Its Xmas eve and after 356 days of traveling, around 14 countries and almost 18,000 quid spent, I find myself in Fort Cochin, Kerala, South India, with just 2 days to go before going home.
In 11 months of traveling with Fayette, I learned (amongst other things) how to ride a motorcycle, scuba dive, speak a little Vietnamese/Japanese/Mandarin, farm rice and take decent photographs. I rediscovered reading (1 book a week), hiked for 22 days at altitude in Nepal, fell in love with Japan, reestablished my love for Hong Kong and China, lost a few kilos and earned myself a nice tan.
I was introduced to the misery of bed bug bites, was bitten all over by mosquitoes, was annoyed constantly by travelers who spoke about money all the time and was saddened by the corrupting nature of tourism (of which I have been part of the problem).
I also experienced first hand just how dirty the world is. Its clear to me now that not only should we enforce radical changes to our luxurious lifestyles (traveling for a year is outrageous), but also bankroll lower and middle income countries, helping introduce existing, sustainable low tech solutions. Hi-tech improvements we make at home are irrelevant in poor countries and their benefit will be swamped by the rampant pollution and destruction of biodiversity being made abroad.
Japan was without doubt my favourite country. I appreciated the cleanliness, the extensive and rapid trains. I adored the food. The capsule hotels were awesome and the traditional Ryokans a dream. I visited the public baths (sentos) frequently and I relaxed into the mindset of a country with essentially no crime. People there lived to ripe old ages and were active, riding the tube, exercising in the park, hiking up Fuji! Not to mention how stunning the country was, from the sprawl of mighty Tokyo, the greenery and temples of Kyoto and the vistas of the Japanese Alps. Having spent 2 months there, I want to live in Japan someday.
A close second was Nepal. Hiking there for 3 weeks was wonderful and something I will do again in the near future. More challenging treks await and I now know I can hike at high altitude, without porter and cover good distances for several days. I also know I suffer from the cold more than most (I lack fat) so will return with a proper four season sleeping bag and decent down jacket.
The longest time in any country was India, which truly is "A land of contrasts" (groan). Its beautiful, culturally diverse, has great food, is cheap and proper hot. However, at the same time I found it filthy, socially ugly (no sexual equality with huge class differences) and full of have-a-go scammers. Its logistically very easy to travel in India, but at the same time exhausting mentally and physically.
This is touching on why people are said to either "Love or Hate India". Well that to me is nonsense. I both love and hate India, just as I love and hate marmite (contrary to the advert's claims). Its great on toast (and banana) but I wouldn't eat it with pesto pasta. India may be politically one country (just about) but its immense, and other than spending the same currency, drinking chai and reading the same newspaper, two places can be utter dissimilar.
This was manifested by an encounter with an Indian from Delhi taking a break in the South. He spoke Hindi, but the locals spoke Tamil and Malayam, so he got by with English; speaking a foreign language in his own country to talk to fellow Indians.
Anyway, I ramble. Here are my top ten highlights for the year, roughly in chronological order...
1) Taking a 12 day Thai massage course in a small hill tribe village in Northern Thailand. Living in very basic conditions, surrounded by pigs and eating sticky rice with stewed pumpkin and papaya every morning.
2) Reading books by Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene) which strengthened my atheistic resolve and completely redefined my understanding of evolution.
3) Scuba diving in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. I hope to have many more dives in the future.
4) Traveling in South West China by local bus, and living in\walking around small, lightly touristed, rural towns.
5) Taking long distance trains in China and India and a long distance ferry from Shanghai (China) to Osaka (Japan), then Osaka to Busan (South Korea). Whats the rush?
6) Working on rice farms in Japan, riding the bullet train at 270kmh and hiking in the Japanese Alps.
7) The food! Red and green curries (Thailand), Noodle soups (Laos), Luc Lac beef (Vietnam), stir fried vegetables (China), roti canai (Malaysia), bibimbap (South Korea), sushi and katsu curry (Japan), massive veg curries (Sri Lanka) , dosas and thalis (India).
8) Traveling for a month by myself in India and Sri Lanka. Though not something I would recommend to lone female travelers.
9) Hiking the Annapurna Circuit and Base Camp in Nepal with Fayette, Meg and Liam.
10) Briefly exploring the south of India (Kerala state) with Meg.
So now I'm returning to the UK, unemployed, broke and single. But then the former two I expected and the later is for the best. I may stay in the UK, I may leave in 6 months (things are uncertain) but for the time being I'm glad to be coming home. I'm fed up with eating out 3 times a day, having to bargain for everything, living out of a bag and moving every few days.
