Copenhagen, perfect just for wandering

A few things I remember about Copenhagen, the statue of Hans Christian Andersons 'The Little Mermaid' is pretty small, the famous 'Tivoli Gardens' the 100 year old amusement park has a pretty expensive price tag, and there is nothing better to do on a sunny day than to sit with the locals on the harbour wall with lunch and a cold beer watching the tourists pay extortionate prices for lunch in the harbour side cafes.

I was only in Copenhagen for a few days, and was in need of a rest.  I managed to get a great hostel (The Generator Hostel) right in the centre just a few streets away from the water front.  It proved a great base to explore the city that is totally walkable and had good rooms and a rooftop bar to boot.

The Little Mermaid

I didn't really have any plans, I picked up a map at reception and just walked.  In a few days it was possible to see lots without rushing.  The weather helped, gorgeous sunshine everyday highlighted the colourful buildings of the city and seemed to have brought everyone out onto the streets.  Copenhagen has a lot of waterfront perfect for a stroll, and Nyhavn right by the harbour is the place to hang out.  It's also a good place for getting a boat tour through some of the waterways of this low lying city.  The boat took us passed some of Copenhagen's famous palaces, its new palaces of food and some great residential areas on the waterfront.  The city seemed to relax into its surroundings. 

Nyhavn

It also had good parks just to wander through, with people just lying, reading, picnicking and I guess just enjoying the weather.  Along the waterfront a beach and pool had been established which was packed with people of all ages.  I gave Tivoli a miss, and instead headed for a couple of galleries.  Inside Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, apart from the treasures that abound, it's also possible to head for the roof, where you can take in views of the city below, including the rides of Tivoli.  Downstairs under glass dome architecture a beautiful winter garden exists, a good place to sit and plan what next.  The modern art gallery was also worth a look, more for the building itself than what was inside it, it also had a really good cafe and a great view besides.  Back by the waterfront a new library has been built.  Again worth an investigation.  The inside structure is open, spacious and light, and a good place to sit in the sun with a coffee.

By the habour

After cultural activities checked off, I followed the crowd to Stoget, Copenhagen's largest shopping area, a long pedestrian street packed with a variety of shops, with other cobbled streets like arteries, leading off this towards more individual boutiques, cafes and historic buildings.

Winter Gardens at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

Another thing that I was told not to miss was the 'infamous' free town Christiania.  This part of town founded in 1971 by a group of hippies made its reputation around its alternative lifestyle.  It's possible to join the other tourists and wander around this expression of living outside the norm, but I have to say I came away with a sense of disappointment for the community not myself.  The stalls offering hash related paraphernalia, weed t shirts and incense seemed like a sell out rather than progress.  Maybe it's better after the tourists have left.



City View

After a few days in this city, I felt I had done what I set out to do.  I was more relaxed, had taken in some of the highlights this city had to offer and was ready to board the train over the water to Sweden.  Would I recommend Copenhagen, yes, would I go back, yes.  In fact apart from the expensive cost of food and drink, it's difficult to find something I didn't like about this city.  You should go.

 

The worst journey to the best destination? Xinshuangbanna, Yunnan , China

You could argue that this was a bargain, where else can you travel for 20 hours for 198.5 Yuan? (approx £15), or perhaps you could say we ought to have known better.  We had felt pretty smug, we arrived on the off chance at the bus station in Xiaguan, with no tickets only hope and a great plan.  Our luck paid off or so we thought, it just so happened that there were 4  places left of the sleeper bus leaving in just a few hours.  Destination Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province China.  We had read in the guide book good things, and therefore we used that as a decision to go.  After all, the promise of pristine rainforest, Dai villages, and unspoilt countryside was something we really couldn't turn down.

As the bus pulled in we hoped the destination was worth it.  Our excitement of getting a seat turned into incredulity that we were going to travel 20 hours on what appeared to be a shelf!  This was located at the back of the bus, a raised platform not just for the 3 of us but a snug fit for the 5 that apparently had tickets for this 'exclusive' space.  Luckily we managed to get our bags tied on, literally bolted in as the door was closed.  This at least meant space to lie down, our only option as sitting upright was impossible due to lack of head room and even adopting a contorted position was fruitless as the bus continued over miles and miles of unpaved road.  Every bump of the head the result of pot holes of the road.  The lights were turned off, after all it was night time, so reading was out of the question, instead time was spent listening to the throat clearing and spitting of our fellow passengers who seemed to have less trouble sleeping. 

Bus of challenges

Sleep came and went, heavy braking as the bus swerved to avoid traffic, resulted in a javelin effect of bodies down the bus that woke us all.  Occasionally the bus would pull over for the driver to take a break and a chance for passengers to extract themselves for a few precious minutes.  As it started to get light the bus turned into a sauna, we were heading to a more tropical area after all, and the air temperature reflected that.  At least now we could see through the small side window.  Outside, small villages appeared in view and endless stretches of forest alongside the road a tantalising view of what was to come.  At 3pm we finally pulled into Jinghong, exiting the bus battered and bruised it was as if someone had turned on the fresh air, the excitement returned.

The next few days were really good.  We managed to get accommodation in wooden bungalows on stilts.  The area had a really relaxed feel to it and was full of little cafes and restaurants to try out.  A totally different atmosphere to the east of China.  We had come here to see the rainforest and that's what we did.  perhaps somewhat foolishly, although it didn't seem like it at the time, we arranged for a mini bus to take us further into the forest area. 

