Sarah_outandabout

...that's it then...

As per my wish... after 180 days of wandering around India and south east Asia... I am flying home in a couple of hours... wow, that's it then... finished!

I remember exactly the day I arrived in India and thought ... "what the hell am I doing here?" and how I slowly got used to the lot and discovered its gems... Rajastan's colours and the hills of northern India will warm my heart for a long time, their perfumes and chants will haunt my memory for as long as possible and the desire to go back will probably never fade...

Myanmar it was then... gorgeous to say the least; together with my sweet sister who took good care of me despite my despisable character (!)... we discovered beautiful people and delightful sceneries and thousands of pagodas that would take anyone's breath away... and my heart was running fast to Bangkok where the I'd be reunited with Lio, the man who has got me wrapped around his little finger, so that together we would discover Vietnam... from north to south eating noodles all the way through and getting a better picture of what history it has had, discovering yet more pagodas and meandering through traffic and taylors...

...it was time to get back to Bangkok where I learned Thai massages and ended up discovering for a whole month because of the crocodile in the bathroom!! Liked discovering it, but if I had had the choice I would have probably preferred going island hopping... yes... nevermind, the discovery of Malaysia was all the more pleasurable with its funky cities, wonderful forests and pretty seaside...

Singapore, my very last stop; looks like a good place to live in: it has everything of a big city yet holds parks and forests right in the middle of it and Asia's poor and dirty sides seem to have vanished...little India is India deLux...

So... not a whole lot but a little bit of the world ...and in the process, I met hundreds of people, saw a good few wonders, ate local, took a few risks and travelled lots and lots and more... good, intense and hardish times were all part of the deal and the experience was great! Would I do it all again?! Yes!!!

Sweet thanks and millions of little kisses to you

33 aux tropiques!

Bonjour!

Pulau Tioman, une toute petite ile a l'est de la Malaysie...j'avais prevu d'y rester trois ou quatre jours mais apres huit jours j'y suis toujours... dans ma petite chambre sur la plage une grosse araignee m'attend tous les soirs dans la salle de bain, a l'exterieur un chat garde ma porte et... des gigantesques "lucertoloni" perlustrent l'ile!! Mis a part les betes parfois inquietantes et les incontournables amoureux de karaoke souvent "ladyboys" tout autant inquietants, je m'amuse a retrouver mes connaissances acquatiques, rencontre des gens de tous horizons et jouis de la vie dans ce coin de la planete... la mer est transparente et des centaines de poissons de toutes les couleurs ainsi que de minionnes petites tortues nagent autour de la barriere coralline...dommage devoir partir...

...mais c'est a bord d'une camionnette d'un organisateur de jeux de voitures telecommandes, dans une ambiance "techno-trans" que Singapour commence a se devoiler sous mes yeux... et je crois que ca va me plaire...une belle journee a tous!

Cameron Highlands

Frisky air, gorgeous tall green lush forests, beautifully tendered tea plantations and a bunch of funky backpackers make this stay definitely a good one. After all that city life, having a few good walks in the jungle is a real treat... even if the abovementioned bunch laughs at my Malay shoes and my feet are in a terrible state... the views are stunning and the jungle a "real" one... besides that, lots of reading, good nights sleep under three blankets and bright sunshine every day... just what one needs after five and a half months holiday (I am so cruel!)... so, to make it even worse, I am off to Kuala Lumpur (exciting!)  for a day and then to the Tionman Island... take care and keep on sending sweet messages to me, please!

Valentina Rossi!

Toujours sur Pulau Penang, je loue un "scooter" et c'est parti a la decouverte de cette ile tant prisee par les Birmans, les Chinois, les Arabes, les Thais, les Malays, les Anglais (of course), les Portugais, les Armeniens, les Juifs, les Hollandais et... les Eurasiens... oui... une ile qui a attire des milliers de gens a travers la planete par ca beaute et son emplacement strategique...ces gens se sont melangees mais gardent les traditions de leurs cultures... ce qui fait que dans la rue les gens sont de toutes les couleurs... parlent des langues differentes, s'habillent differamment, mangent differemment mais vivent ensemble sur cette ile magique... la langue qu'ils parlent ensemble est ce que vulgairement on appelle le Malay qui resemble a l'anglais exactement comme eux... il est bien drole parfois... l'exemple que je prefere est: Teksi... vous savez ce que c'est?

OK...c'est parti, j'ai un peu peur car 1: c'est une semi automatique 2: zig zagger et rouler sans regarder est un must par ici... j'arrive par une route aux paysages bucoliques (wow) a mes destinations, le "tropical spice garden" puisque l'ile a ete le centre des echanges d'epices dans le monde(!) jusqu'en 1800 lorsque Singapour a pris la releve... a "la ferme aux papillons" minion comme tout, il y en a qui volent dans tous les sens et de toutes les couleurs... visite guidee du "tropical fruit garden": est-ce que vous saviez que l'arbre de la mangue ne donne ses premiers fruits qu'apres 10ans de vie? ou que si l'on fait rouler une "eugenia" autour de la langue durant quelques dizaines de secondes, tout ce que l'on mangera durant les 10 minutes suivants sera doux?...ca m'a beaucoup plu...

