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‹ Previous (16/02/2009) MONTH Next (2009-04-17)› ‹ Previous (2009-08-13 - Tibet) COUNTRY Next (2009-09-03 - India)› Nepal Kathmandu (see on map) 27/03/2009:
On the contrary to Pokhara, we have enjoyed quite a lot Kathmandu, as if we wanted the last days that we have in the autocaravan to be unforgettable. We parked in a wasteland close to the centre of Kathmandu where there were some other 5 caravans, proving to us that these last months we have coincided with the routes of the caravanists that is guided by the time: while in the centre of India the heat is terrible, the temperatures in Kathmandu are much fresher or colder. Among the different interesting autocaravanists, there was a couple of retired Germans that did 14 following years that travelled with a big and old van through Nepal, India and Pakistan (Karakorum). Anyway, we did not do too much social life with the autocaravanists, for we were concentrated too much to prepare the journey with the backpack, to do the last purchases and to share the maximum possible time with our friends: Jay Ram and its family, and David and Maria, which from our separation for Christmas had been travelling through Bangladesh and the North East of India. In any case, I reserved an afternoon to visit an ONG that we did not visit the previous time and which 2 different people had recommended us to visit. I got lost 45 minutes for marginal neighbourhoods until I found the building of the ONG TDHF that the Catalan Toni Aguilar created about 7 years ago. Toni is married to a Nepalese and between both they are managing a home where they receive orphan girls. Anyway, as he confessed me, one of the reasons to give up the profession of computer scientist and of going to live in Nepal was to discover the causes of the poverty and to find a solution. But after 7 years yet he had not found a satisfactory answer, because of that, little later after greeting us Toni asked me: 'Which do you think is the cause of the poverty'?. I was a good while thinking, for with the project of taking the pulse to the world I ask more than answer, even then, usually I gave my very particular opinion that I kept contrasting with his. For a part we conclude that always there will be poverty because the societies can hardly be egalitarian and always there will be people that they have less than the other ones and who will be called poor. Anyway, the living conditions of the poor ones can keep improving with time, even if the status of poor does not disappear: in very general lines, the situation of the poor ones has kept improving throughout the centuries, for example, now a large family that lives in only one room of solid walls can be defined as poor, although in the middle age this was luxury and was reserved for the well-off families. In any case, in spite of the increase of quality of life, at present there are many people in the world that live with some unacceptable living conditions for the occidental ethics, therefore it is logical that it sets off of the society is suggests of helping them. As it seems, there are two basic ways of helping: the charity (to give money, food or products in exchange for anything) or the inclusion of the poor ones in the productive world (hiring them to work or helping them in business projects). According to some studies, the charity can increase the number of poor, for it is simple to have the basic needs covered without working, by this reasons, many ONGs are focused to help the poor ones integrating them into the productive or capitalist world. Anyway, for me, this option does not stop being a little ironic, for the poverty is caused by the capitalism, which highlights the differences among rich and poor. To solve this problem or contradiction, Toni tries that the businessman widows that the ONG forms and helps return part of their profits to the ONG or the society, a goal that gets complicated as the women gain more money and turn more egoistical. The following day after meeting with Toni, David and Maria celebrated 2 years of journey. We had gone out on some similar dates towards Africa also about two years ago, and a year before I had initiated the journey in Europe ( the journey of 5 or 6 years for all the world), so we also added ourselves to the celebration, dining on some delicious spaguetty bolognese that we cooked among all at the home of Jay Ram. We have passed some other good moments with our friends, but finally today we have well cleaned and tidied the autocaravan and we have gone to park it in the south of Kathmandu, to a garage of confidence where other caravanist left their caravans during long seasons. Afterwards we have returned to the hotel where David and Maria are lodged loading the heavy backpacks and have taken a room - for our bus towards India leaves early in the morning -, being about to pass the last hours with David and Maria and Jay Ram (with who