Maida Vale beckons, as does a bitter in a pint glass and jogging along the Grand Union Canal.
In 11 months of traveling with Fayette, I learned (amongst other things) how to ride a motorcycle, scuba dive, speak a little Vietnamese/Japanese/Mandarin, farm rice and take decent photographs. I rediscovered reading (1 book a week), hiked for 22 days at altitude in Nepal, fell in love with Japan, reestablished my love for Hong Kong and China, lost a few kilos and earned myself a nice tan.
I was introduced to the misery of bed bug bites, was bitten all over by mosquitoes, was annoyed constantly by travelers who spoke about money all the time and was saddened by the corrupting nature of tourism (of which I have been part of the problem).
I also experienced first hand just how dirty the world is. Its clear to me now that not only should we enforce radical changes to our luxurious lifestyles (traveling for a year is outrageous), but also bankroll lower and middle income countries, helping introduce existing, sustainable low tech solutions. Hi-tech improvements we make at home are irrelevant in poor countries and their benefit will be swamped by the rampant pollution and destruction of biodiversity being made abroad.
Japan was without doubt my favourite country. I appreciated the cleanliness, the extensive and rapid trains. I adored the food. The capsule hotels were awesome and the traditional Ryokans a dream. I visited the public baths (sentos) frequently and I relaxed into the mindset of a country with essentially no crime. People there lived to ripe old ages and were active, riding the tube, exercising in the park, hiking up Fuji! Not to mention how stunning the country was, from the sprawl of mighty Tokyo, the greenery and temples of Kyoto and the vistas of the Japanese Alps. Having spent 2 months there, I want to live in Japan someday.
A close second was Nepal. Hiking there for 3 weeks was wonderful and something I will do again in the near future. More challenging treks await and I now know I can hike at high altitude, without porter and cover good distances for several days. I also know I suffer from the cold more than most (I lack fat) so will return with a proper four season sleeping bag and decent down jacket.
The longest time in any country was India, which truly is "A land of contrasts" (groan). Its beautiful, culturally diverse, has great food, is cheap and proper hot. However, at the same time I found it filthy, socially ugly (no sexual equality with huge class differences) and full of have-a-go scammers. Its logistically very easy to travel in India, but at the same time exhausting mentally and physically.
This is touching on why people are said to either "Love or Hate India". Well that to me is nonsense. I both love and hate India, just as I love and hate marmite (contrary to the advert's claims). Its great on toast (and banana) but I wouldn't eat it with pesto pasta. India may be politically one country (just about) but its immense, and other than spending the same currency, drinking chai and reading the same newspaper, two places can be utter dissimilar.
This was manifested by an encounter with an Indian from Delhi taking a break in the South. He spoke Hindi, but the locals spoke Tamil and Malayam, so he got by with English; speaking a foreign language in his own country to talk to fellow Indians.
Anyway, I ramble. Here are my top ten highlights for the year, roughly in chronological order...
1) Taking a 12 day Thai massage course in a small hill tribe village in Northern Thailand. Living in very basic conditions, surrounded by pigs and eating sticky rice with stewed pumpkin and papaya every morning.
2) Reading books by Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene) which strengthened my atheistic resolve and completely redefined my understanding of evolution.
3) Scuba diving in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. I hope to have many more dives in the future.
4) Traveling in South West China by local bus, and living in\walking around small, lightly touristed, rural towns.
5) Taking long distance trains in China and India and a long distance ferry from Shanghai (China) to Osaka (Japan), then Osaka to Busan (South Korea). Whats the rush?
6) Working on rice farms in Japan, riding the bullet train at 270kmh and hiking in the Japanese Alps.
7) The food! Red and green curries (Thailand), Noodle soups (Laos), Luc Lac beef (Vietnam), stir fried vegetables (China), roti canai (Malaysia), bibimbap (South Korea), sushi and katsu curry (Japan), massive veg curries (Sri Lanka) , dosas and thalis (India).
8) Traveling for a month by myself in India and Sri Lanka. Though not something I would recommend to lone female travelers.
9) Hiking the Annapurna Circuit and Base Camp in Nepal with Fayette, Meg and Liam.
10) Briefly exploring the south of India (Kerala state) with Meg.
So now I'm returning to the UK, unemployed, broke and single. But then the former two I expected and the later is for the best. I may stay in the UK, I may leave in 6 months (things are uncertain) but for the time being I'm glad to be coming home. I'm fed up with eating out 3 times a day, having to bargain for everything, living out of a bag and moving every few days.
Maida Vale beckons, as does a bitter in a pint glass and jogging along the Grand Union Canal.
