Chennai - Bangalore... India!

Well, I´m definitely deep into the travel now. I wasn´t going to take on India and China in the same trip.. but it´s been awhile since China and I seem to have found my second wind for the umpteenth time.. oh and the cheap flights form Singapore didnt hurt either. So now I´m doing what I hadn´t imagined back in January... wandering around India on my own with no real plan other than to sight see. For some reason showing up in a new city/town with no idea where to stay doesn´t phase me - I arrived in India at 11:45pm in Chennai expecting to stay overnight in the Airport ( the internet made it seem high tech and new - but I think that´s the proposed new airport ) so was a bit put off when getting through baggage/cutoms etc and finding myself pushing away taxi touts on the streetside! I was happy to find the domestic terminal next door had a nice big waiting area for which I could pay a small fee to enter. Had a great meal at the airport and
waited for the next morning to brave the mass transit ( ie cattle car.. no, seriously ) to the center of town and the foreigner/backpacker only accomodation. Chennai was not the easiest introduction to India I was later told.. but I kept my cool hoping I could escape to a western style shopping center to steel myself. The western style shopping center was in its third phase and only a few years old going on 50. Like Asia.. things here get built and then ignored into disrepair. In many cases they dont even get fully completed before they are left to rot over time. That should be a reminder not to fully pay for anything here or in Asia before it´s been completed or you´ve reached your destination!
I´m now sitting in my hotel ( first time I´ve had a tv in my room in a long time.. for 310 rupees or about $7/night ) before going to hop on the 10pm overnight bus north of Bangalore ( Hospit.. on the way to Goa ). I still haven´t recovered from all my overnighters ( KL->Singapore, Chennai airport, Chennai -> Bangalore ) and I´m off on another one. It´s a bus though so maybe I´ll feel secure enough to get some sleep this time.

For the Record

A few notes after the fact...
Almost missed a flight... Just in time is becoming my motto... I went camera shopping in Jakarta and then barely got back to my hotel in time to get to the airport. Not a good idea when it´s the last day of your visa and you are in a country that will throw you in jail for a 10 day overstay. Daily penalties up until then are about $30USD a day and a chance for the immigration agent to make you miserable. When I got to the airport shuttle bus I realized the trip to the airport was a long one and that I hadn´t given myself anywhere near enough time! I got off the bus and hopped in a Taxi before realizing that wasn´t going to do it either.. my only hope was a delayed flight and sure enough.. it was 30 min delayed! I still had to run but ended up with 5 minutes to spare before boarding commenced.
Revisit Rabies - When I initially researched rabies ( having being bit by a mouse in Bangkok ) I read that in north America most of the rabies deaths are from people who were bit by a bat but didn´t realize they had been bit as teh incisions are so small. Just recently it clicked that when I was in Seattle I had woken up with what I thought was two small spider bites on the back of my neck... very neatly spaced and tiny. Now I realize there´s a good chance it was a bat bite as there were plenty of bats ( vampire bats??? ) around the area! I´m not sure what freaks me out more.. the idea of being bitten by a large spider or a bat. Anyways.. I´m sure glad there was no rabies in that bite.. that was almost 10 years ago!

Map

Here´s some sporadic gps mapping since I received my new webpad
while back in Malaysia. They don't include the trip before Taman Negara.

I'm at the grey dot at the moment ;)

Ubud

cross your eyes!

I headed up to Ubud on my own.. But ran into the Austrians again and was
invited to split costs on a chauffeured tour around the area. Couldn´t
pass that up! It included a bunch of Hindi temples as well as another
grand view of a Volcano.. But no hiking this time!
Did I mention that Bali is 90% Hindi? What that means to me is that
restaurants are open here (as they do not observe Ramadan.. A
Muslim holy month which involves fasting during daylight ). With one not
eating pork and the other holding cows sacred it´s amazing they are
countrymen!

Kuta Beach, Bali

Sept 11, 2008
This is it.. Kuta Beach.. Party Central. This is
also where the bombing took place... Twice.. In October and if they did
the same spacing this would be the year. This is the memorial (pic).
Kuta beach is a great place to learn to surf. I only did half a day
and just rented a surfboard for 30,000 rupee ($2.80) and gave it a shot
without surfing lessons. I was able to stand on the board almost on the
first try due to my practice with a pro
windsurfing board in Seattle. Note - I am not a pro windsurfer.. so
that never worked out well! In Kuta the surf crashes almost
immediately so it´s fun just to learn on the resulting whitewater. I
tried to catch the real wave a few times but didn´t enjoy getting
crushed when successive 4' waves came and crashed early... Right on
me! 4' is quite a bit when it's 4' over your head!

Bali! Medewi Beach

Sept 9,2008

Bali is the next island over from Java. Java is the most
populous of Indonesia´s islands but Bali is the most touristy and it
shows. Still travelling with the Austrians we stopped for two nights at
Medewi beach. Very inexpensive but not much else to do but surf.. But
only for experienced surfers due to the rocks and the large surf ( see
picture)! I immediately ran into Kim, an American Surfer who had shown
up at the hostel in Kuala Lumpur and then who I had run into in Jakarta.
It´s funny how often this happens travelling.

Ijen!

Volcano #2: Ijen !

Sept 8, 2008 - The tour guide picked up the Austrians and I
at our hotel first thing in the morning. We were pleasantly surprised
by the nice new sport utility vehicle. A few hours later we were at the
hiking point from which the volcano rim was only an hour and a half
hike. There were numerous other tourists sharing the trail as well as a
continuous stream of workers carrying about 70kg of sulphur each in
balanced baskets down the volcano! I can´t imagine this is still
feasable in this day and age.. Carts at least??? The hike was well
rewarded ( at least for the tourists ) by the sight of an irridescent
blue lake as one reached the volcano´s edge! The colours are amazing
as you take in the awe inspiring view. I was genuinely surprised as I
hadn´t taken the time to research what the hike was about or even
paid attention to the postcards on display at the base of the hike. I
was just trudging up another volcano but this one had a lake at the
top... but what a lake!

After hiking back down we took the even steeper winding trail back
down the other side of the volcano to the ferry crossing to Bali.. But
that´s another story!