we will coincide again in five months, when we return from our journey with backpack through the south east Asia). During the last conversations, we have remembered that it was at the beginning of the last year that we met David and Maria in Egypt. Since then we have met ourselves numerous times, thinking that we would not see ourselves again till Spain, although we have refound and travelled together one a total of 5 times: in Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal. Today at night we have also had to say goodbye another time, although today we have done it convinced that our journeys will cross again before Spain, maybe in China or in South America. India Kolkata (see on map) 30/03/2009: We had a train thicket bought from Patna to Kolkatta, but a traveller informed me about Patna being dangerous and being better to take the train from Gorakpur. Although the journey by train from Gorakpur was longer (24horas), we informed ourselves about it being much simpler to arrive to this city from Kathmandu that to Patna. So, we finally buyed another train thicket from Gorakpur with the intention of recovering the money of the train thicket from Patna (it is quite simple although the authorities keep a percentage depending on the days or hours that are lacking before the train leaves). Paralleling, we had also bought a bus thicket towards the border with a local company. We go out at 7:30 in a bus with some tourists and quite a lot of Nepalese. The stretch kept passing off quite well, but after the midday, when we had already arrived to the plains of the south of Nepal, we are retained behind a column of buses and lorries: we had run into another of the fearsome strikes of Nepal. As it seems, the leader of a political party of the opposition had been murdered the previous night and the people of the town where the man had been born had blocked the traffic since dawn. As to the previous times, the Nepalese were very patient, in comparison to the hysteria of the tourists, especially a Portuguese girl that had a train thicket from Gorakpur to Varanasi at 10:30 in the night. Anyway, after an hour of waiting, the column of lorries and buses started off, crossing some barricades and advancing some tens of kilometres up to the entry of an important city close to the border, where we remained retained a total of 4 hours. In the end we arrive to the border at 9 in the night. By luck, Alexandra was accelerated and we crossed the border first and could take the last bus towards Gorakpur together with another couple of tourists. The Portuguese could not catch the bus, losing like this the train; anyway, she would also have lost it, because the bus reached Gorakpur at 11 in the night. We found a relatively economic hotel and the following day at 1 of the midday we took our train. The journey by train was quite relaxing. In spite of the 24 hours of journey, we had bought a thicket for the third class AC and it was quite calm. For the second time we were in India after going out of Nepal and the contrast of both countries and its people made us to value still more the affable and pacific character of the Indians, with comparison to the Nepalese that have a character in general more tensed. Then I remembered the memories that Toni Aguilar from Nepal explained to me. About twenty years ago, he had travelled to India and found a very hospitable country, with the people showing a lot of interest in the origins and culture of Toni (it had also happened to him travelling through Spain and Morocco). Anyway, he himself also explained that India (as Spain and Morocco) has changed quite a lot, possibly corrupted by the tourism. Toni had been incapable of forgetting an image of his journey of twenty years ago: a bus of Europeans who threw sweets while they crossed some town and the children running behind its trail to collect them. Evidently, India that we have found is not the same one that Toni found, but on the other hand, it is not difficult for me to imagine that the majority of the people would appear much more hospitable-related with us if we were in another period. Of all this reflection it only saddens me to think that some day, the marvellous people of Iran or Sudan (I do not refer to the governments) will stop being hospitable integrating the egoism and world individualism into their societies. Once in Kolkatta we took a taxi pre-paid in a ticket window up to the street Sudder, where all the tourists are lodged. We were asking prices and looked at quite a lot of rooms and finally took one for about four euros, which was not the most economic although Alexandra was discontent for the quality. There were not bugs, but it was probably normal: perhaps a cat that Alexandra had seen jumping the first time that we had opened the door from the bed to the window had eaten them up. In fact, Alexandra seems quite discontent with this new stage of the journey without autocaravan, is quite nervous