Rainforest

There we were dropped off at a Dai village, no map or guide.  We were told just to follow the track, go left at the temple, cross over a wooden bridge and keep going until we reached the promised waterfall.  We passed wooden houses, a man squatting and smoking whilst watching his buffalo and the world go by.  Other people were at work in small forest clearings, working small agricultural plots.  We saw a great example of irrigation systems using bamboo for water channels.  From here we started climbing up into the forest, through very tall trees with huge root structures, but fairly brown towards the ground and clear of thick vegetation.  Have to climb over fallen logs and branches.  All the time we could hear the noise of the river in the background and the singing of the birds.  Suddenly there was a loud roaring noise and the waterfall came into view.  Two streams pouring over boulders on the way downstream.  Very damp and misty near the banks. 

Waterfalls in the forest

We stayed for a while taking pictures, before it was time to turn round and head back the way we had come.  As we dropped back down into the Dai village, the village women were just sitting in the square on a log with the children.  No one seemed to be rushing, just enjoying the sunshine and each other's company.  Further down the road the men were playing pool, whilst the occasional person zoomed past on a motorbike with a basket full of fresh produce.  No one gave a damn that we were there and continued as usual.  It was great.  This trip was definitely worth it.

Dai village

Would I do that journey again? not anytime soon, but the memories of that journey live strong, if not stronger than the destination itself, and sometimes that's what the best trips are made of.

India - In search of Tigers

It was our first visit to India and as well as seeing the highlights of the usual tourist golden triangle route we also wanted to see some of the wildlife this part of India had to offer.  Rajasthan and the places surrounding it looked awesome in the guide book and on the TV programme we had been watching, a colourful array of sights, sounds, smell and other assaults on the senses, so when we got the chance to visit we jumped at the chance.

Our first stop was to try and spot some of India's beautiful birds.  We travelled to Bharatpur in order to stay in a maharajas palace, yes really, and visit the Keoladeo National Park.  Although I like birds I have never been good at spotting them let alone identifying them, but this trip changed that.  It was so easy they were everywhere!  At the entrance to the NP we got a guide and a cycle rickshaw.  The next two hours were spent cycling along one trail directly into the sanctuary.  Here the park and its animals were protected from locals who used to use this area for collecting firewood.

 

It was quiet in the park apart from the sound of birds, it was good to leave all the noise of Delhi and Agra behind and see another side to this vast sub continent.  Many stops on the rickshaw followed as birds and other wildlife were pointed out in all directions.  Mynah birds, parakeets, herons, storks and even an owl were easy to spot, not to mention numerous other species of native and migrating birds that looked cool, but with complicated names, some small some decidedly large despite the view through the handy telescope the guide had thoughtfully brought.  Other animals popping up in the park included several species of deer as well as wild boar and even jackals.  An interesting couple of hours passed quickly and was a great introduction to what was to come.

 

From Bharatpur we travelled the best way we could, on the Indian railway Shatabdi Express to our next destination of Ranthambore.  That journey is another story.  Ranthambore was a small Indian town that is famous for one thing and that one thing is Tigers.  The 1300km sq national park is home to approximately 58 of them and a large tourist industry has grown up around them serving the people that journey here outside monsoon season.

 

 The place was busy, we wondered whether the experience of trying to see tigers would be spoilt with so many people jostling for position in their jeeps and 'Contours'.  But we were reassured by the guide that all tourist vehicles were well controlled and numbers limited.  We had three game drives to look forward to.  As we made our way into zone 6 the excitement began to build.  On this first journey along very bumpy and well worn tracks the first thing we stopped to see was a 'tiger paw print'.  Now this surely had to be a good sign.  Photos taken we were off again.  Many a time the truck pulled to a halt for us the snap pictures of varieties of deer, antelope, birds, monkeys and even crocodiles.  However the tigers proved elusive. 

The second game drive, the same mounting sense of excitement, no one wanted to take photos of deer any more.  Then this was it, within 15 minutes our guide heard of a tiger sighting, and we were off, tearing through the park in zone one waved on by the park rangers sat in their look out.  Any hopes of having the tiger to ourselves were dashed as we pulled around a sharp bend and came to an abrupt halt along with at least 6 other vehicles.  As we jostled for position more trucks appeared trapping us in.  Edging our way forward it was finally time to take a look, and there at least 1 km away up the side of a steep mountain side was what we had come to see, a small outline but definitely identifiable as a tiger.  It was just lying about, the thing that stuck me was that it had a large head, a weird thought when faced with such as magnificent creature.  After 20 minutes it got up and walked off.  We tried to see it again, but who knows from the pictures it could easily have been a rock the second time of viewing.

 

That was it for the tiger viewing, the third drive proved unsuccessful in providing any more sightings.  But we were happy.  We had come on the 'tale of the tiger tour' and with a sense of achievement not really our own making we had seen one.  Yes it may have been far away, the pictures we took may just show a fussy spot as the camera focused in on the nearby tree instead of the tiger, but we know it was there, and despite seeing photos taken on the guides mobile phone of a tiger a few feet away lying on the track just 3 days ago we were not disappointed.  At least our experience proved the tigers were still the elusive creatures we wanted them to be, and despite the crowds not everyone was treated to a viewing.  Yes we were very satisfied and in the way it's only possible to do on holiday I brought a safari hat to celebrate.  I felt I deserved it.