...poursuite du tour sur la route mentionnee plus haut pour arriver au plus grand temple Buddhiste de Malaysie construit par les Chinois, les Birmans et les Thais... enorme!

Enfin voila, les chinois restent la majorite sur cette ile et les mercedes se mellangent aux sdf au bord des ruelles ou les egouts sont ouverts et les motards roulent tous avec leur veste mise a l'envers... temples, mosquees et 7/11 se cotoyent et l'ambiance est bien agreable...

C'est parti, je m'en vais aux Cameron Highlands, boire une the... portez vous bien... je vous envoi une bise avec le papillon...

Georgetown, Pulau Penang

Here, it is Malaysia... yet a "new" country to slowly discover...

After the gorgeous experience with the tigers and a few "outandabouts" in and around the Thai capital, I finally got the stitches out of my foot and myself out of Bangkok... pfffffff... night train (where one is supposed to be in bed by 9pm but where the lights are never switched off !?) all the way to Trang close, oh so close!, to the beautiful Krabi and Puket... that I walked through early in the morning and decided to abandon a few hours later to be driven to Songkhla, a little town squeezed between a huge lake, a very long beach, a fishing village and a harbour... to find that people there take a swim fully dressed!! Oh lala... still, in the Amsterdam Guest House the good humour is on and I had a few great moments in the company of three expats (youngest was 50!)... the house cats and the generally chilled atmosphere... too many beers and cigarettes though... I better go on a healthy diet very soon!

... and now, Georgetown! Back to the Muslims... the Chinese, the Indians and the Malay... yep, it is a huge mix of cultures that I am about to discover... but first, I would like to take bus 202 and go searching for a beach... tough life, I know...

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Ayutthaya's crocodiles

So, here I am with Simone on the island of Ayutthaya, the pretty ex capitol of Thailand a few kilometers north of Bangkok, until the Burmese destroyed it in 1767... lots and lots of temple ruins are scattered around the city and one could say that it is a tiny version of Bagan; the giant (12 and 19 meters high) Buddhas are magnificent and their energy is powerful to some, but the interesting thing is that while the capital was being raded over and over, a very large number of small size Buddha statues were hidden inside one of the large ones and it is only while restoration occurred in the middle of the 20th century that they discovered the surprise!

With this very interesting information in mind, we cycled around amongst the ruins... after having stayed in the highly polluted Bangkok it is a real pleasure to be out in the green, with fresh air, and under a blue sky... trouble is that as we were getting onto a little long tail boat on the river, a crocodile jumped out of the water and snatched my foot with its enormous jaw... a few stitches and my foot is fine again as I still have 5 toes on each and everything seems to move correctly...

Thought I would be sending you news from the top of a cascade but in fact stuck in this strange little city... I definitely still have a lot to understand about Thailand!

Krung Thep... arrivederci!

...alors que je commence a m'habituer a cette ville, a la trouver plutôt charmante avec ses coins ultramodernes côtoyant les misérables, après avoir trouve une vielle maison de quartier en tech comme "résidence", prends les bus locaux avec aisance, une petite routine ainsi qu'avoir le plaisir de rencontrer quelques belles personnes...le temps est venu pour moi d'abandonner la citée des anges...en tous les cas temporairement.

Meme si le but est d'arriver en Malaysie avant le 8 septembre, c'est au Nord que je vais passer quelques jours afin d'y visiter la ville sainte d'Ayuttaya, ancienne capitale du Siam ainsi que d'aller vers la région de Kanchanaburi...

Voila, mon humeur est a nouveau au beau fixe et vous savez tout! Excellente semaine a toutes et a tous, biz. S.

p.s. si vous voulez quelque chose depuis ici il suffit de me le dire...a vous de jouer!

Danger

...yes, WAT PO professional trainers are crazy enough to have given the basic Thai massage diploma to me after a mere 30 hours practice... it is dangerous stuff if done uncorrectly... anyway, I am doing the foot massage course now and keep on exercising so that you will be safe when I will walk on you or press my knee into your thigh!!!

..otherwise the weather is lovely and hot, smells of Asia and I have the blues... but walking and breathing the real Thai lifestyle gives me reassurance that the jolly mood is not far away...

Bangkok... le retour

It is the Queen's birthday!! The roads are bustling with unusual stools, live music is being played on every street corner and the sky is filled with fireworks... Magic. It is mother day for the occasion too, so:

A love message to all sweet mothers in the world...

My tears have dried up and my eyes are back into the "lonely adventure" mood.... which is what I left for in the first place and... for my fun, and your pleasure, I am following a Thai massage course... excellent! To get there from the hotel I go under a tunnel filled with little shops ending with the city's lottery stand, follow the walls around the Grand Palace and Wat Po... (wow) ending up in a street where the Chinese seem to have settled with small shops selling what the French call the Perlinpinpin powders...it is a great walk.

Keep in touch lazy commentators!! Enjoy your summer...

Love. Sarah