight. It ended shortly by me turning back and getting my key from the room.
We were staying at a old hotel, heritage. Later we found out that they put us in different room that we were supposed to be, cheaper one. Obviously, we knew it right after opening the door. The room was humid and you could make out the smell of mold in the air. The washroom wasnt really clean and when we wanted to change, the hotel was full.
Also Fort Cochin, even though its noted almost in every guide book as a relly nice and lovely city, we found it horrible. Very dirty and not that amusing.
When we were leaving the next day, we were relieved.
What we have suffered in Fort Cochin, we got back the next day. Alleppuza or Alleppi was a great choice. The heart of backwaters, as they say that Kerala is a Venice of Asia, Alleppi was amazing. We ave booked our own boat, quite over prized though, for our 6 hours trip on the channels. It was stunning!!
We also got a little bit of tan, but seriously, great time and relax. The next day, we have rented smaller boat, with no engine, to get to the smaller channels of backwaters. This 5 hour trip was much cheaper, but also not as relaxing. On this trip we went to a small village where we have visited a kindergarden, giveing some chocolates. On the way back we were stopped by a screaming lady. Two cows were thrilled, looking at a spot in the bush, screaming lady pointing at the same direction, shouting some native curses. Then, after five minutes, we saw what scared the shit out of her and the two cows. A huge snake was attacking the cow again and again and then jumped done to a rice field and was escaping fast. So freaky, so long, I havent seen anything like that outside of zoo before.

And now we are in Chennai, we have taken an early flight to Chennai from Cochin airport and are resting today. We have a tour scheduled for tomorrow and the day after the one thing, that Im looking forward the most is coming... ANDAMAN ISLANDS!!!

Will update you while lying on the beach with coconut in my hand, tanning... ;)
And guess what, Im coming home in 13 days!!! yay!! Im so excited!!!
My mom isnt though, back to reality, back to work...