Cheese...

I personally don't believe that stars and planets can dictate my future. However, some constellations are still amazing. This is a picture of the moon together with two stars (?) forming a smiley as I have seen it a few days back here in Thailand.

Fish & Ships

I have been to Ko Tao for two weeks to do my PADI Open Water and PADI Advanced Open Water diving certification. I have never been diving before and did not know what's awaiting me (Well, I knew there are fish...). My school was Big Blue Diving where I also stayed. The offered me free accommodation if I dive with them. Well, nice, isn't it? It was right at the end of the rainy season and therefore not many tourists were there. In fact, it was only me and my diving instructor in my OW course. This wasn't too bad cos I could learn a lot. Diving itself is wonderful. It's very calm down there! However, due to rain the visibility was crap. I don't have a waterproof camera but nevertheless can show you what I have seen:

For the AOW course, another swiss girl and a british joined me. There we learned about navigation, deep diving (we went down to 30m) and night diving where you dive at night with just a torch. Amazing. I'll definitely do this soon again.

Before in Bangkok, I went to the Siam Ocean World where they have some amazing fish. See some pics below for a compensation of the lack of Tao pics. Since my camera's screen is broken, I had do switch to the old-school photography where you only use your viewfinder to take pics and can't check them afterwards. Wired! :)

Experience News - Where it happens

The day I arrived in India at the beginning of my journey, there were the Delhi Bombings. It didn't affect me since I had a flight to Leh shortly after landing in Delhi. However, I could feel the cause of this event: indians were scared, tourists canceled their India trip, there were ongoing discussion on TV and I myself (like other backpackers) avoided the big cities. The other day, I read an article in a local newspaper that citizen of Mumbai are scared since their city was not affected by the bombing. They avoided busy spots, avoided going to the cinema (what they love to do so much) and are acting cautious all the time.
I myself visited Mumbai at the end of my trip since it's where I have to catch my flight. Of course I visited the most important sights. Of course I visited the Taj Mahal Hotel and of course I had lunch at Cafe Leopold.  And now the Mumbai Blasting is all over the news.

This is a picture I took last month of the Taj Mahal Hotel

I don't think "It could have been me" since the probability is very small. However, I know what everyone is talking about on TV and what they are writing in the newspapers. I know how it looks there. I know people there. I know what local think and can guess how they feel. I have been there! This is an important part about traveling and makes it so interesting: understanding the current political and economical situation. I learned a lot how India works (or not...). Up in Ladakh people explained me the situation and the ongoing tensions in the Kashmir valley and now, in Thailand I learn why people block an international airport. This definitely gives a better insight into such issues then reading a boring newspaper or watching TV back in Switzerland and makes traveling such a great experience.

After diving and some days in Koh Tao I met my sister and her boyfriend in Bangkok. We had a great time and saw a lot of the city during that time. I'll add pics as soon as they uploaded them. :)

Cooking Class in Bangkok

Couchsurfing in Mumbai

Kerala, in the very south of India, is quite different from the rest of the country. It has the highest literacy rate, is mostly cow/free and clean compared to other places I have been.
Kerala is famous for its Backwaters, kind of a river-channel-lake-system along the coast-line closely connected to the nearby sea.
I did a nice but tiring eight hours boat trip down from Allepey to Quillon. On the boat I met some exchange students from Europe who are studying in Mumbai. I stayed with them for the next days. After the Backwater cruise, we headed to the beach of Varkala. The beach is not as nice as the beaches in Goa and there is strong current in the water which makes it difficult to swim but the ambient is more relaxing and the sea food is deadly cheap and more than yummi. :)
After a few days in Verkala, I headed to the Periyar Tiger Reserve (You will not see any tiger but the name good marketing, isn't it?). The road brought me into a mountainous area, where a lot of spices, herbs and especially tea and coffee is grown. I visited one of the many spice farms and got introduced to a variety of interesting plants. Do you know how nutmeg grows? Now I do.

The park itself was a bit of a disappointment. It wasn't that impressive with one exception: I saw some wild elephants taking a bath. That was kind of cute.

In the evening and during the next day, I was hanging out with some Germans I met in the park which resulted in a hangover the day I had to leave and take a bus back to Cochi. After a terrible night in Cochi (not related to my hangover!!!) in probably the world's worst accommodation, I headed to the airport and took a flight to Mumbai. Mumbai, one of the busiest cities in the world - that's what I have been told - was, well... dead? It was very quiet around the airport. "Where is everyone?", I asked myself as I was looking for a taxi to bring me to my accommodation. I learned that taxis, rickshaws and most of the buses do not operate cos of some tension in the town due to an arrest of a politician. GREAT! How do I get to my accommodation now? I figured out that the buses to the suburbs are not affected and since the place I intended to stay was close to the airport, I could find the right bus after a while.

In Mumbai, I didn't stay in a Guesthouse or Hotel. I decided to do Couchsurfing for the first time. (I'm too lazy to explain what it is. For those not familiar with this service, may know how to use Google and inform themselves. thanks. :)) I know some people who did this before and all of them were amazed. So, I gave it a try. Nidhi was my host and invited me to stay at her apartment. When I arrived at her place, she was still at work. The guard however gave me her key and I could enter the apartment and relax for a while. After she came back, we went out with her friends and she showed me a bit of the city the day after. It was a great experience and I might do this again anytime soon.

I'm in Bangkok

Yes I am. :) Soon, I'll go south for diving.
I enjoyed my last days in India. Kerala is very nice and different from the rest of the country. They have good sea food. :)
From Kerala I went to Mumbai and did Couchsurfing (couchsurfing.com) there. This was great and I guess I'll do the same again next time I'm in a big city.