and frightful, complaining for anything. But I try to ignore her, not to become infected of her pessimism, since in my case I am adapting perfectly. I like to be able to shower in abundant water, although in the three hotels that we have been lodged until now we have had to use a bucket and a jar to throw the water. On the other hand I also like to travel with public transportation: we have much more contact with the local people, I have much more time to read or to write and I do not have to be pending all the while of the car not crashing against a crazy truck driver. At the same time, I feel myself comfortable with all the few full things in the backpack: the computer, the camera, the flash, two pairs of everything, a pullover, a raincoat and other small things that seem essential. With all these possessions that I load I sit capable of feeling myself at home when I arrive and we install ourselves in a hotel, or even when I am here seated in a chair of the airport. The airport... This has been a good adventure... Our aeroplane towards Bangkok leaves tomorrow at 6:50 in the morning. If we take that we have to be in the airport 3 or 4 hours with anticipation into account, we should present ourselves at 3 in the dawn and wake up of the hotel at 2. A crazy thing, no? So, we have decided to present ourselves in the airport mid-afternoon, to pass the night sleeping (or not)in the airport. But surprisingly, when we have tried to enter the airport a soldier has asked us to see the aeroplane thicket and next denied us the entry, telling us that we will be able to enter four hours before. Indignant I have went at the request of the soldier to the manager of the airport, who has also told me that i could not enter the airport up to 3am. When I have asked whether supposedly we had to stay in the room of our hotel up to 2 am he has answered me that yes. Still more indignant, I have directed myself to the main entrance and have sat in front, first on the backpack and afterwards pulled to the ground and with the head on the backpack, to express my protest better. Evidently, this second posture has had answer and after little a soldier has presented himself demanding from me to go out from the the crossing (the people passed perfectly, but they naturally kept looking at me strange). But I, enraged with the soldiers and experimented with some similar protests of some years behind, I have refused to move. Finally a superior and another more superior came, all requiring from me that i went out from there. But i answered them that i would only go out when they let me enter inside. Finally, under the orders to the most superior of all, they have put the backpack aside from me and pulled me afterwards of the arms and legs out of the path. But as soon as the soldiers have left I have pulled myself again in front of the door, this time without backpack, which had stayed a little further on, supervised by my look. Alexandra came different times asking for me to go out of there, to settle us in some seats outside the airport, but as also i was annoyed with her since the morning, I have ignored her. In the face of my new posture, completely pulled in front of the door, many more people have been brought over to me, some showing me friendliness and others being annoyed (as the soldier that has refused me the entry and afterwards has pulled me). Anyway, I have earned many smiles and sympathy when I have answered in a curious way that I was an activist of Gandhi and that i was protesting. Then the people have told me that the airport had some norms and that I had to accept them. But I have answered them that Gandhi changed the norms imposed by the British Empire and obtained the independence of India, I fought to change the norms of the airport that i considered unfair. Once another hour and a half has passed, they have seemed still more military, and risking to go to prison or lose the aeroplane (i didn’t give a rats ass) i have refused another time to move, explaining to them that I was demonstrating against a right that i thought i have. Finally, after dragging me a little too bad but seeing that they were not obtaining anything at all (i thought to situate another time in front of the door) or embarrassed by their attitude, a woman that seemed to have a higher level has commented: 'let him enter'. And unexpectedly I was standing, with the backpack on the shoulder and the disoriented Alexandra nearby, entering for the main entrance of the airport. Little later, we have found casually a Spanish, Didac, that also took the same flight as us and a Japanese. Both had arrived to the airport a bit later than we, and despite noticing some reluctance on the part of the soldiers of the door, they had been able to enter inside without too many problems. I have felt satisfied that, at least, two people have benefited from my fight, perhaps it was not worthed, because the air-conditioning to in the airport was so intense that hardly we have slept an hour in all the night. Thailand Bangkok (see on map) 01/04/2009:
