philosofecal

10th December - 22nd December

I spent those 12 days diving... and I got really lucky.
- all my buddies were nice
- all my instructors were good
- I swam with a Whale Shark on my 6th dive, and spotted sea turtle and big bullsharks.

The Whale Shark was the first really big marine animal that I saw live, and it was just amazing.. This 3 or 4 meters .I got so excited that I swam quickly to get closer to him, and lost my entire group. Hopefully it was soon full of divers, and I just stayed with another group from the same Diving Center...

On my last day, I was diving in Chumpon Pinnacle, and suddenly, at 25 meters deep, a shadow... yeah, that's it, at least, a bullshark !
30 seconds later, 2 sharks arrived, one got enough close (around 10 meters distance) so I could really watch him. It was amazing...

I did the PADI Open Water, Avanced, Deep Spec, Nitrox Spec, which is quite a lot for a beginning, but that's how PADI works : Put Another Dollar In.

Diving 40 meters deep was fun, as you feel really comfortable, soooo comfortable, and you actually don't really want to leave... Everything is so enjoyable, nice and relaxed... that's called Nitrogen Narcosis... and it rocks.

Well, now I'm in Hua Hin, gonna spend Christmas with my family.

30^th November - 5^th December

As there were some probable strikes in the region, I had to manage a train and a plane to go to Calcutta. Eventually, the strike was not that bad so I could take a night train from Siliguri to Calcutta.

Siliguri train station was a bit freaky : naked children were hanging out in the dirt, people were living between rails, everything was really dirty, as the trains siphon their toilets in the station, so feeding the dogs.

The journey was good, and I met a nice old Indian who gave me a ride to Sudder street. I had a good time there, meeting several volunteers in Mother Theresa’s House, mostly French. I hanged out also with two young Spanish girls and a young Mexican guy who is running a NGO. Calcutta was a bit different from Darjeeling. It was poorer, and the people are harder to manage : you always get annoyed by someone who’s asking you money. I nearly got a fight with a young Indian who wanted few rupees, just for giving me direction to reach the subway station. I had a walk in a poor district of the city, «　enjoying　» the dirty and trashy roads, and the nice smell.

At New market, I nearly puked as I was crossing the meat market… First, the smell gets you, like rotten death. Then you see the people chopping the meat, as cockroaches crawl beneath, quickly followed by creepy hair missing rats.

I was feeling a bit happy to leave, and I think I’ll need at least 2 weeks to get used to India. It’s just a messy country.

At the airport I had a nice talk with a 52 years old Swiss guy that had been traveling in India for a year. He didn’t even speak English, and did his journey by motor bike and bicycle, loosing 22 kilos.

I finally got back to «　civilization　» : Bangkok and the crowded Khao San Road… Not sure than the wasted New Zealander on their way to a whorehouse that I met yesterday are better than Calcutta’s crippled beggars though…

19^th - 23 rd November 2009

I stayed in Kathmandu for four days, just chilling out, going out and enjoying the city. I visited a few places, like Pashupatinath, a holy temple on the banks of Bagmati River, where you can see major Shiva temples, and cremation of people. It’s a bit strange to watch human bodies being burnt, and especially the tourists taking close pictures of those ceremonies…

I also went to Bodnath, one of the wold’s largest stupa of the world. The place is really spiritual, and quite impressive.

The Czech left the 23^rd, and from this time I’m hanging out with Nahm.

We went to Swayambhunath, also called Monkey temple, at night time…

I didn’t know the place, and it’s a bit scary at dark… First, you have to climb a lot of stairs, for finally wondering, half way, «　where are the monkeys　? ». And then, you start hearing them, around you, above you… and then you see them, in a shallow light, sitting, running, fighting… And you have to pass them while you’re still climbing up.

When you reach the temple, you are surrounded by dozens of monkeys, running around, jumping everywhere. As he light is really weak, you can’t see properly.

It was very mystic, like an old lost temple in the jungle. A few monks were singing and playing strange music, scary skinny dogs were running around and monkeys, loads of monkeys.

24^th - 25^th November

I was in Bakthapur, an old medieval city, really nice and relaxing. We took a guide there, Robin, a very nice student that took us around, and tried to teach me a bit about Hinduism.

It’s a quite complicated religion, as it is polytheist, and as the three main gods also have several incarnations, as well as a shakti, their reproductive energy, or more schematically their wife, who also can have several incarnations…

So basically, I saw loads of temples, Thanjka painting schools and tried Bakthapur’s yoghurt, which happens to be the best yoghurt I had in my entire life.

It’s a really nice city to hang out, as the traffic is not bad compared to Kathmandu.

I went back to Kathmandu the 25^th, booked my bus ticket to go to Darjeeling.