Thailand is a paradise. After travelling 6 months in the chaotic countries of India and Nepal, it is difficult to assume that countries as Thailand can exist. Flying over the outskirts of Bangkok with the aeroplane already landing I was surprised with the green fields, the crowd of unifamiliar houses and the motorways of different lanes that intersected in bridges of multiple levels. But much more we marvelled when the aeroplane touched the ground and we approached the ultra-modern airport. Everything was immaculate, enormous and technological. But the categorisation of paradise is not due to the income per cápita of Thailand, superior to the previous visited countries. After few minutes circulating with a luxurious bus towards the centre of Bangkok, Alexandra commented me 'you have noticed that no horn is listened to'?. It was true and incredible! To circulate through the city was calm and noiseless, every car advancing through its lane. But before arriving to the centre we discovered the main problem of Bangkok: the jams; but unlike India (this problem among many others more severe significance) all the cars remained stopped in their lane waiting patiently, and without making touching the horn not even a single time! But the marvels of Thailand are not finished here; the Thais are some of the people that were shown more interest in helping. When we arrive to the centre and asked about a bus that could take us to the neighbourhood where we had accommodation, the people started to ask among them, that in spite of everything they did not direct us to the point looked for, until they recommended us the best bus. But when asking again to a girl in the bus she was shown so interested in helping us that she got out of the bus expressly for us, to ask more people on how we could arrive to our destination. This was another important difference in comparison to the countries visited from Turkey: the Thai girls do not have any timidity or modesty of talking with unknown people. Besides, it also surprises that they dress so uncovered, dressing with trousers or mini-skirts, showing all the legs. It is not surprising then, that Alexandra gave me some hit, because besides, the Thais are some of the most attractive girls of the planet according to the occidental tastes, despite being in general small and having the nose sunk or the flat face (Alexandra pointed). Finally we found the place of some youngsters of couchsurfing that rented rooms for 2euros or they let sleep freely in a shared room. At first, Alexandra appeared very upset with the room that they assigned to us, for she preferred a room with bath. But I disliked her attitude, because apart from sustaining all the journey until now, she complained to me about the conditions with which we travelled. But afterwards I decided to change tactics with her and commented from now we would assign ourselves an individual budget that would include sleep, food and transport; this way, if she wanted to sleep in better hotels or to move in taxi through the city she should renounce better food. The assigned budget has been of 5 € for person daily, the same budget that David and Maria have since 2 years. This budget is less of half of what we had when travelling with autocaravan, so, in fact we could allow ourselves a higher budget, but i felt, to save and to prove to myself that really two people can travel all the world with 300€/month, adjusting to the same budget of our friends. Anyway, Thailàndia seems to be a quite economic country to travell and the budget of 10 € per day between both seems more than sufficient. Besides, the diversity of food that is sold by the street to less than 0,5euros the dish is incredible. In fact, this great nutritional diversity is another of the surprises of Thailand. Exposed in installed shutdowns on the pavements there are different types of meat (I have tried the chicken, a sausage with rice, and different dishes of rice with chicken, veal or pig), different types of organs cooked (I have not proved them), shellfish (including some animals that seemed new), soups (some of they covered by a layer of floating chilly), fried dishes (the oil was clean and transparent unlike the dark oils of India), sushi, noodles, fruits, sandwiches of ice cream, crêpes, cake shops, and many other products that would not know how to describe or to name. 06/04/2009:
After a couple of days taking position of this new city and of visiting the embassy of Romania to start to carry out a new passport for Alexandra (the pages are finishing), we started to visit the touristic attractions of Bangkok (according to the magazine "Travel and Leisure" Bangkok was the best city of 2008). The most important are the temples of Wat Phra Kaew and the big adjacent palace, but the day that we were to visit them we were tricked, or like this we think, because a boy tangled us with so much friendliness that we don’t know if really he tricked us or he was confused. The boy told us that the Wat Phra Kaew would not open until in the afternoon and that we could make use of the morning to visit two statues of budha and a point of touristic information that was to be a travel agency. In spite of everything, the visit to the budhas was well, but in the afternoon we found out that the Wat Phra Kaew only opens in the morning. So, we left the visit for another day and took advantage to rest in a park where a big group of women did aeróbic while the men did acrobatics with a ball. When starting to get dark, we left the park and walked towards the Chinese neighbourhood, where all the shops were closing, except for a street with big lights with Chinese characters where there were different restaurants in the street collecting the attention of tourists. The following days we dedicate them to relax us in other parks, to go to the city and Chao Phraya, for where big barges of burden cross among different neighbourhoods of skyscrapers, to go with ferry over a section of the big river. Continuously, it surprised us Bangkok for its modernity and the little conservation of the past, but it had its appeal. However, there was some next village that had tried to preserve the past or the tradition and that disappointed a lot. The day before yesterday I took a bus well early in the morning to visit the floating market of Damnoen Saduak, a market that according to old photographs was very characteristic, with the peasants arriving to the village sailing for channels with a canoe full of products or fruits that came to the pedestrians of the bank or to other boatmen. But the image that I found was corrupted by the tourism, for 50% of the small boats that circulated for the channels was full of tourists, totally; and of the rest, 75% sold subvenires and 25% local products, in many cases packed in plastic bags. For luck, the visit of yesterday to Wat Phra Kaew was much more satisfactory and took the bad taste of my mouth out, in spite of the 7 euro of the entry. Wat Phra Kaew is one of the Buddhist temples most sacred and worshiped of Thailandia, which keeps the statue of the emerald buddha, that lived an epic history, who lived concealed in the north of Thailandia, captured by the forces of Laos and recaptured by the Thais finally. The temple started to be built in 1785, together with a royal palace, when Bangkok settled as new capital of Thailand. Evidently, the royalty did not skimp in expenses, for the temples of Wat Phra Kaew are gripping, with crowd of statues (demons and giants) risen of the Hindu mythology, intriguing paints of mythological battles, a big golden stupa, others held by being exerted of demons, and different temples with three levels of tiles and being adored budhas in the interior. Ayutaya (see on map) 08/04/2009:
from Bangkok we took a train to Ayutaya, some town settled in a natural island formed in the union of three rivers. The island was an excellent point so that the kingdom of Ayutaya prospered, thanks to the rivers that defended the city of the invasions and benefited with the trade that naturally recurred the waters. In spite of everything, in 1767, 4 centuries after the foundation of Ayutaya and after two years of war, the Burmes conquered the city burning and destroying its buildings, palaces and temples. In spite of everything, the ruins are impressive and it well deserved our visit. We found an economic and clean hotel between the train station and the ferry that crossed the river up to the island, where there are the main ruins and some other more expensive hotels. After installing us in our hotel, in the afternoon we crossed the river with the economic ferry and walked for the market of the village. Afterwards we visited the first temple that kept an old and enormous statue of sitting buddha that was not destroyed by the Burmese. Next we visited another big statue of buddha and the ruins of three big stupas that formerly were part of a palace. Today we have followed the visits by renting a couple of bicycles and sweating to visit other temples and ruins of interest inside and out of the island, including other statues of buddha always worshiped by the faithful Thais than knelt down and offer incense, flowers and money. The way of praying seems similar to those of the other religions, including the superstitions and expectations to be benefited with the prayers and donations to buddha. Sukhothai (see on map) 10/04/2009:
After 6 hours of train, we reached Phitsanulok, a city without too much touristic interest, apart from of a fabulous market that was raised mid-afternoon and that offered us every type of delicious and economic food (if we do not keep watch we will put on weight going with public transportation through Thailand than with autocaravan). Anyway, Phitsanulok is a good base to visit the relatively near ruins of Sukhothai and we decided to spend two nights, finding another economic and clean hotel, close to another hotel frequented by prostitutes (the first vision that we have had of Thailànds sexual tourism). Today in the morning i woke up early (Alexandra has preferred sleeping again) and I have taken three buses until i arrived to the ruins of the kingdom Sukhothai, the first Thai kingdom predecessor to the kingdom of Ayutaya. The kingdom of Sukhothai bloomed for 150 years, from the 1257 up to 1379, when it was dazzled and assimilated by the kingdom of Ayutaya more in the south. Unlike the ruins of Ayutaya, those of Sukhothai are surrounded by parks and forests and seem more authentic or more romantic, and that is paid, for the three groups of ruins cost about 2 euros each (only for the foreigners). Anyway, wanting to maintain the monthly budget of 150euro per person, I slipped into the three groups of temples without paying, with the bicycle in front of the guards of secondary-entries. In any case, the ruins of Sukhothai seemed to me less attractive than those of Ayutaya, although also interesting to visit. Chiang Mai (see on map) 11/04/2009:
Until now we have travelled by train in Thailand, which different categories or prices according to the rapidity of the train, or as it stops in more or less stations. Yesterday, while I visited the ruins of Sukhothai, Alexandra bought the train thicket towards Chiang Mai and having learned the custom of spending little, she bought the most economic thicket, of about 1,2 euros for 350 kilometres. Anyway, according to the timetable, the train would need 8 hours to do the stretch, although at the time of the truth there have been 10. Anyway, in spite of the seats of plastic and despite stopping an hour in a train station lost in the middle of the mountains, the journey did not bore me. Alexandra was a little bored, although did not grumble too much. I finished reading a novel about India, wrote the diary of the previous days, wrote a little more of my novel, looked at the landscape (which passed from the plains of the south to the green mountains of more in the north), made some photos, meditated, and conversed with a man who started to show interest in my religion and beliefs, not being surprised that I did not believe in God. However, I was surprised that he did not believe in God, for in India and in the previous Islamic countries it was a sacrilege not to believe in God, however it seems to be much more normal to the Buddhist in Thailanda, for in fact it was not wanted by Buda ever to define on the possible existence (or not) of God. Afterwards, the man has explained to me that in Thailanda there are many political problems, and that if the politicians had more Buddhist thoughts there would be many less confrontations. In fact, during this journey, we are reading in the international press that there are many protests in Thailanda among the partisans of the current government and the partisans of the previous one, but we are travelling through the country and we don’t realise, and the people do not seem to want to explain their problems. Neither the man with whom I have talked, has not wanted to explain the conflict to me (or he did not know) and has focused to explain to me that the Buddhism is a religion that preaches the peace between the people and the peace of mind. During a while I have thought that because of the Buddhism, the countries of the area would have suffered less wars and conflicts, but, remembering the Thai history or of the adjacent countries (Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam...) afterwards I have realised that it is not like this some of them having a very bloody past, that they have also suffered wars. Perhaps it happened the same as with the Christianity or the Islam, two religions that preach the peace and love among the people, but that in fact have provoked many wars and hatred against the discordant thoughts. The worst thing of this journey that was so long by train was the arrival. When at last the train stopped in a siding of the station of Chiang Mai, it was already darkening and it drizzled. The taxis in the exit of the station wanted to charge a lot, but for luck, in the street outside they already gave us prices more normal up to the neighbourhood where there are the economic hotels for tourists. But after being searching an hour loaded with the backpacks, we started to realise that the economic rooms all were occupied for many tourists had arrived in the city to celebrate the end of Thai year. But the adjusted budget that we had imposed ourselves made Alexandra push me to keep searching until we found a hotel hidden in an alley, which had some quite good rooms with bath included for only 3 euro. ‹ Previous (16/02/2009) MONTH Next (2009-04-17)› ‹ Previous (2009-08-13 - Tibet) COUNTRY Next (2009-09-03 - India)› |
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